Saint Louis Abbey
Encyclopedia
The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis is an abbey
of the Roman Catholic English Benedictine Congregation
(EBC) located in St. Louis County, Missouri
USA. 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 (0.607029 km²) campus in west St. Louis County, in the city of Creve Coeur.
of the Benedictine Ampleforth Abbey
in North Yorkshire
, England
, which dispatched three monks to plant a new foundation in St. Louis. They came at the invitation of Cardinal
Joseph E. Ritter and a group of prominent St. Louis lay Catholics, who desired a boys' school in their community run according to the English Benedictine educational tradition. Those original three monks, Father Columba Cary-Elwes
, Fr. (later Abbot
) Luke Rigby, and Fr. Timothy Horner, arrived in St. Louis in the summer of 1955 and set about the formation of a new monastic community, with Fr. Columba serving as the community's founding prior
and Fr. Timothy serving as the Priory School's founding headmaster.
Fr. Columba served as prior until 1967, when he departed for missionary work in Africa, and was succeeded in his post by Fr. Luke. The St. Louis Priory, as it then was, became independent of Ampleforth in 1973, and was elevated to an abbey in 1989. At this time, Fr. Luke Rigby was elected to be the first Abbot of Saint Louis Abbey. He was in turn succeeded by Fr. Thomas Frerking, OSB
, a Rhodes Scholar, former Headmaster of the Priory School and Thomist scholar, who was elected to serve as Abbot on July 12, 1995.
Construction of the distinctive Abbey Church was completed in 1962, and the original 1950s monastery was rebuilt and expanded in 2000–2001. The various buildings of the Priory School also sit on the Abbey grounds; the current Lower House was constructed in the 1960s, and served as the Upper House at the time of its completion. The current Upper House was completed in several stages built from the 1970s through the 1990s.
brothers and 4 brothers in simple vow
s, as well as a claustral oblate and several novices. It is the largest American house of the EBC.
In addition to their other duties and ministries, many of the brothers are directly involved in the Abbey's school, teaching classes in most areas of instruction including Theology, Latin, Fine Arts, English, Mathematics, and Science, and coaching sporting teams including Tennis and Rugby.
In line with the Benedictine tradition of offering hospitality and respite to travelers, the Abbey maintains a guest wing on the south side of the monastery with five rooms and two gardens. The brethren make themselves available to guests to hear confessions or provide counsel.
The Abbey Church, also known as the Church of St. Mary and St. Louis and the Priory Chapel, was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
(HOK), with the Italian architect and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi
serving as consultant. The Abbey Church was an important landmark and name-making project for HOK, now the world's largest architectural practice (according to the 2006 edition of the BD World Architecture 200). The church's circular facade consists of three tiers of whitewashed, thin-poured concrete parabolic arches, the top one forming a bell-tower; the arches appear to float upwards from their grassy base. They are faced with dark insulated-fiberglass polyester window walls which create a meditative translucency when viewed from within. The church also contains a 14th century sculpture of the Madonna and Christ child, a 17th century holy font in the Della Robbia style, and more modern sacred art by artists from the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France. On the grounds outside the church sit life-size sculptures of Saint Benedict, by Lithuanian-born artist Wiktor Szostalo
, and of the Virgin Mary, the "Holy Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, Our Lady of Grace" by American sculptor Philip Howie.
The Abbey Church serves as the home of the Archdiocesan parish of Saint Anselm
. Monks of the abbey serve as pastor and associate pastor in the parish.
Additionally, the Abbey is responsible for the pastoral care of the Oratory
of Saints Gregory
and Augustine
, the rector
of which is Fr. Bede Price, OSB. The Oratory is one of two non-territorial parishes of the Archdiocese of St. Louis that offer daily celebrations of the Tridentine Latin Mass
according to the 1962 Missale Romanum. Services are currently held on the Abbey grounds, in the chapel of St. Anselm's parish center.
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of the Roman Catholic English Benedictine Congregation
English Benedictine Congregation
The English Benedictine Congregation comprises autonomous Roman Catholic Benedictine communities of monks and nuns and is technically the oldest of the 21 congregations that are affiliated in the Benedictine Confederation....
(EBC) located in St. Louis County, Missouri
St. Louis County, Missouri
St. Louis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its county seat is Clayton. St. Louis County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area wherein the independent City of St. Louis and its suburbs in St. Louis County, as well as the surrounding counties in both Missouri and Illinois all...
USA. 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
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
five times daily, celebrating daily Masses
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
in English and Latin, and working in the two parishes under their pastoral care and in the Saint Louis Priory School
Saint Louis Priory School
The Saint Louis Priory School, a Roman Catholic secondary day school for boys, is located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, within the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school is run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey as part of their religious ministry.- History :The school was...
, which the Abbey runs as an apostolate. The Abbey and its school sit on a 150 acre (0.607029 km²) campus in west St. Louis County, in the city of Creve Coeur.
History
Saint Louis Abbey was founded in 1955 as a prioryPriory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
of the Benedictine Ampleforth Abbey
Ampleforth Abbey
Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine Monks in North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It claims descent from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the last surviving monk from Westminster Sigebert Buckley.The current Abbot is Fr...
in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, which dispatched three monks to plant a new foundation in St. Louis. They came at the invitation of Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Joseph E. Ritter and a group of prominent St. Louis lay Catholics, who desired a boys' school in their community run according to the English Benedictine educational tradition. Those original three monks, Father Columba Cary-Elwes
Columba Cary-Elwes
Evelyn Charles Cary-Elwes , professed a monk as Dom Columba Cary-Elwes, OSB, of Ampleforth Abbey in York, England. As a missionary he traveled to Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya and is the author of numerous books on Christianity...
, Fr. (later 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...
) Luke Rigby, and Fr. Timothy Horner, arrived in St. Louis in the summer of 1955 and set about the formation of a new monastic community, with Fr. Columba serving as the community's founding prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
and Fr. Timothy serving as the Priory School's founding headmaster.
Fr. Columba served as prior until 1967, when he departed for missionary work in Africa, and was succeeded in his post by Fr. Luke. The St. Louis Priory, as it then was, became independent of Ampleforth in 1973, and was elevated to an abbey in 1989. At this time, Fr. Luke Rigby was elected to be the first Abbot of Saint Louis Abbey. He was in turn succeeded by Fr. Thomas Frerking, OSB
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
, a Rhodes Scholar, former Headmaster of the Priory School and Thomist scholar, who was elected to serve as Abbot on July 12, 1995.
Construction of the distinctive Abbey Church was completed in 1962, and the original 1950s monastery was rebuilt and expanded in 2000–2001. The various buildings of the Priory School also sit on the Abbey grounds; the current Lower House was constructed in the 1960s, and served as the Upper House at the time of its completion. The current Upper House was completed in several stages built from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Notable Brethren
- The Rt. Rev. Columba Cary-Elwes, OSB, an author, monastic leader and former titular Abbot of WestminsterWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, was the founding prior (1955–1967) of the Abbey. - Fr. Timothy Horner, OSB, served as an editor for the widely used 1980 edition of the Rule of Saint Benedict, and has published an account of the founding of the Abbey and its school, In Good Soil.
- Fr. Ralph Wright, OSB, the Abbey's vocational director, is an accomplished poet, author and translator whose works include a reflection on the EucharistEucharistThe Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
in poems and prose entitled Our Daily Bread, and whose translation efforts include the English edition of The Joy of Believing, a collection of the writings of the French mystic Madeleine DelbrêlMadeleine DelbrêlMadeleine Delbrêl was a French Catholic author, poet, and mystic, whose works include The Marxist City as Mission Territory , The Contemporary Forms of Atheism , and the posthumous publications We, the Ordinary People of the Streets and The Joy of Believing . She came to the Catholic faith after...
.
Present day
As of March 2010, St. Louis Abbey is home to a community of 23 solemnly professedReligious vows
Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices and views.In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by...
brothers and 4 brothers in simple vow
Simple vow
In Roman Catholic canon law, a simple vow is any vow, public or private, individual or collective, concerned with an action or with abstaining from an action, if that vow has not been recognized by the Church as a solemn vow....
s, as well as a claustral oblate and several novices. It is the largest American house of the EBC.
In addition to their other duties and ministries, many of the brothers are directly involved in the Abbey's school, teaching classes in most areas of instruction including Theology, Latin, Fine Arts, English, Mathematics, and Science, and coaching sporting teams including Tennis and Rugby.
In line with the Benedictine tradition of offering hospitality and respite to travelers, the Abbey maintains a guest wing on the south side of the monastery with five rooms and two gardens. The brethren make themselves available to guests to hear confessions or provide counsel.
The Abbey Church, also known as the Church of St. Mary and St. Louis and the Priory Chapel, was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
HOK is a global architecture, interiors, engineering, planning and consulting firm. HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm and the "No. 1 role model for sustainable and high-performance design." HOK also is the second-largest interior design firm...
(HOK), with the Italian architect and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi was an Italian engineer. He studied at the University of Bologna and qualified in 1913. Dr. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946-61...
serving as consultant. The Abbey Church was an important landmark and name-making project for HOK, now the world's largest architectural practice (according to the 2006 edition of the BD World Architecture 200). The church's circular facade consists of three tiers of whitewashed, thin-poured concrete parabolic arches, the top one forming a bell-tower; the arches appear to float upwards from their grassy base. They are faced with dark insulated-fiberglass polyester window walls which create a meditative translucency when viewed from within. The church also contains a 14th century sculpture of the Madonna and Christ child, a 17th century holy font in the Della Robbia style, and more modern sacred art by artists from the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France. On the grounds outside the church sit life-size sculptures of Saint Benedict, by Lithuanian-born artist Wiktor Szostalo
Wiktor Szostalo
Wiktor Szostalo is a Polish sculptor who currently resides in the United States. He works in a variety of media, most notably welded stainless steel, wood, and bronze.-Early life:...
, and of the Virgin Mary, the "Holy Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, Our Lady of Grace" by American sculptor Philip Howie.
The Abbey Church serves as the home of the Archdiocesan parish of Saint Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
. Monks of the abbey serve as pastor and associate pastor in the parish.
Additionally, the Abbey is responsible for the pastoral care of the Oratory
Oratory (worship)
An oratory is a Christian room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.-Catholic church:In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass...
of Saints Gregory
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
and Augustine
Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
, the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of which is Fr. Bede Price, OSB. The Oratory is one of two non-territorial parishes of the Archdiocese of St. Louis that offer daily celebrations of the Tridentine Latin Mass
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
according to the 1962 Missale Romanum. Services are currently held on the Abbey grounds, in the chapel of St. Anselm's parish center.