Abbey Banner - Winter 2006

Nathanael Hauser, OSB, pray-paints icons, 4 Saint Benedict’s Monastery celebrates Sesquicentennial, 6 Abbey Guesthouse dedicated October 22, 9 Abbot Wolfgang of Metten recalls early days of Boniface Wimmer, 12 The Stella Maris Chapel, 14 Abbey Aquariums, 16 New books by monks, 22 Buddhist and Catholic monks dialogue on celibacy, 24

Christmas scene icon by Nathanael Hauser, OSB

Contents CORRECTIONS, Fall 2006 issue: p. 8 – “Unidentified visitor” is Rt. Rev. James L. Jelinek, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota. pp. 16, 18 – Monk #99 is Isidore Glyer, OSB. p. 21 – Kevin Seasoltz, OSB, was ordained for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

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Cover Story Nathanael Hauser, OSB, pray-paints icons

Lee Hanley

by Daniel Durken, OSB

Features 6 Saint Benedict’s Monastery celebrates Sesquicentennial

by Brenda Brown 9 Abbey Guesthouse dedicated October 22 12 Abbot Wolfgang of Metten recalls early days of Boniface Wimmer translated by Mark Thamert, OSB

14 The Stella Maris Chapel is built, burned, rebuilt, renovated and restored

24 Buddhist and Catholics monks dialogue on celibacy

by William Skudlarek, OSB

by David Klingeman, OSB 16 Prescription for lowering blood pressure: an aquarium

by Daniel Durken, OSB 22 New books by monks

26 Five SJU ’06 alumni join Benedictine Volunteer Corps 27 and 29 Retirements of Brothers George and Francis, and Marlin Eich 28 Janet Merdan, new abbey tailor, loves to sew and sew

by Daniel Durken, OSB

Departments 3 From Editor and Abbot

28 Banner Bits

31 Spiritual Life

18 The Abbey Chronicle

30 Obituary: Bartholomew Sayles, OSB

Back page SJA and SBM

21 Vocation News

2007 Sesquicentennial Events

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 6, Issue 3 Winter 2006

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

The Saint John’s Abbey Christmas Card

A joy full of dust and dung . . .

by Daniel Durken, OSB

ome would say it never happened. But Mary remembered. She knew it with her whole being. She remembered how she and Joseph wandered in the damp cold to find some shelter; the rich odor of the cave; the warm, wet breath of the animals.

They looked on with lazy interest at this couple who joined them, as if to say, “If you think we are leaving here, in your dreams!”

T

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

he 2006 Christmas card of Saint John’s Abbey, designed by Nathanael Hauser, OSB, whose icons are featured on the cover and in the cover story of this issue, portrays a different color Holy Family than those we usually see. Their skin and features are obviously African.

Why did Father Nathanael choose to depict Mary, Joseph and the Child Jesus like this?

He told me he first considered the context of the original Christmas. This family was on the run, escaping from the search-and-destroy plot of King Herod. Mother, husband and child were no strangers to fear, violence, discrimination and homelessness.

Who are the despised, the persecuted, the forgotten and abandoned we see or hear about on our evening TV news?

Nathanael thought of the refugees of Darfur and Somalia where there is no peace, no security, no food or clean water. These are the people who continue to be hounded or ignored as the Holy Family was. This family, moreover, is dressed like middle class people who have a home but cannot live there because of the displacement caused by war and civil strife. Their number is legion.

I hope this photograph will encourage readers to assist refugees, the poor, the persecuted, the forgotten. Please consider contributing financially to such groups as these: • Missionaries of Africa / 1622 21st Street, N.W. / Washington, D.C. 20009-1089 • CARE / Gift Center / PO Box 1870 / Merrifield, VA 22116-8070 • Covenant House / 346 West 17th Street / New York, NY 10011-5002 • American Indian Relief Council / PO Box 6200 / Rapid City, SD 57709-6200 • A favorite charity or food shelf in your own community

by Abbot John Klassen, OSB

S

Her body recalled the sharp straw and the way it poked her back and feet. Her body remembered the screaming pain of giving birth. And the blood, it seemed as if it would never stop. Joseph’s look of terror; the spit she used to clean the child’s eyes. The donkey chewed hay the whole time, oblivious to the miracle. It was so frightening.

But then the shepherds came, seemingly out of nowhere.

Scruffy and ragged, these men and women were angels of mercy. Out of their meager supplies they helped make it a little more comfortable. They were no strangers to birth under rough conditions.

With uncontained excitement they told of the angels celebrating the glory of the birth of this child. She was overwhelmed with joy as she recalled the words of her cousin Elizabeth: “Blest is she who believed that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.” She broke into tears, thinking how impossible all of this was. What kind of a God would do this?

Only a God who was not afraid. Only a God who would risk everything because of love. Only a God who loved the creation, who loved human beings in spite of everything, because of everything. Only a God who wanted human beings to once again breathe divinity, to know their status as sons and daughters. It was a joy full of dust and dung but it was a joy never to be forgotten.

She held the child close, overwhelmed by a fierce and tender love. The song of the angels came to her. “Glory to God in high heaven and peace to all people on earth.” +

I wish you a Giving Christmas and New Year. + The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 3

FEATURE Nathanael prepares an icon of John the Baptist.

Lee Hanley

Nathanael Hauser, OSB, pray-paints icons

by Daniel Durken, OSB

He enrolled in three two-week courses on icons taught by Egon Sendler, leading Jesuit iconographer and author of The Icon: Image of the Invisible, at the Center for Russian Studies in Meudon, outside of Paris.

Each session was an immersion experience at the levels of the theology, aesthetics and techniques of icons.

The two-thousand year history of icons is divided into Greek and Russian styles. Nathanael chose to concentrate on the Russian style

which does not allow the artist to show brush strokes in the painting until the very end when a few flicks of paint are added to the image. He has painted close to one hundred icons, his favorite being Christ the Pantocrator (“Ruler of All”).

Christmas is the ideal season for icons, for the Christ made flesh and dwelling among us is the basis of all icons. The purpose of the icon is to make the invisible visible, to reveal

An essential aspect in painting an icon is prayer. Nathanael repeats the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”) or simply speaks to the figure of his icon.

Without the element of prayer, the icon lacks spirit which is noticeable. Even when the technique is imperfect, the prayer of the iconographer makes a difference.

Lee Hanley

I

n the mid-1970s Father Nathanael, a monk of Saint John’s Abbey, became interested in the study and painting of icons. At that time there were no books available on this subject, so he taught himself. A breakthrough came in the summer of 1987 when he was a student at the International Benedictine College of Saint Anselm in Rome. Seeing so many magnificent mosaics in the churches of the Eternal City, Nathanael was drawn to learn more about icons.

Nathanael’s icon of Jesus and the four evangelists, top right, clockwise: John, Luke, Mark, Matthew

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FEATURE Nathanael’s icon of Mary and the child Jesus

Lee Hanley

Lee Hanley

Nathanael’s icon of Jesus Christ

the divinity in the humanity of Jesus.

There is nothing abstract about the icon as it brings to the fore the personality of Jesus.

The icon Nathanael chose for the cover of this issue presents Jesus and Mary in the center of the scene.

Jesus’ swaddling clothes look like a burial shroud and his manger resembles a tomb, thus uniting his birth and death. Mary, personifying the Church, contemplates the meaning of the Nativity and the scenes around her explain that contemplation.

At the lower left corner is Joseph from a scene from an unapproved gospel. He is sitting outside, wondering about what is happening. The devil is disguised as a shepherd who wants to know if Joseph believes this newborn child is really the Son of God. Joseph does believe and is a witness to the humanity of Jesus. At the lower right midwives give Jesus his first bath, another proof of his humanity.

The two scenes at the top of the icon assert the divinity of Jesus.

Angels announce to shepherds their message of great joy, “. . . a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.” On the other side we recognize the magi, following yonder star to bring their gifts to the newborn King of the Jews.

Soon after Nathanael moves into the renovated area formerly occupied

by Sentinel Printing, he hopes to offer workshops on the prayerful painting of icons and to make his own icons available for purchase. +

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 5

SESQUICENTENNIAL

All photos from Monastery Archives

The Schola of Sisters, novices and postulants of Saint Benedict’s Monastery sing from the balcony of the Sacred Heart Chapel.

Saint Benedict’s Monastery celebrates Sesquicentennial

by Brenda Brown

Benedictine Sisters arrived in St. Cloud on July 4, 1857.

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he monastic women of the Order of Saint Benedict, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota, are celebrating their Sesquicentennial in 2007. Their history is a fascinating journey that compliments and contrasts that of the monastic men of Saint John’s Abbey.

This Benedictine community traces its roots to Saint Walburg Abbey in Eichstätt, Bavaria, a women’s monastery dating to the eleventh century. In 1852 at the invitation of Benedictine men, three young nuns, Sisters Benedicta Riepp, Walburga Dietrich and Maura Flieger, left for Pennsylvania to teach children of German immigrants on the American frontier.

The cupola of the Sacred Heart Chapel of Saint Benedict’s Monastery

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In 1857 four Sisters, two candidates and a twelve-year-old orphan girl arrived in St. Cloud expecting to teach in an elementary school. When this plan did not materialize, they supported themselves by teaching music, art and needlework, hardly imagining the hardship, poverty and challenges awaiting them. Neither could they have foreseen that what began so

precariously would grow into a community of 1,278 members by 1946.

“How much the Sisters are needed here. There are girls 15 years old who still do not know the alphabet nor the Ten Commandments, not even the Our Father.” (from an 1857 letter of Sister Evangelista Kremeter, OSB, to Abbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB) Moving to the settlement of St. Joseph in 1863, the Sisters began teaching in the parish elementary school. Soon they recognized the need for women’s higher education and opened Saint Benedict’s Academy that continued as Saint Benedict’s High School until 1970.

By 1913 the Sisters founded a two-year college that became a fouryear accredited liberal arts college in 1933. Other higher education initiatives include the St. Cloud School of Nursing and the formation of the Benedictine Institute of Theology that evolved into Saint John’s School of Theology. Since 1857 more than 1,600 Sisters have taught in 163 elementary and secondary schools.

SESQUICENTENNIAL “Care of the sick must rank above and before all else, so that they may truly be served as Christ, for he said: I was sick and you visited me (Matt 25:36).” (Rule of Saint Benedict, chapter 36) Although none of the Sisters was trained in nursing, when they were asked to open a hospital in St. Cloud in 1885, they responded quickly. In time they opened six hospitals, nine homes for the elderly, three schools of nursing as well as x-ray and medical technology programs.

In 1964 the Sisters gifted the St. Cloud Hospital to the civic community. They remain involved with the St. Cloud Hospital, the Queen of Peace Hospital in New Prague, Minnesota, and in homes for the elderly where they serve as board members, in nursing and chaplaincy services and in advocacy for the uninsured through Catholic Charities’ Project Health Education Access Line (H.E.A.L.).

“Benedicta Riepp had a dream . . . a large tree covered with beautiful white blossoms. She took the tree as a symbol of her future community.” (Abbess Augusta

at Saint Benedict’s Monastery, 1957).

After only ten years in the United States, this Benedictine community had established six independent monasteries in the United States. In time sister monasteries were founded in Japan, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Utah.

This international character enriches each monastic community as all remain connected in love and mutual support.

Today the Sisters are asked to assist in the theological and spiritual formation of African and Chinese women religious as well as lay ecumenical communities.

“We changed our focus of serving the urgent needs of a pioneer American culture to becoming a spiritual center to nurture society’s spiritual longings.” (Mother Henrita Osendorf, OSB, 1963)

The monastic community in procession

As dedicated laity took up the ministries of education and health care, the Sisters moved into working as pastoral associates, faith formation directors and youth ministers, heads of diocesan offices and social service agencies. The growing interest in prayer and spirituality led the Sisters to begin a spirituality center at the monastery in the 1970s. Two recent outreach efforts are a retreat program for rural women and the Sophia Program for lay women in church ministry.

“When I came to the monastery I felt here a longstanding love of art.” (Thomas Carey, OSB) Sister Willibalda Scherbauer, first Minnesota prioress and graduate of the Royal Art School in Munich, Germany, taught needlework to the younger Sisters as they struggled to provide income for the community. In 1867 the monastery opened the Art Needlework and Vestment Department known throughout the world for the Sisters’ exceptional skill in creating beautiful vestments.

Eighteen novices of Saint Benedict’s Monastery

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 7

SESQUICENTENNIAL Students and teacher of St. Joseph’s Grade School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Supporters of the arts, the Sisters built the Benedicta Arts Center at the College of Saint Benedict. Here students and area residents enjoy a rich variety of art exhibits, dance and musical performances and theatre productions.

The Art and Heritage Place, constructed in 2000, is a venue to share the Sisters’ rich history and arts. At the Whitby Gift Shop and Gallery, the public may view and purchase works created by the Sisters and other local artists. Displays in the Haehn Museum capture the cultural, social and religious influence the Sisters have always had. In the nearby Artisan Studies, Sisters and local artists ply a variety of arts and crafts.

involvement in groups including Pax Christi, Habitat for Humanity, Bread for the World and the Great River Interfaith Partnership (GRIP).

This article is a collaborative effort coordinated by Brenda Brown, communications specialist for Saint Benedict’s Monastery.

INTO THE FUTURE No one can see the future clearly, yet its seeds lie hidden in the present.

Unforeseen challenges and fresh possibilities will call for a response. Like the Sisters who went before them, the Sesquicentennial Community of the Monastery of Saint Benedict will answer, discovering new ways of being Christ for others in the still-tobe-imagined ways of living community, prayer and work. + A Benedictine Sister (background) with doctors and nurses at a surgery in the St. Cloud Hospital

“If you want peace, work for justice.”

(Pope Paul VI) Membership in Christ means taking responsibility for all who deserve to live in a just and peaceful world. The Sisters take this trust seriously. The World Justice/New Jubilee Committee disseminates information and spearheads action to promote equity and peace at local, regional and national levels. They advocate for the marginalized, the threatened and the poor by

“Sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalm 149:1).

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FEATURE Black Hills spruce trees from the Happy Land Tree Farm, Sandstone, Minnesota, line the north side of the Guesthouse.

Lee Hanley

Abbey Guesthouse dedicated October 22 “This facility is a dream come true for us” (Abbot John Klassen, OSB).

The first talk of a guesthouse surfaced in 1921, after the completion of Benet Hall, a five-storey student residence. Newly elected Abbot Alcuin Deutsch, OSB (1921-50), felt it was time to build a guesthouse, but the construction or renovation of such facilities as auditorium, library, football field, gymnasium and utility shops took precedence.

Abbot Jerome Theisen, OSB (1979-92), revived serious interest in an expanded monastic guest apostolate when he wrote early in 1992, “. . . many monks of Saint John’s desire to provide more adequate guest facilities.” The proposal was tabled when Jerome was elected Abbot Primate of the worldwide Benedictine Order and he moved to headquarters in Rome. His successor, Abbot Timothy Kelly, OSB (1992-2000), brought the dream closer to reality in 1998 when he appointed the Abbey Guesthouse Program Committee. The following year the monastic commu-

nity approved both the report of the committee and a resolution to proceed with the selection of an architect.

Due to high cost projections, the community rejected the initial design by the Tadao Ando Architects and Associates of Japan and engaged the firm of Vincent James Architect Associates of Minneapolis. The conceptual designs were approved and groundbreaking occurred on May 12, 2005.

architect Vincent James, a Scripture reading (Romans 12:4-13) by Sandy Klas, Mendota Heights, Minnesota, one of the Patron benefactors of the Guesthouse, followed by the homily of Abbot John. He developed St. Paul’s exhortation to “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.”

Abbot John’s Homily

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ith a group of ten graduate students I spent the spring of 1975 in Jerusalem, studying the land and the culture that produced the scriptures. As part of our learning, we shopped for food in the Arab area of the Old City. The streets were lined with small shops that sold everything.

Like Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery in Lake Wobegon, if you couldn’t find it there, you probably didn’t need it.

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

A

dream of some eight decades finally came true on a windy, chilly October afternoon when the new Abbey Guesthouse was dedicated and blessed by Abbot John in the presence of several hundred monks and guests.

Vincent James, Guesthouse architect

The dedication ceremony included musical selections by the abbey schola, brief remarks by Steve Slaggie (he, his wife Barbara and their family are lead donors of the project) and

If we happened to be there in the morning, it was not uncommon to hear, “You are the first customer, for you I have special deal.” At first we responded to this invitation rather cynically, but gradually we realized that these words were genuine. These small businesses were run at a subsistence level, and a family depended on this commerce for its living. The first The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 99

FEATURE A bathroom, a cup of coffee or tea; a place to gather oneself; to read, to think; a community to be silent with, to join in prayer and song; a listening ear and heart. Hospitality bypasses ideology, simply drives around it, and attends to human needs for rest, creativity and renewal.

