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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 20 Volume VI, Issue X September 1, 2002 Huntsville Abbey of the Holy Trinity—The first fifty years In the period immediately after World War II, many recently discharged servicemen began looking for religious peace. Not all those who entered monasteries were aware of the price in total detachment necessary for such peace. At the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, the monk Thomas Merton was busy writing glowing accounts of monastic life, accounts that were attractive but not always realistic. One result was a huge influx of candidates into Gethsemani and two other American Trappist monasteries. To relieve the pressure, Gethsemani’s first foundation was made in 1944 at Conyers, Georgia. Soon Gethsemani was bursting at the seams again, and it became necessary to consider another foundation. Dom Frederic Dunne, the abbot, preferred to make foundations in predominantly non-Catholic areas. Father Gerard McGinley of Gethsemani Abbey and future abbot of the Abbey of Genesee in western New York, wrote to his sister, a Benedictine nun at Saint Benedict’s Hospital in Ogden, Utah, telling of the plan to establish a second foundation. His sister suggested Utah as an ideal location because of the tiny number of Catholics in the predominantly “Mormon” state. At the invitation of Bishop Duane G. Hunts of Salt Lake City, Dom Frederic, dressed as a layman to conceal his identity, made several trips to Utah in order to find suitable property. After examining several locations that proved unsuitable for various reasons, Dom Frederic selected the Parke ranch, approximately eighteen miles east of Ogden and two miles from the small town of Huntsville, as an ideal site for the monastery. By this time, the identity of the buyer as a Catholic religious order had become known to the sellers. This posed no real problems, but there still remained the question of suitable buildings. The ranch included a small four-room brick house and several nondescript farm buildings. The only readily available building structures at the time were Quonset huts. A contractor was engaged to adapt these structures for monastic use. Before these could be erected, however, several former military barracks were trucked to the ranch as interim dwellings. The Quonset quadrangle was itself intended to serve only as a temporary monastery. Thirty-four founding monks, under the leadership of Father Maurice Lans, appointed as superior by Dom Frederic, left Gethsemani on July 7, 1947, and boarded a train in New Haven, Kentucky. The next morning, in their coach on a siding in the St. Louis station, the new community of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity, which was the title already decided upon for the Utah monastery, celebrated its first Mass, at which all the founders received communion. Thomas Merton, in the “The Waters of Siloe,” was quick to point out the significance of the date, July 8. On that very same day, the large and flourishing Abbey of Our Lady of Consolation in China was brutally destroyed by the communists; many of its members were tortured and killed. As Merton put it: “The blood of martyrs is proving to be the seed of Cistercians.” Years later a remnant of monks from Our Lady of Consolation spent several months at the Utah abbey sharpening their English-language skills before returning to their new Monastery of Our Lady of Joy on the island of Lantao near Hong Kong. The monks from Kentucky arrived in Ogden on July 10, and were quickly transported to the site of their new home near Huntsville. However, because the construction of the Quonset monastery had taken much Abbey of the Holy Trinity Prayer and Reading. Monks pray both in the privacy of their hearts and together as a community. They join in common prayer in the church seven times a day, chanting the Psalms of David. The most important prayer of the day is the community celebration of the Eucharist—or Mass, which is held at 6:25 a.m. on weekdays, and at 8:00 a.m. on Sundays and Holy Days. Eucharist or Mass. Reading of the scriptures, spiritual books and meditation goes on through the day. The study of other subjects, including philosophy, theology and a variety of topics is also part of the monks’ lives. The monastery has an extensive library. Work. Every monastery must support itself. The monastery’s chief source of income comes from the sale of honey, alfalfa hay and cattle. Trappist creamed and liquid honey are sold at the monastery store and by mail order. The working farm consists of about 700 acres of irrigated fields, which produce alfalfa and grass hay, and occasional cash crops such as wheat, barley, and oats. The remaining acreage is mainly rangeland. Visitors. Visitors are welcome to attend any of the worship services and/or spend some time in the church for private prayer. While we do not conduct tours of the monastery, there is a video which portrays the life of the monastery available for viewing at any time. Visitors may ask any question about the monastery from the person who is running the store. For men who wish to spend some time in soliturrrde and recollection at the monastery, they may do so by making a reservation with our guest master, either by letter or by telephone (801) 745-3784. Prayer and Chant Services Open to the Public 3:30 to 4:00 a.m. 6:00 to 6:25 a.m. 6:25 to 7:00 a.m. 7:45 to 7:55 a.m. 12:15 to 12:25 p.m. 2:15 to 2:25 p.m. 5:30 to 5:50 p.m. 7:30 to 7:45 p.m. Vigils—night time prayer Lauds, or morning prayer Eucharist or Mass (8:00 a.m. on Sundays and Holy Days) Terce Sext (noon prayers) None Vespers Compline (final, night prayers) The monastery gate entrance is locked shortly after 8:00 p.m., and opened around 5:00 a.m. The gift shop is open Monday through Saturday, from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.; and again from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. longer than anticipated, it was not until October 15, 1948 that the community was able to leave the temporary barracks and move into the Quonset building. The monks busied themselves with the task of finishing the interior, and continued their labors in developing the 1640-acre farm that, in later years, was enlarged by the purchase of several hundred contiguous acres. Growth and Consolidation The community grew rapidly— some thought too rapidly. The first postulant, a young man from New York who had made a retreat at Gethsemani, came the day after the community’s own arrival. At the height of expansion in the mid-1950’s the community had more than doubled its original size, but most of these members were postulants or novices who, for one reason or another, eventually decided to pursue their vocations in life elsewhere. Dom Maurice was elected as the community’s first abbot. He received the abbatial blessing on January 22, 1949. Because of the community’s deceptively rapid growth, Dom Maurice was eager to build a permanent monastery of local stone large enough to house two hundred monks. Subsequent events made it fortunate that he had been unable to realize his dream. Over the year the community was greatly reduced in size by deaths, departures, and a noticeable decrease in vocations, especially during and after the 1960’s, a decrease that became common throughout large portions of the Catholic world. The pool of possible candidates was further diluted by the establishment within a decade of three other Trappist monasteries in the western United States. After a prolonged illness, Dom Maurice died on August 10, 1955. On August 26, the community postulated Father Bellarmine McQuiston to succeed Dom Maurice as abbot. Father Bellarmine, a Jesuit for almost thirty years, had been a Trappist for less than six years and a member of the Huntsville community for only two. Due, therefore, to Father Bellarmine’s comparatively brief monastic experience, Dom James Fox, the abbot of Gethsemani and interim administrator of Holy Trinity Abbey, appointed him only as a temporary superior. Poor health, however, forced Dom Bellarmine to resign the following year, and Father Emmanuel Spillane was appointed to replace him. Only July 16, 1958, after another postulation on the part of the community, he was blessed as second abbot of Holy Trinity abbey by Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal of Salt Lake City. Change and Renewal The Second Vatican council (196265) brought about profound changes in the Catholic Church and in religious life, changes that are still being felt today. The essential doctrines of the Church remained the same, of course, but the manner in which they are forMONASTERY cont. on page 21 |