This past spring, four members of the American military forces stationed in Germany awakened before dawn and began a 10-hour journey that would take them to a remote rural location.

Upon their arrival, they would be sequestered from the world for three days, surrounded by 80 or so other men in uniform. Their three days would pass in a ritualized observance of strict rules. These rules would entail, among other things, communal meetings seven times a day, meals taken in silence and hours spent listening to a language that long ago ceased to be spoken in everyday discourse. As the Americans loaded their vehicle with equipment and supplies, they understood well that they were about to enter a strict world of discipline and routine — a “drill,” of sorts, for which not even their extensive military training and experience had prepared them. Nevertheless, as they began their journey, the Americans had no fear or even apprehension. On the contrary: Each felt overwhelmed by a sense of expectation and even joy.

No, the U.S. military had not sent these four servicemen on a secret mission as part of the global war on terrorism; nor was their destination some distant outpost in the Muslim world. Rather, the Americans were traveling to a Benedictine monastery located in Solesmes, France, some 150 miles southwest of Paris. Their hosts, the “80 men in uniform,” would be the monks whose lives are regulated by the Rule of St. Benedict and the Liturgy of the Hours, chanted in the Gregorian style in Latin. At the end of their stay, the Americans would emerge from the monastery walls with a deeper understanding of their faith, a renewed piety and confidence, and an appreciation for the perseverance of a holy community that had triumphed over intolerance, oppression and even war.

The Abbey of St. Peter is an edifice of granite and brick dominating the banks of the River Sarthe, and is easily the largest structure in the rural village of Solesmes. Inside the abbey walls reside dozens of Benedictine monks, whose song, piety and tradition have been a luminous presence in the Catholic world for centuries. From its ancient beginnings, the abbey has become the motherhouse for the Benedictine Congregation in France, overcoming adversity and suppression to expand into other monasteries in both Africa and Eastern Europe. Although the monastery will observe its 1,000th anniversary in 2010, the abbey is already laboring to ensure the “spirit of Solesmes” will endure for another millennium, introducing its life and work to the world through its Web site, www.solesmes.com.

St. Benedict's Balance

Since the middle 1800s, the monastery has achieved a worldwide reputation for its revival and restoration of Gregorian chant, a liturgical form that had fallen into disuse over the years. In the early stages of this restorative work, the monks concentrated on deciphering and restoring ancient Gregorian manuscripts by hand. This entailed a tedious and labor-intensive process that often took decades of work and a sophisticated level of scholarship. The monks also combined this scholarly approach with the actual performance of the chant, enabling this form of worship to regain a vibrancy and life that previously had dissipated as the melodies of the liturgy changed. Over time, the monks were able to restore the harmony and rhythm unique to the original form of the chant. The advent of modern technology has enabled the monks to record their performances of the chant on compact disc and to publish their many works of spirituality and chant scholarship in formats accessible to the lay reader.

Since the middle 1800s, the monastery has achieved a worldwide reputation for its revival and restoration of Gregorian chant, a liturgical form that had fallen into disuse over the years.

More recently, the monks have inaugurated a Web site, through which they offer for sale their many publications and CDs. This year, the monks will undertake a “modest” advertising campaign to publicize the site and, they hope, awaken in a broader audience an appreciation for the beauty and importance of Gregorian chant as a form of worship.

“A Web site is an ideal tool for monks,” explains Father Michael Bozell, an American who has been a monk at Solesmes since 1978. “It allows us to communicate just what it is we are all about — something most people do not know — and even peddle our wares: St. Benedict insists his monks earn their living.”

The monks' hard work is evident in the complexity and appeal of the Web site. The site itself is designed as more than a vehicle for offering the monks' publications and other items to the public; it also provides a portal to the structure and life of the abbey that previously only those determined and fortunate enough to travel had been able to view in person, given the abbey's distance from the usual tourist destinations of Paris or Mont St. Michel. “Cyber tourists” can follow a series of hyperlinks displaying photographs of the main structures of the abbey. The monks have accompanied the photographs with a narrative that conveys what one veteran abbey visitor has described as the abbey's “unmistakable feel and aroma of age and piety and indomitability.” Through other hyperlinks on the site, the Internet visitor can learn of the history of the abbey, the origins and progression of the chant and, perhaps most interesting, a sense of the monks' daily life of work and prayer.

Something for Every Soul

The monks are aware of the symbolism and spiritual heft the abbey can provide to pilgrims who journey to Solesmes. “Each person who comes here does so for his or her very personal reasons,” says Father Bozell. “Each soul is truly unique. But whatever those reasons may be, a visit here invariably has the effect of a deep dive into the cool waters of the spirit. I don't think I have ever known someone who left here without a sense of renewal and heightened inner vitality.”

For those with a true monastic vocation, however, the cloistered life can be serene and harmonious. “Work stoppage is an unknown affliction in monasteries,” the monks explain on their Web site. “We do not see time as ‘going by.’” The life of the monks cannot be entirely removed from the world, however, because they derive their support, in part, from the sales of their books and recordings.

As our four military members discovered at the completion of their trip, whether one's interest in Solesmes is spiritual renewal, interest in Gregorian chant or mere curiosity, visiting the monks at the Abbey of St. Peter will not fail to affect one's life for the better in a very individualized way. Fortunately, those unable to visit in person can get a taste of the “Solesmes Spirit” at the Web site. For the lucky few who are able to travel to the abbey, a visit in person is guaranteed to be the start of a rewarding spiritual journey.

Darrel Vandeveld writes from

Erie, Pennsylvania.