Källa: Bläckfisk. Kroatiska encyklopedin , onlineutgåva. Miroslav Krleža-institutet för lexikografi, 2013–2026 Hämtad 2026.20.6.<https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/sipa>.
Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles In my “Vocations Corner” series, I will be featuring traditional women’s religious orders. My hope is to provide resources for traditional Catholic women discerning a call to religious life, and to bring attention to traditional women’s religious orders readers may be interested in supporting. I hope you enjoy reading about these beautiful sisters. I certainly enjoy researching and writing about them. God bless!
For this, my first “Vocations Corner” post, I thought it appropriate to begin with the order founded by Sister Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster, the foundress and potential future saint I featured in my three-part series posted here here here founding in my three-part series, then discuss their charism , daily life, each of their current houses , and their requirements for entrance.
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Sister Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster. Photo courtesy of Geo News, published May 30, 2023. FOUNDING
Sister Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster was born Mary Elizabeth Lancaster on Palm Sunday, April 13, 1941, in Saint Louis Missouri. She was raised a faithful Catholic in the parish of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church, a Jesuit parish dedicated in 1873 to serving the Black Catholics of Saint Louis. She entered the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) in 1941 at the age of seventeen. The OSP was one of only two orders for Black women in the United States in the 1940’s. Sister Wilhelmina loved Catholic Tradition, especially the Traditional Latin Mass, the traditional Benedictine habit, and the musical heritage of the Catholic Church, particularly Gregorian Chant. During the upheavals in the OSP after Vatican II, Sister Wilhelmina tried to hold onto the Catholic faith as it had always been practiced in the Church. When her efforts to preserve Tradition within her own order failed, she was eventually persuaded to found another.¹ ²
In 1988, after Pope Saint John Paul II issued his motu proprio Ecclesia Dei , Sister Wilhelmina became determined to return to the Traditional Latin Mass and dedicate herself to preserving Catholic Tradition in whatever way the Lord asked of her. She had heard that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), newly formed under Ecclesia Dei to preserve the Traditional Latin Mass, were interested in forming a group of traditional religious sisters. When she heard that the FSSP had come to Scranton Pennsylvania from Germany to establish a parish in Elmhurst, she took this as an answer to her prayers for how she should move forward in her vocation. Sister Wilhelmina, along with another traditionalist, Sister Therese McNamara, approached the Superior General of the FSSP at the time, Fr. Arnaud Devillers. He was impressed with Sister Wilhelmina and asked her to form a community of traditional active sisters to assist the Fraternity in their parish work. In 1995, the new order officially began under the aegis of the FSSP, originally called the Oblates of Mary, Queen of Apostles.³
Sisters pose beside the Abbey Church during construction in 2018 in Gower, MO. Photos courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. During its first years, the Oblates of Mary struggled with issues of identity and place. When it became clear that the order was moving in a more contemplative direction, they parted ways with the FSSP for a time. They settled first in another part of the Scranton diocese, then in Starrucca Pennsylvania, before being offered a place in the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri by Bishop Robert Finn in 2006. It seemed appropriate that Sister Wilhelmina should return, along with the order she’d founded, to the land where she’d been born and her Catholic faith had first flourished. It was here that the order’s identity finally took its permanent shape. They officially changed their name to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, fully claiming their Benedictine and monastic identity. In 2008, the sisters acquired the land in Gower Missouri where their Motherhouse would be built. In 2010, Mother Cecilia Snell was appointed as prioress and took on the difficult work of the order’s leadership. Sister Wilhelmina, advancing in years, now entered the time of her vocational life dedicated more exclusively to deep prayer, especially for priests. She continued to offer her help, advice, and encouragement to Mother Cecilia and her fellow sisters.⁴
