PHOTO: Father Michael Casey, OCSO, from Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia, addresses attendees of the 33rd Monastic Institute held earlier this summer at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Two members of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration recently attended the 33rd Monastic Institute June 27-July 1.
Assistant Prioress General Sister Pat Nyquist, OSB, and Sister Nancy Rose Gucwa, OSB, director of development and general councilor, attended the event, which was hosted by Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. The theme was “Humility: Paradoxical Pathway to Union with God.”
The national workshop drew participants from around the country and included Benedictine sisters, monks and oblates. Speakers were Father Michael Casey, OCSO, from Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia, Sister Manuela Scheiba, OSB, from the Abbey of St. Gertrude in Germany, and Father Luke Dysinger, OSB, from St. Andrew's Abbey in California.
Sister Nancy Rose gained more information about how humility and monastic life are intertwined.
“The workshop took place over five days, but it is a lifelong process,” she said. “Humility is often misunderstood as low self-esteem. However, the truly humble person is able to realistically and accurately describe their abilities and limitations and keep themselves rooted in reality. Christ was often described as humble and said whoever humbles himself will be the greatest. The humility that follows self-knowledge leads to compassion. We are not aware of those areas within ourselves that need to be transcended. That's why we have community.”
Sister Pat and Sister Nancy Rose also toured two Benedictine communities during their journey: St. Paul’s Monastery in St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
The Monastic Institute is sponsored each year by Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary and Saint John’s Abbey. They historically invite monastics, graduate students and laity to foster reflection, engage in conversations and to educate in matters of monastic spirituality and on topics of concern to monastic communities.
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