Weston Priory

Last updated
Weston Priory
Chapel, Weston Priory, Weston VT.jpg
Chapel
USA Vermont location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Vermont
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Weston Priory (the United States)
Monastery information
Order Benedictine
People
Founder(s)Leo A. Rudloff
Architecture
Groundbreaking1952
Site
Coordinates 43°20′15.4″N72°47′32.0″W / 43.337611°N 72.792222°W / 43.337611; -72.792222

Weston Priory is a community of Benedictine monks who reside in Weston, Vermont. Founded in 1953, The Priory is situated within the confines of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which encompasses the entirety of Vermont. They are particularly known for the songs they have contributed to Roman Catholic worship over the past 50 years, their connection to Latin America, and the crafts produced at the monastery.

Contents

History and mission

Weston Priory was founded by Abbot Leo A. Rudloff of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem in 1953. [1] He had the intention that some of those trained in Vermont would later assist the community at Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. Abbot Leo also expressed the hope that the priory would become a community in its own right in the movement of monastic renewal. [2] Today, the community is an independent or conventual priory. At the beginning, Abbot Leo considered locating the priory in Pennsylvania or a few other places, but the presence of other religious houses in those places required that he look elsewhere. With the help of Benedictine oblates Leon and Dorothea Smith, he located a suitable site in the Green Mountains of Vermont. [2]

The original building was an old abandoned farmhouse with an attached barn, a few miles from the village of Weston. The attached barn had been partially burned and was renovated to become the chapel. Abbot Leo engaged a Weston group to renovate the barn-chapel. A dilapidated chicken house behind the main house was renovated to become classroom, recreation room and dormitory for novices. [3]

In a small book titled The Silent Life, published in 1957 Thomas Merton refers to Weston Priory as a new Benedictine foundation of "the Primitive Observance". The priory was in fact one of several North American monasteries in the renewal movement that preceded Vatican Council II. Thomas Merton considered Weston to be one of only a handful that was dedicated to Benedictine renewal, including the rediscovery of "choir monks," educated monks who prayed the full Liturgy of the Hours, yet not being priests. [2]

The Weston community became increasingly dedicated to the peace and social justice movements. The abbey bonded with a group of Benedictine nuns in Mexico, establishing a retreat center in Cuernavaca to raise consciousness among North Americans of their southern neighbors. Through the monastery's relationships with senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, they have tried to bring more attention to the plight of the poor in Mexico. [4] The priory was, in the 1980s, one of several hundred churches and religious organizations that pledged to provide for refugees seeking homes in the United States. [5]

Music and artwork

In the 1960s, the brothers of Weston Priory began writing their own music for liturgical use. Their music has become well known throughout the world. [6]

The monks maintain gardens, livestock, and a book store with items produced by the brothers. Several pieces of the pottery produced at the monastery are held by museums, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. [7]

Notable members

Abbot Leo Rudloff, at that time Abbot of Dormition Abbey, was named to the pre-Vatican Council Commission that included the quest for reconciliation between Christians and Jews. When he retired as abbot in Jerusalem, the abbot journeyed to his foundation in Weston and was known as Brother Leo. Other well-known community members have included ceramic artist Brother Thomas (Thomas Bezanson) and Gregory Norbet, the composer of much of the community's earlier music. Author Tomie dePaola was briefly a member in 1956. [8]

Awards

In July 1992, the Weston Priory Community was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in Sherborn, Massachusetts, for its reception of the Guatemalan Refugee family, Elena and Felipe Ixcot and their five children. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedictines</span> Catholic monastic order

The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery</span> Complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplace(s) of monks or nuns

A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary, and outlying granges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Angel Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Saint Benedict, Oregon

Mount Angel Abbey is a Catholic monastery of Benedictine monks located in Saint Benedict, Oregon, northeast of Salem, it was established 142 years ago in 1882 from Engelberg Abbey, in Switzerland. The abbey, located on the top of Mount Angel, a 485-foot-high butte (148 m), has its own post office separate from the city of Mt. Angel. As of 2021, the abbey is home to approximately 51 monks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Meinrad Archabbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Ferdinand, Indiana

Saint Meinrad Archabbey is a Catholic monastery in Spencer County, Indiana, US, was founded by monks from Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland on March 21, 1854, and is home to approximately 79 monks. The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is also located on the premises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hirsau Abbey</span> Benedictine abbey in Germany

Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of Baden-Württemberg. In the 11th and 12th century, the monastery was a centre of the Cluniac Reforms, implemented as "Hirsau Reforms" in the German lands by William of Hirsau. The complex was devastated during the War of the Palatine Succession in 1692 and not rebuilt. The ruins served as a quarry for a period of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beuronese Congregation</span> Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation

The Beuronese Congregation, or Beuron Congregation, is a union of mostly German or German-speaking monasteries of both monks and nuns within the Benedictine Confederation. The congregation stands under the patronage of Martin of Tours, who is the patron saint of the Archabbey of Beuron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maredsous Abbey</span> Belgian Benedictine monastery

Maredsous Abbey is a Benedictine monastery at Maredsous, in the municipality of Anhée, Wallonia, Belgium. It is a founding member of the Annunciation Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard van Caloen</span> Roman Catholic bishop (1853–1932)

