Abbey Banner - Winter 2005

A Christmas Meditation: The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus and Us, 4 Sisters and Mothers Help Brothers and Fathers, 5 Saint John’s at 150: A portrait of this place called Collegeville, 8 When OSB Meant “Order of Sacred Brewers,” 10 First World Congress of Benedictine Oblates Meets in Rome: A Report, 12 Faith on the Frontier: The Parish of Saints Peter and Paul, Richmond, Minnesota, 14 Christopher Fair, OSB, brings fresh focus to Abbey Woodworking, 20 Classic Cars Cruise Collegeville Campus, 30

Winter Comes to Collegeville

Contents Page 4

Cover Story

Fran Hoefgen, OSB

A Christmas Meditation: The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus and Us

by Don Tauscher, OSB

Features 5 Sisters and Mothers Help Brothers and Fathers

by Dolores Schuh, CHM

10 When OSB Meant “Order of Sacred Brewers”

by Andrew Coval, OSB

8 Saint John’s Sesquicentennial Book to be published soon

12 First World Congress of Benedictine Oblates Meets in Rome: A Report

by Ford Royer, OblSB

9 Peter Engel, OSB, Saint John’s First American-Born Abbot, 1894-1921

by Jean Scoon

19 “Some seed fell on rich soil ...”

by Bruce Wollmering, OSB 20 Christopher Fair, OSB, brings fresh focus to Abbey Woodworking

by Daniel Durken, OSB

14 Faith on the Frontier: The Parish of Saints Peter and Paul, Richmond, Minnesota

by Eric Hollas, OSB

Departments 3 From Editor and Abbot

22 Abbey Missions

29 Banner Bits

16 The Abbey Chronicle

24 Strengthening Foundations

32 C alendar of Major Sesquicentennial Events

Please join us online. To access liturgical services visit the Saint John’s Abbey website at www.saintjohnsabbey.org.

Click on “Welcome” to enter the site. Click on “Prayer” in the left-hand column and then click on “Broadcast Services.”

On the Broadcast Services page you will find a variety of options to liturgies.

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 5, Issue 3 Winter 2005

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 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

Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Mud Slides and Christmas

Saint John’s Capital Campaign: One Generation to the Next

by Daniel Durken, OSB

n October Saint John’s Abbey and University announced a joint Capital Campaign to raise $150 million to be used for educational and ministerial programs. Designated One Generation to the Next, the campaign is asking the current generation of alumni and friends to raise funds to benefit the next generation. Of this goal, $92 million has already been raised. The abbey hopes to raise $15 million to support the following priorities:

A

Letter to the Editor in a Catholic weekly reminded me that the cause of current natural disasters is not human neglect or environmental abuse but God’s dramatic way of telling us to change our sinful behavior. The writer appealed to the Bible which is “loaded with examples of God sending disasters because they turned away from him.”

If it is really the hand of a wrathful God that stirred up the tidal wave, whipped up Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, shook the earth in Pakistan and buried Guatemalan villages in avalanches of mud, killing tens of thousands— then the ultimate terrorist of our time is not from Iraq or Iran or Saudi Arabia but from heaven above. The terrorist’s name is God. I do not believe the God we call Our Father planned and executed these catastrophes as a cosmic power-point presentation on repentance.

I do believe in the God of Christmas. This is the God of whom it is written, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).

The Christ of Christmas came to save us, not shame and blame us. He rebuked the wind and calmed the sea when a violent squall threatened to perish his disciples (Mark 4: 35-41). A Samaritan village snubbed Jesus by refusing to welcome him and his disciples had the solution: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” But the Christ of Christmas “turned and rebuked them” (Luke 9:55).

To a woman caught in adultery Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11). Of a man born blind Jesus said, “Neither he nor his parents sinned” (John 9:3). On the cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Christmas comes at the beginning of the liturgical year and at the end of the calendar year. So whether we are coming from a year we would rather forget or going into a year of unknown incidents and accidents, we can be sure that the Christ of Christmas remains with us. +

by Abbot John Klassen, OSB

I

• Abbey Guest House: A Place of Spiritual Renewal – Scheduled to open next fall, this will be a place of spiritual renewal for retreatants and other guests. Monies are needed to endow the essential positions of guest master, Oblate director and director of spiritual life.

• Breuer Church Pavilion – Includes renovation of the Blessed Sacrament chapel, installation of an elevator, construction of a pedestrian tunnel between the guest house and the church and renovation of the chapter house for a meeting space for retreatants and other guests.

• Vocations – Increased efforts to cultivate monastic vocations through new and innovative programs to encourage young men to explore Benedictine life and to assist in ministry.

• Entrepreneurial Enterprises – 1) Modernize Abbey Woodworking which produces fine furniture for use at Saint John’s and for commercial sale; 2) develop a cemetery for alumni and friends; 3) begin other creative projects.

•C are of Sick and Elderly Monks – Provide for health and retirement needs of monks who have dedicated their lives to the service of students and the Church.

•M ission Outreach – Support ministerial outreach to parishes, the poor, our mission in Japan and monasteries in developing countries.

We are on the verge of celebrating the 150th year of our presence in central Minnesota. This Benedictine community is profoundly grateful for the ongoing support of men and women who have stood with us and assisted us in every way to make exciting things happen.

We trust in your generosity as we go forward to creatively meet the needs of the next generation. + The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 3

SPIRITUAL LIFE

A Christmas Meditation: The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus and Us

by Don Tauscher, OSB

“May we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

W

hen we hear the words “humanity and divinity,” especially at Christmas time, we likely say, “That’s right! Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine.

He is the Son of God in the flesh.”

But right now I want us to appreciate the truth that WE are also both human and divine. Not exactly the way Christ is, but nonetheless genuinely so. Combing through the works of the earliest Christian writers, we find numerous theological jewels including this one from Saint Athanasius: “God became human so that humans might become God.” Is this some heinous heresy? No, not at all.

the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Here we have clearly commingled the human and the divine.

When the gifts of bread and wine are prepared for the Eucharist, while adding a little water to the wine the presider prays silently, “Through the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” This is so tremendously beautiful and powerful that I wish we could always say these words aloud.

Is this a fantasy world? Or is this a sample of why God went to a lot of trouble to become human?

Years ago a child could hear a Christmas song declare, “All I want for Kwithmuth is my two fwont teeth.” Well, all I want for Christmas is an elevated consciousness of and a deeper appreciation of my humanity and my honestto-God participation in the divine nature, along with the grace to treat others the way I would like to treat Jesus Christ himself.

I want that for all of you, too. +

The reality Athanasius verbalizes finds its expression in the Second Letter of Peter: “God has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become participants of the divine nature” (1:4). Stop!

Take a deep breath for this is not fluff. It is one of the most profound truths about who we are and what we should do about it.

Don Tauscher, OSB, is the director of the Spiritual Life Program at Saint John’s.

Abbey.

Artist unknown

Saint Paul puts it this way: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in

If we could actually believe that all of us do indeed already participate in the divine nature, might we see less apathy, less fraudulent disenfranchising of others, less gossip, war and road rage? Might we spend less money on making professional entertainers exorbitantly, scandalously wealthy and spend more on providing good education, health care, housing and formation in interpersonal relations?

The Adoration of the Magi

page 4 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

FEATURE The Franciscan Sisters at Saint John’s pose for a community photo. The former greenhouse is in the background.

Abbey Archives

Sisters and Mothers Help Brothers and Fathers

by Dolores Schuh, CHM

The story not told in Worship and Work, Saint John’s centennial history

Abbey Archives

When the Presentations left, 24 Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis from Dillingen, Bavaria, arrived to manage the dining service.

Frank House was enlarged to accommodate these nuns who worked for 45 years before moving to their motherhouse in Hankinson, North Dakota.

A smaller group of Mexican-born Benedictine nuns staffed the kitchen from 1958 until 1964 when the service was operated thereafter by lay women and men.

The monks remember the hardy German meals provided by the “good Sisters.” Every supper included fried

A Franciscan Sister (in white) shows several Mexican Benedictine Sisters the fine art of preparing pastry.

potatoes. One evening when this staple was omitted, a monk eating with students omitted the prayers before and after meals with the comment, “This isn’t a meal!” Another monk recalls that he liked the food except for liver dumpling soup. That stuff, he says, was bad news!

A single woman monastic who made a major academic contribution to Saint John’s was Mary Anthony Wagner, OSB. Her leadership led to the formation of the unique Benedictine Institute of Sacred Theology that later became Saint John’s School of Theology. She served as its dean, (continued next page)

Saint Benedict’s Monastery

“B

ehind every great man there’s a great woman.”

