“All who attended were invited to join our community to celebrate and thank God with all of us,” she said.

Sister Mary Elizabeth was born in Kansas and raised in Illinois. During her sophomore year in college she realized her religious calling was in contemplative life.

“I didn’t want to join a teaching or nursing order,” she said. “I knew of the Benedictine Sisters through their magazine and because my cousin had joined a few years earlier. They had perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament day and night. I knew they were the ones for me.”

She entered in 1947 and made her first monastic profession on May 29, 1949. With an ear for music, she began formal organ lessons and still plays the piano and organ for mass and other services every few weeks. In addition to Tucson, she has lived in the Benedictine Sisters’ communities in Clyde, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., Mundelein, Ill., San Diego and St. Louis.

“It doesn’t matter the place at all where I live,” she said. “Wherever our Sisters are, the amazing blessings that the life we live as Benedictine adorers is so life-giving, so wonderful, there aren’t any words to describe it adequately.”

She has spent time in the correspondence department, making altar breads and enjoys taking gourmet cooking lessons from the monastery’s cook.

While Sister Mary Elizabeth recalls the days before Vatican II, which altered a variety of rules for religious life, she said, “Our dedication to the Most Blessed Sacrament is still paramount in our daily living. Friendships made since 1947 among the membership are forever. That can never change, along with my love and delight for the privilege of being a Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration. There are three things that sustain me on this path, and those are faith, hope and love.”

Italy’s SAT Choir performed for a packed house during a benefit concert for the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration’s Tucson, Ariz., community in May. The 30-member men’s choir hails from Trento, Italy, and performed a variety of religious and traditional Italian songs.

“The chapel was overflowing with people,” Tucson Prioress Sister Ramona Varela, OSB said. “‘Fabulous and fantastic’ were words used to describe the concert. It was a wonderful evening.”

The concert raised more than $8,000, and all proceeds benefit the Tucson Benedictine Sisters’ Preserving Our Heritage fund. Currently, the Sisters have raised more than $260,000 toward their $1 million-goal. For more information, please click on www.tucsonmonastery.com/preserve.asp.

Prioress Sister Ramona Varela, OSB called it a “smashing success.”

The Benedictine Sisters’ Tucson community hosted a spring yard sale on May 2 and garnered more than $10,000 to benefit their Preserving Our Heritage campaign, a $1 million initiative to repair and restore the 70-year-old monastery.

“We are so grateful to all who donated items for the sale, who made a purchase and to our volunteers and to the Knights of Columbus who helped make it all possible,” Sister Ramona said.

Those who donated items were of all ages. “As we were setting up for the sale, a young boy arrived with his mother to donate a toy highway set and remarked, ‘If the Sisters need a new roof, I can give up my toy,’” Sister Ramona said.

Proceeds from the yard sale will help repair the monastery’s roof. For more information, please call (520) 325-6401 or e-mail .

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration offered a discernment weekend in February at their Tucson, Ariz., monastery for women who wanted to learn more about monastic life and Benedictine values.

Single women who are discerning a call to religious life enjoyed the opportunity to enter into the rhythm of the Benedictine Sisters’’ contemplative life, learn how set aside time and space for listening to God and share with others who are also seeking God more intentionally.

The Benedictine Sisters host a variety of discernment weekends and monastic experiences throughout the year for single women who may or may not be discerning a call.

For information about upcoming events, please contact Vocation Director Sister Ruth Starman, OSB at (660) 944-2221 or e-mail

Italy’s SAT Choir will present a benefit concert beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, at the monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration located at 800 N. Country Club Rd., Tucson.

The 30-member men’s choir hails from Trento, Italy, the hometown of Padre Eusebio Francesco Kino. Padre Kino, who is currently under consideration for beatification, was a missionary who has been revered for his founding of more than 20 missions and his dedication to the people of Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona during his life. As part of the events to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the 17th century Jesuit priest’s death, the chorus will perform a variety of religious and traditional Italian songs.

The SAT Choir was originally founded as the S.O.S.A.T. Choir in 1926 by the Pedrotti brothers. They began singing in the polyphonic choir in the Trento Cathedral and continued singing as part of a mountain climbing club. The choir has given more than 1,000 concerts in the most prestigious concert halls and theatres in Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Switzerland and the United States.

Suggested donations for the concert are $20 at the door. However, no one will be turned away and all proceeds will benefit the Benedictine Sisters’ Preserve Our Heritage fund. The $1 million campaign includes renovations and repairs to the Sisters’ monastery, including a deteriorating roof, the need for updated heating and cooling infrastructure and electrical and safety upgrades.

Due to the size of the monastery chapel, only 200 seats will be available for the concert. For groups that would like to reserve a large block of seats, please contact El Patronato de Kino at (520) 400-5437.

The Benedictine Sisters’ Tucson monastery offers several faith-based and non-secular opportunities for community members, including hosting retreats, youth groups and the Benedictine Oblates in addition to providing meeting areas for community groups. The Benedictine Sisters have been an integral part of the Tucson community since 1935. Their current monastery, the Pink Rose of the Desert, was built in 1940.

For more information about the concert, please contact Tucson Prioress Sister Ramona Varela at (520) 325-6401.

Mark your calendars! The Benedictine Sisters' Contemplative Prayer Group are pleased to sponsor a James Finley Retreat to take place at Holy Trinity Monastery, St. David, Arizona, from March 12 through 14, 2010. The topic will be “Living a More Contemplative Life”. Registration begins Oct. 1, 2009.

More information will be posted on this web site as it becomes available…

The ABC television series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has traveled the country assisting many families in need of decent housing with the help of generous people in the construction-related trades who are willing to come forward and provide major assistance.

Those with private homes aren’t the only beneficiaries of such kindness.

“The same is true for monasteries,” said Sister Joan Ridley, OSB, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Tucson, Ariz. “Our monastery is more than 70 years old. It’s a local landmark and historic treasure but in need of repair.”

Fortunately, they are aided by a wonderful group of seven professionals who have formed a building committee as part of the Sisters’ Friends of the Monastery advisory board.

They are architects, engineers and contractors who have worked to identify a number of issues, including a leaking roof, aging heating and air conditioning equipment and safety issues. It’s not as dramatic as an extreme home makeover, Sister Joan admits, but their hard work is definitely creating results the Sisters are thrilled with.

“They consider what is in our best interests and advise us on the next steps to take, often securing free or discounted assistance of other professionals they know,” Sister Joan said.

Because of their hard work and dedication, the Benedictine Sisters were not surprised to learn that many of these individuals are also part of the crew that worked with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” as it filmed an episode in February in Tucson.

“John Wesley Miller, the chairman of our building committee, was the main contractor and coordinated the ‘Extreme Makeover’ project here, which involved over 500 professionals who donated their time,” Sister Joan said. Along with Miller, other monastery committee members who assisted with the project included architect Hank Krzysik and homebuilder Al LeCocq.

Many of the new home’s features echo the green, environmentally friendly projects the committee strives for when planning projects for the Benedictine Sisters’ monastery. The episode featuring the Tucson residence of the Bell family is scheduled to air in March.

An example of the building committee’s most recent efforts is the result of a joint project with the Miramonte Neighborhood Association, of which the Sisters’ are members. The association offered to donate $1,000 toward the cost of a new wrought-iron gate.

“We knew it would cost more than that to replace our old one, so Mr. Miller located a blacksmith who completed the project and donated his materials and labor,” Sister Joan Ridley said.

Eric Myrmo of Myrmo & Son built the gate, and Miller’s construction company provided the contracting work to take out the old gate and prepare the land. To thank the community for their generosity, the Sisters held on Open House in January.

“We are so blessed to have friends such as these, who reach out to help others in their community,” Sister Joan said. “They don’t do it for glory or for recognition. Rather it’s an extension of the kindness in their hearts and their generosity of spirit as they share their gifts with all of us.”

The Building committee members are; John Wesley Miller [Green builder and developer], Al LeCocq [Contractor], Hank Krzysik [Architect], Al Nichols [Mechanical engineer, P.E.], Hy Kaplan [Electrical engineer, P.E.], Donatus Kelch [Knights of Columbus, former project mgr.] and Frank Frisina [experience with building management].

For more information about the Tucson project, please visit. http://www.extrememakeovertucson.com/. For more information regarding the committee’s assistance with the Benedictine Sisters, please contact Sister Joan at (520) 325-6401 or e-mail joan@bspa.us.

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are please to announce this year’s Taizé Prayer calendar. Beginning on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 7:00pm, the Newman Center and the Sisters will be co-hosting a monthly Taizé Prayer in the Benedictine Monastery chapel. This service occurs on the last Thursday of each month from January through April.

All are invited.

This is an hour of reflective service with chanting, silence, and brief readings, patterned after Evening Prayer at the ecumenical monastery of Taizé in France.

View the event poster here. For a list of Taizé Prayer dates in 2009, please see the Taizé Prayer section of our web site.

