Regarding Goods As Sacred Vessels

“I hadn’t planned on it.” This was Sister Hermana’s reply when my friend and I asked if we could get a Sunday paper. We were spending a weekend in a cabin on the lake and had no access to the Sunday morning comics. We didn’t get that paper, but that was okay. Sister Hermana was our purchaser for many years. She was like Benedict says, “a parent to the whole community.” She not only regarded the utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar but also regarded each person in the community as a sacred vessel.

She had her idiosyncrasies. She was about 6’ tall and drove an old green International truck that needed a coat of paint and an overhaul. We could always hear and see her coming. She was the bane of the business office; she never seemed to get her bills in on time, nor balance her petty cash fund. And when going got tough and everyone was looking for her, she would head out to visit her friend Mrs. Brown for the afternoon. She liked to think things over before making a decision and sometimes her decisions were long in coming. She loved to travel the back roads of Oklahoma and enjoy the small towns along the way and visit with the people. She never got in a hurry.

Sister Hermana was a model for all of us. She was as Benedict describes the cellarer: a wise, mature, humble, frugal, God-fearing woman and oh, so human.

Sr. Veronica, OSB