Threshold Summer 2024
Volume 24, Number 1: Celebrating our 160th Anniversary
Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica
The Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas, were founded in 1863 for the purpose of opening a school for girls. Mount St. Scholastica Academy was opened that same year. Since that time, the Mount Sisters have been involved in education from elementary school through colleges and universities. They currently use their education skills in Sophia Spirituality Center and Keeler Women’s Center. As Benedictines, their primary mission is to seek God through community life, prayer, ministry, and care for all creation.
A Prayerful Podcast
Sister Helga Leija began hosting the podcast “Orando los Salmos desde el Monasterio” (Praying the Psalms from the Monastery) on August 15, 2022. With 95 episodes recorded and published, she has journeyed up to Psalm 95. The concept of the…
Spring Concerts Delight Listeners
Raising a Joyful Sound The Mount hosted musicians from Benedictine College (BC) on April 14 and 20, 2024, as liturgical music students Mary Catherine Karpilo and Gerard Remmes planned music for vespers as their capstone projects. Gerard composed an invitatory…
Monastery News and Notes
Maur Hill–Mount Academy Students Visit the Mount As a sponsor of Maur Hill-Mount Academy (MH-MA), the Mount invited students to visit on February 8 and 9, 2024, to learn about how the sisters live out their Benedictine life. After a…
Keeler Women’s Center Hosts Reception for Volunteers
On April 26, 2024, Keeler Women’s Center (KWC) celebrated more than 70 volunteers and community partners at the Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library and Environmental Learning Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Volunteers at KWC include many of the Mount…
Mount Hosts Benedictine Spirituality Workshop and Retreat
From June 23 to July 13, 2024, the Mount hosted a Benedictine Spirituality Workshop and Retreat (BSWR) for two sisters preparing to make their final profession: Sister Marena Hoogland from Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck, North Dakota, and Sister Siena Fisk…
Wangari Committee Supports BC Student Researchers
The Wangari Committee provided grants for two 2024 Benedictine College Discovery Day projects, which were presented to the sisters on April 25. The grants support research related to stewardship, sustainability, women’s equality, and environmental justice. Abby Walterscheid investigated proteinprotein interactions…
Sophia Hosts Bilingual Catholic Women’s Day Event
On April 14, 2024, more than 90 women from Kansas and Missouri came to the Mount for “Catholic Women’s Day: A Bilingual Benedictine Experience.” The day was facilitated by Mary Kay Whitaker, of Sophia Spirituality Center, and Karla Melgar, a…
Mount Welcomes New Oblates
Seven new oblates were welcomed into the Mount community at a ceremony on May 4, 2024. The circle of lay persons committing themselves to practice Benedictine values in their lives continues to widen, and each one brings new gifts and…
Community Garden Takes Root
For several years the sisters have dreamed about the possibility of hosting a community garden on their property for the people of Atchison. In spring 2024, that dream became a reality when the director of Catholic Charities in Atchison, Kelly…