The First Annual Abbot's Table Dinner a Great Success!

The First Annual Abbot’s Table Dinner, celebrating the monks of St. Mary’s Abbey and the 50 ^th anniversary of the dedication of the St. Mary’s Abbey Church, took place on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, at the Hanover Marriot in Whippany, New Jersey.

The sold-out night began with a cocktail hour, before Abbot Richard Cronin, OSB began with the invocation and grace for about 545 attendees in the ballroom.

Guy Adami, Master of Ceremonies, host of CNBC’s “Fast Money,” and parent of Delbarton School students Timothy '17 and Guy Jr. '19, welcomed all on behalf of The Friends of St. Mary’s Abbey, a dedicated group of lay men and women who are helping the monks of St. Mary’s Abbey create a development program to raise funds for elderly monks’ health care, seminarian education, and capital improvements to the monastery buildings.

Abbot Elias Lorenzo, OSB, President of the American Cassinese Congregation and of the International Commission on Benedictine Education, then provided a reflection on the 50 ^th anniversary of the Abbey Church. Since its opening in 1966, the Abbey Church remains a lifetime spiritual home for friends of St. Mary’s Abbey and Delbarton School.

Mr. Adami went on to introduce the night’s Text to Pledge fundraiser, which gave attendees the opportunity to text a donation to St. Mary’s Abbey that could be seen in real time on the two screens at the front of the ballroom. Text to Pledge was very successful, raising $133,232 in less than two hours.

The event first honored Abbot Brian Clarke, OSB, the 7 ^th Abbot of St. Mary’s Abbey and a Benedictine for over 65 years.  Mr. Brian Clarke introduced his uncle Brian, who in his many decades as a St. Mary’s Abbey Benedictine has been Novice Master, Prior of the Monastery, Keeper of the Abbey Orchard, and an English teacher at Delbarton School since 1967.

The second honoree was Mrs. Anne Evans Estabrook.  Mrs. Estabrook’s son, David Gibbons (Delbarton School Class of 1988) introduced Anne Evans Estabrook, President and CEO of Elberon Development Corp. Mrs. Estabrook is a longtime philanthropic leader in nonprofit educational institutions and Catholic causes in northern New Jersey, and she has been especially devoted to service of St. Mary’s Abbey and Delbarton School.

After the presentations, Father Hilary O’Leary, OSB, provided an Abbey Year In Review, highlighting important events at St. Mary’s Abbey from 2016 and 2017.

Abbot Elias, Abbot Richard, Father Hilary, Father Andrew Smith, OSB, Father Edward Seton Fittin, OSB, and Father Michael Tidd, OSB, sang the closing hymn, Ave Maris Stella (a Marian hymn that is the source of the Abbey’s motto Felix Caeli Porta (“Joyous Gate of Heaven”) before Mr. Adami and Abbot Elias offered the final thank you and farewell.

The First Annual Abbot’s Table Dinner was a tremendous success, raising just over $282,000. The monks of St. Mary’s Abbey wish to extend their deepest gratitude to all who were involved in this wonderful event.