Cowley Magazine - Winter 2006

Volume 32 • Number 1

Winter 2006

Cover photo: Br. Kevin Hackett made his Profession in Life Vows on Sunday evening, November 20, in the monastery chapel. He is pictured here with Br. Eldridge Pendleton. Brs. Kevin and Eldridge not only share life as SSJE brothers and friends, but are fellow alumni of Duke Divinity School.

©2006 by The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, North America

A Letter from the Superior Photo credit: Peter Paradise

Dear Members of the Fellowship of Saint John and Other Friends, Curtis Almquist, SSJE

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ur founder, Richard Meux Benson, called the SSJE brothers “men of the moment.” Living in the moment, we hold two realities in tandem. On the one hand, we experience the present moment as sacramental, God being really present in “real time.”

Our days are informed by the ancient monastic rhythm of prayer and worship, work, rest, friendship and delight. In all of it, we seek to “pray our lives,” practicing the real presence of Christ in the best of times and worst of times, in joy and sorrow, in our laughter and labor, and in our weariness and rest. Where God is most to be known, worshiped, and served is now. We abide, rooted and grounded in God’s love. We pray out of the depths of our lives.

On the other hand, being “men of the moment” also gives us the freedom to be quite spontaneous. Through our vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience, we have nothing to cling to and everything to give and to give up, with generosity. And so we are also always attentive to that new thing, God’s new invitation that may dawn on us in the day. We practice the presence of Christ both in our abiding in Christ – being still, being here, being now – and in meeting Christ along the way, as he comes to us from the future, inviting The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Rusty Page, with (l-r) Brs. Alan Cooper, Timothy Solverson, and John Mathis.

us to follow. We are monks and we are missioners, and this graceful tension has informed our identity since our founding in 1866. In the pages following, you will see many reports from our life of prayer and service. We have looked to God’s glory, and we have sought to mirror this glory near and far: from the Katrina disaster on the Gulf Coast to the AIDS crisis in southern Africa, from Yale Divinity School to the homeless on Boston’s streets.

In late November our brother of many years, Rusty Page, ended his membership with SSJE. Rusty had been on an extended leave of absence for several years, during which time he worked outside the community. During his years of membership in our community, he made many contributions to our common life and to the lives of so many others. The gift of his friendship is of great value to the community, and 3

we have every hope that the friendship we share will continue to grow over the coming years.

On Sunday evening, November 20, our brother Kevin Hackett made his Profession in Life Vows in the presence of the SSJE brothers, family members, and many friends. We say in our Rule of Life that a life profession “inspires us with awe.” Indeed. We witness the fullness of God’s time in Kevin’s life commitment. Kevin came to us as a published composer of music, a seasoned conference speaker, a gifted teacher, a well-trained deacon about to be ordained as priest. What has been most moving, though, has been to witness how Kevin has found the freedom to “lay down his life” for the love and in the service of Christ, and in the company of us brothers. I have appointed Kevin as the new Publisher of Cowley Publications. For a number of years he has taken a leadership role in our publishing ministry, and the energy and ability he brings to the role of Publisher is a great gift to us brothers, our outstanding professional staff, and to you and others who are our patrons.

Br. Kevin Hackett

We find these days both challenging and very opportune. We know that it is not possible for us to pray and serve without your faithful companionship along the way. Many, many thanks for your friendship, your prayer, your financial support. This new year, may you know the same blessing of God that you are helping provide to us, and through us to so many others.

Faithfully yours,

Curtis G. Almquist, SSJE Superior

Meet us at General Convention, June 13-22, in Columbus, Ohio!

SSJE brothers and Cowley Publications’ staff members will be on hand throughout the convention at our booth (#207 & #208) in the Exhibition Hall, and in the various assemblies.

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Desire and Need: A Reflection on Jesus’ Call to Follow Kevin R. Hackett, SSJE

To those who knotted nets of twine beside a fish-filled sea, Christ called aloud, “Put down that line, and come and follow me.”

Accustomed to the tug of rope ensnared in rocks and weeds, they felt in Christ a tug of hope for all their tangled needs.

Follow me.

—Thomas Troeger

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esus’ last words to Peter in the final chapter of the Gospel according to John are identical to those which began a three-year stint of friendship and formation for ministry back in chapter one. Jesus’ relationship with his disciples, and particularly Peter, was, as we would say in modern parlance, complicated. Jesus, after all, had fairly high expectations of those who claimed to be his pupils, and they rarely met them. He was painfully—and eventually fatally—aware of how flawed and inept they were most of the time. They were theologically clumsy. They didn’t get along with each other much of the time. They were jealous of one another.

They were competitive with each other.

They could be manipulative, trying to strike secret deals with Jesus, jockeying for position. They lied. They cheated.

Jesus knew all of this, of course, and when Jesus announced at the last supper that one of them would betray him, they all stopped talking mid-sentence The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

and gulped, asking themselves, Is it I?, which suggests that they all knew themselves to be at least capable of such infidelity. You have to wonder sometimes what Jesus saw in them.

You have to wonder also what it was about Jesus that was sufficiently compelling to make them leave their homes and families and livelihoods.

What was it about the man and his teaching that caused more than a few to “leave their nets” and follow him?

I suspect it had something to do with their desire for something more in relation to God. What that more was I doubt they could have said, but I think it is likely that Jesus’ presence, his reputation, and his teaching, even in the early days of his ministry, held the promise of that something more.

I also think the first disciples’ willingness to respond to the call of Jesus had as much to do with their need as it did with their desire. Actually, I think this is true for all of us whom Jesus calls 5

to follow him. I know it is true for me.

Desire and need are not easily separated. They are marbled in our flesh like fat streaking a fine corn-fed Kansas steak. We may be able to trim a little here and there, achieving the illusion of perfectly lean, but there’s always some left hidden deep in the cut (to say nothing of what’s lost in flavor!). So it is with us. However much we desire to be healed, however much we know ourselves to be healed, we will always be in need of still more. And that need, mingled with desire, inevitably informs and influences decisions we make throughout our lives—including vocational decisions—whether we are aware of it or not.

