Story of the Sisters #5: New Century, New Home Traditional Geocache

This is the fifth cache in a five-part series chronicling the history of the Benedictine Sisters of the Annunciation in Bismarck. This cache is placed as part of my final project for HIS 350, “Intro to Public History” at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. This cache is located near Annunciation Monastery, the Sisters' current home.

This cache is placed with permission from the Benedictine sisters, under three conditions:

1. No night caching.
2. If you move a rock, put it back in its place.
3. If someone is exploring the labyrinth or sitting in the center, please refrain from searching for the cache to avoid disrupting their time of reflection.

Please take care to follow the guidelines to ensure that they continue to allow this cache.

In 1994, the Sisters agreed to sell the original Annunciation Priory to the University of Mary for $1.9 million. According to the proposal, the Sisters would continue to have access to the chapels in the Priory, as well as several other rooms in the building. The Sisters, feeling that their needs had changed significantly since construction of the original priory, decided to move forward with construction of a new monastery near the original, with the plan being that the Sisters would be relocated to their new home by June of 2000. After major renovations that spanned the course of several years, the old priory became the Benedictine Center, which today houses the university’s administrative offices, computer labs, and education department. The Sisters’ new home, Annunciation Monastery, is near the original priory and is designed to meet the needs of the Sisters in the new millennium and onward.

The Labyrinth, which the coordinates will lead you to, was created in 2003 under the direction of the Sisters. The prayer path is one mile long from beginning to end and contains rocks from 21 different states. The Labyrinth is intended to give visitors a chance to prayerfully contemplate the journey of life that God has led them down and trust Him for wherever He might take them in the future. As a person enters the labyrinth, they let go of their daily concerns and worries and quiet their mind. Once they reach the center, they pause for a time of prayer and silence, listening for God’s voice. Finally, on their way out, they listen for God’s leading for the future and think about the needs of others as they enter the world once again.

BYOP. Restrooms are located in the Benedictine Center (the building closest to the visitor parking). There are five geocaches in the Story of The Sisters geocache series. Here are links to the other four:

Story of the Sisters #1: https://coord.info/GC84GHH

Story of the Sisters #2: https://coord.info/GC84E38

Story of the Sisters #3: https://coord.info/GC84E1W

Story of the Sisters #4: https://coord.info/GC85F0Z

Happy Hunting!