Bishop Larry Silva blesses Sister Celeste “CC” Cabral, newly elected prioress of Hawaii’s Benedictine Monastery. (Photo courtesy of Brother Scott Whittaker, OSB)
Kailua-raised prioress plans to introduce elements of her native Hawaiian culture into the life of the monastery
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Thirty-five years after its founding in Hawaii, the Benedictine Monastery in Waialua, Oahu, has elected an island-born sister to lead the community. The three female and two male Benedictine members unanimously chose Sister Celeste “CC” Cabral as prioress July 9 in late afternoon deliberations conducted by Bishop Larry Silva.
The bishop installed and blessed Sister Cabral, a former Continental flight attendant who has been a Benedictine for 20 years, during the Mass that followed the election. The installation rite included the bishop instructing the new leader on her new role and the Litany of the Saints, followed by greetings from community members. About 30 persons were present.
In preparation for the election, the community met July 1 with Bishop Silva who gave them a discernment novena “to be prayed individually and communally” daily in the nine days before the election.
The formal name of the monastic group is Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit Monastery. Its primary ministries are prayer, retreat direction and spiritual counsel.
In her first major decision as the new superior, Sister Cabral appointed Brother Scott Whittaker as sub-prior.
Sister Cabral is 58 and a quarter Hawaiian. She grew up in Kailua, Oahu, graduated from Kalaheo High School in 1979 and attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she played on the Rainbow Wahine basketball and volleyball teams.
She sees her election as a God-given opportunity to draw upon her ethnic background and life’s experiences to re-create a place where guests can cultivate both the aina and their relationship with “God, Ke Akua.”
“When you have a solid relationship with God, that’s all that matters,” Sister Cabral told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by phone last week.
Nurturing God’s creation is part of the plan. The new superior wants to introduce farming on the 60-plus acre site that will include a lo‘i (irrigated taro patch) and an aquaponics system.
She sees a campground where people can encounter God’s magnificence by gazing at a star-filled sky far from the city’s light pollution
Sister Celeste “CC” Cabral, the first local-born superior of Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit Monastery. (Photo courtesy of Brother Scott Whittaker, OSB)
A safe environment
The monastery will be a “safe environment,” Sister Cabral said. “I have a vision of a place that accepts people with love.”
As one who has ministered to homeschooling families and youth and young adults, she wants a family-friendly place. And recalling her visits to homeless camps in Waianae she also wants to “give the homeless an opportunity to experience God’s love.”
“This is about loving the ones kicked to the curb,” she said.
She envisions a place where people will come together for the Hawaiian practice of ho‘oponopono, or reconciliation — “a place where all are accepted.”
Sister Cabral, who talks freely about her two-year battle with severe depression, wants to use her experience to tell those who similarly suffer that “God is there in our darkness.”
“God is using my witness to give hope to others,” she said. “We all need that one person to bring that hope. If I got through it, you can get through it.”
“This is going to be a monastery of love and respect,” she said. “No matter who you are, you matter.”
And once the coronavirus crisis is over, the monastery is “going to be booming,” she said. “I see it flourishing with new vocations.” The place recently welcomed three new members, Augustine Nguyen, Tom Morris and Cole Matson.
The other members of the Hawaii Benedictine community are Brother Whittaker, Sister Geralyn Spaulding, Father Michael Sawyer and Sister Mary Jo McEnany.
From Pecos, New Mexico
Hawaii’s Benedictine monastery began with an invitation in 1983 from Honolulu Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario to Abbot David Geraets of Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico, to establish a community in the Islands.
According to the Hawaii Benedictine website, “the Pecos community consisted of both men and women monastics who embraced the Catholic charismatic movement.”
Abbot Gereats sent Benedictine Father Michael Sawyer, who was joined by four members of the Pecos motherhouse in 1984. From a temporary residence on Waialae Iki Ridge they began offering parish missions and retreats.
Father Sawyer relocated the monastery in 1987 to its present 67-acre site overlooking Waialua. For most of this time, the monastery was under the Benedictine sponsorship of the Congregation of St. Mary of Monte Oliveto based in Italy.
When the congregation in 2012 decided to consolidate its U.S. monasteries and close the Hawaii monastery, the Waialua group decided to leave the Olivetan Congregation and to pursue its present canonical status as a Catholic public association of the faithful in the Diocese of Honolulu, under the authority of the local bishop.
