5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Visiting Saint Meinrad Archabbey

Posted on July 10, 2019

Besides being home to a legendary theme park and national and state sites honoring Abraham Lincoln, Spencer County is home to a 165-year-old Benedictine monastery. Like the rest of the county, Saint Meinrad Archabbey has a tradition of offering hospitality to guests and visitors. 

The monastery is home to about 80 monks, whose motto is “Seeking God and Serving the Church.” In addition to their devotion to prayer, the monks operate a graduate seminary and school of theology, a retreat program, Abbey Caskets, CareNotes, and the Archabbey Gift Shop. 

Here are five things you probably didn’t know about visiting Saint Meinrad: 

1. You can enjoy history. Stop at the Guest House to pick up a brochure or audio device that guides you on a walking tour of the grounds. You can see the beautiful Archabbey Church, built more than 100 years ago and renovated in 1997. On Saturdays, a monk-led tour begins at 1:30 p.m. 
2. You can shop! Saint Meinrad has an academic bookstore, the Scholar Shop, as well as the Archabbey Gift Shop, with its large selection of gifts, books, music, food and other items. 
3. You can join the monks in prayer. Every day, the monastic community prays together in the Archabbey Church. Visitors are welcome to join them. Just check the schedule for prayer times. 
4. You can see an art exhibit. Every four to six weeks, a new art exhibit is on display in the Archabbey Library Gallery. The public is welcome to view the exhibit at no charge. 
5. You can tour the caskets workshop. Abbey Caskets recently opened an on-site workshop where the wooden caskets are handcrafted. They welcome visitors to their showroom in the Archabbey Gift Shop as well as to the workshop, located nearby. Gift shop workers will be glad to direct you. 

For more information about Saint Meinrad, visit the website at SaintMeinrad.org. You can get directions and prayer times here: SaintMeinrad.org/visit-us/prayer-schedule-tours/ 

This post was written by Mary Jeanne Schumacher, Director of Communications, Saint Meinrad Archabbey.