Volume 37, Nr. 1a, 2007 Richardton, ND 58652
The refrain of the natives went something like this, "Honest, it was 80 degrees a week ago today!" To the hardy upper-Midwest ABA Board, psychologically conditioned for some sunny and mild temperatures in Valyermo, CA, the 40-50 degree days and the below 20 degree nights were a shock. But who can measure the degree of inconvenience and hardship such weather demanded of the monastery and the surrounding area as they tended to frozen pipes, faulty heating systems and a near 80% loss of fruit and vegetables! For their well-being, we pray. Weather, however, did not daunt our spirits or purpose. The work of the board was fruitful and energizing for the ongoing life of the Academy.
One agenda item we pondered together was the necessity of art and beauty in our lives and the effects of the arts on our developing theology, spirituality and entire psyche as scripture attests and Timothy Gregory Verdon summarizes in Monasticism and the Arts: "something . . . that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes, that we have watched and touched with our own hands: the Word, who is life made visible" (1 John 1:1-2a), Christ the icon or image of the unseen God (Col 1:15), and all of us, "God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life" (Eph 2:10).
So we are all works of art. We are endowed with the sense life that takes in the environment around us. Mircea Eliade is quoted in the same source saying that images often penetrate the unconscious, "we do not have the right to conclude that the message of symbols is confined to the meanings of which a certain number of individuals are fully conscious . . . the symbol delivers its message and fulfills its function even when its meaning escapes awareness."
In a lecture I attended recently, Timothy Verdon spoke eloquently about the aspiration of the visual artist. An artist gives us a new way of seeing and looking; a Christian artist gives us new images that present the tradition of the church and transmit its visual heritage in a mystagogical way through light leading to illumination. He spoke of how essential is the visual; in light and shadow the merely verbal gives way to the ultimate, the beatific vision.
Monasticism has a long tradition of supporting an environment of beauty and the arts. We have reaped the benefits in our time of American Benedictine musicians who created a forum for composing and sharing music for liturgical use. Subsequently, the Monastic Liturgy Forum expanded the work of the musicians to deal with the liturgical issues that monasteries need help addressing.
At about the same time in the early 1990s, the ABA created a forum for visual artists. They have met and exhibited their work during the biennial conventions. The challenges of exhibiting artists' works can only be appreciated by those who create the piece, wrap and mail or transport it, and hand it over, fragile as it may be, to exhibitors to display. Despite the difficulties, the board feels strongly that the recognition of the work and the service of our artists needs to be continued at ABA conventions. We considered several options, including the creative use of technology. If you have suggestions, let us know. Above all, if you have works to display, please be in touch with Sister Mary Kay Panowicz (mkpanowicz@mtmc.edu) who is taking up the responsibility of exhibiting art for the next convention. We are always in the planning mode for the next convention!
In this issue you will find Sister Judith Sutera's article on minority monastics. Her observations continue to address the effort that was initiated by Father Simeon Thole, OSB, to give a forum to minority members to meet face to face. Some of them did meet at the August 2006 convention. If any of AMN audience has responses or ideas to share about this topic, Allen Tarlton, OSB, has set up a blog site: http://my.opera.com/internationals/blog.
As I was preparing this column, the news of Sister Enid Smith's death
spread through our monastery (d. January 26, 2007). She was an early member
of ABA, served as secretary of the philosophy section from 1956-59, and as
officer of the philosophy section from 1963-65. During her tenure in leadership,
she hosted the first joint meeting of ABA sections at St. Benedict's
Monastery. The letters of preparation, often typed or handwritten, brought
me to prayers of gratitude for the intense labor that was involved in ABA leadership
in her time. (By the way, she received $25.00 from ABA to cover the cost of
the preparations!)
Sister Enid was a monastic researcher and presenter of highest acclaim. Her
contributions in the philosophy section are well known. Perhaps her contributions
that promoted the role of contemporary women in the church's ministry
are not so well known. During the 1980s, Sister Enid wrote articles, and prepared
discussion statements and questions that engaged diocesan groups, parish groups
and monastic communities in encouraging women to take their rightful places
in the church.
As president of the Federation of St. Benedict from 1973 to 1981, Sister Enid initiated a critical and far-reaching action that greatly influenced the future character of ABA. Because of her long association with ABA, she knew well that Benedictine sisters' communities were being assessed per capita by ABA but they did not have the right to either individual membership or to vote. Sister Enid took this matter to the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses where it was discussed and resolved, moving ABA to establish the status that women members have today.
Let me express for all of us our gratitude for this woman of pluck and wisdom!
Theresa Schumacher, OSB
President, American Benedictine Academy
St. Benedict's Monastery, Saint Joseph, MN 56374
tschumacher@csbsju.edu
For several years, canon lawyer Dan Ward, OSB, wrote columns on religious legal issues for this newsletter. They have been compiled as Monastics: Life and Law - Reflections of a Benedictine Canonist and are now available online at www.osb.org/aba/law/. The Newsletter is pleased to announce that, due to popular demand for a column on canon law, a new series will be offered by Sister Lynn McKenzie, OSB. Sister Lynn requested that her first column be written in gratitude for the work of Father Dan Ward.
Father Daniel J. Ward OSB of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville has been writing this column for many years. It seems more than appropriate to pay tribute to Dan for his years of faithful service and for so much more. Much of the canonical work I do these days is because Dan has given someone my name. So it is that I have been asked to begin writing this column because he has suggested passing the torch to someone else.
Dan's work on behalf of and among Benedictines is almost legendary. He has given sound, grounded and reasoned canonical advice to many a monastic leader who has called on him, as well as having been a compassionate and educated listener and adviser to individual monastics. His articles on monastic topics are many. One source for several of those articles is the collection of the columns that Dan has done for this publication for many years. I highly recommend it as inspiring as well as informative material. Reading these articles gives one a hint of the caliber of canonist Dan is. His wealth of experience from having worked with a variety of people and institutions informs well the advice he gives.
I also commend for your reading Dan's chapter entitled "Monastic Life Under the Rule of St. Benedict and the New Code" in Hite, Holland and Ward, eds., A Handbook on Canons 573-746 – Religious Institute, Secular Institutes Societies of the Apostolic Life (Liturgical Press: Collegeville, MN, 1985, pp. 307-30). The flavor of the chapter can be gleaned from the following quotation: "This special commentary [referring only to his chapter, not to the book as a whole] is based on the premise that the charism of monastic life does differ from other forms of consecrated life and that this difference must be accorded recognition in the interpretation and application of the Code to monastic life, in keeping with the canonical tradition that a law must be understood in its text and context. The context is obviously the consecrated life as lived in a monastic community." Dan always looks to the historical as well as to the present-day context in interpreting law in a clear and life-giving way. [This book is out of print, but all monastic libraries should have a copy, or you can check Amazon.com for purchase of used copies.]
Dan is currently serving as the executive director of the Legal Resource Center for Religious in Silver Spring, MD (www.lrcr.org). In that capacity, his service goes far beyond the monastic world to religious of every description. Each year his office offers a legal seminar that is designed to assist religious superiors and other religious, as well as attorneys who represent religious institutes, to know and better understand both civil and canonical issues that arise. Every seminar offered as well as the materials available online to members are full of practical information on a variety of topics.
Dan is frequently invited to religious communities to advise them on their constitutions or policies concerning a variety of topics. His frequent travels take him far and wide. It exhausts me to think about doing the amount of traveling that Dan does. But when he arrives at his destination he is ready to work as well as to enjoy the environs. Dan is always affable, practical, pastoral, knowledgeable, and fun. He makes work on otherwise uninviting topics an enjoyable exercise. Because of his long and broad experience with religious communities, his working knowledge of so many areas affecting religious life seems endless. It seems that no area of the law is too formidable for Dan.
One of my favorites of Dan's many fine traits is that he is an excellent communicator. He is a good teacher and lecturer. His ability to knowledgably converse on a large number of topics is phenomenal. When one calls or emails Dan, one can anticipate a timely and generous response. He communicates with clarity and competence. Even if asked a "stupid" question, he responds with a graciousness that is most welcome.
I feel blessed and honored to be able to learn "at the feet" of a master such as Dan (he would bristle at the description of him as a "master") regarding monastic and canonical issues. It is has been my privilege to serve as an advocate in cases in which Dan has been the advocate for others involved in the same case. It has also been my privilege to call on Dan for his insights and advice about a particular case in which I am involved of which he is not a part. He always humbly offers sound and sage advice when asked.
Here's to Dan Ward, a fine monk and canonist!
AMN happily welcomes Sister Lynn. Many kind things could also be said about her expertise and personality as well. Sister Lynn has been a member of the Benedictine sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, AL, since 1981. She serves as a member of the monastic council of her monastery as well as the council of the Federation of Saint Scholastica. She received her civil law degree in 1985 from the University of Alabama School of Law and her licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in 1994. She is a partner in the law firm of Knight, Griffith, McKenzie, Knight & McLeroy, LLP, in Cullman and also serves in various capacities in the tribunal of the Diocese of Birmingham. She is a canonical consultant with, as well as canonical advocate for, various religious communities and individual religious around the country.
