The December issue of First Things, contained a poem entitled “Passionate Souls,” by Aaron Belz, giving his poetic insight into the lives of the monks at Assumption Abbey outside Ava, MO. I visit the monastery often, sometimes just to pray in the chapel, other times for Church matters, and although I have been the Bishop in Springfield Cape Girardeau for seven years, I actually took retreats at the monastery long before I was named the Seventh Bishop in southern Missouri.
It is the dream of every bishop to have contemplative monasteries where the monks and sisters pray for the good of the diocese. We are so blessed in the Ava area to have such contemplatives. Assumption Abbey recently transferred from being a Trappist monastery to a Cistercian monastery. I was told the vocations to the abbey hadn’t persevered over the past 60 years and the remaining monks were getting on in years. At the request of Bishop James Johnston, Bishop Emeritus John Leibrecht was charged with forming a group to discern the future of Assumption Abbey. At the same time, the Cistercian monks from Vietnam were invited to experience monastic life in the Ozarks and see if the bakery was a good fit for them. And it was! Officially, Assumption Abbey is now a Cistercian monastery. More important—they continue to bake those delicious fruitcakes! Both Orders are reforms of the Benedictine Rule of Life, centered around the power of deep, contemplative prayer. In relative simplicity, silence, and separation from dominant culture, the monks balance the practices of prayer, reading, and work. Their deep inner lives and distinct daily rhythms become a continuous prayer of life, to God for the diocese and the world.
Did you know there is also a convent of Benedictine Sisters outside Ava? They are currently building a new monastery. They are a daughter house of the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, MO, the Monastery of St. Joseph. Finally, we currently have six hermits living on property donated by the Trappists, Nazareth Hermitage. These hermits, while living on the same property, are not strictly-speaking a “community.” They live their hermit lives separate from one another and come together only for daily Mass and a weekly meal. The rest of their time is spent in their hermitage and work, fulfilling the Benedictine motto, “ora et labora,” pray and work. Finally, we have the parish of St. Leo in the town of Ava that recently completed some upgrades to the Church.
It is amazing to think that this area, so void of a significant Catholic population, is the sight of a Catholic parish, a hermitage, a monastery of Benedictine Sisters, and the Cistercian/ Trappist Assumption Abbey. We could very easily call it our very own Ozark Holy Land! As I mentioned earlier, every bishop desires to have contemplatives in his diocese praying for the people of God and the mission of the Church. How blessed we are to have these groups hidden away in the beauty of the Ozark mountains praying for the needs of the diocese!
I offer below “Passionate Souls,” by Aaron Belz:
Humble quarters calm proud men,
and saltless meals compel them
to engage real-world potatoes and fish.
Days-old bread becomes bread of days,
and early vigil means quiet nights
just as being deep in the Missouri hills
seems to fill the heavens with stars;
and keeping bees yields honey
sweeter than any society.
They discover true drunkenness
comes from drinking sobriety
and the daily Blood of Eucharist.
“O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.”
Published in the February 16, 2024 issue of The Mirror.
Photo Credit: The Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles