Elders of the Benedictines:
A Portrait and Interview Project
Sister Augustine Uhlenkott, O.S.B., b. 1903
Sister
Augustine is a member of the Benedictine community at the Monastery of Saint
Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho.
Q: What has given you the most joy in your life?
A: The highlight would have to be when I took first vows, and my three years as a junior were all very happy. There were many joys teaching in the mission life. All my jubilee days have been wonderful; I've had six now: 25, 50, 60, 65, 70, and 75. There has been so much joy in just living with the sisters and being one myself. At one time we had twenty-one sisters join us from Switzerland. I could speak German because we always spoke German at home. It just never seemed right to speak anything but German with my parents. However, with my brothers and sister I always talked English. The Swiss sisters just loved that I could speak with them in German. We have just three of them left now.