The icon was written by Mary Charles McGough, 0.S.B. Saint Scholastica Monastery. Duluth, MN.

Gifts in the form of monetary donations to the Federation of St. Scholastica will help us support Benedictine communities that have served the people of God in the United States and in other countries for nearly a century and a half. After faithfully giving their lives to others their members now look to you for help. If you would like to make a contribution in memory of the years of ministry of our sisters in the past or those now sharing God's love in the present, please make a check out to the Federation of St. Scholastica.
Federation of St. Scholastica

% Sister Esther Fangman, O.S.B.
3741 Forest
Kansas City, Missouri 64109

Mother Benedicta Riepp
1825-1862

Mother Benedicta Riepp is the founder of Benedictine life for women in the United States. In 1852 at the age of 27, she and two other sis­ters were sent from Eichstätt, Bavaria to Saint Marys, Pennsylvania to educate young German girls and to spread the Benedictine way of life. At the time of her death, after only ten years in the United States, she had already established seven independent and thriving communities of Benedictine women. One hundred and fifty years later, 47 monasteries in the United States, Canada, Central and Latin America and Asia trace their roots to Mother Benedicta Riepp.

The icon depicts Mother Benedicta Riepp holding in one hand the Eichstätt monastery and in the other the small cabin where she first lived in Saint Marys, PA. Also pictured is her tombstone at Saint Benedict’s Monastery, Saint Joseph, MN, together with a quote from the Rule of Saint Benedict.