I N F O R M A T I O N
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- Building project: the Final Piece
P U B L I C A T I O N S
- The Abbey Letter
- Singing God's Praises
- The Abbey Calendar
- Born In The Darkest Time Of Year
- Tools For Peace
- Order Abbey publications online
A R T I C L E S
- St. Gregory's Abbey and Benedictine Monasticism
- The Rule of St. Benedict as a Guide to Catholicity
- A Review of Two Recent Books on the Rule of St. Benedict
C O N T A C T S
St. Benedict, who lived in the sixth century, was a man who sought and
loved God and made the service of God his one aim. His Rule, famed for its
discretion, shows its author to have been endowed with common sense and a
serious but affectionate disposition.
Half a century after St. Benedict's death, St. Augustine of
Canterbury, a monk sent by St. Gregory the Great, was establishing
monasteries in England to evangelize the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Throughout
Europe a great company of men a women who followed St. Benedict's Rule
helped to rescue western civilization from barbarian chaos and to lay its
Christian foundation.
Our holy father mapped out a straight course to God, as pertinent in
these days of turmoil as when he composed it in a war-torn century. The
secret of his abiding spirit is the love of God and of men for God's sake,
requiring a disciplined life lived by the spacious doctrine "That in all
things God may be glorified." Followers of St. Benedict are known not so
much by what they attempt to do, but by what, God helping them, they try
to be.
Christian Pioneers How We Live A Persistent Desire Giving and Receiving
Guests Are Welcome
In 1935 the future Dom Paul Severance led a group of American
Episcopalians to England to be trained by the Anglican Benedictines of
Nashdom Abbey at Burnham in Buckinghamshire. In due course some of this
group returned to the States, became life-professed monks (making their
Benedictine vows of Obedience, Conversion of Life, and Stability) and in
1939 formed St. Gregory's House, which shortly became St. Gregory's
Priory, at Valparaiso, Indiana.
The monks initially gained their subsistence by accepting the charge
of three mission churches in Northern Indiana under Bishop Campbell Gray.
His successor, Bishop Reginald Mallett, became visitor of the community,
which in 1946 moved to a rural setting near Three Rivers, Michigan. Since
then, St. Gregory's has been blessed with substantial growth. The heroic
offering of Dom Paul, his suffering, and his death in 1949, played a large
part in the firm establishment of the community.
For 30 years, the monastery was a dependency of Nashdom Abbey and
relied on the careful shepherding of its abbots: at first, Abbot Martin
Collett and later, Abbot Augustine Morris. In 1969 St. Gregory's became an
independent abbey, and the community's Prior, Benedict Reid, was elected
first Abbot. In 1989, having served 34 years as superior, he resigned,
and Abbot Andrew Marr was elected his successor.
You will see our schedule below. The monastery housework
is done by the monks, and in season there is a good deal of outside work
such as landscaping, gardening, and grounds maintenance.
The mind as well as the body labors. There are classes for the monks;
letters to answer; and sermons, retreats, and special ministries to
prepare for. Members of the community minister occasionally in parish
churches and in other religious houses, and private or group retreats are
conducted at the Abbey. External activities are incidental to the normal
life of a monk, and he engages in them as a kind of overflow. Their
frequency is regulated by the necessity of preserving Benedictine family
life.
Work, study and prayer are our main activities, and of these, prayer is
the chief. At the center of each day is the Conventual (Family) Eucharist
in its setting of the Divine Office. Here is focussed our total offering,
which is united to the offering of our Lord in His Holy Sacrifice.
Perhaps God is calling you to offer yourself to Him in the Benedictine
way of life, The cornerstone of a Religious vocation is the desire to give
oneself to God, to draw near to Him and become more and more consistently
His. If this desire grows and persists, it must lead to practical attempts
to reshape one's whole life. This reshaping follows from a sure conviction
that Christ has removed the essential barrier between God and us. Only
from such a conviction can we grapple with our faults and temptations.
St. Benedict laid down four spiritual requirements for an aspirant: 1)
that he be truly seeking God; 2) that he be eager for the "Work of God,"
the Divine Office; 3) that he be eager for obedience; and 4) that he
welcome the humiliations (necessary because of our egoism) that comes in
its exercise. In addition we require that the aspirant: be a communicant
of the Episcopal Church in good standing; be free from debt, marital or
other contractual obligation; furnish medical, optical, and dental
certificates showing good health; have, in most cases, at least two years
of college level study or service or work experience of some kind behind
him; and normally be at least 21 years of age, but not over 40. We also
require that the aspirant spend at least two weeks in the Abbey's Summer
Vocation Program before any decision is taken.
If he is accepted into the community, he is a postulant for
approximately six months and after that a novice for approximately two
years. Then, with the approval of the senior members of the community, he
may make temporary vows for a period of at least three years until, by
mutual agreement between him and the seniors, perpetual vows bind him to
the monastery for life.
St. Gregory's has no fixed source of income and depends on a variety
of sources of support including gifts of those who wish to support the
monastic life in the Episcopal Church, the donations of guests, income
from the Abbey's lands, and stipends from occasional outside engagements.
Along with all Christians we live by faith and an honest offering of our
services for peoples needs.
Members of the Abbey's confraternity are men and women with a special
interest in supporting the life of the monastery. Details of membership may
be had on request. The Community publishes the Abbey Letter, which is sent
free for the asking.
We welcome guests whenever accommodations are available; the Guest
Master will help with the necessary advance arrangements. Information
about the Summer Vocation Program can be had from the Vocations Director.
The Father Abbot may be addressed concerning other matters. The Abbey's
address is:
56500 Abbey Road
Three Rivers, MI 49093-9595
Our Schedule
Weekdays
4:00am Matins
6:00am Lauds
Breakfast (at any time after Matins until 7:30)
8:15am Terce, Mass, Chapter, Work Period
11:30am Sext (and Choir Rehearsal)
12:00pm Lunch
Rest Period
2:00pm None
Work Period
4:30pm Tea
5:00pm Vespers and Meditation
6:00pm Supper
7:45pm Compline
(On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the monks read Compline privately, rather than corporately in the Church. Compline is at 8:00 on ordinary Wednesdays)
Sundays and Holidays
5:30am Matins and Lauds
Breakfast (any time until 7:45)
8:30am Terce, Mass, Chapter (Chapter after Lauds on Sun.)
12:00pm Sext and None
12:30pm Lunch
Rest Period
4:00pm Tea
5:00pm Vespers and Meditation
6:30pm Supper
7:45 Compline
If you are interested in visiting the Abbey, please contact the Guestmaster by phone, regular mail, or e-mail. Guest information is also available online. The address for the Abbey is 56500 Abbey Road, Three Rivers, MI 49093-9595. The phone number is (269)244-5893 - please call either from 9:30 am -11:30 am or from 2:15 pm - 4:30 pm (Eastern time zone) Monday through Saturday (except major Feasts).