By Megan Erbacher, The Message editor
On May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles celebrated their one year anniversary of moving to Evansville, and they’ve welcomed five more nuns in their first year.
“We began with seven Sisters and have since had five more join us, with young ladies from Missouri, Kentucky, Florida and even New Hampshire, making us a total of 12,” Sister Maria Battista, Superior, said. “We are very blessed and thankful for the increase of vocations.”
Since the Benedictine nuns accepted an invitation from Bishop Joseph M. Siegel, they’ve settled into life in the Monastery of St. Anne in Evansville. Last summer, the nuns moved into the former Poor Clare monastery on Nurrenbern Road in Evansville. In 2023, the Poor Clares departed the monastery after more than 125 years in Evansville because the community had fallen below the minimum number of six nuns necessary to remain open.
The Benedictine nuns renamed the monastery the Monastery of St. Anne, as the community has a special devotion to the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The nuns are a cloistered, contemplative order like the Poor Clares, meaning their lives are devoted to prayer and work, living apart from the world.
Not only did the Benedictine nuns celebrate their first year in Evansville this summer, but on July 26, the Feast of St. Anne, Bishop Siegel blessed the renovated chapel at the Monastery of St. Anne. Last August, the Benedictines of Mary began some necessary renovations in the chapel to provide for the nuns’ monastic style of prayer.
“The contemplative presence of Benedictine nuns has already been a great blessing for our Diocese,” Bishop Siegel said. “I am especially grateful for their prayers and sacrifices offered for our priests, and I know that I count on their intercession to assist me in my ministry. I look forward to the new sisters being assigned to our monastery.”
Sister Maria Battista shared that the sisters “feel so blessed to have a beautiful and yet simple Chapel for the Holy Sacrifice of Mass and to offer continual praise to God in chanting the Divine Office. Truly, all the renovation work has been for the glory of God and to draw souls to Him, through the beauty of this sacred space.”
Sister Maria Battista shared that their first year in Evansville has passed quickly, and they all continue to feel more and more settled.
“The generosity and kindness of the Evansville community never ceases to amaze us, from neighbors sharing their produce with us, to the local Boy Scouts helping us renovate an old barn into a chicken coop, and others helping with the snow and ice storms we experienced in the winter,” she said. “We have had a number of guests this past year, including priests offering up their First Mass and blessings, groups of young girls interested in the religious life, and many a pilgrim wanting to experience the Liturgy. We continue to live our life of ora et labora, work and prayer, taking care of the grounds through gardening, mowing, household maintenance, making priestly vestments, singing the Divine Office seven times a day and once in the night, and of course the assisting in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass … a full day’s work in the service of the Lord.”
The nuns take Our Lady’s hidden life at Ephesus as an inspiration for their own, seeking to be what she was for the early Church: a loving and prayerful support to the Apostles, the first priests. They offer daily prayer and sacrifices for the sake of priests, the spiritual sons of Our Blessed Mother. It is part of their charism to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass and Divine Office, observing the directives of the Church. Father Jeffery Jambon, LC, serves as their chaplain and resides in the former rectory at the St. Agnes campus of St. Boniface Parish in Evansville.
The motherhouse of the nuns is the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri. In addition to Evansville, they have Foundations in Ava, Missouri, and Colwich, Staffordshire, England.
Now that the Chapel has been renovated, Sister Maria Battista said they hope to recommence the renovation of the living areas of the Monastery building, especially to prepare the rooms for future vocations to come, “God willing!”
“We are filled with so much gratitude for your faithful and most generous support of this little house of St. Anne, and continue to keep all your intentions in our daily prayer. May the Mother of the Mother of our Lord continue to intercede for you always. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
The Sisters.”
To learn more about the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, visit benedictinesofmary.org.