Martinus Dom
|
The High Reverend Lord Martinus Dom, O.C.R. |
|
|---|---|
| Abbas Westmalle | |
| Church | Trappist Abbey of Westmalle |
| Elected | 14 July 1836 |
| Term ended | 9 December 1873 |
| Other posts | Prior of Westmalle Priory (1826-1836) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 23 December 1820 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Frans Daniël Dom |
| Born | Kontich, Flanders, Southern Netherlands, Habsburg Monarchy |
| Died | Westmalle Abbey, Westmalle, Antwerp, Belgium |
Dom Martinus Dom, O.C.R., (24 December 1791 – 9 December 1873) was a Belgian Trappist monk. He served as the first abbot of the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle, where he founded the Westmalle Brewery.
He was born Frans Daniël Dom in Kontich, Flanders, then part of the Southern Netherlands, to Jan Frans Dom, a cattle merchant, and Elisabeth Van Berckelaer. He was baptised on Christmas Day 1791, the day after his birth, in the local parish church, the Church of St. Martin of Tours.
As a young man Dom served as a fourrier in the Napoleonic Army. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, he returned home to everyday life. He became a notorious partygoer and became engaged to a young woman. But after some brawls at home with his father and with his life in turmoil, he decided to go on pilgrimage to the Church of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Goede Wil in Duffel to help him decide whether he should marry or enter the Trappist Monastery of Westmalle. The story goes that he let fate decide by throwing his hat up in the air. If it fell with the opening up he would go to Westmalle, but if it fell with the opening down he would ask for forgiveness and marry. The hat fell with the opening up and he went to enter the Trappists.
At first the monks followed Trappist practice and strongly disparaged Dom's application, but on 11 November 1817, feast day of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of both his hometown and of the monastery, he was received into the monastery and given the name Martinus. In 1818, he professed his religious vows and on 23 December 1820 he was ordained as a priest. He became one of the teachers of the orphan boys who were educated in the abbey. In 1826, when the monastery was made a semi-autonomous conventual priory by its motherhouse, the Abbey of La Trappe, he was elected prior of the monastery (the first to be elected), which position he retained until 1836 when he was elected abbot.
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