Staying with the Sisters: A Personal Guide

So I realized that there are many of you out there who do not know any of the people that I am with. If you live and work up on the hill at the monastery (Hi, sisters) you don't have to read this post. If you have no idea where Ferdinand is or who the people I am talking about are, then this is for you!

I introduced myself and the program in the last post here, so if you missed that, you can go back and read to your pleasure.

I talked pretty briefly about my sister, Shea.

She recently graduated from Murray State University, where I currently go to school, with a degree in studio art. She has taken this past year off to get some extra job experience before applying to Saint Louis University and Aquinas Institute for a dual master's program in Social Work and Theology, so she's pretty into the whole Jesus/helping people thing. Shea has a boyfriend, Ryan, who she has been dating for almost a year and a half. She says that this monastery is her favorite, most peaceful place in the world.


This is Kelsey:

She is 22 and a recent graduate of IUPUY with a degree in Education. She got a job right out of school in Indianapolis as a middle school math teacher and she is incredibly excited for her job. She has a new niece that she loves to share photos and videos of when her sister sends them. She is from Haubstadt, IN, just a stones throw away from Ferdinand and found out about this program through Sister T, who was her PE teacher when she was young.



This is Emily:

She is 22 and currently at school at USI, going for a degree in Criminology, hoping to work as a coroner one day.  She lives in Evansville, IN and loves to go hunting with her family and friends. She got involved with the sisters many years ago when she stayed in one of their houses during college and has come to volunteer and visit with them often.



This is Clair:

Clair is 21 and attends Indiana University Southeast with a degree in History. She lives in New Albany, IN and works at the Kentucky Durby Museum in Louisville and is involved in campus ministry at the University of Louisville. She hopes to eventually get her master's in Theology, like Shea and she found out about the Sisters of St. Benedict through a mutual friend and came for her first time this summer.



This is Sister T:

Sister Theresa Gunter (Sister T for short) has been in community for over 20 years, and has been working in young adult vocations for a long time. She was once a volunteer firefighter and a special education teacher, but now lives in Evansville as a youth minister. Sister T has been working with my volunteer group from Illinois for many years now and has inspired many young people to get more excited about their faith.



This is Sister Mary Philip Berger:

Sister Mary Philip has been the volunteer coordinator for the monastery for as long as I have been involved with the Sisters. She had always wanted to be a nun just so she could, "wear the veil," even becoming a part of a Secret Nuns Club in her younger years. Along with Sister T, Mary Philip coordinated this entire summer for us through a grant they received at the end of last year. (We are eternally grateful to both of these sisters for doing this for us.)

So that is the list of everyone who is probably going to crop up again and again in my experience here. If you find a name that you don't recognize, you can probably find it by going to the Sisters' website, thedome.org and typing the name in the search bar.

Thanks for listening,
Tory Lanaghan

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 - Two are better than one, because they have a good run for their labor; if either of them falls down, one can help the other up.