Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
Become who God made you to be.
Our Founding Story
On August 23, 1861 three Sisters arrived in Chicago by train from Erie, Pennsylvania to begin the community that would be incorporated in 1873 as the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago. Our foundresses who arrived that day were Sister Frances Knapp, OSB 32, Sister Antonia Herman, OSB 20, and Sister Gonzaga Konradi, OSB 36.
Sister Frances, who was to act as superior, had come to the United States six years earlier from Germany with the first Benedictine Sisters to come to North America from Saint Walburg Monastery in Eichstatt, Germany, led by Sister Benedicta Riepp, OSB in 1852. Sister Frances was invested at Saint Joseph Convent in St. Marys, Pennsylvania on January 30, 1856, and a few months later was one of the foundresses of Saint Benedict Convent in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Sister Antonia had entered the community at Saint Benedict in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Sister Gonzaga at Saint Joseph in St. Marys, Pennsylvania.
Father Louis Fink, OSB was the newly-appointed pastor of St. Joseph Church in Chicago. He appealed to Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB – the 1846 founder of the first Benedictine monastery in the United States, Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania – for help in staffing Saint Joseph School. Abbot Wimmer asked Mother Scholastica Burkhard, OSB of Saint Benedict Convent in Erie to send members to Chicago for this purpose.
Upon their arrival, our three foundresses settled into Saint Joseph School, which initially doubled as their convent, a small building on Chicago Avenue and Cass Street (later renamed Wabash Avenue). Sister Antonia managed the school, Sister Frances was the superior and taught needlework, and Sister Gonzaga did the shopping and housekeeping.
We were the sixth North American community with Bavarian Benedictine roots, modeled on the Eichstatt, Germany tradition. The City of Chicago has provided us the experience of being an urban community, with all the strengths and limitations provided by a large metropolis. We have been at our present location on Chicago’s north side since 1906.
Compiled in 2025 by Community Archivist, Sr. Virginia Jung, OSB, and Communications Coordinator, Susan Clark from the 1910 Life Story of Sr. Frances Aloysia Knapp, OSB, and the 1965 “Where There Was Need” by Sr. M. Genevieve Harrison, OSB.
History
Later, in metropolitan Chicago, the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago played integral roles in the parishes and schools of St. George, St. John Nepomucene, St. Joseph, St. Symphorosa, Queen of All Saints, and St. Hilary, all in Chicago proper, as well as St. Lambert in Skokie, IL and Mother of God in Waukegan, IL.
The Benedictine Sisters of Chicago also established mission schools in Colorado in Breckenridge, Canon City, Delta, Pueblo, and Salida. In September 1890, Mount St. Scholastica Academy, Canon City, was opened. In 1907, St. Scholastica Academy opened on Ridge Boulevard in Chicago. Our two high schools have since closed.
Our present monastery was built in 1906. In 1924, a new section was added that includes St. Scholastica Chapel. In 1980, St. Joseph's Court, an infirmary for the care of the elderly Sisters, was built at the north end of the monastery.
Today, the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago serve in ministries including education, counseling, spirituality programs, and direct service.
