Monastery community spans generations

Nearly 1,000 years after the conception of the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict, the community remains dedicated to spirituality, intellectual development and the arts.

At 35 and 101, Sister Laura Suhr and Sister Jonathan Herda bookend the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. Both professed their vows on July 11, the Feast of St. Benedict, 74 years apart. They are two of 143 nuns who live either at St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph or St. Scholastica Convent in St. Cloud.

The Sisterhood, which used to boast more than 1,200 members, got so large in the 1940s that many were assigned to ministries in different locations. While some were staffed in schools and hospitals around Minnesota, over 380 sisters established new priories in Ogden, Utah; Bismarck, N.D.; Eau Claire, Wis; and St. Paul in the mid-1940s. They also branched into some foreign missions including China, Japan, Taiwan, Puerto Rico and, much later, the Bahamas and Brazil.

Despite their reduced numbers today, Suhr and Herda remain enthusiastic and empowered about the work they put forth.

“Times have changed, and values have changed in many ways. But I always felt so accepted at St. Ben’s,” Herda said.

When Herda first entered the monastery in 1944, monastic life looked significantly different than it does today. Visiting family members wasn’t as acceptable, and sisters were expected to wear religious habits. While the option still exists for sisters today, many choose to don casual, everyday clothing. Prayers, which were once spoke in Latin, are now read in English.

Though both Herda and Suhr considered monastic life before arriving at St. Ben’s, their college experience prompted them to grow stronger in their faith and, eventually, make the decision to join the monastic community.

Suhr first considered monastic life around age 12, when her sixth-grade teacher excitedly announced that she was going to a mass conducted by one of her former students.

“[Hearing that], I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder if I’m called to be a nun.’ It was a fleeting thought. I really thought I was going to be a mom with a lot of kids,” Suhr said.

Suhr pushed the thought aside, but it resurfaced when she got to college at St. Ben’s and walked by an educational booth the sisters were holding. By junior year, she had joined a discernment group, where she explored several aspects of religious life. Suhr graduated in 2010 and went on to teach at an elementary school for about five years.

“During those years when I was teaching, I looked at some other communities, and St. Ben’s always just kinda felt like home. I love the sense of community, and I love that we pray together,” Suhr said.

All communities pray Liturgy of the Hours, but the Benedictine Sisters are intentional about togetherness— especially togetherness that follows the Rule of Benedict. The sisters are with each other from 7 a.m. to bedtime and pray three times a day: once during the morning, once at noon and once in the evening.

Suhr first professed at 28 on July 11, 2018, and professed for a final time on July 11, 2022. She is now CSB’s youngest sister, with Sister Bridgette one year older than her and Sisters Tamra and Catherine about 10 years older than her.

“Basically, everyone else is old enough to be my mom or grandma,” Suhr said.

Born in 1923, Herda certainly fits Suhr’s description. She went to St. Ben’s for two years, during the time when everything from classrooms to housing was located in the Main Building.

She then took an interest in radiology and worked at the St. Cloud Hospital for two years as an X-ray technician before she was relocated in Ogden, Utah.

“I knew I wanted to be a sister since I was three years old,” Herda said. “I felt the call…I was so happy. My whole life has been a joy.”

Herda’s first years after profession weren’t always easy. During her novice year, she became extremely ill and almost passed away, but if anything, Herda believes that experience only brought her closer to God.

“If you’re happy, you set an example,” Herda said.

Seeing as Herda professed with 27 others, she returned to an astonishingly large community. Suhr was the only one of her class—and nobody has succeeded her since. She learns commitment and wisdom from her older sisters, but she sometimes struggles in her youth.

“We had 16 deaths last year alone. A lot of the sisters are over 80, so knowing that I will live through all that grief and loss while trying to be hopeful for the future…sometimes I’m like, ‘OK, God, I need your grace. That’s the only way this is going to work out,’” Suhr said.

As our larger society becomes more secular, the sisters sustain a community of prayer, work and community living—influenced by the Gospel and the Rule of St. Benedict.

“Now that we’re smaller, we’re still trying to look at the needs of the world. We offer a place of peace and listening,” Suhr said.

The monastery continues to ebb and change with the times, and the sisters continue to ebb and change with them. This July, it’ll be Herda’s 80th jubilee (otherwise known as the anniversary of profession), and she couldn’t be livelier than the day she first came to St. Ben’s.

“I feel at home. Jesus draws me closer and closer, and I am happier and happier,” Herda said. “God is my best friend.”