New President for Saint Gregory's University
The Board of Directors of St. Gregory's University, Shawnee, Oklahoma, voted
unanimously earlier this month to hire Dr. Dave Wagie as its 14th president.
The hiring ends an 8-month, nationwide search.Wagie, 57, will begin his duties as president April 2, 2007. He replaces Abbot
Lawrence Stasyszen OSB, who last year was affirmed chancellor of the university.
Abbot
Lawrence, abbot of St. Gregory's Abbey, served as president for nearly seven
years. Dr. Wagie has more than 20 years of experience in higher education. He recently completed
a two-year position as an educational consultant to the United Arab Emirates.
While working for the UAE Minister of Education, he spearheaded the concept and
design for a future "University
City" in Abu Dhabi, entailing 4,000 acres, numerous universities with shared resources,
and funding provided through public-private partnership.
"My wife and I were looking for a values-based university with a strong Catholic
identity," Wagie said. "The more we read about St. Gregory's, the more interested we became. We'd been
serving our country for a number of years and teaching students to become great
citizens and good, ethical people. So the Benedictine values here fit right
in with our values. We were tremendously impressed by the mission, the focus
on
the students and the dedicated people." Brigadier General Wagie (ret.) also
served as Provost at the US Air Force
Academy in Colorado. There he coordinated 500 teaching faculty and 200 staff,
providing
500 courses in 32 academic majors to 4,000 students.
Monks Elect Sant'Anselmo Dean as Abbot
On 24 March 2007, the monks of the Cistercian Abbey O.L. of Zundert, in
the diocese of Breda, The Netherlands, elected as their abbot for six
years Rev. Father Daniel Hombergen OCSO. After the confirmation of the election
by the abbot general, the new abbot was installed in his office on the same
day. Dom Daniel made his monastic vows on 6 January 1982 and was ordained
a priest on 26 August 2000. Since the end of August 2005, he serves as
Dean of the Faculty of Theology of Sant'Anselmo in Rome.
Benedictine Sisters to be Featured on National PBS
TV Show
"Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," a national
television show produced by the PBS network, will feature the
Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration during an episode scheduled,
in some places, for
Palm Sunday, 1 April 2007.
The show will feature the sisters, their history of altar bread production, monastic
life and celebration of the Eucharist. "We are grateful to PBS for this opportunity
to share with a larger audience the story behind our discovery of the low-gluten
altar breads and our long
history of dedication to the Eucharist," said Sister Pat Nyquist OSB, prioress
of the monastery. The low-gluten altar bread received Vatican approval
to be used during Eucharistic celebrations by individuals whose diet restricts
them
from eating regular wheat hosts.
Transitus of Saint Benedict
On 21 March Benedictines commemorate the Transitus (death) of Saint Benedict.
Like the great Saint Joseph, devotion to whom was fostered at Monte Cassino,
Saint Benedict is a good patron at the time of death. Pope St. Gregory's recension
of St. Benedict's death in 543 A.D. makes much of Benedict's ability to forecast
the day of it, but even more of his ability to communicate the news of it remotely
by signs.
The Medal of Saint Benedict,
recalls this prayer: "May we be strengthened by the power of his presence at the hour of our death" by the Latin phrase that surrounds the obverse, "Ejus in obitu nostro præsentia muniamur."
The Open Directory catalogs websites devoted to St. Benedict. Happy
feast day to Benedictine men and women everywhere!
+ Mother Mary Garson OSB, Founder
Mother Mary Garson OSB, Founder of the Grace and Compassion Benedictines, died on 8 March 2007 at Bognor Regis, UK. Born
3 October 1921 into the Presbyterian Church in Aberdeenshire,
Mary Sunniva Garson converted to Catholicism in 1947. She professed vows as a nun of the Sisters of Our Lady of Grace and Compassion in 1962. She served as Prioress-General from 1985 to 2005 of the community that she
had founded, as Miss Mary Garson, in 1954.
The Sisters adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict in 1978 and became aggregated to the Benedictine Confederation of Monastic Congregations in 1992. Today the Grace and Compassion Benedictine
Congregation runs five residential homes and a nursing unit in the
UK and 11 sets of retirement flats for the old, the sick, and the poor. The
Congregation also supports five foundations in India, two in Sri Lanka and one each in Kenya and Uganda. Queen Elizabeth II named Mother Mary
MBE in 2004 citing her
as "an inspiration to those who have worked with her, instigating and nurturing each development, and continually promoting the vision of individual dignity" (The Independent).
Kindergarten Website
The Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict (Otwock), founded 1917 in Poland, maintain
six houses there as well as foundations in Brazil, Ecuador, Ukraine, and
the United States. The Sisters in Gdansk recently launched a colorful and lively
website with a version in English that provides information about their
kindergarten for three- to six-year olds
located on the edge of the city.
Benedictine Frescoes Uncovered
After 300 years, two walls of well-preserved and richly colored frescoes have
been uncovered in the chapel of a former Benedictine priory at
Vif, France, near
Grenoble. "Only small sections of the paintings have been uncovered so far, but restorers
and art historians are convinced that the whitewash -- or greywash -- at the
Saint-John-Baptist Church conceals one of the largest, most complete and best-preserved
medieval murals in Europe" (The Independent, UK). The murals, probably from the late 14th century, are located on the upper
part of the nave. The whitewash, or badigeon,
covered, but also preserved the frescoes. "The meaning of the frieze remains
unclear, but art historians believe that it may trace the origins of the Benedictine
order, from the early Christian period to the 14th century."
Mediacast in French.
Quarr
Celebrates Centenary
Bishop Crispian Hollis, Bishop of Portsmouth, presided at a centenary mass
of thanksgiving at Quarr Abbey,
honoring the first group of monks who settled at Quarr in 1907 restoring
monastic life after an interval of 400 years. The Benedictine monks of the
Abbey of Solesmes were exiled from France in 1901. The community found refuge
on the Isle of Wight. Abbot Cuthbert Johnson OSB explained: "As a result
of anti-religious laws promulgated by the French Government on 1 July 1901,
more than 17,000 religious communities went into exile.... Today, as part
of our celebration of this centenary year marking the return of monks at
Quarr, we are giving thanks for the welcome given by the diocese of Portsmouth."
Quarr Abbey recently won an English Heritage Lottery Fund grant
of £50,000. The money will be used to prepare a conservation plan for the abbey church,
its ancient ruins
and the habitats of several rare and protected species. "The ruins date from when the medieval abbey was founded in 1132,
the name Quarr derived from the Roman quarry, which was still worked in the Middle Ages. The
site is in an area of outstanding natural beauty and studies have shown a wide
variety of habitats have encouraged an exceptionally rich eco-system. The crumbling
ruins of the medieval abbey are designated an ancient monument and are on the English Heritage at risk register" (Isle of Wight County Press).
Abbot President Clemens Lashofer OSB Feted
On Wednesday, 14 March, the Conference of Austrian Abbots, assembled at Lambach Abbey,
expressed their thanks and congratulations to Abbot President Clemens Lashofer
OSB. On 16 March 1982 the General Chapter elected him President of the Austrian Congregation. For 25 years he has served the Congregation by presiding at the General Chapter
that meets every three years. His other duties include presiding at abbatial
elections, conducting regularly scheduled visitations and presiding at the
biannual meetings of the Conference of Abbots. The Abbot President is supported
by the four elected members of his council. The Abbot President is also responsible
for the College of St. Benedict in Salzburg, a house of study for young Benedictines.
He supports the Abbot Primate by attending yearly the Synod of Abbots President
in Rome. The member monasteries of the Congregation welcome his presence on
the occasion of special celebrations, jubilees, and funerals. At the General
Chapter in 2005, the delegates elected Abbot Clemens to another five-year term
as Abbot President. His election as Abbot of Göttweig in 1973 makes Abbot Clemens the longest serving abbot in the Benedictine Congregation. Ad multos annos!
+
Father Pirmin Ngolle OSB
Father Pirmin Ngolle OSB, 41, died on 3 March at Peramiho Benedictine
Mission Hospital in Tanzania during surgery for injuries suffered in an automobile
accident on 27 February. Ordained a priest in 2001, he helped raise more than
$500,000 over the past six years for well and pipe projects that now provide
clean drinking water to about 95,000 people in 15 villages. Diseases caused
by contaminated water had been a leading cause of death in this region, especially
for children. "At the time of his death Ngolle was raising money for a major pipeline that would
have provided clean water to another 29,000 people in Tanzania. He did his
fundraising as a member of the Benedictine Missionaries of St. Maurus Abbey in Hanga, Songea, Tanzania. Ngolle was a Benedictine monk who had taken a vow
of poverty, one he never wavered from" (LaGrande Observer).
+
Abbot Edward Campbell OSB
Rt. Rev. Edward C. Campbell OSB, 81, the first abbot of Glastonbury Abbey,
died Wednesday at a nursing home in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Born and raised
in Philadelphia, in 1950 he entered St. Benedict’s Abbey in Benet Lake, Wisconsin, where he was given the name Edward. He professed first
vows in 1952 and was ordained to the priesthood 26 May 1956.
In 1957, Father Edward was sent to Glastonbury Monastery in Hingham.
He served as prior and oversaw the Latin School. When Glastonbury became an
abbey in 1973, the monks elected Father Edward to be their first abbot. He
served in that position until 1985. After retirement that year, he worked as
a pastor and chaplain in Florida. Severe illness made it necessary for him
to return to the abbey, where the monks cared for him until 2005 when he entered
a nursing home. The community celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30
a.m. on Tuesday, 6 March, at Glastonbury Abbey Church. Requiescat in pace.
February 2007
Kremsmünster
Elects
On Friday, 2 March 2007,
the monks of Kremsmünster Abbey elected P. Ambros Ebhart OSB, 54, for a term of 12 years. Abbot President Clemens
Lashofer OSB (Göttweig) presided at the election. Abbot Ambros succeeds Abbot Oddo Bergmair OSB.
Abbot Oddo resigned when he reached 70 in 2001. He had been elected in 1982
and re-elected for a single six-year term in 2001 according to the Constitution and Declarations of the Austrian Congregation.
During the election of Abbot Ambros the monks used a precious evangeliary
from the 8th century on which the Prior laid his hand while the monks swore
to elect the one they deemed most worthy. The 51 electors present placed their
ballots in the famous Tassilo chalice given to the monastery at its founding in 777. After accepting his election,
Abbot Ambros recited the customary profession of faith, and the election was
confirmed by Abbot Clemens. A service of thanksgiving and ceremony of installation
followed thereafter in the abbey church as the bells rang out a festive Te Deum.
Abbot Ambros made first vows at Kremsmünster
in 1972 and became a priest in 1977 after earning a master's degree in theology
at Salzburg. Besides pastoral duties in several of the Abbey's parishes, Abbot
Ambros was actively engaged in the restoration of the abbey church from 1985
to 2001. He oversaw the installation of a new organ in 2000. He served as a
member of the senior council from 1984 to 1990 and from 2002 to his election.
Since 2005 he has served as the abbey's delegate to the General Chapter and as third assistant to the President of
the Congregation. Es lebe hoch!
Recognizing the millennial anniversary of the birth on 21 February of
Peter Damian, the Holy Father sent a letter to the Prior and monks of the Camaldolese
Benedictine monastery of St. Gregory in Rome. The text in English is available at the Zenit News Agency website. Pope Benedict commends the monk's
ability to combine the eremitic life with devotion to the welfare of the whole
Church.
St. Peter was a zealous reformer in the spirit of his contemporary, Pope Gregory
VII.
Saint Peter
Damian suggested
to his confreres radical adherence to Christ; to the Pope, bishops and the
higher ecclesiastics he urged separation from honors and privilege in the
fulfillment of their ecclesial duties; and to the clergy he recalled the
highest ideals of their mission, maintaining the purity of custom and embracing
real, personal poverty. Although never officially canonized, Peter Damian
became widely venerated soon after his death in 1072. Pope Leo XII proclaimed
him a Doctor of the Church in 1823.
Blogging
Sister Profiled
Sister Edith Bogue OSB frequently updates her blog, "Monastic Musings," from
her monastery in Duluth, Minnesota, overlooking Lake Superior. She is featured
in an Associated Press article that was published on 26 February 2007. Sister Edith "embraces blogging as a ministry. She doesn't write about Catholic dogma, and
she's not trying to convert people. 'I write about (the Catholic faith) as
a way of life, a way of looking at the world,' she said. 'Here's how a faithful
Catholic interacts with the world.'" Recently Sister Edith brought her readers attention to a highly informative
website about the Lenten Stational Churches in Rome.
Circular
Letter on Acedia
Dom Bernardo Olivera OCSO, Abbot General, devoted his most recent Circular Letter (26
January 2007) to the highly monastic topic of acedia. Abbot Bernardo traces the concept of acedia through monastic literature and offers a number of insightful reflections. Some
interpret acedia as "weariness in well-doing" following II Thess 3:11-13, others think of "burnout." Abbot Bernardo concludes his investigation with the following paragraph:
In the last analysis, dear brothers and sisters, acedia is
a clearly defined interior state of soul, in spite of its many different
expressions. This detestable mixture of passion and thought corrodes the
joy of love and of belonging to the Lord. However, the most unfortunate quality
of this particularly satanic vice is that it paralyses, freezes, tortures
and kills our deepest desire for God. Our search for God’s Face is based
precisely on this desire, which is what makes monastic life what it is meant
to be: a life ascetically oriented toward the divine Mystery, so as to taste
it mystically.
Translations of the Circular Letter into other languages are available
at the OCSO website.
+ Brother
Placid OSB, Sacred Artist
Late Saturday afternoon, 24 February 2007, Brother Placid Stuckenschneider OSB,
80, died after a brief illness in the retirement center at Saint John's Abbey,
Collegeville, Minnesota. The St. Bernadette Institute of Sacred Art recognized
Brother Placid as "Pioneer Artist in the Field of American Liturgical Art" when it chose him to become the 2006 Laureate of the Mother Teresa Award.
Thousands of Catholics remember Brother Placid's sacred art from the weekly
bulletin for parishes, Missalette covers, and the many drawings and illustrations he produced for Liturgical Press. Four books of his clip art are still in print. Placid's style is highly recognizable
and always firmly rooted in Scripture and the liturgy. The publication, less
than a month before his death, of his lavishly illustrated, autobiographical
work, Soldier,
Artist, Monk (AuthorHouse, 2007), brought Brother Placid much joy and a sense of accomplishment.
The monks will receive the body of Brother Placid on Wednesday, 28 February,
at 7 p.m. Abbot John Klassen OSB presides at the Mass of Christian Burial on
Thursday, 1 March, at 3 p.m.
Prior Administrator
Elected at Plankstetten
On Friday, 23 February, the capitulars of Plankstetten Abbey,
guided by Abbot President Dr. Gregor Zasche OSB (Schäftlarn), elected Father Beda Maria Sonnenberg OSB to become Prior Administrator
for a term of three years. Prior Beda, 40, entered the Abbey of Plankstetten
(Bavarian Congregation) in 1987 and professed final vows in 2001. He completed
theological studies in Eichstätt and Munich. In 1996 Bishop Asztrik Vársezegi OSB (Abbot Ordinary of Pannonhalma, Hungary) ordained him a priest in Plankstetten.
