Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey

Abbey of Our Lady of the Mississippi

A view of the abbey church from a quiet resting area just outside
Monastery information
Order	Trappistines
Established	18 October 1964
Mother house	Mount Saint Mary's Abbey Wrentham, Massachusetts
Dedicated to	Our Lady
Diocese	Archdiocese of Dubuque
Abbot	Mother Nettie Louise Gamble, O.C.S.O., Abbess
Site
Location	Dubuque, Iowa United States of America
Coordinates	42°24′58″N 90°35′42″W / 42.416°N 90.595°W / 42.416; -90.595Coordinates: 42°24′58″N 90°35′42″W / 42.416°N 90.595°W / 42.416; -90.595

The Abbey of Our Lady of the Mississippi is located near Dubuque, Iowa. The nuns there are members of the branch of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, commonly referred to as Trappistines. They are a part of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

In 1960, the Trappistine nuns of Mount Saint Mary's Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts had decided that they had exceeded the capacity of their monastery, due to the great number of religious vocations of that era. They therefore decided it was time to make a new foundation.

The original site was to be in Argentina, where there was already a new monastery founded by the monks of the Trappist abbey near to Wrentham. That site did not work out, however, so the abbess, Mother Angela, O.C.S.O., asked the Trappists abbots of the United States for possible sites. The abbot of New Melleray Abbey offered to assume responsibility for such a foundation.

After a period of searching for a suitable location, and the generous donation of a benefactor, in July 1964 the "Hickory Hill" estate, south of Dubuque, became available and was recommended as a suitable site. The abbey was founded in 1964 when the first thirteen nuns left in to settle on the present site of the abbey, under the leadership of Mother Columba Guare, O.C.S.O. The nuns began making candy soon after, as a source of income, but they also attempted to support the monastery through farming, growing Christmas trees, and raising livestock.

The monastery was declared an autonomous community and raised to the status of abbey on 3 May 1968. Two years later, on 7 May, Mother Columba was elected as the first abbess of the community. She continued to lead the community until 1982. She was succeeded by Mother Gail Fitzpatrick, who served as abbess until 2006, when the current abbess, Mother Nettie Louise Gamble, O.C.S.O., was elected.

Currently the abbey is home to about 20 nuns, who, as required by the Rule of St Benedict, spend their days in a balance between choral and private prayer, lectio divina (meditative reading of Scripture and other spiritual books) and manual labor. The Abbey supports itself primarily with candy making, but also farms the land it owns on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Visitors are welcome to make a retreat and stay in any of several guesthouses on the property but these are often booked months in advance.