Abbot John gives homily at the blessing of the Guesthouse.

It is our deep hope that this Abbey Guesthouse will be a place of spiritual renewal, a place of rejoicing in friendship and family, a place of thoughtful and creative deliberation, a place of rest and solitude for all who come. If so, we will surely know the meaning of Clement of Alexandria’s wonderful phrase, “You are saved by faith and by hospitality.” +

sale of the day was like the first run in the World Series.

Each one of us had the experience of searching out wooden carvings or other goods. If one happened to be at the shop close to tea time in the morning or afternoon, in the middle of negotiating the price, the merchant would say, “Let us stop and have some tea.” So tea, hotter than blazes, and a cookie or sweet, conversation about family, then back to negotiation. At first we mistook this interlude as part of the business shtick, but again we gradually realized that the hospitality was genuine, that it was part of the culture. These simple acts of kindness took us out of a framework of a wheeler-dealer relationship, into a human connection.

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o recognize his important contribution to the Guesthouse project, Saint John’s Abbey has established an endowment in Abbot

Steve and Barbara Slaggie, lead donors for the Guesthouse

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Abbot Jerome Theisen, OSB

Jerome Theisen’s name to support Guesthouse programs. The funding goal of this endowment is $2 million.

Elected abbot in 1979, Jerome was convinced that the abbey should have a facility to accommodate guests of Saint John’s and provide a place of respite for persons seeking solitude in a prayerful environment. After his election as Abbot Primate and his move to Rome, his vision was taken up by his successors, Abbot Timothy Kelly, OSB, and Abbot John Klassen, OSB. The monastic community is determined to make the Guesthouse affordable to all who come. This endowment will support retreat and spiritual life programs on subjects of a spiritual, pastoral and monastic nature. To support these programs, please send your gift to: Abbot Jerome Theisen, OSB, Guesthouse Endowment Fund / Abbey Development, P.O. Box 2015 / Collegeville, Minnesota 56321. +

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

If ever our world needed a renewed sense of hospitality it is right now; a time when there is so much mistrust, so much polarization, so much shouting based not on real thought but on ideology. Hospitality, like love and grace, is in the details. It is never an abstraction.

Abbot Jerome Theisen, OSB, Guesthouse Program Endowment

Abbey Archives

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

In this reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans he closes the passage with the exhortation, “Exercise hospitality.” All of the previous lines in that passage provide the basis for hospitality: Love one another with mutual affection. Anticipate one another in showing honor. Rejoice in hope . . .

FEATURE

Lee Hanley

The south terrace of the Guesthouse

A view of Lake Sagatagan from the Guesthouse

Lee Hanley

Daniel Durken, OSB

The south side of the Guesthouse

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 11

SESQUICENTENNIAL Abbot Wolfgang Hagl, OSB, in the library of Metten Abbey, Bavaria

Metten Abbey

Abbot Wolfgang Hagl, OSB, of Metten, Bavaria, recalls the early days of Boniface Wimmer, OSB translated by Mark Thamert, OSB

Part II of Abbot Wolfgang’s Sesquicentennial reflections

The teeming life of the monastery was extinguished in 1803 by King Maximilian Josef I of Bavaria. The twenty-three monks of Metten were driven away, their furniture sold to the neighboring Duke of Offenberg and parceled out to hotels. In 1826 the Duke gave the furnishings back to King Ludwig I, Maximilian’s son, who then decided to refound the monastery.

There were only two monks left to hand on the baton. But in 1832 Boniface Wimmer and four others joined the Metten community. Monastic life got a fresh start.

Boniface was born in 1809, the son page 12 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

of an innkeeper as were several others who entered with him or after him.

Such young men had to learn from childhood how to interact with others.

Boniface had been ordained for the Diocese of Ratisbon. He was always enthusiastic about the Order of Saint Benedict. He saw it as a powerful crystallization of Western culture with its withdrawal from the world for prayer as well as a stable life in a particular place among particular people.

After ten years of helping restore other Bavarian monasteries, Boniface read an article in the Augsburg newspaper about the Bavarian emigrants in America. Sparks went off inside him.

He wrote an article in the Augsburg paper about the establishment of communities of faith in America and then decided to be one of the first to try it.

The Metten community was divided by this issue. But Boniface was really a stubborn, pig-headed man and he prevailed. His idea was to found not individual parishes but rather stable, viable abbeys in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Kansas. From these stable communities parishes could be founded and managed.

History like this teaches us to be detached and calm with regard to the present. It gives us, in this faithfilled perspective, the sense that we will not fall from the hands of God. Our life will continue, perhaps not as we imagine, but things will continue.

Boniface teaches us to be open to new challenges. + Abbot Wolfgang will conclude his reflections in the spring 2007 issue of The Abbey Banner. Mark Thamert, OSB, teaches German at Saint John’s University.

Metten Abbey

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e often think that history runs in a linear way, always upwards. But the 1200-year history of Saint Michael’s Abbey in Bavaria comes in chunks of time with powerful interruptions. The monastery burned down in the Middle Ages. Then came the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation followed by the Thirty Years War (1618-48) when there were only five monks in the house. In 1624 those five decided to build a new monastery for twenty people. This trust in the future supported the generations to come.

Stained glass image of Boniface Wimmer, Metten Abbey

SESQUICENTENNIAL

Saint John’s Abbey Archives

Boniface Wimmer, OSB

Metten Abbey

The high altar and sanctuary of Metten Abbey, Bavaria

Metten Abbey

Metten Abbey

In this choir chapel the monks of Metten Abbey pray the Divine Office.

The library of Metten Abbey

Metten Abbey

The sacristy of Metten Abbey

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 13

FEATURE A winter view of the Stella Maris Chapel

Fran Hoefgen, OSB

The Stella Maris Chapel is built, burned, rebuilt, renovated and soon to be restored

by David Klingeman, OSB

The chapel’s history includes a thirty-pound fish and a ghost story.

O

n the shore of the lake there stands a small chapel—Stella Maris—built by the monks in honor of the Mother of God. It was a sunset picture so exquisite that one could not imagine anything more perfect.

I found myself transported back when the sons of Saint Benedict penetrated into the wilderness, cut down forests, founded monasteries, enkindled everywhere the light of faith and gave Europe civilization.” (From an 1880 description by

Dr. Herman Zschokke, chaplain of the Austrian imperial court and later rector of the University of Vienna)

T

he Stella Maris Chapel history begins with Dr. James Aylward, English teacher at Saint John’s from1867-69. On the south shore of Lake Sagatagan there was a small island. Legend has it that Aylward caught a thirty-pound fish off the point of the island. He was so excited that he dropped his spectacles into the

page 14 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

lake and never recovered them. The students dubbed the place “Doctor’s Island” in his honor.

Inspired by this picturesque setting, young monks during the summer of 1872 decided to build a chapel to honor Mary under the title of Stella Maris (Star of the Sea). On July 11, 1872, Vincent Schiffrer, OSB, architect of the structure, laid the cornerstone for a small Gothic style building.

By the end of that month the 16’ x 12’ structure was completed, adorned with ornamental brick and a wooden spire with Stella Maris painted in white. The interior of the chapel was not completed and no services were held in it.

The chapel is finished in 1889.

In 1889 the monks finished the chapel, laying the floor,

plastering and decorating the walls with religious pictures and erecting a small altar. Since the island was nearly inaccessible by foot, a path was made in 1892 following the lake shore to “Chapel Island,” as the site was renamed.

The chapel survived the tornado of 1894 but it was struck by lightning on April 17, 1903, and burned to the ground. For eleven years nothing remained except the foundation and underbrush.

A larger chapel is completed in 1915.

In 1915 the abbey’s young monks completed a new, larger Romanesque style Stella Maris Chapel designed

by Gilbert Winkelmann, OSB, with a wooden altar, Students pose on the steeple of the first Stella Maris Chapel, circa 1889.

FEATURE A monk wonders when the rebuilding of the Stella Maris Chapel, circa 1915, will be completed.

the chapel and do some landscaping to further frame the finished project.

A tragic drowning evolves into a ghost story.

Abbey Archives

A story closely associated with the chapel concerns the tragic drowning of the twenty-three-year old monk, Anselm Bartholmy, OSB, on July 3, 1890. Frater Anselm and a student, John Nelles (later ordained as Father Felix, OSB), were transporting sod across the lake to landscape the ground around the chapel.

a steeple and a statue of the Blessed Mother. Abbot Peter Engel, OSB, blessed and laid the cornerstone for the chapel on June 13, 1915. The planned bell in the tower and a fountain with benches for rest and meditation were never completed.

