The Frescoes

of st. benedict’s abbey

Arguably the greatest miracle to ever occur in the Americas was the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the hill at Tepeyac near Mexico City. On the periphery of the fresco are scenes from the life of St. Juan Diego: a faithful convert to the Catholic Faith, Juan Diego was passing near Tepeyac Hill when he was awestruck by a woman bathed in light – she revealed herself to be the evervirgin Mother of God. She implored him to tell Bishop Juan de Zumárraga to construct a chapel there in her name. Conveying her wishes to the bishop, the bishop dismissed Juan Diego. Upon passing the hill again, he told Our Lady that she should find someone of greater import to convey her message. She told him she had already found her messenger and sent him back to the bishop. The bishop demanded a sign from Juan. Returning again to Tepeyac, Mary told Juan to return the next day and she would provide his sign. That night, Juan’s uncle fell ill and, owing to the need to see to his care, Juan failed to return to see Mary. On an errand for supplies for his uncle, Juan avoided returning to Tepeyac, embarrassed for having missed their meeting – Mary intercepted

Juan nonetheless, gently chiding him, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” She assured Juan that his uncle was healed and the bishop’s requested sign waited for him at the top of the hill: Castilian roses, native to Spain and not grown in the region. He gathered the roses in his tilma and returned to the bishop. Standing before the bishop, Juan Diego let the roses drop to the ground, and the miraculous image appeared on his garment.

The basilica, built on the hill in Mary’s honor, still stands to this day. Millions of Catholics travel to the site each year. Jean Charlot’s fresco take on the tilma has a more pastel appearance than it’s miraculous counterpart and is in keeping with the rest of the frescoes at the Abbey. Beneath the fresco on tile (translated from the Spanish) it reads: The flowers sprouted in our land – we praise you, Holy Mother of God! Passing through doors at the end of the crypt, one is struck by the stark change in the stone. The St. Joseph Chapel is the only public portion of the Abbey Church that features the original Gothic style architecture with peaked windows, massive hand-cut stones, and arches (that compliment the design of the Church). The chapel itself, with the Blessed Sacrament reserved within, provides Monks, students, and guests a place for prayer and the chapel plays host to Masses for a variety of purposes. The fresco on the East wall was offered by fresco artist Jean Charlot as a thank you to the non-ordained brothers of the monastic community for their assistance with completing the massive Abbey Church Fresco. At the time of the Church’s construction the Liturgy of the Hours was prayed in Latin in the Abbey Church by the priests and in English in the St. Joseph Chapel by the lay brothers. The fresco itself is truly remarkable, featuring a rare father-son moment between Christ and his earthly father, St. Joseph. Christ, depicted as lefthanded, is about to drive a nail in the wrong spot on the bench he and St. Joseph are working on – a nod to his fully-human nature. The tools shown in the fresco depict items from around St. Benedict’s Abbey.

The only true departure from the austerity of the Abbey Church is the 610-square-foot fresco – painted by Jean Charlot in the summer of 1959. The fresco draws the viewer into the earthly and heavenly interplay that is personified in the adherence to our Christian faith. The center of the fresco stands out in four-inch relief. It is surrounded on the periphery by scenes from the life of St. Benedict on the left and scenes from the history of St. Benedict’s Abbey on the right.

The Heavenly Realm is vibrant – full of color and life. Conversely the Earthly Realm is comprised only of varying shades of brown, the black monastic habit the lone contrast against its surroundings – a reminder that, as we learn in First John, we are in this world, but our true home lies in the vibrant destination that is Heaven.

Entering the Abbey Church, the eye is drawn up immediately, not just by the sheer expanse of the space, but more specifically by the altar, Crucifix, and fresco. In progressing forward it’s almost impossible not to notice the brightly colored ceiling that naturally drives your eye back to the God the Father – surrounded in golden yellow, He pierces the browns of the earthly realm. The Father’s hand’s are outstretched as a priest extending his hands over the gifts at Mass; and directly beneath the hands of the Father is the Holy Spirit, shown as a dove, descending upon the actual Body of Christ – a beautiful representation of the trinity and a parallel to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that occurs each day in front of the fresco on the altar. Christ is depicted glorified and bloodless, though his hands and feet still bear the marks of his crucifixion.

At the left of Christ’s head is the sun – its presence a reminder that all of creation is caught up in the Paschal Mystery. At his right is a solar eclipse – the Gospels tell us that at the time of the death of Christ that all the world was covered in darkness. You can feel the intense sorrow of Mary and the apostles during the Good Friday liturgy – but with his resurrection we know that this moment was not one of loss, but of God’s ultimate salvific love for each of us.

At Christ’s right and left are twin siblings St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, shown with croziers and holding copies of the Rule of St. Benedict to represent them as the founder and foundress of the Order of St. Benedict. To St. Benedict’s left is a raven that carried away a piece of poisoned bread intended for St. Benedict. At St. Scholastica’s right is a lightning bolt – the sign of her preference of the love of God and brother over all things (see page 14 for a bit more on her life).

The Life of St. Benedict

The History of St. Benedict’s Abbey

Upper Left

During the construction of a monastery (St. Benedict founded twelve communities during his time on Earth) a wall collapsed on a monk as he was working, mortally wounding him. Upon receiving a blessing from St. Benedict, the monk was miraculously revived.

Lower Left

St. Benedict, as detailed by Pope St. Gregory the Great in his Dialogues, had many encounters with the evil one. At Monte Cassino, St. Benedict’s principle monastery, the devil came and sat on a rock (represented as a bat), telling St. Benedict he was doomed to fail. Upon blessing the stone, the evil one was banished and construction continued.

Upper Right

Our founder, Fr. Henry Lemke, arrived in Kansas in 1855 in the midst of the Bleeding Kansas conflict. A “border ruffian” had fallen ill and no one would take him in. Fr. Henry offered the young man his own bed, caring for his infirmity and bringing him back to his faith before he was ultimately overcome by his affliction.

Lower Right

The Abbey has three primary apostolates: pastoral work & chaplaincies, shown by the monk with a horse; work, depicted by the monk with a block plane; and education, illustrated by the child in the lower right corner. In the early days of our foundation priests rode on horseback across the Kansas territory to provide sacraments to the settlers.