For nearly 100 years, the Benedictine women of the Sacred Heart Monastery have found a spiritual oasis on the North Dakota prairie, becoming an independent monastery on this date in 1916.

The order, started by Bishop Vincent Wehrle, will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2010. The first four Benedictine sisters, ages 43 to 62, made the trip from Pennsylvania to the Sacred Heart Indian Mission in Elbowoods. Run by monks from the Assumption Abbey in Richardton, the mission’s living conditions were quite poor and supplies scarce.

The nuns made their living quarters in an abandoned school building and, within three weeks of their arrival, had opened a school for nearly 50 Native American children and a few white children. Using their own money from inheritances, they built a convent for themselves at the mission.

Other women from around the country soon joined the four and, on October 21, 1916, the Monastery became the first independent Benedictine monastery in North Dakota. Despite the hardships, the order grew, moving to Garrison in 1920 and to Minot in 1942. There the sisters built St. Leo’s Convent and a boarding academy for girls.

Twenty-five years later, the sisters moved to the current location near Richardton. The Sacred Heart Monastery was built in 1967 on 50 acres donated by the Assumption Abbey monks.
Over the years, the group’s mission expanded to health care. In the late 1930s, the sisters opened St. Luke’s Hospital in Crosby and St. Vincent’s Old Folks’ Home, now St. Vincent’s Care Center, in Bismarck. They opened Marillac Manor in Bismarck in 1976 and Subiaco Manor in Dickinson in 1990. The order’s mission today included spirituality, parish work and chaplaincies.

The monastery brings a balanced life to the sisters who come together each morning for communal prayer, followed by breakfast and assigned work. They pray again before lunch and continue their afternoon with more work and prayer.

As in any family group, the sisters at Sacred Heart share the duties that make it run smoothly. Some work with the animals, while others cook and clean. Others handle the educational and public relations activities of the monastery.

The Sacred Heart sisters are known for their llama herd, started in 1994, and their two wind turbines, built in 1997. The llamas complement the lifestyle of the monastery, as they are quiet, intelligent and gentle. Wool from the llamas provides revenue for the Monastery. The sisters spin and weave the wool themselves, selling it in their gift shop, at workshops and over the Internet.

The sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery often reflect on their predecessors and how they did so much for so many with so little. The order remains a vibrant monastic community at home on the North Dakota prairie to which they came nearly 100 years ago..

by Cathy A. Langemo, WritePlus Inc.

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