About Monastery of the Visitation · Brooklyn, New York
The Monastery of the Visitation in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn is a contemplative women's monastery of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (Visitandines), founded in 1855 as a fruit of a novena made by the Visitation Sisters in Baltimore at the request of the Bishop of Brooklyn. The community lives the Salesian spirituality of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal — whose motto is 'Live Jesus' — and is recognized throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn as the Diocesan Center for the Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart, an apostolate Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio entrusted to the monastery. From its Ridge Boulevard chapel the Sisters maintain the full horarium of monastic prayer (Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, Adoration, and the Rosary), host women for retreats, walk with Associates in the Salesian tradition, and draw a regular public for First Friday Masses and the annual Sacred Heart Novena.
- Established
- 1855
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Visitation (the Blessed Virgin Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth); also devotionally centered on the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brooklyn
Why belong here
The Monastery of the Visitation offers a rare gift in the heart of Brooklyn: a public chapel where anyone can join the Sisters for the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries, weekday and First Friday Masses, daily Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, and the powerful annual Sacred Heart Novena leading to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Women seeking deeper prayer can enter the enclosure for a private day of recollection, weekend, or weeklong retreat (limited to four retreatants), while laywomen can journey with the community through the Associate Program, sharing in Salesian spirituality rooted in the gentleness, humility, and simplicity of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. Coming here means entering a 170-year-old sanctuary of prayer in Bay Ridge where the 1673 revelations of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary are kept alive and shared with the wider Diocese of Brooklyn.
Mass times at Monastery of the Visitation
Weekly Mass schedule
Adoration times
- Monday: after 7:15 AM Mass until 12:30 PM, and 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM
- Thursday: after 7:15 AM Mass until 12:30 PM, and 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM
- First Friday: after 7:15 AM Mass until 12:30 PM, and 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM
- Sunday: 4:00 PM – 5:50 PM (with Rosary and Evening Prayer)
- Daily (community): Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 4:00 PM
The Monastery of the Visitation, Brooklyn
The Monastery of the Visitation is a contemplative women's religious community of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (the Visitandines), located at 8902 Ridge Boulevard in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. Founded in 1855 within the Diocese of Brooklyn, the community keeps the full Salesian tradition of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal — summed up in the Visitandine motto 'Live Jesus' — and welcomes the faithful into its Sacred Heart Chapel for Mass, Adoration, and major devotions of the year.
- Address: 8902 Ridge Blvd., Brooklyn, NY 11209-5716
- Phone: (718) 745-5151
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: brooklynvisitationmonastery.org
- Diocese: Diocese of Brooklyn
History of the Brooklyn Monastery
The Brooklyn Visitation was founded on September 24, 1855, by Mother Mary Juliana Matthews, as a fruit of a novena the Visitation Sisters in Baltimore were making 'for the Pure Glory of God.' Shortly after the novena began, the Bishop of Brooklyn arrived at their door with the Archbishop of Baltimore to request a Visitation house for his diocese. The Sisters took this as a sign that God wanted a monastery in Brooklyn dedicated to His pure glory — a desire that continues in the community to this day and is reflected in the words 'For the Glory of God' that appear on the monastery's website. In 2012 Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio asked the Sisters to host the new Diocesan Sacred Heart Apostolate, and on June 19, 2020 he consecrated the Diocese of Brooklyn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during a postponed Chrism Mass in the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph — an act deliberately timed to the 100th anniversary year of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's canonization. The monastery is currently celebrating the 350th Jubilee of the Sacred Heart apparitions (December 2023 – June 2025) under the theme 'Giving back love for love,' decreed by Bishop Mgr Benoît Rivière of Autun.
- Founded September 24, 1855 by Mother Mary Juliana Matthews
- Origin: a novena for the 'Pure Glory of God' offered by the Visitation Sisters in Baltimore
- Visit of the Bishop of Brooklyn and Archbishop of Baltimore requesting a Brooklyn foundation
- Visitation Academy, 1855 – 2024 (169 years, oldest continuously operating girls' school in Brooklyn)
- 2020: Diocese of Brooklyn consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Bishop DiMarzio
- 2023 – 2025: 350th Jubilee of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary
Charism and Salesian Spirituality
The community's charism flows from the mystery of the Visitation (Luke 1:39–46) — Our Lady's visit to her cousin Elizabeth — and from the Order's founders, St. Francis de Sales (Doctor of the Church) and St. Jane de Chantal. In 'prayerful attentiveness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit,' the Sisters carry the presence of Jesus to one another each day. The motto 'Live Jesus' means allowing Him to continue His life in us — a Salesian spirituality of gentleness, humility, patience, and simplicity that, the community writes, 'changes the hearts and lives of people in every walk of life.'
- Motto: 'Live Jesus'
- Inspiration: the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39–46)
- Spiritual teachers: St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal
- Guiding text: the Spiritual Directory, handed down by the Founder
- Pillars: gentleness, humility, patience, simplicity
Community Life and Horarium
The Sisters live a strict horarium of prayer, work, and common life. Each day begins with rising between 5:00 and 5:30 AM, followed by Meditation, Morning Prayer, and Mass, with manual work from 9:00 to 11:00 AM and the Office of Readings at 11:30 AM. The afternoon includes rest, spiritual reading, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 4:00 PM, the Rosary, Evening Prayer at 5:10 PM, supper and recreation, and Night Prayer at 8:00 PM. The Sisters chant and recite the Liturgy of the Hours five times daily in Choir and nourish their interior life through personal prayer, Meditation, Adoration, and the Rosary. Community tasks — gardening, cooking, working in the Refectory, Sacristy, Retreat area, and Infirmary — are part of the Sisters' shared giftedness.
- Rising: 5:00 – 5:30 AM
- Meditation: 5:45 / 6:00 AM
- Morning Prayer: 6:45 / 7:00 AM
- Mass (weekdays): 7:15 / 7:30 AM (Saturday 8:00 AM, Sunday 9:00 AM)
- Office of Readings: 11:30 AM
- Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: 4:00 PM
- Rosary: 4:40 PM (or 4:25 PM)
- Evening Prayer: 5:10 PM
- Night Prayer: 8:00 PM
Sacred Heart Apostolate and Guard of Honor
Because the Sacred Heart was revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitandine of Paray-le-Monial, France, the Brooklyn Sisters hold a special trust to spread this devotion. In 2012 Bishop DiMarzio established the Diocesan Sacred Heart Apostolate and designated the Visitation Monastery as the Diocesan Center for the Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart / Hour of Presence. Each year the community celebrates a nine-day Novena of Masses in the Sacred Heart Chapel leading up to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, attracting the faithful from across the Diocese of Brooklyn. The Sisters also promote the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home and Family Consecration to the Sacred Heart.
- Diocesan Center for the Guard of Honor / Hour of Presence
- Monthly First Friday Mass at 7:30 PM
- Annual Sacred Heart Novena — nine evening Masses (typically 7:30 PM) before the Feast
- Promotion of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home
- Promotion of Family Consecration to the Sacred Heart
Retreats and the Associate Program
The monastery offers hospitality to women retreatants who enter the enclosure to share in the daily life of prayer. The retreat area can accommodate up to four women for a private retreat lasting a week, a weekend, or a single day of recollection. The Associate Program welcomes other women for monthly talks, prayer, and sharing on Salesian Spirituality. Associates identify with the community's charism by participating in its spiritual life, prayers, and apostolic works, studying Salesian Spirituality and the Fathers of the Church, and bonding with the Sisters through conferences and retreats. Historically the monastery also hosted the monthly meetings and retreats of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales (sfdsassociation.org).
- Private retreats for women — up to four guests, week / weekend / day of recollection
- Associate Program — monthly talks, prayer, and sharing on Salesian Spirituality
- Study of Salesian Spirituality and the Church Fathers
- Spiritual conferences and retreats for Associates
- Historical host of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales
The 350th Jubilee of the Sacred Heart (2023 – 2025)
From December 2023 through June 2025 the Visitation Order is celebrating the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial, France. Bishop Mgr Benoît Rivière of Autun decreed a Great Jubilee for the Order with the theme 'Giving back love for love.' The Brooklyn monastery marks the occasion through its customary Sacred Heart Novena, ongoing Guard of Honor activity, and renewed promotion of the First Friday and Thursday Holy Hour devotions entrusted to the Order by Christ Himself through St. Margaret Mary.
- Anniversary: 350 years of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary (1673)
- Jubilee window: December 2023 – June 2025
- Decreed by Bishop Mgr Benoît Rivière of Autun
- Jubilee theme: 'Giving back love for love'
Architecture, Grounds, and Sacred Heart Chapel
The monastery complex at 8902 Ridge Boulevard was built in 1913 in the Italian neo-Renaissance style. The beige brick chapel features circular windows on its upper stories, triangular gables, a square tower with an arcaded belfry, and decorative cruciform brickwork on the south façade. The entire complex is enclosed by a 20-foot stone and concrete wall, and the grounds sit on land that previously held the Kings County Inebriate Asylum and contains a natural glacier lake. The chapel also houses a pipe organ catalogued by the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and it is here that the Sisters and the faithful gather for daily Mass, Adoration, and the annual Sacred Heart Novena.
- Built 1913, Italian neo-Renaissance style
- Beige brick chapel with circular windows, triangular gables, and a square arcaded-belfry tower
- 20-foot stone and concrete perimeter wall
- Site of the former Kings County Inebriate Asylum and a natural glacier lake
- Pipe organ catalogued by the NYC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
Visitation Academy (1855 – 2024)
Alongside the monastery, the Sisters founded Visitation Academy in 1855 as an elementary school for girls — the oldest continuously operating school for girls in Brooklyn. Rooted in the spirit of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, the academy taught the 'seven little virtues' of kindness, gentleness, respect, joy, peace, simplicity, and love, and combined a robust curriculum with the arts, French language, and STEM. In April 2024, after 169 years, the academy announced it would close at the end of the school year due to low enrollment, crumbling infrastructure, and a dwindling number of Visitation Sisters at the monastery (only two remained). The Diocese of Brooklyn expressed its sadness at the loss of the Sisters' educational presence and pledged to help transition current students to other schools.
- Founded 1855 by the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary
- Oldest continuously operating school for girls in Brooklyn
- All-girls PreK3/4 through 8th grade at closure
- Taught the 'seven little virtues' of Salesian spirituality
- Closed at the end of the 2023–24 school year after 169 years
Connect and Visit
The monastery can be reached by mail, phone, or email for information about retreats, the Associate Program, the Sacred Heart Novena, and First Friday Mass. The community's official website publishes news, the Horarium, the schedule of Masses and Adoration, and links to videos on the Visitandine Federation site. The Sisters also keep an active presence on Facebook under 'Sisters of the Visitation Brooklyn Monastery.'
- Address: 8902 Ridge Blvd., Brooklyn, NY 11209-5716
- Phone: (718) 745-5151
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: brooklynvisitationmonastery.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/SistersOfVisitationBrooklyn
- Federation site: visitationspirit.org