Holy Cross Abbey (Cañon City, Colorado)

Expansion

Two Benedictine monks were sent in 1886 from St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, to establish a monastic community in what was still frontier territory.^[2] They went at the invitation of Joseph Projectus Machebeuf, then still the Vicar Apostolic for Colorado and Utah.^[3] Their first foundation was the Priory of St. Mary in Boulder.^[4] Other monks followed in ensuing years.

The growth of the community led the community to move to Cañon City in 1924, where a larger monastery was built in the Gothic Revival style. The house was raised to the status of an abbey at that time, and it assumed a new name. A boarding school was opened at the abbey, and initial attempts were made at establishing a winery, which were not pursued at the time.^[5]

Like other religious communities in the United States, the abbey saw its numbers prosper during the 1950s and 1960s, only to see a steep decline begin after that. The abbey school was closed in 1985.^[2]

By the early 2000s, the community was composed of about 20 monks, mostly elderly.^[6] In an effort to find a means of income for themselves, in the year 2000 the monks decided to return to the idea of planting a vineyard again. They entrusted the production to a professional viticulturist who began to produce wine the following year.^[5]

Decline

By the year 2005, however, it was determined that the monastic community was no longer viable and, in a final chapter meeting, the monks voted to dissolve it.^[1] They found homes for themselves in various other monasteries, and the abbey was closed the following year.^[2]