Subiaco Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in Logan County,
Arkansas
, United
States
, in the Arkansas River
valley. Subiaco Abbey and its associated academy are
major features of the town of Subiaco, Arkansas
. It is located within the
Roman Catholic Diocese of
Little Rock.
History
In 1877,
the Abbot of St. Meinrad Archabbey
in Indiana
, Martin
Marty, negotiated with an agent of the LR&FS (Little Rock and
Fort Smith) Railroad Company for in Arkansas for the establishment
of a Benedictine monastery for men and an additional for the
foundation of a monastery for Benedictine women.
This
agreement received the support of Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rock,
Arkansas
, who was in need of German-speaking priests for his
diocese.
The original foundation of the abbey was made on March 15, 1878,
upon the arrival of three monk-missionaries from St. Meinrad
Archabbey. Due to financial and personnel difficulties, St. Meinrad
Archabbey requested assistance.
In the fall of 1887, the Einsiedeln
Abbey
, Switzerland
sent eight novices and a
priest-monk to
Subiaco. Two of these were Brother Gall D'Aujourd'hui and
Father Wolfgang Schlumpf.
In 1891, the name of the abbey was changed from
St. Benedict's
Priory to
Subiaco. The third
Abbot of Subiaco, Paul Nahlen, obtained
Pope Pius XII's blessing for the
construction of the present church on the campus. This act is
depicted in one of the 182 stained-glass frescoes in St. Benedict
Abbey Church on the campus.
Over the years, the Benedictine monks at Subiaco have pursued
various spiritual, agricultural, and commercial endeavors. First
were
missionary works, then the
establishment of Subiaco Academy, a
university-preparatory
school.
The abbey maintained a
dairy operation, but
that effort was abandoned in 1964 with an open auction of the dairy
cattle.
Student Body
The
Academy has international students mainly from South Korea
and Mexico
.
There are
also students from; China
, Belarus
, Spain
, and
Thailand
.
Sports
The academy has a sports program consisting of football,
basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, and track and field.
The tennis team won the state championship in 2008.
Monastery endeavors
The abbey has bred purebred Black
Angus
cattle, the cultivation of grapes and other fruits, as well as
cattle feed crops (hay) and stands of
timber.
The abbey has maintained an
electronic commerce website where products made at the abbey are sold.
The products consist primarily of candy and food seasonings.
Subiaco Academy
Subiaco Academy is a boarding/day school of Catholic tradition for
any qualified young man in grades 8 through 12. Located on a campus
in Arkansas River Valley and the Ozark mountains of western
Arkansas, Subiaco offers college preparatory classes, with
co-curricular activities including sports, arts and music and
outdoor activities including hiking, camping, fishing, swimming,
boating, water skiing and kayaking.
The college placement rate for graduates is 100%. The academy's
goal is to challenge students to grow - mind, body and
spirit.
Coury House Retreat Center
Subiaco provides accommodation for friends of the abbey, family
members of academy students, and in accordance with the
Rule of St Benedict, anyone who comes in
peace. Visitor accommodations are made at the Coury House Retreat
Center, an hotel-like establishment on the campus that provides
room and board to visitors—including married couples—who wish to
experience the spiritual renewal and solitude of the Subiaco Abbey
and campus.
Notable alumni
Media references
KNWA-TV
, a Fort Smith,
Arkansas
television station, produced a half-hour report on
the history of the Abbey and Academy in March 2009.
See also
References
External links
Wikis
Map
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