The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are a

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...

of sisters that follow the Rule of St. Benedict and have a Eucharistic charism. They are located at their monastery in

Clyde, Missouri Clyde is a village in eastern Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 82 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration which houses 550 documented saint relics—one of the largest coll ...

History

The original

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

was founded in 1874 by a group of five sisters led by Sister Mary Anselma Felber, O.S.B., who came from the young monastery of Maria-Rickenbach (founded 1857) in Switzerland. Arriving in

, they founded the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration. This remains the motherhouse and largest community of the congregation.''Guide to the Catholic Sisterhoods in the United States'', Fifth Edition by Thomas P McCarthy 1964 Catholic Univ of America Press page 4 It houses 550 documented

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s of the

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

s. The decision to come was sparked by the departure of a group of monks from the nearby

Engelberg Abbey Engelberg Abbey (german: Kloster Engelberg) is a Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in the Diocese of Constance, but is now in the Diocese of Chur. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels and ...

, at a time when monastic communities felt threatened by political changes taking place throughout Europe. As with many other monastic groups, they looked to the New World for a place of refuge. The monks went on to found

Conception Abbey 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 ...

in nearby

Conception, Missouri Conception is a census-designated place in eastern Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. It is located about southeast of Maryville on U.S. Route 136. It is very near Conception Junction (which was the rail intersection). Conception is home ...

, and began to minister to German and Irish immigrants of the region. It is a tradition that the Benedictine Sisters join the monks for evening prayer and supper each year on Easter Monday; the monks, in turn, join the Sisters on the feast of St. Scholastica. Like the monastery in Switzerland, the sisters devoted much skill to the art of ecclesiastical embroidery, and assiduously cultivated the singing of plainchant. The sisters began teaching the immigrant children and before long they opened St. Joseph's Academy, and ran an orphanage. Since the early 1900s, they established monasteries in

Chewelah, Washington Chewelah ( ) is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. It is located approximately northwest of Spokane. The population was 2,607 at the 2010 census, a 19.3% increase from 2000. History The name of the town comes from a Kalispel ...

;

Mundelein, Illinois Mundelein is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and a northern suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 31,560. It is approximately thirty-five miles northwest of Chicago. History The community now known as M ...

;

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

;

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

;

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

;

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

; and

Sand Springs, Oklahoma Sand Springs is a city in Osage, Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A western suburb of Tulsa, it is located predominantly in Tulsa County. The population was 19,874 in the 2020 U. S. Census, an increase of 5.1 percent fro ...

. Additionally, the San Benito Monastery in

Dayton, Wyoming Dayton is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 822 at the 2020 census. History Dayton was named after Joe Dayton Thorn in 1882 because he was one of the founding fathers of the city. Wyoming's first rodeo was h ...

was established in 1989 and closed down in 2014.

Benedictine Sisters Monastery (Tucson, Arizona)

The Benedictine Sisters first came to Tucson in 1935 at the invitation of the local bishop, the Right Reverend Daniel Gercke. In 1940, they moved into the Spanish-Renaissance-style Benedictine Sisters Monastery, which was designed by architect

Roy Place Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

, who also designed the old

Pima County Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the population ...

Courthouse, Tucson's veterans hospital, and some notable campus buildings of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. The building is widely acknowledged as a classic of mission style architecture. The Tucson monastery closed in 2018 and the sisters relocated to the Missouri motherhouse.

Present day

The congregation's monastery is in

. The sisters follow a simple,

contemplative In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the divine which transcends the intellect, often in accordance with prayer or meditation. Etymology The word ''contemplation'' is derived from the Latin word '' ...

way of life, formed by the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

. As of 2016, there were sixty-one members. They support themselves by producing

Altar Breads Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...

, soap, liturgical vestments and gourmet popcorn. They are sold under the name "Monastery Creations"; the soaps and lotions are produced onsite in a building that was once in 1927 as a slaughterhouse when the monastery had a large dairy and livestock operation. "Monastery Scents" offers several different kinds of soap, lotions, salves, lip balm and candles sold in the monastery’s gift shop and online.

Low gluten hosts developed by the group

The Sisters produce low-

gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grain ...

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

s safe for celiacs, which has been approved by the Catholic Church for use at

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. The hosts are made and packaged in a dedicated wheat-free / gluten-free environment. Gluten content analysis found no detectable amount of gluten, though the reported gluten content is 0.01% as that was the lowest limit of detection possible with the utilized analysis technique. In an article from the ''Catholic Review'' (15 February 2004) gastroenterologist

Alessio Fasano Alessio Fasano is an Italian-born medical doctor, pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher. He currently holds many roles, including professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of P ...

was quoted as declaring these hosts "perfectly safe for celiac sufferers."

Notes

Sources

Innes, Stephanie. "Midtown nuns to thank Knights with special Mass", azstarnet, August 6, 2007
*''Spirit&Life''(ISSN 0038-7592), published bimonthly by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Rd., Tucson, AZ 85716

External links

Official site of the CongregationWebsite of the founding monastery in Switzerland (German)Website of the Arizona monastery

Clyde Monastery Chapel Tour

Q & A with Sr. Cathleen Timberlake, making premium handmade soap

Historical pamphlets published by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde
{{Authority control Benedictine nunneries in the United States Catholic female orders and societies Religious organizations established in 1874 Catholic Church in Missouri 1874 establishments in Missouri Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century