Sister Lynn invites readers to submit canonical topics of interest that they would like to see addressed in this column. Contact her at <slm@knight-griffith.com> with subject line: "AMN canon law topic."
Abbot Stanislaus Gumula, OCSO, has been chosen as abbot of the Cistercian
community at
Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, SC.
Prioress Kevin Hermsen, OSB, was reelected to continue in leadership of the
Norfolk, NE, priory of the
Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing.
The Benedictine sisters at St. Benedict Center in Madison, WI, have been granted dispensation from their canonical vows in order to re-form as an ecumenical community under the name Holy Wisdom Monastery. They have been accepting non-Roman Catholic women for several years and hope to become a community which follows the Benedictine way of life in a form which welcomes other Christians to full membership. New website address: <www.benedictinewomen.org/>.
* * * * * *
Twelve Buddhist and ten Catholic monks, all of whom live in North America met at Saint John's Abbey, October 26-29, to discuss the topic, "Authentic Practices of Celibacy and Intimacy in Monastic Communities of Men." The occasion was the second "Monks in the West," a gathering of Buddhist and Christian monks initiated by Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID), an organization of Benedictine and Trappist monks and nuns established in 1977. It exists to foster interreligious and intermonastic dialogue at the level of spiritual practice and experience between North American Catholic monastic women and men and contemplative practitioners of diverse religious traditions.
A recent issue of the MID Bulletin contains the presentation on the "why" of Catholic monastic celibacy that was given by Brother Gregory Perron, OSB, of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, IL. The text may be found at <monasticdialog.com/a.php?id=787>.
* * * * * *
February 2, 2007, marked the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St. Benedict <www.goodsams.org.au>. The "Good Sams," as they are affectionately known, is the first Catholic religious congregation to be founded in Australia. Their founder was Australia's first bishop, Archbishop John Bede Polding OSB, a monk from Downside Abbey, England. Over the weekend of February 2-4, Good Samaritan sisters, their partners in ministry, family, friends and supporters gathered across Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Kiribati, the four countries where the sisters now live and work, in liturgical celebrations of thanksgiving for the blessings of the last 150 years.
The theme of the yearlong celebration is "Who is my Neighbour?" In reflecting upon this theme, Sister Clare Condon, SGS, Good Samaritan congregational leader, said that this theme was taken directly from the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan found only in the Gospel of Luke.
The monks of Saint John's Abbey dedicated their new Abbey Guesthouse on Sunday, October 22, 2006. Vincent James Associates Architects of Minneapolis designed the three-level structure, located between the abbey church and Saint John's Preparatory School, overlooking Lake Sagatagan. The 27,000-square-foot guesthouse has 30 rooms and suites, a library, meeting rooms, a dining room, a meditation chapel, and spaces for visiting and spiritual direction.
Half of the guestrooms are on the lower level of the building for private and quiet retreats. The other guestrooms for campus or abbey visitors, including families, are located on the upper level. The entrance level features a lobby area with a hearth, offices, an outdoor terrace, and a meditation chapel lit partially by exterior light filtered through an opaque screen.
Plans for building a guesthouse began in 1973 with a "Committee on Guests and Pilgrims." Over the years there were a number of starts and stops on the goal of structuring a permanent space for guests. Father Jerome Theisen, OSB, abbot from 1979 to 1992, recognized the need for such a facility and worked tirelessly to promote the vision of a guesthouse for Saint John's before his election as abbot primate.
A new entrance pavilion to the abbey church is also taking shape. The pavilion includes a much-needed elevator for access to each level of the church and a pedestrian tunnel that will connect the guesthouse to the east side of the abbey church. The tunnel will provide direct access to the church during even the most inclement of Minnesota's weather.
The lower level of the entrance pavilion will include new restrooms, a bride's room, a groom's room and storage space. For further information on the Saint John's Abbey Guesthouse, please contact the guestmaster, Father Roger Kasprick, OSB (guestmaster@osb.org).
Brother David Klingeman OSB
Director of the Saint John's Abbey Guesthouse
Collegeville, MN 56321-2015
Monastic Liturgy Forum and
Benedictine Musicians of the
Americas
mount a joint conference at Sacred Heart Monastery, Yankton,
SD,
July 17-21.
The theme of the conference is "Changing Realities: Living the Monastic
Tradition
in the 21st Century." The keynote addresses on the theology of aging
will be given
by Father Raymond Studzinski, OSB and gerontologist Dr. Beth Mikkelson. These
will be followed by a panel presentation bridging the material presented by
the
speakers and the particular observations and questions brought forth by a survey
(currently under way - see online survey or
hard copy sent with MLF membership
information for 2007). The panel will consist of Prioress Cecilia Dwyer, OSB,
Prioress Anne Stedman, OSB, Prior Tobias Colgan, OSB, and Subprior Paul
Richards, OSB.
The Benedictine Musicians group will present music which supports the theme
of
the conference. Texts have been elicited from monastic writers and sent to
BMA
composers. Registration material will be sent after Easter. See also the MLF
website: <www.osb.org/mlf/> for
MLF contact information.
Third Annual International Ecumenical Prayer for Peace Day is set for March
18, 2007. For more information about this event, contact
Oblate Elizabeth F. Jones
1025 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 1012
Washington, DC 20036
Phone 202-857-9795; Fax 202-543-4944
Email <jonesmef@aol.com>
Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, ID is hosting "Living in Community:
Insights from the Rule of Benedict," July 1-7, 2007, presenter by Dr.
Mary
Forman, OSB. For more information, or to register contact
<retreat@stgertrudes.org> or call 208-962-3224.
Oblate Norvene Vest is leading a retreat/workshop at St. Andrew's Abbey
in
Valyermo, CA, July 9-13, 2007. Title is, "Crafting a Contemporary Faith:
A
Mythic Vision for Christianity." For more information or to register
contact
St.
Andrew's Abbey at
Phone: 661-944-2178
Website: <retreat@valyermo.com>
Mailing address: PO Box 40, Valyermo, CA 93563
Douai Abbey in Reading, England is the site for a conference July 20-22,
2007 on
"Icons of a New Monasticism." The conference is in partnership with the
University of Wales Lampeter's Monastic Studies Programme and MONOS.
For
further information, contact Nancy Dorshler at <info@monos.org.uk> or
<www.monos.org.uk>.
St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, IN, is hosting an Oblate Study Week
on
"Work and Prayer -- Integrating Benedictine Life," June 18-21. Father
Denis
Robinson, OSB, is the main presenter. For more information, contact
<oblates@saintmeinrad.edu>.
Welcoming the Other: A Path to Holiness and Peace, is this summer's
Monastic
Institute July 1-5 at Saint John's Abbey and University, Collegeville
MN. Each
summer the School of Theology/Seminary of Saint John's University sponsors
a
Monastic Institute to provide continuing education and spiritual enrichment
for
American monastics and all interested in monastic spirituality and practice.
This
year's institute, co-sponsored by Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, is
devoted to
interreligious dialogue. Among the presenters are Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President
of
the Islamic Society of North America, Kusala Bhikshu of the Los Angeles Buddhist
Meditation Center, and Father Pierre-François de Béthune, Secretary
General of
Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique/Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. For further
information contact the School of Theology/Seminary at 800-361-8318.
The seventh triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious will be
held at Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN, June 24-27. The theme is "Local
Cultures/Global Church: Challenge and Mission in the History of Women
Religious." Information is available at <www.nd.edu/~cushwa/> or
from the local
arrangements chairperson Kathleen Cummings, kcummings@nd.edu.
"Honoring the Hours: Living mindfully through the seasons of the day"
is the
theme of the retreat weekend with S. Macrina Wiederhehr OSB,
Villa Maria Retreat
Center, Frontenac, MN, April 27-29, 2007. S. Macrina, author
of Circle of
Life with Joyce Rupp, is a Benedictine sister of St. Scholastica Monastery
in Fort Smith,
Arkansas. The spring retreat will feature work from a book in process.
* * * * * *
The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, MO, announce the
launch
of an e-commerce website for their Monastery Creations Gift Shop. Free podcasts
featuring recent audio recordings of the sisters' Lauds and Vespers services,
in
addition to videos that give a glimpse into their monastic life, are also now
online.
The secured website allows shoppers to choose from a variety of homemade
products including soaps, lotions, salves and candles. Also for sale are musical
recordings made by the sisters. Shoppers can either purchase an entire CD or
download individual songs of their choice for a smaller price for use with
an MP3
player. Sample music clips can be downloaded for shoppers.
Also available are several books authored by Benedictine sisters and note
cards
featuring their photographic talents. Monasterypodcast.org is a free service
that
allows users to listen to recorded prayer services and view portions of a DVD
that
illustrates aspects of life as a Benedictine sister. Users can either listen
to or view
podcasts directly from the site or download for later viewing.
For more information about Monastery Creations, please log onto
<www.monasterycreations.com>. For available podcasts, please log onto their
website <www.monasterypodcast.org>.
OSB | ABA | Newsletter
