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Awakening: A Rebirth of Enthusiasm in Vocations |
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Mother Seraphine Kordes was prioress of the monastery for 35 years. |
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Why Kordes? Why Kordes? is often asked by those new to our Center. Few know that the building, Kordes Hall, as well as the retreat center, was named for Mother Seraphine Kordes. Today we rediscover Mother Seraphine and see how her spirit lives through the center’s activities.
She also reached out to God’s greater community. When the Saint Meinrad Archabbey was seriously damaged by fire in 1887, Sister Seraphine provided assistance. During the great flood of 1913, she opened the doors of the Assumption School and Convent in Indianapolis and cared for flood victims. In 1939, she established the annual Ladies Retreat that offered lay women a quiet, reflective time away. No one knows how many lives the St. Benedict College-trained teachers, both religious and lay, touched. Constructed as a college dormitory in 1962, Kordes Hall was dedicated to Mother Seraphine, first president of St. Benedict College. In 1978 Kordes Hall became home to Kordes Enrichment Center, a center of spirituality and hospitality. The center offers spiritual enrichment and personal and professional development to the Benedictine sisters as well as the greater community. As the Center enters a new era, we find ourselves reflecting upon the legacy of Mother Seraphine. Our mission statement recognizes that the spiritual life of people of all faiths must be nurtured, and we are well suited to this task. For 26 years the Kordes staff has fostered an atmosphere of contemplation while encouraging all who enter to make personal transformations that may bring about transformation on a communal, perhaps even global, level. Mother Seraphine charges those who minister at Kordes and all who come to the retreat center to “proceed now to use your knowledge so that in all things God may be glorified.”
The Kordes family at Mother Seraphine's jubilee in 1938. |
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Mother Seraphine Kordes, prioress of the Monastery Immaculate Conception for 35 years, was a woman of quiet prayer and zestful action. She nurtured the spiritual lives of her community’s members while encouraging their professional growth. Under her leadership, the community began praying Divine Office. Under Mother Seraphine’s leadership, St. Benedict Normal College gained accreditation.