OblateOblateOblate Newsletter Newsletter Newsletter OblateOblateSACREDOblateSACREDOblateSACRED HEART HEARTNewsletter Newsletter NewsletterMONASTERY HEART Newsletter MONASTERY SACREDSACREDSACREDYankton, HEARTYankton,SACRED HEART SouthHEART South Yankton,MONASTERY Dakota Dakota HEART MONASTERY South MONASTERY Dakota MONASTERY SACREDYankton, HEART MONASTERY MarchMarch 2017 2017March 2017 Yankton,Yankton, South Yankton,South Dakota Dakota South Dakota March 2017 Yankton, South Dakota S. PatriciaS. Patricia Heirigs, Heirigs,S. Patricia Oblate Heirigs,Director Director Oblate Director (605) (605) 668-6017 668-6017 (605) 668-6017 email: email: [email protected] [email protected] email: [email protected] S. Patricia Heirigs, Oblate Director (605) 668-6017 web:web: http://yanktonbenedictines.org/oblates/ http://yanktonbenedictines.org/oblates/ email:web: [email protected] http://yanktonbenedictines.org/oblates/ web: http://yanktonbenedictines.org/oblates/ Dear Oblates, We are already in the first week of Lent. St. Benedict encourages us to “Listen carefully with the ear of our heart.” These are the words that our prioress, Sister Penny Bingham, reflected upon in her Ash Wednesday talk to us Sisters. Sister asked us “to consider our call as followers of Jesus to listen as a special discipline, a practice of this Lenten season, as part of our call to conversion.” Another aspect of Lent was expressed by Francis in his homily on Ash Wednesday at the Basilica of St. Sabina in Rome. The Holy Father spoke of Lent as a path that “leads to the triumph of mercy over all that crush us or reduce us to something unworthy of our dignity as God’s children.” The Pope said, “Lent is a time for remembering; a time to reflect and ask ourselves what we would be if God had closed his doors to us. Lent is the time to ask ourselves where we would be without the help of so many people, who in a thousand quiet ways have stretched out their hands and in concrete ways given us hope and enabled us to make a new beginning. What would we be without God’s mercy that never tires of forgiving us and always gives us the chance to begin anew?” Lent is a time for new beginnings. Take time to reflect on the various aspects of Lent. This would be a good time to read 49 on “The Observance of Lent,” in the Holy Rule. During the month of March we have several liturgical celebrations of . We will also have the discernment/election of our new prioress from March 16-19, 2017. The feast of St. Patrick comes on March 17, right in the midst of our election process. St. Joseph’s feast is transferred to Monday, March 20, and the feast of St. Benedict is on March 21. St. Benedict’s feast is a remembrance of his death anniversary so we celebrate Benedict more solemnly on July 11. Our annual Oblation Ceremony for novices, final oblation, and renewal distributing ashes of oblation will be held on Sunday, April 9, 2017 at 1:00 pm, at the end on Ash Wednesday of our Spring Oblate Retreat. This ceremony will be during our mid-day prayer in Bishop Marty Memorial Chapel. A reception will follow in our dining room. I hope many of you will be able to attend. If you are becoming a Novice or making your Final Oblation, please come at 12:45 pm so we can have a short practice. The Oblate Retreat will be presented by Father Thomas Hillenbrand from Christ the King , Schuyler, NE on April 7-9, 2017, here at Sacred Heart Monastery. His talks are centered on the “Five Steps to a Vibrant Christian Life,” based on the Rule of Benedict. Please consider making this retreat as it is a wonderful preparation for the Easter season. We still have room for four more retreatants. Have a fruitful Lent and spend some time in prayer. May we all look forward to a hope-filled Easter!

God’s Blessings, Sister Patricia Heirigs Next Meeting:

Our next Oblate meeting in Yankton will be held this Sunday, March 12, 2017, at 1:00 pm in the Chapter Room. We will discuss chapter 24 on “Cyberspace, Community and the Oblate.” Jim and Marilyn Hope and Diane Steers are praying for more religious vocations to our Monastery. At our March meeting Janene Cabalka will bring the refreshments. Oblate Yankton Meetings 2017: March 12 │ April 9 │ May 21

Upcoming Opportunities: (Further information listed on website)

■ This coming Sunday, March 12, is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time. Remember to put your clocks ahead an hour. Taught by Sister Mary Jo on Wednesday evenings from ■ Please continue to pray for the Election of our new Prioress. Because this Election is held during the 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. starting on days of March 16-19, 2017, our March Oblate meeting here at Yankton is this coming February 3, 2016. Sunday, March 12, 2017.

■ Mark your calendars for our Oblate Retreat this coming month, April 7-9, 2017 with Father Thomas Hillenbrand, OSB from Christ the King Priory in Schuyler, NE giving the presentations. He will also be the presenter at our retreat in October 27-29, 2017. The topic will be the same for both retreats, “Five steps to a Vibrant Christian Life.” Try to attend one of these retreats. Please note the flyer on the last page of this newsletter.

