Mariawald Trappist Abbey Closed Down -- Summorum Undone by Current Vatican Regime

The Trappist Monastery of Mariawald, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, was one of the very few monastic houses in the world to make use of the provision present in Article 3 of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum that allowed for the whole conversion of such a house to the exclusive use of the Traditional Rite.

We covered this momentous news in 2008 (see our 2012 post), and in 2015 we published the translation of a great interview granted by the abbot responsible for this change, Dom Josef Vollberg.

The traditional turn at Mariawald was too much for the current vindictive regime installed in Rome, and they forced the abbot out in 2016, as we also covered at the time.

Now, the inevitable outcome arrived: as GloriaTV reports, the old abbey is being closed and completely dismantled. What two world wars could not destroy, Bergoglianism could:

Abbot of Mariawald Resigns

Dom Josef Vollberg, O.C.S.O.

In a letter to friends of the Abbey of Mariawald, O.C.S.O. published by Gloria.tv, Abbot Josef Vollberg has announced that he is resigning as abbot. As his reason Dom Vollberg states that he takes this step in order to avoid "the risk... that the abbey could be closed against the will of the community." The abbey will now be ruled by its pater immediatus, Abbot Bernardus Peeters of the Abbey of Koningshoeven in the Netherlands. Abbot Bernardus has appointed Dom Josef to serve as prior of the community after his resignation as abbot comes into effect on the first Sunday of Advent.

Abbot of Monastery that switched to Traditional Mass: "With old Mass, the Priest become more Priest, and the monk more monk."

Pontifical Mass at Mariawald (source)

In 2008, the sole Trappist Monastery in Germany, the Abbey of Mariawald, became the first (and, so far, the only) Trappist monastery to completely return to the pre-Conciliar liturgical books since the liturgical reforms of the 1960s. It was one of the few houses in the world to make use of what is stated at Art. 3 of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (allowing for whole religious houses to become exclusively traditional), and this only after, it was repeatedly reported then, the personal intervention of Pope Benedict XVI.

A couple of years ago, Father Abbot Dom Josef Vollberg granted an admirable interview to German Catholic paper Tagespost, and it had never been translated. The Rorate translation follows:

Die Tagespost

May 23, 2013

Most Reverend Father Abbot, four years ago, you changed your abbey over to the Extraordinary Form. What changes did this bring to your monastery?

We were able to celebrate the first Solemn Mass in the classical Roman Rite here in Mariawald, in January 2009. And then, one month later, we began to celebrate Conventual Mass in the Extraordinary Form. At first, not all the Brethren welcomed this change. But in the meantime, the situation has somewhat improved. Of course, as a Priest, one had to learn how to celebrate the Rite, which was demanding and far from easy. An also, one had to refamiliarize oneself with Latin. Little by little, we completed the change. The second step was to sing the office of Terce in the traditional form, on Sundays, before Holy Mass. In this way we were able to establish liturgical unity. And then, we gradually changed over the Little Hours, Sext, None and Compline. Later, we did the same with Vespers and Laudes. And then, finally, from 2009 to 2010 we did the same with Vigils. This meant giving ourselves wholly to this Liturgy, with its more intensive theocentric character, which suites our contemplative vocation in a special way.

What Kind of spiritual development have you noticed since then? What has been the effect of this change to the Extraordinary Form on your Community?

The Trappists - a Video

Pontifical Mass at the Trappist Abbey of Mariawald, 2009 (source)

The Reform in the Trappist Abbey of Mariawald: "Putting God back at the center of the life of the monastery"

Divine Office in Mariawald, prior to the renewal of the High Altar (source) 

In 2008, the sole Trappist Monastery in Germany, the Abbey of Mariawald, became the first (and, so far, the only) Trappist monastery to completely return to the pre-Conciliar liturgical books since the liturgical reforms of the 1960s. The Abbot of Mariawald, Dom Josef Vollberg, was interviewed very recently by Paix Liturgique, which has published a partial English translation of the interview: “Restoring Her Youth To the Church”: an interview with the Abbot of Mariawald". I would like to highlight the following portion of the interview (emphases mine):

2) Can you tell us the motivations that led you to embrace the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and to choose the extraordinary form at your Abbey, late in 2008? 

Dom Josef: In our community there had been no visible fruits of the changes brought about by the second Vatican Council and our numbers had fallen drastically. From 1965 to 2011, many monks left the monastery and we had only two confirmed vocations.

And so, faced with the new liturgy's anthropocentric tendency, the desire was born to put God back at the center of the life of the monastery. Just as a tree lives only when it is fed by the energy it draws up through its roots, so too the monk (and not only the monk!) needs the wisdom of a centuries-old treasure to restore her youth to the Church.

Note that the liturgy at Mariawald is not completely identical with the Roman rite. It has its own specific features in terms of the calendar, Eucharistic liturgy, and especially as far as concerns the Breviary (the Liturgy of the Hours).

3) What changes has this choice meant for your religious life?

Dom Josef: The reform as (sic) made the monks' spiritual life more demanding. The new--understand “ancient”--liturgy requires an appropriate learning process: singing Gregorian chant is an art that demands a specific formation; attention to Latin as the proper language of worship demands willpower and diligence; reciting the Breviary takes longer and starting the Office at 3am demands a true willingness to surrender onself. All these sacrifices are rewarded by the discovery of heretofore unknown riches.

