Ephrata Cloister
by Lydia Holly
Title
Ephrata Cloister
Artist
Lydia Holly
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Many years ago I visited this historical site referred to as The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community. It was a religious community, established in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There were nearly 80 celibate Brothers and Sisters by the 1750's and about 200 family members known as Householders, who occupied nearby homes and farms. The celibate brothers and sisters lived a life of private prayer and work. "Wearing white robes, they adopted sparse diets, and slept little, all in an effort to provide discipline as they prepared for an anticipated heavenly existence. Labors included farming, papermaking, carpentry, milling, and textile production." The monastic settlement became known for the German calligraphic art of Frakturscriften, wrote over one thousand original a cappella compositions, and produced a number of printing works, to include Martyrs Mirror for the Mennonites, the largest book printed in colonial America. After the founder died the community began to decline, and the last celibate member died in 1813; however, Householders who incorporated into German Seventh Day Baptist Church,continued to live and worship in the Cloister buildings until the close of the Church in 1934. Source: https://ephratacloister.org/about/history/
I hope you enjoy this refurbished, textured photograph of days gone by!
Uploaded
February 13th, 2018
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Viewed 286 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/16/2024 at 8:18 AM
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