Guiding Principles

As we seek God, the values and principles by which we live flow from our mission statement and are central to our call as the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana.

Community Life

We seek God together in community and share a common mission and vision. Our life together unites and focuses our energies in spreading the Gospel.
We desire to be together in the dailiness of life by sharing our common prayer and table, our leisure, our talents, our joys and struggles.
We seek to recognize and develop the gifts and abilities of our sisters for the benefit of the individual, the community, and society.
We call each other to lives of moderation.
We strive to share and reverence all the goods of the monastery.
By the stability of our community life, we commit ourselves to each other and to seeking God at this time and in this place.

Prayer

We commit ourselves to a life of prayer, praising God and bringing before God the needs of all people.
Our prayer in common and in solitude unites us with others and sustains us throughout the day.
We gather daily to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
We celebrate the Eucharist, God’s presence in and among us.
We value the quality of our liturgical prayer which gives expression to our monastic life.
We are nurtured by our daily Lectio.
Our lives are enriched and renewed by times of silence and solitude and frequent communal celebrations which bring healing and reconciliation.

Hospitality

We reverence all God’s creation.
We are hospitable to each other, respecting individual and community needs.
We endeavor to receive all people as Christ and to share who we are and what we have.
We strive to balance our hospitality to guests and our personal time with God and community.

Work

Our primary work is to seek God together in community.
Our service flows from our monastic life together.
Together we seek to respond to the needs of the Church and of society.
We strive to be leaders in our ministries by giving witness to the Benedictine values of community, prayer, hospitality, and work.
We recognize the value and sacredness of manual labor.
We endeavor to be responsible stewards of what we have been given.
We uphold fair treatment and just wages for all.