As an atheist I see monasticism as a hippie commune.... minus the sex, minus the music, minus the children, minus the chit-chat, minus the .....um..... "recreational assists" that one may ingest, minus the drumming, minus the spontaneous road-trips, and minus the relocation to elsewhere when one needs a long break.... perhaps even to a one-month contract visiting a local monastery.....
However, as a female, my take on the "Monastic Vacation" is akin to an African American taking a month-long vacation at a southern plantation to enjoy the historical traditions of slavery. Very doubtful.
I suspect that's why I spend so much of my time here in my library.... yes?
Everyone has their chosen place.
I have mine.
6
Also, one more thought to my prior post. I am actually surprised how our society keeps telling the church (including monasteries) to adapt to the modern times. But who wants a church that caters to our whims? Are monasteries supposed to embrace the latest fads? What if fads pass away? There is something that draws one to a practice that is timeless and eternal. You want to be a part of something that stands the test of time, and that is rooted in some kind of eternal truth. Changing the rules, by dropping celibacy or rules of silence, may attract some new people, but at the loss of a beautiful tradition that has attracted people since the birth of Christianity. Our modern society tends to view these practices as archaic and pointless rituals, but there is actually much substance and meaning behind everything. They have helped people throughout the millennia grow closer to God. Perhaps we shouldn’t bend the church to our fancies, but instead learn to bend ourselves to something bigger than ourselves.
17
Going to Catholic High School in Los Angeles, I was so fortunate to be able to spend time at St Andrew’s Abbey in the desert. I learned so much about the importance of contemplation and prayer. The monks’ kind ways modeled a different way of treating other people: with kindness, love, and acceptance. We need these holy places.
60
Trappist monasteries in the U.S. saw huge growth in the post-WWII years.This can probably be explained by 2 things: the horrors lived by young homecoming veterans who wanted to embrace a radical approach to peace; and the best-seller phenomenon of Thomas Merton's books, beginning with his autobiography, followed by his monastic journal, spiritual writings, and then his gradually turning toward warfare and society. The 2 historic U.S. Trappist monasteries, in Kentucky and Massachusetts, made several foundations in the '50s simply because the walls were bursting with newcomers. That now seems to be over. Monasticism is not going to disappear, whether Christian or other. But it will have to invent itself. Mepkin may be on to something. Monasticism does not have to be Roman Catholic, or Christian, or restricted to believers. It is about interiority, community life, contemplation, following a rule, ritual. My 2 years as a Trappist novice were the most wonderful experience of my life. I wish others could have this same experience.
20
Do they question whether the 1,000-year-old tradition to which they adhere is compatible with the 2,000-year-old tradition they honor?
3
I contacted the Trappists on this exact issue 19 years ago and they showed no interest in expanding the Trappist monasteries into an urban/public display environment, even if part-time: if you can't be seen, you can't be valued? Probably. As the story unfolded, ignorance was truly bliss. Why work in isolation, solely? Is not isolation valued by comparative sharing? All men and women are islands, we are all alone together. It is only when we endeavor to not make it so does life become shared. Until now, the Trappists showed little interest in sharing their monastic lifestyle nor did they appear to understand how the monastic lifestyle exists theologically/philosophically in larger senses. Perhaps now, there is hope....One day, a monk will walk down King Street on a daily basis, entirely alone, and he or she will be valued for not only being alone but for the 'society' of sharing the walk down King Street, in the 'why' of a monk walking down King Street, in the 'labor' that is shared.
1
Immersing yourself in retreat silence is a gift. Thank you for a great piece, worthy of my subscription. Bravo!
18
The Claire Booth Luce Library at Mepkin Abbey has over 45000 volumes of religious and monastic works that are available for research and the catalogue is on line. The brothers have internet access in the library.
As for work at the Abbey, there is a cadre of docents like myself who give tours twice a day, Tuesday - Saturday; another group of 35 or so volunteer their skills and labor at landscaping various gardens at the Abbey; and others volunteer yearly for the Creche festival in November. Last week a group of teens from a Catholic High School in Nashville, TN were at the Abbey for a volunteer project.
When you're in the Charleston area come over for a tour at 11:30 or 3. For five dollars you get a nice guide book and a tour. Oh, the Monks also will be praying for you. No reservation needed.
25
Some of the best beers in the world are ales made by Trappist monks in Belgium.
Import those skills to American monasteries and watch the money flow in and the Abbey's grow.
6
Their beer, from a warmer climate in a different part of the world, would have a completely different character, one that you might not like. Belgian beers are thoroughly dependent on unique yeast strains of local wild origin.
8
Historically speaking, when people joined a religious order they were expected to bring a "dowry." Historically speaking, women when widowed often joined convents. Historically speaking, at one point in time there were all sorts of communes.
As Society faces more and more challenges including joblessness, homelessness, aging, it seems that there need to be more institutions for communal living now not fewer.
Perhaps in addition to rethinking our healthcare system, we need to rethink our living situations. Should there be large or small buildings for low income housing. In cities or parts of cities that are abandoned what sort of amenities might there be in addition to classic housing projects-- e.g. a garden instead of parking lots and fenced in grass? How do we teach/model co-operation, co-existence.
Structures that used to exist like YMCA residences for long term habitation have gone the way of luxury apts.
Assisted living can be very expensive..for many reasons. (And it's often very isolated in terms of actual location with people being very confined, not unlike the monastery.) (I think my point here is that in the past the convent offered a form of assisted living for at least a few.)
I like "be a monk for a month." We might all try something similar.
12
Guess a lot of the comments speak to the reason for the Abbey's struggle....unbelief ! There was a time..not so long ago where church attendance and faith was much more prevalent...obviously today such is not the case. Silence..??..With television.. cellphones and social media..?? Nowadays we are not watching The Flying Nun..we are trying to Keep Up With The Kardashians...and our President's tweet storm and latest drama ! Sad that a lot of our voting population as well as Christian voters could not see the wolf in sheeps clothing because they believed lies and half truths. We should get back to our roots and...have a little Faith in someone a little brighter than we are...obviously we aren't doing too well in the decision making department ! A little less rudeness,worldliness and noise wouldn't hurt us either. Except that...like the Abbey..we would likely become a part of the minority ! There's never a crowd along the extra mile !
10
"There's never a crowd along the extra mile." Beautiful. Unfortunately, only a major world crisis is likely to return today's distracted humans to anything like a deliberate and deeply conscious life style.
8
Interesting read. If you want a good example of growing monasteries in the US that are still traditional (even more so than the Trappists), look no further than the Orthodox Church. More and more Orthodox monasteries are springing up. At the Living Giving Spring in Dunlap, CA, they are building more dormitories for the nuns. I know many young 20-year-old women who have joined there recently (even college students). There are flocks of pilgrims there every weekend, especially during Lent. The notion of advertising monastic life seems a bit odd to me as an Orthodox Christian. Once people experience the grace and hospitality of nuns and monks, and the taste of the kingdom to come, they got to get more of it. Sadly, our American culture does not have a culture rooted in monasticism, like East Asia, Eastern Europe or the Middle East does, so people are just totally unaware of this beautiful tradition.
11
Although the article does not mention it, nor do the responses, going to a monastery or entering a religious Order or Congregation is not an escape. You bring yourself and there is no escaping from yourself. All the problems of interacting with others outside the monastery are in the monastery. So, anyone who has persevered and dealt with the rigors of the monastic life has had to go through an interior growth. Read the writings of Thomas Merton to understand what I'm getting at.
The growth of the Religious Orders and Congregations after the Second World War was a turning away from the terrible atrocities of that war to try to make the world a better place; or so I remember as being true at that time.
Perhaps, as our present condition continues to deteriorate, there will be a turning again to the spiritual path offered by Orders and Congregations. But, of course, there are other spiritual paths, equally as valid. Anyone seeking a path can find many opportunities; and yes, the married life is one of them and probably the hardest.
47
Beautiful article and way of life, especially considered the book end to this article in today’s NYT’s on the Instagram Pastor.
9
After the horrible shooting in Parkland, FL I can't help but feel that this is the sanctuary that could have soothed the soul of the tormented perpetrator.
8
I sincerely doubt the Florida shooter (or anyone so prone to violence) would have been "soothed" by a monastery experience.
5
I explored the Mekin Abbey website and looked at their retreats. They are fully booked for the next few months. Does it tell us something?
20
I am elderly and i would classify my belief system as Spiritual.
This essay bought me an unexpected sense of peace. There is hope in the world. Thank you for a most informative article. And if there is any blessing to be had, let's start with those beautiful trees and work down.
May the God of the Cosmos bless all.
32
This is the very definition of white privilege. How about putting this as the second in your unintentional white privilege series, beginning with the rich white guy on the Ohio pig farm from last week who lives in a self-created news bubble.
Sounds to me like you could use a month, or a year, at the monastary to find some inner peace. It might help ease the burden of ignorance that you seem to be carrying in this life.
25
Monasticism is a tradition in both the West and the East and is not just a "white" thing whatever that means. If it was just a "white" thing that would in no way mean it would not deserve a newspaper article. It's OK to be white.
21
With all due respect green eyes from washington, dc., the monks and the Trappist monastery is the very definition of living and practicing the teachings of Christ. As a matter of fact, if you look at the pictures accompanying this article, you will find an African American and a Hispanic monk among the 13 members of the Mepkin Abbey. White privilege? Seriously? Not at all.
If such a comment was made to any of these monks in person, the very first thing they would do is embrace the individual and then ask him or her to join them in their vegetarian meal.
I sincerely hope the anger and hate which has filled one's heart will eventually find peace and love and resolution to whatever is causing so much inner pain.
27
"Soon my son, this will be all for the birds"
http://members.efn.org/~hkrieger/serra.jpg
2
We live not far from - and visit often - another wonderful Trappist abbey called Our Lady of Guadaloupe in Lafayette, OR. They are facing the same list of issues - advanced age, dwindling novices, etc. They also have lovely grounds, an always-booked retreat center and a beautiful collection of native oak on their property.
Given all these challenges and the soul searching they are causing among the Trappists, the NYT posted an unfortunate headline. The headline reads: "The World Is Changing. This Trappist Abbey Isn’t. Can It Last?" (Another version actually read: "The World is Changing. This Trappist Abney Won't.")
Actually, the Trappists are doing a lot to keep pace with todays world while remainimg within the strictures of their sect. The story itself is basically about all the ways the monks have adapted and continue adapt to an ever-changing world - often by making significant departures from their traditions. So perhaps the headline should not create the exact opposite - and quite cliche - impression they aren't. They deserve more credit than that.
24
It is typical modern hubris to believe that somehow we today are living in the Moment that transcends all other moments in history. Self-importance is the drug of our oblivious modernity. The Trappists have survived through centuries of historical change and their story isn't over yet. Their values transcend history.
15
Been there—and it was remarkable.
Of course no one knows whether there is anything like a God, much less what he, she, or it, if there is such a being, is like. Of course no reasonable person can believe that there is such a being with any high degree of conviction: the best we can do is guess, or hope, that there may be some supernatural whatever or other. But that doesn’t preclude questing for some sort of ‘spirituality’. And that skepticism doesn’t preclude looking for spirituality in a place like Mepkin.
I live my life in a social world where religion is simply not done, where it is <i>at best</i> a peculiarity that no one would expect of you—like raising chickens in your backyard or playing the oboe—where ’spirituality’ is an embarrassment and religion is in the closet. At Mepkin religion is socially ok and spirituality is palpable. If you want it, you can get it. It is there.
It is so laid back and normal, so much ok, and so much a thing to feed the soul and change the heart. I’m not called to this life, not contemplative, but think others are but don’t know the options, and should consider this seriously.
11
@Harriet Baber: "I live my life in a social world where religion is simply not done, where it is <i>at best</i> a peculiarity that no one would expect of you—like raising chickens in your backyard or playing the oboe—where ’spirituality’ is an embarrassment and religion is in the closet."
