Östanbäck Monastery is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery for men in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

, located outside Sala in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

History

The background of the monastery lies in the Lutheran High Church Movement. On 14 February 1960, four theological students, from both the

University of Lund Lund University () is a public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially founded in 1666 on the ...

and the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

, took their vows, forming the Holy Cross Fraternity under the spiritual guidance of an Anglican Franciscan priest in preparation for the establishment of a religious order. The period of studying and preparation later led them towards the

renewal in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. Finally the first brethren moved to Östanbäck in November 1970. The chapel and monastery were consecrated on 20 July 1975 by Bishop Bengt Sundkler.

Present day

The brethren follow the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by Benedict of Nursia, St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up ...

. The monastery has a candle factory in Östanbäck, which produces candles in different sizes and shapes, among them

Paschal candle A Paschal candle is a large candle used in Liturgy, liturgies in Western Christianity (videlicet, viz., the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and the Methodist Churches, among others). A new Paschal candle is b ...

s. The leader of the monastery is Father Caesarius Cavallin, OSB. Like the Anglican Benedictine abbots, he is regularly invited as an observer to the Benedictine abbots' conferences in Rome.

Comparable communities

Other Lutheran Benedictine communities for men are "The Congregation of the Servants of Christ" at St. Augustine's House in Oxford, Michigan, United States, and the Priory of St. Wigbert in Germany.

References

External links

Official website
{{Church of Sweden Lutheran monasteries Church of Sweden Benedictine monasteries in Sweden Christian monasteries established in the 20th century Sala Municipality, Sweden