Benedictine Sisters Break Ground on Future Home Near Skiatook
SKIATOOK — The Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph Monastery in Tulsa officially broke ground for new construction at a semi-rural property near Skiatook that, once completed in the next two years, will become their new home.
Most Rev. David Konderla, Bishop of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, officiated the ceremony that included scripture readings, prayer and the singing of hymns under a wind-blown tent. In addition to Bishop Konderla, Sister Julia Marie Roy, OSB, Prioress of St. Joseph Monastery; Sister Marie Therese Long, OSB, former prioress; Mike Joyce, Magnus Advocatus; Mark Nelson, architect; Joe O'Connor, owner's representative; and Joey Little, contractor, all joined the groundbreaking party. After the ceremonial shoveling of earth at the site of new construction that will expand the existing home on the 60-acre property, Bishop Konderla blessed the grounds with the sprinkling of water.
Following the ceremony, attended by approximately 50 supporters, friends, and new neighbors in the area, all those gathered were invited to tour the existing home that will be expanded to meet the needs of the sisters and their mission into the future. Architectural renderings revealed what the completed exapnsion and renovation project will look like.
"We really see this as a re-founding of the community," said Sister Julia Marie. "That's how we've talked about it and thought about it ourselves. It is the opportunity and then the challenge to live our Benedictine life in a new place just like our sisters in the past did."
The sisters have made major transitions throughout their 147-year history.
Originally founded in 1879, three Benedictine sisters began the St. Joseph Monastery in Creston, Iowa. Following the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889, the sisters were invited to begin teaching in a tent city located in what was then called Indian Territory near present-day Guthrie. It became the monastery’s new home three years later.
Following Oklahoma statehood in 1907, the sisters opened and taught in many parish schools in the Guthrie area, including the former Claver College for African-Americans.
Early in the 20th century, Bishop Francis Kelley invited the sisters to open a school in the thriving oil-rich community of Tulsa. In 1926, the sisters opened Monte Cassino School, a boarding and day school for girls, kindergarten through high school. The sisters would eventually relocate from Guthrie to the Tulsa campus in 1955.
After more than a century administering and teaching at Monte Casino, the sisters announced in 2025 that they would transition the governance of the school to its board of directors and seek to relocate.
Since 2010, the sisters have hosted Lectio Divina Retreats with hundreds having experienced the teaching and solitude of the retreat experience. The planned move from midtown Tulsa to the semi-rural setting near Skiatook will allow the sisters to continue their monastic way of life in an environment that supports their mission of prayer and service.