Fransiskus "Frans" Harjawiyata O.C.S.O. (September 24, 1931 – June 7, 2016) was an Indonesian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

and member of the

Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

, who are more commonly known as the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

. Harjawiyata, who was the first Indonesian-born Trappist abbot in the country's history, headed the St. Mary's of Rawaseneng Monastery (''Pertapaan Santa Maria Rawaseneng'') in

Temanggung Regency Temanggung Regency ( id, Kabupaten Temanggung) is a regency in the Central Java Province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 870.65 km2 and had a population of 708,546 at the 2010 Census and 790,174 at the 2020 Census. Its capital is the town ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

province, from 1978 to 2006. Harjawiyata is credited with helping to develop

Christianity in Indonesia Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the fourth-larg ...

by translating Catholic scriptures and chants into

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. He translated the Breviary from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

into Indonesian, authored several books on spirituality, and composed several Indonesian-language

Gregorian chants Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

. His chants are still performed in Catholic churches throughout Indonesia today. He was born in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

on September 24, 1931. He entered the Trappist order on July 26, 1951, and completed his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, or monastic training, in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He then studied Catholic theology and philosophy in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Harjawiyata returned to Indonesia in October 1960, where he joined the St. Mary's Monastery in Rawaseneng,

, on

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, on October 2, 1960. St. Mary's Monastery had been founded in 1953 by a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

priest,

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

Bavo van der Ham, with help from the Apostolic Vicars of Batavia,

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Antonio van Velsen S.J., a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. The new monastery was twinned with

Koningshoeven Abbey Koningshoeven Abbey ( nl, Abdij Koningshoeven, Abdij Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven) is a monastery of the Trappists (Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance) founded in 1881 in Berkel-Enschot in North Brabant, the Netherlands. Fou ...

, a Trappist monastery in

Berkel-Enschot Berkel-Enschot is a Dutch village, located in the municipality of Tilburg in the North Brabant province which borders Belgium. Geography Berkel-Enschot is located between Tilburg and Oisterwijk. Surrounding towns and hamlets are Brem, Heikant, He ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

, the Netherlands. In 1958, St. Mary's of Rawaseneng was elevated to a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

in 1958. It then became a fully independent

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in 1978. On May 4, 1978, the same year that St. Mary's became an abbey, Frans Harjawiyata was installed as its first abbot by Cardinal Justinus Darmojuwono, becoming the first Indonesian-born Catholic abbot in Indonesia's history. He served as the abbot of St. Mary's from 1978 until 2006. In 1979, Harjawiyata sent several of monks to study at the Trappist monastery in

Vitorchiano Vitorchiano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Latium, located about northwest of Rome and about northeast of Viterbo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,690 and an area of .All demograph ...

. Eleven Indonesian monks had studied in Italy by 1985. Father Harjawiyata also founded a Catholic

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

for nuns near

Mount Merbabu Mount Merbabu ( id, Gunung Merbabu) is a dormant stratovolcano in Central Java province on the Indonesian island of Java. The name ''Merbabu'' could be loosely translated as 'Mountain of Ash' from the Javanese combined words; '' Meru'' means ...

in the city of

Salatiga Salatiga ( jv, ꦯꦭꦠꦶꦒ) is a Cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census. Located between the cities of Semarang and Sura ...

, Central Java. He retired as the monastery's abbot October 1, 2006. Following his retirement as abbot, Harjawiyata went on sabbatical at Tenshien Monastery in Japan. He then served as the chaplain of Tenshien Monastery for nine years. In April 2016, Father Harjawiyata returned to St. Mary's of Rawaseneng Monastery. Father Frans Harjawiyata died in Parakan,

, Indonesia, on June 7, 2016, at the age of 85. St. Mary's of Rawaseneng Monastery has grown into a community of 35 Trappist monks, as of 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harjawiyata, Frans 1931 births 2016 deaths Indonesian abbots Trappists Indonesian writers Indonesian composers Indonesian religious leaders Indonesian Roman Catholics Indonesian expatriates in Japan People from Temanggung Regency People from Yogyakarta