■ The Mount Marty Spring Play is scheduled for April 6-9, 2017 at Marian Auditorium.

■ The Paschal Triduum is the final preparation for the Feast of Easter on April 13-16. Prayer Requests: For Sister Louise Marie Goettertz who is recuperating from knee surgery For Sister Arthur Schramm who is recovering from a fall For All the Sisters who have had colds and the flu For Oblate Cathy Charging Hawk who was in the hospital recently For Oblate Kate McGovern who is suffering from cancer For good vocations to our Monastery For all the Oblates and their families Deaths: Mark Mitchell – Grandnephew of Sister Kathleen Courtney Father Sebastian Schmidt – from Richardton, ND Monastery Happenings in February 2017 The Sisters all enjoyed a “Saintly” Mardi Gras celebration as they came dressed as a or carried a symbol of a saint. As the Sisters arrived in the dining room, Novice Terry introduced them and they received a halo to wear for the evening. The parade of Saints marched from the dining room to the Chapter Room where the Sisters worked on a Saint quiz. They also played a game called SAINT that was patterned after bingo. Prizes were given and refreshments were served. Everyone had a great time! During the week of March 6-10, 2017, Mount Mary College had its spring break from school. It was so good to see many of the Sisters who work in the College at the Monastery this week.

Sister Marlene Stetz spent some time at the Monastery this past week from her ministry in Omaha. Sisters Marietta Kerkvliet and Kathleen Courtney gave a Lenten Morning Retreat last Saturday to the Daughters at Sacred Heart , Yankton, SD, titled “Sacred Pauses.” Sister Jeanne Ranek gave the Lenten Retreat, “A Season for Transformation,” on Saturday, March 4, 2017. A good number of participants attended. Sisters Jeanne Weber and Patricia Ann Toscano attended the planning meeting for CIB, Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum this past week in . Next year they will be a part of the international gathering of in Rome during September 2018. Sister Kathy Burt was a participant last week at the Conference on Human Patient Simulation for Healthcare Providers at Ponte Ville Beach, Florida. Sister Clarice Korger has many activities planned for promoting vocations. This coming weekend she has another discernment retreat planned for three young women. From March 23-25 she will be in Bismarck, ND, attending a Vocation Fair where she will interact with college and high school students from across the country. On March 29-30 Sister Clarice will be in Schuyler, NE, for the Archdiocese of Omaha Vocation Awareness Days with 6th graders. Then on April 6, she will be in Elk Point, SD, to speak with the junior and senior girls about vocations. Please keep all these projects in prayer. Prayer For Election of Prioress God of all Faithfulness, we ask you to enlighten the minds and hearts of all the Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery as they prepare to elect the next prioress. May they select a member of the community who is best able to lead the monastery into the future in the Benedictine way of life according to Your will. This we ask in Christ’s name and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Remember: Our next Oblate meeting in Yankton will be held this Sunday, March 12, 2017, at 1:00 pm in the Chapter Room. We will discuss chapter 24 on “Cyberspace, Community and the Oblate.” Jim and Marilyn Hope and Diane Steers are praying for more religious vocations to our Monastery. At our March meeting Janene Cabalka will bring the refreshments. — Spring Oblate Retreat — “ Five steps to a vibrant Christian Life” Presenter is: Fr. Thomas A. Hillenbrand, O.S.B. Born in Evansville, IN in 1939 Fr. Tom professed his vows to Benedictine Monastic Life on August 15, 1960 and was ordained a priest on May 27, 1965. During his many years of monastic life and priesthood, he served the Blue Cloud Community at Marvin, SD as , missionary at Priory in Coban, Guatemala – a dependent house of Blue Cloud Abbey – and as . Preceding the assignment to Guatemala, he ministered as chaplain at Sacred Heart Monastery & Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD, and as pastor at St. Michael Indian Mission on the Ft. Totten Indian Reservation in . After the closing of Blue Cloud Abbey in Marvin, SD, in 2012, Fr. Tom transferred his stability as a Benedictine to Christ the King Priory in Schuyler, NE in 2013. Starting Friday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m. — Sunday, April 9, 2017 at noon This retreat will be offered again on Friday, October 27 at 5:00 p.m. — Sunday, October 29, 2017 at noon

The retreat is available to both women and men | The retreat costs $120 | Scholarships are available. | Please Register by March 31, 2017 for the first opportunity listed above.

To Register: Contact S. Patricia Heirigs by visiting our website at http://yanktonbenedictines.org/oblate or (605) 668-6017 or (605) 668-6000

SACRED HEART MONASTERY Yankton, South Dakota 1005 W. 8th St. - 605-668-6000 - http://yanktonbenedictines.org/