Benedictine Sisters of Chicago is a Roman Catholic Benedictine congregation of women. It was founded in 1861 by three sisters of the Benedictine congregation of Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania, who came to Chicago to teach the German-speaking children of St. Joseph's parish. They became an independent congregation in 1872. St. Scholastica's Monastery in Rogers Park, Chicago is the Motherhouse. St. Scholastica Academy was an integral part of the sisters' ministry in Chicago.
In 1852, Benedictine Mother Benedicta Riepp and two sisters left St. Walburga Abbey in Eichstätt, in the Kingdom of Bavaria to establish St. Joseph Monastery in Marienstadt in Elk County, Pennsylvania. As the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Elk County grew, a daughter house was established in June 1856, when Mother Benedicta Rapp and five sisters arrived in Erie, Pennsylvania. It was the first foundation established from the original Motherhouse in America. The community increased such that it not only became an independent congregation, but in 1860 established its own daughter house in Chicago. [1]
Sisters from Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania came to Chicago at the request of fellow Benedictine Louis Mary Fink, future bishop of Leavenworth, Kansas. A monk from the Monastery of Saint Vincent in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Father Fink had previously served as pastor in Covington, Kentucky where two years before he had obtained sisters from Erie to staff St. Joseph's parochial school. Assigned as a pastor in Chicago, he again had recourse to the Benedictine Sisters of Erie to teach the German-speaking children in his new parish of St. Joseph. Three sisters arrived in August 1861 and immediately took charge of the parochial school. [2] They were subsequently joined by sisters from St. Joseph Monastery in St Marys, Pennsylvania.
St. Scholastica Academy | |
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Address | |
7416 North Ridge Boulevard , 60645 United States | |
Coordinates | 42°1′0″N87°41′6″W / 42.01667°N 87.68500°W |
Information | |
Type | private |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Established | 1865 |
Closed | 2012 |
Oversight | Archdiocese of Chicago |
President | Loretta Namovic |
Principal | Colleen Brewer |
Grades | 9-12 |
Gender | all-female |
Enrollment | 200 (2008) |
Campus type | urban |
Color(s) | navy blue and white |
Athletics conference | Girls Catholic Athletic Conference |
Mascot | Stinger Bee |
Team name | Stingers |
Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [3] |
Newspaper | The Raven |
Tuition | $9,600 (2009–2010) |
Affiliation | Benedictine |
Website | www.scholastica.us |
In 1865, they opened St. Joseph Academy. The school building at Cass St. and Chicago Avenue served as the convent and also accommodated boarding students. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed the school, and in 1872, they re-established the academy at Hill and Orleans Streets under the name "Saints Benedict and Scholastica Academy". [4] That same year, the sisters incorporated as the "Benedictine Sisters of Chicago". In 1874, they established St. Mary's Convent in Nauvoo, Illinois, which became a separate congregation. [1]
Needing more room, land was purchased in Rogers Park, Chicago. The Convent and Academy of St. Scholastica relocated there in 1906. This became the Motherhouse of the congregation. In 1924, a new section was added that includes St. Scholastica Chapel. Its stained glass windows depict the hours of the Divine Office. St. Joseph Court, an infirmary for the care of elderly sisters, was built in 1980. [2]
The monastery grounds, totaling more than 14 acres, contain a grape arbor, gardens and a labyrinth. The Academy was an integral part of the sisters' ministry in Chicago. The sisters publish a biannual newsletter, Sacro Speco. [5]
The Benedictine Sisters of Chicago taught at the parochial schools in Chicago, Skokie [6] Waukegan, Illinois. They also established mission schools in Colorado in Breckenridge, Delta, Pueblo, and Salida. St. Scholastica Academy in Canon City served as a day and boarding school for young women from 1890 until it closed in 2001. [2]
In 1977, the sisters initiated an Oblates program for lay people who wish to live out the Rule of Benedict in their day-to-day life as single or married people.
The Academy, originally called St. Joseph's, opened in 1865 in the convent of the sisters, who also taught at the parish school. It was one of the oldest Catholic academies for young women in Chicago.
St. Scholastica Academy opened on Ridge Boulevard in Chicago in 1907. [7] The Sisters taught girls from grades one through twelve until the 1940s, when it became a high school. The academy enrolled young women from diverse economic, religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. In addition to college prep programs, the school offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program for selected students in 11th and 12th grade. Students scored above the State of Illinois average on International Baccalaureate assessments. The average class size was 15 students. St. Scholastica Academy was the sponsored ministry of the Benedictine sisters of Chicago.
The school had a very competitive sports program, winning seven Regional titles and a District Championship. The team name "Stingers" derived from the sisters' hobby of keeping bees on the large campus behind the school.
It was announced on March 14, 2012, that due to declining enrollment, SSA would close its doors at the end of the 2012–2013 school year. The building is now occupied by an elementary school run by the UNO Network of Charter Schools.
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529 they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits. Not all Benedictines wear black however, with some like the Olivetans wearing white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
Benedictine College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, United States. It was established in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College for men and Mount St. Scholastica College for women. It is located on bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, northwest of Kansas City, Missouri.
The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they are also known as the Olivetan Congregation, but are distinguished from the Benedictines in their white habit and centralized organisation. They use the post-nominals 'OSB Oliv'.
The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for Saint Joseph, has approximately 14,000 members worldwide: about 7,000 in the United States; 2,000 in France; and are active in 50 other countries.
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The Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery is a Roman Catholic congregation of women. whose motherhouse, St. Walburg Monastery, is located at Villa Madonna, in Villa Hills, Kentucky. It was founded in 1859 by three sisters of the Benedictine congregation of Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania, who came to Covington to teach the German-speaking children of St. Joseph's parish. They became an independent congregation in 1867. Villa Madonna Academy, a private, Roman Catholic K-12 school is an integral part of the sisters' ministry in Kentucky. Besides operating the Academy, the sisters taught in parish schools and staffed St. John's Orphanage.
Sister Mary Louise St. John, O.S.B., was a Benedictine nun and a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She was an advocate for the rights of people with physical disabilities, as well as for the gay community.
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The Poor Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family are a congregation of religious sisters of the Franciscan Third Order Regular. They were founded in Pirmasens, Germany, in 1855 by the Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini. They are therefore commonly known as the Nardini Sisters, or the Mallersdorfer Sisters from the German town where they are headquartered.
The Monastery Immaculate Conception is a monastery in Ferdinand, Indiana. It is home to one of the largest communities of Benedictine women in the United States. It is located approximately fifteen minutes from St. Meinrad Archabbey.
The Benedictines Sisters of Elk County were a religious congregation established in Marienstadt, Pennsylvania in 1852 by three sisters from Saint Walburge Abbey in Bavaria. There they established St. Joseph Monastery, the first convent of Benedictine Sisters in North America. They opened a school for girls, St. Benedict Academy, and in 1933 expanded their apostolate into healthcare, becoming the owner and operator of Andrew Kaul Memorial Hospital in St. Marys.
Mother Gertrude McDermott (1846–1940) was a member of the Order of St. Benedict from 1879 until her death on September 22, 1940. McDermott began her life's work on an Indian reservation in the Dakota Territory where she was a teacher as well as a friend and adviser to Sitting Bull. She went on to be the founder of several educational and medical institutions in Sioux City, Iowa. McDermott also established a religious community which continues as the Benedictine Women of Madison in Wisconsin.
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The Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica are an education-focused Benedictine religious community in Atchison, Kansas. The monastery founded Mount St.Scholastica College, a women's college which merged with St. Benedict's College in 1971, forming what is now Benedictine College.