As a busy modern mom, I have gobbled up contemplative literature in the past year, and I am not alone. In the post-September 11 world, there has been a renewed interest in the contemplative lifestyle - especially the Rule of Saint Benedict, which says that you can experience contemplative spirituality in everyday life. Marcia Ford notes in Publisher’s Weekly that books on the contemplative lifestyle, particularly all things Benedictine, have shown renewed vigor in the marketplace.

In the New York Times bestseller “The Cloister Walk,” Kathleen Norris writes extensively about her spiritual renewal as a Benedictine oblate. (Oblates are individuals who associate themselves with a Benedictine monastery in order to enrich their Christian way of life.) My favorite book of hers, however, is a little gem titled “The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women’s Work.” In it she writes that “each day brings with it not only the necessity of eating, but the renewal of our love of and in God,” as we are reminded in the Lord’s Prayer.

“We have definitely seen a renewed appreciation for the Benedictine rule even here at the seminary,” agrees the affable Father Matthew Clark, the seminary’s vice-rector. “The Benedictine rule is all about recognizing the sacred in the daily-ness of life, and the intertwining of the sacred and practical really speaks to people today. It’s interesting how a 1,500-year-old rule can still be applicable to us.”

I admitted to Father Matthew that I had a romantic image of the cloistered life. He smiled and said that being a monk was “very earthy,” which didn’t really dampen my romantic notions. “Monasteries see an increase in novices after wars and during uncertain times,” he explained. “The ritual, security, and predictability of the cloistered life are cherished after fighting a war or experiencing severe suffering.” They have especially noted renewal in the young adult age group. At the time of this writing, approximately 1,000 were expected on March 22 for the third annual Abbey Youth Festival, which attracts kids by the busload from all around the Gulf Coast region with contemporary music and speakers.

A Dynamic Community
Serving the Region

In 1889, a small group of monks from Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana established Saint Joseph Priory and Preparatory College at a site near present-day Ponchatoula. They moved to the present location in St. Tammany Parish in 1902, and the priory was elevated to the status of abbey in 1903. Today, the abbey has 54 monks, as well as an oblate, or associates, program, and has grown into a dynamic community serving five missions, including the abbey.

Saint Joseph Seminary College is an accredited four-year college for men interested in the priesthood; it serves dioceses across the south. The monks staff the college, and also serve in area parishes. Interested lay people are encouraged to take courses, and the college offers a certificate program.

The Abbey Christian Life Center accommodates 41 people, offering modest, but comfortable, private rooms and baths. The abbey hosts silent Retreat League Weekends approximately 26 times a year. The remaining weekends are available to organizations and groups who wish to use the facilities for religious, educational or charitable purposes.

In 1960, together with the Louisiana Chapter of the Knights of Columbus, the abbey introduced Camp Abbey for kids. With ten cabins, a cafeteria, chapel, pavilion, swimming pool, basketball court, pond and a large playing field, Camp Abbey hosts four one-week sessions each for boys and girls during June and July.

One of the high-profile ministries of the abbey is the Pennies for Bread and the Abbey program. The abbey bakery has supplied bread for the monks, seminarians, and guests since the 1890s. In 1990, the monks decided to bake bread for the poor and, at the same time, provide themselves with a source of income.

he original milking parlor was renovated as the bakery. Through corporate and individual sponsors - donating anywhere from half a cent to 10 cents a loaf - the monks bake about 1,850 loaves per week for delivery to twenty-five organizations and institutions. This service provides free bread for about 1 million meals annually.

Worth a Visit?

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I stopped in first at the Gift Shop, which is well marked, and has a good selection of contemplative literature, as well as religious artwork, music and children’s books. After meeting with Adrienne Laborde, the director of development and communications, and Father Matthew, I slipped into the church for the 11:15 a.m. Mass, which is always open to the public. The monks were up front, but I was happy to see many people from the community, including a mom in the back row with her two small children, who were munching on Cheerios.

The abbey’s church, and the monastic dining hall, are decorated with murals painted by Dom Gregory de Wit (1892-1978). From 1945 to 1955, the abbey hosted this fellow Benedictine from Belgian as “theologian artist.” Adrienne says that, with the resurgence of interest in liturgical arts, the murals are garnering a lot of attention from the art world. Worth a trip on their own, they have an iconic feel to them, and yet are fresh and modern. The refectory has a mural of the Last Supper.

I am not Catholic, but I have become ever more appreciative of the liturgical calendar and traditions that escort us through not only the seasons of the year, but also of the Christian faith. The Carnival season takes on more meaning when we recognize that the first King Cake was cut on January 6 not because Mayor Ray Nagin was available, but because it was Epiphany, or the Twelfth Day of Christmas. And after the last bead was thrown on Mardi Gras, the church began the cleansing season of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

We may not always recognize the sacred in the daily-ness of life, or stay in tune with the liturgical seasons and the intertwining of the sacred and practical. The monks at St. Joseph do, however, and they continue, as they have for more than a century, in “ora et labora” - prayer and work - on our behalf.

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