Over the years the little meditation chapel suffered from neglect and vandalism. In 1943, under the direction of Cloud Meinberg, OSB, the stolen cornerstone was replaced and the walls were given new strength by the addition of buttresses. That summer monks fashioned stained glass windows and Father Cloud sketched a painting of the Blessed Virgin on the wall that has since faded and disappeared.

In 1989 a new roof was added, general brick and wall repair completed, paint applied and a new altar erected.

The chapel, now not so much a place of pilgrimage, is more of a destination for a walk. Occasionally a Mass is celebrated at the chapel for a special group.

A renovation project is underway.

A project is now underway to restore the pilgrimage aspect of the

chapel. Don Hall, a 1955 alumnus of Saint John’s Preparatory School, recently made a pilgrimage to Stella Maris. His observation was perhaps similar to that of many visitors: “I expected more.” What appears as a jewel from afar fails to inspire the visitor upon arrival.

The boat started to leak and soon sank under the weight of the wet sod about one hundred yards from the chapel shore. Both men could swim but Anselm was hampered by the weight of his monastic habit.

Grabbing hold of Nelles, Anselm pulled him down. In the underwater struggle Nelles managed to free himself but could not rescue Anselm whose body was found after a twentyfour hour search.

It became Don’s vision to make a pilgrimage to the chapel as inspiring as the view of Stella Maris from across the lake. Don has teamed up with noted architect, Ed Sovik of Northfield, Minnesota, to make improvements to the chapel in time for the 150th anniversary of the Prep School’s first day of school— November 10, 2007. This generous benefactor’s plan is to make the renovated Stella Maris Chapel the Prep School’s gift to the broader Saint John’s community.

Over the years the facts of this tragedy became a ghost story embellished by a monastic storyteller. The legend has the monks taking a bell to install in the chapel. That is why there is still no bell in the tower. But on a quiet night the tolling of the bell can be heard along with the mysterious splashing of water and cries for help.

This is the stuff of a vivid imagination and is as farfetched as Dr. Aylward’s catching a thirty-pound fish from the lake.

Architect Sovik has proposed a number of exterior and interior treatments that will enhance the structure while preserving its integrity.

Tom Kroll, director of Saint John’s Arboretum, and Linus Ascheman, OSB, physical plant director, are collaborating with the architect. Kroll plans to enhance the trail leading to

Stella Maris Chapel is the first Marian shrine of the Saint Cloud Diocese. It continues to inspire us today as a place of beauty, contemplation, devotion and legends just as it has for over ninety years. + David Klingeman, OSB, is the archivist of Saint John’s Abbey and the manager of the new Abbey Guesthouse.

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 15

FEATURE Peter Sullivan, OSB, watches small fish amid the large clay pots made by Neal Laloo, OSB.

Lee Hanley

Prescription for lowering blood pressure: get an aquarium.

by Daniel Durken, OSB

“No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish” (John Ruskin).

A

t the suggestion of his confrere, Timothy Backous, OSB, who told him he needed a hobby to rub off the rough edges of his personality, Paul Richards, OSB, set up an aquarium in his room. He quickly discovered that taking care of a few free and easy fish was a remedy for his tendency to always be doing something.

Brother Paul also learned that his new hobby has a medicinal quality.

Subject to high blood pressure, he found that thirty minutes of watching his fish swimming leisurely in their pool considerably lowers his blood pressure. He also claims that his seventy-five-gallon aquarium, stocked with a colorful array of non-aggressive fresh water fish, has kept him from smoking.

and novice monks thanks to the cooperative efforts of the following confreres: JP Earls, OSB, director of formation, gave permission for the inexpensive, do-it-ourselves project. Paul obtained a used tank and other necessary equipment. Cletus Connors, OSB, and Matthew Luft, OSB, pastors of Saint Boniface Church in Cold Spring, contributed rocks from the local granite company. Neal Laloo, OSB, added pieces of his pot-

When Paul introduced several African cichlid fish to his peaceful “community” fish, the larger fish started eating the smaller ones. For expert advice he consulted Peter Sullivan, OSB, who managed a pet store in Troy, New York, before entering the community. A new seventyfive-gallon aquarium was put together in the recreation room of the junior Lee Hanley

page 16 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

tery to give the aquarium its unique appearance. Christopher Fair, OSB, made a mirror for the aquarium so the fish could displace their aggression by attacking their own images.

Paul-Vincent Niebauer, OSB, and Peter assembled the stand on which the aquarium rests. From old monastic habit fabric Peregrine Rinderknecht, OSB, fashioned the skirt around the bottom of the tank.

Peter, primary caretaker of the new aquarium, had an early love for ani-

The eight-gallon BiOrb Aquarium Kit of Bruce Wollmering, OSB

FEATURE mals. In junior high school when his parents gave him the option of getting a computer or an aquarium, he chose a fish tank. He agrees with Paul that it is relaxing as well as challenging to have a piece of the underwater world in one’s living room.

Lee Hanley

Contrary to the popular belief that pet fish need little care (you don’t have to housetrain fish, take them for a run or a walk, give them a bath or follow them around with a pooper scooper) an aquarium needs considerable attention. Customers became upset when Peter told them just how much care a tank of fish really needs.

For example: Some of the fish in the aquarium of Paul Richards, OSB

Since fish, as Peter puts it, “swim in their own toilet” and their ammonia-heavy excrement is extremely toxic, the sides and bottom of the tank should be cleaned weekly. Proper diet and stable environment for the fish are also important. New fish must be carefully chosen and introduced to the tank.

The fish in the formation aquarium include a yellow fin Borlei, two blue peacocks and one electric yellow cichlid. The tank’s live plants, a java fern and the anubia nana, convert the ammonia to less toxic nitrate.

Lee Hanley

Bruce Wollmering, OSB, has an eight-gallon BiOrb Aquarium Kit with a unique filtration system that cleans the water by itself. An air pump and filter are hidden in the base of the globe-shaped bowl that gives fish about ten times more space than a traditional bowl. Changing the filter every month or two means that the tank does not have to be emptied.

The eighteen fish in his aquarium include the leopard (spotted) and zebra (striped) danio, the neon, cardinal and red-finned tetras, the Harlequin Rasbora and ghost shrimp to help clean the tank.

Father Bruce also manages the outdoor pond of comet goldfish at

the southwest corner of the monastic garden. From mid-May to midOctober the fish frolic in the pool that is protected by water lilies, wild calla lilies and water iris. During the cold seasons the fish are placed in two sixty-five gallon cattle water tanks in the root cellar where they hibernate without light or food in thirty-eight degree water with a constant supply of oxygen.

There are, of course, more fish at Saint John’s than those confined to aquariums. Lakes Sagatagan, Stumpf and Gemini offer wider, deeper space for perch, sunfish, crappies, bass and an occasional northern pike. To catch them is to fulfill the ancient Babylonian proverb, “The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” + Daniel Durken is the senior editor for Liturgical Press and the founding editor of The Abbey Banner.

A portion of the goldfish pool in the southwest corner of the monastic garden

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 17

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE A frosty morning at Saint John’s

“Snow is what you are up to your neck in when people send you post cards from Florida saying they wish you were there” (Ogden Nash, “Jangle Bells”).

Fran Hoefgen, OSB

What’s Up? The Abbey Chronicle

One of Jerome’s Road to Compostella paintings

■ In August and September, Jerome Tupa, OSB, artist-in-residence, displayed his The Road to Compostella pieces in Saint John’s art galleries.

Father Jerome’s oil Jerome’s painting of “Assisi, the Basilica of St. Francis” on the cover of America magazine

page 18 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

■ On August 20, Dan Morgan, OSB, celebrated his 26th birthday by catching a fiveand-a-half Dan Morgan, OSB, pound bass and his big bass on Lake Swenson, near Emily, Minnesota, where the abbey has a lake home. In June, Roger Botz, OSB, had good luck fishing for walleyes on Kayedon Lake in Northeast Ontario, Canada.

Roger Botz, OSB, and a catch of four Canadian walleyes

Thomas Gillespie, OSB

August 2006

painting of “Assisi, the Basilica of St. Francis” appeared on the October 23 issue of America magazine, the national Catholic weekly published by the Jesuits. Jerome’s art works are described as “boldly original and undeniably modern, opulent, lyrical and vibrant.”

