St. Elizabeth's Convent was a historic

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

located at 1663 Bristol Pike in Cornwells Heights,

Bensalem Township Bensalem Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The township borders the northeastern section of Philadelphia and includes the communities of Andalusia, Bensalem, Bridgewater, Cornwells Heights, Eddington, Flushing, Oakford, Sil ...

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the Englis ...

. From 1892 to 2017 it served as the

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...

of the

Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) are a Catholic order of religious sisters in the United States. They were founded in 1891 by Katharine Drexel as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. During her life, Saint ...

, founded by St.

Katharine Drexel Katharine Drexel, SBS (born Catherine Mary Drexel; November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955) was an American heiress, philanthropist, religious sister, educator, and foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She was the second person born i ...

as the ''Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People''. The complex was also home to the Saint Katharine Drexel Mission Center and National Shrine. Saint Katharine was entombed in a crypt in the chapel until the entire crypt was moved to the

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is located at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, on the east side of Logan Square in Philadelphia. It was built between ...

in Philadelphia and established as a new shrine.

History

The complex was built in 1892, and consists of three contributing buildings. They are built in the Spanish-French Mission style. The main building is the convent, which has an attached

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

and bell tower. The other contributing buildings are the utility building and -story laundry building. ''Note:'' This includes The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1978. The convent was closed and sold in 2017, though the chapel was preserved as a place of worship. The Drexel shrine, however, was decommissioned and rebuilt at the Philadelphia cathedral thereafter.

Gallery

File:BensalemPA DrexelShrineEntrance.jpg, Entrance to the Katharine Drexel Shrine, April 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Elizabeth convent Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Roman Catholic churches completed in 1892 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches in Bucks County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament