The Benedictine community at Saint Meinrad consists of men who dedicate their lives to prayer and work. They gather in community five times a day—for morning prayer, Mass, noon prayer, evening prayer and compline—to pray for the Church and the world. Guests often join the monks in prayer in the Archabbey Church.
Gregorian chant is sung in the canonical hours of the monastic Office, primarily in antiphons used to sing the Psalms, in the Great Responsories of Matins, and the Short Responsories of the Lesser Hours and Compline. The psalm antiphons of the Office tend to be short and simple, especially compared to the complex Great Responsories.
In addition, the monks spend private time reading spiritual and religious materials. They live under the Rule of St. Benedict, the 6th-century instructions for community living written by St. Benedict.
History
Archabbey Church
The monks came to southern Indiana at the request of a local priest (Fr.Joseph Kundek) for assistance in addressing the pastoral needs of the growing German-speaking Catholic population and to prepare local men to be priests. St. Meinrad was named by the Pope as an abbey in 1870,[2] with Martin Marty as abbot and Fintan Mundwiler as prior.[3]
Shortly after arriving in Indiana, the Benedictines began offering high school courses to local youths. In 1861, the monks expanded their general courses to include undergraduate courses in philosophy and theology. Through these programs, the monks of Saint Meinrad began their mission, which continues today: preparing men for service in the Church as priests. The undergraduate degree program, St. Meinrad College, closed in 1998. It had expanded admission to men who were not seeking the priesthood, and had considered admitting women but found enrollment too low to continue.[4] Saint Meinrad continues to operate a graduate school of theology. It has more than a score of its monks in parish work, chaplaincies, and diocesan assignments.
In 1877, the Abbot of Saint Meinrad Abbey, Martin Marty, negotiated an agreement with an agent of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Company (LR&FS) Railroad Company, for land in order to establish a Benedictine monastery in northern Arkansas. The railroad controlled thousands of acres of land, and had approached the abbey seeking to gain its support to establish a monastery and school on its holdings. The RR granted 640 acres to the abbey for the monastery and a school. The railroad wanted to attract settlers to this part of their holdings.
Three monk-missionaries from St. Meinrad Abbey founded the new institute on March 15, 1878, in Logan County, Arkansas. Later the monks founded the associated school that continues at the complex. St. Benedict Priory gained independence from St. Meinrad in 1886. In 1891 Pope Leo XIII named it as Subiaco Abbey. It donated 80 acres for a townsite and railroad connection, and the first train served the new town of Subiaco, Arkansas in 1909.
In 1889, a group of monks traveled from St. Meinrad Abbey to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. They were responding to an invitation from the Archbishop to found a college seminary to train local vocations. The monks founded what developed as St. Joseph Abbey, Louisiana, located in Saint Benedict, near Covington, Louisiana, north of New Orleans. Saint Joseph Abbey operates Saint Joseph Seminary College, and a number of other ministries around the Diocese.
In 1933, Saint Meinrad founded Marmion Abbey in Aurora, Illinois. In 1950 Blue Cloud Abbey was founded near Marvin, South Dakota, to serve the local Lakota and related Native American peoples. Due to declining numbers and an aging population, Blue Cloud was closed by its remaining members in 2012. Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also had missions and schools in South Dakota from the early 20th century
In 1958, the monks of Saint Meinrad founded Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside, California.[5] Prince of Peace and Marmion abbeys continue to operate.
In 1954 St. Meinrad Abbey was elevated to Archabbey by the Holy See.
Saint Meinrad began offering lay degree programs in 1969, although students worked on their degrees during the six-week Summer Session program. In the fall of 1993, the Seminary and School of Theology expanded its mission to allow lay ministry students to attend classes during any of the academic terms. While some classes specifically aimed at ordination preparation are reserved for M.Div. students, lay ministers sometimes pursue their graduate degrees as part-time or full-time students. More than 5,000 men and women have studied in the School of Theology.
Other programs in the Seminary and School of Theology include a permanent deacon formation program, which assists Catholic dioceses in the formation of their deacon candidates, and a youth and vocations program, which encourages high school and college students to participate more deeply in the Church's liturgy and consider a vocation of service to the Church.
The Seminary and School of Theology also houses the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates, which offers continuing formation for priests making the transition from seminary to parish life, priests preparing for their first assignment as pastor, and presbyterates - which is the group of priests and their bishop in a Catholic diocese.
In 1995, there was a controversy over the firing of a theologian, Carmel McEnroy, who taught at the school. In the spring of 1994, Pope John Paul II had issued an Apostolic Letter declaring the issue of the ordination of women as priests resolved and no longer open to debate. Several months after the statement was issued, Dr. McEnroy joined 1,500 others in signing an open letter opposing the Pope's teachings on the subject. After reading the open letter in the National Catholic Reporter, the Archabbot determined that Dr. McEnroy must be removed from the faculty at Saint Meinrad for publicly dissenting from the Pope's teachings. Dr. McEnroy sued on a claim of breach of contract. The lower court dismissed the case, citing lack of jurisdiction, which decision was upheld on appeal.[7]
Abbey Press
Saint Meinrad Archabbey owned and operated an international company that produced and marketed religious, spiritual and inspirational cards, books and gifts. At one time, Abbey Press was one of the largest business enterprises in Spencer County, Indiana, with more than 100 employees.
The press was founded in 1867 when the Benedictine monks purchased a used printing press. Abbey Press marketed its products throughout the United States and in 25 English-speaking countries. More than 20 foreign companies were licensed to print some of Abbey Press' publications in native languages. Net proceeds from the sales of Abbey Press products supported the ministries of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. As of June 30, 2017, after 150 years of operation, Abbey Press closed[8] and the printing presses and other equipment were sold. Some 70 people lost their jobs.
Abbey Caskets
Abbey Caskets is a work of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Founded in 1999, Abbey Caskets offers handcrafted wooden caskets and cremation urns directly to the public. The caskets and cremation urns are made from solid hardwoods, in the choice of poplar, cherry, walnut and oak. The Monastic Abbey Casket is designed after the caskets used by the monks of Saint Meinrad. Abbey Caskets also offers a more conventional casket, the Traditional Abbey Casket.[9] Abbey Woodworking was also created, as a division of Abbey Caskets, that offers custom religious-themed furniture. All proceeds from the sales support Saint Meinrad Archabbey and the Seminary and School of Theology.
Einsiedeln Abbey is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a hermit Catholic saint. The monastery is not under the jurisdiction of a diocese or a bishop because it is a territorial abbey.
Saint Leo Abbey is an American-Cassinese monastery of Benedictine monks located in Saint Leo, Florida, United States.
Saint Vincent Archabbey is a Benedictine monastery in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the city of Latrobe. A member of the American-Cassinese Congregation, it is the oldest Benedictine monastery in the United States and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The shrine is dedicated to Saint Vincent de Paul.
Saint Vincent Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Father Boniface Wimmer in 1846, who came from Saint Michael's Abbey in Metten, Bavaria, to establish Saint Vincent Archabbey as the first Benedictine monastery in North America. It is the fourth oldest Catholic seminary in the United States.
Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, (1809–1887) was a German monk who in 1846 founded the first Benedictine monastery in the United States, Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, forty miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Subiaco Abbey is an American Benedictine monastery located in the Arkansas River valley of Logan County, Arkansas, part of the Swiss-American Congregation of Benedictine monasteries. It is home to thirty-nine Benedictine monks. The abbey and the preparatory school it operates, Subiaco Academy, are major features of the town of Subiaco, Arkansas. It is named after the original Subiaco, Italy, where the first monastery founded by Saint Benedict was located.
The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is a Roman Catholic seminary and school of theology in Saint Meinrad, Indiana. It is affiliated with the Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana. The institution was named after Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a ninth century hermit living in what is today Switzerland.
Meinrad, OSB was a German Benedictine hermit and is revered as a Catholic and Orthodox saint. He is known as the "Martyr of Hospitality". His feast day is 21 January.
Blue Cloud Abbey was an American Benedictine monastery located near the town of Marvin, in Grant County, South Dakota. It was a member of the Swiss-American Congregation. The patron saint of the monastery was the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Snows, from which the abbey derived its name.
Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway County, was raised to a conventual priory in 1876 and elevated to an abbey in 1881. In 2021 the community numbered fifty-eight monks who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours daily and who staff and administer Conception Seminary College, The Printery House, and the Abbey Guest Center. Monks also serve as parish priests and hospital chaplains in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph and other dioceses. There is also a large postal facility attached to The Printery House, operated by lay employees, which includes package shipping and delivery facilities.
Martin Marty was a Swiss-born Benedictine missionary and bishop in the United States. His birth name was James Joseph Alois Marty.
Fintan Mundwiler was a Swiss Benedictine, who became Abbot of St. Meinrad Abbey, Indiana.
Saint Joseph Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, governed by the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monks of the abbey also operate Saint Joseph Seminary College.
The Swiss-American Congregation is an association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1881 in the United States, as a part of the international Benedictine Confederation of monasteries.
Hildebrand de Hemptinne was a Belgium Benedictine monk of Beuron Archabbey, the second Abbot of Maredsous Abbey, and the first Abbot Primate of the Order of St. Benedict and the Benedictine Confederation.
Wolfgang Schlumpf was a Swiss-born Benedictine monk and missionary in the United States who is credited as founder of Subiaco Abbey in western Arkansas. He immigrated to the United States in 1862 after being assigned to what became St. Meinrad Abbey in 1870 in southern Indiana..
Ignatius Conrad was a Benedictine monk, a Swiss missionary, and the first Abbot of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas, which was named as an abbey in 1891. He served from 1892 to 1925. Fr Ignatius Conrad initially worked with the German Catholic communities in the south-western region of the United States.
Leander Schnerr was a German-American Catholic priest and Benedictine monk who served as the archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey and president of Saint Vincent College from 1892 to 1920. Before being elected archabbot, he had a career as a priest serving German-speaking parishes in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Andrew Hintenach, OSB was a German-born Catholic monk who served as the second archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1892.
Aurelius Aloysius Stehle, OSB was an American Catholic Benedictine priest and fourth archabbot of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
References
Fässler, Thomas OSB: "Of Mothers, Daughters, and Growing Up. The Changing Ties between the Monastery Einsiedeln and St. Meinrad Since 1850" In: Swiss American Historical Society Review 52/3 (2016), 59-68.
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