■ The Saint John’s 2006-2007 academic year began in the final weeks of August. Saint John’s Preparatory School reached a 38year enrollment high of 328 students including 68 international students from fourteen countries and nine from states other Saint John’s than Minnesota. welcomes new There are 2,027 and returning students at the students.

College of Saint Benedict and 1,886 at Saint John’s University for a combined enrollment of 3,913. The School of Theology•Seminary has a fouryear high enrollment of 135 students.

September 2006

Roger Young

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emperatures in the 90s were recorded on three days in May, two in June and twelve in July plus a sizzling 101 on the last day of July. Rain was scarce in May and July and produced drought conditions.

Plentiful precipitation in August and September kept lawns green and trees clapped their hands in relief. The first frost on October 10 followed by two days of premature snow flurries with a nine-degree wind chill were signals that winter was getting impatient.

■ In a September 9th memo, Abbot John described current planning for the staffing of parishes by Benedictines in the Saint Cloud Diocese. He first expressed his gratitude “for the stellar, unceasing pastoral care that our confreres

Daniel Durken, OSB

by Daniel Durken, OSB

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE in parishes and chaplaincies do every day as they carry on the oldest ‘mission’ of the abbey.”

The clustering of parishes and nursing homes now staffed by Benedictines is being considered.

The abbey approved the relinquishment of Saint Augustine’s Parish, Saint Cloud, to the Saint Cloud Diocese on June 30, 2007.

■ On September 13 Abbot John spoke to about one hundred faculty and staff members on sexual abuse issues in which the abbey has been involved. He described the care given to survivors of sexual abuse by members of the abbey; outlined the membership and work of the External Review Board which meets monthly to assure the protection of children and vulnerable adults; and presented the abbey’s policies for the rehabilitation of offenders.

good sleep hygiene which include going to bed only when feeling drowsy, maintaining a regular wake-up time, avoiding daytime napping as well as caffeine and alcoholic drinks within four to six hours of bedtime.

■ Robert Koopmann, OSB, professor of music, on September 27 presented a check for $1,500 from the abbey and the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps to the non-profit Books for Africa organization whose mission is to “end the book famine in Africa” by sending textbooks to seven African countries.

October 2006 ■ Early this month major modifications to the power house were completed to increase the efficiency of the operation and achieve better pollution control. The most visible change was the installation of a “Bag House” on the west exterior of the building. The installation of some 250 sixteenfoot bags will filter out pollutants from the boiler exhaust. Interior changes were made on one of the boilers and early tests indicate a seventeen percent increase in efficiency.

Daniel Durken, OSB

■ Heritage Day: Celebrating our Community and the Common Good, a Sesquicentennial event of the university, was held September 27.

Following an ecumenical prayer service, the church-filled audience heard an inspiring talk Jim Wallis, keyby Jim Wallis, note speaker on author of God’s Heritage Day Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. Wallis challenged the audience to let the light of Catholic social thought shine and said, “We’ve got mountains to move and faith is the only thing that can move those mountains.”

Sleep habits were dis-

■ September 23 was designated Health Saturday Morning for the community.

Designed by Subprior Paul Richards, OSB, the program included two presenta- cussed at the Health tions: Judith Saturday Morning.

Welter, director of Saint Raphael’s Retirement Center, spoke about new directions in the care of elderly confreres and stressed that the Center is not a place to die but a place to live and help residents be as independent as possible. Jennifer Herberg from the Saint Cloud Hospital Sleep Center discussed the basics of

■ A Special Sesquicentennial Homecoming Event on September 29 included choral and instrumental music performed by monks, university students and faculty in an awesome array of musical groups including the Abbey Schola, Brass Ensemble, Campus Singers, Chamber Choir, Men’s Chorus, Amadeus Chamber Symphony, Handbell Ringers of Saint Boniface Church, Cold Spring, and organ soloist Kim Kasling. One of the selections was Fanfare for Brass Quintet, composed by Jerome Coller, OSB.

New York Times bestseller, God’s Politics, by Jim Wallis

The “Bag House” that filters out pollutants from the boiler exhaust

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THE ABBEY CHRONICLE

The 2005 Collegeville Colors commemorative artwork by Sophia Heymans

■ Saint John’s Preparatory School sponsored two successful October events: the Collegeville Colors festival on October 1 and the Black Forest Octoberfest Gasthaus on the 6th and 7th. Perfect fall weather brought more than a thousand visitors to stroll the wooded path to the Stella Maris Chapel.

■ The Oktoberfest Gasthaus is an authentic imitation of Europe’s largest and most famous folk festival in Munich. Two Austrian chefs prepared such favorite cuisine as Rostbraten, Wienerschnitzl and Apfelstrudel.

■ The world premiere performance of the commissioned opera The Star Gatherer, commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Saint John’s Boys’ Choir, was presented at Saint John’s on October 20 and 21. With music

by Stephen Paulus, libretto by Gene Scheer, the production’s design inspired by the painting of Jerome Tupa, OSB, and conducted by Paul Richards, OSB, the opera focuses on the youthful transition from boyhood to young adulthood through the boys’ awareness that they will be defined not by what they have but by what they give away. Three full-house performances superbly showcased the remarkable talents of the Boys’ Choir.

■ Thanks to the summer gardening efforts of Bruce Wollmering, director, and Linus Ascheman, Fintan Bromenshenkel, Isaac Connolly, Dunstan Moorse, Raphael Olson, Paul Richards and Kelly Ryan, abbey meals

■ Magnus Wenninger, OSB, was honored on October 6 by three of his former students at Saint Augustine’s College, Nassau, Bahamas, and by members of ColinaImperial Ltd., of that city on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of his arrival in the Bahamas and the twentyfifth anniversary of his return Father Magnus helps students construct a polyhedron. to Saint John’s Abbey. Father Magnus has a world-wide reputation as the author of several books on how to use paper for page 20 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

St. Cloud Times/Paul Middlestaedt

making polyhedron and spherical models.

The Saint John’s Boys’ Choir in the world premiere of The Star Gatherer

never lacked garden-fresh vegetables. The mid-October inventory of abbey produce includes this partial list (in pounds): tomatoes: 1,029; corn: 145; cucumbers: 305; watermelon: 491; cantaloupe: 105; squash: 1,186; golden and green beans: 66.

■ “No Winter lasts forever,” wrote the poet Hal Borland. As proof of that, on a mid-October afternoon Master Gardener John Elton and Novices Nickolas Becker and Dan Morgan planted five hundred daffodil bulbs. +

VOCATION NEWS Abbot John Klassen, OSB, Peregrine Rinderknecht, OSB, Peter Sullivan, OSB, JP Earls, OSB

Peter Sullivan, OSB, and Peregrine Rinderknecht, OSB, profess first monastic vows “Making a vow, whether to be married or live the monastic life, is a ‘free embrace of limits’” (Abbot John).

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refacing the profession of vows of two monks, Abbot John Klassen remarked, “We do not vow ourselves to an abstraction. We vow ourselves to the living God, in Christ, through the Spirit. These vows are enfleshed in this community which is also not an abstraction. Community imposes its own limits upon us. The Good News, however, is that in this ‘free embrace of limits’ we find true freedom, rooted in the grace and call of the Holy Spirit.”

In this context, Brothers Peter and Peregrine made their commitment to obedience, stability and the monastic manner of life on September 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Peter Joseph Sullivan, 32, the son of Anna and Joseph (deceased) Sullivan of Mattituck, New York, graduated from Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania, with a major in world religions. He earned the Master’s degree in elementary education at Dowling College in Oakdale, New York, and taught for a time.

Peter began a landscaping business and later managed a pet store. The latter experience enabled him to build an aquarium in an abbey recreation room. (For details, see p. 16-17).

Peter is now working in the university’s campus ministry.

Peregrine Jakob Rinderknecht, 26, the son of Joseph and Gail Rinderknecht of Shaker Heights, Ohio, graduated from Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, with majors in pastoral theology, history and German. He spent summers as a counselor and interfaith chaplain at a Boy Scout camp and worked as a cook and potter in an intentional community.

Peregrine completed the Master of Arts degree in systematic theology at Saint John’s School of Theology.

During his studies he converted from the Lutheran tradition to Catholicism.

Peregrine is now engaged in administrative duties and tutoring in the School of Theology. +

Iowa, has a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Arts degree in Catholic thought and life and a Master of Divinity degree from St. Meinrad Seminary. Ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, in 2002, Nickolas served several parishes and taught theology at Brian Cliff University in Sioux City.

