Vigils Reading – Gethsemani Church

THE FOUNDATION OF

GETHSEMANI ABBEY

By Dom Eutropius Proust6

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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 Mgr.

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. Taking with me two

Irish religious, we made a circuit of the house to find the entrance…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 Mgr. 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

the brothers prepared for us something to eat. At the end of half an hour 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.