JONESBORO — The sisters at Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro held a special celebration March 21 for Benedictine Day, which celebrates the feast of their founder, St. Benedict.
The event was part of a yearlong slate of activities celebrating their 125th anniversary in the state.
“This day is of tremendous importance, celebrating our history coming from Switzerland, that’s where we started, and this dear sister (Mother Andrea Kappeli) came all the way from the mountains of Switzerland to help us celebrate, which is very meaningful,” said former prioress and convent historian Sister Henrietta Hockle, OSB.
Abbott Jerome Kodell, OSB, of Subiaco Abbey celebrated a special Mass for the sisters and guests, including parishioners from the community and from St. Paul Church in Pocahontas and religious from New Mexico, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana.
“We’re here for a great anniversary — one that looks back to the beginning of a religious community, 125 years ago, a witness of faith and pioneer spirit,” Abbot Jerome said. “They came here in complete primitive conditions. They made a big contribution over those years to the life of the Church and the state here.”
The current superior of the convent where the nuns came from 125 years ago, Mother Andrea Kappeli of Kloster Maria Rickenbach, attended the Mass and luncheon. She traveled almost 24 hours from Switzerland to attend.
“She told me many times that she was very happy we came. It was worth the long trip we had,” said Emilia Kappeli, her cousin who traveled with her as a translator. “It’s another world. We’re from a small country. We live in the mountains. Here it’s flat and wide. People are very open and friendly. It’s another way of life … She said she’s glad to come. She’s happy to see the sisters again.”
Mother Andrea visited Holy Angels Convent 12 years earlier when St. Bernards Medical Center celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Prior to the Mass, the sisters offered tours of the convent. A luncheon followed the Mass and an afternoon presentation on the health care ministry of the sisters.
At the close of the Mass, Abbot James Laprie of Mother of the Redeemer Monastery in Opelousas, La., presented Holy Angels Convent prioress Sister Lillian Marie Reiter with a papal blessing from Pope Benedict XVI. Abbot James was the delegate of Olivetan Benedictine Abbot General Diego de Rosa of Monte Olivetto, Italy.
Sister Maria deAngeli, OSB, prioress of St. Scholastica Monastery, traveled from Fort Smith with Sisters Kimberly Prohaska, Rosalie Ruesewald and Hilary Decker to celebrate with the Olivetan Benedictines.
The communities involved in the history of the Jonesboro Benedictines were represented, including Sister Patricia Nyquist, prioress general of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and Sister Sean Douglas, prioress of the Clyde, Mo., community.
Holy Angels Convent has its origins in the mountains of Switzerland when five sisters traveled from Kloster Maria Rickenbach in Switzerland in 1874, to America where they founded the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Mo.
A Benedictine priest serving in northeast Arkansas, Father Eugene Weibel, OSB, convinced Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald to request sisters from the Missouri convent to teach in a new school in Pocahontas.
Four sisters arrived on Dec. 13, 1887, in Pocahontas and named their convent Maria Stein. After 11 years on “Catholic Hill,” the sisters left Pocahontas. They kept a mission house there and continue to teach at St. Paul School.
The community moved to Jonesboro on July 4, 1898, and established Holy Angels Convent, named for the safe passage on the Atlantic Ocean for a group of sisters and postulants.
In 1898, Bishop Fitzgerald had the sisters affiliated with the Olivetan Branch of the Benedictine Order, headed at Mount Olivetto in Italy. With this change, the sisters began wearing white habits in honor of the heavenly mother Mary, instead of black robes.
The Olivetan sisters continued to teach in Catholic schools. When the Yellow Fever epidemic hit Jonesboro, the sisters responded to help the community by opening St. Bernards Hospital on July 5, 1900. St. Bernards has continued to grow as a ministry of the sisters, and now serves as a leader in health care for the region.
The service that the Jonesboro Benedictines dedicate to their community is part of their tradition and calling, Sister Henrietta said, one which inspired women like herself to dedicate their lives to God’s service.
“I spent my life here. I grew up here in Jonesboro. I joined the Benedictine order and I’ve had a wonderful 66 years as a member of this community,” Sister Henrietta said. “We’re grateful to God that he’s helped us. We’re excited because we have had so many blessings.”
The Benedictine sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro will continue to celebrate their quasquicentennial until the closing celebration, a community day of prayer, Dec. 13.
