By Thea Jarvis

In his history of the Cistercian Order, “The Waters of Siloe,” Thomas Merton recounts the founding of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery on the old Honey Creek Plantation in Conyers in 1944.

“Rockdale County was taken completely by surprise…it was not long before a committee came to investigate the monks. It was officially appointed by the county grand jury. It inspected the barn and the hayloft chapel…and asked…the superior to explain the rumor that was going around to the effect that some men were being held prisoner in the hayloft…the investigators went away and reported that there was ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ going on…After that, Conyers began to get used to the idea of having Trappists so near at hand.”

Indeed, some 40 years later, Rockdale residents have not only gotten used to the idea of having monks in their midst, but are welcoming the monastic spirit of Benedictine hospitality as an important link in the community’s work with the disadvantaged.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, in the person of its almoner – the dispenser of charity – now joins hands with local churches and agencies to provide food, shelter and clothing to those who are most in need. It is the almoner who manifests the monastic community’s desire to touch those outside its enclosure who are having difficulty making their way in the world.

On a clear and windy mid-winter day in the guest house of the Conyers compound, Father Patrick Duffy explained the role of the almoner in the monastic scheme of things. The tall, bearded monk has worked as almoner on and off since he came to Conyers 11 years ago, first helping Father Anthony and later taking over his job full time. He is currently filling in for Father Clarence, who has been recuperating in the infirmary.

The monastery is a “secondary agency, not a service agency,” Father Pat emphasized. The almoner, therefore, dispenses Benedictine hospitality in its immediate application and then refers people to more traditional avenues of assistance.

Although most requests for help come by phone, some are made at the monastery doorstep, especially in the evening or on weekends, when agencies are closed. Transients who stop do not receive money or gas, but are made welcome and given food, clothing and the warmth of the enclosure. If their needs are more long range, Father Pat might put in a call to the Rockdale County Chaplain, Rev. James Clarke, who continues the referral process until the need is met.

The almoner of the eighties, who, in an ironic twist of fate, represents the monastery on the directional boards of half a dozen local organizations, including the Rockdale County Resources Association, the Rockdale County Clergymen’s Association, and local chapters of United Way and EOA, does his best to see that the monastery makes its own unique contribution to the area’s helping network.

Delving into his monastic storage closet, Father Pat proudly displayed an impressive pile of blankets ordered from a factory in Atlanta.

“Seconds,” he noted shrewdly, but just as warm as first quality, he judged. Only last week he had a call from a nearby day care center requesting some of the blankets for a needy family brooking the cold of a Georgia winter.

In the silent labyrinth of the monastery’s crypt, just below the main church, Father Pat pointed to a rack of clothing kept for those who approach the monastery with immediate needs. Nearby, stacks of mattresses kept company with a flock of chairs destined for an area church, to be picked up and delivered later in the day by Father Pat’s “right hand” and faithful volunteer, Mrs. Jessica White.

The well-known monastery bread, fresh from the Conyers kitchens, finds its way to many hungry hearts through the community’s tradition of almsgiving, Father Pat explained.

St. Francis Table, a weekend lunch program for the needy in Atlanta, the Open Door Community, which ministers to city street people, and the local EOA are just a few of the ongoing recipients of the good-tasting loaves.

Monastery resources come from the labor of the monks and outside donations of clothing, finances and sometimes household goods. These assets make it possible for Holy Spirit’s almoner to work closely with local outreach programs – the Newton County St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Conyers Clothes Closet, a Rockdale County halfway house for the treatment of alcoholism and the Sheltering Arms Day Care Center, among others.

Father Pat recalled that Christmas is perhaps the almoner’s busiest season. In December, the monastery’s spacious basement crypt becomes a distribution center for hundreds of boxes filled with food, blankets, toys and clothing bound for families who would otherwise go without.

The process, which involves everyone from local school children to the Red Cross to the Purex Company to the Jaycees, is an organizational wonder, Father Pat admitted. And he himself drives the truck that collects contributions and delivers them to the monastery.

“Like any other place,” he noted with mock chagrin, “it’s very dangerous to volunteer.”

The almoner’s role, he said, frequently puts him in touch with some very special people. “If I’m out there and see a definite need I have to deal with it.”

An elderly gentleman named Nick from Kelly Town in Henry County was one of Father Pat’s good friends. He had often driven Nick to the doctor for treatment of a bad heart, and when the old man died the people of Kelly Town brought the almoner $65 they had collected for his burial. Instead, Father Pat bought Nick a new suit and a wreath of flowers, took care of the funeral arrangements, and asked that the $65 be used to buy food for Kelly Town’s neediest in Nick’s name.

“You naturally get involved with people,” Father Pat said modestly.

Such involvement has been a part of monasticism from its earliest beginnings, and the good works of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery derive from a rich tradition of Cistercian charity.

The Rule of St. Benedict, which the community follows, exhorts the monks to “Welcome all as Christ,” Father Pat explained. Even the earliest hermits shared their food and meager belongings with strangers who appeared at their desert habitats. During the Middle Ages, the efficient and often prosperous monastic communities were a force for stability and order, and helping the poor in the area surrounding the monastery was a natural part of communal life.

Because a twentieth century lifestyle brings with it improved communication and greater mobility, the contemporary almoner has become more and more a vessel of hospitality for the outside world.

For his own part, Father Pat Duffy feels today’s almoner has a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the monastery walls and the world of men.

“The good thing is that people who don’t understand us see us as a non-isolated group,” he has come to believe. “They see that we’re involved with and care for the community.”

The early days of county investigations at Holy Spirit have long since passed, giving way to mutual respect and cooperation between the monks and their neighbors.

In Thomas Merton’s words, “they could not help becoming aware that they had made many firm friends…from that little pine monastery in Rockdale County there overflowed an intangible but extremely stimulating sense of confidence and happiness and peace.”