Ruth Margaret Sanders was born in West DePere, Wisconsin, to Louis B. Sanders and Teresa Golueke Sanders. She was the youngest of six children. Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. My parents stopped after they got to me. I was a tomboy and always felt more at home playing outside with the boys than staying inside with the girls. My mother was a devout Catholic with a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and my father a hard-working man.

After completing high school, World War II began and the employment offices had to fill openings in the defense plants. So after a three-month course in machine shop, I got a job 120 miles from home, inspecting gun parts - which really bothered me, knowing what they were used for. I felt better when I began inspecting airplane parts - knowing that they could be used for other things than wars. After the War I got a job in a printery, working a second shift. A lot of people didn't like working second shift, but I didn't mind. It meant I could go to mass each morning.

The priest there became my spiritual director. Once he asked me what I was doing for New Year's Eve, if I was going to a party or anything. I said, “Everything I want is right there on the altar, Father." He’d never spoken about a vocation to me before, and he didn’t say anything for a month or so. I had a sister who was a teaching nun, but since school was never my favorite pastime, I didn’t want to teach for a living. He never pushed. Just asked me what I planned on doing for the rest of my life. I was almost 30 by then. He got me information on various communities, none of which appealed to me, except for a book from Clyde about Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. This was the beginning of the change in my life. I entered the community without coming to see it ahead of time.

Sister Monica’s background and personality suited her for a variety of assignments. She was handy, had an understanding of ‘things mechanical,’ and took pleasure in figuring out how things work. In the vestry, laundry, kitchen, maintenance, and altar bread department she worked meticulously and responsibly. Even as a member of the health care center Monica wanted to contribute, and happily returned to the Altar Bread Department when the need arose (working up until a few days before she died). Likewise she retained her love for the outdoors, spending as much time outside as she could, in whatever monastery she lived. While in the health care center, she spent time daily tidying up the grounds close-by, giving expression to her love for nature and manual labor.

A special joy in Monica’s life came when she was chosen to be one of the five pioneer Sisters for our ashram in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. I was interested in the teachings of Fr. Bede Griffiths, but had no formal education in Eastern religions. This gave me a whole new idea of the spiritual life. In fact, everything there was new and different. The model used in the formation of Osage was the ashram of India, which is a place of intense spiritual living. And various things from the East were incorporated into our prayer and lifestyle, which we tried to keep very simple. Our guests joined us for most things, because they were so much a part of our daily living. 

Sr. Monica loved “that little place in the woods” where she could enjoy nature, maintain the cabins and grounds, and spend her days in prayer. That place changed me. I could never put it into words. It was more than the prayer. There was something in the silence that reached out and spoke to me.

The experience in Sand Springs taught Sr. Monica how to augment her Catholic faith and practice with riches from other traditions. She once commented that one thing for which she was most grateful was the privilege of having been a member of Osage+Monastery, “another form of Eucharistic life.” As her love for Christ and devotion to His presence in the Blessed Sacrament continued to grow, she maintained a love for the people she met and the things she learned during her years in the forest. 

Sister Monica spent her last years at our Clyde monastery, eventually transferring to Our Lady of Rickenbach as her health declined. She died unexpectedly on November 19, 2007 at the age of 84. Her Mass of Christian Burial and internment occurred on November 21, 2007 at Clyde. She was dearly loved.