When Stefanie MacDonald first explored religious life, she had no idea how many different types of orders existed. She just called some Dubuque Sisters who lived nearby and began discerning with them. Although she lived with them for 9 months, it wasn't a good fit for her.

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"Many lived in apartments and didn't pray together as a large group," now-Benedictine Sister Stefanie says. "I thought, I can do this on my own without being a Sister. I found out I wasn't called to that kind of community."

She spent the next 10 years teaching in a Catholic grade school, singing in her parish church choir and enjoying single life before she felt the call come back.

"Then I started feeling a nudge again," she says. "I went online and found a community in Nebraska that lived and prayed together. They also taught school. It sounded great."

Again, though, she struck out. During a vocation retreat there, Sister Stefanie discovered the Sisters were - except for their work - cloistered. That is, they went out to teach, but were otherwise expected to remain on the abbey grounds, away from the world.

No visits home were allowed, and only occasional visits from family were possible.

"I am very close with my family," Sister Stefanie says. "I want to visit them and have them visit me. I have many close friends. A cloistered community wouldn't work for me."

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Still, the sense she was being called wouldn't go away. Sister Stefanie tried again.

"I went online and found a community of Benedictine Sisters in Rock Island," she says. "They were different from the other orders I visited. They go out for their ministries and can visit their families, but they pray and live together under one roof."

Sister Stefanie became a fully professed Benedictine Sister in June, 2013. She became the vocation director last fall.

"I love to talk about my community," she says. "It's different from most others, with a balance of solitude, prayer, ministry and fun. Our ministry - whether it's teaching or working in a parish - is very important to us. Our desire to serve God's people flows out of our prayer.

"Our tradition dates back to around 500 A.D. when St. Benedict founded his monastery and wrote his Rule. We follow an ancient practice."

For more information about the Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, visit www.smmsisters.org or contact Sister Stefanie at (309) 283-2300 or smacdonald@smmsisters.org.

Types of Catholic Sisters
Apostolic*
Catholic Sisters who belong to such congregations as Dominican, Franciscan, Mercy and many others often live away from the Motherhouse in small groups or alone in order to serve in their ministries.

Cloistered*
Catholic Nuns who live in such communities as Trappistine (Cistercian) and Carmelite are focused primarily on prayer and are generally cloistered, or restricted to the monastic grounds.

Monastic*
Catholic Sisters, such as Benedictines, live together, share daily prayer, and serve in various ministries in the local community.

*Exceptions apply to nearly every type of community. For example, not all Carmelite Sisters are cloistered, not all Dominican Nuns are apostolic, and not all monastic communities go out for ministry.