The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat (), more commonly known as the Mosteiro de São Bento (Monastery of St. Benedict), is a Benedictine abbey located on the Morro de São Bento (St. Benedict Hill) in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Mannerist style church is a primary example of Portuguese colonial architecture in Rio and the country.
The abbey was founded by Benedictine monks who came from the state of Bahia in 1590. It is still operational today, along with the Colégio de São Bento (St. Benedict College) nearby. The college, established in 1858, is one of the most important traditional educational establishments in Brazil and claims many famous alumni. The abbey includes the Faculdade de São Bento (St. Benedict Seminary), with courses in theology and philosophy that are recognized by the Ministry of Education. Theological studies at the monastery are also affiliated with the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm in Rome.
History
The history of the abbey began in 1590 when Manoel de Brito and his son Diogo de Brito de Lacerda donated land for its construction in downtown Rio de Janeiro to Pedro Ferraz and João Porcalho, Benedictine monks from Bahia. At the time, the monks were residing in a simple inn next to the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of the Conception) near what is now called the Morro de São Bento . Because of this, the monastery adopted Our Lady of the Conception as its patron saint. St. Benedict was later added as an additional patron saint, and namesake, by order of the Junta Geral da Congregação Portuguesa (General Board of the Portuguese Congregation) in 1596. In 1602, the then-titled, "Mosteiro de São Bento de Nossa Senhora da Conceição" changed its name to "Mosteiro de Nossa Senhora de Montserrat" in homage to the saint to which the governor of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, Dom Francisco de Souza, was devoted.
The financial resources necessary to construct the monastery came from income obtained through the production of sugarcane on the multiple properties controlled by the monks. All charitable donations, these tracts of land extended throughout the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, particularly in the regions of Nova Iguaçu and Campos dos Goytacazes. African slaves provided the physical labor required to build the monastery. The stones used in its construction were mined from the Morro da Viúva (Widow's Hill), in the neighborhood of Flamengo.
Anticlerical legislation in 1855 forbade the Brazilian monasteries to accept novices. By the end of the nineteenth century the Brazilian Congregation had been slowly dying. A change in government policy in 1889 reversed the earlier prohibitions. The Abbot President of the Brazilian Congregation, Frei Domingos da Transfiguração Machado, appealed to Pope Leo XIII for help, asking him to solicit the aid of one of the European Benedictine congregations. In 1893 Dom Gerard van Caloen (1853-1932), a monk of Maredsous Abbey, was commissioned by Pope Leo XIII to help restore the monastic life of his fellow Benedictines in Brazil.
Caloen was appointed Abbot of São Bento at Olinda on 20 May 1896, and general vicar of the Brazilian congregation in 1899. In February 1905, he was transferred to the monastery of Our Lady of Montserrat, in Rio de Janeiro. By a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory, 15 August 1907, Santa Maria de Monserrato was erected into an abbey nullius. The same Decree separated the District of Rio Branco from the Diocese of Amazones and subjected it to the jurisdiction of the Abbot of Santa Maria de Monserrato.
Dom Pedro Eggerath was elected abbot in 1915. Besides the mission at Rio Branco, the monks had charge of the church at Alto Boa Vista, and extended pastoral care to the naval base on the Ilha das Cobras, as well as the garrison, prison, and hospital. They also supervised a primary, secondary, and night school for adults.
Architecture
Portuguese military engineer, Francisco Frias de Mesquita, drew up the plans for the building and oversaw its construction in 1617. The Mannerist style, popular in Portugal at the time, provided the aesthetic inspiration for the structure. Work on the church began in 1633, under the guidance of Abbott Francisco da Magdalena, with a plan to finish in 1671. The original plans were altered during construction by the architect Friar Bernardo de São Bento Correia de Souza to include three naves. The annex of the church was only completed in 1755, with the installation of a convent designed by military engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim.