Abbey Banner - Spring 2015 by Saint John's Abbey

Abbey Banner Spring 2015

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Lord, you are great and glorious. May the whole of your creation serve you; for you spoke and all came into being, created by the breath of your mouth. Judith 16:13-14 Aidan Putnam

The Reception of Guests

This Issue

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Magazine of Saint John’s Abbey

This issue of Abbey Banner focuses on monastic hospitality. Saint Benedict, faithful to the Gospel teaching of Matthew 25, exhorts his monks to treat others as Christ. Recognizing and welcoming Christ, incarnate in the stranger, becomes the focus of Benedict’s insights on hospitality (Rule 53). Abbot John Klassen opens this issue with a reflection on the relationship between guest and host, and how these roles are easily and routinely reversed. Father Meinrad Dindorf shares personal experiences of receiving and extending hospitality in the company of strangers. Brother David Klingeman tells the story of planning (since 1921!) for guest quarters and the services our abbey guesthouse now provides for those who wish to go to an out-of-the-way place and rest (Mark 6:31). Service and hospitality for the local Hispanic community, and the enriching presence they provide, are the focus of Brother Efraín Rosado’s article. Father Michael Patella introduces us to a means of rest and refreshment: the sabbatical program of Saint John’s School of Theology.

Published three times annually (spring, fall, winter) by the monks of Saint John’s Abbey. Editor: Robin Pierzina, O.S.B. Editorial assistants: Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.; Dolores Schuh, C.H.M. Fujimi bureau chief: Roman Paur, O.S.B. Abbey archivist: David Klingeman, O.S.B. University archivists: Peggy Roske, Elizabeth Knuth Design: Alan Reed, O.S.B. Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Mary Gouge, Jan Jahnke, Danielle Schmiesing, Cathy Wieme Printed by Palmer Printing Copyright © 2015 by Order of Saint Benedict

On the first Sunday of Advent 2014 we began a year dedicated by Pope Francis to celebrating and considering the place of “consecrated life” in the Church. Noting that the pope has challenged professed religious to celebrate this year by looking to the past with gratitude, by living the present with passion, and by embracing the future with hope, Prioress Michaela Hedican and Abbot John Klassen address the place of the prophetic in monastic life and in the Church.

Saint John’s Abbey Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-2015 abbeybanner@csbsju.edu saintjohnsabbey.org/banner/ ISSN: 2330-6181 (print) ISSN: 2332-2489 (online)

Centuries ago monks preserved the learning and culture of the Western world as they copied and illuminated, word by word, line by line, the writings of the Church and society. In the early 1960s monks of Saint John’s dreamed of preserving and sharing these ancient European monastic manuscripts as their existence was always at risk because of wars and revolutions, fires and floods, and simple deterioration. Over the decades the dream, the technology, and the scale of the repository have evolved dramatically. What has not changed is the commitment to Benedictine stewardship and the need to preserve the records of human culture. Dr. Matthew Heintzelman outlines the history of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library on the occasion of its golden anniversary.

Change of address: Ruth Athmann P. O. Box 7222 Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7222 rathmann@csbsju.edu Phone: 800.635.7303

In this issue we introduce a new series: reflections on the Rule of Saint Benedict. Father Eric Hollas addresses the sacramental nature of monastic life and how we encounter Christ in each other. We also visit the Saint John’s Sugar Bush during sapping season, meet a monk from Wisconsin, hear the musings of Mr. Jeremy Graney and Mr. Richard Bresnahan as they ponder how Saint John’s helped to form them, and more. The editorial staff of Abbey Banner joins Abbot John and the monks of Saint John’s Abbey in extending best wishes for God’s blessings during this season of Easter and Pentecost. Peace! Brother Robin Pierzina, O.S.B. Cover: Maple syrup season, Saint John’s Sugar Bush

Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B.

Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Hebrews 13:2

ur experience as Benedictines confirms that a healthy community life and the offering of hospitality are strongly interactive. Members of a cult don’t extend hospitality! Cults require secrecy and constraint. In a dysfunctional community, guests will be either ignored or drawn into different sides of a conflict. Think of being invited for dinner to George and Martha’s home in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Abbey archives

Chapter 53 of the Rule of Benedict opens: “All who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say, ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me’” [Matt 25:35]. All (omnes) excludes no one. Monks are called to receive every guest as Christ, regardless of race, gender, age, etc. In doing so we try to see Christ in each guest. We also try to be like Christ to each guest and to receive him or her in the same way that Jesus receives so many in the Gospels. That is how each one of us wants to be received. In welcoming a guest, there is a delicate balance between abandoning or letting the person “figure it out,” and being overly attentive, too helpful—a nuisance. Living in community helps one to read the signals from guests and get it more or less right. Guests are as unique as members of the community. Some need to talk and require a gracious listener. Others need to be silent, to walk, read, pray, write, or rest. Benedictine hospitality is the intuition, the practice that underlies our commitment to ecumenical dialogue and to interreligious dialogue. Religious belief today is often portrayed as an energy source for conflict, violence, and destruction. Creating and sustaining an environment in which trust, understanding, and respect are built up is a genuine contribution. The daily practice of praying the Liturgy of the Hours allows us to sit side by side with Christians of all stripes, pray the Psalms, and listen to the Scriptures together. With others, we can honor God through our silence together. There is always a fluidity in a genuine guest–host relationship. Abraham and Sarah first extend hospitality to the three strangers in Genesis 18. Then the three strangers become host and promise a son to Abraham and Sarah in the next year. In Luke 24 the two disciples extend hospitality to the stranger who walks with them, and then he reveals himself as the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread. We are the recipients of profound graces in these relationships.

Photo: Amy Saupe

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Monastic Jubilees and Corps a Transfer Benedictine Volunteer Shaped by the BVC

purposeful time that allowed me to learn more about and appreciate who I am and where I came from.

Jeremy Graney

applied to The Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps (BVC) on an impulse. A chance meeting with a BVC alumnus during my senior year in college led me to fill out the application. I remember calling home to tell my parents not only that I applied to the BVC but also that I was accepted and was planning to begin this venture in the fall. This impulsivity ended up being a great choice. The Benedictine Volunteer Corps allowed me to have a no-strings-attached experience. I was able to live somewhere that would not have otherwise been available to me. I was given the opportunity to better myself, and all I had to do was to be open to living in a purposeful community. On paper I understood the concept of purposeful living and thought that I got the gist of what it meant while on retreat at Saint John’s Abbey. Whatever I thought I was ready for was not what I experienced in South America, however. Because I did not speak the language well, I did not know what I was supposed to do half the time. I got bored when there wasn’t somewhere to go or something to do, and

I had time to make my faith my own.

BVC

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Benedictine Volunteer Jer Graney with one of his teachers in Chile

became annoyed when we left with no prior notice. For the first time I didn’t have control over my schedule. What was I doing here? While serving in the BVC, I worked at a K-12 school in Chile, and the busiest time during the day was recess. Speaking the language is not necessary to interact with kids! Piggyback rides and tag aren’t all that comprise a school day, however, and when everyone was in class, I was left to my thoughts. I’ve never had a lot of free time without my usual distractors. Internet was not readily available, and there were only a handful of books in English, three of which were Bibles. With no diversions I was able to think about things that I never had to worry about because they were always there: my faith and my family. This unfettered time allowed me to read the daily Mass readings

over and over. I read the Gospels from start to finish and spent time comparing the stories among them. I doubled back on the references in the margins to find connections with the Old Testament. I began to appreciate the stories that I grew up learning and felt more connected to them. I had time to make my faith my own. The toughest part of being a Benedictine volunteer was missing Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family for the first time. It was difficult to be away, but reflecting back, I am glad that I was. The realization that missing family events is inevitable made me appreciate past memories more and look forward to future gatherings. One day my dad sent me an old text about my greatgreat grandfather, and I spent the afternoon reading it carefully and transcribing it. The burdensome free time slowly changed into

When I returned from this experience I went to graduate school at Providence College (Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers Program [PACT]). I felt more prepared for the community living component of PACT, thanks to my experience with the Benedictine Volunteer Corps. I learned the importance of obedience to a purposeful community. This obedience is deference to an idea—the idea of communal living. I now work as a community supervisor for PACT, and part of my job is to help strangers living together get past a roommate-type relationship and work toward fostering communal relationships. Currently I live in a community of one, but I’d like to think that eventually it will grow. The BVC taught me the importance of the Benedictine values of stability, humility, and obedience. One does not need to become a monk or nun to appreciate that these values are intrinsic to any community, and I thank Saint John’s for allowing me to go somewhere and practice living these values on their dime. It is incredibly meaningful that the abbey invested its resources so that I was able to strengthen my foundations before starting a career. I now work at a Catholic college prep high school. Working at the school while in the BVC helped me define the kind of a teacher I want to be:

The Benedictine Volunteer Corps is a source I will continue to reference as I write the pages of my life.

a Catholic educator in a school with a charism and an identity within the Catholic community. If I were to go back to my Benedictine Volunteer Corps site, there would be very little evidence of me ever having been there. I did not build, paint, or reconstruct anything. There might be a book on the shelf or a coffee mug in a cupboard that I left behind. I was a footnote in the life of that community, as

they were a footnote in mine. But as with any work cited, some sources are referenced more than others. The Benedictine Volunteer Corps is a source I will continue to reference as I write the pages of my life, a source I am thankful came to me in that chance meeting. B Mr. Jeremy Graney, a 2010 graduate of Saint John’s University, served with the Manquehue community in Santiago, Chile, while a Benedictine volunteer.

Thanks to readers of Abbey Banner who support the Benedictine Volunteers through prayer and donations. Visit our website at saintjohnsabbey.org/bvc.

Mr. Jeremy Graney, BVC alumnus, Catholic educator

Graney archives

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A Company of Strangers Meinrad Dindorf, O.S.B.

chaplain at the University Medical Center of Princeton employs the metaphor of “the stranger” (Robert C. Dykstra, “Intimate Strangers” in Journal of Pastoral Care 1990, 44:2, pp. 139–152). Relying heavily on Dr. Parker Palmer, he notes that much of our coming together, in cafes, town squares, museums, parks, and even health care institutions, is interaction in “the company of strangers.” In such situations we are “reminded that the foundation of life together is not the intimacy of friends but the capacity of strangers to share a common territory, common resources, common problems.”

strangers: the word “hospitality.” For Dr. Palmer, hospitality means letting the stranger find a sanctuary of warmth, trust, and good will in our company, of “letting the stranger remain a stranger while offering acceptance nonetheless.” Could this be sum-

Melleray Abbey, a Cistercian (Trappist) community near Dubuque, Iowa. There I, the stranger, was blessed with a particular aspect of monastic hospitality: care for the sick brethren. When I got influenza and pneumonia, Brothers Joseph

Clement of Alexandria

(A.D. 195)

incarnated Saint Benedict’s call: “Before all things and above all things, care must be taken of the sick, so that they will be served as if they were Christ in person” (Rule 36.1). I have also received hospitality from the staff of Saint Raphael Hall, the retirement and senior care center at Saint John’s Abbey. Once the director, Carol Lee, R.N., on the verge of moving into her new office, held off so I could use the room as a pneumonia patient—every other room was filled.

Parker Palmer challenges us, the author observes, to consider how “we often come to see ourselves more clearly in impersonal relationships with strangers than we can in personal relationships with family and friends. We need relationships which allow us to care for persons while maintaining distance. So the ‘stranger’ becomes the spiritual guide in the public life.”

Hospitality of Prayer

Ieuan Rees

Dr. Palmer argues that in God’s economy, close, intimate relations are not the only ones that enrich our lives, and that self-enrichment is not the ultimate goal of the life of faith. He suggests that in the Judeo–Christian tradition there is one word above all others that guides our way in encountering

Akin to love is hospitality, being a congenial art devoted to the treatment of strangers.

marized in the words of Saint Benedict: “Let all . . . be received like Christ” (Rule 53.1)? Care for the Sick This past winter I was blessed with a time of renewal at New

Kronebusch, O.C.S.O., and Juan Diego Lavado, O.C.S.O., helped me get treatment at a clinic in Dubuque. Upon returning to their abbey, my medications were supplemented by the care and kindness of the abbot, prior, and other monks—care that

In addition to being the recipient of monastic hospitality numerous times, I have also tried to extend hospitality. Late on a cold Christmas Eve in the 1980s, when I was serving at the archdiocesan Office of Indian Ministry in Minneapolis, we had finished the Christmas Mass and the “feast” that followed. As we were ready to leave, we heard a tapping at the door: four or five Lakota men from western South Dakota came in out of the cold. They

listened to our regrets about having already given away all the food, then suggested, “Well, we could all pray.” And so we prayed, huddled in a circle as if calling the next play, but instead, calling on the Creator of all who came among us in lowliness, with thanks for God’s gifts and asking for guidance and care for all those far from home. The strangers in the city went back out into the dark, cold streets. “And I did not recognize him” (John 1:31). Going the Extra Mile While serving at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, I met an older couple who seemed confused as they made their way through a parking ramp. They had just arrived from South Dakota and were perhaps four blocks from their destination. I could have given these folks verbal directions to the hospital admittance desk, but they had traveled far, were anxious, and it was late and dark; they had never been here before. So I told them I knew the location they needed, walked with them, and introduced them to the staff. Had I simply given directions, those folks would probably have

thanked me politely, headed off, and might have gotten there—or just as likely, made a wrong turn and escalated their anxiety. Another time at this same hospital I met a large man in a double-wide wheelchair. He was looking for a Pepsi. I offered to help and rolled him along various corridors, finding vending machines but no Pepsi. Slowly it dawned on me: Coke had won the bid that year to service the machines; there was no Pepsi, only Coke products. He expressed his frustration with a few mild expletives and then demanded: “Won’t anyone sell me a Pepsi!” Repentant, he purchased a couple of Twinkies, insisting that I have one. Hospitality mandated acceptance. These various aspects of welcoming and caring for strangers, like an outdoor inscription at Saint Benedict’s Senior Community, capture the theology of hospitality drawn from Saint Benedict’s Rule: “Let all be treated as Christ.” B Father Meinrad Dindorf, O.S.B., served for decades in pastoral ministry, most recently as a chaplain at Saint Benedict’s Senior Community, Saint Cloud, Minnesota.

Hospitality means letting the stranger find a sanctuary of warmth, trust, and good will in our company.

Parker Palmer

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Abbey Guesthouse house became a reality in December 2006. Since it opened, the guesthouse has been very successful, with many individuals and groups experiencing the Saint John’s community for the first time. Over 28,000 guests have stayed overnight, along with hundreds of day groups using the facilities for meetings or meals.

David Klingeman, O.S.B.

n a monastic chapter meeting of March 6, 1921, when plans for the auditorium and music building of Saint John’s University were being discussed, the question of guest lodging was raised, and a plan “to fix up the third floor of the library building [Wimmer Hall] as a guesthouse” was proposed. When the auditorium was completed in 1928, however, the third floor of the library became a museum for various collected artifacts. The guesthouse would be but a dream for many years to follow. Of course, there were always a few guest rooms available from the time the monastic community was housed in the original wood frame house (1864). After the completion of the quadrangle building in 1886, several rooms were provided for guests on the first floor (where the university admission offices are currently located), and the construction of the Breuer monastic living quarters in 1955 included six

Michael Crouser

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

guestrooms. But for the first hundred years of the abbey’s existence, the construction or renovation of university or prep school facilities and utility shops always took precedence—and claimed the community’s financial resources. Over the years numerous monastery committees for a guesthouse were appointed and abandoned: Committee on Hospitality to Guests and Pilgrims (1974–1976), Guests and Quarters Committee (1979–1984), and Abbey Guesthouse Program Committee (1990– 1992). Only the Abbey Guest House Committee (1998– 2006) was successful. It was Abbot Jerome Theisen, O.S.B. (1979–1992), who planted the seeds and led the cause for an abbey guesthouse.

Shortly after his election as abbot, he wrote in his conference to the monastic community, “Vision and Goals: Benedictine Monasticism Today and Tomorrow” (10 October 1979): “Hospitality is a characteristic feature of Benedictine monasticism, and it continues to be a part of the vision. Our facilities are very good, but the number of rooms available is insufficient. We need to concern ourselves about more facilities for guests and retreatants. Sufficient conference rooms and guest rooms should be available, not just during the summer months when college dormitories are put into service but also throughout the year.” With the strong support of many generous donors, the abbey guest-

The annual occupancy rate averages about 55%. The guesthouse is most active between the months of April and November, with the summer months having the highest occupancy. Overnight guests include individuals coming for a time of spiritual renewal at a private or group retreat; parish staffs needing a place to meet, plan, and renew; parents of students visiting their loved ones; those needing a place to stay after enjoying a fine arts performance, sporting event, or any of the many other activities offered on the Saint John’s campus; alumni and alumnae renewing acquaintances through visits and reunions; and family and friends of monks who come for a visit. The Abbey Spiritual Life Program offers several organized retreats throughout the year along with monthly Benedictine Days of Prayer. The majority of the groups who come to the guesthouse for meetings or retreats are from the Twin Cities area.

room for twenty-five and a lakeside meeting/dining room (below) for sixteen. There are two parlor rooms for spiritual direction; a chapel with a capacity of twenty for small-group prayer; and a library that also serves as a meeting space, a room for socials, and a dining space for guests who want to eat in a quiet setting with a beautiful view. The Saint John’s Abbey Guesthouse is still a new apostolate for the monastic community. Many drop-in visitors express surprise that the building is here and that all guests are welcome. Guests, “who are never lacking in a monastery” (Rule 53.16), have finally found a permanent place of welcome at Saint John’s Abbey, where they are indeed “received like Christ” (Rule 53.1). B Brother David Klingeman, O.S.B., serves as abbey archivist and guestmaster.

Comments from guests: “As always, a very hospitable place, lovely, quiet, simple and beautiful room in which to rest and be refreshed in the Spirit of the Lord. Great, healthy food. Wonderful to pray with the monastic community. Thank you.” “I am an alum of SJU, and this is a cherished, sacred space for me and my family. It is so good to be back and to find Christ ready again to meet me here as he was twenty years ago when I first stepped foot on campus. Thank God, brothers, for taking chapter 53 of the Rule to heart. I am grateful!”

