St. Gregory's Abbey (Oklahoma)

St. Gregory's Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by monks of the French monastery of Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire in 1876, was originally located in present-day Konawa, Oklahoma and called Sacred Heart Abbey. At present the community numbers around twenty-one monks who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours. They used to staff various parishes but no longer do so, and their school, St. Gregory's University, was closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

Saint Gregory's Abbey
Saint Gregory's Abbey
Location within Oklahoma
St. Gregory's Abbey (Oklahoma) (the United States)
Monastery information
Established1876
Site
Coordinates35°22′05″N 96°57′12″W
Saint Gregory's Abbey
LocationPottawatomie County, Oklahoma
Built1876
NRHP reference No.75001572
Added to NRHP08/15/1975

The abbey is located in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

History

Benedictine monks first arrived from France in 1873, settling in Louisiana. They relocated to what was then Indian Territory in October 1875 at the suggestion of the Archbishop of New Orleans, Napoléon-Joseph Perché. He recruited his compatriots to provide pastoral care to the Native Americans of the region who had recently become a part of his ecclesiastical province. In 1876 the monks founded Sacred Heart Abbey in what today is Konawa, Oklahoma, led by the Rev. Dom Isidore Robot, O.S.B., who had been appointed Prefect Apostolic of the Indian Territory of Oklahoma by the Holy See upon the recommendation of Perché.[1]

The monastic community grew steadily until 1901, when a fire destroyed much of the abbey. At the invitation of the city, the monks built their new monastery in Shawnee. At that time, they also established St. Gregory's College and High School, which was known as St. Gregory's University until it closed in 2017. The main building, known as Benedictine Hall, still stands and was included in the bankruptcy sale. It has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.[2][3]

See also

References
  1. Archdiocese of Oklahoma City "Benedictine Beginnings: 1875-1891"
  2. St. Gregory's Abbey "History"
  3. Ruth, Kent (June 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: St. Gregory's Abbey and College". National Park Service. Retrieved 8 November 2011.


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