Almost every time I get back to Kentucky I make a visit to the Abby of Gethsemani. A Trappist monastery, it is about 10 miles from town, a little ways past St. Thomas. As a child I used to accompany my father to morning Lauds some, and we often attended Mass here. I still have a little creche music box that a monk made for me one Christmas Eve. I must have been about 5 years old.
I absolutely love the peace and quiet of this place. There is something about the life of the monk that restores my sanity. There is a bit (or a lot) of monk in me that resonates here.
The Trappists established their monastery here in 1847. There is a good history
HERE.
I love the austere spareness of their chapel.
ReplyDeleteme too. The Church was redesigned in the late 60s by artist, William Schickel. I love the simplicity of it, and the way the light plays throughout the space. My cousin, Benedictine Fr. Harry Bill, tells me that the colors of the stained glass are supposed to reflect the colors of the Trappist habit.
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