Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). The upper floor of St. Mary's Church and School was renovated in 1858 to serve as the second convent for the Benedictine sisters. St. Mary's was the first Catholic parish in St. Cloud. It was organized in 1855 by Father Francis Xavier Pierz, the missionary who had lured Catholic Germans to America (specifically to Minnesota) in the early 1850s with promises of farming and wood lands, rivers, opportunity, and freedom. The year before the Benedictine sisters arrived at St. Mary's Parish, the pastor had opened a private school in a room in Joseph Edlebrock's house. His intention was to complete the section of the complex meant for the school and to have the sisters take charge. However, the parishioners, fearful of losing government support and desirous of managing their church and school, did not accept that arrangement. The sisters then started their own convent school and continued the lessons they had given while at Tenvoorde's house for children of any interested settlers. Twenty children enrolled the first days after the sisters opened St. Mary's School. Among the girls were: Mary Edelbrock, Lizzie Rosenberger, Catherine Felders, and Mary Brown. Among the boys were: Anton, Barney, and Joseph Edelbrock, Henry Rosenberrger, John Niebler, Joseph Reichert, and Louis Emmel. Among those who took private music lessons were: Jennie and Mary Mitchell, Mary and Jennie Cramsie, Sophia and Cecilia Corbett, and Nettie Swisshelm. (McDonald page37) Jane Swisshelm, the editor of the local newspaper wrote: "There is a school kept by a company of Benedictine nuns where is taught, in addition to the common branches, German, drawing, music, and needlework. The subjects are taught by ladies of polished manners and unusual proficiency. The school is in much favor with our citizens and is in a flourishing condition." (ST CLOUD VISITER, May 20,, June 24, 1858). The reputation of the sisters spread. In 1862, two sisters were invited to the nearby parish of Clinton (St. Joseph) where they taught in the district school. The following year, St. Joseph became the site of the motherhouse of the Benedictine sisters in Minnesota. When St. Mary's Parish built a new school in 1876, the sisters (having returned to St. Cloud in 1869) purchased the former convent/school complex and converted it to St. Agnes Academy. The sisters were hoping to alleviate the overcrowded conditions of the boarding school and sisters' quarters in nearby St. Joseph, where the enrollment of day students alone had reached over 200. The sisters teaching at St. Agnes Academy were pioneers in making a distinction between primary and secondary education in the area. Because this academy never flourished as a boarding school in St. Cloud, the sisters closed it in 1880 and opened St. Joseph's Academy in St. Joseph (McDonald, pages 7-16, 22-23, 36-39, 70-71, 120-123; Patricia Kelly Witte, pages 14-17).
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). The three-story St. Mary's school was built in 1896 to accommodate 650 pupils; at that time eight sisters were teaching 480 students at St. Mary's. The growth of the school was phenomenal because the newly-established Holy Angels Parish, just a few blocks north of St. Mary's, also built a three-story school. St. Mary's reached a peak enrollment of 840 in subsequent years. Sisters of St. Benedict served as the faculty of both St. Mary's and Holy Angels Schools as well as of the eight other parish schools that were eventually established in St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Waite Park (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Witte, pages 79-80).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Considered the midpoint between Lake Osakis and Sauk Rapids, Sauk Centre grew around a store built in 1861. Soon railroads linked the town with Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud and Manitoba. The settlers built a new parochial school in 1896. It was one of the largest buildings in Sauk Centre -- a three-story structure with classrooms and a music room on the first two floors, living quarters for three Benedictine sisters on third floor and a full basement for parish meetings and activities. A first communion event (see photo) was always celebrated by the entire parish in German communities (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). Another place for community-bonding and the cultivation of common courtesies in the life of St. Benedict's Academy students was the dining area. Meals were served in home-style fashion at the table. Sister-prefects who dined with the students provided examples of table etiquette, concern for others, and suitable table conversations (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Though lacking in privacy, the dormitories of 15 or more students per dorm were places for community-bonding and the cultivation of common courtesies. Sister-prefects lived in the dormitories with the students to foster an atmosphere of quiet and respect for others. Moral training was not formally taught in the classroom; it was hoped that it would be absorbed by the atmosphere and tone of the academy as set by teachers, prefects, and older students. There were strict rules about privacy; no student was to enter another student's "cell" (curtained area around each bed and stand) or desk or to borrow or lend clothing. Polite and gentle manners were just as important as intellectual pursuits (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 104-105).
