Pray for us as we Pray for you ~ Community Retreat

Greetings,

Pray for us during our time of retreat; we shall keep you in our prayers.

This week all the sisters of our community are gathering at the monastery for retreat.  Usually, the sister who coordinates our on-going formation sets three separate weeks for retreat to accommodate our sisters varying schedules due to their ministry and service in different works of the Church. However, every five years (or so) the community gathers for one retreat.

This year Prior Mauritius Wilde, OSB  of Christ the King Priory will be our retreat director.  His conferences will focus on the value of detachment in the life of Saint Benedict and in our lives as Benedictine women.

This window is a icon of the Matins hour of prayer,
the wise virgins from Scripture representing
our waiting in prayer before the Lord Jesus.

Listen I (General Norms of our Federation) recognizes that "Benedictine formation is a lifelong process of daily conversion within a dynamic, monastic faith community.  The entire community is responsible, under the direction of the prioress, for the ongoing formation of all sisters.  The monastery fulfills this responsibility when it provides the environment for the sisters to share their life together in faith and to continue their own daily effort toward growth in Christ" (G111).


Listen II (Specific Norms of our Federation) reminds the prioress that "the Monastery Norms specifies the ways a monastery provides for the continuing spiritual development of its sisters, such as community renewal, annual retreats, days of recollection and other opportunities" (S129).

Our Listen III or Monastery Norms (specific to our monastic guidance) take all this into account and very simply states a list of items to support this continuing formation including "annual retreats" (M111.g).  Simple...However, this yearly week of retreat is so important within our monastic life that it is even written into our contracts so we that may set at least a week aside for personal and private prayer, reflection, and community.

Retreat allows for a deepening of relationship with God in the silence of our day, broken only by Father's conferences and our prayer, and through our personal prayer which supports our times of Liturgy of the Hours.  All this additional time in prayer reminds us to follow Saint Benedict's injunction on the oratory:

"Let the oratory be what is is called, a place of prayer; and let nothing else be done there or kept there.  When the Work of God is ended, let all go out in perfect silence, and let reverence for God be observed, so that any sister who may wish to pray privately will not be hindered by another's misconduct.  And that other times also, if anyone should want to pray by herself, let her go in simply and pray, not in a loud voice but with tears and fervor of heart.  She who does not say her prayers in this way, therefore, shall not be permitted to remain in the oratory when the Work of God is ended, lest another be hindered, as we have said" (Rule of Benedict 52).

Retreat Week Schedule (July 12-18)

for Liturgy of the Hours and Mass 

8:30 AM ~ Lauds

9:00 AM ~ Mass

5:15 PM ~ Vespers

Blessings,

Advent Peace

Greetings,

Tonight, we return to the quiet of our Advent Peace with gratitude after a weekend of joyous Advent activity!

The whirlwind of Advent activity began with Lauds on Saturday morning. The sisters were joined by a variety of guests in chapel. They filled the guest 'row' and spread out among us sisters. A ripple of quiet whispers and swish of pages hummed beneath the hush of the chapel. As we moved through prayer together, a few smiles, helpful hands turning pages, and even a chuckle or two...all in praise of God.

After prayer, the guests' Advent activity took them in two different directions. The Catholic Daughters of America Court Willard prepared a wonderful breakfast of coffee cakes and morning sweets. Their generosity and joy filled our dinning room. Our sisters from the care center joined us as we lingered over coffee, shared stories of holidays past, and simply enjoyed the blessings of their faith-filled love.

Mary at prayer was the focus of the prayerful
environment next the podium at Saturday's
Advent retreat: the Fullness of Time.

Our other morning guests were led to our community chapter room for an Advent morning retreat hosted by our sisters in the Peace Center. Thirty guests and several of our own sisters gathered to reflect on Advent "Fullness of Time". Sr. Mary Jo shared reflections on the Advent theme, the retreatants also shared prayer together, and were allowed time for silence and prayer as well.

The Advent activity continued through lunch. As the sisters were at table, Saint Nicholas (Postulant Terry) arrived with two helpful elves to share feastday joy! He was greeted with a rousing chorus of "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas". Saint Nick moved joyfully among the tables offering the sisters treats of apples & oranges, beautifully decorated gingerbread men & women, and chocolate candies; three in honor of the Blessed Trinity.

Still more activity continued Saturday afternoon. Folks from Mount Marty College began to prepare for the upcoming Vespers; checking the sound and lighting systems, determining what more might be needed to ensure a wonderful concert. Sunday morning, the MMC Vespers folk returned! They waited until after the last of our Sunday congregation left the chapel, and then they began to move the choir risers, lights, sound and so much more in...all while our sacristan sisters and their helpers began to move the presider's chair, ambo, altar, and other sacred elements safely out of the sanctuary. This special concert, a Vespers in song, was held twice this Sunday: afternoon and evening.

