St. Bernard Abbey is a vibrant monastic community of Catholic men who follow the 1500-year Benedictine tradition of worship and work through daily prayer and service in ministries that include education, hospitality, parish ministry and spiritual retreats.

In 1891, German speaking monks from St. Vincent Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania gathered to establish St. Bernard Abbey in the picturesque Appalachian foothills of northern Alabama, near Cullman. It was an apt location for a monastic community because of the natural beauty, silence and solitude so necessary for the contemplative life. Today, well over a century later, St. Bernard Abbey is an active monastic group which combines our contemplative aspects with our ministerial apostolate.