Experience the Sacred Triduum at Belmont Abbey
A Monastic Retreat: April 1 – 5, 2026
Step out of the world and into the rhythm of the Abbey. Join the Benedictine
monks of Belmont Abbey for a unique four-day retreat during the holiest days of
the Christian calendar. This is more than a visit; it is an invitation to live, pray, and
walk alongside our community as we journey through the Passion, Death, and
Resurrection of Christ.
What to Expect:
The Monastic Rhythm: Join the monks in the Basilica for the Chant of the
Divine Office.
The Sacred Triduum: Participate in the beautiful liturgies of Holy
Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Easter Vigil.
Community & Silence: Experience the balance of communal prayer and
quiet reflection in our beautiful and peaceful monastery.
Personal Connection: Opportunity for spiritual conferences, spiritual
direction, and conversations with the monks to learn about the Benedictine
Way of Life.
"All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed like Christ." — Rule of Saint Benedict
Retreat Details
Open to: Male students of Belmont Abbey College
Dates: Wednesday, April 1 (begins with Vespers at 5:30 pm) – Sunday,
April 5, 2026
Location: the Monastery at Belmont Abbey
Registration: Email Fr. Elias (eliasosb@bac.edu), Br. Gabriel
(gabrielosb@bac.edu), or Br. Edward (edwardosb@bac.edu). Or sign up on the
sheet in the Narthex of the Basilica.
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Belmont Abbey Annunciation Post
Belmont Abbey Annunciation Post
Today The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation, when “St Gabriel the Archangel told
the Blessed Virgin Mary she would be the Mother of the Son of God. She gave her fiat (“be it done”),
upon which she conceived the Savior by the power of The Holy Spirit” (RM 1785). Regarding the
Solemnity, The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates ‘the
fullness of time,’ the time of the fulfillment of God’s promises and preparations. Mary was invited to
conceive him in whom the ‘whole fullness of deity’ would dwell ‘bodily.’ The Divine response to her
question, ‘How can this be since I know not man?’ was given by the power of the Spirit: ‘The Holy Spirit
will come upon you’” (CCC 484).
When the monks from St Vincent Abbey come to Belmont (then Garibaldi) in 1876, they entrusted the
monastery to the protection of The Virgin Mary under the title Mary Help of Christians, enfolding the
place into the tradition that all monasteries are under the protection of Our Lady.
So let us pray with Universal Church today that we may imitate The Blessed Virgin Mother in her
humility, in her “fiat” in doing God’s will, and trust in His plan for us, our monastery, our College and the
world. Mary Help of Christians, pray for us! Amen.
Does Classical Education need Christianity? Truth, Goodness, and Beauty from a Christian Classical View
When we talk about classical liberal arts education, it can be easy – in our enthusiasm for what is surely an antidote to so many of the ills of contemporary pedagogies – to invoke the transcendentals almost automatically. Most people are unlikely to object to the True, the Good, or the Beautiful, even if we might disagree, in practice, over what these entail, so it’s tempting to toss them around in unexamined – albeit well-intentioned – ways. But when we say that classical education seeks Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, what do we, as a Catholic and a Christian institution, mean?
By setting them as ideals and ends of education, we affirm the universal and distinctive qualities of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, while also acknowledging their necessary interrelations. For the sake of clarity – and with apologies for the reductive nature of such definitions – we might understand each as some character of the real: Truth as that to which our intellect is drawn, Goodness as that to which our will is drawn, and Beauty as that to which our appreciation – we might even say our wonder or gratitude – is drawn. We find Truth, Goodness, and Beauty at work in the world, and we can meaningfully seek them, but no worldly reality perfectly captures what they are. They belong properly only to God as the source and summit of all being.
When we say that classical education seeks the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, this is not a noble abstraction but something infinitely more urgent and profound. We mean that the aim of classical or liberal arts education in developing and exercising our human capacities – our critical thought, creativity, empathy, humility, intellectual honesty, memory, and discipline – is ultimately to seek God, our Creator. As Christians, moreover, we embrace the essential mystery of the Incarnation, whereby the Word of God takes our humanity as His own and divinizes it without effecting its dissolution. We know that God is present to His creatures in a vividly personal way, and that seeking Him – seeking Truth, Goodness, and Beauty – should absorb our entire, redeemed humanity and all of human experience, alive in sacrament and Scripture but excluding no part of the life He gives.
In fact, authentic education invites us to participate in God’s creative work by embracing our continued formation, applying our will and effort to realizing our full potential. Education is the work of a lifetime, which is the reason classical education aims to teach us how and why to learn, just as much as what.
The capacity to desire and to recognize Truth, Goodness, and Beauty is inherent to our humanity, even as natural law is written deep in our souls. Our ability to reason, to choose, and to wonder exist in us as human creatures and partake in the Creator’s light, which is why Aristotle, Plato, and other pre- or non-Christian thinkers still offer profound contributions to our search for understanding.
But when we seek the Good, the True, the Beautiful as Christians, we do so with all the resources of nature and revelation, adding to the full exercise of our human capacities the heritage of our Christian Theological tradition and the manifold gifts that come with seeking in faith. Why pursue the project of Classical Education via this Christian tradition? Because we earnestly want them in their fullness. We want the fullness of being in its – in His – authentic reality. Because we know and love the goal.
