(Adapted from Saint Benedict's Monastery, Saint Joseph, Minnesota; Saint Scholastica's Monastery, Fort Smith, Arkansas; and the Federation of Saint Scholastica)
1. Would you agree that the four purposes of this document have been achieved? Would there be reason to write a new document at this time?
STATEMENT OF VALUES
2. American Benedictine women, in touch with this tradition, know themselves to be monastic. Does your community clearly identify itself as monastic? What have been the responses of your community to the adoption of monastic vocabulary?
3. Relate the role of the prioress as found in this document with your interpretation of this role.
4. How is the short description of the threefold Benedictine promise still relevant for your life today?
5. Out of this climate of prayerfulness emerges the Benedictine contemplative vision. How do you and your community develop and express your contemplative vision? How is this recognized by the people to whom you minister?
DIVERSITY IN THE BENEDICTINE TRADITION
6. The document discusses the factor of diversity in community. What is the attitude toward diversity in your community? How much diversity can your community embrace and still be cohesive?
7. It has been, in fact, part of the tradition of American Benedictine sisters to make new responses as society around them shifted. What new responses or shifts has your community experienced or developed in response to the times?
THE PURPOSE OF THE STATEMENT
8. In what ways is this document still relevant today? Is any of it outdated?
9. If you were to write a similar document today, would there be other values that should be stressed?
10. Do you think the general public has a more accurate perception of monastic life now than when this document was composed?
11. What are the enduring questions of American Benedictine women:
- in 1975 when this document was written?
- in the current year?
Upon This Tradition homepage
Upon This Tradition I Prologue
Upon this Tradition I document
Upon This Tradition I Update
©Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses, 2001-2002