Sister Wilhelmina and Mother Cecilia for Sister’s 95th birthday in 2019. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. On December 8, 2014, the constitutions of the Benedictines of Mary were approved by Rome and the order was granted formal ecclesial status. Sister Wilhelmina was finally able to officially solemnize her perpetual vows as a sister of the Benedictines of Mary. On July 4, 2018, the order received the news that abbatial status had been confirmed on them by Rome. The Motherhouse was now to be known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus, and Mother Cecilia as Abbess of the order. Mother Cecilia became the first Benedictine in American history to receive the traditional abbatial blessing. Word now began to spread about the order, and it wasn’t long before the number of young women with vocations seeking entrance necessitated the establishment of the order’s first daughter-house. Eight sisters left from the Abbey on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2019 for their new property in Ava Missouri.⁵
Shortly after those first eight sisters left for Ava, they were briefly called back to the Abbey to say goodbye to their beloved foundress, Sister Wilhelmina, who died peacefully surrounded by her sisters on the evening of May 29th, the feast of the Ascension.⁶
Four years later, on April 28, 2023, Sister Wilhelmina’s body was exhumed for the purposes of placing her remains within a Saint Joseph shrine in the oratory. Her body was found to be incorrupt. The news leaked to the press and the Abbey was soon receiving international attention. Thousands of pilgrims descended on Gower, numbering approximately thirty thousand in the first few months after the exhumation. Since then, the flow of pilgrims has slowed while the number of vocations has grown extensively.⁷ ⁸
New houses of the Benedictines of Mary have now been established in Staffordshire, United Kingdom and in Evansville, Indiana. I give a brief history of each of the four houses of the order, and the most current news available about each of them, below.
Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. CHARISM
When Sister Wilhelmina was invited by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to found her new order, she already had a clear vision of how the sisters would live. At that time, in the chapel of the headquarters for the FSSP in Elmhurst, there was a window depicting the eleven apostles gathered around Our blessed Mother during the nine days from the Ascension until Pentecost. The Latin inscription below the window translates as: “The disciples were persevering in prayer with Mary the Mother of Jesus. Alleluia.” Sister Wilhelmina wrote:
“This is a perfect description of the religious sisterhood that is now forming…(W)e Sisters work behind the scenes: through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, for Mary…Mary helped the Apostles to live peacefully as brothers; she offered them the warmth and comfort of a place to stay and to offer the Holy Sacrifice… Like Mary, we Sisters work and pray for priests… We are zealous that the Mass be celebrated worthily, in accordance with time-honored tradition…” It is fitting then that the Motherhouse in Gower would be named for Our Lady at Ephesus, where she lived out her time on earth after Jesus’ Ascension, to offer prayer, counsel, and support to and for His apostles.⁹
Many newly ordained priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) offer their first masses at the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. The nuns of Sister Wilhelmina’s new order would be devoted to the Latin Mass, the traditional Divine Office, and praying especially for priests. Each sister and the entire order would be consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was a vision for an order of women religious that would seem to have been blessed by heaven itself. Once the struggles of the first years after its founding were over, the order of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles began to grow, aided first by the Motherhouse’s elevation to an Abbey, and then the discovery of Sister Wilhelmina’s seemingly incorrupt body. From the original fourteen sisters who first arrived in Missouri in 2006, there are over one-hundred nuns today, comprised of professed sisters, novices, and postulants, with new aspirants applying regularly.¹⁰
Sisters kneeling at the altar rail at in the Abbey Church of Our Lady of Ephesus. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. The order describes its charism as “Benedictine Life to Jesus through Mary”. Their website reads:
“United with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles seek above all else, a life of union with God in prayer as guided by the Rule of St. Benedict. Totally consecrated to the Queen of Apostles, we take Our Lady’s hidden life at Ephesus as an inspiration for our own. We seek to be what she was for the early Church: a loving and prayerful support to the Apostles, the first priests, and daily offer prayer and sacrifice for the sake of her spiritual sons. We cannot preach the Gospel to the nations nor bring the Lord to our tabernacles, but we can be ‘Love in the heart of the Church’ with firm adherence to her teaching, loyalty to the Holy Father, and deep-seated love of the traditional liturgy.
“In the company of Our Lady we contemplate the great High Priest, interceding for the sacred priesthood. Aside from the maintenance of the community, all other works of our hands are directed toward the glory of the altar in the making of vestments and altar linens. Customary Benedictine hospitality is an integral part of our life. Particular attentiveness is given to welcoming priests, the apostles of our day. Our hope is that they will find what the Apostles found at Our Lady’s home at Ephesus: encouragement, and a spiritual haven conducive to rest and prayer. We have been richly blessed by God thus far with vocations, zealous young women imbued with the call to offer their lives to Jesus, through Mary, on behalf of all priests.”¹¹
Rogation procession, 2020 at the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. DAILY LIFE
The daily routine of a sister of the Benedictines of Mary is guided first and foremost by the two pillars of Benedictine monastic life: ora et labora . That is, the alternating hours of “prayer and work” that comprise their days from sunrise to sunset.
The day begins and ends with the prayer of the traditional Divine Office¹² , anchored to and flowing from the traditional Latin Mass. The sisters rise early and begin with the chanting of Matins in choir, followed by the hours of Lauds and Prime. Time is set aside each morning for private prayer, followed by breakfast and work hours. Mass is celebrated daily at 11:00 at the Abbey in Gower and is open to the public, as well as the following hours of the Divine Office:
MONDAY-SATURDAY
10:50 Terce/Mass/Sext
2:15 Rosary*
2:30 None**
5:30 Vespers
*Private Rosary on Tues, Thurs. & Sat.
**On Thursdays: 2 PM Holy Hour with None at 2:30 PM
SUNDAYS AND FIRST CLASS FEASTS
10:50 Terce/Mass/Sext
3:00 None
5:00 Exposition
Vespers / Rosary
6:05 BenedictionThe Abbey church is closed to the public after Vespers/Benediction. Compline is chanted in choir after which begins the Grand Silence until the hour of Prime the next morning. Other ways the sisters practice prayer include private prayer, with set times for Lectio Divina ¹³ of scripture or spiritual books, maintaining silence and inner stillness while working, and practicing fraternal charity with their fellow sisters in all things.¹⁴
Garden work at the Abbey. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. The labora or “work” of the Abbey and its daughter-houses is ordered toward serving the Church through its charism to offer daily prayer and sacrifice for priests. They serve the priests of the Church, especially those who offer the traditional Latin Mass, by making beautiful traditional liturgical garments such as vestments, albs and surplices. They maintain a guest house set aside for priests that is equipped with a chapel for private masses and meant for times of retreat and rest. They also host the newly ordained for their first masses in the Abbey Church , particularly those of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). They also work for the glory of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by making altar linens and producing compilations of their music. The Benedictines of Mary have been releasing albums of their music since 2009, comprised of traditional hymns and chant as well as original pieces. Two of their early albums reached number 1 on the classical traditional Billboard Charts in 2013. As of 2025, the sisters have recorded fifteen albums, each of which is for sale in their gift shop at the Abbey and on their website.¹⁵
New calf at the Abbey. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. Other types of work the sisters might engage in during the day include maintaining the house and grounds where they live. Regular cleaning, carpentry, tending of gardens and farm animals are always necessary. There is also daily kitchen work and food preparation to attend to. Sisters in formation attend classes to learn about the order, the Rule of Saint Benedict, and Catholic theology among other topics. Time for recreation is set aside each day when the sisters can have fun and conversation together, doing crafts, playing games, practicing for or performing skits or music, or preparing for upcoming holiday celebrations.¹⁶
The Abbey Church. Photo courtesy of Straub Construction. HOUSES
The vocation of a Benedictine monastic is focused on three commitments: obedience , stability, and conversion of life . All professed sisters of the Benedictines of Mary commit themselves to “obedience” to the Church, the Rule of St. Benedict, and the Abbess of the Order. “Conversion of Life” is achieved through the life of ora et labora outlined above. “Stability” is a vow particular to some cloistered orders, including Benedictines. A sister promises to commit to living in one house for her whole life, unless directed by her superior (as is sometimes the case when a new house is founded).¹⁷ Currently, the Benedictines of Mary have four houses.¹⁸
The Abbey Church with rainbow. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. The Abbey in Gower:
The Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus, the Motherhouse of the Benedictines of Mary, is located off a rural road on gently rolling farmland in Gower, Missouri. Approximately forty sisters reside there currently with Mother Abbess Cecilia, the superior of the order. The incorrupt body of their foundress, Sister Mary Wlhelmina Lancaster, also rests there in a glass reliquary in the Abbey church.
The Abbey sits on approximately 260 acres of former farmland and forest in rural Missouri. Portions of the acreage are still kept as a farm. The sisters maintain vegetable gardens, dairy cows, laying hens, goats, and turkey. There are also several cats and dogs on the property. I heard from one of the sisters that strays tend to find their way to the Abbey grounds and make their homes there.
The sisters offer hospitality to priests in St. John’s guesthouse, built and set aside for that purpose on the property. There is also a guest house for laity, meant primarily to house families who are visiting. The sisters are allowed to have two visits per year from their family members. There is a gift shop attached to Abbey church where the sisters sell their music CD’s as well as many crafts and artwork made by the sisters themselves, including handmade rosaries. Holy cards and greeting cards feature original artwork by the sisters. Anyone interested in purchasing items from the gift shop can do so online here here .
The physical address of the Abbey, for snail mail and for those planning to visit, is:
Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus
8005 NW 316th
Gower, MO 64454 USA Saint Joseph’s Priory with rainbow. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. The Priory in Ava:
Saint Joseph’s Priory, the first daughter-house of the Benedictines of Mary, is located 32 miles north of the Arkansas border near Ava Missouri. The 250-acre property in the Ozark highlands was purchased in 2021. The original nine sisters first lived in a former Franciscan retreat center on the grounds of nearby Assumption Abbey, beginning in 2019, while funds were raised to purchase the property and begin construction of the new priory. The sisters moved into their new home in August of 2024. As of spring 2026, money is still being raised to pay off the original debts and finish the interior of the monastery church. Mass is currently being offered in the future parlor of the Priory, currently being used as a chapel.
At the time of the publication of the order’s Christmas newsletter in 2025, the sisters at Saint Joseph’s Priory numbered sixteen. Designated as a priory¹⁹ , Mother Mary Josefa serves currently as Prioress and overseers the day-to-day functioning of the house.²⁰ The sisters are daily engaged in much the same types of work as those at the Abbey, including sewing vestments and altar linens proper to priests offering the traditional Latin Mass, and offering daily prayer and sacrifice for priests.
The sisters maintain a relationship with their neighbors, the monks of Assumption Abbey. It was there that they were first hosted on arriving in Ava, before the completion of the Priory, at the invitation of Bishop Edward Rice of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau. As soon as the sisters had arrived in Ava, local Catholic families began attending Sunday mass with the sisters. Since then, the lay congregation has grown along with the Priory, including several families that have moved to Ava with the express purpose of supporting the sisters and benefitting from attending the daily Latin Mass.
The physical address of the Priory, for snail mail and for those planning to visit, is:
Priory of St. Joseph
20658 State Highway P
Ava, MO 65608 USA Chapel of The Monastery of St. Anne. Photo courtesy of Jacob Fischer, 2026. The Monastery in Evansville:
In 2024, the Benedictines of Mary received an invitation from Bishop Joseph M. Siegel of the diocese of Evansville, Indiana. In 2023, the Poor Clare sisters in the diocese left their monastery after the number of sisters fell below the required number of six in residence. The Abbey in Gower was offered the fully furnished monastery as their own, and on May 13 of 2024, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, seven sisters left the Motherhouse in Gower for Evansville. They renamed the Poor Clare monastery The Monastery of St. Anne, as the order has a particular devotion to the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It sits on a parcel of rural land close to the Ohio River on the Indiana-Kentucky border to the east, and the University of Southern Indiana to the northwest.²¹
In August of 2024, renovations began on the chapel of the monastery to accommodate the sisters’ commitment to the traditional Divine Office and the Latin Mass. The renovations were completed in time for the feast of SS. Anne and Joachim on July 26 of 2025.
As with the Motherhouse in Gower and the Priory in Ava, Missouri, the sisters at St. Anne’s in Evansville, Indiana pray the Divine Office seven times daily, along with Matins before dawn. Daily Mass is said by their chaplain who resides nearby. The sisters pray and sacrifice for priests, sew vestments, and engage in similar tasks to those of the sisters in the other houses of the order. Currently, there are approximately fifteen sisters in residence at the monastery in Evansville.
The physical address of St. Anne’s monastery, for snail mail and for those planning to visit, is:
Monastery of St. Anne
6825 Nurrenbern Road
Evansville, IN 47712 USA The chapel at St. Mary’s Monastery, Colwich. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. The Monastery in Colwich:
Mother Abbess Cecilia and her fellow sisters were busy considering plans for future foundations at the start of 2024. The Abbey was becoming crowded as new vocations arrived, and new inquiries from aspirants were coming in daily. The construction of the living quarters at the Priory at Ava was nearly complete. Even so, it was clear more space would be needed. At the time, they were not considering opening new houses outside the United States. That is, until new government regulations made that consideration not only possible, but necessary.
One international sister at the Abbey was denied a Green Card in early 2024, and the immigration status of her sister, another nun at the Abbey, was in jeopardy. She had to depart the U.S. for Europe by the end of March to await the approval of her documents. They were offered a welcome in England by a family that had given all their children to religious life, with four daughters at the Abbey, and a son in seminary. With plenty of room to host the sisters, a third sister from the Abbey was sent with them as a companion to England. There, they would continue to live out their vocations together while awaiting a decision by the U.S. government. God had other plans, however. It was soon discovered that fifteen miles from the home where they were staying, there was a historic abbey for sale.
St. Mary’s Abbey at Colwich in Staffordshire, United Kingdom has a fascinating history. Founded by three great-great-granddaughters of Saint Thomas More, the nuns who first lived there had been exiled from England to France during the Elizabethan persecution, then exiled back to England during the French Revolution. They settled in a house near the edge of Cannock Chase, a beautiful, forested area (now protected as a “National Landscape”) near Staffordshire. Th house was added onto over the years, now boasting a main Gothic Revival style building housing the main chapel, two turrets with a gable in between, and the other buildings arranged in a courtyard with grounds protected by a high brick wall. A stunning property for the Benedictines of Mary to acquire! One that came with a lot of needed repairs.
Birdseye view of St. Mary’s Monastery at Colwich. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. In the winter of 2025, more sisters were sent from the Abbey to England to assist the original four who had taken on the project of renovating the old Abbey, now renamed St. Mary’s Monastery at Colwich. By May, some of the sisters were getting sick from mold exposure and it was determined that professionals would need to be hired to assist with the renovations. The plan was to have the two guest houses immediately restored so the sisters with mold sensitivities would have a healthy space in which to stay while the other work too place. As of spring 2026, the renovations of the two guesthouses are complete, and the sisters continue to oversee and assist with the restoration of the old Abbey.
Currently, there are approximately ten sisters at Colwich, along with the usual assortment of dogs, cats, chickens, and goats. They received their first new vocation from Europe recently. The sisters pray together and attend Mass each day in the beautiful historical chapel. They work maintaining the guesthouses, chapel, and barns while also helping with continuing restorations. They pray and sacrifice for priests, sewing vestments along with their American sisters. Colwich has been a challenge for the Order, but also a great blessing. Under Mary’s mantle of protection, the sisters dedicate themselves to carrying on Catholic Tradition on land where the Faith and monastic life have been practiced for hundreds of years, surrounded by the inspiring beauty of the English countryside.
The physical address of St. Mary’s Monastery, for snail mail and for those planning to visit, is:
St. Mary’s Abbey (Colwich)
Main Road, Stafford, Little Haywood
ST18 0UF Staffordshire
United Kingdom Sisters at St. May’s Monastery in Colwich. Photos courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. REQUIREMENTS & CONTACTS
The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, is a vibrant, thriving community of sisters dedicated to living the traditional Benedictine way of life, offering prayer and sacrifice especially for priests, totally consecrated to Jesus through Mary. If you feel you are being called to religious life, their charism resonates with you, and you have a love for the Latin Mass and traditional music, you might consider applying as an aspirant to one of the houses listed above.
Keep in mind that Benedictine sisters are not only called to a particular order, but also to a particular house within that order. It is a lifelong commitment to place and community as well to God. Sometimes an aspirant applies to one of the houses and finds that her vocation was to another house instead. I personally know of one sister who first applied at the Abbey and then found her home at St. Joseph’s in Ava.
From the Abbey website:
“Discernment of a vocation infallibly begins with silence before the Word, openness to His direction and a generous response. A daily heart-to-Heart with the Lord is the beginning of the love story of every Bride of Christ. Religious life is an attachment to God alone, as the Latin root implies, an anticipation of enjoying Him in this life, “the vestibule of heaven,” as Ven. Maria Teresa Quevedo put it so succinctly. It may be something as simple as a natural inclination toward the religious life that sparks the knowledge of a vocation.
“After some initial correspondence with the Novice Mistress, including a questionnaire to be filled out, a young woman may be invited to spend a full week with us. “Lord, where are you staying?” “Come and see,” He told His apostles (Jn. 1:39). This visit enables the soul to see if the Lord is calling her to be His spouse within our particular monastic family with its attendant spirituality and charism. This is a very necessary part of the discernment process in order to place oneself within the context of our daily life. She may then write to petition for entry as a candidate.”
The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, welcomes unmarried, healthy, Catholic woman practicing the Faith for at least two years, between the ages of 16 and 30, who are discerning a vocation to their order, to contact their Novice Mistress through the website “Contact Us” page, or by snail mail at:
Novice Mistress
Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus
8005 NW 316th Street
Gower, MO 64454 Work in the spring garden at the Abbey. Photo courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary. WRAP UP, NEXT UP…
I hope you found this, my first post in my “Vocations Corner” series, helpful and informative. Long before I came into the Catholic Church in 2019, I was interested in Catholic women’s religious orders, particularly those that are contemplative, cloistered, and traditional. I had no idea at the time that my attraction might mean I was supposed to be Catholic. I’m grateful to have been led to the One True Church by the witness of wonderful Catholic sisters like the Benedictines of Mary.
Next up, for the second installment of “Vocations Corner” I’ll be writing about the Sister Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Sovereign Priest , an order of non-cloistered contemplative sisters founded in 2001 to support the work of the priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP).
If there is an order of traditional women religious that you are interested in learning more about, drop me a suggestion in the comments. Thank you for reading and God bless!
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1 Read my post on the early life of Sr. Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster and the founding of the Benedictines of Mary here.
2 The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, The Life of Sr. Mary Wilhelmina * (Gastonia: TAN Books, 2023), pg. 29-74. *To be hereafter referred to as The Life .
7 See my post on Sister Wilhelmina’s death, exhumation, and media attention here.
10 Information gathered from my three-part series on Sister Wilhelmina, the order’s website and newsletters.
12 Changes were made to the Divine Office after 1955 by Pope Pius XII, and then again after Vatican II, promulgated as Liturgia Horarum , or the Liturgy of the Hours, by Pope Paul V in 1970. I think the sisters of the Benedictines of Mary pray the same breviary as the priests of the FSSP, which I believe is the 1961. There may be slight difference because the priests generally pray privately and the sisters pray communally in choir. The hours for the sisters follow this general, traditional structure: Matins (Night Office, prayed before dawn), Lauds (Dawn Prayer), Prime (First Hour, 6:00), Terce (Third Hour, 9:00 or mid-morning), Sext (Sixth Hour, mid-day, 12 noon), None (Ninth Hour, mid-afternoon, around 3:00pm), Vespers (Evening Prayer, sunset, 5 or 6:00pm), Compline (Night Prayer, before bed).
18 All of the information below about each of the fours houses of the Benedictines of Mary came from my research on their website, their newsletters, and/or my own experiences with the sisters at the Abbey. If anyone is interested in finding out more about what I’ve written above, please leave a comment below or contact the Abbey directly here.
