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| The Benediction Sisters Good Shepard Monastery |
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| View from Conference Center |
Saturday was a great riding day. It was it the high 80s and just a very nice clear day to enjoy a leisurely ride into our great brush country. Irma and I headed northwest and kept going for about an hour and half before we made our way north just west of Rio Grande City. About nine miles north of highway 83, which runs along the Rio Grande River, on FM 3167 is the entrance into
The Benediction Sisters Good Shepard Monastery. The entrance is on the west side of the highway, marked with a big white wooden cross. It's about a mile ride up a dirt road to the monastery. There in the middle of nothing but brush for miles in all directions are a set of monolithic looking buildings which make up the monastery. It's run by three Benediction Sisters who have created this wonderful place with just private donations. The retreat center with conference rooms, cafeteria, and lodging hosts retreats for up to about a 100 people. There's also a great little chapel and sitting areas throughout the grounds.
Of course, the great beauty of this place is the wonderful surroundings of nature. We stopped by to just wander the grounds, sit for a while and just to give thanks for a wonderful day and a great ride. If you're ever out in this area make it a plan to stop at this little oasis, you won't be disappointed.
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| Our Ride Among the Thicket |
Here's a little history as taken from one of their brochures, "Benedictines in Starr County In 1986 the pioneers of the Monastery of the Good Shepherd came from their motherhouse in Crookston, Minnesota to share life with the people of South Texas. They brought with them the 1500 year tradition of Benedictine monasticism that traces its origin to the life and work of the great St. Benedict of Nursia who lived during the fifth and sixth centuries.
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| Chapel |
The Benedictine Sisters have been serving the Diocese of Brownsville primarily by their witness of community life and prayer and by offering hospitality to those who wish to step back from the hectic pace of life to encounter God. The Sisters wear the traditional habit, meet five times daily to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and are faithful to the Magisterium."
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| Nature Conservancy |
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