Abbey Banner - Spring 2007

Benedictines in Japan celebrate anniversaries, 4 Saint Benedict’s Monastery opens its Sesquicentennial, 8 Reflections on the beard and spirit of Boniface Wimmer, OSB, 10 Abbey Guesthouse now receiving guests, 12 Dedication of Petters Pavilion on May 6, 14 The Tapestry of Cyprian Weaver, OSB, 15 Gardens Galore from Eden to the Abbey, 17 Update on The Saint John’s Bible, 23

Nicholas Thelen, OSB, rings the bell at Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi, Japan

Contents Page 4

Nicholas Thelen, OSB, who has served in Japan for thirty-six years, rings the Saint Benedict bell before the Sunday noon Mass at Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi, Japan. Donated by Saint John’s Abbey, this is the only bell remaining of the five original bells in the Twin Towers of the former abbey church.

Cover Story

by Roman Paur, OSB, and Isaac Connolly, OSB

Features 8 Saint Benedict’s Monastery opens its Sesquicentennial celebration

by Stefanie Weisgram, OSB 10 Reflections on the beard and the indomitable spirit of Boniface Wimmer, OSB

by Abbot Wolfgang Hagl, OSB 12 New Abbey Guesthouse is now receiving guests

by Daniel Durken, OSB

14 Petters Pavilion to be dedicated on May 6

by Geoffrey Fecht, OSB 15 The Tapestry of Cyprian Weaver, OSB

by Daniel Durken, OSB 17 Gardens Galore from Eden to the Abbey

by Bruce Wollmering, OSB, Richard Oliver, OSB, and David Klingeman, OSB

Lee Hanley

Benedictines in Japan celebrate 75th and 60th anniversaries

23 Update on The Saint John’s Bible

by Michael Patella, OSB 24 A Review: Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire

by Eric Hollas, OSB 26 Short Reports from our Benedictine Volunteers in Tanzania, Rome and Newark

Departments 3 From Editor and Abbot 20 The Abbey Chronicle

28 Obituaries: Andre Bennett, OSB, Michael Laux, OSB, and Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB

31 Spiritual Life Back page The Second Sundays

NOTE: Please send your change of address to: Ruth Athmann at rathmann@csbsju.edu or P.O. Box 7222, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7222 or call 800-635-7303.

Editor: Daniel Durken, OSB ddurken@csbsju.edu Copy Editor and Proofreader: Dolores Schuh, CHM Designer: Pam Rolfes

The Abbey Banner Magazine of Saint John’s Abbey Volume 7, Issue 1 Spring 2007

Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Cathy Wieme, Mary Gouge Printer: Palmer Printing, St. Cloud, Minnesota Member Catholic Press Association

The Abbey Banner is published three times annually (spring, fall, winter) by the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey for our relatives, friends and Oblates.

The Abbey Banner is online at www.sja.osb.org/AbbeyBanner Saint John’s Abbey, Box 2015, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321

FROM EDITOR AND ABBOT

Have you ever looked at your hands?

The transforming energy of Jesus’ Resurrection

by Daniel Durken, OSB

by Abbot John Klassen, OSB

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he hands of the risen Jesus play an important role in his resurrection appearances. He tells his disciples to look at his hands to show them he is not a ghost. He lets Thomas touch his nailmarked hands to give him hands-on proof that he is really alive.

A friend shared with me a story by an unknown author entitled “Grandma’s Hands.” Grandma was sitting with her head down, staring at her hands. When her granddaughter asked her if she were OK, Grandma replied, “Have you ever really looked at your hands, how they served you so well throughout your years? These hands, though wrinkled and weak, are the tools I used to reach out and embrace life.

“They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed on the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war.

“They were clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special. They wrote letters to him and trembled when I buried my parents and spouse.

“They held my children and my grandchildren and consoled neighbors. They have combed my hair, washed and cleansed the rest of my body. To this day when not much of anything else of me works, these hands hold me up, lay me down and again continue to fold in prayer.

“More importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. With my hands God will lift me to his side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of God.” May you walk hand-in-hand with the risen Jesus during the glorious Easter Season and beyond. +

I

n the early sixteenth century, German artist Mathias Grünewald painted the Isenheim altarpiece. This large painting with the crucifixion at the center shows a Jesus who is utterly spent. His body is ravaged by the ordeal of the passion, marred by tears and festering wounds. There is no beauty left in this stark, cruel picture of the Crucified.

His face bears an expression of utter agony. He is the Man of Sorrows.

Grünewald also paints the resurrection of Jesus. In it the Risen Christ is utterly transformed, unrecognizable from the cross. His face is golden light surrounded by yellow, orange, and reddish colors. The galaxy of stars around him portrays serenity and peace, a total victory over suffering and death. This painting promises that anyone who believes in Jesus and follows him will know this kind of transformation.

By contrast, our age does not know what to do with the resurrection. Without a clear sense of resurrection and transformation, Jesus is just another good, innocent man who was beaten to death. Tragic, but not redemptive. A scientific materialist could weep over the death of this good man, perhaps thinking, “Too bad he didn’t hand on his genes.”

To appropriate the significance of the rising of Jesus requires conversion. Note how confused the disciples are, how difficult it is for them to get their minds and hearts around the reality and meaning of the resurrection. There was no conceptual framework for it. The resurrection turns all the world’s standards for power, kingship, glory and service on their head.

If we have been grasped by the truth of resurrection we will be oriented towards mission. The experience of the resurrection impels the disciples to proclaim the Good News. As the disciples begin to understand the resurrection they become a community that proclaims the Gospel, with words if necessary. Appropriating the resurrection expands our hearts, our imagination for the future.

Alleluia, Alleluia, he is risen. + The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 3

FEATURE Benedictines in Tokyo in 1960: l. to r.: Gabriel Furuta, Neal Lawrence, Hildebrand Yaiser, Aloysius Michels, Joseph Schmerbach, Emile Butrille

Benedictines in Japan celebrate 75th and 60th anniversaries

by Roman Paur, OSB, and Isaac Connolly, OSB

“Many Japanese Catholics think the Rule of Saint Benedict is particularly suited to the Japanese” (Esther de Waal).

T

he Saint John’s Abbey and University Sesquicentennial celebration will conclude on November 10 with the 150th anniversary of the first day of classes at Collegeville in 1857. Before that, however, two significant anniversaries cannot be overlooked, namely, the 75th and 60th anniversaries of Benedictine missions in Japan.

the monastery was closed in 1940 by order of the Japanese government. Joseph Schmerbach, OSB, and Hildebrand remained in Japan, the latter working for the Red Cross and ministering to World War II allied prisoners.

After the war Hildebrand sought support from American Benedictines for a Japanese foundation. Of the fifteen communities he visited in the States, only Saint John’s Abbey accepted his proposal. On November 28, 1947, sixty years ago,

On December 5, 1931, Hildebrand Yaiser, OSB, and Bernard Happel, OSB, of the Archabbey of St. Martin, Beuron, Germany, arrived in Japan to establish a monastery. Father Hildebrand wrote in his diary that the first question on his customs form was, “Do you have bad thoughts?”

Hildebrand left the space blank and was told by a Japanese official that this was a polite way to determine if the applicant was a Communist.

Six priests and five brothers from Beuron comprised this first Benedictine community in Japan until Father Hildebrand, teachers and kindergarten children at Saint Anselm’s Parish, Tokyo

page 4 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

FEATURE

Lee Hanley

Lee Hanley

Fujimi Benedictines: l. to r.: Cyril Tony Gorman, Edward Vebelun, Roman Paur, Thomas Wahl

Fujimi Benedictines: l. to r.: Gerardo de Villa, Kieran Nolan, Peter Kawamura, Nicholas Thelen, Paul Tada

Archbishop Peter Totsuo Doi established a new Tokyo parish dedicated to Saint Anselm and gave it to the Benedictines who established a monastery and opened a kindergarten.

Aloysius Michels, OSB, was the first monk of Saint John’s to join the pastoral team in 1948. Father Aloysius spent almost thirty years in Japan, becoming fluent in the language and serving as prior of the monastic community and pastor of the parish that grew from the original eight converts to over 1,250 in seven years. In 1955 a new parish church and complex were completed.

