A Quick Look at the Founding History
Benedictine Sisters
Mount Saint Benedict Monastery
Crookston, MN
from Sister Anita Whalen, Mount Saint Benedict, Crookston, MN
Mount Saint Benedict Monastery was founded on May 4, 1919, at the invitation of the first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota. 46 Benedictine women from St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Minnesota, volunteered to become the Sisters of St. Benedict of Crookston, an independent community under the leadership of Mother Eustacia Beyenka. Many of these sisters were already ministering in the new diocese in the few Catholic parochial schools and Catholic hospitals in this northwest region of Minnesota.
Typical of other Benedictine houses, the Crookston community “budded off” from another Benedictine community, in this case, the Duluth community. In this way, the congregation can trace its lineage back over 150 years via St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and St. Mary’s Monastery in Pennsylvania to St. Walburg Abbey in Eichstatt, Germany, founded in the eleventh century. In the mid-nineteenth century, St. Walburg Abbey sent Sister Benedicta Riepp with a handful of companions to answer the call for sisters to minister to the German-speaking immigrants in Pennsylvania. All these women followed the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the sixth century A.D. and adapted as needed over 1500 years.
Above Photo Caption: The cornerstone of the original Mount Saint Benedict Monastery building was laid in 1922.
First Prioress of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery
Mother Eustacia Beyenka was the first prioress of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery in Crookston, Minnesota. She served from the founding in May 1919 until she died in 1936.
Artifact Spotlight
When Mother Eustacia first arrived in Crookston by train, she was carrying this small basket. When asked, “Is that all you have with you?” she answered, “I have a heart full of hope.”
