Abbot, Chancellor of Abbey School, Director of Spiritual Life, & Theology Teacher,
Anseriform & Psittacine Aviculturist, Ethnomusicologist

Abbot Michael Brunner is a native of Rochester, N.Y. He graduated from Howard University in Washington. He then spent 25 years in hotel management in New York City, Washington DC, Baltimore and Miami Beach, ending that career as Operations Director over 5 hotels in Maryland. During this time he studied non-Christian religions intensively. He discovered Christian mystical tradition and writers in college; his response was …this is it! It is contemplation or nothing. He became a Muslim after losing his Christian faith, but came back to that same mystical tradition he had discovered and became a monk. Apart from being the Abbot, he currently teaches Christian Doctrine, Wisdom Literature and World Religions at Portsmouth Abbey School.

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Prior, Guest master, Environmentalist, Cantor

Br. Joseph Byron, a native of Massachusetts, has been a monk of Portsmouth Abbey for more than 30 years. He came to Portsmouth Abbey School as a drama teacher; he fell in love with this place and community and eventually became a monk. Br. Joseph holds a unique multi-disciplinary degree: English, Drama & Music. He loves to sing and has done all the things which a monk can possibly do in this monastery. His key contribution to the monastery and local community is the Wind Turbine (the 1st in the State of Rhode Island), restoring the Abbey Church and Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto.
His story is told in pictures and is well worth viewing.

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Abbot Emeritus
 Bibliophile

Abbot Matthew, a native of Baltimore, joined Portsmouth Abbey 60 years ago. He has led the community in various phases of its journey. The first abbot of this monastery, he has played a key role in various developments of Portsmouth Abbey, as well as its School. The part of him which is most enjoyable for his visitors and friends is his sense of humor and down to earth demeanor. It would be almost impossible to figure out that he has such a large stature in the community just by seeing or talking to him, unless you have heard it from someone else.

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School Chaplain

Fr. Gregory Havill joined Portsmouth Abbey with a wide experience of being a teacher, sculptor and blacksmith. He became a monk for the love of the Divine Office and enjoys every element of it as he says, “This miracle of grace continues to be the center of my joy in the monastic life.” In the past Fr. Gregory has restored and operated a colonial-era blacksmith shop, operated a mosaic studio, cast architectural concrete, welded architectural steel, set up a bronze-casting foundry for a monastery of nuns, and reintroduced blacksmithing to a Bruderhoff community. He was also, a professor of art at Humboldt State University and Alma College. He was once an advertising artist at the Chicago Tribune and assistant to the sculptors Milton Horn and Franklin Boggs.

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Head Sacristan, Liturgist, Vocation Director, Oblate Director

Br. Sixtus, a native of Pennsylvania, has come to Portsmouth from St. Louis Abbey to help in various areas of monastic facilitation. Brother has joined the monastery after a wide range of experience with set designing for theatre, opera, film and television. He has left his successful career to pursue his persistent call from God to be a religious.

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Novice & Junior Master, Mathematics & Theology Teacher, Cantor 

Fr. Edward Mazuski is a gift from St Louis Abbey to Portsmouth for this exciting adventure of continuing and renewing monasticism here. His arrival here also coincided with the opportunity to continue graduate studies at Harvard in 2018. He is a graduate in Physics and is a natural intellectual and logical thinker. He has perfect pitch when it comes to music and has been very helpful in enhancing the liturgy. He was ordained to the priesthood just before he came to Portsmouth Abbey. We are truly blessed to be in his joyful presence on the campus and there is a lot more to learn from him.

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Webmaster 

Fr. Benedict Maria comes to Portsmouth all the way from Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India. He is obviously surprised by his vocation and enjoys his life in community and prayer. Fr. Benedict has worked as a software engineer for almost 10 years before joining the monastery. He has learned some handy work of art (mosaic and rosary-making) in his time as a Novice from monks of St Louis Abbey. He also loves to cook and looks forward for opportunities to serve the community.

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Junior, Assistant Webmaster, Monastery Librarian

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Br. Basil Piette graduated cum laude from Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies. He volunteered for a number of years with the Franciscan friars in the Midwest before beginning to discern religious life in New England. Br. Basil is the first monk here since Fr. Gregory Havill to complete his Novitiate entirely at Portsmouth Abbey. He made his Simple Profession of Vows May 1, 2022.

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