December 21, 2022 – We begin our year of celebration of the 175th anniversary of the founding of the monastery of Gethsemani. In 1848, Dom Eutropius Proust led a band of courageous monks from the abbey of Melleray in France to a new home in what was then the near-wilderness of Kentucky. After an arduous journey, beset by difficulties, they arrived here on the 21st of December to begin their life here.

Through the whole journey, they carried a wooden cross, inscribed with their destination and the words, “Vive Jesus, Vive sa croix.” We still have that cross here at Gethsemani, usually displayed in a prominent place in our cloister. For this celebration, we brought the cross into the church where it served as the main cross for the mass.

Fr. Elias presided at the mass and gave the homily.