How we Got Here

The monastery of St. Benedict at Ewu is a foundation of an Irish Monastery named Glenstal Abbey. The Irish Monks came to a place called Eke in Enugu state and started a monastery there. That was in 1975. However, for a number of reasons which included infertile farmland, the monks finally moved to Ewu-Esan in the old Bendel state. That was on July 11, 1979 .

The community at that time was composed of five Irish monks and one Nigerian Monk who later became the first Nigerian Benedictine Monk and Priest. Today, in the year 2004, this small community of monks has grown to thirty-two monks, representing fourteen Nigerian tribes and one from Togo , a situation unique in any African Monastery. The monks of Ewu are trained in different fields of discipline such as engineering, farming, philosophy, theology, agriculture animal husbandry and many others.

Apart from the herbal clinic, the monastery of Ewu has a flourishing bakery that specializes in baking wheat bread, prepared under strict hygienic conditions and free of any chemical or addictives. They also run a candle factory, a crafts and gifts shop, poultry, a fish pond, a vegetable garden and a large farm.

Who are Monks?

Monks are a group of people, either men or women, who have individually decided to live a life of contemplation, solitude and community in imitation of a particular saint. Just as we have Christian monks, so also there are Buddhist, Hindu and Chinese Monks. Christian monks are those men and women who dedicated their life to a life of continuous contemplation and imitation of Christ, who offered his life for the sake of humanity. Christian monks live together in community, carrying out their Christian obligations in peace and harmony.