St. Procopius Abbey began in 1885, when a group of Benedictine monks from St. Vincent Archabbey took over the direction of St. Procopius Parish in Chicago. While living the monastic life, the new community served the faith of Czech and Slovak immigrants by founding a high school, college, printing press, and seminary as well as by doing parish work. Operations were transferred to Lisle, outside of Chicago, in the earlier twentieth century. After much apostolic activity, the community in the 1960s refocused its energy on its educational work, as remains the case today. In 1970, the monks moved into a new monastery building and today the community consists of 15 monks.