Regina Coeli Monastery
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Location | 1401 Central Avenue Bettendorf, Iowa |
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Coordinates | 41°31′51″N 90°30′45″W / 41.53083°N 90.51250°WCoordinates: 41°31′51″N 90°30′45″W / 41.53083°N 90.51250°W |
Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
Built | 1916 |
Architect | Arthur Ebeling |
Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
NRHP Reference # | 93001590 |
Added to NRHP | January 28, 1994 |
Regina Coeli Monastery is an historic building located in Bettendorf, Iowa, United States and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. The building currently houses an addictions rehabilitation facility called The Abbey Center. The Discalced Carmelite nuns who built the building relocated to a new monastery in Eldridge, Iowa in 1975. The monastery was originally established in Davenport, Iowa by the Rt. Rev. James Davis of the Catholic Diocese of Davenport.
The first Discalced Carmelite nuns arrived in Davenport, Iowa from the Carmel at Baltimore, Maryland on November 23, 1911. The community included Mother Clare of the Blessed Sacrament, who was a native of Dubuque, Iowa and Mother Aloysius of Our Lady of Good Counsel, from Deerfield, Minnesota. Mother Clare's brother, Joseph Nagle, was instrumental in bringing the Carmelites to Davenport. The Archbishop of Dubuque had initially indicated that he would accept the order into his diocese, but withdrew the offer in 1905, and no other bishops in the upper Midwest were able to accept the nuns. Joseph Nagle was persistent and convinced Bishop Davis to bring the community to his diocese.
The Carmel was officially established on the feast of St. John of the Cross on November 24, 1911 with a Mass celebrated by another of Mother Clare's brothers, the Rev. Garrett Nagle, in the small cottage that was the nun's new home at 15th and Brady Streets. The Carmel was adjacent to the bishop's residence, and he would celebrate Mass for the nuns as often as possible. The Archbishop of Baltimore, James Cardinal Gibbons, appointed Mother Clare as the prioress of the new Carmel and Mother Aloysius sub-prioress before they had left Baltimore.