Maria Rickenbach Monastery
Maria Rickenbach Monastery (German: Benediktinnerinnenkloster Maria Rickenbach) is a Benedictine monastery of Religious Sisters. It is situated in the village of Niederrickenbach in the municipality of Oberdorf in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden. It is accessible to the public only by cable car from Niederrickenbach Station on the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg railway line, although there is a private road leading up to the village from Dallenwil.[1]
Location within Switzerland Maria Rickenbach Monastery (Canton of Obwalden) | |
Monastery information | |
---|---|
Order | Benedictines |
Established | 1857 |
Mother house | Engelberg Abbey |
Prior | Prioress Sr. Maria Jacinta Rohner |
Bishop | Bishop of Chur |
Architecture | |
Status | In operation, 15 nuns in residence |
Completion date | 1864 |
Site | |
Location | Niederrickenbach, Oberdorf, Obwalden, Switzerland |
Coordinates | 46.926726°N 8.427297°E |
Public access | Store and church |
Website | kloster-maria-rickenback.ch |
History
The monastery was initially established after a 1528 painting of the Blessed Mother was placed in a hollow maple tree on that site. Subsequently, unable to remove the painting, which came to be considered miraculous, the church and monastery were established around the tree, which is now enclosed by a shrine.
In 1857, a small group of women who wanted to follow a monastic way of life acquired the monastery. There they established the practice of Perpetual Adoration as a part of their life.[2] The monastery is often associated with Engelberg Abbey, under the guidance of which they were established and later became formally incorporated into the Benedictine Order.[2]
Sisters from this monastery founded the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Nodaway County, Missouri, in the United States, who now have their motherhouse in Clyde, Missouri.
References
- map.geo.admin.ch (Map). Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
- "Unsere Geschichte". Benediktinnerinnenkloster Maria Rickenbach (in German).