Mount Benedict Monastery welcomes new prioress

Intermountain Catholic

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From right, Benedictine Sisters Nancy Bauer and Danile Knight chat with Treva and Mike Fendrick during the open house at the Benedictine Monastery Nov. 30. Treva Fendrick is a Benedictine Oblate.

OGDEN – The diminishing number of women committing to religious life has led the sisters at Mount Benedict Monastery in Ogden to realign themselves with Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn.

"Practically it means that as we age we will have a place to go to," said Sister Danile Knight, who was prioress of the local monastery until November. "We are only six now so we felt we had to look to the future."

To the outside world, "we look exactly the same as we did before," she added; the change is primarily administrative, at least for now. "We’re going to stay (in Utah) as long as we can," she said.

The merger is a little unusual because most of the time when such a move occurs the smaller monastery is sold.

For example, the Saint Bede Monastery in Eu Claire, Wisc. also recently merged with St. Benedict Monastery and the property in Wisconsin is in the process of being sold.

However, "we asked to stay here because of the past history and our commitment to the people of God in Utah and the church in Utah," Sr. Danile said.

All of the sisters from Utah visited Minnesota in November to transfer their vows to the new mother house, which has almost 300 members. Because each of the sisters from Utah began their religious life at the mother house, "it was just like going home," said Sr. Danile, whose title is now contact person for Mount Benedict Monastery. At the ceremony where they transferred vows, "they asked all of the sisters to come around us and bless us. It was the most moving time that I have had in years," she added.

Sr. Stephanie Mongeon also still has friends at the Minnesota monastery, and says the change allows them to know how to proceed in Utah without new sisters to help with the work. "I believe that becoming a member again is looking at reality and discerning what is the best," she said. "I think God is in it all."

Many in the outside community have accepted the change. "As long as the sisters can remain here, it’s fine with me," said Jil Morby, a board member of the Benedictine Foundation, which supports various charities in northern Utah. The sisters have an overwhelming impact on the community, she added. "Everybody knows them and loves them."

Sr. Nancy Bauer, the Minnesota monastery’s prioress who also will assume those responsibilities for the local monastery, visited Utah in late November to help with the administrative change. It’s not the first time she’s visited the Beehive State. Her best friend, with whom she made first profession, was from Utah and returned here in 1978, and Sr. Nancy visited her several times. She believes that change will continue to come to the local monastery.

As a sister in Utah age or need health care, "she can move back (to Minnesota,), and at some point when it’s no longer feasible to keep a monastery here then we have to talk about what we need to do next," Sr. Nancy said. "We don’t have any timeline, we don’t have any plan. Right now it’s the transition from being a canonically different monastery to being what we call a local community."

Some sisters from the Saint Bede Monastery in Wisconsin already have moved to Minnesota, either to the monastery or the affiliated assisted care facility, Sr. Nancy said, the remainder will move after the Wisconsin facility is sold.

Although the Minnesota community is large, they also have experienced a decline in vocations, so it’s not likely that any younger sisters will come to Utah, she said. "We have to be realistic and say we can’t really try to re-found this monastery. The reality will be as these sisters age they’ll move back to Minnesota and then we’ll have to talk about what will happen with the building and all of that."