The former Oka Trappist Abbey in Quebec. 150 years came to a sad end not too long ago.So the question remains: How can a Catholic family produce a vocation when it lives in the darkness of contraception, sterilization or abortion? Friends, the results are in.
Read the story here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2006/10/31/okaabbey-oct31.html
Oh, give me a break! The monks themselves decided that they wanted a new monastery where they could have more peace and quiet since the old monastery was now on a very busy highway where prayer life was more difficult. Their new monastery in St Jean de Matha is an oasis of peace and tranquility where the Trappists are able to live out their life of "ora et labora".
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, the CBC article Mr. Sonnen links describes the monks' reason for their move.
ReplyDeleteTheir community, once @ around 200 strong, has dwindled to a couple dozen, mostly
elderly monks. They cannot repair and maintain such a property, nor can so few monks
bring in the cash needed to hire it done.
I'm sure the new property is lovely, but the monks themselves give their reason for the move
to be based on their demographics, not just a need for quiet.
Once a home for as many as 200, there are now twenty-some-odd and all aged 70 years... The CBC article says that the decision to sell so that it becomes a tourist centre is endorsed by the monks "because they say it will enhance the abbey's heritage."
ReplyDeleteNo, I am sorry. Preserving Tradition and the Faith nourished thereby is what enhanced the abbey's heritage in the past and would have preserved it now and into the future!
- Donnacha
Regardless of whether they wanted to move or not, their numbers have dwindled tremendously! We see the same things with Trappists here in the US. I believe Thomas Merton and the abandonment of traditional Catholic practices are a reason for this. One finds very odd books of neo-spirituality and the like at Trappist books stores. Faithfulness to tradition gives life. The abandonment of it does not.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of vocations is not simply a matter of birth control. Society has changed. Families, even fine families, have changed. Not only scandals but opportunities have opened new vistas for the Christian young. The Trapists will rebound. They have before. Nostalgia will not help. Real Catholic life and belief in every area will rectify this situation. Having six or eight kids will not guarantee vocations. God will see to it.
ReplyDeleteOld news (2006 !). The non-profit group doesn't seem to have worked. Instead, the monastery is being sold to Famille Marie-Jeunesse, a new community that keeps growing.
ReplyDeleteThey may be not traditionalists, but they have "traditional" values like consecration to the Blessed Virgin, Eucharistic adoration, etc.
http://www.marie-jeunesse.org/nouvelles/2012-03-12_FMJ-Oka_EN.pdf
Anonymous @ 1:42: doesn't 'Famille Marie-Jeunesse' have a house in Montreal? I think John had an entry on it last year sometime.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'm glad that the monastery is being used by a Catholic religious community again! And a 'growing one' too!
Barb in NY