Kansas Monks Summer 2012

k ansas

Summer 2012

monk s

Brother Lawrence Bradford Retires - L I F E T I M E AC A D E M I C S AY S FA R E W E L L TO T E AC H I N G -

1

From the Abbot

Kansas Monks

3........

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Half Century

In 1962 three monks were sent to Brazil to establish a Benedictine presence in South America. Abbot Barnabas joined the monks of St. Joseph Priory to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the journey of Bishop Matthias Schmidt, Father Otho Sullivan and Father Stephen Burns.

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SomosweIrmãos are brothers 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Obl ate s 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peanut Butter & Onions A peculiar tradition exists at St. Benedict’s Abbey– peanut butter and onions.

Abbot Owen and the monks of St. Benedict’s explain this culinary curiosity.

contributing writers: Abbot Barnabas Senecal “Celebrate good examples.”

From the Abbot (3) | Abbey Notes (23)

Brother John Peto “A Christian is known by his happiness in the Lord!”

Oblates (7)

Father Gabriel Landis-

Christ leads me through no darker rooms than he went through before; he that unto God’s kingdom comes must enter by this door. • From the Desert (22)

Abbot Owen Purcell “It’s all a day at a time.”

Marked by a Sign of Faith (11)

Prior Duane Roy “Working at the daily task of being a monk” Somos Irmãos (6)

Brother Christopher Start “Whatever you have done to the least of these you have done to me.”

Clothed With Faith (17)

12 . . Brother Lawrence

11. . . . . . . Marked with the sign of Faith Remembering Father Henry Deters.

Born-1928 | Professed 1957 Ordained 1963 | Died 1996

Brother Lawrence Bradford has spent his entire life in school. He retires from a long teaching career.

faith 17 . . . . . clothed with God’s Will In Our Lives

20. . . . a Grateful Response

Catholic Press Association Award Winner

22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From the Desert

General Excellence 2009 2010 2011

liturgy & the life of the church

23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2

Abbey notes

Publisher: Abbot Barnabas Senecal, O.S.B., bsenecal@kansasmonks.org Editor: Dan Madden, dmadden@kansasmonks.org Art Direction: J.D. Benning, jbenning@kansasmonks.org

Photography: J.D. Benning (cover), Abbot Barnabas Senecal, The Monks of St. Joseph Priory, Alzbeta Vok Kansas Monks magazine is published by the Office of Development.

For a free subscription: 913.360.7906, or development@kansasmonks.org.

From the Abbot

Summer 2012

Celebrating a Good Example

“Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” With tongue in cheek, Steve Koehler, a nephew of Abbot Ralph used this quote from Mark Twain in giving a toast to his uncle at a dinner following a Sunday late morning Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Seneca, May 6.

John Proffitt, nephew, invited the family to be grateful for the thousands of times Father Ralph stood in the place of Christ offering the Eucharist, offering us the Body and Blood of Christ and sending us out to be Christ to our world. For that, Father Ralph, each of us says “Thank you!” Tom Broderick, a nephew from Keller Tex., also spoke for the family.

Abbot Ralph has served many people in his years of priesthood, accepting assignments in St. Benedict’s Abbey and its many works. He served 12 years in St. Joseph’s Priory in Brazil, four years as prior of St. Benedict’s Abbey and then nine years as abbot. He taught in our high school, Maur Hill, for five years when he was also prior of the Abbey. He served as pastor in parishes of the Archdiocese for 19 years. He has been retired for three years.

Throughout his years of priesthood, Abbot Ralph was able to use a chalice given to him by his family at the time of ordination in 1962.

Twelve monks made the trip from Atchison to Seneca to celebrate the anniversary Mass and to join in the luncheon. Abbot Ralph moved carefully up and down the steps surrounding the altar as the principal celebrant and homilist. About a year ago he suffered a broken hip during an evening of fishing at a Nemaha County lake near Seneca. He has shown steady improvement in his walking, has maintained his sense of humor and his desire to fish again, even to return to playing serious golf.

Abbot Ralph enjoys community life, especially his joking with junior monks and novices.

“Did the novices do any work today?” or “Were the novices on time for morning prayer today?” He lives the daily schedule of all the monks, knows the idleness that can become the fate of the older monk, yet he pitches in with projects when he is able.

photo by Abbot Barnabas Senecal

Abbot Ralph is 83. He was an Airborne Radar technician in the U.S. Air Force for three years before he professed vows in the monastery in 1956. He completed his philosophy and theology studies here, and was ordained in 1962.

In Brazil he ministered in Portuguese. I’ve always admired our monks who demonstrated patience and commitment in learning the language of that country.

I’ve learned very little in the 18 years I have made trips there.

Abbot Ralph Koehler celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Seneca, Kan.

I remember when Abbot Ralph came back to Atchison after his service in Brazil. He taught at our high school and introduced computer education on the TRS80, the early Tandy Radio Shack computer. He taught programming, helped us first computerize our office and alumni data.

It may have been true that Mark Twain struggled to put up with a good example. However, I believe he, like Abbot Ralph’s confreres here in the Abbey, would have enjoyed our sixth abbot. Perhaps he might have taken a walk with Abbot Ralph, Father Louis Kirby and Father Jude Burbach on one of their afternoon strolls in the spring sun. Perhaps the Kansan and the Missourian might have sparred on a few issues and laughed at the young people in such a rush.

In the end, I think Mark Twain would grudgingly admit that some good examples are easier to put up with than others.

Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB 3

St. Joseph Priory Kansas Monks

50 ye ari ns Bra z il

C eleb r atin g

St. Joseph’s Priory

was founded in 1962 when Abbot Cuthbert McDonald sent a trio of monks -- Father Matthias Schmidt, Father Otho Sullivan and Father Stephen Burns -- to Brazil.

The Abbot was responding to a call from the Pope for Benedictines to establish monastic life in South America.

The principle activity of the priory is the pastoral care of the city of Mineiros, Goias, and the surrounding rural area. Father Joaquim Carlos Carvalho (right) has helped in this effort since 1976.

He also served as prior from 1997-2004.

Brother Carlos Alberto Nogueira Filho

4

Father Kieran McInerney (right) was the right-hand man of Bishop Matthias for 10 years.

During Father Kieran’s 33 years in Brazil, he served as pastor, prior of the monastery, business manager and worked in formation of young monks. He was deeply influenced by his work with the poorest of the poor and the leadership of Bishop Matthias.

