Subiaco Abbey

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Subiaco Abbey

We are a Benedictine Abbey of monks living in Subiaco, Arkansas, USA. We follow the 1,500-year-old Rule as written by Saint Benedict. Benedict.

This Rule and monastic way of life flow from the ancient biblical model of Christian discipleship as found in Acts 2 & 4. We are 40 Benedictine monks living in Subiaco, Arkansas, USA. We follow the 1,500 year old Rule as written by our holy father St. This Rule and monastic way of life flow from the ancient biblical model of Christian discipleship as found in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35. Our bal

anced life of prayer and work (known as "Ora et Labora") has existed in Arkansas since our founding in 1878. Feel free to join us for our communal prayers that are spoken and chanted five times each day in our Abbey Church.

09/08/2026

HEADACHES: Fr. Reginald serves as our Vocation Director and Asst. Chaplain in our Academy. He is also an alumnus of the Academy class of 1979. He often recounts the horror stories of trying to get through Algebra being taught by Brother Adrian Strobel (Academy class of 1962). Father will often taunt Brother in our elevator to remind him that he hasn't had to use algebra in decades. Suddenly, Father Reginald was asked to substitute for our Head of School, Dan Smith, class of 1988. Mr. Smith teaches... ALGEBRA!!!! Father Reginald had to sheepishly approach (with his scapular between his tail) his old Algebra teacher (Br. Adrian) to delicately ask for a refresher course on the basics of Algebra. What comes around goes around. For the beauty of Algebra, and for not taunting your senior monks, we monks chant: UIOGD!

09/06/2026

OUR HERITAGE: St. Benedict envisioned the monastery as a place where the necessities of life could be found close at hand: water, gardens, workshops, and the work needed to sustain the community. For nearly 150 years at Subiaco, that life close to the land has included farming, gardening, fishing…and, yes, hunting (see photos of our monks of old). Yesterday, Fr. William continued one of those longstanding traditions with friends (thank you, Jamie Ward, for inviting him) during a successful dove hunt. For Benedictines, stewardship of the land has never meant simply admiring creation from a distance. It means living within it responsibly, receiving its gifts gratefully, and making good use of what God provides. And anyone who knows Fr. William knows that some of these doves have a destiny: Wild-game gumbo. At Subiaco, apparently even the ancient Benedictine principle of ora et labora sometimes becomes: Ora, labora… et gumbo. May we always receive the gifts of creation with gratitude, use them responsibly, and (when Fr. William is cooking) show up hungry. A hunting tradition nearly 150 years in the making... and, if Fr. William has anything to say about it, best served over rice. For that we monks chant: UIOGD!

09/03/2026

DROUGHT & CRITTERS: Our maintenance and landscaping crew have worked long and hard to plant a back area of our monastery where we had a lot of our mechanical equipment. The idea is to beautify an area that otherwise would be an eyesore. In addition to all of our flowers, they planted some oak leaf hydrangea, some oak leaf holly, and an underground irrigation line. We have been sustained through the drought with water from our own man-made lakes, which provide water to us and to the neighboring city. We don't irrigate everything on our land, but we try to do the areas where we are starting new growth. Suddenly, the crew found their manicured area had been ripped to shreds by some critter. In particular, the critter was going after the water lines placed below the mulch. It's pretty easy to realize that the poor creature needed water as much as the dead grass in the other parts of our lawn. We caught at least one of the critters, but it's hard not to sympathize with it when one can't find basic water. We are hopeful that we will get some rain soon. Nevertheless, we give praise to God for all the many gifts that we do have. For that we most chant: UIOGD!

08/29/2026

GRATEFUL Subiaco is deeply grateful to have been awarded funding through the Rural Health Transformation PACT Initiative, supporting important improvements to health, safety, accessibility, and emergency preparedness at Subiaco and throughout our rural community. The funding will help provide a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, improved flooring for mobility needs, expanded telehealth and specialty care access, and CPR and first aid training for staff, students, and community. “We are deeply grateful for this investment in Subiaco and rural Arkansas,” said Abbot Elijah Owens, OSB. “These improvements will help us provide safer, more accessible care for members of our monastic community while expanding health education and emergency preparedness opportunities for our students, staff, and neighbors.” We extend our sincere thanks to the State of Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, program administrators, and all those who made this investment in rural health possible. Pictured in the photo at the state capital were (L-R): Abbot Elijah, Nurse Barbara Wilhelm (Director of the Health Center for Subiaco Abbey and Academy), Amber Mikles (Subiaco Director of Mission Advancement Operations & Grants), and Debbie Stehle (Subiaco Health Center CNA). For that we monks chant: UIOGD!

08/21/2026

MONASTIC BROTHERHOOD: Monastic Brotherhood is found not only within your own abbey, but also through close monastic connections you make across abbeys of the world. Our Brother Sebastian (right) recently attended the priestly ordination of Father Mary-Frances O. Ikejiuba (left), a Strict Observance Cistercian of the Abbey of New Clairvaux, in Vina, CA. Fr. Mary-Francis was ordained at Our Lady of New Melleray Trappist Abbey in Iowa by Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Dubuque. Brother Sebastian (already a transitional deacon) will be ordained to the priesthood next fall after completing his last year of seminary studies in Collegeville, MN. Fr. Mary-Francis has been a classmate of Br. Sebastian at St. John's School of Theology and Seminary. Monastic brothers seeking God through Christ across abbeys and even religious orders... for that we monks chant: UIOGD!

08/16/2026

SMALL THINGS OF JOY: Father Richard is one of our most intrepid, resilient, and holy monks. For four years, he has been a cancer survivor as he takes weekly treatments for multiple myeloma. Even while undergoing treatments, he continues to grow our habanero peppers, make our hot sauce, coordinate making our peanut brittle, and, on the side, makes rosaries known as Job's tears.

In the midst of his monastic life, he recently birthed two butterflies. He was absolutely overjoyed. He is a model example of how a cancer diagnosis need not hold you down. Let's continue to pray for Father Richard's ongoing treatments and for the success that the two butterflies survived at least a few days after he released them into the wild. For that and the small joys in life, we monks chant: UIOGD!

08/13/2026

CURIOUS ABOUT MONASTIC LIFE?: Our community once again offers a weekend where single Catholic men, 18-45, can come and see if monastic life might be your calling. Our last two retreats allowed men to experience the full immersion and they are making longer return visits for their second encounter. The only way to scratch that monastic itch is to begin by attending our short but intense Come and See weekend. Check out our website, read answers to the most frequently asked questions, and complete a form to submit to talk further with our vocation team. See if a place called Subiaco might be where God is calling you. For that we monks chant: UIOGD!

08/11/2026

GETTING OLD IN MONASTIC LIFE: Happy 65th Birthday to Father Reginald! 🎂 Today he reached two important milestones: another year of wisdom…and Medicare eligibility! As Scripture says, “Gray hair is a crown of glory.” We’re pretty sure the Medicare card is the accompanying certificate. 😇 Happy Birthday, Father Reginald! For that we monks chant: UIOGD!

08/08/2026

ONGOING REPAIRS: You may remember from a previous post that someone backed into our pergola, which was built over a hundred and twenty years ago. One section fell, but it was clear that structural damage existed throughout the whole thing. While the vehicle's insurance company did not provide for replacement costs, our own insurance carrier stepped in to cover the difference, for which we are grateful. The damaged pergola has been removed, and our maintenance team is working with a contractor to put up a new one soon. Unfortunately, we needed to cut back the wisteria, but we are blessed to have plenty of original wisteria cuttings to cover the new structure when rebuilt. For that we monks chant: UIOGD!

08/07/2026

BROTHERHOOD: One of the great blessings of monastic cenobitic life is our brotherhood. In fact, this brotherhood extends far beyond any state or national boundaries and includes a brotherhood of monks around the world. Father Kokila of Sri Lanka (right in the photo) recently stopped by to see our sub-prior, Father Raban (left in the photo). These two monks shared time together at our Pontifical University of Sant'Anselmo in Rome. Fr. Raban was able to attend Fr. Kokila's priestly ordination in Sri Lanka a few years ago and experience the beauty of that nation and island. For this return visit, Father Raban took Father Kokila on vacation to experience some of the outdoor and urban regions of our own country, along with some of our food and drink. Fr. Kokila returns home and now begins a new assignment. He recently wrote to us, telling us that he has been assigned as Assistant Priest at the National Shrine of St. Anthony (Padua) in Wahakotte, Sri Lanka. This Parish/ Church was given to the monks in exchange for the Abbey Church of St. Anthony in Kandy which now stands as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Kandy. The parish was significant for its population consisting of the descendants of the Portuguese who sought refuge in the last Sinhalese Kingdom of Kandy during the time of the occupation of the island by the Dutch. The community of faithful in Wahakotte was then administered by St. Joseph Vaz ( “the Apostle of Sri Lanka”) who was the only priest to visit the island from India during the early years of the Dutch occupancy. The shrine holds the miraculous statue of St. Anthony believed to have been hidden inside a pot of rice to evade the eyes of the Dutch soldiers. For monastic brotherhood, friendship, and for Father Kokila's new assignment, we monks chant: UIOGD!

Address

405 N Subiaco Avenue
Subiaco, AR
72865

Telephone

(479) 934-1001

Website

http://www.subi.org/

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