Saint Benedict Day – Celebrating the Father of Western Monasticism
It is with great joy and gratitude that we celebrate our patron saint today, Saint Benedict, the Father of Western Monasticism!
In the sixth century, Saint Benedict wrote a rule “written for beginners” by which to order his monastery and cultivate virtue and holiness in his monks, so that they may one day enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet the influence of The Rule of Saint Benedict and Benedictine monasteries have had a transformative effect on civilization.
Over the course of our 1,500-year-old tradition, Benedictines have brought order to a chaotic world through exemplifying obedience, stability, and conversatio morum (a life of conversion) out of love for Christ. The Benedictine form of monasticism has taught the world how to live a life of love and charity so that “in all things God may be glorified.” No less in our corner of the world.
In his introduction to the TAN edition of The Rule of Saint Benedict, our own Abbot Placid Solari reminds us,
“This rule was brought to North Carolina on April 21, 1876, as monks from Saint Vincent Abbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, arrived to receive donated land which would become Belmont Abbey. It continues to inform the life and labors of the monks at Belmont Abbey, and provides the foundation for the education offered by Belmont Abbey College.”
Abbot Placid also explains that Saint Benedict “took the monastic tradition he had himself received, and distilled it into a way of life accessible to ordinary people.” This supports Abbot Bernard Bonowitz’s assertion quoted in our Saint Joseph’s Day post. Recall, Bonowitz tells us, “[T]he monastic way of being is very close to that of the common Christian, and its practices are easily incorporated into the daily life of all those who seek God.” Our Benedictine hallmarks speak to this idea:
Love: Love of Christ and Neighbor
Prayer: Life of liturgy, lectio, and mindfulness
Stability: Commitment to the daily life of this place, its heritage and traditions
Conversatio: The way of formation and transformation
Obedience: A commitment to listening and consequent action
Discipline: A way toward learning and freedom
Humility: knowledge of self in relation to God, others, and Creation
Stewardship: Responsible use of Creation, Culture, and the Arts
Hospitality: Welcoming each other as Christ Himself
Community: Call to serve the Common Good.
To strive to abide by these is to share in the vision described in St. Gregory the Great’s Life of Saint Benedict. Saint Gregory tells us that on the day Saint Benedict died, two of his brothers saw the same vision. He writes, “They both saw a road spread with cloaks and shining with innumerable lights, stretching eastwards from Benedict’s monastery to Heaven.”
So on his feast day, let us pray to Saint Benedict to intercede for our many needs and with gratitude for illuminating the road of our life, praying that it may stretch to Heaven.
O Glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace! We implore you in your loving kindness to pray for us before the throne of God. To you we have recourse in the dangers that daily surround us. Shield us against selfishness and indifference to God and neighbor. Inspire us to imitate you in all things. May your blessing be with us always, so that we may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom. We pray also for the protection and care of our Monastery and College. Through your loving intercessions, may we live our lives so that in all things God may be glorified.
NB: While the primary celebration of Saint Benedict in most dioceses is July 11th, the American-Cassinese Congregation petitioned the Sacred Congregation of Rites to celebrate their patronal feast during March to enable students at its educational institutes to be present.
Feast Day of Saint Joseph
Belmont Abbey Saint Joseph Article
Feast Day of Saint Joseph, March 19 th
On this Feast Day, we celebrate Saint Joseph as the spouse of Mary Mother of our Lord and the
foster father of Jesus. Consequently, Saint Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church,
fathers, and families. In light of his trade as carpenter, he is the patron of workers as well.
Here on campus, located in front of the science building, we honor Saint Joseph in the statue of
The Holy Family, venerating him under all of these monikers with their corresponding
intercessory graces. But more centrally located is the adoration chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph,
which resides in the heart of campus.
An early initiative of Dr. William Thierfelder, college president from 2004 to 2025, the chapel
was dedicated in 2008. Since then it “has nourished students’ faith and become a visible sign of
God’s steadfast care for the Abbey,” as stated in the feature article in the Summer 2025 issue of
Belmont Abbey Magazine.
Dedicating the adoration chapel to Saint Joseph speaks not only to him as patron of The
Universal Church, fathers, families, and workers. It strikes sublimely upon the reason for the
special place Saint Joseph holds in the monastic tradition: his silence. Scripture depicts him as a
reticent, righteous and humble man, listening to the angel, to divine instruction, and
contemplating the Divine Presence of his foster son. Monks and all Christians are called to do
the same. For in his book, Truly Seeking God, Abbot Bernard Bonowitz, O.C.S.O., writes,
“[T]he monastic way of being is very close to that of the common Christian, and its practices are
easily incorporated into the daily life of all those who seek God” (3).
We are reminded here of the first word in The Rule of Saint Benedict: Listen! That is, listen in
silence, in silent prayer and meditation, to hear God speak to us, as the angel and the Divine
Presence of Jesus spoke to Saint Joseph. In the Saint Joseph Adoration Chapel, with its marble
altar and tabernacle, and wide windows looking out to Edenic fauna sheltering the building,
students and visitors can come and quiet for a while the distractions and din of the world, to
listen to God’s intimate words in the Eucharist, as Saint Joseph did in his sacred and serene
silence.
So as we continue our Lenten journey, let us join our silence to the silence of Saint Joseph, to
help us draw closer to Christ in anticipation of our Easter exultation.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
