Saint John's Abbey Dedicates Guesthouse
Release Date: October 22, 2006
COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. — Saint John's Abbey dedicated and blessed its new 26,000 square foot Guesthouse Sunday, October 22, at 4 p.m. The $6.8 million facility will provide a variety of spaces to support new programs that are being planned for retreatants, conference participants and regular guests of the Abbey.
Over the centuries, accommodations for guests have been an integral part of Benedictine monastic communities. Although Saint John's Abbey has had a few rooms available for guests adjacent to the monastery, it has never had quarters to provide comfortable housing for participants in retreats and several programs that the new building will make possible.
Because of the importance of hospitality in the Benedictine tradition, the concept of a guesthouse remained a dream of a series of Saint John's abbots for decades. "There were other commitments over the years," recalled Abbot John Klassen, "and we were unable to begin serious planning for the new complex until 1998." Continuing, he said, "After we announced our plans we were deeply moved by the outpouring of generosity by friends of the abbey and alumni of Saint John's University and Preparatory School. Major gifts in support of the programs we plan enabled us to begin construction in 2005 and the building will be completed this fall."
The Abbey Guesthouse is oriented to the south overlooking Lake Sagatagan and some of its doorways open to a network of walking trails that wind through the surrounding woodland or along the lakeshore. The building is divided into three sections, each on its own level. The upper level contains ten guestrooms and four suites that will be available for regular guests to the campus. Individual rooms will house couples or individual guests and the suites are capable of accommodating families.
The ground or entrance level will house a variety of spaces to serve the building's program needs. Included are a dining room and kitchen, a library, conference and meeting rooms, a lounge, and a chapel. In addition, offices are located on this level for the Abbey's Oblate Director, Spiritual Life Director and Guestmaster.
All program spaces feature large glass windows with views of the woods, terrace and lake. The passageway from the dining and conference rooms to the chapel is a colonnade hallway reminiscent of European cloister walks. The ground level opens onto a large terrace that features a comfortable and quiet outdoor gathering space with a dramatic view of the woodland and lake.
The lower level, overlooking Lake Sagatagan and removed from distractions and the flow of activities on the upper levels, contains 16 rooms to house retreatants. A pedestrian tunnel, accessible from the lower level, provides all-weather access to the abbey church.
The pedestrian tunnel also provides access to the Petters Pavilion, an addition to the abbey's chapter house. The Pavilion's lower level includes expanded restrooms and dressing rooms for wedding parties. The 160-seat Chapter House will continue to be used for monastic meetings, and it will also be used for programmatic needs of the Guesthouse including retreats, conferences and seminars.
All guest rooms, the library and the chapel feature red oak flooring and furnishings, all made at Saint John's from red oak harvested from the woodland surrounding the Abbey. All guest rooms have their own bathroom and shower facilities, and the entire facility was designed to be accessible to handicapped persons.
"The Rule of Saint Benedict that guides monastic life spells out clearly a monastery's responsibility to its guests," observed Abbot John Klassen. "Benedict urged his followers to receive all guests as if they were Christ. This facility is a dream come true for us," he said. "We are excited that we will now be able to do a much better job of honoring the guidance our founding patron's wrote down for his followers. I am grateful for the generosity of many of our guests for, truly, they made construction possible." Concluding, the Abbot said he expects the Guesthouse's programs to begin in December.
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