Benedictine Sister Linda Soler sprinkles holy water on Hill-Murray football players and their helmets at the end of practice Aug. 26. It is an annual ritual she initiated when she became chaplain of the football team. (Photo by The Catholic Spirit)
Sister Linda Soler, a member of St. Paul’s Monastery, St. Paul, MN, was featured recently in The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, for her role as chaplain of the sports teams at Hill-Murray School.
Sister Linda brings her energetic personality and Benedictine spirituality to sports events at the middle school and high school, especially football games. “She comes to every game and has formulated a pregame ritual in which players file out of the school building in Maplewood and onto the field, reaching out to touch a cross she holds up while standing at the gym’s exit door.”
Sister Linda told The Catholic Spirit that the Hill-Murray students give her energy. “They are the future. I believe they nurture my vocation. They really do. They have so much life in them.”
Off the field, students often confide in Sister Linda who has mastered the first word of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Listen.” In one case, she spent time with a student whose friend had died by suicide. “She really just listened to me and let me share my story and talk about the struggles of what I was feeling,” the student said.
At the end of the school day, Sister Linda can be found in a police car. When a Hill-Murray student is pulled over for a traffic violation, she assists the police in handling the situation and helps the student call their parents. She aspires to be a police chaplain someday.
For now, however, she is dedicated to the students. “I would say they have a home in my heart,” she said. “And I just look at them with eyes of joy.”
Sister Nicole Kunze, Prioress of Annunciation Monastery, delivered the Founders’ Day Convocation reflection at Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on November 21. The college also conferred an honorary degree to Sister Nicole at the ceremony. Saint Vincent College was founded in 1846 and is the first Benedictine college in the United States.
L to R: Father Paul Taylor, OSB, President of Saint Vincent College; Sister Nicole Kunze, OSB; Archabbot Martin Bartel, Saint Vincent Archabbey
Benedictine Sister Lisa Maurer, a member of St. Scholastica Monastery, Duluth, MN, is one of seven finalists for the 2024-2025 Lumen Christi Award, the highest honor given by the Catholic Extension Society. St. Scholastica is one of the ten member monasteries of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict.
Sister Lisa is an assistant football coach at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth where she shows up regularly for football practices and games. She encourages the student athletes to embrace four core values: hospitality, stewardship, respect, and justice. According to Dr. Barbara McDonald, the president of the college, “Many of the players consider Sister Lisa their prayer partner and spiritual advisor, and she makes it a habit of checking in with the young men, particularly those who may be struggling with personal issues.”
The Lumen Christi Award is given to people who radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities where they serve. According to the Catholic Extension Society, “Sister Lisa Maurer coaches college players on football and faith.”
Sister Lisa is also the director of mission integration and formation for Duluth Benedictine Ministries, a Ministerial Public Juridic Person established in 2022 to sponsor the apostolic institutions of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery.
The 2024 Haehn Museum at St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, MN, is welcoming visitors to its exhibit. This year, we are featuring the works of four of our nature photographers: Sisters Carleen Schomer, Karen Streveler, Linda Dusek, and Nancy Bauer. For many years, the beauty of the earth has motivated our sister photographers to use hours of patience and skill to capture the glory of God’s creation bursting gloriously all around us. The major message of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si also motivates the pictorial message of our artists, and quotes from that work and psalms accompany the photographs in the exhibit. It is arranged as a self-tour, so come and linger with us.
“Each creature reflects something of God.”
Laudato Si
Karen Streveler, OSB
“Nature is filled with words of love.”
Laudato Si
Linda Dusek, OSB
“The Lord rejoices in all his works.”
Psalm 24
Nancy Bauer, OSB
“Nature is God’s visible garment.”
Laudato Si
Carleen Schomer, OSB
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us, the power of your love that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with your peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
Sister Misericordia Chao made perpetual profession on July 11. Sister Hildegard Hoang made first monastic profession on July 10.
Seated in front: Sister Beppo Wang and Sister Maria Hsu. Middle three at left: Sisters Austin Chang, Eucharistia Chen, Paula Nguyen. Middle three at right: Sisters Jose Tung, Julianna Chua, and Stella Pan. Back row: Sisters Emmanual Hsiang, Rosalyn Tsai (prioress), Hildegard Hoang, Misericordia Chao, Agape, Cordis Chen, and Gratia Nguyen
讓我們睜開眼睛，看見來自上帝的光，睜開耳朵， 聆聽來自天上的聲音。
Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven.
Perpetual Monastic Profession Sister Misericordia
Receive me, O God, as you have promised, and I shall live.
Front Row: Sister Raphaela Cady, Sister Melissa Cote, Sister Marena Hoogland, Sister Paz Vital. Second Row: Sister Nicole Kunze, Sister Lisa Maurer, Sister Jacqueline Leiter, Sister Idelle Badt. Third Row: Sister Gretchen Johnston
Nine sisters from the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict attended the gathering of 55 and Under Sisters at Sacred Heart Monastery in Yankton, South Dakota.
St. Scholastica Monastery celebrated the perpetual monastic profession of Sister Jayne Erickson on July 11, 2024.
Sister Jayne entered St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth as a postulant in 2019 and made her first profession in 2021. At her perpetual profession, Sister Jayne sang a hymn she composed, “I am yours, Lord.”
Before entering monastic life, Sister Jayne was a youth and children’s minister and elementary school teacher in Minnesota and Iowa. She recently completed studies to be a Life Coach.
On Sunday, April 14, Sister Susan Hutchens, OSB, was re-elected as Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island. Sister Susan is the fourteenth prioress in the monastery’ s 150-year history. The prioress election was beautiful and spirit-filled.
Gracious and holy God, Give us wisdom to know you, Intelligence to understand you, Diligence to seek you, Patience to wait for you, Eyes to behold you, A heart to meditate upon you, A life to proclaim you, To the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen
On April 6, 2024, Sister Catherine Nehotte was re-elected to serve a second 5-year term as prioress at St. Paul’s Monastery. She is pictured here with Sister Nancy Bauer, President of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict. That in all things, God may be glorified!
Sister Colleen Haggerty, OSB, Former President of Federation / Congregation Dies
Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven that every day calls out.
RB Prol. 9
Sister Colleen Haggerty, sixth president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict (known then as the Federation of St. Benedict), died on Thursday, January 11, 2024. Sister Colleen was a member of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, MN. She served as president of the federation/congregation for two terms, 1991- 2003.
Joanne Haggerty was born May 29, 1932, to William and Olive (Okeson) Haggerty in St. Paul, MN. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery on September 12, 1951, was received into the novitiate as Sister Colleen on June 18, 1952, made first profession on July 11, 1953, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1956.
She served in various capacities at St. Cloud Hospital, including as director of the dietary department, director of the hospital’s General Services Division, and assistant administrator in community relations and development. Before being elected president of the federation/congregation, she served the monastery as coordinator of the physical plant and director of building renovation projects, overseeing a major renovation of Sacred Heart Chapel. Following her terms as president, she worked in the monastery’s communications and development office.
The Vigil Prayer Service and Mass of Christian Burial will be held in Sacred Heart Chapel at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. The vigil will be at 7 p.m., Tuesday, January 16, and the funeral liturgy at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 17. The services will be livestreamed and can be viewed at the website of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict.
As President, Sister Colleen visited the Monasteries of the Federation / Congregation to support the sisters of each community and learn from them. Above she is visiting the Sisters at Monasterio Santa Escolástica in Humacao, Puerto Rico. At Saint Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Sister Kathleen Hofer (left) and Sister Jean Maher (right) present an icon to Sister Colleen Haggerty at the end of her second term as president of the Federation of St. Benedict. Below, Sister Colleen visited the sisters at Saint Benedict Monastery in Taiwan.
Sister Colleen Haggerty visited the Sisters at Saint Martin Monastery in the Bahamas.
Delegates and Prioresses at the 1994 Federtation Chapter at Saint Benedict’s Monastery: Sister Colleen is in the second row from front at the far left.
Delegates and Prioresses at the 1997 Federation Chapter at Annunciation Monastery: Sister Colleen is in the second row from front, far right. Sister Nancy Bauer, current president, is next to her. Two other former presidents are on the picture: Sister Michaela Hedican in the back row, fifth from left, and Sister Margaret Michaud, second row, fourth from right.
At the Chapter in Annunciation: Sister Colleen is in the back between Sister Susan Berger (left) who was prioress in Bismarck and is now deceased and Sister Ruth Fox (right) who was president of the Federation of St. Gertrude. Sister Ruth died last year. Front row: Sister Beppo from Taiwan, Sister Jacinta from Bahamas, and Sister Austin from Taiwan.
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of God, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened”
Eph.1:16-18
An excerpt of Sister Colleen Haggerty’s message at the end of her two terms as president of the Federation of St. Benedict
“Twelve tremendous years . . . Thank you, each and all, for interlocking my heart with your hearts! . . . I am deeply grateful for what the role of president has done to expand my heart around the world. I shall never forget any of you, your community as a whole and each of our 800+ members in the federation. You are woven into the fabric of my life and I will pray for you daily in lectio, liturgy of the hours, and Eucharist. My greatest hope for each of our member monasteries is that in each monastery we now do our inner work as a community. May each one of us be attentive to each other, open to the diverse expressions of monastic life but always within the context of the common good. The reality for each of us is our daily experience of conversatio as we live, love, pray, and work together . . . always striving for the togetherness of monastic life. . . .
Thank you again and always for everything! As St Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of God, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened (Eph.1:16-18).”
