Monastery of St. Gertrude's Podcast

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Sister Carol Ann from December, when she gave us an overview of the Church’s role in social justice and the history of the sisters’ political activism over the years.    You can hear how passionate Sister Carol Ann is as she explains how the monastery prioritizes their efforts to get to the root cause of societal issues in the local community, such as hunger and environmental welfare.   We start this episode discussing the various organizational layers within the Catholic Church and how those layers may or may not be aligned in their stances on social justice.

Back in September, Sister Mary Marge regaled us with the humorous story of a last-minute posting transfer that had her teaching in Minot, ND during a blizzard instead of in Boise as she had been expecting.    Her joy for education is evident, as you can hear both when she talks about launching an after-school religious studies program for high schoolers in the wake of the closure of St. Gertrude’s high school, and also when discussing her own monastic studies in Rome.    She is a natural educator. Listen until the end to hear her explain one of the St. Benedict’s quotes at the monastery that is much deeper than it may appear on the surface.

  For many around the world, the uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 has brought about a wide range of emotions from grief, to confusion, fear, and anger. Even those that feel reenergized from voluntarily time in solitude have been upended by the forced isolation.    I spoke with Sister Placida last week who has had the opportunity to take a voluntary year of solitude away from the monastery community. Despite having a different catalyst for her time alone, she experienced many of the same struggles we are going through today and offers great insight into how to continue moving through these challenging times.   Please forgive us for the less-than-amazing audio quality as social distancing measures prohibited our usual recording setup. This was recorded from a phone conversation, and I’m very much looking forward to being able to visit again in person to record more of Sister Placida’s stories from her time in the hermitage. For now, I hope that this conversation can be useful to you and that maybe some of the things Sister Placida has to say will surprise you, the way they did me. 

Listening to Sister Janet's talk about all the serendipitous moments in her young adult life will no doubt convince you that she was always destined to be at the monastery. While she may not have realized it right away, God illuminated his path for her when she first visited the local church in Nampa after moving to the town from Phoenix to help care for her ailing grandfather. In what she calls a “small world” moment, she discovers one of her previous high school teachers is the pastor of the church. When she asks him about volunteering for Vacation Bible School, she is introduced to the program leader, Sister Mary Kay, who was the prioress of St. Gertrude’s.  In this episode, she’ll tell you the fascinating story of how she came to be at St. Gertrudes, and the lifted purple Chevy Malibu that got her there. She starts her tale with a quick anecdote about how that purple Malibu, and Father Shaun, saved her from very harrowing driving conditions during one of her first “real” winters in Idaho.

As a catechist teacher for elementary school children, Sister Sue Ellen was on the receiving end of many challenging questions from her young students. In this clip, she humorously recalls some of those questions, which can stump even the most well-versed theologians. In this role, Sister Sue Ellen’s religious beliefs deepened as she thoughtfully answered each question, respectful of the fact that some parents may teach the bible literally while others may not, and illuminating how the bible and science support each other. Listen to some of her astute answers to these tricky questions and the children’s equally insightful observations of their own.

In this episode, we are rejoining Father Meinrad, the chaplain for the Sisters. We first met him in August when he shared his feelings on the places he’s called home, from his childhood home to his home monastery, and feeling at home at St. Gertrude’s.     Not that long ago, divorce was considered a faux-pas and divorce ministry was virtually unheard of, with minimal support or training resources. Father Meinrad talks about his humbling experience of joining a divorce ministry, where he learned listening was more important than having the “right answer”, and how the principle of “death and resurrection” can be witnessed in those moving through the grieving process. You can hear the genuine joy he talks about the deep friendships that were born during times of suffering. 

Pastoral care in the hospital setting is one of the most significant ways Christians can continue the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ. As the hospital chaplain, Sister Margie Schmidt provides support to patients, family, and staff members during times of overwhelming fear, anger, and grief.    We previously met Sister Margie in September when she gave us insight into her “unconventional” life living outside the Monastery walls. In this episode, you’ll hear about the importance of staying present to people’s suffering and how the deep human connections she forms during these moments allows her to continue to provide support in some of the most difficult and personal times of people’s lives.

In this episode, we rejoin Sister Mary Forman, the Prioress of the Monastery. We first met her in Episode 3 when she gave us an inside look at how the community elects a new Prioress.    This week, we get a glimpse of Sister Mary’s early years and her journey to joining the Monastery. There were a lot of reasons I wanted to share this clip from our interview, including how surprised I was to realize my connection to the Monastery might go all the way back to my birth, as Dr. McIntyre that Sister Mary references was very likely the doctor who delivered me! She details how growing up in an inter-faith household and a career in pharmacy all led her to where she is now. To those of us on the outside, it may seem that the members of a monastic community always knew they had a calling. Sister Mary’s story shows a different side, coming to this realization after having an established career and relationships, and several tough conversations. Make sure to listen all the way to the end, so you can hear just how the hand of God has guided her since birth. This episode begins with Sister Mary telling us about her family background.

In this episode, we rejoin Sister Teresa Jackson, who we first met in Episode 4, when she shared with us how she came to join St. Gertrude’s after feeling called to the monastic life.    Like many of the Sisters, she wears several hats at the monastery but taking center stage right now is her role as the Coordinator of the Co-Housing Project, a visionary new community at the Monastery that plans to open in the summer of 2021. This project will provide a space for single women who want to be part of a Benedictine community but are not necessarily called to a vowed life. Sister Teresa gives us insight as to what this new community will look like and how it is designed to meet the current needs of the community-at-large, while also helping the Monastery continue to evolve to meet those needs.

In this episode, we rejoin Sister Carol Ann, whom we previously met on the seventh episode of this podcast when she gave us some insights into the value and meaning of prayer. She wears many hats at the monastery as the forest manager, water system coordinator, and social justice office coordinator.   This week, we have a compelling discussion about the history of the Church and social justice. She walks us through the role of the Church, and more specifically, the sisters, during the Civil Rights movement and their political activism. She also shares with us her personal view on non-believers, which many non-believers may be pleasantly surprised to hear.

This week, I join Sister Barbara Jean, who has had a remarkable life dedicated to serving many communities. First, as an educator and then as a consulting teacher, she helped other educators improve the effectiveness of their teaching methods. Following her teaching career, she was called to be the Director of Mission and Spiritual Care at St. Luke’s Health System, which was originally founded as St. Benedict’s Hospital in 1952 by the Sisters.   In this clip, Sister Barbara Jean tells us about the relationship between the monastery and their lands. Despite what many would see as a tempting asset to sell for financial gain, the dedicated stewardship of the sisters to the land ensures that the land will be valued, cared for, and thrive so that future generations will be able to benefit from all that nature provides while also upholding the St. Benedictine principles.

On this episode, I sit down with Theresa Henson Director of Creative Services for the monastery. She uses her media agency background to promote the missions of the monastery. She walks us through the evolution of the mission over the years to meet the needs of the surrounding community. Providing insight from her own previous work experiences, we also have an interesting discussion on how Benedictine values and the philosophy of “regular prayer” can enhance the secular workplace. 

This week, I’m talking with Sister Janet Marie Barnard, Treasurer, Healthcare Coordinator, and Technology Coordinator for the monastery. Sister Janet’s intelligence and sense of humor are highlighted throughout our 2-hour conversation. In this excerpt, she discusses the evolving role of women in the Catholic church and doesn’t shy away from discussing how she sees this controversial issue developing in the future. She also sheds light on the common misconceptions of Mary Magdalene, one of the most important women in Jesus’s life. Take a listen to her thoughts before I give too much away.  

You may not have known this, but the Monastery has a very active Artist in Residence program. Artists in all kinds of media come to stay at the Monastery for different lengths of time and let the spaces and rhythm of the Monastery affect their art in different ways. I had the opportunity to catch Jamie Tucker just before the end of her month-long residency this summer, and talk with her about what she was doing and at the Monastery and why she had chosen the Monastery in particular for her month-long focus on her art. 

Sister Sue Ellen is one of the most soft-spoken and gentle-sounding sisters that I've spoken with so far. She also taught catechism to young grade-school kids for some time, and maybe it's her knack for explaining complex concepts in simple ways that made her description of the formation process so easy for me to understand. In this excerpt from our interview, she walks me through the process she took to become a Sister and it was one of the clearest explanations I've heard of the process from start to finish. One of the things I love about interviewing the sisters is hearing them mention the Sisters who came before them that the looked up to, and Sister Sue Ellen is no exception. She only mentions Sister Wilma for a moment, but you can hear the deep respect she had for her. I hope you enjoy hearing this description of the steps to becoming a Sister at the Monastery of St. Gertrude, as well as the specific details that are unique just to Sister Sue Ellen.

This week we get to hear some stories about Sister Mary Marge's experiences with snow and her time as a teacher - one of the snow stories is from before she was born, and another is from early on in her work as a Benedictine Sister. Overall, I spent more than an hour talking with Sister Mary Marge and every part of our conversation carried the same amount of warmth and human connection that this excerpt does. You get the feeling from her that you would definitely want her to be your grade school teacher, because she would care about you whole-heartedly no matter who you are. I'm definitely not sure that I would have responded as gracefully as she did to the last minute change of plans that would send her to Minot, North Dakota for the winter! 

This week we are going to hear from Sister Margie Schmidt. She is the first person I've interviewed who is part of the Monastery, but is still living out in the broader community doing work on behalf of the Monastery. She works at St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston Idaho, and that's where we met. She's the hospital chaplain, and we met in her office where you will hear the occasional creak of her comfortable rocking chairs as we chatted. Her perspective as someone who hasn't lived on site at the Monastery for many decades was eye-opening to me about how many different ways a person can be deeply committed to a relationship. But I'll let her tell you about it.

Today’s voice will sound a little bit different than you are used to, although it is just as much a part of the community. Today’s podcast is an excerpt from my interview with Father Meinrad. If you’ve attended a Mass at the Monastery, you’ve probably seen Father Meinrad, because he’s been the chaplain for the Sisters for most of the last 20 years, other than a 4 year span when he was needed at his home Monastery in Jerome Idaho. Or you might have seen him at the hospital in Cottonwood, where he is also a chaplain, or just visiting one of the ball games at the high school next door. In this part of the interview, Father Meinrad discusses his ideas and memories of various homes, from his home Monastery, to his feelings of home at St. Gertrude’s, to his childhood home and I hope you enjoy his calm and humble insights as much as I did. 

As I’ve talked to more and more of the Sisters at this Monastery, I’ve been struck by how the religious life gave these women a chance to find and share their gifts in a way that might not have been possible in any other way. I am struck by Sister Maria Elena’s amazing capacity to manage and remember every detail of the logistics of what she was doing to help the poor people in the parishes where she worked. And as always, I’m struck by her bravery. You’ll know the part I’m talking about when we get to it.

Frank was a long-time volunteer who lived on site for a few years. He had come to volunteer for a relatively short period of time, and to hear him tell it, he just never left. He woke up each morning finding something to help with, and he just kept doing that every morning, and in his words, “they never asked me to leave”. A few months after this interview, he moved on to his next adventure, but everyone that I spoke to at the Monastery had nothing but praise for Frank. He is obviously loved and respected, as well as valued for his contributions in everything from handyman work to helping check people in when they arrive at The Inn. One of the things I was most curious about was his experience as a man living long term in a women’s religious community - I know that when I first came to visit the Monastery, I didn’t even know for sure if men were allowed there. It turns out that Frank wasn’t sure either, when he first came here. 

Sister Jeanette passed away unexpectedly on June 6th. She was 72 years old, and had been a Benedictine sister for more than half of her life. I feel very fortunate to have sat down with her not long ago for a long interview, and this episode is that interview in its entirety. We met in one of the suites in the Inn on site at the Monastery, at the kitchen table. Sr Jeanette is an animated speaker, occasionally even pounding the table for emphasis which you’ll hear in the recording.I hope you’ll enjoy this lingering view of Sister Jeanette’s world, and this long-form interview.

Last episode wrapped up our 4-part episode exploring some of the ways that some Sisters came to be at the Monastery (and I encourage you to go back and listen to those if you haven’t already). Today’s episode starts out with a similar story from Sister Carol Ann, about how she came to be at St. Gertrude’s and what her life was like before that. But from there we take a detour into some deep insights into the value and meaning of prayer, from the recited but heartfelt prayers of her parents, to the 2000 year history of Benedictine community prayer. Her explanation helped me to understand much more deeply what prayer means to this community, and I hope it brings you insight as well.

This is the 4th episode in our 4-part series exploring some of the ins-and-outs of how a few different people came to be at the monastery. In this episode, we’ll hear from Sister Jeanette who has a completely different story of how she came to be a part of the Monastery of St Gertrude than any of the previous 3 stories. While recording these 4 episodes, I learned that there are probably as many different ways to be a part of this community as there are people in the community!

This is the third episode in our 4-part series exploring some of the ins-and-outs of how a few different people came to be at the monastery. In this episode, we’ll hear from Sister Chanelle. You heard her sing some songs from her chaplaincy in an earlier episode. Today, she’s going to tell you a little about how she came to be connected to the community here at St. Gertrude’s as a teen, and how she came to have her current name.

This is the second episode in our 4-part series exploring some of the ins-and-outs of how a few different people came to be at the monastery. In this episode, we’ll hear from Sister Teresa. Other people in the community have used the word “visionary” when they describe Sister Teresa’s role in the community, although I’m sure she would object to the term. She’s also probably the sister most likely to send you a meme in an email. You’ll definitely be hearing more from Sister Teresa in future episodes, because whether or not she would want to be called a visionary, she definitely is working toward some grand visions for the future of the Monastery and we’ll want to share those with you in the future. But for right now, she’s going to share a little about how she came to find herself in a monastic community is the tiny rural town of Cottonwood Idaho.

In the next 4 episodes, I wanted to share with you some bits of conversations that I had with Sisters that cover some of the very basic questions I had when I first connected with the Monastery. I was not at all familiar with how monastic communities work in general, or with the specifics of St. Gertrude’s. I was very curious about what kind of person decides to join a Monastery and what life is like for people after they join. If you’ve ever wondered about any of these things, the next 4 episodes are going to be really useful for you. You’ll hear from 4 different Sisters who have 4 very different stories of how they came to be a part of the Monastery of St. Gertrude and how their life paths have gone since they joined. It turns out there are a lot of different ways that people have come to be a part of this community! If you already know a lot of these things, I think you will enjoy hearing from these folks anyway, as they tell the stories of how they became a part of the Monastery and what it means to them to be here.   In this first episode of the series, we’re going to hear from Sister Mary Forman, the current prioress of the Monastery. One of the things I was very curious about was how does someone become the prioress. I didn’t know if there were elections or appointments, or what it means to be prioress. Sister Mary gave me, and hopefully you too, some great insights into how she found herself in that role and how her relationship to the community and her educational history has helped her to be successful.

In this episode you’ll hear from Sister Chanelle. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to stay at the Inn at St. Gertrude’s you probably met Sr Chanelle there. She makes amazing chocolate cake for dessert for visitors! She also had a long career as a nurse and then a hospital chaplain. She and I sat down to talk in an cozy office full of couches on the second floor of the Monastery. I was a few minutes for our appointment, and when I arrived Sr Chanelle was just coming back in from the 2nd floor balcony. She explained she had stepped out to admire a particular pink rose bush that she can only see from that balcony. It’s down a set of stairs that she can’t get up and down any longer, so she satisfies herself by taking a moment to admire them from the balcony whenever she can. We settled into the couches, and you’ll occasionally hear sounds of the Monastery around us in the background, including one of the other Sisters practicing an instrument in an adjoining room. Our conversation ranged widely from her trip to the motherhouse in her youth to her work as a nurse in the 3-story converted house that served as a hospital in the small town of Cottonwood, Idaho where the emergency room was on the third floor and she spent her nursing shifts running up and down 3 flights of rickety wooden stairs. This episode is a few minutes from that conversation that I hope is as moving to you as it was to me. I don’t want to give away too much, so I’m going to let this episode just speak for itself.

This week is our very first episode, and we’re going to start right off with a story from Sister Maria Elena. She has so many extraordinary stories that it was really hard to choose one to highlight today. She was a missionary in Colombia for many years, working with the very poorest people, helping them to connect with much needed physical resources, and also praying with them to connect them to spiritual resources. She’s still quite fluent in Spanish - in fact, if you say something she doesn’t quite hear, she’s just as likely to ask “Que?” in Spanish as to ask you to repeat yourself in English, and when she can’t think of the right word for something it’s sometimes the Spanish word that comes up first. Currently, she visits the local prison each week to conduct Bible Studies and Catholic Faith classes for the Spanish-speaking inmates there.   I sat down with her recently and asked her to tell me some stories from her time in Colombia, and ended up with 2 hours of recordings! It was really hard to choose a small segment of that interview to start us off with in this episode (and you’ll definitely be hearing more from that interview in the future!) but I think you’ll see why I started with this story, which I think comes close to capturing the amazing character that Sister Maria Elena is.