Print Issue: June 6, 2002

Retired Conyers Abbot, Dom Augustine Moore Dies

By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

CONYERS - Dom Augustine Moore, OCSO, who was abbot of the Our Lady of Holy Spirit Abbey from 1957 until 1983, died June 5. He was 90.

A native of Louisville, Ky., the seventh of 10 children, Frederick Joseph Moore was born Dec. 13, 1911. He became a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville when he was 25 years old, but after making frequent retreats at Gethsemani Abbey, the Trappist-Cistercian monastery in Kentucky, he was deeply attracted to the monastic life. Although his archbishop tried to dissuade him from leaving the diocesan priesthood, he continued to press his case and eventually won over the archbishop. Five years after his ordination, he entered Gethsemani Abbey on June 19, 1942, a decisive turn that led to his rich vocation as a solemn professed monk for over 54 years, as one of the first monks sent to Conyers when the new monastic foundation was made from Gethsemani, and as a beloved and historic figure in the order and the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 8 at Holy Spirit Abbey. The body will be received at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 7, and will remain there until the funeral Mass.

"He was a great man. He brought us through the transition of Vatican II," said Father Anthony DeLisi, OCSO, the temporary superior at the monastery.

Being cared for in the monastery's infirmary in recent years, he was taken to Rockdale Hospital in the middle of the night. With Trappist Brother Mark Dohle there, he died at about 6:45 a.m., just as the monks were vesting for morning Mass. During the night a thunderstorm moved through the monastery grounds and toppled a massive oak tree outside the chapter room, Father Anthony said. "We had two trees fall over this morning - one a real one and one a symbolic one."

For the retired abbot's 90th birthday last December, the monastery published a book of his homilies and retreat talks, Father Anthony noted. "The book is called 'Within the Heart of Mary,' and he will be buried on the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

After being sent to Conyers from Gethsemani in 1945, Father Augustine taught theology to the monks and became confessor to the many novices who flocked to the new foundation. He was the first American chosen to serve as a definitor or councilor to the abbot general in Rome in September 1955, which permitted him to travel with the abbot general throughout Europe and North America making pastoral visits to monasteries and observing the leadership and spirituality of the various monasteries. In 1957, after keeping vigil in Paris at the bedside of Dom Robert McGann, OCSO, abbot of the Conyers monastery who died while traveling to a general chapter meeting, Father Augustine was elected on Oct. 22, 1957 to be the next abbot in Conyers.

During his 26 years as abbot, a post to which he was reelected three times, he guided the community through the building of the monastery, and through the dramatic changes that unfolded as a result of the Second Vatican Council. A friend to Catholic bishops and priests, and to many Protestant clergy as well, he was known for his compassion and collegial style of leadership, for his openness to the ecumenical movement that flowered after Vatican II and for his creation of an environment of hospitality at the monastery.

When he was succeeded by Dom Armand Veilleux, OCSO, in 1984, he was appointed retreat master, continuing for 13 years to give conferences to retreatants and spiritual direction to numerous lay people, deacons and priests whom he served as confessor and friend. He was also a spiritual director to the group who formed the Lay-Cistercians of Holy Spirit Abbey. He only ceased active involvement at the age of 86.

His presence has been defined by changes in abbatial leadership. When he came to the Conyers monastery in November 1945, it was to accompany the abbot from Gethsemani for the abbatial election. This week under the guidance of the current Gesthsemani abbot, the community has been reflecting on the question of who the next abbot should be and voted in favor of having the order appoint a superior ad nutum for one year, a decision expected to be made this week.