Our Lady of Montserrat Abbey (Manila)

Abbey Church of Our Lady of Montserrat
The Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, Manila
Façade of the Abbey
Abbey Church of Our Lady of Montserrat Location in Metro Manila
14°35′57″N 120°59′35″E / 14.599113°N 120.992946°E / 14.599113; 120.992946
Location	638 Mendiola St., San Miguel, Manila, Metro Manila
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Founded	1895
Dedication	Holy Infant of Prague
Consecrated	January 13, 1926
Architecture
Functional status	Active (Abbey and College Chapel)
Architect(s)	George Asp
Style	Neo-Gothic (exterior) Neo-Baroque (interior)
Completed	January 13, 1926
Specifications
Number of spires	2
Administration
Archdiocese	Manila
Clergy
Archbishop	Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
Abbot	Sede Vacante

The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, or Manila Abbey, is a Benedictine men's monastery located on Mendiola Street in Manila, the Philippines. The monastery was founded by monks from Spain in 1895, in the final years of Spanish colonial era in the Philippines and is dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat.

The resident monks, which belong to the Philippine Pro-Province of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation (a part of the Benedictine Confederation) also operate San Beda College on the abbey's grounds.

In the 19th century, several anti-clerical governments in Spain took measures to suppress the many monasteries there. If they were not closed outright, communities were forbidden by the state to accept new candidates, with the goal of letting monastic communities die out. With time however, exceptions were made for monasteries which would operate in the far-flung regions still a part of Spain's once mighty empire, primarily the Philippines.

As a result of this incentive, the ancient Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of Monserrat near Barcelona made the decision to establish a mission foundation in the area of Manila. The plan was for the community to follow the agrarian way of life which was part of the reform then under way by the recently formed Subiaco Congregation (forerunner of the present congregation) and provide pastoral care of the local population. On September 12, 1895, eight choir monks and six laybrothers, under the leadership of Dom José Deas y Villar, O.S.B., arrived in Manila. After being hosted by the local Jesuit community, the monks obtained property for themselves in Surigao, which they occupied on April 25 of the following year.