Monastery Immaculate Conception

Last updated
Convent Immaculate Conception Historic District
Monastery of Immaculate Conception closeup.JPG
Monastery of Immaculate Conception, June 2008
USA Indiana location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location802 E. 10th St., Ferdinand, Indiana
Coordinates 38°13′23″N86°51′08″W / 38.22306°N 86.85222°W / 38.22306; -86.85222 Coordinates: 38°13′23″N86°51′08″W / 38.22306°N 86.85222°W / 38.22306; -86.85222
Area190 acres (77 ha)
Built1883 (1883)-1887, 1915
ArchitectKlutho, Victor
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No. 83000122 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 13, 1983

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. [2] It is located approximately fifteen minutes from St. Meinrad Archabbey.

Contents

Convent of the Immaculate Conception

Construction on the new monastery, locally known as "the Castle on the Hill", was begun in 1883 on a hill east of Ferdinand known as "Mount Tabor", and completed between 1886 and 1888. [3] [4] The first part of the monastery completed was the quadrangle, the sisters' residence. A large addition was added in 1903.

The monastery chapel was designed by St. Louis architect Viktor Klutho. Construction started in 1915. Work on the interior was not completed until 1924. The chapel's Gothic high altar was surmounted by statues imported from Munich representing the Immaculate Conception, Saint Benedict, and Saint Scholastica. Other large statues represent some of the noted saints of the order. [4]

The pews were hand-carved by German artisans. The Stations of the Cross were carved in Munich, as were the 47 stained glass windows. Eighty-nine angels adorn the church, in stained glass, statues, and carvings. [5]

Conservation

In 1983, the Monastery and other outbuildings and structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Convent Immaculate Conception Historic District. [1] The complex includes the main building constructed in 1883–1887. A major expansion to the complex began in 1915 and includes the Romanesque Revival style convent chapel. [6] :3

Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana

In 1861 Fr. Chrysostom Foffa, OSB, assumed the duties of pastor of St Ferdinand Church. He persuaded the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to teach in the parish school, but they did not have sufficient German-speaking sisters to meet the needs of the parish. [7] He then approached the St. Walburg Monastery in Covington, Kentucky. Four sisters arrived in August 1867. As the sisters community grew, they also took up teaching in the parish school at Fulda and Saint Meinrad. In 1870, they opened Academy Immaculate Conception, later renamed Marian Heights Academy, a boarding school for girls. [8] (Marian Heights Academy closed in 2000.)

In 1871, the Benedictine Sisters of Ferdinand became an independent congregation. In 1872, the sisters purchased sixty-four acres of farmland adjoining the convent grounds to provide some necessities. In 1878, four sisters from Ferdinand established a mission at Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The chief occupation of the sisters was teaching; in each parish, they also had charge of the vestry and altar linens. The sisters were engaged in the preparation of church vestments and skilled in silk and gold embroidery. The motherhouse published a monthly newsletter, Die Taube to keep sisters at various missions in touch and informed. Up until the First World War, German was the language commonly spoken at the monastery. Proud of their German heritage, some German phrases are still found in common use there. In 1914 St. Benedict Normal College was founded to train teachers. Eventually sisters taught in more than seventy-five schools in twelve states and five countries. [8] In 1956, St. Benedict admitted laywomen and in 1960, the college began admitting men but ultimately closed in the spring of 1970.

Monastery of the Immaculate Conception, Ferdinand, Indiana Monastery of Immaculate Conception at Easter.jpg
Monastery of the Immaculate Conception, Ferdinand, Indiana

Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Indiana was founded as a daughter house of Immaculate Conception. [9]

Although the abbey faced declining numbers in the late 20th century, this trend has since reversed. [10] [11] The Benedictine Hospitality Center is located at the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception. In 2016, Benet Hall, on the monastery grounds, was converted into fifteen affordable, senior citizen apartments. The apartment building serves persons 55 and over that meet certain income requirements. The sisters' "Simply Divine Bakery" produces a variety of baked goods according to traditional German recipes; these are sold in the monastery gift shop. There is also a kitchen garden. The academy's former art building was rented to the privately owned St. Benedict's Brew Works which opened in August 2015. [12]

As of 2019, there were 134 members of the congregation. [13] Their apostolates include teaching, serving in parishes, offering retreats, providing health care, counseling, working with immigrant populations, and helping the homeless, the poor, and those recovering from addictions.

Related Research Articles

Ferdinand, Indiana Town in Indiana, United States

Ferdinand is a town in Ferdinand Township, Dubois County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,157 at the 2010 census.

Einsiedeln Abbey Benedictine monastery in Switzerland

Einsiedeln Abbey is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a hermit saint. A territorial abbey, Einsiedeln is not under the jurisdiction of a diocese or a bishop.

Théodore Guérin American Roman Catholic educator and saint

Anne Thérèse Guérin, designated by the Vatican as Saint Theodora, was a French-American saint and the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, a congregation of Catholic sisters at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Pope John Paul II beatified Guérin on 25 October 1998, and Pope Benedict XVI canonized her a saint of the Catholic Church on 15 October 2006. Mother Guérin's feast day is 3 October, although some calendars list it in the Roman Martyrology as 14 May, her day of death.