And now we joyfully return to our Advent peace and prayer.

Advent Blessings to you,

Advent Retreat: In the Fullness of Time

Greetings,

Advent is only a week away! Are you ready to hurry up and slow down to listen for the Lord speaking to your heart? We are offering an Advent pause on Saturday, December 6th; the end of our first week of Advent. The Benedictine Peace Center invites you to slow down and come to "In the Fullness of Time."  An Advent retreat presented by Sr. Mary Jo in our Monastery Chapter room.  Slow down and experience how God gifts us with special moments of time.

Advent Retreat Brochure

Blessings,

Seeking Peace and Forgiveness...

Greetings,

It is our monastery's custom for the sisters to take a week of retreat each year.  This week many of our sisters are retreating with lessons on our Monastic Mystics: Saints Hildegard of Bingen, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Gertrude the Great, Julian of Norwich, and Thomas Merton.  During this time of seeking peace, the monastery sisters will fill-in for the retreat sisters house charges, share breakfast and dinner in silence, and in many little ways, hold their retreat sisters up in prayer.

Seeking Christ's gift of forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is also a part of each retreat for the sisters at the monastery.  It begins with a communal prayer including the chanting of Psalm 103, an Epistle from Paul, and Litany of Repentance.  However, the most meaningful part (according to your poor scribe) is when the sisters seek the forgiveness of each other.

The Prioress calls us to this action; the two choirs stand and face each other...
Choir One bows to their sisters across the aisle and says, "Bless me, Sisters, and forgive me for my failure to love and support you as Christ would have me do." Choir Two stretches their hands out over their bowed sisters and responds, "We forgive you and ask God's mercy and pardon for you." After Choir Two bows in seeking forgiveness and is blessed by their sisters, our Prioress leads us in the Lord's Prayer and finally calls us to a Sign of Peace.  This peace is shared among the sisters through making the Sign of the Cross on her forehead as we say, "May the Peace of Christ be with you. Amen."

After this communal prayer of forgiveness, our monastery Chaplain and a few priests from the local churches retire to quiet confessionals and corners in the Chapel to hear the confessions and offer the peace and forgiveness of Christ's Absolution.

And the quiet of retreat continues...please pray for us as we continue to pray for you.

Blessings,

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Greetings,

On this 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, our Holy Father, Pope Francis has shared a message to all those disposed to being laborers for the harvest!

 ... "Many times we have prayed with the words of the Psalmist: "It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture"; or: "The Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession"... Hence the way of belonging to God is explained:  it comes about through a unique and personal relationship with Jesus, which Baptism confers on us from the beginning of our rebirth to new life.  It is Christ, therefore, who continually summons us by his word to place our trust in him, loving him "with all the heart, with all the understanding, and will all the strength".  Therefore every vocation, even within the variety of paths, always requires an exodus from oneself in order to center one's life on Christ and on his Gospel...Therefore, we are all called to adore Christ in our hearts in order to allow ourselves to be touched by the impulse of grace contained in the seed of the world, which must grow in us and be transformed into concrete service to our neighbour.  We need not be afraid:  God follows the world of his hands with passion and skill in every phase of life.  He never abandons us!  He has the fulfillment of his plan for us at heart, and yet he wishes to achieve it with our consent and cooperation.

Today too, Jesus lives and walks along the paths of ordinary life in order to draw near to everyone, beginning with the least, and to heal us of our infirmities and illnesses. I turn now to those who are well disposed to listen to the voice of Christ that rings out in the Church and to understand what their own vocation is.  I invite you to listen to and follow Jesus, and to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by his words, which "are spirit and life".  Mary, the Mother of Jesus and ours, also says to us:  "Do whatever he tells you".  It will help you to participate in a communal journey that is able to release the best energies in you and around you.  A vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well cultivated field of mutual love that becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesial life.  No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself.  A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love.  Did not Jesus say:  "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another"? ...

Are you considering a call to the consecrated life?  We invite you to learn more about our Benedictine Life and discern with us in an upcoming retreat May 24-26:  
Exploring Benedictine Life:  Listening in Context.

Blessings,

Welcoming the Guest to Retreat

Greetings,

The Peace Center at our monastery seeks to: "Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, "I came as a guest, and you received Me". And to all let due honor be shown, especially to the domestics of the faith and to pilgrims (Rule of Benedict 53: 1-2).

As the Liturgical season of Lent approaches, the sisters of our Peace Center are reaching out through Scripture studies, theology institutes, and Holy Week retreats.

The sisters are offering two series of Lenten Scripture studies for all those seeking prepare for Christ's Paschal Mystery at Easter.  Study of the Prophet Isaiah will take place on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM beginning on February 26 and continuing throughout the Lenten season.  Study of the Passion and Resurrection Narratives will take place on Wednesday mornings from 10:15 to 11:45 AM beginning on March 5 and continuing throughout the Lenten season.

