Abbey of Gethsemani
Trappist, Kentucky, United States
A Trappist abbey founded in 1848, the motherhouse of American Trappist monasticism and the home where Thomas Merton lived and wrote from 1941 until his death in 1968.
Founded on December 21, 1848 by monks from the French abbey of Melleray, Gethsemani is regarded as the motherhouse of Trappist and Trappistine monasteries in the United States and is the oldest Trappist monastery in the country still operating. Its fame is inseparable from Thomas Merton, known in the monastery as Fr. Louis, who entered on December 10, 1941, wrote The Seven Storey Mountain under his abbot's encouragement, and became one of the century's most influential spiritual writers, opening Catholic readers to dialogue with Buddhism and other Eastern traditions, before dying in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, exactly twenty-seven years after his entrance.
The abbey remains a working monastery of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, supporting itself with the famous Monks' fruitcake and preserves, welcoming silent retreat guests under the rule of hospitality. Much of the property is enclosed; the hermitage built for Merton remains in use by monks and is not open to the public; about 1,500 acres of trails across the road are open to visitors.
Visiting
Retreats are silent and unstructured: guesthouse of 30 rooms, weekday retreats three nights minimum, weekend two, offerings on a freewill basis, reservations by phone (502-549-3117) no more than four months ahead, one weekday and one weekend retreat per person per year given demand.
Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abbey_of_Gethsemani_19-10-19_571.jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0, Chris Light.
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories