{{Short description|Benedictine monastery in Saint Benedict, Oregon}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox monastery | name = Mount Angel Abbey | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = File:Mt. Angel Abbey (Marion County, Oregon scenic images) (marDA0213).jpg | alt = | caption = | full = | other_names = | order = Benedictine | established = October 30, 1882 | disestablished = | mother = Engelberg Abbey | dedication = | diocese = Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon | churches = | abbot = The Right Rev. Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B. | prior = Rev. Teresio Caldwell, O.S.B. | archbishop = The Most Rev. Alexander Sample | bishop = | archdeacon = | people = | status = | functional_status = | heritage_designation = | designated_date = | architect = | groundbreaking = | completed_date = | construction_cost = | location = | map_type = USA#USA Oregon | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in the United States##Location in Oregon | coord = {{coord|45.057|N|122.775|W|region:US-AR_source:wikidata|display=inline,title}} | oscoor = | remains = | public_access = | website = {{URL|https://www.mountangelabbey.org/}} | other_info = }} '''Mount Angel Abbey''' is a Benedictine monastery located in Saint Benedict, Oregon, United States, northeast of Salem. It was established {{Time ago|1882}} in 1882 from Engelberg Abbey, in Switzerland. The abbey, located on the top of Mount Angel, a {{convert|485|ft|m|adj=mid|-high butte}},<ref name=OGN>{{cite book |last1= McArthur |first1= Lewis A. |author-link= Lewis A. McArthur |last2=McArthur |first2= Lewis L. |author-link2= Lewis L. McArthur |title= Oregon Geographic Names |orig-year= 1928 |edition= Seventh |year= 2003 |publisher= Oregon Historical Society Press |location= Portland, Oregon |isbn= 0-87595-277-1 |pages= 836 }}</ref> has its own post office separate from the city of Mt. Angel. As of 2021, the abbey is home to approximately 51 monks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swissamericanmonks.org/uploads/8/1/1/6/8116527/2022_summary_of_congregation.pdf|title=2022 Summary of the Congregation}}</ref>
==History== ===1882–1903: Establishment=== Mount Angel Abbey was founded on October 30, 1882,<ref name=encyclopedia>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/mt_angel_abbey_/#.VzVK4xUrL6Y|encyclopedia=The Oregon Encyclopedia|title=Mt. Angel Abbey|access-date=May 12, 2016|author=Drnjevic, Cyril}}</ref> by Benedictine monks who immigrated to the United States from Engelberg, Switzerland. It was conceived by Father Adelhelm Odermatt, a monk of Engelberg Abbey who was working in Missouri.
Five years after the abbey's foundation<!-- in 1882-->, the monks opened their school in 1887 under the name of ''Mount Angel College''.<ref name=encyclopedia/> In 1889, at the request of Archbishop William Gross of Oregon City, the monks established a seminary in conjunction with their college.<ref name=encyclopedia/>
===1904–Present: Expansion=== In 1904, the community was officially declared an abbey, which meant that it became independent from its motherhouse in Switzerland.<ref name=encyclopedia/> Thomas Meienhofer, also a native of Switzerland, was elected the first abbot.<ref name="abbey">{{cite web|url=https://www.mountangelabbey.org/abbey-history/|work=Mount Angel Abbey|title=Abbey History|access-date=2015-09-26}}</ref> In 1926, a second fire destroyed the monastery, forcing the community into private homes and the nearby parish school and rectory.<ref name="abbey"/> The monks began rebuilding, and in 1930 erected Aquinas Hall. A gymnasium followed in 1936.<ref name="abbey"/> In 1939, the abbey's first daughterhouse, Westminster Abbey, was established in Mission, British Columbia.<ref name="encyclopedia"/> In 1946, the college was shut down and the community focussed on its seminary and boys' preparatory school. In 1959, a retreat house was constructed to serve the spiritual needs of laypeople.<ref name=encyclopedia/> In the early 1950s, the monastery became one of approximately 900 locations that would serve as emergency hospitals in the event of a nuclear war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Graf |first=Garrett M. |date=2017 |title=Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=9781476735405}}</ref>
In 1965, two new monasteries were started from Mount Angel Abbey: Ascension Priory in Idaho, and Our Lady of the Angels Abbey in Cuernavaca, Mexico.<ref name="abbey"/> 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.<ref name="abbey"/> The library at the abbey was designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Though the seminary has historically been the central focus of the abbey, it has also become open to non-seminarians seeking degrees in philosophy and theology. In the 1970s, the abbey community had a total of 125 monks living on the grounds, making it one of the largest Benedictine male communities in the United States.<ref name=encyclopedia/>
==Abbots== The abbey's abbots since 1904 are as follows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swissamericanmonks.org/uploads/8/1/1/6/8116527/2021_catalog_of_the_congregation.pdf|title=The Swiss-American Benedictine Congregation Catalog 2021}}</ref> *1904-1910 Thomas Aquinas Meienhofer *1910-1921 Placidus Fuerst *1921-1934 Bernard Murphy *1934-1950 Thomas Aquinas Meier *1950-1974 Damian Jentges *1974-1980 Anselm Galvin *1980-1988 Bonaventure Zerr *1988-1997 Peter Eberle *1997-2001 Joseph Wood *2001-2009 Nathan Zodrow *2009-2016 Gregory Duerr *2016–present Jeremy Driscoll
