Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Prayer

Saint Benedict’s Day – March 21st

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Saint Benedict’s Day

 

Young Benedict was a seeker of Truth.  A well-kept, well-fed young man from a prosperous family, he attended university in his quest for the Truth.  But what he found there neither answered the questions he had nor satisfied his longings.  The life of hedonism that surrounded him there only disgusted him and left him bruised and empty.  He had searched for the meaning of life in an academic environment without success.

We thank God that Benedict did not give up on his search for life’s meaning on the day he abandoned his studies.  Instead he walked away from everything he had known to look elsewhere.  He constructed a solitary existence, far from the distractions of human society, to search for life’s purpose.  Alone, he besought God’s merciful presence, and God answered him.  When others came to him in the hope of joining him, he did not turn them away.  He recorded his experience as a spiritual mentor and his guidelines for the monastic life in his Rule.  We, the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, are the happy heirs of St. Benedict’s legacy.

Benedict’s life-long search for God required tremendous courage, faith and perseverance.  His willingness to leave his beloved solitude in order to share his wisdom with others was an act of self-sacrifice and generosity.  On this feast of St. Benedict’s passing to his heavenly home, let us ask God for a measure of those same qualities.  Let us prefer nothing to the love of Christ, and may He bring us all to everlasting life.  (RB 72:11)

~by Sister Eileen Dunbar, OSB
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Catholic Sisters Week

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9th Annual Catholic Sisters Week

will celebrate work women religious do today

March 3, 2022
by Dan Stockman

Catholic Sisters Week – March 8-14, 2022

Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many activities planned for the ninth annual Catholic Sisters Week will again take place online.

But this year’s virtual events, which begin March 8, International Women’s Day, and run through March 14, are more interactive than last year’s: Rather than simply observing an event taking place at a convent or motherhouse, many of this year’s events are about getting participants involved in the work sisters do.

Stacy Spitler, director of communications for the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and chair of the Communicators for Women Religious committee overseeing Catholic Sisters Week, said organizers have worked to ensure events are not only about the legacy of sisters’ work, but what they do today.

“Let’s take down the walls and engage with the charism and ministries and love that vowed sisters bring to the world,” Spitler said. “Sisters are always about welcome and invitation, and I think Catholic Sisters Week is a call to the world to take a moment and pay attention to the wisdom and the experience and the inspiration sisters offer.”

The theme for this year is “Caring for Earth, Caring for You,” and Spitler said many events are incorporating an environmental focus or aspects of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Sí‘ on Care for Our Common Home.”

“Sisters have been caring for our Earth and caring for creation throughout their lifetimes,” she said.

The Amityville Dominicans will use the week to have participants join an eco-challenge aimed at reducing plastic waste by purchasing products with minimal or no plastic packaging and switching to reusable water bottles, utensils and bags. Similarly, Region IV of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is getting participants involved in caring for the Earth with “events, prayers, calls to action, social media campaigns, and more.” And the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky, are inviting participants to join a virtual walking tour of Louisville that traces the highlights of the congregation’s co-founder, Mother Catherine Spalding.

Catholic Sisters Week also brings the final episode of “Exploring Intersections: Catholic Sisters on Racism, Migration and Climate,” a project of LCWR’s Region 10. For a year, the monthly program has explored the issues of racism, migration and climate and how they are intertwined. The March 9 episode, “Navigating the Road Ahead,” will focus on takeaways from the series and suggestions for continuing the conversation.

As always, there are “come and see” events and discussions about vocations and discernment opportunities, but Ginny Hizer, executive director of Communicators for Women Religious, which has overseen Catholic Sisters Week since 2020, said engaging with sisters does not have to be part of a recruiting effort.

“One of the things Catholic Sisters Week embraces this year is the concept of being engaged in the work,” Hizer said. “It’s taking the flavor and the mission of the sisters and actually living it out.”

While laypeople are increasingly involved in the work of sisters through sponsored ministries and associate programs, Catholic Sisters Week opens those opportunities to a much broader audience, Hizer said.

“It allows everybody to participate and be part of that work,” she said.

The week’s events also include at least three food drives, a virtual Celtic tea, and an invitation to join the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica for compline, or evening prayer. See all Catholic Sisters Week events.

“Catholic Sisters Week opens up many invitations to engage in contemplative study with sisters. You’ll find webinars, liturgy celebrations,” Spitler said. “Vocation is a piece of this, obviously, but it’s also an opportunity for people to engage with the sisters in many different ways, both virtually and in person.”

She said the engagement Catholic Sisters Week offers this year is especially important after two years of pandemic restrictions and the social isolation it has caused: Even as restrictions have eased, many people feel lost or alone, unable to connect with others and unsure of whether it’s even safe to connect.

“Sisters are better than anybody at finding the hope and holding the hope and recognizing the abundance that surrounds our lives. If you want to experience a bit of that abundance, look to Catholic Sisters Week,” she said. “You can get out of the dark, yucky, cold winter and get some motivation and a reminder of where our faith comes from.”

~by Dan Stockman
Dan Stockman is national correspondent for Global Sisters Report.
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Pope calls prayers and fasting

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Pope calls for day of prayer, fasting

for peace in Ukraine

 

S. Lynn McKenzie, CIB moderator writes: “There are Benedictine nuns and sisters in Ukraine who need our prayers.  I heard from the CIB Delegate of CIB Region 7 which includes Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania – she has been in touch with the abbess of the monastery of nuns in Zhytomyr Ukraine who said that the military base near them was destroyed by shelling last night.  Some people in the area are coming to the abbey of the nuns to take refuge.  I’m afraid that this will spill beyond Ukraine borders.”

VATICAN CITY | As the threat of war loomed over the world, Pope Francis called on people to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday.

Before concluding his general audience Feb. 23, the pope called on believers and nonbelievers to combat the “diabolical insistence, the diabolical senselessness of violence” with prayer and fasting.

“I invite everyone to make March 2, Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting for peace,” he said. “I encourage believers in a special way to devote themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day. May the Queen of Peace protect the world from the folly of war.”

In his appeal, the pope said he, like many around the world, felt “anguish and concern” after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The pope said that due to the “alarming” developments in the region, “once again, the peace of all is threatened by partisan interests.”

“I would like to appeal to those with political responsibilities to do a serious examination of conscience before God, who is the God of peace and not of war, who is the father of all and not only of some, who wants us to be brothers and sisters and not enemies,” he said.

He also urged world leaders to “refrain from any action that would cause even more suffering to the people, destabilizing the coexistence between nations and discrediting international law.”

Putin’s recognition of the two breakaway regions’ independence was seen by Western leaders as a violation of international law protecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and as a move that could pave the way for a Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

In the wake of the Russian president’s actions, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union announced sanctions against several Russian banks and institutions.

In a statement released Feb. 22, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, said Putin’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has caused “irreparable damage” to the “logic of international relations.”

He also said the Russian president “destroyed foundational principles for a long-term process of restoring peace in Ukraine” and “created the path for a new wave of military aggression against our state.”

~Article by Catholic News Service posted on Florida Catholic Media
February 23,2022
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Change Comes to the Advancement Office!

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As of March 1, 2022 Faith Pridmore, our director of advancement, has retired.  She has been with us for twelve years and is now looking forward to more time with her family, especially her grandchildren.  Read more from Faith about her departure in the upcoming Spring Tide which will be mailed in mid-March.

Sister Eileen Dunbar will partner with Cheryl Chadick in the Advancement Office going forward.  Sister has an extensive background in teaching music both in the USA and abroad.  She has been working for Saint Leo University as a Data Analyst since 1998.  You can read more about her in the upcoming Tide.

It has been a privilege and honor for me, Cheryl Chadick, to work with Faith for the past seven years!  I have learned much about the non-profit world from her and have a deep appreciation for her and her family.  We are all going to miss her!

I am now looking forward to working with Sr. Eileen in the Advancement Office.  To new beginnings! 

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