Our guesthouse has twentynine guest rooms, each climatecontrolled and with a private bath (four are suites for families); a dining room with a seating capacity of fifty; a large meeting

Michael Crouser

Abbey Banner Spring 2015

Hispanic Ministry

School of Theology: Sabbatical

Efraín Rosado, O.S.B.

Michael Patella, O.S.B.

n his Rule for monasteries, Saint Benedict exhorts his spiritual sons and daughters: “In the reception of the poor and of pilgrims the greatest care and solicitude should be shown, because it is especially in them that Christ is received” (RB 53.15). Following this venerable tradition of almost 1500 years, the monks of Saint John’s Abbey offer hospitality and attention to all visitors and travelers who come to our monastery and parishes. Among these travelers are the hundreds of Latin American immigrants who have established their homes in central Minnesota—hardworking people who are fleeing from challenging conditions of extreme poverty and destitution, and are looking for better opportunities in jobs, education, familial life, and spiritual development. These honest and diligent people bring the richness of their own cultural traditions and the presence of Christ, the pilgrim, to us. They are worthy of our most attentive service and assistance. To serve Hispanic communities of immigrants, as well as the Latino/a students and staff that each year enroll in the formation programs of Saint John’s University, the College of Saint Benedict, or Saint John’s Preparatory School, the monks of Saint John’s Abbey and the sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery provide pastoral and social services. These services include Christian formation classes, Bible courses, preparation for the

Church of Saint Boniface archives

The celebration of baptism with Father Oswaldo Roche presiding

reception of sacraments for adults and children, a monthly Eucharist in Spanish, social services, prayer and liturgical celebrations, and spiritual direction. Thanks to the efforts, prayers, and hard work of Benedictine monks and sisters, the Hispanic communities of central Minnesota have enjoyed the warm hospitality and assistance of the Benedictine monastic families for more than twenty years. Benedictines also receive hospitality. Latino/a immigrants and students share with us the Catholic faith and devotion to Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother. Our common worship and liturgies, our academic, social, recreational, and sporting endeavors are greatly enriched by the presence and participation of the growing numbers of Latin American immigrants and students who bring their joyful and remarkable traditions to our culture.

One of the notable Hispanic traditions is the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Venerated with extraordinary honor and respect, she is regarded as the “Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas.” To accommodate the work schedule of the local Hispanic community, the feast day was observed in Saint John’s Abbey and University Church on Sunday, 14 December 2014. More than 700 people took part in the celebration of the Eucharist and in a festive meal that followed. This annual fiesta, open to all members of our communities, offers an opportunity to share our gifts, talents, and faith—and to receive Christ in one another. B Brother Efraín Rosado, O.S.B., serves as pastoral leader for Latino ministries at the Church of Saint Boniface, Cold Spring, Minnesota.

et all guests who arrive be received like Christ,” states the Rule of Saint Benedict (53:1). This instruction, while it certainly applies to the monastery proper, extends to the abbey’s apostolates as well. Students and graduates of Saint John’s Preparatory School, University, and School of Theology·Seminary often speak in loving terms of the years spent here. They even identify themselves as part of the broader community who, in turn, welcomes the stranger and newcomer. Hence, the circle of those welcomed and those who welcome is always expanding, and we look for new ways to further our Benedictine hospitality. Opportunities for an extended stay at Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary are possible not only for graduate students and seminarians, but they are also open to those seeking a sabbatical and time of refreshment. Saint John’s beautiful and peaceful grounds, the monastery’s liturgical schedule, and the graduate school and seminary’s program of study offer sabbatical participants a time for rest, prayer, and study—the perfect combination for personal renewal! Other campus entities— Liturgical Press, Alcuin Library, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, Saint John’s Pottery Studio, or the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research—all afford opportunities for personal enrichment. What does a sabbatical at Saint John’s look like? Priests, deacons,

teachers, professors, parish administrators, indeed, anyone trained in theology who opts for the sabbatical program either matriculates or audits courses, generally six to nine credits per semester. If they do so for credit, they can earn a graduate certificate in one of six disciplines: liturgy, Scripture, systematics, Church history, monastic studies, or spirituality. Such a certificate requires eighteen credits of coursework; typically a certificate can be earned over two semesters. Monks can live within the monastery, while others are provided housing in the graduate residence, Emmaus Hall, as space is available. Over the years sabbatical participants have taken full advantage of the many opportunities for growth offered at Saint John’s: from public lectures, concerts, and plays to sporting events and walks in the abbey arboretum. In Collegeville there is ample time for reflection and prayer, including participation at prayer and Mass with the monastic community. Moreover, when students or sabbatical participants enroll at Saint John’s, they become part of the greater community. Study and reflection during a sabbatical at Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary is an invitation to make a home, no matter how temporary, within the Church’s Wisdom tradition, wherein one can grow in knowledge, spirit, and faith. B

The circle of those welcomed and those who welcome is always expanding.

Father Michael Patella, O.S.B., rector of Saint John’s Seminary, is a professor of New Testament at Saint John’s University School of Theology.

Eric Pohlman, O.S.B.

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The Place of the Prophetic Prioress Michaela Hedican, O.S.B. Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B. Prophetic witness requires the constant and passionate search for God’s will, for self-giving, for unfailing communion in the Church, for the practice of spiritual discernment and love of the truth. Pope John Paul II, Vita Consecrata (The Consecrated Life), 84

ithin this Benedictine environment our task is not to produce prophetic individuals but to be prophetic communities. Yet, the Benedictine emphasis on humility forces us to acknowledge that we ourselves can never know when we are being prophetic. Only future generations will be able to decide whether what we are doing now is prophetic. Because of the Reformation, religious or consecrated life disappeared in other Christian traditions. And consecrated life in our Church has been through cycles of destruction, reconstruction, and innovation over the centuries. While the monastic movement dominated the Middle Ages, it lost ground to Dominicans and Franciscans, then passed through the fires of the Reformation, the destruction in England by Henry VIII, and the French Revolution. After Napoleon was defeated, King Ludwig and others supported a restoration of the monasteries. Saint Benedict’s Monastery and Saint John’s Abbey are direct products of that revitalization of monastic life in Europe.

Nevertheless, Benedictine monastic life has never been a dominant force in the life of the Church. At present there are probably 20,000 Benedictine women and men on this earth, with a global population of 7.3 billion and over 1 billion Catholics. Going forward, we need to think of ourselves in a fresh way.

Benedict’s Legacy of Leadership Benedict’s legacy of listening is closely related to Benedict’s legacy of leadership. The contemplative stance of silence that is conducive to listening is a vital part of calling forth leaders in a Benedictine community. Benedict also calls the community together whenever anything important is to be done in the monastery: leadership interacts with the community in making decisions.

[John Klassen]

Monastic Life as a Leaven Yeast contains an enzyme that converts a sugar solution into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Yeast is used in the baking of bread. The carbon dioxide causes the bread to rise and fills it full of bubbles. The amount of yeast seems to be insignificant: one part yeast to one hundred parts flour can make excellent bread. Yeast may not look important, but we couldn’t have bread without it! The image of yeast tells us that we cannot judge the significance of things by their size; some things start out modest, small, improvised, yet become marvelous and lifegiving. As yeast transforms a batch of flour, so the proclamation of the reign of God transforms our world—through the lens of Benedictine prayer, lectio divina, work, study, and hospitality. Given our time and its needs, what should we as Benedictine men and women do that will leaven our Church and our world? Given the gifts of the Benedictine tradition, how can we best be leaven in the Church and the world? [John Klassen]

This article is excerpted from “Marking the Year of Consecrated Life: What Monastic People Bring to Future Church: The Place of the Prophetic,” by Prioress Michaela Hedican, O.S.B., and Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B., presented on 25 January 2015 as part of the Sunday at the Abbey lecture series of Saint John’s Abbey.

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

Benedict’s Legacy of Listening The Rule of Benedict begins with the word “Listen.” Benedict’s one criterion for being a Benedictine is that one truly seeks God. That seeking takes the form of listening to God, to the Rule, to leadership, to community, to the events of our lives, and to what is happening in our hearts. The Rule is not a book of dos and don’ts; rather, it is a guide, a railing—something from which we can get support. It is like a trellis upon which we can grow and flourish. For Benedictines, listening is guided by the wisdom of the Rule. In order to listen we need to give ourselves to places and times of quiet. In our age of frenetic activity, constant noise and multitasking, our monasteries can provide a

Saint Benedict’s Monastery

place where the atmosphere is conducive to listening. Moreover, the ambience of quiet, peace, and a sense of reflectiveness flows from our rich heritage of the liturgy. The rhythm of our life sets a framework in silence for personal prayer, for a communal experience of Liturgy of the Hours, and in the celebration of Eucharist each day. When decisions are to be made, Benedict is quite clear that everyone has a voice—even the young. All are to be listened to. As we experience Pope Francis and his way of leading the Church, he seems at times to be more Benedictine than Jesuit! Pope Francis exemplified this as he called the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. Even those in disagreement with him were to be listened to. [Michaela Hedican]

The word obedience is derived from the word for “listen.” Benedictine obedience, based on respect for each person, is communal, consultative, relational, mutual, and reasonable (Wisdom from the Tradition, p. 46). Through open dialogue, prayerful listening, and Spirit-filled discernment, God’s will—or as I like to call it, God’s dream for the common good and the good of the individual— becomes clearer. Business leaders, educational institutions, and families are drawing upon this wisdom that Benedict gave us. It is something we have to share with the Church. [Michaela Hedican] Community and Hospitality A vibrant, healthy community and the expression of hospitality are two sides of the same coin. Monastics are called to receive every guest as Christ. Not only does this mean welcoming the Christ in each guest, it also means being Christ to all guests and receiving them in the same manner as would Christ. We may think of hospitality as a manifestation of “Minnesota nice,” but in fact, hospitality is edgy. It has a prophetic character: “I am going

to let you in, and I am going to let you change me.” The religious culture in our country is changing. I believe that a new Church is coming. It will be browner and poorer, more sensuous and feminine, less clerical and more collegial and inclusive, less concerned about works of charity and more aware of the need for change in structures, more multilingual and polycentric. That Church will better reflect the diversity of God’s trinitarian life. One of our tasks as monastic communities is to facilitate the present Church’s passing in order to assist in the birthing of that new Church. [John Klassen] Prophetic Remembrance I want to close with another aspect of the prophetic: the prophet is one who remembers and who helps others remember. Part of being prophetic for us as monastics is to remind others what really matters, not as much by our words as by our life. The rhythm of our prayer, the importance of giving oneself to silence and solitude, the need to serve others (in a world where satisfying oneself is the major focus)—are all gifts we have that are part of our prophetic stance. [Michaela Hedican]

Prioress Michaela Hedican, O.S.B., and Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B., are the spiritual and administrative heads of their respective communities (Saint Benedict’s Monastery, Saint Joseph; Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville).

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Saint John’s Maple Syrup

Mary Gondringer

Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.

aple sap collection originated independently among disparate Native American tribes. The Minnesota Ojibwe referred to it with a word that means “sap flows fast.” Most historians agree that settlers learned the practice from the native population. In Minnesota, sumac was used to provide a “lip” for the flow of sap from a gash gouged in a tree. In his Natural History of Collegeville (1934), Father Alexius Hoffmann, O.S.B., remarked that “The Indians used to pack [maple sugar] into small baskets made of birch bark” (34). Today Canada is the world’s largest producer of maple syrup. The first organized maple “sap tapping” by abbey monks took place in 1942 as compensation for the rationing of sugar during World War II. The sap was cooked down in the steam kettle of the abbey candle shop, but treasurer Father Wendelin Luetmer, O.S.B., soon promoted a larger-scale operation. In 1943 he oversaw the construction of the first “sugar shack,” complete with a wood-fired evaporator, built in an area of the woods that became known as the Saint

John’s Sugar Bush. The original crew included Father Wendelin and Brothers Charles Kirchner, O.S.B., and Philip Heitkemper, O.S.B. Chemistry professor Father Matthew Kiess, O.S.B., performed some of the required lab tests. The enterprise continued throughout the war years and well beyond. Brother Walter Kieffer, O.S.B., who heads the operation today, became involved in the process while a prep student in 1962. From the beginning, students worked the sugar bush alongside the monks. The first sugar shack met a fiery demise in 1970, but the combined labors of Fathers Sebastian Schramel, O.S.B., Fintan Bromenshenkel, O.S.B., and Knute Anderson, O.S.B., yielded a replacement at its present site near the radio tower. Syrup manufacture is a laborintensive process. Maple syrup, of course, begins as sap. Forest maple trees of ample diameter are marked and later tapped by drilling about 1.5 to 2 inches into the tree. Metal spiles are placed

into the holes, allowing the sap to drip out of the tree into a bucket or collecting bag hanging from the spile. Temperature and barometric pressure are important. Frosty nights below 28°F and sunny, breezy days above 34°F offer ideal fluctuations for maximum sap flow. Sapping season generally extends from mid-March through mid-April, though some years has begun as early as February. At Saint John’s, metal buckets were originally used to collect the sap, later replaced by plastic buckets or bags, each holding four to five gallons of sap. Bags are easier to store and less cumbersome than buckets, but they do have drawbacks. Squirrels, raccoons, and even foxes, looking for an easy drink of “sweet water,” bite off the ends of the plastic bags, allowing the precious sap to escape. Once the sap is collected and poured into a large container, it is “cooked” in a sugar-concentrating evaporator.

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

A great quantity of wood is required—between twelve and twenty cords each season— sometimes adding a smoky flavor to the syrup. A hydrometer tests sugar content; 66.6 percent is considered pure maple syrup. Less sugar encourages mold growth, and too much promotes sugar crystals. Saint John’s syrup is initially stored in large glass jugs, and some is later rebottled in eight-, twelve-, or sixteen-ounce glass bottles for gifts. The syrupin-the-making is filtered about five times to remove impurities. In an average year about 1,200 taps are used. The amount of collected sap varies a great deal: generally about ten gallons of sap per tap per year. The amount of syrup produced also varies greatly. In 1942, 45 gallons of syrup were made. Among the sweetest years were 1985 (560 gallons) and 2013 (557 gallons). Brother Walter cites 1968 as the record year when 588 gallons of syrup were produced from the yield of 3,200 taps. Today only a few monks are involved in the maple syrup process. Volunteers, especially retirees or friends of the Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum, have replaced the monastic ranks. Fewer monks means that the Saint John’s Outdoor University staff has taken over many aspects of the operation. In recent years the sapping task has attracted more publicity, and students from grade school to university have sought out the enterprise as an educational experience, with over nine hundred students visiting the sugar bush in 2014.

Evaporator: “Big Burnie”

Extracting maple sap for syrup is a form of tree farming—a type of tree horticulture. We humans, with our technological expertise, reap the harvest as a natural product of God’s good providence, but in the end, the maple syrup is a pure gift. Marking and tapping maple trees also help our forest technicians locate dead or ailing trees for removal, providing wood for firing the evaporator and space for new trees to thrive. For the late Father Peregrin Berres, O.S.B., maple sap collection and processing had a sacramental dimension, as recorded in one of his homilies: “The sugar maple reminds me of how Jesus continues to give his life to us who come to eat and drink at the table of the Eucharist. There we drink from the fountain of life, God present sacramentally,

Outdoor University archives

nourishing and strengthening each of us.” The staff of the Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum and Saint John’s Outdoor University oversees the logistical and educational activities of the highly popular Maple Syrup Festivals. These include learning about the operation, tapping, collecting, and cooking sap, observing the evaporators at work (“Big Burnie” and “Little Larry”), and—best of all— delighting in the taste of warm maple syrup over ice cream. How sweet it is! B Brother Aaron Raverty, O.S.B., a member of the Abbey Banner editorial staff, is the author of Refuge in Crestone: A Sanctuary for Interreligious Dialogue (Lexington Books, 2014).

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Outdoor University archives

Patrick Deal

The Maple Syrup Festivals at Saint Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Abbey Arboretum attract hundreds of visitors (top photos). The process of syrup making includes: drilling into a maple tree (center), inserting a spile (far right), and collecting sap. Jenny Kutter

Peggy Roske

Jenny Kutter

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at 50 Matthew Heintzelman

ifty years ago, when the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) began its work in Austria, the founders could not have imagined the magnitude of success that lay in its future. Over the past five decades the library has become home to over 90,000 microfilm reels of manuscript materials and 50,000 digitized manuscripts from across Europe, Asia, and Africa. A bold mission that started with the ambitious goal of microfilming manuscripts at European monastic libraries has grown steadily to include collections of other libraries (including state and private) as HMML collaborates with communities of different social, cultural, and religious backgrounds. From Austria to Ethiopia, from Spain to India, from Mali to the Ukraine, HMML’s work has underscored the basic need to preserve the story and history of human endeavor for future generations. From the beginning the Hill Library’s work has been grounded in core Benedictine values of listening and respect for others. All microfilming and digitization take place only with the permission of the owning libraries, and HMML can only use the images within the parameters agreed upon at the start of each project. Newer partners are more willing to work with HMML because they have ample evidence of the library’s responsive and responsible stewardship of materials. At the same time the

library has made these materials accessible to scholars around the world, thus fostering greater understanding of the very communities that have become its partners. Of course, it does not hurt that the Benedictines have cultivated a special relationship with books and reading, going back to the sixth century! Getting to Work The first public mention of this endeavor appeared in a brochure (c. 1963) for the new university library, where it is listed as one of “Four Unique Features of the New Saint John’s Library” (the Kritzeck Collection, the Ecumenical Center, the Virgil Michel Liturgical Center, and the Monastic Microfilm Project): “Several years ago the scholarly world was enriched by the Saint Louis University microfilm collection of the Vatican Library. Underway at Saint John’s is a similar plan, the microfilming of the manuscript collections of European Monastic libraries. Original manuscripts of interest to students, paleographers and historians of all aspects of medieval culture will be made available on microfilm and will be further protected against possible destruction. The new Saint John’s Library will be the depository of this invaluable microfilm collection, and will be of help to the American scholar in its use.” Discussions had already been underway among Father Colman Barry, O.S.B., Abbot Baldwin Dworschak, O.S.B, Father Michael Blecker, O.S.B., Father Benjamin Stein, O.S.B., and others. The

