Who We Are

[Click on the image above to download a PDF that shows the names of the Sisters in our Community.]

We are a community of 81 Benedictine Women in Yankton, South Dakota, who work, pray, play and celebrate together. 

• We are women who live in monastic community according to the Rule of St. Benedict with its 1500 years of lived tradition
• We are women who profess obedience, stability and conversion of life
• We are women led by a prioress, who is the spiritual leader of our community, and one whom we believe is a voice and presence of Christ in our lives
• We are women of the Dakota prairies who trace our roots to the Swiss community of Maria Rickenbach, nestled on the side of a picturesque Alp
• We are women, who since 1880, have ministered to God, God’s people and each other beginning in Maryville, Missouri and then in the Dakotas and beyond
• We are women who strive for a balanced life of prayer, work, and recreative leisure in our lives
• We are women who share our hopes and dreams, our resources and talents, our challenges and sorrows as TOGETHER WE SEEK GOD