Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek
Encyclopedia
Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Abbey or Clear Creek Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey in the Ozark Mountains near Hulbert, Oklahoma
.
Clear Creek Abbey was founded in 1999 by monks from the Abbey of Fontgombault
, France
, itself founded in 1091. Monastic life at Fontgombault was re-established in 1948 by monks of the Solesmes Congregation
, which has 760 monks in 31 monasteries, mostly in Europe. Clear Creek is the second monastery of the Solesmes Congregation in the United States; the first is a house of nuns at Westfield, Vermont
.
Clear Creek Abbey, which in February 2010 gained Abbey status, uses the 1962 Roman Missal
. The choir is well-known for its Gregorian chant
. Its first abbot
, as of 2010, is Dom Philip Anderson, who had been the prior when the abbey was a priory. He comments, "We just follow the old monastic life. We pray, worship and do manual labor and give counseling to people... There's a whole culture war going on and a series of disappointments with the Catholic Church in America. People look to this monastery as a new beginning, as a new element that has a solid backing in a long tradition of monastic life."
Clear Creek is currently actively recruiting, as it looks to expand from 22 monks (as of 2003) to its full capacity of 60-70. The monastery is also actively fundraising, having raised $4 million (as of 2003) of a target of $32 million.
. Until the church is finished, services will be held in the crypt. It became an abbey in February of 2010.
Hulbert, Oklahoma
Hulbert is a town in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States, named after Ben H. Hulbert, a promiment Cherokee Indian. The population was 543 at the 2000 census. Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Monastery is a Benedictine Monastery located in Hulbert...
.
Clear Creek Abbey was founded in 1999 by monks from the Abbey of Fontgombault
Fontgombault Abbey
Fontgombault Abbey is a Benedictine monastery of the Solesmes Congregation located in Fontgombault in the département of Indre, in the province of Berry, France.-History:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, itself founded in 1091. Monastic life at Fontgombault was re-established in 1948 by monks of the Solesmes Congregation
Solesmes Congregation
The Solesmes Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation was founded in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI as the French Benedictine Congregation, with the newly reopened monastery of Solesmes Abbey under Dom Prosper Guéranger at its head. The Congregation's first nunnery was St...
, which has 760 monks in 31 monasteries, mostly in Europe. Clear Creek is the second monastery of the Solesmes Congregation in the United States; the first is a house of nuns at Westfield, Vermont
Westfield, Vermont
Westfield is a town in Orleans County, Vermont in the United States. The population was 503 at the 2000 census. It is the least densely populated town in the county...
.
Clear Creek Abbey, which in February 2010 gained Abbey status, uses the 1962 Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
. The choir is well-known for its Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
. Its first abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
, as of 2010, is Dom Philip Anderson, who had been the prior when the abbey was a priory. He comments, "We just follow the old monastic life. We pray, worship and do manual labor and give counseling to people... There's a whole culture war going on and a series of disappointments with the Catholic Church in America. People look to this monastery as a new beginning, as a new element that has a solid backing in a long tradition of monastic life."
Clear Creek is currently actively recruiting, as it looks to expand from 22 monks (as of 2003) to its full capacity of 60-70. The monastery is also actively fundraising, having raised $4 million (as of 2003) of a target of $32 million.
Origins
The monastery can trace its roots to the Abbey of Fontgombault in France. Many young American Catholic men, seeking to live the full Benedictine life, went to monasteries throughout France in the late 1970s and 1980s, most notably to Fontgombault. In 1999, these same men, now monks from Fontgombault, established a community near Hulbert, Oklahoma, at the invitation of Bishop Edward James SlatteryEdward James Slattery
Edward James Slattery is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the third and current bishop of Tulsa.-Early life:...
. Until the church is finished, services will be held in the crypt. It became an abbey in February of 2010.
External links
- Clear Creek Monastery official website
- Official website of the Abbey of Randol, another offshoot of Fontgombault
- Thomas Gordon Smith Architects: building the monastery
- 2003 Washington Times Article on the monastery
- Article about the founding of the monastery
- Another article about the monastery's beginnings
- Article about the Kansas professors whose students founded the monastery
- Article about their educational approach.
- Tulsa World article on Brother Joseph-Marie Owen raising sheep