Our spring Theology Institute will be held on Saturday, March 15th beginning at 9 AM.  Father Leslie Hoppe, OFM  will be speaking about "Religion and Modernity: The Fundamentalist Response".   He will address how the terms "fundamentalism" and "fundamentalist" were first coined to describe conservative American Protestants who rejected the tenets of early 20th century liberal Protestant theology.  The presentation will begin with a description of the basic beliefs of Protestant fundamentalism before describing the fundamentalist impulse in Roman Catholicism and other world religions such as Judaism and Islam.

The Benedictine Peace Center will also be preparing for Holy Easter with one of our Catholic mystics.  Guests are welcome to join us for "Reflections with Julian of Norwich: A Lenten Retreat" on Saturday March 29th.

The final welcome to guests is a Holy Week Retreat over Triduum for women who are discerning a religious vocation.  The retreat begins the afternoon of Holy Thursday and continues through Easter Sunday afternoon and includes celebrating Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharistic liturgies with the monastic community, sacred silence, and reflection on sacred symbols of Triduum and God's call.

We welcome you as a guest in our retreat center...come to pray, to listen, and continue to deepen your faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Retreat: Seeking God, A Pause to Discern

Greetings,

If you are a young, single, Catholic woman who desires to deepen her faith and is considering the call to religious life, we invite you to discern with us.

Our Vocation Sisters and all our Benedictine family will be hosting a discernment retreat on the weekend of January 3rd.  On that Epiphany weekend, we will invite you to seek Christ along with the wise men of old.

For more information about "Seeking God: A Pause to Discern"  please contact our Sister Phyllis.  To register for the discernment weekend, please print the registration and know that our prayers are with you.

Blessings,

Advent Retreat

Greetings,

Our Peace Center Sisters plan a variety of retreats throughout the Church year.  However, Advent begins in a WEEK!  They are preparing for a morning retreat "Waiting with Mary in Advent."  We invite you to join the sisters and other seekers to learn to wait with our Blessed Mother for the coming of our Lord.

The retreat morning begins at 9 o'clock on Saturday, December 7th.  Simply follow the link to learn more about our Advent retreat.

http://www.yanktonbenedictines.org/documents/AdventRetreat.pdf

Blessings,

Fireflies

Greetings,

It is nearing the end of retreat week here at the monastery.  The monastery brings in a director for 'conference' retreats twice a year to guide us in our quiet and reflection.  It was in the midst of this that I was sitting last night in a little alcove on first floor.  Caught up in my own reading and reflection, I wasn't paying too much attention.  Until one of the sisters (not on retreat by the by) stopped and with a smile pointed out the windows said, "Fireflies."

All over the south lawn, just outside the windows, were twinkling lights.  Up close to the windows they lit up the flower beds of lilies and roses with their luminescent yellow, then drifted off into the grass.  Farther away, the fireflies danced among the bushes along the edge of the lawn and up into the leaves of the linden trees.  They were all over the south lawn, their little lights creating a playful music for the eyes.  It was dark enough that you couldn't follow their bodies and it was a delightful suprise to see where they would light up again. 

An amazing little part of God's creation celebrating the night at the Monastery.

Blessings,

Virtual Vocations Retreat

This retreat moment is borrowed from
"For Your Vocation" & the USCCB:

Scripture Reading: Psalm 8:3-4

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?

Reflection:
“The source of every perfect gift is God who is Love – Deus caritas est: “Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Sacred Scripture tells the story of this original bond between God and man, which precedes creation itself. Writing to the Christians of the city of Ephesus, Saint Paul raises a hymn of gratitude and praise to the Father who, with infinite benevolence, in the course of the centuries accomplishes his universal plan of salvation, which is a plan of love. In his Son Jesus – Paul states – “he chose us, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him in love” (Eph 1:4). We are loved by God even “before” we come into existence! Moved solely by his unconditional love, he created us “not … out of existing things” (cf. 2Macc 7:28), to bring us into full communion with Him.

In great wonderment before the work of God’s providence, the Psalmist exclaims: “When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you arranged, what is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for him?” (Ps 8:3-4). The profound truth of our existence is thus contained in this surprising mystery: every creature, and in particular every human person, is the fruit of God’s thought and an act of his love, a love that is boundless, faithful and everlasting (cf. Jer 31:3). The discovery of this reality is what truly and profoundly changes our lives. [Pope Benedict XVI, Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God, WPDV Message, 2012]

Personal Integration:
How does this reality change the way I see myself? How does it help me understand my identity?

How does this knowledge change the way I perceive and treat each person I encounter?

(A time of sacred silence should be observed.)

Closing Prayer of Self-Offering:
God our Father, thank you for creating each us out of your boundless, faithful and everlasting love.  As we seek your loving will, help us respond to your love with generous and willing hearts.  Amen.

Visit www.facebook.com/foryourvocation for more information.