St. Benedict Monastery, a house of studies for young monks, was established in August 1998. Located in the capital city of Goiania it also serves as the prior’s residence.

Summer 2012

Bishop Herbet Hermes, native of Shallow Water, Kan., was a pastor in Minieros until his appointment as Bishop of Cristalandia. He served there until retirement in 2008. Today he works in social justice, fighting for the rights of poor and disenfranchised local people.

Father Eric Deitchman

(1934-1997; shown at left, L to R: Brother Robert Heiman, Father David Kinish & Father Eric) helped trigger an agricultural boom in Mineiros. His efforts and those of other monks have assisted in the city’s religious and socio-economic development.

Fourteen Kansas monks have served at the Priory. Fulfilling the original mission of the founders, today all but one of the monks there are native Brazilians. Abbot Barnabas Senecal, at right with Father Rodrigo Perissinotto, remains the superior the community. Prior Duane Roy is the monastery’s resident superior, acting on behalf of the Abbot. The Priory’s aim is to someday become an autonomous abbey in its own right.

Prior Duane Roy

Father Vinícius de Queiroz Rezende (right)

was ordained in 2008 and serves as associate pastor of the parish in Mineiros. He is also active in youth ministry throughout the diocese.

The priory and parish have collaberated in developing extensive housing areas for indigent, low-income families.

Father Matthias Schmidt, (left & right) one of the three founders, became the beloved bishop of the Diocese of Ruy Barbosa. He was admired for his courageous defense of the rights of the poor. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1992 praying the rosary prior to Mass. He was 62.

5

Kansas Monks

Somos Irmãos

we are brothers

Families often come together to cherish memories of dedication and love, and celebrate the Golden Jubilee of their parents or grandparents. Likewise, this happened when we monks in Brazil celebrated our Golden Jubilee. Fifty-one years ago St. Benedict´s Abbey sent some of their monks to found another monastery in Brazil. A year later, 50 years ago, on April 26, 1962, these monks were received in the city of Mineiros, Goiás.

Abbot Barnabas Senecal joined us for the solemn event of our Jubilee. He presented a chalice for use at our Masses, symbolizing our united effort to live and strengthen the bond of love in the Risen Lord.

Bestowing his message of gratitude and encouragement, he participated in three Masses of Thanksgiving. On Saturday, April 28, at St. Benedict´s Church, Mineiros, Benedictine Bishop Herbert Hermes, presided. On Sunday, April 29, at Holy Spirit Church, Mineiros, Benedictine Subprior Rodrigo Perissinotto, presided. Holy Spirit Church is where the missionary monks began and exercised their ministry until the creation of a second parish in Mineiros, St. Benedict’s, in 2010. On Monday, April 30, at St. Benedict´s Monastery and formation house in Goiânia, I presided and preached.

Following the Golden Jubilee celebration of the founding of St. Joseph Priory in Goiânia, a married couple, both of whom are Benedictine Oblates, came to the monastery to celebrate afternoon Mass with us. They also participated in the historic celebration the night before. When I asked what they considered significant about the celebration, the husband, Nélio, said a period of 50 years speaks of permanence and stability. Using a comparison from his profes-

Father Eric Deitchman celebrates Mass in Mineiros.

6

sional life as a salesman he explained that some products stay on the market longer than others, but oftentimes lose popularity. Monastic life is a product in the offering for a long time that remains strong. Claudia, his wife, said she perceived a peaceful joy as several monks spoke of their past confreres, relating stories and radiating pride in their past. She witnessed their contentment in being part of Prior Duane Roy this group of monks.

Prior - St. Joseph’s Priory Retired Archbishop of Goiânia, Antônio Ribeiro de Oliveira, was present for the celebratory event in Goiânia. Also in attendance was retired Bishop Herbert, retired bishop of the Prelacy of Cristalândia, who will complete the 50-year milestone as a member of St. Joseph Priory later this same year.

Bishop Herbert’s arrival in Brazil coin“With this celebration cided with the openwe take a hard look ing of Vatican Couninto our past and cil II. He attested to the manner in which rejoice with gratitude. the American monks Now we must look related to the Brazilians over the years, forward – not just to listening and learning plan and administer through dialogue. He our activities – but to said his fellow monks assimilated the spirit be men of vision of the and teachings of this Benedictine charism Council, specifically, the formation and and evangelization.” participation of the laity. He stressed the warm hospitality of the families in MineiFather Vinícius de Queiroz ros, who took us Rezende into their homes and hearts and made it easy for the monks to adapt and ‘incarnate’ into a different culture.

He also emphasized the centrality of the Benedictine charism ‘Ora et Labora’ - ‘Pray and Work’ - in our missionary work.

Father Joaquim Carlos, who joined the Priory in 1974, shared with the gathering of friends, oblates, clergy and religious that it was Archbishop Antônio who graciously first received the monks into the Archdiocese of Goiânia. He encouraged them to build their monastic house of formation – without need of assuming a parish – and maintain open doors to both laity and clergy who were seeking spiritual direction and sacramental reconciliation.

Father Vinicius, our youngest priest monk, summed up: “With this celebration we take a hard look into our past and rejoice with gratitude. Now we must look forward – not just to plan and administer our activities – but to be men of vision of the Benedictine charism and evangelization.”

With grateful hearts and renewed hope we embrace the future. We thank every one of you for your support.

Summer 2012

Abbey Appoints Development Director Abbot Barnabas Senecal has appointed Joe Akers (right) as Director of Development of St. Benedict’s Abbey. The appointment of Akers, a veteran development professional and businessman, is an effort to expand the Abbey’s efforts to nurture friendships and serve its supporters and benefactors.

Akers comes to Atchison from Lincoln, Neb., where he was the founder and president of a business forms distributorship. Before that he established the Office of Development and served as Director of Development at Mount Michael Benedictine High School near Omaha.

“The greatest group of men I have ever known are the Benedictine monks at Mount Michael,” Akers said. “Their influence makes it an honor to join another special group, the monks at St. Benedict’s Abbey.”

Obl ates The Rule of St. Benedict states a number of times the importance of silence to the monastic life. It is my intention to impress upon oblates and others how important silence is to all people, no matter their vocation. Our world is full of noise. Car radios blare away so loudly that it carries to other cars through closed windows. Many homes seem to function only if the television is turned on even when no one is watching. There is a constant chatter and beeping of cell phones, ipods and all manner of gadgets.

Are we afraid of silence? It seems that in stillness we might be challenged in our way of thinking. Silence can really reach to the depth of our being and make us uncomfortable. Why is the monastic called to silence? Why do we find signs requesting silence in churches and monasteries? Is the idea to make us uncomfortable inside a church or monastic house? Quite the opposite is true.

Silence should be one of the most comfortable and prayerful experiences of our lives. In silence we can reach the very depth of our being. Perhaps it is there that we might find something in our character that might need to be changed. Isn’t that what the Christian life is all about, a constant striving to become more Christlike? This theme is played over and over again in the Prologue of the Rule.

Michael Casey, the Trappist monk and writer from Australia, has written about the challenges set forth in the Prologue. He explains how the monk or oblate can live each of these challenges.

Challenges that come about through reflection and silence can be deep and meaningful and can lead to changes in our lives.

There is another kind of silence. Try sitting quietly in a church and in your imagination hear the countless prayers uttered there over many years. When I was a young boy growing up in England my parents often took me to Cerne Abbey cemetery, where my paternal grandparents are buried.

“Joe is a fit for our Benedictine community and our development effort,” Abbot Barnabas said. “As a graduate of Mount Michael and as the initiator of that school’s development program, as an active Catholic parish member and a business man, he knows how to build relationships based on values.”

Akers also served as campaign director on two successful parish campaigns at St. Stephen the Martyr Parish in Omaha.

Akers has ties to the Atchison Benedictines. His daughter Rachel is a graduate of Benedictine College’s Class of 2009.

“Rachel’s years at Benedictine College provide special memories for our family. The monks were a big part of that experience,” he said.

Akers comes to the Abbey in the middle of the Share Our Mission capital campaign, which is raising money to replace windows in the monastery, repair the roof, and to strengthen an endowment for the education of young monks and the retirement and health care of elderly monks.

Nearly $1.9 million has been raised toward a $3.2 million goal, but perhaps the most difficult part of the campaign lies ahead.

Akers is undaunted.

“We certainly face challenges ahead,” he said, “But with an excellent staff representing this humble group of men, surrounded by so many friends, our goals will be attainable.”

Akers and his wife Lois have four children.

I was struck by the few remaining walls of the ancient monastery. The silence of those walls spoke to me in a way I could not explain. Now, I feel they were echoing in their silence the chants of many monks. I found it interesting in later reading of David Knowles book on monastic history that this abbey at Brother John Peto Cerne was a black Benedictine Director of Oblates monastery (determined by the color of the habits worn by the monks) not a white Cistersian abbey typical of much of England. Maybe the silence called me to become a black Benedictine many years later.

Notes: You may want to inform your family that you are an oblate and would like it mentioned in your death notice. It would be sufficient to say that the deceased was an Oblate of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kan. It is important to mention the place of your oblate stability.

Many years ago oblates were buried in the monastic habit.

Today that might be confusing. Two items are available that you might consider using as part of clothing of a deceased oblate: A medal of St. Benedict can be pinned to clothing. Also I have scapulars (below) featuring St. Benedict and St. Scholastica crafted from old habits. If you wish to use either of the above please contact me and I can arrange delivery.

Are you interested in becoming an Oblate of St. Benedict’s Abbey?

Contact Br. John Peto:

johnpeto1@gmail.com

913-360-7896 7

A

Kansas Monks

A MONASTIC TRADITION UNLIKE ANY OTHER

PEANUT BUTTER & ONIONS

8

by Dan Madden | Photos by J.D. Benning

A

Summer 2012

bbot Owen Purcell knows the importance of crunch.

“I saw a show on the Food Network the other day and they were putting coleslaw on pulled pork sandwiches,” he says. “Crunchiness is a big deal!”

As for peanut butter, the retired Abbot prefers his smooth. But that’s where the onions come in.

“You get a nice crunch from onions,” he says. “I like to put them on my English muffin, or I use rye bread if it is available.” Some chop them up and stir them in with the peanut butter. Some lay the onions in big slabs across the creamy smoothness.

“Some guys used to mix honey or even mayonnaise with their peanut butter,” Abbot Owen recalls. “I always put a lot of salt on the onions, although I’ve had to cut down on the salt.”

In the old days, the monks were served long twisted rolls and platters of onions; jars of peanut butter were always on the table.

A peanut butter and onion sandwich and black coffee. Is there a better way to start a morning?

Uh…yes.

“Very few people say that it sounds really good,” Abbot Owen says. But that didn’t stop him from resurrecting the old tradition during his tenure as abbot.

“It has a marvelous taste to it,” Abbot Owen says with a defiant grin. “I go for it every time. I know many people who have turned their nose up at it, but when they give it a try, they say, ‘Hey, it’s pretty good!’”

Abbot Owen is one of the few champions of the old tradition at St. Benedict’s Abbey, but even he isn’t sure where it started. He speculates that it came over from St. Vincent Archabbey, St. Benedict’s motherhouse. Another story is that the tradition started during the Depression, when other foods, and even jelly to go with peanut butter sandwiches, were scarce. Peanut Butter was a government commodity and the Abbey grew onions in its own gardens.

Another account comes from Father Denis Meade. “The story is that following World War I when the Spanish Influenza hit, people thought that eating onions every day would keep the doctor away,” he says. “Onions and peanut butter began to happen daily. People would stir it together with honey and form this goo and put it on these wonderful twisted roles.”

However it started, the tradition stuck.

“One person who absolutely adored this dish was our Bishop Matthias,” Father Denis notes. “Others like myself never indulged in this delicacy.”

Abbot Owen remembers hearing about the sandwiches before he became a “Hilltopper,” a priesthood student living in the top of the Administration Building, which today is St. Benedict Hall.

“It was a curiosity,” he remembers. As a Hilltopper, the young Abbot Owen and his classmates ate breakfast with the monks. By that time, what had been a daily menu item had dwindled to every Tuesday. On those mornings the fog of onion breath hung heavy in the Hilltopper classrooms.

Father Denis remembers Tuesday mornings as a Hilltopper for the “overpowering aroma.”

“People were breathing this onion fire at you,” he remembers. “They were like dragons.”

Father Blaine Schultz says he’s always associated the sandwiches with Abbot Owen. He admits the sandwiches didn’t appeal to him at first, but it is an acquired taste. He prefers to slap on a pair of sweet Bermuda onions. He finds the flavor “unique” and not unpleasant, but usually one sandwich is enough. Father Blaine occasionally introduces the delicacy to those people who recoil at the idea. “Don’t judge until you try it,” he warns. “My younger sister tried it but she never did take to it,” he says.

Europeans don’t eat peanut butter. It is a distinctively American condiment, invented by George Washington Carver. Prior James Albers learned this during his first year in Rome, studying at the Benedictine House of Studies, Sant’Anselmo. Students were provided the opportunity to make a presentation about their home monastery. On the Feast of St. Benedict, after a slide show and a brief explanation of the traditions of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Father James planned to share Peanut Butter and Onion sandwiches with his classmates.

He found onions and Wonder Bread easy enough. Problem was, finding peanut butter in Rome. After scouring the backstreets of the ancient city, he finally found a shop that sold it, mostly to homesick Americans. He served the sandwiches to his European classmates with fine Chianti wine. “They liked it a lot,” he says. The elegance of the Chianti didn’t hurt.

“Wine tastes good with everything,” he says with a smile. continued on next page

9

Kansas Monks Father James continued to serve the sandwiches during his time in Rome. But in his third, and final, year, the shop that sold peanut butter had closed. A friend who knew someone at the American Consulate offered to help. Perhaps they could find peanut butter through diplomatic channels.

As the day for Father James’ final feast drew closer, no peanut butter appeared, and Father James’ hope waned.

Then, on the final day, he was called to the front door to find two United States Marines bearing peanut butter. “Our American tax dollars at work,” he recalls with a laugh.

Today, peanut butter and onions is still available every Tuesday on the Abbey breakfast table, and the sandwiches are served once or twice a month on Fridays, grilled, much like a grilled cheese sandwich, as part of the community’s weekly abstinence from meat for the intention of vocations.

That’s the way Abbot Barnabas Senecal prefers them; the dragon fire isn’t quite as strong.

“I don’t like them at all,” says Father Aaron Peters of the sandwiches in his typically blunt manner.

He is, however, happy that the tradition remains. “There are a lot of these little traditions that we’ve lost,” he says.

“They are what make us distinct.”

He admits that to some peanut butter and onions might seem odd, but he says that’s the nature of his community.

“Knowing this community, nothing ever puzzles me,” he says, tugging at his beard. “We probably didn’t have anything else to eat back then. We used to grow a lot of onions. We still grow onions, but not like we used to.”

Abbot Owen admits he has odd tastes. He occasionally puts sweet pickle on a cracker with peanut butter. And frankly he’ll eat an onion in any way, shape or form.

Are peanut butter and onion sandwiches peculiar. “Heck yes!” he exclaims.

But so are monks.

“Peculiar eating habits for peculiar people.”

“The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind, to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.” - P S A L M 14 N R S V

Stairs well worn P O E M A N D P H OTO B Y A B B OT B A R N A B A S S E N E C A L

10

Many monks walk these steps, To upper and lower levels, Thinking, thanking, praying To God above and within.

Stepping slowly but surely, Where others have before, To prayer, to meals, to work, Routine, doing God’s will.

Stairs are symbols In home and school and arena, Creating above and below, Providing different points of view, Bringing together, the many, Creating beauty and oneness, Serving one another easily, As do iron and wood and stone.

Pentecost gives us Spirit To walk with energy and confidence To tasks at many levels, Steps well worn yet inviting.

Marked with the sign of Faith

c

f

Summer 2012

Father Henry Deters | 1928-1996

R

obert Deters

was born in Seneca, Kan., and was raised on a farm near there. His early education ended at the eighth grade. He served in the U.S. Army from 19491952. He later entered St. Benedict’s College and earned a degree in English in 1959. As Frater Henry he had made his first vows on July 11, 1957. He was ordained to the priesthood July 1, 1963.

Father Henry earned a master’s degree in theology from Marquette University in 1965 and went on to teach at St. Benedict’s College and Benedictine College, where he also served as a dormitory prefect. In 1975, Father Henry volunteered to serve at St. Joseph Priory in Mineiros, Goias, Brazil where he came to be known as Dom Enrique.

His tastes were simple, especially where clothing, food and transportation were concerned. While in Brazil he took up the local custom of removing his shoes while riding buses on the rough local roads. He served three parishes there before he returned to the abbey in 1982.

Father Henry was deeply respected by his confreres and his dry, almost innocent humor, was highly prized. Henry was the master of the unexpected retort, oblique and cryptic. Sometimes he would put one off balance. Father Henry was a lifelong learner who loved to play with words and expressions that were not in common use. His free-flowing curiosity and hunger for ideas made him an amiable traveling companion.

When asked to serve in Nemaha County he was concerned that he was related to half of the people in the parish. Deters is a common name in the county, particularly around Baileyville.

From 1982 until his death he served in the abbey parish ministry. He served at St. Benedict’s and Sacred Heart in Atchison, and at St. Louis in Good Intent. In 1990 Father Henry was appointed pastor of St. Mary’s, St. Benedict, St. Bede, Kelly, and St. Patrick’s, Corning, all in Nemaha County.

In 1995, he was diagnosed with cancer and returned the Abbey, where he died Jan. 3, 1996 at the age of 67.

11

Kansas Monks

The Monk Who Knows Everything B R OT H E R L AW R E N C E B R A D F O R D R E T I R E S

by Dan Madden

Brother Lawrence Bradford knows everything.

Professor Dan Bowen grins amiably but he clearly isn’t joking. Whether the question is cell structure, symphony or cilantro, to put it bluntly Brother Lawrence expects to know the answer.

Giving a bit of flourish, longtime Benedictine College. professor and administrator Sister Linda Herndon says, “Larry is a Renaissance man.” continued on next page

12

Summer 2012

13

photo by j.d. benning

Kansas Monks

The Renaissance era is over

at Benedictine College. Brother Lawrence is retiring after 23 years in the Biology Department.

Brother Lawrence is a gourmet chef, a musician, and a scientist. He appreciates fine Scotch, fermented cheeses and is an aficionado of all fresh vegetables and herbs. For nearly a quarter of a century, he has taught Benedictine College’s top biology students. But he has also, with blunt wit and grudging patience, unfailingly volunteered to teach the introductory biology class for non-science majors. Few of the students in this class shared Brother Lawrence’s passion for science.

“Work has never been drudgery for Brother Lawrence,” Professor Bowen says. “He loves the students and he always had their best interest at heart.”

Whether he is leading Benedictine biology students in the Amazon Jungle or uncovering the mysteries of French cuisine with the gourmet club he helped start, Brother Lawrence is guided by insatiable curiosity.

“Part of my problem is that I’m interested in everything,” he admits. A former high school teacher who went on to earn a doctorate at the University of Kansas after entering the monastery, Brother Lawrence has likely attended more school than any of his students. When he recently looked back at his transcripts, he found he had earned 704 credit hours at schools such as Northwestern, the University of Kansas, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, and of course Benedictine.

As a high school teacher he stepped outside his discipline and taught physics, and algebra, and chemistry, which he also taught at B.C. “Scholarship has been my whole life,” he says. “I guess I’m the quintessential nerd.”

Brother Lawrence won’t be leaving Benedictine entirely. He plans to stay on, emeritus, and teach in a limited role.

That is not surprising for someone who has persevered, says Sister Linda, who came to Benedictine as a math and computer science teacher the same year Brother Lawrence started in the biology department.

“We started at the lowest point of Benedictine College’s history,” Sister Linda recalls. Financial struggles and enrollment that had plunged to 575 students left the future of the college seriously in doubt.

“Our offices were at opposite ends of the hall,” Sister Linda remembers. “Actually, they weren’t offices. They were closets. There was no heat, no ventilation.”

Sister Linda says there was camaraderie between the two Benedictine teachers.

Brother Lawrence garnered a grant for this microscope, which was a major step in modernizing the Benedictine College Biology Department.

14

Kansas Monks

photos by J.D. Benning

Summer 2012

Brother Lawrence Bradford, who retires this year, brought wit to the teaching of biology for the past two decades.

“Being from the sponsoring institution–we knew we were here for the long haul,” she says.

“We had to make the best of the situation.” She says Brother Lawrence’s sense of humor never wavered. “Lawrence was always good for a joke.”

Sister Linda says she and Brother Lawrence, thanks to the support of their communities, fulfilled a responsibility to provide stability, continuity and a sense of longevity to the troubled institution.

“We’re Benedictine,” she notes. “We’ve been around for 1,500 years.”

Sister Linda said she watched Brother Lawrence walk in the footsteps of Father Eugene Dehner, the beloved monk who became an institution during his long tenure as head of the Biology Department.

“We have to have mentors who came before us, and Larry was following in that tradition,” she says.

Happily, Benedictine College recovered and thrives today. Enrollment has more than tripled and the school has Brother Lawrence an excellent reputation. leads the The lean years formed bonds. Professor Bowen and faculty into the Brother Lawrence were the entire biology department at the Baccalaureate time, working on a Spartan budget. Bowen, a “skin out” biolMass–part of ogist (studying the whole organism), and Brother Lawrence, Benedictine a “skin in” biologist (studying organisms on the biochemical College’s and molecular level), complemented one another, he says. commencement Joined early on by Dr. Martin Simon, the department ceremonies. gained a reputation for celebrating the science they were exploring.

“We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun doing it,” Bowen says. Brother Lawrence was at the heart of annual student picnics and Christmas parties, cooking for the students and playing keyboard as the entire group sang from

photo by Alzbeta Volk

Summer

15

Kansas Monks the department’s book of Biology Christmas Carols, which includes such classics as “O Chromosome,” “Twelve Days of Biology,” and “Randall the Round Shaped Ribosome.” Just before his retirement party, a group of seniors snuck into Brother Lawrence’s office and papered his walls and furniture with 2,500 post-it notes and left a chalkboard message declaring “We love you Brother Larry!”

Brother Lawrence advanced the work of the department immensely in 2000, when he appealed to the National Science Foundation and received a matching grant which enabled the College to make more than $100,000 in technology improvements, including a $38,000 microscope.

Father Joe Taphorn, a former student, says he always appreciated Brother Lawrence’s dry sense of humor in handling a classroom. Although, his path took him away from the sciences to theology and the priesthood, Father Taphorn says Brother Lawrence made a special impression on him.

It was important to see a monk teaching science.

“It was good to see religious in all of the academic disciplines,” he explains. “You expect to see religious teaching theology, but it was neat to see that width to religious life, that diversity.”

Father Taphorn says the monks always made him feel at home, and he was glad to see monks throughout the college like Father Bertrand LaNoue teaching economics and Brother Lawrence teaching biology.

“They all bring their gifts and insights to the entirety of Benedictine College,” he says. “They instill the college with that Benedictine discipline.”

While his full-time teaching career is at an end, Brother Lawrence doesn’t intend to diminish his reputation as a man who knows everything.

“I have a steel trap mind for trivia,” Brother Lawrence says without a hint of boast. “For some reason I remember almost everything I read. If a situation comes up and the context is right I will remember it.”

Brother Lawrence will still keep an eye on the biology department and give advice when he can. He will have more time to plan the big holiday meals in the monastery when he and a group of younger monks give the kitchen staff the day off and do the cooking themselves.

And in the hallways of the monastery, if monks have a question that no one has the answer to, as always they will undoubtedly say, “Go ask Lawrence. He knows everything.”

Jingle Cells

a biology Christmas carol

Anaphase, Metaphase Splitting cells in two Mom gives half And Dad gives half Baby looks like you.

16

Chlorophyll, Xanthophyll Glucose on its way Thanks to all the autotrophs You’ll eat well on Christmas Day.

Diffusing through the snow On a code of DNA Amino acids grow With proteins for the day

Mitosis makes you grow Genetics helps you know About the lurking beasties Beneath the mistletoe

Oh—Jingle cells Jingle cells Jingle through & through Season’s Greetings to your cells And to your tissues too.

2012 INCLINE THE EAR OF YOUR Summer HEART

Listening to Saint Benedict’s Message of Peace

A book from St. Benedict’s Abbey press by Dan Madden.

“Dan Madden has caught the spirit of the Benedictine way of life as he elegantly probes with memorable prose and pictures a treasure that till now may have been hidden in a field we had yet to discover; but it is one we can uncover and even take it home with us.”

- Archbishop James Keleher

$25.00

To Order Call 913.360.7906 or shop online at Kansasmonks.org

clothed with faith God’s Will In Our Lives On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

The Wedding at Cana strikes me as

one of the most jarring interactions within the New Testament.

Did Jesus really just rebuke his mother? Whatever happened to “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”? Further, what game is Mary playing; what does her reply mean?

Jesus’ rebuke calls to mind that he, the Son of God, is in perfect union with God the Father and no one, not even Mary, is within that supreme mystery. The Father’s plan is still shrouded in secrecy, known only to the Son. Not even Mary can presume to intrude upon this mystery. The startling reply creates a tension in the storyline: between the ‘not yet’ and Jesus’ ‘hour,’ when God’s plan is consummated upon the cross.

