6ETHSEMANI
541
GEZIREH
ceiling of the grotto an inscription concerning it. In
the fourteenth century the pilgrims, led astray by the
presence of the stone and the inscription, mistakenly
called this sanctuary the Grotto of the Agony.
In ancient times the grotto opened to the south. The surroiniding soil being raised considerably by earth carried down the mountain by the rains, a new entrance has been made on the north-west side. The rocky ceiling is supported by six pillars, of which three are in masonry, and, since the sixth century, has been pierced by a sort of skylight which ad- mits a little light. The grotto, which is irregular in form, is, in round numbers, 56 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 12 feet high Ln its largest dimensions. It is adorned with four altars, but of the pictures which formerly covered the walls, and of the mosaic floor, traces only can be found. At a distance of about 130 feet to the south of the grotto is tlie Garden of CSethseniani, a quadrangular-shaped en- closure which measures about 195 feet on each side. Here are seven olive trees, the largest of which is about 26 feet in circumference. If they were not found there in the time of Christ they are at least the off- shoots of those which witnessed His .Agony. With the aid of historical documents it has been established that these same trees were already in existence in the seventh century. To the east of the garden there is a rocky mass regarded as the traditional spot where the three Apostles waited. A stone's throw to the soutli, the stump of a column fitted in a wall pointed out to the native Christians the place where Jesus prayed on the eve of his Passion. The foundations of the ancient church of the Agony were discovered behind this wall. Lesetre in ViG., Diet, de la Bible, s. v.; Vigoubodx, Le N. Testament et les dicouvertes archiologiques (Paris, 1S96).
Barnabas Meistermann.
Gethsemani, Abbey of Our Lady of, of the Order of Reformed Cistercians, commonly called Trappists, established in lS4Sin Nelson Co., Kentucky, in the Dio- cese of Louisville, being the first abbey on American soil. On 26 Oct., 1848, a colony of forty Trappists left the Abbey of Melleray, in the Diocese of Nantes, France, imder the leadership of Dom Eutrope Proust, and ar- rived at New Orleans early in December. They trav- elled by river to Louisville, Ky., where Bishop Flaget, who had greatly desired their coming, received them. On 21 December they took possession of the lands destined for their establishment, and shortly after- wards their number was increased by a second colony of twenty religious from the mother-house. The monks undertook the work of clearing their lands with indomitable energy, and little by little arose the im- posing structures which form the present abbey. This is an immense quadrilateral, one side of which is formed by the church, whilst the other three sides con- tain the monastic quarters, with a commodious guest- house for those who desire to spend a few days in soli- tude.
In 1850 a pontifical Brief (21 July) erected the new monastery into an abbey. By a unanimous vote Dom Eutrope was elected abbot, and on 1 May, 1851, received the abbatial blessing from Bishop M. J. .Spalding of Louisville, in the old cathedral of Bards- town. It was the first ceremony of the kind performed in North America. In 1859 Dom Eutrope resigned and returned to France. He left Dom Benedict Berger in charge, who was soon after elected abbot, and re- ceived the abbatial blessing in St. Catherine's Church, New Haven, Ky., 9 May, 1861. Dom Benedict insisted with true religious zeal on the observance of the rule, and under his administration the abbey buildings were finished. The church was solemnly consecrated by Archbishop Purcell of Cincinnati, 15 Nov., 1866. .Stricken with paralysis in 1887, Dom Benedict resigned his charge in 1889. The administration then passed to Dom M. Edward Chaix-Bourbon, who was elected abbot 9 May, 1890, and received the abbatial blessing
in the church of the monastery, 29 .September follow-
ing. Dom Edward applied himself especially to im-
prove the school attached to the abbey since its foun-
dation. He erected new buildings, and transformed
it into a college. During a visit to France, upon the
advice of physicians, he had to renounce his hopes of
seeing Gethsemani again, and on 24 Jan., 1898, he
was succeeded by Dom M. Edmond M. Obrecht, first
appointed superior and shortly afterwards elected
abbot by unanimous vote; he received the abbatial
blessing at Gethsemani, 28 Oct., 1898. Through the
generosity of Mgr. Batz of Milwaukee, Dom Edmund
was able to create the splendid library which contains
more than thirty thousand volumes of the principal
authors on ecclesiastical sciences.
That the regime of La Trappe is entirely incom- patible with the American temperament is a prejudice without foundation. The commmiity has always num- bered some, and now numbers over one-third, Ameri- cans amongst its religious, some of whom were raised in luxury, and all have found health and happiness at Gethsemani. Another prejudice is the belief that the Trappist life, being a penitent life, is only intended for criminals. Life at Gethsemani is the same as Cistercian life at Clairvaux, a life of contemplation and penance. Moreover, recent decrees of sovereign pontiffs and the constitutions of the order forbid the reception of men who have given public scandal. The community of Gethsemani is at present (1908) composed of 80 reli- gious: 34 members of the choir, 22 of whom are priests, whilst the others are preparing themselves, by the regular studies, for the priesthood; 46 are lay brothers who are more especially engaged in the work of the farm.
Archives of the .\bbey of Gethsemani; Relations of Dom Eutro- piitsin Messenger of the Hacrcd Heart (1S98): Pfannenschmidt, Illustrierte Geschichte der Trappisten (Paderborn, 1875); Tal- LO.v, Notice sur le^ moruisteres de la Trappe (Paris, 1855).
Edmond M. Obrecht. Geulincx, Arnold. See Occasionalism.
Gezireh (or Djezireh), seat of two Catholic resi- dential sees, one Chaldean, the other Syrian. The Chaldean diocese has been known, at least since 410, as Beit-Zabdai (" Notices et extraits des manuscrits", Paris, XXXVII, 272). Its bishop, John, assisted at a council in 497 (op. cit., 310, 316), Under the Nes- torians the diocese was regarded as an episcopal, sometimes as an archiepiscopal see. Later, it was united to Quardou, a diocese of the Kurds, situated on the opposite bank of the Tigris (op. cit., 680). Since the erection of the Chaldean Catholic patriarchate by Julius III, Gezireh has had its own bishops, the succes- sion extending to our own days almost without inter- ruption. The SjTian bishops were at first Jacobites, but, after the conversion to Catholicism of a portion of that sect, a Syrian Catholic bishop was appointed to the see (Lequien, II, 1205, 1579). The present Chal- dean Diocese of Gezireh contains four thousand faith- ful, fourteen priests, seventeen churches and chapels, twelve primary schools for boys and one for girls conducted by the Presentation Sisters. The French Dominicans have a residence there. The Syrian dio- cese numljers five hmidred faithful, eleven native priests, three of whom are regulars, five churches and six primary schools. The city of Gezireh-ibn-Omar, so called to distinguish it from the Gezireh near Bag- dad, is situated on the right bank of the Tigris, about 125 miles north of Mossoul in the vilayet of Diarbekir. It has about ten thousand inhabitants, six thousand of whom are Christians and nearly two thousand Catholics. It contains the tombs of several Abbas- side princes. The soil is well watered; there are superb forests of oaks, and a rich oil-well is situated at a distance of about twenty-five miles.
CciNET. La Turquie d'Asie, II, 511-514; Revue de I'Orienl Chretien (1896), p. 446; Uissimes Catholica: (1907), 805, 810.
S. Vailh;6.