work intensified with the addition of Father Oliver Kapsner, O.S.B., to the team in 1964. He had the necessary librarian background to hold the project together, linguistic ability in German and Latin, and the experience of living in Europe. He also understood the significance of the project: “We are also out to save what these abbeys have, for with the frightful destructive weapons in the hand of amoral man today, they could almost all be wiped out in a matter of minutes” (Oliver Kapsner to Colman Barry, 15 February 1964). Before the filming began other players had to be brought into the project: scholarly support for the idea (from George Fowler, Paul Oskar Kristeller, and others), financial support (from the Knights of Columbus and the Hill Family Foundation), and technical support (from University Microfilms and Eugene Power). The last step was to get someone to say yes, and that yes came from the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmünster (Austria) in late 1964. The newly elected Abbot Albert Bruckmayr not only endorsed the plan but also promoted its acceptance among several other Benedictine, Cistercian, Augustinian, and Premonstratensian houses. From 1965 to 1973 Father Oliver and his successor, Father Urban Steiner, O.S.B., directed the filming of over 30,000 manuscripts in Austria. Expansion and a Home After completing work in Austria in 1973, Dr. Julian G. Plante, the director of the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library (or MMML) from 1966 to 1991,

refocused work into three new locations: Spain, Ethiopia, and Malta. Of these, the only one with a regular Benedictine presence was Spain, where Father Urban worked for more than three years filming 6200 manuscripts. The films from Ethiopia and Malta have become some of the most soughtafter resources in the library. In Ethiopia the civil and cultural strife in the 1970s and 1980s have demonstrated the value of HMML’s work. During the mid-1970s MMML became HMML. In April 1975 ground was broken for a new facility adjacent to Alcuin Library. The name “Hill” was added to acknowledge the long-standing support of the Hill Family Foundation, now the Northwest Area Foundation, and its director, Mr. Al Heckman. This foundation continued to be a major support of HMML’s work as it expanded operations in the 1980s and 1990s to Germany, Portugal, England, South Africa, Switzerland, and Sweden, while work in Malta continued. In all of these projects HMML built on its unique ability to work with varied organizations (state libraries, cathedral libraries, university libraries, provincial libraries, museum libraries, and even monastic libraries) as well as reach across religious divides to encourage collaboration with the Armenian Mechitarists in Austria, with Lutheran Brotherhood in Germany, and with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Several monks served as field directors in Europe, including Fathers Jonathan Fischer, O.S.B.,

Disciples gathered at Pentecost (John 14:12-19). Lectionary, Church of Forty Martyrs, Mardin, Turkey, A.D. 1230. Parchment, estrangelo script, MS CFMM, 0038, folio 248 recto.

Aelred Tegels, O.S.B., and John Kulas, O.S.B. Father Jonathan remembers fondly the difficulties of fitting a microfilm stand into a German library, resulting in a hole in the library’s ceiling! Reflecting on his work in Durham, England, Brother Richard Oliver, O.S.B., commented: “Every day on the way to the Dean and Chapter Library, housed in what was once the dormitory of the Benedictine monks, I passed the tombs of

Saints Cuthbert and Bede, the great saints of the North. What a privilege to work in such an atmosphere. Durham Cathedral has been named a World Heritage Site.” Several other monks have also worked at HMML as catalogers (Fathers Roland Behrendt, O.S.B., and Gregory Sebastian, O.S.B.), computer specialists (Brother John Brudney, O.S.B.), and administrator (Father Wilfred Theisen, O.S.B.). Leading

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Trinity Benedictine Monastery Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B.

the library from 1992–2002 was director Father Eric Hollas, O.S.B. During his tenure, and with assistance from Father Peregrin Berres, O.S.B., HMML also engaged in early digital collaborations through In Principio and Electronic Access to Medieval Manuscripts. New directions By 2003, when Father Columba Stewart, O.S.B., became director, microfilm was rapidly being surpassed by the quality of new digital photography methods. The sharpness and color of the images, the relative stability of the technology, and the ease of both distribution and viewing of digital images confirmed the need for HMML to change its approach to manuscript preservation. Simultaneously a renewed energy for preservation came out of the Christian communities of the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Lebanon and Syria. With HMML’s demonstrated commitment to respecting the wishes of partner libraries, work quickly expanded into communities in Turkey, Iraq, India, and the Ukraine. Today the library is also working in Mali, Egypt, and the Old City of Jerusalem. Not long after Father Columba became director, the library’s

Fieldwork Director Walid Mourad training Malian librarians to digitize manuscripts from Timbuktu. Below: Detail of Armenian Lectionary. APIA 0004B fol.2r. Manuscript on paper: 18th century, © Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul.

mission was expanded to include stewardship of the Arca Artium art collection as well as the rare books and manuscripts at Saint John’s. In 2004 the library’s name changed to the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, reflecting these new responsibilities. Last summer HMML completed a major renovation of its home that addressed the changing technological and scholarly needs of a growing and diverse community of users. Designer Gregory Friesen respected the unique style of architect Marcel Breuer, the original designer of the space, and added a reading room, classroom, conference room, private studies for scholars, and staff offices. New exhibition cases allow students and

scholars to conduct research in an environment shaped by HMML’s rich collections of rare books and art. “HMML’s renovation recognizes that technology is now embedded in research and teaching. Now we can offer a range of spaces conducive to both individual and collaborative study,” noted Father Columba. “With this renovation HMML is positioned as a major center for research and outreach related to the cultures whose manuscripts we have photographed, cataloged, and shared with the world.” B Dr. Matthew Heintzelman is curator of the Austria/Germany Study Center and rare book cataloger for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library.

ver the past eighteen months the community of Trinity Benedictine Monastery, a foundation of Saint John’s Abbey, has had intensive discussions of its history in Japan since 1947 and of its future. As a result, in August 2014 Prior Roman Paur, O.S.B., sent me a letter with the following resolution: The seven monks of Trinity Benedictine Monastery are in unanimous agreement, without reservation, to recommend to the Saint John’s Abbey community that procedures be initiated for the dissolution of Trinity Benedictine Monastery as soon as feasible. Five critical reasons leading to this recommendation include fewer and aging community members, the abbey no longer being able to provide monks from the States, lack of available long-term leadership, unlikelihood of attracting vocations, and inadequate Japanese formation resources.

Prior Roman noted as well the “irony of this carefully and prayerfully considered conclusion coming at a time when in all probability the community may be at the zenith of Benedictine witness in Japan with inspiring liturgies, relational harmony, and rewarding work.” On 2 December 2014 Prior Roman provided a larger framework for the Collegeville community to consider this difficult and painful resolution. He recalled the Jesuit missionaries who introduced the Gospel to Japan in the 1500s, and then he outlined the founding of the parish-monastery in Meguro, Tokyo, in 1947, the growth of that parish as an international community, the difficulty in attracting and holding Japanese vocations (two solemn professions of Japanese-born monks over sixty-seven years), and the move from Tokyo to Fujimi in 1999. Roman also expanded on the reasons for the recommendation

to close the Fujimi monastery and engaged the Collegeville monks in discussion. A week later the monastic chapter of Saint John’s Abbey voted in favor of the motion that procedures be initiated for the dissolution of Trinity Benedictine Monastery. The closing process, which could take two or more years, is now underway. About twenty-five Saint John’s American monks have served in this mission, some dedicating much of their monastic lives to this apostolate, struggling with the language, absorbing the culture, and creating lasting friendships through their service to the Gospel. Among the details being addressed are the well-being and future of the individual monks; the disposition of the moveable property, especially archival documents, library books, and artifacts; and the monastic buildings. The local bishop of the Diocese of Yokohama, who is very saddened but understanding of the decision to close, has identified professional resources that may be of service to the monks. The spiritual legacy of the Benedictines in Japan is the many Christians and people of other faith traditions and cultures whose paths have crossed with the monks, with mutual benefit and gratitude. We continue to pray for the faithful and for all the people of Japan. We welcome prayers for our confreres as they conclude their service in Fujimi. B

