Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Monastery - Tucson, Arizona
Posted by: tugies
N 32° 14.001 W 110° 55.591
12S E 506923 N 3566303
This is a working Catholic monastery and church in central Tucson.
Waymark Code: WMHVPK
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 08/16/2013
Views: 10
A landmark church and working monastery for the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, in Tucson, Arizona, USA. The building is widely acknowledged as a classic of mission style architecture. The Benedictine Sisters first came to Tucson in 1935 at the invitation of the local bishop, the Right Reverend Daniel Gercke. It was also thought that the dry climate of the southwest might help a number of sisters who suffered from tuberculosis. In 1940, they moved into the Spanish-Renaissance-style Benedictine Sisters Monastery, which was designed by architect Roy Place, who also designed the old Pima County Courthouse, Tucson's veterans hospital, and some notable campus buildings of the University of Arizona.
The fledgling monastery was in the heart of the city which made it more accessible to people. Business and professional people, Mexican and English, came to the chapel, “where one may find peace,” as one visitor expressed it. Over the years local groups of men and women helped keep adoration with the sisters: Knights of the Blessed Sacrament, Sentinels of the Blessed Sacrament and the Eucharistic Guard.
To earn income, sisters began baking altar breads and began doing some sewing: a little embroidery, mending altar cloths, monogramming and communion veils. "We no longer bake altar breads here but we have kept alive the tradition of vestment-making and today we continue to provide chasubles, stoles, albs, dalmatics, as well as altar linens and purificators in our Liturgical Vestment Department. We also publish our bimonthly magazine, Spirit & Life."
Many fruit trees were planted on the property and over the years have produced thousands of avocados, dates and oranges. Sisters still make many gallons of juice from the oranges each February. The Sisters raise money by selling the products of their orange and date orchards in their gift shop. They have recently embarked on a new venture, with help of University of Arizona Business School students, (
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