‘Standing on holy ground’: Beech Grove Benedictine sisters break ground for new monastery

The Benedictine sisters of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove broke ground on Nov. 24 on a new monastery. Shoveling the dirt are, from left, Brian Ziolkowski and Michael Egan of the Browning Day architectural firm, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, Benedictine Sister Julie Sewell, Beech Grove Mayor James Coffman, Benedictine Sister Carol Falkner, Father James Farrell, Connie Lund and Colleen Kenney of the monastery’s Lay Board of Advisers, and Phil Kenney of F. A. Wilhelm Construction. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

BEECH GROVE—The Benedictine sisters of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove gathered with dozens of their supporters on a sunny and seasonably warm afternoon on Nov. 24 to break ground for a new monastery on the grounds on which they have lived for more than 60 years.

The day in the Church was the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

“We have awaited this day with great anticipation as it marks the beginning of construction,” said Benedictine Sister Julie Sewell, Our Lady of Grace’s prioress. “It seems so fitting that this feast would coincide with our groundbreaking, as our lives center around Christ, who is our king, our foundation, the one we seek to serve in this current house and the house that we are building.”

The construction of the new monastery is a $24 million project that is expected to be completed in February 2026. The sisters are currently still seeking to raise $4 million for the project. After the sisters move into the new structure, the current monastery will be demolished.

The new monastery will include a church, residence rooms, offices, meeting rooms, a kitchen, dining room and infirmary for the monastic community. It will also feature guest rooms which will eventually be able to accommodate a small number of overnight guests and retreatants.

In the near future, however, these rooms will be occupied by members of the monastic community. Small groups, such as parish or school staffs, will be able to schedule day meetings at the monastery once it is completed.

“For over 60 years, we the sisters of Our Lady of Grace Monastery have served in a variety of ministries in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” Sister Julie said. “We have fondly come to consider Beech Grove our home. And we believe that God is calling us to remain here to continue to live out our Benedictine life together.

“At this time in our history, we have discerned to build a new monastery that will be of appropriate size and able to meet the needs of our community as we journey into the future. We believe this new monastery will enable us to continue our mission to seek God through prayer, work and hospitality for many decades to come.”

A long journey to a hopeful future

The journey to the groundbreaking ceremony was a long one for the Benedictine sisters.

In an interview with The Criterion, Sister Julie explained that the sisters have long recognized the need to construct a new monastery because of the growing difficulty in maintaining its current building, which is also too large for the monastic community at its current and expected future size.

There are currently 45 sisters in the monastic community. The building was built more than 60 years ago to house more than 100 sisters.

The community began the planning process for a new monastery in 2019. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 put the process on pause. In the time since, the sisters have sold St. Paul Hermitage, its longtime nursing home and retirement facility, which is now Envive Healthcare of Beech Grove. They also decided to close the Benedict Inn Conference & Retreat Center.

But in the midst of all this change, the sisters’ commitment to their continued life of prayer, hospitality and service in Beech Grove and the broader archdiocese remained—and remains—steadfast.

Sister Julie noted the community’s hope that the new monastery “will free us up to concentrate more on ministry and less on caring for the buildings.”

“What we’re doing allows us to be a vibrant presence, to continue to minister,” she added. “That’s very important to us.”

Sister Julie explained that her community’s commitment to remain in Beech Grove flows from their Benedictine value of stability, which has helped Benedictines throughout their 1,500-year history to persevere in seeking God and helping others do the same in the face of many challenges.

“We are committed to be here for life,” Sister Julie said. “You can count on our prayers. You can count on always being able to come and pray with us.”

Benedictine Sister Jennifer Mechtild Horner, Our Lady of Grace’s prioress at the start of the planning process for the new monastery, emphasized in an interview with The Criterion the role stability played in the planning process.

“When we were deciding what to do, the first thing was that we wanted to stay here,” said Sister Jennifer, who leads the community’s building committee. “Our roots are here, and our roots are deep. In our mobile society, I think it is really a gift for people to know that we will always be here. I think the world needs that.”

In the midst of all the changes that Benedictines in Beech Grove and beyond have lived through, they’ve also always been committed to prayer and hospitality, welcoming guests to join them for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.

“Our prayer is always open for people to come to,” Sister Julie said. “One of the things that people always say is that they feel so peaceful when they come here. That’s the way you want people to feel when they come to visit a monastery. It’s a quiet place where they can have a conversation with God. We want to be that for other people.”

Peace is found not just in the monastery and its chapel at Our Lady of Grace. It’s also experienced in its 40 acres of wooded and parklike grounds in the midst of a largely urbanized Beech Grove and the larger Indianapolis community.

Sister Julie explained that the decision of the monastic community to build a new monastery was motivated in part because of its desire to care for creation for themselves, their neighbors in Beech Grove and guests who come there.

“We know that the property that we own here in Beech Grove is a gift,” she said. “There are a lot of people in our neighborhood who walk on our property. We value the gift of creation that’s on our property. We steward that carefully so that, not only can we enjoy it, but others may enjoy it as well.”

‘Standing on holy ground’

The Nov. 24 groundbreaking ceremony took place in the context of prayer in a liturgy of the word.

Sister Julie noted during it that the physical construction of a new monastery symbolizes the continual spiritual building up of the sisters of Our Lady of Grace.

“During this building process, we pray that our community may be built into a spiritual house,” she said. “We build our lives firmly upon Christ our foundation, so that we may continue to live our Benedictine vocation for the life of the Church and the world, both local and beyond.

“We are aware of God’s steadfast love. We entrust ourselves to God’s guidance and we are grateful for the abundance that God shares with us.”

Father James Farrell, who in retirement serves as Our Lady of Grace’s chaplain, also spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony.

“Whenever we look to the interest of the neighbor or the community and serve them, we are, in a sense, God’s co-workers,” Father Farrell said. “This new monastery will allow the sisters of Our Lady of Grace to continue to be God’s co-workers into the future.

“With their life centered on prayer and building community within the walls of the monastery, they bear witness to the daily living of the Gospel, offering encouragement and contributing to the life of the local Church and community. Entrusting themselves to God’s grace, may they continue to live their lives in a manner of their calling.”

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson blessed the ground where the new monastery will be built and was one of several people to take part in the groundbreaking.

“St. Benedict teaches us in his Rule that every time you begin a good work, you must pray to God most earnestly to bring it to perfection,” Archbishop Thompson prayed. “Let us pray for God’s help through this celebration, dear sisters and brothers, that he will bring this construction to a successful completion and that his protection will keep those who work on it safe from injury.”

In remarks during the ceremony, Archbishop Thompson reflected that, although he blessed the ground with holy water, all who were present were “already standing on holy ground.”

“Imagine all of the prayers that have been offered up over these many years and decades, praying for God’s grace to continue to transform hearts and minds … ,” he said. “We pray for that grace, and we give thanks for the great witness of the Benedictine sisters here, not only on this ground, but also in the many ways that you have served throughout central and southern Indiana and beyond.”
 

(For more information on the construction of the new monastery at Our Lady of Grace and how to contribute to it, contact Benedictine Sister Susan Reuber at 317-787-3287, ext. 3035 or at susanreuber03@yahoo.com.) †