What's New

May 2008

Lectio Divina

Dame Laurentia Johns OSB, director of novices at Stanbrook Abbey, responds to an invitation from Britain's The Tablet, to share a word or two of wisdom about the Benedictine practice of lectio divina. "How our hearts burned within us" is the featured article of the Pentecost issue (10 May 2008).

Benedictine Exhibition in Nairobi

"With our Hands, but with Your Strength" is an exhibition on the works of the Benedictine monastic tradition that was first seen in Italy. Members of Communion and Liberation have brought the exhibition to the Nairobi National Museum where it is freely open to the public from 16 to 29 May 2008 from 9 to 5. In light of the recent post-election crisis in Kenya, the exhibition offers an invitation "to learn from history the way towards real peace." Prior Florian OSB and the Ottilien monks of King of Peace Priory gladly serve as guides to the exhibition, in addition to their usual assignments, hoping thereby to contribute to the healing process in Kenya.

Affligem Monks Elect Dom Rik De Wit OSB

The monks of the St. Peter and Paul's Abbey of Affligem, Belgium, announce with joy that on 29 April they elected as abbot their confrere, Dom Rik De Wit OSB, 71, as successor of the Rt. Rev. Father Dom Benedikt Verschelden OSB who, according to the Constitutions of the Subiaco Congregation, had attained the age limit. From 1974 to 1999, Abbot Rik served at St. Benedict's Abbey, Polokwane, South Africa. The community celebrated the official installation of Abbot Rik, Monday, 5 May 2008.

Abbatial Election at Lambach

On Wednesday, 7 May 2008, the monks of Lambach Abbey elected Father Prior Mag. Maximilian Neulinger OSB to become their 59th abbot for a term of 12 years. He succeeds Abbot Gotthard Schafelner OSB who will reach 70, the suggested age of retirement in the Austrian Congregation, on 2 June 2008 when Abbot Maximilian assumes office. Abbot Maximilian was born in 1967 and entered Lambach in 1990. He professed final vows in 1994 and was ordained a priest in 1996. He served as teacher in the school and assistant priest in the local parish. His work as novice master, archivist, prior, and business manager kept him occupied within the abbey. Most Rev. Dr. Ludwig Schwarz SDB, Bishop of Linz, will impart the abbatial blessing in the abbey church on Sunday, 8 June 2008, 3 p.m. Es lebe hoch!

April 2008

Faith and the Arts and Crafts

Suzanne Harker announces the Craft World Peace Day to be held on Trinity Sunday, 18 May 2008. The purpose of the online observance is for crafters and non-crafters to join in prayer for a quick and peaceful end to all conflict within and among countries and families, and for a kind and loving end to all abuse and discrimination among families, races, religions, and nations.

The 2008 schedule of Sacred Art Workshops is online. "Early Christian Byzantine Iconography," 18-24 May 2008, and "Crafting the Illuminated Image," 10-17 August 2008, will be hosted by Conception Abbey, Missouri.

ARTCUREL: Art, Culture and Religion is a website that, in concert with the Abbey of the Most Blessed Trinity, Cava, Italy, is sponsoring an ecumenical, triennial encounter that fosters dialogue between art, culture and Catholic, Christian religion. The gathering will run from 14 to 16 July 2008. The theme is "God is Love, Love is Art." More information is available at the festival website.

+ P. Basil Studer OSB

On the feast of St. Mark, 25 April 2008, Prof. P. Dr. Basil Studer OSB, shortly after turning 83, died in Canton Hospital Sarnen after a serious illness. He professed vows in 1947 at Engelberg Abbey, Switzerland, and was ordained in 1951. After study in Rome, in 1957 he was called to teach at the inter-diocesan major seminary in Otélé, Cameroon, Africa. Further study in Paris prepared him to assume the Chair of Patrology and Church History in 1964 at S. Anselmo, Rome. From 1968 to 1974 he served as rector of the university. He became professor emeritus in 1999, but continued as a member of the core faculty of the "Augustinianum" Patristic Institute of the Pontifical University of the Lateran until 2006. The internationally acclaimed scholar and specialist in Saint Augustine leaves an extensive body of work; the titles of his last publications reflect the emphasis of his research and the passion of his life: Through History to Belief: Exegesis of the Church Fathers' Teaching on the Trinity (Rome 2006) and Church History as Theology (Münstser 2007). The monks of Engelberg will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, 30 April 2008, at 11 a.m. Die Chöre der Engel mögen dich empfangen und dich führen in die heilige Stadt Jerusalem.

Quarr Abbey Welcomes Abbot Finbar

Dom Philippe Dupont OSB, Abbot-President of the Solesmes Congregation, announced on Wednesday, 23 April, that for a term of two years Dom Finbar Kealy OSB, a monk of Douai Abbey in the English Congregation, will become Abbot Administrator of Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight, a monastery of the Solesmes Congregation. Abbot Finbar, 60, was Abbot of Douai from 1990 to 1998. Until 15 May 2008 he serves as superior of Douai Abbey's dependant monastery, Maison St-Benoît in Douai, France. In 2007, with the consent of the General Chapter, Dom Richard Yeo OSB, Abbot-President of the English Congregation, named Abbot Finbar titular Cathedral Prior of Canterbury. Brother David Hayes OSB, a monk of Quarr, will take up residence with the community in France, and Father Peter Bowe OSB succeeds Abbot Finbar as superior at Maison St-Benoît.

Austrian Monastic Philately

The Austrian Philatelic Society of St. Gabriel, maintains a website that specializes in Benedictine and Cistercian motifs. The society is named after the Archangel Gabriel, patron of mail and philately. Dr. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, serves as protector of the world federation of St. Gabriel guilds in Europe and overseas. The Austrian website offers a wide range of services for Christian stamp-collectors including a comprehensive catalog, by country, of stamps that depict Saint Benedict.

Monastic Celibacy East and West

Liturgical Press recently published Demythologizing Celibacy: Practical Wisdom from Christian and Buddhist Monasticism by Father William Skudlarek OSB. In September 2007 the Abbot Primate appointed Father William, a monk of Saint John's Abbey, General Secretary of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. Drawing on the monastic interreligious dialogue, Father William considers the Buddhist view of celibacy, which is not mythologized as a response to a divine call or as a superhuman way of life. He examines their regard for it as simply -- and profoundly -- a path to freedom, peace, and happiness. As Christians become aware of the benefits of celibacy for monks who observe it without reference to the Gospel, they may be able to appreciate all the more its importance and value for those who wish to follow Christ as celibates, and in this way come to share in the freedom of the children of God.

Beuronese Elect Abbot President

On Wednesday morning, 16 April, the general capitulars of the Beuronese Congregation, led by Theodor Hogg OSB, Archabbot of Beuron, elected P. Albert Schmidt OSB to become abbot-president of the congregation. The abbatial blessing is set for Saturday, 19 April, at 10:30 a.m. in the church of Beuron Archabbey. Most Rev. Archbishop Dr. Robert Zollitsch will preside. Father Albert is the former rector of Sant'Anselmo and will continue to serve as editor of Erbe und Auftrag.

Forecasts for Papal Visit

Manya A. Brachear and Margaret Ramirez see the visit to the United States by His Holiness Benedict XVI as a "microcosm of his papacy." Writing for the Chicago Tribune on Sunday (13 April), they predict that in response to the sexual abuse crisis, "In Washington, the pontiff will remind American bishops of their mission to serve God by easing victims' pain and tending their flock. In New York, he will deliver a message of 'trust and hope' to clergy in an effort to restore confidence in the church."

Dr. Stephen Minnis, the president of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, is no stranger to papal audiences. By the end of the Pope's visit, he will have attended four. One of those will be at Catholic University with other leaders in Catholic education. Richard Yanikoski, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, expects the Pope will say, "'I understand what you do because I am one of you. I appreciate what you do. I know it is difficult in a modern world with so many distractions. I call you to do the best you can'" (Kansas City Star, 15 April 2008).

Benedict on Benedict

On Wednesday, 9 April, the Holy Father resumed his series of teaching on the Church Fathers. Today's subject was his namesake, Saint Benedict, the Patriarch of Western Monasticism. He contrasted the Benedictine way of life, one of withdrawal, seclusion, and prayer, with the public role of a Benedictine monastery in the life of the Church and society. (Full text.)

The followers of St. Benedict, following his famous Rule, combined prayer and reflection with active work, because "Benedict's spirituality was not an interior life divorced from reality," the Pope said. Carefully distinguishing between what is important and what is unimportant, the Rule "maintains its illuminating power up to today," he said. (Catholic World News)

Featured Golden Jubilarian

Br. Kevin McGuire OSB, a monk of St. Gregory's Abbey, Shawnee, Oklahoma, is featured in a special section on vocations in the 13 April 2008 edition of Our Sunday Visitor. The article pictures Brother Kevin in the abbey church, in a hallway, on the motorcycle that he built, and at work. St. Gregory's Abbey is a community of 27 monks that sponsors the only Catholic college in Oklahoma, St. Gregory's University. The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art on campus is the oldest museum collection in Oklahoma. In 1875 the first monks came to Oklahoma from the French Abbey of Pierre-qui-Vire. Br. Kevin and his classmate, Fr. Maurus Jaeb OSB, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of monastic profession on 11 July 2008.

Pope Accepts the Saint John's Bible

In Rome, on Friday morning, 4 April, Abbot John Klassen OSB, Brother Dietrich Reinhart OSB, and others presented the St. Peter Apostles Edition of The Saint John's Bible to Pope Benedict XVI. While perusing a deluxe facsimile of the handwritten and illuminated book commissioned by Saint John's Abbey and University, the Holy Father said this is a great work of art, "a work for eternity" ( St. Cloud Times). "The 'Wisdom Books,' a limited edition reproduction of one of the Old Testament volumes of the 1,150 page-Bible -- measuring 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide when open -- was presented to the pope during a private audience. He will receive the remaining six volumes over the next four years" ( BBC). A generous grant from the Gerald and Henrietta Rauenhorst Foundation of Philadelphia made possible the gift to Pope Benedict from the abbey and university. View a brief video of the presentation or read a comprehensive news release.

BBC Religion

On Sunday, 6 April, BBC Radio 4 (Listen) will broadcast Sunday Worship from 08.10 to 08.50 BST (2:10 a.m. CDT) from the Basilica of St-Paul's-without-the Walls, led by Father Gregory Collins OSB (Glenstal Abbey) with a homily by Abbot Edmund Power OSB.

Later on Sunday, from 16.00 to 17.00 BST (10 a.m. CDT) BBC Radio 3 (Listen Live) will broadcast Choral Evensong from St Paul's led by Abbot Edmund and sung by Pilgrim Consort with a homily by Father Gregory.

Monk Writes Chant for Pope Benedict

Father Samuel Weber OSB composed the chants that will be used during Evening Prayer on 16 April 2008 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with Pope Benedict XVI presiding and at the Holy Father's private Mass the next morning at the Apostolic Nunciature. Father Samuel is a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey and teaches in the Divinity School at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Chant melodies composed at Saint Meinrad are widely used in the Benedictine monasteries of North America. The Evening Prayer service is expected to be televised worldwide. Father Samuel is associate professor of early Christianity and spiritual formation at Wake Forest. (WFU News Release.)

Transitus of Saint Benedict

Because of the early date this year for Easter and its privileged Octave, the Feast of Saint Benedict on 21 March that commemorates his death has been transferred to 1 April. The serenity of his death among his confreres, depicted at right in a window at Sacred Heart Monastery, Yankton, South Dakota, makes him a special advocate for the dying.

On the margin of the Benedictine Medal, encircling the figure of Benedict, are the Latin words: Eius in obitu nostro præsentia muniamur (May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death)!

Pope St. Gregory's account of St. Benedict's death ca. 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.

Six days before he died, he gave orders for his tomb to be opened. Almost immediately he was seized with a violent fever that rapidly wasted his remaining energy.  Each day his condition grew worse until finally, on the sixth day, he had his disciples carry him into the chapel where he received the Body and Blood of our Lord to gain strength for his approaching end. Then, supporting his weakened body on the arms of his brethren, he stood with his hands raised to heaven and, as he prayed, breathed his last.

--Gregory the Great, Dialogues, book 2, c. 37.

 

What's New (Aktuelles) in the Austrian Congregation. Aktuelle Meldungen (Erbe und Auftrag).
What Was New (1995-; archive)

January, February, and March 2008.

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