Abbey Magazine Fall/Winter 2020



As guests of St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere, Wisconsin,
three sisters from the community of Vrbové
in Slovakia (Sr. Adriana, Sr. Benedikta, and
Sr. Magdalena) studied in the English as a Second
Language program at St. Norbert College during
the 2010 fall semester. They lived in the campus
priory during the week and at St. Norbert Abbey
on the weekends.
In 2011, Sr. Adriana, Sr. Benedikta, and Sr.
Roberta moved to California to start the first
community of active Norbertine sisters in the
U.S. They started out at Ss. Peter & Paul Parish
in Wilmington, and then expanded to St. John the
Baptist Parish in Costa Mesa, also. There are now
12 members; some are still in formation. The sisters
help in the parish schools, the parish bookstore,
and serve the poor in Wilmington through
their more than 700-family Poverty Program.
Rosemary Sands, DML is the Director of the Center for Norbertine Studies at St. Norbert College.
Previously, she was she was an adjunct and visiting instructor in modern foreign languages and literature
(Spanish and Italian), and later served as director of study abroad from 2002 until 2015.She earned her
doctorate in Spanish and Italian from Middlebury College and has a special interest in the history of
Norbertines in Spain (1143-1835).
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DID YOU KNOW?
There are 225 female
Norbertines in the world.
They have been in existence
since the Norbertine order
was founded in 1121.
Communities of female
Norbertines can be found in 15
houses in 9 countries; 13 are in
Europe and two are in the U.S.
They are known as
canonesses, sisters, or nuns.
Some live in cloistered
communities and others have
active ministries outside the
walls of the convent.
All communities are expected
to be self-sufficient.
| Norbertine Women in the U.S.