19 “(A) Priory (is) a monastery whose superior is a prior… The Benedictines… distinguish between conventual and simple or obedientiary priories. Conventual priories are those autonomous houses which have no abbots, either because the canonically required number of twelve monks has not yet been reached or for some other reason… At present the Benedictine Order has twenty-seven conventual priories. Simple or obedientiary priories are dependencies of abbeys. Their superior, who is subject to the abbot in everything, is called simple or obedientiary prior.” Source: https://www.catholic.com/
20 As explained in the definition above, since St. Joseph’s Priory is an “obedientiary” priory, Mother Mary Josefa serves as Prioress under obedience to Mother Abbess Cecilia.
21 Source: https://evdiomessage.org/ )
HAIL HOLY QUEEN
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. O God, whose Only Begotten Son, by His life, death, and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
A new digital prayer book offers devotees of Pier Giorgio a chance to deepen their faith alongside one of the most joyful and enduringly popular young saints.
If saints had fan clubs, Pier Giorgio Frassati would probably have one of the largest. He might also have one of the most active social media followings, which is quite an achievement for someone who died in 1925!
More than a century after his death, young Catholics are still discovering him, quoting him, climbing mountains in his honor, sharing his photographs online, and generally behaving as though he were a friend they have somehow never quite met. This is no small achievement, considering the Church is not exactly short of saints.
The latest sign of his enduring popularity comes in the form of a newly released Book of Prayers in Honor of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, compiled by the Frassati Society Philippines and its collaborators. Available as a free digital download, the volume brings together prayers, novenas, litanies, reflections, and devotional texts intended to help readers deepen their relationship with Christ through the example and intercession of the young Italian whose rallying cry, Verso l'Alto ("To the Heights"), continues to inspire Catholics around the world.
The collection draws heavily on the pillars of Frassati's own spiritual life. Readers will find prayers centered on Christ in the Eucharist, devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, service to the poor, and the pursuit of holiness in ordinary life — all themes that shaped a young man who somehow managed to pack an astonishing amount of living into just 24 years.
From jokes to confession
And perhaps that is exactly why Frassati remains so appealing. While the Church has an impressive number of saintly men and women, the young Italian never seems to fit comfortably into the categories people expect. After all, he loved mountain climbing, lively debates, practical jokes -- with just the right amount of healthy naughtiness -- and really solid friendships. In fact, just looking through photographs of him, you get the distinct impression that he would have been such great company.
At the same time, this was also a young man who rose early for Mass, spent time in Eucharistic adoration, prayed the Rosary faithfully, and described Holy Communion as "the shortest route to Heaven." He had a deep devotion to Our Lady, drew inspiration from St. Catherine of Siena, immersed himself in the writings of St. Paul, and took confession seriously enough that he once stopped a priest in the street because he needed to confess immediately.
It's hard not to notice how naturally all these devotions coexisted alongside the rest of his life. Faith did not compete with friendship, adventure, laughter, politics, or service to the poor. It animated them. The young man carrying a rosary in his pocket was the same young man scrambling up mountains with friends and playing practical jokes.
Perhaps that is why each generation seems to adopt him as one of its own: Students admire his energy; hikers appreciate his love of the mountains; parents really appreciate his influence; and friends recognize his loyalty. Almost everyone finds something that they can recognize in themselves.
And that's exactly why a prayer book dedicated to him feels particularly fitting. For longtime devotees, it offers a rich collection of prayers and reflections inspired by his spirituality. For those meeting him for the first time, it provides an introduction to a saint who they'll love within minutes of hearing about him.
If you'd like a free copy of the book, then click on this link where you'll be able to download a digital copy. (The society will be sharing more information about physical copies shortly.) And then, as Frassati would say... "Verso l'Alto!"
The one trait Pier Giorgio and Carlo shared that makes them so relatable
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The one trait Pier Giorgio and Carlo shared that makes them so relatable
10 Inspiring quotes from Pier Giorgio Frassati essential for today
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10 Inspiring quotes from Pier Giorgio Frassati essential for today
The surprising hobby that drew Pier Giorgio to others
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The surprising hobby that drew Pier Giorgio to others
https://youtu.be/ASkdgHEd6a4?si=aN_YU9nv_SHQpbDz
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