The reshaping of a tradition: American Benedictine women, 1852-1881

TL;DRAbstract

Critics cite Americanization as the cause of Benedictine women's loss of monastic identity during the early decades of their history in North America. This study argues that the cultural and religious climate of nineteenth-century America formed the arena in which Benedictine women of the Bavarian tradition reshaped the essential elements of their way of life into a unique expression of life according to the Rule of Benedict. The monastic rhythm of prayer, work and communal interaction characterized their early life in America as well. At the same time, however, the process of transplanting the European Benedictine tradition necessitated some fundamental and uniquely American innovations in their style of life. A body of correspondence consisting of letters written by and to key people in the founding and expansion years of Benedictine women in America (1852-1881) provided the major source of information for this study. Additional primary source materials examined were statutes, consti

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