Our Newsletter Online

St. Placid Priory's newsletter is now available in PDF form on this website. Here is our February 2012 Newsletter. To view PDF files, you will need a PDF reader like Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader.

Sister Redemista Ngonyani, OSB graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in Theology with Specialization in Canon Law on October 7, 2011 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Kenya.  We are so proud of her!

Viva!

St. Placid Priory is happy to be hosting the second Viva! Discernment Retreat, June 30 - July 1, 2012. Viva! is a vocation discernment retreat for women interested in religious life, sponsored by the Religious Sisters of the Seattle Archdiocese and the Serra Clubs of Western Washington. Please tell all the women you know about this retreat, and ask them to tell others. Learn more by calling Sister Monika Ellis at 360.438.1771.

Volunteer Megan

Volunteer Megan Sinner of the Benedictine Women's Service Corps, St. Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota, has completed her nine months of service at St. Placid Priory. She has returned home to Minnesota. Megan has been tutoring the Tanzanian Sisters who live with us, acting as hospitality contact one weekend a month at our Spirituality Center, living with us and taking part in our Benedictine life of work and prayer. Megan (second from left in photo) added some extra sparkle to our lives, as well as being helpful in so many ways, and we are blessed to have had her with us. We're going to miss her!

Sister Anamaria Haule Graduates Magna Cum Laude

Sister Anamaria Haule, OSB is jubilant as she receives her degree from St. Martin's University. Sister graduated Magna Cum Laude. After beginning her university studies in St. Martin's University's International Program, where she worked hard to improve her fluency in English, she went on to earn her Bachelor's degree in Education.

Sister Anamaria will now return to Tanzania to teach in her community's schools. The Sisters of St. Placid Priory have been privileged to accompany Sister Anamaria on this journey of education and personal development, and we will never forget her! May her dream of using new ways of teaching children in her classroom come to fruition. Congratulations, Sister Anamaria!

Sister Jarlath Rademacher, OSB
November 22, 1922 - December 10, 2010

Sister Jarlath (Martina) Rademacher, age 88, of St. Placid Priory, Lacey, Washington, died at Providence Mother Joseph Care Center in Olympia on December 10, 2010. She was born November 22, 1922 in Rosen, Minnesota to Martin and Anna (Dols) Rademacher.

Sister Jarlath became an aspirant at St. Benedict's Convent in St. Joseph, MN, in 1937 and made her Monastic Profession on July 11, 1942.

After teaching in Fairfax, MN, she was sent to the mission in Washington State where she began studying at Holy Names College, Spokane, WA, completing her Bachelor of Arts degree and teacher certification. She taught first and second grades at Visitation School, Tacoma, WA. Sister Jarlath was a founding member of St. Placid Priory, which became an autonomous monastery in 1952. Sister continued to serve the Church in the Pacific Northwest as a teacher at Visitation School and Holy Rosary School, both in Tacoma; and All Saints' School in Puyallup. At times she also served as superior of the local community.

Sister Jarlath studied with the Benedictine Institute of Sacred Theology in Minnesota. She was a loved Director of Postulants and Novices. Over the years she also served as Treasurer, Sub-prioress and house coordinator.

Sister Jarlath served as the Priory's third prioress from 1978 to 1986, a time in which the community underwent significant changes in ministry. She then pursued Certified Pastoral Education training at both the Benedictine Nursing Center in Mount Angel, OR and St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma, WA. She served at St. Francis, St. Peter and St. Joseph Hospitals as well as Evergreen and RooLan nursing homes where she was deeply loved by the patients and residents. She also continued her involvement in formation work.

Sister Jarlath was a gracious, gentle and compassionate person. She valued simplicity in her life and in her surroundings. She treated people and things as sacred vessels of the altar. With her warm and gentle humor, her Sisters and the public found her an easy person with whom to speak. She was proper and discreet with guests. She was quiet and observant.

Sister Jarlath was committed to her community . She savored God's love for her, a love she returned. She was a prayerful person. She was faithful to lectio. Hers was a life dedicated to prayer and work--Ora et Labora. She was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and her guardian angel.

Her parents and brother Isidore (also known as Cass) preceded her in death. Surviving are her sister, Sister Evin Rademacher, OSB, of St. Benedict Monastery, St. Joseph, MN; niece Karla Graham, nephews Neil, Joel, Brian and Keith Rademacher and her Sisters at St. Placid Priory.

Vigil service: 7:00 p.m. on December 17, 2010
Mass of Resurrection: 11:00 a.m. on December 18, 2010
--both at St. Placid Priory.

Donations in memory of Sister Jarlath may be sent to St. Placid Priory, 500 College Street NE, Lacey, WA 98516.

Sundog and Its Reflection, photo by Ian Parker; see Evanescent Light

The Sisters Blog

How can we know what our life means unless we reflect on our experiences? Part of the monastic promise that Benedictines make is about conversion. Conversion involves looking at ourselves in relation to the people and the world around us, and seeing how our hearts--and our actions--need to change, in order for our world to change. In our group blog, some of our Sisters will be sharing the fruit of their reflection. You can read it at Out of the Stillness. Photo at left used with permission.

St. Placid is Now Smoke-Free

The buildings at St. Placid Priory have always been smoke-free. Since January 1, 2007 our entire monastic grounds have also been smoke-free. We hope you will enjoy our peaceful, green environment.

Volunteer at St. Placid

Many volunteers help us at St. Placid--doing a wide variety of helpful tasks. If you'd like to know more about occasional volunteering, or about our live-in volunteer program for women, please see our Volunteer page

The Priory Store

To find out "what's new" at the Priory Store, see our Priory Store page. We have many new books, religious articles and gifts for special occasions.

Sidelights

Take a look at our new page called Sidelights. For reference, we will move some older items from What's New to the Sidelights page. This especially includes news items with links to other St. Placid Priory web pages or to other websites. Then we'll have more room on What's New for the most current news of the Priory.