The well at Portsmouth Abbey. Beauty expressed simply.
Benedictines: May 2011 Archives
Brother Paul Quenon, OCSO, has been a monk for 52 years. That is, he's been trying to live in God and by learning to deepen one's capacity to love in community; that's how he describes life as a Trappist monk. A one-time spiritual son of Father Louis (Thomas Merton), Brother Paul lives a contemplative life --that is, on the margins of society but at the center of the Church. His witness is a life of proclaiming the beauty of Christ from an abbey of the Strict Observance of Cistercians. Religion and Ethics Newsweekly's Judy Valente interviewed Brother Paul recently at his home, the Abbey of Gethsemani.The interview can be viewed here.
Brother Paul continues his conversation with some extra questions and answers noted here. Here he talks about Father M. Louis -- Thomas Merton: his personality and life, his call, the spirituality he lived and taught, and the mystery of what he sought.
This week the Pontifical Liturgical Institute centered
at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm (AKA Sant'Anselmo) held the Ninth International
Congress on the Liturgy in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Institute's
foundation. The theme of the congress was "The Pontifical Liturgical Institute:
Between Memory and Prophecy." In the Clementine Hall, the Pope met with Abbot Notker Wolf, Abbot Primate and Chancellor of the Pontifical Athenaeum, Dom Juan Javier Flores, professors and participants in the Congress. The Italian version of the Pope's talk is here; he English translation: Benedict XVI to Pontifical Liturgical Institute May 6 2011.pdf The Pope said several noteworthy things, among them:"Blessed John XXIII, recognizing the requests of
the liturgical movement that sought to give new impetus and a new spirit to the
Church's prayer, shortly before Vatican Council II and during its celebration,
asked the faculty of Benedictines on the Aventine Hill to establish a center
for study and research to ensure a solid basis for conciliar liturgical
reform," said Pope Benedict XVI.
The newly elected Abbot General of the Order of Cistercians, Abbot Mauro-Giuseppi Lepori, OCist, has been a part of the lay ecclesial Movement, Communion and Liberation for many years.In the February issue of Traces, Abbot Mauro was interviewed by Davide Perillo in an article titled, "Called to Live for Him." Here Abbot Mauro talks about his election as Abbot General of the Order of Cistercians, his vocation, Jesus Christ, community life, individualism life within the Movement of Communion and Liberation, St Benedict, and more. I recommend the article.
The article is post here: Called to Live for Him an Interview with Fr Mauro Lepori.pdf
A previous post on Abbot Mauro-Giuseppi can be read here.
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