It is a great honor to have a BSN 1992 graduate be accepted and persevere in the Cistercian Order of Contemplative Nuns in Wisconsin.  Sr. Catherine Marie Palmares Sanchez was allowed to attend the burial of her mother, Joy Palmares Sanchez, also a BSN alumna.  Sr. Catherine’s name before she became a nun is Miss Paulette P. Sanchez.  She will go back to her convent in Valley of Our Lady Monastery, E 11096 Yanke Drive, Prairie du Sac, WI.

 History of the Monastery

The Cistercian Order was founded in 1098,  when a group of monks returning to the simple monastic life described in the Rule of St. Benedict, founded the monastery of Citeaux in France.

Under the leadership of St. Bernard, the Cistercian observance rapidly spread throughout Europe during the twelfth century.

Our form of Cistercian life was brought to the United States in 1957 when nuns from the Swiss monastery of Frauenthal, whose beginnings date from 1231, founded the first monastery of nuns our Order in this country.

We are a community dedicated to the worship and praise of God through liturgical prayer. The Eucharistic celebration and the Divine Office are sung in our Cistercian chant with Latin text.

Monastic enclosure and silence foster solitude and prayer.  Community life, following the Rule of St. Benedict, provides balance and opportunities to grow in fraternal love.

Our life is simple and hidden that, like Mary, we may be open to receiving the Son of God.