==Seminary and School of Theology== ''Mount Angel Seminary'', which was originally part of the now closed ''Mount Angel College'', serves numerous western dioceses and has approximately 170 students.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morris-Young |first=Dan |date=January 28, 2019 |title=Catholic abuse scandal galvanizes Mount Angel seminarians' resolve |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/catholic-abuse-scandal-galvanizes-mount-angel-seminarians-resolve |work=National Catholic Reporter |access-date=March 23, 2021}}</ref> The college was originally composed of seven schools, but as the college turned its focus toward the seminary, the two remaining schools are the liberal arts college and the Graduate School of Theology.<ref name=encyclopedia/> The seminary's main church has a tower that contains the largest free-swinging bells on the west coast.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountangelabbey.org/visit-us/walking-tour/|title=Hilltop Walking Tour|website=Mount Angel Abbey|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref> In 2006, a new seminary building received a Best Sustainable Award for Oregon and Washington.<ref name=encyclopedia/> The following year, to commemorate the abbey's 125th anniversary, a new bell tower was erected.<ref name=encyclopedia/>
The seminary has undergraduate and graduate programs. The undergraduate program is devoted towards a bachelor's degree in philosophy. The four-year liberal arts curriculum, leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree, may be completed with a major in philosophy, a double major in Philosophy and Literature, or a double major in Philosophy and Religious Studies. The seminary offers degrees to both lay students and those studying for the priesthood. The Graduate School of Theology offers MDiv, MA (Theology), STB, and DMin degree programs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ats.edu/member-schools/mount-angel-seminary |title=Mount Angel Seminary |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=ats.edu |publisher=The Association of Theological Schools |access-date=March 23, 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mountangelabbey.org/wp-content/uploads/MAS-2020-21-CATALOG-v5.pdf |title=Mount Angel Seminary Academic Catalogue |website=mountangelabbey.org |publisher=Mount Angel Seminary |access-date=March 23, 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
==Library== The ''Mount Angel Library'' was designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, built in 1970, and renovated in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Mount_Angel_Library.html |title=Mount Angel Library |work=Great Buildings |accessdate=March 22, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Aalto's Second American Building: An Abbey Library for a Hillside in Oregon |work= Architectural Record, 149: 11-116 |date= May 1971}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Finrow |first= Gunilla |title=Natural Light, Form and Material: The Library at Mount Angel Abbey by Alvar Aalto |work=Journal of Interior Design, Volume 6, Issue 2, pp. 22-32 |date= September 1980}}</ref> The library is used by both seminary students and theology students and contains 240,000 physical volumes and 100,000 electronic volumes (30% religion, 10% philosophy, and 60% history, art, music, and more), offering the largest theology collection in the Northwest United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abbeyfoundationoforegon-annualreport.org/ |title=The Abbey Library |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2020 |website=abbeyfoundationoregon |publisher= Abbey Foundation of Oregon |access-date=March 22, 2021 |quote=}}</ref> In addition to a wide range of books, the library also has an archive of medieval manuscripts dating back to the 12th century. The library has digitized multiple manuscripts, many from England, France, and Italy, through the Ethiopic Manuscripts Digitization Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mountangelabbey.org/digitization-project/|work=Mt. Angel Abbey |title=Medieval Books and Manuscripts |access-date=March 22, 2021}}</ref>
==Museum== The Mount Angel Abbey Museum is a collection of assorted artifacts, including mounted animal dioramas, rocks and minerals, serendipitous objects, antique liturgical vestments, religious items, and Civil War memorabilia.
== Benedictine Brewery == In 2018, the third monastic brewery in the United States<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/17470/americas-newest-monastic-brewery-opens-in-oregon/|title=America's Newest Monastic Brewery Opens in Oregon|website=BeerAdvocate|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-12}}</ref> opened at the abbey. Brewing is common among Trappists, but is also part of the Benedictine tradition—which is the order that occupies the Mount Angel Abbey, a {{convert|350|acre|km2|adj=on}} monastery secluded on a wooded butte above the small farming town of Mount Angel. Abbey monks now brew beer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wweek.com/bars/beer/2018/03/14/benedictine-brewery-at-mount-angel-abbey-is-a-350-acre-secluded-butte-where-monks-are-the-brewers/|title=Benedictine Brewery at Mount Angel Abbey is a 350-Acre Secluded Butte Where Monks Are the Brewers|work=Willamette Week|access-date=2018-09-12|language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== *Engelberg Abbey, the parent abbey of Mount Angel *Westminster Abbey (British Columbia)
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Mount Angel Abbey}} * {{Official website|https://www.mountangelabbey.org/}}
{{Colleges and universities in Oregon}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon}} {{authority control}}
Category:Mount Angel Seminary Category:1882 establishments in Oregon Category:Alvar Aalto buildings Category:Benedictine monasteries in the United States Category:Buildings and structures in Marion County, Oregon Category:Catholic universities and colleges in Oregon Category:Education in Marion County, Oregon Category:Modernist architecture in Oregon Category:Mt. Angel, Oregon Category:Museums in Marion County, Oregon Category:Natural history museums in Oregon Category:Religious museums in the United States Category:Benedictine colleges and universities Category:Catholic seminaries in the United States Category:Swiss-American history Category:Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Category:Universities and colleges established in 1882