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St. Scholastica Monastery

A Community of Benedictine Sisters in Fort Smith, AR

  • Who we are
    • About Us
    • Community Members
    • Sisters in Eternal Rest
    • Prayer Schedule & Prayer Request
  • Spiritual Direction
    • Ministries
    • Hesychia House
    • Girls’ Education Matters
    • Social Justice Awareness
  • Vocations
    • Questions
    • Stories
    • Discernment Resources
    • Male Monastics
  • Oblates
    • Become An Oblate
  • Ways to Help
  • News
    • Newsletters/Magazines
  • Shop Online
    • Benedictine Bakery
    • Gift Shop
  • Who we are
    • About Us
    • Community Members
    • Sisters in Eternal Rest
    • Prayer Schedule & Prayer Request
  • Spiritual Direction
    • Ministries
    • Hesychia House
    • Girls’ Education Matters
    • Social Justice Awareness
  • Vocations
    • Questions
    • Stories
    • Discernment Resources
    • Male Monastics
  • Oblates
    • Become An Oblate
  • Ways to Help
  • News
    • Newsletters/Magazines
  • Shop Online
    • Benedictine Bakery
    • Gift Shop

We Live, Pray, and Grow Together
We are Simply Benedictine

Ministries
Become A Sister
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We Are Hiring!  See Available Employment Opportunities

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Our Mission

Seeking God in our life together and enlivened by daily prayer, we, the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, Arkansas, respond to the needs of the people of God in a spirit of hospitality, simplicity, and reverence for one another and all creation.

Charism Statement
Current Covid Policy
Message from St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica Prayer Requests

If you have a special intention, please let the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery know by filling out this online prayer request form. Your intention will not be listed online, but will be placed on the monastery prayer board. Each sister checks the bulletin board daily and remembers those prayer requests in her personal prayer time.

Submit a Prayer Request

Stand by the roads and look, ask for the ancient path, which the way to good. Walk on it and find rest for your soul.

Jeremiah 6:16

Weekly Reflection

Weekly Reflection - January 24, 2023

Winter Love (excerpted)
Sr. Louise Sharum

Winter love has such beauty in the human heart,
the beauty of slow, enduring, waiting growth.
It takes decades of slow inching to make a tree branch
And it takes a lifetime for a human heart to grow treewise.
The untrue branches, those that grew in ways
other than God’s design, those “no” inchings of growth–
passes so swiftly and will never come back as the same.
Why must our hearts ache so and be so torn, so alone?

Life is a pilgrimage.
We are on our way to a home prepared for us that will be forever.
It is crucial that we love the road we travel,
but remain free.
God always calls us onward;
always calls us beyond where we are.
There were hard times during years past
but now it all seems so precious.
Our whole life is like that.
The truth is that it is precious.
To focus on the hard while we are living through it
is natural but limiting.

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St. Scholastica Monastery

A Community of Benedictine Sisters in Fort Smith, AR

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Gift Shop

Our gift shop offers a wide variety of books, gifts, cards, and inspirational items for every liturgical season. You can also shop online from home day & night!

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Bakery

Under construction - come to the Bake Sale at St. Scholastica Monastery

December 10, 2022 8:00 a.m. 4:00 pm. 

 

Hesychia House of Prayer

Hesychia House of Prayer is nestled among the Ozark Mountains in New Blaine, Arkansas. The sisters who staff it live a life of prayer and work and offer hospitality to adults of any faith who are seeking quiet time alone with God.

To reserve a reservation for a hermitage please email us at hesychia@stscho.org or call or text us at (479) 938-7375.

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Ways To Help

We at St. Scholastica Monastery are grateful for everything you, as our contributors, do for us. You can contribute to St. Scholastica by prayer, participation, volunteering and donations.

Make a Donation
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Newsletters

Horizons

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The Alumnator

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Across the Bridge

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Oblates of St. Benedict

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Is This Your Calling?

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Quiz: Am I Called to Religious Life?

The Journey

Take the first step. If you are interested in our community, we invite you to contact us.

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Stories

Everyone has a story to tell. Listen to the vocation stories of some of our Benedictine Sisters.

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Come & See

Ever wonder what monastic life is like? Come and discover the possibility of all that monastic life has to offer!

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St. Scholastica Monastery

A Community of Benedictine Sisters in Fort Smith, AR

479-783-4147

1315 S. Albert Pike Avenue
Fort Smith, Arkansas

General: monastery@stscho.org
Support: tech@stscho.org

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St. Scholastica Monastery Fort Smith
Hesychia House of Prayer

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Kimberly

Updated:May 24, 2022
Covid Update: St. Scholastica Monastery Fort Smith, Arkansas

The Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery are Covid-free and fully vaccinated.

We are continuing to take safety precautions regarding the pandemic and have begun to lift a few of our restrictions to aid us to a sense of normalcy,

We are happy to announce that we are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

We are offering select guests overnight stays on a strict and very limited basis for family and friends of the community. Those who request overnight accommodations must be fully vaccinated and present proof of their vaccination.

We request that visitors contact us before visiting the monastery by calling our monastery switchboard at this number: (479-783-4147) 

We cannot receive an excessively large number of visitors at any one time but we welcome small groups more easily therefore, scheduling a visit is helpful to us.

We request that permitted visitors undergo screening and follow the procedures upon entry set forth by the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery.

If you wish to walk or visit our monastery grounds, in that case, we ask that you notify the community of your presence when out and about while enjoying our beautiful space.

Monastery Gift Shop Information

We welcome Monastery Gift Shop customers back to the monastery by coming into the gift shop. Our staff is eager to assist you in finding what you need.  The Monastery Gift Shop continues to offer online purchases and is open to the public. 

The Monastery Gift Shop continues to offer online purchases should you find this option helpful.  Don’t forget to visit our new website which will feature our new online Benedictine Bakery. This section of the site is currently under development and will let you know when it is made available to the public. 

Please note: Extended Monastery Gift Shop Hours are:

  • Monday: 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
  • Tuesday: CLOSED
  • Wednesday: 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
  • Thursday: CLOSED
  • Friday: 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
  • The Gift Shop is closed every second Saturday of the month for community Recollection days. 

Customers are permitted in the monastery Gift Shop for the screening, and we ask that non-vaccinated customers wear PPE/Masks upon entry.

As always, you may call the monastery and ask for the Gift Shop Manager at 479-783-4147 for your shopping needs.

We thank you for understanding our concerns for the good of all. We are praying for an end to the pandemic. We are grateful for your continued love and support of us here at St. Scholastica Monastery.

- Sister Kimberly Prohaska and the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery