5/25/2007 9:16:00 AM Benedictine sister elected to lead remote Tanzanian priory
DARIN EPPERLY/DAILY NEWSSISTER ROSANN OCKEN, a Missionary Benedictine Sister at Immaculata Monastery in Norfolk, will leave Sunday for Peramiho, Tanzania in Africa, where she will take over duties as prioress.
About Peramiho
The mission at Peramiho Abbey and St. Scholastica Priory is designed to teach various trades to the citizens of Tanzania.
Monks at the abbey teach the male citizens trades like tailoring, mechanics and shoe-making.
Sisters at the priory work with the women and children.
Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa was taught by the Missionary Benedictine Sisters.
There are more than a few adults who have trouble finding Tanzania on a globe.
But the remote Benedictine mission of St. Scholastica Peramiho Priory in Tanzania, Africa, has been on Sister Rosann Ocken's mind since she was a little girl. Her maternal aunt, Sister Roselle Koch, served there in the 1960s and founded the secondary school at Peramiho.
"I remember very vividly her going and my mom sending money to help her," Sister Rosann said. "I have a picture of my mom saying goodbye to my aunt, and I have this very strong image."
Little did Sister Rosann know that one day she would be elected to serve as prioress there and help lead the oldest Benedictine priory in the world.
Sister Rosann, who is a Missionary Benedictine Sister at Immaculata Monastery in Norfolk, said she thinks the wheels allowing her to receive the opportunity to lead the priory were set in motion several years ago.
In 2003, she was invited to the community to do facilitation work and community discernment. During her monthlong stay at Peramiho, Sister Rosann said she had a beneficial time working with new members of the order.
"That's where they got to see me and hear my spiritual base and know my skills," Sister Rosann said.
At that time, one of the African-born sisters approached her about whether she would consider taking on the prioress duties at Peramiho, Sister Rosann said.
"They're in a position right now where the older international sisters are getting too old for this position and the new members are not ready," she said.
That's how Sister Rosann said she makes sense of being elected to the position.
"It took me very much off guard," she said. "I don't like to say no to the Holy Spirit. I don't like to say, 'Absolutely not, this is not going to work, this is unthinkable.' I don't try to approach life that way."
But Sister Rosann did tell the sister who inquired that the idea sounded close to impossible because she was not familiar with the culture or the language of Tanzania.
Nevertheless, she was honored the community thought of her in that light.
When the sisters at the Peramiho Monastery subsequently elected Sister Rosann to take over as prioress - essentially making her the administrator and spiritual director for the community - she was overwhelmed and apprehensive.
"When you talk about Africa and being different (from the United States) - no kidding," she said.
Sister Rosann said the annual income per capita in Tanzania ranges from $150 to $350. Many citizens live in mud huts, she said, and traveling from Peramiho to the capital of Dar Es Salaam would be like a 14-hour trip on a highway comparable to Old Hadar Road.
And English is not their first language, she said.
But Sister Rosann said that when she stopped to pray about what she was being asked to do, she found strength.
"What I've been doing is discernment work with women. This gives me courage because I've had to work with people and help them listen, and I listen and walk that journey together to help decide God's will for that person," she said.
In praying about the opportunity to lead at Peramiho, Sister Rosann said she started thinking about the Book of Exodus when Moses is chosen by God to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Moses told God someone else should go because he was not good at speaking, and God tells Moses that He will give him his brother Aaron.
"I go, 'Duh, it's not me, it's us. (God is saying to me) I will give you your sisters. They will speak for you. Don't worry - what you can't do, they can do. It's not just about you. It's about my will and my grace. Do it together and you're going to be fine'," Sister Rosann said.
From that point, Sister Rosann said she has been able to find peace with the opportunity and also feels excited about departing for Tanzania on Sunday. She said she believes the experience will be wonderful - as long as she continues an open dialogue with God.
"That's what I have to do. I have to listen and help them (the sisters) listen and pray. God is going to tell us what to do - and to me, he's got to speak English. To them He can speak Swahili, but He knows my language and I know His. I trust that," she said with a smile.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Article comment by:
DOROTHY RIVARD
GOOD AFTERNOON. A FEW YEARS BACK, I MET A BENEDICTINE SISTER, MOTHER CLOTILDE
FROM TANZANIA.
SHE WAS VISITING A COMMUNITY AT CLYDE MISSOURI. I HAVE THOUGHT OF CONTACTING HER, HOWEVER I HAVE LITTLE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. PERHAPS YOU CAN MAKE A SUGGESTION. AS I RECALL, SHE IS/WAS PRIORESS GENERAL.
I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY ASSISTANCE YOU WILL PROVIDE.
ONE IN GOD'S LOVE,
DOROTHY
ATLANTA GA. USA
Posted: Thursday, June 14, 2007
Article comment by:
Sr. Elisabeth Kerp OSB
Sr. Rosanne Ocken arrived in Peramiho and was welcomed with a grand reception by the sisters of the international Peramiho Priory community. Shouts of joy and "vigelegele" (quavering with tongue and voice box) on the tip of their voices with flags and drums and other local music instruments. Now she makes the first steps in the Swaheli language. We are overjoyed on her safe arrival.
