November 5 - 11: National Vocation Awareness Week In honor of this year's National Vocation Awareness Week, we are putting the spotlight on the three nonagenarians in our monastery. There they are in the photo below, left to right: Sr. Clare, Sr. Miriam and Sr. Jacqueline. They want you to notice their colorful socks, lest you think that being in one's 90's is dull! Sr. Clare Renquin is our eldest,…
Our Monastic Experience Weekends (MEWs) are for young women curious about life in a contemplative monastery and open to becoming a nun. This year we had the joy of welcoming Cristina, Anna, and Adrienne for the weekend of October 6-9. The entire weekend was punctuated with prayer as our guests joined us for the seven hours of the Divine Office (a.k.a. the Liturgy of the Hours), beginning on Friday evening…
Several women expressed interest in attending our 2022 Monastic Experience Weekend, but in the end, according to the designs of God's providence, it became a week-long experience for one woman, Toni. She thoroughly enjoyed her time here, attending the Divine Office, talking with our vocation team members (Mother Vicki, Sr. Rita, and Sr. Pam), lending a hand in the altar bread bakery and elsewhere, along with ample time for quiet…
Sr. Sharon Bezner entered our community as a postulant in 2019 and was clothed as a novice on March 25, 2020. After three years of prayer, study, spiritual direction, work, and the daily living of the monastic life in our community with all its joys and challenges, Sr. Sharon was ready for the next step in her vocation journey. During our community chapter on March 25, the feast of the…
We hosted a Monastic Experience Weekend (MEW) October 1-4 for young women interested in our monastic way of life. The last time we'd offered one of these vocation weekends was in February 2019, pre-COVID. The women who attended our 2021 weekend were both from Arizona and drove up to our front door just before 4:30 p.m. on Friday. B. and A. stayed in our retreat house for the weekend, joined…
At our community chapter on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, we had the joy of clothing our postulant Sharon in the novice's habit. The simple ceremony took place between the 7:00 a.m. Office of Lauds and our 8:00 a.m. Scripture and Communion Service. (Yes, like the rest of the world, we cannot attend Mass right now, since our would-be chaplain must stay home.) [caption id="attachment_27620"…
We were very happy to host a number of women interested in learning more about our Cistercian way of life for a beautiful and grace-filled Monastic Experience Weekend August 16-19. The days afforded participants with both personal reflection and group sharing time, as well as the opportunity to pray and talk with sisters and to share a meal with the community. Here are a few of their reflections on…
We are happy to introduce two new additions to our community of Santa Rita: Sister Hildgard and Postulant Sharon! Sr. Hildgard Wanjiku Mberere is a native of Kenya. She grew up not far from the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of Victoria and felt called to monastic life from a young age. Her…
