The Monastery of the Holy Spirit is a community of Cistercian, or Trappist, monks in Conyers, Georgia, about 35 minutes outside Metro Atlanta. Twenty-one monks left Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky in 1944 to found it in what was then rural wilderness. Today the community numbers 28 monks spanning several generations, living under the Rule of St. Benedict. Fifty years of monastic life separate its most senior monk, Fr. Tom Francis, from its newest member.
Prayer and Work
The monks gather for prayer 7 times a day, beginning with Vigils at 4 a.m. and ending with Compline at 7:30 p.m. Between the hours of prayer, the Rule directs them to work for their living “by their own hands.” The Abbey Church itself is their work: the first generation of monks built it of poured concrete over fifteen years, and it has since been called Georgia’s most remarkable concrete building.
What the Monks Make
The Monks’ Bakery makes its own biscotti and fruitcake, sold alongside cookies and the rest of the Monastery Foods in the Abbey Store. Brother Augustine ages the fruitcakes with peach brandy and sherry. Honey Creek Wildflower Honey takes its name from the more than 1,000 acres of protected woodland the monastery maintains nearby as a conservation burial ground. The monastery’s Stained Glass Studios have built windows since 1957, beginning with the Abbey Church’s own glass, and a suncatcher made from that same glass is among the gifts in the store. On the shelves are books written from within the community, among them Grace Revisited: Epiphanies from a Trappist Monk, alongside the monastery’s own history, Open to the Spirit, by Dewey Weiss Kramer.
Visiting the Monastery
The grounds, the Abbey Church and the Monastic Heritage Center are open to visitors, and the community welcomes guests for retreats. The Heritage Center, opened in 2011, is a 17,000-square-foot complex housing the Abbey Gift Shop and Café, the Visitor Center and Historic Barn, and the Memorial Plaza and Prayer Walk, open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can read more about the monastery, its history and planning a visit at trappist.net.
The Abbey Store
Everything in the Abbey Store comes out of that work, and buying from it supports the monastery directly. Questions about an order can reach us through the contact page.
2625 GA Highway 212 SW
Conyers, GA 30094