Perpetual Monastic Profession

Should God call you to Perpetual Monastic Profession, you would promise what we have promised:

Stability – a promise of fidelity to the monastic way of life in this Benedictine Community, at this Monastery, to be deeply rooted in this Community, this place, for the rest of your life

Fidelity to the Monastic Way of Life – a promise to the daily seeking of God, a commitment to the continuing process of growth and formation in the monastic way of life as determined by the Rule of St. Benedict, the norms of the Federation of St. Benedict, and the living tradition of this Community

Obedience – a promise to listen to the voice of the Spirit in Scripture, in the Rule of St. Benedict, in the Prioress of the Community, in one another, in the Spirit within yourself, in events in human history.

Poverty and celibate chastity in the Benedictine tradition are included in the cenobitic monastic way of life.

This is the threefold promise you will make at your Perpetual Monastic Profession, and we are the women with whom you will live out that commitment.

We are Benedictine monastic women of great faith, women of quiet courage and gentle strength who have stepped into the 1500-year continuum of the Benedictine tradition with great respect for the past, reverence for the present, and eagerness to respond to the future.

We are women who strive daily to live the Gospel values and who cherish our Benedictine charisms of community, stewardship, and hospitality.

And when you walk the back campus in a field of daisies in the summer or watch the snow fall gently in the Garden Court

–when you see the faces of your Sisters in the chapel or the dining room

–when you feel the gentle breeze through the window during your time of quiet solitude

–when you ride your bike or walk the shoreline of Lake Superior

–when you respond to the challenge of your ministry

–when you hear the bell calling you to prayer

–when you chant the Benedictus at Morning Prayer, the Magnificat at night

–when you laugh with your Sisters and weep when they die

You will know that you have become part of our history, that you belong in our present, that you will be our future.

Click on Arrow for Video Segnment

Sister Joan Marie Stelman

When I think about my life now and how it’s changed since before I entered, I realize that I’m happier now than I ever have been in my life.”

In this you may hear the echo of St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians:

“For all things are yours, whether it be . . .the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”

For information about becoming a member of our monastic Community, to arrange a visit (travel scholarships are available), or for a copy of our film “Sing a New Song,” contact: