Member Monasteries

The cornerstone of Our Lady of Grace Monastery, a daughter house of the Benedictines of Ferdinand Indiana, was ritually set in place in 1955. 

Indianapolis Archbishop Paul C. Schulte had approached the Ferdinand sisters with a proposal to open and staff a retirement home for the laity in central Indiana.  The result was a new monastery, St. Paul Hermitage and Our Lady of Grace Academy.

In 1961, the OLG sisters declared their autonomy and elected their first prioress.  Located in the suburb of Beech Grove, OLG enjoys the amenities of a large city and the safety and services of a small town.  In 1981, the academy building was re-configured to become the Benedict Inn Retreat & Conference Center. 

Our mission, yesterday, today and tomorrow is “Seeking God in everyone and everything, we, Sisters of St. Benedict of Our Lady of Grace Monastery, live in community founded upon prayer, work and hospitality.”

We are monastic women who follow the ancient Rule of Benedict.

Using early Christian communities as our model, we live out the values of praying together, living together, sharing all things in common, and serving the wider community and one another. We are a Roman Catholic religious community of 38 Professed Sisters (13 Sisters are serving away from the Monastery) that intentionally manifest Benedictine spirituality in the world.

We, the Sisters of Saint Benedict of Crookston, Minnesota are situated on beautiful grounds surrounded by the Red Lake River. Mount Saint Benedict has been a part of the Crookston community since 1919, when sisters, at the invitation of Bishop Timothy Corbett, arrived to minister in health care and education.

We are Benedictine sisters living according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, striving to seek God through our ministry of prayer, living in community, cultivating a life of common and personal prayer, loving community members, welcoming the stranger, and above all, preferring nothing to the love of Christ.

Four Sisters from Ferdinand, Indiana, came to Northwest Arkansas, River Valley, in 1879 at the invitation of the Bishop of the Little Rock Diocese.  German settlers were arriving in the region to farm the land in the vicinity of the newly established railroad system. St. Scholastica Convent began near Subiaco Abbey and established a school in Shoal Creek, Arkansas (now called New Blaine).

The Sisters and community grew quickly, establishing schools and hospitals in Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, and Texas. In 1925 the Sisters relocated from Shoal Creek to Fort Smith. St. Scholastica Convent membership grew to over three hundred members and established two daughter-houses, Our Lady of Peace Monastery in Columbia, Missouri, and St. Benedict Monastery in Canyon, Texas.  The Sisters ministered in schools hospitals, and parishes. We integrated our Academy in 1952 and were the first Benedictine community to sing the office in English. We transitioned our Academy to a Montessori School and later to a Retreat Center. In the 1980’s we began Hesychia House of Prayer at Shoal Creek, where we have four hermitages and offer places of retreat. We partnered with the Diocese of Little Rock by operating St. Joseph’s Orphanage in North Little Rock for 100 years.

Today, our ministries include Spiritual Direction, Hospitality, and assisting in alleviating those suffering from food insecurity. We have ministered to the immigrant and displaced persons over the years and still work in that outreach ministry through our scholarship program, where we work to provide educational opportunities for girls in Guatemala. We have an active Oblate program with members from various states and countries. Some of our creative pursuits include Authors, Musicians, Artisans, Gardeners who care for the earth. Our newer members enjoy the ministries of education and administration, and technology. Still, at the heart of it all, we are ‘Simply Benedictine’ embracing our love of monastic community life where we seek God together in the blessing of southern hospitality.

St. Martin Monastery is a community of Benedictine women in Rapid City, South Dakota. Here we give witness to God’s presence by our communal life, prayer, and work. Following the rule of St. Benedict, we offer hospitality through various forms of ministry to the people of our area.

The Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery make their home in western North Dakota. We strive to provide a contemporary template for Gospel-driven living by modeling a communal, monastic, Christian way of life.

Since the arrival in 1910 of our Sisters in North Dakota, God has always guided us to preserve this way of life and ensure our viability in times of change and challenge.  Our monastic life of prayer and work follows the natural rhythm of the western prairie, with times for working and resting, growing and harvesting, living and dying. The “Promise of the Prairie” reflects God’s sustaining power in our lives, even in times of uncertainty and doubt.

We, the Benedictine women of Mother of God Monastery, are a monastic community with rural roots and a pioneering vision. Seeking God together in community is a primary Benedictine value, therefore we are hospitable and compassionate toward one another, and we empower one another to live joyfully. We strive for a balanced life of prayer, work, study and leisure.