About Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas:
The Abbey is a commuity of Monks, Priests and teachers belongin to the Cistercian Order. They have been here since 1955, and in addition to the Abbey, they also operated the Cistercian Prparatory School hereas well as at the University of Dallas, a Catholic liberal arts university.
In 1956, thirty-four acres were deeded to the Cistercians. Since then they purchased more of the surrounding land, and today the abbey owns about eighty acres, which provide excellent insulation from any future development in the area. The local wildlife, which nests anywhere from the undeveloped acreage around the monastery to our sacristy window, is varied and pleasant; it includes armadillos, bobcats, coyotes, egrets, possums, raccoons, rat-snakes, rabbits, red-tailed hawks, roadrunners, skunks, and tree frogs. In the spring, a beautiful assortment of Texas wildflowers—Basket flowers, Black-eyed Susans, Bluebonnets, Dogwood blossoms, Indian Blankets, and Indian Paintbrushs—bloom around the monastery.
In 1991 an initiative was undertaken by the school’s alumni to build a church for the monastery. Gary Cunningham, an alumnus who graduated in 1972, was selected as the architect. Shortly after the completion of construction in 1992, the church received praise from architecture critic David Dillon in the Dallas Morning News. The church is visited regularly by architectural students and lay people alike and is even used as an example of cut stone in a construction technology textbook.
Many rooms and halls of Our Lady of Dallas are adorned with art, and much of it has been fashioned by the monks themselves.
Monks of the Cistercian Abbey invite you to join them for their daily celebration of the Mass and the Divine Office. They also offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation Wednesday afternoons.
Because the Abbey is not a parish, they may not, as a rule, administer other sacraments, such as First Holy Communion. Under certain circumstances they may preside at the marriages of alumni here in the abbey church and baptize their children.
Traveling to Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas:
The Abbey is located just three miles west of the Dallas city limits in the city of Irving, close to the DFW International Airport.
Address: 3550 Cistercian Road Irving, Texas 75039
Tel: +1 | (972) 438-2044
Click here for the official website of Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas.
