A Brief History of
St. Michael’s Abbey
After World War II, the Communists gained control of many Central and Eastern European governments. By 1945, they were in power in Hungary and set out
to destroy the entire fabric of the Church’s involvement in society. A key target was the Catholic school system.
At the time, the Norbertine priests of St. Michael’s of Csorna were respected, well-established teachers in the national educational system and they
ran several prestigious, internationally known schools. To attack these institutions, the Communists nationalized all private schools by 1948. Faced with certain
arrest and imprisonment, two small groups from the 800-year-old abbey fled their native land in July of 1950. Shortly thereafter, their religious community
was suppressed by the Communist government.
The priest refugees immigrated to America. By 1957, James Cardinal McIntyre, archbishop of Los Angeles, invited them to join the faculty at Mater Dei High
School in Santa Ana, California. The exiles saw the move to Orange County, California as their chance to establish a new foundation “in exile.”
In December, 1958, Cardinal McIntyre gave his consent to the Order to erect a permanent monastic community and novitiate. The priests were aware that they
alone were free to carry on the religious and educational heritage of the mother abbey in Hungary. Using their savings, they purchased some property and
opened St. Michael’s Junior Seminary and Novitiate in September, 1961. When the school opened its doors, many young men entered the novitiate. St.
Michael’s blended the best of the old from Central Europe with the best of the new in America, which appealed to many young men. But changes were
taking place in both American society and the Church. The Fathers wisely introduced a parallel college preparatory program for lay students in 1968.
The Emergence of St. Michael’s Prep
By the 1970’s, St. Michael’s school was much more successful as a preparatory high school than as a junior seminary, so the programs
gradually merged into one. A boarding school setting fostered the intellectual and cultural environment the Founders valued.
The results have been truly gratifying: all of St. Michael’s graduates go to college or university. The formation they receive enables them to excel in
the schools they attend upon graduation, and in their lives. Many all-boys boarding schools have closed during the past few decades, but St. Michael’s
continues to attract students while improving and refining its program. By 1995, St. Michael’s was the only all-boys, all-boarding school in the
Western United States.
Growth of the Abbey Community
St Michael’s early community was greatly affected by the upheavals both inside and outside of the Church in the 1960’s. Many young
men entered the community, but nearly all of them left. On the feast of St. Michael the Archangel in 1968, the Founding Fathers decided to take a public stand
of loyalty to the Holy See and the Church’s tradition. The priests realized that loyalty to the Church and the See of Peter would be the
community’s salvation. This attitude embraced both old and new in the Church - “not rejecting what is good in the old, and taking what is
good in the new.” They invited young men of like mind to enter the community to seek an authentic religious and priestly life. This stance has
continued to bring in many new vocations.
Candidates are formed in the great tradition of the Church and monastic orders, with St. Thomas and the Fathers (especially St. Augustine) being the guiding
lights in their instruction. At the abbey, a profound, rigorous liturgical and philosophical formation is accomplished, while theological studies are completed at
one of the Pontifical Universities in Rome.
In 1976, St. Michael’s became fully autonomous as an independent priory of the Order. In 1984, the Holy See approved the elevation of the priory to
the status of an abbey. The community has continued to grow rapidly ever since. In 1996, the abbey established a foundation for cloistered, contemplative
women in Tehachapi in the diocese of Fresno. There is also a Lay Order program (also known as our “Third Order”) for those who are attracted
to our way of life and want a deeper participation. This group meets monthly at the abbey. The priests of the abbey also provide daily pastoral care for the
Sisters in Tehachapi, as well as spiritual direction for members of the Lay Order.
Apostolate and Members
Abbeys of the Norbertine Order are autonomous, thus St. Michael’s is under the governance of its Abbot, who is assisted in his service of the
community by the members of his council. The canonry has 43 priests and 24 members at other stages of formation, preparing for the priesthood.
All the confreres, six of whom are retired, live a full priestly and monastic common life; with daily attendance at the choral Office in the abbey church (hours
of sung prayers throughout the day and evening); common residence; meals taken in common; and life in community. The abbey’s principal apostolate
is the Prep School. Confreres also provide Sunday ministry at 33 parishes and institutions in the diocese of Orange and four other dioceses. They teach in
seven schools - from elementary to college level - throughout the Orange and Los Angeles dioceses. There are 12 religious communities of men and women who
receive spiritual direction and chaplaincy from the priests of the abbey. Among this group is a community of Rosarian Dominican Sisters from Panay in the
Philippines who have maintained a convent at the abbey since 1978. The sisters provide service for the kitchen and do sacristy laundry.
The confreres assist with 17 Catholic organizations, two prisons and one hospital. The confreres are also involved in four sections of the diocesan center,
including the marriage tribunal and priests’ council. Confreres regularly give retreats; spiritual direction and counseling; sacramental care to the
dying; and assistance to Catholic cemeteries. Confreres - who have a variety of graduate degrees from Roman, American and European institutions - also write
and publish books and articles.
The seminarians conduct an annual day and night summer camp for boys on the abbey grounds for five weeks each summer, and teach in the
community’s schools before their final vows and ordination. The time of formation before ordination is at least ten years for those who enter the
community with a bachelor’s degree, and proportionately longer for younger men.
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