St. Meinrad Archabbey was founded in southern Indiana in 1854 by two Benedictine monks from the mother abbey in Einsiedeln, Switzerland.

They came to Indiana at the invitation of the Rev. Joseph Kundek, a priest in the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana, who traveled through Europe seeking help to start a monastery back home.

The monks of Einsiedeln, meanwhile, were looking for a haven in the United States should the Swiss government force them to close the monastery, which they had done to several other Catholic communities in the mid-1800s.

Two Swiss monks, the Rev. Ulrich Christen and the Rev. Bede O Connor, came to the United States and purchased a 160-acre plot from a local farmer for $2,700.

The monastery opened March 13, 1854 when the monks took possession of a three-room log cabin its bedroom doubling as a chapel.

The abbey was elevated to the status of archabbey in 1954 by Pope Pius XII to honor the monastery s role in founding other U.S. abbeys. It is one of only two archabbeys in the United States.

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St. Meinrad s Archabbey is named for a ninth century German monk who lived as a hermit near Lake Zurich. After word of St. Meinrad s holiness spread, the monk moved further into the woods and built a hermitage at Einsiedeln, where years later a monastery would be built.

According to tradition, St. Meinrad was visited on the night of Jane. 21, 861, by two men who thought the hermit had hidden treasures.

The monk had a premonition of his death, and when the visitors became angry because he had no valuables, told them they could take whatever they wanted after they had done their deed. He also asked them to place a lighted candle at his head and foot before they left.

The intruders beat the 63-year-old monk with their fists and a staff, then strangled him. They stripped him of his clothes, placed him in his bed, covered him, and put an unlit candle near his head before going off to find a fire to light the wick.

When they returned, the candle was burning brightly.

The killers fled in fear but were followed into town by two loudly cawing ravens that St. Meinrad used to feed. The villagers noticed the commotion and held the thieves until they found what they had done to the monk.

Einsiedeln Abbey was erected on the site of St. Meinrad s hermitage.

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There are about 8,000 monks in the Order of St. Benedict, although each monastery is autonomous. The monasteries share a common foundation in following The Rule of St. Benedict as a guideline for their religious community.

Many historians credit the Benedictines for preserving the knowledge and advances of western civilization after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

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Father Theodore Heck was ordained a priest in 1929, completed a doctoral dissertation on U.S. seminary curricula in 1935, and last year began studying Spanish.

At 107, Father Theodore is oldest Benedictine monk in the world. He lives in the infirmary wing of St. Meinrad Archabbey and still attends many prayer services, using a motorized scooter to get around the campus.

Recently, a monk said he walked by Father Theodore s room and the centenarian was watching a hockey game.

The eldest monk stopped giving interviews to the media a few years ago because he has trouble hearing the questions, according to Mary Jeanne Schumacher, St. Meinrad s director of communications.

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St. Meinrad recently completed a five-year capital campaign in which the goal was to raise $40 million for renovations and modifications to many of the aging buildings on campus.

The monks raised $42 million a large portion of that coming from the estates of two women who had spent time at the monastery on spiritual retreats.

Bernice Davey, 90, and Virginia Basso, 91, bequeathed a total of $26 million to St. Meinrad in 2004.

Then-archabbot Lambert Reilly called the bequests "an extreme blessing from God" and "somehow proof that we do exercise what s supposed to typify us, and that is hospitality."

Some of the $26 million was used to build the new Guest House and Retreat Center.

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Monks who have professed their final vows meet in Chapter to vote on important issues, ranging from financial decisions to whether to accept a candidate into their community.

Most decisions are based on a simple majority vote.

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If a monk slips up and causes a disruption of the liturgy at St. Meinrad, no matter how minor, he will voluntariily "kneel out" during the next prayer service, getting on his knees on the marble floor of the Archabbey Church as the other monks leave the building.

This self-imposed ritual is not a punishment, the monks explained.

One recent evening in February, Brother Karl Cothern, a newly professed "junior monk," fell asleep when it was time to ring the bells before 5 p.m. vespers. The next morning at vigils and lauds, Brother Karl "kneeled out" at the end of the service as the monks filed past.

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The bells in the twin stone towers of the Archabbey Church are rung electronically to mark the hours, half hours, and quarter hours, but the monks ring them manuall every time there is a call to prayer.

There are six bells in all and the monks ring them for 15 minutes before morning prayer and vespers, and five minutes before morning Mass and noon prayer.

"On feast days or when there s a funeral, all six bells have to be rung and that s a lot of work. It takes four people," Brother Francis de Sales Wagner said.

Usually the bells are rung by novices members of the community who have not yet professed their vows. But the monastery has no novices at the moment so bell-ringing and other tasks usually assigned to novices are being divided among all monks.

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The monks of St. Meinrad Archabbey used to operate a farm with hogs, cattle, cows, and crops, but phased it out in the early 1970s when it became financially impractical.

The monks also had operated a coal mine and a sandstone quarry.

Today, the monastery is known for two businesses: Abbey Press, an international marketing and manufacturing company that publishes books, greeting cards, "CareNotes" inspirational booklets, and religious merchandise, and Abbey Caskets, which markets simple, hand-made wooden caskets and cremation urns.

Abbey Caskets are made of poplar, cherry, walnut, or oak and sell for between $1,350 and $2,075. They used to made for sale to the public by the monks but today they are made by a local cabinet-maker in the town of St. Meinrad.

Caskets for Benedictine monks are made by carpenters who are monks.

Bishop James Hoffman of Toledo, a graduate of St. Meinrad School of Theology who died in February, 2003, was buried in a cherrywood coffin donated by the monks of St. Meinrad.

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Public tours of the St. Meinrad Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center are offered every Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Self-guided tours are available anytime.

The monastery, which operates on Central Time, also holds a number of weekday and weekend retreats.

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People who feel a spiritual connection with St. Meinrad but not called to become a monk have another option: becoming an oblate.

There are over 1,200 men and women nationwide who took vows to be oblates of St. Meinrad Archabbey.

In becoming an oblate, the lay person professes a dedication to a more Christian life and to live by The Rule of St. Benedict in the secular world.

Oblates who are affiliated with St. Meinrad join the monks in praying for the world and in the work of the monastery.

After one year as an oblate novice, the person may choose to participate in a ceremony called the act of final oblation and become a permanent member of the monastic family.

There are Ohio chapters in Cincinnati, Dayton, Lancaster, and Reynoldsburg. The only requirements for admission to the oblates are an upright character and the earnest desire for spiritual advancement according to the Christian ideas set forth in The Rule of St. Benedict.

Here is the Mission Statement for chapters of Benedictine Oblates of Saint Meinrad:

"We, Benedictine Oblates of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, are Christian men and women, lay and ordained, living in the world, united by the holy Rule of St. Benedict. We come together in chapters to support one another and strengthen our spiritual life through liturgical celebration, instruction, and fellowship in Christ, so that in all things God may be glorified. "

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More information on St. Meinrad Archabbey and St. Meinrad School of Theology is available online at www.saintmeinrad.edu.

First Published March 9, 2008, 12:31 p.m.