Rt. Rev. Lawrence is the 10th Abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey.  Abbot Lawrence professed vows as a monk of St. Gregory’s Abbey on July 11, 1985, and was ordained to the priesthood on August 6, 1994.  He was elected Abbot on January 6, 2006, and blessed on February 24, 2006, by the Most Rev. Eusebius Beltran, Archbishop of Oklahoma City.

Abbot Lawrence was raised near Tecumseh, Oklahoma, and was a member of St. Benedict Parish in Shawnee.  He holds an associate’s degree from St. Gregory’s College and completed a bachelor’s degree from St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH, with a major in English and minor in Philosophy.  He holds a licentiate (STL) and doctorate in sacred theology (STD) from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo in Rome.  His specialization is Monastic Studies, with his doctoral dissertation having concentrated on the writings of John Cassian, whose writings from the 4th century influenced subsequent movements of spirituality, including the Rule of St. Benedict.

Abbot Lawrence served at St. Gregory’s University as Vice-Present for Church Relations between 1996 and 2000, and then as President from May 2000 to April 2007.  In addition to his duties as the monastery, Abbot Lawrence serves on the Board of Trustees for the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, and on the Board of Directors for the Avedis Foundation, a private foundation promoting wellness and quality of life in Pottawatomie County.  He is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.