St. Gregory's Abbey

On Monday I drove to Grand Haven, shared a lovely dinner with Cindi and Dave (in honor of Cindi's 16 years as parish secretary at St. John's, where I used to serve as interim), and then early the next morning left for St. Gregory's Abbey at Three Rivers.  My companion on this brief retreat was Zachary, a young man I got to know soon after moving to Grand Haven in 2008.  A member of the Wesleyan Church, he is weighing career options — teaching theology at the university level, or ordination, or both.  Visiting the Abbey was an opportunity for Zach to explore new territory in Christian spirituality.

Entrance sign on Abbey Road.

This wonderful maple stands in the lawn
in front of the Abbey Church (at left).

The maple surely is older than any person
living on the planet today.

Entrance to the Abbey's main building, which includes the
Guestmaster's office, Library (at right), and Refectory.

Fr. William, the Guestmaster, had been called away because, sadly, his mother was dying.  Zach and I arrived about 11:00, attended the 11:30 office (worship service), and then were told we could not be accommodated for lunch, which is the main meal of the day.  Instead, Zach and I dined at Wendy's in Three Rivers.  Thereafter we ate in the Refectory (dining hall) with the monks and other guests.

The Guest House (left) and St. Denys', an old
farmhouse used by groups which visit the Abbey.

The entrance to the Church was just being completed
when I last visited the Abbey in 2010.  The tower bell
summons the faithful to worship, starting at 4:00 a.m.

After lunch we settled into the Guest House, a very comfortable building with rooms for women on the ground floor and men upstairs.  Our rooms (in this context, cells might be the more appropriate term) were spacious and comfortable, with a bed, desk, chair, Bible, and Book of Common Prayer — all one really needs for a retreat.  However, both of us brought along our own spiritual reading, which one could do indoors or on the little balcony overlooking the Abbey's grounds.

The main work of the Benedictine monks of St. Gregory's is prayer.  These guys pray more in one week than I do in a month... or longer.  It's no exaggeration to say that Zach and I spent most of our time at the Abbey going to church!  But that's what an Abbey is for.

The daily schedule of offices includes Matins (4:00 a.m.), Lauds (6:00), Terce and Mass (8:15), Sext (11:30), None (2:00 p.m.), Vespers (5:00), and Compline (7:45).  Compline is sometimes referred to as "the putting to bed of the monks."  Members of the community retire early, because they have to awake about 3:30 a.m. to get ready for the first office of the day.  Zach and I both made it to Matins on Wednesday morning, but it wasn't easy!  I dispensed with Matins on Thursday morning and went to the 6:00 office; Zach made it to Matins that day, but then slept through Lauds!

Guests stay in this building at the far end of the
Abbey's main lawn.

Entrance to the Guest House.

The Guest House and St. Denys.

Some of the men's rooms in the Guest House have a
small balcony where one can read, pray, or chill out.

The monks don't spend all their time in church.  A monk's life is actually rather rigorous, with an intentional balance of prayer (both in church and in private), work, study, and rest.  The Daily Office — the ancient daily round of monastic services, prayed in church — provide structure for the brothers' life and, as I noted above, this is the main work of Benedictines.  But they also have a large physical plant to clean and maintain, meals to prepare, laundry to do, gardens to weed, snow to shovel in winter, and an extensive community of friends outside the Order to communicate with on a regular basis.  In addition, several of the monks lead educational programs in Episcopal parishes around the country, and the Abbot is often away attending meetings of Anglican and Roman Catholic Benedictine abbots.  Once a year each monk can take vacation time to visit his family.  It's a very demanding lifestyle.

Zach, at the wonderful maple tree, with
the entrance to the Church behind him.

Years ago I briefly entertained the idea of becoming a monk.  However, spending nearly a week at St. Gregory's blunted my interest.  After doing eight services a day for several days, I felt utterly "prayed out."  And the prospect of living with the same small group of men 24/7/365 — and especially not being able to jump in the car and go somewhere just for fun — seemed too great a sacrifice.  A monk's life is truly a vocation, one to which few men are called these days.  That is why the community at St. Gregory's is so small, just eight men at present.  This is not a life for the faint of heart or faint of faith!

More on my visit to the Abbey next time. •••