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.”