"Religion is simply not done" - you mean the same way blowing your nose with your dinner napkin at a State Dinner is simply "not done"? If this is really true, I offer my sincere sympathy to you and those you socialize with; it sounds like you're in an utterly stifling atmosphere.
I live in a social world where my religious beliefs and faith are just one more part of who I am, and certainly not a "peculiarity." I can't imagine living ANYWHERE where religion is "in the closet" that's for sure!
5
I respect all that have their own faith and traditions.
Having said that, they should do it on their own dime and not be subsidized by the taxpayer through tax exemption.
Time to end those exemptions and if they survive after that, then their faith was rewarded.
7
I have problems with NFPs as well and rights of eminent domain and the fact we don't have luxury tax which IMO would be the most fair of all potentially. Historically, the church was also a state and in fact from time to time did levy a tax on its members which in those long gone days was nearly everybody.
All their buildings are constructed around the trees on their land, they say. And the pictures back their words. They don't scream environmentalism from the roof tops but practice it. I am not a religious person but I applaud and salute their vision and commitment.
Every disciplined way of life has some nugget of wisdom that all of us can benefit from. I see developers and even individual home builders thoughtlessly felling age-old trees to build more Mcmansions.
18
When I asked someone building a home why he was cutting all eleven oaks on his land instead of saving at least a few, he said it was more" cost effective" and "efficient." Of course, he meant cost and efficiency only in the narrow and immediate financial and time-saving sense. Imaginative architecture that integrates existing trees into a dwelling's design and adds to its beauty and natural climate control didn't occur to him as real financial benefits.
4
I respect all that have their own faith and traditions. Having said that, they should do it on their own dime and not be subsidized by the taxpayer through tax exemption. Time to end those exemptions and if they survive after that, then their faith was rewarded.
2
Why don’t consider retired baby boomers. There is a lot of loneliness and talent at the same time in that group. A retiree of 65 is still young enough to give 15+ yrs of service
4
Yes, historically speaking this is a group from which to draw.. but health problems do impact ones ability to do all kinds of things.
3
All these guys need is a power forward --- or new center ice man and they'll be unprecedented.
They need no public relations or marketing departments.
1
I have visited monastery often. Mepkin Abbey is one of America's great historic sites and incorporates in its worship, the shared ideals of seven spirits that include the ideals of Native Americas.
Sitting on a high river bluff on a river bend, originally named the Makkean by the Cusabo Indians, their local communities also contributing the names Stono, Wando, Etiwan, and Kiawah to the Carolina lowcountry, the Lord Proprietor William Colleton was granted the 3,000 acre site sold to French Huguenot Henry Laurens. A London trained merchant whose connections upon his return to Charleston helped make him America's wealthiest citizen, Laurens was devout, meticulous, and unscrupulously honest. He hand copied all of his correspondence, now complied in 17 volumes of letters, exchanged with American and European leaders. Several of his account books have survived.
During the American Revolution, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for sedition. After, he, with Ben Franklin, John Jay and John Adams, were among seven peace commissioners signing the Paris Peace treaty between America, England, and France.
(Part 2 below.)
25
aurens was America's largest broker of the enslaved. His letters reveal his detailed knowledge of markets and prices, the preferred sites of supply along Africa's west and southern coast (from St. Louis, Senegal to Luanda, Angola). He had extensive knowledge of the Caribbean trade, and was permitted locally to put on account men, women, and children for his preferred clients, delivering the human property that produced America's wealth in rice. I have read in his accounts books where he purchased osnaburgs for the enslaved, a small quantity of coarse, Germany-woven shirts, the name applied to both clothes and cloth. He fired an overseer who had been reported by enslaved women for sexual misconduct.
Following Patrick Henry, Laurens was elected the third President of the Continental Congress and decreed Thanksgiving as the first national holiday. Upon his death, he was the first white man to be cremated in America, so fearful was he of waking up in the coffin. His remains lay across a small footbridge in the family's cemetery.
Mekin's gift shop has many handmade religious items and homemade edibles. The monks worship in a beautiful, small modern chapel. Retreats are available. The abbey is famous for its creches.
9
Wonderful, nuanced background to the subject Walter. Thank you.
Growing up as a catholic, I always liked the retreats that we were forced to go to in remote monasteries every year starting in middle school. It was a time to reflect in total silence about anything and everything. The inner peace it brought me even as a teenager was immense. Sadly right after leaving catholic school and joining an exclusive engineering school (with so few women that it was more like a monastery) I completely lost my faith. I now find solace in quiet canyon hikes in remote areas of Arizonas.
18
I think a combination of some type of consolidation of Trappist monasteries and outreach to younger adherents that offers them less than a total commitment would help to relieve some of the lack of new recruits. But I think ultimately the biggest obstacle is enforced celibacy and that is a problem for Catholic religious orders Church wide. I know that parish churches have worked to solve the problem by recruiting older married deacons whose kids are grown and who assist celibate priests in their mission. Maybe the Trappists can do something similar because the purity of their contemplative life at its best is something of true value that should be preserved.
11
Hillsong church is pretty far from Trappist Monks--like almost polar different. We're talking a megachurch movement, young and relatively hip, vs a reclusive, semi-luddite order of monks.
NYT, this is a poor comparison and displays poor research and/or understanding of the nuances of Christianity.
15
With the all "riches" of the RCC a way to subsidize (with absolutely no strings attached...) communities such as the Trappists can't be found? A little good publicity might go a long way...
5
I don't thin it's the code of prayer, work, seclusion, poverty or even chastity that will keep new members from flocking to the Trappist monastery. I think it's the "largely silent atmosphere" that could be problematic. Most people I know can't stop talking, and in particular, either talking about themselves or talking as if they have all the answers to whatever the question or situation is.
Frankly, I find this kind of environment refreshing and appealing. If I were a guy and not married, I would ask to be considered for admittence to their order in a New York minute. I grew up in an environment of prayer, work, poverty and degrees of seclusion when growing up on our family in Wisconsin. The saddest day of my life was when my parents decided to sell the farm.
