you.” But he admits, “It was a very balanced life. When I came here it was quite wonderful.” When Fr. Arthur entered the monastery, he took particular interest in the community’s recreation time. “You wouldn’t go for TV or something,” he says. “You would sit and just talk or maybe walk. It was very good to be with these people.” He professed his solemn vows, and then, at the suggestion of some older monks, he was ordained a priest. Fr. Arthur earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and began teaching full-time in the College’s Chemistry Department. As a priest he also took on priestly duties in the area as well. “Saturday you might leave at one o’clock with a couple of monks to Charlotte and other places
38 CROSSROADS
to help with Mass and Confessions,” he says. “Then the next day, Sunday, you’d take maybe two Masses. So you were working full-time as a priest and a teacher. There was a shortage of priests so you could be having pretty busy days.” Fr. Arthur went on to earn a doctorate in chemistry from Clemson University in South Carolina. He held repeated administrative assignments in the monastery, including serving as Prior three times. He taught chemistry for many years, and now ranks as a professor-emeritus. Once an educator, Fr. Arthur now enjoys being the student. He currently takes courses because, he says, “I enjoy being with the students, I enjoy learning. When I’m taking rhetoric I’m taking it to learn, to read, and to get things. I might die tomorrow, so I’m just
The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College
making a reasonable effort.” Fr. Arthur’s special training in spiritual direction has allowed him to exercise a very particular ministry to monks, students, and area laity. He is always open to hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction. Spiritual reading is a special pleasure for him, with classical texts as well as contemporary writings earning his attention. Fr. Arthur can always bring an original insight or penetrating question to any topic that arises, whether it regards spirituality, literature, or science. Since his retirement from teaching, Fr. Arthur assists in the campus ministry program, where he is a valued counselor and confessor.
Winter 2013