Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh
2026 JUBILARIANS
SISTER ROSALYN SOLLER, OSB
75th Jubilee
In 1951, Sister Rosalyn Soller made first profession with the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh. She spent 40 years in the ministry of education, teaching at the elementary level, later at St. Benedict Academy, and served as principal at Sacred Heart School in Jeannette, Pa. She also served as director of novices for the Benedictine Sisters.
Sister Rosalyn served in Neon, Ky., where she lived with “the poorest of the poor” while working at a hospital in Lexington. Next, she became coordinator of religious education at Saint Teresa of Avila Parish in Ross Township.
Reflecting on her 75 years in religious life, Sister Rosalyn says, “Our history in these years can be summarized as ‘the Church spoke and we listened; then we spoke, and the Church listened; then the Spirit spoke, and we all listened!’”
Sister Rosalyn feels that she has “come full gamut with the independence to live the Benedictine Rule in an open and free way as the times would dictate, always attentive to the needs of the people of God.”
SISTER MARY DAVID LECKER, OSB
70th Jubilee
Sister Mary David made first profession in 1956 at St. Joseph Monastery in St. Marys, Pa., and is celebrating her 70th jubilee.
Sister began her professional life as an elementary teacher. Sister’s longest ministry was the directorship of religious education in Kane, Pa., which she held for 20 years. In addition, she had the opportunity to minister to the sick in their homes, in hospitals and in nursing homes. Sister Mary David also worked at a personal care facility as an aide, which she found very rewarding. During this time, Sister helped around St. Joseph Monastery in whatever way was needed.
After the monastery that she loved so much dissolved, she transferred to St. Benedict Monastery in Bakerstown and has been a treasured member of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh since 2015.
“Through the events of my life, the good and the difficult, my focus has never changed,” says Sister Mary David. “I always want to be in a monastery, loving and serving Christ, that in all things God may be glorified.”
SISTER JUDITH NERO, OSB
70th Jubilee
Sister Judith Nero made first profession with the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh in 1956, and is celebrating her 70th jubilee this year. Sister began her ministry at St. Benedict Academy, teaching speech and debate. Her first mission assignment was teaching at St. Teresa of Avila School in Ross Township.
Sister Judith’s life took many turns after those first years. She taught high school in Connellsville, Pa., did hospital pastoral ministry in Youngstown, Ohio, and campus ministry Canton, Ohio. Sister Judith is also well-know for knitting and crocheting beautiful items for the Community gift shop.
“Meeting the needs of people while dealing with bureaucratic obstacles has always been challenging,” she says. “So often we forget that with passion, perseverance, and God’s Providence, anything is possible.”
Sister Judith believes that our Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh not only teach us how to live life with spiritual abundance but also guide us to see death as a true passing where one continues to grow, continues to live — only now, in the arms of God.