14 minute read
The Death of the Veil
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by Shane Rapp I recently read an article in The American Conservative by an Orthodox Christian named Rod Dreher entitled “Beauty and Transfiguration” which examined what Christ’s Transfiguration has to do with our lives. Surely it is one of the oddest moments in the gospels: shining face and clothes, descending prophets, booming voice, and then…nothing. Back to business as usual. Strange, to say the least.
But what Dreher suggests is that we have all had transfigurative moments, that at times in each of our lives the grey film of the Fall is peeled back and we see things “as they really are” and become like Peter and James and John that day when gazing upon their Lord. It is not altogether different from what C.S. Lewis proposes in The Great Divorce, where Heaven is not so much different from this world but more real, thicker and richer and fuller to the point that we appear as ghosts in a land where even sunlight has weight.
When I reflect on this idea that, as St. Paul says, we “see dimly now, as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12), I am brought back to my first transfigurative moment.
After my sophomore year at Benedictine College, I decided to remain on campus over the summer to work, train for soccer, and focus on my faith life through prayer and spiritual direction with Fr. Bruce Swift. Through the witness and encouragement of friends, I had begun a conversion of sorts, finally accepting my faith as my own and ready to face up to its demands, and I thought a summer near the monastery could be the jump-start I needed as I began my journey anew.
After the first few weeks, however, I felt stymied. There were no mystical visions or fits of ecstasy, no immediate dissolution of my sins, no mass conversions of my friends and family inspired by the courage it took to live off my parents’ money with my friends in my favorite place in the world for a whole summer.
I didn’t get it.
What I know now is that, as the author/blogger Mark Shea puts it, “Grace is grace, not magic.” I was waiting for the magic-Jesus-wand to turn me into a man with no temptations and no faults and no struggles.
Didn’t happen.
But what He did give me was a moment I will never forget. It was not a vision of Mary. It was not a dream of an angel.
It was a transfiguration.
One night that summer, I simply didn’t want to pray. It was late, I was tired, and I just wanted to go to bed. But as I lay down, the gruff voice of Fr. Bruce kept echoing in my mind, reminding me that I was not allowed to sleep until I prayed.
So I grudgingly got out of bed, walked out of Memorial Hall, and cut through campus to the adoration chapel in the back of St. Benedict’s Church.
After being let in the door by an elderly gentleman, I knelt down to pray in front of the Eucharist and tried to focus. Almost immediately I became aware of a prompting to leave the chapel. It was odd, and I won’t call it a “voice” per se, but it was definitely there, an urging of sorts, quite clearly telling me to go.
the Death
And while you might think there is no way the Holy Spirit would urge someone to leave the presence of Christ mere moments after settling in front of Him, it seemed clear to me that that was precisely what was happening.
So I made the sign of the cross, sheepishly stepped past the old man who had just had his prayer disturbed 90 seconds before to let me in the chapel, and left.
I wasn’t exactly sure where I was supposed to go, but I found myself walking towards the Abbey.
I passed under the oaks outside the guesthouse and towards the weathered bench at the river overlook. I paused when I got there and surveyed the scene before me.
Even now as I write I know this is a futile effort. I can’t really tell you what happened there or why it changed me. All I know is that something there changed, transfigured, was revealed to me as it truly is: something vibrating with life and reality, still, yet pulsing with Something More.
As I looked off the edge of the bluffs, the clouds above me moved and a full moon shone brightly on the river. A light fog was drifting like smoke over the Missouri and the bluffs beyond the bend were simmering in the white light as the water north of me curved like a scythe. The reds and browns of the trees stood stark against the stones framing them like a red-breasted robin breathing in the iridescent moonlight.
I stood there and wept by myself, and have never felt less alone.
I don’t know why I cried. I don’t know why the Spirit moved me to that place at that time, other than to see what I saw. I didn’t have an intellectual epiphany or finally find the recipe to kick all my sins to the curb.
But I was filled by the deep breath of life and burned by the desire for more of it. And perhaps that was all I needed.
What response could one have to this but gratitude? The knowledge that I am bankrupt and all that is good in my life comes from God, often through family and friends and monks but at times through the sheer splendor of His hand, that the best I could do after a summer of prayer and study was be struck dumb by beauty: this makes gratitude easy.
Perhaps you’ve had a moment like this, even if you didn’t know what was happening at the time. Regardless, Jesus is waiting to put the “mirror” away and show you something, show you Himself “face to face”, if you have the eyes to see.
Pay attention. When something changes, even for a moment, it can change everything. It did for me.
Shane Rapp graduated from Benedictine College with his bachelor’s in English and Secondary Education in 2008 and again with his Master’s in School Leadership in 2012. He and his wife Megan (BC class of ‘08 and ‘12 as well) live in Olathe with their two children, Cayleigh and Ryan. To read more of Shane’s work, see his blog at thedeathofcatholocism.com
abbey notes
Summer is the time for enrichment programs and some of the monks have profited by them:
Fr. Blaine Schultz participated in the 37th Annual Convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians July 14-18, 2014, in St Louis, Mo. The five days featured liturgies, workshops, vocal and instrumental performances and exhibits.
Br. Timothy McMillan and Br. Emmanuel Orrino joined 35 other male Benedictines in first vows at the annual Junior Institute for male Benedictines at St. Vincent Archabbey (right), Latrobe, Pa. June 14-28, 2014. Representatives from five of the major groups of Benedictines in the country participated in this two-week study/exchange program. Our Abbey will host the program in 2015.
News items from St. Joseph Priory, Mineiros, Goiás. Brazil
Abbot James’ role as abbot includes periodic visits to St. Joseph Priory, our monastic foundation in Mineiros, Goiás. Brazil. He journeyed there April 21-30 to visit the community and to participate in the ordination to the priesthood of Br. Carlos Alberto Nogueira Filho on April 27.
Br. Victor Hugo Pinheiro Leão
dos Santos made profession of triennial vows on the feast of St. Scholastica, February 10. In view of future seminary studies he began philosophical studies at the Federal University of Goiânia on February 17.
On the feast of St. Benedict, July 11, two young men, Br. Thiago Ferreira and Br. Filipe Hélio Inácio da Silva Junior Inácio began their novitiate year and received the monastic habit from Prior Duane Roy. They have also been joined on August 2 by João Luis Vascancelos Machado, a native of Mineiros, as a postulant.
Prior Duane Roy and Fr. Josias da Costa have moved from residency in St. Benedict Monastery, Goiânia, the priory’s house of studies, to St. Joseph Priory in Mineiros and serve as associate pastors of St. Benedict Parish there. Subprior Rodrigo Perissinotto, until now pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Mineiros has moved to Goiânia where he is the superior of the house of studies, St. Benedict Monastery, and is pursuing graduate studies in Psychology at the Catholic University of Goiânia. Fr. Carlos is master of novices and is teaching in the Literature Department of the Catholic University. Fr. Vinícius de Queiroz Rezende became the pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Mineiros on June 15. With the transfer of Bishop José Luiz Majella Delgado, CSSR, from the diocese of Jataí, Goiás to the archdiocese of Pouso Alegre, Minas Gerais, Fr. Joaquim Carvalho has been elected administrator of the diocese until the appointment of a new bishop. Prior to his election Fr. Joaquim had been serving as Vicar General of the Jataí diocese.
News from Atchison
Fr. Matthew Habiger continues to promote strong marriages and Natural Family Planning (NFP). He offers NFP Parish weekends, Parish Missions on the Catechism and the Theology of the Body and clergy conferences throughout the USA. He recently travelled to Hong Kong to promote NFP. He preached at several parishes and gave presentations to permanent Deacons, NFP teachers, Catholic doctors and other medical professionals. He was sponsored by the Hong Kong Catholic Marriage Advisory Council.
Br. Emmanuel Orrino is teaching Introduction to Law in the Political Science Department at Benedictine College and is the faculty moderator for the Communion and Liberation Group at the College. He also collaborates with Br. Leven Harton as associate vocation director of the Abbey.
Br. Luke Turner completed his Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration on August 17. He was chosen by his classmates to give their address and was chosen by the faculty to receive the Dr. Lawrence Hart Award for the most outstanding student of this year’s cohort. He was a member of the team that won the Business Plan of the Year Award through the Kaufman Foundation. Br. Luke teaches International Management in the Business Department of Benedictine College. He will also be taking philosophy courses in view of studies for the priesthood.
Although he graduated from Benedictine College in 2011, Br. Timothy McMillan is pursuing the equivalent of a Major in Philosophy there in view of future studies for the priesthood.
Fr. Marion Charboneau continues his doctoral studies in American history at Kansas State University. He is currently preparing for comprehensive examinations in his chosen fields of Civil War, Southern history, and Modern China. Earlier this spring, he presented a paper at a student history conference at the University of Kansas entitled “To Put an End to Bayonet Rule: The Religious Motivations of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Civil War, and the End of Reconstruction.” Fr. Marion composed this paper for a course on U.S. religious history.
Fr. Daniel McCarthy and Fr. James
Leachman, OSB, are co-editors and For more than one hundred years the authors of a new book in the AppreWhat difference does the Easter vigil make in the life of one celebrating its rites? Abbey of Saint Michael at Farnborough has enjoyed a reputation for excellence ciating the Liturgy Series , Transition In this book the liturgical rites and prayers of the Easter vigil reveal the human transformation intended in the process of becoming Christians in the sacraments of initiation celebrated during the Easter vigil. in the field of liturgical scholarship and publishing. The monks live a traditional life of prayer, work and study in accordance in the Easter Vigil: Becoming Chris Whereas other scholars provide focused studies on the scriptural readings or on a major prayer of the Easter vigil, this unique book provides a comprehensive view of the Easter vigil by examining all with the ancient Rule of Saint Benedict. At the heart of their life is the solemn celebration of the Sacred Liturgy. the short prayers which in turn reveal the steps in the process of tians. The volume is comprised of human transformation. www.farnboroughabbey.org scholarly articles by the editors and Contributors five other liturgical scholars. It is Other St Michael's Abbey Press Titles A Pope and a Council on the Sacred Liturgy published by the St. Michael’s Abbey Fr Daniel P. McCarthy osb, a monk of St Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kansas, is engaged in research and teaching in the Institutum Liturgicum with the Katholieke ‘Mediator Dei’ (Pope Pius XII) and ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’ with comparative study by A. Nichols OP ISBN 0 907077 38 2
Press, Farnborough, UK. Fr. Daniel Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium: liturgyinstitute.org Fr James G. Leachman osb, a monk of Ealing Abbey, London, is an associate tenured professor at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Rome, also engaged in On The Holy Mass by Dom Prosper Guéranger ISBN 0 907077 47 1 research and teaching at the Institutum liturgicum: institutumliturgicum.org.uk continues teaching and research at Liturgy the Life of the Church by Lambert Beauduin osb ISBN 0 907077 40 4 the Institutum Liturgicum located in The Monastic Diurnal The Day Hours of the Monastic Breviary
London and affiliated with the CathISBN 0 907077 44 7 olic University of Leuven, Belgium. Saint Michael’s Abbey Press Saint Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire. GU14 7NQ. England. www.theabbeyshop.com All St Michael's Abbey Press titles available from www.theabbeyshop.com
Fr Dominic Carey cssi Fr Ephrem Carr osb Fr Anscar Chupungco osb Fr Alain Intimi Fr James Leachman osb ISBN 978-0-907077-64-0
Fr Daniel McCarthy osb Fr Patrick Regan osb Fr Manuel Eduardo Solórzano Zerpa op Transition in the Easter Vigil
D. McCarthy osb & J. Leachman osb
LITURGIAM ÆSTIMARE : APPRECIATING THE LITURGY
Transition in the Easter Vigil
Becoming Christians
Edited by Daniel P. McCarthy osb & James G. Leachman osb
Fr. Meinrad travelled to Kolkata, India, to give a seminar to some of Blessed Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity from August 5-13 on the topic of “The Paschal Mystery and the Mystical Body of Christ.” This was Fr. Meinrad’s fourth trip to India to give religious seminars to the Missionaries of Charity. He continues as a faculty member of the Theology Department of Benedictine College and is the Novice Master of the Abbey. On June 1 Abbot Emeritus Barnabas Senecal and his brother, Fr. Gerard Senecal, celebrated jointly their respective 50th and 60th anniversaries of priestly ordination at St. Benedict Parish, Atchison. In recognition of Fr. Gerard’s leadership while pastor of the parish, the parish school gymnasium has been named the “Fr. Gerard Senecal Gymnasium.” Abbot Barnabas is currently associate pastor of St. Benedict Parish and Fr. Gerard has recently retired after 15 years as pastor at Atchison parishes and one year as administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish, St. Marys, Kan. and St. Stanislaus in Rossville, Kan.
Series
LITURGIAM AESTIMARE : APPRECIATING THE LITURGY
Series editors
James G. Leachman osb Daniel P. McCarthy osb
Appreciating the Liturgy offers a fresh understanding of post-Vatican II liturgical texts, based on their historical development, clarity about Latin and the interpretative method of the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy.
The President’s Council of The Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Rome, endorses this project. Its President, Ephrem Carr osb, serves as project moderator with the directors James G. Leachman osb and Daniel P. McCarthy osb.
«DREI» publications: Documenta Rerum Ecclesiasticarum Instaurata.
Other books in this series:
Appreciating the Collect: an Irenic methodology edited by J. Leachman osb & D. McCarthy osb
ISBN 978-0-907077-61-9 Br. Simon Baker was ordained deacon on June Cover photograph by Daniel P. McCarthy 5 in the Abbey Church by the Most Reverend Joseph Naumann, Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas. He has spent the summer enrolled in the Clinical Pastor Education (C.P.E.) program of Research Medical Center, Kansas City, Mo. He is currently completing his fourth and final year of priesthood studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary, Saint Meinrad, Ind. His ordination to the priesthood is scheduled for April 25, 2015. After 29 years of ministry to incarcerated persons in various locations, Fr. Bruce Swift retired this year from his prison ministry at the Lansing Correctional Facility, Lansing, Kan., where he celebrated Mass and provided sacramental ministry for 13 years. Fr. Roderic Giller has assumed the role of sacramental minister at that facility.
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