Lindsey Wilson University

Lindsey Wilson University Students Find Peace, Comfort at Abbey of Gethsemani

Students learn about Trappists' life of prayer at the oldest continuously operating monastery in the United States.

by Duane Bonifer

TRAPPIST, Ky. (09/30/2026) — Students in a Lindsey Wilson University history class took a step back in time by about 1,500 years on Tuesday, Sept. 29, with a visit to the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Nelson County, Kentucky.

The 19 students, who were part of history professor Elizabeth Tapscott's "History of Christianity" class, visited the oldest continuously operating monastery in the United States after reading the "Rule of Saint Benedict," a sixth century guide for Christian monastic living written by Italian monk St. Benedict of Nursia.

"It's an opportunity for them to interact with the historical material we have studied, as well as with people we are going to continue to study throughout the course, in a tangible way," said Tapscott, who has taken three other classes to the abbey. "By taking this trip, students realize some of the timelessness of what we discuss in class."

The Lindsey Wilson students heard from one of the monastery's 30 monks, toured part of the more than 2,000 pastoral acres owned and operated by the abbey, and attended the monks' midday prayer service in the Abbey Church of Gethsemani, which has been designated a minor basilica by the Catholic Church.

The resting place of Thomas Merton, Kentucky's most famous religious thinker and writer, the Abbey of Gethsemani is often called the motherhouse of Trappists' 14 monasteries in America.

The French connection

The abbey was founded in December 1848 by 44 French monks from the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance who were worried that Europe's revolutions of 1848 might set off another Reign of Terror, in which France's Jacobin-led government executed monks and thousands of other members of the clergy from 1793-94 as part of a dechristianization campaign.

The Trappist monks came to Kentucky in part because of French native Joseph Flaget, who had been bishop of Bardstown before being named bishop of Louisville. The late Kentucky historian laureate Thomas D. Clark, who donated his personal library to Lindsey Wilson, listed Gethsemani as one of 11 places every Kentuckian should visit.

On their Tuesday trip to the monastery, the Lindsey Wilson students received a tour from Brother Luke, a gregarious, quick-witted and engaging New Yorker who came to the monastery in 1973 while studying for the priesthood at the Catholic University of America.

Brother Luke explained to the students that while the ancient traditions laid out in the "Rule of Saint Benedict" continue to inform the monks' lives, life at the abbey has been considerably more relaxed since the middle-1960s. That surprised some Lindsey Wilson students.

"I thought they would be a lot stricter as monks," said Kameron King '28, a Christian ministries and human services and counseling double major from Madisonville, Kentucky. "But listening to Brother Luke talk, their life just sounds very peaceful while also still respecting what they are here to do."

Student Anastacia Godman '27 was also moved by the monks' peaceful lifestyle.

"I thought it was very beautiful, peaceful, nice and quiet, and earthy," said Godman, a history and psychology double major from Cynthiana, Kentucky. "I went into it thinking it was going to be a very quiet place, but I didn't expect it to be as down-to-earth as it is. It is very nice."

Responding to the call

When Brother Luke arrived at Gethsemani, about 90 monks lived there, down from a peak of about 270 in 1955. Following the death on Sept. 26 of Brother Gerlac, whose body was lying in repose in the church for his funeral on Tuesday afternoon, 30 monks now live at the monastery. Brother Gerlac had been at Gethsemani for 71 years.

Although the abbey has about one-third of the monks it had when Brother Luke arrived there, student Hadleigh Parrish '29 said she was impressed that men continue to choose to become Catholic monks.

"I think the biggest surprise for me was just seeing how there are people who are monks and there are people who still want to be monks," said Parrish, a Christian ministries and human services and counseling double major from Russell Springs, Kentucky. "I thought it was an older practice that people didn't do anymore, so it was a surprise to see there are so many people still practicing monastic life."

Gethsemani's overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility was also something that surprised the students.

"It's one of the most peaceful places I've ever been," said Tapscott.

Among those moved by the idyllic setting's peace was student Connor Wilhoit '27. He grew up about an hour from the monastery, but he had only heard about it from his brother, Anthony, who made a retreat there.

"This visit actually blew it out of the water. It's very beautiful, very peaceful here," said Wilhoit, a psychophysiology and history double major from Campbellsville, Kentucky. "It's also really cool to see what we've read about and discussed in class come alive like it has on this field trip."

Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.

Media Attachments

LWU Gethsemani 01

Lindsey Wilson University students in history professor Elizabeth Tapscott’s “History of Christianity” class gather on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Nelson County, Kentucky.

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Brother Luke speaks to Lindsey Wilson University students near the grave marker of Thomas Merton, who was known as Father Louis Merton. Merton, who was Kentucky’s most famous religious thinker and writer, died in 1968. The students were in history professor Elizabeth Tapscott’s “History of Christianity” class, who visited the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Nelson County, Kentucky.

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Brother Luke speaks to Lindsey Wilson University students about life as a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

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Lindsey Wilson University history professor Elizabeth Tapscott speaks to students in her “History of Christianity” on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the visitor center of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani.