Jakobsberg Priory is a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery at

Ockenheim Ockenheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The winegrowing centre lies in Rh ...

, in the district of

Mainz-Bingen Mainz-Bingen is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rheingau-Taunus, the district-free cities Wiesbaden and Mainz, the districts Groß-Gerau, Alzey-Worms, Bad Kreuzna ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It belongs to the missionary

Ottilien Congregation The Ottilien Congregation, often also known as the St. Ottilien Congregation and as the Missionary Benedictines, is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation, the aim of which is to combine the Benedictine way of lif ...

of the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Confœderatio Benedictina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti) is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monasti ...

History

The monastery developed from a place of pilgrimage founded in 1720, in honour of the

Fourteen Holy Helpers The Fourteen Holy Helpers (german: Vierzehn Nothelfer, la, Quattuordecim auxiliatores) are a group of saints venerated together by Roman Catholic Christians because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against ...

. At first there was only a small chapel with a hermitage, but in view of the growing popularity of the site it was already being proposed in the 19th century that a monastery should be founded here in order to look after it. The first monks, who were

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 ...

, did not however arrive until 1921. The Generalate of the order had decreed the dissolution of the community as early as 1930, and this eventually took place in 1949. Between 1951 and 1960 the monastery accommodated the novitiate of the East German province of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. With the troubles in Africa of the 1960s many of the missionary orders found themselves obliged to withdraw their brothers from the crisis areas, to forestall their expulsion. For this reason the

acquired the buildings on the Jakobsberg at the end of the 1960s, and the first group of monks moved in on 31 January 1961.Benediktinermissionare Jakobsberg (ed.): ''Der Jakobsberg''. EOS-Verlag, St. Ottilien. Bd. 1: ''Berg – Wallfahrt – Kloster''. 1983, 2nd edn. 1992, (= ''Beiträge zur Geschichte des Gau-Algesheimer Raumes''; Bd. 7); Bd. 2: ''Berg – Wallfahrt – Kloster – Aus Ockenheim''. 1987 (= ''Beiträge zur Geschichte des Gau-Algesheimer Raumes''; Bd. 21)

References

Trappist monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Rhineland-Palatinate European Monasteries of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien {{RhinelandPalatinate-struct-stub