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In the quiet canyon town of Silverado, California, about an hour outside of Los Angeles, sits St. Michael's Abbey. This abbey, its architecture, and its mission represents a study in contrasts: of light and dark, of color and calm, of old and new. Indeed, at first glance, St. Michael's Abbey looks a bit out of place, as if it has been transported to California from someplace far away--a small town in Europe, perhaps, and even then from long, long ago.
But for all its reverence for things ancient, St. Michael's Abbey is very much alive. This refuge in the still desert mountains of Southern California is home to a growing and community of men, many young, who have dedicated their lives to an ancient, monastic charism. Their work--the work of all abbeys that have come before it--is nothing short of the restoration of culture and the salvation of souls.
This is the present chapter of a story over 900 years in the making. It is a story of saints and sinners, of religious fervor and unkillable resolve, of violent persecution and daring midnight escapes, of loss and forgiveness and love. It is a story of discovering what "home" means in this life--and recognizing that true home is in the next life.
In response to the turmoil in the Church and as a reform of the clerical life of his day, St. Norbert of Xanten (d. 1134) founded the Norbertine Order on Christmas Day, 1121, in the valley of Prémontré, France. St. Norbert held a conviction that clerical reform could only through through the intense commonality of monastic life--of priests living in community, sharing a common roof, a common prayer, common work, and a common table. Abbeys and priors of this Christ-centered monastic priesthood would, in turn, revitalize the Church, and indeed, the entire cultures in which it served.
This apostolic life was St. Augustine’s 4th-century ideal and St. Norbert’s 12th-century contribution to the renewal of the Church. Within thirty years there were two hundred abbeys of his new Order - oases of prayer, sound teaching and holiness - spread across the face of the Christian world. In the face of turmoil, St. Norbert's answer was to bring the people of God new hope through an abundance of holy priests to serve them.
Today, St. Michael's Abbey is one of the largest communities of the world-wide Norbertine Order. The fire which St. Norbert kindled in 1121 still burns brightly 900 years later. God continues to call young men of faith in great numbers to live the lofty priestly ideal of St. Norbert.
During the celebration year of the 900th anniversary of the Order’s founding, on May 4, 2021, the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey dedicated their new abbey church.
Young men of faith continue to dedicate themselves to the communal life of service to God and His Church. As in 1121, the world today is in dire need of well-formed, holy priests ministering to the faithful, and preaching the truth in a time of great confusion.
St. Michael's Abbey began in 1957 with seven Hungarian refugee priests who fled from the Communist suppression of their abbey in Csorna, Hungary. They established a small monastery in Southern California.
The Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey have grown to over sixty priests and over forty seminarians in formation. The new monastery was constructed to house this thriving, overflowing community with all its many ministries throughout Southern California.
Abbeys have safeguarded culture, created stunning sacred art, unearthed profound scientific discoveries, and served as centers of charity and refuge for the poor and marginalized.
Over the years, monastic life has given us music notation, the university system, hospitals, the clock, cellular biology, agricultural science, and some of the best beer in the world.
Abbeys are the foundations of civilization – places where man can live out his vocation in community with others and in service to God.
In our work, in our study, and in our prayer, the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey serve in this vital legacy. We are a center for scholarship and craftsmanship, teaching, art and music, hospitality, and holiness.
Above all, we are a place for common worship and prayer.
Here, in the mountains of Southern California, St. Michael’s Abbey seeks to live an authentic Christian life – life at its happiest and best, where we recognize that all creation is a gift, and that all our lives can be given as a gift back to our Creator.
It is a place for all to encounter the unfathomable beauty of God and to enter into the mystery of His unrelenting love.
And it is a starting point through which we can begin laying a new foundation for a renewal in our Church and our society — just as abbeys have always done, and just as they will always do.
The Abbot's Circle is a first-of-its-kind virtual monastery—an evolving, curated library that offers an inside look at the artistic, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual work that the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey carry out each day for the praise and honor of Jesus Christ.
Though the charism of abbey life is timeless, its work has never been more timely. Ministering to a society starved for truth and desperate for an authentic encounter with beauty, St. Michael's Abbey is beginning the work of rebuilding, restoring, and renewing our culture and our Church.
A selection of recent photography from St. Michael's Abbey. Please reach out to info@stmichaelsabbey.com for permission to use images. Thank you!
Aleteia | St. Michael's Abbey marks 900th anniversary with inspiring testimony
Crux | Norbertines see new springtime as they mark 900th anniversary
The OC Register | Impressive St. Michael's Abbey is dedicated
Angelus News | Michaelmas is special feast for Norbertine priests at California abbey
Aleteia | A French architect designed an abbey in California … and the reason will move your heart
EWTN News Nightly | Anniversary of the Dedication of Saint Michael's Abbey Library
EWTN | Harrison Butker Full Interview - God and Sport!
Northwest Catholic | Looking for Lenten retreats? Here's a sampling of what's online, in person
The Abbot's Circle is a first-of-its-kind virtual monastery—an evolving, curated library that offers an inside look at the artistic, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual work that the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey carry out each day for the praise and honor of Jesus Christ.
Four nearly two thousand years, abbeys have served as the foundations of civilization. Time after time, down through history, abbeys have served as centers for scholarship, craftsmanship, music, and art. They have offered a powerful source of spiritual refuge and cultural renewal. And they have stood as faithful centers for holiness, hospitality, and prayer--a place where man can encounter the immeasurable love and indescribably beauty of God.
Though the charism of abbey life is timeless, its work has never been more timely. Ministering to a society starved for truth and desperate for an authentic encounter with beauty, St. Michael's Abbey is beginning the work of rebuilding, restoring, and renewing our culture and our Church.
The Abbot's Circle is a first-of-its-kind virtual monastery—an evolving, curated library that offers an inside look at the artistic, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual work that the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey carry out each day for the praise and honor of God.
Hidden in the stillness of southern California’s desert mountains, St. Michael’s Abbey goes about a timeless and supernatural mission: the common worship of God. This is a place for all to encounter the unfathomable beauty of God and to enter into the mystery of His unrelenting love.
Against a culture in ever desperate need for beauty, St. Michael’s Abbey stands as a refuge for reverent liturgy, inspiring art, and captivating sacred music and chant. Through our work, we are laying the foundation for the sanctification of our society and a renewal in our Church.
