Final Sunday Mass celebrated at the Trappist monastery in Huntsville

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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After the Mass, Father Patrick Boyle waves before coming into the nave to talk with visitors.

HUNTSVILLE — On Aug. 27, the monks of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Abbey in Huntsville celebrated the final Sunday Mass at the monastery, which opened in 1947. For many years the Trappist monks farmed the land, but with the decline in religious vocations, the number of monks dwindled. Today, of the six who remain, the youngest is 78; their final day at the monastery was Aug. 31. The land has been sold, but efforts are underway to preserve it for agricultural use or conservation.

For the monks, “Our community will still exist, but it will be located at St. Joseph’s Villa in Salt Lake City,” said Fr. Brendan Freeman, the abbot, during his Sunday homily.

The decision to close the monastery was not easy to make, he added, but “due to our age and health we cannot continue here in this place. … All of us are going through the pain of not being able to call this place our home. This beautiful place, of mountains and valleys and woodlands and streams. It is a paradise for sure.”

Fr. Brendan also stressed that the Scriptures are a reliable guide on the journey to the promised land, even when living in the darkness or taking a wrong turn.

“There is a place in our heart reserved only for God. During our life God is leading us to this place by many and varied ways,” he said. “Ultimately it is the way of the Cross that opens the door to this paradise within. God takes away everything that is not necessary, things we might have thought essential to our well-being. He takes away only as a means of making room for something better. …”

The monks want to leave a legacy not just of the land but of love, Fr. Brendan said. “I have been here only a few years, but I have never witnessed such love for the monks as our friends and neighbors have shown. There has been an overwhelming outpouring of love for this community.”

Nevertheless, he asked that the community not mourn the monks’ move, but instead “concentrate on the love that has been generated between us. That is our gift to you and your gift to us. We know that love is the one thing that endures, the one thing that passes over with us to heaven. All I can say in the name of the monks of Holy Trinity abbey is ‘thank you for your love and support. We will never forget you as we begin a new chapter in our book of experiences.’”

As part of the closure of the monastery, 2,100 books from its library were sent to Alliance for International Monasticism, which supports worldwide Benedictine/Cistercian monasteries and communities of men and women who follow the Rule of Benedict. St. Florence parishioners helped box the books; the parish and the Huntsville monastery paid for the shipping.