Philadelphia-born priest becomes sixth abbot

Intermountain Catholic

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Abbot David Altman, 68, is elected for a six-year term to lead the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville. A priest and an accountant, he will oversee the temporal and spiritual life of the abbey. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

HUNTSVILLE — Trappist Father David Altman, 68, was elected and installed July 5 as the new leader of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville. A native of Philadelphia, Fr. Altman becomes the monastery’s sixth abbot, succeeding Abbot Casimir Bernas. Presiding at the election were Dom Damien Thompson of Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky, and Dom Joseph Boyle of St. Benedict Abbey, Snowmass, Colo.

Abbot David will receive the abbatial blessing of Bishop John C. Wester of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Aug. 29, "the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist," he told the Intermountain Catholic in a July 12 interview, "although I’m not making any associations with that feast."

"An abbot has full jurisdiction over the temporal and spiritual administration of the abbey," the new abbot said. "Our election process made use of today’s technology. Our order’s abbot general was in Spain. He is the only person in the order who can delegate the full authority of the church. So we communicated with him and he with us via e-mail."

The abbot is assisted in the administration of the temporalities of the monastery through the advice of his council, by committees, and for more important decisions, by the entire body of monks with perpetual vows, known as the monastic chapter.

A graduate of Temple University with a degree in business, before entering religious life Abbot David worked as a professional accountant in Los Angeles, Calif. He went on to work for the U.S. Government’s General Accounting Office (G.A.O.). He served in the Army from 1959-1962, and because he had a very high security clearance, he knows his way around a missile silo.

"The Cold War was on and I enlisted midway through it," Abbot David said. "We watched the Berlin Wall go up, and we sweated through the Cuban Missile Crisis. We watched Stalin and communism gain power. There was starvation in the Ukraine.

A reading of Thomas Merton’s "Seven Storey Mountain" drew Abbot David to the Trappists and their contemplative lifestyle. "It planted a seed of this life in my mind and my heart. That seed grew until it became insistent. I had to answer it."

He said making the transition from army life to the cloistered life was accomplished in him in very much same way a gnat eats an elephant, "one bite at a time."

He joined Holy Trinity Abbey in March, 1966. His solemn profession was March 25, 1973. "I didn’t want to be a priest, and I didn’t want to be in ministry. In my third year of theology I read Frank Sheed’s ‘Theology and Sanctity,’ and I knew what I wanted. I wanted holiness."

His thirst for holiness led to "a burning desire to be a priest," and his journey to the monastic priesthood began.

"When you enter the monastic life, the Lord calls you without telling you the whole story," Abbot David said. "I was still avoiding active apostolic work."

Abbot David earned a philosophy degree at Conception Abbey in Missouri, then completed his theological studies at Holy Trinity Abbey. He was ordained a priest Sept. 29, 1979, by then-Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal.

Abbot David has been putting his accounting skills to good use serving as the abbey’s treasurer for the past 25 years. He also has been serving as guest master for retreatants, and is known for his counseling skills and for his homilies.

As abbey treasurer, Abbot David has watched and participated in the Monastery’s on-again, off-again plans to build new facilities. Currently, the religious community has placed a moratorium on building. "We may not build a new monastery after all. We are looking at other options. We may build an infirmary or possibly a retreat center, but the will of the community is not leaning toward building at this time."

The abbey consists of World War II-era quonset huts, which, Abbot David said, "have served us well. We have done some remodeling. Our future plans must be discerned with prayer and discussion."

Abbot David was elected for a six-year term. The abbey currently has 19 monks, and three novices.

A convert to Catholicism from a Jewish family at the age of 21, Abbot David said he spent the years between his baptism in 1959 and his entrance into the community "growing in the faith."

His conversion was difficult for his parents to understand, especially his mother.

"By the time I entered the monastery Mom had died," Abbot David said. "She couldn’t understand why I became a Catholic, but it wasn’t a source of great friction.

His entry into cloistered religious life was traumatic for his father, he said, "but he visited me a year after I entered, and he was very impressed with what we were doing here. We locked horns a little, but that led to greater understanding. He finally told me, ‘Your happiness is my happiness for you,’ which always meant a great deal to me. After my ordination he would often refer to me as ‘my son the father.’"

Abbot David has one sister, an actress, living in New York.

"The Holy Spirit speaks to everyone who has a listening ear," he said. "It is a consolation to me that, as abbot, I will be serving a facilitating role, not running the whole show."

The fact that the Abbey of the Holy Trinity is a graying community presents the new abbot with some concerns. "We have to ask, ‘Will we pass out of existence?’ On the other hand, we are dealing with the reality of God. At one time, statistics told us the Catholic Church would no longer exist by the year 2000, but here we are. It turned out to be a lot of hooey."

Abbot David is not a man to put much stock in statistics or prediction, but he doesn’t rule miracles out. One of his favorite sayings is, "Don’t quit five minutes before the miracle."

The man who promised himself he would assiduously avoid active apostolic work is still finding himself surprised by the Holy Spirit.

"This election was a surprise," he said. "I prayed long and hard this wouldn’t happen. It was like the agony in the garden. Nevertheless, I have to say, as Jesus said, ‘Thy will be done.’"

The new abbot is watching for the road signs he knows God will send and he is listening. "God speaks to us in circumstances, events, and in people. All we have to do is listen… It’s his life we’re living, and each of us has God’s life within us. Our responsibility is to live that life respecting the values of prayer, witness, and sacrifice. Self-sacrifice is the highest for of love of God, and God is looking for great lovers."