Belmont Abbey, North Carolina

Mary Help of Christians Abbey, better known as Belmont Abbey, is a small community of Benedictine monks in the town of Belmont, North Carolina, outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States. Founded by Bishop Leo Haid in 1876, it is the daughter abbey to St. Vincent's Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and mother abbey to St. Leo's Abbey in Tampa, Florida. The monks also are the benefactors of Belmont Abbey College, a four year Catholic liberal arts school.

From 1910 through 1977, Belmont Abbey was a territorial abbey, exercising some functions of a diocese. It had authority over parishes in the North Carolina counties of Gaston, Catawba, Cleveland, Burke, Lincoln, McDowell, Polk, and Rutherford. In 1944, its territory, except for Gaston County, was given to the Diocese of Raleigh. In July 1960, Gaston County too was placed under the Diocese of Raleigh. In 1977, its status as a territorial abbey was suppressed under the Diocese of Charlotte.^[1]

Dates of Interest

• April 21, 1876 The first Benedictine monk to serve at Belmont arrived, accompanied by the first two students for the new college.
• July 10, 1886 For the first time an alumnus of the college was received as a novice in the monastery.
• July 11, 1886 The first three novices professed vows for the new abbey in North Carolina.
• May 7, 1891 The monastery's Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was blessed by Abbot-Bishop Leo Haid, O.S.B. It was designated as a pilgrimage shrine.
• June 8, 1910 The 'diocesan' jurisdiction of Belmont Abbey was erected by decree of the Holy Father in Rome.
• July 27, 1998 The Vatican issued a decree elevating the abbey church at Belmont to the rank of a minor basilica.
• July 14, 1993 The central campus was entered on the National Register of Historic Places as the "Belmont Abbey National Historic District."
• June 20, 2011 Belmont Abbey College breaks ground on a center of residences for female students with children or expecting children- open to both Christians and non-Christians- that can hold 15 babies, 15 women (who can stay for up to two years), and 8 toddlers at a time (with a shared living room, dining room, and laundry room) called "Room at the Inn" near the campus of the Abbey and University, operated by a Charlotte, North Carolina-based maternity and aftercare center of the same name.

References

1. ^ Belmont-Mary Help of Christians Territorial Abbey

External links

• Belmont Abbey
• Belmont Abbey College