Father Beda's assignments have included work as librarian and archivist at the abbey and as a religion
teacher at the high school in Berching. In 2006 former abbot Gregor Maria Hanke OSB appointed Father Beda to be Novicemaster.
Hope-filled
Future for the Federation of Saint Scholastica
The sisters in the Federation of Saint Scholastica who are "Fifty-five
or Younger" gathered in Atchison, Kansas, from Friday to Sunday, 16-18 February 2007.
"Heralding Hope," engaged over 60 sisters
representing the 90 sisters in this age group from the member monasteries of
the congregation. These women are the future of Benedictine life in the Federation.
The assembly focused on basic Benedictine values, the challenges in monastic
living today, and ways to construct a hope-filled future. The gathering provided
each attendee social interaction, sharing, and input from peers as well as Federation President Esther Fangman OSB.
Abbot
Christian Schütz Retires
On Friday, 16 February 2007, Abbot Christian Schütz OSB resigned
his office, a day after completing 25 years as abbot of Holy Trinity Abbey, Schweiklberg, Bavaria. During his time in office Abbot Christian served several terms as
a member of the Ottilien Congregation's Council. He has also held special responsibility
as the abbot president's delegate for Kumily, India. Before his election as
abbot, Father Christian had been professor of Christian Doctrine at Regensburg University, where he had succeeded Prof. Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
S. Aquinata Opens
RB Course
Having completed an intensive study of the Rule of Saint Benedict with
members of her community, the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing, Sister Dr. Aquinata Böckmann OSB will open the course to a wider audience. From 2 January to 28 February, S. Aquinata and team will offer "Studying the
RB in the Land of Benedict." This is not a general spiritual renewal course, nor a study of secondary literature
on a certain theme, but it is an in-depth study of the Rule of St. Benedict
(RB) and its primary sources. S. Aquinata maintains a comprehensive, online "Bibliography for Students of the Rule of Saint Benedict."
The Holy Fathers
in Lower Austria
The once imperial Abbey of Melk on
the Danube opens its doors to His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai
Lama. Mid-September 2007 His Holiness will participate in the Waldzell discussion
of "Questions concerning the meaningful
life." Arriving in Austria on 7 September, Pope Benedict XVI will visit the pilgrims'
Marian shrine at Mariazell Basilica, in care of the Benedictines.
Scripture
Program for Chinese Teachers
Vatican Radio reports about a training program for 19 Chinese priests,
mostly teachers of Scripture, from mainland seminaries. St. Ottilien Archabbey organized the project with the Catholic Biblical Federation in the Holy Land.
The first sessions have already begun under the aegis of Father Cyrill Schäfer OSB. The locations for instruction are Jerusalem and Tabgha on Mount Zion. Contact with Dormition
Abbey is foreseen, as well as are visits to significant Jewish and Christian sites.
Ecumenical encounters with Christian denominations are frequent in the Holy
Land.
Monks
Host Holy Father in Brazil
A Benedictine monastery in the center of the city of São
Paulo is making preparations to house Pope Benedict XVI next May during his
visit to Brazil. Since the city has neither an apostolic nunciature nor a large
bishop's residence, the Holy Father will be staying at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption from 9 to 11 May. Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, who was still Archbishop of São Paulo when this visit was being planned, asked Abbot Mathias Tolentino Braga
OSB if he would be willing and able to house the Pope and his entourage. His
Holiness will have use of a three-room apartment, a piano, a connection to
the Internet, and the monastery's garden. The monks' recreation room will become
a private dining room for the papal staff (Jornal O São Paulo & Zenit) .
From São Paulo, the Pope will go to the city of
Aparecida for the inauguration of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops
of Latin America and the Caribbean, the primary purpose of the Pope's visit to Brazil.
Papal
Homily for Christian Unity
On Thursday, 25 January, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul and
the closing of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Holy Father delivered
a homily at Vespers. The highly ecumenical assembly at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls included the resident Benedictine community of monks. The complete text of the
homily is now available in several languages at the Vatican website.
