The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon

By Lina Rutkowski

“We, the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon, share in the mission of Jesus by proclaiming the Good News of God’s love. The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon is committed to serving others through faith and action. We are deeply rooted in the community. For nearly 140 years, we have been committed to compassionate, joyful community service. We offer loving, respectful service through: prayer; child development, education and lifelong learning; elder care; sacred space for prayer, contemplation, and retreat; and off-campus outreach and ministry.” – The mission of The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. 

The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon are an amazing group of ladies founded in the 19th century and are still doing great things today. The sisters have a long and interesting history of service and helping and being a part of our community, including the founding of Regis in 1963 and St. Mary in 1929. over their history and service, the founding of our school, and also them today. 

Their story begins with settlers from Minnesota. One of those settlers would become one of the first sisters. Eventually, they arrived in Oregon and settled in Jordan in 1884. The community began to grow and soon they were serving the community and living in a convent. Around 1885 the Archbishop, William H. Gross, came to Jordan and he made some demands for changes in the Jordan church. The trustees did not agree with these changes and resisted. The Archbishop then went and visited the sisters who at the time were called The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood and was impressed with their lives and faith. But there was still much division between the Archbishop and the trustees, including their spiritual leader Father Werner, who the trustees eventually banished from Jordan. So the sisters were without a leader and deprived of the sacraments. When the Archbishop learned of these problems, he asked the sisters to help him with work in the Archdiocese of Portland. They agreed and swore allegiance to the Archbishop. Things soon got worse in Jordan for the sisters, which forced them to leave. 

The next year in June, the sisters packed up and the Archbishop asked Prior Adelhem to take in some of the sisters at  Mt. Angel Abbey. Sadly not all the sisters made it to Mt. Angel as two died before the move was completed. Later two sisters moved from Mt. Angel to the convent in Sublimity. Others joined them in September and October. For the next few years, the sisters helped out around St. Boniface in Sublimity and began their ministry in education. Over time more sisters joined the community and they needed additional space so they moved to Beaverton. The sisters continued to grow and build schools and orphanages. In 1905 the name of the community was changed to the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. 

When St. Mary Elementary School was founded in Stayton in 1929, it was served by the sisters. The school was across from Immaculate Conception Church. The current  St. Mary’s campus was built in 1955.  The local community wanted to provide a Catholic high school education for the families so they built Regis, which opened in 1963. Regis started with only 45 students and was originally staffed in part by the sisters. 

As the number of sisters in the community declined, by 1990, there were no more sisters teaching in either school. While the sisters may be gone, our school still reflects the values that our school was founded upon, especially community. We are so blessed that these women went on this adventure to help build our schools to be places of community and love. Now it is up to each of us to love, learn, lead, and serve to build up the faith in the Stayton area.