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Arriving in the Port of New York with little more than an idea and $20 in her pocket, Mother Benedict did not know how or where she was going to build a monastery. 

Departing the ship, the two nuns were welcomed by Lauren Ford, an artist from Bethlehem, a person they had never met, but who received them into her home, Sheepfold, in Bethlehem Connecticut, until they could find a place to establish themselves. 

While they were staying with Lauren, they came to the unexpected attention of Robert Leather, an industrialist from Bethlehem. Leather was a devout Congregationalist who owned a large piece of land, a hill which he cherished as a place of prayer and wished to be held intact and in perpetuity. 

Recognizing that they would care for it as a sacred place, Robert Leather offered the land to the two nuns. With this extraordinary gift they now had a site for their foundation. The pine hill became the heart of what is today the Abbey of Regina Laudis.

Although Mother Benedict met with many obstacles...

she also received support from many in the Church, most especially the Papal Nuncio to Paris, who was to become Pope John XXIII, and Cardinal Montini, who would later become Pope Paul VI. 

Through a friendship of many years, Pope Paul VI offered inspired wisdom and astute practical advice, suggesting from the beginning that if the new monastery was to attract the dedication of American women, the nuns must each be encouraged to have a professional basis for their contemplative life.

Over the next fifty years...

Mother Benedict persevered in her mission... 

attracting many young American women who felt called to the contemplative life. 

When she died in 2005, she left a vibrant community that continues to grow and draws people from all over the world. In 2007, Ignatius Press published her biography, entitled Mother Benedict, written by award-winning journalist and author Antoinette Bosco, and based largely on personal interviews with the author. 

The memoir gives a personal insight into Mother Benedict's life and mission, and is richly populated with the popes, political figures, writers, artists and scholars, who accompanied Mother Benedict on her journey.

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