Fr. Martin Lugo, O.S.B.

Fr. Martin professed vows as a monk of St. Gregory’s on August 15, 1956, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 1, 1962. Fr. Martin was elected as the ninth Abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey on February 5, 1997, and blessed on May 29, 1997, by Archbishop Eusebius Beltran of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. He served as Abbot until January 4, 2006.

Fr. Martin was born in Los Angeles, CA, and grew up in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in East Los Angeles, which was staffed at the time by monks from St. Gregory’s Abbey. At the urging of his pastor, he came to St. Gregory’s to complete his high school education. As a monk he attended St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, KS, completing a bachelor’s degree. He completed his theological studies at St. Gregory’s Abbey.

Following ordination Fr. Martin served in several pastoral assignments, include in the Benedictine parishes of his native Los Angeles as a chaplain at St. Gregory’s College. He returned to St. Gregory’s from Los Angeles to serve as prior of the monastery in 1994 and became Prior Administrator in 1995. He served in that role until his election as Abbot in 1997. Many developments took place at St. Gregory’s during his tenure as Abbot, including the accreditation of bachelor’s degrees, the construction of the Rockwood Center, and the establishment of the College for Working Adults in Tulsa. He resigned as Abbot on January 4, 2006. He then returned to the position of Prior from June 11, 2009, until January 10, 2015. He currently serves as Subprior.