Abbot Cletus Meagher is seen October 21, 2014.

After 24 years as abbot of St. Bernard Abbey, the Right Rev. Cletus D. Meagher, O.S.B., is preparing to retire.

In accordance with the law proper to the American-Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine Monks, which stipulates 75 years as the retirement age of abbots, he announced his plans Tuesday.

Abbot Cletus’s retirement from the abbatial office will take effect upon the election of his successor, the tenth abbot of St. Bernard Abbey, which will be held the week of July 22, 2019. Abbot President Elias Lorenzo, O.S.B., president of the American-Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine Monks, will preside over the election process.

Abbot Cletus was born in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1944, and attended high school and college at St. Bernard, studying as a candidate for the abbey. He entered monastic life in 1964, professing simple vows on July 4, 1965. He studied theology at St. Bede Abbey in Peru, Illinois, and at the University of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. He was subsequently ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 1971. In the years before his election as abbot on May 8, 1995, Abbot Cletus served in a variety of roles, including prior, subprior, novice master, procurator, farm manager, and pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Cullman.

“I look forward to the election of the new abbot and transitioning into a new role of service for the community –whatever that might be,” Abbot Cletus said.

St. Bernard Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine monks founded in 1891 and is the home of St. Bernard Preparatory School, the Ave Maria Grotto, and St. Bernard Retreat and Conference Center. To find out more about the abbey, its various works, and how the monks have been serving the Church in North Alabama for the last 127 years, visit stbernardabbey.com.