St. Meinrad Archabbey Benedictine monastery in Ferdinand, Indiana

Saint Meinrad Archabbey is a Catholic monastery in Spencer County, Indiana, USA, was founded by monks from Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland on March 21, 1854, and is home to approximately 79 monks. The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is also located on the premises.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Camden, New Jersey) Historic church in New Jersey, United States

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic Cathedral located in Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Camden, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Built in 1864, it was officially designated as a cathedral in 1937.

Conception Abbey Benedictine monastery in Conception, Missouri

Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway County, was raised to a conventual priory in 1876 and elevated to an abbey in 1881. In 2021 the community numbered fifty-eight monks who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours daily and who staff and administer Conception Seminary College, The Printery House, and the Abbey Guest Center. Monks also serve as parish priests and hospital chaplains in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph and other dioceses. There is also a large postal facility attached to The Printery House, operated by lay employees, which includes package shipping and delivery facilities.

Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Benedictine monastery in Clyde, Missouri

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are a congregation of sisters that follow the Rule of St. Benedict and have a Eucharistic charism. They are located at their monastery 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.

Saint Benedicts Monastery (St. Joseph, Minnesota) Benedectine monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota

Saint Benedict's Monastery is a monastery of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict, in St. Joseph, Minnesota, United States. The 17th and current Prioress of Saint Benedict's Monastery is Sister Susan Rudolph, OSB who was installed on June 4, 2017.

Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates

Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates, or BMG, is an architectural firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded in Indianapolis on April 10, 1853, as D. A. Bohlen, Architect by Diedrich A. Bohlen, German immigrant. In 1884, after Diedrich's son, Oscar D. Bohlen, joined the firm it was renamed D. A. Bohlen and Son. Four successive generations of Bohlen architects have worked at the firm: Diedrich A. Bohlen, Oscar D. Bohlen, August C. Bohlen, and Robert L. Bohlen. The firm specialized in institutional projects, especially civic, religious, and educational buildings. In 1971 Melvin B. G. Meyer acquired majority interest in the firm, which adopted its name in reference to its founder and its two principal architects, Meyer and John M. Gibson. The architectural firm is among the oldest still operating in the United States. More than twenty of its projects are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Swiss-American Congregation Association of Benedictine monasteries

The Swiss-American Congregation is an association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1881 in the United States, as a part of the international Benedictine Confederation of monasteries.

St. Benedict Cathedral (Evansville, Indiana) Church in Indiana, United States

St. Benedict Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Evansville, Indiana, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Evansville. The cathedral, rectory and original school building are contributing properties in the Lincolnshire Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Viktor Klutho was an American architect of German descent, who designed a number of Catholic churches, schools, convents and rectories in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, and elsewhere.

Hermann J. Gaul (1869–1949) was an American architect of German descent, who designed a number of Catholic churches, schools, convents and rectories in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and elsewhere.

São Bento Monastery

The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, more commonly known as the Mosteiro de São Bento (Monastery of St. Benedict), is a Benedictine abbey located on the Morro de São Bento in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Mannerist style church is a primary example of Portuguese colonial architecture in Rio and the country.

The Benedictines Sisters of Elk County were a religious congregation established in Marienstadt, Pennsylvania in 1852 by three sisters from St. 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.

St. Gertrudes Convent and Chapel United States historic place

The Monastery of Saint Gertrude is a Benedictine nunnery near Cottonwood, Idaho County, Idaho. Founded by three Benedictine nuns from St. Andrew's Abbey, Sarnen, Switzerland who immigrated in 1882, it was designated the motherhouse for the community in 1909. Its main building and chapel were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Gertrude's Convent and Chapel in 1979.

Wolfgang Schlumpf Swiss-born Benedictine monk and missionary

Wolfgang Schlumpf was a Swiss-born Benedictine monk and missionary in the United States who is credited as founder of Subiaco Abbey in western Arkansas. He immigrated to the United States in 1862 after being assigned to what became St. Meinrad Abbey in 1870 in southern Indiana..

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Dubois County Visitors Center & Tourism Commission: Monastery Immaculate Conception
  3. "Town of Ferdinand Community Profile" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 "The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. V. 1-3 ..." Catholic editing Company. August 3, 1914 via Google Books.
  5. "Covenant of the Immaculate Conception Monastery". Discover Indiana.
  6. "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved 2015-10-01.Note: This includes Sr. Mary Dominic and Douglas L. Stern (May 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Convent Immaculate Conception Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-10-01. and Accompanying photographs and map.
  7. "St. Ferdinand History". Welcome to Christ the King Parish the home of St. Ferdinand and St. Henry Churches.
  8. 1 2 "History". Monastery Immaculate Conception. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  9. "About Us". olgm.
  10. Exploring Indiana's Historic Sites, Markers & Museums 1310366098 Paul R. Wonning Monastery Immaculate Conception Founded in 1867, the “Castle on the Hill” the .
  11. Dudine, Mary Frederica, O.S.B. The Castle on the Hill: Centennial History of the Convent of Immaculate Conception, Ferdinand, Indiana, 1867-1967. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce Publishing Co., 1967.
  12. "St. Benedict's Brew Works Offers Unmatched Experience, Great Beer, Plenty of Nuns". November 1, 2016.
  13. "Sisters of St. Benedict elect 14th prioress". Dubois County Herald.