This old adage may read a bit differently at Saint John’s Abbey, but the message is the same: “In the shadows of all the good monks are found good women who provide valuable services.”

Early in the twentieth century women religious worked for the monks.

From 1904 to 1913 a small community of French Presentation Sisters cooked the meals at the abbey. Their role was so important that a convent (now student housing called Frank House) was built for them.

Mary Anthony Wagner, OSB, leading founder of the Benedictine Institute of Sacred Theology, dean of Saint John’s School of Theology, editor of Sisters Today

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 5

FEATURE

Abbey Archives

Agnes Ramler, seminary housekeeper and hostess of monk friends

Who can forget Agnes Ramler, the spunky little German lady who lived in a tiny white house in Flynntown (where the Seton Apartments stand today) and worked as a housekeeper page 6 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

Bertha Eich, Saint John’s laundress for 41 years

While the Hueschles kept the monks clad, Bertha Eich kept the monks’ clothes clean. Week after week Bertha laundered, mangled,

Nancy D’Heilly

Women religious did not have a monopoly on providing services at Saint John’s. This article highlights just a few of the many laywomen who made significant contributions to Saint John’s and are now deceased. Sabina Diederichs, the first laywoman employed by the monks, served as the resident nurse in the campus infirmary from 1920 to 1945. The monks recall Sabina’s cheerfulness, keen intelligence and no-nonsense approach to monk and student infirmities.

Agnes generally consulted her German-English dictionary to verify the meaning of a word. On one occasion she heard the word “virgin” and found it translated as “young girl.” Shortly thereafter, in a visit with one of the monks, Agnes said, “When I was a virgin, I could have had any man I wanted!” Agnes’ interpretation of the tall, gaunt statue of Saint John the Baptist in the baptistery of the abbey church is legendary. When asked about the seven-foot height of the tarnished statue, she explained, “Yah, dat’s vare da art comes in!”

The Hueschle sisters, Catherine and Marie, lived in a house across the road from the apple orchard and made and mended monastic habits.

Catherine and Mary (as Marie was affectionately known) kept their sewing machines stitching in one large room of their home. Mid-morning they walked to the Great Hall to get their newspaper and exchange cheery greetings with monks, students and staff, always with a twinkle in their eyes.

ironed and folded the monks’ personal clothing. If all the t-shirts and socks Bertha washed in her 41 years of service were laid out side by side, they’d cover a myriad of football fields. Bertha lived her whole life in Collegeville, daily walked the mile to work and died January 31, 2005.

Idell Gasperlin, secretary to many monks

Somewhat more visible on campus because of her position was Idell Gasperlin. She provided secretarial services to many of the monks in the ’60s and ’70s, including Fathers Don LeMay, Gordon Tavis, Florian Muggli and Don Talafous. Idell considered her years at Saint John’s the best years of her life. After work one day she went to the hospital for tests and died a month later, in the spring of 1978.

Saint John’s University Archives

Sabina Dietrichs, resident nurse and first laywoman employed at Saint John’s

in the seminary (now Emmaus Hall)?

She often entertained the monks in her home and it was rumored that she served “ordinary wine” to the “ordinary monks,” while the good stuff was reserved for the abbot when he stopped for a visit.

Alcuin Eich

Abbey Archives

taught for many years and for over two decades was the editor of Sisters Today, the periodical published by Liturgical Press. Mary Anthony died September 19, 2002.

Marilyn Douvier, manager of Saint John’s phone system

Another familiar face on campus was that of Marilyn Douvier, hired as a switchboard operator in 1967. Over

FEATURE

Abbey Archives

a too-clever student dubbed her “Eilatollah Perlmutter,” a nickname that stuck for years. Her relentlessness in exacting excellence was an expression of her love and most students thanked her for it. Twelve times she took students to London during the January Term to see live theatre.

Emigrating from Finland with her parents at age five, her early years gave her the background for her novel, Sirkka, a story of 200 Finnish immigrants struggling to survive the Great Depression of 1934-41. Eila died in June 2000.

Eila Perlmutter, professor of English

An early and memorable woman faculty member of Saint John’s University was Eila Perlmutter. When her husband was hired as Vice President of Academic Affairs in 1972, Eila was soon hired to teach in the English department. She quickly earned the reputation of being a passionate teacher. A colleague described her as “demanding, stylistically quirky, stunningly effective, an acknowledged tyrant from whom there was no stylistic appeal.” After the 1980s fall of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shah of Iran,

In reading Colman Barry’s Worship and Work (the centennial history of Saint John’s), I found a real dearth of information about women’s role in this illustrious chronicle. It would require a not-so-small volume to acknowledge all the female employees who have dedicated many years in the service of the abbey. Maybe I’ll write a book! + Dolores Schuh, CHM, is the copy editor of The Abbey Banner. She lives and works at the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport, Iowa.

Abbey Archives

the next 27 years she was a key figure in the development of the telecommunications systems at Saint John’s.

For many years she could be seen at the information desk in the Great Hall where she sold Greyhound bus tickets and managed the student workers.

Early in her tenure, when she sold a bus ticket to a somewhat senile monk who managed to escape the notice of the retirement center staff, she was advised not to sell any more bus tickets to “kooky” monks. “And how am I to know which ones are ‘kooky’?” she asked. She succumbed to cancer in 2004.

Frances Pond was the first paid secretary at Saint John’s. She worked for Fathers Godfrey Diekmann and Walter Reger, and served as Abbot John Eidenschink’s secretary for several years. Along with clicking the typewriter keys with great alacrity, Frances was known to click her knitting needles with the same rapidity and made many beautiful afghans for friends and family.

Frances Pond, the first paid secretary at Saint John’s

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 7

SESQUICENTENNIAL The cover of the Sesquicentennial Book—photo by Lee Hanley, design by Ann Blattner and Joachim Rhoades, OSB

Saint John’s Sesquicentennial Book to be published soon Celebrating 150 years of Benedictine life and education in central Minnesota

S

aint John’s at 150. A portrait of this place called Collegeville is the title of the sesquicentennial book due to appear in April 2006.

Edited by Hilary Thimmesh, OSB, Saint John’s University president emeritus and professor of English, and designed by Ann Blattner, editorial art manager of Liturgical Press, the book has a foreword by chancellor and abbot John Klassen, OSB, and an afterword by university president Dietrich Reinhart, OSB. An introduction by Annette Atkins, professor of history at Saint John’s, provides a quick survey of Minnesota history and American life outside the Pine Curtain as background for the Saint John’s story.

Twelve chapters by a dozen writers—from the monastery, the faculty, the rest of the world—present personal essays on topics in Saint John’s first 150 years that the writers find interesting, from the missionary lifestyle page 8 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

of the first monks to cameo images of a few current college profs in the classroom.

Sidebars and special features add thirty more writers to the mix for short pieces that are appealing because of the authors as well as the topics. For example, Katherine Powers on her father, J.F. Powers; Bill Kling on the founding of Minnesota Public Radio; Jon Hassler on Steve Humphrey, his prof as a college student; Thomas Merton on the beauty of a summer afternoon at the chapel across Lake Sagatagan.

And there are numerous pictures, some of them historic black and white photos by Peter Engel, OSB, before he was elected abbot in 1894, others more recent in full color.

The book is not a comprehensive history. Only a couple chapters have endnotes—in small print. But the

contents are historical and the index references the surprising number of people and places and events that finally get mentioned in this 160-page, 9 x 12 book celebrating 150 years of Benedictine life and education in central Minnesota.

The price of this hardbound edition is $39.95 and will be available at the Liturgical Press (www.litpress.org or 1-800-858-5450 or 320-3632213) and Saint John’s Bookstore (www.csbsju.edu/bookstore/ default.htm or 1-800-420-4509 or 320-363-2405). +

SESQUICENTENNIAL

Abbey Archives

Peter Engel, OSB, Saint John’s First American-Born Abbot, 1894-1921

by Jean Scoon

Editor’s Note: As we approach our Sesquicentennial Celebration, a cause for gratitude is the quality of the abbey’s leadership these 150 years.

Ten abbots were chosen to “hold the place of Christ in the monastery” (Rule, chapter 2). To single out one of them for a special tribute was no easy task. This brief essay is proof that the choice of Abbot Peter was not an arbitrary one.