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration held a Mass of Gratitude on Sept. 21 for area Knights of Columbus members and their families in recognition of the numerous projects they've undertaken for the monastery.

More than 200 people attended, with Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas presiding and Father Patrick Crino and Father Van Wagner as concelebrants.

During the past year, Knights of Columbus members have assisted with projects such as landscaping, painting, and repair of parking and sidewalk areas. In addition, they have hosted various fund-raisers to offset the costs of these projects.

“The Knights of Columbus have done so much for us. The best way we can show our gratitude is by sharing together the banquet the Lord has prepared,” Tucson Prioress Sister Ramona Varela, OSB said.

For more information, please contact Sister Ramona at (520) 325-6401 or .

Sister Mary Demetria Newman, OSB, 90, a Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration, passed away September15, 2008, at the monastery in Clyde, MO.

Until about three years ago Sister lived at the monastery in Tucson on Country Club Road. She was a very esteemed staff member of the Liturgical Vestment Department since she had the ability to make custom fitted albs and other vestments without patterns. Many priests and deacons have expressed gratitude for her care and skill. She had done this for quite some time, having sewed the former Bishop Green’s consecration vestments.

She was born Frances Cecilia Newman on April 21, 1918, in Norman, Okla., to Otto Joseph and Mary Agnes (Meyer) Newman. Her family moved to California when she was five years old and settled in Maywood, a suburb of Los Angeles. She learned how to sew and to cook as a child. After graduating from high school, she worked as a housekeeper for a year before pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a religious sister.

“Many years after I was in the convent I learned that when my grandmother held me in her arms at my baptism, she asked the Blessed Mother to obtain a religious vocation for me,” Sister Mary Demetria once recalled. “Her prayer was answered because from the first dawn of reason, I had this desire and conviction. Moreover, I had a picture in my mind of exactly the kind of nun I was going to be – not teaching, not nursing, but the kind that prays.”

Her mother advised she write to the Benedictine Sisters in Clyde to ask them to pray for her to find the right place. So Sister Mary Demetria wrote to Clyde and was sent the vocation booklet, “The Eucharistic Adorer.” “On opening the book and seeing the sisters, I knew this was where God wanted me,” she once said.

She entered in 1939 and made her first profession on February 8, 1941. During her years as a Benedictine Sister, she worked in the laundry and in maintenance. She made and mended clothing and served as a night nurse in the infirmary.

She later moved to the sisters’ community in Tucson, Arizona, where she worked in the altar bread department and sewed liturgical vestments. A gifted seamstress, she was privileged to help with the drapery for the new altar when the Tucson monastery’s chapel was consecrated.

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have elected Sister Ramona Varela, OSB as their new prioress for the Tucson, Ariz., community.

Sister Ramona most recently served as the congregation’s prioress general, and just completed her term of office in June. She succeeds Sister Lupita Barajas, OSB as the Tucson prioress and will serve a four-year term.

A Tempe, Ariz., native, Sister Ramona entered the Benedictine Sisters shortly after her high school graduation. She made her first monastic profession on Sept. 12, 1963 and has held several positions throughout the congregation.

She spearheaded a variety of projects since her election as prioress general in 2002, such as an expansion of the Benedictine Sisters’ Web presence and e-commerce shopping site, development of a low-gluten altar bread, long-range strategic planning and exploration of renewable energy resources.

The Tucson monastery is home to 22 of the almost 100 members of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. In addition to a place to pray that is open seven days a week, the sisters offer several faith-based opportunities for Tucson residents. These include their Benedictine Oblate and contemplative prayer groups, and monastic experiences for youth. They also provide a meeting place for various local renewal and retreat groups.

Sister Ramona was officially installed into office during a ceremony held July 31 at the sisters’ Benedictine Monastery in Tucson. For more information, please contact Kelley Baldwin at kelley@bspa.us or (660) 944-2221.

With the help of John Wesley Miller, a Friends of the Monastery Board member, and his daughter, Katherine Kent, who owns The Solar Store in Tucson, two 4' by 10' solar panels have been installed on the 3rd floor roof deck, just outside the monastery laundry room. This active solar closed-loop system includes a 120-gallon storage tank and a tankless backup unit that will boost water temperature if necessary. Most of the time, however, the sun should heat the water to a temperature between 140 and 160 degrees. The sisters are extremely grateful for this opportunity to "go green" and profit from Tucson's abundant sunshine.

Harmony, our new congregation newsletter, is now available for your on-line enjoyment from our Congregational web site.

A concert is planned for Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. by the Arizona Repertory Singers.  The concert will be held in the Chapel.