The Mount Angel Institute
at Mount Angel Abbey

The monks gather for the public celebration of daily Mass and the chanting of the Divine Office five times each day. This work of God (opus Dei), to which St. Benedict assigns supreme importance, shows the Church always at prayer, seeking communion with God and keeping it alive in the heart throughout the day.

The Rule of St. Benedict outlines habits and attitudes that monks ought to cultivate toward each other with humility and charity, “each trying to be the first to show respect for the other” (RB 72). In this, they model a way of living that can enrich the lives of all people.

Monks spend several hours each day engaging in slow, prayerful reading of the Scriptures and various other subjects. This disciplined practice, traditionally known as lectio divina, enacts their commitment to hearken to the revelatory power of the written and incarnate Word.

Monastic life is centered on the daily celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy and draws its life from it. The monks are committed to celebrating the liturgy beautifully and reverently, so that the visible signs may help serve a deeper, active participation in the invisible mysteries of God.

St. Benedict tells his monks that “all guests who arrive shall be received as Christ” (RB 53). This spiritual intuition, that Christ himself is present in the person of the guest, undergirds the monastery’s unconditional welcome of all guests and its reverence for them.

Praying and pondering the Christian mysteries, the monks of Mount Angel nurture and promote a transformative way of seeing humanity through the arts and the cultivation of a culture centered on the good news of Christ.

The monks make a vow of stability to a particular community in a particular place. This continually prompts their commitment to stewardship of the portion of God’s creation entrusted to them.