With roots going back to before statehood, the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery are celebrating 75 years as an independent monastic community devoted to prayer, community and service to the people of western and central North Dakota.
Seventy-five years ago, the long-awaited news for the sisters to be granted permission from Rome to become independent from their motherhouse in Minnesota came on March 24, 1947. A telephone call from Bishop Vincent Ryan announced that Rome had granted the request. Since the call was received on the eve of the Feast of the Annunciation, the new independent community would be called Benedictine Sisters of the Annunciation. Mother Decora Kaliher was named the first prioress.
A little history prior to 1947
Benedictine Sisters had been serving in Dakota Territory since 1878, when they were summoned to start the territory’s first parochial school. This endeavor was met with trust that God would assist them in beginning a ministry of teaching which ultimately led to Catholic schools throughout central and western North Dakota over the next decades.
Nuns were unheard of in Dakota Territory until the Benedictine Sisters from St. Benedict’s Convent in St. Joseph, Minn. trekked across the prairie bringing with them religion, culture, education and healthcare. In 1878, four sisters opened St. Mary’s Academy and Boarding School which laid the framework for today’s Catholic schools across the diocese.
In response to the needs for healthcare in 1885, and at the request of Abbot Alexius Edelbrock, five Benedictine sisters started the first hospital between Seattle and St. Paul—St. Alexius Hospital, which was first located in the old Lamborn Hotel on Main Street. The sisters were the first Benedictine women in the U.S. to serve in health care. Stories from the past about sisters who carried fully anesthetized patients up and down stairs for surgery and recovery are still told. As sisters perceived the needs, they opened other hospitals and care centers while continuing to teach, both in schools and in Catholic parishes in the Bismarck Diocese. At St. Alexius Hospital, sisters started programs in anesthesia, physical therapy, radiology and pharmacy. Sister Boniface Timmins was the first administrator at St. Alexius Hospital, now CHI St. Alexius Health.
In 1944, Bishop Ryan envisioned Benedictine sisters beginning a new independent community in Bismarck. In his persistence, he spent four years urging the prioress at St. Benedict’s, the papal delegate and others in authority to respond to his plea. When the prioress in St. Joseph, Minn. asked for sisters to volunteer, a group of 140 came to begin their community at the location of 304 Avenue A West (also known as the C.B. Little House). The home was owned by the Bismarck Diocese and offered a temporary residence for the sisters. Now, the house serves as the bishop’s office known as the chancery.
“Though this was considered a mansion for a family of five (family of Mr. C.B. Little), it was really inadequate for the needs of 140 women. That meant simply that the sisters would live close to their schools or hospital, or whatever was their place of work. However, 39 sisters did take up residence there. How was it possible? When I tell you what had been a three-car garage was turned into sleeping quarters for 17 nuns, plus a music conservatory, you’ll know it was indeed possible. In the dining room we sat so close together that I was never quite sure whose napkin I was using.” (the late Sr. Helen Kilzer)
For many of the 140 sisters who volunteered to begin the new foundation in Bismarck in 1944, the decision to branch off from St. Benedict’s Convent in Minnesota was not easy. Despite their love for their home convent, many thought of the possibilities there could be on the prairie that needed sisters. The courageous volunteers came and wondered what would happen if papal approval never materialized. After three long years, the approval arrived, and the sisters officially planted roots and their ministries flourished.
An independent community
Ministries in education and healthcare expanded greatly in the ’50s and ’60s. With the same faith, courage and trust in God as they had for starting each ministry, the sisters enlisted renowned Hungarian architect, Marcel Breuer, to design their new home. The site was initially planned to be near the Green River, approximately 12 miles east of Dickinson. Plans changed when Charles “Chick” and Eunice Swenson made an offer that was too generous to ignore. They gifted the sisters with 40 acres of land south of Bismarck. In 1959, the sisters moved to their new priory, founded Mary College and opened Priory High School for Girls.
Mary College, now known as the University of Mary, was and still is Bismarck’s only four-year institution of higher education. The sisters made this decisive move to start the college in response to the need to prepare their new members to work in health care and education. They also wanted to expand the St. Alexius School of Nursing into a four-year program. In 1959, Mary College opened with 17 full-time students, no campus and few financial resources. At that time, the college offered undergraduate degrees in nursing and education. Mary College became the University of Mary in 1986, and today serves close to 4,000 students in eight campus locations, both in person and online, with 50+ bachelor’s, 19 master’s and five doctoral programs.
