Glenstal Abbey is home to a community of Benedictine monks and is a place of prayer, work, education and hospitality. The school sits alongside the monastery, it’s church and guesthouse.
The monastery is Roman Catholic, in the Benedictine tradition. The monks live a the Christian life together under an Abbot and the guidance of the Rule of Saint Benedict. The monastery day is centred around prayer and the monks meet for worship in the early morning, at midday, in the early evening and at the close of the day. Monks then devote significant portions of their day to private prayer and study, in addition to various works across the Abbey, and in chaplaincy and teaching in the school.
The school’s Benedictine ethos underpins the spirit of the school and fosters enduring connections between students, staff and the Monastic community at Glenstal Abbey.
The community strives to live according to the Rule of St Benedict, which addresses some of the most basic questions we all face in life: How do we grow and fulfl our destiny as human beings? How do we relate to those around us, those with whom we live, those with whom we share this earth? How do we relate to God? This is the wisdom of both the ancient and the contemporary world.
Balance, proportion and harmony are central and underpin everything. Perhaps it’s unrealistic today to approach the world like the great masters of the Renaissance, being skilled in every feld and placing art and science on the same level. Today there is just too much to be known; but what are we losing if we do not?
Are not all the elements of our make-up God-given and worthy of equal respect? Where is the interconnectedness between mind, body and spirit today? If our learning is not integrated into our whole person, then it is not learning at all, it’s an exercise in memory recall. A Benedictine Ethos insists on the acceptance of every element within the person and the acceptance of each member of the community. It sees each activity of the day as valuable and signifcant in its own right and does not encourage extremism, over-activity or workaholism. We are essentially rhythmic creatures and life needs rhythm and balance if it is to be consistently good and not drain from us the possibility of being or becoming whole in ourselves.
Abbot Brendan Coffey OSB
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Murroe, Co. Limerick
V94 HC84, IRELAND
Glenstal Abbey provides external links as a convenience to our users. The appearance of external links does not constitute an endorsement by Glenstal Abbey of the views, activity or content contained therein.