If
you have been on campus recently you can’t help but to have noticed
that something is being built across from the flag pole. It is a bell
tower! This bell tower is being built through a donation from an anonymous
donor. It will provide a home for the abbey’s bronze bell and
serve as great way to memorialize donors who have given significantly
to Mount Michael Abbey or School.
The Abbey’s Bell
What
bell? The Abbey has a bell? That question says a lot. Yes, we do have
a bell, but few people outside of the monastery know that because it
has really never had a permanent home. In the 1960’s and 70’s
it was located in a flower bed. After that it was placed next to the
priory building on a makeshift stand constructed with railroad ties.
With the construction of the new monastic residence wing on the abbey
last year the priory was demolished and the bell was put into storage,
but it is now being refurbished.
According to Abbot Theodore Wolff, the bell originates with our mother house Conception Abbey located in northwest Missouri. This bell was Conception’s first bell and was cast in a St. Louis foundry. When the monks of Conception bought new bells they gave this bell to their mission church called “Seven Dolora” located 20-30 miles from Conception at Grand River.
When Conception closed the mission in 1964, Fr. Adelhelm Hess OSB brought the bell to Mount Michael for our new Abbey. Fr. Adelhelm had been pastor of the Seven Dolora church for more than 50 years.
The Bell Tower
The new bell tower will not only serve as a home for the bell, but will also feature notable Benedictine sayings and stories on its four sides. The east and west faces will have the Benedictine motto in Latin and English, “Ora et Labora,” “Pray and Work.” The south face, which will face incoming traffic, has the saying from the Rule of Saint Benedict, “That in All Things God May Be Glorified.” The north face features a relief of “Saint Benedict and the Raven.” The story is that a raven brought food to Saint Benedict when he lived as a hermit near Subiaco, Italy. This relief sculpture is based on a woodcut done by Mount Michael Alumnus Jim Classe ’84. Jim is also the primary architect for the bell tower.
The tower features two L shaped walls which are open in the middle. (See site plan) The tower will stand at about the same height as the school building and will be lighted from the interior at night. This will backlight the bell on the west and reveal a cross design on the east side.
The arches of the tower will align with the arches of the school. Around the tower will be some benches as well as memorial bricks in remembrance of significant donations to Mount Michael over the years. In time a meandering path down to the cemetery will be created with more memorial stones.
It is hoped that
construction will be completed by the first weekend in June for the
annual alumni reunion.