Home parish: St. Michael, Fryburg, PA

Sister Clare Marie Beichner, SSJ, was born in Shippenville, Pennsylvania, to Bernard J. Beichner and Bernice M. (Weaver) Beichner. She grew up in a large family with six sisters and three brothers, where faith and family support played an important role in shaping her life. She attended St. Michael School in Fryburg and graduated from North Clarion High School in Leeper in 1969. Her home parish was St. Michael in Fryburg.

For Sister Clare Marie, the call to religious life was not a single moment but a deep stirring that remained with her for a long time. She sensed that she was being called to religious life but struggled with what it would mean to make a permanent commitment. A conversation with a dear friend eventually helped her understand that peace could be found by being true to what was in her heart.

“When I acknowledged that God was calling me to be a woman religious, I gained an overwhelming sense of peace that remains today,” Sister Clare Marie recalls. She continued to wrestle with the permanence of saying yes “forever with vows,” until she came to understand that she did not have to say yes to the rest of her life all at once. Instead, she could be faithful and live her “yes” to God each day.

Although Sister Clare Marie had been taught by the Erie Benedictines and later taught alongside the Sisters of Mercy, she found that her heart was at home with the Sisters of St. Joseph. She was drawn to their lived witness of God’s transforming love and their mission of unity—of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God without distinction. That understanding of mission continues to call her forward in her life and ministry.

Sister Clare Marie entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on July 30, 1978, and professed her final vows on October 20, 1985. Her education prepared her for a ministry that would bring together teaching, religious formation, social work, vocation ministry, and service to people experiencing poverty.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Science degree in Education from Clarion State University. She later continued her education in a new direction, earning a Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993.

Sister Clare Marie began her ministry as a teacher in Erie Diocesan schools. From 1973 to 1990, she taught at Our Lady’s Christian School and Our Lady of Peace School in Erie and at St. Catherine’s in DuBois. At Our Lady’s Christian School, she also served as Director of Retreats for students in grades K-8. At St. Catherine’s, she taught elementary religious education.

Her ministry also included helping others discern their own calls. Sister Clare Marie served as Vocation Director for the Sisters of St. Joseph from 1987 to 1990. In this role, she accompanied women who were seeking to understand where God might be calling them, drawing from her own experience of discernment and her understanding of vocation as a daily response to God.

In 1991, Sister Clare Marie began a new chapter of ministry in Sharon, Pennsylvania, where she served at the Prince of Peace Center in Farrell. An affiliate of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie, the center provides emergency and family supportive services to low-income residents of Mercer County. Sister Clare Marie initially served as a social worker and was named Director of the center in 1993. Her work there allowed her to put her social work education and deep commitment to the poor into practice, accompanying individuals and families through difficult circumstances.

Her commitment to serving those in need has also taken her beyond northwestern Pennsylvania. She participated in outreach ministries with the Young People Who Care in Appalachia, Kentucky, in 1976; served with the Lakota people of South Dakota in 1984; and participated in a mission in Yucatan, Mexico, in 1998. These experiences gave her opportunities to encounter people and communities in different circumstances while sharing in their lives and learning from their experiences.

Sister Clare Marie has also served as Novice Director for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In this ministry, she accompanied women as they discern and prepare for religious life, helping them listen for God’s call and grow in their relationship with God, community, and mission.

Her own experience of vocation gives particular meaning to this ministry. Sister Clare Marie knows firsthand the questions, struggles, and peace that can accompany discernment. Her understanding that a vocation is lived one day at a time allows her to encourage others to trust God while remaining faithful to the “yes” they are called to live in the present moment.

Sister Clare Marie credits her family and religious community with deeply influencing her vocation. The faith and support she received growing up provided a foundation for her relationship with God, while the Sisters of St. Joseph gave her a community through which she could live out that relationship in service to others.

Looking back on her life, Sister Clare Marie remains grateful for the grace to answer God’s call each day. Her ministries have taken her from the classroom to vocation ministry, from social work to outreach among communities experiencing poverty, and ultimately to accompanying women discerning religious life.

For Sister Clare Marie, the heart of vocation remains simple: to listen, to respond, and to live each days “yes” faithfully. The peace she experienced when she finally acknowledged God’s call continues to sustain her. Her life as a Sister of St. Joseph is a continuing response to that call—a commitment to God’s transforming love and to a mission of bringing neighbor together with neighbor and neighbor with God, without distinction.