Dan Morgan, 26, the son of Bernie and Mona Morgan of Savage, Minnesota, is a 2003 graduate of Saint John’s University with a major in computer science. He was a fouryear member of the swim team. For three and a half years he worked in computer companies and was the general manager of Tecnavia, the United States branch of a Swiss company. +

Two Benedictine candidates invested

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wo candidates were received into the abbey’s novitiate and clothed in the monastic habit during Morning Prayer on September 11.

Nickolas Becker, 30, the son of Robert and Mary Becker of Wesley,

Left to right: JP Earls, OSB, director of formation, Nickolas Becker, OSB, Dan Morgan, OSB

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 21

FEATURE

New books by monks “When I get hold of a book I particularly admire, I am so enthusiastic that I loan it to some one who never brings it back” (Edgar Watson Howe).

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iven the primacy Saint Benedict puts on daily public and private reading, the writing and publishing of books are as basic to monastic life as the rhythm of worship and work. Eighty years ago the monks of Saint John’s Abbey committed themselves to the publishing apostolate by establishing Liturgical Press. These abbey members made recent contributions to publishing: Robert Koopmann, OSB, concert pianist and professor of music, compiled choral music and chant recorded at Saint John’s since 1939.

This CD Voices from Saint John’s: A Sesquicentennial Sampler features rare recordings of the monks in the old Abbey Church and recent selections by the Abbey Schola, University Men’s Chorus, Saint John’s Boys’ Choir, National Catholic Youth Choir and College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University Chamber Choir.

Michael Kwatera, OSB, director of liturgy and Oblates, has written many Liturgical Press titles that include booklets and videos for the training of eucharistic ministers, Mass servers and deacons, the preparation of General Intercessions, a student prayer book

page 22 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

(with Kate Ritger) and Homily Hints for the Loose-Leaf Lectionary. His new titles are Come to the Feast: Liturgical Theology of, by, and for Everybody and To Thank and Bless: Prayers at Meals (with Dietrich Reinhart, OSB).

Kilian McDonnell, OSB, founder of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, with fifteen theological tomes to his credit, turned to writing poetry when he turned seventy-five. His second book of poems is Yahweh’s Other Shoe. He writes of God cheating, walking with Sarah and the silence of God. He reflects on his life as a monk, frustrated at prayer, growing old and searching for car “C” in a dark parking lot.

Michael Patella, OSB, associate professor of New Testament theology and chair of the committee for the selection of illuminations for The Saint John’s Bible, writes a photo and reflection feature of The Bible Today and now authors the commentary on the Gospel According to Luke in the New Collegeville Bible Commentary Series. A reviewer notes that “teach-

ers, preachers and the people in the pews will reap a rich harvest from this clearly written work.”

Kevin Seasoltz, OSB, professor of liturgy and editor of Worship magazine, has published A Sense of the Sacred: Theological Foundations of Christian Architecture and Art (New York: Continuum). Back cover copy states, “This near-encyclopedic record of Western church worship spaces and their adornment, a courageous synthesis of critique and the theology of faith on which it is based, will be used as a point of reference for decades to come.”

Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB, an artist for Liturgical Press since the mid-1950s, has created clip art books, book covers, Sunday bulletins and designs for the renovation of church sanctuaries. His color photos appear in Listening to the Silence: The Seasons of Grief, a tribute to the deceased wife of Jim Blummer, owner of Park Press Printing, Inc., and Psalms to Nourish the Soul, Images to Delight the Eye, the 2004 Christmas book of Park Press.

FEATURE Don Talafous, OSB, professor emeritus of theology and alumni chaplain, published Homilies for Weekdays, Years 1 and 2, reflections on the scripture readings of the two-year Lectionary cycle.

These are down-to-earth meditations by a seasoned and popular preacher that reviewers call “a treasure of short messages of hope in simple language that moves the heart, appropriate for personal reflection or as an aid to those preaching daily.”

Hilary Thimmesh, OSB, president emeritus and professor of English, edited the Sesquicentennial book, Saint John’s at 150. A portrait of this place called Collegeville. Twelve essays present topics on Saint John’s first 150 years, from the missionary lifestyle of the first monks to cameo images of a few current college professors. Numerous pictures, including historic photos of the late nineteenth century, are well worth the proverbial thousand words apiece.

Jerome Tupa, OSB, student chaplain and artist-in-residence, during a pilgrimage through Italy in the summer of 1999, sketched and painted his way through ancient landscapes.

He captured the essence of some of the world’s most sacred imagery.

The Road to Rome (New York: Welcome Books) is the awesome collection of his works in oil, watercolor, pen, ink and pencil, along with reflections from his travel journal. More than sixty full-color illustrations make this book as treasured as a brilliant rainbow.

Arnold Weber, OSB, teacher, coach, retreat director, vocation director and high school administrator, is best remembered as the beloved pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Wayzata, Minnesota, for twenty-three years. As a tribute to his inspiring preaching, parishioners collected Father Arnold’s Sunday sermons in Homilies for the Active Christian (St. Paul: Cabin Six Books).

“Through laughter, stories, tears and challenges, Fr. Arnold led us to a deeper love of Jesus” (Foreword).

Zachary Wilberding, OSB, assistant abbey guest master, offers a unique and practical aspect to his Praying the Rosary with Scripture, namely, the text in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Tagalog (Filipino). A scripture reference and a short quotation preface each mystery, including the new Luminous Mysteries. This simple, multi-lingual book is both an invitation to contemplation and an inspiration to closer discipleship.

The Seasoltz, Stuckenschneider, Tupa and Weber books are available from the Saint John’s Book Store at www.csbsju.edu/bookstore or 1-800420-4509. The other titles are available from Liturgical Press at www. litpress.org or 1-800-858-5450 and the Bookstore. +

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FEATURE Participants of the “Monks in the West” conference assembled for a group picture.

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

Buddhist and Catholic monks dialogue on celibacy

by William Skudlarek, OSB

The dialogue focused on three topics: theory, practice and therapy.

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hante Dhammaratana, a Buddhist monk from the Bhavana Society in West Virginia, arrived in Minneapolis early for the “Monks in the West” conference at Saint John’s Abbey. So after meeting him at a small Sri Lankan Buddhist monastery in North Minneapolis, we drove to the airport to pick up some of the other Buddhist and Catholic participants for this interreligious dialogue on celibacy.

ing our personal spiritual journeys, exploring our similarities and differences, attending the Buddhist community’s chanting services, meditating together and enjoying superb Chinese vegetarian cuisine.

In October 2004, at the Monastery of 10,000 Buddhas in northern California, I participated in the first meeting of “Monks in the West”— monks of different religious traditions living in North America who meet to discuss issues of common concern.

We devoted two full days to shar-

Building on the trust established at that first meeting, we resolved to meet again in 2006 to reflect on “Authentic Practices of Celibacy and Intimacy in Religious Communities of Men.” Twelve Buddhists from Arizona, California, Indiana, Missouri, Ontario and West Virginia joined ten Catholic

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

As we approached the Lindberg terminal, an illuminated sign informed

us that this was an “Orange Alert” day. I looked at my passenger in his burnt-orange robes and kidded, “Now how do you suppose they found out that a group of Buddhist monks was arriving today?”

Buddhist and Catholic monks discuss the theory, practice and therapy related to celibacy.

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FEATURE monks from Saint John’s Abbey and seven other monasteries for this three-day dialogue. Also participating from Saint John’s were Abbot John Klassen and Father JP Earls, OSB.

Our conversations were engaging and enlightening. In learning something about another tradition, we become more aware of our own—its richness and its limitations. The Catholic monks, for instance, came to a deeper appreciation of Christianity’s positive view of the body and of creation in general. We also recognized that Christianity is, in its very essence, a religion that involves a relationship with others and with the Other. For that reason we always speak of celibacy as an expression of love for God and neighbor.

But Christianity can also learn from the wisdom of the Buddhist tradition, especially in the area of thought and fantasy. For example, in one session a monk from Shasta Buddhist Abbey in California said that “the whole thrust of training is not to give in to desire that arises.” He described the Buddhist method of accepting sexual feelings without either acting on them or repressing them, but just letting them pass through. “The right use of will is not will power but willingness—the willingness to sit there and let those feelings pass through,” he said.

The Catholic response to sexual thoughts and fantasies, on the other hand, is that they must be resisted.

Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB

When the Rev. Heng Sure, a Buddhist monk from Berkeley, and I were asked to plan our second gathering, we proposed that our dialogue be focused on three topics: theory (why we practice celibacy); practice (how we actually live it out); and therapy (how we deal with transgression).

Meals were times for good food and further conversation.

But often resistance, rather than dissipating a thought or fantasy, only strengthens it.

The website of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue www. monasticdialogue.org contains a fuller account of our discussions. We explored the possibility of publishing a book on what we learned about the meaning and practice of celibacy in our two traditions.

I had hoped that Monks in the West would be the first group to use the new Abbey Guesthouse, but that was not possible because construction was not complete. In retrospect, this was a “happy fault.” All the visiting monks were housed in the monastery, joined us for common prayer, and took breakfast and supper (which for some consisted only of liquids) in the monastic refectory. The midday vegan meal—the only meal of the day for some Buddhist monks—was planned and superbly prepared by Brother Isaac Connolly, OSB, and served in the dining room of Emmaus Hall.

The Buddhist monks especially expressed their deep appreciation for being welcomed into our community.

As one of them commented, “I feel gratitude and consider being here a blessing. We have been so warmly welcomed into this ancient, historical community. The monastery and the setting provide a willingness to share one’s personal spiritual path.” + William Skudlarek, OSB, is the executive director of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and the administrative assistant to Abbot John Klassen.

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VOCATION NEWS The new crew of the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps: First row, l. to r., David Sadder, Nick Kleespie Top row, l. to r., Andrew Johnson, Tim Serie, Nick Briese

David Paul Lange, OSB

Five SJU ’06 alumni join Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps They go to serve in Tanzania, Rome and New Jersey.

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nder the direction of Paul

Richards, OSB, the abbey’s subprior, the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps began its fourth year with the assignment of five 2006 SJU graduates to Benedictine schools in Tanzania, Rome and Newark, New Jersey.

Nick Kleespie, Morris, Minnesota, music major, and Timothy Serie, Fridley, Minnesota, economics major, are teaching English at the abbey school of Hanga, Songea, Tanzania, East Africa. They join Paul Conroy, Monticello, Minnesota, 2005 English major, who has extended his stay to the end of this year to complete the academic term.

Shoreview, Minnesota, political science and sociology major, are doing substitute teaching and tutoring at the 600-student Saint Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey.

Each of these twenty-two-year-old volunteers wants to experience a new culture and new people and to help others. Volunteers spend thirty to forty hours a week at work and also pray once or twice a day and eat at least one meal a day with the monastic community. Their food, lodging and a small monthly stipend are provided by the host community.

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Andrew Johnson, Lindstrom, Minnesota, political science major, is helping in the library and on the grounds of the International Benedictine College of Saint Anselm in Rome.

n early October, Nick Briese sent Brother Paul “an unsolicited update of what’s going on out here” at Saint Benedict’s Prep. He wrote, “Dave (Sadder) and I are each teaching a section of the criminal justice course until the regular teacher returns. It’s going pretty well so far, and the kids are slowly accepting me as a teacher.

Nick Briese, Rochester, Minnesota, chemistry major, and David Sadder,

“I broke up what was turning into a scuffle before a punch was thrown

page 26 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

in one of my classes. The Johnnies here went to the reception for The Saint John’s Bible at the Museum of Biblical Art and saw Brother Dietrich Reinhart and Fathers Eric Hollas, Columba Stewart and Michael Patella. We really appreciated the invitation. We are still going to community prayer.”

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hree of last year’s volunteers returned to Saint John’s in mid-August to help initiate the new men and describe their year of service to the monastic community. Mark Hoffman, who spent the year in Rome, called it a really great experience living with students from forty different countries. One of the year’s highlights was the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the school. Andrew Dirksen and Michael Hahn showed a video about Saint Benedict’s Prep where ninety-five percent of the graduates go on to college with five of them now enrolled at Saint John’s. +

BANNER BITS

George Primus, OSB, and Francis Peters, OSB, retire from tailor shop and flower gardens

George Primus, OSB

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n the chapter of his Rule on

“The Clothing and Footwear of the Brothers” Saint Benedict writes, “The abbot ought to be concerned about the measurements of the monks’ garments that they not be too short but fitted to the wearers. . . . The cowls and tunics of brothers going on a journey ought to be somewhat better than those they ordinarily wear” (chapter 55).

Benedict prohibits shabby, sloppy dress and recognizes the importance of the monastic tailor, even though he gives no specific directions for this position.

For the past fifty years, Brother George needed no detailed job description to do his tailoring work with competence and charity. After a few years binding books and working at the Liturgical Press, George spent five years helping with farm chores at the interracial Saint Maur’s Priory in Kentucky. There he taught himself to sew and mend.

After his return to Saint John’s, George spent six months at Saint Bernard’s Abbey, Cullman, Alabama,

to learn tailoring. Then he began to do what he has done for the past five decades—sewing name tapes on clothing for monks who are more concerned about losing their laundry than their identity, expanding the trousers of confreres who added an inch or two at the waist, patching a hole or sewing on a button, collecting clean, castaway clothes for an Indian mission, and making toiletries and clothing available to the monks.

Now George will have more time to pursue his hobbies of braiding rag rugs, making cone Christmas wreaths and fashioning canes from diamond willow wood. +

Francis Peters, OSB

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or the past twenty years Brother Francis has worked with Brother George in the abbey tailor shop. His specialty is the use of the pressing machine that adds the finishing touch to laundered trousers and habits. It takes a keen eye and steady hands to put that crease in just the right place. Francis had both during the days he spent applying a hot iron to cold cloth.

short terms at Saint John’s mission monasteries of San Antonio Abad in Puerto Rico and Saint Augustine’s in the Bahamas.

Francis is especially remembered and esteemed for his creative care of the private monastic garden located between the quadrangle and Lake Sagatagan. Summer after summer he planted and protected a colorful assortment of roses, geraniums, impatiens, salvia, lilies, ivy, ferns, coleus and dusty miller. He waged persistent battle against marauding squirrels, rabbits and deer that preferred the tender shoots of flowers to the runof-the-field grass. Eventually he had to admit that there were more of them than there was of him, so he ceased planting. The animals’ gain has been our loss.

Over the years Francis gained the gratitude of the community for his unassuming and faithful service. +

Prior to his tailoring tasks Francis worked as bookkeeper in the treasurer’s office and at the Liturgical Press, operated the multilith machine (remember that process?) in the Print Shop and attended to books in the university library and plants in the greenhouse.

He interrupted his work at Saint John’s to contribute his services for

Lee Hanley

Lee Hanley

Brother George at his sewing machine in the tailor shop

Brother Francis does pressing business in the tailor shop.

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page 27

BANNER BITS Janet Merdan and the Sesquicentennial chasuble she designed

Lee Hanley

Janet Merdan, new abbey tailor, loves to sew and sew

Janet and her husband Leonard live in nearby Albany and are the parents of four sons and two daughters and the grandparents of ten. She started sewing as a four-year-old when her grandmother taught her the rudiments of the sewing machine. She made her first dress when she was nine.

This creative and dedicated seamstress has no less than ten sewing machines in her home, including a long-arm quilting machine on a twelve-foot table. She is one of the two hundred members of the St. Cloud Heritage Quilters who meet monthly for “Sew and Tell” and will

have a Quilt Show at the College of Saint Benedict next October.

For thirteen years Janet was the seamstress/tailor for the Saint John’s Boys’ Choir. At her suggestion the choir purchased tuxedos when the original uniforms were hard to replace due to different dye lots. She says, “I loved working for the choir. My memories of those wonderful young men and all the places I traveled with them (Germany and Austria twice, Italy, Bahamas, Japan, the east coast and central states) are something no one can take from me.”

church for special occasions and recently began repairing uniforms for the university’s athletic department.

She repairs and alters monks’ clothing, replaces buttons and zippers, and makes linens.

When people ask her, “What do you do at home after a day of sewing at the abbey?” she says, “I sew some more. I love to do this work.” Hers is not a job but a vocation. +

Janet worked briefly with Adam Kochlin, former member of the abbey, in the design and production of liturgical vestments.

Inspired by his creativity, she designed a complete set of vestments for the celebration of Saint John’s Sesquicentennial. She also made the colorful banners that decorate the abbey

Lee Hanley

W

hen Brother George Primus, OSB, retired after fifty years as the abbey’s tailor, it was an easy decision to hire his replacement, Janet Merdan.

Since 1988 Janet has been the community’s full-time seamstress, making monastic habits and cucullas (the ample choir robe for monks with final vows) as well as liturgical vestments such as albs, chasubles, stoles and episcopal miters.

Janet at her sewing machine in the tailor shop

page 28 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

BANNER BITS Marlin Eich

Family album

In the beginning . . . there were Eichs Marlin Eich, fourth generation carpenter, retires after forty years.

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When the Benedictines finally settled on the shore of Lake Sagatagan in 1865, they were fortunate to have Peter’s carpentry and woodworking skills available just a mile away. He and many other local craftsmen built

Family album

the early structures of the monastery and school.

Family album

n the beginning there was Peter Eich (1834-1920). By 1864 this immigrant from Rettenbach, Bavaria, had made a land claim and built his farm house in the Indianbush area west of the St. Joseph settlement. A Civil War veteran, Peter and his wife Philomena were the parents of thirteen children. Two daughters became members of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, Sisters Amalia and Crescentia. When the “Eich Family Tree” was published in 1974 there were 474 known descendants of this pioneer couple.

The Eich name became a regular one on Saint John’s roster of employees. One Aloys Eich, grandof Peter’s sons, father of Marlin Aloys, worked on the abbey’s hog farm. Three of Aloys’ sons, John, Florian and Alphonse, worked respectively as carpenter, custodian in a college John Eich, father dormitory and of Marlin forester. Bertha, granddaughter of Peter, worked in the laundry for forty-one years.

Family album

Near the top of the Eich totem pole is Marlin Eich, greatgrandson of Peter, grandson of Aloys and son of John. He retired September 15 on the fortieth anniversary of

being hired as a carpenter for Saint John’s Woodworking. Calling himself a “professional putzer dabbling in wood and byproducts,” Marlin is the last of the Eich family to continue an almost Sesquicentennial tradition of working at Saint John’s.

Summing up his four decades at Saint John’s, Marlin said, “What I liked about my job was doing something different every few days—from installing and removing air conditioners, to hanging a door and repairing a roof.” Though he has plenty of projects at home to keep him busy, Marlin will work part time as a consultant on the repair of campus roofs.

He does not plan to fall down on the job. +

This sign marks the original Eich farm on Fruit Farm Road near Saint John’s.

Peter and Philomena Eich and Family (1910)

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

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Lee Hanley

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Bartholomew Letory Sayles, OSB 1918 – 2006

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n his eulogy at the September 21 Funeral Mass of Bartholomew Sayles, OSB, Prior Raymond Pedrizetti, OSB, began, “Father Bartholomew was large, one of those people who seem larger than life. He was not the kind of person you could easily ignore. He seemed always to be happy, to enjoy whatever interested him.”

The Prior listed a few of Bartholomew’s interests: + food well seasoned from a collection of Cajun condiments at his plate; + music, especially Gregorian chant by the Schola Gregoriana which he founded and directed “while

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sweating profusely, extracting a huge handkerchief from the sleeve of his cassock and wiping his forehead in the grand manner of Luciano Pavarotti”; community prayer in his favorite choir stall each morning and evening; the memory of his encounter with Sister Katharine Drexel when she came to his classroom while students were practicing the Palmer Penmanship Method, touched his shoulder and said, “You could improve your penmanship”; the pride he took in being the third African-American to be accepted into the Saint John’s community when few other Catholic seminaries would accept black students; his participation in the October 1, 2000, canonization of Saint Katharine Drexel.

Born in New Orleans eighty-eight years ago, Letory, the youngest of the four sons and three daughters of George and Evangeline (Letory) Sayles, majored in music at Xavier University of Louisiana and eventually became that institution’s first priestly vocation. He entered the novitiate of Saint John’s Abbey in 1943, made his initial commitment to the monastic way of life in 1944 and was ordained in 1948.

Abbey Archives

Music became Bartholomew’s ministry—from founding the original Saint John’s Preparatory School Glee Club and serving as abbey organist and Saint John’s University music instructor to earning the Master’s degree in music education from the University of Minnesota and teaching music, religion and English at St. Augustine’s College, Nassau, Bahamas, for thirteen years.

Bartholomew and Sister Cecile Gertken, OSB, collaborated on adapting English translations of Latin hymns to chant melodies.

page 30 The Abbey Banner Winter 2006

Upon his return to Saint John’s he taught voice, music theory

Abbey Archives

OBITUARIES

A younger, slimmer Bartholomew teaching Gregorian Chant notation

and Gregorian chant and collaborated with Sister Cecile Gertken, OSB, of Saint Benedict’s Monastery in the adaptation and publication of English translations of Latin hymns to chant melodies.

Bartholomew died of congestive heart failure September 17. His transition from directing choirs on earth to singing with the angelic choirs of heaven must have been an easy one.

He fulfilled the words of Psalm 27: “I will sing and make music for the Lord.” May he rest in peace. +

Remember our loved ones who have gone to their rest: Mathilda Brouillaard M. John Eiden Jill Gendel Marianne Hansen Abbot Francis Kline, OCSO Dennis McDarby Rabbi Nahum Schulman Charles Rath Diane Helmeke Schipper Sister Katheryn Sullivan, RSCJ May they rest in peace

SPIRITUAL LIFE The meditation chapel of the Abbey Guesthouse

Spiritual Life Program moves to the Guesthouse Richard Oliver, OSB

by Robert Pierson, OSB

We welcome you to our new place of spiritual renewal.

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have heard it said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This statement sums up for me the direction I envision for our Abbey Spiritual Life Program as we move into our new space in the Abbey Guesthouse. There will be many wonderful changes taking place as we realize the benefits of having enough room to host our guests who are here for spiritual direction and for private or group retreats.

Richard Oliver, OSB

At the same time, we intend to stay true to our mission statement which reads, “The Spiritual Life Program of

Saint John’s Abbey exists to assist in the spiritual growth of seekers after God, whether monks of Saint John’s Abbey or people who come in contact with the community.” We will continue to offer spiritual direction to anyone who seeks the opportunity to grow in his or her relationship with God. Currently, we three Benedictine priests—Don Tauscher, Simeon Thole, and I—are serving as spiritual directors for private retreats and for ongoing direction with people from various walks of life. We will continue to offer our monthly Benedictine Day of Prayer.

Now, however, we will have plenty of room for participants to stay with us the night before and/or the night after the Day of Prayer.

We hope to gradually expand the

number of groups who come to Saint John’s for retreat. Our new space will allow us to host approximately twenty retreatants at one time. We welcome groups who want to use our space for their own retreats and we intend to occasionally sponsor retreats directed by monks of Saint John’s Abbey. Initially we are planning retreats for each of the major seasons of the church year (Advent/Christmas, Lent and Easter) as well as the annual Oblate retreat in early July.

I intend to canvass the monastic community for retreat directors and topics. If you have subject ideas for group retreats, please let us know.

We are always interested in your input. Simply contact the Abbey Spiritual Life Program by e-mail at spirlife@osb.org or call us at 320363-3929. Also check our abbey website at www/saintjohnsabbey. org for new information about our Spiritual Life Program offerings. We want to welcome you to our new place of spiritual renewal. + Robert Pierson is the director of the Abbey Spiritual Life Program.

The fireplace in the foyer of the Abbey Guesthouse

The Abbey Banner Winter 2006 page 31

Calendar of 2007 Sesquicentennial Events of Saint John’s Abbey and Saint Benedict’s Monastery Saint John’s Abbey Events March 14

Saint Benedict’s Monastery Events

Academic Day for the faculty and staff of CSB, SJU, SOT, SJP. Full day of seminars, lectures, performances to recognize 150 years of outstanding education

January 7

Monks of Saint John’s Abbey as guests of the Sisters

February 10

Community celebration at Saint Scholastica Monastery, St. Cloud

Community: The Art of Living Together, for 300 invited participants

February 15-16 Women’s Spirituality Conference March 4

Opening of Haehn Museum Exhibit featuring Sisters’ history

June 23-24

Monks’ Family Weekend

March 14

October 5-7

Creativity Days/Homecoming Weekend

Academic Day for the faculty and staff of CSB, SJU, SOT, SJP. Full day of seminars, lectures, performances to recognize 150 years of outstanding education

April 22

Celebration of Earth Day with residents of St. Joseph, Minnesota

July 4

Commemoration of arrival of the Sisters in St. Cloud

July 22

Heritage Day with guests from the eleven monasteries founded by Saint Benedict’s Monastery

August 24

Donor Appreciation Event

June 10-13

November 10 150th anniversary of the first day of classes at Saint John’s in 1857 / Closing Celebration

September 29 Oblate Renewal Day October 24

Anniversary of the Dedication of Sacred Heart Chapel

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