Our founder, Richard Meux Benson, seems to have understood this interplay of desire and need, even without the benefit of Freudian and Jungian insights into the human psyche. He taught that the call of God (he writes concerning the religious life, but his wisdom is applicable to any Christian

“Christ, the Savior of the World,” an icon written by Br. James Koester, was a focal point at Br. Kevin’s profession.

vocation) is “continuous, abiding, and progressive.” In our Rule of Life, this teaching is expanded: (The call of God is) Continuous, because in the communion we enjoy with God in prayer and worship day by day, the voice of the Spirit never ceases to call us into deeper union. Abiding, because the wisdom of God, communicated to us in our prayer and life, is absorbed into our hearts never to perish. Progressive, because God’s voice will come to us in the future ever new, calling us to fresh opportunities, and bringing gifts beyond what we know now. (Chapter 39, “Life Profession”)

Photo credit: Doug DeMark

Brs. Kevin Hackett and John Mathis

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My own journey to life profession in the SSJE has been a long one, with extensions of time for additional discernment, clarity, and confirmation at every point possible. And it could not have been any other way because God’s call to me and the form it has taken is unique, as is the call of every SSJE

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

dynamic, at both the individual and communal levels: …some of our ideals and dreams will need to be surrendered; the way God actually calls us to live may seem less appealing or less heroic than other forms of [Christian] life. (Chapter 6, “The Spirit of Poverty”)

Our brother John Goldring often offers a prayer giving thanks “for the patience of God.” That prayer has

Photo credit: Doug DeMark

disciple. This is an aspect of what biblical theologians call “the scandal of particularity.” I was aware of my interest in monastic life—which I would say was the genesis of my desire to live it—as early as seventh grade. The specifics of my life, however, included the genuine need and necessity to tend other things—personal, professional, familial—which meant that the desire, which had grown steadily through the years, would not be satisfied fully for another thirty-five years. Wasted time?

Lost years? No, not a minute! Taking the long view of God’s economy, those years are nothing more nor less than kairos, the fullness of time. The only life we can live is the one we have been given. We cannot live the life we wish we had had or the life we think we should have had, nor can we live the life that has been given to another. We only get the one we have been given, and we can choose (or not) to live it fully, with all its grace and with all its limitation.

In John 21, Peter is not especially happy with the path the Jesus has charted for him. Peter glances over his shoulder at the disciple whom Jesus loved (of whom he is jealous, perhaps?) and asks, “What about him?” Jesus effectively says, “That’s none of your business. His path is his path, not yours. Follow me.”

It is easy to imagine that this was not a particularly welcome response. The particular aspects of our individual calls to follow will often seem less attractive or daring or colorful, or perhaps more difficult and challenging, than those of others. Again our Rule notes this

Brs. Mark Brown, Charles LaFond, and Kevin Hackett

become mine as well, but the thanks is due also to and for the many people through whom and with whom God has shaped and molded me: my family, a Baptist upbringing, college connections from Oral Roberts University, my years with the Community of Celebration, formation for ordination at Duke Divinity School, and my brothers in this community with whom I now make my home and in whose good company I can now freely say I desire and need to follow Jesus.

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Photo credit: Peter Paradise

Life Along the Pilgrim’s Way

David Vryhof, SSJE

This past summer, Brothers David Vryhof and Curtis Almquist made a 30-day pilgrimage, walking “el Camino de Santiago de Compostela,” an ancient pilgrims’ route across northern Spain to Santiago, the city which tradition associates with the Apostle James.

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here is a special sense of possibility, a heightened awareness of what could be, at the beginning of a pilgrimage. The way lies before us and we don’t know what it will bring. It is rich with potential: there are experiences to be lived, people to be met, places to be seen – all quite unknown at this stage, but eagerly anticipated nonetheless. We dream, envisioning in our mind’s eye how we might be changed by these experiences and people and places, imagining ourselves as we might be when we reach the way’s end.

Each new day we take up our packs and our staffs, step into the crisp morning air, breathe deeply its freshness, and set off. The scenery is breathtaking.

The hills are a luxurious green and the sky a brilliant, cloudless blue. We walk through seemingly endless vineyards with ordered ranks of vines, and through wheat fields already bending with the weight of their grain. We enter quaint villages, asleep in the hills, with ancient churches whose steeples rise above the towns to signal their presence to the surrounding countryside.

These early days are so full of newness and delight, of wonder and gratitude.

Day after day we walk, absorbed in our thoughts and reflections, feeling the sun warming our backs and the breeze 8

Br. David on el Camino

offering us its cool refreshment. It is good to be alive, to be able to sense so vividly what is around us, to be so free from duty and responsibility that we have nothing to do but to enjoy it and take it in.

There are difficult days, too, days when we don’t want to shoulder our SSJE brothers’ Sunday and Feast Day sermons are now available on the web.

Visit the site at www.ssje.org.

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Brs. David Vryhof and Curtis Almquist in Santiago de Compostela

packs and leave the comfort of our resting place, times when our feet are aching and our bodies are weary, and yet there is nothing to do but push on until we have reached the destination we have set for ourselves, the place where we will stop and say, “It is enough for today; tomorrow we will continue.”

And finally, after so many of these days, easy and difficult, we catch sight of the end of our road, the city and cathedral of Saint James, the final destination of this route which has been traveled by countless thousands of Christians from the ninth century to the present. There is a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in arriving here. We join with hundreds of others to celebrate the Pilgrim’s Mass in the cathedral and to press our hands into the worn place on the pillar of the church where so many other pilgrims have also marked the end of their journey. We feel a great solidarity with The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

these other pilgrims, who have come from across the world, as we have, to share this great adventure. What were we seeking and what have we found? A nearness to God. A deep appreciation for the beauty of the earth or for the wonder of human life in all its variety.

A renewed sense of life and purpose.

A deep and hidden inner strength.

The answer differs for each of us, and sometimes feels too mysterious to express. Though we may not be able to fully articulate what we have found on this journey or how it has changed us, we know we have been faithful to the call. We have responded to the invitation. We have “finished the race,” and now rest in peace, satisfaction and joy.

How like the Christian way. We too are pilgrims and travelers who walk in the world and yet do not belong to it, who make our way to God by daily taking up our pack and moving on, lit-

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“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

tle by little, steadily, faithfully, towards the goal which is set before us. Like a pilgrimage, a Christian life consists of a long obedience in the same direction, a daily choosing to leave the place where we are and move a bit farther towards the end for which we have been created and called. Some days there is a spring in our step, a sense of excitement and anticipation, an inner assurance that we are making progress along the way, a strong sense that we will indeed reach our goal. On other days we are discouraged and weary, seeing how much of the way still lies before us, feeling the weight of what we have been carrying, wondering if we will ever realize our hope.

It is good to have companions with us on the way. Companions offer us support, inspiration, and guidance. They challenge us to keep going when we would rather stop and

settle where we are. Companions hold before us a vision of our destination and motivate us to press on. Companions can love us to our goal. The best of companions is Jesus, who has also walked this pilgrims’ way, but other companions are useful and necessary as well. We ought not to underestimate their importance.

The pilgrim’s way…a long obedience in the same direction…a daily choosing to rise up and carry on…a journey to an end, the very end and purpose for which we have been made. It helps to keep our goal clearly before us. It is wise to travel light. It is essential to stay on the path. It is necessary to persevere even when we’d rather not. It is a long and steady journey, and in the end we will know that every step was worthwhile. It is the journey that brings us home to God.

Consider Becoming an SSJE Brother!

“Come and See” June 8-11, 2006

We welcome men interested in learning about a vocation in SSJE to join us for a “Come and See” weekend at the monastery, June 8-11, 2006.

For more information, please visit our website www.ssje.org or contact our Novice Guardian, Br. Geoffrey Tristram, at the monastery or by email: noviceguardian@ssje.org 10

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C.S. Lewis and the Cowley Fathers

by Lyle W. Dorsett

C.S. Lewis

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he story of C. S. Lewis’s conversion to faith in Jesus Christ is well documented. Indeed, Lewis himself set forth a plain account of his pilgrimage in Surprised by Joy. But neither Lewis nor students of his life and writing have produced a thorough account of how he grew from infancy to maturity in the Christian faith. Of course we do know that Mr. Lewis found nurture in prayer, scripture, the Church, and experience with other Christians. From his writings it is also clear that a few authors, among them George MacDonald, George Herbert, and C. K. Chesterton, fed his heart and mind. What is less known, however, is that the ministry of Oxford’s Society of Saint John the Evangelist had a profound impact on Lewis’s spiritual formation.

Beginning in autumn 1940, the evangelists and spiritual directors exerted a powerful influence on the Oxford writer’s spirituality. Mr. Lewis confided to his friend Sister Penelope, an Anglican nun in the community of St. Mary the Virgin at Wantage, that he felt led by the Holy Spirit to find a spiritual director to whom he could regularly confess sins and be held accountable to repent. To Lewis’s mind such a man needed to be more than a good listener; he must be an experienced soul physician who towered above him in The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

spiritual maturity and understanding of the deeper things of God. With some trepidation be- Walter Adams, SSJE cause of innate reticence and a fear of “indulging in an orgy of Egoism,” Lewis made the short trek from his rooms at Magdalen College, Oxford, to the adjacent village of Cowley where eighteen to twenty monks lived in community at the Mission House. There on a Friday afternoon in late October 1940 the Belfast-born Oxford Fellow met with Father Walter Adams and made his first confession. A week later Lewis admitted that the experience was like a tonic to his soul.

It is doubtful that anyone had as great an impact on Lewis’s spiritual development during the spiritually formative years from 1940-1952 as Father Walter Adams. Adams was born in England in 1869. His father served as an Anglican parish priest and encouraged his son to attend Keble College, Oxford. After his Keble years Adams did further study at Wells Theological College. Ordained in 1897, he served as a curate in two rural parishes. Then in 1916 the unmarried priest, now fortyseven years old, discerned a call to be a mission priest of the Society of Saint 11

John the Evangelist. A humble yet deeply passionate man, Father Adams became one of the most sought after spiritual directors at the Mother House until his death in 1952.

C. S. Lewis’s correspondence and information I gleaned from oral history interviews reveal that Lewis met Father Adams every Friday unless one of them needed to be out of town.

Father Adam’s impact on Lewis during the dozen years they met was unquestionably transformational. Adams was an Anglo-Catholic and he gently but purposefully led Lewis to become a High Churchman. Thanks to Adams, Lewis learned to love liturgy, the 1662 Prayer Book, the Daily Office, and praying through the Psalter each month. It was Adams who helped Lewis learn that the Eucharist is more than a memorial and symbol. Indeed, Adams helped the increasingly popular writer experience Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Adams also introduced Mr. Lewis to the writings of Richard Meux Benson, the founder of the SSJE. And from Father Benson’s works Lewis gradually gained a longing for holiness, admiration of pre-Sixth Century Church Fathers, a heart for evangelism, and a soul-transformational mystical knowledge of what it means to be, in Pauline terms, “in Christ.”

Thanks to the writing of Benson and the mentorship of Father Adams, Lewis grew to celebrate and enjoy, as he phrased it, “the really present” Lord Jesus Christ. A glimpse of Father Adam’s impact on Lewis can be seen in these words written by C. S. Lewis soon after Adams died: “To me he meant a great deal. Indeed in all the years in which 12

Richard Meux Benson, our founder

he was both my spiritual director and close friend I have met no one from whom I have derived so much help and counsel and whose companionship I have valued so highly.”

The ever-growing throng of faithful Christians who are indebted to C. S. Lewis for help along the pilgrim way clearly owe much thanks to God for the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, its founder Richard Meux Benson, and the obscure and humble monk, Walter Adams.

Dr. Lyle W. Dorsett is the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The material for this article is based upon Dorsett’s Seeking the Secret Place; The Spiritual Formation of C. S. Lewis (Brazos Press, 2005) and from primary source materials housed at the Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.

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Ministry Report: AIDS in Africa

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n September, our brother and bishop Tom Shaw SSJE led a group of people from the Jubilee Ministry of the Diocese of Massachusetts, to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. They went to look at the HIV/AIDS projects which the diocese has been funding, and to review the possibility of funding some new projects.

The group first traveled to the Diocese of Maseno North in Kenya, where the Jubilee Ministry is funding a program that feeds 2,000 AIDS orphans, half of whom are themselves infected with the virus. The funds also provide a medical clinic for the orphans every Saturday. While in Kenya, the members of the group were guests of Nan and Gerry Hardisohn of St. Philip’s Bible College. “I was deeply impressed by these programs,” said Br. Tom, “and by the fact that every dollar goes to orphans and to those infected by HIV/AIDS. There are no administrative costs because all the work is done by volunteers.”

The group then traveled to Tanzania, where they were the guests of Bishop Philip Baji of the Diocese of Tanga. They were able to consider the bishop’s proposal for the Jubilee Ministry to fund home health care workers to minister to people living with HIV/AIDS in the Deanery of Maramba. “I was very encouraged by the profound hospitality we received in Maseno North and Tanga,” said Br. Tom, “and by the desire on the part of the bishops for the unity of the Anglican Communion, as well as by their encouragement in working together to combat the suffering on the African continent.”

In the coming months, two SSJE brothers, David Vryhof and Curtis Almquist, will be accompanying Tom Shaw on return visits to Africa. Brs. Tom and David will visit the Diocese of Maseno North in Kenya in January, to teach at St. Phillip’s Bible College near Kisuma, and to visit the feeding program and medical clinic that the Diocese of Massachusetts sponsors for orphans in Lamu. In March, Tom and Curtis will be visiting the Diocese of Tanga in Tanzania, to work with Bishop Baji.

Br.Thomas Shaw, Bishop of Massachusetts, in Tanzania.

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

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Ministry Report: Hurricane Katrina

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n August 29, 2005, hurricane Katrina careened into the Gulf region, creating the largest natural and social disaster in our nation’s history. As we brothers watched the horrors unfolding in Louisiana and Mississippi, we, as did so many others, pondered the question, “How might God use us to help in this crisis?” Within a few days, in response to our inquiry, an invitation was extended to us from The Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins, Bishop of Louisiana. He said, “We need you here – just your presence among us is important. You can pray when we cannot find the words.”

For the most part, our presence was what we offered in Louisiana. Within twenty-four hours of the invitation, Brs. Mark Brown and Charles LaFond were dispatched to Baton Rouge to assist Bishop Jenkins and his diocesan staff with pastoral care and with the management of the Office of Disaster Response. After ten days, it was clear that the initial crisis was not over and Br. Timothy Solverson was sent to replace Br. Mark so that SSJE’s presence could extend for a full three weeks.

One of the charisms of religious life is the gift of availability, the ability to pack a bag and be on the next flight.

Bishop Charles Jenkins and Brs. Charles LaFond and Timothy Solverson We were two monks in black habits, with two suitcases, two cell phones, two laptops, two Prayer Books and Bibles, and hearts willing to love and serve.

As Br. Mark observed, “Our ministry of presence is what was most needed. We stood with a diocese in despair, much the way Mary and John stood with Jesus at the Cross.” We wandered the halls Br. Charles LaFond and colleague in Louisiana of St. James’ Church, to which the diocesan and cathedral offices had been evacuated. We touched a shoulder, made coffee, and offered a smile. Sometimes a smile was returned; sometimes, the response was a pair of wet eyes. We led Morning and Evening Prayer in the chapel of the Spiritual Formation Center, which had been transformed into office space. “We prayed a lot,” Br. Charles reported, “And when a truck Br. Mark Brown arrived with supplies, we moved boxes.”

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SSJE

Ministry Report: Hurricane Katrina In addition to our presence among the bishop’s staff, we brothers spent much of our time three blocks away at the River Center, where thousands of refugees were huddled on cots placed inches apart. We cared for the “guests,” the Red Cross workers and the military police. We moved among people whose homes had been destroyed, whose livelihoods had been shattered, and whose families had been dispersed. “When people feel they have hit bottom,” Br. Timothy explained, “sometimes all you can do is hold their hand and point back up to the light.”

While Brs. Mark and Timothy ministered among refugees and assisted clergy in their slow return to their destroyed homes, Br. Charles was occasionally called in as Chaplain to the Disaster Mortuary Unit (DMORT) in St. Gabriel. In a disaster such as this one, there is always need of a morgue – a big one. DMORT was a large encampment of about four hundred forensic pathologists and morticians. As huge refrigerated trucks arrived with retrieved corpses, chaplains met each truck, laid hands on it and prayed for the forty bodies inside, and then slowly escorted it to the morgue, where the difficult work of decontamination, autopsy and identification began. Between truck arrivals, chaplains ministered to the pathologists and morticians, many of whom were overwhelmed by the experience of so much death.

In our Rule of Life (Chapter 32, “The Spirit of Mission and Service”) we acknowledge that “Christ will make himself known to us in wonderful ways in those we serve, especially in those who suffer and are poor in spirit.” Looking back on three weeks at the center of a disaster, Br. Charles said, “Friends of the Society gave generously of their money to make this ministry possible. We went bearing the love of every brother and had it reflected back to us. The word ‘disaster’ means ‘lacking a star’ (dis-astor). It is by the light of stars that we navigate, except during a storm.

In response to this disaster, we brothers sought to bring light, but what we found in the bishop’s offices and in the refugee center and at DMORT was light – warm light reflected back onto us.”

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). The light of Christ! Thanks be to God! Lord, God of the Universe, creator and sustainer of all life; grant us the serenity to respond to disaster in bold faith, seeking not certainty, but rather the assurance of your abiding presence.

Grant us hope when we spiral into despair and fill our broken hearts with the love with which you surround us.

As we rebuild, guide each hammer and nail with a ring of hope; bless each bandage and conversation with the balm of healing, and strengthen each resolve with the blessed assurance that all manner of thing shall be well, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (a prayer written in the first days of the disaster) The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

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The Building Blocks of Faith

Roy Cockrum, SSJE

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ast June I had the privilege of making a pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine with my brother Geoffrey and a group at St. George’s College, Jerusalem.

One of the places we visited was an excavation north of the Sea of Galilee of the ancient city of Dan, also known as Laish. Laish was renamed by the man named Dan, the fifth son of Jacob and the first son of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid. King Jeroboam made the city famous by designating it, along with Bethel, as one of the “high cities” to which a golden calf was sent for worship by those who couldn’t make it to Jerusalem. Jereboam reigned as king from 967 to 945 BCE. Now I confess that as we stood staring at this amazing excavation of these early city gates and listened to passages of scripture that described events that took place there, I had trouble making the connection between the God I experience so readily in the here and now, and the God that stood with the six hundred men-under-arms at the gates of Dan those many millennia ago.

I confess that I don’t relate very well to King Jereboam or Dan or Bilhah or Rachel or Jacob. I confess too my difficulty in relating to the God of the Old Testament: a God who seems very quick to anger and judgment. I don’t think I’m alone here. So what do we 16

Icon of the Holy Trinity, written by Br. Eldridge Pendleton, based on the story of Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality in Genesis 18.

do with these Old Testament people?

What are we to think of this Old Testament God who can seem so angry or so far from us now?

In our liturgical calendar we name and celebrate the “Saints of the Old Testament,” holy people of God who, according to our tradition, paved the way for our own salvation. How are we to relate to these people today? Are they simply historical figures? Or are we to reverence them with the same esteem and piety with which we remember Saint Mary and Saint John?

Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land didn’t begin and end with the excavations at Dan. That was just a brief stop along the road as we toured upper Galilee. Our pilgrimage began and ended in Jerusalem. If you want to conSSJE

nect with your roots as a Christian, go to Jerusalem. There you will encounter the real world of the Old and New Testaments. You can stand on the Mount of Olives, looking across the Kidron Valley towards the Temple Mount and the ancient city walls and gates built to protect the holy places of our forebears, and indeed all the children of Abraham. You can see the excavations of the City of David, the place where David and his army settled with the Ark of the Covenant. You can climb the Temple steps, where generation upon generation of faithful parents, including Joseph and Mary, brought their children to be presented to God. And you can stand at the Western Wall, now a focus of prayer and an emblem of Jewish identity recognizable all over the world. It is a place where Jewish history, our history, is remembered.

Unfortunately, these days the Western Wall is frequently compared to other walls whose purpose it is to divide – to divide families, neighborhoods, countries and peoples. But as we prayed at the Western Wall, leaning against the massive stones, another image came to mind. It was the image of a loadbearing wall, a wall where all the stones bear the burden of keeping the wall

standing. This is not a wall that divides, but rather a wall that upholds. This seems to me to be an apt and lasting image for a faith community. In a community of faith we uphold one another.

If there is grief, we all bear that grief.

If there is joy, we all share in that joy.

And indeed we can only exist by trusting the foundation built by those who have gone before us. Each is a building block of faith.

Jesus said, “…have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living” (Mt.22:31-32).

The passage goes on to say that the people found this teaching amazing. It is amazing! God says, “I am the God of Abraham,” and Jesus reminds us that God “is God not of the dead, but of the living.” That makes these Old Testament saints – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Bilhah and Dan – living stones on which our faith is built and by which it is upheld. And that makes God not the God of things that have passed away but the God of the eternally here and now.

With all the holy women and men of the Old Testament, living saints, we stand in faith before a living God.

Posing for the photographer

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

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An SSJE Pilgrim

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ne of the definitions of being a “pilgrim” is to be on a journey or search for something sacred.

In my case, I have been looking for a deeper relationship with God. This began when I was quite young. Along the way, I found ministers and teachers and guides.

Twenty years ago, when a woman mentor brought me to SSJE for a weekend retreat in Cambridge, I had the much spoken of sensation of being “home” as I sat in the monastery chapel on Memorial Drive. Everything – grief, doubts, fears – relaxed inside of me in this space. I found it astonishing. I returned, when I could, for more times of retreat.

There was always, each time I entered, that “coming home” feeling.

In 1998 I remarried and my husband and I moved down the street from 980 Memorial Drive.

The monastery chapel became more and more a part of my life.

My desire to be closer to God suddenly felt turned up to “high.”

I was able to sit in the chapel in silence when no one else was there.

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Pamela Post-Ferrante I was able to worship more regularly and receive spiritual direction.

I discovered a new love for Jesus, which I had not expected nor really sought, for I had been looking for God. That, too, has been given. I experienced a sense of God’s love and a new understanding of how I might best express that love to others. This keeps growing.

This past August, 2005, I became a pilgrim to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, joining Brothers Kevin Hackett and David Vryhof on a course of study offered by St. Georges College. Each day was full of prayer. The brothers led us in singing and in worship at the places where Jesus lived and ministered.

Each evening, we gathered for the service of Compline. I believe that it was because of this holy framework, created for us daily, that the pilgrimage was life-changing for me.

There is much mystery and good fortune in how my life has woven in and out of SSJE over the past two decades. I have the deepest gratitude for their Being.

Being in Cambridge. Being in West Newbury. Being in my heart, wherever I am.

I am an SSJE Pilgrim. God’s love is and always has been my home. I just learned to experience it more deeply in the space and fellowship of The Society of Saint John the Evangelist.

SSJE

COMMUNITY NEWS A confirmation class from Christ Church, Rawdon, Quebec (one hour south of Montreal) was with us in early September. The group is pictured here with Brs. Roy Cockrum and Curtis Almquist, along with its leader, The Rev. Edward Simonton.

Br. Eldridge Pendleton led the annual retreat of the Fellowship of the Way of the Cross at Our Lady of Peace Spiritual Life Center in Narragansett, Rhode Island, September 6-9. Ordained Episcopal clergy from throughout New England make up the membership of the Fellowship, which was founded 120 years ago, largely through the influence of Arthur Hall, SSJE, who later became Bishop of Vermont. Its purpose is “to

Br. Eldridge Pendleton (back row, right), and (to Br. Eldridge’s right) Bishop Ewen Ratteray of the Diocese of Burmuda.

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

foster holiness and provide mutual support for priests and deacons who share a common rule of life and gather for a retreat and days of reflection each year.”

Br. Eldridge also led the clergy of the Diocese of Bermuda on retreat at the monastery October 17-22.

September 30-October 2 we hosted the annual meeting of the Ecclesia Ministries “Come and See” gathering. This national event brought lay and clergy ministries from around the country to meet with The Rev. Debbie Little, the founder of Ecclesia Ministries, to explore ways to expand their own ministry to the homeless. Br. Roy Cockrum participated in the group’s activities which included: CityReach programs distributing clothing and food at St. Paul’s Cathedral with college students from around the area; listening to the stories of people who live on the street; planning for Ecclesia Ministry’s presence at General Convention; support and brainstorming sessions for the ministries represented from around the country; and celebrating the Holy Eucharist at the common cathedral, the “church without walls,” in Boston.

Br. Roy Cockrum

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Br. Curtis Almquist; the Rt. Rev. Chilton Knutsen, Bishop of Maine; and the Rev. Jonathan Appleyard, rector of St. Saviour’s Parish, Bar Harbor, Maine, and member of the FSJ

Br. Curtis Almquist was “Monk in Residence” at St. Michael and All Angels Parish, Dallas, Texas, September 23-October 2. He spoke at the clergy conference of the Diocese of Texas, October 3-5. He was also the leader of the annual retreat for the clergy of the Diocese of Maine, meeting November 13-15, in Camden, Maine.

In 2001 SSJE was entrusted with a bequest named in honor of Canon John Young of New Brunswick, Canada.

To date, SSJE has used these funds to award scholarship monies to eleven theological students from nine different dioceses across Canada. This year’s recipients are Deacon Noah Njegovan, of the College of Emmanuel and Saint Chad in Saskatoon from the Diocese of Brandon, Manitoba; Mr. Brad Smith of Trinity College at the University of Toronto from the Diocese of Ontario; Ms. Jessica Schaap of Vancouver School 20

of Theology from the Diocese of New Westminster; and Ms. Georgina Harris at Vancouver School of Theology from the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior of British Columbia (formerly the Diocese of Cariboo). Through the generosity of the Todd bequest, the Society is able to make an award of $1,000 to each of these students and invite them to travel to SSJE for a retreat, as our guests. Our hope through this scholarship is that over the years we will assist women and men preparing for ordination in the Anglican Church of Canada, and also develop relationships with a new generation of clergy in Canada. In 2006 we anticipate awarding the Canon Young Scholarship to two new people. Canadian bishops or theological students who are interested in more information about the Canon Young Scholarship may contact Brother James Koester SSJE at the monastery.

Br. Geoffrey Tristram led a retreat day at General Theological Seminary, November 12. He presided at the Eucharist and preached for All Saints Episcopal Church in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, November 27. Brs. Geoffrey and Mark Brown continue their regular visits to Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University to offer spiritual direction to students.

Jeffrey Bruce Neal was received as a postulant on September 10. Jeff grew up in Kentucky, but comes to us from the Southern California and Seattle, Washington areas, where he worked in management for the Walt Disney Company and GAP, Inc. He earned an SSJE

undergraduate degree in Religion and Performing Arts from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Br. Geoffrey Tristram, Novice Guardian, and Jeffrey Neal

Br. John Goldring celebrated his 70th birthday on October 6 in Canada, his homeland, with his twin sister, Jane Goldring. Jane is also a member of the Fellowship of Saint John. The brothers hosted a belated birthday at the monastery, recognizing Br. John for his faithfulness, dependability, and his gift to communicate the love of Jesus, especially in his preaching. Br. John lives and serves at Emery House with Brs. David Vryhof, Robert L’Esperance,

James Knutsen, and Gerald Beauchamp.

Brother James Koester made a retreat on the island of Iona in the Hebrides of Scotland December 2-9. SSJE and Iona have had over a century of association.

In 1897, to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the death of Saint Columba, the Scottish Episcopal Bishop of Argyle and the Isles built a retreat center on the island, hoping to restore the religious life to Iona. The retreat center came to be known as Bishop’s House.

SSJE brothers staffed the house for ten years, from its opening until just prior to WWI. Finally the long winters of isolation and a diet of bread and dried fish proved too much for the SSJE community and we withdrew from Iona.

Today Bishop’s House continues that early vision and attracts people from all over the world who seek to pray in the shadow of Saint Columba’s renewed abbey. Because Bishop’s House was undergoing renovations, James spent his week at the recently opened Roman Catholic House of Prayer on the island.

Bishop’s House, an archival photo

Br. John Goldring

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Br. Robert L’Esperance, a board member of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition (NEAC), met with fellow 21

12, and a retreat day for the for the clergy of the Diocese of Vermont on December 13.

Br. Robert L’Esperance

directors October 13-16 in Chicago.

Their next meeting is scheduled for January 19-22.

Br. Gerald Beauchamp

Br. Kevin Hackett

Br. Gerald Beauchamp led a quiet day for Companions of the Holy Cross in Chatham, Massachusetts, November 22

Br. David Vryhof preached and led a workshop at Grace Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts, September 18. He gave an evening address, led a one-day workshop and preached at Christ Church, Pensacola, Florida the weekend of December 2-4. Brs. David Vryhof and Thomas Shaw will be teaching a course in spiritual direction at St. Phillip’s College in the Diocese of Maseno North in Kenya, East Africa, January 16-31. On the weekend of March 3-5, David will be returning to St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina, where he was ordained to the diaconate, to lead a weekend program and to preach.

Photo credit: Peter Paradise

Br. Kevin Hackett represented Cowley Publications at the Episcopal Publishers’ Network, hosted by the Episcopal Media Center in Atlanta, Georgia, October 13-14. He participated in a CREDO conference in Orlando, Florida, October 17-24. January 9-13, Kevin taught a one-week course on “Spiritual Direction” at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.

Br. David Vryhof

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Photo credit: Mark Larson

Br. Thomas Shaw, Bishop of Massachusetts, was a leader of twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students from several Boston-area universities on pilgrimage to gain wisdom and courage for the work of reconciliation to Israel/Palestine Jan. 4-15, 2006. Coleaders were the Rev. Robert Tobin and Maureen Tobin, a member of the FSJ. Meeting with Palestinian and Israeli contemporaries in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Galilee, the pilgrims learned of the impact of violence and division and listened for signs of hope and help.

Br.Thomas Shaw, Bishop of Massachusetts, with a group in the West Bank.

Br. James Koester led a quiet day for St. Michael’s, Milton, Massachusetts December 17. He travels to the Diocese of British Columbia (Vancouver Island) January 6-12 to lead diocesan lay and clergy retreats. Br. James was ordained in the Diocese of B.C. and spent five years in parish ministry there before joining SSJE in 1989. February 13-16 he leads the retreat for the clergy of the Dioceses of Qu’Appelle and Saskatoon at the St. Francis Retreat Centre in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, just outside the city of Regina. James grew up in Regina and his great grandfather was The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Br. James Koester

at one time the Methodist minister in Lumsden. Br. James’ family also has a summer cottage near Lumsden where his family has been summering since 1911. Following the retreat he leads a Saturday quiet day and preaches on Sunday at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Regina, February 18-19.

Brs. Roy Cockrum, Charles LaFond, James Knutsen, Gerald Beauchamp, Alan Cooper, along with postulant Jeffrey Neal, will travel to New York City to attend the Trinity Institute’s 36th Annual National Theological Conference, “The Anatomy of Reconciliation: From Violence to Healing.” Conference speakers this year include: The Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, Bishop of North Carolina; James Alison, theologian; Miroslay Volf, professor at Yale Divinity School; Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Florida; and Helen Prejean CSJ, social activist.

Br. Charles LaFond will be “monk-inresidence” during the week of February 4-11 at the St. Albans School in 23

Washington, D.C., where he will be teaching and offering spiritual direction to students and staff members.

Br. James Knutsen

Br. Charles LaFond

Br. James Knutsen will once again serve as a reader of the General Ordination Exams, written by students preparing for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. Readers will meet at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas, February 4-11.

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Br. Kevin Hackett, will visit the Diocese of Western New York, February 24 through March 2, to lead pre-Lenten quiet days for clergy and laity of the diocese and to preach at St. Paul’s Cathedral at its Ash Wednesday services. Br. Roy Cockrum will also be in Buffalo the weekend of February 24-26, leading a weekend program and preaching at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

SSJE

Please join us for our

Patronal Feast Day Celebration Saint John the Evangelist, the Beloved Disciple Saturday, May 6, 2006 at 11:00 a.m.

Bishop Clark Grew

The brothers give a special invitation to members of the Fellowship of Saint John to join us for our patronal celebration May 6th in the monastery chapel.

Our guest preacher is The Rt. Rev. Clark Grew, Bishop of Ohio (ret.) and member of the Fellowship of Saint John. The liturgy is followed by a festive luncheon in the cloister garden. Please mark your calendars.

The Fellowship of Saint John (FSJ) is comprised of men

and women throughout the world who desire to live their Christian life in special association with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist.

They have a vital interest in the life and work of the brothers, and support our life and ministries with their prayers, encouragement, and financial gifts. The brothers of SSJE welcome members of the FSJ as partners in the gospel life, and pray for them by name in our daily prayers, following a regular cycle. With us the FSJ members form an extended family, a company of friends abiding in Christ and seeking to bear a united witThe Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Br. Jonathan Maury, Director of the FSJ, with the Rev. Jennifer Strawbridge of Arlington,Virginia, received as a member of the FSJ on November 18.

ness to him as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” following the example of the Beloved Disciple. For more information, please contact Br. Jonathan Maury, the Director of the FSJ, at the monastery.

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Join the SSJE Brothers on pilgrimage to

The Holy Land 2006 “Palestine of Jesus” May 2-15 ■

“Ways in the Wilderness” September 19-October 4 ■

“Pilgrimage and Spirituality” October 10-23 ■ hosted by

Saint George’s College, Jerusalem SSJE brothers serve as course chap­lains. We lead in the daily prayer and worship, offer meditations and spiri­tual reflections, and give guidance to the pil­grims on how to “pray their own lives” amidst the sacred landscape where the life, death, and resur­rec­tion of Jesus Christ unfolded. Outstanding faculty, gracious accom­mo­da­tions, and delicious meals are pro­vided through Saint George’s Col­lege, a con­tinuing edu­ca­tion center for the entire Ang­li­can Com­mun­ion.

For more information and to regi­ster for a course, contact: Saint George’s College, Jerusalem

www.stgeorgescollegejerusalem.org email: registrar@stgeorges.org.il telephone: 011 972 2 626 4704

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Retreat Programs and Workshops: The Society of Saint John the Evangelist Monastery Guesthouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts Emery House, West Newbury, Massachusetts

Winter 2006 The brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist have for years offered hospitality to those seeking a place of quiet and renewal. At the monastery in Cambridge, Massachusetts and at Emery House in West Newbury, Massachusetts, we invite you to find space to pray and renew your spirit. We are pleased to welcome you to these sanctuaries of beauty and reflective stillness.

Generous gifts of land and money from Isabella Stewart Gardner, Elbridge Gerry, and the family of then-SSJE member and later superior Spence Burton enabled the Society to begin developing the property along Memorial Drive.

Today’s guesthouse, designed by the famous twentieth-century American architect, Ralph Adams Cram, and built in 1924-1928, was the original monastery building. In the mid-1930’s, Cram designed the chapel and monastery buildings. Built at the height of the Great Depression, the buildings, completed in 1936, are another legacy of the Burton family’s philanthropy. The renowned American landscape designer, Fletcher Steele, designed the guesthouse garden in 1934.

The monastery is located along the Charles River, near Harvard University and the Episcopal Divinity School. Guesthouse facilities include large and small meeting rooms, chapels for private and corporate prayer, a library, garden, and single bedrooms, each with its own sink; showers and toilets are nearby. Linens and towels are provided. Guests join the brothers for three meals daily, eaten communally and normally taken in silence, accompanied either by a brother reading aloud or recorded music.

Emery House and its 120 acres of undeveloped meadow and woodland were gifts to the Society from the Emery family, who homesteaded the property in 1641. Over the past two decades, we have been joined by generous benefactors and friends in our efforts to conserve the house, woodlands, and meadows as a beautiful sanctuary for retreat.

Emery House is located in West Newbury, Massachusetts, about forty-five miles north of Boston and is adjacent to the 480-acre Maudsley State Park. Emery House features spacious and fully-equipped “hermitages,” period guest rooms in the 1745 main house, two rustic wood cabins, and three meals daily, taken communally in the main house. Guests are welcome to join the brothers in daily monastic worship.

Emery House is easily accessible by public transportation. Out-of-town guests may board regularly-scheduled buses leaving from Logan Airport and South Station, Boston for Newburyport.

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If you would like to visit us or attend one of our retreats or workshops, please contact the appropriate guesthouse brother: The Guesthouse Brother Monastery Guesthouse 980 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02138-5717 Email: guesthouse@ssje.org (617)876-3037 x10

The Guesthouse Brother Emery House 21 Emery Lane West Newbury, MA 01985-1333 Email: emeryhouse@ssje.org (978)462-7940 x10

The monastery guesthouse and Emery House are open to guests seven nights a week.

Guests may arrive from Monday afternoon through Saturday morning. Resident guests may choose to stay in the Monastery guesthouse on Sunday night. Public worship is not offered, nor are any meals served from Sunday Evening Prayer until Monday Evening Prayer (the community’s Sabbath time).

Parking at the monastery:

Parking at the monastery is extremely limited; we encourage guests to use public transportation if at all possible. Space cannot be guaranteed, and guests requiring parking must call ahead to check availability. There is a $10 per day fee for parking at the Monastery.

Please note:

The Society reserves the right to decline applications for retreats or place applicants who have made a number of retreats with us in the past on a waiting list. Brothers may also exercise discretion over admissions based on other priorities. Deposit checks are returned to applicants in the event they are wait-listed or declined.

We depend on your help to make this ministry possible.

The brothers of the SSJE offer hospitality to guests regardless of their ability to pay.

We offer reduced fees to full-time students. But fees cover only about 50% of actual costs. We depend on guesthouse income to support our life and ministries. Published fees are suggested amounts. Individuals with limited resources are asked to give as they are able; those with ample resources help us continue to offer reduced rates to those who cannot afford to pay by increasing their giving beyond the suggested fee. Your additional gift may be wholly or partially tax deductible.

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SSJE

Group Program Retreats Group program retreats are generally conducted from Thursday or Friday evening through Sunday midday. In addition to joining the brothers for worship and meals, guests attend a series of addresses or meditations offered by the retreat leader, which alternate with time for prayer, reflection, and recreation. It is customary for those on retreat to observe silence.

Suggested fees for group program retreats: Emery House: Monastery Guesthouse: $105.00 per person per night $90.00 per person per night $55.00 for full-time students $45.00 for full-time students Reservations are confirmed upon receipt of a non-transferable/non-refundable deposit equal to 50% of your total fee.

Companioned Five-day Retreats Companioned five-day directed retreats provide guests with more ample time to receive the gift of renewed intimacy with God in Christ through silence and sustained prayer. Guests meet individually, once each day, with a director who offers them help in recognizing God’s will and touch in their lives and who gives suggestions for how they might respond to the invitations of the Spirit disclosed in prayer. A team of leaders conducts companioned retreats; leaders include SSJE brothers and, occasionally, other ordained and lay spiritual directors. Companioned retreats are suggested for persons with previous retreat experience. Companioned retreats focus on worship and spending time with God. With their registration, applicants should include a brief (one or two page) spiritual autobiography.

Suggested fees for companioned five-day retreats: Monastery Guesthouse: $85.00 per person per night $45.00 for full-time students

Emery House: $100.00 per person per night $55.00 for full-time students

Reservations are confirmed upon receipt of a non-transferable/non-refundable deposit equal to 50% of your total fee.

Nourishing Your Soul: Individual Retreats Individuals may not wish to attend a program retreat, yet desire a time of quiet and the opportunity to join the brothers in worship and silence. Most weekdays and some weekends are available for individual retreats. If you would like to meet with a brother during your individual retreat, please be certain to make that request when you book your reservation.

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Continued

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For a detailed listing of Retreats and Workshops being offered in 2006, please visit our website at: www.ssje.org Suggested fees for Individual Self-directed Retreats: Monastery Guesthouse: $60.00 per person per night $30.00 for full-time student

Emery House: $75.00 per person per night $40.00 for full-time student

Suggested fees for Individual Directed Retreats: Monastery Guesthouse: $95.00 per person per night $40.00 for full-time student

Emery House: $100.00 per person per night $50.00 for full-time student

Reservations are confirmed upon receipt of a non-transferable/non-refundable deposit equal to 50% of your total fee.

GUEST House PROGRAMS Cambridge

January - June, 2006 For information about retreats at the monastery, visit our website at www.ssje.org or contact the guesthouse office at (617) 876-3037 or guesthouse@ssje.org.

NOURISHING THE SOUL - individual retreats at the monastery March 3-5, 2006 // April 7-9, 2006 // May 26-28, 2006 and most weekends in the months of June and July, 2006.

Enjoy the quiet, nourishing atmosphere of the monastery; join the brothers as they chant the Daily Office; walk along the Charles River – a time for rest, reflection and renewal.

Suggested fee: $120 (half-price for full-time students) REDEMPTIVE LIVING: Making the Most of the Past, the Present, and the Future – a retreat for men February 3-5, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. CURTIS ALMQUIST Suggested fee: $180 (half-price for full-time students)

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CHANTING: That We All May Be One February 17-19, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. MARK BROWN, Director of Music at SSJE Suggested fee: $180 (half-price for full-time students) QUANTUM PRAYER – Discovering More Space for God in Our Lives March 10-12, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. ROY COCKRUM Suggested fee: $180 (half-price for full-time students) A COMPANIONED RETREAT – five days for quiet reflection March 13-18, 2006 (Monday 5 pm – Saturday 2 pm) Suggested fee: $450 (half-price for full-time students) HEALING WHEN ALL IS NOT WELL April 7-9, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. John Mathis Suggested fee: $180 (half-price for full-time students) HOLY WEEK AT THE MONASTERY April 10-16, 2006 (Monday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Suggested fee: $75 per night (half-price for full-time students) REDISCOVERING YOUR HUNGER FOR GOD – a week of renewal for clergy April 24-29, 2006 (Monday 5 pm – Saturday 2 pm) Led by Brs. JAMES KOESTER and JAMES KNUTSEN Suggested fee: $525 ($265 for full-time students) SAINT JOHN’S DAY CELEBRATION May 6, 2006 (Saturday, 11 am – 2 pm) COME AND SEE – a program for men interested in exploring religious life with SSJE June 8-11, 2006 (Thursday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. GEOFFREY TRISTRAM, Novice Guardian BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE LORD – Icon Writing Workshop and Retreat June 12-18, 2006 (Monday 2 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. JAMES KOESTER Suggested fee: $800 for program, room, meals and all supplies (includes a $400 deposit) Suggested fee for full-time students: $400 (includes a $200 deposit)

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saturday workshops At The Monastery

For information about Saturday workshops at the monastery, visit our website at www.ssje.org or contact the guesthouse office at (617) 876-3037 or guesthouse@ssje.org.

Workshops begin at 10:00 a.m. (registration begins at 9:30 a.m.) and end by 3:00 p.m. The fee for a Saturday workshop is $60 (half-price for full-time students), which includes lunch.

To register, write or call the guesthouse office at: guesthouse@ssje.org Tel: (617) 876-3037 FORGIVING AND BEING FORGIVEN – a one-day workshop January 21, 2006 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) Led by Brs. CURTIS ALMQUIST and KEVIN HACKETT OPENING THE BIBLE: Bible Basics for Prayer and Study – a one-day workshop March 18, 2006 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) Led by Brs. JAMES KOESTER and JONATHAN MAURY GROUP SPIRITUAL DIRECTION – a one-day workshop April 29, 2006 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) Led by Brs. DAVID VRYHOF LIVING PRAYERFULLY IN A BUSY WORLD – a one-day workshop May 13, 2006 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) Led by Brs. MARK BROWN and ELDRIDGE PENDLETON

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SSJE

Retreats at EMERY HOUSE West Newbury

For more information about retreats and programs at Emery House, visit our website at www.ssje.org or contact Emery House at (978) 462-7940 or emeryhouse@ssje.org.

NOURISHING THE SOUL – individual retreats at Emery House January 6-8, 2006 // February 3-5, 2006 // March 24-26, 2006 // April 7-9, 2006 and most weekends in the months of June and July, 2006. (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Enjoy the peaceful beauty of Emery House and worship with the brothers during these spacious weekends set aside for personal prayer and reflection.

Suggested fee: $150 (half-price for full-time students) HIS GARMENT’S HEM: The Christian Art of Healing Touch January 12-15, 2006 (Thursday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. JONATHAN MAURY and PATRICIA WARREN Suggested fee: $315 ($160 for full-time students) PRAYING OUR LIVES: Using Spiritual Autobiography as the Door to Your Personal Sacred Story January 27-29, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. TIMOTHY SOLVERSON Suggested fee: $315 ($160 for full-time students) COMING HOME TO GOD – a retreat of focused on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) February 9-12, 2006 (Thursday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Brs. DAVID VRYHOF and GERALD BEAUCHAMP Suggested fee: $315 ($160 for full-time students) CALLED TO SERVE – a retreat for deacons February 23-26, 2006 (Thursday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. GERALD BEAUCHAMP Suggested fee: $315 ($160 for full-time students) FIRST TIME IN PRAYER AND QUIET – a weekend retreat for beginners March 17-19, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. ROBERT L’ESPERANCE Suggested fee: $210 (half-price for full-time students)

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HOLY WEEK AT EMERY HOUSE April 10-16, 2006 (Monday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Suggested fee: $90 per night (half-price for full-time students) THE WOMEN OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN April 21-23, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. JONATHAN MAURY Suggested fee: $210 (half-price for full-time students) BEING GAY, BEING IN LOVE, AND BEING A CHRISTIAN– a retreat for gay couples May 12-14, 2006 (Friday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. ROBERT L’ESPERANCE Suggested fee: $210 per person (half-price for full-time students) A COMPANIONED RETREAT – five days for quiet reflection May 15-20, 2006 (Monday 5 pm – Saturday 2 pm) Suggested fee: $500 (half-price for full-time students) QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED – a pre-ordination retreat May 25-28, 2006 (Thursday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Br. DAVID VRYHOF Suggested fee: $315 ($160 for full-time students) PRAY, WORK, STUDY – an experience of monastic life June 12-18, 2006 (Monday 5 pm – Sunday 2 pm) Led by Brs. DAVID VRYHOF and ROBERT L’ESPERANCE Suggested fee: $500 (half-price for full-time students)

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