Visible Witness

A "flock" of Sisters out and about together inevitably results in stares, not-so-discrete-pictures, videos, and requests for prayers. Add to the group a priest in cassock and zucchetto, and the interest is magnified. Recently, a number of the Sisters went to visit our Chaplain's new assignment, the Newman Center at Sonoma State University. Occasions such as walking through a secular college campus in habit cause our own attention to this expression of our life of consecration to be heightened. It gives an opportunity to reflect more deeply on what the habit means and why we wear it. 

At our investiture, we gladly lay aside secular garb for the holy habit. It is an outward expression of our consecration. When people see the Sisters, they automatically think of God even if they are not people of faith. The blue and white call to mind our Lady and give expression to our Marian spirit. It is an ordinary part of life for a Sister on a rosary walk or getting groceries for the community to be stopped and asked for prayers. People stop us because they can see us. They know who we are and Who we represent. This visibility is a great honor and it carries with it the responsibility to be ever bearers of the Gospel, sometimes by word and deed, but always by example and the religious habit.

Today's saint, St. Benedict, is a powerful witness to us as religious. His life reminds us that we are to love God more deeply, more fully, more totally, and to bear witness to God's love for us and all of His people. ​One of the less obvious parts of our habit is the St. Benedict medal we wear attached to our habit rosary. Our wearing of this medal stems from our faith in the life giving power of the Cross and in the merits of St. Benedict, who efficaciously used the sign of the cross in his frequent combats with the devil and in his miracles.

Each set of letters on the medal are the beginning letters of a Latin phrase:

CSSML - Crux sacra sit mihi lux, which translates "Holy Cross be my light."
NDSMD - Non draco sit mihi dux, meaning "Let not the dragon be my guide."

The ring of letters around the outside stands for Vode retro Satana nunquam suade mihi vana - sunt mala quae libas, ipse venena bibas, which is roughly,  "Begone, Satan, do not tempt me with your lies. You offer me an evil cup; drink your own poison."

We wear the medal to represent our constant prayer that the Cross of Christ be our faithful guide and the source of light for our paths. We pray through the intercession of St. Benedict for strength in times of temptation, for God's protection against the evil one, and for communal peace.

The Sisters with Father and Bismark, unofficial SSU mascot