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Benedictine Sisters, St. Scholastica Monastery, Duluth, MN Event Time: Friday, 5:00 p.m. to Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Description: Single, Catholic women, 18-45 who wish to learn more about discerning a call to religious life are invited to spend a weekend at St. Scholastica Monastery. Come, listen to what God is saying to you in the quiet and learn to discern you calling: learn the options available to women in consecreated life; hear presentations on prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, lectio divina; experience the rhythm of monastic life by participating in communal prayer, work, meals, and leisure time with the Sisters and women in Formation. Ask questions. Enjoy. No obligation and no charge, but registration is required by Wednesday, April 14. For more information or to register, contact Sister Mary Catherine Shambour at Ask to see our film "Sing a New Song."
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Thursday, March 4th, over 200 people gathered at the Dubh Linn Pub to celebrate and support the ministry of McCabe Renewal Center.
Duluth's finest musicians entertained the crowd as well as Sister Timothy Kirby with her Irish stories and Fr. Charles Flynn with his wisdom of the Book of Kells. Generous donors gave amazing gifts for the silent auction and generous friends went home with treasure they had bid on.
We are especially grateful to Mr. Mike Maxim, the owner of the Dubh Linn Pub, for donating his place and the refreshments for the evening. It was an unforgettable evening with so many good friends and generous supporters.
The staff at McCabe Renewal Center and the entire Community of St. Scholastica Monastery are most grateful for the support.
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On Tuesday, March 2, the St. Scholastica Community of Sisters, friends, and faculty, staff, and students of The College of St. Scholastica gathered in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel for Joint Lenten Vespers.
The opening hymn "Were You There" followed by Mark’s Gospel of the Passion set the tone. There was also a call to change our hearts in a personal, as well as a global manner through our works of justice and peace.
The recessional hymn was "Jesus, Remember Me." This service helped us to more fully enter into our Lenten journey with Christ from death to new life.
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Expressing their desire to affiliate with St. Scholastica Monastery as they continue their vocational discernment, Katie Cooper from Hermantown, Minnesota, and Leilani Linton from Andover, Minnesota, knocked three times on the door of the Monastery on February 27. The repeated "knocking" and remainder of the rite–in which the applicants are met at the door by the Prioress and Community–are based on St. Benedict's admonition that admission to the monastery should not be made too readily in order to test the applicant's determination. As the door is eventually opened, the applicants state their intention, receive a blessing from the prioress and a statement of support from the Community, and are then led to the oratory to join the Community at prayer. The Affiliate stage, which can last from six months to two years, is the preliminary step in seeking admission to the Community. By becoming an affiliate, a woman has signified that she feels God is guiding her to this Community and thereby seeks to visit and know the Community better. Over a period of time, she and the Community can decide when and if she is ready to make formal application to the postulancy.
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Sister Renee was born February 25, 1920, in Charleston, South Carolina, the first child of Nelida and Felix Cormier. they named her Marie Frances, the oldest of four girls and twin brothers. Why South Carolina? Her father was a carpenter and repaired ships used in WWI. Her mother was an R.N., having graduated from St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth. The Cormiers returned to Cloquet and later moved to West Duluth where Marie completed eight grades at St. James School, taught by Benedictine Sisters from St. Scholastica. In 1934 Marie's mother learned that Mother Agnes Somers was making her annual visitation to the Sisters in Cloquet. Marie and her mother went to Cloquet, hoping to speak with the Reverend Mother. Marie's mother visited with Mother Agnes and then told Marie that she would go to 9th grade at Villa Sancta Scholaastica as an aspirant under the care of Sister Monica Simon. When Marie realized that being an aspirant could lead to becoming a Sister, she was overjoyed with the arrangement, as she had often expressed her wish to become a Sister and teacher. Marie's aunt was Sister Marie Mailhot, so Marie knew the life well, as she had often visited Sister Marie. After completing high school at Stanbrook Hall, Marie entered the convent on August 30, 1938. When she completed her postulancy and novitiate, Sister Renee's first assignment in 1940 was as first grade teacher at St. Thomas School in International Falls. From there she continued to teach in Minneapolis, Chicago, Duluth, Virginia, Crosby, and Wayzata, and finally ended up where she had begun to teach—in International Falls in 1978. Sister Renee has a black book containing each student's name—1,126 total. Her winning smile and pleasing personality, together with individual interest in each student, endeared her to the little tots. Her creativity was not overlooked as she wrote stories in book form for each student who had difficulty in reading—personal stories to which each could relate. Sister Renee will celebrate a Diamond Jubilee (70 years) this coming summer, and another article about her later years will be included in the 2010 Annual Report. Happy 90th, Sister Renee!
