winter 2008
A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF ST. BENEDICT’S ABBEY
WINTER 2008 VOLUME 3 NUMBER. 3 1
KANSAS MONKS
columns
09 . . . . . . a
Features:
Grateful Response
6......we remember
liturgy & the life of the church
We remember the late Father Regis Hickey, 91, a man with a simple heart who always saw the good in others. The monks remember a man who believed profoundly that Jesus, the Word made flesh, lived among us, and because of that, we are all called to great love.
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .From the Desert 20 . . Faith 10...... 22 . . . . . .Clothed with God’s Will In Our Lives c
f
25 . . . Marked with the sign of Faith
26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in aWord 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Obl ates 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Abbey notes
Contributing writers: Abbot Barnabas Senecal “Sant’Anselmo was where we gathered in Rome”
Ship of the Prairie
The Abbey Church, spiritual center to the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey, and a centennial gift to their students, alumni, oblates, friends and benefactors, is the sum of many parts. You are invited to a spiritual, historical and liturgical reflection on a building that is at once a home, sacred ground and shelter from the storm.
29. . . . . Jubilarians monks celebrating anniversaries Anniversaries mark a significant milestone for anyone and these monks are no exception. We recognize Abbot Barnabas Senecal, Father Louis Kirby, Father Ben Tremmel and Father Daniel McCarthy who celebrated jubilee anniversaries this year.
From the Abbot (3) - Abbey Notes (5)
Brother John Peto “A Christian is known by his happiness in the Lord!.” Oblates (11)
Father Daniel McCarthy ““Architecture projects the structure of the Mass”” A Grateful Response (31)
Abbot Owen Purcell “It’s all a day at a time” Marked by a Sign of Faith (11)
Father Brendan Rolling ““God is raising up young apostles for the New Pentecost.” ”What Was Old is New (22)
Prior James Albers “Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death will not overtake you.” -Prologue RB Clothed With Faith (11)
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Front cover: The Abbey Church in all its splendor at a recent Benedictine College sesquicentennial Mass. In this issue several monks offer a detailed reflection on the historical, liturgical and spiritual significance of this “ship of the prairie.” photo by Alzbeta Voboril Back Cover: Novice Brother Simon Baker took a short break from picking tomatoes in the Abbey garden to compete with Brother Leven Harton to see who could nail a nearby tree with rotten tomatoes. Through a bit of trick photography, J.D. Benning captured Brother Simon’s form. 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:
Abbot Barnabas Senecal, Alzbeta Voboril, JD Benning, Dan Madden, Brother John Peto Kansas Monks magazine is published quarterly by the Office of Development, 1020 N. 2nd Street, Atchison, KS 66002. For a free subscription: 913.360.7897, or development@kansasmonks.org.
winter 2008
Merry Christmas
– from the monks at St. Benedict’s Abbey
a Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson
Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. 3
From the Abbot KANSAS MONKS
‘We gathered in Rome’
Congress of Abbots re-elects Abbot Primate
Abbot Barnabas shakes hands with Abbot Primate Notker Wolfe who was re-elected to a four-year term by the Congress of Abbots in Rome
looked like Wild Bill Hickok of western United States fame, with his facial hair and demeanor. Abbot Notker will continue to raise funds and awareness, attract teachers, staff and students to the academic programs and monas4
tic life of Sant’Anselmo, maintain capable administrative staff and consolidate relations with the Vatican and the Italian government. The community of Le Barroux in Frances petitioned acceptance into the Benedictine Confederation. This community was founded in 1978 and has been under review of the Ecclesia Dei commission. A presentation to the Congress was made by the current abbot of Le Barroux, Dom Louis-Marie. The Congress voted to accept the community into the Confederation under the direct supervision of Abbot Primate Notker; they do not belong to a Congregation of Benedictines. Twenty-four delegates from CIB, the International Communion of Benedictine women, were present for the sessions, as were delegates from Orthodox communities. Sister Judith Ann Heble, prioress of St. Scholastica Monastery in Lisle, Ill., and elected leader of CIB, addressed the Congress on the status of CIB. A keynote address was given by the retired Abbot General of the Cistercians, Dom Bernardo Olivera. There were workshops scheduled on three days of the Congress. In these, delegates to the Congress chose discussion groups they wished to attend. These discussions ranged from The dining room at Monte Cassino communities experiencing diminished membership to programs of vocation recruitment, from liturgy in monastic houses to reflections on lectio divina. As a group we traveled by bus to Castel Gondolfo to be in audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The fortunate folks were up front, the less fortunate near the back of the room. I was among the latter. The Pope appreciates Benedictines and he gave an encouraging talk in Italian. Abbot Primate Notker addressed the Pope on our behalf.
photo by Abbot Barnabas Senecal
The Benedictine abbots and priors of independent priories from around the world met in Rome, Sept. 17-27. Such a gathering occurs every four years. A principal focus for the meeting is the election of the Abbot Primate for the Benedictine Confederation, a union of the 20 Congregations of Benedictines worldwide. Abbot Notker Wolf, an Ottilien Benedictine from Germany, had completed an initial eight-year term and was eligible for reelection to a four-year term. He received strong support in the only ballot taken, and will now serve another term of leadership. He has done remarkably well in his first term, cultivating strong relationships and financial support. There were 230 votes cast, some by proxy. Other matters voted on by the Congress were changes in the Lex Propria of the Confederation. These changes put into law the practices of consultation that had been developed under Abbot Notker as he administered the affairs of Sant’Anselmo and the Confederation. The changes also accepted as permanent policies the methods of taxation of member houses, the subsidium and the solidarity support. Participation in the Congress of Abbots is a unique time of mingling with other men who hold positions of governance in monastic communities. During the general sessions, there are monks who provide instant translation in five languages. Abbots of the United States tend to spend time together, as do the other language groups. I, like many an American, do not speak a second or third language, while many others are fluent in several. One man whom I met this year was Father Florian von Bayern. He is the prior of Tigoni, a monastery near Nairobi in Kenya. A goodhumored man, this German spoke very good English. He is a member of the Ottilien Benedictines and has been in Kenya for some time now. His community runs a trade school in Kenya. I told him that he
Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB
winter 2008
St. Francis Blessing of the Pets On Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Abbot Owen Purcell celebrated a blessing of pets behind St. Benedict’s Abbey. The ceremony, which was suggested by Vernon Randall who works in the Abbey’s health care services department, was attended by monks, employees, oblates and neighbors of the Abbey. Top left: Dorothy Randall, mother of Vernon Randall, shows her dog to Father Regis Hickey; Top center: Rachel Ruhl, a Benedictine College student and Abbey employee, holds Emma, the dog belonging to Oblate Patty Wolvington, so that Father William Thompson can pet it; Top right: Abbot Owen, with Father Blaine Schultz, who played keyboards for the ceremony, and Father Regis Hickey; At right: Susan Orr, Benedictine College professor of political science (left), who recently moved to Atchison, and her dog, sit next to Rachel Pinkerton, granddaughter of Marilyn Robertson, employee in health care services, and her kitten; Bottom: From left to right, the unidentified woman, Helen Skidmore (back to camera), Cheyenne Robertson, her grandmother Marilyn Robertson, Patty Wolvington, Father Regis Hickey, Dorothy Randall (back to camera), and Abbot Owen Purcell. “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men.” -St. Francis of Assisi
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KANSAS MONKS
we remember...
Father Regis—communicator, priest, man of hope—dies at 91 Father Regis studied journalism at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., in the summers of 1954 and 1955. He also studied education at Emporia State University in the summers of 1969, 1970, and 1971. In August 1971 he was awarded the M.Sc. in Education Counseling from Emporia State University (then the Kansas State Teachers College) Beginning in 1961 Father Regis served for a number of years as the stateside procurator for our Mission in Brazil. As part of that work, he started the publication Kansas Monks in Brazil in 1962. In 1972 that magazine became simply Kansas Monks. For many years Father Regis faithfully served as its editor. From June 1967 through August 1978 Father Regis served as the director of vocations for the Abbey. During these rough years for vocations in the Church at large Father Regis published a vocation brochure entitled Men of Hope. Beginning on Jan. 1, 1981, Father Regis became the chaplain for the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. St. Scholastica Monastery where he served for a number of years. Father Regis was involved with the charismatic renewal in the Church. For a number of years he directed the “Faith, Hope and Love” prayer group that met in the lower lounge of the Abbey guesthouse on Thursday evenings. It included students from the college, monks, sisters, and lay people from Atchison. Throughout his life the Holy Spirit guided him to live what he had professed as a monk. In later years, Father Regis also dedicated much time to serving with hospice. He was known for his compassion and prayerfulness as loved ones and their families prepared for death. It was fitting that on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008, a day set aside as World Mission Sunday, Father Regis, who had so supported the mission of the Abbey both in parish work, school apostolate, mission in Brazil, and chaplaincy to the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery, was anointed by Abbot Barnabas, with many of his brother monks in the room praying for him. Pope Benedict XVI asked in his address for this World Mission Sunday, “May the celebration of World Mission Day encourage everyone to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel.” This is something Father Regis did throughout his life. The monks of the Abbey prayed Evening Prayer for the Reception of the Body into the Church on Thursday, Oct. 23 in the Abbey Church. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated there on Friday, Oct. 24. Burial followed in the monastery cemetery. File Photo
Father Regis Hickey, a monk and priest of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kan., died Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 21. He was 91. Father Regis was born on May 9, 1917, in Chicago, Ill., the son of John A, and Elizabeth Garvey Hickey. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, John Hickey, and a sister, Louise Moss. Father Regis attended Holy Cross Catholic Grade School in Chicago, and Mount Carmel High School, where he graduated in 1935. While a high school student he wrote a sports column for The New World, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He then studied at St. Benedict’s College where he headed the college news bureau, directing publicity activities as a college student. Following his graduation from St. Benedict’s College in 1939, Father Regis worked for Register System of Catholic newspapers in Denver. In May 1942 he was drafted by the U.S. Army, and served in the 340th Bombardment Group of the 12th U.S. Army Air Force with overseas service during World War II in North Africa and the islands of Sicily, Italy, and Corsica. He was discharged in September 1945 with the rank of Technical Sergeant. On Sept. 21, 1947, Father Regis professed his vows as a monk of the Abbey. On Dec. 21, 1950, he was ordained to the priesthood in St. Benedict’s Church in Atchison by the Bishop Charles LeBlond of St. Joseph, Mo. He served as an assistant prefect of the Abbey scholastics in the fall of 1950, from 1951-1953; as Assistant Pastor at St. Benedict’s Church, Kansas City, Kan., as chaplain and English instructor at Lillis High School in Kansas City, Mo., 1953-1954. From 1954-1960 he was the director of publicity and an instructor in the English Department for St. Benedict’s College. Throughout the years Father Regis dedicated himself to various positions: editing the college yearbook and newspaper, as well as serving as a prefect in Freshman (now Ferrell) Hall. During the summer months of 1948-1952, Father Regis worked at Camp St. Maur as a counselor, administrator, and chaplain.
