News RSS Feed

IN THE NEWS--BEER & HOT SAUCE!: Arkansas PBS recently visited our abbey to learn about our hot sauce and beer brewing operations. Br. Sebastian and Fr. Richard are interviewed by Lauren McCullough for the first part of this "Good Roots" segment. Click on the title of the post to access the link to view and listen. UIOGD!

ARCHIVES—“BACULUM SENECTUTIS”: Celebrations involving the anniversary of the monastic profession of a monk are ones we look forward to each year. The 50th anniversary of monastic profession (sometimes referred to as a “Golden Anniversary”) are especially ones that our monastic order has honored and celebrated with particular flourish. For many years, abbeys in our Confederation even celebrated a... (click to read more and see photos)

ARCHIVE SUNDAY—SAWMILL & LOGGING: On March 15, 1878, the three founders of our monastery arrived from Indiana. On March 16th they set about building an altar. They had only an old hatchet, but a young man by the name of Mr. Gruwe (later to become a monk and priest) took on the task. Listen here to the tale recounted by Fr. Luke Hess: [A few saplings, cut in the bush, were nailed together with... (click to read more and see photos)

ARCHIVE SUNDAY—OUR WATER TOWER: On December 20, 1927, our monastery of Subiaco was almost completely destroyed by a fire. A lack of water to fight the fire was one of the primary reasons for the extensive damage. To make matters worse, within one year Subiaco would also lose our auditorium to another fire that could not be contained. The monks quickly resolved to get control of this lack of water by deciding to... (click to read more and see photos)

ACCEPTED FOR SOLEMN PROFESSION: Last night (26 May) the Chapter of Solemnly Professed monks of Subiaco Abbey met and considered the application of Br. Ambrose Fryer to be accepted for solemn profession in our monastic community. John Fryer of Alexandria, LA, following the call of God, entered our abbey in 2017 and undertook a period of Candidacy, followed by his novitiate of a year and a day. On Feb. 2, 2019, he then... (click to read more and see photos)

MONKS IN TRANSITION: One of the great gifts of monastic life is the ability to explore varying fields of education or professions over the course of your life. Two of our monks (Brother Gabriel and Brother Raban) have just arrived at a major moment of transition. Say a prayer for both of our brothers as they make these wonderful but challenging educational transitions in their lives (one training for nursing and one training for priesthood). Click to read the full story and see photos.

ST. BENEDICT PARISH PLEDGE: The Parish of St. Benedict at Subiaco has been integrally tied to our Abbey since 1878 when Fr. Wolfgang Schlumpf arrived and celebrated the first Mass as the Prior of this new Arkansas monastic foundation. Only a few short months later the Parish and Abbey would also found a co-educational parochial school where classes were held for the German speaking children (St. Benedict Parochial School would exist until its closure in 1991). Over the years... (click to read more and see photos)

OUR FIRST VIRAL PHOTOS: It was September of 1948 when Abbot Paul Nahlen set out to pick some cotton with the priests, brothers, and students of the Abbey boarding school. For two decades the Abbey had been trying to raise money to build a new Church, and Abbot Paul desperately wanted to see it completed. Many photos were taken that day, but two would become somewhat famous. By the time it was fully syndicated, the...(click to read more and see photos)

BELLS OF SUBIACO: Ask any former boarding student of Subiaco and they will tell you that one of the unspoken benefits to later college life is that because a Subiaco student can sleep through bells ringing every 15 minutes of his life, then he can sleep through ANYTHING in a college dorm! Over the years, only a few select Subiaco students have been able to climb the internal ladder in the tower to see the bells in their home...(click to read more and see photos)

ST. BENEDICT PAROCHIAL SCHOOL: People rightly associate Subiaco ABBEY with Subiaco ACADEMY, our primary apostolate that we date having begun in 1887. What people often fail to realize is that the Abbey actually had TWO educational endeavors operating at the same time on neighboring land for over one hundred years. It was in March of 1878 that the new parish of St. Benedict would be created when the monks first arrived in Arkansas. It was then ... (click to read more and see photos)

COMMUNICATION: In the earliest years of the founding of our Abbey in 1878, communication with our mother abbey (St. Meinrad in Indiana) and grandmother abbey (Maria Einsiedeln in Switzerland) was accomplished through the mail (which took lots of time) or sending a telegram (much quicker but requiring travel to neighboring large cities to send it). Since the monks ... (click to read more and see photos)

St. Benedict in his Rule desired that monasteries might be self-supporting. Even today many monasteries across the world have gardens for food and tea; bees for honey and wax; farms with cattle, pigs, chickens, rabbits, sheep, and lamas; lakes for cultivating fish; solar, wind, and hydrothermal power for energy production; and produce a range of products for commercial sale. At Subiaco we have ... (click to read more and see photos)

LEMUEL COLLINS '60--THE PASSING OF A SUBIACO TRAILBLAZER: Fr. Jerome Kodell wrote the following article for our winter edition of the Abbey Message: Earlier this fall we received the news that Lemuel Collins, class of 1960, had died in Harvey, Illinois, on October 4, 2020. His passing brought to mind a significant era in Subiaco history ... (click to read more and see photos)

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... (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.