21
Living in your own little world can be very peaceful! It doesn't have anything to do with reality, and the question becomes whether or not you have lived. The effort to block out the rest of the world is a tradition among the insane, depressed, schizophrenics, and monks. Tax them. They are living at the expense of others.
1
Wow, I am just as fond of the tax-exempt status of religion as you are but you've just taken a broadside against the contemplative type of person. These people, my friend, are the ones who preserved learning during the Dark Ages. Without them we'd still be in mud huts. They are the ones who discover the things that cannot be discovered by the blathering types making up your "reality."
17
I was on the road - not going anywhere - just down the hard black way. I was tumbling end for end, Couldn't kill the dream. I woke under bridges. The roar on the river. The eyes of that child.
A fellow road warrior told me, “Go to the Tappers down SR80. They don’t talk. Work for food. Don’t have to sleep in the trees.” A nod. He went east. I went west.
So I wandered in. Long walk from a back road. A man in a dress came out, nodded, made a weird sign with his hands. “Welcome. If you are hungry, take and eat. If you wish to stay: We take a vow of silence. Work softly with us.”
So I did. Split wood. Hauled water. Listened to the soft murmur of chant. And I was silent. Some tiny something, some soft scream, some pith of silence. Ten days, I went back to the road perhaps towards that small salvation.
22
This can't do any harm, unless it convinces somebody they can absorb the state of being in the world, but not of the world, with stays starting from seven-nights. Serenity in a box. Can you pay with miles?
I couldn´t help it: it reminded me Umberto Eco´s "The name of the rose".
2
Several smug atheist posts among the comments. Like their counterparts in other religions, these monks spend much of their time plumbing the immense depths of consciousness. Atheistic physicalism has proven itself quite incapable of explaining normal consciousness, let alone mystical states, and many up-and-coming philosophers of mind now endorse panpsychism (all matter is consciousness) with some, including the formidably intelligent Bernardo Kastrup, even endorsing Idealism (consciousness is the only reality). This is in addition to the the many quantum theorists, past and present, who believe that no reality exists apart from observation. Contemplative prayer is all about experiencing this "Christ Consciousness" within yourself.
10
That should read: all matter is conscious, not consciousness. In this view, there is such a thing as what it is like to be an electron.
1
Thank you for the article. Here is a community off people who seek a life less attached to materialism and more open to the wonder we experience at looking at the unexplained, the mysterious. A life defined by humility. It doesn't matter, I think, what the specific theology is that they embrace. They don't spend time accusing others of having wrong views . They keep their heads down and live a genuine, wholehearted life. I know several Buddhist monks and nuns and their respect for the universe as it is (rather than worshipping their own opinions about it) is admirable. We all need to learn from the non-self aggrandizing contemplatives of all traditions whether we believe in God or not. It is arrogance that will take down our civilization, not humble meditating monks and nuns.
35
Well said! We live in such a noisy world and it is lovely that introspective traditions still exist! I am Buddhist and can appreciate this mode of life, I think Thomas Merton was Trappist, correct me if I am wrong and he wrote about the traditions of monastic life that encompass many faiths! Great article!
19
Now with the internet, who needs these old codgers to transmit messages back and forth to God for us. It was probably a nice life once it lasted. Progress is a double-edged sword, for sure.
Reminds me a little of Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, but less catastrophic.
2
We’ve visited 3 Trappist monasteries over the years. The one we loved the most is a small community in Snow Mass, CO.
Though fewer and fewer people join these communities, they have a far-reaching influence in terms of the people who visit and carry away with them the sense of peace and tranquility.
I love the Benedictin tradition, from which these monks come. Their welcoming tradition and obvious living out of the virtues of this peaceful, prayerful life is something anyone could benefit from. If you visit often enough, you’ll find that same tranquil space opening up inside yourself.
No one pushes anything on you if you visit. There’s just an open, peaceful welcome.
15
I'm not a Luddite and don't underestimate the reduction in suffering brought about by our technological evolution, not to mention the gains in human rights we've seen since the Trappist tradition began. With that, I can't help but feel sad when I read about the decline of this tradition, because for all our gains, we have lost much. And what we've replaced it with -- consumerism, addiction, benign hedonism, endless busyness, development, and acquisition -- is taking a toll on the planet and the collective culture of the West. Some have commented that the decline of this institution is good and reflects our more enlightened modern thinking; I would challenge them to consider that if the way so many live in the US today is a reflection of more evolved thought, perhaps we made a wrong turn somewhere.
20
Many people are now living a monastic-like life within their own homes, as part of the world, as part of the universe. Evolution everywhere.
3
To those that love this article I would highly recommend The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton who joined the Trappist Community in Kentucky. He “left “ the world but inspired millions with his writings on spiritual development
19
He also, at the age of 53, had an affair with Margie Smith, a 19-year-old nurse.
3
Every one of Thomas Merton’s writings are wonderful. My personal favorite is “The Sign of Jonas”. He was a prolific writer.
2
Priests need to be allowed to marry. Period.
7
The Trappists (and other religious orders, both men and women) can be viewed as the Church at prayer 24/7/365. For the devout, this is no small thing in imploring God to save the souls of believers and non-believers alike, and to shower blessings upon us during our time on Earth.
The disappearance of these holy men and women diminishes the Church and the world. I would hope that even non-believers would acknowledge such (or at least not be hostile in their comments).
jasper
13
What a great place for a rehab center. Not for all of course, but some addicts would love it and the cash flow would be great. And who knows, some might stay.
3
The Roman Catholic Church has shown no desire to update a system that has been proven to be riddled with flaws. There is nothing in scripture that commands a celibate life for the vowed, and the church's insistence on clinging to a concept that historically has more to do with the Medieval preservation of valuable property endowed to the church with the admission of a candidate to a religious order than it's had to do with any command by Christ has outlived its time. The celibate and cloistered life has led to horrific abuses, has been a magnet for people fleeing their confusion about their sexuality and has made the Catholic Church the biggest child-trafficking organization on the planet. Time to change.
