[2] Following high school, Walgenbach studied nursing at St. Vincent's Hospital for one year before joining the Benedictine Sisters at St. Benedict's Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin.
[2][7] Following the Second Vatican Council, Walgenbach stopped wearing the habit, and the sisters of St. Benedict's Monastery added inclusive language to their prayers, invited lay people to join in a weekly service, and opened a retreat center at the sight of the closed school.
[2] In 1980 during the worldwide celebrations of the 1,500 year birth anniversary of St. Benedict, Sr. Mary David Walgenbach and Sr. Joanne Kolasch began building an ecumenical community in the Madison area.
[8] In 2009, Walgenbach oversaw the demolition of the Benedict House and construction of a new monastery building, which includes a chapel, dining rooms, library, and smaller worship spaces.
[11] The new building uses solar panels, geothermal pumps, energy-absorbing windows, roof gardens and rain storage tanks.