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My StoryBy Filomena Silva
Filomena Silva made her first profession three years ago. She came to St. Benedict's over six years ago from St. George in the Azores, via Toronto where she worked with Doubleday Books for several years. I am a health care aide at St. Joseph's Residence, a 100-bed personal care home in Winnipeg. My work is not just a job to me but a ministry. I try to bring Jesus'loving kindness to the residents that are assigned to me. In my initial formation I learned that "Care of the sick must rank above and before all else" (Rule of Bendict chapter 36). Jesus reminds me in scripture that "Whatever you did for one of these least of my people, you did for me." I love taking care of those who are in need. On the Vigil of Ascension, May 27, 2006 I made my final monastic profession at St. Benedict's Monastery, Winnipeg. After six years of initial formation with its joys and sorrows I am ready to give myself to God for the rest of my life in the monastic way of life. I entered the community with these words of Jesus in my heart…"Leave all things you have and come and follow me". Now I give myself to God wholeheartedly with these words of Benedict in my heart as my inspiration: 'the Love of Christ must come before all else".  Sister Filomena and family Who Are We As Benedictine Women?
We are monastic women who seek God in community through prayer and work, according to the Benedictine tradition with the Gospel as our guide. Nourished by community and a daily rhythm of personal and communal prayer, we seek to cherish and minister to persons within and beyond our community. We follow the Rule of St. Benedict, which guides us to live life fully balanced by a rhythm of prayer, work, study and leisure. Our various ministries flow from our discernment to do God's will as a community and as individuals. Our mission is to witness Jesus Christ through contemplative living, community, hospitality and service in education, health care and spiritual formation.
Where Would You Begin?Benedictine Living Experience We schedule special times for interested women to come and experience monastic life. These weekends or weeklong live-ins will provide you with an opportunity to sample the rhythm of community life, to participate in communal prayer and to dialogue about your vocation. Discover what life in a monastery is really like at no cost or obligation. If you wish to make a Benedictine Living Experience, just know that we make individual arrangements of times that are convenient for you. Please apply for a Benedictine Living Experience. You may do so:
How Do You Become a Benedictine?If you are a woman who is willing to learn and grow, you are invited to journey with us in community. Through various stages of initial formation you will discern your call to Monastic life. Affiliation will assist you in discerning your vocation by frequent visits to our monastery for short or extended live-in periods, joining in liturgical celebrations and retreat days. Regular contact with our vocation director is expected as well as following a reading program and spiritual direction.
Postulancy begins your gradual incorporation into the rhythm of monastic life. You will participate in daily communal and personal prayer, work, community gatherings and studies.
Novitiate initiates you more fully into the meaning and living of monastic life through prayer, further studies, greater variety of works within the monastery and opportunities for solitude.
Temporary Profession provides you, as the newly professed Sister, with the time and the opportunities to exercise your commitment to seek God through stability, obedience and fidelity to the monastic life while engaged in ministry.
Perpetual Profession is a life commitment in which you will continue your process of conversion and growth by serving the community, the Church and the world in your designated ministry as a prophetic witness to the Gospel.
In summary- We, the Sisters of St. Benedict's Monastery are ordinary women who DARE to seek God together, to embrace the rhythm of life's ordinariness, its celebrations and crises, to welcome the mystery of God with hope and humor. We cherish the Word of God and center our lives on Christ. We unite with the Church in serving the People of God. We DARE for we have experienced the gift of God's love compelling us to use the resources we have to reverence and assist all persons, especially the young, the elderly, the sick, the poor, the lonely, and the stranger.
Come and set out on the road with us, and with the numberless people of God, all pilgrims travelling to God's house, with a song of hope on our lips and a heart burning within us. How great is the FREEDOM to which you are called?
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Invitation