Monastery Mystery Five Revealed

Greetings,

This week, the monastery mystery tour stopped in a very ordinary, every day location...an elevator!  However, the elevators at Sacred Heart Monastery have one item unique to our lift system; a prayer through the intercession of the Archangel Raphael!

I cannot find the origin of this prayer for safety in elevator travel, but it could have been created by the sisters themselves for the first elevator that was installed in the oldest part of the monastery.  That early elevator was retro-fitted into the 1900 portion of the building at a time when the air 'vents' cut into the top part of the elevator cab let you look directly at the brick passing by!  It would jiggle and shake and was an odd rectangular shape (um coffin shaped for that purpose), but it safely delivered its passengers for many years.

The prayer was added to the 'new' building's elevators when construction was completed in the 1960's.  The prayer has found use in one of the new elevators; more than one sister has been stranded in its confines and relied upon the assistance of the Archangel Raphael and the alarm button by the door!

Calligraphied by hand, this unusual prayer is just one of the many aspects of our every day life that are unique to our call as Benedictine Sisters in Yankton, South Dakota.

Blessings,