Four Benedictine Sisters recently celebrated Jubilees at Queen of Angels Monastery. Sr. Corinne Clay and Sr. Agatha Meissner marked 70 years as Benedictines, Sr. Mechtilde Fennimore celebrated her 60th jubilee, and Sr. Rocino Moreno Soto celebrated 25 years as a religious. The Jubilee Celebration was held during community Eucharist on Wednesday, Feb. 10, which is the Feast of St. Scholastica, twin sister of St. Benedict and a noted Benedictine saint in her own right.
Sr. Corinne Clay was born in Jacksonville, Fla. and grew up in southern Oregon. While studying to be a nurse in Medford, she met two Benedictine Sisters from Mount Angel, and eventually entered the community here. Sr. Corinne taught in Catholic schools for 25 years. She taught biology, chemistry and physical science at Mount Angel Academy from 1958 to 1965, and then taught at John F. Kennedy High School until 1969. After earning her masters degree and a Ph.D. in Science Education at Oregon State University in 1972, Sr. Corinne began teaching at the University of California Fresno. She taught biology and served as the science education coordinator at Fresno State for 17 years. She retired from full-time teaching in 1989 but continued on as Professor Emirita at the university until she returned to Mount Angel in 2002.
Sr. Agatha Meissner was born in Glen Ullin, N.D. She moved to Oregon with her family in 1936 and entered the Benedictine Sisters’ community in 1937. Sr. Agatha earned a bachelor’s degree at Marylhurst College and engaged in graduate studies at the University of Washington. She worked at Mount Angel Academy and Mount Angel College for many years, supervising academy boarding students and occasionally teaching German and sewing. She also served as the monastery seamstress for 13 years.
From 1979 to 2004, Sr. Agatha lived in Nampa, Idaho, caring for her elderly parents. She returned to Mount Angel in 2004 and began volunteering her services at St. Joseph Shelter. For the past six years she has worked with pre-school age children at the shelter on a daily basis.
Sr. Mechtilde Fennimore grew up on a farm near Lone Pine, and attended a one-room schoolhouse through the eighth grade. She attended Mount Angel Academy, and entered the Sisters’ community after her junior year. Following her high school graduation. She began working in the Sisters’ kitchen. For many years, she was in charge of kitchen operations for the Sisters and for the Mount Angel College cafeteria. She also served as assistant prioress for nine years and coordinated the monastery infirmary for more than 30 years. During the two major renovation projects at Queen of Angels in the 1980s and 1990s, Sr. Mechtilde served as the owners’ representative, working closely with the architects and contractors. She also oversaw the monastery maintenance department for a number of years.
Sr. Rocio Moreno Soto is a native of Durango, Mexico. She entered a religious community in Mexico as a young woman and professed vows in 1985. Led by her desire to serve Spanish-speaking Catholics in the U.S., she came to Oregon and was accepted as a temporary member of the Benedictine Sisters in 2003. For the past four years, Sr. Rocio has served at St. Paul Parish in Silverton as director of religious education. She completed her transfer to Mount Angel in 2006, making her perpetual monastic profession that year. In 2009 Sr. Rocio was severely injured in a two-car accident on her way to work in Silverton. She has had multiple surgeries since the accident and is at present recuperating at the monastery.
