Abbot's Archives

On September 24th the assembled abbots in Rome elected Abbot Jeremias Schroder as the 11th Abbot Primate of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation. His term of office is eight years. Abbot Primate Jeremias is from the Abbey of Saint Ottilien in Germany. He is fluent...

This week and next, two-hundred twenty Benedictine superiors, being abbots or Priors, are gathered in Rome for the Congress of Abbots, normally held every four years, and always in the Eternal City. The place of meeting is at the Abbey of Sant'Anselmo, the flagship of...

Beginning Sunday, September 8th, the Abbey of Montserrat in Spain is celebrating one thousand years of existence. The jubilee year will include numerous events, though I'm not sure of what they all are. The multitudes of pilgrims who come here every day attest to the...

On the morning of Thursday, September 5th, Father Ignasi Fossas, OSB, a monk of Montserrat Abbey in Catalonia, was elected Abbot President of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. His time of office will be eight years. The General Chapter of our Congregation, currently...

The General Chapter of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation continues at the Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat in Spain. Abbot Christian and seventy other abbots and delegates continue to work on revisions of the Constitutions of our Congregation, to better reflect...

Abbot Christian and seventy other Benedictine abbots and elected monk-delegates from around the world are currently assembled at the Abbey of Montserrat in Spain for the General Chapter of our Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. The General Chapter began on August 30th...

For many years now, several Rose of Sharon bushes have been blooming each August outside our monastery church, as today's photo shows. The technical name of the flower is Hibiscus syriacus. Despite the popular name, the flower is not a rose, but as its technical name...

Mr. Squirrel outside the Abbot’s office seems to be looking toward the rising sun with some trepidation, realizing that the days are growing shorter and winter will be here before he knows it. It’s important to have a supply of food on hand for the colder months, of...

As promised, here is a photo of our Chama Canyon Wilderness, taken recently from the front of our church, looking toward the Chama River to the west. Generous rains of late have provided us with much green pastureland and around the Monastery in general. The rainy or...

Guests on retreat here are often amazed at the temperature fluctuations between day and night time in our high desert setting. At this time of year, daytime temperatures can climb to the mid-90s, and by morning, down to the high 50s. Thankfully, humidity is very low...

For those who may be calling us or trying to leave a voice message, the phones here are down until some time next week, due to repairs underway by the satellite provider we use. It is possible to "leave a message," but in fact the message is not being recorded nor...

Our cloister garden always has roses blooming during the Summer months, and the one in today's photo is in full bloom just hours before the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated this Thursday, August 15th. One of Mary's most popular titles...

Of late we have been blessed with rainfall, turning our Chama Canyon and cloister garden, pictured in today's photo, into almost-Irish lush green. It won't last forever, but certainly is being enjoyed for the time being. Another forest fire in Chama Canyon has been...

We are very happy to have eight new pews in the guest section of our monastery church. The pews were produced by the same company in Mexico, EVOS, in San Miguel de Allende, that made our choir stalls for the monks ten years ago. The guest pews match well the design,...