4
Pretty clear that this Trappist abbey cannot last, but I don't really understand the tone of bemoaning that fact. Humans also used to sacrifice other humans in brutal fashion so as to convince gods we no longer believe in to grant a good harvest, success in war, and so on. We don't do that anymore because we have matured out of it. Same goes for this abbey, although of course it's not as brutal or anything.
Praying seven times a day, doing everything by muscle power, shunning technology, all these things are seen as unnecessary by most people, just as we no longer think sacrifices are useful. So this will fade out, and that's fine, it's what happens to traditions and lifestyles.
I have nothing against these monks, and I wish them the best of luck, but it should not surprise them that they can't get new recruits. They'll be with their Lord soon enough, this shouldn't concern them too much.
3
Dan, but I’ve heard some of them have built some pretty good stills and micro- breweries. There’s still plenty of room in this world for that Holy Spirit. It’s a option that might appeal to young monks.
7
Good point John Doe, but that doesn't go against what I'm saying here. If monasteries are willing to adapt, they'll survive. Ditch the celibacy thing, allow computers, let monasteries be co-ed, and they'd get along just fine. The unwillingness to change is what dooms them to extinction.
1
What a gross perversion of what religion is supposed to be: REAL service to others. The monks need to get out of their mushroom farm and go serve the poor.
The local Boy Scout council could spread the word of the abbey to their districts regarding having Eagle Scout candidates do some projects. That way, the work gets done and the abbey continues.
8
To what end? In twenty or thirty years all these monks will have passed on, should the Eagle Scouts keep up the abbey in remembrance of them?
Would you let young boys near them? Has the Catholic Church ever had a transparent accounting of priest molestations?
3
I was a Trappist novice under Thomas Merton at Gethsemani Abbey (Mepkin's mother-house) for 2 years after high school graduation in the late '50s. The Trappists have changed since those days, when Trappist-Cistercian life was a lot tougher: constant obligatory silence, using sign-language, sleeping on a straw-filled mattress in a small cell within a common dormitory, one full meal per day, no meat, fish or eggs, no recreation or vacation, mail written to & received from family 4 times per year, one annual family visit of 3 days, up at 2:15am, in church at 2:30 am to chant matins & lauds until 4:00am, going to bed at 7:00pm, never going outside the monastic grounds ... And yet, adjusting to life outside the monastery after I left was infinitely harder than adjusting to the monastery itself. Naïve teenager, I often thought while there: "everyone should live like this." Then I learned that in at least one Asian country, it is expected that a young man will become a monk for a year or two. I strongly recommend one or two years as a monk. Monasticism was born in Egypt, spread westward to Italy where St Benedict founded western monasticism in about the 6th century. If interested, look up Primitive Benedictines, Camaldolese, Carthusians, and see the German documentary "Into a Great Silence." And oh, yes: why not monastic couples? A man and a woman could do this together. Celibacy is not as important as all that.
71
The frenetic pace of technocratic, consumerist, planet-destroying, inequality-expanding, addiction-creating modern life has reached its limits.
The Trappists (and the Benedictines and the Carmelites) will be there to pick up the pieces.
Learn to be still.
26
I well remember going to the monastery in Conyers Georgia, which in 1969 sold wonderful bread and cactus, among other things, in their gift room. The monks sang like angels. My son Brendan asked one of the monks what he had on under his robe! Burmuda shorts!!!
17
The more educated a society becomes, the less it values its anti-scientific past. Note the flow of Catholicism from educated to developing countries. That's a good thing. Reality is complex enough without mixing in fictional beliefs.
14
The more scientistic a mind becomes, the less it values humility, tolerance, and the full spectrum of the human experience. Notice the preening arrogance of the soulless "educated." This is not a good thing. Reality is too complex to be contained in reductionist dogma. The Trappists understand all that, and deserve respect for their attempt to come to terms with it.
34
This comment, on the other hand, is as uneducated as it gets. Virtually every bit of knowledge we recovered from the ancients is owed to literay monasticism. The search for truth and the refinement of logic was perceived as the ultimate path to the divine. Most prominent pre "enlightenment" scientists were theologians in their spare time. Dismissing religion with hardened atheism is just as unscientific as being a fanatic believer.
52
transcending "reality" using a thousand year old formula doesn't seem like what you're referring to.
that these monasteries welcomed many men after WW2 speaks to a need that was addressed.
i wish "fictional beliefs" referred to mankind's dependence on brutal conflict to "solve" our problems.
5
There are so many actions needed in the world. Perhaps their life seems like a retreat when the opposite is needed. Friends, the Quakers, appeal is their quiet daily ethical actions. Monastic life should allow a going out, then peaceful restorative retreat. The environment could certainly use any help it can get on top of their preservation of a small lovely patch.
10
If I had life to live again, I'd like to be a Trappistine, someplace rural.
11
In This House of Brede is a lovely, beautifully written novel about monastic life by Rumer Godden.I wrote her once. She wrote back.
13
Many people may find the concept of a monastery to be Anathem, but they can and have played a role in preserving humanity during darker times. One key aspect of the Darkness is that those who adapt to change as the "new normal" are most prone to lose sight of what knowledge humanity had and should continue to understand.
23
"...dominated by large oak trees draped in Spanish moss."
With apologies in advance for my pedantry, as I realize it is ancillary to the story, but it pains me to see majestic South Carolina live oak trees described merely as "large oaks." Mr. Hiltner really isn't doing them justice. They mean so much more to the region and culture of the Lowcountry, and apparently also to these monks. Parenthetically, while the term is widely used and not incorrect, "Spanish moss" is neither Spanish nor moss.
9
Thank you for publishing this beautiful essay. Personally, I believe Mepkin will survive these challenges and will continue as a vital prayer community for the future. When an organization claims that -
“The main architecture is the trees. All the buildings have been built around the trees.”
This organization has the wisdom and the grace that will see it through its current challenges. I plan on a visit soon.
