ABBEY BANNER - St. John's Abbey

Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit
Abbey Woodworking
produces chapel
furnishings for
Saint Paul’s Monastery
Carol Rennie, OSB, prioress
of the Benedictine women of
Saint Paul’s Monastery, St.
Paul, states, “It was clear from the
beginning that we would engage the
Woodworking Shop at Saint John’s as
our continued commitment to the abbey
in order to sustain our relationship
since 1948.”
The new Saint Paul’s Monastery
It was in 1948 that 178 members
of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St.
Joseph, Minnesota, founded a daughter
monastery in a residential complex
close to the Saint Paul Cathedral.
Ten years later this community had
built and staffed the Archbishop Murray
High School on an 86-acre plot
bordering St. Paul. In 1965 the community
completed its new 100,000
by Daniel Durken, OSB
“Our goal was to have chapel
furnishings that would be beautiful
in simplicity, authentic and above all,
feminine in character.”
(Mary Lou Dummer, OSB, liturgist)
square-foot monastery, adjacent to
the school, to house the more than
200 monastics engaged in religious
formation, education and health care
ministries.
As the sisters aged and numbers decreased
to the current 53 members, the
community decided to build a smaller
monastery directly behind the larger
structure. This building was occupied
this past February 10, the feast of
Saint Scholastica.
Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking
was chosen to build the furnishings
for the new monastery’s chapel. This
major project included the design
and construction of sixty-two chairs
with upholstered seats and backs,
the wooden altar top, ambo, prayer
leader’s stand, presider’s table and
credence table, all made of hard,
white maple wood or maple veneer.
Under the direction of Christopher
Fair, OSB, shop steward, John
Meoska, OSB, office manager, Jim
Tingerthal, OSB, shop assistant,
Robert Lillard and Michael Roske,
master craftsmen, and the work of
their crew, the project was completed
in eight months.
MONASTIC MATTERS
Prioress Carol Rennie, OSB, at the entrance to the new chapel with chairs
in background
Susan Bourauel, OSB, liturgical
musician of Saint Paul’s Monastery,
praised the efforts of the woodworkers:
“The sensitivity of the craftsmen
to our design was always met with
respect, reverence and a willingness to
adapt.”
For information about
Abbey Woodworking,
go to their website:
sjawood.org or e-mail at
sjawood@csbsju.edu. +
Brother Christopher Fair, OSB,
and the chapel chair
Daniel Durken, OSB
Abbey Banner Spring 2009 page 21
Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit