Benedictine Sisters

Sister Mary Clare Neuhofer, OSB

December 31, 2025 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

Sister Mary Clare Neuhofer OSB, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, died peacefully on December 22, 2025 at the age of 87 after a period of declining health. Baptized Sophia Neuhofer, she was the sixth child of Helen (Barthle) and Joseph P. Neuhofer. She grew up in a family of 11 children in St. Joseph, Florida on the family farm. Her family had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart which she carried with her throughout her life.

Sr. Mary Clare attended Holy Name Academy in Saint Leo, Florida and entered Holy Name Monastery (then Priory) one week after graduation. Sr. Mary Clare made her final profession as a Benedictine Sister on December 16, 1960. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Saint Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas in 1969, and pursued graduate studies in Musicology at the University of Indiana Bloomington and Theology at St John’s University in Minnesota. During her 68 years as a Benedictine Sister, she served internally as formation director, monastery treasurer, member of the Monastic Council, Prioress, and hospitality minister. During all this time, she was also organist and Music Director of the monastery, stopping only when health concerns prevented her from continuing.

Her external ministries included administrative positions at Saint Leo College now Saint Leo University, finishing her time there as Assistant to the President for Campus Ministry. She was a classroom teacher and music teacher in the Florida Catholic schools. She also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Saint Leo University, Secretary for the Pasco County Board of Catholic Charities, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Sr. Mary Clare loved reading, especially murder mysteries, and enjoyed working the New York Times crossword puzzle with other sisters on Sunday night. She also loved to travel and took every opportunity to explore unfamiliar regions of the USA. As hospitality minister she enjoyed greeting monastery guests and getting to know them. But her first love was always music.

Sr. Mary Clare was predeceased by her parents, Helen and Joseph P. Neuhofer; her siblings: Mary Neuhofer, Sister Mary Dorothy Neuhofer OSB, Joe Neuhofer, Paul Neuhofer (Mary A.) Gertrude LaBruzzo (Pete), Leo Neuhofer, and Frank Neuhofer.

Sr. Mary Clare is survived by her siblings: Lena Pearson (Malloy), Patrick Neuhofer (Mary Ann) and Carl “Mike” Neuhofer (Marcia), her Benedictine family, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

The Reception of Sister Mary Clare’s cremains and Vigil Service with Evening Prayer will be held at Holy Name Monastery, 12138 Wichers Road, Saint Leo, Florida on Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. with a Funeral Mass held on Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. Following the Funeral Mass, burial will be in the sisters’ section of the Abbey Cemetery at Saint Leo University.

Donations in her memory may be made to Benedictine Sisters of Florida, PO Box 2450, Saint Leo FL 33574-2450.

Holy Thursday

April 14, 2022 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

It is Holy Thursday. The daily events continue to unfold in the house. Sr. Mary Romana and Kathleen Daye are outside tending to the garden. It is the season for picking blueberries and mulberries. The fruits of their labor (and that of Sr. Miriam) will come into the chapel and the kitchen for the Easter celebration. Sr. Miriam (ever the teacher) has put out a single sheet displaying butterflies of the rainforest (in color!) for the sisters to enjoy. Two native to our area are included: the zebra longwing and the spicebush swallowtail. I am not surprised. It can feel very tropical here some days. Sr. Donna will be working in the kitchen making preparations for the weekend (e.g. baking a lamb shaped cake for Sunday and hot cross buns for tomorrow). Sr. Roberta sat with our two guests at breakfast and is now on a Zoom call, mostly likely with one the many charities she supports with her presence. Volunteer Jo Shine has come to join us for the Triduum. She is an expert at drying dishes and putting them away in their proper place. Employee John Barthle has moved the cactus out of the chapel. It will soon be time to come in from our forty days in the spiritual desert of Lent. Sr. Elizabeth, our sacristan, and Sr. Mary David, our liturgist, are making preparations for the Holy Thursday Mass. Srs. Jean and Donna have left for their ministry at Daystar Hope. They, together with other volunteers, will be there this morning to distribute food and clothing to those who come and ask. Sr. Mary Clare is in her office, answering phone and email inquiries about monastery retreats. Sr. Margaret Mary is practicing the keyboard and will be accompanist for tonight and tomorrow’s liturgies. Some sisters are doing last minute laundry. Sr. Dianne is putting final touches on the Easter Sunday liturgies. Marietta Dinopol has gone for a walk.

All of this busy-ness will come to a halt this evening as we enter into the Triduum, the liturgical expression of the Mystery of our Christian faith. Rest assured that we will take you and your intentions with us. Blessings to you and yours during this holy time.

~by Sister Eileen Dunbar

Benedictine Women Send Donations to Ukraine

March 22, 2022 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

Benedictine Women Send Donations to Their Sisters in Ukraine

~Original story from Benedictine Sisters of Erie.

