Books

Foreword by Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.

In the late 19th century, a small group of Benedictine monks from Engelberg Abbey in Switzerland arrived in Oregon and made their home on a hilltop in the mid-Willamette Valley. These monks had strong personalities and quickly adopted the independent, pioneer spirit of the early northwest. Despite deeply rooted disagreements, devastating fires, betrayals, the occasional scandal, and almost insurmountable debt and mismanagement, they found a way to move forward. In doing so, the community of Mount Angel Abbey was formed and has persevered through triumph and tragedy throughout its almost 140-year-history.

In the newly released book, Struggle and Ascent, meet the characters, saints, and sinners who forged ahead in the spirit of St. Benedict and made the community of Mount Angel what it is today. Home to the oldest and largest seminary in the western United States, Mount Angel is a place of peace, learning, and culture that welcomes retreatants, scholars, seekers – all who come as fellow pilgrims on this journey of life.

Written at the request of Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B., current abbot of Mount Angel, he says this book makes clear, with its recounting of grace in trials, “the story of the shaping of [the] Mount Angel way. How did it come about that we at Mount Angel are who we are today? And given that, how do we regard this treasure received, and when do we risk change? I am asking the question that stands behind the motto of my predecessor Abbot Bonaventure: Nova et Vetera, new things and old. Indeed, new things and old. ‘What will it be?’ is the question every monastery faces every day in all its monastic ways and practices.”

To order Struggle and Ascent now from the Abbey bookstore, call 503-845-3345, email for information, download the order form, or order online through our Marketplace.

Abbot Jeremy’s most recent book, released by Liturgical Press, is Awesome Glory: Resurrection in Scripture, Liturgy, and Theology.

Drawing from his many years meditating on Scripture and the liturgy, and the deep conviction that the liturgy is meant to be an immediate and effective experience of the resurrection, Abbot Jeremy’s book, Awesome Glory, focuses on the rich celebration of the liturgy from the Paschal Triduum through Pentecost. Drawing deeply from the Scripture texts of Mass, as well as rituals like the washing of the feet, the Lucernarium, and the baptism of catechumens, this is a perfect read for Lent in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection.

To order Awesome Glory now from the Abbey bookstore, call 503-845-3345,  email for information, or order online through our Marketplace.

Other Books Written by Abbot Jeremy include:

What Happens at Mass
(Revised Edition)
By Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.
Published by Liturgy Training Publications
Order through our online Marketplace.

Steps to Spiritual Perfection: Studies on Spiritual Progress in Evagrius Ponticus
By Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.
Published by Paulist Press
Order through our online Marketplace.

Theology at the Eucharistic Table
By Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.
Published by Studia Anselmiana and Gracewing
Order through our online Marketplace.

A Monk’s Alphabet: Moments of Stillness in a Turning World
By Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.
Published by Shambhala
Order through our online Marketplace.

Eucharist: The Meal and the Word
By Ghislain LaFont; Translated by Jeremy Driscoll
Published by Paulist Press

Evagrius Ponticus: Ad Monachos
Translation and Commentary by Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.
Published by Newman Press, Ancient Christian Writers No. 59

For more information, contact the Abbey Bookstore & Coffeehouse through email or call 503-845-3345.