Jubilee 2010
of Benet Hill Monastery
Colorado Springs, Colorado
August 15, 2010
Celebration and Commitment. . .
A decision made as a young woman, a lifetime of service, a willingness to follow where God chooses to Lead. This commitment has led Sister's Leann Cogan, Kathleen Cogan, Anne Stedman, Rose Ann Barmann and Charlotte Redpath to this day. Each of these remarkable women has dedicated herself through monastic vowed life to live according to the tenants St. Benedict established over 1500 years ago. They have banded together to create Benet Hill Monastery with the purpose of providing the sacred space of hospitality and the use of their resources in education, spirituality and other viable ministries for all people with a special emphasis for women.
Sister Leann received an MS degree from Notre Dame University, a Professional of Education Administration Degree from Colorado University in Boulder, and Chaplaincy Certification Preparation from the United States Army. She taught in schools in Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, and at Donnelly College in Kansas City, KS. Leann served as superintendent in the So. Conejos RE-IO District, directed religious education with the
U.S. Army at Fort Carson & Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, and ministered as a chaplain at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. At the time when most of us are retiring, Leann, at 70 years of age, volunteered to teach student nurses in Guyana, South America. Sister Leann was also the director of the Adult Learning Opportunity program at Benet Hill as well as serving on various administrative committees and internal ministry for the monastery.
Reflecting on her life, Sister Leann says that her years in the monastery have gone from “good, to better, to best”. She adds, “Ministering to people as an educator and in pastoral service were wonderful and the regularity of monastic prayer and knowing the sisters has been life-giving. Of all that I have done, the highlight is ministering in Guyana when I was seventy. All of this has transformed me, tamed me some. It’s been a great ride.”
Both Sister Leann an Sister Kathleen Cogan, whose information follows, ( who happen to be blood sisters) grew up in the mountains just west of Colorado Springs. Their father and uncle homesteaded a ranch near Buena Vista, along the Arkansas River. The sisters entered the Benedictine community in Atchison KS, at Mt. St. Scholastica, where they received their bachelors' degrees.
| Sister Kathleen Cogan, OSB
Sister Kathleen received her MS in biology from St. Mary's University, MN, a BS in nursing from Colorado University at Boulder and her Chaplaincy Certification at Oxnard, CA. Sister taught at Benet Hill Academy, St. Mary's High School in Walsenburg CO, So. Conejos RE 10 in Antonito, CO, as well as schools in Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. As a nurse, she ministered at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, the University Hospital in Denver, and in transitional care at Benet Hill Monastery. Chaplaincy positions were held in Mercy Hospital, Iowa City, IA and St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, CO. Presently, she is working in the finance office at Benet Hill “My prayer life, especially our Benedictine Divine Office has been extremely life-giving to me. Growing in my faith with the help of my sisters and spiritual direction, I am closer to my God and am deepening my understanding of my Benedictine vocation.” “Gratefulness” is the word that comes to mind for S Kathleen as she looks back on her years of varied service and ministry. It is also the word that comes to mind especially now that we are in our new monastery. She says, “This special spot in the middle of nature is for me a real prayer haven.” |
| Sister Anne Stedman, OSB
As Sister Anne Stedman celebrates her 50th Jubilee of vowed monastic life, she reflected on what has impacted her during her Benedictine journey. For her, the touchstone of monastic life is a small piece of the Community’s vision "we will be radical signs of God’s love and compassion." This touchstone began to emerge when she worked at St. Cajetan’s, an inner city parish in Denver in the early 70s; it was there she discovered the richness, beauty and values of the Hispanic community. When asked about her ministry, she spoke of the gratitude and joy for each of the ministries which have included: teaching children and adults in education and religious education, liturgist for the Archdiocese of Denver and Community, and being part of the beginning and the evolution of the Benedictine Spiritual Formation Program (now in its 27th year). Sister Anne has served her community for four years as Assistant Prioress and thirteen years as Prioress; she feels blessed with the gift of "discovering the inner beauty and depth of each Sister as well as my own limitations and fragility," and how we are ‘at home’ in our new monastery. |
| Sister Rose Ann Barmann, OSB
