Ten years ago, the Sisters of Mary Morning Star were established as a religious community – and a convent got its start in a former school building in Ghent. Sister Marie Johannah Keller and Sister Aude Renard are pictured outside the convent, which is located next to St. Eloi Catholic Church.

GHENT — They were called to a life of prayer. It was a call that would bring members of the Sisters of Mary Morning Star to a small town in southwest Minnesota.

Ten years after establishing a convent in Ghent, sisters said they are feeling thankful and joyful to reach that milestone.

“There’s also a lot of hope for the future, to continue to work with the community, and be a presence. It’s true that the community has become like family for the sisters,” said Sister Aude Renard.

This month, the Sisters of Mary Morning Star will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of their religious community. On July 28, Bishop Chad Zielinski of the Diocese of New Ulm will celebrate Mass at St. Eloi Catholic Church in Ghent.

“It would be nice to have the community be able to share our joy,” Renard said. Sister Marie Johannah Keller said Sisters of Mary Morning Star also wanted to thank area residents for their support.

The Sisters of Mary Morning Star were established in 2014. Internationally, there are members of the Sisters of Maria Stella Matutina (Mary Morning Star) in Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia, according to the community’s international website. In the U.S., they have communities in Wisconsin and Texas, in addition to Ghent.

There are currently 10 sisters at the convent in Ghent.

“We are contemplative sisters. It means that our life is really dedicated to prayer, and we are here to be a presence of prayer and a presence of hope for people,” Renard said.

While the Sisters of Mary Morning Star are a contemplative community, they are not cloistered, Renard and Keller said. That means they are able to interact with area residents, and have a more visible presence.

“We think that people today, they need hope. They need to know that sisters are praying for them,” Renard said.

“They need to be able to talk once in a while, to confide face-to-face their prayer intentions, and also their hopes, desires and joys,” said Keller.

There were a combination of factors that helped lead Sisters of Mary Morning Star to start a convent in Ghent.

“I think it was the Holy Spirit,” Renard said. Bishop John LeVoir of the Diocese of New Ulm, was also welcoming to the sisters. “He was praying to have contemplative sisters in the diocese, and he had been praying for a long time,” Renard said.

The Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus, another contemplative community in the New Ulm Diocese, had also reached out to the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, she said.

When it came to choosing Ghent to establish a convent, “We were just going step by step, and seeing how the Lord was going to lead us,” Keller said.

The sisters moved into a former school building at St. Eloi. It took time – and lots of work – to turn the school building into a convent. When the sisters first arrived in Ghent, the school was still being used as a meeting space for community groups.

“People were so generous and understanding for us to use the old school,” Renard said. 

Over the past 10 years, area residents and the sisters have worked together to renovate almost the entire school building. Two classrooms were left as they were, and are now used as workshop space.

Some of the renovations have included creating a chapel, and guest quarters for visitors and visiting priests. “Something that we love to do is welcome people who want to come on retreat, to pray with us and share the Scripture together,” Keller said.

The sisters pray at the chapel for about five hours each day, Renard said. People from the local community often come to join them for Mass at noon, or to pray with them.

Prayer time for the sisters starts early in the morning, which Keller said reflects the name of the community, Mary Morning Star.

“The morning star is the last star shining in the night, which announces the dawn,” she said. “We want to be witnesses of hope and joy in our world, which announces the dawn of the coming of Christ.”

In addition to prayer and worship, the sisters also spend time in study, and doing manual work. Renard said they do chores for the convent, and craftwork to help support their community. In Ghent, the sisters create leather crafts, rosaries, soaps and candles to sell.

Craftwork doesn’t supply all of the sisters’ needs, Keller said. “We rely on divine providence, and the goodness of others also to support us for a large part of our life.”

Local community members, and the members of St. Eloi parish, have shown a lot of generosity to the sisters over the past 10 years, Keller and Aude said. 

“Seeing the goodness of the people of Ghent, and how generous they are . . . it’s really touching,” Keller said.

The area community is invited to a Mass celebrating the 10th anniversary of Sisters of Mary Morning Star, at 10:30 on July 28. The Mass will be at St. Eloi, and will be celebrated by Bishop Chad Zielinski of the Diocese of New Ulm, and Bishop LeVoir.

Renard said there was “a lot of gratitude, and a lot of joy” in being able to celebrate the anniversary.

“We would not be here without the help of everyone,” she said.