A Sense of Past and Future

For everything there is a season…God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds…Ecclesiastes 8:3; 11.

       Our founding sisters came to Covington in 1859 and by 1890 they had erected St. Walburg Monastery and Academy. 1903 the community bought property in what is now Villa Hills, KY where we built Villa Madonna Academy and our present monastery. Between 1922 and 1947 we bought neighboring farms, and we ran a full farm until 1967. During the years between 1964 and 2016 we opened Villa Madonna Montessori (’72) in the old dairy barn, developed Madonna Manor (’64). In 2008 we transferred the Manor to the Sylvania Franciscans in order to further its mission and service to the elderly. 

      During the past four years, with the help of the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO), the community has engaged in future planning. Today our plans call us to sell some of our land to secure our community’s continued presence, service and outreach in our neighborhood and in the Church. Selling isn’t easy for us as you might imagine, but we know what we need to do. 

       Decision making in a Benedictine community is very serious business. In our monastery we meet, talk, meet, talk, meet and talk until we are ready to decide. Collaborating, working together, takes time and bears good fruit. During this time of decision making we have also been blessed with the help of the staff of the Planning and Development Services of Kenton County (PDS) and the administrators of the City of Villa Hills who respect our planning process. 

      We appreciate the interest and concerns of our friends, the citizens of Villa Hills, the new acquaintances we are making during this process and those who have offered to help us as we move into the future. We will keep all of you in our prayers and pray that God will bless you for your support and friendship..

      Sr. Mary Catherine Wenstrup, OSB