Monastery of Our Lady of Jordan, Oregon

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The Monastery of Our Lady of Jordan, Oregon was a Cistercian monastery in the community of Jordan in Linn County, Oregon, United States.

[edit] History

In 1904, the Cistercian monks of the Fontgombault Abbey (Indre-et-Loire, France), were forced to abandon their monastery. They looked for a refuge in America. Under the direction of their abbot, Dom Fortunato Marchand, they went to Oregon seeking a place to practice their faith. Their monstery, Our Lady of Jordan, was established in Jordan, about 90 miles from the Oregon Coast, upon a plateau a mile and a half in area. The property consists of about 400 acres of land, almost 200 of which are actually under cultivation or in meadow-lands, 100 in wood land, and the remainder covered with brush. A tributary of the Santiam River bounds it on the south. A steam sawmill was built on the stream, in connection with the monastery. Here the Oregon fir-trees, which attain immense heights, are converted into lumber for the needs of the community and for commerce.

The future of this Cistercian community to a great extent rests upon this industry. The land is ordinarily fertile and produces cereals, vegetables, pears, plums, apples, etc. The monastery of Our Lady of Jordan was dedicated in 1907, the Archbishop of Oregon City officiating, in the presence of a large assembly of the laity, among whom were many non-Catholics. On the same occasion the Sacrament of Confirmation was administered by the archbishop. The Right Rev. Father Thomas, Abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Mount Angel, preached the dedicatory sermon, in which he explained the nature and the object of the life of the Cistercians, or Trappists.