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Sister Bertille Goblirsch, OSB, 83, St. Scholastica Monastery, died at the Monastery on Friday, February 19, 2010. She entered the Duluth Benedictine community January 3, 1951, and professed monastic vows July 11, 1952. She celebrated her Silver Jubilee of monastic profession August 15, 1977, and her Golden Jubilee July 7, 2002. Sister Bertille was born November 30, 1926, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. She received her High School Equivalency Diploma from Phoenix College. Primarily, her ministries in the community were Housekeeping and Food Service. Sister Bertille’s Housekeeping duties included service at Our Lady of Victory and St. Bridget’s Convents in Minneapolis, St. Timothy’s in Chicago, and St. Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix. Her Food Service work was chiefly in baking at the Villa St. Scholastica, the College of St. Scholastica, St. Scholastica Monastery, and the Benedictine Health Center, all located in Duluth. In 1998 she retired from Food Service and in 2002 did volunteer work for the community. Sister Bertille was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Clara (Sellner) Goblirsch, her brothers Edwin, Eugene, Gerald, and Denis. Besides the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by her brother, Father Robert Goblirsch, her sister, Alice Dorn, her Aunt Mary Turbes, and several nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends. A wake service was at 7:00 p.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on Tuesday, February, 23, 2010, with visitation from 5:30 until 9:00 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial took place at 11 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, with Reverend Robert Goblirsch as presider. Interment was in Gethsemane Cemetery. Memorials to St. Scholastica Monastery will be appreciated. Arrangements were by Bell Brothers Jarvi Dowd Funeral Home.
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Abbot John Klassen of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, spoke at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel at St. Scholastica on Monday. Feb.22 . He opened a series of Catholic Studies talks with "Reconciliation: A Scarred Church Faces a New Century." He addressed the topic from several perspectives: the sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church; how it has affected the interactions among bishops, priests, and laity; and sharing in ministry and clerical-lay partnerships.
He was sponsored by the Braegelman Catholic Studies Program at The College of St. Scholastica. |
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Ninety years ago on February 20, 1920, a baby girl came into the world in the old St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota. She was the fourth child of Carl and Verena Ludwig. They named her Collette Barbara. Carl worked as a carpenter for Anderson and Gow as an accomplished cabinetmaker, while Verena stayed home to care for little Collette and her eight siblings.
In 1934 Collete began high school as an aspirant at Villa Sancta Scholastica and after graduation entered the Benedictine community there. She subsequently became Sister Mary Paul, and after making final vows in 1943, was sent out to teach. Among her many other varied assignments over the years, she served as Executive Director of Pastoral Area Councils under Bishop Paul Anderson and Pastoral Administrator of Our Lady of Mercy Church on Park Point. But her favorite assignment, she says, was in Chile–the years she spent in Chile as principal of Colegio San Jose–a grade school and girls' high school. And today? She sews caps, mittens, and quilts for the poor and makes up kits for newborns. On Mondays she volunteers in the hospice at St. Mary's Medical Center, and on Thursdays at Solvay Hospice House. And should you chance to walk by the kitchenette on the floor where she lives, you would be met by the delicious aroma of some sort of sweet bread or jelly being made for one charity or another. Asked for a word of wisdom, Sister May Paul said, "I have lived these ninety years accepting whatever came my way. I refused to give in or give up because whatever the circumstances, it was yet another expression of God's love for me." Words of wisdom, indeed! Sister Mary Paul will celebrate a Diamond Jubilee (70 years) this coming summer, and another article will be included in the 2010 Annual Report. Happy 90th, Sister Mary Paul!
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“It was wonderful to pray together and share fellowship. I was inspired by how everyone joined in praising God for his wonderful love, and I was encouraged to see everyone sharing faith. CHUM Church is a great ministry!” said Sister Lisa Maurer.