File Photo
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winter 2008
Father Regis
-By Abbot barnabas senecal A niece wrote of her uncle, a monk, “He sounds happy and he seems to be getting younger, despite all the pains, aches and problems of advancing years. “To me, he is wonderful human evidence of what it means to be a religious.” Eight-eight and less able than in the past, Father Regis continues his journey. Easter assurance fires each believer: “He has risen; he is not here.” “He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” English teacher, writer, chaplain to Sisters, Father Regis gave thoughtful expression to his faith in Jesus Christ, choosing words as carefully as did the Father himself. photo by Abbot Barnabas Senecal
Fifty-plus have been his years as religious and as priest; an abbey and college man, humble, “at home with the Lord.” For years a hospice leader, helping others at the last, expecting the best is yet to come, assured and with full conviction.
Word
a farewell
The following homily was delivered by Abbot Barnabas Senecal at St. Benedict’s Abbey Church for the funeral of Father Regis Hickey. – Reading One: Isaiah 42:1-7 (258) “Upon whom I have put my spirit.” – Reading Two: 1 John 4:11-18 (215) “We must have the same love for one another” – Gospel: John 1:1-18 (205) “In the beginning was the word” The readings chosen for reflection on this day of Father Regis’ funeral liturgy point out the principles by which he lived. He believed in the presence and power of the Spirit. He believed that we are called to have great love for one another. He believed that we could live out these expectations only because Jesus, the Word, had truly been made flesh and lived among us. Father Regis was, above all, a man through whom the Word lived. His words were spoken from a simple heart, a heart that always sought the good of the other and not his own good. This was reflected in the clarity with which he wrote a news story, the care he gave to
the word he preached, and the concern he showed as he gave direction to one who confessed their sins or sought his guidance. He was an instrument of the incarnation begun in Christ. He sought to build the kingdom of God through his words. Always, words that he chose carried meaning, were the result of reflection and a desire to build up and to affirm the other. His use of words made his every task a carrying out of his priesthood, whether he was writing a news story, prefecting young men in the dormitory, holding the hand of a hospice patient who was near death and to whom he spoke words of consolation and hopeful expectation. Father Regis was a man in whom kindness became flesh. Many Benedictine men and women knew this in his presence. He had time for each of us. He had time for the students who studied English in his classes, time for students he prefected in the dormitory, time for those who sought him as a confessor, time to write stories for Kansas Monks in Brazil and Kansas Monks, time to be with the community in prayer. Father Regis was a man of simplicity, evidenced in the room where he lived, in his lack of any need to be “up to date” in the clothes he wore, in the unaffected way in which he stood among us and led us in prayer. He knew very little about the computer and even his last issues of Kansas Monks were composed from paper columns pasted onto a master sheet and handed on to Danny Wagner in the print shop. 7
KANSAS MONKS As the word that was and is Christ endures to this day, so the word that was spoken and written by Father Regis endures in print, in the hearts of those who have and who will read what he wrote, in the lives of those who knew him through these ninety-one years. The headstone over his grave will record the simple data of his life. The heads and hearts of hundreds of men and women have engraved in their persons the marks of his influence. Father Regis was truly Benedictine, a person who lived out the teachings of St. Benedict on humility. He believed in the reality of God being present to him, daily. He did his tasks well, not out of pride or in pursuit of a reputation. He believed he had not yet reached perfection and that the daily task of self-improvement was still his. He never put down another or spoke in anger, never humiliating another. Humility was the foundation of his many relationships as he lived and moved and has his being in Christ. There was not an ounce of conceit in Father Regis; he was always present to the other as a listener. Father Regis had a spark of humor in him, and we delighted in his laughter. Even in his last days, he could give a quick wink to the health nurse who had helped get from his chair to his bed, a wink that spoke of thanks and of utter good will. He could respond to a playful challenge with an equally playful response. The story is told that he was searching for his vocation in life, after serving in the US Army in World War II and writing for the National Catholic Register system. He was visiting a friend’s home; they had recently given birth to a child. Young Francis Hickey watched the couple feed and clothe and cleanse this child when he decided that being a monk was probably his call. He may have shied away from infant care, but he gave care to all of us in the most tender and caring of ways, throughout his ninety-one years. Prior Josias da Costa and the Benedictine men and women of Brazil wrote their condolences to us in recent days. These were the words of Prior Josias:
great and generous soul, From your soul you leave a remembrance of a beautiful and liberated life. From your soul we receive a lesson of dedicated love and humility manifested in loving service. From your soul you leave us an archive of our history. From your soul we receive good news, memories and information. From your soul we have memories of our common life and our missions. From your soul we register arrivals, deeds and departures. From your soul we received the living witness of each brother in his daily toil, to persevere and be faithful. From your soul we received the witness of your own perseverance. From your soul we are enlivened by a contagious smile, always fitting. From your soul we received an immense wealth of genuine serenity.
Now, we can only say to this dear Brother, “Thank you, Regis.”
From Prior Josias da Costa in Brazil:
Regis, our brother, endowed with a
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File Photo
All is worthwhile if the soul is not small. Fernando Pessoa, Portugese poet (1888-1935) Father Regis showing a miter to local boys (left to right) Pat Carrigan, Mike Begley, and John Stewart.
a Grateful Response
winter 2008
liturgy & the life of the church
T
Architecture projects the structure of the Mass he medieval arrangement for monastic churches typically placed the altar against the wall at the far East end of the church. From the altar the long rows of choir stalls stretched deep into the church and were arranged such that the monks on one side faced those on the other side of church. Thereafter, the laity occupied the nave and looked through the monastic choir to the distant altar. When the Jesuit order was founded, its members were dispensed from saying the daily hours of prayers together, that they might be free for active ministry. Accordingly, Jesuit churches such as Il Gesù in Rome have no choir, and the nave was brought right up close to the altar. This allowed the laity far more immediate access to the altar than the medieval monastic arrangement. When our Abbey Church was built in 1957 it anticipated the liturgical reform that was soon to be mandated by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The altar in our church is placed between the choir and the nave, giving a new centrality to the altar. In many ways our altar is more like the free standing altars from Christian antiquity in the major basilicas of Rome. Another way our church anticipated the coming renewal was by placing the tabernacle in its own chapel, in close proximity to the altar, yet in an area as distinct as the eucharistic liturgy is related to yet distinct from the reservation of the consecrated bread. The way in which we use our church, moreover, has developed, as monks no longer fill the choir stalls, and we are able to welcome all our guests to join us in the choir stalls for our weekday celebrations of the Eucharist. The way in which we use our church for weekday and Sunday celebrations of the Eucharist, furthermore, is subtly attuned to the liturgical renewal following Vatican II. In fact, the model we use parallels that used in the latest papal chapel to be dedicated in the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican. That chapel, called the Redemptoris Mater, or Mother of the Redeemer, chapel is arranged like our choir, with the chairs in parallel rows facing the center aisle so that the people on one side face those on the other. In that chapel, the freestanding altar is placed at the far end of the center aisle, as it is placed relative to our monastic choir. In that chapel the lectern is placed in the center of the choir seating, so that the Word of God is The Redemptoris mater Chapel in the Aposproclaimed from the tolic Palace in Vatican City midst of the assembly, and the presidential chair is placed at the opposite end of the choir and facing toward the lectern. The arrangement of our choir for the celebration of the Eucharist is similar in that the lectern is placed in the center aisle of the choir, but at one end so as to form the hinge-pin between the choir and the altar. Our presidential chair is also located opposite the altar and facing the lectern.
