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MonasteT)10n tfie

MissouriSINCE 1887, A COMMUNITY OF WO~IE\ HAS ~'E; -~~

WORKED ABOVE THE MISSOURI R.~"E.1{ ~- :~-~~~~-~

MONASTERIES AND CONVENTS FOR wm.~ -~ EX:S..;._-C

RAPID CITY, MITCHELL, MARTY, ALEXA1\'DRL~ ABERDEE:"- -~~

WATERTOWN, BUT SACRED HEART MONASTERY IX y-\..."\;~~~- ~ ~

OLDEST AND LARGEST. HERE IS ITS STORY, IN WORDS A,.,\~ PHumS-

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Sacred Heart Convent was found-

ed in Maryville, Missouri, in 1880.That same year, many of the sistersmoved to Zell, a tiny communitywest of Redfield. They moved toYankton, then to Vermillion, andback to Yankton in 1887, so theyhad the convent in Vermillion taken

apart, stick by stick, and rebuilt nextto Bishop Martin Marty's house onthe bluff overlooking the city andthe Missouri River.

Bishop Marty wanted missionar-ies to teach the Indian yooth..~IOSiof the sisters were frun:.

Switzerland, originally, anrl couldhardly speak English. fu someinstances, they learned along withtheir Lakota pupils.

The bishop also encouraged thesisters to start a hospital, which theydid in Yanktonin 1897. Some stayedat the convent to operate the hospi-tal and others became missionariesv

40 . SOUTH DAKOTA MAGAZINE

on the prairie reservations.1Iother Jerome Schmitt, prioress

from 1932 to 1961 and still a leg-end around Yankton, led an ambi-tious building program. TheBenedictine sisters opened a hospi-tal at Parkston in 1934. Mount

Marty Academy was started in1922, and Mount Marty Collegeopened in 1936.

The sisters raised much of theirown food for most of the 1900s.

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The women of Sacred

Heart Monastery, including

all who live away from

Yankton, convene every

June for Community Days.One of their annual tradi-

tions is a procession to the

cemetery to remembertheir deceased sisters with

songs and prayer.

Story and photographs

by Bernie Hunhoffand Katie Hunhoff

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Sisters gathered in Marty Chapel (opposite page) when Carole Jean Van Den Hemel, a Woonsocket native, professed

her vows. On this page (clockwise from top left): Sisters Jill Young, Corrine Lemmer and Jeanne Weber read in the

Peace Chapel; Sister Tammie Whitney lights a candle for morning services; the sisters pick apples in the monastery

orchard; and Sister Virginia Pieper tends the community garden. The sisters once had bees, dairy cows and chickens.

They had a farm and a dairy withmilking machines. Men wereemployed to do a lot of the farmwork, but several sisters alsoworked with the cows. They alsohad chickens in the 1940s and

1950s, and a horse that could pulla plow because Sister Amilia hada huge garden and that's the onlyway she wanted to turn the

ground. Sister Regula kept beesand she also supervised theflower gardens.

Although Bishop Marty andhis successors tried to exert con-trol over the Yankton sisters and

their counterparts in other con-vents, the religious womenworked toward independence. Asthey did, they formed democratic

rules and a constitution to governthe community. Every major pro-gram proposed by MotherJerome required a vote. Her stylewas to gather the sisters and tellthem what had to be done. The

sisters always voted to supportwhat she wanted in the end, butsometimes there was controversy.Several conservative sisters

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MARCH/APRIL 2005.43

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Women of the monastery are very involved in the Yankton com-

munity's public Thanksgiving feast. Gathered for an apple-peel-

ing and pie-baking Saturday were (from left) Sisters Louise

Marie Goettertz, Denise Stevens, Kathleen McCarthy,

Jacquelyn Ernster (the prioress), Jane Ghyra, Rosaleen Dickes,

Evangeline Anderson and Bonita Gacnik. On the next page,

Sister Gladys Hunhoff stacks Thanksgiving pies in the

monastery kitchen. Stained glass doors welcome guests to the

Bishop Marty Chapel (top right). Marty pioneered missionary

work in Dakota Territory from headquarters in Yankton; his

house (pictured at right, near a statue of the Sacred Heart of

Jesus) has been restored by the Benedictine sisters. I

opposed building the big chapel in1950. They thought it was too bigand too elaborate for their needs. But

Mother Jerome insisted that if theybuilt it and had one holy mass in it, itwould be worth the trouble and

expense. She won again, and todaythe Bishop Marty Chapel givesYankton its skyline.

The Yankton community grewuntil the 1960s, when there werealmost500sisters- too large,manythought, to maintain a close sense ofcommunity. They voted in 1961 onwhether or not to form a new com-

mUl).ity in Pierre. Seventy-sevenchose to go to Pierre, 279 said they

44 .SOUTH DAKOTA MAGAZINE

would go if they were needed, and131 asked to remain in Yankton.

Eventually the new communitymoved to Watertown and became

Mother of God Monastery.There are 145 sisters today in

Yankton, a good number that theyhope to maintain. Sister EileenO'Connor works as a full-time voca-tions director. She established a website, and whenever she learns of awoman who is interested, she invitesher and her family to come for avisit.

The postulants (women who havenot taken final vows) once joined intheir teens or early twenties. Now,

newcomers are more likely to be intheir thirties or forties - usuallyyoung professionals who have livedon their own and want a more spiritu-al and communal life.

Interesting women live in thecommunity, including artists,painters, photographers, musiciansand gardeners. A number of thewomen are quite accomplished intheir fields, leaders in calligraphy,anesthesia, and liturgical music, forexample.

Monastery life was once morerigid. The sisters were awakened by aloud bell in the morning. Now thebell rings to start morning prayers.

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Everyone gathers at the Peace Chapelat 6:30 for prayers, scripture readingsor psalms. They celebrate mass withFather John Garvey, the monasterychaplain, at 7 every morning. Thenthose who did not have breakfast

before prayers go to eat.Sometime during the day, each sis-

ter takes time for their daily Lectio, atime for personal reflection andprayer. Many of the sisters go to thehospital or the college to work duringthe day. Others work at parishes inYankton and nearby cities. Even theolder sisters have responsibilities,

helping in the gift shop, businessoffice, kitchen or infirmary.

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~~0Si:~ for lunch in the dining~ a :oo.gand beauriful room deco-rated ~ 5i3ined glass windows onone side and bible ~ painted iny~' large calligraphy by SiSlerLeonardo on the other. They againpray at 5:15 in the Peace Chapel, andthen come together for dinner. Theyare free in the evening to play cards,watch television, knit, crochet orread.

Until the 1960s, all the sisters worethe traditional black and white habits.After Vatican II, the church relaxedmany of its regulations and the sis-ters began to dress like everyoneelse. Other changes continue. A

major renovation and building proj-ect was completed two years ago,which added space and light. Use ofthe word "convent" has also been

dropped, in favor of monastery.What hasn't changed is the sisters'

feelings that the monastery is home.Shortly after Bishop Robert Carlsonfirst came to South Dakota in 1994,he was visiting with several of thesisters who were working in SiouxFalls and they told him they weregoing home for the weekend. Heasked them where their homes were.

They replied they were going hometo Yankton, the motherhouse.

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MARCH/ApRIL 2005 .45