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). In 1903 the sisters built a separate house to be used as an infirmary for students on St. Benedict's Convent campus. Because of its segregation from other buildings, it was ideal for isolating patients with contagious diseases; hence dubbed the "pest house." A few years after it was built, more than 100 students and candidates were stricken in the diphtheria epidemic. This building still exists today. It was moved closer to Minnesota Street in St. Joseph and renovated for use as the convent guest house (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). "All private rooms (in Teresa Hall) are furnished in mahogany and have hot and cold water. If desired, a number of students may have a room with private bath" (College Bulletin, 1926).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). Some students of the class of 1908-1909 at St. Benedict's Academy are identified. Top row: 1. Nellie McCarthy, 2. Theresa Kohl, 3. Winnifred Stevens. Second row: 1. Mary Germain, 4. Eleanor Hilger (Sister Inez), 5. Hildegard Heck, 7. Aurelia Oster. Third row: 1. Donalda LaGrandeur, 3. Agnes Kalscheuer, 5. Agnes Engler, 7. Josie McCarthy. Seated: 2. Carola Bernick, 3. Alice Thomas, 4. Nanita Wimmer, 5. Katie Kierserling. Commencement day was always celebrated in great style. For example, the "Annual Catalogue" of 1883-84 and 1889-1900 record that a graduate might wear a "white Swiss, French Lawn, or Nun's veiling dress neatly and plainly made with a high neck and long sleeves . . . black or white boots and white kid gloves." Commencement guests traveled by wagon, carriage, and railroad from many parts of the West; the bishop of St. Cloud, the abbot of St. John's, and as many as twenty clergymen were present for the occasion. The auditorium was decorated with ferns, flowers and wreaths. There were lengthy orations; occasionally the commencement address was given by a prominent layman. For example, in 1884 the speaker was Honorable John Arctander of Willmar, District Attorney and author. The ceremony, together with the distribution of gold medals for excellence in studies and for lady-like conduct (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 105-108).
St. John's University Photographic Studio, Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1886 - 1889
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909; St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Some of St. Benedict's Academy students in this sewing class are identified as follows: (at the sewing machines:) the Chester twins and Agnes Kalscha; (at the end of the table:) Christainson and Dorothy Hoesch. The academy catalogues of the 1880s included sewing, ornamental needlework and needle-point lace, and various handcrafts in vogue at the time, such as making wax fruit, muslim and wax flowers, and hair wreaths (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). Many class groups of students posed on the steps of this church, the pride of St. Joseph's Parish in Minneapolis. The twin steeples of St. Joseph's Church graced the city's landscape for about 100 years before the parish complex was razed by the city's highway system and the entire area was re-surfaced for inner city transportation (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. While the sisters stressed simplicity in the matter of dress for St. Benedict's Academy students, school dresses could be of any style or color, but black sateen aprons were worn over them during school hours. On Sunday a plain black uniform (with a brooch for the collar) and earrings were to be worn. These regulations made occasions for dressing up something special (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, page 105)
St. Clotilde Music and Art Academy (1890-1906). When the sisters built a new hospital east of the Mississippi River, the former St. Benedict's Hospital was converted to an art/music academy for 40 students. The enrollment of this academy grew to 50. At the same time, the sisters opened a kindergarten in the academy for 26 three to nine-year olds; later that enrollment increased to 57. When a third hospital was built on Ninth Avenue next to the former St. Benedict's Hospital, St. Clotilde's Academy was closed and the building became a school of nursing (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Origins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. From its beginnings in the eleventh century, St. Walburg Convent in
