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 twenty-six monks and one novice who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours daily and who staff and administer both the abbey and St. Gregory's University. Monks also serve as parish priests and hospital chaplains in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.

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.

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 today is St. Gregory's University. That building, now known as Benedictine Hall, still stands and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

See also

Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB

External links

• Abbey Website