Abbey of the Holy Spirit - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, officially called "Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery" is a Roman Catholic monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

near Conyers

Conyers, Georgia

Conyers is the only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, USA. It is twenty-four miles east of Atlanta. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,689. Census estimates of 2005 indicate a population of 12,205. The city is the county seat of Rockdale County. By 2009, the reported population was...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

belonging to the world-wide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.) – more commonly known as Trappist

TRAPPIST

TRAPPIST is Belgian robotic telescope in Chile which came online in 2010, and is an acronym for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, so named in homage to Trappist beer produced in the Belgian region. Situated high in the Chilean mountains at La Silla Observatory, it is actually...

s.

As described in the Order's constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

, this Order is a monastic institute wholly ordered to contemplation. The monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s dedicate themselves to the worship of God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

in a hidden life within the monastery under the Rule of Saint Benedict. They follow in the spirit of the founders of Cîteaux, as handed on in the tradition of the Order, within a community wholly oriented to a contemplative life of prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

. They lead a monastic way of life in solitude, silence, work and prayer.

Currently the Monastery of the Holy Spirit is a community of forty-eight monks spanning several generations, who live, work and pray at the Abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

. They were founded from the Abbey of Gethsemani

Abbey of Gethsemani

The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani is a Trappist monastery near Bardstown, Kentucky in Nelson County—situated on more than 2,000 acres of farmland, and considered to be the "mother house" of all Trappist and Trappistine monasteries in the United States of America...

, Trappist, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

in the spring of 1944. The Monastery is sustained through The Abbey Store, a bonsai garden plant and supply business, a stained glass manufacturing business, donations, a green cemetery, and onsite retreats - among other endeavors.

History

Monastery of the Holy Spirit was founded on March 21, 1944 by twenty monks from the Abbey of Gethsemani

Abbey of Gethsemani

. On 1400 acres (5.7 km²) of land donated by the Archdiocese of Atlanta and media mogul Henry Luce

Henry Luce

Henry Robinson Luce was an influential American publisher. He launched and closely supervised a stable of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of upscale Americans...

, these first monks lived in a barn while they built (by themselves) what would become known as the "pine board" monastery. They then lived in this monastery from December 1944 -1959 while they built (by themselves) the present Monastery, a beautiful concrete structure complete with a retreat house and cloister. In 2005, the pine board monastery which housed their carpentry and stained glass businesses was destroyed in a fire. Some previous abbots have been Dom Augustine Moore, Dom Armand Veilleux, Dom Bernard Johnson, and Dom Basil Pennington

Basil Pennington

Dom M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O. was a Trappist monk and priest. He was a leading Roman Catholic spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, and director. He received a licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and a licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian...

. The present abbot is Dom Francis Michael Stiteler, who was elected in 2004.

Prayer, confession and spiritual direction

The main work of the monks at the monastery is prayer. The monks begin their day of prayer at 4AM with vigils and a half hour of contemplation. They break at about 5:30 and return at 7AM for Mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

. Throughout their day of work in their many businesses and chores, the monks break for prayer at midmorning, midday(12:15), evening (vespers at 5:20) and compline (night prayer at 7:30). Grand silence for both monks and guests is required after 8pm. Retreat house guests are allowed and encouraged to pray with the monks in the Church.

At least half of the monks at Holy Spirit Monastery are priests who rotate in hearing confessions and administering the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) in the retreat house. Monks are also available for spiritual direction and welcome people of all faiths including those of no faith.

Retreats

The monks at Holy Spirit operate a thriving retreat business. On the premises and adjoining the church is their dormitory style retreat house where separate floors for men and women accommodate individual and groups of guests for retreats scheduled almost year round. Guests are encouraged to stay on premises for the entire time of the retreat and observe the times for prayer and meals. Meals are served in the retreat house three times a day. Guests may pray with the monks in the Church at their regular prayer times which are announced by a quiet bell. Monastery rules require guests to adhere to silence in certain areas. Retreatants may attend group discussions led by one of the monks in the conference room. Different monks lead different discussions throughout the year according to their different areas of expertise. Retreatants are encouraged to leave a donation of at least $60–$100 per each night of their stay to help defray the cost of providing room and meals to retreatants. Reservations are encouraged as the retreat house is often booked many months in advance.

Lay Associates

The Lay Associate movement began with a small group of people associated with Monastery of the Holy Spirit and led by Fr. Anthony Delisi, former abbott and current prior. These are groups of lay people who form a prayerful community that forms its members in Cistercian spiritualty. These groups make annual retreats to the Monastery. Holy Spirit is now motherhouse to five different groups of Lay Cistercians. This movement has grown in popularity over the years and now there are Lay Cistercians all over the world who are affiliated with monasteries near their groups.

Monastic Guest Program

The monastery operates a monastic guest program for men who are interested in living the monastic life for a short period of time. The program is open to men of all faiths and regardless of marital status but they must be in good health. They participate in all areas of monastic life but sleep in a special section of the guesthouse instead of with the professed monks in the cloister. Meals are taken with the retreat guests instead of with the monks.

Book store and religious gifts

The monastery operates a religious store both on location (The Abbey Store) and online (Holy Spirit Monastery Gifts). The Abbey Store is the largest Catholic retail store in the state of Georgia, and its book department specializes in works on general Catholicism, monasticism, and Christian spirituality and mysticism. The store also offers a wide variety of religious merchandise, rosaries, medals, jewelry, artwork and statues, and a selection of food products produced both by the Holy Spirit monastery and other monasteries in the Americas.

Monk authors

A number of monks at Holy Spirit are accomplished authors of many books on the spiritual life. Dom Basil Pennington

Basil Pennington

, Fr. Anthony Delisi, Brother Chaminade Crabtree, Fr. Tom Francis, Fr James Stephen Behrens, and others have published volumes of popular spiritual works.

Bonsai, stained glass, green cemetery, candy

The monks of Holy Spirit manufacture and sell bonsai supplies either online or at their monastery bonsai garden store. They also operate a green cemetery located in a secluded section of the vast monastery property. Stained glass windows and doors are created onsite and sold online and the monastery also operates a fruitcake and fudge business. Their fruitcakes are sold both through their own religious store and also through Honeybaked Ham stores.

New Visitor Center

The Monastery is the second most popular attraction in the county and welcomes an average of 70,000 guests per year. In an effort to better accommodate these, the monks began construction in January 2010 on a new phase of their business featuring a public gathering place/Visitor Center. "A garden will be the nucleus of the new Visitor Center, surrounded by a Monastic Center, the historic barn, gift store and cafe." The barn, where the monks first lived when they began the monastery, was transformed into a museum.

The Visitor Center was officially opened to the public in May 2011.

External links

Official Holy See website
Official Vatican channel on YouTube
CatholicHierarchy.org – Information on bishops and dioceses
Information on the cardinals
MassTimes.org – Database for every church in the world
TheCatholicDirectory search facility
Church teachings – Summaries from Eternal Word Television Network
Zenit.org - The World Seen from Rome online church news
Catholic News Service - print and broadcast news media

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