"Navigating the Chaos: Benedictine Values as a Way of Life"
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (dinner included)
Don't miss our first Benedictine Days gathering with Abbot John Klassen, OSB (Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN) and Sister Michaela Hedican, OSB (Prioress of Saint Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, MN from 2011-2017)! In times not unlike our own, St. Benedict gave the world a way of life that would lead from chaos to creativity. The Benedictine Values, which have guided seekers for over 1500 years, are able to guide us today. Exploring ways to engage and draw from the wisdom of these values will be the focus of our time together.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB is in his eighteenth year as leader of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville. He leads a community of 120 Benedictine monks who sponsor and work at Saint John’s University, Saint John’s Preparatory School, the Liturgical Press as well as in parishes, hospitals and retirement centers, mostly in Minnesota. With a degree in bio-organic chemistry from Catholic University of America in 1985, he taught organic and biochemistry, as well as an ethics course on technology at Saint John’s University from 1983-2000 before being elected abbot. He also served as formation director for the abbey from 1993-1999.
He particularly enjoys studying the Rule of Benedict and other monastic sources and relating monastic themes to the challenge of contemporary living.
Sister Michaela was born in Virginia, Minnesota on September 4, 1945. The Benedictines at St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Minnesota were her grade school teachers. When her family moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin she attended the Benedictine staffed Regis High School and joined the Sisters of Saint Bede Monastery during her senior year. She made her first monastic profession July 11, 1964 and her perpetual monastic profession in 1967. S. Michaela is a graduate of the College of Saint Scholastica, Duluth and holds two master’s degrees, one in religious education from Seattle University and the other in theology from Saint John’s University School of Theology. She was a middle school/high school teacher from 1966-1984. Over the years, she has held a variety of administrative positions. From 2003-9, S. Michaela served as President of the Federation of Saint Benedict and as prioress of Saint Bede Monastery from 2008 until the sisters of Saint Bede Monastery joined Saint Benedict’s Monastery in Saint Joseph, Minnesota on August 15, 2010. On February 27, 2011, she was elected 16th prioress of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict at Saint Benedict’s Monastery and was installed on June 5, 2011. S. Michaela completed her term as prioress in June 2017 and is currently involved in retreat ministry. Meeting people, reading, music, movies and being in nature are sources of enjoyment for her.
