As St. Michael’s Abbey prepares to elect its third abbot, the canons ask all friends of the abbey to accompany the community with prayer during this important moment.

The word abbot comes from abbas, meaning “father.” An abbot is the lawful superior and spiritual father of an abbey. In the monastic tradition, he “holds the place of Christ” among the brethren; his authority is therefore not merely administrative, but paternal, spiritual, and accountable before God. He is entrusted with the care of the community, its common life, its worship of God, its formation of priests and religious, and its fidelity to the charism it has received.

An abbatial election is the solemn act by which the professed canons of an abbey gather in chapter to choose a new abbot. In many ways similar to a conclave, though proper to the life of an abbey, it is undertaken in prayer, discernment, and dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Through this sacred responsibility, the community seeks to recognize the man whom God is calling to serve as father and shepherd of the abbey.

The election of an abbot concerns not only the spiritual and canonical life within the abbey, but the wider apostolic mission entrusted to its canons. From the abbey itself, where the faithful come for the sacraments, spiritual counsel, and prayer, the community’s ministry extends outward: locally through parishes and schools, across the country through shrines and retreats, and globally through the digital apostolates of the Evermode Institute and the Abbot’s Circle. The man chosen as abbot will bear spiritual responsibility for this whole life of service to the Church.

The Right Reverend Eugene J. Hayes, O.Praem.
- Abbot Emeritus

With profound gratitude to Almighty God, St. Michael’s Abbey gives thanks for the thirty-one years of fatherly leadership of the Rt. Rev. Eugene J. Hayes, O.Praem., second Abbot of St. Michael’s Abbey.

During his tenure, the community was blessed with remarkable growth. Vocations blossomed, a new generation of priests and religious was formed, the new abbey church and monastery were brought to completion, and the spiritual reach of the abbey expanded to countless faithful through its liturgy, apostolates, and the launch of the Abbot’s Circle.

These visible fruits stand as a testament not only to years of leadership, but to a life of perseverance, sacrifice, and fidelity in service to the Church and to the sons entrusted to his care.

As the abbey prepares to elect its third abbot, we pause first in gratitude for the fatherly guidance of Abbot Eugene and for the many graces God has bestowed upon St. Michael’s Abbey through his years of service.