About the Abbot's Table

Please note: the format of this year's event is different from years past. The event will be open seating, therefore you do not need to reserve your table ahead of time. Tickets are now on sale and space is limited. Please click here to purchase your tickets. If you wish to purchase tickets, sponsorship or make a donation offline or have questions, please email us at [email protected] or call us at (973) 538-3231 ext 3062. 

Our benefit dinner is named the "Abbot's Table" because hospitality, especially at the abbot's table in the monastery dining room, is at the heart of Benedictine way of life,

In his Rule (Chapter 56), St. Benedict wrote:

Let the Abbot’s table always be with the guests and the pilgrims. 

But when there are no guests, let it be in his power to invite whom he will of the brothers.

And in Chapter 53, “The Reception of Guests,” 

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35).

In welcoming all of us, their friends and supporters, as guests to the “Abbot’s Table,” the Benedictines of St. Mary’s Abbey honor Christ’s presence in us, and wish to share with us the spirit of their Benedictine monastic lives.