Abbey Updates

Welcome back to Mass!

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

We have noticed that people have begun to come back to Mass with the abbey community these past two weekends; it is good to celebrating the Eucharist in person. Archbishop Etienne will officially lift the Eucharistic dispensation on December 8 and with this message we welcome all of you back to our Abbey for Mass. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary guide us to Jesus our hope.

In Christ,

+Marion

Mask Mandate

Friday, August 13, 2021

On Thursday August 12th, public health officials in Thurston County issued a mask mandate for all public indoor spaces regardless of vaccination status. Given that the St. Martin’s Abbey Church is open to the public, this mandate will be maintained for all liturgies at the abbey. We invite all our friends and guests to continue to join us for prayer and worship and, to remain in compliance with local mandates, to wear masks when you join us.

Thank you for you cooperation and support.

-Br. Nicolaus Wilson O.S.B. Prior on behalf of the monks of St. Martin’s Abbey.

New Covid-19 Guidelines

Saturday, July 31, 2021

The monks of St. Martin’s Abbey have been pleased these past weeks to welcome back all our friends and guests to share with us in our liturgies. Recently new guidance has been shared by the Archdiocese of Seattle regarding public liturgies (see below). In keeping with these new guidelines, we strongly encourage anyone who attends liturgy at St. Martin’s Abbey to wear a mask, even if vaccinated. We thank you for your cooperation on this in these difficult times and look forward to seeing you.

God Bless,

-Prior Nicolaus Wilson O.S.B. on behalf of the monks of St. Martin’s Abbey.

From the Seattle Archdiocese:

The Delta variant, which is highly transmissible, is now widespread across the United States and has quadrupled the case count this month alone. Reports acknowledge that even people who have been vaccinated may still transmit the virus and be infected by this Delta variant. Because of this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated is masking guidance, recommending that everyone wear masks in indoor public spaces – even if they’ve been vaccinated.

Due to the risks of the Delta variant and our desire to protect our children and the vulnerable in our communities, we are recommending mask wearing during indoor Mass celebrations. Please note that all altar servers must wear a mask.

While we will not turn away people who refuse to wear a mask, we should encourage them to do so. Please offer them a mask and encourage them to wear one to not only protect themselves but everyone in the parish community.

Given the rise in cases, it is also a good time to remind people of the safety basics:
• Do not come to Mass if you are feeling ill.
• Do not come if you have a temperature.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Avoid “close contact” with people outside your family, which is 15 minutes of face-to-face contact within 6 feet of an infected person.
• Wear a mask.

We’re Now Open!

Friday, July 2, 2021

Given the recent relaxation of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and guidelines, it is with great joy that we monks of Saint Martin’s Abbey announce our general reopening to the public. The abbey church will now be open during regular hours 6:00 am to 9:00 pm for private prayer. Beginning Sunday, July 4th 2021, our liturgies will be open to the public following the archdiocesan guidelines (which can be found here and here) with the following exception: The archdiocese recommends that “A separate section of church should be created for people who wish to remain physically distanced.” Due to the small size of the abbey church, we cannot provide this section. During the pandemic we installed within the church’s HVAC system an air purification device that uses ionization technology which, we are told, will greatly reduce the risk of airborne pathogens and allergens. This we hope will mitigate some of the risk associated with the lack of social distancing.

While the time of pandemic had brought us back to our roots as monks, detached from the world praying for its salvation, we have missed the presence of all our friends and guests at liturgies. We look forward to seeing you all again at our masses and prayers.

Abbatial Election of Abbot Marion

Abbot Marion, the ninth abbot of Saint Martin’s Abbey

Monday, July 6, 2020

It is with great joy that the monks of Saint Martin’s Abbey announce the election of our ninth abbot, Abbot Marion Qui-Thac Nguyen. Abbot Marion was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle in 2004 before joining Saint Martin’s Abbey, making his first profession of monastic vows on August 15th, 2013. Please join us in giving thanks to the Holy Spirit for guiding our community in the process of finding this most worthy successor to Abbot Neal Roth and let us also give thanks for his many years of service as we begin a new chapter for Saint Martin’s Abbey.

Thank you and God bless,

Br. Nicolaus Wilson O.S.B., Prior, Saint Martin’s Abbey.

