On Tuesday, September 8, we welcomed Sister Jayne Erickson into the Novitiate. We celebrate and rejoice Sister Jayne who continues to add light and strength to our Community.
Sister Jayne grew up in Cloquet, Minnesota as a middle child of five. She and her family belonged to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish (now Queen of Peace) in Cloquet. As an older teenager she was active in Catholic youth group where she first got to know Sister Barbara Higgins, her first introduction to the Duluth Benedictines. Following high school Sister Jayne explored her talents by working and going to college at University of Wisconsin in Superior and The College of St. Scholastica. She took a year off from her studies to travel with a group called Covenant Heartsong, a music, drama, and puppet group that worked with youth and youth leaders in the United States and Canada. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in youth ministry from CSS.
After college she worked in a variety of ministry jobs in Minnesota and Iowa, then returned to college for a teaching degree and taught for 15 years in Iowa schools. She retired early and came home to Cloquet. Her friend Marce Wood talked to her about being a Benedictine associate in Duluth; Sister Jayne inquired about the program and then became an associate in December 2017. Sister Jayne became an affiliate on July 8, 2018 and on December 2, 2019, she was officially welcomed as a postulant in a special service with the Community.
Sister Jayne’s ministries include helping in liturgies as sacristan, eucharistic minister, cantor, and lector, working at the information desk, and helping on Benet Hall. One of her passions is writing music. She develops her talent by composing songs for liturgical celebrations for the monastic Schola and contemporary group to sing, or as a quiet meditation during Communion. We are blessed to welcome Sister Jayne into the Novitiate.