Holy Cross Monastery elevated to the rank of Abbey (2019)

In 2019 our Benedictine Congregation is celebrating the 700^th anniversary of the founding of the Archabbey of St Mary of Monte Oliveto, mother house of our monastic family, near Siena in Italy.

To mark this anniversary, on 1^st February, on the feast of St Brigid of Kildare, with the agreement of the Definitory, our Abbot General, Dom Diego M. Rosa, raised two communities of our Congregation to the rank of abbey: the Monastery of St Bernard Tolomei in Goesong in South Korea and our Monastery of the Holy Cross in Rostrevor in Northern Ireland.

One of the first consequences of this decision for the two communities was to proceed to the election of an Abbot. On 26 February, Dom Giacomo M Ryu was elected Abbot in South Korea.

On 8 March, Dom Diego, accompanied by Dom Andrea, Bursar General of our Congregation, arrived in Rostrevor to preside over the election of our Abbot. On 9 March, on the feast of St Frances of Rome, Dom Mark-Ephrem was elected and confirmed as the first Abbot of the Abbey of the Holy Cross.

As a motto, Abbot Mark-Ephrem has chosen a quotation from the second Eucharistic Prayer:  Ut congregemur in unum. Here is the complete sentence in English: « Humbly we ask you that having shared in the body and the blood of Christ we may be united by the Holy Spirit in a single body ».

On 26 March 2019 (the foundation charter of the Archabbey St Mary of Monte Oliveto is dated 26 March 1319) the two new Abbots were blessed by our Abbot General, in the presence of several Abbots, Priors and monks of our Congregation, representing the communities of Italy, France, Israel and of course South Korea.

We share with you

– the words of introduction and the homily pronounced by Dom Diego M. Rosa, Abbot General of our monastic family, on the occasion of the Abbatial Blessing of the two new abbots.
Homily – Abbot Diego M. Rosa

– the homily pronounced by Bro. Thierry in the Chapel of the Cross of St Bernard Tolomei at Monte Oliveto Maggiore on 27 March 2019.
Homily – Bro. Thierry