Trinity Benedictine archives

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A Basic System of Living Richard Bresnahan

n an old Dodge, my father drove as we journeyed from North Dakota to Saint John’s, where I would be attending high school. The forested hills east of Albany rang like a bell inside me. Something powerful brought an awareness of leaving the prairie and entering a special place. Forty-seven years later, that sense of place has provided an understanding of my family who are the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s. The kindness and generosity of Benedictine men and women—guided by the spirit of community—formed my identity in eight years of education at Saint John’s Prep and University. The Benedictine pattern of daily prayer and hard work prepared me to be part of another family, a family of Japanese potters who have worked continuously in clay for fifteen generations. The parallels of novice to apprentice,

ule of Benedict

of junior monk to the young master potter allowed the acceptance of a community to form greater artistic goals in life other than singular individuality. The generosity of elder Japanese artists became my hands at the ends of my arms. My arms were formed and made strong by Benedictine monks. The Saint John’s Pottery Studio is now in its thirty-sixth year. I tell guests that if it were not for the monastery, three hundred years of clay would not have been brought to campus. There would not be the three-chamber Johanna Wood Burning Kiln named in honor of Sister Johanna Becker, O.S.B., the late great Asian art historian. This unique type of earth-making is made so much richer by the trust given me by the monastery to create works of art that reflect this sense of place. The hands of hospitality in welcoming guests to tea are as important as the shaping of the

tea bowl. When guests come to Saint John’s they often pick out a wood-fired piece of pottery that fits their hand and gives them joy. They use it as a daily prayer connecting them to Saint John’s. I am mindful that guests come here in a form of pilgrimage and take with them a connection to this place. Saint John’s is a place of deep spirituality and a path to the beautiful, the meaningful. Saint John’s has given me many touchstones—my educational birth, the discovery of the creative medium of my life, our marriage in the abbey church, children born and baptized here, and our children’s educational birth—all shared with grace and humility by Benedictines. So many monks have had a deep impact on my life; many have gone to their place of rest. To many of them I made a promise to continue in their spirit till my final moment of using my hands and arms made strong by this community. Each day I look at a poem from Louis Sullivan in 1886: “You cannot express unless you have a system of expression; and you cannot have a system of expression unless you have a prior system of thinking and feeling; and you cannot have a system of thinking and feeling unless you have a basic system of living.” Saint John’s Abbey has provided the foundation of that basic system of living that is the center of my life. With deepest gratitude to my Brothers. Warmly, Richard

Alan Reed,

O.S.B.

Mr. Richard Bresnahan is artist-inresidence at Saint John’s University.

The Garden of the Lord

Eric Hollas, O.S.B.

aint Benedict’s suggestion that anchorites (hermits) are the best monks (Rule 1.3-5) has always amused me. Benedict notes that only long years of testing in community can prepare somebody for the solitary life. But having said that at the beginning of the Rule, he never returns to the subject again. The monastery may be the school of the Lord’s service, but Benedict never offers a course leading to graduation to the hermit’s cave! Life in community offers the security of mutual support at both the material and emotional levels. It also affords the chance for fraternal encouragement. But beyond these obvious benefits, it is in community that Benedict’s spiritual vision takes flesh: monastic life continues the incarnation of Jesus. Benedict weaves it into the daily experience of the monk, and we see it first in the abbot, who holds the place of Christ. We also see Christ in the guest, in the young monks, and in the elderly. In fact, Benedict excludes no one; in every human interaction the monk meets the Lord, in the flesh. To appreciate how radical this is, it is important to know that in Benedict’s day many viewed the world as intrinsically evil, as suggested by words that oppose one another: the sacred and the profane, the material and the spiritual, and the temporal and the eternal. The logical imperative is

Michael Crouser

escape from this den of iniquity to be one with God in eternity. But Benedict teaches an entirely different lesson, because in the monastery heaven and earth touch. We see this most clearly when Benedict asks his monks to treat the tools of the monastery as if they were the vessels of the altar. If people are sacred, then so must be the ordinary activities of human life. Benedict embraces the created order deliberately, and into it he infuses the experience of God. One experiences the harmony of the Garden of Eden in the monastery. As God once walked with Adam and Eve, so now God rubs elbows with monks living in community. That is the mystery of the incarnation that Benedict

applies to life in community. Of course he’s under no illusion: monks will stumble now and again. But the garden belongs to God, and the monk need not wait for eternity to see the face of God. This is a sacramental way of life. As Jesus took bread and wine to be his Body and Blood, so Benedict gathers the common elements of life to fashion a place where his monks can and ought to encounter Christ. If they squint hard enough, on the good days, they will see Christ not only in their neighbors but in their own faces as well. B Father Eric Hollas, O.S.B., is deputy to the president for advancement at Saint John’s University.

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Meet a Monk: Geoffrey Fecht school for two years. As the call to ordained ministry continued to tug at him, he talked to people in his home Diocese of Madison. His pastor recommended that Ron study at Saint John’s Seminary in Collegeville.

Currey’s Photography

Bradley Jenniges, O.S.B.

riends of Saint John’s Abbey who have accompanied Father Geoffrey Fecht, O.S.B., on an abbey travel tour regularly recommend the experience to others. It is not just because of the excitement of visiting the Holy Land or other places with historic and natural wonders to explore. It is because of the relationships that are formed. The ability to bring people together in community has been a hallmark of Father Geoffrey’s life as a Benedictine monk. Baptized Ronald Fecht, his first experience of community life was growing up in a family of six children in Tennyson, a small, mostly Catholic town in southwestern Wisconsin. An uncle and a cousin who were priests inspired him to consider following their path. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville, where he studied history and political science, he taught at a junior high

The second semester of seminary studies at Ein Karem, near Jerusalem, proved pivotal for his vocational discernment. He was impressed with the way the Benedictines in the group, such as the late Paul Schwietz, O.S.B., went out of their way to help one another, included others on their excursions, and prepared special meals to celebrate feast days and other occasions. Reflecting on these experiences of Benedictine community life, he decided to discern a call to monastic life. Consulting with Father Julian Schmiesing, O.S.B., the abbey vocation director, and getting his bishop’s approval, he became a candidate at Saint John’s Abbey. When he entered novitiate with six other classmates in 1981, he took the name Geoffrey. After first profession in 1982 Geoffrey served in the campus ministry program of Saint John’s University while also continuing his monastic formation and resuming seminary studies. His pastoral skill, administrative ability, and work ethic were recognized, and after making solemn vows in 1985 he was assigned as director of residential programs for the university. Geoffrey recalls that he “was working with the best people and students who were involved in the community.”

Upon ordination as a priest in 1988, Father Geoffrey was assigned to assist at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, recently established to replace two smaller parishes in Hastings, Minnesota. The challenge of uniting two separate worshiping communities into one community provided valuable lessons for him. In 1990 he became pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Freeport, Minnesota, where he led this small-town congregation through change in their worship space and liturgical practice. My introduction to Father Geoffrey occurred when Father Paul Schwietz, then serving as vocation director, arranged for me, as a candidate, to join the monks in formation on a visit to Freeport. Geoffrey’s happiness and hospitality formed a positive impression of monks in pastoral ministry. In 1994 Abbot Timothy Kelly, O.S.B., asked Father Geoffrey to serve as prior—a major superior of the community whose responsibilities include helping the abbot by attending to the day-to-day needs of the monks. Geoffrey’s concern for the well-being of older members of the abbey led him to organize outings to various places in Minnesota. He modeled good self-discipline and worked with individuals struggling to improve their discipline. He was also attentive to the effect of the physical environment on morale and on hospitality to guests. In addition to tending a garden for his own physical exercise, he oversaw the upgrading of the monastic gardens, the “back yard” where monks enjoy quiet walks or sitting, and he organized regular cookouts during the summer months. He advanced the renovation of old workspaces

in the monastery and helped to create a lounge and restrooms for guests who would join us for meals in the abbey refectory. When Abbot Timothy revived the effort to develop better guest facilities, Father Geoffrey was an

obvious choice to co-chair the program committee. He modestly says, “I don’t mind administrative work.” As the principal facilitator of the committee’s meetings, Geoffrey’s pastoral skill enabled him to elicit the perspective of each member while

he kept the committee focused on the most important issues, making steady progress. The program that emerged became a key document both for the architect to design a building and for the guesthouse and Saint John’s Spiritual Life Program staff to plan their operations and programs for the new facilities, which opened in 2006. In 2001, upon the completion of his term as prior, Father Geoffrey looked forward to spending the next few years with our confreres in Japan, who had recently moved from Tokyo to the new monastery at Fujimi. But Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B., needing to replace a retiring pastor at the Church of Saint Augustine in Saint Cloud, asked Geoffrey to take this position. In 2004 Abbot John again turned to Geoffrey, asking him to lead the abbey’s development efforts as the community sought to build the guesthouse and to develop other initiatives. Doubting that he would like raising money, Geoffrey nonetheless committed himself to this work for a few years. He is now in the eleventh year of his fiveyear commitment! He has served well in leading Saint John’s through the completion of the previous capital campaign and articulating the current one. Father Geoffrey’s life and work are helping the abbey continue the community life and service that first attracted him to this monastery. B

Fecht archives

Father Bradley Jenniges, O.S.B., serves as parochial vicar for the churches of Saint Anthony and Seven Dolors, Albany, Minnesota.

Father Geoffrey celebrates the Eucharist with a travel group in Corinth, Greece. Not all of the congregation was engaged.

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Stickwork: Lean on Me

Abbey Chronicle

Tommy O’Laughlin

In September 2012 artist-in-residence Patrick Dougherty, who had been commissioned to design an outdoor sculpture, arrived at Saint John’s to begin construction of Lean on Me. Inspired by the Stella Maris Chapel, the artist proposed to build a cluster of five structures. In the course of nineteen days, three hundred volunteer students, staff, faculty, monastic members, and neighbors collaborated with the Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum staff and Mr. Dougherty, gathering tons of willow and ironwood needed to create the environmental art piece. Since its dedication more than 50,000

people have visited the structure, marveling equally at its beauty and curious nature. An all-natural structure, Stickwork has been in the process of decay since it was built and was expected to stand in the abbey arboretum for two years. However, because the decay has been slowed by Minnesota’s cold winters, and because the “woven basket” nature of the artwork is not susceptible to sudden failure, abbey and university administrators have decided to let it lean for another summer season. B

nseasonably warm weather and rain on the first day of winter melted away the snowy landscape, denying Collegeville a white Christmas. A gentle snowfall on Christmas evening did add a white sparkle to the inner campus and woods, however. Minnesota, along with most of the country, endured very cold temperatures and dangerous windchill factors during the first days of the new year; a delightful, mid-January thaw felt like March had arrived early. Brutal artic air added a chill to Saint Valentine’s Day and to Ash Wednesday. In contrast to Boston and New England, snowfall in Collegeville was primarily cosmetic this winter, with little accumulation. Nonetheless, viewers of Minneapolis television station WCCO voted Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum as the best place to snowshoe in Minnesota. The honor was likely a tribute to the beauty and contemplative nature of the monastery’s woodlands but overlooked the reality that there wasn’t enough snow on which to snowshoe this year! Lovely spring weather introduced the annual maple syrup season and also accompanied the return of robins to campus on the Ides of March. Whatever the weather, April and our hearts are filled with Easter joy: Christ is risen! Alleluia! December 2014 • On 8 December Abbot John Klassen announced the appointment of Ms. Bernadette Gasslein as editor of Worship magazine,

hunt, with a goal of reducing the deer population to a level that allows for the regeneration of the forest vegetation and for a healthy herd.

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

Saint John’s ecumenical liturgical journal (formerly Orate Fratres) founded in 1926 by Father Virgil Michel, O.S.B. Ms. Gasslein served as interim editor for the past two years, following twentyone years as editor of Celebrate!, pastoral liturgy magazine of Canada.

• Brother Nickolas Kleespie served as advisor for five students from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Square One Club who spent part of their Christmas break on a service trip to Léogâne, Haiti, epicenter of the 2010 earthquake. The group partnered with an orphanage (“In His Hands”), building two 10' x 12' mobile chicken coops to house 150 hens. “The work was challenging, especially considering the scarcity of supplies and the difficulty of making a chicken coop mobile,” explained Brother Nick. The sale of eggs from the happy Haitian hens helps support the orphanage and also provides the children with vocational training.

• A thousand guests joined Abbot John and the monks of Saint John’s Abbey for the services of Christmas Eve. Before and during the Eucharist The St. John’s Boys’ Choir and the abbey schola delighted the congregation with a concert of Christmas carols; after the liturgy light refreshments were served in the Great Hall to fortify guests for their travels home. • Between 18 October and 31 December a pitiful fifteen deer (compared to fifty-one a year ago) were harvested during a controlled archery hunt in the Saint John’s woods. About one hundred archers were eligible to

Kleespie archives

Stickwork is open to the public for viewing and is located on the prairie near Saint John’s entry road, just off I-94. Abbey Banner Spring 2015

Abbey Banner Spring 2015

January 2015 • As part of the observance of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the monastic community welcomed Rev. Dorothy Duquette, Obl.S.B., pastor of Calumet Community Presbyterian Church (Calumet, Minnesota) and of Lawron Presbyterian Church (Bovey), to preach at the community Eucharist on Sunday, 18 January. • Liturgical Press and Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced the co-publication of One Hope: Re-Membering the Body of Christ, a collection of essays (print and eBook) that explores experiences and activities shared by Catholics and Lutherans. The book is a collaborative effort on the part of six pastoral leaders and scholars— three Lutheran and three Roman Catholic—to create an ecumenical resource to help mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. Abbot John, one of the contributors to the book, described his participation in

the process as “Amazing! What a wonderful group of diverse, pleasant, hard-working people on this project.” One Hope: ReMembering the Body of Christ is available from the publishers. To order from Liturgical Press, visit www.litpress.org/OneHope; or call 1.800.858.5450.

prepared a report of their findings, observations, and recommendations. Commenting on the community life, they stated: “We observe that a genuine sense of mutual concern and support is one of the great blessings enjoyed by the monks of Saint John’s Abbey.” March 2015

February 2015 • On Sunday, 15 February, dozens of monks were hosted by the sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery for evening prayer and supper during the annual celebration of the feast of Saint Scholastica. The sisters’ gracious hospitality and a video celebrating the centenary of the Sacred Heart Chapel made for a delightful evening. • During the last week of February a team of four Benedictines— Brother Gregory Perron (Saint Procopius Abbey), Father Meinrad Miller (Saint Benedict’s Abbey), and Abbots Mark Cooper (Saint Anselm Abbey) and Lawrence Stasyszen (Saint Gregory’s Abbey)—served as visitators for Saint John’s Abbey.

Saint John’s Abbey Market, an online gift shop featuring candles, wooden crosses, bread boards, twine-rope rosaries, art prints, greeting cards, CDs of religious music, and more—all produced by members of the monastic community—opened for business in January: www. sjamarket.com/.

Tom Stock

Beisball been berry, berry good to him. In holy obedience, Father Wilfred “Comandante” Theisen acceded to the post of Saint John’s good will ambassador to Cuba. Attempting to normalize relations, escape Minnesota winter, and perhaps pick up a few cigars, Father Wilfred accompanied university athletic staff visiting Havana in March.

Though Benedictine monasteries are autonomous, every five or six years they undergo a visitation: abbots and monks from other houses examine the life of a particular monastery, assessing the community’s state of affairs. A visitation is a means of helping a community see where it is going, what problems it finds along the way, and how it can solve them. Following individual meetings with Saint John’s monks and interviews with a number of lay administrators associated with abbey ministries, the visitators

• Beginning on 8 March more than one hundred volunteers assisted in tapping about 1300 trees to inaugurate the maple syrup season in the abbey woods. “Little Larry”—the smaller of the two evaporators—was put to good use during the first days of the harvest when the sap flow was slow. Volunteers collected 1,100 gallons of sap during the first major sap run on 18 March. Cooking and the first bottling of the season followed the next day. • “How to Replenish the Well When the Well Runs Dry”— replenishing our spiritual reservoir as we continue to pour out our lives in service to others—was the focus of Father Eric Hollas’ conferences for fifty-five oblates of Saint John’s during a Lenten Day of Reflection on 15 March. • Sixty-five students of Saint John’s Preparatory School joined forces with The St. John’s Boys’ Choir to present Charles Dickens’ Oliver! on 20–22 March at the Paramount Theatre in Saint Cloud. “Prep students are in the principal roles, and the Boys’ Choir members play the workhouse boys and Fagin’s pickpocket crew. Paired together with the prep orchestra, these young people are creating

John Entenmann

Brother Walter Kieffer and “Little Larry”

breathtaking music,” said director Brother Paul-Vincent Niebauer. Brother Richard Crawford, technical director, assisted in the construction of the set depicting London in the 1830s.

• The monastic community began the observance of Holy Week with a special Palm Sunday vigil service to which Saint John’s friends, neighbors, students and their families, and nearby parishioners were invited. Reflecting the solemn message of the Palm Sunday liturgy, the prayer service featured the beautiful and moving musical compositions (chant and organ accompaniment) of Father Jerome Coller. Following the prayer service all guests were invited to join the monks for light refreshments in the abbey chapter house. In addition, guests were welcome to view a pictorial history of Saint John’s and its apostolates, entitled Minnesota Monks: Worship and Work, on display in the chapter house gallery. B

Abbey Banner Spring 2015

Fifty Years Ago

Monks in the Kitchen

Excerpted from The Record, official newspaper of Saint John’s University:

Community Cooking Ælred Senna, O.S.B.

25 February 1965

• The Benedictine community has embarked on a long-range program of monastic re-evaluation and renewal in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. In announcing the program, Abbot Baldwin Dworschak wrote to his monks: “There is no doubt in my mind that the Second Vatican Council is a God-inspired means of bringing about a new era in monasticism. It can become a great stimulus for growth of every kind, for deepening our faith in religious life as a vocation, and for making our regular observance vital and joyful. Without losing or setting aside what is truly Benedictine, we would like to capture the new spirit in the liturgy, in holy Scripture, and in religious formation.” • The renowned Microfilm Project is out of the laboratory and on the launching pad. Within the month photographing will begin in sixteen Austrian monasteries, with copies already being made in four Italian monasteries, including the famous Monte Cassino. Eventually to be included are the manuscripts from three Swiss monasteries, bringing the total yield of the project to over 14,000 manuscripts from twenty-three European libraries. 15 March 1965

• On the weekend of March 20-21 Saint John’s will be the site of a dialogue between priesthood students of Saint

T University archives

John’s and their counterparts from Luther Theological Seminary in Saint Paul. Saint John’s will be represented by six diocesan seminarians and five Benedictine clerics, and Luther Theological will send twelve of its seminarians. Four to six professors from each school will also attend. The dialogue has been an annual affair since 1959, when the first of these discussions was held on the topic of faith. Since then the students have discussed such varied subjects as Scripture and tradition, the Eucharist, and theological anthropology. This year’s topic is “The Church: The Servant People of God.” 2 April 1965

• Last Thursday, 25 March, marked the culmination of the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. Father Godfrey Diekmann (above), by his own admission “expendable” since he’s not teaching this semester, marched with them. Father Godfrey commented: “We

marched for a specific reason; we marched to procure Negro voting rights. Since the march drew national attention to the fact that Negroes in Alabama are being denied their rights, we felt the march served a very useful purpose.” 30 April 1965

• Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new [Peter Engel] science hall were held on 20 April. Assisting Abbot Baldwin Dworschak were Fathers Matthew Kiess, Bertram Niggemann, Casper Keogh, and Melchior Freund, science profs. The science hall, designed by architect Marcel Breuer, will cost $2.4 million and is scheduled for completion by August 1966. The science hall’s four stories will contain an area of 100,000 square feet and house the biology, chemistry, and physics departments and include a greenhouse, science library, and classroom lecture building seating 300 students. B

his year I have been assisting with a new residential life program at Saint John’s University—the Benedictine Living (and Learning) Community (BLC). The program is co-sponsored by Saint John’s Abbey, Saint John’s University Residential Life and Housing, Saint John’s University Campus Ministry, and the Benedictine Institute of Saint John’s. Eleven Saint John’s undergraduates are participating this year, becoming the program’s pioneers as we laid the foundation for what this mission-driven living and learning experience can offer our students. The participants meet weekly for a classroom-style discussion on aspects of community life and Benedictine values. At each meeting we also take turns preparing meals for the group—some weeks one of the two apartment groups takes a turn, at other times Father Mark Thamert, O.S.B., (the group’s faculty sponsor) or I take charge. The floor on which the group lives includes a public kitchen area, so in addition to food for our weekly meetings, the men are able to prepare and share meals on a regular basis. They have learned much about community living this year—the importance of mutual obedience, detachment, silence, and not least, the ways in which a shared meal can bring a group closer together.

Violetamyftari, Wikimedia Commons

This past November the men of the Benedictine Living Community sponsored a Thanksgiving feast for themselves and the residents of the other two apartments who share the same floor of their building. The BLC members designed the invitation, planned the menu, assembled the ingredients, cooked and served

the meal, and did the cleanup. Father Mark and I agree it was one of the best Thanksgiving dinners we have been honored to attend. The group has definitely learned the art of Benedictine hospitality! B Brother Ælred Senna, O.S.B., is the associate editor of Give Us This Day.

David’s Cornbread • • • • • • • • •

¼ cup butter (½ stick) 1½ cups cornmeal ½ cup flour 1 T. sugar 1½ t. baking powder ¾ t. salt ½ t. baking soda 1 large egg 1½ cups buttermilk

Douglas P. Perkins

Preheat oven to 425°F. Melt the butter in 10” oven-proof skillet in oven until completely melted. Combine dry ingredients, then whisk in eggs and buttermilk. Pour hot butter into batter, stirring until blended. Wipe leftover butter around 10” skillet. Pour batter into skillet. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Cool slightly before serving. Enjoy as is, or use to make old-fashioned cornbread dressing for the turkey!

Abbey Banner Spring 2015

In Memoriam

Called to Die and Rise

Please join the monastic community in prayerful remembrance of our deceased family members and friends:

Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

Howard Lee Agee

Norbert W. “Norb” Jansen

Gretchen S. Pollei

Chester “Chet” Angulski

Anna R. Kathrein

Annie Laurie Malarkey Rahr

Kenneth Eugene Badboy

Evangeline Kent, Obl.S.B.

Agatha Riehl, O.S.B.

William Beaver, O.S.B.

Barbara Coufal Kieffer

Claudia Riehl, O.S.B.

Emily Boone

Flora Klier, O.S.B.

Arnaldo Rosado

Magdaline G. Bovis

Clifford G. Knier

LeRoy B. Sahlin

Joseph Thomas Brudney

Kerry Otho Lafferty

Emily Ann Saracino

Josephine E. “Josie” Burkman

Scott Robert Laube

Joseph Saracino

Mary Ann Callahan

Ingrid Luukkonen, O.S.B.

Clement T. “Clem” Sauer

James Homer Cashman, O.S.C.

Patricia L. Madden

Diane Schmerler, Obl.S.B.

Richard L. Crouser

Lawrence “Larry” Manahan

Madelva Schur, O.S.B.

Jeanette Dan

Sharon M. McGraw

Margaret Schweiss, O.S.B.

Scott “Gabriel” Dewese

Richard “Dick” Midas

Gerard Senecal, O.S.B.

Norma Jean Dickau

Joseph C. Miller

Eugene F. Sieben

Hildebrand Eickhoff, O.S.B.

John Stanis Nentl

Mary Katherine Stattelman

Steven Glenn Evans

Jean Colville Oberpriller

Keegan G. Tarrant

Vivian A. Franta

John Oscar Oberpriller

Gertrude Eloise Triggs

William Michael “Bill” Fraser

Andrew Opitz

Irene M. Wahl

David Robert Frigaard

Rosemary J. “Romy” Petters

John A. Wahl

Charles L. Froehle

Joan Elizabeth Pflueger

Al V. Waverek

Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.

he night before he died Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” As our part of the world slowly emerges from the long darkness and cold of winter, Dr. King’s words take on a special meaning. The thawing in our neighborhood brings relief and an unmistakable buoyancy, not just because of rising temperatures and open windows but because there is a spiritual element to the reality of spring as well. We, in fact, watch the natural world around us as it resurrects from the dormancy of a dark, cold winter and rejoice in the explosion of colors, smells, and astonishing growth. As we watch muddy patches become lawns of deep green, we somehow understand that the cold of the tomb is not as overwhelming as it might be to others. When we feel the chilly wind become a warm breeze, we realize that death does not have the last word. When barren ground suddenly sprouts life-filled stems of plants and leaves, we shake off a feeling that came over us during the first hard frost and realize that dying is a path to new life. Spring can help us understand much about the nature of dying and rising if we see our own lives as part of a greater and more mysterious process. Martin Luther King Jr.’s observation is helpful in getting us to reach beyond our limited imaginations and consider our place in God’s creation. If darkness allows us to see the stars, we are no longer trapped in our own small plane of existence but instead, imagine ourselves to be part of a vast universe that cannot be defined or completely understood. Yet, our place in it is totally unique and indispensable.

Each human life bears a light that is remarkable and necessary.

Like the vast array of stars, each human life bears a light that is remarkable and necessary. If the darkness of the winter or that of human struggles allows us to see anything, it is that we are being called to die and rise with each season we experience and each trial we endure. B

Psalm 116:15

A Monk’s Chronicle Father Eric Hollas, O.S.B., offers spiritual insights and glimpses into the life of the Benedictine community at Saint John’s Abbey in a weekly blog, A Monk’s Chronicle. Visit his blog at: monkschronicle.wordpress.com. Father Don’s Daily Reflection Father Don Talafous, O.S.B., prepares daily reflections on Scripture and living the life of a Christian that are available on the abbey’s website at: saintjohnsabbey.org/reflection/.

If the Almighty said to me, “Which age would you like to live in?” . . . I would say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy.” Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding. Martin Luther King Jr., 3 April 1968

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Abbey Banner 4 This Issue Robin Pierzina, O.S.B. 5 The Reception of Guests Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B. 6 Benedictine Volunteer Corps Jeremy Graney 8 A Company of Strangers Meinrad Dindorf, O.S.B. 10 Abbey Guesthouse David Klingeman, O.S.B. 12 Hispanic Ministry Efraín Rosado, O.S.B. 13 School of Theology: Sabbatical Michael Patella, O.S.B.

Spring 2015 Volume 15, Number 1

14 The Place of the Prophetic Michaela Hedican, O.S.B. John Klassen, O.S.B.

26 Meet a Monk: Geoffrey Fecht Bradley Jenniges, O.S.B.

16 Saint John’s Maple Syrup Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.

28 Stickwork: Lean on Me

20 Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at 50 Matthew Heintzelman 23 Trinity Benedictine Monastery Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B. 24 A Basic System of Living Richard Bresnahan 25 Rule of Benedict: The Garden of the Lord Eric Hollas, O.S.B.

29 Abbey Chronicle Robin Pierzina, O.S.B. 32 Fifty Years Ago 33 Monks in the Kitchen: Community Cooking Ælred Senna, O.S.B. 34 In Memoriam 35 Called to Die and Rise Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

Benedictine Days of Prayer 15 May 2015: The new evangelization: What am I supposed to do? 18 September 2015: How can I pray when I am too busy to pray? The day begins at 7:00 A.M. with Morning Prayer and concludes about 3:30 P.M. Rooms are available in the abbey guesthouse for the preceding overnight.

Retreat 24–26 April 2015: LifeSHIFT Work and the Christian journey retreat Presenter: Dr. Thomas Bachhuber Register online at abbeyguesthouse.org; or call 320.363.3929.