Seclusion and prayer on Abbey Road
Lafayette, Ore. – We pull into Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey at 6 a.m., the modest grounds emerging from a thick fog at the edge of the long and desolate Abbey Road in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
It is a black morning, but Father Martinus greets us with a cheery shake of the hands; we find out later that our guide was, and usually is, awake by 2.
The atmosphere on the grounds is deliberately cloistered. Among the monks’ many vows is silence, practiced at various intervals throughout the day. We slip quietly into the church behind Father Martinus and take our seats among the dozen laymen gathered for Mass.
We later learn that the name Trappist is derived from the Cistercian Abbey of La Trappe, whose monks took refuge in Switzerland in the late 1700s when the French Revolution suppressed all religious houses. Trappist monks have for centuries lived by a strict code of poverty and seclusion, as set out by the Rule of St. Benedict.
Here, on the outskirts of the tiny enclave of Lafayette, is no different. One by one the monks fill the front of the church, their long white robes glowing in the dim flicker of candlelight. Some of the monks are so old they stand leaning forward, hunchbacked and frail. I wonder how well they can hear the Abbott as he leads the church in Mass. It is a somber scene.
After prayers we meet with Father Martinus and are introduced to a few of the monks. Most are too shy to be interviewed, but Father Martinus can barely contain his enthusiasm; he has been with this order in Lafayette since it moved from New Mexico in 1955, and he is delighted to share his home. He is an exceptional storyteller with a gift for vivid scene-setting, and he translates brochures and other literature into several languages for the abbey.
Thirty-two monks inhabit this order, down from 60 in 1955. There is also typically a small number of retreatants, who can stay for as short as a day and as long as a month. Brother Paul, a graduate of Notre Dame, is among the youngest in his 30s, and Brother Clarence, who tends to the abbey’s forest, is among the oldest in his 80s. And yet age doesn’t seem to matter here; the men share such fundamental beliefs that they become united through their choices, not their experiences.
The day progresses slowly, a welcome change from the chaos of our last few days in Portland. Throughout the grounds the monks speak in near whispers. Their movements are deliberate. Their schedules are tight. Church bells chime with each passing hour, and the simplicity is disarming. We breathe the clean air deeply.
When we pull away from the monastery at noon, past the 1,000 acres of forest, the sky is a pale gray and flocks of birds form shifting patterns above us. We are only an hour outside of Portland on our first stop of the Pacific Northwest leg of our tour, and already we have happened upon a place that feels worlds away.
Posted by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore on Saturday, September 16th, 2006 | Email This PostThis entry was posted on Saturday, September 16th, 2006 at 1:34 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
11 Responses to “Seclusion and prayer on Abbey Road”
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September 18th, 2006 at 10:16 am
Thick fog, chanting, whispers, forest… this is pure excellence. Well done on a good start.
September 18th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
I receive the daily Retreat from Fr. Rory Pitstlik and found your site. I really enjoyed the audio on your Trappist post. Watching it brought a feeling of peace and a closeness to GOD. I have attended retreats at Blue Cloud Abbey in SD. over the yrs. I am a Permanent Deacon recently retired from active ministry after 22yrs. The quietness and spiritual atmosphere of a monastary helps renew a persons relationship and closeness to GOD and our Father JESUS.
Will put your site in my Favorites.
GOD\’s BLESSINGS on all of y0u.
September 19th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
This piece moves in and around me in all the ways appropriate for its subject. Very informative, and ethereal. The technology is best used in the moments when it is transparent, and I no longer realize I am viewing or listening or reading, but feel part of this hushed, sacred moment. You guys are on the way to somehting special, I have no doubt.
This is the kind of experience that I believe Casteneda was speaking of when he talks of Death as our silent adviser, and of wisdom coming through the cleansing fire of detached and faded personal histories.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:36 pm
We found your website while researching saints for my daughter’s 3rd grade All Saints festivities at school. After listening to the audio and viewing the slide show, it moved my daughter to ask, “How do you know if God is talking to you?” This led to a special conversation between my daughter and I. What an unexpected and wonderful outcome of checking out your website! Thank you!
September 24th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Deeply moving. Very quieting for me to hear in a time of emotional turbulence. Thank you.
September 27th, 2006 at 10:06 am
This is a fantastic undertaking, and I wish you every good and blessing.
Loved the bit on the Abbey - I lived there and still keep in touch with a few monks.
Thanks for the little home coming.
October 1st, 2006 at 7:33 pm
How wonderful to have this snap shot of this community. I have been making retreats there for years and have been enriched by this oasis of silence and God’s presence.
Well done!
Pax.
October 1st, 2006 at 8:56 pm
We have visited Guadalupe Abbey several times and found a good friend in Br.Martin & Br. Philip. A place of peace and serenity in an increasingly noisy and rude world.. Prayers daily for all the Brothers and for novices.
October 1st, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Marvelous slideshow. Thank you. One question? There is a picture of a bare floor with what appears to be beds or mats: do they share a common dormitory in ancient fashion, or is this the setup for meditation? Please continue to expand this. Thanks.
Mary Kathryn, Hermit
November 17th, 2006 at 11:05 am
I too have been a regular visitor/retreatant at Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey. Your words echo what I carry in my heart from my times spent there. It’s a special blessing to know of others who have received the same insights & graces from this Abbey as I have.
Thank you!
September 7th, 2007 at 4:02 am
We have recently joined a Centering Prayer Group at our Catholic Church. Prior to our \”centering\” we watch tapes of Abbot Thomas Keating. What does the wide brown leather belt signify that Abbot Thomas Keating wears over his habit? Also, what is the meaning of the white robe with the black overlay? Also, what is the meaning of the cowl? Just interested. Thank you.