is important.” •
More about the Benedictine Sisters is available
on their website benedictinesistersoffl .org
Information about the Benedictine Monks can
be found at saintleoabbey.org.
The Cross of Saint
Benedict is found on
buildings throughout
campus as a way to call
for God’s blessings and
protection. The Saint
Leo Abbey Church, top
right, is an integral part
of the campus community.
The Benedictine
Sisters live and pray
near University Campus
in the monastery,
bottom left. Volunteers
help prepare a Thanksgiving
dinner with the
Benedictine Sisters
by peeling potatoes,
among other tasks.
Saint Leo University SPIRIT.SAINTLEO.EDU 17
Benedictine Sisters are visible in
community service
Today the Benedictine Sisters of Florida have “a
diff erent kind of day-to-day involvement” with
Saint Leo than in the days when they housed
and fed students and occupied other roles at
the college level, explained Sister Roberta Bailey,
OSB, ’57, prioress.
The sisters are involved in a variety of community
works, true to their commitment of responding
“with the compassion of Christ” to the
needs of people. Students sometimes become
engaged with the sisters in community projects.
A classic example is a community Thanksgiving
dinner that the Benedictine Sisters host with
nearby Saint Anthony Parish. Undergraduates
in the Social Work Club take part annually in
preparations and fundraising.
“One thing we pride ourselves on is that
we serve real mashed potatoes, so we have
to peel 100 pounds of potatoes,” said Sister
Roberta. More than 250 meals are served with
just more than 100 delivered to people who are
homebound. One of the sisters runs Da ystar
Hope Center in Dade City, where students can
volunteer in the clothing thrift shop and food
distribution center. Helpers are always welcome
in the sisters’ aquaponics project, a self-sustaining
fi sh farm with indoor and outdoor gardens.
The Benedictine Sisters are sometimes asked
to help with the temporary hospitality needs
of graduate international students. And last
summer, they provided short-term lodging for a
graduate student from out-of-state so that she
could attend a weekend academic conference.
Her stay aff ected her greatly.
“The sisters were incredibly nurturing and
service-oriented. Though not Catholic, I even
decided to attend prayers and Mass,” the student
wrote. “It was defi nitely God’s plan for me
to be here ... Being cared for and cared about
by the sisters, prayer, time to be introspective,
walks in the gardens, talking to God, and sleeping
soundly, have all brought me back to what
“We believe that every student at the
university has the same dignity that
God has given to us, as we claim that
he is the creator of us all.”
—Abbot Isaac Camacho, OSB, ’95
/saintleoabbey.org
/SPIRIT.SAINTLEO.EDU