Retreats for Brothers
and Sisters
For over 30 years the Religious Brothers Conference (RBC) has offered
retreats exclusively for Brothers. As a result of feedback from the mostly
elder Brothers who have attended in recent years, starting with the spring
2007 retreats, Sisters of the same age population are invited to participate.
The first Retreat will be at the San Pedro Retreat Center in Winter Park,
Florida, from 27 February to 4 March 2007. The second offering will be at the
Redemptorist Retreat Center in Tucson, Arizona, from March 27 to April 1, 2007.
Sister Mary Hopkins OP will be the presenter at both retreats. Space is limited
to 40 participants at both locations. Please contact the RBC Office by e-mail
at <brothersoffice@ameritech.net>, or by phone at (773) 493-2306 for a registration brochure. PDF format brochures for 2007 will soon be available at the RBC website.
St. Lambrecht
Re-elects Abbot Otto
Since Abbot Otto Strohmaier OSB, 69, would reach the age for retirement
in the Austrian
Congregation on 15 March, an abbatial election was scheduled for Monday, 5 February 2007. During the election at which Abbot President Clemens Lashofer OSB presided,
the monks of Sankt Lambrecht re-elected Abbot Otto for a term of six years. On 3 February the community had
celebrated a double feast
for Abbot Otto, the 25th anniversary of his election as abbot and his upcoming 70th birthday.
Bishop of
Chur Retires
On 5 February the Vatican News Agency announced
that the Holy Father has accepted the resignations of Most Rev. Amédée Grab OSB, 77, Bishop of Chur, Switzerland, and his auxiliary, Bishop Peter Henrici SJ, 78, in accord with the provisions
of Canon 401 and Canon 411.
Saint
Scholastica
Saturday,
10 February, is the feast day of Saint Scholastica. Pope Saint Gregory the
Great tells the story of her final visit with her brother, Saint Benedict, to teach a lesson about
the efficacy of prayer and the primacy of love.
Unwilling to lose the companionship of her brother, Scholastica prayed
to God. As a result, a violent storm prevented Benedict from returning to his
own monastery, and they spent their last time together in the company of Sacred
Scripture. "Grant that through her prayers we may live innocently and attain everlasting
bliss" (Collect for Mass).
In the next chapter of the Dialogues,
Gregory recounts how three days later Benedict, "lifting up his eyes to heaven, beheld the soul of his sister that had departed
her body ascend into heaven in the likeness of a dove." He gave orders that they both should be buried at Monte Cassino. "As their souls had always been one in God while they lived, so their bodies continued
together after their deaths." (The illustration is part of a fresco at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, CA.)
The website for Mount
St. Scholastica Monastery features
an imaginative, illustrated story about Saint Scholastica. S. Marie Louise
Krenner OSB wrote "The
Twin Who Tagged Along" for children.
Ordinary
Time
Zenit News Agency interviewed
Father Juan Javier Flores Arcas OSB, rector of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant'Anselmo, Rome. He answered questions about Ordinary Time in the liturgical
year. "Ordinary time does not have as object the celebration of a particular mystery
of the life of Christ, but the totality of the mystery seen more as a whole
than in a particular mystery." Father Juan goes on to explain the rationale behind the daily lectionary and
how the whole mystery of Jesus Christ unfolds throughout this season, culminating
in the celebration of the Paschal mystery.
January 2007
Abbatial
Election at Praglia Confirmed
The monks of Praglia Abbey,
at Teolo near Padua, elected their Prior Administrator, Dom Norberto Villa
OSB, to succeed Abbot Bruno Marin OSB. Abbot Norberto's election has been confirmed.
On 14 September 2006, the General Chapter of the Subiaco Congregation had elected Abbot Bruno, 65, to become Abbot President of the Congregation. Abbot Norberto, 58, professed first vows on 13 November 1978. He was ordained
a priest on 7 December 1987. Auguri!
Good
Sams Celebrate
2 February 2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict.
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 2 to 4 February Good
Samaritan Sisters, their partners in ministry, family, friends and supporters
will gather 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 year-long celebrations is Who
is my neighbour? In reflecting upon this theme, Sr Clare Condon SGS, Good Samaritan congregational
leader, said that it was taken directly from the well-known parable
of the Good Samaritan found only in the Gospel of Luke (10:25-37).
Fr. Cyprian
Davis OSB Honored
On Thursday, 1 February, the University of Dayton will
bestow its highest honor, the Marianist Award, on Father Cyprian Davis OSB. Fr. Cyprian, a monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey, is the author of the award-winning book The History of Black Catholics in the United States. Only coincidentally is the date the beginning of Black History Month. "Since he is the first black to receive this award, it makes Feb. 1 an historic
and important day," said Rev. Paul Marshall SM, rector. The award is part of a series of events
at UD to celebrate the university's Catholic, Marianist heritage.
Coming
Home
Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai will
return to her old school, Mount St. Scholastica College (merged in 1971 to
become Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas, for a public address on Sunday, 26 January. "Even from the time she arrived in 1960 with a cardboard suitcase, the Sisters
in the Order of St. Benedict recognized the young woman’s intelligence and
vivacity" (Kansas City Star). Maathai has been applauded internationally for founding the Green
Belt Movement. She became known as Kenya’s Green Militant for, among other things, her work
to impart peace through planting trees and good land stewardship. Her work
has been credited with helping to save water supplies and other natural resources.
The Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica have invited Maathai's 1964 classmates for a mini class reunion while she is
in Atchison.
Peace
Art
Friday, 26 January 2007, is Australia Day. As
part of the celebrations this year, the Benedictine monks of New Norcia Abbey made some of their property available for a special art project. It is one of
three projects photographed from space as part of the National Australia Day
Council's Look Up and Smile project. Titled "Peace," the artwork was created using semi trailers to lay tons of sand in the monks'
outback sheep paddock. The three Aboriginal women who created the work "had never worked together despite being related but came together for the project,
aimed at uniting Australians 40 years after the 1967 referendum recognizing
Aboriginal people as citizens" (The Australian). The monks' contact with Aboriginal people dates back to 1846 when two Spanish
missionaries were saved by the local Yuat people.
Spiegel
Special Nr. 9
The special international English edition of Der
Spiegel is devoted to The Power Of Faith - How Religion Impacts Our World. It includes an article about monasteries in Germany, "Looking for Monks and
Nuns in the New Millennium" by Joachim Mohr. The author describes the paradox that although Germany's monasteries
are graying, the demand from the laity to visit monasteries for religious purposes
has never been higher. "Flocks of stressed-out urban neurotics, captains of industry under performance
pressure, and others who are somehow unfulfilled or off kilter all hope to
find balm for their wounded souls in monastic refuges."
+ Dom
Daniel Rees OSB
On 24 January, The Independent published
an obituary for Dom Daniel Rees OSB, a monk of Downside Abbey who died on 10 January. Brought up in the Church of Wales, he was received into
the Roman Catholic Church when in the RAF. He entered the community at Downside
in September 1955. In Rome he earned degrees at Sant'Anselmo and the Pontifical
Biblical Institute. Over a period of 40 years he served his community as novice-master,
school housemaster, librarian, prior and sub-prior. Dom Daniel was a frequent and popular contributor to the Downside Review that he edited for almost 30 years. In 1997 the English Benedictine Congregation
conferred on him the honorary title of Cathedral Prior of Gloucester Cathedral. The monks celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial in the Abbey Church on Friday
afternoon, 19 January.
Two
Monks Die in Accident
Two Benedictine priests serving in the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte were
killed in an automobile accident in Scotland County, North Carolina, on Tuesday,
23 January 2007. Abbot Patrick Shelton OSB and Reverend David Draim OSB died
from injuries sustained in the accident. Abbot Patrick and Father David served
the spiritual needs of Catholics in Richmond and Anson counties at St. James
the Greater Church in Hamlet and Sacred Heart Mission in Wadesboro.
Abbot Patrick was born in Youngstown, Ohio, 26 July 1929. He was ordained
a priest on 8 February 1975. He served as Abbot of Saint Leo Abbey in St. Petersburg, Florida, from 1985 until 1996. Father David was born in Vincennes,
Indiana, 8 April 1943. He was ordained a priest on 23 June 1973. Abbot Patrick
and Fr. David began their pastoral service to the Diocese of Charlotte in 1997
at St. James the Greater Church and Sacred Heart Mission. Funeral arrangements for Abbot Patrick and Fr. David are incomplete.
+ Rev.
Timothy Fry OSB, 1915-2007
Father Timothy Fry OSB, a monk of St. Benedict's Abbey in
Atchison, Kansas, and editor of RB 1980, died at the Abbey on Saturday, January 20. He was 91 years old. Born in Paxico,
Kansas, Fr. Timothy professed first monastic vows in 1936 and became a priest
in 1941. The monks will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial on Thursday
morning, January 25, at the Abbey.
Missionary
Benedictine Sisters Elect Prioress for Tutzing
The Priory Chapter of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing has
been meeting in Tutzing. A major business item has been to elect the new Prioress
who will be installed on 10 February 2007. On 11 January 2007 the capitulars
elected Sr. Hildegard Jansing OSB as prioress for the next five years. Her
council is composed of a subprioress: Sr. Fabiana Wessiepe OSB, and members
of the council: Sr. Ruth Schönenberger OSB, Sr. Mechthild Hommel OSB, Sr. Elisabeth Weiner OSB, and Sr. Rosa
Maria Kaminsky OSB.
Sister Joan
in The Netherlands
On Tuesday, 9 January, KRO-TV, Amsterdam, will broadcast an interview
with S.
Joan Chittister OSB at 8 a.m. Eastern Time. The current events talk show, "Soeterbeeck," will be available later in the day as a webcast at <www.katholieknederland.nl/soeterbeeck>. S. Joan is this year’s guest in KRO’s annual series of inviting "great thinkers from all over the world to talk about their work and their views." She will be discussing her lifelong work for peace and equality, particularly
her recent work with the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a UN-sponsored worldwide network of interfaith spirituality and religious leaders.
The on-location interview will include a visit to the site of the Battle of Arnhem,
an unsuccessful attempt by the allies in WW II to re-conquer the Rhine bridge
that left the north of The Netherlands in German hands.
Rio
Grande
The Benedictine Sisters of the Good Shepherd announce the opening of a
website at <www.starrcountybenedictines.org>. Sisters from Mount St. Benedict Monastery, Crookston, Minnesota, established the Benedictine Monastery of the Good Shepherd
in El Sauz, near Rio Grande City, Texas, as a dependent monastery in 1992.
The pioneers of the Texas monastery are Sisters Frances Solum OSB, Luella Walsh
OSB and Nancy Boushey OSB. In June 2006, the Sisters began construction of
the Monte Cassino Renewal and Conference Center, a future site for use by lay
and religious groups. The center takes its name from the monastery where St.
Benedict wrote his Rule and is buried.
What's New (Aktuelles)
in the Austrian Congregation
What Was New (1995-; archive)
Previous
* Current
The monks of Saint John's Abbey welcome
comments, questions and suggestions from readers at the Pilgrim's Parlor. Send items for inclusion in "What's New" to the <Webkeeper>.
Machine Translation Service
Visit babelfish.yahoo.com/ for
a rough and ready translation of this page. First copy this Web address: www.osb.org/new/current.html
OSB Index | OSB Sitemap
Search | Welcome
What's New (OCSO/Trappists)
OSB Website Store
![[Valid HTML 4.0!]](../graphics/valid-xhtml10.png)
Rev.
/ © 2007 by OSB, MN 56321-2015 USA / info @ osb.org /
www.osb.org/new/0701new.html