T

he eldest son of German immigrant farmers, Peter Engel admits in his memoirs that he didn’t like farming but credits himself with “some aptitude for study.” Born in Wisconsin two months before the 1856 arrival of the Benedictines in Minnesota, Peter came to Collegeville in 1869. He made his first profession of vows in 1875, was ordained in 1878 and elected the community’s first American-born abbot in 1894.

He is described by abbey historians as the “most beloved of the abbots who served during Saint John’s first century.”

Peter did indeed have an aptitude for study. By the time he became abbot, he had studied and taught natural philosophy, physics and chemistry;

developed a physics laboratory; opened a meteorological station; installed a wireless telegraph station; and begun an astronomy observatory on the water tower.

His favorite words were crescat, crescant (“may it grow”) and the 27 years of his leadership saw Saint John’s bloom academically. He became the first abbot to send monks for graduate studies, staffing Saint John’s classrooms and labs with PhD and Master’s-level teachers.

Both the science curriculum and scientific research flourished with Peter’s encouragement. Labs were added, monks published textbooks in chemistry and astronomy, and James Hansen, OSB, established the third largest plant collection in Minnesota.

The community beyond the classroom benefited as well. Research into locally hardy fruits yielded grapes and pears grown throughout the region. Systematic reforestation was introduced, beginning the practice of environmental stewardship so fundamental to Saint John’s. As the monks traveled to parish assignments, they often advised farmers on seeds and rotation of crops.

It is fitting that the science center, renovated in 2000, was named for Abbot Peter. But science was not his only domain. He also oversaw the formation of the first organized extramural athletic program in 1901, saying to one objector, “We have to be up to the times, Father.” It was Peter who ensured that electric lights lit Saint John’s in 1899. His passion for photography left the abbey a valuable pictorial history of Collegeville at the turn of the century.

From the day of his election as abbot and president of the university in 1894 until his death in 1921, Peter protested that he wasn’t the right man for the job. He wept at his election and recognized that “God likes to choose the weak.” But history teaches us otherwise: Combining his commitment to modernism with a deep Benedictine spirituality, this humble man guided Saint John’s into the twentieth century with a sure and steady hand. + Jean Scoon is the director of advancement publications and communications at Saint John’s University.

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 9

FEATURE Angelo Zankl, OSB, enjoys a beer on his 104th birthday.

Daniel Durken, OSB

When OSB Meant “Order of Sacred Brewers”

Another story is told of Rembert Bularzik, OSB, who, after his last anointing, was asked by the abbot, “Is there anything else we can do for you?” Father Rembert’s eyes opened and he sat up, “Y-e-a-h,” he managed to rasp, “Let’s share a beer together.”

Amid dumbfounded looks, the abbot sent for beer, and Rembert died peacefully within the hour.

More than a millennium’s worth of such tales testify to one indisputable point: beer and monks go together like blue lakes and Minnesota.

Monks, it could be argued, are the fathers of beer. Like many father-son relationships, however, there have been bumps along the way, and the saga of American Benedictines is no exception. page 10 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

“Let us at least agree to drink moderately, and not to the point of excess” (Rule, 40).

Soon after Boniface Wimmer, OSB, founded America’s first Benedictine abbey (Saint Vincent) in 1846 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, he acquired a brewery. In America this created a wave of controversy among temperance advocates and the local Irish bishop. While Archabbot Boniface soon closed the brewery, the debate went all the way to Rome where it was decided by none other than Pope Pius IX, who concluded, “St. Paul

wrote to St. Timothy he should take a little wine for his weak stomach, and so you must have something.”

But even the pope could not keep temperance activists from condemning the Benedictines and ridiculing their OSB initials as the “Order of Sacred Brewers.” Finally, the abbey brewery approved by papal decree closed its doors in 1898, while the other town brewery grew into the seventh largest brewery

Simon-Hoà Phan, OSB

A

t his 104th birthday last April 19, Angelo Zankl, OSB, made an unexpected request.

Asked if he would like anything special, he looked up, surrounded by his confreres in the monastic refectory, and answered with a glint in his eye, “A BEER.”

by Andrew Coval, OSB

Homegrown hops in the abbey garden

FEATURE

When the Benedictines came to Minnesota in 1856, they nobly gave up brewing for the sake of peace.

In1878 they tried to “Americanize” by discontinuing the custom of serving beer in the abbey school on special occasions. But even this could not prevent another clash with temperance advocates and another powerful Irish bishop, John Ireland. Prohibition temporarily solved the dilemma, but rumors persisted of underground monastic stills, some even claiming that monks were behind Holdingford’s infamous bootleg “Minnesota 13.”

Alexius Hoffmann, OSB, Saint John’s first historian, tried to set the record straight in 1934: “Some of our enemies, even priests in the diocese of St. Paul, said that we used to have a brewery. We never did . . . We never brewed beer and we never made wine.

Only an old gardener (Anton Schaefer) used to make a cask of wine for himself and that cask remained dry when he passed away in 1898.” But not for long.

Shortly after Father Alexius’ defense, Saint John’s began producing its famous “Abbey Gas,” a punchy red wine concocted in the old butcher shop. Besides being used for the celebration of the Eucharist, it was served at table every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday as well as on special feast days. After almost fifty years, “Abbey Gas” presses ceased production in the early 1980s.

But with the end of one era comes the dawn of another: On February 6, 2005 (Super Bowl Sunday) Prior Raymond Pedrizetti, OSB, prayed the official beer blessing from the Roman Ritual over the historic first batch of (licit) beer brewed at the abbey. One hundred fifty years in the making, its commemorative first label was masterfully designed

by Joachim Rhoades, OSB, with the proud name, “Black Monks Ale.”

Novice Peter Sullivan, OSB

Since then, the fledgling brewery has fermented Irish Stout (in honor of the Irish bishops), Bavarian Hefeweizen, English Pale Ale, Chocolate Cream Ale, and a golden Kölsch. The monastic garden has seen the addition of three hops varieties—German Hallertau, English Fuggle, and American Cascade.

The oft-disputed relationship of monks and beer is still open to debate.

After a millennium and a half, we can do no better than Saint Benedict himself, who “with some uneasi-

Daniel Durken, OSB

in the U.S. with its now world-famous Rolling Rock beer.

Brewmaster Andrew Coval, OSB, pours a bottle of homemade “Black Monks Ale.”

ness” permits each monk a hemina of wine per day (an amount still undetermined). In the Rule’s chapter “On the proper amount of drink,” he also warns against excess and drunkenness and above all—as is his constant refrain---murmuring.

As for what the future of abbey brewing will bring, the story is ongoing. We can say that the hops have blossomed, a barley crop is planned, and Angelo has his 105th birthday coming up. Just as Minnesota means “sky colored lakes,” perhaps those early temperance advocates had it right: OSB does mean “Order of Sacred Brewers.” + Andrew Coval, OSB, teaches Spanish at Saint John’s Preparatory School.

“Black Monks Ale” label and a promotional bottle draped with a monk’s robe made by Novice Peregrine Rinderknecht, OSB

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 11

FEATURE Participants of the First World Congress of Oblates, September 2005

First World Congress of Benedictine Oblates Meets in Rome: A Report

by Ford Royer, OblSB

S

“There is a tremendous thirst among Christian laity for affiliation with Benedictine monasteries.”

everal years ago Abbot Primate Notker Wolf, OSB, of the Abbey and International College of Saint Anselm in Rome, suggested to the Council of Italian Benedictine Oblates that they organize a World Congress of Benedictine Oblates. A committee headed by Luigi Bertocchi, OSB, of Saint John’s Abbey brought the suggestion to reality September 19-25.

Three hundred Benedictine Oblates from over 35 countries converged on Rome for this first ever gathering. Three delegates from Minnesota represented their respective communities: Anne Pierskalla, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph; Mike Lawson, Saint Brigid of Kildaire Monastery, St. Joseph; myself from Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville.

The Congress began with Monday evening Vespers and introductions by Angela Fiorillo, national coordinator of Italian Oblates, and the Abbot Primate. Since these presentations were given in Italian, participants were provided with wireless headsets page 12 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

programmed for live translation into their respective native languages. It gave one the feeling of being at the United Nations.

The theme of the Congress, “Communion with God, Communion with the World,” was divided into three topics: Communion with Monks and Oblates; Communion with God (contemplation); and Communion with the World (mission). These topics were the subjects of presentations

given over the first three days of the Congress.

Each day began with Lauds in a different language, followed by the morning presentation. Later we gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist (again in different languages) and then lunch. There was an afternoon presentation, a question and answer session and group meetings organized by language. The groups were given discussion questions pertaining to the

Pope Benedict XVI addresses his “Benedictine family” at Castel Gandolfo.

FEATURE L. to r.: German Oblate, Paschal Morlino, OSB (Saint Vincent Archabbey, national coordinator of USA Oblates), Luigi Bertocchi, OSB (Saint John’s Abbey, chair of organizing committee); German Oblate, Ford Royer, author of report

day’s presentations. The day concluded with Vespers and dinner.

On Friday we met for a concluding presentation at which time summaries of the individual group sessions were given and proposals for future Congresses were discussed. The Abbot Primate gave the concluding remarks and presided at the noonday Eucharist.

Delegates were free in the afternoon to do some sightseeing in downtown Rome.

Early Saturday morning we boarded buses for the ninety-mile trip to the venerable Abbey of Monte Cassino, founded in 529 by St. Benedict.

Archabbot Bernardo D’Onorio, OSB, superior of the twenty-plus member community, presided at the Eucharist in the magnificently restored abbey basilica. We toured the abbey with stops in the museum and gift shop, followed by a box lunch in the monastic refectory. After Vespers (in Latin) we returned to Rome for dinner and farewells by Angela Fiorillo and the Abbot Primate.

The final day began with Lauds and Mass and then a trip to Castel Gandolfo for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. His Holiness prayed the Angelus with us, recognized our delegation with “Welcome to my Benedictine family” and gave us his blessing. This was a very touching and spiritual moment, knowing that the Pope himself is also a Benedictine Oblate.

Thus the Congress concluded and we returned to our respective countries, renewed in our vocation as Oblates—not as monks living in community but as followers of the Rule of Saint Benedict, carrying his message and spirit into the world through our daily lives. We are inspired by the remarks of Norvene Vest, author of books on Benedictine spirituality and herself an Oblate. She comments that the growth of Oblate programs demonstrates “a tremendous hunger and thirst among Christian laity throughout the world for affiliation with Benedictine monasteries.”

This author continues, “It is a perplexing trend, for it suggests that while traditional forms of monasticism are not growing in most places—though they remain a stable center—something about the Benedictine charism is very important in this time. A powerful reason for growth in the Benedictine Oblate movement is not just the hunger for more meaningful spiritual practice, but is also because of the thirst to understand more clearly what is going on in this bewilderingly complex world and how to respond to it as Christians.”

This is what being a Benedictine Oblate is all about: bringing Benedictine spirituality, hospitality, balance, respect for human dignity, manual labor and the beauty of creation into the world of business, politics, family life and work. And above all “that in all things God may be glorified.” + Ford M. Royer has been an Oblate of Saint John’s Abbey since 1999 and is a member of Saint James Episcopal Church in Minneapolis.

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 13

FEATURE The church of Saints Peter and Paul, Richmond, Minnesota, built in 1885

Faith on the Frontier: The Parish of Saints Peter and Paul, Richmond, Minnesota

The rutted road east of town on the farm of Edwin and Margaret Torborg is the last local remnant of the Central Minnesota Ox-cart Trail that connected Winnipeg to St. Paul, and it’s a reminder of commerce here in the 1830s and 40s. But the real story of Richmond began in 1855 when the first German-Catholics arrived. The missionary priest Francis X. Pierz had tantalized settlers with the promise of rich farmland, a benign climate, and the opportunity to re-create the culpage 14 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

A Benedictine, sesquicentennial parish of the Sauk River Valley

tural heritage they left behind. What they found was challenge.

Although life was not easy, a strong faith and hard work combined to quickly make Richmond a viable town. Father Pierz celebrated the first Mass in 1855, and following a parish mission on August 15, 1856, Benedictine Bruno Riss became the first pastor. A log cabin church was replaced by a frame building with a steeple in 1860. A larger church was erected in 1866. Only in 1885 did the present church appear with its impressive brick exterior and an expansive interior noted for the absence of a center aisle. School buildings and rectories paralleled church construction.

1856-57 threatened their very existence. Another complaint was the absence of brides for the lonely male settlers. Finally, the Sioux Indian uprising of 1862 posed an unexpected scare when a war party rode to the outskirts of Richmond. There they encountered frightened townspeople huddled with their pastor behind a seven-foot earthwork they had built around the church.

But it was challenge that distinguished the lot of the early residents who were ill-prepared for the severity of the winter. Grasshopper plagues in Stephen Beauclair, OSB, 27th pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Parish

Lee Hanley

“P

robably the greatest ministry one can give to these people is simply to be present to them,” says Stephen Beauclair, OSB, pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Richmond.

The varied faces of the monks who preceded Father Stephen as pastor tell the story of Benedictine presence in this community founded nearly 150 years ago in the Sauk River Valley of central Minnesota.

Lee Hanley

Bill Harvey

by Eric Hollas, OSB

FEATURE

Edwin and Margaret Torborg

Paynesville promises to knit together communities with deeply rooted traditions and blur the identities that have distinguished towns like Richmond.

Proximity to St. Cloud and to the granite industry in nearby Cold Spring has fueled the steady construction of new homes. Add to that the numbers who commute to Saint John’s or work in the region’s resort industry, and one begins to appreciate Richmond’s future role as a bedroom community.

The settlers toiled hard to build a substantial town set amid prosperous farms. Though residents never enjoyed the mild winters they had been promised, they did succeed in creating a vibrant version of their European heritage on the American frontier.

Successive generations were educated in the parish school; dozens of young people pursued religious vocations; and Richmond emerged with a clear identity among the settlements of Stearns County.

Today Richmond and its parish confront a new frontier in which the fertile soil counts far less than the expansion of Highway 23, which skirts the southern side of town.

Urban growth between St. Cloud and

The changing face of Richmond means change for the parish, Stephen point out. Today the parish numbers some 900 families, and it is still the only church in town. But the influx of new citizens means that Richmond is no longer the German-Catholic enclave it once was, and the RCIA program signals a new demographic. The pastor also notices the change that summer brings to the congregation. The annual urge to migrate, so characteristic of Minnesota, means that locals flee to their cabins in the north, while people from the Twin Cities drive north to occupy both area resorts and church pews on Sunday.

Lee Hanley

Yet Richmond is likely to retain its character far into the future. Farming will continue to put its stamp on the local economy and way of life.

So too will the current descendents of the German-Catholic families who braved the frontier to

shape a unique culture here. Nonetheless, Richmond and its parish will evolve—as they always have. During the pastorate of Dominic Ruiz, OSB, the parish church installed stately granite in its aisles and a polished wood floor in the sanctuary. Master organ builder, KC Marrin, renovated and expanded the organ in the church loft.

Another constant in that evolving culture is the role of the Saint John’s Benedictines. Since 1856 monks have served in this parish. Genera-

Parish Archives

Edwin and Margaret Torborg stand on the pioneer Ox-cart Trail that once crossed their farm land.

An early photo of Richmond parishioners with their pastor

tions of students have attended the Prep School and University; youngsters sing in the Saint John’s Boys’ Choir; townspeople continue to work in many different capacities at Saint John’s. Through most of these years the cross and the medal of Saint Benedict have adorned the parish church and become symbols of a lively and growing faith on the frontier. Both Richmond and Saint John’s Abbey can rightly celebrate 150 years in 2006. + Eric Hollas, OSB, is the senior associate of arts and cultural affairs at Saint John’s University.

The organ renovated and enlarged by KC Marrin

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 15

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE A stone arch at an entrance to a trail through wintry woods

God sprinkles the snow like fluttering birds; it comes to settle like swarms of locusts.

What’s Up? The Abbey Chronicle

by Daniel Durken, OSB

August 2005  The monastic community hosted the annual Clergy Day for the bishop, priests and permanent deacons of the Saint Cloud Diocese on August 2. After joining us for Evening page 16 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

Daniel Durken, OSB

T

he daily temperature and precipitation reports of Bradley Jenniges, OSB, the abbey’s weather-monk, reveal that the Collegeville summer and early fall were typically warm and wet. July’s twelve and August’s five days of temperatures in the 90-95 degree range kept air conditioners and fans humming.

Summer showers were infrequent during July and August but September’s 6.32 inches and October’s 5.14 inches banished all thoughts of drought.

Simon Bischof, OSB, energetic member of the grounds crew, was kept busy mowing lawns that maintained their emerald elegance until they were covered first with leaves and then with snow. The first significant frost, enough to activate windshield scrapers, was on October 25.

Simon Bischof, OSB, mows a monastic lawn.

