A day of exploration and rejuvenation.

CCD Field Trip – Video 1

St. Andrew’s Abbey, a seven-minute drive away from the park, was a very serene and peaceful area, home to a Benedictine monastery. There are currently nineteen monks in the monastery, eleven of them priests.  One of the priests actually showed us around the Abbey. We visited their bell, the chapel, their duck pond, and the gardens/hills surrounding the area. We first went to the chapel where we learned from our tour guide/priest about the history behind the Abbey and the different sculptures and tapestries decorating the chapel walls. He then showed us the different relics they had collected over the years, like a piece of wood that was found in Calvary, which was most likely from the cross of Jesus Christ. Before they moved to the United States and later bought the Abbey, the monastery had its roots in China. We saw some beautiful Chinese-styled statues and architecture in the gardens surrounding their duck pond.

CCD Field Trip – Video 2

Some of us hiked all the way up the hills surrounding the gardens, where there was a beautiful cemetery for burying monks and priests. It was a very tranquil place without any noise of city life. The trip was wonderful, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was definitely worth it!