Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey in Mission process to their monastic cemetery for a memorial service on All Souls Day. (OC-Travel photo)
In the history of the Catholic Church the development of monasticism corresponds very closely with the development of Christian culture.
In fact, it can be said no institution has had a greater and more direct influence on the formation of Christian culture than the monastic order.
It is in monasticism that religion and culture attain their most complete fusion. The monastic rule is sacred law that is applied to every detail of individual life and becomes the basis of a common way of life in the pursuit of Christian perfection.
By living lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the brave and generous monks, by prayer and contemplation, pious austerities and observance of their rule, endeavour to climb the highest summits of the spiritual life.
In the history of the Church there have been a number of successive types of monasticism, each of which is typical of a particular phase in the development of Christian culture.
Benedictine monasticism, which is the classical type of Western monasticism, has played an immense role in the history of the Church. It was the foundation of Carolingian and early medieval culture and of Western education.
Vancouver has its own Benedictine monastery which continues this long tradition of culture and education. Westminster Abbey in Mission, known officially as the Abbey of St. Joseph of Westminster, was founded in 1939 and was originally established from Mt. Angel Abbey, located near Portland, Ore. It has a population of about 30 professed monks and is a member of the Swiss Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation.
The abbey is also home to the Seminary of Christ the King, which includes a minor and major seminary as well as the only English-speaking preparatory high school seminary in Canada.
The seminary was originally founded in 1931 in Ladner, near Delta, by Archbishop William Duke of Vancouver. The archbishop invited the Benedictines with the intention of their establishing a seminary.
When the Benedictines arrived in 1939, they numbered five hand-picked pioneers who were sent from Mt. Angel on the eve of the Second World War.
At that time Vancouver was a fledgling outpost of the British Empire. Of the five original monks, Fr. Eugene Medved was the first prior and later the founding abbot of the abbey.
From 1939 to 1954, the monks lived in Burnaby in a picturesque lakeside mansion built in 1911 by a wealthy American from New York. Located on Deer Lake, the property consisted of a 17-acre site known as “Fairacres.” The building is still standing and houses the popular Hart House Restaurant.
In 1953 the Holy See raised Westminster Priory to the status of abbey.
After a time of discernment and careful negotiations for a permanent home, the community acquired a suitable location for a monastery: a lush green hilltop site at a 180-m elevation above the Fraser River on the northeast outskirts of the rural town of Mission. Phase 1 of construction began that same year.
The following year the monks moved into the completed monastic enclosure. The new monastery was designed by the firm Gardiner, Thornton, Gathe and Associates of Vancouver.
The young architect who spearheaded the project was Norwegian-born Asbjørn Gåthe (1921–1994). Gåthe had emigrated to Canada in 1951 and was eager to make his mark on the North American landscape, having joined the progressive modernist movement with fellow architects Frank Gardiner and Peter Thornton. In 1954 he became a partner in their firm until he broke away in 1966.
The young architect’s most important and lasting commission was Westminster Abbey. The project occupied him for 30 years during which time various buildings were added under his direction.
His instructions from the community were to “express something of a Benedictine antiquity, combined with contemporary advances in structure and design.”
The abbey design is considered a landmark in Canadian architectural innovation of its time. It demonstrates the architect’s originality while showcasing a remarkable contribution to modernist reinforced concrete.
While not everyone is a fan, the style belongs to the mid-20th century monochromatic concrete tradition pioneered by French architect Auguste Perret.
The abbey church was finally completed in 1982. The church tower remains the abbey’s most distinctive feature, designed in collaboration with another Norwegian-born structural engineer, Per Christoffersen (1924–2003), who also came to Canada in 1951 and was similarly celebrated for his innovations in concrete structures.
The tower has a ring of 10 bells that can be heard on Sunday mornings for 15 minutes before the 10 a.m. Conventual Sung Mass and on Sunday afternoons for 15 minutes before Vespers at 4:30 p.m.
The interior walls are graced with 64 colourful, abstract stained-glass windows, built 24 feet by 4 feet. This makes for some 7,000 square feet of stained glass.
The windows are the creation of Lutz Haufschild, a German-trained glass artist who has worked in North America for many years.
The abbey church is essentially designed according to the plan of a Greek cross, with a centralized sanctuary space. Massive structural piers lead up to a coffered ceiling with some Gothic elements.
Benedictine monasteries have long been known for enlarging the heritage of the fine arts by splendid works that will live on. Regretfully, a large part of the complex on the eastern side was built into the side of a mountain top, engendering a host of long-term structural concerns due to moisture from excessive rain.
The abbey has a working farm on 80 hectares with up to 40 cattle and countless chickens, feeding the monks and the resident students.
The breathtaking view seen from the abbey of the Fraser Valley and Matsqui Prairie can be seen by visitors from an outlook at the end of a windy path beyond the chapel. In its short history the abbey has had only three abbots.
Born and cradled under the action of the Church, whose authority gives sanction to its government and administration, the abbey and its monks play a crucial role in forming the local Church.
The monastery is, according to the expression of St. Chrysostom, “the honour and ornament of spiritual grace,” while at the same time a witness to the sacred fecundity of the local Church.
Almost all the priests of the Archdiocese of Vancouver and the other B.C. dioceses study and receive their formation here.
Finally, Westminster Abbey is named after the original in London, England. A unique institution and an exemplar of the Catholic tradition of monasticism, it dates back to the 960s when St. Dustan installed a community of Benedictine monks on the site.
J.P. Sonnen is a tour operator and history docent with Vancouver-based Orbis Catholicus Travel.