Benedictine Sisters Robin Lynn Evans, Alberta Dieker, Jo Morton and Hilda Kleiman at monastery.
Sentinel photo by Ed Langlois
MOUNT ANGEL — They might have been leaders of industry, or professors and social workers in the secular world, with chic urban apartments. They would have made admirable mothers and grandmothers.
Instead, the 39 Benedictine Sisters at Queen of Angels Monastery pray and work. They live a chaste and sparing communal life on the edge of an out-of-the way town.
They wouldn’t trade it for anything. And they believe what they do helps the world in a deep way.
This week, the church celebrated World Day for Consecrated Life. It’s a time to honor those who have set aside worldly pursuits to embrace Christ and the gospel. The diverse forms of consecrated life include monasticism, apostolic religious life, orders of virgins, hermits and institutes completely devoted to contemplation.
“One of the things you come to realize is how important it is to live with people who are seeking God,” says Sister Alberta Dieker, 89. She’s been a Benedictine for 70 years.
Sister Alberta knows, because many lay people tell her, that the Sisters’ life has an affect on those who live outside the cloister. Those who come for retreat, townspeople who hear the bells calling the women to prayer, and even those simply driving by — all feel themselves sanctified because of what goes on inside.
Benedictines take vows of faithfulness to monastic life (that includes chastity and simplicity), obedience and stability. That last vow means they will live at the monastery except in extraordinary circumstances.
The primary mission of the Sisters is to do what St. Benedict called “the work of God” — prayer. Surely, that affects the world, says Sister Jo Morton, one of the monastery’s administrative leaders. She’s a 78-year-old military veteran and has been a Benedictine for 25 years.
“I think of people out there in monasteries everywhere, and somehow their praying keeps the darkness off the rest of us,” Sister Jo explains.
Sister Hilda Kleiman, 33, maintains that even hermits bring good results to others: “When there is anyone in the world who has defeated his or her demons, it’s a plus for all of us.”
In her current role teaching at Chemeketa Community College, Sister Hilda knows her way of life affects students. They see that she is linked to something beyond herself, a larger tradition.
Monasticism, in the Middle Ages, helped hold Christianity together. Aware of that tradition, the Benedictines here intend to be as prophetic as they can, especially in their areas of speciality — spirituality and land use, contemplative prayer and women’s spirituality.
Perhaps the most powerful message the Sisters send out is about the beauty and power of making a life commitment, says Sister Alberta, a historian and former prioress.
“I am so used to an orderly life,” says Sister Alberta. “Life here has a certain rhythm. Without faith, it wouldn’t make much sense.”
“Life here is meaningful for me,” says Benedictine Sister Robin Lynn Evans, 57. “I don’t think I could live out in the world any more. It’s too busy, too fragmented.”
Sister Robin Lynn came to the monastery 12 years ago. An agriculturist, she had been raising cattle and running a yard care and nursery east of Eugene. At the monastery, she cares for grounds, trees, gardens and orchards and keeps an eye on how the Sisters can live lightly on the earth.
Sister Hilda says she can name plenty of reasons why she came and has stayed, but one aspect of the call and the life is inexplicable: “It comes down to that person’s relationship with God,” she says.
Sister Hilda is keen on the regimen of communal life. “Structure removes you from having to do what you do based on how you feel,” she says. As a writer, she knows that were she to write only when she feels like it, she’d get little done. It’s the same with prayer and community, she says.
At the same time the Sisters are clearly living a different life, they sometimes are at pains to explain to the world that they are also human. Sister Alberta, who spent years teaching in secular college classrooms, remembers telling her marveling students: “Yes, you can be a normal person and still be a celibate.”
Monastic life is not an ongoing retreat. The Sisters struggle to make ends meet. The place needs cleaning and maintenance. And like any family, personalities clash and healing comes at its own pace. But here, it’s all understood as a purifying path to holiness.
“There are spiritual struggles, too,” says Sister Alberta. “There are times when prayer gets boring.”
The women gather to pray the psalms four times per day and also have daily Mass. Though the prayer can seem repetitive to outsiders, the contemplating Sisters can hear the words in new ways each day. But they are only human.
To emerge from funks, Benedictine life offers 1,500 years of tradition, including an ethic of perseverance, spiritual directors and a house of friends who have gone through the same thing.
There are now 39 Benedictine Sisters in the community here.
The number, small in relation to boom days of the 1950s and ‘60s, does not bother these women. In 1,500 years, monasteries have waxed and waned.
Sister Alberta points to the Oblate program — laity committed to living the Benedictine charism — as hope for the future of the community. Sister Jo says that sometimes what we consider a disaster is simply a way to give life to something new.
“I think the important thing is to keep on living the monastic way,” Sister Robin Lynne says.
“We are a witness to the world, especially here in Oregon.”