I was born into a Catholic Irish/German family, so from the time I was in my mother’s womb, I was surrounded by a loving and faith-filled environment. My very beginnings were grounded in a God-consciousness. I was raised on a farm in the Northwest Missouri. In the 1940’s, my family experienced an Uncle serving in WW II and an elderly Grandpa Barmann living with us. My parents raised six children in very tough economic times, which increased my young awareness of our dependence upon God. We thanked God for the rain when there was a drought and then we prayed for the rain to stop when the river overflowed and flooded the crops. “Knowing, loving and serving God,” was instilled in me and my siblings all through our lives, because it was not just a Baltimore Catechism answer, but a way of life for my Mom and Dad. My “Benedictine Seeds” were a part of my life from the very beginning. My parents, Charles and Veronica were Oblates of St. Benedict and were affiliated with Conception Abbey in Maryville, Mo. We only lived about fifteen miles from the Abbey. A Benedictine monk was our pastor and we had Benedictine Sisters from Atchison, Kansas teaching in St. Mary’s school. I fell in love with Gregorian Chant as a young child, when we would attend Sung Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after visiting my brothers who were in the Monastery.) My love for Gregorian Chant was reinforced as we attended the Easter Vigil at the Abbey long before it was a common occurrence in our local parish. From the very beginnings of my story, there was a PRESENCE that possessed me in every aspect. I was totally unaware of this as a child. It has only been in the past few years of reflecting upon my journey that I have become more deeply aware that there always was this alluring energy and “Call “ in my life. This energy and presence possessed me and has led me to fulfill the plans and designs of God for me these past 50 years. Everything that I have experienced has been useful. Even my mistakes have been opportunities for maturing. Not one second of my life has been in vain, because all that I have lived is part of a Divine Design of an unconditional loving Creator; the Source of all Being. It has been the wonderful gift of my Benedictine Vocation that has made my life so full and transforming in Seeking and Experiencing the Holy in my life. I love being a Benedictine Sister and find great joy and peace in living the Monastic life with my sisters at Benet Hill Monastery. |
Sister Charlotte Redpath, OSB Sister Charlotte Redpath rejoices as she reaches fifty years of vowed life-it is an occasion of great joy filled with whole-hearted gratitude. She greatly values "the Benedictine tradition of liturgy, prayer, contemplation, fostering beauty and sharing with others." It is in these traditions that she continues on her journey to increase her search for God and her love of learning.
Sister Charlotte has been transformed and influenced these fifty years by the first word in St. Benedict’s Holy Rule: to ‘LISTEN’. This practice has taught her to "pay better attention to all of life" and to go deeper into her relationship with God, others, community and planet earth. Her great "love for silence, solitude, sacred places and the interior life" has increased dramatically. Sister Charlotte’s ministries have included teaching art, on the secondary and university levels, and for the US Department of Interior; private practice of psychotherapy and spiritual direction; campus ministry; founded and directed Spirit of Life Holistic Spirituality Center, and professional artist and photographer. Creating art has always been a most important part of her life and Sister Charlotte continues her creative expression today. Her monastic life led her into active involvement in the 60’s with peace and justice issues. She also was a co-foundress and leader of a new small Benedictine Community for 20 years. All of these experiences have been deeply transformative for her. She has grown in awareness in being a woman, especially a woman in the church. Sister Charlotte loves community and the ongoing growth in and through her Community. Living the monastic life has "greatly expanded my concept and images of God and hopefully made a noticeable difference in my teaching, counseling, creating and being for others." She says, "I have a real passion for the Benedictine way of life and would not trade it for anything else." |
This deepened during a three week-experience in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1985, where she "put on a lens of seeing and praying through the eyes of our Hispanic sisters and brothers in a third world country. This encounter left my heart singed and broken open. I realized that it was time to speak the truth in love, not counting the cost -- to speak for those who have no voice." One further deepening of that touchstone was Sr. Anne’s month’s trip to Laos and Cambodia in 2000, where she witnessed the consequences of war and
the suffering our Asian sisters and brothers have endured. The burning question then became "What is enough?" These three experiences have had a profound effect on how she now experiences her God and sees her Community and ministry.