Abbey and Basilica of Our Lady of Gethsemani (Trappist)
Gethsemani, Kentucky
Founded December 21, 1848
Abbey-church consecrated November 15, 1866
Father Eutropius Proust led a community of forty-four monks from France at the invitation of Bishop Benedict Flaget of Bardstown. Following a form of the Rule of St. Benedict in the Cistercian tradition, the abbey was the first Trappist foundation in the United States. It gained notoriety during the late twentieth century, when it counted among its monks Thomas Merton. Pope Pius XII conferred basilican status on the church in 1949.
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