Service at the altar too requires appropriate training and the faithful themselves have to be formed to the liturgy versus Deum. Celebration versus Deum rather than versus populum demands a different kind of 'participatio actuosa' on their part--and for the most part, a more conscious one. Communion on the tongue also leads to deeper adoration. By the way, the Holy Father himself distributes Communion on the tongue in the Novus Ordo, thus giving an example of the much desired “reform of the reform.”

4) What influence has it had on the quality of your community life?

Dom Josef: Forty years of the new liturgy make any new change of orientation difficult, especially for the older brethren.

These days, however, the earlier tensions have eased and the situation is more serene. Openness to the Church's uninterrupted tradition and the more intense spiritual life are slowly bearing fruit, especially when it comes to new vocations. There is no room for impatience. If I may use the image of one of the Abbey's friends: reforming Mariawald is like turning around an ocean liner going at full steam: it takes time. Mariawald needs time . . . and also everyone's prayers.

5) What assessment are you in a position to make of this choice today? Has it had an effect on the vocations you have been attracting?

Dom Josef: If you wish to ask me for an assessment, I would say: “I would do it again, despite many, and sometimes subtle, difficulties.” There have been and there still are many candidates to enter at Mariawald: since the 2008 reform, between forty and fifty. But most of them do not stay because of the demands specific to the strict rule that we observe. This reflects a general phenomenon in our present-day society: the inability to commit on the long term. Ones sees it in the refusal to marry, the ever more general practice of cohabitation, and the increasing number of civil divorces.

This fear of commitment reaches all religious orders and is not tied to the nature of our reform. In 2008 we were twelve monks at the monastery. Two have since passed away. Today, therefore, there are ten of us, including a brother who has recently made his solemn profession (there's one who isn't afraid to commit!). We also have a novice and shall welcome a postulant this year, and there are two or three people who have shown serious interest in joining us. We also have three monks who live outside the monastery.

Ordinary - Extraordinary: an extraordinary Main Altar at the Mariawald Abbey Church

Our readers are quite aware that the Trappist Abbey of Mariawald, in Heimbach (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), was one of the very few institutions in the world to make use of one of the potentially most powerful words in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (art. 3) and became exclusively dedicated to the pre-conciliar Liturgy and customs of their venerable and glorious order.

Though questioned by the Abbot General of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance at the time, the matter was finally confirmed by the personal intervention of Pope Benedict XVI according to many reports.

On September 6, 2012, the new main altar was installed in the abbey church of this community dedicated exclusively to their ancient rites and customs.

Traditional Mass celebrated in the old new-style altar
(1963/1964 Volksaltar - People's Altar):

New ancient-style altar (French-speaking region, 1800s):

[Source: Abtei Mariawald. Tip: Le Forum Catholique]

Nobody expects the Trappist Inquisition

A cryptic communiqué issued by the office of Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, Abbot General of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (the Trappists), regarding Mariawald. Full text:

Mariawald

Some monasteries have learned through the media that the Abbot of Mariawald requested the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to grant to his community the privilege of “returning to the old liturgy as well as to the former usages of the Trappists (the ‘Usus’ di Monte Cistello – Rome 1964)”. This privilege was granted and communicated to Dom Josef Vollberg by the President of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, Dario Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos. 

In a letter of November 20th the Cardinal informed the Abbot General of this decision. On December 20th , the Abbot General wrote to the Cardinal requesting some clarifications.

Conservative Trappist Abbey becomes exclusively "Old Rite"

[UPDATE:] Official communique of the Pontifical Commission ¨Ecclesia Dei¨.

A translation by Chris Gillibrand, at Catholic Church Conservation.

Cathcon translation of Zurück zum Glauben der Väter-Back to the Faith of the Father

In the Trappist Monastery of Mariawald in the Eifel an unexpected event has taken place which is unique in the world. On the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple - 21st November - the German Trappist abbey of Mariawald gained from Rome the permission to return to the Old Rite and their original religious discipline.

According to observers, this is a unique event in church history.

The Trappist were founded as a reform order of the Cistercians. Their day was marked by lengthy prayers, hard work and strict fasting and silence. In the wake of the Second Vatican, the religious discipline almost totally broke down.

The Abbey of Mariawald is located near the town of Heimbach in the Eifel in the district of Cologne. It is located in the Diocese of Aachen.

The monastery was founded in April 1795 for the first time and refounded in 1861 by the Alsatian Trappist Abbey of Ölenberg.

The monastery was also closed during the Kulturkampf and in the time of National Socialism.

Between the years 1962 and 1964, the monks adapted the monastery church to the then current liturgical fashions.

Today fourteen monks live in the Abbey under the direction of Abbot Joseph Vollberg. The hours of prayer for the monks begin at 4:00 am.

The Abbey of Mariawald is today funded by operating a restaurant, a bookshop, a liqueur factory and a monastery shop. The monastery has a guesthouse attached.

Abbot Joseph Vollberg (45) was raised in Wetzlar. He is the ninth abbot of Mariawald.

After military service and management studies in Giessen, he joined Mariawald on 1 December 1986. He studied theology in the Cistercian Abbey of the Holy Cross in Vienna.

On 26 January 1992, he was solemnly professed. In August 2003, the monk was appointed superior ad ad nutum and obtained thereby the rights of an abbot.

Then on 17 December 2005, Dom Josef received diaconal orders and on 29 June 2006 was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Aachen, Heinrich Mussinghoff.

In November 2006 the Convent Chapter chose Vollberg as the Abbot for life of the Abbey of Mariawald.

His solemn Abbatial consecration was on 26 January 2007 in the abbey church of the monastery.