Mount Michael Abbey
 Mount Michael Abbey building | |
  Location within Nebraska  Mount Michael Abbey (the United States) | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Order of St. Benedict |
| Established | 1953 |
| Mother house | Conception Abbey |
| Dedicated to | St. Michael the Archangel |
| Diocese | Archdiocese of Omaha |
| Abbot | Abbot Michael Liebl OSB |
| Prior | Fr. Louis Sojka OSB |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Abbey |
| Site | |
| Location | Elkhorn, Nebraska |
| Coordinates | 41°19′0″N 96°16′8″W / 41.31667°N 96.26889°W |
| Website | mountmichael |
Mount Michael Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Elkhorn in Nebraska. It is located in the Archdiocese of Omaha. The Abbey sits within 400 acre grounds just northwest of Omaha, Nebraska. The majority of which is a mixture of cropland, pasture, and woodlands. Also on the property are the buildings of the high school which was founded by the Abbey, multiple guest houses, barns for the farm equipment, and outdoor shrines for monks and visitors to reflect and pray.
Origins[edit]
The abbey is part of the Swiss-American Congregation and traces its roots to Engelberg Abbey in Switzerland and Immaculate Conception Abbey in Missouri.[1]
In 1942 Conception Abbey and Seminary, located in Missouri, was expanded to a 12-year institution, including a preparatory high school, a junior college, a senior college, and a school of theology.[2] By 1950 increased enrollment and a change in focus led to the transfer of the high school division to a new Benedictine monastery. Abbot Stephen Schappler began to look for a place to which he could move the minor seminary.
In 1952 he found a host in Omaha, Archbishop Gerald T. Bergan. Abbot Stephen sent Fr. Dominic Lavin to Omaha NE to find a property for the new foundation. Fr. Dominic’s persistence brought him into contact with Mr. Rex Olsen, a retired journeyman who owned a farm on the eastern edge of the Elkhorn Valley. After some consultation from the bishop of Grand Island, Olsen generously donated his farm, Journey’s End, all his equipment and livestock, and the monks accepted the property on September 29, 1952, the feast of St. Michael, and the first monks were sent to Omaha on May 14, 1953.
These first monks lived in the Olsen family farmhouse and oversaw the conversion of the property to a seminary campus.
The first building constructed was a simple chapel for the monks, built on the existing house. The second was for the primary apostolate—educating and forming young men for the priesthood. The breaking ground ceremony for the St. John Vianney Seminary building took place on January 30, 1955, more than a year and a half later the building and the attached new chapel were dedicated on October 28, 1956. Because Mount Michael did not build a monastery building at its inception, when more monks began arriving from Conception to begin teaching they were forced to live in the only space available, the seminary attic.
When the first monastery building was constructed, it was a temporary building located a distance away from the school and the chapel. To this day the monks walk to the chapel in the school for the Divine Office and Mass. The monastery was named Mount Michael because of its location at the highest elevation in Douglas County, Nebraska and because the land was given to the monks on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel.
In the 1960s Mount Michael, still a priory of Conception Abbey, petitioned the Vatican for abbatial status. On October 6, 1964, Mount Michael was raised to abbatial status.[3][4]
Abbey Community[edit]
The community closely follows the Rule of Saint Benedict, the communal schedule is a balance of prayer and work that is designed to keep God as the central driving force in the monks' day. The community's Horarium is structured to allow for the main apostolate the attached high school by bringing together the seven hours for the Divine Office into four times of combined offices as well as Mass and Lectio Divina.
The monks convene four times throughout the day to participate in the seven components of the Divine Office. At 6:30 am, they commence Morning Prayer, encompassing Matins, Lauds, Prime, and Terce. Subsequently, at noon, they reconvene for Sext and None, followed by Vespers at 5:15 pm and culminated with Compline at 7:15 pm. In the intervals between these structured prayers, monks dedicate themselves to various forms of manual labor, such as educational activities within the monastery's school or maintenance of the monastery grounds.
Although the main apostolate of Mount Michael Abbey is its school, there are other apostolates as well. For many years Mount Michael provided priests to help in the Archdiocese of Omaha and other dioceses as well. Another apostolate is hospitality (as per the Rule of St. Benedict), the monks preserved Rex Olson’s house and it is now St. Benedict’s Guest House. They have faithfully cared for this house and provided hospitality in the form of a tea and gift shop.[5]
The work of the monks ranges from teaching at the school, to farming, to making soap and pottery to support the monastery.
Mount Michael currently has around 12 monks and a large number of dedicated Oblates.
In 2001 the community was featured in a documentary called "We Go the Way Together".[6]
Abbots[edit]
- 1964-1989: Abbot Raphael Walsh OSB[3][7][8]
- 1989-2007: Abbot Theodore Wolff OSB
- 2007–present: Abbot Michael Liebl OSB
Recent Dangers[edit]
Mount Michael Abbey has an encroachment crisis driven by expanding real estate development in its vicinity.
The construction of Dam Site 12 by the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD) southeast of Mount Michael, aimed at controlling flooding along West Papillion Creek, has been part of a long-term plan spanning a decade. The NRD's practice of selling surplus land to real estate developers has raised concerns about potential housing developments encroaching upon the abbey's borders, mirroring a pattern observed at the conclusion of previous NRD projects. Notably, housing developments have already commenced on the opposite side of 216th Street, with a trajectory suggesting that residential construction will be constructed close to the lake (and the Abbey) upon completion of the Dam Site 12 project.
As of February 2024, the NRD had signed an agreement for the purchase of the plot of land next to Mount Michael.
Mount Michael was also nearly hit by the Great tornado of 4/26/2024, which narrowly missed and struck down a large number of homes on the other side of 216th street
See also[edit]
- Swiss-American Congregation
- Conception Abbey
- Rule of Saint Benedict
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha
References[edit]
- ^ "History". Conception Abbey.
- ^ "History & Mission". Conception Seminary College.
- ^ a b "Swiss-American 2024 Catalog of the Congregation" (PDF). p. 15.
- ^ Omaha World Herald article: Yesterday in Omaha 10/31/64
- ^ Omaha World Herald article: Soup's Free, Gifts for Sale Monks Welcome Guests to 'Tea'
- ^ We Go the Way Together documentary
- ^ Omaha World Herald article: Administrator of Abbey for 26 Years Mount Michael Abbot Resigns Posts
- ^ Omaha World Herald article: Raphael Walsh
External links[edit]
- Official site
- Customary of Mount Michael Abbey
- The Swiss-American Benedictine Congregation
- Conception Abbey Home page
- Benedictine monasteries in the United States
- 20th-century Christian monasteries
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha
- Douglas County, Nebraska
- 1953 establishments in Nebraska
- Benedictine congregations
- Catholic religious orders established in the 20th century
- Swiss-American history
- Christian organizations established in 1953
- Religious buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska
- Roman Catholic monasteries in the United States