The following is a short history of our monastery, compiled from several documents and written by more than one hand. I’ve tried to put the pieces together in a coherent fashion, but there may be a few gaps or some overlapping here and there. We’re glad we could salvage at least this much before it all disappeared into the dustbin of time!

    —Abbot Joseph

†
A Brief History of Holy Transfiguration Monastery

We would like to begin this general survey of our monastery’s history with the "foundations of our foundation." For this we will start with a focus on the development of Archimandrite Boniface's own calling to found Mt Tabor. We will see the intervention, in our history, of Divine Providence which is, after all, what makes human history "salvation history."

We are grateful that Archimandrite Boniface has taken the time to document his experiences from his youth to the present, so that we can gain a clearer vision of the hand of God guiding the events which have led to the foundation of Mt Tabor Monastery. Our Monastery is not the child of an impulse or a chance happening in the life of the Church. God was planning the birth of Mt Tabor long before any of us, even our founder, knew what He had in mind.

The Monk Boniface's monastic life began on October 9, 1934, at the Norbertine Abbey of Postel in Belgium, when he received the monastic habit. In what can perhaps be seen as a symbol of his later struggles and spiritual warfare, he was ordained a priest on July 25, 1940, just as World War II was breaking out. Becoming accustomed to adversity, he received valuable training and experience which would help him meet—with wisdom, grace, and perseverance—the many challenges awaiting him in the future.

Being of a contemplative bent, Fr Boniface appreciated the fact that the monastery at Postel was the most monastic and contemplative of all the houses in the Order. Yet there was still a tendency, even at Postel, toward activism and parish work—which increased with time—so his desire also increased for a return to the pristine purity and fervor of ancient monasticism. Thus a "holy restlessness" for a true rediscovery of genuine monasticism would shape the focus and direction of his work for the coming years.

Since he was interested in the Eastern Church from his youth, Fr Boniface seized the opportunity to develop that attraction and build it upon a solid basis, by doing postgraduate studies in Eastern Theology at the University of Leuven (Louvain). Moreover, his friendship with Dom Lambert Beauduin—founder of the monastery at Chevetogne, leader of the liturgical movement, and organizer of annual study meetings on Eastern Theology—bore fruit in further encouragement and support for directing Fr Boniface’s desire for true monasticism towards the Byzantine East, which is arguably the richest expression of ancient Christian monasticism.

Meanwhile, Fr Boniface had become one of the leading liturgists in his country, mostly through his many publications and the encouragement of friends at Keizersberg Abbey. At the same time, he was teaching, giving retreats, and researching foreign archives for liturgical manuscripts. All this, along with some parish work and various conferences he gave, became a preparation for the great work he would later be called to accomplish. He sensed this, but what that work would be and when it would begin, he did not yet know....

The remote beginning of that great work was announced in 1951 by a telephone call from the United States. Would he come to teach medieval liturgical history at Notre Dame University? He received permission from his Abbot, but only for one summer, yet this open door to America would never again be closed.

Fr Michael Mathis, the founder and leader of the Liturgical School at Notre Dame, would become a significant figure in our own founder's life. He invited Fr Boniface to give more courses, and he even went back with him to Postel, to share his plans with the Abbot and to try to secure Fr Boniface's freedom to do this work. Fr Mathis wanted to see a real monastery set up near Notre Dame, like a new Chevetogne or Maria Laach, with Fr Boniface the founder and Abbot of this Monastery. The Abbot of Postel refused to release him for this work. This turned out to be providential for Fr Boniface, since his hour had not yet come.

Further encouragement came from his dear friend, Fr Damasus Winzen, OSB, founder of Mt Savior Monastery in New York State. He told our future founder: "Your goal of life should be to found a monastery of the true spirit. You are more able than anyone else I know. And I will support you..." Meanwhile, Fr Boniface was appointed a Consultor for the Preparatory Commission on Liturgy, for Vatican II. His work there was respected and appreciated, and his many years of liturgical research and study found their appropriate recognition.

Fr Boniface taught and preached retreats each summer in America from 1953-67. During this time, a new element entered the picture to complete his preparation for the founding of Mt Tabor Monastery.

The bishops of the (then) Belgian Congo, asked him to be member of a study group of priests which would constitute a resource center for their apostolate. He arrived in the capital, Kinshasa, on January 4, 1960. The response from the missionaries in the Congo was telling: "We appreciate very much that a resource person with a background such as yours has decided to come and help the Church here. But that help for apostolate and activities we really don't need from you. What we need now is not a new center of activity but a monastery. The work you came to do, others can do. But there is one work no one else but you can do, and that is monastic life. That is exactly what the Church in Africa needs. We need places of constant loving and praising contact with God, places where we missionaries feel at home in deep intimacy with God. We need places where our people can see with their own eyes and feel with their own hands what it means to be a Christian..."

Not one who subscribes to either/or thinking, Fr Boniface did both: he taught at the University and worked for the bishops' apostolate, and he also began the work of founding a monastery. The income he generated from his summer teaching in America enabled them to begin building the monastery. Monastic life began for them on March 19, 1965. They lived in great material poverty, but also in the spiritual richness of brotherly love, beautiful worship, and evangelical simplicity.

Despite the hopeful beginnings, the monastery in Africa experienced devastating trials. The Abbey of Postel did not offer the necessary support. Fr Boniface's health deteriorated and made it difficult to go on. Not only that, but he was also shot in a bandit raid and seriously injured in an auto accident. He has spent nights in more than one morgue! Meanwhile, certain African enemies had, in Father's words, "thrown witchcraft upon us," so that most of the African monks left. After much prayer and suffering, Fr Boniface decided he had to leave. His last day in Africa was April 24, 1971. (The monastery, however, did not totally collapse. In fact, it is flourishing today, and his memory lives on in that place, a testimony to his personal impact and enduring influence.)

What would he do next? He did not think he should go back to the Abbey in Belgium. He couldn't go back to Africa. His friends from America were eager to "annex" him for their various plans and projects. His students said he should teach. But the voices that resonated most deeply were the ones which said: "You have gone through such a unique experience in Africa, one which must not be lost: you have set up a monastery. And that is what America needs most of all."

Father began teaching at St John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan, in the summer of 1971. He was working in the diocese of Cardinal Dearden of Detroit, who gave him good advice and promised to support any efforts he would make toward a monastic foundation in the diocese. The two became good friends, and soon several students and priests were expressing interest in the idea of a new monastery. Yet Fr Boniface was still not entirely convinced that a monastery in America was God's will for him. He went back to Europe for a few months, to Keizersberg Abbey, in order to finish writing a book on Christian worship in Africa. Then he returned to America, this time to stay.

Fr Boniface was well-received and respected at the seminary, and he felt at home there. It was a welcome experience of stability after the uncertainties and struggles of the past decade or so. The idea of the monastic foundation became more and more a certainty and a perception of God's will. He received advice and support for this work from his Abbot at Postel Abbey.

As time went on, his relation with Cardinal Dearden deepened, plans for the Monastery became more concrete, and some friends set about finding some land and buildings with which to begin the foundation. Three men had presented themselves as postulants in the meantime, and so the fledgling community went to visit the Monastery of New Skete, in Cambridge, NY (then Eastern Catholic, now Orthodox), to begin their life together for a summer at that place.

The monks of New Skete were happy to receive them, though it seemed that they would rather have the newcomers join them than to set out on their own. But Father Boniface had to be faithful to his calling and to the vision of monastic life that the Lord was gradually revealing to him. So they went back to Detroit, only to find that no land had been secured for them. They took up temporary residence in St John's Seminary, but when the fall classes began they had to move.

Two temporary homes were found: a house in Walled Lake, MI, and some time later, one at Bald Eagle Lake. The search for land was still going on, and they did find a suitable parcel. Unfortunately, much development quickly ensued, and any hope for monastic seclusion or silence was eliminated. This period seems to be in some ways analogous to the Israelites' desert wanderings on the way to the Promised Land. Fr Boniface and his small band of postulants (some had left and others had joined during this period) had yet to cross the Jordan....

It was a time of grace and a time of trials. They gave weekly workshops on prayer to various religious communities and began to articulate more clearly the charism and vision of Mt Tabor. Since Fr Boniface spent much time and effort securing funds for building when in Africa, he decided to appoint a committee of laymen to do that work for the Monastery. He trusted them too much. They ended up squandering the Monastery's assets on their own projects and pleasure trips, and Mt Tabor once again had to start from scratch.

The next place they moved to was in Hadley, MI: a beautiful old drafty house which became the newest location of Mt Tabor Monastery. Here they were assisted by priests of the local Ruthenian deanery in moving and setting up a Byzantine chapel, which was blessed by Bishop Schoenherr, who was at that time the auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, and who became and remained a faithful friend of Mt Tabor.

Meanwhile the monks had to make a living. They did this by breeding St Bernard dogs, mounting icons and building little shrines for the icons. But after a while it became clear that this was insufficient to pay off the land and other debts, and the harsh weather was also taking its toll on Fr Boniface's failing health. So, it was time to move once again, not just to another location in Michigan, but to a place with a more congenial climate. Convinced by unscrupulous landowners that Dorris, CA, was just the place they were looking for, they bought a piece of land there and set up some rough cabins and began monastic life once again.

They arrived in Dorris on August 29, 1974. Would this now be their final home? In the center of the property stood a log cabin, newly built; in the woods around were two smaller cabins. They built a larger cabin, the chapel, and a storehouse. Since the house on the property was pretty small, the Trappists of Vina Abbey, California, kindly stored their things in their huge (former) wine cellars.

Their first visit was to Most Reverend Alden Bell, Latin bishop of Sacramento and Ordinary of Northern California, to ask his blessing to settle in his diocese (since they were not yet under an Eastern Hierarch). He received them most kindly and remained a supportive and devoted friend and counselor until his death.

In Hadley, Michigan, the monks had already built up profitable and truly monastic ways of income: one of the brothers raised purebred St. Bernard dogs and mounted icons, and Father Boniface made artistic shrines for the icons, while others took care of the housework, maintenance, etc. But in Dorris, life was so hard that all the other work had to wait. Then, right before Christmas, the first monk decided to leave, the one who had stood with Father so faithfully from the very beginning and had gone with him through all the hardships: how could Father go on alone? This was experienced as the hardest blow in our history up to that point—a history that had already been so difficult, though it also had deep joys as well. Father Boniface mourned this departure until the Lord and the kindness of the other brothers healed him on Great and Holy Thursday.

Here again the Lord surrounded the monks with a handful of devoted friends (some bitter foes appeared as well). Among the friends we especially remember in deep love Barney Rochon of Klamath Falls (who later entered the Monastery and became our wonderful Br. Bartholomew: he died a saintly death on September 1, 1987).

But the blow of the monk’s departure put them before the question: should they go on or stop? Father was convinced that he could not do it alone, but the brothers wanted to go on. Moreover, the Lord sent us precious help in the person of the (then) Superior of the community of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis in Steubenville (soon to become the famous Franciscan University), who stayed with us “to make the bridge.” However, that winter was excessively hard and lasted from the beginning of November until mid-summer. Around the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptizer (June 24), there was a three-day snowstorm, and on July 29, the entire garden froze. The doctor told Father: “If you stay, it will be your last winter!” Finally, on September 14, the chapel burnt down with all the monastery’s icons, vestments, and books. All this inspired Father to the personal decision to stop and wait for a sign whether to go on or not, while the brothers continued on in the place. Fr. Prior of the Big Sur Camaldolese Hermitage very kindly received him as a guest for some time.

Wonderful things happened there. Several enlightened spiritual fathers urged Father to go on at any price, that it was God’s work, and that he could not give up. The Lord kept urging him in strong locutions: “I love Mt. Tabor; go on. I will take over.” So, he wrote the good news to the brothers, who had remained in Dorris, and they were jubilant. They held a meeting in April 1976 to ratify the decision to go on. The Lord soon sent the man who would become the second co-founder, the future Fr. Michael.

Father and he began a systematic pursuit of the Lord’s will for their future. First, the land in Dorris had to be sold (farewell, dear land of joys and tears!) and then a better land had to be bought with the money. Our dear friends, the McKeon family of Oakdale, California, offered them a piece of land. This did not work out because of the diocese, but the McKeons have remained our friends to this very day.

There followed much more land-searching throughout the U.S., even to such remote locations as the Ozark mountains. But the Lord still wanted to plant Mt Tabor in California soil, though His will was not entirely clear to Fr Boniface at this point. Finally, local realtors notified Father that they had found a place in Redwood Valley, CA, which seemed ideal. After looking over the property, with its natural beauty, silence, and seclusion—and with prayer for the grace of the Holy Spirit to know God's will—a decision was made: this would be the new (and, as it turned out, definitive) location of Holy Transfiguration Monastery. The first monks settled there on April 11, 1977—but not without incredible opposition from people they least expected it from. It was the ideal land, as they experienced more and more: much seclusion, yet close to “civilization,” wonderful natural beauty, comfortable climate, etc.

Meanwhile, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Jadot, a good friend of Father’s from his days in Africa, advised them (as did many other friends in the States) that the time had come to request acceptance by an Eastern bishop. We will always remain grateful to Bishop Yaroslav Gabro, Eparch of the Ukrainians in Chicago, and to Msgr. Bilinsky (and to Msgr. Swyschuk for his encouragement) for accepting us so graciously and for subsequently approving the monastery. Since then we have never met anything but kindness and cooperation from them, as well as from Rome, where they supported the monastery wholeheartedly, right from the provisional official approval in September of 1977—and we in return have faithfully exerted ourselves to live up fully to their expectations and to comply with their directives. So the monks drove back home, in deep gratitude to the Lord and to their friends, especially Fr. Mykyta, the then pastor of the Ukrainian Catholic parish in San Francisco, and the other friends too many to mention by name, for having helped them to this most blessed outcome of five years of toil, opposition, and setbacks.

Up to then, circumstances had forced them to make it more a time of experimenting and of learning than a real settling down. From the outset, Fr Boniface wanted it to be a real monastery, close to the Gospel, in the spirit of early monasticism, and part of the Byzantine Church. Father’s monastic experience of almost 50 years and his close ties with Chevetogne, Belgium, were a precious platform to work from. But one cannot improvise true monasticism, as so many have done and failed. Therefore, besides the above experience of Father, he and Fr. Michael wanted to share their plans in some high places of Eastern monastic life, e.g. on Mt. Athos, Mt. Sinai, and the Holy Land, where they made a most profitable pilgrimage of preparation and learning at the very sources of monastic life. So then, from the first solemn celebration of the Byzantine Divine Liturgy on September 8, 1977, the Nativity of the Mother of God, concelebrated with friends who flew in from the Catholic Russian Center in San Francisco, and with many other friends, the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Divine Praises have never stopped on this holy mountain, up to now.

We have remained in union with all the persecuted and suffering of the world, with whom we had the honor to share through our affiliation with the Ukrainian Catholic Church, a martyr Church. Also, the full monastic life has been lived according to the authentic Eastern Tradition: we felt ourselves as only having stepped into that long, humble, but glorious trek of God-searchers—monks throughout the ages, from the so-called parish monks and desert fathers up to now, sharing in their wisdom and God-experience of 18 centuries. We had nothing to invent, just to be faithful to the heritage of these Fathers, so that several visitors familiar with Mr. Athos told us (with some exaggeration?): “It is just the same here as on the Holy Mountain: the same spirit, joy, brotherhood, piety….”

This growth was not easy but it was rewarding: it was the gradual discovery and loving celebration of our real life that worked upon us as a daily growing enrichment. We feel so blessed! And it is worth more than all the previous hardships and a life-long yearning for a fully rewarding life.

But we had to pay the price. The first thing we had to do was to adapt our house and the cottage to the needs of the community life. The second problem was recruitment, which has remained difficult up to now: we have thought and prayed much about that, but we trusted that the Lord would keep sending us the right men. A third problem: our living space became too small and we had to build. First our church, that gem, so dear to us, wherein we have put all our dreams and love as God’s dwelling place among us, fruit of so much devotion and of God’s miraculous help. It was consecrated December 6, 1980, in the blessed presence of a large throng of friends: it was our first building, a temple to the glory of the Triune God!

But we needed more. First, we built a novitiate of 12 cells. Then, we enlarged the guest house to 10 rooms and 2 little dorms for retreatants. Then, the influx of people became so great and our own needs so urgent, that we had to build a large building of two wings: in one, the refectory and library; in the other, utility rooms and offices; and, in the middle, the kitchen and storage rooms. All these buildings were truly necessary for our expanding life. Although we had no regular source of income, the Lord always provided the necessary funds. In that regard, Mt. Tabor is a living miracle. This became especially clear with our beautiful bells (donated by a Dutch lady and her brother in Holland) and the gatehouse (donated by a Greek Orthodox friend in Ukiah). We know, and we keep praying, that God will bless all these wonderful benefactors and so many hidden friends who have supported us by their prayers and donations.

Meanwhile, the number of our Sunday worshippers and retreatants kept increasing: all were attracted by the beautiful liturgy, the reverence, and the spirit of brotherly sharing. In this same spirit of total commitment to the Kingdom, Ruthenian Bishop Dolinay of Van Nuys, CA (in absence of our own bishop) consecrated our land to Christ the King and to his Blessed Mother, for whom we also built a shrine (since then every newly tonsured novice has consecrated himself to her).

Meanwhile, our founding bishop, Yaroslav Gabro, died, and Bishop Innocent Lotocky, O.S.B.M., became his successor. In 1982 he ordained Fr. Michael to the deaconate and became a very dear friend of the monastery: a constant support and a real father in Christ. He ordained Fr. Michael to the holy priesthood—our first priest of Mt Tabor—on August 6, 1983 (on the hottest day of that hottest year!). Later he imparted the abbatial benediction to Fr Abbot in his Cathedral in Chicago, and on September 23, 1988, the bishop returned to the monastery to install him as Archimandrite, in the presence of numerous friends. It was a glorious feast, after all those years of toil.

Though Mt Tabor was accepted as a monastery by the Oriental Congregation of the Catholic Church, they wanted us to live the life for a number of years, testing our genuineness, as it were, before allowing us to be canonically “erected” as a permanent institution in the Church. We had been eagerly awaiting notice of this approval, and when it came, in 1986, Fr Abbot announced it in an unusual but dramatic fashion. During Matins one morning, he stopped the Office right before the part called lauds. He said he had an important announcement, and then he read the decree in church. Our hearts were filled with joy and gratitude. Immediately the Office continued with Psalm 148: “Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all his angels, praise Him all his hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, shining stars! Praise Him, you highest heavens, and the waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord!...” That response to the great news could not have been more appropriate.

After several years of preparation in the monastery, three very profitable years—one at the Ukrainian Seminary-College in Stamford, Connecticut and two years at Mt. Angel Abbey, Oregon—our Fr. Joseph received his M.A. degree and was ordained by Bishop Innocent: a deacon in May of 1990 and a priest on September 14, 1991, at which time Fr Theodore was ordained a deacon, thus assuring us the privilege of having every day that wonderful celebration of the Divine Liturgy with a deacon.

Altogether, we might say that, with God’s special blessing (for it is all His work—we never forget that!) the spiritual radiation of Mt. Tabor has constantly kept increasing. It is the daily and relentless faithfulness to a life of prayer and worship, much personal prayer (especially the contemplative Jesus Prayer) in an atmosphere of silence and recollection, and the whole cycle of wonderful Byzantine liturgy that attracts people from everywhere and nourishes us plentifully every day. Likewise, the night vigil between Saturday and Sunday is a very powerful entering into the liturgical mystery of that Sunday. It is the life of sharing in chaste brotherly love as in a true “family of Jesus” where each one commits himself always to forgive, to serve the others joyfully, and to be always available, as proofs and expressions of our total love and availability for God, who is the reason why we came and continue to stay together.

The monastery has been growing and becoming more permanently rooted, both in California soil and in the monastic tradition, despite the inevitable trials and setbacks that test any authentic work of God. One rather unexpected way that the monastery has grown has its roots back in Michigan soil. A group of men known collectively as the Society of St John had been living the monastic life according to the rule of St Benedict for a number of years in the wild and beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They became convinced that God was calling them to live their life in the Byzantine Tradition. So they contacted our Bishop in Chicago, who said, in effect, "Go west, young men," that is, to Mt Tabor on the west coast of the U.S. Here they have received some practical introductions and continued formation in the Eastern monastic way of life.

After several years of fruitful contacts, shared worship, and a growing relationship of mutual love and respect, the Society of St John became, with the blessing of Bishop Michael Wiwchar, Holy Transfiguration Skete. As such they are a monastic community of our Eparchy and a kind of ready-made foundation of Mt Tabor. In time they will achieve the same independent status that we enjoy as a full canonical monastery. Two of their monks were solemnly consecrated and later ordained to the priesthood here: Fr Nicholas (the Hegumen of the Skete) and Fr Basil.

Our Monastery also became a sought-after place for retreats and also for Sunday worship. It is not uncommon for people to drive up to three hours just to come here for the Divine Liturgy! Our guesthouse is regularly filled on weekends, and often there are people here on retreat during the week as well. For Christmas and Holy Week, people often have had to make reservations months in advance, and at times we’ve had to turn some away. At a time when the Catholic Church is in many ways in a crisis of faith and worship, Mt Tabor offers a refreshing drink from the wellspring of Holy Tradition and the authenticity of life lived close to the Gospel. People recognize and experience the presence of the Spirit of God here (as they often tell us), even if they don't entirely understand the Byzantine traditions or the complexity of the Divine Office.

For about a dozen years we held the Metropolitan Sheptytsky Summer Institute for Eastern Christian Studies here at Mt Tabor. This academic/ascetical/liturgical experience had drawn many students from the U.S., Canada, and abroad. It has been something unique in the Church, as far as we know, inasmuch as one can put the theology learned in the classroom immediately into practice—in the Divine Services in church, and in the "arena" of prayer, fasting, and living in close quarters. Due to economic and other practical considerations, the Summer Institute has been held at various other locations in recent years.

The mid-1990s witnessed both the commencement and conclusion of our attempt to establish a house of nuns down the road from us. While we have often had in previous times one or two "wanna-be" sisters down there over the years, it wasn't until 1993 that what could truly be called a community began to form. Both the Sisters and the Monks learned much in the following three years, about spiritual potentials and practical possibilities, and also about the hardships and stresses inevitable to such an undertaking. In the end, because of some practically insurmountable obstacles, we mutually came to the conclusion that this was not the moment for Mt Tabor—still a relatively new foundation itself—to establish a monastery of nuns, especially in the absence of experienced female leadership. We have since sold the house to some dear friends who come often to services and help out around the monastery. God is good to us!

Additional and more recent history can be found in Abbot Joseph’s vocation narrative, the last section of which coincides more or less with monastery history.

What's in store for Mt Tabor in the future? Only the Lord knows that, but there are a few things that we do know. We will strive to live out in practical ways the vision of Mt Tabor, which our founder, Archimandrite Boniface, has drawn from the Gospel, monastic tradition, and his many years of priestly and monastic experience. We will also prayerfully seek the will of God so that we can be faithful, both to the past and to what the Spirit is saying today, e.g. how to balance our contemplative solitude with our evangelical outreach to souls who come here in times of spiritual crisis and hunger for God. In short, we will continue to "rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, and persevere in prayer" (Rom. 12: 12). All this will be in the service of the Church and of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lover of Mankind, who is glorified with His eternal Father and His all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and forever and unto ages of ages. Amen!

Our History—Introduction
Interview with Archimandrite Boniface
Eulogy for Archimandrite Boniface
Vocation History of Abbot Joseph