By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
Wow! My Final Profession was wonderful and beautiful. I think I am still trying to decide if it was all real!
Benedictine practices
Monastic Worship Forum
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald
The first part of this summer – after retreat – has already been very busy. After the lovely Jubilee celebration last week, a bunch of us set off for Sacred Heart Monastery in Yankton, SD. We went for a conference on the liturgical change from Vatican II. My head is still spinning. 🙂 Continue Reading
50 years later …
What compels a woman to give up everything to seek and serve God and God’s creation? Sisters Janet Cassidy, Phyllis McMurray and Marlene Miller (shown left to right with Prioress Sr. Sandra Brunenn, far right) did just that 50 years ago … and choose to continue doing so today.
This weekend we celebrated their Jubilee with friends and family. Continue Reading
Going Forth in Peace: Work and Prayer on Day 6
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
Many people are familiar with the Benedictines’ motto of “work and prayer.” That is, Benedictines seek to balance prayer time and work time. Today, however, Sr. Antoinette helped us explore what it should really mean in practice.
Foremost, she said, work and prayer should be more than what we do. It should be what and how we live. Continue Reading
Benedictine Harmony and Balance: Day 5
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
“Benedictine harmony and balance require a respect for time. … Time is to be spent in prayer, in sacred reading, in work, and in community participation … It is public as well as private; it is private as well as public. It is balanced.” (Joan Chittister, OSB; Wisdom Distilled from the Daily)
In other words, no one thing should consume our lives! We should never spend an inordinate amount of time on, say, watching TV or scrubbing the floor. All dimensions of life should be in balance, making up the whole. They should fit together as a puzzle (which is what Sr. Jackie and I are piecing together in this picture!). And each piece, when of the proper size and weight, should help make us fully alive. Continue Reading
Community life: The good, the bad and the … adjustments
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
When I was a postulant, I struggled to adopt the monastic daily schedule. They get up before the sun, for heaven’s sake. Aaargh!
If you can’t tell, I am not a morning person. I walk around in a daze, barely aware of my surroundings. Coffee helps, but still.
So every day, I’d somehow end up in chapel for Lauds at 6:30 a.m., dressed and ready for school (I had to leave right after prayers). On the way to the chapel each day, I’d set my backpack on the bench outside the vocation office, often passing a Sister who was heading for her own office to drop off her purse. Continue Reading
Living obediently … why… how? Day 3
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB
Living obediently was a topic of yesterday’s retreat conference. Obedience is one of our monastic promises. But what does it mean today?
To obey comes from the Latin, obedire, to listen. In practice, what that means is to listen to – obey – God. We do so by reading Scripture, walking in nature and listening to one another, among other things.
But it’s not easy. Why? Because when we listen – really listen – we learn what God’s creation needs. We learn what our peers need of us. We learn what God needs of us. And when we understand, we are called to act. Continue Reading
Always a Learner … Even as a Teacher
The Road to Eternal Life by Michael Casey, OSB, is filled with gems. One line that struck me today is, “Monastic life, spiritual life is all about becoming a learner, a disciple.” Read preschool teacher Sister Stefanie’s reflection on being a life-long spiritual learner!
A Prayer for Calming Teachers and Preschoolers
Wednesday last week was one of those days where you want to go home, go back to bed and start over. (I sometime think if we could get a free restarts in life it would be great. Then again, maybe not – it might end up being a rewind of what just happened. 
)
Read Sister Stefanie’s (very) Benedictine response to a chaotic and difficult classroom!
My Own Prayer Day
By Sister Stefanie MacDonald
Each month my Benedictine Sisters devote a day to silent prayer. They observe silence, spend time in reflection and engage in private prayer on the first Wednesday of every month. It’s heaven! Read the rest at Sister Stefanie’s ABCs!
monasterywisdomvocationblog.smmsisters.org 