Well, now that I have begun my novitiate year, my formal degree studies are behind me temporarily. Now my focus is the Rule of St. Benedict, the history of monasticism, and our Benedictine charism and way of life. Although I’ve only been a novice for a few weeks, I am aware of being enveloped in grace. I stand in awe at all that God is doing in my life and am so very grateful for this opportunity to deepen my relationship with God and my understanding and experience of being a Benedictine monastic woman.
Three weeks on, I am still not yet accustomed to hearing “Sister” before my name or seeing “OSB” after it! But I trust in the words of a wise Sister who assured me, “You’ll grow into it.”
This might be a good time to gather some of the sage advice Sisters have shared with me as I begin this very privileged time of prayer, study, and reflection: go deep into the Rule, it needs to last you a lifetime; appreciate this time for what it is, you will never again have this privileged time; always say “yes” to God. That last one seems good advice for us all. So as I embark on this special time of prayer, study, and reflection, let us remember one another in prayer.
Sister Kathleen Del Monte
Kathleen Del Monte is a novice at St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Minnesota. Originally from New York, she worked as a policy analyst for a state legislature before getting that all important ‘call’ from God (God can, indeed, be persistent!). So in August, 2011, she knocked and the Sisters opened the door to her becoming an affiliate. On July 15, 2012, she became a postulant. On August 22, 2013, the Sisters ceremonially accepted her into the Community as a Novice and she is now Sister Kathleen.
See all of Sister Kathleen’s blogs
May you always say “yes” to God, and may you be ever enveloped in grace.