Kansas Monks Newsletter September 2023

kansas monks

September 2023

Dear Friends,

While studying in Rome I was afforded the opportunity to visit distant relatives in Bavaria.

I would visit my cousin, Frater Vitalis Sittenauer, who is a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Ettal south of Munich. On one of my visits to his monastery we traveled to see his family at the home place of my great-greatgreat-grandparents, Johan and Anna Marie Sittenauer. As we came to the long driveway that led to the farm, we were greeted by an eight-foot-tall crucifix. Upon entering the house – one of those pre-modern structures half house half livestock barn – I was greeted by a small grotto to Mary surrounded by several crucifixes; as we sat down for dinner, the dining room walls were covered with crucifixes; the room where I stayed had more crucifixes. These were not small crucifixes, but two- and three-feet high. It is a Bavarian custom that on one’s wedding day the husband presents his wife with a crucifix, a symbol of his laying down his life for her as Jesus did for the Church (Eph. 5). As this house has been in the Sittenauer family for generation upon generation, each generation was represented with a crucifix.

One of the most amazing things we might witness is the commitment to vows, whether it be between a husband and wife, or a monk professing monastic vows. Before God and the Church an absolute “yes” is given without knowing what will be pulled out of the mixed bag that is our lives. Yet this “yes” is spoken with glad hearts. Is it in sheer ignorance that one is able to do this? In part, vows can only be spoken in

ignorance of what lays ahead. But there is something more, and that is a conviction that life becomes real and worth living in a commitment to love that doesn’t count the cost. The person who speaks their vows, whether religious or marriage vows, is saying, “I’ll take the risk and pay the price because I want my life to be complete.”

Nowhere are the consequences of a simple “yes” spoken more visible than in our Blessed Mother at the foot of the Cross. Mary, who said “yes” to God in her youth now stands in silence at the foot of her son’s cross. And her answer to God, even in that sorrow and pain, is still “yes.” The Church affords us a beautiful combination of feasts this month in the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on 14 September, and Our Lady of Sorrows the following day. As we ponder our Lord and Savior upon the Crucifix, let us stand with our Mother Mary and be comforted by her presence as we together gaze upon our Salvation.

In Christ.

IN THIS ISSUE

Sayi ng Yes to Suffering

How Our Lady of Sorrows Opens Our Way to the Cross

By Prior Leven Harton, OSB

Inhis meditation on the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Three Garlands, Hans Urs Von Balthazar offers these consoling words:

none of us speaks to God the unconditional Yes.  This is why the perfect assent always precedes us unsurpassably. [ . . . ] The Mother’s precedence ahead of us—essential for establishing the road between God and us—does not imply her isolation, but rather the opening up of the possibility of us too becoming assenters.

It is a beautiful thought to consider Mary the “opening up” of a path for us to become more true, more capable of saying “yes” and meaning it.  Perhaps in no area of our lives do we need such help and such hope as in the context of suffering.  Who can assent to that?  Nothing makes us feel less trusting, nothing demands so much investment, nothing pricks us with the sense of betrayal so much as the suffering that comes our way.  In his encyclical  Salvifici Doloris, St. John Paul II penetratingly describes the feelings suffering can engender as having lost one’s soul (23). Suffering is no joke.

In the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, we are presented with the suffering of Mary, of course.  The celebration is prayed the very next day after the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, weaving into the scheduling, as it were, Mary’s nearness to the source of her pain. This gesture of staying proximate to the Cross is important for us, and provides a clue to how Mary’s assent can be more full for us.  The most famous part of this liturgy is the sequence proper to it, the Stabat Mater. It is often prayed on Fridays during Lent at the Stations of the Cross.  The first verse is poetically rendered, “At the cross her station keeping / stood the mournful Mother weeping, / close to Jesus to the

last.” We too seek to enter into this moment of staying in front of Christ’s pain when we pray the Stations.