Prayer the clergy were wined and dined in the abbey’s refectory. Five days later our guests were members of Saint Benedict’s Monastery. The sun and shade of the monastery’s back yard overlooking a sparkling Lake Sagatagan provided the setting for a reception and picnic supper.

These get-togethers are welcome opportunities to meet and eat with friends and give witness to our multiple ministries.

Biblical Association met at Saint John’s August 6-9. Three hundred Scripture scholars from 46 states and foreign countries registered for the meeting. Michael Patella, OSB, associate professor of theology at Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary, chaired the committee on local arrangements and was a panelist on the exegesis, scholarship and art of The Saint John’s Bible. Dale Launderville, OSB, associate professor of theology at Saint John’s, discussed “Defilement and Purification in Ezekiel: The Politics of Sacred Space” at one of the sessions and was celebrant and homilist at the closing

 For the first time Monastics of Saint Benedict’s Monastery join us for a picnic. in its 69-year history the Catholic

Daniel Durken, OSB

Fran Hoefgen, OSB

Sirach 43:18-19

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE

Daniel Durken, OSB

“The Collegeville Station”: l. to r. John Hanson, OSB, Patrick Dwyer, John Dwyer, David Cofell

September 2005  The Saint John’s and Saint Benedict’s communities were quick to respond to the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Both schools offered evacuee students the opportunity to attend CSB/SJU on a temporary basis. Special collections at Sunday Masses and in student housing netted more than $8,100.

Saint John’s Abbey gave $10,000 to Saint Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, Louisiana, for repair of hurricane damages. Supported by a Saint John’s University paid release time

Daniel Durken, OSB

 Parking lots and roadways crammed with SUVs, pickups and U-Hauls, and sidewalks and lawns crowded with students and parents signaled the beginning of another academic year. Enrollment figures are as follows: Saint John’s University, 1,875; Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary, 121; College of Saint Benedict, 2,045; Saint John’s Preparatory School, 315.

The traditional “Meet a Monk” session followed with 23 monks visiting groups of 15-20 students as a gesture of hospitality. One group learned that the secret of success at Saint John’s is knowing the difference between OSB and SOB.

allowance, Tom Kroll, Saint John’s land manager and arboretum director, spent several weeks in Texas as a volunteer in a shelter that served 8,000 displaced people.

Daniel Durken, OSB

 On the evening before classes Saint John’s first year students joined the monastic community for Evening Prayer. Abbot John then spoke to the newcomers, encouraging them to do three things: 1.Take a walk through the woods to the Stella Maris Chapel across the lake. 2.

Visit the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library to view The Saint John’s Bible. 3. Join the monks at one of our daily community prayer services: 7:00 Morning Prayer, Noon Prayer, 5:00 Eucharist, 7:00 Evening Prayer, 9:00 Compline.

Eucharist of the convention. Abbot John Klassen, OSB, presided at the opening Mass of the meeting.

“The Collegeville Station,” a musical group led by John Hanson, OSB, provided music during a convention social hour.

L. to r.: Caroline Linz and Joanne Ricker organized the donation of blankets from the Liturgical Press to survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.

 Joanne Ricker and Caroline Linz, employees of Liturgical Press, collected $251 from co-workers and purchased fleece blanket material at a 50% discount from Crafts Direct and Joann Fabrics in St. Cloud.

Employees then made 27 adult and 22 child blankets from this material and delivered them to the Red Cross office in St. Cloud for distribution to hurricane survivors.  The wish of Saint Benedict that the abbot may “rejoice in the increase of a good flock” (Rule, ch. 2) was realized this month with the investiture of two novices, Peter Sullivan and Peregrine Rinderknecht, and the first profession of Andrew Coval, OSB (see page 28).  At its annual dinner on September 15 the Central Minnesota Community Foundation presented its President’s Award to Hilary Thimmesh, OSB, professor of English and president emeritus of Saint

Incoming students purchase steel frames and mattresses for their room lofts.

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 17

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE

October 2005  A poem by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1884) provides the context of this magnificent month: O suns and skies and clouds of June, And flowers of June together, Ye cannot rival for one hour October’s bright blue weather.

Wilfred Theisen, OSB

 On October 18 at “Lunch and Learn,” a professional development opportunity sponsored by the Vocation Project for CSB/SJU employees (funded by Lilly Endowment), Wilfred Theisen, OSB, professor emeritus of physics, discussed “The Monastic Practice of Hospitality.”

Apologizing for not giving a powerpoint presentation “because I never got beyond the use of colored chalk in my fifty years of teaching,” Wilfred nevertheless informed and entertained the audience with insights on Saint Benedict’s priority of hospitality, especially to the poor.

page 18 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

He insisted that genuine Christian hospitality does not just include the poor but is practiced primarily for the sake of the poor.  A quantum leap towards the construction of the Abbey Guest House was made on October 25 when the monastic community approved by a substantial margin the total construction cost of the guest house with funding to be provided primarily from donor designated gifts.

AN INVITATION

Richard Oliver, OSB, president of The American Benedictine Academy, extends an invitation to all monastics, Oblates and friends of Saint John’s Abbey to become members of the Academy. The only requirement is for you to be interested in the Benedictine heritage and the purposes of the Academy. For the two-year full membership fee of $25 you will receive printed copies of The American Monastic Newsletter and be eligible for the reduced registration fee for the ABA convention every two years. To learn more about the Academy visit the website www.osb.org/aba/ or contact Sister Adel Sautner, OSB, 415 S. Crow Street, Pierre, SD 57501-3304 or bennii@dakota2k.net.

Remember our loved ones who have gone to their rest: Alette Benson Marie Diekmann Stephen Freund Mel Reichert Natividad Castro Santos Clarence Soyka Frederick Stein William Theisen Mark Wood

May they rest in peace!

Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB

John’s University. The award recognizes Hilary’s long-term support of the foundation, especially as board chairman from 1992-95.

FEATURE A pail full of Dunstan’s vine-ripened tomatoes

Daniel Durken, OSB

“Some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit . . . “. . . a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold” (Matthew 13:8).

by Bruce Wollmering, OSB

S

ummer 2005 presented the opportunity for six monks—Linus Ascheman, Isaac Connolly, Andrew Coval, Dunstan Moorse, Raphael Olson and myself—to practice our garden skills. Each of us took responsibility for our area and followed the full cycle of crop production from planting to weeding, watering and harvesting.

John Elton, Saint John’s master gardener, served as consultant and Jennifer Anderson, dining service dietician, suggested which produce would best serve the kitchen’s dietary

needs. I served as produce production personnel coordinator and general manager of the project.

Linus specialized in four varieties of scrumptious tomatoes: Fourth of July, cherry, Early Pick and Big Boy. His plants yielded 220 pounds of full flavor tomatoes.

Andrew produced three varieties of hops for beer making, hundreds of Bolivian rainbow peppers and two bushels of Andean purple potatoes.

Isaac harvested one hundred pounds of Condor zucchini, sixty pounds of Yellow Crookneck summer squash, and forty pounds of Dusky eggplant.

Daniel Durken, OSB

Dunstan managed a mix of vegetables and spices including carrots, yellow wax beans, kohlrabi, dill, chervil, Italian parsley and 290 pounds of thirteen Heirloom varieties of tomatoes. He also grew five varieties of flowers to be dried and pressed for greeting cards.

Raphael grew hundreds of gladiolas in

a rainbow of colors to brighten the church, monastery and guest areas.

I supplied the salad table with 20 boxes of lettuce, 15 boxes of radishes and two varieties of peppers plus another 512 pounds of tomatoes (to bring our total to 1,022 pounds), 20 pounds of onions, 45 pounds of cantaloupe and over 1,500 pounds of winter squash. I also renovated the root cellar for winter storage.

With the 2,010 pounds of tomatoes produced in the abbey garden by Brother Urban Pieper, the grand total of juicy, red tomatoes harvested this summer is 3,032—over a ton and a half. Brother John Hanson harvested 25 bushels of apples from the abbey’s orchard.

Produce from the efforts of these monks and other occasional helpers such as Father Fintan Bromenshenkel saved the abbey thousands of dollars in food costs plus offered meaningful manual labor and a close-up of the wonders of growth. We indeed plant and water but only God causes the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7). + Bruce Wollmering, OSB, is chair of the Abbey Forest and Lands Committee.

