Vigils Reading – Gethsemani Church

A reading from

DOM EUTROPIUS PROUST1

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We left Louisville on the twentieth of December, and were to arrive that

evening at Bardstown. Here we were to call on the Jesuit Fathers, who conducted

the College of St Joseph, and to whom we had a letter of introduction from

Monseigneur Flaget. We should arrive by daylight at Bardstown, which was twelve

miles from Gethsemani; but the unfavorable weather delayed us very much, and we

were yet nine miles from the town, when a dark and dreary night set in. We did not

stop to take any nourishment by the wayside, but refreshed ourselves as best we

could, in the wagons, with bread, cheese and fruit. The good God supplied the

drink. The rain did not cease to fall abundantly the entire day, so that, alighting

from the wagons, we resembled water rats that came out of the river.

We arrived at eleven o’clock. The streets were so full of water and mud that

we were knee-deep therein. We went directly to St Joseph’s College… Our difficulty

was to find the entrance, for one could not see a yard ahead… We kept on seeking

and groping until we succeeded in finding the door. We knocked again and again,

but no answer. Not knowing what to do, we called aloud together the word

“Trappist.” In this we were successful.

As soon as the good fathers heard that word they opened the windows. I told

them who we were, where we were going, and that I had a letter of introduction to

them from Monseigneur Flaget, asking them to give us lodging for the night. In an

instant three or four of the fathers arose, with as many brothers, and the doors were

opened for us. A good fire was made in the hall, and…we were led into the refectory,

where we took at the same time our breakfast, dinner and supper.

The following day, having heard Holy Mass and received Holy Communion,

our conductors arrived, with a new wagon, borrowed by them at Bardstown. After

thanking our hosts for their kind hospitality, we installed ourselves in the wagons

and pursued our way to Gethsemani. About two o’clock in the afternoon, we

arrived at the entrance of a large forest, after passing the little village of New Haven

on the Nashville Railroad. We were informed that this was the beginning of our

property. It is difficult to express the feelings that this announcement produced in

our souls. I had the wagons stop. Falling on our knees we recited a “Pater and Ave”

to salute the good guardian angels of Gethsemani; and we kissed the earth soon to

be watered by our sweat and even by our tears.

We re-entered our wagons and continued our journey through the woods for

three-quarters of an hour. Our hearts swelled with emotion. With what feelings of

joy and admiration, did we not contemplate these magnificent woods. We were

astonished in finding ourselves so rich, after having made the vow of poverty…We

climbed a hill on which are situated wooden cottages, declining with age. We were

going to find at last the crib of our Divine Saviour at Bethlehem. Such, too, were the

thoughts of all our religious. They were in transports of joy in beholding these ten

or twelve cottages, thrown here and there on the sloping hillside, facing the sun.

These composed the entire monastery of Gethsemani.

1 Dom Eutropius Proust. Gethsemani Abbey: Its Foundation. Messenger Magazine, 1898. (Complete manuscript available

in CSQ 2021).3