In 1992, St. Andrew's Priory became an abbey. Father Francis Benedict, OSB was elected first abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey and received the abbatial blessing on August 2, 1992. Francis Benedict, served as abbot for sixteen years during which he served with unflagging devotion as shepherd of the monastery. The new Welcome Center and Youth Center Chapel are the most recent and visible reminders of Abbot Francis’ deep commitment to the community. Abbot Francis stepped down in 2008 and became known as Abbot Emeritus.[1] Greatly beloved, on 20 July 2024 Father Francis Benedict passed away. [2]
Programs
Ceramic angels produced by the abbey
St. Andrew's Abbey is well known as a retreat centre in California. The abbey is located in an isolated area which is conducive to silence. While the abbey does not care for any parishes, it welcomes numerous guests each year either as retreatants or as casual visitors. Additionally, the abbey is also known for its ceramics[3] that it produces.
A number of the monks also teach at the seminary for the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles[4] and in colleges and universities in the Los Angeles area.
Events
At the invitation of Abbot Ansgar Schmidt, O.S.B., the Abbot President of the Benedictine Congregation of the Annunciation,[5] of which St. Andrew’s Abbey is part, the monks at Valyermo began an intensive period of study and reflection in preparation for the election of a new abbot. On 21 June 2010, the community elected their prior, Damien Toilolo O.S.B., as abbot for an eight-year term.[6]
From April 2009 until October 2011, the community of Saint Andrew's Abbey hosted a small group of Eastern Rite Catholic monks in search of property to establish their own monastery (called Holy Resurrection). In 2011, these Byzantine monks purchased a former convent in the village of Saint Nazianz in Manitowoc County, eastern Wisconsin.[7]
^Those are traditions and denominations that trace their history back to the Protestant Reformation or otherwise heavily borrow from the practices and beliefs of the Protestant Reformers.
^ abcdefThis is more of a movement then an institutionalized denomination.
^Denominations that don't fit in the subsets mentioned above.
^Those are traditions and denominations that trace their origin back to the Great Awakenings and/or are joined together by a common belief that Christianity should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church.
^The Holiness movement is an interdenominational movement that spreads over multiple traditions (Methodist, Quakers, Anabaptist, Baptist, etc.). However, here are mentioned only those denominations that are part of Restorationism as well as the Holiness movement, but are not part of any other Protestant tradition.
