Who We Are
“This is the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love: they should each try to be the first to show respect to the other”
– Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 72 verse 3
We are Catholic Benedictine women committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which impels us to love as he loves, through a common life of prayer, hospitality, and ministry.
many whispers, one heart.
A Community of Sisters Living their Personal Callings, Together in God’s Love.
A Call to Benedictine Life
“A vocation to the Benedictine way of life is a call from God to shape one’s life according to the Benedictine charism…This charism…is to seek God through cenobitic (community) life, prayer, and work, attending to the Gospel mandate of service and mission, listening daily to God’s call and responding with good zeal.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
Each of us is called to serve God in our own unique way. Our Benedictine community gives us the opportunity to pray together and hear those quiet whispers in our hearts, those special callings allowing us to go out into the world and live God’s will.
If you are discerning a balanced, religious life, we welcome you to consider St. Joseph Monastery. We invite you into our home to hear our stories and experience our mission.
Most importantly, we want to help you discover the best way to live your personal calling.
Contact us at stjomonastery@gmail.com to receive more information about Benedictine life in our community.
A Call to Benedictine Life
“A vocation to the Benedictine way of life is a call from God to shape one’s life according to the Benedictine charism…This charism…is to seek God through cenobitic (community) life, prayer, and work, attending to the Gospel mandate of service and mission, listening daily to God’s call and responding with good zeal.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
Each of us is called to serve God in our own unique way. Our Benedictine community gives us the opportunity to pray together and hear those quiet whispers in our hearts, those special callings allowing us to go out into the world and live God’s will.
If you are discerning a balanced, religious life, we welcome you to consider St. Joseph Monastery. We invite you into our home to hear our stories and experience our mission.
Most importantly, we want to help you discover the best way to live your personal calling.
Contact us at stjomonastery@gmail.com to receive more information about Benedictine life in our community.
A Call to Support
“A Benedictine monastery, like every human community, is dependent on tangible goods and services as its members strive for union with God and harmony with the created world.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
We are all called to live God’s will in our own unique way.
At St. Joseph Monastery, we work hard to have a positive impact on the communities we serve as well as maintain a prayerful, welcoming environment for our sisters to grow closer together in God.
Through your support of our monastery, we are able live God’s individual callings and continue to be a Catholic presence in Tulsa.
Thank you for helping us further our mission with your donation or prayer commitment.
A Call to Support
“A Benedictine monastery, like every human community, is dependent on tangible goods and services as its members strive for union with God and harmony with the created world.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
We are all called to live God’s will in our own unique way.
At St. Joseph Monastery, we work hard to have a positive impact on the communities we serve as well as maintain a prayerful, welcoming environment for our sisters to grow closer together in God.
Through your support of our monastery, we are able live God’s individual callings and continue to be a Catholic presence in Tulsa.
Thank you for helping us further our mission with your donation or prayer commitment.
History
The sisters of St. Joseph Monastery trace their roots to a “group of three sisters from St. Walburg Abbey, Eichstatt, Bavaria, who came to the United States in 1852 to respond to the growing needs of the Church. Sister Benedicta Riepp, superior, and her companions, Sister Walburga Dietrich and Sister Maura Flieger, settled in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. From there missions developed rapidly over the next fifty years, and most became independent houses.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
In 1879, three Benedictine women founded St. Joseph Monastery in Creston, Iowa. The sisters converted an existing house into a monastery and a school called Sacred Heart Academy.
About six months after the Land Run of 1889, which brought many people to Oklahoma Territory, the sisters of St. Joseph Monastery were invited to begin teaching in a city of tents located in Indian Territory near present-day Guthrie, Okla. The school they began was called St. Mary’s School. Three years later, in 1892, Oklahoma became the monastery’s permanent home. Following statehood in 1907, the sisters of St. Joseph Monastery opened and taught in many parish schools in the Guthrie area. The sisters also operated Claver College for African-Americans and held religious education classes in Langston, Oklahoma.
Early in the 20th century, Bishop Francis Kelley asked the sisters to open a school in the thriving community of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to help meet Tulsa’s growing needs for education. In 1926, the sisters opened Monte Cassino School, a boarding and day school for girls, kindergarten through high school. The sisters relocated from Guthrie to the Monte Cassino campus in the early 1960’s.
In 2010, the sisters began another corporate ministry, the Lectio Divina Retreat. Hundreds of retreatants have experienced the teaching and solitude of this retreat experience.
The sisters continue their life of prayer and work, offering hospitality to guests and to each other in community.
History
The sisters of St. Joseph Monastery trace their roots to a “group of three sisters from St. Walburg Abbey, Eichstatt, Bavaria, who came to the United States in 1852 to respond to the growing needs of the Church. Sister Benedicta Riepp, superior, and her companions, Sister Walburga Dietrich and Sister Maura Flieger, settled in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. From there missions developed rapidly over the next fifty years, and most became independent houses.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
In 1879, three Benedictine women founded St. Joseph Monastery in Creston, Iowa. The sisters converted an existing house into a monastery and a school called Sacred Heart Academy.
