news
KATHLEEN WHITE RE-ELECTED PRIORESS...New Leadership Team Elected
Kathleen White, OSB was re-elected Prioress of Emmanuel Monastery on May 16, 2010. Esther Fangman, OSB, president of the Federation of St. Scholastica to which the community belongs, presided over the Canonical Election. 
May 13-16, 2010 marked the election/discernment process for leadership and was facilitated by Anne Stedman, OSB from Colorado Springs, and Evelyn Dettling, OSB from Pittsburgh. Also elected during the weekend were members of the Leadership Team: Patricia Kirk, OSB, Kathleen McNany, OSB and Joan Marie Stief, OSB. The term of service for Prioress and Leadership Team is 2010-2015.
In April, Anne met with the community to discern our direction for the next five years. The intervening weeks were marked by daily prayer for discernment and the guidance of the Spirit in seeking one who will lead us in the direction we have set forth.
The days were truly blessed, the movement of the Spirit was palapable, and the community is so grateful for the many people who were holding us in prayer through this time. Rejoice with us, and please continue to pray with us as we set forth on this next leg of our journey.
THE ROAD FROM EMMAUS: Emmanuel Monastery Welcomes Three New Members
On Saturday, February 27, 2010 the sisters of Transfiguration Monastery in Emmaus, PA, Sisters Germaine Hartle, Josepha Meyer and Martina Revak, transferred their vow of stability to the Benedictine Sisters of Baltimore. Not to be daunted by the winter snow storms, friends and family gathered at Emmanuel Monastery to celebrate this new moment in our monastic journey. Aslo present was Sr. Jacinta Conklin, OSB, Prioress of St. Joseph Monastery, St. Marys, PA. Transfiguration Monastery was a dependent monastery established from St. Marys.
The Benedictine commitment contains three promises: Stability, Fidelity to the Monastic Life and Obedience. Stability binds the sister to a particular monastery and community. The monastic ritual marks the transfer of the "stability" of a sister from one monastery and community to another. Sisters Germaine, Josepha and Martina have been in the process of transfer for the past three years.
The Celebration of Eucharist for the Second Sunday of Lent provided powerful Word at this juncture in the lives of all the sisters. The promise of God to Abraham and Sarah and the Gospel of the Transfiguration recall the ongoing mystery of monastic life and the fidelity of the God of the Journey. The celebration continued over dinner Saturday evening, and Morning Prayer and Brunch on Sunday.
The members of Emmanuel Monastery mark this new moment in their history with deep gratitude and humility. We continue the monastic journey together with three more faith-filled women. We pray, along with St. Benedict, that "Christ may bring us all together to everlasting life." (Rule of Benedict 72:11)