Eichstätt, Bavaria, survived many trials of fire, war, famine, and secularization. "Fortunately for America, when the call came to plant a branch house in the new soil of the New World, the religious spirit of St. Walburg Convent was at its height." (McDonald, page 7). In 1851 St. Walburg Convent, EichstÃtt, Bavaria, was challenged by an invitation from Boniface Wimmer, OSB, (a missionary monk from Bavaria in America as early as 1846) to go to America to teach the children of the German immigrants. On June 18, 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp with Sisters Walburga Dietrich and Maura Flieger blazed the trail for the Eichstätt sisters to the New World by way of the steamer, "Washington." They reached New York amid the confusion of fire crackers and shooting cannons for the July 4th celebrations. Undaunted, they traveled on to settle in St. Marys, PA. New members soon joined them. With the second group (3 nuns and one candidate) from Eichstätt, they were ready to establish other convents in frontier settlements, among them the Northwest Territory in the area which later became the state of Minnesota. In summary, the origin of St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN, can be traced as follows: in 1852, the Bavarian branch of Benedictine Sisters who came to America first settled in St. Joseph's Convent, St. Marys, PA.; in 1857, a small group of sisters from St. Joseph's Convent (PA) ventured to the western frontier -- to St. Mary's Parish, St. Cloud, MN; in 1863, the St. Cloud group of sisters moved to St. Joseph, MN. In St. Joseph, they established St. Benedict's Monastery which became the largest Benedictine monastery in the world. (Early records refer to St. Benedict's Monastery as St. Benedict's Convent.) [St. Benedict's Monastery Archives (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Sister Grace McDonald, OSB, With Lamps Burning, pages 7-10).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1881, the Benedictine sisters began teaching in the parish/district school in Luxemberg, averaging 90-100 pupils for a number of years and increasing to 140 as its peak enrollment. In subsequent years the enrollment stabilized to around 100 pupils. The parish continues to support its Catholic school and the Benedictine sisters who have served there for 124 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1887, Sisters Clara Billig and Appolonia Jensen began teaching in this one-room parish/district school and convent in Buckman. A combination parochial-district school continued there without opposition for at least another 50 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). The first log school, though built by the parishioners, was supported by government funds and was, therefore, also the district school for Pierz. By 1889, the public versus parochial school controversy demanded a clarification of schools. The parishioners then claimed the school they had built as their St. Edward's Parochial School. Later, the second floor of the school was opened as a high school. The school was then renamed St. Joseph's School (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Father Francis Pierz invited the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph to teach in Pierz where he and his parishioners had begun building a school in 1869. The school had not been completed by the time the sisters came in 1871, so they lived with some of the parishioners until the upstairs of the log school house was completed as the sisters' convent. The school on the first floor accommodated 100 pupils. For the sisters, this was a first experience of staffing a rural school and living at such a distance from the motherhouse. However, rural schools mushroomed quickly throughout the Northwest Territory. By 1910, the sisters staffed over 40 such schools outside St. Cloud and the Twin Cities area. Needless to say, the teachers endured many hardships in these rural areas. If they were lucky, equipment consisted of desks and a piece of blackboard. Attendance was variable and classrooms were overcrowded (sometimes 80 in one small room). At times there were no classrooms other than the church, the church basement or sacristy. Cold and hunger prevailed and the ever-present hostile controversy of public versus parochial schools affected school discipline. Salaries were sparse or even non-existent (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, pages 68-69).
From the fields, the harvested potatoes were taken to winter storage in a huge root cellar (60 feet in diameter) that had been constructed out of the sand pit dug on the campus at the time of building Sacred Heart Chapel in 1911 - 1914.
Sacred Heart Chapel interior, St. Benedict's Monastery. From floor to the ceiling of the dome is over 120 feet (Height of chapel to tip of cross on dome is 135 feet.)
Sacred Heart Chapel interior, St. Benedict's Monastery. This photograph, though flawed, gives an excellent view of the sanctuary as it was built in 1914. The sanctuary floor was Kasota marble in artistically interchanged pink and buff and, in its center, had a dial six feet in diameter of polished Pavanazzo marble surrounded by a scroll of gold mosaic. Around this large dial were four small dials of Numidian African (red) marble. There were also a number of designs in Tennessee marble in the sanctuary as well as in the different aisles which are mainly terrazzo. (Chronicles, ppage141-145) This view also shows the marked elevation of the sanctuary floor.