About six months after the Land Run of 1889, which brought many people to Oklahoma Territory, the sisters of St. Joseph Monastery were invited to begin teaching in a city of tents located in Indian Territory near present-day Guthrie, Okla. The school they began was called St. Mary’s School. Three years later, in 1892, Oklahoma became the monastery’s permanent home. Following statehood in 1907, the sisters of St. Joseph Monastery opened and taught in many parish schools in the Guthrie area. The sisters also operated Claver College for African-Americans and held religious education classes in Langston, Oklahoma.
Early in the 20th century, Bishop Francis Kelley asked the sisters to open a school in the thriving community of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to help meet Tulsa’s growing needs for education. In 1926, the sisters opened Monte Cassino School, a boarding and day school for girls, kindergarten through high school. The sisters relocated from Guthrie to the Monte Cassino campus in the early 1960’s.
In 2010, the sisters began another corporate ministry, the Lectio Divina Retreat. Hundreds of retreatants have experienced the teaching and solitude of this retreat experience.
The sisters continue their life of prayer and work, offering hospitality to guests and to each other in community.
Our Benedictine Roots
“The same call and gift of the Spirit came to Benedict of Nursia in the fifth century, to Benedicta Riepp in the nineteenth century, and to the Benedictine women in monasteries today….”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
The Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph Monastery are monastic women who seek God through prayer, community life, and service. We belong to an ancient order which has been a part of the Oklahoma faith community for over 100 years and has had a presence in the Western world for over 1500 years.
The order’s namesake, Saint Benedict, left Rome in the sixth century AD. From his home, a cave in the mountains, he lived the life of a hermit. It was here that he worked his first miracle. Shepherds in the area befriended the future saint and began to follow his principles and teachings. Thus began the Benedictine order.
Benedict established his first monastery over 1500 years ago in the hills outside of Rome. This monastery, which he named Monte Cassino, became the first of 13 established by Saint Benedict. By 1100 AD, Monte Cassino was highly regarded as a center of cultural and spiritual life in Western Europe.
In the course of its history, Monte Cassino has been destroyed four times. Its most recent reconstruction restored the abbey as a symbol of the beauty and simplicity of the monastic lifestyle as well as the enduring power of faith.
The teachings of Saint Benedict continue to form the lives of his followers. Tens of thousands of Benedictine men and women worldwide live monastic lives as Saint Benedict modeled in the sixth century. Today we continue the traditions and way of life Saint Benedict set forth in his Rule at our monastery in Tulsa.
Our Benedictine Roots
“The same call and gift of the Spirit came to Benedict of Nursia in the fifth century, to Benedicta Riepp in the nineteenth century, and to the Benedictine women in monasteries today….”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
The Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph Monastery are monastic women who seek God through prayer, community life, and service. We belong to an ancient order which has been a part of the Oklahoma faith community for over 100 years and has had a presence in the Western world for over 1500 years.
The order’s namesake, Saint Benedict, left Rome in the sixth century AD. From his home, a cave in the mountains, he lived the life of a hermit. It was here that he worked his first miracle. Shepherds in the area befriended the future saint and began to follow his principles and teachings. Thus began the Benedictine order.
Benedict established his first monastery over 1500 years ago in the hills outside of Rome. This monastery, which he named Monte Cassino, became the first of 13 established by Saint Benedict. By 1100 AD, Monte Cassino was highly regarded as a center of cultural and spiritual life in Western Europe.
In the course of its history, Monte Cassino has been destroyed four times. Its most recent reconstruction restored the abbey as a symbol of the beauty and simplicity of the monastic lifestyle as well as the enduring power of faith.
The teachings of Saint Benedict continue to form the lives of his followers. Tens of thousands of Benedictine men and women worldwide live monastic lives as Saint Benedict modeled in the sixth century. Today we continue the traditions and way of life Saint Benedict set forth in his Rule at our monastery in Tulsa.
Our Life Today
“A Benedictine community enables its members to live according to the Gospel as interpreted by the Rule of Benedict the fifteen centuries of monastic wisdom, and its own living tradition.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
As followers of Saint Benedict’s Rule, we live together, pray together and seek God together in our monastic way of life. Our common prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist, our personal prayer of Lectio Divina and our daily discernment of God’s will mark our life together as Benedictine women. External and internal ministries are carried out with the awareness that we are serving God in all that we do. Shared meals and time for having fun together are also integral moments of our monastic life.
Our Life Today
“A Benedictine community enables its members to live according to the Gospel as interpreted by the Rule of Benedict the fifteen centuries of monastic wisdom, and its own living tradition.”
– Call to Life, Monastic Constitution of the Benedictine Federation of Saint Scholastica
As followers of Saint Benedict’s Rule, we live together, pray together and seek God together in our monastic way of life. Our common prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist, our personal prayer of Lectio Divina and our daily discernment of God’s will mark our life together as Benedictine women. External and internal ministries are carried out with the awareness that we are serving God in all that we do. Shared meals and time for having fun together are also integral moments of our monastic life.