The Benedictine Sisters of Florida have joined with women’s Benedictine monasteries around the world in offering financial support to Benedictine Sisters who serve in the Ukraine. By way of Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum (CIB), whose members represent women’s monasteries on almost every continent, the sisters have sent more than $200,000 in dollars and euros to aid victims and refugees of Putin’s war on Ukraine. The monies have gone directly to Mother Blandyna Michniewicz, Abbess of the Monastery of Benedictine Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Warsaw and a CIB delegate for the region of Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania. She and the sisters in the Ukraine are working together to meet needs as best they can.

Sister Lynn McKenzie, OSB, moderator of the CIB, communicates information received from the sisters in Poland. “The nuns of the monastery in Zhytomyr have evacuated to another monastery in L’viv, in the far western part of Ukraine. I have learned that they are receiving approximately 100 refugees from other parts of Ukraine per day and feeding them and sending them on their way, hopefully to safety. We pray for the safety and good health of the nuns now in L’viv. Indeed, we pray for all Benedictines and people of Ukraine who have lived through this atrocity. We give God thanks for their fidelity and love.”

In addition to financial assistance, CIB sisters in Germany have also organized the shipment of medicines and bandages to Ukraine. The transport went from Germany to Warsaw and from there passed through a “well organized ‘corridor’ and transportation network in Ukraine to reach the most needy,” according to Sister Caterina Gorgen at the Benedictine Abbey of Engelthal in Germany.

If you would like to offer financial assistance CIB is collecting funds. All monies donated through this link will go directly to the Benedictine Sisters in Poland for immediate refugee relief. DONATE HERE.

A Christmas Gift

November 15, 2021 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

Looking for something special for a

dear friend or family member for Christmas?

Bid on one of these lovely shawls…

Be part of the 100th Anniversary of the Benedictine Women’s
Federation of St. Scholastica in 2022

SUPPORT OUR PRAYER SHAWL AUCTION

NOVEMBER 15-22

All proceeds from the sale of these 10 beautiful shawls made with prayerful hands and loving hearts

by Sister Ana Cloughly, Colorado Springs, CO, and Sister Dolores Dean, Bristow, VA,

will help support the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the

Benedictine Women’s Federation of St. Scholastica in June 2022.

Titled “Benedictine Life: A Vision Unfolding,” the celebration will include a public prayer and celebration, a special anniversary issue of Benedictines magazine, and a Benedictine Colloquium open to all Benedictine seekers.

Prayer Shawls

(click on the link above to bid)

Lent 2021

March 26, 2021 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

Abbot Gregory J. Polan, O.S.B. is the Abbot Primate since 2016 of the 1500-year old Benedictine Order residing at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. He serves the Benedictine community as its liaison to the Vatican and civil authorities to promote unity among the various autonomous Benedictine monasteries and congregations. Abbot Polan is the tenth Abbot Primate and the fourth American elected. We were pleased to have him with us directing our 2019 summer retreat week.

The following is from Abbot Polan’s recent Circular:

Greetings of Lenten peace, faith, hope and support in these uncertain times. Strong confidence in God’s inscrutable ways calls us to walk the path to Easter. In the midst of these times when we see a light beginning to shine with the roll-out of the vaccine to all parts of the world, we give thanks for what has been happening and we pray for a just and right distribution of these healing remedies. Let us remain strong in following the instructions given by the governments, the health professionals, and the Church leadership which calls for continued care, protection and proper protocols. It is clear, we will not be moving back to life as it was; there will be a new normal which will only develop with time, patience, practical wisdom, spiritual insight, sacrifice, generous service toward the needy and a deeper sense of care for one another. One of the graces that has come from this pandemic, has been the awareness of how this situation has touched the lives of all of us. The effects of the pandemic have marked our lives in uniquely different ways. Yet what has united us is that as brothers and sisters in the human family, children of God and as members of the Body of Christ, we are all striving to move forward. Our experiences are so vastly different, but we are unified in our endeavoring to find the way forward and to see how this will open for us in time, in grace and in hope. In the recent visit of Pope Francis to Iran, his words to continue working toward peace, mutual care for one another and a world that shows tolerance and mutual acceptance speak loudly to our hope of moving forward with confidence.

Feed the Hungers of the People of God

March 16, 2021 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

The third Tuesday in March is traditionally our annual prayer service and soup supper in support of the Daystar Hope food distribution program for the poor. Like with many other programs this year, on March 16th we will mark the occasion in-house. Unfortunately, the 2021 Soup Supper will not include our guests who otherwise would join us for prayer and a simple supper of soup and Sister Donna’s fresh baked bread.

Throughout the month the Benedictine Sisters are making personal donations to the Daystar fund. If you would like to contribute to this effort to “feed the hungers of the people of God,” you may make an on-line donation at:

www.benedictinesistersoffl.org

(Donations on our website can be made through PayPal or your credit card. Click on the link above.)

Please indicate your donation is for Daystar by selecting “Daystar” as the designation from the drop down box.

You can send a check payable to the Benedictine Sisters of Florida

by mail to:

P.O. Box 2450

St. Leo, FL 33574

Sister Mary Clare Neuhofer, OSB