Those who represented St. Scholastica Monastery were Sister Martha Bechtold (below), Sister Maria Volk, Sister Linda Wiggins, Sister Lisa Maurer, and Benedictine Associates Elizabeth (above) and Marcie.
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Sister Mary Catherine Shambour, Vocation Director (far right) leads a session on the meaning of consecrated life with women participating in the February Women's Discernment Weekend at the Monastery. Other sessions on prayer and discernment were facilitated by Sister Jeanne Ann Weber and Sister Michelle Dosch, respectively. The interested women also met with the six women currently in formation and joined the Community for Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist, and shared lectio divina, meals, and recreation. The next Discernment Weekend will be April 16-18, 2010. (See retreat info above.)
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On February 11th, the World Day of Prayer for the Sick, Sister Lois blessed our Health Care Givers on Benet Hall. They are part of a sacred ministry—the healing ministry of Jesus. They are part of our ministry of healing and healthcare which began in 1888 when Mother Scholastica and a group of Benedictine Sisters came from St. Benedict's Monastery, now located in St. Joseph, Minnesota, to found St. Mary's Hospital/Medical Center. In 1985 Sister Grace Marie (Prioress) began a series of meetings which resulted in the formation of the Benedictine Health System, which as of January 1, 2008, is totally focused on long term and senior care.
Sister Lois anointed each caregiver with blessed oil which expresses the fragrance, the big heart, the healing,and the worth which God gifts each caregiver and in which they gift one another and our dear Sisters to whom they minister.
The caregivers were then presented with the 25th Anniversary Pin of the Benedictine Health System. The theme this anniversary year is "United in Peace."
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St. Scholastica was known as the twin sister of St. Benedict, founder of Western monasticism. We know of her through the writings of St. Gregory the Great in his book, Dialogues, Book II: St. Benedict. She became a part of religious life at an early age and became abbess in the convent near her brother’s monastery at Monte Cassino. St. Gregory has a couple of touching stories of St. Scholastica and her brother in his book. It was a day of celebration for both groups. A high point of the day was the celebration of the Eucharist.
The Schola, with the assembly joining in many parts, proclaimed God’s praise in one, two, and three part music.
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Affiliate Linda Wainright from New Orleans, standing at the entrance of Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel, St. Scholastica Monastery (accompanied by her director, Sister Mary Catherine Shambour), requested Prioress Lois Eckes (left) to admit her as a postulant to this Benedictine Community. Waiting inside were Sister Michelle Dosch, Director of Postulants and Novices (foreground, right), and others who would escort her to evening prayer.
Sister Lois, upon granting Linda's request, conferred on her the Benedictine cross worn by postulants and symbolic of the life she has chosen. Reminding her that the Benedictine motto is "Pray and work that in all things God may be glorified, " Sister Michelle presented her with a set of the Community's prayer books and an apron (which replaces the scapular worn for work in earlier times).
Following evening prayer, Postulant Linda Wainright paused for a moment to display her apron and medal. The Postulancy stage lasts from six months to two years, after which the candidate may request entrance into the Noviate.
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 Benedictine Friends (Sisters and CSS students) lovingly make Valentines for the Sisters in Benet Hall and the residents of The Benedictine Health Center.  It is in the spirit of joy and love that this group continues to find ways to reach out to the wider community.
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This is an important day that celebrates the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 40 days after the observance of his birth. In the beginning of the 8th Century, Pope Sergius inaugurated a candlelight procession and the blessing of candles for use in the church or the home.
Each year we continue this tradition of the blessing of candles in the Gathering Place. We share the light of Christ with one another.
The lighted candles are carried in procession and placed into a container before the altar. In the hymn, "Joy, Joy, the Mother Comes", we sing: "...and in her arms she brings the Light of all the world....Saint Joseph walks beside them......Blessed Simeon and Anna rejoice to see their Lord, the promised of the nations..."
May Christ indeed be our light, and the light of the world!
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In February St. Scholastica Monastery acted as the “host church” for CHUM Church. CHUM Church, one of the oldest
CHUM (Churches United in Ministry) Programs, was started in 1974 to provide spiritual growth and to nurture people
with developmental disabilities. As the “host church” Sisters and Benedictine Associates from the Monastery joined
in the worship and fellowship, leading the prayer service and providing refresh-ments.
