St. Benedict Abbey (Massachusetts)


St. Benedict Abbey in the village of Still River located on the west side of the town of Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, is a Benedictine monastery with five brothers and seven priests centered on praying the Divine Office and Latin Mass.

History

began in 1941 as a student center in an old furniture store in Harvard Square on the corner of Bow and Arrow Streets, just a half a block from the Harvard Yard. It was directly across the street from the Romanesque front porch of St. Paul Church, Cambridge's renowned "university church".
The three original founders were Catherine Goddard Clarke, Avery Dulles, and Christopher Huntington, a Harvard dean. Catherine Clarke went on to help found the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Avery Dulles entered the Jesuit Order and later became a Cardinal, and Christopher Huntington became a priest on Long Island, New York.
Fr. Leonard Feeney later became the head of the Saint Benedict Center. The center was engaged in controversy with the Church over his interpretation of extra ecclesiam nulla salus which led to a lack of clarity regarding the center's status in the Catholic Church. Under the direction of Feeney, Clarke and others organized into a religious community called the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In January of 1958, the group moved from Cambridge to the town of Harvard. Differences in governance ultimately led to most of the Brothers becoming Benedictines and most of the Sisters reorganizing as the Sisters of Saint Benedict Center, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Canonical recognition

The brothers' community gained canonical recognition as a Pious Union in 1975 and a Benedictine Priory dependent on the Swiss-American Congregation in 1980. The Priory became independent in 1990. In 1993, the Priory became a full-fledged abbey and the monks elected Right Reverend Gabriel Gibbs, OSB, as first abbot.
The Saint Benedict Abbey follows the Benedictine Rule and is governed by the Benedictine Confederation.

Abbots of St. Benedict Abbey

  1. Right Reverend Gabriel Gibbs, OSB
  2. Right Reverend Xavier Connelly, OSB