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 ...

Martinus Dom, O.C.R., (24 December 1791 – 9 December 1873) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Trappist 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 ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. He served as the first

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 ...

of the

Trappist Abbey of Westmalle Westmalle Abbey, otherwise the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle ( nl, Abdij van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Heilig Hart or the "Abbey of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart"), is a monastery of the Cistercians of Strict Observance in Westmalle in the Belgian p ...

, where he founded the

Westmalle Brewery Westmalle Brewery (Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle) is a Trappist brewery in the Westmalle Abbey, Belgium. It produces three beers, designated as Trappist beer by the International Trappist Association. Westmalle Tripel is credited with b ...

Early life

He was born Frans Daniël Dom in

Kontich Kontich (, old spelling: ''Contich'') is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Kontich proper and Waarloos. In 2021, Kontich had a total population of 21,260. The total area is 23.67&nbs ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, then part of the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

, to Jan Frans Dom, a cattle merchant, and Elisabeth Van Berckelaer. He was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Day 1791, the day after his birth, in the local

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, the Church of St.

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

. As a young man Dom served as a fourrier in the

Napoleonic Army Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, he returned home to everyday life. He became a notorious partygoer and became engaged to a young woman. But after some brawls at home with his father and with his life in turmoil, he decided to go on pilgrimage to the Church of ''Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Goede Wil'' in

Duffel Duffel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Duffel proper. On 1 January 2020, Duffel had a total population of 17,664. The total area is 22.71 km² which gives a population dens ...

to help him decide whether he should marry or enter the Trappist Monastery of Westmalle. The story goes that he let fate decide by throwing his hat up in the air. If it fell with the opening up he would go to Westmalle, but if it fell with the opening down he would ask for forgiveness and marry. The hat fell with the opening up and he went to enter the Trappists. At first the monks followed Trappist practice and strongly disparaged Dom's application, but on 11 November 1817,

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of St. Martin of Tours,

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of both his hometown and of the monastery, he was received into the monastery and given the name Martinus. In 1818, he professed his

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

and on 23 December 1820 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest. He became one of the teachers of the orphan boys who were educated in the abbey. In 1826, when the monastery was made a semi-autonomous conventual priory by its

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...

, the Abbey of La Trappe, he was elected

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of the monastery (the first to be elected), which position he retained until 1836 when he was elected

Abbot

In 1836 Westmalle Priory was raised to the status of an independent abbey by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

. On 14 July 1836, already prior of the monastery, Dom was elected as its first abbot of the abbey of Westmalle. When the priory obtained the status of an abbey, the strict rule that the monks could only drink water with their meal was relaxed. Cider or beer was then allowed to be drunk in the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

of the abbey. Rather than buy beer from outside the abbey, Dom decided to brew their own beer. They started brewing on 1 August 1836, and on 10 December 1836 the monks tasted their own beer for the first time. Local sales began in 1856, and sales to traders commenced in 1921. Dom died at Westmalle on 9 December 1873, where he had been prior for 47 years and abbot for 37 years.

Sources

* Jan B. Van Damme o.c.r., ''Cistercienzers of Trappisten te Westmalle'', Westmalle, 1974 * Jan B. Van Damme o.c.r., ''Geschiedenis van de Trappistenabdij te Westmalle (1794-1956)'', Westmalle, 1977 * J. Van Remoortere, ''Ippa's Abdijengids voor Belgie'', Lanno, 1990

External links

Trappist Abbey of Westmalle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dom, Martinus 1791 births 1873 deaths Trappists 19th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests Belgian abbots People from Kontich People from Malle