The community of monks that occupies St. Joseph Abbey was founded by Vincent de Paul Merle in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1825.

Following another fire and in consideration of the increase of population in the Cumberland area, the monks decided to move to the more-remote outskirts of Spencer, MA in 1950.

They built St. Joseph's Abbey on the former site of Alta Crest Farms, under the leadership of its first abbot, Edmund Futterer.

[4] Keating, along with fellow monks William Meninger and Basil Pennington, was noted for holding retreats at the abbey with the goal of teaching people to pray according to the Catholic contemplative tradition.

He penned the four-volume series Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew.

[9] Since monastic austerity at that time precluded the jelly from being served to the monks at meals, it was sold at the porters' lodge.

Soon, jelly-making proved to be a successful and compatible monastic industry, contributing about half of the income needed to run the abbey.

[9] The jams and jellies made by the monks are sold in supermarkets in the United States, particularly in the New England region.

[14] In addition to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New England region had grown to have over 600 craft breweries (according to the Brewers Association).