Feast of Our Lady of Grace
We celebrate our patronal feast, the Feast of Our Lady of Grace (which is also the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel), each year on July 16.
Read the history our history of this feast day below.
Our Lady of Grace Monastery was founded by the Benedictine Sisters of Ferdinand, Indiana. Under the leadership of Mother M. Clarissa Riehl, O.S.B., the Sisters made the decision to pursue establishing a new foundation in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in July 1953, and were readily granted permission by Archbishop Paul C. Schulte to build a new foundation in Beech Grove, IN.
Mother Clarissa presented the name “Our Lady of Grace” as the name for the new foundation during the groundbreaking ceremony on November 21, 1954.
On Saturday, July 16, 1955, the cornerstone of the new Convent of Our Lady of Grace was laid.
Here is an adaptation from Ferdinand News Summer 1955 for a description of the historic event:
Saturday, July 16, 1955, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, marked an historic event for the Sisters of St. Benedict from Ferdinand, Indiana.
At 2:00 PM an assembly of two hundred persons, including Mother M. Clarissa Riehl, O.S.B. and thirty-seven Sisters from Ferdinand, gathered at the half-completed Convent of Our Lady of Grace for the laying of the cornerstone. Archbishop Schulte, accompanied by the Clergy, arrived in pontifical robes and proceeded to the chapel to bless the cross, which marked the site for the main altar. After an eloquent sermon by the Reverend Monsignor Victor Goosens, Archbishop Schulte blessed the one and one-fourth ton cornerstone, which was then permanently set in the south wall of the chapel. The stone bears the engraving:
DEDICATED TO
OUR LADY OF GRACE,
MARY IMMACULATE.
ANNO DOMINI MCMLV.
Praying the psalms and the Litany of the Saints, he placed the copper box containing relics and souvenirs in the upright cornerstone and cemented the lid in place.
Archbishop Schulte then gave a brief address, expressing his pleasure and satisfaction in receiving the new Benedictine Community, congratulating the Archdiocese on its good fortune in the acquisition, and invoking God’s blessing on the new foundation.
Our Lady of Grace, pray for us!