My heart daily delights in God’s love.

Sister Raphael Frank

As a child in grade school I was touched by the goodness of the Sisters who were my teachers and I felt within my heart the stirrings of a religious vocation. At St. Benedict Academy, under the guidance of the Benedictine Sisters, this call grew even stronger. I wanted to be just like these good and caring women, so I entered the Benedictine community.

My years in this community have been filled with deep peace and joy in following the Holy Rule of St. Benedict as I strive to listen to God’s daily call “with the ear of my heart.” The Sisters have shared their gifts, their faith, and their goodness. They have helped me become the woman I am today and for this I am most grateful.

As a Benedictine, my life has been a marvelous adventure filled with God’s blessings in abundance. These blessing include many opportunities for ministry with God’s people in the Pittsburgh and Greensburg Dioceses where I have served as teacher, principal, and director of religious education.

Currently, I have two marvelous ministries in which to reach out with love and care to others. Each day the children at the Vincentian Child Development Center touch my heart with their openness to the fullness of life surrounding them. It is fascinating to teach and nurture these curious little creatures and to encourage them to listen carefully with the ear of their hearts. Also, I find fulfillment as the director of the Benedictine Oblates. In the Oblate Program I help lay women and men who are seeking God through living the Rule of St. Benedict in the context of their families and professional lives. They are a witness of the living light of Christ in so many different ways and in so many different places.

Since hospitality is a hallmark of Benedictine spirituality, the Rule of St. Benedict invites me to welcome all those whom I encounter in the ordinary circumstances of my everyday life as I would welcome Christ. So my life has been enriched by countless men and women who have gifted me with the presence of God within them.

In my many years of living a Benedictine life of prayer, community, and ministry, I have come to experience in a deep way the truth of my favorite line in the Rule:
As we progress in this way of life and faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the delight of God’s love.

Indeed, it is a good life! I am where God has called me to be!