What would you give up to follow Christ?

Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Illinois

September 2008

Benedictine Sisters monastery grounds at St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Ill

Steps
Discerning your path in life

Giving up everything to follow Christ ... then and now

The letter from the Nauvoo Benedictines was clear: 18-year-old Phyllis McMurray, of Peoria, was to pack only the items listed as she began her new life as a Benedictine Postulant in 1961. Clothing - including a black blouse, mid-calf skirt, a short cape and thin veil - and shoes - black "Lazy Bones" oxfords - would be issued upon arrival.

Together, she and her mother assembled the items on the list, including:
* 4 white half-slips, cotton, about 13 inches from the floor
* 12 white handkerchiefs
* 1 pair bedroom slippers
* 1 housecoat
* Necessary toilet articles including face cream (if you use it) and no lipstick
* Sewing equipment (not a large basket)

Before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), religious life in the U.S. might have looked more like a punishment to outsiders than a joyful lifestyle. Sisters and Brothers truly gave up everything to join their communities. Indeed, they gave up their very freedom - freedom to dress as others dressed, go where they wished, and work in ministries they chose.

Following their Postulant and Novice year - which was and still is spent with the Sisters, learning about Benedictine life - the Sisters in first profession were eligible to be assigned to missions, mostly as teachers, across the state of Illinois. Where they went and what they did once there was not within their control.

"I remember sitting in chapel on Missioning Day, waiting to hear my name," Sr. Catherine Maloney, OSB, says. "None of us knew where we would be sent. The mission names were read alphabetically, so if you were going to be sent to Atkinson, you'd find out right away and be able to relax for the rest of the ceremony. If you were being sent to Winona, you had to wait a long time. We were on pins and needles!"

The Missioning Ceremony took place at the end of the Sisters' annual retreat. The Sisters - who had been instructed to pack their trunks as if they would not return to the previous year's mission - left for their new assignments later that afternoon.

"I was sent to four different schools in three years," Sr. Catherine says. "I didn't question Mother about it, but it wasn't always a happy experience for me."

That dictatorial approach began to change with the release of Vatican II's document on renewal of religious life. It encouraged communities to go back to the spirit of their founders. Reforms followed within communities that resulted in "truly collegial ways of ordering their lives together," Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, writes.* "Dialogue began to replace unilateral assignments and collaboration became the preferred approach to shared ministry. ... The titles 'superior' and 'mother' were quietly retired."

In fact, the post-Vatican II approach to missioning is more reflective of St. Benedict's advice to do everything with counsel, for the greater good of both the individual and the community.

"Missioning today is quite different from years ago," Sr. Phyllis - prioress since 2004 - says. "It has become an opportunity to reflect on the community's direction statements, to confirm each Sister's well-being and happiness in her ministry, and to ask the retired Sisters to pray for the active Sisters' ministries. We collaborate on choosing ministries that make the best use of our gifts while allowing full participation in the monastic community of shared prayer and life."

Such freedom doesn't mean you don't still give up everything to follow Christ, Sr. Phyllis says. But whether you own more than one pair of shoes or wear lipstick is immaterial. What's most important is your effort to follow God's intention for your life. "Discerning what God wants for us and being obedient to that is what we try to do as Benedictines. We still give up much, but we receive much more."