History of Our Community

In 1956/57, Fr. Don Miller, Founder and Rector of Liguori had a "dream" of bringing the Redemptoristines to the Liguori property where they would be the hidden spring that would nourish the active work of the St. Louis province of Redemptorists and specifically the work of the Apostolate of the Pen carried on in Liguori. And so, approximately ten years after the founding of the Liguori Mission House and Publication Center, the request to bring the
Redemptoristines to Liguori was brought to the Redemptorist Provincial and his Council. The request was approved.

However, when the proposal was made to the General Council in Rome, Fr. Gaudreau, the rector major, who was from the Baltimore Province, insisted that the first Redemptoristine foundation in the United States would be made in the Baltimore province since this was the older and original C.SS.R. foundation in the U.S. Accordingly, the Esopus community with six Sisters from Barrie, was established in 1957, and the Liguori request was put on hold.

Their temporary monastery in Liguori had been used for storage during the 2 or 3 years that the Fathers had left it to take up residence in their newly constructed monastery. It was cleaned and renovated to make
sure that the leaks in the roof were repaired ( including the routing of birds and squirrels), the rats and spiders were encouraged to depart and an enclosure wall around the garden was completed.
Barrie to escort the Sisters to St. Louis. We finally had a ceremony of Enclosure on June 27th. and we happily settled down to our regular Order of the Day.

This expresses the deep relationship between our Redemptoristines community and
the Redemptorist conferes as our Mother Maria Celeste, St. Alphonsus and
St. Gerard being the example and gift of our double institution.