Benedictines – Page 25

Paul Augustin Cardinal Mayer, RIP

Paul Augustin Cardinal Mayer, OSB, died today just shy of his 99th birthday. He was the Church’s eldest Prince.

Cardinal Mayer was born on 23 May 1911 and professed vows the Abbey of Metten on 17 May 1931; he was ordained a priest on 25 August 1935 and elected abbot of Metten on 3 November 1966. Mayer’s service to the Church universal began in 1971 when he was ordained a bishop by Pope Paul VI and named secretary for the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes. later he was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and then Ecclesia Dei. When made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II he was given the titular of Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino.

Cardinal Mayer was a priest for 74.5 years; 38 years a bishop and 24 years a cardinal.

In a telegram to Abbot Primate Notker Wolf, Pope Benedict XVI said of Cardinal Mayer:

“he leaves the indelible memory of an industrious life spent with mildness and rectitude in coherent adherence to his vocation as a monk and pastor, full of zeal for the Gospel and always faithful to the Church. While recalling his knowledgeable commitment in the field of the liturgy and in that of university and seminaries, and especially his much appreciated service to the Holy See, first in the preparatory commission for Vatican Council II then in various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, I raise fervent prayers that the Lord may welcome this worthy brother into eternal joy and peace.

May Paul Augustin Cardinal Mayer’s memory be eternal!

Gabriel Gibbs: founding abbot of Massachusetts abbey RIP

A generation of big names in “East coast Catholicism” in the past two years have died, and Right Reverend Father Gabriel Gibbs is numbered among them. Abbot Gabriel, 84, was the first abbot of Saint Benedict’s Abbey, Still River, MA.

Abbot Gabriel is likely to be remembered most for his questioning of religious liberty (no salvation outside the Church) that came to head in the doctrine put forward by the Second Vatican Council, though it was much discussed by theologians and bishops in the 1940s. Early in his life Abbot Gabriel was part of a robust Catholic center in Harvard Square, The Saint Benedict Center, where Jesuit Father Leonard Feeney lectured. After suffering for sometime with cancer, Abbot Gabriel died on March 27. Abbot is pictured above on the far right.

The abbot and I shared a friend in Cardinal Dulles and a few other monks. And so, we pray for God’s mercy on the abbot and his eternal rest.

Abbot Gabriel’s obit can be read here and here.

May his memory be eternal.

Pope visit monks of Sant’Anselmo to begin Lent

My friend Dom Elias Lorenzo, monk of St. Mary’s Abbey
(Morristown, NJ), is currently serving as the Superior and Prior of the Abbey
of Sant’Anselmo in Rome, Italy, the headquarters of international Benedictine
Confederation and home to the Pontifical Liturgical Institute.

In his capacity
as Father Prior of Sant’Anselmo, Dom Elias recently (February 17, 2010) welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to Sant’Anselmo
on the Aventine Hill. The Pope’s visit to Sant’Anselmo is an annual event to begin the Lenten season on Ash Wednesday with a procession from the Abbey Church to
the Church of Santa Sabina, the headquarters of the Order of Friars Preachers
(the Dominicans) where the Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated.

The Holy Father was greeted by Abbot Primate Notker Wolf (also German) and
Dom Elias, who escorted him into the basilica where he prayed before the Blessed
Sacrament. There the Pope stopped for a brief prayer, before beginning Mass at
the chair. Dom Elias said, “This is a unique liturgy in that the Pope
intones a penitential litany and the monks, visiting bishops and cardinals
process from Sant’Anselmo to Santa Sabina for the rest of the Mass.” The
pope vests for Mass at Santa Sabina.

New Benedictine Abbey in Oklahoma

Yesterday was the feast of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of Saint Benedict but today Father Abbot Antoine of the Abbey Our Lady of Fontgombault announced that Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Monastery is now an abbey.

Dom Philip Anderson was named the first abbot of Clear Creek by the Abbot of Fontgombault, Dom Antoine Forgeot. Dom Francis Bethel the long-time guestmaster was named prior and Dom Mark Bachmann, subprior.

Pray for Abbot Philip and for the monks of the Clear Creek Abbey!

The Abbey of Our Lady of Fontgombault, France (1948) is a foundation of the Abbey of Saint Peter, Solesmes (revived in 1833).

Saints Benedict and Scholastica, pray for us.

Monks and MBAs mix

This morning in my inbox I found a fine human interest story on a relationship being built between a colony of Benedictine monks and academics and students of business from a Jesuit university. The key to this whole story is mutual understanding and respect for the other and lived culture, that is genuine friendship. In this case, the monks of Conception Abbey and Rockhurst University School of Management’s professors and students. Read the story… Pray for each group.

Saint Meinrad receives grant for youth program

Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, St.
Meinrad, IN, has been awarded an $895,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. of
Indianapolis. The grant will be used as supplemental support for the “One
Bread, One Cup” youth liturgical leadership program.

The funds will underwrite
a portion of the operating expenses of the program for five years. During that
time, Saint Meinrad will continue to build an endowment to replace the grant as
a source of operating revenue. Other costs of the program are covered by
participant fees.

“Lilly Endowment has played a crucial role in supporting our
program over the years,” said Fr. Godfrey Mullen, OSB, interim manager for the
“One Bread, One Cup” program. “Their support empowers Saint Meinrad to pass on
the Benedictine heritage of community and liturgy to another generation of
Catholics. Catholic youth and those who serve them will benefit greatly from
‘One Bread, One Cup’ because of the generosity of the Lilly Endowment.”

Continue reading Saint Meinrad receives grant for youth program

Father Charles Dumont, Cistercian monk, priest, poet: RIP

On the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, a few
hours after the Midnight Mass (in which he participated from his room), Father
Charles Dumont was born into eternal life. Born in Ixelles (Brussels) on 26
September 1918, he entered Scourmont Abbey on 11 June 1941, he professed solemn
vows on 16 July 1946, and was ordained priest on 15 May 1950. He served
several times as chaplain at the abbey of Notre Dame de la Paix (Chimay), as
well as at Soleilmont. For several years he assisted at Caldey and he filled the
office of Novice Master at Scourmont from 1993 to 1996.

He introduced many
people, especially within the Order, to the knowledge and the love of the
Cistercian Fathers, in particular St Bernard. He was the editor of Collectanea
Cistercienia, later Cisterciensia (1963-71) and assisted in the editing of Cistercian Studies Quarterly. Two of his
recent works are Pathways to Peace: Cistercian Wisdom According to St. Bernard
and Praying the Word of God. Cistercian Sister Elizabeth Connor wrote a book on
Father Charles entitled, Charles Dumont Monk-Poet: A Spiritual Biography. His
funeral took place at Scourmont on 28 December. May God grant Father Charles eternal light, peace and happiness.

Spencer Abbey & Lunch: a personal pilgrimage at Christmas

I spent a few hours today at Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, MA, and then later in the day had lunch with a friend, Msgr. Robert Johnson in Worcester. It was beautifully sunny but incredibly cold.

Spencer’s abbey has always held a special place in my heart because of the beauty of the location –on top of a hill with rolling fields and lakes– and because of friendship I share with some of the monks and the sacred Liturgy.

Saint Joseph’s Abbey is a monastic house of monks of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO), the Trappists.

I even stopped by the Holy Rood Guild and purchased an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and a linen amice.

See the monks’ blog that’s periodically update, here.

Benedictine named bishop in Chur, Switzerland: Abbot Dr. Marian Eleganti

Abbot Dr. Marian Eleganti, 54, until now the Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Otmasberg (Abtei St. Otmarsberg), has been nominated by the Holy Father to be an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Chur, Switzerland. He was elected abbot of his monastery on 15 July 1999 and in 2003 defended a doctoral dissertation on Romano Guardini at the University of Salzburg. Abbot Marian speaks seven languages and is a published author.

The Abbey of Saint Otmasberg belongs to the Congregation of Saint Ottilien, a grouping of missionary Benedictine monks who take vows to a particular monastery as other monks do, but since mission work is their common apostolate, monks are assigned from various monasteries for this mission work in monasteries in other parts of the world. This congregation of monks have a slightly different understanding of the monastic of stability but no less vital for monasticism and for the Church. There are two monasteries of the Congregation of Saint Ottilien in the USA: Saint Paul’s Abbey (Newton, NJ) and Christ the King Priory (Schuyler, NE).

Bishop-elect Marian is one of 32 Benedictine monks ordained to the episcopacy worldwide.

May God grant many years to Bishop-elect Marian and may Saint Ambrose sustain the bishop with his prayers. So, we pray for Abbot Marian and for his Benedictine community who will now prepare to elect a new abbot.

Rule of Saint Benedict

The monks of Saint Benedict’s Abbey have put on their
website Father Boniface Verheyen’s translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict. The monks at this Abbey have a terrific college and get a steady stream of vocations. This year they have 7 novices: three for Kansas and four for Brazil.

I would recommend reading a chapter a day or a portion of it since some chapters are longer than others. My recommendation echoes to significant voices:

Christ present!
The Christian announcement is that God became one of us and is present here,
and gathers us together into one body, and through this unity, His presence is
made perceivable. This is the heart of the Benedictine message of the
earliest times. Well, this also defines the entire message of our Movement,
and this is why we feel Benedictine history to be the history to which we
are closest.

~Monsignor Luigi Giussani, Founder of Communion and
Liberation

Familiarity with the Word, which the Benedictine Rule guarantees by
reserving much time for it in the daily schedule, will not fail to instill
serene trust, to cast aside false security and to root in the soul a vivid
sense of the total lordship of God. The monk is thus protected from convenient
or utilitarian interpretations of Scripture and brought to an ever deeper
awareness of human weakness, in which God’s power shines brightly.

~Pope John
Paul II