Could you live the Benedictine Promises?

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

February 2009

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

Steps
Discerning your path in life

Could you live the Benedictine Promises?

Obedience is the Benedictine promise to be faithful listeners. We listen to the voice of the Spirit in Scriptures, in the Rule of Benedict, in the Prioress, in one another. We are guided by the question of what is truly best for ourselves, and for the community. Then, we seek to respond with generosity and courage.

When Benedictines make their Monastic Profession, they commit to promises of Obedience, Stability and Fidelity to the Monastic Way of Life. These promises take the place of the vows of other orders.

Could you live these promises? Read what our newest members say about them over the next couple of months. Today they reflect on the first promise, Stability, below.

Postulant Nancy Offenhiser (above left, with Prioress Phyllis McMurray) says, "I would say that for me, obedience is listening as well as trusting. We trust that the Spirit will lead us where the Spirit wants us to go. We trust when we cannot see the way clearly.

"Obedience is knowing ourselves; having humility. Obedience is also Love. It is the love of Christ manifest in my Prioress, Formation Director and other sisters. It is seeing Christ within them and trusting that what they ask is coming from Christ."

Postulant Jackie Walsh says, "Obedience is willingly - not blindly - giving up the inclination toward self-being, self-wants, self-priorities. Obedience is listening to the voice of God as it reverberates within. It's listening to Scripture and the message that works its way through you.

"As a member of this community, I am no longer just one person. I am a part of the whole, and as such, my priorities are no longer mine alone. I am here to seek God, to do the will of the One who called me."

Novice Stefanie MacDonald says, "As I was thinking of obedience, I was reminded of something another Sister said. She said the community is like a wheel, with the prioress at the center and the Sisters along the outside. The spokes connect us to the center - the prioress - and the rim connects us to each other. We need to be obedient to the prioress and to each other or the wheel will fall apart.

"In everyday life as a Benedictine sometimes think it can be easier to be obedient about the big things than the small ones. For example, remembering to put your shoes in your room so no one trips over them in the living room, or remembering to turn off lights to save energy for everyone. When we remember to do these things, we are obedient and generous to one another."