Nonetheless, Jesus does indeed provide new wine. The turning point is not that Mary somehow convinced her son to act miraculously. Rather, she trusted, without knowing what he would do, but simply trusted that he would act. It is this total, trusting faith in Jesus which is the central element of this sign. Even in the face of rejection, even apparent rejection by God the Son, Mary trusts!

In response to her trust, the servants follow her command to “do whatever he tells you.” Mary had no idea that Jesus would turn the water into wine, but in her certitude of faith he acted. It isn’t as though a person could manipulate God to do what he wanted. It is trust in Jesus that matters.

Jesus’ rebuke operates on two levels. On a theological level, it is evidence of God’s mysterious plan and will. On a literary level, it introduces the driving force of the entire gospel: the tension between ‘not yet’ and Jesus’ hour, that is, Calvary. Curiously, Mary is only present in John’s gospel here, at the wedding-feast, and

again at the foot of the Cross. There, once more, John shows her as the paragon of absolute trust and abandonment to God’s Will, at the moment when Jesus’ hour is fulfilled.

I still find Jesus’ rebuke to Mary startling and unsettling. In our own faith-journeys, there are going to “Our Lord is be times when it feels like God is giving the cold shoulder to us.

And those times are going to the author and hurt: whether for a moment or for years. A passage from creator of all. He GK Chesterton’s “Introduction to the Book of Job” (http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/ knows what it is books/job.html) comes to mind: “Verbally speaking the enigmas of Jehovah seem darker we need.“ and more desolate than the enigmas of Job; yet Job was comfortless before the speech of Jehovah and is comforted after it. He has been told nothing, but he feels the terrible and tingling atmosphere of something which is too good to be told. The refusal of God to explain His design is itself a burning hint of His design. The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”

So at those times of inexplicable dryness of faith, when God seems to have checked out and the pains and tragedies of life pile up, remember how our Lady responded: total and trusting faith.

Recall that Job is only answered in riddles. Yet, in both, they are comforted. Our Lord is the author and creator of all. He knows what it is we need.

Brother Christopher Start is one

of three junior monks at St. Benedict’s Abbey. He made his simple profession on Dec. 8, 2010. He is currently furthering his theological education at Benedictine College and plans to go on to seminary and be ordained to the priesthood.

17

Kansas Monks

SHARE OUR MISSION

ST. BENEDICT’S ABBEY CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Windows Roof Endowment

Go to KansasMonks.org/Signup to receive e-mail updates including videos, news and much more.

SM shareourmission.org

facebook.com/stbenedicts

ShareOurMission.org 18

twitter.com/kansasmonks

GenerosityIN THE MOMENT Summer 2012

by Dan Madden

Do you remember the first time the hymn “Amazing Grace” lifted your heart to the rafters? It might have uprooted you from the depths of grief into the arms of a community that had gathered for the funeral of a loved one.

Or have you recited the words of Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” These simple words have inspired millions of people to turn their personal struggles over to God and persevere in a new life.

Prayer makes children feel safe at bedtime. It brings the sacred to a wedding day. It rouses a congregation at a baptism.

What makes these moments of prayer so inspiring is just that – the moment. They bring each person back from the anxieties of next week’s business meeting or yesterday’s argument. At the funeral, in times of struggle, at the wedding, at bedtime, at the baptism, the people involved are letting go of themselves, focusing entirely on someone else. And prayer has helped them do that. Through prayer they are letting God lead the way.

Prayer, whether it is sung in grief, proclaimed together in community or whispered alone in darkness, is like stars in the night sky, a beacon of inspiration.

St. Francis of Assisi prayed:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

In stewardship, we are called by many voices to set aside our own needs to help others. Too often we drift ahead of ourselves into worries. Inspiration becomes lost in the darkness of fear—fear over financial security, fear of being taken advantage of, fear of a loss of control over how our gifts will be used.

It is in these times that we need the same inspiration that lifts us in those special moments in life when prayer comes to us so naturally. Giving—sharing—is natural to us. I would say it is as natural as sleeping, marrying, giving birth, and dying. When inspired, we can share in ways that make the soul laugh and weep. But sometimes we forget.

Prayer can remind us. We need only remember that it is God’s will and not ours that frees us.

In those moments when we remember, we can find our Amazing Grace, our serenity, our beacon of inspiration.

Only then can we act with the courage of St. Francis.

19

Kansas Monks

a Grateful Response N u r t u r i n g O n e A n o t h e r liturgy & the life of the church

b y Fa t h e r D a n i e l M c C a r t h y

This 4 of July, 30 years ago my parents George and Annette and my brother Michael drove me to St Benedict’s th

Abbey to begin the postulancy. This Independence Day was not a break with who I had been, because I arrived with my family and the resources to pursue interests that had nourished me: camping equipment for working with the Boy Scouts, books and paraphernalia from an appreciation of Native Americans. On that day I presented myself and my world and began to discover the world inside the Abbey.

I had not long known of the Abbey nor of the monastic tradition. Growing up at Curé of Ars Parish in Leawood, I knew the founding Pastor Father Paul Kelley and the sisters of St Joseph of Concordia who served the parish. I learned to serve at Mass in the first parish church, which became the gymnasium when the present church was built. As a teenager I joined the choir-prayer group of the family Mass celebrated in the school cafeteria. During the parish pilgrimage to the papal Mass celebrated in Grant Park, Chicago, 1979, I was inspired especially by the dedication of Sister Marie Marcotte. I also had a priest uncle, Father Isidore McCarthy, C.PP.S. and a great aunt, Sister Liliosa Oder of the Mount in Atchison.

During the sesquimillennial celebrations of 1980, the 1,500th anniversary of the birth of St Benedict, my father renewed his connections to the Abbey. After World War II he was the first married student to live on campus, as mom remained off campus. Every weekend he gave the monks assigned to parish work a lift in his model A Ford, taking them across the river valley to the train station at the ‘Y junction’, then continued on his way home to mom in St Joseph, Mo. A man wishing to join the community must first go through a That Fall I transferred to Benedictine College to period of postulancy. During the brief time before the novitiate, pursue studies while considering a vocation at the the man and the community get to know one another.

Abbey. Although my religious upbringing was from the home, from the family Mass and the prayer group, I found a new way of praying in the Liturgy of the Hours. I attended evening prayer at the Abbey as frequently as possible, as well as the weekly prayer group led by Father Regis Hickey.

Abbot Owen Purcell, then novice master, introduced me personally to the rhythms of this first full year in the monastery. At that time we celebrated the Liturgy of the Hours in the choir stalls closest to the fresco so that the wall would echo our voices, allowing us to hear one another better. I came to appreciate more fully the rhythm of listening and reciting together. I learned to observe the silence between singing the psalms. The daily round of prayer provides a rich context each time we gather to pray, and every liturgy provides its measured contribution to the course of the weekly and annual cycles. Because monastic prayer sustains such an extended reflection, it nourishes a person throughout the life-long journey.

Monastics tend to be competent liturgical ministers in part because afterwards we dine and recreate together. Father Leander Scheier, who in 1910 played in the band for the dedication of the administration building, now Father James Conner, a visiting Trappist monk, leads the monks in their St. Benedict Hall, taught me how to play the recent annual community retreat. Such retreats are important to the Bavarian card game Sheepshead along with stability of a community whose members seek to live, work and pray together with love and compassion for one another.

Father Alcuin Hemmen. When I tell monks from Bavaria that I learned to play Schafkopf, they laugh in realization that their daily lives was passed on to me personally through the immigrants of our community.

So it is that our daily lives and lives at prayer nourish one another.

With the sisters in formation from the Mount, I studied monastic history with Father Gilbert Wolters. Through these classes he handed on the monastic tradition personally to this next generation. Monastic history is one of the ways in which the Abbey distinguishes itself from parish life. Indeed, many vocations come to the Abbey, as I did, with little awareness of the monastic tradition and are surprised to find this contrast to their experience of parish liturgy.

20

photos by J.D. Benning

Summer 2012 Few people of our day remember that before Vatican II, when a bishop came to a parish or chapel to celebrate the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament was to be removed from the main altar and reserved in a side chapel. This episcopal tradition is why Cathedrals of that time were built with separate Blessed Sacrament chapels.

Abbeys, too, followed this pontifical tradition, because the Abbot is the ordinary of the community, as is the bishop of the diocese.

Our separate Blessed Sacrament chapel and the well considered design of the church as a whole support a more developed liturgical life and devotional practice for the community. There are other traditions that distinguish our monastic liturgy from parish liturgy, such as standing throughout the Eucharistic Prayer. These may be confusing to visitors whose experience is limited to their home parish, but maintaining our distinct monastic and pontifical traditions is part of what connects us to the larger Catholic world and helps to enrich local practice.

When I arrived in Rome in 1999 to pursue higher studies in liturgy, I was one of some 80 monks living in common at Sant’Anselmo, and other monks residing in the city came to study with us. Many of us, when we first arrived, were surprised by the variety of traditions and practices of different monasteries, something which often challenges the idea that one’s own monastery preserves the authentic tradition, even the ideal practice. My world expanded further when I came to understand the particular charisms of St Benedict’s Abbey and Mount St Scholastica Monastery in the larger Benedictine world. At lunch I often sat with Qashishe (Fathers) Semaan, Butros and Tyari of the Assyrian Church of the East, and Shammas (Subdeacon) Raafat of the Coptic Church The Abbey’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel is adjacent to and Fathers Martin and Aaren of the Armenian Apostolic Church. the Abbey Church. It used by monks, students and Our conversations, often extended over coffee, provided the opporguests as a place of prayer and quiet reflection. tunity to get to know one another and so personally to learn of our different traditions. Thus we observed the Italian tradition of sharing meals together daily and through this shared nourishment to nurture one another, and so came to appreciate the proper traditions of our respective communities.

In Atchison we sing the hymns prepared by Dame Benedicta White and other sisters of Stanbrook Abbey, and their refined translations of the prayers of the day prepared by Dame Maria Boulding appear in the official Liturgy of the Hours used in England and Wales. Recently their community moved into a newly constructed monastery near the town of Wass, North of York. Grateful for the ways in which they nourish my prayer life, I visited them to offer consultation on the plans for their chapel soon to be built. When I arrived and was shown into the refectory for dinner, I noticed that the Rule of St. Benedict lying on the reader’s desk was the one developed under the direction of our own Father Timothy Fry. When I first addressed the sisters, I began with gratitude for the ways in which our two Abbeys have already enriched each other, and then I offered to them the benefit of my study in Rome and reflection on liturgical architecture.

In some ways I see myself as heir to Father Timothy’s scholarly interests. Even though he has long passed, I perceive that his contributions continue to nourish me and that in my own way I continue his line of research. Both of us have used our understanding of Latin to benefit the ongoing life of the broader church, each in his own way: Father Timothy through monastic and I through liturgical studies.

Part of human maturation, it strikes me, is to reflect on and intentionally choose the ways in which we nurture others, given one’s changing situations in life. As monastics we nurture others through our life in common and through welcoming others to share in our prayer; we nurture the development of the whole person through teaching and pastoring and many forms of ministry. At times we may rise to a mutual exchange of gifts that is as respectful of our difference as it is mutually nurturing.

Father Daniel is a teacher, scholar and author on the subject of Catholic Liturgy and Latin. He teaches and studies in England and Rome. A native of Garden City, Kan., he has been a monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey since 1983. He is the former pastor of three parishes in northeastern Kansas. Father Daniel is the co-founder of the Institutum Liturgicum, a house of studies on Catholic Liturgy. He is also co-director of the “Appreciating the Ligurgy,” project and is co-editor of the book series Liturgiam aestimare: Appreciating the Liturgy. He writes a weekly column for The Tablet newspaper of London and is currently completing a book on Latin instruction.

21

Kansas Monks

From The Desert

photo by J.D. Benning

Yes, our life has its joys. And we can find the peace which only Jesus Christ can give. Yet our trial includes suffering and how we decide to react to our struggles. We must choose to keep our eyes focused on our love for God or on worldly offerings, “the Keep death before one’s eyes daily flesh,” as Jesus said. We either love Father Gabriel Landis God or are ruled by pride and fear.

Pastor - St. Joseph’s and St. In Chapter Four of his Rule, St. Benedict’s provided his monks Patrick’s, Atchison In Rediscover Catholicism: A Spirwith “Tools for Good Works.” Striking among those tools is his itual Guide To Living with Passion desire to “Keep death before one’s eyes daily.” and Purpose, Matthew Kelley writes, “We spend much of our time The following verses from that chapter are: (44) To fear the fixated on secondary questions (usually related to controversial day of judgment. (45) To be in dread of hell. (46) To desire eternal and sensational issues) and very life with all spiritual longing. (47) To keep death before one’s little time exploring the primary eyes daily. (48) To keep a constant watch over the actions of our questions about our brief stay here life. (If you do not own a copy of the Rule of Saint Benedict, go on earth.” to kansasmonks.org and click on “The Rule,” and take some time I know maintaining focus on to read Chapter Four. And while you are at it, read St. Benedict’s heaven, knowing that death comes wonderful Chapter Seven on “Humility.”) to each one of us, is not easy. By The above verses seem like an encapsulated version of the “Four doing so, we keep pride and fear at Last Things” of Catholic Tradition: Death, Judgement, Hell, and bay. The secondary questions are Heaven. St. Benedict placed these “tools” in a chapter along with like the grass or flowers in the field other tools. We see why toward the end of Chapter Four: “Behold, that wither and die. The primary these are the instruments of the spiritual art, which, if they have questions, however, are “Where been applied without ceasing day and night and approved on judg- am I headed eternally? Am I asking ment day, will merit for us from the Lord that reward which He Jesus to give me the graces to end hath promised: ‘The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, neither up in heaven after I die?” As Kelly hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath puts it so well: “Our one desire and choice should be what is more prepared for them that love Him’ (1 Cor 2:9).” conducive to the end for which we are created.”

My focus on these verses and this chapter is a continuation of My purpose is not to frighten you. Our Lord in the beginmy previous Kansas Monks column on the “Litany of Humility.” ning of the Parable of the Talents warn us, “And so you must be Many people related to that vigilant, because you do not Litany, and like me, saw in know the day or the hour” themselves areas where God (Matthew 25:13). This is why was speaking to them.

St. Benedict implores us “to Since writing that column, keep death daily before one’s my Spiritual Director added a eyes.” We must live in the dimension to that prayer. She desert and allow the Living challenged me to select one and Loving God to peel away of the petitions within the all those false images we have Litany of Humility each day of ourselves and the world. and do something concrete Benedict’s call inoculates to live out that petition. us from completely falling Her advice has proven to be away from God. Perhaps by helpful… and at times diffikeeping death daily before our cult. The Litany addresses eyes we may fulfill St. Benetwo most dangerous ways dict’s greatest wish, which we that the devil enters our life, find in Chapter 72 of the Holy At his solemn profession a monk is draped in the funeral pall; a “pride” and “fear.” When we Rule: “Let the monks, therereminder to ‘keep death before one’s eyes daily.’ ask Jesus for assistance in fore, practice this zeal with delivering us from pride and fear, we are then able to act more self- most ardent love; namely, that in honor they forerun one another lessly toward our neighbours and healthier toward ourselves. This (cf Rom 12:10). Let them bear their infirmities, whether of body or draws us closer to the love of our life – God, our loving Father. mind, with the utmost patience; let them vie with one another in My contemplation of Benedict’s admonition “To keep death obedience. Let no one follow what he thinketh useful to himself, before one’s eyes daily,” comes from books I have read of late. For but rather to another. Let them practice fraternal charity with a example, Father Charles Arminjon, in End of the Present World chaste love. and the Mysteries of the Future Life, writes, “Let us think only of “Let them fear God and love their Abbot with sincere and Heaven, let us seek only heaven, let us store up only for heaven, humble affection; let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and and let us live only for heaven.” He notes: “Our trial is limited in its my He lead us all together to life everlasting.” duration to the period of the present life.”

Praised Be Our Saviour Jesus Christ! Now and Always! Amen!

22

Summer 2012

abbey notes Catholic University of America Press recently completed the second instance of peer review for the book Father Daniel McCarthy wrote with Father Reggie Foster. The book was accepted for publication and can now move to the production stage. The book outlines the method of teaching Latin, as employed by Father Reggie during his many years of teaching and providing Latin texts for official Vatican documents. Father Daniel took many classes from Father Reggie and appreciates his methodology.

Abbot Owen Purcell hosted a family from Shawnee, Kan., June 8.

Our Brother Leonard Domen, who died in 1931, was a relative of this family; they were interested in visiting his grave and in learning about his life as a monk. Abbot Owen commented that this family enjoyed their time here.

Brother Leonard Domen (1851-1931), was born in Belgium on September 7, 1851. His early years were spent in Belgium. He made his first profession as a monk January 23, 1896. For many years Brother Leonard (right) worked at the College farm and later at the Abbey. In 1921 he sustained a broken leg that was slow in healing because of his advanced age. That did not stop Brother Leonard from becoming the janitor in what was called the old Abbey Hall. He took part in the schedule of the community as well. He died at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., after a paralyzing stroke. He was the first monk to lie in state in the new abbey.

Father Bertrand LaNoue (pictured at right with Brother Luke Turner) observed his 60th anniversary of priestly ordination Sunday, May 20, by concelebrating the 10 a.m.

Mass with Abbot Barnabas Senecal and the community. His family members and invited guests joined the monastic community for the noon lunch.

Three men will present themselves to our community as postulants in early August. They are Joseph Anthony Orrino, a native of Colorado and a 2008 graduate of Benedictine College; Vincent Henningsgaard, a BC graduate of 2012, native of Minnesota; and James Winters Mangimelli of Atchison, a 2012 graduate of the University of Kansas.

Judi Geer Kellas has an exhibit in the Abbey Art Gallery entitled Celebration in Flight: Women in Aviation. Judi, a resident of Lawrence Kan., has 60 paintings, drawings and original prints honoring 38 women in aviation.

On May 29, 2012, the Chapter of Blue Cloud Abbey voted to close their abbey after 54 years. Effective August 6, 2012 Abbot Denis Quinkert will be the designated administrator of the community until all members have been relocated and property has been sold.

Blue Cloud Abbey was founded as a priory in 1952. It became an abbey on March 21, 1954. Originally the monks worked on the Indian missions of North and South Dakotas. At present Blue Cloud has fourteen members. Our prayers and best wishes go with them.

The silhouette above and on pg. 7 is Abbot Cuthbert McDonald

Abbot Barnabas Senecal is preparing a new exhibit of his photography. He shot this photo during his trip to Brazil.

23

Kansas Monks

S T. B E N E D I C T ’ S A B B EY A TCHISON, K ANSAS

1020 N. 2nd Street, Atchison, KS 66002 Kansas Monks USPS 290-760

Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID KC, MO Permit No. 6318

Abbey Development Office 913.360.7906 KansasMonks.org

Summer 2012 | Volume 7 | Number 2

St. Joseph Priory

50 ye a r s -of-

Benedictine tradition in Brazil

24

more on page 4