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ST. JOHN'S ABBEY

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A place apart

St. John's Abbey offers
help in building a bridge
between traditions

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As a monastery in the Roman Catholic Order of St. Benedict, St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., has distinguished itself not only in education — as the home of St. John's University — but in the ecumenical movement between Catholics and Christians of other traditions. In July, St. John's hosted a Mennonite-Catholic conference on Anabaptist martyrdom and a gathering of Bridgefolk, a Mennonite-Catholic fellowship group.

PHOTOS, FROM TOP:
»» 1-4. A panoramic stained-glass honeycomb stretches across the northern side of the St. John's Abbey Church. The church, completed in 1961, was designed by architect Marcel Breuer. The church's austere, naturally-lit interior includes this cloister-like corridor along the church's western edge, leading from the entrance to the monastic community's enclosure.

Though St. John's is not part of a strictly cloistered order, such as the Trappists or Carthusians, the privacy of the monks and the prayerful atmosphere of their living area is preserved. Above, a semi-circular stone carving of St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictine order, above a doorway on the St. John's University campus.

»» 5. A view of the abbey's former church, now the remodeled and modernized Great Hall, from inside the community's private monastic garden.

»» 6. This painting of Christ occupies a half-dome in the Great Hall.

»» 7. This 12th century wood statue of the Madonna and Child, can be found in a small shrine near the rear of the abbey church.

»» 8. Participants in a Mennonite-Catholic conference on the legacy of Anabaptist martyrs sit in choir stalls during the daily Liturgy of the Hours in the abbey church.

»» 9-10. Stained glass windows bring natural light into the Great Hall. These lamp-lit renderings of angels are part of the same large work that appears with the Christ figure above in the Great Hall.

»» 11-12. St. John's Abbey can still appear to be a mix of old and new. Below at left, a modern gate leads to a relatively new addition where many of the community's monks live. Below at right, a sign warning "No Admittance" is bolted next to a door leading from the monastic garden to the community's residence.