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The centerpiece of Subiaco would have to be the statue of St. Benedict located in our inner court. This statue has stood for 105 years when it was first dedicated on March 21, 1915. Countless students have stood beneath the statue to get their photo taken for graduation. Most of our records that might show where the statue was originally constructed were destroyed in the 1927 fire.... (click to read more and see photos)

On March 6, 1878, the founders of what would later become Subiaco Abbey set out from St. Meinrad in Indiana. Our Founders? Fr. Wolfgang Schlumpf, Brother Kaspar Hildesheim, Brother Hilarin Benetz, two mules, two cows, and two pigs. Along the way, however, the two pigs jumped from the wagon and ran to the woods with the three monks in hot pursuit. The pigs were soon retrieved, and the trio of monks continued the jolting ride southward toward Arkansas. Those two little founding pigs became important as the farm grew over time to provide food for the monks and students of Subiaco.... (click to read more and see photos)

What was the style of dining used in the Academy before our present method? [Fr. William Wewers, class of ’59, was gracious enough to provide the following with a little assist from some other monks]: The Students ate what was called “Family Style.” There were six boys to a table. Each table had a senior who was table captain....(click to read more and see photos)

December 11 is the anniversary of the death of Fr. Boniface Spanke, whom the late Fr. Hugh Assenmacher referred to in his book (A Place Called Subiaco) as “the most controversial monk ever to live at Subiaco” and the Southern Guardian (later named the Arkansas Catholic) referred to as a "colorful figure." Click to see photos and read the full story.

December is a month that has not looked kindly on Subiaco in history. While the monks have always had to contend with smaller fires in buildings and on our properties, it was three devastating fires in December that have left the greatest impression in the memory of Subiaco. We remember here 1928 where the third great fire took our Subiaco auditorium. Click to see photos and information.

Many of our former alumni fondly recall the taste of a dining room staple for many of their years. We dug into our archives to learn more about "Racehorse" syrup and this Subiaco tradition.

We recount a visit by Servant of God Dorothy Day to Subiaco Abbey in 1952 where she gave an informal talk about the Catholic Worker Movement which she co-founded.

Abbot Leonard and the monastic community of Subiaco Abbey announce the death of Father David McKillin. Fr. David was born on April 14, 1929. He made his profession as a monk on December 8, 1959, was ordained as a priest on May 24, 1976, and died on November 24, 2020.

We dug into our archives to provide a few photos looking at how STEAM Science-Technology-Engineering-Arts-Mathematics will continue to be an integral component to our Benedictine and Subiaco Academy education.

Abbot Leonard and the monastic community of Subiaco Abbey announce the death of Br. Maurus Glenn. Br. Maurus was born on July 8, 1942. He made his profession as a monk of our monastery on February 10, 1993, and died on November 19, 2020.

In light of the basketball season beginning for our Subiaco Academy Trojans, we thought it might be nice to dig into our archives and share some of the earliest history of the sport at our Academy.

Abbot Leonard and the monastic community of Subiaco Abbey announced the unexpected death of Br. Michael Endres from cardiac arrest. Br. Michael was born on June 22, 1964, made his profession as a monk of our monastery on September 8, 2002, and died on October 9, 2020.

Patrick Richey made profession as a Benedictine monk in the Subiaco Abbey Church Oct. 2, 2020. During Vespers, Richey presented his written and signed petition to Abbot Leonard Wangler, OSB, who then welcomed his public profession of monastic vows for three years. The abbot assigned him a new name, Brother Sebastian. After three years, he will be eligible to make his final, perpetual vows. During the ceremony Brother Sebastian read the document of his profession, in which he revealed his new monastic name and the abbot blessed the monastic habit and clothed him with it. Brother Sebastian was born in Syracuse, N.Y., and moved to Oxford, Ala., in the fifth grade. He graduated from Oxford High School in 1995 and then from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in Catholic theology. After spending two years in youth ministry, he visited Subiaco for the first time in 2008. Brother Sebastian worked as a teacher and coach at Sacred Heart High School in Ville Platte, La., and McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, Ala. He then began teaching and coaching football and baseball at Subiaco Academy until making the decision to enter into formation at the abbey.

Channel THV11 in Little Rock recently featured Subiaco in one of their segments known as "Discover Arkansas." Click on the title above to view the segment from YouTube.

Fr. Richard recently made the news in Switzerland as the Catholic Media Center for the Swiss Roman Catholic Church did an article on Subiaco's hot sauce operations. Father Richard also related his own swiss german background through his mother's side of the family. Click on the title of this news item to view the article in German.

We have updated our YouTube channel to include our newest videos. Click on the title above to view some of them.

As part of a new vocation series, the Abbey has started a weekly profile story that will highlight one of our monks each week. Part of this series is to ask the primary question of "What led you to become a monk at Subiaco?" This will be followed by a series of informal questions and answers to better catch a glimpse into the wonderful individuality and uniqueness of each monk. These profiles can be found each week on our website homepage, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook.

NEW HANDICAP ENTRANCE: As part of our Capital Campaign project, we have started work on an additional handicap entrance into the monastery especially for those guests at our Coury House Retreat Center. A door entrance has been cut into what used to be a window as you use the side guest entrance. The new door is being fabricated and should be done next week. The ramp is also being fabricated and should be done in six weeks or so. Our Coury House Retreat Center and Book Store have reopened with the necessary covid precautions. We are so grateful to all those who continue to support our Capital Campaign with some much needed projects for our Abbey and Academy! Onward Together!

A NOTE OF THANKS: A college classmate of Br. Raban felt called to make a donation to us and we monks were happy to assist. Our monastery experienced two massive fires in our history that destroyed most of our libraries. Because we focused on the Academy library replenishment, our monastic library has only slowly rebounded. We have a little over 20,000 books at this point in time that are used not only by the monks and the students, but also the larger area where we regularly have Catholic and Protestant ministers use it as a valuable research resource. Thankfully, we have tried to set aside money for regular purchases of new books when possible. Large book series are rare for us to get, so we were deeply honored for the donation of the 29 volume Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. This commentary allows a person to pick any scripture verse and then find how and where the Church Fathers used that passage in their writings. We can then access those writings in our available books or our Patrologia series both in print and online. Practically, the fruit of this is used in our homilies, writings, and personal devotion. Our librarian Fr. Richard, the Abbot, and all the monks want to thank this anonymous donor that gifted us with this series. Your donation will prayerfully be used by a generation of monks to come. UIOGD!

The Catholic paper for the Diocese of Little Rock did a nice article on Br. Basil and the ongoing success of our Country Monks Brewing. Click on the title to access that article.