Subiaco Abbey and Academy

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History

In 1877, the Abbot of St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana, Martin Marty, negotiated with an agent of the LR&FS (Little Rock and Fort Smith) Railroad Company for convert|640|acre|km2 in Arkansas for the establishment of a Benedictine monastery for men and an additional convert|100|acre|km2 for the foundation of a monastery for Benedictine women. This agreement received the blessing of Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rock, Arkansas, who was in need of German-speaking priests for his diocese.

The original foundation of the abbey was made on March 15, 1878, upon the arrival of three monk-missionaries from St. Meinrad Archabbey. Due to financial and personnel difficulties, St. Meinrad Archabbey requested assistance. In the fall of 1887, the Einsiedeln Abbey, Switzerland sent eight novices and a priest-monk to Subiaco. The monk, Gall D'Aujourd'hui, is an important figure in the history of Subiaco Abbey, along with Fr. Wolfgang Schlumpf, one of the original monk-missionaries from St. Meinrad.

In 1891, the name of the abbey was changed from "St. Benedict's Priory" to "Subiaco". The third Abbot of Subiaco, Paul Nahlen, obtained Pope Pius XII's blessing for the construction of the present church on the campus. This act is depicted in one of the 182 stained-glass frescoes that adorn the St. Benedict Abbey Church on the campus.

Over the years, the Benedictine monks at Subiaco have pursued various spiritual, agricultural, and commercial endeavors. First were missionary works, then the establishment of Subiaco Academy, a university-preparatory school. (The mascot and moniker of the student body is "Trojan"). This enterprise is successful and continues to the present. The abbey maintained a dairy operation, but that effort was abandoned in 1964 with an open auction of the dairy cattle. Currently, the abbey is successfully pursuing the breeding of purebred Black Angus cattle, the cultivation of grapes and other fruits, as well as cattle feed crops (hay) and long-lived stands of timber. The abbey also maintains an electronic commerce website where products made at the abbey are sold. The products consist primarily of candy and food seasonings.

There is a legend of a ghostley monk named "Patrick" that haunts the main chapel of the church; Patrick was a monk that was sent to the abbey from Chicago in the early years after the building of the abbey. Patrick was a Benedictine monk and caregiver of the sick and ailing.

Coury House Retreat Center

Subiaco provides accommodation for friends of the abbey, family members of academy students, and in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, anyone who comes in peace. Visitor accommodations are made at the Coury House Retreat Center, an hotel-like establishment on the campus that provides room and board to visitors--including married couples--who wish to experience the spiritual renewal and solitude of the Subiaco Abbey and campus.

Notable Alumni

*Frank Stanford, poet
*Harvey Wheeler, writer and co-author of Fail-Safe

ee also

*Subiaco, Italy
*Einsiedeln Abbey
*St. Meinrad Archabbey

References

* [http://www.subi.org/history.htm Subiaco's History] . Accessed 11 December 2005.

External links

* [http://www.subi.org Subiaco Abbey and Academy homepage]