Missionary Benedictine Sisters to celebrate 100 years with Mass, dinner

The Missionary Benedictine Sisters have been serving the people of northeast Nebraska for 100 years – teaching, caring for the sick, working at the St. Augustine Mission in Winnebago and offering spiritual ministries.

Yet the sisters – based in Norfolk – are the ones who want to say thanks.

They are inviting the public to a 100th Jubilee Mass & Dinner on July 30 at St. Bonaventure Parish in Raeville.

“As we approach this jubilee, we have an overwhelming sense of gratitude first to God for all the blessings received, as well as to all the people who have walked and prayed with us these last 100 years,” said Sister Rosann Ocken, prioress of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters – Norfolk Priory. “God’s faithfulness has shown itself through our many relatives, friends and benefactors who have generously upheld our spiritual and physical needs.”

The 10:30 a.m. Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop George J. Lucas, followed by the dinner in the parish hall. RSVPs for the dinner are requested by July 15 at rosannosb@gmail.com. Free will donations for the meal are welcomed.

When the first four Missionary Benedictine Sisters arrived in northeast Nebraska from Germany, they went right to work.

In their first year in the archdiocese, 1923, they taught at the former St. John Berchmans School in Raeville and took over a hospital in Lynch.

The Missionary Benedictines’ service in health and education continues today, along with additional ministries.

They are part of a worldwide Missionary Benedictine Sisters Congregation with nearly 1,300 members serving in 14 countries.