 Unable to be there to greet them, Father Pierz had left a letter for the party's leader, Father Demetrius de Marogna, by which he formally transferred his missions in and around Sauk Rapids to the jurisdiction of the Benedictine Order.The following year, he was instrumental in bringing a group of Benedictine nuns from Saint Walburg Abbey in Eichstätt, to educate the children of the many German immigrants in Central Minnesota.They founded St. Benedict's Convent, College, and Monastery at St. Joseph.