Welcome to our 150th birthday!

A message from Nancy Bauer, OSB, Prioress of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, and John Klassen, OSB, Abbot of Saint John’s Abbey

We of Saint Benedict's Monastery and Saint John's Abbey are daughters and sons of the 6th-century twins, Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica.  We live in continuity with a 1500-year history but hope to be attentive and responsive to the new challenges and opportunities that each day brings.  The Rule keeps us nimble: Benedict says it is “just for beginners”—in other words, the most exemplary Benedictine has done nothing more than make a good start.  And we are aware that what is not possible to us by nature, grace will have to provide.

Our sesquicentennial is an occasion to celebrate our history, to take account of the influence we have had on those around us and they on us—and especially to thank them!—and, most important, to look to the future to which God is calling us.  All who have lived the monastic manner of life have paved the way for us who were their future; we owe it to our successors to do the same.

We invite you to explore this web site.  It is designed to show how the history, influence and future of Saint Benedict’s and Saint John’s are both intertwined and distinct. There is a common story of the Benedictines of Central Minnesota, and there are separate chapters.

And after you have explored the web site, come visit us!  Benedictines have a reputation for hospitality, a reputation grounded in our very identity.  Cyberspace can give you an idea about us, but you need to experience our sense of place to know us as we are.