Date of Birth: 
About Frans Harjawiyata
- Fransiskus "Frans" Harjawiyata O.C.S.O.
- (September 24, 1931 – June 7, 2016) was an Indonesian Roman Catholic monastic abbot and member of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, who are more commonly known as the Trappists.
- Harjawiyata, who was the first Indonesian-born Trappist abbot in the country's history, headed the St.
- Mary's of Rawaseneng Monastery (Pertapaan Santa Maria Rawaseneng) in Temanggung Regency, Central Java province, from 1978 to 2006.
- Harjawiyata is credited with helping to develop Christianity in Indonesia by translating Catholic scriptures and chants into Indonesian.
- He translated the Breviary from Latin into Indonesian, authored several books on spirituality, and composed several Indonesian-language Gregorian chants.
- His chants are still performed in Catholic churches throughout Indonesia today.He was born in Yogyakarta on September 24, 1931.
- He entered the Trappist order on July 26, 1951, and completed his novitiate, or monastic training, in Tilburg, the Netherlands.
- He then studied Catholic theology and philosophy in Italy.Harjawiyata returned to Indonesia in October 1960, where he joined the St.
- Mary's Monastery in Rawaseneng, Temanggung Regency, on Java, on October 2, 1960.
- St.
- Mary's Monastery had been founded in 1953 by a Dutch priest, Dom Bavo van der Ham, with help from the Apostolic Vicars of Batavia, Monsignor Antonio van Velsen S.J., a Jesuit.
- The new monastery was twinned with Koningshoeven Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Berkel-Enschot, North Brabant, the Netherlands.In 1958, St.
- Mary's of Rawaseneng was elevated to a priory in 1958.
- It then became a fully independent abbey in 1978.On May 4, 1978, the same year that St.
- Mary's became an abbey, Frans Harjawiyata was installed as its first abbot by Cardinal Justinus Darmojuwono, becoming the first Indonesian-born Catholic abbot in Indonesia's history.
- He served as the abbot of St.
- Mary's from 1978 until 2006.
- In 1979, Harjawiyata sent several of monks to study at the Trappist monastery in Vitorchiano, Italy.
- Eleven Indonesian monks had studied in Italy by 1985.
- Father Harjawiyata also founded a Catholic convent for nuns near Mount Merbabu in the city of Salatiga, Central Java.
- He retired as the monastery's abbot October 1, 2006.Following his retirement as abbot, Harjawiyata went on sabbatical at Tenshien Monastery in Japan.
- He then served as the chaplain of Tenshien Monastery for nine years.
- In April 2016, Father Harjawiyata returned to St.
- Mary's of Rawaseneng Monastery.Father Frans Harjawiyata died in Parakan, Central Java, Indonesia, on June 7, 2016, at the age of 85.
- St.
- Mary's of Rawaseneng Monastery has grown into a community of 35 Trappist monks, as of 2016.
Read more at Wikipedia
See Also
- Famous People's Birthdays on 24 September, Indonesia
- Famous People's Birthdays in September, Indonesia
- Famous writer's Birthdays on 24 September, Indonesia
- Famous writer's Birthdays in September, Indonesia
- Famous composer's Birthdays on 24 September, Indonesia
- Famous composer's Birthdays in September, Indonesia