Photo
Essay: Images
from Sacred Heart Today
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After the pioneer monks
arrived in Indian Territory on October 12, 1875, they began to search for
a suitable location for a permanent monastery and school. In
spring of 1876, the monks accepted an offer of land and hospitality
offered by the Citizen Band Potawatomi. This site, located about
30 miles south of the community's current location
at St. Gregory's, eventually became Sacred Heart Abbey and School.
It was a center of spiritual life, education and culture until 1929,
when the monks transferred all activities to the new monastery and
school in Shawnee. Most of the surviving structures were
dismantled in the 1950s.
Today, the peaceful
grounds are maintained by members of the neighboring rural parish of
Sacred Heart. Two cemeteries provide the resting place of the
founding monks as well as the Sisters of Mercy who operated St. Mary's
Academy, a school for girls on the mission property. Buildings
from the 1880's still grace the property, as well as the foundations of
the monastery and school complex. The site is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places, and is open to visitors during
daylight hours. For directions to Sacred Heart, please contact St.
Gregory's Abbey at 405-878-5491.
We hope that you will
enjoy these images of spring at the site of Sacred Heart Abbey and
School. They were taken on Easter Monday, 2004 |
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The entrance lane to the
historic site rises up a hill through through Catalpa trees. In
the background one can see the impenetrable hedge of "Mock Orange"
bushes that lines the eastern side of the monastery site.
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This delicate white flower
blooms in the midst of the fierce thorns of the Mock Orange hedge that was
planted by the monks at Sacred Heart Monastery. The plant is not
native to Oklahoma. Legend states that the plant that was used
for the Crown of Thorns placed on the head of Jesus. In light of that
legend, the pure white flower provides a nice meditation for Easter Monday,
when the photograph was taken. |
Perhaps the most picturesque
surviving structure at Sacred Heart is the Bakery.
Constructed of native sandstone, its cornerstone is dated 1881 and - perhaps
ironically - it was one of the only buildings to survive the great fire of 1901,
which destroyed the monastery complex.
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Upper Left: The front
entrance of the bakery faces the south.
Above Right: This detailed image shows the
east window to the ground floor of the bakery, and the interior stairway.
Left: This view takes in the northwest
corner of the bakery. The door leads to a basement level of this
three-level structure. |
A second building to survive the
1901 fire was this two-story log cabin. It also dates from the 1880s.
Unfortunately, the cabin has suffered from vandalism and the effects of weather.
It appears to be near collapse.
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Above Left: The two-story
log cabin as seen from the southeast. A double-decked porch once stood
on the entrance of the cabin, but it has been lost.
Above Right: This
detailed photo shows the south exterior wall of the cabin. It is
beginning to lean precariously.
Right: This view, taken
from the northwest, shows the cabin with the bakery in the background. |
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Water is, of course, an essential
element to any settlement. The early monks had several sources of water on
their beautiful new property and they constructed cisterns and ponds to collect
the water for consumption and for use with livestock and crops.
"St. Benedict Spring" was one source of
cool, fresh water. The monks built a springhouse over the spring and
a concrete trough in the ground to collect the water. This
large surface tough was in the shape of a heart topped by a cross, thus
designating Sacred Heart. In addition to using the trough to collect
water, they monks also grew Water Cress in the trough. Some of the
delicious plant continues to grow wild in the water along the forest floor.
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Left: The Spring
House is found in a ravine in a wooded area about 1/2 mile from the
monastery site. This view looks down on the roof of the Spring
House. Right:
The entrance to the Spring House. The walls are constructed of
the same native sandstone as is the bakery.
Below Left: A detailed view of the
stone wall of the Spring House. One can also see a niche inside
the Spring House. A statue of St. Benedict was once placed in this
niche. The spring is named for him.
Below Center: A trough shaped to
symbolize the Sacred Heart of Jesus was used to collect fresh water and
grow Water Cress.
Below Right: The road to St. Benedict
Spring must have seemed long when it was used to haul water. |
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Other Sources of Water included
a clear water stream and several ponds, including the spring-fed pond located
above St. Benedict Spring. These plentiful sources of water were essential
to the success of the frontier monastery.
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This stream provides fresh
water to the property at Sacred Heart and was once dammed by the monks
to insure their water supply. |
This large pond is fed by
springs and is well-stocked with fish. It has also served as a
favorite "swimming hole" on hot summer days. |
Perhaps the most poignant witness to
the life and sacrifice of the original monks and sisters who served at Sacred
Heart are the cemeteries of their communities. Among those buried at
Sacred Heart are Rt. Rev. Isidore Robot, O.S.B., Founder of Sacred Heart and the
first Prefect Apostolic of Indian Territory, and Rev. James Murphy, O.S.B., the
first U.S. Army Chaplain to die in World War I.
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 The
monks' cemetery as seen from the northwest. Also buried in this
cemetery are the Benedictine nuns who performed domestic work on behalf
of the students and monastic community. |
 The
gate to the monastic cemetery at Sacred Heart. |
The grave of Rt. Rev. Isidore
Robot, O.S.B., is the final earthly resting place for the Founder of the
community of Sacred Heart Abbey and St. Gregory's Abbey, as well as of
the Catholic Church in Oklahoma. Truly, God blessed the Church
through this man of vision, courage and unbounded energy. |
The cemetery of the Sisters of Mercy
is about 50 yards south of the monastic cemetery. It is graced by
a ornate iron fence and a striking crucifix. |
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