This habit of “standing” (as opposed to walking away, or slinking off, or running swiftly) in front of pain is a surprising and important gesture. The most natural thing in the world to do in front of pain is to move away, to recoil from the discomfort. But Mary’s standing invites something different, a patience and acquiescence in front of the objectionable and discouraging, an acceptance of one’s place and role.  No one is able to avoid suffering in this life. Our strategies to minimize suffering are often unreliable—even in the twenty-first century world.  The question of suffering remains in front of us in the same way that it has been present to every generation of humanity since the beginning. To say “yes” to suffering takes tremendous faith—faith like Mary’s. But it is, really, a simple gesture, not complicated. Our pathway to a more full and complete yes, for many of us, is probably through suffering. Like Mary, it may require us to “stand,” to simply not flee from the uncomfortable and stinging situation that comes to us.  In the mass of this day, we can ask to unite our sufferings with that of Mary, who leads us, always, to Christ. 

St Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, KS

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1876. Pieta, oil on canvas

Removing Your S andals

By Fr. Jay Kythe, OSB

InExodus 3:1-6 we hear the story of how Moses looks upon a “bush, though on fire, wasnot consumed.” He becomes curious and approaches this marvelous sight. And he hears the Lord God call out to him with the instruction to remove his sandals, for he stands on holy ground.

This passage calls to mind the first lecture of a particular professor who specialized in dogmatic theology at the Saint Paul Seminary, where I studied for the priesthood. He was a very tough and frightening professor, a harsh grader, strongly opinionated, and disagreed vehemently with his students. Many a time I found the words “I don’t think so” inscribed in red ink in the margins of my papers. His oral exams were legend, and still evoke fear in me. Being a highly esteemed professor, I took as many classes as I could from him. Of all the classes and the many forgotten lectures, I remember his first lecture most of all, even after a decade and a half later.

He began musing about the philosophers, who would sit and ponder. He sat on a chair and imitated their posture. And then he asked, “What then do you suppose a theologian does?” And then, surprisingly, he fell to his knees. He explained that the theologian has seen a burning bush and his curious as to why it is not consumed. That is why a theologian does theology. He encounters the living God and is compelled to remove his sandals, for he stands on holy ground.

There are three areas from my priestly and monastic life where I would like to explore the “removing of one’s sandals.” There are, of course, many others, but these three come to mind.

First of all, the human soul. In the great work of pastoral care, I meet many people who are struggling. And when I see tears in their eyes (which I do frequently), I realize that I am on holy ground. I must tread carefully here, for God is present, doing a great work of healing, of which I am merely His surgical instrument.

Second, the sacred liturgy. Amidst all the controversies over liturgy, all the arguments and stronglyheld opinions, there is the reality of the presence of God in the Word and in the Eucharist. Certainly there is holy ground here! And I must approach this God with sandals removed, symbolically of course. For He chooses to encounter me here as I come forward to receive Him.

Third, the works of salvation wrought in Christ Jesus, the Sacred Triduum and the Pascal Mystery. These are mysteries to be experienced before they can be elucidated. Many theological treatises have been written about these mysteries, but how often, I wonder, have the authors removed their sandals first before putting pen to paper?

Removing one’s sandals is more than just praying about something. It is about an approach, a posture of humility before the Almighty. It is about an encounter with a Presence filled with love and mercy for you. It is standing before a great Mystery in awe and gratitude. We should do this more often when we encounter the living God. 

“Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

Dierick Bouts, Moses and the Burning Bush, oil on panel

Living the Liturgy

Commentary on the Liturgical Year

By James R. A. Merrick

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS

OnSeptember 15th, we devote ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows, and it has been customary to dedicate the month of September to the devotion. While many ancient Christians connected with the sorrows of Mary, especially in the fourth and fifth centuries, devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is often associated with the twelfth century and the writings of St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) and St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). Under the Cistercians and Servites of Mary in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the devotion expanded. In eighteenth century, the feast was universalized as it was placed int he liturgical calendar on the Friday before Palm Sunday by Pope Benedict XIII. In 1913, Pope St. Pius X transferred the Feast to September 15th, the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

September is an appropriate time to meditate on the seven sorrows of Mary. The seven sorrows are:

(1) the prophecy of Simeon; (2) the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt; (3) the loss of Jesus in the Temple; (4) meeting Jesus as He carries His cross; (5) the crucifixion; (6) receiving the Body of Jesus off the Cross; and (7) the burial of Jesus. These seven mysteries can be contemplated in the context of a chaplet. Another devotion to consider for this month is the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows.

3 SEPTEMBER – 22ND SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME

The first request ought to make us reflect. We so often do things for the sake of our own name, whether our reputation or advancement. But a major dimension of the Scriptural narrative is the name of God. The people of God are called to make His name known throughout the earth. Consequently, this Sunday provides us with an opportunity to reflect on what we would do differently if we were acting for the sake of magnifying God’s name rather than our own. Indeed, as the gospel appointed for today exhorts: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

8 SEPTEMBER – FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Although no longer a Holy Day of Obligation, the celebration of Mary’s birth goes back quite far in the history of the Church. It appears to have been marked in the fifth and sixth centuries. A hymn to Mary’s birth was written by Romanos the Medodist, a Syrian Christian born in the late fifth century. This hymn is responsible for popularizing the feast of Mary’s nativity and bringing it to the Greek and Roman churches. It was observed throughout the Christian world by the twelfth century and was a Holy Day of Obligation until the early twentieth century. On account of Mary’s fruitfulness, her nativity was often celebrated both with a thanksgiving for the summer harvest and the blessing of the seeds for the winter crops. In recent times, some Catholics are accustomed to hosting a birthday party for Mary.

Aversion

of the collect for the first Sunday in September is found in some of the earliest prayer books of the Church. It acclaims God as a powerful giver: “God of might, giver of every good gift.” On this basis it asks three things: First, that God would “put into our hears the love of [His] name.” Second, that God would “nurture in us what is good.” And, finally, that He would “keep safe what [He has] nurtured.”

Mary’s birth reminds us of the ways in which God prepared and provided for the Incarnation. It is a good occasion for us to remember that our own lives are rooted in God’s perfect Providence. We might pray and ask the Lord why He chose this time for us to live and what we might do to advance the cause of His Kingdom.

10 SEPTEMBER – 23RD SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME

Iftoday you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” This is the refrain from the responsorial Psalm. It is appropriate that the Church puts it on our lips on the Sunday that follows our celebration of Mary’s birth. It was, of course, the pureness and tenderness of her heart that enabled her to say “yes” to God’s call.

The readings for this Sunday focus on love of neighbor as part of the fulfillment of the Law. This is also fitting as we prepare for the Exaltation of the Cross later this week.

Unfortunately, in recent times, there has arisen a misinterpretation of the second reading, which comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. St. Paul explains that love of neighbor fulfills the Law. Some have taken this to mean that God doesn’t want us to be fussy about our devotion to Him but to concentrate on being compassionate to others. In this interpretation, St. Paul is telling us that charity is greater than piety, perhaps even that religion should give way to social justice. In is supposed that God doesn’t want us to build fancy churches or engage in lavish ritual worship but to advocate for the marginalized and to establish organizations that help those in need.

While concern for and compassionate care of one’s neighbor is absolutely central to Christian charity, to suggest that our love of God simply collapses or reduces into love for neighbor misunderstands St. Paul’s meaning. It is clear that St. Paul is focusing on our relationship to others and, indeed, is only referring to the portion of the Ten Commandments that concern duties to neighbor. The first three commandments, which outline our responsibilities to God and are the basis for the religion, are still important. All St. Paul is saying is that the dimension of the Law that concerns duties to neighbor can be fulfilled by love of neighbor.

14 SEPTEMBER – EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS

Today we have another feast that comes from the early medieval period. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross commemorates the discovery of the Cross of Christ by St. Helena. The first reading

recounts the Israelites, while on their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land, being attacked and bitten by serpents. Many perished from the venom. God instructs Moses to erect a pole with a bronze serpent and to exhort the people to look upon it in order to be saved. This foreshadows the cross of Christ.

Allegorically we can recognize that the Israelites suffering in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land represents our own earthly pilgrimage to heaven. It is when we are feeling defeated and discouraged that the serpent of old, the Devil, attacks us with various temptations and bites us with the venom of resentment and prideful rejection of God. But as Moses’ bronze serpent reveals, it is through the cross that Christ triumphs over Satan. And so it is as we endure our own crosses, looking to the Cross of Christ, that the power of evil is destroyed in our souls.

15 SEPTEMBER – OUR LADY OF SORROWS

Thecollect for today’s memorial connects us with yesterday’s feast: “O God, who willed that, when your Son was lifted high on the Cross, His Mother should stand close by and share His suffering…” There is certainly a short-sighted, self-interested way of looking upon the Cross. How many athletes and celebrities wear a cross around their neck and falsify it by their behavior and pride?

We need to be like Our Lady and be sorrowful at the Cross. We should strive to have the same love for Christ as she had, and therefore the same grief over His crucifixion as her. If we have no sense of sorrow for Christ’s cross in our Christian life, then we are neglecting a crucial dimension of Catholic Faith. It is this sense of grief that will motivate our devotion and penance.

In the eastern traditions, there is a custom of praying for “holy tears.” This is the gift of being able to weep at one’s sin and offenses against Christ. Today’s memorial might be a good occasion for us to ask the Lord for such “holy tears.”

17 SEPTEMBER – 24TH SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME

Wrathand anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” So begins our first reading this

Sunday, taken from Sirach. The reading exhorts us to “forgive your neighbor’s injustice” for “could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself [and] seek pardon for his own sins?”

The first reading is nicely paired with the parable of the merciless servant in the Gospel. There we read that a servant who owed his king an incredible amount of money was shown mercy only to be merciless to his own servant. For this, the merciless servant is “handed over to the torturers.” Jesus concludes the parable with the warning: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

It has been remarked that we live at a time characterized by the inflaming of resentment and grievance. Those who follow Christ rightly decry injustice. But they should have no part of movements that promote anger, bitterness, and vengeance. If ours is the way of the Cross, then our witness in today’s world must be one that promotes forgiveness and mercy.

24 SEPTEMBER – 25TH SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME

Seekthe Lord while He may be found.” This opening line from the first reading is taken up in the responsorial Psalm, which repeats the sentence: “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.” In today’s Mass, there is the sense that although we may have waited long, there is still time to enlist ourselves in the Lord’s service. This theme is brought into focus by the gospel reading, which sees laborers show up for work late in the day. The owner hires them for only a few hours of work. Yet they receive the same pay as those who have been working a full day. What might strike us as unfair highlights the gratuitousness of God’s grace.

It is precisely this gratuitousness that creates a sense of urgency. We are given an opportunity that is too good to be true, as it were, and we ought to act while there is still time.

29 SEPTEMBER – ST. MICHAEL & THE ARCHANGELS

The feast of St. Michael at the end of September was prominent throughout Catholic Europe, until the modern age. The celebration of St. Michael on this day

dates back to 530 when Pope Boniface II consecrated a church in honor of St. Michael. Up until the eighteenth century, this feast was a Holy Day of Obligation. There were often parades, fairs, and plays that highlighted the celestial battle of St. Michael and the angels against the Devil and his demons. With the new missal, however, the feast was broadened to include all the archangels.

In England, there was a custom of cooking geese in honor of St. Michael, since the large wings of the geese resemble the depictions of Michael’s great wings. In Scotland, the festive cuisine was “St. Michael’s Bannock,” a cereal cake that was made of the last harvest of grains. In England and Scotland it was also customary to eat blackberries or blackberry pie, since according to legend, when St. Michael expelled Lucifer from heaven, Lucifer landed in a blackberry patch. In other parts of Europe, a wine was dedicated to St. Michael which people would imbibe during the festivities.

Although this feast has all but been forgotten in our time, we ought to revive it. While Enlightenment rationalism has led to a general embarrassment at belief in angels, today new forms of spiritualism makes it important to have a clear sense of the heavenly and hellish powers amidst which we live. We can purpose today to learn more about the angelic forces and strengthen our sense of reliance on them for daily victory over evil. At the very least, we can purpose to pray the Prayer to St. Michael more frequently. 

13th century icon, Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai