Ora et Labora: Pray and Work; the Monks of St. Joseph's Abbey
by Stephen Faure
Sustainability. It’s a buzzword that’s become more common in recent years as society becomes more “green”—more aware of environmental concerns—and more sensitive to economics. It’s a concept where an enterprise is as self-supporting as possible, using a minimum of outside resources. Monasteries, and the monks who inhabit them, are thousands of years ahead of this trend.
We might not have the world we live in today if it were not for industrious monks. During the Dark Ages, monasteries were havens of civilized culture. Through the years, monks copied the Bible and other religious and philosophical works by hand, over and over, thus preserving the written word.
Monks provided education for children in the local communities, farmed, brewed ale and provided shelter for travelers. These traditional monastic industries evolved as a means for monasteries to sustain themselves. Our own St. Joseph Abbey follows in their footsteps. The abbey’s monks bake bread for charities, craft woodworks for sale, offer a gift shop featuring religious and secular books and decorative items, operate a cemetery and provide facilities for group retreats and other community events.
Abbot Justin, who leads the monks at the abbey, explains that although they engage in a variety of works, or apostolates, the abbey’s main mission has always been the education of young men who are heeding the call of the priesthood. He says, “[St. Joseph Seminary College] is the primary mission and ministry of the monastery.” All of the monastery’s other activities are designed to support the seminary. A common misconception is that the abbey and seminary are funded by the Vatican. The truth is, like the monasteries of old, they have always been self-supporting.
The monastery has been around since 1889, and it was very well known for its dairy. While dairy products were produced primarily for the monks and the seminary, they were also sold. The dairy operation closed in the 1960s. Abbot Justin notes, “We’re not in the farming business anymore.”
Industriousness in support of the seminary and in aid to the community fulfills a basic tenet of the Order of St. Benedict, to which the monks at the abbey belong. A Benedictine motto, “Ora et labora” (pray and work), encourages the monks to praise God by performing even the simplest of tasks.
Pennies for Bread
Continuing a monastic tradition stretching back to the Dark Ages, St. Joseph Abbey monks bake bread for themselves and the community. In a perfect embodiment of ora et labora, the monks gather in an old milking parlor, a remnant of the abbey’s days as a dairy that has been converted into a modern bakery. There they bake 2,000 loaves of bread each week to distribute to about 30 charitable organizations from New Orleans to the northshore.
Receiving the bread free of charge allows the organizations to supplement their meals programs and use the money they would have spent on bread for other purposes. Pennies for Bread is financed by donations from almost 60 corporate sponsors and many generous individuals. Donations that exceed the cost of baking and distributing the bread go towards helping the abbey and seminary.
“We see it as a ministry and as a way of bringing income to the abbey,” Abbot Justin says. “The bread is distributed widely, and the people who benefit from it are from all faiths.”
The Cemetery
“As much as the northshore has expanded, the abbey still provides a place to be at peace, even after death,” says Father Charles Benoit, referring to the abbey’s cemetery. Father Charles, who helps Abbot Justin administer the abbey, says the cemetery was established on the grounds for the burial of monks and priests. Later, plots were sold to alumni and friends of the abbey who felt a special connection to the abbey.
The cemetery is the final resting place of many northshore residents, including author and teacher Walker Percy. Space is available, and the cemetery is open to people of all faiths.
While the cemetery provides income to support the seminary’s operations, “It also provides a beautiful setting and peace for people to know their loved ones are here,” adds the abbot. The grounds are indeed lovely. Its well-kept lawns are interspersed with moss-draped live oaks, camellias, myrtles and other decorative plantings and sculptures. Anchoring the scene is a magnificent live oak tree, the Abbot Paul Schaeuble Oak; its 20-foot girth makes it one of the largest oaks in the state.
St. Joseph Woodworks
It may seem odd, but it really makes sense for St. Joseph’s to craft and offer wooden caskets. St. Joseph was a woodworker by trade and, relates Abbot Justin, “He is the patron saint of a happy death.” Catholic tradition holds he died in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
“St. Joseph Woodworks,” Father Charles explains, “grew out of the peace and solitude of the cemetery—to share our view that at a funeral, it is not the beauty of the coffin that’s important, but the life of the person being buried.”
The monastery has made caskets to bury monks for years, but when Bishop Ott of Baton Rouge was suffering from cancer in 1992, he requested he be interred in an abbey casket. After the bishop’s funeral, the abbey began getting requests for the elegantly simple caskets. The 1997 funeral of Bishop Boudreaux of the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese provided further public exposure to the abbey caskets.
Deacon Mark Coudrain, with the help of a volunteer, designs and builds the caskets, which are made of Louisiana cypress. The abbey offers two models: a plain monastery casket and a traditional model. “The monastery casket is a very simple, plain box. Knowing not everyone would like that, we made a traditional style, with a higher angled top and wooden handles.”
Coudrain says making caskets is not just about raising revenue—it’s to share the theology of death. “I believe in what the monastery is doing. People are thinking about this,” he says. “Couples come out to choose a casket. People come to pick out caskets for relatives who are in hospice care. Some have called us before they called the coroner or the funeral home. We even have [parents] who bring their children to teach them about death and dying.”
St. Joseph Woodworks is considering expanding its product line to include a prie-dieu, a piece of furniture designed for home worship that provides a prayer kneeler and an area for storing one’s prayer books.
The Gift Shop
The abbey’s gift shop carries a variety of unique Christian and secular items. Religious and self-help resource books, well-crafted jewelry, artwork and decorative items for indoors and outdoors grace the store. Products made by other monasteries, such as a line of Trappist jellies and preserves, are also available.
Yvette O’Rourke has taken care of the shop for about 17 years, during which time she’s seen it grow in size and popularity. Customers include locals, visitors to the abbey and seminary, people who attend Mass at the church on Sundays and retreatants. Priests from other parishes come to buy decorations and other items for their churches.
Abbot Justin observes, “There is artistic value in religious goods.” A great example is found in the traditional Byzantine- and Russian-style icons the shop carries. Hand-made with natural materials and decorative gold leaf, most of them come from Greece or Russia, where the icons are “written,” as crafting these spiritually beautiful items is known. They depict various religious scenes—Christ in prayer, Mary and the baby Jesus, angels and others. O’Rourke says that sometimes icons written by local artisans are available at the shop.
The shop is well known for its Christmas-oriented merchandise. Crèches, which are popular items, are displayed all year, and unique hand-made ornaments are available to add holiday cheer and round out one’s Christmas decoration collection.
Benet Hall
The dramatic and musical arts have a home at St. Joseph’s in Benet Hall, a 612-seat auditorium located on the abbey grounds. It was built as a venue for the seminarians’ productions. (St. Joseph Seminary College is one of the largest freestanding seminary colleges in the country. An accredited institution, it offers five academic programs, including a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. The well-rounded curriculum includes studies in the dramatic arts.)
The monks of St. Joseph’s share this facility with the northshore community by making it available for rental for recitals, concerts, plays and talent shows. Ballet Apetrei, Conservatory of Ballet Aviv, Mary Dee’s Dance studio and three other local studios all hold recitals at the hall, which is managed by Kit Friedrichs-Baumann.
“It’s a fine auditorium. When we had community concerts, the musicians were quite pleased with it,” says Abbot Justin. But it’s over 40 years old now, and in need of some work. A restoration program is under way, and the heating and air conditioning system has already been upgraded. The abbey is trying to raise $400,000 to further restore and improve the facility’s lighting, stage and theatrical rigging system, and the main electrical system.
Christian Life Center
Thousands of people each year discover the scenic and peaceful setting of St. Joseph Abbey. The Christian Life Center, located on the grounds near the church, hosts retreats and workshops year-round. The modern facility provides accommodations for up 40 people with private bedrooms and baths.
“The retreat center fits very well into the Rule of St. Benedict,” says Abbot Justin. “Hospitality is of great value.”
The Christian Life Center is a hospitable place, indeed. The center contains the guest rooms, a chapel, a library and a dining room. Plus, all of the retreatants’ meals are prepared in the center’s own kitchen.
The center is open to people of all faiths, and holds regularly scheduled weekend retreats, called Retreat League retreats, 26 times a year. The three-day Retreat League retreats are conducted for men, women or couples. The center hosts weekly retreats for priests and is available for groups on free weekdays and weekends. These Hosted Programs, as they are called, let other organizations use the facility and enjoy abbey grounds for religious, educational and charitable purposes.
Educational workshops, especially arts and crafts programs such as icon-writing workshops, are a popular use of Hosted Programs. The 1,200 acres of woods, ponds and streams provide the perfect scenery for artists seeking inspiration in beauty, which, as Abbot Justin observes, is, “The presence of God in all things.”