At the time the monastery was celebrating its 50th anniversary, Sr. Nancy Miller reflected on the past and future of the community by saying, “We have accomplished much and made a difference to the people of the surrounding area. The past reinforces that this is the place for us. We are committed to the people of western North Dakota. We will always be here.”
That steadfast commitment of the community vocalized by Sr. Nancy, who served as prioress from 2008-16, has never wavered. The sisters are now celebrating their 75th anniversary under the leadership of current prioress, Sr. Nicole Kunze.
Change from priory to monastery
The sisters’ sponsored ministries: St. Alexius Medical Center/Garrison Memorial Hospital, and the University of Mary, experienced tremendous growth over the decades. The name Annunciation Priory was changed to Annunciation Monastery in 1998 after conversations and study about the meaning and tradition of monasticism. In 2000, the sisters moved from the former priory location—now known as the Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership—to their new monastery just south of the sisters’ landmark bell banner.
Connected to the community
Sister Nicole Kunze, prioress of Annunciation Monastery, noted, “We are carrying forth the ideals set forth by St. Benedict 1,500 years ago—offering hospitality to those in need, providing a place of prayer and respite, providing a place where community can be built and showing others how to build community.
The Benedictine Sisters’ strong connection to the people in the communities they serve is extended to laypersons through their oblate program. This program gives people of varying backgrounds an opportunity to live according to the Rule of St. Benedict, as their own state of life permits. Through meetings, study, prayer and sharing with the sisters and other oblates, their lives are enriched by their deepening relationship with Christ.
As always, guests are welcomed to Annunciation Monastery for retreats, prayer and spiritual direction. Retreats for women considering religious life are held throughout the year at the monastery. God still calls women to this way of life, and the sisters are here to help in their discernment. In addition to daily Mass, the sisters gather three times a day to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours (the prayer of the church) and spend time in private prayer and lectio (reflection on Scripture).
To commemorate 75 years as an independent monastic community, the sisters will feature historical displays throughout the year at their three sponsored ministries—the University of Mary, CHI St. Alexius Health and Ministry on the Margins.
Since founding the university and the hospital the role of the sisters has changed over the years. Sisters serve as members of the university’s Mission Integration Committee, and they maintain strong bonds with the university serving in various capacities. Sisters serve on the university’s board of trustees, are a regular presence at campus events and participate in Benedictive Awareness Week and vocation-related events. Sisters are regularly guest speakers in the classroom and at campus ministry activities. At CHI St. Alexius Health, Sr. Nancy Miller serves as Vice President of Mission Integration and attends department meetings regularly to ensure the hospital and staff adhere to the mission and values that embody St. Benedict’s Rule to receive all as Christ. Sister Melissa Cote serves at the hospital as a pharmacist. Sisters also bring Holy Communion to patients, work in the hospital archives and participate in special events at the hospital throughout the year.
Ministry on the Margins, founded by Sr. Kathleen Atkinson in 2013, serves the needs of those who fall through the cracks in society and live on the margins. This ministry offers a food pantry, overnight coffee house, health screenings, employment assistance, and provides spiritual care and daily living items to those who come for help. Staff and volunteers help people who are leaving the prison system with re-entry into society and match them with resources to promote stability and successful transition. Serving over 1,000 people per week, Ministry on the Margins is saving lives and helping those in need get their lives together.
Sister Nicole added, “Through our sponsored institutions, through the thousands of alumni who have graduated from the University of Mary, through the patients who have been served at CHI St. Alexius Health, to all the men and women who walk through Ministry on the Margins looking for food or a listening ear, we touch more people than we could ever know. The impact is exponential.”
The Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery look forward to the next 75 years of faithfulness to prayer, community and service, in the way of St. Benedict, in which all are received as Christ. The thread that holds these women together and firmly binds them to the people of western and central North Dakota is prayer. By connecting and remaining ever-present in prayer, the monastic women are a unified and powerful force for good in our region and the world.
—Article by Jill Ackerman, Dir. of Mission Advancement for Annunciation Monastery, and Sonia Mullally, DCA editor