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The call to being still ("Be still and know that I am Lord") has been and remains essential to conscious life. If we cannot 'be here now, then we are forever nowhere These monksI have so much to offer in teaching presence, which is to say, teaching gratification..
The trance states induced by consumerism and the myths of materialism (more, bigger, faster...) are time-stamped. Surely we are witnessing (and experiencing) the distress & dissatisfaction which are natural, when time is up on vacuous myths.
I do believe that the search for "spirituality" rather than institutional "religion" amongst many, especially the young, is rooted in the realization that the bridge between inner and outer has been sold for a trinket. Corporate profit-driven images are seductive only in the hunting not in the having- only as distraction.
Thank you to the NYTimes and the author for giving us a moment to contemplate stillness. To reflect on a path and place where 'outer' Nature & 'inner' Mystery are known as One.
Finally, thank you to the monks for walking this path with humility and determination.
I do believe there is a yearning amongst our young, across religion & culture, for a path at harmony with Nature & Mystery & Our Selves. (Especially as they witness the vacuity now evident in our public life.) I hope they will be stepping on to that path at your program, as ordinary people and mystics amongst us.
Dear monks, "Long life & honey in the heart".
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Seems to me what's needed is for others to do their "outreach" for them. I would think there's a lot of appeal in this lifestyle, especially in a world that's as messed up as ours is.
27
Lovely article. Best wishes for a sustainable future for the monastery. I believe many of their contemplative practices as well as their ability to live in harmony with nature and the environment are sorely needed in our hectic, modern times.
The article hinted at, but not fully addressed, the elephant in the room. Historically, celibate religious life was a frequent option for many gay men. Think of the options available for young gay men in the 1950s: (a) openly embracing their sexuality but becoming a pariah to their families and society (as well as risking problems with the law since homosexuality was illegal at the time), (b) quiet desperation in a loveless marriage with a heterosexual woman (resulting in an unhappy life for both of them), (c) join a respected celibate religious organization, where many (though of course, not all) of its members were also gay. As society became increasingly accepting of LGBT people and less religious, gay men started having other options as to how to live their lives. The Church’s increasingly hostile official pronouncements against homosexuality certainly didn’t help. The end result was a collapse in one of the main sources of people who would join celibate religious organizations. It is no surprise that these organizations are still thriving in countries where homosexuality is still illegal and not accepted.
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Lovely, hopeful article. The experience of Rob Hagan gives credence to the spiritual authenticity and depth of these men.
Even though I am not young, I would like to be monk for a month.
17
About all the bright ideas for business opportunities:
As the article explains, their problem isn't financial. It's an absence of young people taking vocation and filling the place of the older monks. They're going extinct for lack of recruitment. Even if they did attract a generation of beer connoisseurs, that probably wouldn't work out.
A monastic order is not a corporation.
16
Trappists have been around since 1098. Religious orders that "evolved" after Vatican II have generally evolved into oblivion. I will put my confidence in their endurance.
25
ok. well, i'm just starting out, with the tutelage of Myco Alliance, mushroom teacher/grower/gardeners here in Austin
to make a path a step closer to these Brothers over in South Carolina. Good on ya, fine fellows.
maybe we'll all link up thru an internet-work--rooted in the mycelium--and this will connect us with all living surroundings [they're underneath us, and in forests, running underground as well, connections thru wood- and thru wordwide symbiotic 'spiritualities' --overall comprising forms of 'energy', some of which i think is manifested, or evidenced,
as "consciousness".
& in the case of humans it may be refered to as "awareness" . . .
the article made me says this.
it mushroomed you may say, upon me.
15
Why not have the monastery become a museum since its headed that down that road anyway ? The Museum of Medieval Beliefs...
9
If you're in the Charleston area, this is the most beautiful and peaceful place in the world, far removed from suburbia and its mindless minutiae.
37
Sometimes you have to wonder how PETA chooses its targets. This is hardly an industrial operation yet PETA "exposed" them in 2007. No doubt that their undercover operation took advantage of the monks' caring and trust.
32
Animal exploitation and cruelty knows no boundaries.
10
They protect many traditions... The (high alcoholic) Trappist beer, from the monasteries in Belgium and the Netherlands, is one of the best around.
13
Makes you fall to your knees. And once you're on your knees, might as well pray…
11
THANK YOU!!!! That beer is delicious!!!
Very interesting piece, well and sympathetically written.
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If the monks could import a few of their coreligionists from Belgium, and establish the great Trappist monastery beer brewing tradition here, countless craft beer enthusiasts would flock to the monastery doors and their coffers would begin filling. Just a thought.
34
These guys figured that out: https://www.spencerbrewery.com/
If you find yourself in central MA, check it out
7
Nothing says recruitment quite like 3:20 am prayer.
I wonder if a Charleston chef could collaborate on a menu and offer some sort of pop up restaurant. The setting is beautiful and dining at Mepkin could be one way to attract younger people.
10
Been there, and the food was superb. Fr. Joe, the chef, is Italian-American: everything has a good shot of olive oil in it and is excellent! They also do a cook book, _Food for Thought_ which I have and from which I cook! Dining at Mepkin couldn't be better!
10
I find it interesting that for the first time in writing to the Times there is a disclaimer as to what can be written. Why is it that when it comes to religion it gets a pass that other topics don't. If the light of day and all viewpoints are important then religion should be able to withstand the same scrutiny as anything else. I'm disappointed in the NYT today in a way I have not been before.
12
Actually there are several topics that they heavily moderate. If it goes against their agenda be prepared for censorship.
10
Are you sure it is just for this article?
3
It is the same story elsewhere too. And I believe it is not always (or, maybe, ever) moderation---in the sense of one person's reading another person's writing---but an automatic blacklisting of certain addresses for any sensitive topic.
I am not even sure I believe in God or that God believes in me, but their lifestyle is so appealing that I want to become a monk. Who knows, living a peaceful, reflective life, shut out from the frenetic insanity of the world, praying long and hard enough, even I could convinced in a higher power. How do I enroll?
79
Try it.
Without the use of the Internet and social media, the future of the Abbey is in peril? Social media are marketing tools and this Abbey is not running a business like other churches. Water seeks its own level - people were able to find the monastery before without the help of the Internet. I hope the Trappist Abbey will not succumb to social media and that this article from NYT helps, too along with some of the useful comments put out.
35
Have mercy on them and on the whole world.
17
What an awful plague on nuns and monks, this phony vow of chastity. Every human has a need; met within the bounds meted out by marriage between man and woman. What a sad tortured waste.
6
This isn’t a plague or phony vow. These folk have chosen to lead this life. They aren’t trapped. They can leave. Marriage could be considered more of a trap. The idea that you must marry to fulfill a need for sex is certainly not a spiritual concept. Marriage enforced by a phony religious morality is a sad waste.
17
Can you realistically say the “swinging” lifestyle is all that wonderful and fulfilling? For people who are “sad and tortured” they certainly are producing much that is beautiful and enduring.
8
When I attended collage in Georgia (psy.) we visited the Trappist Monastery in Ga. The visit has stayed with me all my life .
The monks had just stopped their vow of silence and during the World Wars and the monks were only informed of the start and the end of the wars. .They had avoided all the stress of the wars and of much of the traumas we all read about in newspapers everyday.
Our group of young psychologist were stunned at how young all the monks appeared, none of them looked their age, their faces were unlined and relaxed. When we guessed their age we were usually off by twenty years! Here was proof that staying away from the knowledge of wars/murders and the constant barrage of negative news could lead to a happier and healthy life .
Monks have you thought about senior retreats ?
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LOVE that place!!!!!!!!!
3
Uh oh! They’re in The NY Times . They’ll never be the same.
5
I hope these people stay around. My head and heart don't require batteries (at least not yet) and there are thousands of years worth of wisdom in this. I, for one, am tired of hearing the marketing stuff about how cool and disruptive tech is and how the world is changing. So what? No more wars, no more lies, no more racism, no more genocides. No more rich guys and gals. They're all liars and tell us anything we think we want to hear. Don't forget: they live in gated communities to keep us "out".
6
There are a half dozen monasteries of Cistercian (Trappist) nuns in North America alone and many around the world. It would have been interesting to have at least one featured in this article.
24
Google “nuns New York Times” and about a half dozen stories appear such as this one:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/fashion/dominican-nuns-of-summit-a...
4
There is a Trappistine monastery in north Philadelphia. It is beautiful. The Sisters are elderly and not numerous, but in the last decade, there arrived two new nuns, from Poland, and at least a generation younger. So, yes, religious from abroad can help these places keep going.
6
Dylan wrote “And the times they are a-changing”. The only thing we can be certain about in this Universe is Change. The “Old” Testament verses the “New” Testament stands in deep contrast between the two. Other than maybe Genius, the Psalms & Proverbs, the Old Testament appears to have a different God, yet even today, most clergyman still cling to using it in their ministry. Jesus’ approach was fresh and exciting. It showed a God of Love instead of a God a wrath.
Before Christ, man approached God much the same way these monks do. John The Baptist was surely the “last” of this group, yet even today, many religious groups and individuals still adhere to the “old” approach to Divinity.
If Jesus, the Creator of our Universe didn’t adhere to these practices, why then should some of his followers? Be of good cheer and follow Jesus with renewed energy and faith into the NEW way of salvation. Sacrifice should be abandoned. God wants all his children to see and experience the joy of living this life to the fullest.
3
The U.S. is sinking but the NYT features a banal article on a superstitious idea finally dying of old age? Instead the musings on the fate of a batch of voluntary eunuchs, how about giving us creative ideas for surviving America's descent into stupidity, e.g. the citizens meeting at yesterday in D.C. assessing the official fairy tale that America's woes are due to the diabolical machinations of the evil Russians.
5
What is the real purpose of you posting here? Is it to make yourself feel better or signal to others where your priorities are? Perhaps as you say the beliefs that can be found at Mepkin are superstitious, but the idea of a quiet place to reflect, far from technological overload and a hectic life is not superstitious at all but highly practical.
61
Some of the old ways were pretty dreadful. I’d rather see the Catholic Church do something about rampant child abuse, or birth control restrictions.
7
Mepkin is an extraordinarily beautiful place (youtu.be/EIlZMoZJaSU) that everyone should visit.
7
I have made two retreats at Mepkin Abbey and can testify to its graciousness and to the hospitality of the monks. Silent, yes, but never withdrawn -- whenever I entered the choir set aside for retreatants, the monks as they entered their choir would smile and nod in a connectedness that needed no words. It is a holy place indeed.
66
I guess they're trapped :)
2
I would like to have known a lot more about the finances of the abbey. How much is the church supporting it?
While I respect their right to live this way, I find the entire situation one of complete privilege. Quit the abbey and go work for the poor. That is something your God might really appreciate.
10
For more about the business end of this abbey, read August Turak's book "Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks" published in 2015. He is a corporate executive who has done many retreats there. Good read.
4
It is a beautiful and tranquil place. I feel very sad that it is slipping away not just for the monks whose lives are there but for us all. Just knowing it is there is a comfort.
31
Ummm, beer?
4
The flow of time does not accommodate to the wishes of ancient religions. Ancient religions must accomodate to the changing times -- or perish. It seems, given their horror of change, that some have chosen to perish. The Roman Catholic hierarchy seems to have chosen to cling to ancient custom rather than yield to the need for three simple changes. The three simple changes are to allow priests to marry, to allow full oridination women, and to cease banning the use of contraceptives in family planning. So be it!
15
All the Catholics I know use birth control. They are wise, considering the cost of children from start to adulthood.
2
My feeling is, can any of it last? Not just the monks, but the bees, the sparrows, a habitable earth, the hopes and dreams of my own sons...
These men have shut themselves away from a world which marches on. Or will it? Whatever escape or seclusion we choose, these are the questions which slide under the doors and permeate the stone walls.
With so much instability and uncertainty reaching now to our crops, our air, and the rhythms an patterns of nature, will anything last for long?
