Our response to COVID-19

If you are planning to come to Mount Angel in the next few weeks, please check this page for any cancellations or updates to our regular schedule.
If you have current reservations for the Saint Benedict Guesthouse and Retreat Center between now and April 28, or if you have later reservations and have any questions or concerns, please email or call 503.845.3025.
For general questions not answered on the website, please email or call 503.845.3030.

(Updated March 28, 2020)

Dear friends,

I write to you from our quiet Hilltop here at Mount Angel, where, sadly, we are closed to the public because of COVID-19. The guesthouse, bookstore, library, and museum are closed until at least the end of April. Some of our seminarians have gone to finish the academic year in their home dioceses. Those who remain here are isolated from the monastic community and observing the recommended social distancing. All are completing the term through remote instruction. The Benedictine Brewery is also closed, but the brewery taproom is open and can sell bottled beer, with customers standing six feet apart, of course; but no monks are out to meet the customers.

If you are planning to visit Mount Angel in this time, the Abbey church is open during the day for those who wish to visit and pray. Like all churches in this Archdiocese, however, we cannot open for public Mass. Instead, we are live streaming daily Mass, as well as Midday Prayer and Vespers. You can find the link and schedule here.

Thanks be to God, we have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Mount Angel as yet. But we constantly pray for the sick, the dying, and all healthcare workers. Whether touched directly by this disease or not, we all feel the effects and have been jolted from our normal routines. I want you to know that we monks of Mount Angel remain steadfast in prayer for you.

I am also doing a series of short videos with a message of hope from Mount Angel. You can find them here on our YouTube channel. I invite you to watch one or two and I pray the series will be useful to you.

Please join the monks of Mount Angel in seeking out the blessings hidden within this truly anxious and challenging time. During this communal crisis, may you find new depths in your faith and trust in the love of Christ.

Peace to you,
Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.

We care about your health and the health of the Hilltop community.

Based on an Executive Order issued by the State of Oregon, and the recommendations provided by the Oregon Health Authority, CDC, and medical professionals, Mount Angel Abbey will remain closed through April 28, when the situation will be reassessed. Please see below for details and updates.

Cancelled Events

April 4 – Christian in the World
April 26 – Library Anniversary Celebration

Adjusted Hours as of March 24, 2020

• The Bookstore & Coffeehouse will be closed through April 28.
• The Abbey library is open only to seminary students, faculty, and the monastic community until further notice.
• The Abbey church is not open for Mass, but the doors will be open Monday through Saturday from about 9 am until 8 pm for individual prayer and to join the monks for Divine Office. The church will be open on Sundays from about 10 am until 8 pm.
• The Guesthouse is closed through April 28 and the situation will be reassessed at that time.

Please check back often for any updates or additional changes to our normal hours of operation.