St. Gregory's Abbey is a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
monastery of the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by monks of the French monastery of
Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire in 1876, was originally located in present-day
Konawa, Oklahoma
Konawa is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,288 at the time of the 2020 census. ''Konawa'' is a Seminole word meaning, "string of beads."
References
External links
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & ...
and called Sacred Heart Abbey. At present the community numbers around twenty-one monks who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours. They used to staff various parishes but no longer do so, and their school,
St. Gregory's University
St. Gregory's University was a private Catholic university with its main campus in Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States. It was one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It had an additional campus in Tulsa. ...
, was closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
The abbey is located in
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Shawnee () is a city in and the county seat of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklah ...
.
History
Benedictine monks first arrived from France in 1873, settling in
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. They relocated to what was then
Indian Territory
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
in October 1875 at the suggestion of the
Archbishop of New Orleans,
Napoléon-Joseph Perché. He recruited his compatriots to provide
pastoral care
''The Book of Pastoral Rule'' (Latin: ''Liber Regulae Pastoralis'', ''Regula Pastoralis'' or ''Cura Pastoralis'' — sometimes translated into English ''Pastoral Care'') is a treatise on the responsibilities of the clergy written by Pope Greg ...
to the
Native Americans of the region who had recently become a part of his
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
. In 1876 the monks founded Sacred Heart Abbey in what today is Konawa, Oklahoma, led by
the Rev. Dom Isidore Robot, O.S.B., who had been appointed
Prefect Apostolic
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...
of the Indian Territory of Oklahoma by the
Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
upon the recommendation of Perché.
The monastic community grew steadily until 1901, when a fire destroyed much of the abbey. At the invitation of the city, the monks built their new monastery in
Shawnee
The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language.
Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
. At that time, they also established St. Gregory's College and High School, which was known as
St. Gregory's University
St. Gregory's University was a private Catholic university with its main campus in Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States. It was one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It had an additional campus in Tulsa. ...
until it closed in 2017. The main building, known as
Benedictine Hall, still stands (along with other former campus buildings), and is now owned by the Abbey after briefly being part of
Oklahoma Baptist University's Green Campus. They Abbey and former college grounds are listed in the
.
St. Gregory's Abbey "History"
/ref>
See also
* Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB
References
External links
Abbey Website
Benedictine monasteries in the United States
Buildings and structures in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma
St. Gregory's University
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
{{Oklahoma-RC-church-stub