St. Joseph's Abbey is a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts. It is known as a center of prayer and monastic work. Jams and beer produced by the monks are particularly popular. The monastery is also known as one of the origins of the centering prayer movement in the 1970s. Certain parts of the abbey are generally open to the public. History St. Joseph's Abbey was founded in 1950 on the former site of Alta Crest Farms, under the leadership of Dom Edmund Futterer. The monks moved there from their previous location in Cumberland, Rhode Island, which was heavily damaged by a 1950 fire. Father Thomas Keating was elected abbot of the abbey in 1961. Keating, a leader in the contemplative prayer movement, retired in 1981. Keating, William Meninger, and Basil Pennington held retreats at the abbey to teach this method of prayer. Another notable monk of the abbey was Fr. Raphael Simon (1909-2006). Fr. Simon received his M.D. from the University of Michigan. He interned at Bellevue Hospital, and practiced as a psychiatrist in New York. Following his conversion, he became a monk of Saint Joseph's Abbey. He gave retreats to the monks of his Order in the United States and Ireland, and was a spiritual director for monks, priests and lay people. His book, "Hammer and Fire: Way to Contemplative Happiness and Mental Health" is available on Amazon. After the short term of Dom Pascal Skutecky, Dom Augustine Roberts became the fourth Abbot in June 1984 and served two six-year terms. The next Abbot, Damian Carr, was elected in June 1996. Dom Vincent Rogers was elected as the new abbot on 23 July 2020. Dom Vincent was born in Santa Monica, California. He is a graduate of the University of California where he majored in engineering, psychology and education. He entered the monastery in 1977; made his solemn profession in 1986 and was ordained a priest in 2010. Goods produced Trappist Preserves Trappist Preserves is a brand of fruit preserves produced and sold by the abbey. In 1954, shortly after their arrival in Spencer, a small, stove-top batch of mint jelly was made by Brother John Berchmans, one of the monks, with mint from their herb garden. Since monastic austerity at that time precluded the jelly from being served to the monks at meals, it was sold at the porters' lodge. The response to the jelly encouraged the monks