Oblates of Belmont Abbey

I am an Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict of Belmont Abbey in Belmont, North Carolina. Pictured above is that of the "Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church" which was designated a Minor Basilica in 2000; formerly known as the Cathedral of Belmont Abbey; Seat of the Abbot Ordinary, Belmont Abbey Nullius. Go HERE to find out why it was once a Cathedral. The Abbey is located in Belmont, North Carolina. The Abbey is home of The Belmont Abbey College, a co-ed, four-year liberal arts college, 10 miles west of Charlotte and eight miles east of Gastonia, just off the I-85 interstate.

The Abbey Church that you see above was built in neo-Gothic style in 1892, was completely renovated in 1965. The church, contains prize-winning stained glass windows and a unique baptismal font and appears on The National Register of Historic Places. In 2000 it was designated as a Minor Basilica; one of only a few in the Western World.

The land on which the Abbey and College resides was acquired shortly after the Civil War, when the Caldwell Plantation, a tract of some 500 acres in Gaston County, North Carolina, was purchased by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Connell, a missionary priest. It was his desire that this tract be accepted by a religious community which would develop on it an institution for the education of youth. At the request of Bishop James Gibbons of Richmond, Virginia, the Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa. agreed to accept the land and to found a community and school. In April 1876, the Rev. Herman Wolfe, O.S.B., arrived with several monks from Bavaria, one of which was my grandfather, Josef Michael Ferstl, to take possession of the property. Note: My grandfather left the Community to get married and remained for the next 25 years a farm owner and Farm Manager at the Abbey. The young foundation became an independent abbey in December 1884, with the Right Reverend Leo Haid, O.S.B., being elected the first abbot in July 1885. For a very thorough historical accounting of the Abbey you can obtain the book, My Lord of Belmont which details the struggles the Bishop/Abbot Leo Haid experienced. I have placed some excerpts from DOM Paschal Baumstein, OSB biography of the Bishop/Abbot Haid in the content section.