Saint Martin's Abbey Coat of Arms
Saint Martin’s Abbey Coat of Arms

Mass Times

Sunday: 11 a.m.
Monday—Friday: 4:45 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m.

View our whole prayer schedule

Change of Schedule for Thanksgiving Day

Morning Prayer: 8 a.m.
Conventual Mass: 9:30 a.m.
Midday Prayer: 12 p.m.
Evening Prayer: 7:30 p.m.

Change of Schedule for Friday, November 26, 2021

Morning Prayer: 8 a.m.
Conventual Mass: 9:30 a.m.
Midday Prayer: 12 p.m.
Evening Prayer: 5 p.m.

Saint Martin’s Abbey on Facebook

Saint Martin's Abbey

The Benedictine Abbey of Saint Martin's, founded in Lacey, Washington in 1895 as a monastery of the American Cassinese Congregation, is a community of Roman Catholic men dedicated to providing Christian witness in the Pacific Northwest through its monastic life of prayer and work, education and service to the Church. Saint Martin's Abbey fulfills its mission through liturgical prayer and worship, through its support of Saint Martin's University and through its pastoral service to the local Church.
Saint Martin's Abbey
Saint Martin's Abbey
Happy Thanksgiving from our community to yours! On this blessed day of communal gratitude and recognition of the gifts we have received, Fr. George shares his homily with everyone who can not be with us at Mass today:

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As Americans, we live in a land of incredible natural wealth and resources, an agricultural cornucopia unrivaled in the history of the world. A hundred and fifty plus years ago when my forebears came to the United States, they settled in the Midwest and were farmers. At the time most of the population was involved, either directly or indirectly, in the production of food and fiber. Today less than three percent of the population produces enough food and fiber for a population many times larger, and with plenty left over for export. Indeed, there have been times in recent history when the government actually paid farmers not to plant crops because of overproduction. We have every reason to be thankful for the bounty that is ours.

In the midst of such plenty there lurks a danger. We can be like the nine lepers in the gospel, whom Jesus graciously healed, but who did not return to give thanks. Perhaps, as members of God's chosen people, unlike the Samaritan who did return and give thanks, they took being healed by a healing Rabbi as something that was theirs by right. We can be the same way in the face of the abundance that God has bestowed on us. We can see it as our birthright, as something that belongs to us, because we were born Americans.

Refugees from other countries, whether of yesteryear or more recent times, know better. Those coming from the southern hemisphere, Central America, Southeast Asia, or Africa, know that the bounty they now share in is pure gift, something our forebears—unless they were Native Americans—were well aware of. Like the healed Samaritan leper in today's gospel, they know that the richness and fertility of the land is not theirs by right. It is pure gift. There was no way the Samaritan could view his healing from leprosy by the Jewish Rabbi as his by right, in the way that the nine members of the chosen people conceivably could. For him it was pure gift, as is the richness of the land to which we are heirs, as is the faith in Christ Jesus that is ours, as is the grace of God that we enjoy in our lives.

So, at this thanksgiving let us give thanks to the Lord our God for his abundant goodness to us individually and to his people.

- Fr. George Seidel, OSB
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Saint Martin's Abbey
Saint Martin's Abbey
Do you know anyone interested in spending a weekend with us in vocational lectio divina, learning the ancient ways of discerning the will of God? Join us for a few days' retreat to learn from the riches of Scripture in the Catholic Benedictine tradition, and grow closer with your God, who speaks to you words of mercy, goodness, and love.
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Saint Martin's Abbey
Saint Martin's Abbey
Today is the feast of St. Edmund the Martyr and the namesday of our confrere, Brother Edmund Ebbers, OSB--our hardworking oblate director, infirmation, and refectorian. St. Edmund, a 9th century king of Anglia in present-day England, is noted to be the patron of pandemics and of kings, and was martyred after being captured and tortured by vikings from present-day Denmark. Although little is known about his personal life, devotion to him is widespread in medieval England and among Benedictine monasteries. As we continue to pray for an end to the pandemic, let us also pray for the courage to hold fast to the ancient faith our patrons died for and to continue to find ways we can make it new in our hearts, minds, and actions.
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