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Mount Angel Abbey

Coordinates: 45°03′25″N 122°46′28″W / 45.056971°N 122.774459°W / 45.056971; -122.774459
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Mount Angel Seminary
File:Mount Angel Seminary Seal.png
Former names
Mt. Angel Seminary
Mt. Angel College
TypePrivate
Established1882
PresidentVacant (pending election)
Students200[1]
Undergraduates25[1]
Location
St. Benedict
,
Oregon
,
USA
CampusRural
AffiliationsRoman Catholic
(Order of Saint Benedict)
Websitehttp://www.mountangelabbey.org

Mount Angel Abbey is a private Roman Catholic seminary, university, and community of Benedictine monks near the city of Mt. Angel, Oregon, United States. It was established in 1882 from the Abbey of Engelberg, Switzerland. The abbey, located on the top of Mount Angel, a 485-foot high butte,[2] has its own post office separate from the city of Mt. Angel's—Saint Benedict. The library at the abbey was designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. The seminary offers degrees to both lay students and those studying for the priesthood. The undergraduate school offers bachelor's degrees to seminarians in philosophy, literature, and religious studies. The graduate school offers master's degrees to both seminarians and lay students in theology, scripture studies, and philosophy.[1]

History

Statue in the abbey garden

Mount Angel Abbey was founded in 1882 by Benedictine monks who immigrated to the United States from Engelberg, Switzerland.[1] It was conceived by Father Adelhelm Odermatt, a monk of Engelberg Abbey working in Missouri. Five years after the abbey's construction in 1882, the monks opened their school in 1887, under the name of Mount Angel College. In 1889, Archbishop William Gross of Oregon City asked the monks to establish a seminary in conjunction with their college.

In 1903, Father Thomas Meienhofer, also a native of Switzerland, became the first abbot.[3] In 1926, a second fire in the abbey's history destroyed its monastery, forcing the community into private homes and the nearby parish school and rectory.[3] The monks began rebuilding, and in 1930 erected Aquinas Hall, and a gymnasium in 1936.[3] In 1946, the college was shut down so that the abbey could focus on its seminary and boys' preparatory school.

In 1965, two new monasteries were started from Mount Angel Abbey: Ascension Priory in Idaho, and Our Lady of the Angels Priory in Cuernavaca, Mexico.[3] In 1980, Father Bonaventure Zerr was elected as the seventh abbot, establishing a new library for not only seminarians, but for the use of scholarly research.[3]

Though the seminary has historically been the central focus of the abbey, it has also become open to non-seminarians seeking bachelor's degrees in philosophy and theology.

Seminary

Mount Angel Seminary, which was originally part of the now defunct Mount Angel College, serves numerous western dioceses and currently has approximately 200 students.[4] The makeup of the seminary population is 40% Anglo-American and 60% minorities, primarily Hispanic, Vietnamese, and Filipino.[citation needed] The Seminary's main church has a tower that contains the largest free-swinging bells on the west coast.

The seminary has undergraduate and graduate programs. The undergraduate program is devoted towards a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Students may choose a double degree by studying one of two additional fields—religious studies or literature. Many of the students from the undergraduate degree program continue on to study in Rome, San Francisco, Chicago, Leuven, or Washington, D.C.[citation needed]

Mount Angel Abbey Museum

The Mount Angel Abbey Museum is a collection of assorted artifacts, including mounted animal dioramas, rocks and minerals, serendipitous objects, antique liturgical vestments and religious items, and American Civil War memorabilia. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Seminary History". Mount Angel Abbey. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  2. ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 836. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Abbey History". Mount Angel Abbey. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  4. ^ Haught, Nancy (August 18, 2012). "Woodburn priest's arrest focuses attention on Mount Angel Abbey". The Oregonian. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Mount Angel Abbey Museum". Retrieved September 1, 2015.

45°03′25″N 122°46′28″W / 45.056971°N 122.774459°W / 45.056971; -122.774459

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