17
I encourage anyone within a day's drive to visit and support Mepkin Abbey--it is beautiful and calming. Heck, if you are farther than a day away, just fly in to Charleston and spend time at the Abbey, the city, and the beaches.
12
I spent two nights at the Trappist monastery in upstate NY. These places are life-giving. They sustain spiritual energy. I am happy to see that the monks are considering short-term programs for young people. There is a need for them--they will not go unused.
43
It is my understanding that the “Catholic Church” doesn’t provide complete financial support of any of its religious orders. As a lifelong Catholic and a product of 12 years of Catholic education, my experience has been that some financial support is given to parish priests but that most orders of priests and nuns rely on parishioner support, patron support and self sustaining financial ventures like running schools or baking fudge and fruit cakes (ie Monastery of the Holy Spirit). There is no expectation of support from a something called the “Catholic Church” because that financial support comes from the local level - our donations to our local parishes, to our diocesan drives and through individuals who donate directly to support religious groups.
8
At 39 years old, having turned away from God and the Protestant Church decades earlier, I found myself visiting a convent almost daily. The sisters were cloistered - they did not interact with outsiders and if they did, it was through metal grates. They simply welcomed me into their public chapel. And prayed for me.
Now, three years later, I have returned wholeheartedly to God, embracing (to my surprise) the Catholic Church and its tremendous treasure trove of spiritual wisdom, including the value it places on solitude and contemplation. I owe this restoration, by no small degree, to the silent love and witness of those 19 sisters at St Joesph Carmel.
I share this simply to communicate that there is a deep value to these traditional monastic communities, because of - not in spite of- their silence and rigor. These communities offer something that has largely been lost to our society: the ability to return to oneself through a return to God.
Do not underestimate the value or the resilience of these monasteries. Their relevance and import in today’s society will remain and, in all likelihood, begin to grow again in response to the deafening din of social media and the sense of us all having ‘lost our way’.
194
I hope the Mepkin Abbey goes on for a long time. Places of retreat are more important than ever in our noisy and chaotic world and we need to support them. For me, other than spiritual teaching, the most important thing this Abbey does is protect the environment and the trees, an immensely important task. We must all follow their lead.
47
I visited a Trappist Monastery in Up State NY. It was so peaceful and quite. I could see the appeal. I would be interested in a month long spiritual retreat. Maybe others caught up in the 24/7 hyper connected world would too. I still am a practicing Catholic because I like the sense of belonging to something larger than myself. A thousand year old Monastic tradition has value.
90
The world is changing and traditional methods by their very nature don't. Nevertheless it is surprising that such a solid and well-known place is struggling, even with all they have done and continue to do, to be sustainable.
6
Wonderful story. It brings to mind what the Trappist monks here faced 10-15 yrs ago. The monks at Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA reinvented themselves as a spiritual destination for people while still protecting their traditions. The effort meant creating partnerships with the local community. The neighbors wanted the monastery to continue as much as the monks did.
72
I agree that many, such as myself (but I'm "old" - over 50), have or are interested in spirituality, so I believe the Trappists might benefit from opening their properties up as places for spiritual retreat, perhaps even broadening that to cater to more specific, niche retreats: meditation (prayer), artistic, mushroom cultivation, etc. One can teach skills and mix in a bit of the spirit whilst doing so.
But also, one message that might resonate with youth of today is that being shielded or resistant to the modern ways of the world may be attractive. Prayer may be hard to sell, so to speak, but perhaps study of religion, of "old ways", of history, of agricultural practices, and other "non-tech" ways and skills. What skills the monks possess, I don't know, but old crafts (coopering, blacksmithing, cobbler-ing, etc., might be seen as a good alternative to the fast-paced, money-goaled life that we call normal today.
Or perhaps, that's just me talking.
Actually, they should put on workshops (skill-building, hand crafts, reading (?)) for kids. Entice them to the Old Ways of living and doing things. Just like fast-food, get 'em while they're young!
66
Totally agree! My dad's a bookbinder and it's a satisfying old craft you might say. In relation to an office job, for instance, one job where you get to work with both your brain (for designing, thinking) and your hands, can be very fulfilling work indeed. We don't encourage enough people to do it today, we only focus on abstract knowledge, a lot of the time anyway. I would be interested in all the things you mentioned in your post (I'm 33) and think it's a great idea. I'm agnostic, but their religious beliefs don't matter to me, I'd just be curious to learn about their way of life.
8
One can visit the extraordinary grounds of Mepkin Abbey.
6
If this is "just you" talking I love what you're saying! But how much can something change, yet still remain the same authentic entity? If monks say they are called by Jesus, maybe Jesus is just calling less monks? Where is the defining component of seclusion if the monastery needs a marketing director? We need the monks now more than ever to ponder...
5
Lovely article. These Trappists have such a rich spiritual tradition and wisdom to offer a world and especially our American culture which sorely needs it. I am very glad they have freshened their practice of hospitality to allow new seekers to find them.
124
I am now a nonbeliever, but I have always appreciated the peaceful, contemplative atmosphere at the many monasteries and abbeys I have visited and stayed at around the world, from a remote canyon in northern New Mexico to a hilltop in Hong Kong.
Nonetheless, I find the idea of a "reliable source of prayer" described in this piece more than a little amusing.
30
Interesting that the Catholic Church which is rich enough that it has its own bank, lets its religious orders wither on the vine. The monasteries and anything having to do with nuns.
I guess there is no profit or power to be gained from devotion to God and her works.
131
Their Vow of Poverty keeps individual Cistercian/Trappists poor. The nature of the Order keeps them removed (A.K.A. 'separate') from the financial structure available to ,say, parish or Diocessan churches.
12
The withering has little to with money if you read the article. The challenge is recruiting young people to these orders. It’s not an invitation to bash the church.
21
Do you know what the Catholic Church spends most of its money on? Do you know the scope of Catholic Charities in the US, Catholic Relief Services abroad? No profit or power involved in either. But comments like yours clearly appeal to a large segment of NYT readers, who I suspect are not living in poverty themselves.
25