Holy Name Monastery is a Roman Catholic Benedictine women's monastery located in Saint Leo, Florida, owned and operated by the Benedictine Sisters of Florida. It was known first as Holy Name Convent and then as Holy Name Priory before taking its current name in the 1990s.
In 1889 five sisters arrived in Florida from Elk County, Pennsylvania. They founded Holy Name Convent and Holy Name Academy in response to a need for teachers for the children of German immigrants in the San Antonio-St. Joseph area of Pasco County, Florida. Upon their arrival the nuns also took over the administration of both St. Anthony School and St. Joseph School.
Both the convent and the "all-girls" academy boarding school were originally housed in the previously-unused Sultenfuss Hotel, a large, three-story building located in San Antonio on the north end of the city's 4 acre town square. The building was moved in the summer of 1911, by an elaborate system of ox-powered pulleys and winches, a half mile east, to a hill on 45 acres that overlooked the southeastern shore of Lake Jovita in the town of Saint Leo. As both religious vocations and enrollment in the academy grew, one of the earliest concrete block structures in Florida, St. Scholastica Hall, was built on the property in 1912 to serve as classroom space. St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, [1] which served elementary and middle-school boys, was opened from 1929 to 1959. [2] Over the years the Benedictine Sisters of Florida also administered and staffed numerous mission schools throughout the state of Florida and beyond. [2]
In 1961 [3] a new 100,000 square-foot concrete block complex replaced the original wooden "hotel" structure. In 1964 Holy Name Academy and the nearby "all-boys" St. Leo College Preparatory School, which was run by Benedictine monks from St. Leo Abbey, both closed to make way for St. Leo College. In 1978, St. Scholastica Hall was condemned and taken down. [4] For the most part, the nuns' presence at St. Joseph School remained until it closed its doors in 1981. [5]
St. Anthony School, which is still the oldest school of any kind in Pasco County, had a continuing Benedictine/Holy Name presence for 121 years, until the end of the 2009–10 school year. [6] In August 2014 the Benedictine Sisters moved into a new 28,000 square-foot monastery across SR-52 on ten hilltop acres along Wichers Road in Saint Leo. [7]
As of 2018, 14 sisters, plus two in formation, live at Holy Name Monastery according to the Rule of St. Benedict. [8] Following Benedictine tradition, the sisters seek a balance of prayer and work, community and solitude, an integration of contemplative living and active ministry on behalf of others. The monastery hosts retreats. Sister Roberta Bailey, O.S.B., is the current Prioress as elected by the monastery members.
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white. They were founded in 529 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.
Scholastica is a saint of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy, and a ninth-century tradition makes her the twin sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Her feast day is 10 February, Saint Scholastica's Day. Scholastica is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Benedictine nuns.
Pasco County is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2020 census, the population was 561,691. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is Zephyrhills. The county is named after Samuel Pasco.
San Antonio, or unofficially San Ann as the locals call it, is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. It lies within Florida's 12th congressional district. The population was 1,297 at the 2020 census. It was established as a Catholic colony by Judge Edmund F. Dunne. The city derives its name from Saint Anthony of Padua. Saint Leo University is located nearby.
St. Leo is a town in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The town is a suburb included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is more commonly known as the Tampa Bay area. It is best known as the home of St. Leo University, Holy Name Monastery and St. Leo Abbey. The population was 2,362 at the 2020 census. Vincent D'Ambrosio currently serves as the commission-elected mayor of the town, elected in 2022.
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. Benedictine is one of a number of U.S. Benedictine colleges and is sponsored by St. Benedict's Abbey and Mount St. Scholastica Monastery. The abbey has a current population of 53 monks, while the Mount monastery numbers 147 community members. The college has built its core values around four "pillars" — Catholic, Benedictine, Liberal Arts, Residential — which support the Benedictine College mission to educate men and women in a community of faith and scholarship.
Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine monastery. The university and the abbey are both named for Pope Leo the Great, bishop of Rome from 440 to 461. The name also honors Leo XIII, who was Pope at the time the university was founded, and Leo Haid, then abbot of Maryhelp Abbey in North Carolina, now Belmont Abbey, who participated in founding the university and served as its first president.
The College of St. Scholastica (CSS) is a private Benedictine college in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1912 by a group of pioneering Benedictine Sisters, today St. Scholastica educates almost 4,000 students annually and has graduated more than 29,000 alumni. The college offers a liberal arts education and is located on 186 wooded acres overlooking Lake Superior.
Subiaco is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Italian region of Latium, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Tivoli alongside the River Aniene. It is a tourist and religious resort because of its sacred grotto, in the medieval St. Benedict's Abbey, and its Abbey of Santa Scolastica. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia. The first books to be printed in Italy were produced here in the late 15th century.
State Road 52 (SR 52) is the major east–west road through northern Pasco County, Florida. The road begins in Bayonet Point at US 19 (SR 55), passes south of San Antonio and St. Leo, and terminates on the south side of Dade City at US 98 and US 301.
Saint Leo Abbey is an American-Cassinese monastery of Benedictine monks located in Saint Leo, Florida, United States.
The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are a congregation of sisters that follow the Rule of St. Benedict and practice daily Eucharistic adoration. Their monastery is located in Clyde, Missouri.
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.
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.
The American-Cassinese Congregation is a Catholic association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1855. The monasteries of the congregation follow the monastic way of life as outlined by St. Benedict of Nursia in his early 6th century Rule of Saint Benedict. The congregation is one of 19 congregations in the Benedictine Confederation and includes 25 monasteries: 19 autonomous abbeys and 6 dependent priories, located across 15 states and Puerto Rico, as well as Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Taiwan.
St. Mary's Church, School and Convent is a historic Roman Catholic church complex off United States Route 212 in Zell, South Dakota.
James J. Horgan was an American historian, academic and author. He was a history professor at Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Florida for 35 years, a historical society president, a Florida Historical Society board member, a prolific author and an NAACP chapter founder. He is listed as a Great Floridian.
Saint Joseph, commonly referred to as St. Joe, is an unincorporated community in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It was originally settled as a German Catholic community. It is located in the northeastern part of Pasco County in Central Florida a few miles north of San Antonio and Saint Leo University. Saint Joseph also claims to be the "kumquat capital of the world" for its production of the citrus fruit. Because of this, nearby Dade City hosts the annual Kumquat Festival. The community is also home to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the third oldest parish in the Diocese of St. Petersburg.
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.