Benedictine Sister Danile Knight recalled for her dedication to Christ

Friday, Aug. 07, 2015

OGDEN — For more than 50 years, Benedictine Sister Danile Knight ministered to the northern Utah community, first at St. Benedict’s Hospital, then at Our Lady of the Mountains Retreat House and finally as prioress of St. Benedict’s Monastery. Many of the people she touched during those years attended the July 28 Memorial Eucharist at St. Joseph Catholic Church to pay their respects to Sr. Danile, who died July 18 at Saint Scholastica convent in St. Cloud, Minn.

The Benedictines who lived in Ogden before closing the monastery in 2013 and returning to Minnesota ministered to many parishes in the Northern Deanery; at St. Joseph they “were very active here through their participation at Mass on Sunday, through their involvement as teachers in the RCIA and through their support of our new education center,” said Father Kenneth Vialpando, pastor, explaining why he chose to host the Memorial Mass. “Although Sr. Danile was a parishioner of Holy Family Parish, she also spent quality time at St. Joseph, giving our parishioners a chance to claim her as one of our own – a member of our flock.”

Sr. Danile “was small in stature, but had an enormous heart that enabled her to reach out to people as a pharmacist, a retreat master, a music minister, a prioress, a sister and a friend,” Fr. Vialpando said. “Because of skills in the medical field and her ability to reach people spiritually and emotionally, Sr. Danile mastered the heart of reaching the whole person – body, mind, heart and soul. Without a doubt, Sr. Danile was able to put flesh on one of the Benedictine’s mottos: ‘Treat everyone you meet like Christ.’”  

Father Patrick Elliott, pastor of Holy Family Parish, was the homilist at the memorial Mass; Father Charles Cummins, chaplain of Weber State University Newman Center, was the principal celebrant, and Fr. Vialpando con-celebrated. Deacon Keith Norrell assisted. Benedictine Sister Marilyn Mark and Susan Norrell provided the music ministry.

Sr. Marilyn opened the celebration with a quote from St. John Chrysostom: “Those whom we love and lose are no longer where they were before. They are now wherever we are.”

During his homily, Fr. Elliott said Sr. Danile had many qualities “that are known in the hearts of those who loved her.” He mentioned several: her great desire to serve God in religious life, her service in the medical profession, her care for those at St. Benedict’s Hospital, and her dedication to the care of people’s souls as the manager of the retreat house and as prioress of St. Benedict’s monastery. 

Referencing Philippians 1:27, “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that … I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,” Fr. Elliott said this verse is a summary of Sr. Danile’s life. “She leaves behind a legacy of service and love,” he said.

After the Mass, several people gave remarks.

Fr. Cummins, who worked with Sr. Danile for 30 years at the hospital and at the retreat house, recalled her love for the Minnesota Vikings and the Twins, but stressed that “Sister gave most of her life as a volunteer for God.” 

Sr. Marilyn Mark read a statement from the St. Benedict’s Monastery prioress, Sister Michaela Hedican, thanking the Utah community for their cards and emails of condolence.

Robert Hunter, president/CEO of United Way of Northern Utah, recalled that the St. Benedict’s Foundation raised millions of dollars to benefit the Ogden community, and when the sisters returned to Minnesota they arranged for what remained of those funds to benefit 18 charities for five years. 

“It was a beautiful thing that those sisters, led by Sr. Danile, performed on behalf of all of us,” said Hunter, who also described how once, during a school supplies drive, Sr. Danile put a backpack on her own back to attract attention to those in need, and when she visited a nursery school she would get in the sandbox with the children.

“It was just how she was. She loved to engage with everything,” Hunter said. “Everything she did showed how much she loved God.” 

In an interview before the Mass, Gloria Perez-Jensen, who served on the board of directors for St. Benedict’s Foundation, said all the Benedictine sisters “were so generous, and their generosity is still being felt. … Every one of them was just wonderful, and Sr. Danile in particular. … She is sorely, sorely missed.”