“Ad superna semper intenti – Having our souls ever intent upon the things on high.” The monk must be a soul full of desire, thirsting for God; the monk must be burning with the desire for eternity.
Father Abbot Antoine Forgeot (1933-2020)
Thusly does Father Abbot Antoine Forgeot comment on his abbatial motto. This holy abbot died five years ago on the feast of our Lady’s Assumption, on the very 65th anniversary of his own profession and on the patronal feast of France and of Fontgombault Abbey, which founded Clear Creek Abbey under the inspiration and impetus of this saintly man of God.
Born in 1933 in southwestern France, Antoine Marie Bertrand Forgeot grew up in a healthy, happy close-knit Christian family with two brothers and one sister. He had a solid Christian education under the direction of priests, and followed his older brother into the Abbey of Fontgombault in 1953.
The Abbey taught the young monk how to inherit. A marked devotion to our Lady and a certain love of being little in the manner of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus were particularly prized heirlooms given to him and other aspirants. Br. Antoine made his vows on August 15, 1955, and was ordained priest on August 9, 1964. A few years later, Father Antoine was deputed to instruct the novice monks, which very quickly included the Americans that would one day be sent to establish Clear Creek Abbey.
In 1975 he was elected abbot at the sudden death of his predecessor. His abbatial motto, “Ad superna sempter intenti — having our souls ever intent upon the things on high,” is taken from the collect of the feast of the Assumption, and he genuinely lived it out for the rest of his life. From the outset he was determined to pass on the inheritance he received, having as guide the Holy Rule of St. Benedict and the Commentary of Dom Delatte. Above all, he recognized how much comes from the power of the grace of state, recognizing the precious words of the Abbess who wrote “God is faithful. Since my abbatial blessing I have never wounded souls, never committed a blunder, except when I ceased relying on the divine gift and folded back into myself.”
He inherited the charge of two dependent priories, and was a father to more than 120 monks. When he brought these priories to abbatial maturity, he founded another two monasteries, including Clear Creek 25 years ago. He welcomed into the Abbey the visits of Bishops and Cardinals, including Cardinal Ratzinger, and was instrumental to the formation of a number of ecclesial communities. At 77 years old, he carefully prepared his resignation and the transition of Fontgombault’s abbacy to a new abbot, for, as he put it, “One must take a little time to pack before the Great Journey.” He prepared well in the following nine years, when the Lord took him to Himself on August 15, 2020, undoubtedly continuing the earthly feast day into the heavenly celebrations.
In a letter written a few years before, he had he explained to François, his elder brother, his simple way of facing Sister Death: “Death is a mystery, but one which we know enough about to await in peace: it is the threshold that we must cross to enter the eternity for which we were created; there we will find rest and perfect happiness in the vision of God who will satisfy us forever without ever tiring us.”
Read the homily of Father Abbot Philip Anderson at the Requiem Mass of Father Abbot Forgeot.
