St. Benedict's Monastery is a

Catholic 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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Pitkin County, Colorado Pitkin County is a county in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,358. The county seat and largest city is Aspen. The county is named for Colorado Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin. Pitkin County is includ ...

, in the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Snowmass Snowmass may refer to: * Snowmass Village, Colorado, a town in Pitkin County, Colorado, U.S. ** Snowmass (ski area) ** Snowmastodon site, an archaeological excavation near the town where well-preserved fossils of mammoths, mastodons, and plants we ...

about northwest of

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

. The

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s are members of the Order of

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

of the Strict Observance, commonly called the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...

. St. Benedict's is located on over in the foothills of the Elk Mountains, near the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. The monastery protects a large amount of open space in a sensitive area near important wildlife migration routes. The monks manage their ranchlands, operate a cookie bakery, and offer retreat facilities for groups and individuals. A retreat house and guest hermitages are located about 1 mile from the main monastery building. The monastery was founded in 1956 as a foundation established by the Trappist community at

St. Joseph's Abbey St. Joseph's Abbey is a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts. The community of monks was founded in 1825 in Nova Scotia, Canada. In the early 20th Century, they moved to Rhode Island, and then in 1950 decided to move to Spencer. The monks ...

Spencer, Massachusetts Spencer is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,992 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated pl ...

. The community celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. St. Benedict's was the home of Father

Thomas Keating Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O. (March 7, 1923 – October 25, 2018) was an American Trappist priest known as one of the principal developers of centering prayer, a contemplative method that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts ...

, a popular writer on

centering prayer Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to receive this gift. It presents ancient Christian wisdom teachings in an updated form. Centering Prayer is not meant to replace ...

and one of the founders of Contemplative Outreach. In April 2023, St. Benedict's signaled that it would close, and that Dom Damian Carr, former abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, had been appointed as monastic commissary to oversee the closure process.https://www.aspentimes.com/news/st-benedicts-monastery-in-old-snowmass-signals-it-will-close-process-to-begin-this-summer/

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Benedict's Monastery, Colorado Trappist monasteries in the United States Christian monasteries established in the 20th century 1956 establishments in Colorado Catholic Church in Colorado Buildings and structures in Pitkin County, Colorado Tourist attractions in Pitkin County, Colorado Christian organizations established in 1956