Eleanor Rita Anna Nordhus was born on a farm in Seneca, Kansas on November 7, 1927 and baptized the following day. She was the oldest of nine children, five boys and four girls, of her parents, Leo H. and Nora (Haverkamp) Nordhus. Norita's first year in school was class in a one-room country school with two boys in the first grade and one girl in the third grade. One of the boys, Robert Deters, became a Benedictine monk at Atchison, Kansas. The remainder of her school education came at St. Mary's parish school in St. Benedict, Kansas. Between her freshman and sophomore years she remained at home to help her mother who was expecting another child. After high school graduation, she attended Mt. St. Scholastica College in Atchison for one year, then again remained at home to be with her mother who was expecting another child. After a summer trip to California, a gift from her father, she had one more semester in college and a summer school session before leaving for the convent.

Norita entered at Clyde on the Feast of Christ the King, October 30, 1949, was invested on May 20,1 950, and professed first vows on May 20,1951 receiving the name Sr. M. Trinitas. In February 1954 she was one of the twelve pioneers at our new foundation in San Diego, returning to Clyde for one year before her final profession of vows on November 9, 1956. During her first ten years in the monastery she helped in the Church vestment department. Having lived in all our monasteries, she served as portress, in the bakery, as a writer for Spirit & Life, spiritual director, seamstress, bookkeeper, and subprioress . 

She helped initiate the Benedictine Oblate Program for our Congregation. Her educational interests included studies in Creative Writing, Philosophy, Art Design, Spiritual Formation, Psychology, Theology, and Art. Always reaching out to expand her knowledge, to stretch her mind, she was thrilled with the opportunity of one semester of study at St. Louis University as a guest of Fr. Futrell, SJ, for training in giving directed retreats. Before this she suffered an attack of appendicitis which brought her to death's door, but "for some reason the door wasn't opened." While in Tucson, Sr. M. Trinitas' persistent desire to finish college urged her to work for a B.A. in Studio Art at the University of Arizona. Her works of art were treasured in our monasteries: tabernacle designs, oil paintings, and in the St. Louis monastery the large mural on the basement walls.

Sister M. Trinitas moved into St. Benedict Health Care Community at the St. Louis Monastery in January 1993. When told that she did not have long to live, Sr. M. Trinitas was ready to accept death, and was longing for that final communion with her God. The next two years were marked with patient waiting. But the agony of uncertainty and waiting was prolonged. She continued to participate in the liturgy of the hours, helped care for the vigil lights in chapel, and was present to us with her characteristic smile of serenity radiating from her face.

As we celebrated the sacred Triduum, Sr. M. Trinitas, whose resurrection was imminent, imaged the gentle suffering Christ in her own paschal mystery. On Easter Tuesday she was still conscious, but too weak for a smile to break through until early the next morning when she passed from death to her glorious resurrection on April 19, 1995.

A gifted artist, she left, on the canvas of our lives, sketches of a gentle, loving presence, a peaceful smile of patience in the midst of suffering and waiting, a beautiful Self-portrait of her God. In the end, she taught us "the art of dying" through her life-giving presence in the face of the mystery of death.