Catholic Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Ill., blog with inquirers discerning their religious calling to monastic life.
Posted in Benedictine Sisters, vocation story on Mar 13th, 2013
As a Catholic girl growing up in Peoria, Ill., Margaret Mary “Marmee” McGrath (shown in red at left) never dreamed of becoming a nun. Nicknamed for the mother in Little Women (“My mother loved that book!”), Marmee attended Catholic school, prayed the rosary before morning Mass, and helped her teacher Sisters keep the sanctuary clean. [...]
Posted in Benedictine Sisters, discernment, monastic life, religious life, vocation story on Jul 22nd, 2012
From the beginning of recorded time, living as a religious Sister has been countercultural. We give up our possessions … our bank accounts … our cars. We take on a new set of priorities. We take on a new set of responsibilities. In other words, it’s no longer about “me.” It’s about “we.” What might [...]
Posted in discernment, monastic life, vocation story on Mar 7th, 2012
It was halfway through the summer of 1948. Marilyn Ring had graduated from high school and now was watching as her friends prepared to leave for secretarial school, marriage and the convent. Despite an active faith life that had included daily Mass and a fabulous Catholic youth group experience at Peoria’s Academy of Our Lady, [...]
Posted in vocation story on Feb 6th, 2012
Ruth Ksycki was a young girl when she saw something that would change her life forever. She saw the sun rise slowly, brilliantly, silently. She saw its golden rays bloom atop the treeline near the cabin where her family stayed, and shimmer languidly upon the calm waters of the lake below. At 12 years old, [...]
Posted in Benedictine Sisters, discernment, religious life, vocation story on Feb 1st, 2012
By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB Left to my own devices I would never have entered religious life. I thought it was dull, stilted, without fun, zest, relationships or community. I was interested in my friends, stylish clothes, a social life, my education. So how did it come about?
Posted in Benedictine Sisters, Benedictine practices, community life, discernment, monastic life, religious life, vocation story on Jan 11th, 2012
Sister Charlotte Sonneville, OSB, reflects on her younger life as a single woman, and later as a Benedictine Sister in this article. We hope it inspires you! As a child, I attended the Benedictine Sisters’ St. Mary’s School in Moline. I loved to stay after school and help clean the blackboards, sort papers, or run [...]