Benedictines: August 2012 Archives

In view of the swan episode that I experienced a few weeks ago St Louis Abbey with their swan walking the street, I thought you'd want to know that Abelard the Abbey swan was found dead yesterday morning by the maintenance staff of the Priory School (St Louis Abbey). My friend Father Ambrose wrote me about this event. They think he was probably killed by coyotes or maybe by a big dog. 

Whether you have a liking for birds, I am sorry about this. Abelard was a beautiful animal. He was already 18 years old; in captivity, swans can live into their twenties. So he was already old by swan standards; and I think his mind was going. In fact, after I left, he wandered off several more times and had to be brought back. I think he had the swan version of Alzheimer's. Also, several of the monks think he missed Father Michael (who used to take care of him and give him bread scraps, etc.). So he was old and debilitated, and in the natural order of things, another species brought about his demise.

Now the Priory has all those odious Canada geese.

Abeland died on my friend's priestly ordination anniversary, the feast of St. Augustine. Abelard came to live with the monks as a gift from Father Bernard, back in 1998.

You may want to see Father Augustine's update on the Juniors at St Louis Abbey!!!

The Office of the Abbot Primate announces...

News flash! A growing number of Benedictine monasteries are brewing beer in the USA and in Europe.

Originating in Babylonia and Mesopotamia, around the area of Georgia, about the year of 6,000 BC, beer was brewed. Fast forward several years and you'll find Benedictine monks perfecting the brewing beer. Rich in vitamin B, beer was seen as safer than drinking water and it had nutritional value, hence, liquid bread.

The monastic communities in Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Ireland,  Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands among others have been busy with the brew.

Recently, monasteries have been starting up companies like Abbey Beverage Company (of the Abbey of Christ in the Desert) to meet a demand boutique beers. One can also point to the monasteries of Ampleforth (UK), La Cascinazza (Italy), Norcia (Italy), and Spencer (MA) as new brewers.

Drink up!

Today, The Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, archbishop of Saint Louis, ordained two Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis to the Order of Deacon. Brothers Francis Hein and Cassian Koeneman received this sacrament of order at the request of Abbot Thomas Frerking. May God them many years of faithful service!

The archbishop ordained these men to the Order of Deacon and next year, Deo volente, he will ordain them to the Order of Priest.

Brother Francis has been at the Dominican House of Studies (Washington, DC) and Brother Cassian has been at Rome's Angelicum.

What does the Church teach about deacons? The Catechism answers:

Deacons share in Christ's mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint ("character") which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.

Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate "as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy," while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church's mission. Indeed it is appropriate and useful that men who carry out a truly diaconal ministry in the Church, whether in its liturgical and pastoral life or whether in its social and charitable works, should "be strengthened by the imposition of hands which has come down from the apostles. They would be more closely bound to the altar and their ministry would be made more fruitful through the sacramental grace of the diaconate." (CCC 1570-71).