Gerard van Caloen (1853–1932) was a Belgian Benedictine liturgist, missionary, monastic founder, abbot, and bishop. He was rector of the abbey school at Maredsous, where in 1882 he published the Missel des Fidèles, the first French-Latin missal. He also introduced British-style association football to the school. In 1886, he was professor of liturgy at the College of Sant'Anselmo in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ligugé Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in France

Ligugé Abbey, formally called the Abbey of St. Martin of Ligugé, is a French Benedictine monastery in the Commune of Ligugé, located in the Department of Vienne. Dating to the 4th century, it is the site of one of the earliest monastic foundations in France. The original abbey having been destroyed during the French Revolution, the current monastic community dates from 1853, and belongs to the Solesmes Congregation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Pothier</span>

Dom Joseph Pothier, O.S.B. (1835–1923) was a worldwide known French prelate, liturgist and scholar who reconstituted the Gregorian chant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prosper Guéranger</span> French Benedictine abbot (1805–1875)

Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger was a French priest and Benedictine monk, who served for nearly 40 years as the abbot of the monastery of Solesmes. Through the new Abbey of Solesmes, he became the founder of the French Benedictine Congregation, which re-established Benedictine monastic life in France after it had been wiped out by the French Revolution. Guéranger was the author of The Liturgical Year, a popular commentary which covers every day of the Catholic Church's liturgical cycles in 15 volumes. He was well regarded by Pope Pius IX, and was a proponent of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and of papal infallibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Louis Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Creve Coeur, Missouri

The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis is an abbey of the Catholic English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) located in Creve Coeur, in St. Louis County, Missouri in the United States. The Abbey is an important presence in the spiritual life of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The monks of the Abbey live their faith according to the Benedictine discipline of 'prayer and work', praying the Divine Office five times daily, celebrating daily Masses in English and Latin, and working in the two parishes under their pastoral care and in the Saint Louis Priory School, which the Abbey runs as an apostolate. The Abbey and its school sit on a 150-acre (0.61 km2) campus in west St. Louis County, in the city of Creve Coeur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prinknash Abbey</span> Roman Catholic monastery in Gloucester, UK

Prinknash Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery in the Vale of Gloucester in the Diocese of Clifton, near the village of Cranham. It belongs to the English Province of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation, which is itself part of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation. It is noted for its manufacturing of incense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Matthias' Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Trier, Germany

St. Matthias' Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Haid</span> American Benedictine abbot and Catholic bishop

Leo Haid was an American Benedictine abbot and Catholic bishop, who served as the abbot of the Abbey of Mary Help of Christians, in Belmont, North Carolina, from 1885 to 1924. He also served as vicar apostolic of North Carolina from 1888 to 1910 and territorial abbot from 1910 to 1924.

The Abbey of St. Maurus is a Tanzanian Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien in Hanga, Ruvuma Region. Established in 1956 by Abbot-Bishop Eberhard Spiess as a formation house for African monastic candidates, the monastery is currently home to 122 monks. The abbey operates schools and a dispensary for the people of the local village and a seminary for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation of the Annunciation</span> Belgian Benedictine Catholic congregation

The Congregation of the Annunciation, formerly known as the Belgian Congregation, is a congregation of monasteries within the Roman Catholic Benedictine Confederation. Founded in 1920, the Congregation includes fifteen independent male monasteries spread throughout ten countries. Additionally, two female monasteries are members of the Congregation, while a further ten are affiliated with the Congregation.

Abadía de San Benito, Luján, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, is a Benedictine monastery of the Cono-Sur Congregation. Originally established in Buenos Aires, the monastery became an abbey in 1950 and later transferred to the outskirts of Luján. As of 2020, the monastery was home to 13 monks, under the leadership of Abbot P. Jorge Moran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Paul's Abbey, Oosterhout</span>

St. Paul's Abbey, Oosterhout, also Oosterhout Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Oosterhout, North Brabant, the Netherlands.

References

  1. "Abbot Leo Rudloff, 80, Dies At Weston Priory in Vermont". The New York Times. 20 August 1982. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Sadler, A.W. (March 1976). "Between Fieldwork and Theory: World View and Virtuosity in a Monastic Community". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 3 (1). Nanzan University. doi: 10.18874/jjrs.3.1.1976.41-62 .
  3. Hammond, John, Brother (2005). A Benedictine legacy of peace : the life of Abbot Leo A. Rudloff. Weston, VT: Weston Priory. ISBN   0-9763005-0-8. OCLC   62933415.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Burke, John Francis (Summer 2012). "Review: CONFRONTING AMERICAN ATROCITIES". The Review of Politics. 74 (3). Cambridge University Press: 543–546. doi:10.1017/s0034670512000599.
  5. "Around the Nation; Officials May Overlook Caravan of Refugees". The New York Times. 22 March 1984. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  6. Sanger, David E. (21 September 1997). "Vermont's Subtly Shaded Towns". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  7. "Department of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture". The Museum Year: Annual Report of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 105. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 1 January 1981.
  8. "Obituary".
  9. "The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List".