The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani is a Catholic monastery in the United States near Bardstown, Kentucky, in Nelson County. The abbey is part of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae), better known as the Trappists. Founded on December 21, 1848, and raised to an abbey in 1851, Gethsemani is considered to be the motherhouse of all Trappist and Trappistine monasteries in the United States. Gethsemani is the oldest Trappist monastery in the country that is still operating. Following the Rule of Saint Benedict, the Trappist monks live a contemplative life of faithful prayer and work. The monastery is situated on a working farm of . The monks support themselves and the abbey through its store, Gethsemani Farms, offering handmade fruitcake and bourbon fudge (both onsite and by mail order). Gethsemani was the home of Trappist monk, social activist and author Thomas Merton from 1941 until his death in 1968. History Establishment In September 1805, French Trappists from the Abbey of La Valsainte in Switzerland traveled from Pennsylvania to Louisville, Kentucky. From Louisville, they traveled south to the area of Bardstown to meet with Stephen Badin, the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States. Badin invited the monks and members of their Order to make their home in the area. Their stay was short-lived and they left in 1809 after a season of bad flooding. Four decades later, in 1847, Dom Maxime, abbot of the Abbey of Melleray in France, sent two monks to Kentucky to find a tract of land on which the order could build a monastery. Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget in Louisville greeted the pair and guided them to Nelson County, to a tract of land owned by the Sisters of Loretto that was called Gethsemani where the previous community of Trappists had lived. The two monks were able to contract a deal for the land. On 26 October 1848, 44 monks of the Abbey of Melleray left France with their leader, Eutropius Proust. It was a timely departure as France was verging toward a revolution inspired by socialism and rising secularism had made the environment hostile toward the church. One of the monks died during the voyage, and the other 43 arrived on 11 December 1848 in New Orleans, Louisiana. They journeyed up the Mississippi River on the Martha Washington, a steamboat, and arrived at Gethsemani on 21