Abbey of Regina Laudis: Blacksmithing

The Phoenix Forge of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, O.S.B.
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In the summer of 2022 Mother Anastasia Morgan, who is the head of our Blacksmith Shop, contacted the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, South Carolina, on behalf of one of her students. He was graduating from high school and was interested in a college where he could continue to study blacksmithing. She spoke with Dr. Wade Razzi and in advocating for her students she explained why we have a blacksmith shop at the Abbey, her own process of becoming a blacksmith, and her work of teaching blacksmithing to children and young adults. As a result she was invited to give a guest lecture at the college in the spring of 2023. Because she could not physically go to South Carolina we helped her to prepare a video lecture to present.

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HISTORY
The original PHOENIX BLACKSMITH SHOP at the Abbey of Regina Laudis was built in 1750 and restored by the Abbey in 2004. The art of Blacksmithing is ancient—the evolution of civilization can be measured in man’s relationship to metals, as the discovery and extraction of ores from the earth enabled the production of armor, weapons, jewelry and especially tools used in agriculture and transportation. grille

In Colonial times the main work of this blacksmith shop on our land was to shoe horses and to manufacture and repair carriages. Today the blacksmith of the Abbey, Mother Anastasia, carries on this ancient tradition of manipulating metal in the creation of fixtures, tools, and sculptures. She and her students fabricate works for the monastic community and repair farm machinery and tools. The fruit of their work is nowhere more visible than in the Abbey Church Jesu Fili Mariae—in the grille, fixtures, mobile, candleholders, and the holy water font at the entrance—all of which contribute to the simplicity and beauty of the space. In the creation of the grille a painstaking medieval technique of craftsmanship was used. The blacksmiths forged holes into the iron to join the pieces together, instead of using bolts, nails, or welding. The result is an iron grille that is smoothly interwoven like bamboo.

grille

Mother Anastasia has worked at the Phoenix Blacksmith Shop for over 40 years. Master/disciple relationships are intrinsic to Benedictine life and the formation of a blacksmith always involves apprenticeship under a master. Mother Anastasia has trained numerous monastic interns and apprentices in the techniques of blacksmithing: care of the fire and the forge, drawing out of heated metal, and welding.

Fleur de Lis

St. Benedict places a high value on the tools of the monastery. In Chapter 32 of the Holy Rule:The Tools and Property of the Monastery he writes: “For the care of the monastery's property in tools, clothing, and all other articles, let the abbot appoint brethren on whose life and character he can rely; and let him, as he shall judge fit, commit the various articles to them, to be looked after and to be collected again.” The Abbey blacksmiths and artists fulfill St. Benedict’s injunction by recycling materials such as rusty water tanks and scrap metal. Sacred Heart

Connecticut was was once home to many blacksmith shops and the metal and mechanic shops of the Waterbury region in which Regina Laudis is located are direct descendants of the blacksmithing craft. Colleagues of our blacksmiths donate their fathers’ and grandfathers’ beautifully hand-crafted tools, knowing they will find continuity in a monastic work and context.

The heart of the blacksmith shop is the forge, the hearth wherein the blacksmith heats metal to a high temperature making it malleable for shaping. The transformation process is rich in analogy for the Abbey’s blacksmiths: like metal, man is capable of transformation through adversity and challenge. The blacksmith shop is named for the phoenix, a symbol of resurrection; for when the life cycle of this mythical bird is complete, it sacrifices itself in the fire and rises from the ashes three days later.

GALLERIES OF THE BLACKSMITH SHOP

Works at the Forge