FR. STANISLAUS GUMULA ELECTED FOURTH ABBOT OF MEPKIN ABBEY

Moncks Corner, SC-- Fr. Stanislaus Gumula, OCSO, was elected the fourth abbot of Mepkin Abbey at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29 by the Abbey's Conventual Chapter , the monks who have made solemn profession to the monastic life and to Mepkin Abbey. Abbot Damien Thompson of Gethsemani Abbey, near Louisville , KY , conducted and confirmed the election.

At Compline, or night prayer, on Sunday evening Fr. Stan was installed as Abbot with a profession of faith and an oath of fidelity and the monks of Mepkin individually promised obedience to Fr. Stan as their new abbot. Plans are being made for the ceremony when Abbot Stan will receive the abbatial blessing and the symbols of his office: a crozier, pectoral cross and ring.

Born on Aug. 5, 1941, Stanley Amil Gumula was raised in Philadelphia , PA. , where he attended Catholic schools. In 1959 he entered Mepkin Abbey and in 1961 he made his simple profession, professing his solemn vows at the Easter Vigil 1980. From 1962 to 1965 he did his studies in philosophy, theology and spirituality at Gethsemani Abbey. He has been the monastery's cellarer since 1984. Responding to a call from the brothers at Mepkin , Br. Stan was ordained to the ministerial priesthood on June 24, 2003.

“The death of our youngish abbot on Aug. 27 was a tragic event in Mepkin's history,” said Abbot Stan. “However, as in times past, the brothers have responded, regrouped and are ready and eager to move forward together. Our desire and hope is to continue to show the compassionate face of Christ in the Lowcountry and that reconciliation between divergent voices and groups and between human communities and our natural surroundings and ecosystems is always possible. Mepkin is above all a place of prayer where God and his people can become one.”

Fr. Francis Kline was Mepkin's third abbot from 1990 until his death on Aug. 27 at the age of 57 after a long illness. Fr. Christian Carr served as Abbot from 1974 to 1989, and at the age of 92 he still is active in the community. Fr. Anthony Chassagne, the monastery's first abbot from 1949 to 1974, is buried on the monastery grounds next to Fr. Francis.