Aloysius was instrumental in selecting the city of Fujimi as the future home of the Tokyo community.

Before entering Saint John’s Abbey, Neal Henry Lawrence, OSB, served in the United States Navy and took part in the 1945 invasion of Okinawa.

He was so appalled by the threemonth battle that annihilated over a quarter of a million people, half of them civilians, that he vowed to dedicate his life to peace. Following his monastic formation and ordination to the priesthood, Father Neal joined the Tokyo community. He taught at five Japanese universities, founded the Saint Anselm’s International Friendship Association dedicated to world peace and published four books of tanka, the English version of the oldest form of Japanese poetry.

In 1993 he received Japan’s highest honor awarded to a foreigner.

For thirty-six years, Nicholas Thelen, OSB, has been a mainstay of the monastery. He is responsible for the upkeep of the physical plant, the making and repair of furniture and other duties. Brother Nicholas’ unassuming and caring nature has endeared him to countless parishioners and friends. The cover of this issue shows him ringing the Saint Benedict bell before the Sunday noon Mass at Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi. Donated by Saint John’s, this is the only remaining one of the five original bells that once tolled from the twin towers of the former abbey church.

In addition to Brother Nicholas, the members of the current community are: Kieran Nolan, Thomas Wahl, Peter Kawamura, Paul Tada (business manager), Cyril Tony Gorman, Gerardo DeVilla of the Benedictine abbey in Manila, Philippines, Edward Vebelun (subprior) and Roman Paur (prior).

The Japan community never had more than ten monks. With only 450,000 Japanese Catholics in a

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 5

FEATURE Sanctuary of St. Anselm’s Church, Tokyo, completed in 1955

Abbey Archives

Scotch pines on property about the size of the Collegeville football stadium.

country of 127.7 million, attracting Japanese vocations has always been a challenge. Of the thirty-five monks of Saint John’s who have served the foundation, nine have been Japanese, seven native-born.

and shipped to Japan for reassembling. The red-brick building has twelve monastic cells, five guest rooms, dining area, oratory, library, chapter house and cloister walk, all tucked comfortably in a grove of

Trinity Benedictine Monastery is the only Benedictine community of men in Japan. The nine members worship at the daily Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist. With no lay help, the work of the monks includes guest and retreat hospitality, pastoral outreach, interreligious dialogue, a newsletter, a web-based program of daily excerpts from the Rule of Saint Benedict and Scripture, biblical adult education and the publication in Japanese of books on Benedictine spirituality.

The monastery is stunning for its simplicity and uncommon beauty of interior spaces. It is furnished with red oak furniture designed and crafted

by Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking

page 6 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

Abbey Archives

To strengthen its contemplative spirit, in 1999 the community moved to the newly constructed Trinity Benedictine Monastery on the outskirts of Fujimi, a city of 15,000 located 120 miles west of Tokyo. It is a picturesque town nestled between two mountain ranges. On a clear day the majestic Mount Fuji, the most famous peak of Japan, can be seen on the eastern horizon.

Young Japanese women performed the ancient tea ceremony at a luncheon honoring Father Hildebrand (r.) on his name’s day. Stanley Roche, OSB (l.) was a guest while visiting Japan from Korea where he served as an Army chaplain in 1961.

FEATURE

BENEDICTINE WOMEN

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he Benedictine presence in Japan is also represented by three groups of Benedictine women. In 1948 the Benedictine Sisters of the Good Samaritan arrived from Sydney, Australia, to minister to the victims of the atomic holocaust of Nagasaki.

They now care for the sick and elderly and educate the young.

school was opened in 1959 and a school for the mentally challenged, a kindergarten and a retreat house were added. By 1970 there were so many Japanese vocations that the community elected its first Japanese prioress and in 1984 it became an independent priory.

Regina Pacis (Queen of Peace) Monastery for Benedictine Sisters of Jesus Crucified was established in Japan in 1968 from the Monastery of Saint Joseph in Brou, France. The origin of this community dates from

Abbey Archives

1930 in Paris as a response to physically impaired women attracted to religious life. They lead a life of common prayer and minister to the special needs of the faithful.

The complete history of the Benedictines in Japan remains to be researched and published. + Roman Paur, OSB, is the prior of Trinity Benedictine Monastery. Isaac Connolly, OSB, spent seven and a half years at Saint Anselm’s Priory, Tokyo, and is now the manager of dining operations at the Abbey Guesthouse.

Abbey Archives

Abbey Archives

Members of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota, arrived in Japan in 1950 and taught religion and Chinese cooking at Saint Anselm’s Church, Tokyo. A high

Abbey Archives

Joseph Schmerbach, OSB, lectured weekly on the liturgy to sisters at St. Anselm’s Priory.

Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi, Japan

Aloysius Michels, OSB, offers the last Mass in St. Anselm’s Church, Tokyo, on January 15, 1989, before the Benedictines moved to Fujimi.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 7

SESQUICENTENNIAL One-hundred-fifty lighted candles for each year of the Sesquicentennial encircle the altar of the Sacred Heart Chapel at Saint Benedict’s Monastery.

Nancy Bauer, OSB

Saint Benedict’s Monastery opens its Sesquicentennial Celebration

by Stefanie Weisgram, OSB

A Proclamation WHEREAS: in 1857, Sisters Willibalda Scherbauer, Evangelista Kremeter, Gertrude Moser, Candidates Mary Wolters and Prisca Meier left Pennsylvania to establish a Benedictine monastery in Minnesota . . .

WHEREAS: these Sisters prayed and worked, their love and sacrifice pouring forth tirelessly in schools, hospitals and orphanages, and their number grew to 1,278 in 1946 . . .

WHEREAS: two hundred ninety-eight professed Sisters and two postulants now form this community which continues to serve the church and the world . . .

WHEREAS: for nearly 150 years, Benedictine women have born witness to a “love stern as death” in the ability to listen to the call of the unknown and to the most basic human needs of the People of God . . .

THEREFORE, I, Sister Nancy Bauer, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict, do hereby proclaim the year 2007 as our Sesquicentennial Year.

page 8 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

ministered for most of their 150 years.

The community processed into the chapel to sing a hymn text commissioned for the occasion and pray a psalm. Then in semi-darkness they listened as the names of the 1,085 sisters deceased since their

Linda Dusek, OSB

F

ired by faith and heartened by hope, the Sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery opened their Sesquicentennial year on December 31, 2006. They assembled in the Gathering Place of Sacred Heart Chapel to hear Sister Nancy Bauer, prioress, read A Proclamation (quoted in part above) relating the source and development of the monastery. During the reading an eagle was spotted soaring over the building, a sign of blessing according to the Native Americans to whom the sisters

Benedictine women and men pray Vespers of the Feast of the Epiphany, January 7, 2007, in the oratory of Saint Benedict’s Monastery.

beginnings in Minnesota were read out year by year. For each year a candle was lit and placed around the altar.

As the names were read it seemed that all those sisters became present in the chapel until finally the entire community from all 150 years was present in that sacred space. This soul-stirring experience was all the more meaningful because in the program each sister’s age at death was listed, from Sister Eugenia Foley at fifteen to Sister Sophia Zimmer at 108. Following a litany of praise and thanksgiving and the singing of the Te Deum, the sisters moved into the dining room for a celebratory meal served by Oblates of the community.

After the festive meal a special version of “Jeopardy,” put together by Sisters Christian Morris and Trish Dick, was played. Teams of sisters and monks answered questions on our shared or unique histories such as: Who was the longest living sister?

Which abbot had the shortest term?

When did the sisters first pray in English? What families have a member in each community? Who were the married couple who entered the two monasteries?

A “Jeopardy” team prepares to hear and answer another question.

Before the monastery’s popular rhubarb pie was served to conclude the event, Prioress Nancy presented Abbot John with a Sesquicentennial gift—a photograph taken by the prioress of a fresco of Saint Scholastica in the Church of Saint Scholastica near Norcia, Italy. The church is said to be at the place where the twin sister of Benedict gathered together her first sisters, thus making it the cradle of women’s Benedictine monasticism.

This special Sesquicentennial Celebration was proof positive that the prayers of the Litany of Thanksgiving and Hope were amply answered: “We thank you, Christ our Star, for teaching us to build communities born of love and mutual respect.

And we pray for the freedom to stand next to each other, women and men, confident and complementary equals, eager to create a fully human community.” And everyone sang, “With grateful hearts we share your gift of love.” +

Lee Hanley

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

Coming by bus and cars from Collegeville nearly eighty strong, the monks of Saint John’s Abbey joined the sisters for the monastery’s second Sesquicentennial Celebration on the feast of Epiphany on January 7. The sisters and monks prayed Vespers in the oratory with such full hearts and voices that it was later said the place

positively rocked. A Litany of Thanksgiving and Hope, alternating between the prioress and Abbot John Klassen, gave thanks and prayed for the two monastic communities, that together we might have the courage of our foremothers and forefathers as we discover and respond to the physical and spiritual needs of the Church and the world in the twenty-first century.

Linda Dusek, OSB

SESQUICENTENNIAL

Sister Stefanie Weisgram, OSB, is the collection development librarian for the Clemens Library at the College of Saint Benedict and the Alcuin Library at Saint John’s University.

The fresco of Saints Scholastica and Benedict presented by Prioress Nancy Bauer, OSB, as a Sesquicentennial gift to Abbot John Klassen, OSB

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 99

SESQUICENTENNIAL Abbot Wofgang in the library of Metten Abbey

Metten Abbey

Reflections on the beard and the indomitable spirit of Boniface Wimmer, OSB

by Abbot Wolfgang Hagl, OSB, of Metten, Bavaria, translated by Mark Thamert, OSB

Part III of Abbot Wolfgang’s Sesquicentennial remarks

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hree Metten monks participated in the First Vatican Council (1869-70), namely, Boniface Wimmer as the Abbot President of the American Cassinese Congregation (erected by Pope Pius IX in 1855), the then abbot of Metten, and the former abbot of Metten, Gregor Scher, who became bishop of Munich-Freising.

Before he left for the Council, Boniface wrote to the abbot of Metten and asked him what he should do with his big beard. The abbot wrote back, saying Boniface should shave it since Rome doesn’t like innovations.

But Boniface decided to go to Rome with his enormous beard, and it was a spectacle among the cardinals and bishops. At the end of the Council, Pope Pius bade farewell to Boniface by saying, “Long live Abbot Wimmer with his swooshing beard.”

We are proud of Wimmer for having brought the Benedictine order and its spirit to this vast new country of America in 1846. In addition to our basic principle of ora et labora, pray and work, there are the essential elements of order and moderation. page 10 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

Saint Benedict founded stable, orderly monasteries against the backdrop of the chaos of the barbarian migrations.

He brought order into the life of the monks—prayer life and work as well as moderation in the use of food and drink. Benedict disdained excesses; he looked for the healthy and wise middle way.

The Swiss and English Benedictine monks came to America later. The American Cassinese Congregation burst all norms with its two great abbeys of Saint Vincent in Pennsylvania and Saint John’s in Minnesota, twenty other monasteries and missions in Brazil, Colombia, Taiwan and Japan. Our Order’s missionary efforts are based on the deep tradition of reaching out as Boniface Wimmer did.

From Boniface we learn to be open to new challenges. Where is the Spirit leading us today? Are there new ventures we haven’t even thought of?

We ask these questions too rarely. We have become so established that we believe what we are doing now is to last forever.

Wimmer represents this principle and the basic question, “Where is our service needed now?” Boniface was a man who let nothing get in his way once he had established a plan. It is good for us to go back to this spirit of our founders. There is a saying, “Getting back to the source means we have to be able to swim against the current. Such swimming also gives us strong muscles.” This is what keeps the spiritual dimensions of our lives awake.

As Benedictines we have to balance our closeness to the earth, our rootedness, with a vision of what is possible for the future. Let us not be content with what we have achieved. + This is the final selection of Abbot Wolfgang’s reflections given during his visit to Saint John’s Abbey during the Sesquicentennial celebration of June 23-24, 2006. Mark Thamert, OSB, translator, teaches German at Saint John’s University.

SESQUICENTENNIAL

A monk supervises a student study hall.

A confirmation class celebrates the Eucharist in a Metten Abbey chapel.

The abbey church towers above the Metten Marketplace.

Father Adalbert shows visiting students an old Bible in the abbey library.

A small chapel at Metten Abbey

Metten Abbey is surrounded by the town of Metten, population 4,200.

All photos by Thomas Winter, OSB, Metten Abbey

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 11

FEATURE Kathleen Norris is welcomed by Roger Kasprick, OSB (l.). Guestmaster, and David Klingeman, OSB, Guesthouse Director.

Lee Hanley

The new Abbey Guesthouse is now receiving guests

by Daniel Durken, OSB

“Wonderful building! Wonderful room and fabulous Benedictine hospitality. We will be back!” (abbey guest)

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he distinction of being the first registered guest of the new Abbey Guesthouse belongs to Benedictine Oblate and university regent, Kathleen Norris, who signed in on November 29, 2006. Awardwinning author of The Cloister Walk and Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Kathleen’s Sesquicentennial tribute to Saint John’s appeared in the spring 2006 issue of The Abbey Banner.

Dedicated on October 22, this longawaited facility includes twenty-nine guest rooms, a dining room, kitchen, conference rooms, library, TV lounge, laundry, two spiritual direction rooms and offices for the guestmaster, Roger Kasprick, OSB, guesthouse director, David Klingeman, OSB, and spiritual life director, Robert Pierson, OSB. According to Brother David the Guesthouse is the most environmentally sensitive building on campus and features room temperature control when occupied or vacant, motion detectors to control lighting and a rain lake below the guesthouse to filter runoff before flowing into Lake Sagatagan. page 12 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

The occupancy rate for December was thirty percent, for January and February thirty-five percent. In addition to individuals and couples, groups such as an Episcopal Church choir, candidates for the diaconate from St. Paul Seminary and university regents have registered.

All guests are welcome regardless of their ability to pay. The suggested offering for room and meals is: single room, $60; double room, $80; suite, $105; continental breakfast/snacks, $7.50; lunch, $8.50; dinner, $9.00; spiritual direction, $35-$50 per session.

Comments submitted by guests indicate their appreciation for the beauty and quiet of the facility.

“You’ve done a splendid piece of work here. To have built such a gracious, open, modern structure without sacrificing peace, harmony and spirituality is a significant accomplishment. The place is gorgeous and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here.” “The guestrooms are beautiful.

Their simplicity and view make them

a wonderful place to pray.” “Thank you so very much for your generous hospitality. I have been truly received as Christ.” “It was wonderful—comfortable and so quiet. The view from the room is perfect.” “I especially appreciate the quiet.”

To make reservations please contact Father Roger by phone (320-3632573), fax (320-363-2504) or e-mail guestmaster@osb.org. +

Daniel Durken, OSB, is the editor of The Abbey Banner.

FEATURE

Meditation chapel with an icon

by Nathanael Hauser, OSB

Daniel Durken, OSB

Lee Hanley

Lee Hanley

Abbey Guesthouse

Library

Lee Hanley

Lee Hanley

Dining room

A single guest room

Daniel Durken, OSB

Director David Klingeman, OSB, at the reception desk

Fireplace in the entrance foyer

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 13

STRENGTHENING FOUNDATIONS The Petters Pavilion is connected to the east side of the abbey church. The expanded Chapter House is to the left (south) after you enter the pavilion at this door.

Daniel Durken, OSB

Petters Pavilion to be dedicated on May 6

by Geoffrey Fecht, OSB

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he dedication of the new Petters Pavilion will be at 4:30 on Sunday, May 6, 2007, following a 3 p.m. open house.

Supported by the $2 million gift of Thomas Petters, the pavilion is a 3,500 square-foot expansion of the Abbey Chapter House. This two-level addition to the east entrance of the abbey church provides lobby space, elevator and stairwell access to the Assumption Chapel in the lower church, restrooms and storage.

The Chapter House has been enlarged and equipped with improved acoustics, air conditioning and space to accommodate audiences for such programs as the “Second Sunday Series” (see back page for the schedule) and for retreats, workshops and seminars. A pedestrian tunnel now connects the Abbey Guesthouse to the church for use during inclement weather.

Nathanael Hauser, OSB, inaugurated the expanded Chapter House on March 11 with his “Second Sunday” presentation of “Theology Made Visible: The Iconography of the Crucifixion.” With an array of powerpoint images Father Nathanael traced page 14 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

the development of artistic interpretations of the death of Jesus from the second century to the present.

Arrivederchi Roma!

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ou are invited to join Father Geoffrey Fecht, OSB, abbey development director, on a tour of the highlights of Italy, October 1-11, 2007. Places to be visited include Venice and the Basilica of San Marco where the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist are allegedly interred; Padua and Sienna associated with Saints Anthony and Catherine; Florence with its famous cathedral and Michelangelo’s statue of David; Assisi linked to Saints Francis and Clare; and finally Rome with its beautiful basilicas, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling and a possible general audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The cost, including air travel, is $3,795. For more information please call Father Geoffrey at 320-363-3818 or e-mail him at gfecht@csbsju.edu.

given property, valued at $150,000 to the abbey, stipulating that upon his death the abbey establish an annuity for his sister and her husband, using the proceeds from the sale of the property to give them on a monthly basis 7.5% of the original gift. Upon the death of the annuity beneficiaries the abbey will receive the remainder of the estate for the support of its ministries.

To commemorate the abbey’s Sesquicentennial, a couple gave their summer get-away home located at a nine-hole golf course with the proceeds from the sale of this $35,000 property to go to the abbey’s vocation, health and retirement funds. A third couple has designated part of the proceeds from the sale of their $500,000 home in Hawaii to Saint John’s to be used to support the monastery’s ministry and a scholarship for students. Anyone interested in making annual donations or a planned gift to the abbey should contact Father Geoffrey at the phone number or email address given above. +

Three Generous Gifts of Property

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ecent benefactors have given their homes and property to the abbey. An 87-year old gentleman has

Geoffrey Fecht, OSB, is the abbey’s development director.

FEATURE The monk Cyprian

Courtesy St. Cloud Times

The Tapestry of Cyprian Weaver, OSB

by Daniel Durken, OSB

“Father Cyprian opened the door to students who dreamt of going on to medical school— many did and are now physicians or engaged in research” (Peter J. Long, SJU ’85).

F

ather Cyprian has many titles including Benedictine monk/priest of Saint John’s Abbey; community organist; associate professor of biology at Saint John’s University; co-director and faculty member for the Saint John’s Study Abroad Program in China; founder and faculty member of the Fu Jen Catholic University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; researcher extraordinaire; and in the words of his student Eric, “a perfectionist with a sense of humor and the second nicest person in the world although the first one might never exist.”

One more title must be added to complete the tapestry of this sixtytwo-year-old native of Wichita, Kansas, who made his solemn commitment to the Benedictine way of life in 1969 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1972. That title is: SURVIVOR. Cyprian first survived the massive earthquake that shattered the island of Taiwan on September 30, 1999. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake

claimed more than 2,100 lives, left 8,000 injured, 100,000 homeless and destroyed 8,000 buildings. Cyprian reported, “I have never been aroused by such a rumble as I did at 1:47 this morning. Fortunately my bed was not near a large bookcase with glass doors which toppled over and made quite a mess.”

His second survival was even more personal and serious. In mid-2003 Cyprian was diagnosed with Stage2 gastric cancer that necessitated the removal of his stomach and part of his esophagus. After months of chemotherapy and radiation, by Christmas, 2004, he wrote, “No evidence of pathological hypermatabolic lesion in the whole body survey.” His cancer remains in remission.

Cyprian’s primary scientific research is to find a cure for diabetes, a disease that causes more than 225,000 deaths yearly in the United States alone. Armed with his academic credentials in physical anthropology, neuroanatomy, human biology and cell biology, Cyprian set

up his research lab on the fourth floor of the Quadrangle at Saint John’s.

Peter Long, a 1985 SJU graduate, was a student worker for Cyprian and remembers: “A well organized medical lab filled with various equipment, colorful chemicals in glass containers on shelves that reached to the ceiling.

There were so many books and reference manuals that it could make you dizzy. It also contained a large environmentally controlled area to house white rats, his control group.

It became my job to clean their cages.”

Cyprian obtained grant funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Science Foundation. In 1986 he received the prestigious RO1 grant of $500,000 from the National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C., the first and only such award received by Saint John’s and considered “the bread and butter of biomedical research.”

During his work in pancreatic The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 15

FEATURE The scientist and researcher Cyprian

God for giving me a chance to meet such a wonderful mentor.”

A dozen former students, successful in medical, scientific and nonscientific careers, now wish to honor Cyprian by establishing The Father Cyprian V. Weaver Chair of Scientific Excellence to help Saint John’s maintain a strong science curriculum and insure the continuation of scientific and research excellence. Their goal is to raise two million dollars to establish this endowment.

endocrinology, Cyprian discovered that beta cells can be made to regenerate. Previously these cells had been thought to be non-regenerative.

The basic problem in diabetes is an insufficient number of beta cells, but Cyprian was able to bring about the regeneration of such cells in the pancreas by stimulating progenitor cells from duct cells involved in exocrine pancreatic functions. If this sounds complicated, it is.

To further honor Cyprian’s scientific career, Saint John’s University is sponsoring a symposium at Collegeville on April 20, 2007.

The objective of “A Celebration of Discovery: Ethics and Scientific

Issues of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology” is to highlight recent advances pertaining to the participation of stem cell populations in regenerative medicine. For additional information please contact Jim Dwyer, Director of Planned Giving, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN 56321; phone 320-363-2116; email jdwyer@csbsju.edu.

The creative tapestry of Cyprian’s life has been woven from his Christian and Benedictine values and his concern for life. He is grateful that God has granted him some special time to accomplish more challenging and significant research. In the meantime he says, “Heaven will have to wait.” +

In 1992 Cyprian accepted an invitation to establish a medical college at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan.

For eight years the government had denied permission, but the department of medicine was finally approved and the first class of medical students has been graduated. Cyprian continues to do what he did so well at Saint John’s, namely, to inspire students to do significant research.

Medical student Nicholas Yea says this about Cyprian: “He organized his courses so well and made it so interesting that the atmosphere was always fantastic and everybody learned a lot.

He really changed my life and my philosophy of life. I want to thank

page 16 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 Lee Hanley

Medical student Wu Fang-Ru and Cyprian in the physiology laboratory at Fu Jen Catholic University Medical School, Taipei, Taiwan

FEATURE Baskets of peppers from the abbey garden

Gardens galore from Eden to the Abbey Fran Hoefgen, OSB

by Bruce Wollmering, OSB, Richard Oliver, OSB, and David Klingeman, OSB

“To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds, and watch their renewal of life—this is the most satisfying thing a man can do” (Charles Dudley Warner).

F

rom the first page of the Old Testament where “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden” (Genesis 2:8) to the last page of the New Testament where “the tree of life produces fruit twelve times a year” (Revelation 22:2), the garden, orchard and vineyard comprise a major theme of the Bible. In the Song of Songs the

lover calls his beloved “an enclosed garden.” Isaiah’s vineyard song ends on a sour note when the vines yield only wild grapes. Ezekiel promises the restoration of the land so that passers-by will say, “The desolate land has been made into a garden of Eden.”

Abbey Archives

It is not surprising that Jesus begins his first parable, “A sower went out to sow.” His criterion for judging others is that “every good tree bears good fruit and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.”

At his Last Supper he changes bread and wine, the fruit of field and vineyard, into his body and blood. Mary Magdalene, who first saw the risen Jesus, “thought he was the gardener.”

Brother Leo Bettendorf, OSB, holds a colossal cabbage.

The challenge of the pioneer monks was to make orchards, vineyards and gardens out of the forests, fields and lakes of the abbey’s 2,600 acres. The first written mention of orchards and vineyards on the Collegeville campus dates back to the late 1800s when Anton Schaefer, a paid layman labor-

er, cultivated plums, crab apples and grapes. Schaefer retired about 1886 and the orchard temporarily disappeared.

Early in the twentieth century John Katzner, OSB, hybridized the “Alpha Grape” by combining the Minnesota wild grape with a concord variety to provide both increased size and hardiness to Minnesota winters. A stand of these original grapes still grows on the pergola in the monastery garden adjacent to the Quadrangle. There also are remnants of three surviving “apple/pear” trees from this period.

A larger apple orchard was eventually cultivated south of the abbey/parish cemetery. Eighty-five trees are still in cultivation after a winter “sun scald” decimated many of them in the 1980s. Lack of workers, less than quality apples and the market availability of many varieties of apples prevented expansion of the present orchard.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 17

FEATURE

Abbey Archives

invariably included potatoes. On one occasion when potatoes were not served in the student dining room, a faculty mentor declared, “This is not a meal” and felt no need to lead the students in the traditional Grace Before Meals.

Brother Charles Kirchner, OSB, weighs a corpulent carrot.

Monastic gardening took a serious turn in 1904 when Abbot Peter Engel, OSB, appointed the newly professed Leo Bettendorf, OSB, abbey gardener. Brother Leo functioned as such until he retired in 1950 to spend his reclining years cultivating his reputation as a genuine community character with his flowing beard and amusing antics. A succes-

sion of monks succeeded him including Brothers Maurus Held, manager of the original abbey greenhouse, and Charles Kirchner, Martin Rath, Michael Laux, Francis Peters, and Urban Pieper.

At its peak the abbey’s agribusiness had 250 acres under cultivation for rye, barley and oats with the addition in the 1930s of corn and alfalfa. The planting of potatoes yielded about 6000 bushels in a favorable year. The supper menu for both monks and students

Brother Maurus Held, OSB, prepares to pot more flower plants.

page 18 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

But with the advancement of the “Farm to Table” movement there has been a resurgence of the incentive to grow produce locally. In recent years a half dozen monks volunteered to put

Abbey Archives

A resurgence of vineyard and grape production was begun in 2005 by Saint John’s master gardener and landscape manager, John Elton. Ten varieties of grapes, thriving in the current vineyard, will be used for wine, jelly and juice. In the same plot are trellises for hops used in the brewing of abbey beer.

A “truck garden” of nearly ten acres yielded a variety of such vegetables as celery, lettuce, onions, carrots, cabbage and melons. The produce was stored in a cool root cellar before being used in the kitchen.

Prior to the 1950s the current garden north of the cemetery, the School of Theology•Seminary playing field and the restored prairie west of I-94 were all cultivated for produce use. Now only a small tract of the original garden north of the cemetery is under cultivation.

FEATURE

In the summer of 2006 a variety of produce was cultivated including tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, kohlrabi, sweet corn, snap peas, green onions, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, cantaloupe and water melons, rhubarb, yellow and green beans, yellow squash, golden and red beets, buttercup, butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash, raspberries, Peruvian purple potatoes, various herbs and fennel and an assortment of flowers for the environmental enrichment in the abbey church and refectory and for dried pressed greeting cards.

This revival of gardening gives new meaning to the traditional table prayer: Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen. +

Abbey Archives

a substantial portion of the reduced garden plot back into production.

Brothers Dietrich Reinhart, OSB (l.) and Sean Sullivan, OSB, harvest the abbey vineyard.

Bruce Wollmering, OSB, is the abbey’s gardening coordinator. Richard Oliver, OSB, is the abbey’s web master. David Klingeman, OSB, is the abbey’s archivist and the director of the Abbey Guesthouse.

Fran Hoefgen, OSB

Abbey apples keep the doctor away.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 19

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE

“Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

He is not here, but he has been raised”

Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB

(Luke 24:5-6).

What’s Up? The Abbey Chronicle

by Daniel Durken, OSB

D

uring the Easter season the atmosphere of the abbey is saturated with the sound of joyful Alleluias. Like a holy humidifier, Alleluia moistens the dryness of our Lenten leftovers and keeps us fresh. What a difference one word makes. We sing it, say it, pray it in praise of Jesus who has risen from the dead and is still with us. Alleluia!

November 2006 ■ Faith in the presence and power of the risen Jesus prompted the monastic community to pray for the dead whose names appeared on the All Souls Remembrance cards sent to the abbey by relatives, Oblates, friends and benefactors. On All Souls Day, we prayed Noon Prayer in the abbey/ parish cemetery to make us mindful of our deceased confreres, parishioners and friends buried here and elsewhere.

■ Saint John’s School of Theology• Seminary presented its eighth annual Dignitas Humana Award on November 13 to Marco Impagliazzo, international leader of the Community of Sant’ Egidio.

He expressed his gratitude for being honored among such recipients as Sister Helen Prejean, capital punishment opponent, and Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche Communities. The Sant’ Egidio Community was founded in 1968

by Andrea Riccardi who gathered high school students to listen to the Gospel and put it into practice.

John Mary Lugemwa, OSB

Marco Impagliazzo

page 20 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

Members visited the poor, began an afternoon school for homeless children and extended friendship to the elderly, the mentally ill and those displaced by war. This movement of lay people, dedicated to evangelization and charity, has grown to over fifty thousand members in more than seventy countries.

■ John Mary Lugemwa, OSB, of Mary Mother of the Church Abbey, Richmond, Virginia, and a SJU senior, received a 2006

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE

■ Music by the Collegeville Christmas Strings, Saint John’s Boys’ Choir, Abbey Schola, recorder ensemble from the Boys’ Choir and Robert Koopmann, OSB, at the organ provided the prelude to the Christmas Midnight Mass. Clement weather brought forth a full-church congregation. In his homily Abbot John Klassen explained the Christmas illumination of The Saint John’s Bible

Midnight Mass of Christmas 2006

Wayne Torborg

■ Saint John’s Abbey and University presented the prestigious Pax Christi Award to His Holiness Aram I, spiritual leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, on December 6. Active in ecumenical dialog for over thirty years,

January 2007

CSB/SJU students repair hurricane damage in Mobile, Alabama. Bro. Peter is fourth from left in back row.

The abbey tree

December 2006 ■ Lake Sagatagan turned to ice on December 1. The only belowzero days this month were the 5th and 7th. A tad over one inch of snow fell on the 21st to barely give us a “White Christmas.” Most of our frigid temperatures came the first two weeks of February with the season’s low of -21 on February 5.

which “unmistakably reveals the central meaning of the birth of Jesus, namely, earth is once again connected to heaven by the light that is the glory of God.”

Lee Hanley

■ The traditional sit-down Thanksgiving dinner was served to 1400 CSB/SJU students on November 16. A dozen monks were among the fifty-two faculty, staff and administration volunteers who served 198 turkeys, 360 pounds of corn, 150 pounds of dressing, 650 pounds of mashed potatoes, 80 gallons of gravy and 198 pumpkin pies. The monastic community could not quite match those numbers at our own Thanksgiving dinner a week later.

Aram I was elected Catholicos/ head of his church in 1995. He supports the work of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library to preserve and make available ancient Middle East manuscripts.

Hugh Witzmann, OSB

Hawkinson Foundation scholarship in recognition of his contributions to peace and justice in his native Uganda. Brother John Mary established the Uganda Rural Fund USA to help build a library and computer center in his hometown of Masaka. He offers students an AIDS service-learning program and has led groups to Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda to work with AIDS organizations. For more information see www.ugandaruralcommunitysupport.org.

■ Peter Sullivan, OSB, director of the Benedictine Action Team of campus ministry, led thirteen CSB/SJU students on a ten-day service trip to Mobile, Alabama.

After a 24-hour minibus drive, the “Mobile Mob” worked tirelessly removing debris, painting, replacing kitchen cabinets, laying hardwood floors and basically rebuilding several houses devastated by Hurricane Katrina. They gave new hope to the homeowners who thought the country has forgotten their plight since donations and volunteers have dwindled. The gratitude of the victims, one of whom purchased forty pounds of blue claw crabs, boiled them and served them as a farewell feast, overwhelmed the students.

■ On the Feast of the Epiphany, January 7, eighty monks were guests of the monastic women of Saint Benedict’s Monastery for the Sesquicentennial Celebration of their arrival in Minnesota in 1857.

For details of the festive gathering see pages 8 and 9 of this issue.

His Holiness Aram I of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 21

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE chaired the CSB/SJU education department and served as the abbey’s subprior (second in command). Doug will be ordained to the priesthood on August 4.

February 2007 ■ Three consecutive issues of The Record, the award-winning newspaper of CSB/SJU, featured a front-page article entitled “Life in the Monastery.” Each issue focused on two monks who exemplified the aspects of youth vs. experience (Peregrine Rinderknecht, OSB, and Hilary Thimmesh, OSB), living in the limelight vs. working behind the scenes (Rene McGraw, OSB, and Christopher Fair, OSB) and geographic and racial diversity in the abbey (Neal Laloo, OSB, of Trinidad and Herard JeanNoel, OSB, of Haiti). The series destroyed the myth that monks are made by a cookie-cutter out of undifferentiated dough.

Lee Hanley

The workshop concluded with a festive dinner and a presentation by Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ, resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research.

She regaled us with true stories of the fascinating foibles of graduate students in her liturgy classes.

Deacon Douglas Mullin, OSB

■ Douglas Mullin, OSB, was ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop John Kinney on January 20. Since his monastic commitment in 1979, Deacon Doug has taught grade school, high school and college students, page 22 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

■ Subprior Paul Richards, OSB, organized four facets of a Saturday Abbey Health Day: an introduction to yoga; a stress-relieving massage by a professional masseuse; blood pressure and blood and glucose tests to detect diabetes. Good natured reaction to the activities appeared in a sign-up sheet for reservations for several “Unhealthy Sunday” activities: a bacon-frying and eating seminar, a clinic on cigar smoking, a cocktail hour in the subprior’s office and instructions on the use of a TV remote. There were no signers.

■ Robert Koopmann, OSB, professor of music, presented “A Piano Spectacular” on February 7. His concert included three preludes of Sergei Rachmaninov, three piano works by Claude Debussy, Prelude and Fugue in F-Sharp Minor by

J.S. Bach, and twelve symphonic etudes by Robert Schumann. As usual Father Bob played with expertise and elegance.

■ In his Ash Wednesday homily to students, Abbot John suggested they consider three disciplines: spend some time each day in solitude and quiet; take a weekly onehour walk with someone you care about.; and give of themselves in some kind of service to others.

Daniel Durken, OSB

■ The annual Abbey Workshop of January 8-10 labored over the theme of “The Common Life, Vision and Mission.” Guided by Ms. Linda Marrin, facilitator, the community drafted the following Mission Statement: “We, the monks of Saint John’s Abbey, a community of Catholic Benedictine men, seek God through a common life of prayer, study, and work, giving witness to Christ and the Gospel, in service to the church and the world.”

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

■ Just as folks were beginning to worry that MinneSNOWta had forgotten how to do winter, WHAM! Mother Nature sent us a 13-inch snowfall on February 24th and 25th followed by 15 ½ inches on the first two days of March.

March 2007 ■ Just as folks were beginning to worry that MinneSNOWta had forgotten how to do spring, a sure sign of the new season appeared— a call for volunteers to start the maple syrup season on March 10 by tapping 800 trees in the sugarbush area of Saint John’s forest. The next day the first flow of sap was collected. Workers were advised to wear high boots and nylon trousers for plowing through knee-deep snow. +

FEATURE

Wayne Torborg

Update on The Saint John’s Bible

by Michael Patella, OSB

The Word of God leaps off the vellum page of The Saint John’s Bible.

T

hroughout its 150-year history, Saint John’s Abbey and University have taken seriously their mission to pass on the faith from one generation to the next. Our sponsorship of The Saint John’s Bible is another imaginative way to further this mission.

In April 1998 Donald Jackson, scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office, and his Scriptorium in Wales were commissioned to hand write and illuminate the whole Bible. Using inks and parchments just as scribes had done before the invention of the printing press in 1436, Jackson penned the first stroke of The Saint John’s Bible on Ash Wednesday, 1999. Five volumes are now complete—Gospels and Acts, Pentateuch, Psalms, Prophets and Wisdom Literature. The Historical Books, and Letters and Revelation will be finished by the summer of 2009. The finished Bible will number 1,150 pages and have 160 illuminations.

The project has been featured in the print, radio and TV media and at six museum exhibitions with more to follow. The Gospels and Acts

volume won the first place Scripture Book Award at the 2006 Catholic Press Association convention. The judges’ citation called the volume, “Hands down the most exciting of the books presented this year.” The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John’s has on display through June 1, 2007, twenty-eight original manuscript pages from the volume on the prophets including illuminations of Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple and the Valley of the Dry Bones.

A project goal is to reignite the relationship between theology and art by focusing on the incarnational principle: the Word of God became flesh and dwells among us. Thus all creation reflects the love and beauty of God. With the mix of mineral and vegetable dyes, vellum or calf skin along with the expertise of calligraphers and artists, The Saint John’s Bible has become a metaphor for the Incarnation itself.

The Committee on Illumination and Texts lays out the exegesis, theology, history of interpretation and local associations of passages selected for illumination. Jackson uses this infor-

mation as the catalyst for his artistic creativity. The result is a rich, visual commentary on Sacred Scripture with the Word of God fairly leaping off the vellum page.

To further promote conversation between theology and art, Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary received a Luce Grant to fund a visiting professorship addressing this issue. This process has placed Saint John’s at the forefront of discussions within the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature.

By promoting The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s Abbey hopes to contribute to fostering the faith for generations today and tomorrow in the same manner that earlier Benedictine monasteries have done for our forebears and for us. + Michael Patella, OSB, is associate professor of theology at Saint John’s University and School of Theology•Seminary and chairs the Committee on Illumination and Texts.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 23

REVIEW

A Review: Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire by Edwin Mullins In keeping with Saint Benedict’s injunction, “Reading will always accompany the meals of the brethren” (Rule 38:1), this book was read at the evening meal at Saint John’s Abbey during the early months of 2007.

by Eric Hollas, OSB

I

n an era of miserable roads and poor communications, the medieval abbots of Cluny seemed to achieve the impossible. They guided an Order of 10,000 monks and 1,500 monasteries. They built the largest church in Western Europe. And they worked with princes and popes to bring peace to a chaotic society.

In the space of two centuries Cluny absorbed into its Order hundreds of Benedictine houses, fostered a monastic culture in which liturgy was paramount, and put art in the service of the sacred—leaving behind impressive monuments still visible today. Cluny shaped popular piety through the promotion of the pilgrimage to Santiago Compostela, and it aided a reformed papacy and saw one of its own monks become Pope Urban II in 1088.

The story of Cluny has been told before, but in Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire, Edwin Mullins provides a loving overview of the abbey from its foundation in Burgundy in 910, through two hun-

page 24 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

dred years of astounding growth. He writes in awe of its charismatic abbots and details their longevity in office.

Abbot Hugh, for example, ruled for sixty years (1049-1109), and he and three other abbots governed for nearly two centuries. This continuity in leadership gave Cluny an advantage that no other western institution enjoyed then or has since.

One likely result of that capable leadership was Cluny’s clear sense of mission. Within the Benedictine family Cluny emphasized a liturgical life that edged out even a minimal amount of manual labor. The chanting of Psalms echoed within its immense church through most of the day, and rich vestments and vessels complemented magnificent sculpture and imposing architecture. These were the very things that roused the ire of the reforming Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux.

Equally important to the Cluniac program was freedom from lay control. When Count William of Aquitaine gave the land for the abbey

in 910, Abbot Berno insisted that the monks be guaranteed the right to select their own abbot. This was a rare privilege in the tenth century, but thereafter Cluny would receive into the Order no monastery unless it severed such ties to outside influences.

Less appreciated today was the self-sacrifice of the community at Cluny. Mullins notes that the guest house could accommodate forty men and thirty women. Daily the monastic kitchen fed the poor of the neighborhood, while the almoner dispensed money to needy pilgrims. For generations the abbey strained its own resources as it sent many of its most promising monks to reform monasteries throughout Western Europe.

If one were to fault Mullins’ survey, it might be for his focus on the abbots and his overuse of “empire” to describe the work of Cluny. Cluny was more than a few gifted abbots, and they never really set out to create an empire. Instead they intended to create places in which people might seek God, and thousands of now

REVIEW

Today all that remains of Cluny’s great church is a single tower, and one is left to ponder the causes leading to its destruction in the aftermath of the French Revolution. As an “empire” it declined because it could not sustain the succession of gifted leaders. Revenues dried up as donations went elsewhere, and new orders like the Franciscans and Dominicans came along to break the vocational monopoly of the Benedictine centuries. Subservient abbeys with proud histories eventually broke free and diminished the size of the Order. The ultimate indignity came in 1528 when King Francis I appropriated to himself the right to nominate the abbot of Cluny.

L’Abbaye de Cluny, CNRS Editions, 1998

Perhaps Cluny’s biggest achievement, however, had nothing to do with empire. When Abbot Berno founded Cluny in 910, Europe was newly baptized, but its soul was only nominally Christian. By the time of St. Francis, three hundred years later,

L’Abbaye de Cluny, CNRS Editions, 1998

nameless monks came to do just that under their direction. Mullins tells us little about their spiritual life and the aspirations that daily motivated them.

Along with the abbots, it was they who implemented the vision, did the praying, and persevered in the monastery.

The tower of the twelfth century church of the Abbey of Cluny

Europe had become deeply Christian, with biblical values that animated it at every turn. The abbots and monks of Cluny contributed enormously to this process, and today the ruined tower of the abbey church stands as mute and yet eloquent testimony to the power of spiritual ideals in forging a new culture. +

Eric Hollas, OSB, is the senior associate for arts and cultural affairs in the office of Institutional Advancement. This book may be purchased at the Saint John’s Bookstore, 1-800-420-4509 or www.csbsju.edu/bookstore.

An artistic reconstruction of the Abbey of Cluny. Construction of the third church in the foreground began October 25, 1088, and after forty-two years of building it was consecrated by Pope Innocent III on October 25, 1130.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 25

BENEDICTINE VOLUNTEERS

Short Reports from our Benedictine Volunteers in Tanzania, Rome and Newark Six alumni of Saint John’s University share their experiences at Benedictine schools in Africa, Europe and the United States. out, namely, the opportunity to meet so many wonderful and welcoming people.

Paul Conroy, Monticello, Minnesota, at Hanga Benedictine Abbey and Schools, Songea, Tanzania

M

y sister Maria visited me last summer and our travels around Tanzania were incredible. We saw amazing African wildlife—lions, elephants, hippos, rhinos, wildebeest, buffalo, impalas and once had to roll up our car windows because a group of lions was passing close by. We saw one car stalled because lions were resting and tinkering with the underside of the car like mechanics.

I spent Christmas at the abbey. On Christmas Eve a friend on keyboard, an old monk on violin and I on guitar tried to play “Away in a Manger.” It was a bit of an embarrassment but still fun. I am teaching second and third year English at the seminary and third and fourth year English at the Vocational Training Center. I still love teaching and my students more all the time. + Nick Kleespie, Morris, Minnesota, at Hanga Benedictine Abbey and Schools, Songea, Tanzania

M

ambo from Hanga! My daily experiences continue to be eye-opening and interesting. I am teaching science and physical education. I started the New Year by collapsing in church

L. to r., Nick Kleepsie, Timothy Serie and Paul Conroy at the school of Hanga Abbey, Songea, Tanzania, East Africa

during Mass, not from a hangover but from malaria. I was carried to the local health care center where I was hooked up to an IV. I survived, thanks to the wonderful care of the monks.

I also work with students in the gardens or carry bricks or play football or volleyball. Our days are full but we make time to go to Mass each morning and Compline with the monastic community each night.

Mungu Awabariki—God bless! + Timothy Serie, Fridley, Minnesota, at Hanga Benedictine Abbey and Schools, Songea, Tanzania

W

hen people think of Africa many things come to mind— the vast Sahara desert, the variety of wildlife that Americans only see at circuses or zoos, the extreme poverty of many.

As a volunteer in Tanzania for over six months, Nick Kleepsie discovers that one thing stands teaching can be fun.

page 26 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

Living, working and praying with these people have been the most rewarding aspects of my experience so far. A few unforgettable things are the feasting and celebrating with the monks at a community picnic and seeing how happy our students were to be with us again after the Christmas holiday break. +

Tim Serie explains a math problem.

Andrew Johnson, Lindstrom, Minnesota, at the International Benedictine College of Sant’ Anselmo, Rome, Italy

L

ast summer the thought of leaving the comfort of SJU to live in a monastery in a foreign country was more than a little unnerving. My experience, however, has exceeded all expectations. Rome manages to be both larger than life and uniquely personal.

My home in the Eternal City, the College of Sant’ Anselmo, is also a one-of-a-kind place. Although learning Italian has been somewhat of a struggle for me, it is rewarding to

BENEDICTINE VOLUNTEERS converse with the residents here who hail from forty-five different countries. I am profoundly thankful to live with this wonderfully diverse group of people. I work in the library and on the grounds. Not to rub it in, but now in mid-January I am wearing tshirts again and it feels like spring. I think that the rest of my life will truly be enriched by my being here. +

David Sadder, Shoreview, Minnesota, at Saint Benedict’s Prep, Newark, New Jersey

T

he most rewarding aspect of this experience is the interaction I have with the diverse student body and the ensuing positive effects which become apparent over time.

Throughout the winter season I am helping as an assistant coach for the wrestling team. I spend a great deal of time with the wrestlers and have the opportunity to help them through any difficulties they may face.

David Sadder and a St. Benedict’s Prep student

Helping the Mongolian wrestlers assimilate into American life and assisting other wrestlers through the mental difficulties of losing weight are proof that I am making a tangible difference in some of the students’ lives. + Nick Briese and a St. Benedict’s Prep student

Nick Briese, Rochester, Minnesota, at Saint Benedict’s Prep, Newark, New Jersey

SJU alumni and others interested in this volunteer program should contact Brother Paul Richards, OSB, director, at prichards@csbsju.edu or call 320-363-3007.

Study area at St. Benedict’s Prep, Newark, New Jersey

D

Working outside my comfort zone during this volunteer year has been a challenging and fantastic experience. I hope future Johnnies continue to take advantage of this great program of the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps. +

Andrew Johnson works in the library of Sant’ Anselmo College, Rome.

The tower of Sant’ Anselmo in the forefront, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in the background

Andrew Johnson

uring my first semester here I took on some unfamiliar roles such as helping coach the water polo team even though I had never seen water polo played. Later I was assistant swim coach. Anyone who has ever seen me struggle in the water will find this laughable. As a chemistry major, I am now more comfortable during my second semester as I am teaching only chemistry.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

page 27

OBITUARIES

Andre John Bennett, OSB 1930 – 2007

B

rother Andre made his first profession of vows in 1954. He studied at Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Yankton, South Dakota, and was licensed as a registered nurse in 1958.

Andre was “a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity” (Isaiah 53:3). Polio in his youth, a major heart attack in mid-life and congestive heart failure during his last years did not prevent his being in charge of the medical records in the Health Center after his retirement or from enjoying his hobbies of hooking rugs, maintaining an aquarium, cultivating cacti and African violets and cooking. Most of the photographs in his albums show him cooking or dining with confreres, relatives and friends.

Now he enjoys the heavenly banquet prepared for one regularly nourished by the Bread of Life. May he rest in peace. +

Abbey Archives

As infirmarian who served the Collegeville community for thirtythree years, Andre was recognized tas a skillful and knowledgeable nurse. An alumnus credited Andre with saving his life when a football injury forced him to limp to the infirmary at five o’clock in the morning with a broken vein that had swollen his leg to three times its normal size. Andre diagnosed the situation, called a doctor and got the student to the emergency room of the St. Cloud Hospital.

Abbey Archives

Deputy Michael says, “Ten-four.”

page 28 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

Michael Robert Laux, OSB 1928 – 2007

B

rother Michael professed his first vows in 1948 and worked in the garden and greenhouse until 1954 when he began an extended assignment at the Native American mission of Red Lake, Minnesota. Then for two years he was a student supervisor in the School of San Antonio Abad in Humacao, Puerto Rico.

Michael’s height, heft and unflappable spirit made him an excellent choice as a security officer and eventually the Director of Life Safety Services from 1975 to 1992. His staff recognized him as a “top notch administrator, consistently fair in his dealings with students and staff. He is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and gives his all.” During the next dozen years, Michael provided transportation for Health Services and Saint Raphael’s Retirement Center.

Feeder of birds, caretaker of the abbey’s dog, hunter and fisher, Michael was fond of the outdoors.

Needing a canoe, he teamed up with Brother Edward Zwak, OSB and trapped two hundred muskrats whose pelts paid for the canoe. One of his hobbies was the operation of a ham radio. Now he needs no means of transmission for he sees God face to face. May he rest in peace. +

Andre, the happy chef

OBITUARIES After his discharge he attended an art school in Milwaukee.

Placid Lawrence Stuckenschneider, OSB 1926 - 2007

B

rother Placid chose three words to describe himself in the title of his autobiography published a few weeks before his death: soldier, artist, monk. Following graduation from a Great Falls, Montana, high school in 1944 he was drafted into the Army and served in the campaign to liberate the Philippines. While stationed in Japan after the war he succeeded Bill Keane, artist of the syndicated “Family Circle,” by originating a cartoon named “Orientahun” for the Pacific Stars and Stripes magazine.

A personal invitation from Abbot Alcuin Deutsch, OSB, brought Placid to Collegeville to join the monastic community and make his first vows in 1950. He spent five years as a multi-task servant at the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. There he began to do art pieces for The Oblate and was invited to contribute his considerable talent to Liturgical Press.

For the next forty years Placid’s readily recognizable style graced a multitude of Press publications. He prided himself as the only member of the art staff who drew his own creations. Working with a variety of media from wood and ceramics to stained glass, metals and photography, Placid scattered his creations around the campus on a wall here and in a stairwell there. After the Second Vatican Council he was invited by over thirty churches in Minnesota and the Dakotas to renovate their naves and sanctuaries. Last year he was named “Pioneer of American Liturgical Art” and given the Mother

Theresa Award by the St. Bernadette Institute of Sacred Art, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In his last months cancer drained Placid of his usual ruggedness and energy. Almost to the end he did not allow his weakness to keep him from his regular place in the choir stalls and the refectory. The pain of his final hours has now been transformed into the awe of coming into the presence of the Original Artist whose fingers fashioned the heavens and set in place the moon and stars (Psalm 8:4).

May he rest in peace. +

Remember our loved ones who have gone to their rest: Robert Bilheimer Emmet Cameron Roma Diaz-Arrenda Jean Forman Rollan Hoke Donald Kelly Mary Kieffer Gerald Klein Bernard Kollmann Brenda Maiers Nina Morrison Donovan Naughton Alice Rogers Susan Smith Raymond Vogel Monica Weide

Br o.

Pl

ac

id,

OS B

May they rest in peace.

Brother Placid basks among the daisies.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

page 29

FEATURE

The Photography of Brother Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB

Red clouds at a Collegeville sunset American bishops process into the abbey church for the Eucharist during one of the four June meetings at Saint John’s in the 1980s.

Father Godfrey Diekmann, OSB, liturgical pioneer, teacher and leader

Clouds over the calm waters of Lake Sagatagan

“Ice and snow, bless the Lord” (Daniel 3:70).

page 30 The Abbey Banner Spring 2007

Inspecting the banner and bells of the abbey church

SPIRITUAL LIFE

The Essentials of a Christian Spirituality

by Robert Pierson, OSB

The four nonnegotiable principles of Ronald Rolheiser

I

n his book, The Holy Longing, Father Ronald Rolheiser writes about four “Essentials of a Christian Spirituality.” He calls these four principles “nonnegotiable” because we need all four in our approach to God in order to have a balanced spirituality.

Private Prayer and Private Morality. If we are serious about being spiritual persons we will have some kind of private prayer life. While this is true in any religious tradition, it is certainly true in Christianity. There are many different ways to pray, and we are all invited to pray in ways that suit us best. We also need to lead good moral lives.

Truly spiritual people live by moral principles, privately as well as in public.

Social Justice. Christians are called to emulate the example of Jesus, and the gospels make it clear that Jesus was concerned for the poor and the weak. If we say that we are

followers of Jesus, then we must live as he did and work for justice for the oppressed and underprivileged in the world. The Church teaches that we all need to have a “preferential option for the poor.”

Mellowness of Heart and Spirit.

Spiritual people are meant to be happy, peaceful and grateful people.

Kindness and humility are not optional for our lives. We may do all the right things, but if our hearts are bitter or resentful in the process, we do not accomplish what God hopes for us to do and be. Anger and judgment are not fruits of the Spirit.

Community as a Constitutive Element of True Worship. While it may be possible to worship God privately in some religious traditions, true Christian worship is always a communal event, even when we pray alone. We are all in this together and we go to God as a community of faith and not just as individuals. This is hard for some people to understand

today. As Rolheiser puts it, “We want God, but we don’t want church.”

True Christian spirituality is not just a private affair; it includes the entire community of faith.

We can all ask ourselves, “Does my spirituality include each of these four nonnegotiable essentials?” If it does not, we need to ask, “How is God calling me to change so that my spiritual life is more balanced?”

If you are interested in reading further, I highly recommend The Holy Longing by Father Ronald Rolheiser.

It was published by Doubleday in 1999. You may order the book from the Saint John’s Bookstore at 1-800420-4509 or www.csbsju.edu/bookstore. + Robert Pierson, OSB, is the director of the abbey’s Spiritual Life Program.

The Abbey Banner Spring 2007 page 31

Second Sunday

T

o inaugurate the newly renovated Chapter House and the newly constructed Abbey Guesthouse and Petters Pavilion, Saint John’s Abbey is sponsoring a series of public presentations on monastic culture, spirituality and history. The intended audience is the monastic community, our families, friends, Oblates, the campus community and readers of The Abbey Banner.

These presentations will be given in the Chapter House at 7:00 p.m., usually on the second Sunday of the month. Refreshments will be served in the Petters Pavilion following the presentation.

The evening will conclude with the praying of Compline in the Chapter House.

This is the 2007 schedule.

February 11 .......................... Theology and Poetry Kilian McDonnell, OSB A Poet (R.S. Thomas) Who Wrestles with a God who Cheats March 11 ...........................Theology Made Visible Nathanael Hauser, OSB The Iconography of the Crucifixion April 15 ....................To Be God’s Heart on Earth Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ A Fresh Interpretation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart

May 6 .............................. Eucharistic Reservation Kevin Seasoltz, OSB Monastic Architecture, Theology and Spirituality July 8 .......................................The Benedictines of Central Minnesota Ephrem Hollerman, OSB Columba Stewart, OSB Saint Benedict’s and Saint John’s at 150 September 9 ................................. A Place of Sense Derek Larson Benedictine Monasteries and Environmental Responsibility October 14....................Monasticism for the Laity Ivan J. Kauffman Five Hundred Years of Mennonite Experience November 11 ..................................Ars Moriendi – The Art of Dying William Skudlarek, OSB A Modern Day Reading of a Medieval Pastoral Aid December 9 ........................ The Saint John’s Bible Michael Patella, OSB Where We Are, What’s Ahead

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