God granted the German
Sisters who survived years of life in the cruel concentration camp in communist
North Korea, the faith and courage to return to the war-torn country, the land
of the martyrs, South Korea. Their self-sacrificing dedication was rewarded by
numerous numbers of young vocations which gave new foundation in Daegu a rapid
growth. It was already in the priory chapter in 1971, the suggestion to make a new
independent priory in the hope that true Benedictine spirituality could be
better lived in smaller community, was up for discussion. After 15 years of
deliberations, the priory chapter in 1986 finally came to a decision to establish
a new priory in Seoul. On Nov. 16, 1987, Seoul Priory dedicated to St. Gertrud
was born with 72 Sisters and 9 stations, mainly located in and surrounding area
of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It started as an independent priory with
its novitiate which opened with 3 postulants from the Daegu Priory immediately.
On Oct. 13, 1989, the
construction of Seoul Priory House located in the compound of SanJi Retreat
Center which had served as the seat of the new priory, was completed and
blessed. The Church in Korea needed Sisters in many fields of apostolic work,
and the Lord sent us a good number of vocations for the new priory to expand
and develop.
Since the founding year, we have
established 7 stations for parish ministry and a clinical pastoral center in the
Seoul National University Hospital. We also founded the first oversea station
in respond to the spiritual need of Korean immigrants in USA. Sisters of this station take care of Korean
nationals in New Jersey and New York areas.
In 1991, we built a
socio-pastoral center in the periphery of Seoul to welcome the children from broken
families. This center has recently been renovated to house a counseling center
after being used as a temporary shelter for North Korean refugees for some
years. In 1993, St. Joseph House for the elderly with hearing impairment was constructed
in Wongog, southern province of Seoul. Caritas Children’s Center started offering
special education to the children with multiple handicaps, and Suyu Soup
Kitchen opened to distribute free hot lunch for the poor elderly since 1998.
In 2000, Seoul Priory House
was finally able to extend its space with new annex connected to its main
building. Thanks to the Passionist Fathers who had generously rented their
seminary house for our young Sisters of growing community for 8years!
In 2004, Bundo Village, a
nursing home, was built in Pocheon. Two years later, in the compound of the
Priory House, Seoul Benedict Kindergarten started providing Catholic education
to the children of the neighborhood of the convent which was then surrounded by
newly built apartment complex. Counseling services by our Sisters for the
children were followed. Benedict Education Center in beautiful countryside of
Gicheonri was set up in 2010. It aims to offer nature-friendly experiences as
well as cultural and spiritual programs.
Upon the invitation of
Bishop Peter Kang of Jeju diocese, Benedict Counseling Center was blessed in
2014. In 2015, we built Benedict Center in the compound of the Priory House to
accommodate a counseling center, a Bible school, and a place for our oblates.
28 years after its
beginning, 133 Sisters (128 final professed, 5 juniors) actively engaged in
prayer and work in the Priory House and 15 local houses. We thank God for
giving us still some good vocations, though rapid decline in number as almost
all religious congregations experience nowadays in Korea.
We proclaim the good news in
10 parishes, a retreat house, a Bible school, a pastoral center in a hospital,
and a mission center for hearing-impaired persons. We care for the disabled in
a children’s center, a special school, a house for the hearing-impaired elderly.
Every day the aged and the poor are welcomed in our
nursing home, and in our two
soup kitchens. Sisters endeavor to lay Christian value education in 5
kindergartens and an education center. We work for spiritual need of Korean
immigrant communities in NJ and NY areas in the States, while trying to give
assistance to immigrants in our own country. We are proud of two renowned
artist Sisters who design and adorn many chapels and holy shrines with their
sacred artistic works. We have sent 8 missionaries to 4 priories, and always
give serious considerations to respond to the need of inter-priory sharing.
Recently we put our special
efforts in counseling ministry mainly by means of Sandplay therapy. It is an answer to the urgent need for spiritual
and psychological healing ministry in Korean society and a fitting way by which
aging Sisters can effectively help clients based on their life-long experience
of faith and human understanding. We
opened 4 centers with one more in preparation.
From the foundation days,
Seoul priory intended to have solidarity with the poor, giving more
considerations for them as prescribed in its Priory Statutes. Thus we respond
to the need of the poor in caring for the hearing-impaired persons, mentally
handicapped, and children with multiple disabilities in special facilities. We
feed free hot meals in two soup kitchens. In parishes, Sisters visit and help
the poor and lonely. Our kindergartens
and counseling centers provide favors to children from multi-cultural
background, poor or disadvantaged families. Children from broken families are
being taken in our two group-homes.
We are grateful to the Lord that
invitations for more fields of apostolate do continue to arrive, and we know
that one of the important criteria for a discernment process should be whether
the new work would benefit the poor.
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