Daylesford Abbey

Daylesford Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of Canons Regular of Premontre, located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles west of Philadelphia. The Abbey is named after Daylesford, Pennsylvania, where the Norbertine Fathers established the foundation that developed into the Abbey.

The Premonstratensian Fathers are also known as Norbertines, after St. Norbert of Xanten who founded the Order in 1120. Daylesford Abbey is one of two Norbertine Abbeys founded by Abbot Bernard Pennings of De Pere, Wisconsin. Pennings was a Norbertine Priest sent from Berne Abbey, Netherlands, who founded the Premonstratensian Order in the United States.

The Abbey is situated on 88 acre in Willistown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, a few miles from the Philadelphia Main Line's Paoli Platform, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Norbertines combine a monastic-style life in community with the active ministry of ordained priests. Priests of the Abbey serve in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Chicago.

History
Norbert of Xanten founded the Norbertines Christmas Day, 1121 in Prémontré, France. The son of a wealthy landholder, Norbert was given to life as a Canon (a minor cleric, as Norbert wasn't yet a priest) of the Collegiate Church in Xanten, Germany, where he is said to have been unfocused and driven by things other than religious life.

Canons of the church were required to spend time in choir each day, singing several hours according to the various liturgies prescribed by the Catholic Church. Rather than spending his hours in Church, Norbert would go on adventures and hunts, until his conversion experience in 1112, when he become totally committed to the Christian Faith.

Norbert became a priest in 1115 and devoted his life to the reform of the clergy under a rule of life established by St. Augustine of Hippo (who is counted alongside Norbert as a Father of the Premonstratensian Order) which Norbert founded to support his ideal for reform of the Church. In Norbert's lifetime, his order spread from Ireland to the Holy Land.

In 1125, Norbert went to Antwerp, preaching in opposition to Tanchelm, whose teachings the Catholic Church opposed. The success of Norbert's mission in Antwerp and across the Low Countries, led to the foundation of Norbertine Abbeys in the Netherlands and Belgium. Among these religious communities was Berne Abbey, located in North Brabant, the Netherlands. Berne was established in 1134, the same year as Norbert's death.

Centuries later, Norbertine Priests led by Bernard Pennings, came from Berne and established an Abbey in Wisconsin. Pennings established a network of Norbertine schools and Parishes, establishing St. Norbert College as a seminary, then a college of business. In 1898, St. Joseph Parish, in West De Pere, Wisconsin became affiliated with the Norbetines and served as the Abbey Church for decades.

In the 1950s, a growing American Norbetine community, having outgrown both the Abbey in De Pere and the various priories it had, sought to create new a new Foundation (which would become Daylesford Abbey) and to expand the Norbertine Presence from Wisconsin to the East Coast of the United States, in Delaware and Philadelphia.

Norbertines in Philadelphia & the Delaware Valley
In 1932, Abbot Pennings sent a handful of Norbertines from Wisconsin to open a school that became Archmere Academy in the Delaware Valley. In the subsequent years, Pennings purchased "The Patio", home of industrialist John J. Raskob Archmere Home A Private High School in Claymont, Delaware. in Claymont, Delaware. At the Patio, the Norbertines created a college preparatory school on grounds of the former estate.

Norbertines in Philadelphia
In 1934, following the success of Archmere Academy in Delaware, the Norbertines were asked to open an archdiocesan high school for boys in South Philadelphia. Originally called Southeast Catholic High School, the name was later changed to Bishop Neumann High School, then later still to Saint John Neumann High School, and most recently to Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School Home.

Many young men from the two schools wanted to become Norbertines. In 1954 at the Cassatt Estate at Daylesford, near Philadelphia, a new priory (with a seminary program) was established.

In 1956 the priory built Saint Norbert Parish in Paoli, PA. In 1963, the Community moved from the Cassatt Estate to Pinebrook, its present site, an 88 acre farm in Paoli. The Abbey Church and Residence buildings were completed in 1966. The church was blessed on August 15, 1967 and dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption.

Liturgy & Architecture
The Norbertine Order is known for the solemnity of its liturgies, reflecting Norbert's devotion to the Eucharist. Members of the community wear the Order's traditional white habit in Church. The Community chants the daily office from its own liturgical books in English each day, with Marian hymns chanted in Latin.



The Abbey's Design
The Abbey Church was completed in the years during Second Vatican Council. It reflects the Liturgical Movement and the reforms of the council, as interpreted with the norms of Catholic tradition in mind. The Abbey Church is built in the basilica style, with a well appointed nave and a wide choir.

The design is based on the footprint of centuries-old European Norbertine and Cistercian monasteries, the materials utilized in constructing it were selected for their permanence.

The design reflects the Cistercian ideals of Norbert of Xanten's friend, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In the lifetime of Bernard and Norbert, the Cistercians represented a similar movement for ecclesiastical reform as Norbert's Premonstratensians.

Main Church Organ
The abby's major Church organ was built by the Tellers Organ Company, a manufacturer of pipe organs in from 1906 to 1973. The organ was one of Teller's final projects, of the 1970s. The instrument is of fine quality, but was never completed and the builder's design scheme was not realized.

Chapel Organ
The second organ is in side Chapel, where the Norbertines often say Mass. It was constructed by Patrick J. Murphy & Associates, an organ builder located in Stowe, Pennsylvania.

Leadership
Daylesford Abbey is currently headed by Abbot Domenic Rossi, O. Praem Paoli Abbey Gets New Abbot In Longtime Homeless Advocate. Abbot Domenic is Daylesford's fifth Abbot. His immediate predecessor was Abbot Richard Antonucci, O. Praem.

Like many members of the community, Abbot Domenic hails from South Philadelphia. He was educated by the Norbertines at Bishop Neumann High School (now Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School Home.) Abbot Domenic joined the community in 1966 and was ordained in 1974. He was elected to the position of Abbot in January 2018.

Ministries
The Norbertines at Daylesford Abbey are active in many ministries throughout the Philadelphia region and the Delaware Valley. Norbertines serve at St. Norbert Parish St Norbert Parish, in Paoli, PA, and formerly at St. Gabriel Parish Saint Gabriel Catholic Church - Philadelphia, PA in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia.

Abbot Domenic Rossi, O. Praem., founded Bethesda Project Services for Philadelphians Experiencing Homelessness, a ministry to the homeless of Philadelphia. The Norbertine community at Daylesford Abbey continues to be actively engaged in this ministry today. Norbertines from Daylesford Abbey work in education as well, serving at Archmere Academy.

Spirituality and Retreat Center
The Spirituality Center Spirituality Center at Daylesford Abbey offers programs such as private and group retreats, and seminars.