A visitor once remarked that crossing the threshold of the chapel of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri, was “like stepping into the vestibule of heaven.”
Designed in the Romanesque style and constructed of Bedford stone, the chapel was built in the early 1900s as a sanctuary of prayer dedicated to the worship and praise of God Most High. The breathtaking interior is awash in stunning mosaics, colorful stencil work, gorgeous stained-glass windows, and beautiful wooden statues of Benedictine women saints.
The most prominent feature is that of the mosaics depicting the life of the Blessed Mother in the nave and the mosaic of Christ the High Priest in the sanctuary. These were designed by the Tyrolese Art Glass Company of Innsbruck, Austria, of whose artists received their training at the Vatican Mosaic Studio in Rome.
The walls of our Adoration Chapel have absorbed the prayers of the sisters for 120 years. We continue to offer up prayers through the Liturgy of the Hours, daily Eucharist and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It continues to be a place of quiet and peace for visitors and “a little piece of heaven.”
The Adoration Chapel is open for private prayer from after Mass until 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays and Solemnities, from 8 to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. on Monday through Saturday.
For feast days and holidays, please call us at (660) 944-2221 to verify times our monastery will be open to the public.
In addition to our main chapel, we also have a Relic Chapel that contains over 550 first- and second-class relics.
What is a relic?
Simply put, relics are the bodies of saints or objects connected with them or the Lord.
There are three classes of sacred relics:
1st Class: A part of a saint’s body or instruments of the Passion (like fragments of the true cross). The most common type is a bone fragment.
2nd Class: Something a saint used/owned. The most common is a piece of clothing.
3rd Class: An object such as a rosary or cloth that has been touched to the body of a saint or to a first- or second-class relic.
A common question we are asked is “How did you acquire all these relics in the middle of rural northwest Missouri?”
The abundant relics in our chapel are the fruit of a remarkable work of prayer and charity. After World War I, many monasteries, convents, and seminaries in Europe were devastated materially and financially. Our chaplain, Fr. Lukas Etlin, with the help of our sisters in the Correspondence Department, initiated the Caritas Project. Through our community's publication, Tabernacle and Purgatory, we published letters from the suffering people in Europe. In the June 1920 issue, the sisters wrote:
“Famine is here!” Where? In nearly every convent of Austria and Germany… the letters we receive cut one to the very heart. One community informs us that many of their sisters have literally starved to death. Another community lost sixty sisters due to hunger and distress…Full of confidence, we appeal to the esteemed readers of this magazine…send us your offerings as soon as possible."
The response was immediate and generous. Day-by-day, month-by-month, year-by-year, funds were collected and distributed, and all who were hungry or otherwise in need were assisted. From 1920 to 1928, our magazine collected and distributed funds exceeding $2 million to send to Germany, Austria, and Italy.
In 1927, the sisters began building St. Benedict’s Relic Chapel. As this project was undertaken, those who were beneficiaries of the community’s charity were asked if they might be able to assist it by sending relics. The response was very generous. Contributors often lamented the insufficiency of their gift, however.
As a Franciscan Provincial wrote, “I am gladly willing to allow some relics to come to you. However, I want to alert you that we only possess small relics.”
Through many such ‘small’ gifts, the Relic Chapel was filled beyond all expectation. We have the relics of 142 martyrs, 81 virgins, 46 bishops, 44 confessors, 14 doctors of the Church, 12 abbots and abbesses, 11 popes, and the 12 apostles. Some of the notable relics we have are those of St. Therese the Little Flower, St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. (Mother) Cabrini, St. Benedict, and numerous others.
Our Relic Chapel continues to nourish the faith of our community and the many who visit each year.
Also available for viewing in our Relic Chapel are many beautiful vestments and altar pieces. These works of art were received as gifts or were hand-stitched by our sisters in the early years of our community.
Relic Chapel visiting hours:
Sunday and Solemnities: From after Mass until 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 4 p.m.
Monday through Saturday: From 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
For feast days and holidays, please call us at (660) 944-2221 to verify times our monastery will be open to the public.