FR .LEONARD FEENEY’S COMMUNITY OF SISTERS GIVEN CANONICAL STATUS IN WORCESTER DIOCESE, USA

FR .FEENEY’S COMMUNITY OF SISTERS GIVEN CANONICAL STATUS IN WORCESTER , USA


The Sisters of Saint Benedict Center, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a canonically recognized religious congregation in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts.

According to their website

‘We wear a traditional black habit and veil as a sign of our consecration to Christ and a testimony to our commitment to visibly preserving traditional Catholic values in the twenty-first century. We have adapted the rule of Saint Benedict to suit the demands of our apostolate, maintaining a blend of contemplation in our monastic surroundings with apostolic labors.

We have been the indult center for the Latin Tridentine Mass in the Diocese of Worcester.

The Community was specifically founded for the teaching and preservation of the Holy Catholic Faith. Any young lady who has any questions about religious life or feels she may have a calling to our life please feel free to contact either Sister Cecilia or Sister Margaret Mary anytime.

They can be contacted by email: info@sistersofstbenedictcenter.org By mail: Sisters of Saint Benedict Center,Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,254 Still River Road, Still River, MA 01467-0022

Our community, the Sisters of Saint Benedict Center, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, has its origins in Cambridge , Massachusetts .

Just after the beginning of World War II, Catherine Goddard Clarke – later Sister Catherine – founded a student center called Saint Benedict Center in the shadow of Harvard University . Saint Benedict Center was a gathering place for Harvard and other college students interested in learning more about the truths of the Catholic Faith. Father Leonard Feeney, SJ became the leading light and spiritual father of the Center in 1944. He and other speakers drew crowds as they lectured and gave classes on everything from Dante to the saints, from Greek to Latin, and in particular, philosophy and theology. There was such enthusiasm for the Faith that many were baptized into it, others returned to the Church after long absences, and countless others renewed and deepened their faith. Several of the Center’s early members entered seminaries and convents.

In 1949, under the direction of Father Feeney and Catherine Clarke and concerned with the growing attacks on Catholic doctrine, many Center men and women organized into a religious community called the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The primary focus of the community was to preserve Catholic teaching, particularly the doctrine of the necessity of the Church for salvation. In the beginning, the Sisters and Brothers continued their studies and led an austere life founded on the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and a fourth vow to defend the doctrines of the Church. To support their religious life they began to publish books on the Faith which they took all over the United States .

In 1958, the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary moved to their present location – Still River , Massachusetts – to embrace a more monastic lifestyle and adopt a modified Benedictine rule. The community continued to publish Catholic works and began farming, and the grade school begun in Cambridge was expanded to include high school grades.

Differences in governing appeared in the community after Sister Catherine’s death, and ultimately most of the Brothers became Benedictine and most of the Sisters reorganized as the Sisters of Saint Benedict Center, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Eventually, four other communities of Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary were formed — one each in New Hampshire , Ohio and California , and a second one in Massachusetts . All of these communities are committed to defending the Church’s doctrines and promoting the Faith through publishing and teaching.