By Sr. Jennifer Kerwald, OSB, Administrator 

The Benedictine Sisters of St. Martin Monastery are on the move once again.  Early in May of 2023, the sisters will be relocating across the street to Good Samaritan Village.  

In 1889, five Benedictine Sisters listened to the call to come to Sturgis in western South Dakota from Melchtal, Switzerland to engage in the ministries of teaching and healing.  The sisters soon opened schools all across western South Dakota and hospitals in Lead/Deadwood, Hot Springs and Rapid City.  Over the course of the next 100 years, the sisters would also serve in Montana, Wyoming, California, and South America. But the sisters always returned to the Monastery. 

When their home in Sturgis no longer met their needs, they purchased land near Rapid City and courageously embarked on the adventure of building a new Monastery building. They packed up their belongings and moved to their new home in 1962. 

Here they enjoyed the partnership of serving with many in the Rapid City community.  But as the number of sisters decreased and the ministries changed, the sisters decided that good stewardship called them to create a smaller monastery and to share the buildings and property with others who could carry out the historical ministries of teaching and healing.  So, in 2009 they moved down the street to a new St. Martin Monastery.  Now, Terra Sancta, St. Elizabeth Seton School, and Good Samaritan Village share the valley with the sisters. They only have to look out the window to see their legacy live on. 

God continues to call the sisters. Because of their need for more health care and because the Monastery is once again too large to meet their needs, the sisters have made the decision to move to Good Samaritan Village in May of 2023. They look forward to joining the Good Samaritan community and continuing to joyfully live out the Benedictine charisms of prayer and hospitality. 

The Benedictine Sisters are in the process of donating their cemetery to the Diocese of Rapid City who will continue to care for it. The sisters will be buried in it and visitors are welcome to pay their respects.

The monastery building and other property are under negotiation. 

After June 1, 2023, the business mailing address for St. Martin Monastery will be:  2101 City Springs Rd., Suite 300, Rapid City, SD  57702.