11 August
2018
Saint
Meinrad Abby located in southern Indiana is a very large campus with a
beautiful cathedral founded in the mid 1800’s by a group of Benedictine monks
to support a growing number of German speaking settlers. The abbey is named
after a monk who died in 961. The abbey normally has under one hundred monks in
residence.
Today it is
one of only two Archabbeys in the United States. It also has a seminary school, other students
and a guest house for conferences and those who just want to spend time at the
abbey. Our guide was a monk who has
lived at the abbey for 66 years. He
provided a tour of all public spaces in the abbey along with an explanation on
how the monks live and work in the abbey. He noted that their primary duties
are daily prayers and attending mass 37 times a week. He was very informative and clearly had a
sense of humor in responding to various questions.
The grounds
The abbey
Main chapel
Monks
meeting room
The
decorations in the meeting room depict biblical scenes and the history and
practices of the monks in times past and present
Small chapel
After the Abby
tour we headed to the nearby Monastery of the Immaculate Conception. It was not open for tours when we arrived, so
we drove around a bit and discovered a beer hall directly behind the monastery buildings. Since it was open, we headed in to check it
out. I was surprised at how busy it was.
The beer was good, and our friend had a good time chatting up some of the
people at our table. I could not
determine how many of the lady’s present might have been nuns.
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