In both arrangements, the presider sits or stands at the chair in the midst of the assembly to listen to the readings proclaimed from the lectern. Thus, there is a direct relationship between the lectern Father Daniel McCarthy and the assembly, and between the lectern and the presidential chair. The altar, then, is located beyond this choir arrangement for the liturgy of the Word, as the eucharistic liturgy is both distinct from the liturgy of the Word, yet so intimately related to the liturgy of the Word as to form one liturgy. The arrangement of both the new papal chapel and our monastic chapel agrees with statements made by the Council in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, which say: “There is to be a revision of the way the mass is structured, so that the specific ideas behind the individual parts and their connection with one another
Father Maurice Haefling reads the Gospel at Mass in the Abbey Church.
can be more clearly apparent, and so that it becomes easier for the people to take a proper and active part” and “The two parts which in some way go to make up the mass, namely the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist, are so closely bound up with each other that they amount to one single act of worship” (nº 50, 56 Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 vol., ed. N. Tanner, Georgetown UP, Washington DC 1990). Thus, the structure of the architecture in both chapels expresses the structure of the Mass itself. When the renewed order of Mass was developed after the Council by the Consilium appointed by Pope Paul VI, one of the first principles established was that the two parts of the Mass are better distinguished by celebrating them in distinct yet related places, the liturgy of the Word at the chair and lectern and the Eucharistic liturgy at the altar. As we celebrate the Eucharist, the rite itself unfolds as first the assembly gathers, ministers proclaim the Word of God and the assembly responds, we offer our prayers, and then proceed to the Eucharistic liturgy celebrated at the altar. After the celebration of the Eucharist, the remaining consecrated bread is taken to the blessed sacrament chapel where it is reserved in the tabernacle. Each place is distinct as are the rites proper to each, yet all are as intimately connected, as the liturgy is one. 9
KANSAS MONKS
Ship of the Prairie A reflection on the Abbey Church
10 article by Dan Madden | photos by JD Benning (unless noted)
winter 2008
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heat-field yellow during the day but now awash in floodlights, the high limestone walls of the Abbey Church appear as silver as the stars above in the predawn sky. Inside the front doors, met by darkness, a visitor softly pads through a set of double doors into the vastness of the nave of the church. Reaching out across the darkened pews is the distant bloom of warm light from the choir. The silence of the church is embracing rather than daunting. One by one, monks wordlessly emerge from the monastery to their assigned stalls where they await the bell signaling the utterance of the first sacred words of Vigils and Morning Prayer, the beginning of another day of prayer and work at St. Benedict’s Abbey. From behind, Abbot Owen Purcell approaches the visitor, inviting him to join the monks in the choir. As the guest reaches the stalls, he has no time to feel apprehensive as Brother Joseph Ryan strides forward, smiling, to greet him and show him to a seat. Crouching at
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file photo
KANSAS MONKS his side, Brother Joseph opens a psalmody and a hymnal and kindly shows him the order of prayer for the morning. A bell rings, and Prior James Albers recites the first words of a long night’s silence, “O Lord open my lips.” The monks make the sign of the cross upon their lips, and respond, “And my mouth shall declare your praise. To the king of all ages, the immortal, invisible and only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Vigils Brother Joseph Ryan is the first reader during midday prayer in the Abbey Church have begun. choir. The silence of the church is rich and the words do not disrupt. Instead they seem to soak into it, as the vivid paints long ago soaked into the wet plaster of the fresco glowing in the light on the wall above the choir. The morning hymn is carried by swells of organ and men’s voices beyond the light into the darkened corners of the church: “Lord, God, your light which dims the stars Awakes all things And all that springs to life in you Your glory sings…”
file photo
When the monks completed the church in 1957, the Abbey’s centennial year, they wrote: “Here in the abbey church the monks can be found at worship many times daily. Benedictine spirituality through 1,400 years has centered itself in the daily chanting of God’s praises in the Divine Office and the united offerings of the Holy Sacrifices of the Mass with full splendor of music and ritual.” The monks reminded those celebrating the dedication of their new church that the monk “dedicates himself body and soul to the worship of God. He gives up his rights to private property, to the joys of marriage, and to personal freedom in order to make a sacrifice of his whole being to God’s glory… It is no wonder then, that every Benedictine community strives to build as splendid a monastic church as lies within its power in order to form a fitting place for divine worship, and to glorify God in brick and stone as well as with hearts and hands.” The monks’ plans for a new Abbey Church, in the Gothic style, were progressing when they moved into a new monastery high atop the Missouri River bluff in 1929, 12
but the Great Depression halted work after only part of the foundation had been laid. In 1934 Abbot Martin Veth lamented, “We wanted a church so badly, but we are burdened with an immense debt without hope of moving a hand.” For nearly three decades the community waited patiently to invite the public to share in their daily prayer. In the meantime, they celebrated the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours within their cloister, in a spacious second-floor chapel that today is the Chapter Room where the community gathers to make major decisions. That room is directly behind the massive fresco at the east end of Abbey Church. In 1955 construction resumed. A new architect, Barry Byrne, of Chicago, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, was commissioned. He wanted to tear up the foundation that had been laid earlier, but the monks resisted. Thus, his more contemporary “prairie style” church, which incorporated landscape, was built atop the Gothic remnants, which can be viewed in the crypt of today’s church. In 1957, in time for the centennial of St. Benedict’s Abbey, “at long last, the entire monastic family—the monks, their students, alumni, oblates of the abbey, and numberless friends” had a “common spiritual center from which to draw inspiration, strength and unity.” There were many long discussions in chapter meetings, and no doubt between individual monks in secluded hallways, about what
The Chapter Room was once the place for daily prayer in the Abbey.
this dream church would be. What would the center of monastic prayer look and feel like? To be sure in those earliest of discussions, the indispensible furnishing of the yet-to-be built church was the altar. Father Denis Meade reflects on the “monumental-sized altar” that dominates the church like a marble heart: “The self gift of Jesus’ life gives us life. Upon the altar, Jesus’ passage through death to life is re-presented. It is the spot where the one sacrifice of the Lord is brought anew into our midst at every Mass. Simultaneously it is the table upon which the banquet of life is served to those who come forward to share in Communion. Together, these members of one body say, ‘Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!’ “It is interesting to note that at least four years before the selection of a church design or even an architect the church committee was already discussing the altar. They wanted to get it right. In their first meetings of 1949 the committee decided that they wanted to embody classic ideals of a monastic church. This meant the altar was the space where the Eucharistic sacrifice would come to be. The Blessed Sacrament would be reserved in an adjoining chapel built
winter 2008 for that purpose. “The altar was to be located between the monks’ choir and the nave of the church and constructed in such a way that Mass could be celebrated either toward the monks in choir or the people in the nave. With their thoughts of simplicity and freedom of vision the monks originally proposed that the altar be a mensa, a simple stone table upon four supporting legs. Barry Byrne, the architect, however, insisted that such an altar would be lost in the vast space of the sanctuary and persuaded them to adopt the concept of a more substantial altar; thus the large altar of Carrara marble from Italy. The brick support in the center goes down through the crypt to anchor the altar to the earth below. This was a requirement of the pre-Vatican II solemn rite of church dedication. The architect and committee were agreed that eventually this brick support would be adorned with a mosaic of bright colors, a concept as yet unrealized.
The altar is made of marble imported from Italy.
“When the church was built, public opinion among those interested in church design favored simplicity of interior decoration. Hence it was decided that the main altar would be the only altar in the principal part of the church. Instead of the traditional side altars dedicated to Mary and Joseph, two chapels in the crypt were dedicated to our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Joseph, the Worker. “Gathering the whole Benedictine community around one altar was a dream of the community. For a number of years the Abbey’s daily conventual Mass was celebrated at noon with the full participation of the monks and students offering and singing the Mass together.” St. Benedict’s is a sturdy church, built not only to withstand but to deter the harsh elements of the Kansas plains. Like a massive ship upon a wave it rides the swell of the bluffs above the Missouri River, overlooking the floodplain where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark once camped and wrote of a land of abundant game and rich, dark soil, awaiting the plow. Father Peter Henry Lemke, years later, would venture west to the same flood plain, hoping to cultivate Catholic souls in ill-fated Doniphan, Kansas Territory. The Kansas monks who followed him would move to higher ground in Atchison, and a century later would build a church as simple and solid as old Henry. With an exterior of Winona Limestone and an interior of Indiana Limestone and light red brick it is not difficult to share the architect’s vision of a church that is one with the prairie from which it rises. The floors are Kasota buff fleuri. The ceiling, contributing to the church’s pitch-perfect acoustics, is aluminum pan acoustic and porcelain enamel, some tiles weighing more than 50 pounds. The pews, choir stalls and all other woodwork are hewn from solid white oak.
The Nave is the longest part of the Abbey Church and also houses the confession booths.
Originally, high, slender windows of clear glass were installed in the church with the intention of later replacing them with stained glass. However, in time the stained glass was abandoned as the monks recognized that the flood of natural light enhanced the natural radiance of the nave where on festive occasions hundreds of guests sit comfortably beneath the colorful ceiling soaring 44-feet overhead. And a well lit and comfortable nave is significant, for as Father Brendan Rolling notes, those who fill it are precious cargo: “The nave is the longest part of a church’s architecture. Inside, it can often look like a keel, the longest part of a ship. Due to this, the word is actually taken from the Medieval Latin word, “navis,” meaning ship. St. Benedict’s Abbey Church is built to look like a ship. The fresco area is the stern (back) and the entrance is the stem (front). The tower is the mast. The pews in the nave are like planks built for sailors who row for Jesus Christ. “From the high altar cross, we can hear Jesus say, ‘I thirst.’ –John 19:28 These two words show us what he desires most. Souls. Jesus thirsts for souls. For this reason the nave is the largest part of our church. It is built to cradle what God desires most. In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict instructs his monks to generously serve God’s desire by always welcoming pilgrims. Pilgrim-souls demonstrate their love for God by imitating Jesus who traveled to mountain tops to pray. Monastery churches make this practice practical and therefore are living icons of Christ’s Transfiguration. “The nave of our Abbey Church, like the nave of Monte Cassino’s Church, the church of St. Benedict’s first Abbey, is built to welcome and hold God’s most prized possession, His people. Millions travel to Monte Cassino’s nave while thousands travel to St. Benedict’s Abbey Church to pray each year. You are always welcome.” In the Abbey Church the eye of most people as they enter the nave is immediately drawn to 610-square-foot fresco at the east end, and the Jean Charlot masterpiece, which captures the colors from the length of the ceiling to draw the eye deep into the heart of the glorified Christ certainly does its part to mesmerize. But, as in a monastic community, a church is a whole consisting of unified parts. On the way to the fresco, “The Trinity and Episodes of Benedictine Life,” there are quiet and simple parts of the church to be noted and reflected upon. First, how does one arrive inside such a church? Most people and indeed all before 2007 entered the building by climbing stairs. Such was the way of church design in 1957. With a nod to the words of St. Benedict, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ,” Abbot Barnabas Senecal says it became a priority of the monastic community to change that: “While acclaimed for its design, our church was not friendly to the handicapped person due to the various elevations of the land and the building, and the restricted space dedicated to restrooms. We hired Treanor Architects to design modifications to our church 13
KANSAS MONKS that would allow everyone access to our house of prayer. We appealed to our friends to help finance a $2.2 million dollar project under the construction management of JE Dunn. We were very pleased in April 2007 This ramp is one of the many new additions to when Archbishop the Abbey Church. Joseph Naumann dedicated the addition to the narthex with its new restroom facilities, the interior and exterior ramps and railings, and the elevator and side lift. “When Clarence Deitchman joined us on the day we welcomed our Brazil monks and Brazil supporters, he was in a wheelchair, weakened by cancer. Luke Wenzl suffered a crushed spinal cord and has been in a wheelchair since 1968; he joined us on our Brazil day. Clarence was brother to our Father Eric; Luke had been a monk of our community. We were so pleased they could join us with some ease. “We want our house of prayer to be available and inviting. St. Benedict would want it that way as he instructed his followers to offer hospitality to all. “May it be so.” The inclusive embrace of Benedictine hospitality upon which Abbot Barnabas and the monks of St. Benedict’s insist finds its foundation in the same sacred embrace of Christ represented in the walls of their church. Father Denis points to the easily overlooked ‘consecration crosses’ that line the walls of The Blessed Sacrament Chapel the Abbey Church: “The word Christ means ‘the anointed one’ and in the dedication of a church two places are anointed with oil—the altar itself and then the walls of the church building. The spots where the walls are anointed are marked with 12 crosses—representing the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles—each holding a candle. Logically the altar is anointed first since the altar is the spot where Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection is renewed in the Eucharist. So Christ’s anointing spreads from the altar and reaches out to us in a loving embrace, symbolized by anointing the four walls of the church building. Christ, the anointed one, is the light of the world and our share in his consecration for us is symbolized by the light-bearing candles Chrism, the same holy oil that is used to consecrate people to God in baptisms, confirmations and ordination is used to anoint the walls and the altar. The anointing of the crosses and walls is yet one 14
more way of our proclaiming, ‘Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the savior of the world.’” When the Abbey Church is empty, a profound silence can fill its expanse. Like a fortress it holds at bay prairie winds in autumn and winter, and provides cool respite from Midwest heat and humidity in July and August. Tucked away in its own cozy spot just out of view of the altar on the south side of the church is a place that seems to cradle its own special silence— the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The small altar of Alabama cream marble holds a rectangular tabernacle flanked by candelabras. Before it are chairs and kneelers. The candle burns in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel letting all who enter know of the presOn the wall, a delicate ence of the Eucharist. cabinet holds chrism and other sacred oils. Above the altar, the vigil light is lit to represent the presence of Christ. A frequent visitor, Father Bruce Swift says the chapel is haven to the Blessed Sacrament 24 hours a day, every day of the year, except for the hours after Holy Thursday Mass until the Easter Vigil: “In keeping with the simple design of the church, this chapel is not ornate. It is a place where the faithful may come and pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Early every morning—between 5:15 and 5:30—a few monks will be in the chapel praying. Throughout the day, monks stop in for a few moments to visit Jesus in the Sacred Species. Sometimes students come to pray or study. Teachers can be seen praying, preparing for classes, correcting papers, asking for divine guidance for their students. “Every Saturday night the Blessed Sacrament is moved from the tabernacle in the chapel to a monstrance on the main altar where the monks and students participate in a Holy Hour, singing the ancient songs of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Divine Praises.” When the church is not silent, it may be filled with musical splendor. Especially if one is an enthusiast of organ music. And the Abbey’s organ has no more fervent enthusiast than Father Blaine Schultz. “My teacher and mentor, Father Anselm Llwellyn, of happy memory, knew the importance of having a quality pipe organ for the new Abbey Church,” Father Blaine recalls. “For that reason he enlisted the services of the distinguished organist and organ builder, Ernest White, to design the 3-manual, 44-rank Moeller instrument
The organ is housed near the center of the Choir.
that graces the church today.” White collaborated with the architect early on in designating the locations of future organ pipes—above the sanctuary, over the narthex, and in the choir. The console was placed in the south choir. Chambers to house the pipes were included in the church design. Two-thirds of the organ was installed in 1958, Father Blaine explains, and known as opus 9140. Almost 45 years would pass before the organ would be completed. Father Blaine: “Since its installation 50 years ago, it has been my honor and privilege to play this magnificent instrument on a daily basis to accompany and support the monastic choir in singing psalms, hymns and canticles at the Liturgy of the Hours and daily Mass. “According to ‘Music in Catholic Worship,’ the purpose of music in the liturgy is to ‘assist the assembled believers to express and share the gift of faith that is within them and to nourish and strengthen their interior commitment to faith.’ “I believe the beauty and brilliance of the abbey organ is due in large part to the outstanding acoustics of the room. In giving tours, I call listeners’ attention to the fact that there is no carpet or upholstered seats, the worst enemies of good sound, anywhere in the room. The hard surfaces of brick, stone and marble, plus the height of the ceilings, all contribute to exceptional acoustics.” Exceptional is a word applied often and in many particulars to the Abbey Church. By its very nature as a church it fits the description. It has been consecrated; it is holy ground, a house sanctified. Two striking—it has been said exceptional—pieces of art serve as constant reminders of the building’s intrinsic holiness, bold symbols of the watchfulness of the Son of God over those who sing his praises within its walls. In tours he gives to visitors, Prior James describes the double crucifix hanging above the altar as the beginning of the singular theological narrative in Christendom, which concludes across the choir in the Charlot fresco. The double crucifix represents Christ’s passion, he says. Facing the nave, his head still lifted in the last breaths of life, is Christ crucified. Facing the choir, head slumped upon his
winter 2008 chest, Christ in death. Beyond the choir, radiating from the plaster of Charlot’s fresco, Christ risen, glorified, his hands and feet, though still bearing the wounds of crucifixion, now free of the nails, his head free of the crown of thorns, all of which are held by the angels of compassion that surround him. Of course the joy of art is its openness to interpretation. “When I raise my eyes to look at the double-crucifix above our high altar I reflect on how avant-garde the members of the Committee on the Decoration and Ornamentation of the Abbey Church were,” Abbot Owen Purcell says of the committee directed by Fathers Malachy Sullivan and Victor Gellhaus to accomplish what the name implies. “A double crucifix was not common at all in 1957.” Then Abbot Owen offers the interpretation of the double crucifix that sends him on his way each day: “I have often thought, and this is my own idea, that the Jesus facing the monastic choir, head bowed, dead and exhausted from suffering, can remind the viewer of the Jesus who suffered and died for our sins. The death can be looked upon as the ultimate sign of love. Ultimate in that it was the Son of God who showed this love as he said, ‘Yes’ to the Father. ‘Your will be done, not mine.’ “When I turn my attention to the Jesus facing the nave, I think of the risen Jesus with head lifted, who says to me, ‘You, go and do likewise. Say yes to the same Father. Go and tell the entire world the real Good News, which is, “I love you.” But show that very love in your own life.’” Cold rain pelts the visitor scurrying up the front steps of the Abbey Church as a dismal October night falls on Atchison. Inside, the church’s narthex is empty but warmly lit and inviting. Stepping into the nave he stops to let his eyes adjust to the darkness, and then proceeds up the center aisle toward the soft light in the choir. Somewhere high above him he hears rain and the toll of bells calling the monks to Evening Prayer. A few monks are already sitting in choir stalls. The guest takes a seat in an empty stall and Father Bruce approaches and explains the order of prayer for the evening. The rest of the monks navigate to their stalls, and Father Blaine leans into the organ. The gentle swells of music fit nicely with the soft lighting of the church. The choir stalls are comfortable; they seem to surround and protect, like one’s own personal monastery. Solid and permanent, they hold great strength and importance for Father Meinrad Miller, the abbey’s subprior: “Stability is a vow Benedictine monks profess. It gives us the freedom to seek God in this one place, with our brother monks, and under an Abbot and the Rule of St. Benedict. “For me the choir stalls symbolize this stability. Here in these stalls the monks will gather for prayer, along with our guests: students, retreatants, and others who come here to experience the peace of a Benedictine abbey. “In each choir stall the monk has prayer books and hymnals. Continued on page 18
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what was old is new
KANSAS MONKS
Monk’s reestablish Abbey-student mass in response to burgeoning attendance -by Fr. Brendan Rolling photo by Alzbeta Voboril The Second Vatican Council boldly stated, “Eucharistic sacrifice is the source and summit of the Christian life.” -Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II: The People of God Our founder, St. Benedict, believed this over 1,500 years ago. His first act upon arriving at the top of Monte Cassino was to establish a church where his monks could celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours (Pope Gregory’s Dialogues, Chapter 8). He next built a monastery, library, school, and farm. The community of St. Benedict’s Abbey has demonstrated the spirit of our founder throughout our 150 year history. Our monks have built many churches. In 1957 we built the Abbey Church at the highest point, the summit, of the ground we call home. Beneath the high cross is a tower; beneath that tower is a tabernacle where we find Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. He is the source and summit of our monastic community and college. During this year’s summer retreat, our priests and brothers voted to re-establish the Abbey-Student Mass. It was historic. Sunday Eucharist is the high point of a monk’s week. The decision to fully involve students in the monastic community’s Sunday Mass reclaimed something old and established some-
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thing new. Most importantly each monk personally reaffirmed the Liturgy of the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life for him and for our apostolate, Benedictine College. Something old. The Abbey-Student Mass was a custom for monks and students that started the day we founded St. Benedict’s College in 1858. Daily and Sunday Mass were a priority in the community calendar. For 100 years the AbbeyStudent Mass was celebrated in chapels and the parish church that today serves the people of Atchison at the southern edge of our land. The construction of the Abbey Church marked a milestone in the history of our community. Abbot Cuthbert McDonald set the cornerstone of the church during the community’s centennial celebration in 1957. For the first time in our 100 years the full monastic choir could worship in a church completely dedicated to that purpose and the student body had a spiritual home distinct from that of the local parishes. Something happened. In 1957, the Abbey Church, like churches across America, was full. Then our church, like churches across America, experienced a plunge in attendance that has lasted more than 40 years. The Abbey-Student Mass disappeared along with our memories of a full church. A study done this year said, “No other major faith in the U.S. has experi-
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enced greater net losses than the Catholic Church” (Pew Forum, Religious Landscape Survey 2008). Today, something new and positive is happening. Benedictine College chaplains report students are attending Masses in record numbers and fighting the tide of negative national trends. Only a few years ago, there were only 10 students at daily Mass. Today, we estimate between 300 and 400. At one time, there was one daily Mass for students. Today there are four. A while back, there was no adoration. Today, there is twenty-four hour adoration and as many as 15 students can be found in the chapel at a time. Over the last 20 years, Benedictine College produced about 40 vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Last year alone 26 students and alumni announced their intent to enter discernment. Only a few years ago there was plenty of pew space in our chapels and churches. Last year, there were times when there was standing room only. This is what 85 percent enrollment growth feels like! Over the years, Mass times and locations have been added, but these did not keep pace with the growing faithlife of our student body. While many colleges experienced short-falls in enrollment, Benedictine reported its largest freshmen class in history. What began as a small trend just 10 years ago is now an impressive statistic that Benedictine chaplains brought to everyone’s attention last
year. We now estimate that over 50 percent of our student body regularly attends Sunday Mass. More than 700 students at Sunday Mass! To celebrate the first 100 years of St. Benedict’s Abbey, priests, brothers, and alumni combined forces to build a church. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Abbey and College, the community of St. Benedict’s Abbey voted to fill the church we built by re-establishing the Abbey-Student Mass. More than 50 years after it was built, the church is full again with hundreds of students who are returning to the Mass. They now have a church, a common spiritual home, where they can worship together under the pastoral care of their Benedictine Fathers. The Prophet Isaiah says, “Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn” (Isa 51:1). This Scripture says to us, “Remember where you came from.” We did. We built what St. Benedict built and now the Holy Spirit is filling it. The young are responding to Pope John Paul’s call for a new evangelization and to Pope Benedict’s recent call for a New Pentecost. At this summer’s World Youth Day Pope Benedict called down the Holy Spirit and asked for a “new generation of apostles.” By re-establishing the AbbeyStudent Mass at the top of this hill, the community of St. Benedict’s Abbey joins Pope Benedict and all the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in saying, “Eucharistic sacrifice is the source and summit of the Christian life.” U.I.O.G.D.
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KANSAS MONKS Continued from page 15
In addition, monks keep books in their choir stall for private Lectio Divina. “When the Abbey Church was being built, Father Denis and others were asked to send the plans for the choir stalls from the Abbey of Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. They did, and the result is that our choir stalls provide a noble simplicity by which we can praise God both in our liturgical prayer, and in our private prayer.” The evening psalms and hymns are filled with comforting praise for God’s justice, compassion and forgiveness. Perhaps due to a lack of discipline or simply an appreciation for and wonder at the beauty of bold works of art, the guest’s eye wanders to the huge fresco on the wall above the chanting monks. God the Father and Christ the risen Son in Charlot’s work are painted in the same warm colors that light the church on this fall evening. The hands of the figures in the fresco are large and strong, ready to embrace all present. The fresco is a form of art in which the paints are applied when the plaster was newly laid and still moist. The pigments penetrated the surface, so that when the plaster dries, the painting would enjoy a life expectancy of many centuries. It has been said that church art is a constant prayer lifted to God even when the church is empty. However, when the monks and their guests are present, this particular piece of artwork seems to sing along with them. Father Meinrad explains the fresco’s message: “In 1938, the French artist, Jean Charlot, was commissioned by Time magazine to paint a Nativity scene for the front cover of the Christmas 1938 edition. That year Adolph Hitler had ruled that Christ would not be part of the German celebration of Christmas. Time magazine reported in that issue about that, and many other places where Christianity was undergoing persecution. “In 1958 Charlot was asked to paint the frescos in the Abbey Church here. For 50 years the monks and our guests have daily gathered in the Abbey Church to pray the Psalmody of the Liturgy of the Hours, and to enter into the daily celebration of the Eucharist under the Charlot fresco. “Charlot captured the central themes of our monastic life in this main fresco. In the middle of the fresco is the life of the Trinity. The scenes in the four corners were chosen from Benedictine life: 1) the raising of the monk after a wall had fallen upon him. 2) The driving out of the devil from the rock, so the monks could build the monastery. 3) The founder of our Abbey, Father Henry Peter Lemke giving his bed to a dying man in Doniphan whom he had brought back to the Church. 4) The different works of the monks. “These themes of healing, spiritual warfare, charity, and working together for the common good flow from the life of the Trinity. The fresco leads us beyond looking at ourselves as independent agents to seeing the unity that is ours in Christ. Of course, the Angels depicted in the fresco, who aided Christ in his passion, also aid us in following after. Toward the end of Evening Prayer, the monks bow and sing: “Give praise to the Father Almighty, To his Son Jesus Chirst, To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts…” Lifting their heads, they finish… “Both now and for ever, Amen.” St. Benedict wrote in his Rule, “After the Work of God, all should leave in complete silence with reverence for God…” Two by two, the monks file out of the church, until only Father Blaine remains, straightening up sheet music at the organ. Soon he leaves. Later, the lights are turned off. And almost imperceptible in the darkness is the whisper of the heavy rain that is still falling outside. 18
“Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit.” Isaiah 42:1 A Jean Charlot fresco in St. Benedict’s Abbey Church, Atchison, portrays the Risen Christ as One within the Trinity. -A Powerful, Generative Love by Abbot Barnabas Senecal Stories told, painted in plaster, Gregory and Peter - writers, Charlot - reader of their works, schooled in fresco and in faith. These acts of moving stone, saving lives through blessing, aiding a victim of Civil War, riding horseback to distant posts; These acts, possible by grace, reflect lives lived intentionally, binding monks to others in imitation of Christ Himself. Central to this work of art, central to the work of life, is the Mystery of Three in One, the Mystery of Christ Alive! Protective hands of loving Father, seeing hands of Son unpinned, expresses joy and oneness with courageous, Risen Son. A jet-like Spirit hovers near, between Father and Son, a powerful, generative Love, active in God and us.
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From The Desert This is the way; walk in it
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’ve started to read Ralph Martin’s book, The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints. I thought it was going to be a quick read, but I have discovered it is one of those, ‘read a few pages, highlight certain passages, scribble notes, set it aside and pray for awhile’ type of books. In his Introduction, Martin quotes from Isaiah 30:20-21. “The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you would turn to the right or to the left.” Now you might think this is a strange association of thoughts, but as I contemplated this verse, it came to me that this is pretty much like taking Anna on a walk. I am Anna’s pack-leader in dog-terms. She needs to follow me where I want to go. I lead. If she starts going in one direction, or sees a rabbit and wants to chase it (which happens every day) I give a correction with the leash and a sound communicating where she needs to walk. I do this to reinforce to her I am the pack-leader. She is not. I also do this for her safety and well-being. Sure, there are times when we chase rabbits for play, but only after she has got her “business” and exercise time done. She does not resent this or hold a grudge, she is a dog after all. But she does know that from experience she will receive praise and a treat or two if she listens to my voice: “Anna, this is the way to walk, walk in it.” It helps her/us to achieve a “Union” of sorts. What do dogs desires the most? I think they seek to please their masters and to share in some portion, their lives with us, some sort of Union. What should we humans desire the most? Easy to answer: We should desire Perfect Union with God. We should desire, above all things, as Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48, “Be Perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We need to listen to his voice, hearing if He wishes us to go “to the right or to the left.” He desires to lead us to perfection. He desires for us to have ever-lasting Union with Him. But Perfection? Isn’t Jesus asking us to achieve the impossible? Of course it is impossible if we try to achieve this on our own. There-
fore striving for perfection, Perfect Union with God, must be done with God’s assistance; “for with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37). It is not impossible with God’s aid to convert our lives and make us Saints, to bring us to “perfection.” What does “perfection” mean? Martin says in his very first paragraph in his first chapter; “Perfect in purity of heart, perfect in compassion and love, Father Gabriel Landis perfect in obedience, perfect in conformity to the will of the Father, perfect in holiness.” In his writing, Martin mixes in both the Saints who were mystics, but also the teaching of Pope John Paul II. In his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, (Beginning of the New Millennium) John Paul II wrote, “The time has come to repropose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction” (NMI, 30, 31). Pope John Paul was commenting on “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In other words; Be Holy. A good question for us to ponder is: “What do we mean by ‘holiness?’” I like Martin’s answer: “To be holy is not primarily a matter of how many Rosaries we say or how much Christian activity we’re engaged in; it’s a matter of having our hearts transformed into a heart of love.” So many times in the Gospels we read something like, “Jesus went off into the wilderness/desert to be alone and pray.” He did this because he understood that prayer transforms our hearts into hearts of love, deep love. John Paul wrote in NMI; “prayer can progress, as a genuine dialogue of love, to the point of rendering the person wholly possessed by the divine Beloved, vibrating at the Spirit’s touch, resting filially within the Father’s heart” (NMI 33). The directive of Jesus to, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect,” is not optional for us if we desire to make it to heaven. We either obtain Union with God through prayer, making use of the Sacraments, expanding our hearts into hearts of love, or we don’t. The former leads us to everlasting joy and love in heaven. The latter simply does not. If we are not striving to be Holy, we will not have Union with God. I guess that is enough for this column. If you can, get this excellent book, then read and pray, and listen for the voice which tells us “This is the way; walk in it,” when you would turn to the right or to the left.” Praised Be Our Savior Jesus Christ! Now and Always! Amen! 19
Fresh from the vine... KANSAS MONKS
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Choosy monks choose…?
Peanuts? In Kansas? Will they even grow here? No, not really, Brother Leven Harton answered. The growing season is too short. The muddy, clay soil, too dense. Peanuts need loamy, sandy soil and a long, southern growing season. But then a crooked smile crossed the young monk’s face and his eyes took on a mad scientist gleam. “I just love peanut butter,” he said. The seed was already in the ground. During last year’s planting, nature stymied him; deer ate all the plants. “From the hoof prints,” Brother Leven recalls, “you would have thought they were having a prom out there.” But this spring, he got lucky. Brother Leven figures since there was no late freeze there were plenty of other plants for the deer to munch on. They took it easy on the Abbey peanut patch. He planted 1,500 seeds, 800 of which were donated by an uncle from Western Kansas who was amused by his nephew’s Quixotic quest. Three hundred broke the surface as plants. “What I really had was this weed farm with a few peanuts here and there,” Brother Leven joked. A late October harvest resulted in about 10,000 worthwhile peanuts, enough for peanut butter for the Abbey table and peanut brittle for the Christmas holiday. Lessons learned from this harvest he hopes will result in a more abundant harvest next year. Out of the 1,500 seed planted, 100 were pure bred and the rest were hybrids. Of the open pollenated seeds 80 percent to 90 percent became plants. Brother Leven will be planting mostly pure-bred seeds next year. The only question remaining is smooth or chunky?
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KANSAS MONKS
Clothed with Faith God’s Will In Our Lives The Radical Call
D
uring the final two weeks of September Abbot Barnabas traveled to Rome to participate in the Congress of Benedictine Abbots at Sant’Anselmo, the international house of studies Prior James Albers for the Benedictine Order. On Saturday, Sept. 20, the abbots took time from their scheduled meetings to travel to the small Italian town of Castel Gondolfo – the papal summer residence – for an encounter with the Holy Father. Taking St. Benedict as his patron following his election as pope, Pope Benedict’s affinity for the father of modern monasticism is well known. He has made many references to St. Benedict in his public addresses and writings. Pope Benedict, a native of Bavaria—to which the roots of our monastery extend—early on in his priesthood and during his visits home from Rome would retreat to Benedictine monasteries in his homeland. In this particular address to the abbots at Castel Gondolfo, Pope Benedict spoke of how important Benedictine life is to “a world and epoch marked by a disturbing culture of emptiness and meaninglessness.” The Holy Father spoke of our radical call as monks to make our lives in the monastery a “daily encounter with the Person of Christ, whom you always have with you as guest,
companion and friend.” To this point, our call as Benedictine monks is a radical call from the world, a radical call to a daily, incessant prayer, a call to “proclaim the primacy of God without compromise.” Pope Benedict reminds us, in his address to the abbots, how important the monk’s prayer is for the Church and the world, how important is our “commitment to personal and communitarian sanctification.” It is a simple gift to the Church and world, but a radical one. It is a balance of Ora et Labora, “Pray and Work,” that the Holy Father sees as so vital to our world. It is that balance that is so vital to the extended Benedictine Community we have formed in Atchison, in Northeast Kansas, and beyond through the many lives we have touched and continue to form through our work in schools and parishes, and through the individuals who join us on retreat in the monastic setting. “There is a pressing need for vibrant places of encounter with the Lord,” Pope Benedict offered, “in which, through prayer and contemplation, the individual may recover peace with himself and peace with others.” It is that balance of interior freedom we all seek by living in Christ. Pope Benedict understands how important this balance is in forming the lives of the faithful, young and old; however, he sees a fundamental urgency in our service as Benedictine monks to the young. “I know and deeply appreciate,” Pope Benedict shared with the abbots, “the generous and competent cultural and formative work carried out by so many of your monasteries, especially for the younger generations, creating an atmosphere of brotherly acceptance that favors a unique experience of Church. In fact, it is of primary importance to prepare young people to face their future and measure up to the many demands of society, having as a constant reference the Gospel message, which is ever timely, inexhaustible and life-giving.” This is our call as Kansas Monks, Benedictine monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey; however, as is the case throughout the Church, there is a need for more of us to meet this challenge. There isn’t a day that goes by where our monks laboring in our college, high school, parishes and chaplaincies aren’t providing spiritual direc-
‘It is a balance of Ora et Labora, “Pray and Work,” that the Holy Father sees as so vital to our world.’
If you are a young man interested in a monastic vocation? If you know of someone who might be, please contact the St. Benedict’s Abbey Director of Vocations, Prior James Albers. He can be reached at jalbers@kansasmonks.org or by telephone at 913-360-7830 22
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tion, aren’t hearing confessions, aren’t offering Masses, aren’t guiding our young people in ministry and the classroom, aren’t caring for the sick and dying. There isn’t a day when we aren’t providing for the welfare of one another temporally and spiritually in community. Nor is there a day where we fail to gather numerous times in community prayer, petitioning God for graces upon the Church and her people, or in personal prayer – meditation, lectio divina – to develop our own spiritual lives, to better help others in their growth toward God. We each have a responsibility, monk and layperson alike, to instill in our young people an understanding of the importance and beauty of a life in service to God. In helping our young people who are discerning their vocations, it is important to ask them, “Is God calling you to direct service in his church?” “If not you, then who?” If you are not being called to join in our search for Christ in monastic life here at St. Benedict’s Abbey, then whom should you encourage to pray about it, to visit, to answer God’s call? To our young people of faith, it is your responsibility to ask, “Is it I?” As parents of faith, you have a responsibility to ask, “Is it my son, how can I encourage him?” As grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers or sisters, friends, “How can I support him in his discernment?” Pope Benedict encouraged the abbots to ask those questions of our young people, and he pushes each monk to look inside himself to see if and how our lives are inspiring others to join us. “Indeed,” the Holy Father urged, “it is necessary to start with
the new generations, offering them the possibility of coming into close contact with the spiritual treasure of the liturgy, of meditation and of lectio divina… A community capable of authentic fraternal life, fervent in liturgical prayer, in study, in work, in cordial availability to your neighbor who is thirsting for God, is the best impetus for inspiring in hearts, especially those of young men, the vocation to monastic life and in general a fruitful journey of faith.” Editor’s Note: Father James Albers is Prior and Vocations Director of St. Benedict’s Abbey and a graduate of Benedictine College. All photos are Kansas Monks file photos
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KANSAS MONKS
ST. BENEDICT’S ABBEY presents a series of retreats
Men’s Retreat: February 6-8, 2009 Couples Retreat: June 10-11, 2009
leads into the Benedictine College Alumni Weekend
Join the monks in prayer as you engage in your formation and build community with other retreatants.
Suggested donation of $100 per person, per retreat. contact Prior James Albers 913.360.7830 jalbers@kansasmonks.org
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Marked with the sign of Faith
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Father David Kinish (1902-1984)
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ather David is known for his devoted service in the Abbey Library, as Chaplain to the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery for 38 years, and for his long-time cultivation of irises, and later, orchids. In fact, he discovered a new species of orchid in Brazil, the Orleanesia mineirosensis, which the Oakes Ames collection at Harvard University allowed him to name. Father David had a very dry sense of humor perhaps captured by this anecdote. One day in the Recreation Room he announced to Father Cornelius Caples the U.S. Navy had developed a clock that lost only a thousandth of a second each century. He suggested that Father Cornelius might like to Father David was an avid gardener. have one. Father Cornelius replied with an equally dry remark: that before he acquired one he would wait until the Navy worked out the “bugs.” David was a quiet person no doubt fostered by his time alone with the irises in the garden or the orchids in the greenhouse. On his orchid-hunting trips in Brazil he took along a younger person to climb the trees and cut the specimens. Father David worked daily in the quiet of the library. He did have a masters in library science from the University of Michigan. The library was not as open as it is now during his tenure there. The college library did not have open stacks. One filled out a form, gave it to a worker, and the requested item was retrieved from the closed stacks, which were in the east basement
Sister Noreen Hurter carries the Lectionary at Mass followed by Abbot Owen Purcell and Father David/.
Editor’s Note: Abbot Owen Purcell is at work compiling a necrology of St. Benedict’s Abbey, a volume of brief profiles on each of the deceased members of the Abbey from its founding to the present. This document offers a thorough, poignant and often entertaining
Father David examines a Brazilian soy bean field with Brother Robert Heiman (left) and Father Eric Deitchman. (right)
and second floor of what is now St. Benedict Hall. The library work room was in the area where the Maybee Theatre is now located. The workers, mainly Father Colman Farrell and Father David, worked there under florescent lighting, in cassocks, and always fitted with green visors, much like poker players, to carefully catalog books and maintain the periodicals. Other community members did help on occasion as did student workers. There was a bookbinding area on the north end. Some monks tried their hand at that as well. Father David is most prominently remembered as the long-time chaplain at Mount Saint Scholastica Monastery. Over the course of his tenure he gave thousands of homilies and heard as many confessions. Each day he was there for early Mass along with Father Felix and others who helped. He was revered by the sisters and was quick to remind us monks of how hard the sisters worked for the Abbey and the Church. Monetary recompense was often lacking or minimal. The story is told of Father David’s dealings with one particularly noteworthy sister. He apparently was uncharacteristically brusk in his manner toward her. Her reply: “I’m finished with Kinish!” Father Blaine Schultz has this reflection on the life of Father David: “One of my favorite monks! We had one thing in common, our love for classical music. He taped hundreds of radio broadcasts of classical music and shared them with me.
look into the history of the Abbey, one monk at a time. In order to provide our readers with some insight into the lives of the men who have made the history of St. Benedict’s, Kansas Monks will publish one or more of these profiles in each issue. If you have an anecdote
about the monks you read about in these profiles or about any other deceased monks, Abbot Owen would enjoy hearing from you. You may contact him by telephone: (913) 360-7817, or more easily by e-mail: ojposb@yahoo.com.
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The following homily was delivered by Father Marion Charboneau at St. Benedict’s Abbey Church. All quotations are taken from the U.S. Catholics website www.usccb.org. – Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16
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s part of my preparations for preaching this Sunday, I glanced at some of the remarks of the church fathers who wrote on today’s gospel passage, and found a nice thought from St. Jerome, presented to his readers as a statement from God himself about the value of receiving a day’s wages. Said St. Jerome: “A denarius bears the figure of the king. You have therefore received the reward I have promised you, that is, my image and likeness; what more could you desire…Take what is yours and go your way.” It’s a good quote with valuable insight into our eternal reward, yet, the dissatisfied workers in our gospel show it isn’t easy for everyone to simply accept and go their way. Our Gospel presented a group of workers, probably symbolizing Christian Jews, resenting God’s generosity. How could people like the tax collectors and the prostitutes, who had gravely sinned against God, and the Gentiles, who had not born the full weight of Israel’s covenant for centuries, get the same reward as them? The resentful workers first made an error in the way they conceived of salvation. They thought of it in terms of a calculation, some sort of measuring of the time they had labored for God, or a weighing of their contribution to the kingdom. They learned today through Jesus that our eternal reward is instead the measurement of God’s love for the sinner. The reward is the same, because God loves all in the same measure. Christians may still wonder, then, if our actions and deeds have any lasting importance or significance in the kingdom. If the reward is the same, will what we do be noticed and remembered or will it be erased away once the End of the World arrives? I will suggest that something of the answer to such questions becomes evident if you have ever compared two quarters in change you received from a pop machine. Perhaps one was minted recently, but the other, many years ago. Each possesses an equal value to whomever we hand them, yet each has a different shine. Yesterday evening, the monks listened to an explanation of this gospel reading from St. Augustine that uses the same idea to explain the kingdom of heaven. He noted that all of the saints will shine, some more, some less. Some will shine with wedded chastity, others with virgin purity. Some will shine with good works, and others with the crown of martyrdom. To use his exact words, “Alike without end they will live, though each shall live in his own brightness.” In light of all of this, we have to conclude that though our reward
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is the same, what we do here really will shine brightly in the heavenly kingdom. Take heart if you are the kind of person who gets anxious wondering if what you do Father Marion Charboneau will have any real meaning or outcome. In the end, it most certainly will. The question I would direct to everyone here today, though, in light of the gospel is a simple one: Why would we wait even a moment to claim our reward? We quite obviously should do as Isaiah the prophet said in the first reading: “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.” Isaiah was speaking at the time to a laughingstock, a people carried off to exile in Babylon, who’d lost their king and saw their temple destroyed. To people of that day and age, to be without a king was to be without greatness and with no one to lead the worship and obedience to the gods that every nation depended upon. To have no place of worship, was to have no home, and to be entirely abandoned and forgotten by the gods. We could sum it up this way: No king, No temple, No people. Not a nation, but trash thrown away. Knowing that God’s ways are not the ways of humanity, and knowing that there might still be some hope because of the covenant they had once made with God, Isaiah urged this devastated people to “Seek the Lord” with a repentant heart. God proved Isaiah correct. Seemingly abandoned without temple or king, God restored them through a pagan king of all things, Cyrus of Persia, Conqueror of Babylon. King Cyrus let them go home. He let them rebuild the temple. Seemingly left for dead by the Lord, they were restored as God’s servants, the covenant people chosen to bring God’s promises to fulfillment and his blessing to all humanity. And from all of that would someday come their king. We gather here today knowing that Jesus Christ is the Salvation Who Came from the Jews. He is the one who took up the task of his people to bring blessing to all humanity and brought it to absolute fullness in his Death and Resurrection, with no possibility of lack or privation. We gather here also as the people in the eleventh hour of salvation history, called to conversion and communion. Will we respond to that call with the repentant heart that seeks the Lord? Will we offer our lives in the Eucharist of the New Covenant? If there is any doubt or hesitation within us, may we remember the denarius, a small reminder of our reward. It is a small, shiny token. It bears the image of the king. It is a sign given by the one who out of his unimaginable love, will grant to us a share in his own inconceivable glory.
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Y E B S AB winter 2008
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Obl ates Find the healthy solitude of Advent
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Let us spend time with healthy solitude this Advent, attempting to grow more and more in our love with a God who gave us his only Son. That is some statement. For where else do we find God, out of pure love, becoming one of us. That is some Christmas present. Maybe we need to be on the top of our Christmas list and realize what a gift of love each of us has received. Men and women have become holy throughout the ages, and we call them saints. Some of these saints are celebrated on special days and the greatest of all, the Blessed Virgin Mary, is celebrated many times during the liturgical year. However, Christ is God, and out of love for every one of us he became a human being like unto us all. We have heard all of this many times before but let us strive to believe it this Advent season so that the Incarnation can be our special Christmas gift.
‘The old story really is always new... ’
Brother John Peto Director of Oblates
it tells the story of how the first Christians lived, but also delves into portions of some of the prophets. Also try certain chapters of Isaiah. Don’t read straight through a book; read here and there and maybe the passages will come alive in your life. 3) Plan your Christmas cards in such a way that you write a few
A few suggestions might be appropriate: 1) Set aside some period of time each day during Advent to pray. Pray to know and understand the love of God for us. Clear out thoughts of what to buy or what cards to send. Love God more and more. 2) Read some Scripture every day. The Acts of the Apostles is always a good place to begin, as
- Have you ever considered becoming an Oblate of St. Benedict? - Does it mean I make vows? Do I have more prayers to say? Does it cost money? - Do I have to make radical life changes? Come and see or contact me, Br. John Peto, jpeto@kansasmonks.org 913-360-7896 28
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ll of those in charge of getting “Kansas Monks” to your mail boxes have challenged me to write something to help prepare us for that great event, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The old story really is always new and I hope to give you a few ideas on how to better prepare during this Advent. It is my firm belief that Advent can indeed be one of the most fruitful spiritual times each year if we can simply shut out some of the activities around us. Yesterday we celebrated St. Bruno and his great love for solitude. How can we find some solitude in our life? There is only one way and that is to set time aside for it. There is healthy solitude and there is also non-healthy solitude. Healthy solitude is being able to spend time growing in that great love affair that challenges all Christians to fall more and more in love with God; to listen with the ear of our heart to what may be said in those times of deep solitude. It doesn’t have to be a long period of time but it has to be time well spent. A non-healthy solitude is that time we spend going over something that has happened in our past or some hurt we have experienced. In these times we are very quiet but we are basking in pain. All this does is simply reinforce our pain.
every day rather than waiting to do them all at once. Try to send just a little something personal in each one. A few lines mean so much to others. In this day and age of emails and left messages, handwriting is a gift in itself. 4) If you buy presents and have to wrap them say a little prayer for the recipient of each package as you do so. 5) Take time to spend with family members and be present to one another. A blessed Advent and a joyfilled Christmas day and all of the days of Christmas that follow until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Don’t end Christmas when it should be beginning. Dare to be different from the world in which we live.
Jubilarians monks celebrating anniversaries Four monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey celebrated jubilee anniversaries this year. Father Louis Kirby celebrated 60 years of priesthood. Father Louis, born July 29, 1922, in Boulder, Colo., professed his vows as a monk of Holy Cross Abbey in July 1944 and was ordained May 22, 1948. For much of his early monastic life he was either being taught or teaching, receiving his master’s degree at the University of Notre Dame and teaching and coaching sports in various positions in the Diocese of Pueblo. From 1971 through 1977 he served as administrator of Santiago Apostel, Chapantongo, Hidalgo, Mexico, and then was pastor at St. Benedict in Floren, Mexico, for the following two years, before returning to Boulder, Colo., where he served as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish until 1985. Father Louis served as chaplain and pastoral director of Fitzsimone Army Medical Center for seven years before returning to pastoral ministry. He came to St. Benedict’s Abbey in 2004 when Holy Cross Abbey closed, and was accepted as a member on June 8, 2005. Abbot Barnabas Senecal celebrated the 50th anniversary of his profession to monastic life. Abbot Barnabas, who graduated from Maur Hill Prep and St. Benedict’s College professed his vows to St. Benedict’s Abbey July 11, 1958, and was ordained to the priesthood May 30, 1964. He was elected the eighth abbot of St. Benedict’s May 30, 1994, and re-elected in December 2002. Abbot Barnabas earned his master’s degree in educational administration at Emporia State University, and put it to good use as assistant headmaster (1969-1979) and headmaster (1979-1990) of Maur Hill. He also taught social studies and religion at Maur Hill from 1966 to 1989. Abbot Barnabas served as interim grade school principal for a year during his four years as associate pastor at Holy Spirit Parish in Overland Park in the early 1990s. From 1971 through 1990, the future abbot was director of Camp St. Maur. And during his time at Maur Hill, he directed the Alumi Club, directed publicity work and designed an intramural sports program. Also celebrating his 50th anniversary of profession to monastic life this year is Father Benjamin Tremmel, pastor of St. Ann Parish in Effingham, Kan. and St. Louis Parish is rural Atchison County. Father Ben, who was born Aug. 26, 1937, in Sibley, Iowa, professed his vows July 11, 1958, and was ordained to the priesthood May 21, 1966. Father Ben is serving in his first pastorate after long careers as a scientist and teacher. He earned a masters’s degree in zoology from the University of Texas and doctorate in plant physiology from Duke
winter 2008 University and taught biology for nearly two decades at Benedictine College before becoming the Abbey’s novice master in the early 1990s and a year and a half later, in 1993, became chaplain to the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica. Although he was no longer on the paid faculty at Benedictine, he continued to direct students in scientific research until 1996. In 2002, Father Ben was assigned to St. Ann parish, while he continues to assist with pastoral duties at Mount St. Scholastica. He also teaches classes on the Psalms to the Abbey’s novices. The Abbey’s fourth jubilarian is Father Daniel McCarthy, who celebrated his 25th year of monastic life. Father Daniel, a native of Garden City, Kan., professed vows Aug. 15, 1983 and was ordained to the priesthood June 15, 1991. He graduated from Benedictine College with a double major in philosophy and religious studies in 1985, the beginning of intense scholarly pursuit. After completing his Master’s of Divinity at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., he was ordained and later served as pastor of three parishes between 1993 and 1999—St. Charles, Troy; St. Joseph’s, Wathena, and St. Benedict, Bendena. Father Daniel completed his master’s degree in theology, studying liturgy, at the University of Notre Dame in 1999, and then continued to pursue advanced studies in liturgy at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. He completed a license in sacred liturgy (S.L.L.) at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy in 2005, and a doctorate of sacred liturgy (S.L.D.) there in 2008. He currently lectures on liturgy at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome, and is co-founder and co-director of the book series Liturgiam aestimare: Appreciating the Liturgy. Father Daniel also continues to write a weekly column, “Listen to the Word,” for The Tablet of London. Other monks who celebrated significant anniversaries this year include
Profession
Brother Anthony Vorwerk Father Maurice Haefling Father Matthew Habiger Father Hugh Keefer Father Rodrigo Perissinotto Father Marion Charboneau Father Gabriel Landis Brother Jeremy Heppler
55 years 45 years 45 years 45 years 10 years 10 years 10 years 5 years
Ordination Father Jude Burbach Father Matthew Habiger
55 years 40 years 29
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Abbey notes
Abbot Ralph Koehler is resident in the Abbey now, and has been assisting with weekend parish assignments. He and his brother provided an evening meal of fresh catfish, caught in Centralia Lake. Abbot Owen Purcell said the prayers of blessing over the animals on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4. This blessing was on the parking lot on the north side of the monastery where employees and friends of the abbey brought their pet dogs and cats. The Abbey health care staff assisted the elderly monks in attending this event. Father Denis Meade has consulted with community members and diocesan officials in drafting documents to guide the creation of second parish in the Brazilian city of Mineiros. To date, the city has one official parish administered by our Benedictines. In 2009, our center of parochial activity will be the church of San Bento, the church of St. Joseph’s Priory. Father Maurice Haefling served as a financial consultant for St. Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo, Calif., Sept. 8-14. Prior James Albers and Brother Leven Harton hosted six young men for a vocation retreat Oct. 3-5 at the Abbey. Five were Benedictine College students and a sixth, a vocation guest, who has visited here previously. Father Gerard Senecal, pas30
tor of St. Benedict’s and Sacred Heart parishes in Atchison, has presided over the funeral services for 250 persons at St. Benedict’s Church since he became pastor ten years ago. There are between 25 and 30 burials a year at Mt. Calvary cemetery. Abbot Barnabas Senecal was reappointed to the Archdiocesan College of Consultors by Archbishop Naumann. Members of this advisory group are Msgr. Gary Applegate, Msgr. Charles McGlinn, Msgr. Thomas Tank, Father Frank Burger, Father Michael Koller, Msgr. Michael Mullen, Father Gary Pennings, Father Bill Porter and Father Brian Schieber. The College of Consultors is a body that fulfills certain administrative and advisory duties as part of archdiocesan governance. Father Hugh Keefer has been asked by Coach Joe Brickner to again serve as Chaplain to the Benedictine College men’s basketball team. He has worked out a program of times that he will offer Mass with the team, be their prayer leader before games, and sit with the team during games. Father Betrand LaNoue invited Tim Ward of Ward and Ward Framing in Kansas City, and a restorative artist to view and assess water damage to two of the Bernard Wagner murals. Most damage has been sustained in the abbot’s chapel, from roof leakage. An estimate of repair costs will be provided.
Community News Jim Luce, who moved from kitchen work to cleaning our abbey rooms and halls last Spring, has been working on a study program through Fort Hays State University. He received a bachelor’s degree from that institution in May of this year, with major emphasis in Sociology and a minor emphasis in Biology. Jim did most of these courses as distance learning on his home computer. Jim is a 1977 graduate of Maur Hill. St. Benedict’s Abbey hosted priests of the Archdiocese for Vespers and a festive evening meal Oct. 7. After the meal, a group of 15 visiting priests accepted Father Blaine’s offer to show them the Elizabeth Zeller exhibit of icons in the Abbey Art Gallery. These priests attended this annual event: Father Steve Beseau, KU Catholic Student Center, Father Bill Bruning, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Topeka, Father Frank Burger, Prince of Peace, Olathe, Father Raymond Burger, resident in Olathe, Father Robert Burger, resident in Olathe, Father Earl Dekat, St. Leo’s, Horton, Father Martin Francis, resident at Cure of Ars, Father Greg Hammes, Cure of Ars, Leawood, Father Michael Hermes, St. John Evangelist, Archbishop James Keleher, Father Norbert Lickteig, resident in Topeka, Father John Maier, resident in Leavenworth, Msgr. Charles McGlinn, Cure of Ars, Leawood, Msgr. Michael Mullen, St. Patrick, Kansas City, Arch-
bishop Joseph Naumann, Father Anthony Ouellette, St. Patrick, Kansas City, Father Gary Pennings, Chancellor, Olathe, Father Bob Pflumm, resident in Overland Park, Father Bill Porter, St. Michael’s, Leawood, Father John Reynolds, St. Joseph’s, Nortonville, Father Al Rockers, Holy Angels, Basehor, Father Harry Schneider, Holy Spirit, Overland Park, Father George Seuferling, resident in Meriden, Father Jerry Spencer, Holy Name, Father Rick Storey, St. Patrick’s, Osage City, Father Shawn Tunink, Most Pure Heart Mary, Topeka, Father Anthony Williams, St. Joseph, Olpe, Father Mitchel Zimmerman, Vocation Director. Health of Abbey Members Father Bertrand LaNoue had minor surgery on his back. This has given him some relief. He still moves about with a walker for security. Brother Peter Karasz has a recurrence of vision problems in his left eye. He uses a magnifying glass for reading when he leads community prayer in the chapel. Father Michael Santa lives each day quite aware of events in the sporting world and the news of the day as he listens to TV in his room. The effects of MS are ever-present for him but he always comes to community prayers. Prayer Requests Stephen Burns, formerly of the
winter 2008 Abbey, has suffered heart difficulties. He is recovering now in his home in Rochester, NY. He appreciates prayers of the community. Ruth Acheson, our kitchen manager, gives this report on two persons for whom she has requested prayers: “Our grandson Darwyn’s leg is healing nicely and is straight now. We went back on Oct. 17 to take the pin out and cast off. He will then be fitted for a prosthetic foot and leg up to his knee. My sister Elizabeth has to have 16 weeks of chemo treatment for her liver cancer. Eugene Vader, Minnetonka, Minn., suffered a blood infection which hospitalized him; while in the hospital he experience three cardiac arrests, none of which caused damage to his heart. Doctors did place a defibrillator in Gene. He is at home. He appreciates prayers for him during his time in the hospital.”
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Vern Ostdiek passed away after suffering from terminal brain cancer. Recently, he was a resident in the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Nelson, Neb. Vern celebrated his 54th birthday on Sept. 30. Vern taught in the physics department of Benedictine College until this illness. His family appreciates the prayers of Vern’s many friends and colleagues. Whitey Mack, the renowned submarine skipper of the USS Lapon who made the historic and epic advances into Soviet waters during the Cold War, is in the final stages of pancreatic cancer. Father Aaron Peters asks prayers for Whitey. Carol Clements, wife of Jack Clements MH ‘68, suffered cardiac arrest and was hospitalized Sept. 12 in Tucscon. She was given CPR but was for some time without oxygen to the brain. She has suffered impairment, was given a defibrillator, and is making significant improvement. She is in inpatient rehab at St.
Joseph’s hospital in Tucson. Jack and their two sons appreciate prayers for Carol. Information about Carol is on line at: www. caringbridge.org/visit/carolclements Julie Hegarty of Atchison has been receiving treatment for cancer and does appreciate our prayers. Roberta Wolters, wife of Phil, had surgery at Research Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 2, and will be receiving treatment for cancer. The family appreciates our prayers. Joel Stigall, brother of Jim Stigall, is beginning chemotherapy treatments for cancer that was discovered recently. Jim is a Methodist minister resident in Ottawa, Kan., and comes to the Abbey for private retreats. Jim asks that we pray for his brother.
Kansas Monks Magazine is now available online. Visit us at Kansasmonks.org for past issues of Kansas Monks as well as the Abbot’s Home Pages (an unabridged version of Abbey Notes.)
photo by JD Benning
Brother Dietrich Reinhart, O.S.B., a monk of St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minn, and President of St. John’s University, has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer. The diagnosis was rendered at the Mayo Clinic. An entry on a patient web site allows concerned friends to keep up with his condition and treatment. That site is http://www.caringbridge. org/visit/brotherdietrich “Br.
Dietrich had checked out of the hospital in Rochester on Sept. 30 after completing the out-patient gamma ray treatment. The procedure went well and the next step is a follow up visit next week,” from the site. Brother Dietrich was one of our Congregational visitators in 2006.
Journey Forward
Bailout Bill Revives Pension Protection Act The passage of the $700 billion financial rescue package included a two-year extension of the Pension Protection Act (a.k.a. IRA Rollover Provision), which expired at the end of 2007. This provision allows taxpayers to make tax-free contributions from their Individual Retirement Accounts to qualified charitable organizations. The following limitations apply: • The donor must be age 70½ or older. • The maximum annual IRA rollover is $100,000. • The contribution must be a direct gift to a charity (no planned gifts). The provision will apply to gifts made from Jan. 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009. St. Benedict’s Abbey does not provide professional financial advice. Please consult your financial advisor. 31
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