A few of the squash harvested this summer

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 19

FEATURE Christopher Fair, OSB, and his two-faced clock with an abstract flower design

Christopher Fair, OSB, brings fresh focus to Abbey Woodworking Lee Hanley

by Daniel Durken, OSB

Founded in 1993, the Center is dedicated “to provide the best possible education for people who want to design and build functional, beautiful, expressive work out of wood to the highest standard of craftsmanship” (Mission Statement). The faculty, composed of professional furniture makers with exceptional technical expage 20 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

pertise, come from the United States, England, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. In 2004 the school had 320 course enrollments from 37 states and six foreign countries.

studied project design, aspects of drawing and drafting and the techniques of wood bending, veneering, staining and turning on lathes.

Christopher began his program learning the basics of woodworking such as how to sharpen tools and the characteristics of wood. “Wood is alive,” he explains. “Wood moves and this dictates what can be done with it.” He

Michael Roske

R

eaders probably associate the name Rockport with popular footwear. But for Brother Christopher, Rockport is synonymous not with leather but with lumber. The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, located in Rockport, Maine, is where Christopher for nine months studied and practiced the art of making quality furniture under the direction of David Upfill-Brown, a master craftsman from Australia. He also survived six blizzards that made a wimp of recent Minnesota winters.

Designing and building functional, beautiful, expressive work out of wood . . .

Christopher’s maple library built-in shelves in the university president’s office

FEATURE Putting principles into practice, Christopher completed eight woodworking projects, namely, a footstool, tool box, Shaker dwarf clock, veneer table top, the Orchid clock, several chair designs, puzzle cubes and the Mac-Time clock. This last project involved research into the work of Charles Rene MacKintosh and his wife Margaret MacDonald, Scottish architects and designers who were part of the Glasgow art movement. Christopher then designed and produced the Mac-Time clock, a two-faced clock with an abstract flower design (see accompanying photo).

In an effort to establish a broader customer base to ensure the continued vitality of the operation, Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking aims to be recognized as an apostolate of the abbey.

It seeks to provide not only inter-corporate services but also services to outside interests. The new focus is the manufacture and marketing of oneof-a-kind, custom furniture to outside clients such as alumni, Oblates, relatives and friends. A brochure is in the making. Additional information is available at sjawood@csbsju.edu. +

Michael Roske

Jim Dugan

When he returned to the abbey Christopher was named shop supervisor of Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking. His staff includes Larry Notch, Michael Roske, Gregory Eiben-

steiner, OSB, and Isidore Glyer, OSB. Formerly known as the Carpenter Shop which concentrated on the manufacture and repair of dormitory and classroom furniture, Abbey Woodworking now has a new focus.

Christopher’s drop front secretary

Christopher’s Shaker dwarf clock, five-feet tall, made of red oak and Spanish cedar

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 21

ABBEY MISSIONS Members of Holy Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi, Japan, pose with Abbot John: l. to r. Paul Makoto Tada, Nicholas Thelen, Peter Kawamura, Kieran Nolan, Edward Vebelun, Abbot John Klassen, Thomas Wahl.

A Visit to Japan and Holy Trinity Benedictine Monastery

by Abbot John Klassen, OSB

The community is sinking its roots in the rich soil of Fujimi.

I

n September I visited our dependent priory in Fujimi, Japan. Although the 6,000 mile flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo can be made in twelve non-stop hours, it takes more time to get one’s entire being re-assembled.

Father Kieran Nolan met me at the Narita International Airport and we journeyed to Kamakura, a beautiful seaport city south of Tokyo. We spent the night there and met Oblate Gyo Furuta for breakfast. Furuta san, a former confrere, is one of the top Catholic scholars in the country. We then visited a local Episcopalian church (the pastor is an Oblate) and met a group of Oblates who had gathered for Midday Prayer. Following conversation and some moving introductions, we enjoyed a delicious lunch. Friend and Oblate Fusegima san did all the legwork for this gathering.

It is important to emphasize the positive impact of the HolyTrinity Benedictine monastic community on the Church in Japan: being a house for prayer and spiritual refreshment; a place for hospitality to people of page 22 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

all faiths; a pastoral ministerial presence to people in the local and regional Church, both in English and Japanese; and the beginnings of an outreach to people through translation and publication.

At the request of the community, Father Roman Paur has been visiting Fujimi for extended periods every few months. He functions as a consultant and facilitator for their community meetings. In June the community discussed a wide variety of options for leadership in the future.

The consensus was to ask Roman to be administrator for a period of one to two years. He has appointed Father Edward Vebelun as subprior and will mentor him closely during this time.

from the local area. I spoke about The Saint John’s Bible. The monastery has both Illuminating the Word and The Gospels and Acts. Calligraphy is the highest art form in Japan and these books and the Bible project were an instant hit.

These latter events are indicative of the good energy in the community and a positive sign of the fruits of this community’s presence in Fujimi.

Furuta san used the metaphor of the community sinking its roots into the rich soil of Fujimi. This is surely the immediate and important task for this community. +

One afternoon the monks hosted a group of fifteen Christian ministers Abbot John (second from right in front row) met with Benedictine Oblates in Kamakura, Japan, during his September visit.

ABBEY MISSIONS Gabriel Ssenkindo, OSB, associate pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Tororo, Uganda

Graduate of School of Theology pastors 6,000 families

by Daniel Durken, OSB

30,000 parishioners, 869 first communicants and 1,266 confirmands

H

also harvest pineapples, jack fruit, bananas and papaya and dry the fruit for export to Germany.

Gabriel Ssenkindo, OSB, a 1999 graduate of Saint John’s School of Theology, answered that question when he visited his alma mater.

Father Gabriel is a member of Christ the King Priory in Tororo, Uganda.

The community was founded by the Ottilien Benedictine Congregation of Germany in 1984 and numbers twenty-five members plus ten novices.

Gabriel is the associate pastor of St. Theresa Parish, about four and a half miles from the priory. Established in the 1950s by the Mill Hill Missionaries, the parish was entrusted to the Benedictines in 2003. Forty-seven percent of the population of Uganda is Catholic while thirty-five percent belong to other Christian denomiLay ministers and the bicycles they use nations. to get to their mission churches

ow do two African Benedictine priests of Uganda serve a parish that includes sixteen outstations and numbers 6,000 families, 30,000 individuals and this year’s 869 first communicants and 1,266 confirmands?

The priory operates a vocation school with carpentry and metal shops, a motor garage and a small farm. The community provides a dispensary and an ophthalmic clinic with a resident eye surgeon. The monks

Some of the 869 children preparing for First Communion

To answer the opening question, Gabriel credits the indispensable help of the parish’s eight special ministers who conduct communion services and Christian burials. Sixteen catechists prepare parents and children for baptism, first communion and confirmation. One catechist instructs couples for marriage. These lay ministers travel by bicycle over rough roads to their missions.

Twenty bikes were purchased from funds of a German abbey.

The weekly parish collection averages $40. Each mission chapel contributes $1 to $4 per Sunday. Eighty percent of the people live on a daily earning of one dollar.

Their main work is subsistence farming.

A special concern of the parish is the care of children orphaned by AIDS. Parish widows and widowers lead this ministry. Thanks to nationwide educational programs and the increased availability of medicine, Uganda has decreased the rate of HIV infection from thirty percent to six percent.

Readers wishing to contribute to this mission may send their contribution, designated for St. Theresa Parish, Tororo, Uganda, to Christ the King Priory, Benedictine Mission House, P.O. Box 528, Schuyler, Nebraska 68661-0528. Your donation will be forwarded to Uganda. + The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 23

STRENGTHENING FOUNDATIONS

Abbey Archives

The monastic community at prayer

An Invitation to Help

by Year-End Giving and Tax Benefits

by Geoffrey Fecht, OSB

Please join us in our journey and become co-workers with us.

E

ver since the first monks of Saint John’s Abbey came to this sacred place in 1856, people of faith have worked with us to provide for our needs and to enable us to fulfill our mission of prayer and work. By offering your support to the abbey you become a part of the important work done by the monks. You join us in our journey, becoming coworkers with us in answering God’s call to do God’s work. With your assistance we strive to continue working into the distant future to serve you and the Church.

What Your Gift Can Do Each year our friends and benefactors make financial gifts to support the abbey. What does a gift to the abbey accomplish? Here are a few areas that friends of Saint John’s help support: • Promote vocations to the monastic life and the priesthood • Provide opportunities for spiritual renewal through retreats and spiritual direction • Educate monks so they can teach those who come to our Preparatory page 24 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

School, University and School of Theology•Seminary • Offer assistance in missionary outreach • Support our Health and Retirement Fund to assure the welfare of monks who have served the Church for generations • Promote enterprises such as Abbey Woodworking and Abbey Arts and Crafts • Maintain abbey buildings and grounds Your gift helps support these many needs of the abbey and makes our ministries possible.

most cases you can lower your taxes through charitable giving. The amount of the income tax savings will depend, of course, on your tax bracket.

But giving is concerned with much more than tax savings. Your charitable gifts make an important difference in what we are able to accomplish.

Year-end gift ideas include cash gifts, gifts of stock or real estate, charitable gift annuities and others. For more information please call the Abbey Development Office at 320-363-3556 or e-mail us at sjabbeydev@osb.org. +

Ways to Give As you do your tax planning this year, we hope you will consider making good use of the income tax charitable deduction. Your year-end gift can significantly reduce your income taxes while providing support for Saint John’s Abbey. Regardless of your income, in Don LeMay, OSB, (l.) and Arnold Weber, OSB, visit in Saint Raphael’s Retirement Center.

STRENGTHENING FOUNDATIONS An Additional Abbey Guest House Contribution

Abbey Guest House Construction Update

I

W

ith the utility tunnel for the Abbey Guest House completed, the Knutson Construction Services of Minneapolis has begun construction of the Guest House itself.

Michael Crouser

n early October we received the wonderful news that Steve and Barbara Slaggie of Winona, Minnesota, have given an additional $1 million toward the construction of the Abbey Guest House. This donation is especially welcome in view of increased construction costs. The new gift brings the Slaggie’s total contribution to this project to $4.5 million.

Steve Slaggie graduated with a degree in economics from Saint John’s University in 1961. A university Regent since 1999, he is the long-time director, corporate secretary and shareholder relations officer for the Fastenal Corporation of Winona.

Barbara Slaggie was born in Marshall, Minnesota, and comes from a family

Steve and Barbara Slaggie contribute another $1 million for construction of the Abbey Guest House.

of fifteen. Over the years Steve and Barbara have gotten their whole family involved with Saint John’s. We are delighted with their continued support of the Abbey Guest House.

On October 10 the heavy construction equipment arrived on campus and the sounds of roaring motors and backup beeps are heard in the land.

The digging and pouring of cement for the footings of the building was begun. The footings were in place before the arrival of the winter cold and the construction of the building itself, somewhat modified to meet budget figures, is now in progress.

Architect Vincent James of the Vincent James Associates Architects, Minneapolis, assures us that completion of the Abbey Guest House can be expected in the fall of 2006.

Note: You may follow the Abbey Guest House construction progress by checking the daily webcam at http://guesthousecam.saintjohnsabbey. org/ +

Lee Hanley

Geoffrey Fecht, OSB, is the development director of Saint John’s Abbey.

A view of preliminary footings of the Abbey Guest House east of the Abbey Church.

The square, boarded up area to the right is the entrance to the utilities tunnel completed this past summer.

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 25

VOCATION NEWS Members of the 2005 Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps, l. to r.: Andrew Krueger, Andrew Dirksen, Mark Hoffman, Michael Hahn, Paul Richards, OSB (director), Paul Conroy

Simon-Hoà Phan, OSB

Five Benedictine Volunteers Serve in New Jersey, Rome and Tanzania

by Daniel Durken, OSB

Saint John’s 2005 graduates were “infected to service” at Collegeville.

I

n this third year since its inception the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps (SJBVC) has recruited five graduates of the SJU 2005 class to serve in Benedictine communities in the United States and abroad.

Andrew Dirksen, political science major from LeMars, Iowa, and Michael Hahn, political science major from Robbinsdale, Minnesota, work at Saint Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey. They are tutors of students and teacher assistants at this seventh through twelfth grade, 575-student, inner city school established by Benedictines of Newark Abbey in 1868.

Mark Hoffman, music (vocal) management major from Duluth, Minnesota, works in the library and with the grounds crew at the International Benedictine College of Saint Anselm in Rome, Italy. Established in 1687 and restored in 1888, the college enrolls some ninety students in programs of priesthood and monastic studies, theology, philosophy and liturgy.

page 26 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

Paul Conroy, English major from Monticello, Minnesota, and Andrew Krueger, communication major from Orono, Minnesota, teach English at the Abbey of Hanga in Songea, Tanzania. Founded in 1957, Hanga Abbey with its 150 members is the largest Benedictine community in Africa and operates a hospital, dispensary, primary and secondary schools and seminary. Paul and Andrew participated in the Saint John’s Study Abroad Program in South Africa during the spring 2004 semester and together climbed Kilimanjaro, the 19,340-feet, tallest mountain in Africa.

Why did these young men volunteer? Dirksen: “I wanted a change of pace, time to reflect on my future and the chance to experience a different environment and ethnic group.”

Hahn: I was infected to service during my years at Saint John’s.”

Hoffman: “I didn’t have time in high school or college to do volunteer work, so this is the opportunity I need.” Conroy: “I want to help others.” Krueger: “I was interested in

the Peace Corps, but when that didn’t work I still wanted to do volunteer work.”

Volunteers are expected to spend thirty to forty hours a week in the work of the host monastery. They also pray with the community once or twice a day and join the community for at least one meal a day. The host community provides their food, lodging and a small monthly stipend.

SJU alumni interested in joining Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps should contact Paul Richards, OSB, director of the program, at 320363-3007 or prichards@csbsju.edu. +

VOCATION NEWS The ordination of a priest at the Abbey of Tanga in Tanzania

Benedictine Volunteers in Tanzania write home “I am having an amazing time. Africa is wonderful.”

P

aul Conroy writes: I have been in Tanzania for a little over a month now, and I have quickly gotten used to eating the same foods every day: a lot of rice, occasionally pasta, meat sometimes and a lot of bread. At the end of a meal if I am still hungry I stuff my face with a few pieces of bread with sugar and bananas. The bread is homemade and very good. While I still have the occasional craving for a Saint John’s buffet or McDonald’s dollar menu, I am content with everything we are provided here. Our menu is much more diverse than many peoples’.

My knees have finally become adjusted to the hard wooden kneelers at church. The first time we knelt on them, two minutes into it was like “O, Sweet Jesus, there is no way I can do

this!” But now it is no big deal except when we pray the rosary; that gets a bit long.

A very interesting part of life here I have slowly gotten used to is hand holding. People hold hands everywhere. Men walk down the street holding hands, women and men, women and women, children, everyone. It has taken a little getting used to holding hands for an extended period of time with people as we sit and try to converse or walk down the dusty road. But it is part of the culture and a very interesting one I am happy to experience . . . usually. I am doing very well here and am having an amazing time. Africa is wonderful.

A

ndrew Krueger writes: One of the monks about forty years old died here unexpectedly from heart failure.

The average life expectancy is something like 44. While it was sad for the community, crowds of people came in support and it was a really good cultural experience. The ceremony was leagues away from anything

I’d ever expect in the States—long church services, women wailing at times, lots of music.

My birthday celebration was great.

One of the monks decorated our place with balloons and beach balls and surprised us when we got home. Lots of monks and others showed up. After drinks and presents a group made their way down the hall with a large cake singing, “Cakey, cakey, cakey” and clapping their hands. The group stopped in front of me and the song changed to “Cut the cakey, cakey,” repeated over and over until the cake had been entirely cut. Then the song changed to a Swahili word for distribute and, of course, “Cakey, cakey, cakey.” It was fun to experience a birthday in a new culture.

One of my goals was accomplished when last week I had four separate encounters with siafu. Siafu are the crazy ants that you will often see on animal and plant shows. One of the columns was protected by soldiers, so I made sure to sit and observe and play with them for a while. Anything you dip towards their stream of movement gets absolutely devoured. It’s crazy. +

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 27

VOCATION NEWS Andrew Coval, OSB, on the day of his first profession of vows

Andrew Coval, OSB, professes first monastic vows “Saint Benedict would argue that this is the real make-over” (Abbot John).

In the context of these words, Andrew Coval, OSB, 27, made his initial public commitment to the Benedictine way of life during the celebration of the Eucharist that midSeptember afternoon.

Brother Andrew, son of Thomas and Marie Coval of Philadelphia, has six brothers. While earning a degree in philosophy at Emory University,

Atlanta, Andrew made a weekend retreat at the Trappist abbey in Conyers, Georgia. This sparked an interest in Catholicism and he converted in 2001.

Andrew later spent three months in the Conyers’ abbey’s guest program. He then came to Collegeville, earned the MA in systematic theology at Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary in 2003 and participated in Saint John’s Abbey’s summer Monastic Experience Program of work and prayer with the community.

After teaching theology at an Episcopal high school in Alexandria, Virginia, Andrew decided to begin his Benedictine “make-over” program and entered the novitiate in September 2004. He is now teaching Spanish at Saint John’s Preparatory School and occasionally pursuing a beer brewing hobby (see pages 10-11 of this issue). +

Robin Pierzina, OSB

T

aking as his starting point the “make-over” fad of our time, Abbot John Klassen, OSB, in his homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, asserted, “Saint Benedict would cast a pretty cold eye on this kind of process.

You can put a habit on in a few minutes but it takes a lifetime to become a monk. Benedict would argue that deep change ultimately has to come from the inside out.”

Two Benedictine novices invested

T

wo young men were accepted into the novitiate and clothed in the monastic garb at a simple ceremony during Evening Prayer on September 11.

Lee Hanley

Novice Peter (Joseph) Sullivan, 31, of Mattituck, New York, is the son of Joseph (deceased) and Anna Sullivan.

He has an older sister and brother. Peter has an MA in elementary education from Dowling College, Oakdale, NY.

L. to r.: Novice Peter Sullivan, OSB; JP Earls, OSB (director of formation); Novice Peregrine Rinderknecht, OSB, during a class in the novitiate library

page 28 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

Novice Peregrine (Jakob) Rinderknecht, 25, of Shaker Heights, Ohio, is the son of Joseph and Gail Rinderknecht. He has two younger brothers. This spring Peregrine received the MA in systematic theology from Saint John’s School of Theology. +

BANNER BITS

Liturgical Press

Cover of the Psalms book of The Saint John’s Bible.

The five numbered panels are the five books of the psalms.

The Saint John’s Bible Update: Psalms, Exhibitions, Award

P

salms, the second of a seven-volume series of full-color, page-bypage reproductions from The Saint John’s Bible, will be available in February from Liturgical Press, Collegeville.

Michael Patella, OSB, chair of the Committee on Illumination and Text, says, “I believe the Book of Psalms will be one of the favorite books to see when the Bible is exhibited.

People love the psalms. The way they appear in The Saint John’s Bible provides people a way to read their favorite psalm with new eyes.”

Visual representations of chants from Benedictine, Native American, Muslim, Taoist and other traditions are the basis for the illuminations of the psalms. Every psalm page features a small gold image that graphically renders the chanting of the monks of Saint John’s Abbey.

Psalms is published in hardcover, 80 pages, 9 3/4 x 15, $59.95. This volume may be ordered from Liturgical Press by phone (1-800-858-5450) or e-mail (sales@litpress.org).

Exhibition Tours of The Saint John’s Bible

A

fter its highly successful exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this past spring and summer, The Saint John’s Bible continues its exhibition tours to museums and galleries:

Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, January 21—April 15, 2006 The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England, February 2—May 1, 2006 Tyler Art Museum, Tyler, Texas, June 8—September 3, 2006 The Library of Congress, Washington, DC, October 6—December 15, 2006 Naples Art Museum, Naples, Florida, January 26—April 6, 2007 National Museum of Catholic Art and History, New York City, May 18— July 27, 2007 Meadows Museum, Shreveport, Louisiana, September 7—November 16, 2007 Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, December 21, 2007—March 7, 2008 Mobile Art Museum, Mobile, Alabama, October 10, 2008—April 10, 2009

Colman J. Barry Award to Sister Wendy Beckett

S

aint John’s University will present the thirteenth annual Colman J. Barry Award for Distinguished Contributions to Religion and Society to internationally renowned art commentator, Sister Wendy Beckett, to honor her service to society as art historian, author and television host. A Carmelite nun, Sister Wendy has hosted BBC television documentaries on a variety of art museums and galleries and written more than fifteen books.

The award will take place on January 30, 2006, at a private reception in England to coincide with the opening of the international exhibition tour of The Saint John’s Bible at The Victoria & Albert Museum, London. +

Sister Wendy Beckett, Carmelite nun and host of TV documentaries on art

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 29

BANNER BITS

A

Classic Cars Cruise Collegville Campus Lee Hanley

Courtesy Thayer Birding Software

Colleen and Roy Bernick and their rare 1933 twelve-cylinder Franklin classic car

unique parade of 23 Franklin cars cruised through the Collegeville campus on September 16 as part of the Midwest Franklin Tour. Hosted by Roy Bernick and Colleen Rawlings-Bernick of Waite Park, Minnesota, drivers and passengers parked their sparkling vehicles in the Science Center parking lot while visiting the Abbey Church and the Hill Museum & Microfilm Library.

The Franklin was one of the most innovative motor cars of its time. The special feature of the automobile was its air-cooled engine which eliminated the customary radiator and problems of overheating and freezing. When dealers demanded more conventional styling with a standard radiator in front, a false radiator was put on the 1925 Franklin.

John Wilkinson was the original designer of the automobile that became one of America’s great luxury cars. But it was Herbert H. Franklin, a former newspaper publisher, who gave his name to the vehicle that he manufactured in Syracuse, New York, and marketed from 1902 to 1934.

The Franklin also featured lightweight and flexible construction at a time when other luxury cars were ponderous machines. Franklins were capable of speeds of 60 mph whereas heavier vehicles like the Oldsmobile lumbered along at 20 mph. In 1904 a Franklin was driven from New York

The Franklin was one of the most innovative cars of its time. to San Francisco in about half the coast-to-coast time recorded earlier by Packard and Winton cars.

Roy Bernick, retired vice president of Bernick’s Pepsi Cola of Waite Park, and his wife Colleen are the enthusiastic owners of 44 antique and classic cars and six Franklins. Their collection includes a rare 1933 twelve-cylinder Franklin and an almost extinct 1930, eight-cylinder Deauville-Franklin of which there are only three in existence. + Much of this material was taken from an article by Richard A. Wright on the Internet.

1930 Franklin Deauville

1914 Franklin 1926 Franklin

page 30 The Abbey Banner Winter 2005

Hugh Witzmann, OSB

1915 Franklin

BANNER BITS

Jerome Tupa, OSB, announces new web site

F

ather Jerome announces a new web site to exhibit the various series of his paintings, prints, watercolors and drawings. The website is www.jerometupa.com. This site also offers an on-line store for ecommerce.

This new web site was designed

by Jeff Voight, a friend of the abbey. In particular Jerome’s upcoming pilgrimage exhibits in New York City and Washington, D.C. are featured. The Road to Compostela is the latest painting series completed for exhibition.

sequently shown in a traveling exhibit moving from Washington, D.C. to New York City and finally to Chicago.

We hope you enjoy this site. +

2

The first showing of some pieces in this series will be at Saint John’s in the Rogers Art Center in the spring of 2006 and will be sub-

Above, Jerome Tupa’s Assisi Basilica

At left, Jerome Tupa’s Compostela

The Abbey Banner Winter 2005 page 31

Calendar of Major Sesquicentennial Events April 5, 2006 – Opening Day to commemorate the departure on April 5, 1856, of five Benedictine monks from Saint Vincent Monastery in Pennsylvania for Minnesota • Presentation of Saint John’s at 150. A portrait of this place called Collegeville • 5:00 p.m. Eucharist at which the Archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey presides

April 30, 2006 – Twin Cities Day to commemorate the arrival

Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB

of Benedictine monks in Saint Paul on May 2, 1856, and to celebrate the long service of Saint John’s Abbey to Twin Cities and Minnesota parishes • 7:30 p.m. A festive Evening Prayer Service at Assumption Church in downtown Saint Paul with the Saint John’s Abbey Schola and a choir and orchestra from Saint John’s University

May 20, 2006 – Welcoming Our Neighbors to celebrate the arrival of five Benedictine monks in Saint Cloud on May 20, 1856 and to emphasize the commitment of Saint John’s to community • Various exhibits and activities throughout the day, e.g., tours, historical displays, musical groups, games, picnic • 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Concerts by John McCutcheon • 5:00 p.m. Eucharist at which Bishop John Kinney presides • Opening of “Benedictines in Central Minnesota” exhibit at Stearns County Historical Museum June 24, 2006 – The Feast of Saint John the Baptist to commemorate the discovery of Indianbush as the location for the abbey and its schools • 10:30 a.m. Eucharist at which the Abbot of Saint Michael’s Abbey, Metten, Bavaria, presides • 5:00 p.m. Anticipated broadcast of “The Prairie Home Companion” by Garrison Keillor NOTE: F urther details of major Sesquicentennial events will be released to media as the schedule is confirmed.

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

Saint John’s Abbey

PO Box 2015 Collegeville, MN 56321-2015 www.saintjohnsabbey.org CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED