Vocations – Page 12

Vietnamese monks live Cistercian life, San Bernardino, CA

Long before dawn in the remote desert south of Barstow, the only light for miles around is a faint glow from a triple-wide trailer.

Inside, several monks chant in Vietnamese. Then there is silence.

The trailer is home to the first cloistered Catholic monastery in the Inland area. The white-robed monks pray and chant together seven times a day and silently meditate twice. Here in Lucerne Valley, off a dirt road and at the foot of barren mountains, there is little to disturb them.

“There is God in this deserted place,” said Brother Matthew Nguyen. “There are not many people here, but God is here.”

San Bernardino Diocese Bishop Gerald Barnes celebrated the opening of St. Joseph Monastery on Aug. 17, but for now, the two cream-colored trailers, a water pump and solar panels are all that sit on the 80-acre site.

The monks hope to one day erect permanent buildings to house a chapel, retreat center and living quarters.

Peter Pham, a Cistercian monk, delivers food at sunrise outside the St. Joseph Monastery in the Lucerne Valley south of Barstow. Six Vietnamese members of the Cistercians devote their lives to contemplation there. It will also serve as a Catholic retreat.

St. Joseph is the second U.S. outpost of a Vietnamese congregation of Cistercian-order monks, who seclude themselves in monasteries to devote their lives to contemplation. The other opened in June near Sacramento.

There are nearly 7,000 Cistercian monks and nuns worldwide. Most sites are open to the Catholic faithful for retreats, as St. Joseph’s visitors trailer will be in a few months.

The monks and nuns in Cistercian monasteries typically spend little time outside them, except for shopping for groceries and other necessities, and for special events such as ordinations.

Although the number of monks and nuns in U.S. monasteries has declined over the past few decades, experts say the drop has not been as steep as the fall in non-monastic priests and nuns.

Proportionately more people choose a monastic life than before as a reaction to secularism and an increasingly fast-paced U.S. lifestyle, said Sister Patricia Wittberg, a professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

There are about 200 Catholic monasteries in the United States, but there is no reliable count of how many people live inside them.

Like the parish priests who minister to their congregants and the nuns who serve the poor and sick, Cistercians and their devotion to intensely contemplative lives form a vital part of the Catholic church, said the Rev. Thomas Rausch, a professor of Catholic theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

“It’s a special vocation,” Rausch said. “The church needs people who energize it from within with their prayer.”

The monks of St. Joseph rise each morning at precisely 3:55 a.m.

Twenty minutes later, they gather in the dim light of the trailer’s chapel to chant for a half-hour. Then comes 30 minutes of meditation broken by the ringing of a bell announcing daily Mass.

The rest of the day is dedicated to prayer, meditation, singing, Bible-reading, study and work. They speak to each other as little as possible, said the Rev. Anthony Pham, the monastery’s superior.

“Most of our time is for God,” Pham said, as he ate a breakfast of fried eggs topped with soy sauce.

Pham said that, while he is meditating, he reflects upon God’s love and the meaning of his calling as a monk. Work is an integral part of monastic life. As much of it as possible is manual labor, to leave the monks’ minds free for contemplation.

The monks are now clearing brush, digging trenches for pipes, grading land and performing other tasks to build and adorn their monastery.

Like other monasteries, St. Joseph must be self-supporting, so the monks are discussing possible business ventures.

Other monasteries make products such as beer, fruitcake or cheese, and one in Wisconsin sells toner cartridges under the name Lasermonks.

The St. Joseph monks are thinking of opening an on-site gift shop featuring Vietnamese religious articles that they would also sell online. Or perhaps they’ll make tofu for Vietnamese markets.

The 12-bed retreat center that will open in several months is why the monastery exists. A Vietnamese priest from Santa Ana, who attended a Cistercian boarding school as a boy, contacted the Cistercian order to convey the need for a retreat house geared toward Vietnamese immigrants, Pham said.

Many older Vietnamese Catholics do not speak English and would not feel at home or get the spiritual nourishment they seek if they were to attend a retreat at an English-speaking monastery, he said.

They and many other Catholics yearn for a place to recharge, to take a break from their busy lives to focus on their relationship with God, Pham said.

The retreat guests — visitors who are not Vietnamese will be welcome as well — will participate in the same prayers, singing, meditation and other devotions as the monks, Pham said.

If asked, the monks will guide them, suggesting which Biblical verses to read. But much of the benefit of a retreat will be the example the monks set, Pham said.

“The way we live has a special effect and impact on other people, in the way that we get closer to God,” Pham said. “When we are closer to God, we love God more.”

Even more than parish priests, the monks forgo worldly goods. Because they rarely leave the monastery, they have few material needs. They do not eat meat, as a way of sacrificing for God.

“If we put too many things in ourselves, we cannot serve other people,” Pham said. “If you’re willing to throw things like the good car, like status in the community away, you come back to only being a human being, nothing more. We try to empty ourselves, so God can pour his graces into us.”

When a permanent monastery is complete, Pham will spend almost all his time there.

Until then, Pham is busier than he would sometimes like. He regularly interrupts the contemplative life of Lucerne Valley to drive to Victorville. There, he fills out forms, applies for permits and talks with county bureaucrats. Even monks can’t avoid San Bernardino County land-use and building codes.

He has a studded ring on his right hand that he rubs while driving, so he can pray the Rosary while on the road.

All six monks who live at the monastery spent at least six months at a Benedictine monastery in Pennsylvania to improve their English and acculturate themselves, Pham said. Two more monks are now in Pennsylvania, preparing to move to St. Joseph. The goal is to have 13 monks by the end of 2009.

The monks receive several-thousand dollars a month to support themselves and the monastery. Most money comes from Vietnamese immigrants in Orange County. Further donations, along with revenue from the monks’ forthcoming business, will fund the construction of the permanent monastery.

The trailer chapel where the monks now spend much of their time is spare. The monks sit on white plastic chairs or kneel on a blue-and-white carpet before a crucifix and a wooden altar carved in Orange County by a Vietnamese craftsman. Statues of St. Joseph and Our Lady of La Vang — an apparition of the Virgin Mary in 18th century Vietnam — stand near a plaque commemorating Bishop Barnes’ visit.

Outside, there is little but sand and desert brush. Lucerne Valley was chosen for the monastery because it is remote enough to foster contemplation but within driving distance of the huge Vietnamese community in Orange County.

The land cost $80,000. Pham started paying for it with his $200 monthly stipend, along with donations from Vietnamese families.It was a risk. Pham knew the money wasn’t enough to pay the entire cost of the land. But he trusted in God.

Then a Vietnamese family took him to Florida with them on vacation. By chance, he met a wealthy Vietnamese Catholic there. Pham mentioned the monastery he was building. He didn’t ask the man for money. But by the time he left Florida, the man offered to pay the remaining cost of the land.

“I didn’t know this person, and I didn’t have the money to pay for the land,” Pham said.

“But everything comes together with God.”

—-

THE CISTERCIAN ORDER

The Cistercian order to which the monks at St. Joseph Monastery in Lucerne Valley belong dates from 1098, when it was founded in Citeaux, France, by St. Robert of Molesme. The English word “Cisterican” comes from “Citeaux.”

Their creed is “Ora et Labora,” or “Prayer and work.” Most of a Cistercian monk’s day is spent in contemplation.

The monks at St. Joseph are called Common Observance Cistercians. Perhaps better known is the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, commonly known as Trappists. The Trappists initially had a stricter interpretation of monastic rules, but today differences between the Common and Strict Observance Cistercians are negligible and there are discussions to unite the two orders.

There are nearly 7,000 Cistercian monks and nuns worldwide.

The mother abbey for St. Joseph Monastery, Phuoc Son Abbey, is outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

SOURCES: The (Common Observance) Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Break, Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia

Father, son and Holy Church

Ruth Gledhill of the Times Online (of London) posted this story today on a very unique circumstance: a father & son who poped and are now Catholic priests.

In what is believed to be a first, a father and son, both former Anglican clergy, have been ordained as Catholic priests and are now working for the same archdiocese, Birmingham.

Father Dominic Cosslett, 36, and his father, Father Ron Cosslett, 70, were both ordained by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, pictured above by Peter Jennings. Nichols is the favourite to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor as Archbishop of Westminster when he steps down early next year and the latest ordination of Father Dominic on 20 December shows he is continuing in the tradition of true Catholicity to which the British church has so long been witness.

Father Dominic was formerly an Anglican priest at the Church of Christ the King at Lourdes in Coventry. His father, Father Ron Cosslett, aged 70, also a former Anglican priest, was ordained as a Catholic priest by Nichols 3 July 2005. He is now priest-in-charge at St Joseph’s, Darlaston in the West Midlands.

Father Dominic, who is not married, has from a young age felt called to a celibate lifestyle. “Although as an Anglican marriage was open to me the way I live my life is naturally a celibate one,” he told me yesterday. His mother converted five years ago at the same time as his father and his sister and their children followed them over about a year ago.

Father and son concelebrated, celebrating the eucharist at the older Father’s parish, for the first time at Christmas.

“Both of us were in the Catholic tradition of Anglicanism,” said Father Dominic. “Like a lot of us in that tradition, we had always felt the Catholic Church was the rock from which we were hewn. It was always part of our journey, our faith, to seek unity with Rome. We came to the point where we felt we could not exercise our understanding of Catholicism within Anglicanism. It was time for us to go home.”

His father started out in Monmouth, South Wales and then moved to Burslem, one of the Five Towns in the Potteries in the Lichfield diocese. The family returned to Wales and his father’s last Anglican parish was St Paul’s in Swansea.

Under the guidelines agreed in the Catholic church for the reception of Anglican clergy who wish to become Catholic priests, Father Dominic, who studied theology at Llampeter and trained for the Anglican priesthood at the high church Mirfield College of the Resurrection before being priested in 1997, underwent a shortened training as to be a Catholic priest. He spent a year in the Spain at the Royal English College at Valladolid and then went to seminary at St Mary’s Oscott.

As an Anglican, he served his curacy in Abergavenny in the Monmouth diocese when his bishop was Dr Rowan Williams, now Archbishop of Canterbury. He moved to his own parish in the Birmingham diocese when its bishop was Dr John Sentamu, now Archbishop of York. He speaks highly of both men, but neither was enough to make him stay.

“I realised my own journey was to seek unity with Rome. Balanced with that was the awareness that the Anglican Church was going in a very different direction with various decisions it was making. I just felt I could not agree with those decisions. It comes down to authority. As an Anglican, it was sometimes very difficult. One parish might believe one thing, another might believe something else.

“There is an incredible rainbow of thought in the Anglican Church. Perhaps I was looking more for a central authority of teaching that the Catholic Church has. It was something I had always been looking for.”

He recognises his situation, with his father as a priest, might appear unusual to some but for him it feels normal. There is a long tradition in the Anglican church of father-and-son priests. The ministry often runs in families.

Asked whether he believes all Catholic priests should be allowed to marry, he said: “That is not my decision. The teaching of the Church is there. The Holy Father has graciously allowed those who are former Anglicans who are married to become priests. The teaching remains the same and that is certainly not for me to comment on.”

But he was careful to emphasise that his new path was not a reaction against Anglicanism.

“Becoming a Catholic is not so much about being disatisfied with being an Anglican as about having a positive engagement with the Catholic Church. I am very grateful for my Anglican days. But I realised there is something else in the Catholic Church. That is very much what lay behind my decision.”

Archbishop Nichols, in his words of welcome at the start of the ordination, said: “This situation a unique occasion and a great day in the life of the diocese. Both a father and his son – after his ordination – will be serving as Catholic priests.”

More than 60 Catholic priests, including Father Dominic’s father, witnessed the ceremony.

Archbishop Nichols continued: “Just as the Angel Gabriel told Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow’, so also this will manifest for Dominic.

“How else, except through this gift could Dominic ever make Christ present in the life of the Church? It is the same gift given all those centuries ago in Nazareth that is given in Coventry today.

“It is only our unity in the Church which ensures that we are faithful to what we have been given. This Ordination is part of a great Tradition – a great handing on – from one age to the next of his gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

“Indeed, this sense of Tradition is crucial – Apostolic Tradition. The vital question for all of us and for Dominic is where is it to be found?

“We rejoice in the answer during this Ordination Ceremony. It is to be found, with utter reliability, in union with Peter the first Apostle, and in union with his Successor the Bishop of Rome.

“It is this visible unity which gives the Church the sure capacity to be faithful in the Apostolic Tradition; to hand on whole and entire, and to explore and develop its Doctrine in a faithful and secure manner. This unity is a great joy and a pearl of great price.

“So today we thank God for Dominic’s life and ministry as a priest in the Church of England. We rejoice as he steps into the priesthood in this full Communion of the Catholic Church through his ordination in this visible Apostolic Tradition.”

Consecrated Virginity makes a come back

“A Prayerful Advocate”

From Catholic New York
By John Woods

Like many of you, I occasionally ask someone to keep me or a member of my family in their prayers. And when someone makes a similar request of me, I take it seriously.

This week, I made such a request of someone the first time I spoke to her, and I have a good hunch that she’ll follow through.

Her name is Jenna Marie Cooper. She is 23 years old and a graduate student in theology at Ave Maria University in Florida. On Saturday, Jan. 3, she will be consecrated to a life of virginity at an 11:30 a.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Newburgh to be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Dominick J. Lagonegro, co-vicar for Orange County and pastor of Sacred Heart.

As a consecrated virgin, the oldest form of consecrated life in the Church, Ms. Cooper will spend much of her time in prayer. (A Vatican II document called for a revision and revival of the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity for Women Living in the World, restoring the ancient vocation in the life of the modern Church.) It will not be a great departure from her current daily life, which includes praying the Liturgy of the Hours five times, attending Mass and spending other time in prayer.

Chief among her intentions are the Church and people of New York. Cardinal Egan granted permission for Ms. Cooper to be consecrated and she will remain directly under his authority as Archbishop of New York.

She said she felt privileged to be invited to attend the Mass for clergy and religious that Pope Benedict XVI celebrated in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in April. “That was such a wonderful and awesome experience. I couldn’t talk about anything else for a week afterward,” she said.

When the Holy Father thanked those present for their prayers on his behalf, it made a firm impression on her. “That sense that prayers were needed and appreciated was very meaningful to me,” she said.

She will be the youngest person in the United States living as a consecrated virgin, and one of four active in the archdiocese, according to Father Bartholomew Daly, M.H.M., who as co-vicar for religious is in charge of their oversight and meets with them regularly.

During our phone interview, Ms. Cooper said she had felt a religious calling since she was about 12. She is part of a devout Catholic family that includes her parents, Douglas and Judith, and two younger siblings, Joseph and Tess. They are parishioners of St. Thomas of Canterbury parish in Cornwall-on-Hudson. She assumed that she would eventually join a religious congregation. She met with several during her undergraduate days (she holds a bachelor’s in philosophy from Seton Hall University), but didn’t feel like that was the right choice for her. Still, she continued to feel a call to serve the Church in a special way.

In 2004 she met Father Luke Sweeney, now the vocation director for the archdiocese who was then serving at Sacred Heart in Newburgh, where Ms. Cooper at times attends Mass. He gave her information about different religious orders and showed her a copy of the rite for consecrated virgins. She said that she was familiar with the lives of some of the consecrated virgins of the early Church, including some who were martyred for their faith.

“The courage they had to live a Christian life in such a hostile culture made me realize what a foundation they were for the Church,” she said. “I wanted to be able to imitate that courage and love in my own life.”

Eventually Father Sweeney arranged for her to meet with Father Daly. Last year, she began meeting with him on a more regular basis in pursuing her vocation. She had to formally request Cardinal Egan’s permission for her consecration, which was given shortly before the papal Mass.

The prayer request I made of Ms. Cooper was for Catholic New York and its readers. It’s only fair that we return the favor as she enters consecrated life.

What the vocation requires…Metropolitan Jonah tells

In a recent talk to the students, staff and faculty of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, the newly
elected Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America, Jonah, said:

“All leaders of the Church, who take up the yoke of Christ must have a clear vision of theological education, which consists in four things: first, we must present the gospel of Jesus Christ; second, we have a mission to evangelize all people, regardless of color, ethnicity, or socio-economic status; third, we must bring integrity to the gospel message; and fourth, we must take up the task of bearing the presence of Jesus Christ to those around us.”

Apparently, he is big on the need to imitate the sacrificial path of Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary. “To become the living presence of God, the living temple of God, requires us to crush our ego and shatter our will,” he said, “so that we might conceive God within us and become his presence in this world.”

“Seminarians,” he asserted, “do not come to theological schools to become ‘professionals’ and to be ‘respected,’ but rather to be crucified and thereby shine forth the light of Christ.” His Beatitude reminded the seminarians that his own title of “episkopos” means not “master of the house,” but “slave of slaves.”

This guy has a backbone. Watch out. I predict we’re going to hear more good things from His Beatitude. Are YOU on board with this view of Church, formation, and service?

Pope Benedict address priests, nuns, sisters & consecrated men & women

Address of the Holy Father Benedict XVI

To the Participants in the

Plenary Assembly of the Congregation

For Institutes of Consecrated Life

And Societies of Apostolic Life

Clementine Hall
Thursday, 20 November 2008

Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I meet you with joy on the occasion of the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life which is celebrating 100 years of life and activity. Indeed, a century has passed since my venerable Predecessor, St Pius X, with his Apostolic Constitution Sapienti Consilio of 29 June 1908, made your Dicastery autonomous as a Congregatio negotiis religiosorum sodalium praeposita, a name that has subsequently been modified several times. To commemorate this event you have planned a Congress on the coming 22 November with the significant title: “A hundred years at the service of the consecrated life”. Thus, I wish this appropriate initiative every success.

Today’s meeting is a particularly favourable opportunity for me to greet and thank all those who work in your Dicastery. I greet in the first place Cardinal Franc Rodé, the Prefect, to whom I am also grateful for expressing your common sentiments. Together with him I greet the Members of the Dicastery, the Secretary, the Undersecretaries and the other Officials who, with different tasks carry out their daily service with competence and wisdom in order to “promote and regulate” the practice of the evangelical counsels in the various forms of consecrated life, as well as the activity of the Societies of Apostolic Life (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus, n. 105). Consecrated persons constitute a chosen portion of the People of God: to sustain them and to preserve their fidelity to the divine call, dear brothers and sisters, is your fundamental commitment which you carry out in accordance with thoroughly tested procedures thanks to the experience accumulated in the past 100 years of your activity. This service of the Congregation was even more assiduous in the decades following the Second Vatican Council that witnessed the effort for renewal, in both the lives and legislation of all the Religious and Secular Institutes and of the Societies of Apostolic Life. While I join you, therefore, in thanking God, the giver of every good, for the good fruits produced in these years by your Dicastery, I recall with grateful thoughts all those who in the course of the past century of its activity have spared no energy for the benefit of consecrated men and women.

This year the Plenary Assembly of your Congregation has focused on a topic particularly
dear to me: monasticism, a forma vitae that has always been inspired by the nascent Church which was brought into being at Pentecost (Acts 2: 42-47; 4: 32-35). From the conclusions of your work that has focused especially on female monastic life useful indications can be drawn to those monks and nuns who “seek God”, carrying out their vocation for the good of the whole Church. Recently too (cf. Address to the world of culture, Paris, 12 September 2008), I desired to highlight the exemplarity of monastic life in history, stressing that its aim is at the same time both simple and essential: quaerere Deum, to seek God and to seek him through Jesus Christ who has revealed him (cf. Jn 1: 18), to seek him by fixing one’s gaze on the invisible realities that are eternal (cf. 2 Cor 4: 18), in the expectation of our Saviour’s appearing in glory (cf. Ti 2: 13).

Christo omnino nihil praeponere [prefer nothing to Christ] (cf. Rule of Benedict 72, 11; Augustine, Enarr. in Ps 29: 9; Cyprian, Ad Fort 4). These words which the Rule of St Benedict takes from the previous tradition, clearly express the precious treasure of monastic life lived still today in both the Christian West and East. It is a pressing invitation to mould monastic life to the point of making it an evangelical memorial of the Church and, when it is authentically lived, “a reference point for all the baptized” (cf. John Paul II, Orientale lumen, n. 9). By virtue of the absolute primacy reserved for Christ, monasteries are called to be places in which room is made for the celebration of God’s glory, where the mysterious but real divine presence in the world is adored and praised, where one seeks to live the new commandment of love and mutual service, thus preparing for the final “revelation of the sons of God” (Rm 8: 19). When monks live the Gospel radically, when they dedicate themselves to integral contemplative life in profound spousal union with Christ, on whom this Congregation’s Instruction Verbi Sponsa (13 May 1999) extensively reflected, monasticism can constitute for all the forms of religious life and consecrated life a remembrance of what is essential and has primacy in the life of every baptized person: to seek Christ and put nothing before his love.

The path pointed out by God for this quest and for this love is his Word itself, who in the books of the Sacred Scriptures, offers himself abundantly, for the reflection of men and women. The desire for God and love of his Word are therefore reciprocally nourished and bring forth in monastic life the unsupressable need for the opus Dei, the studium orationis and lectio divina, which is listening to the Word of God, accompanied by the great voices of the tradition of the Fathers and Saints, and also prayer, guided and sustained by this Word. The recent General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, celebrated in Rome last month on the theme: The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church, renewing the appeal to all Christians to root their life in listening to the Word of God contained in Sacred Scripture has especially invited religious communities to make the Word of God their daily food, in particular through the practice of lectio divina (cf. Elenchus praepositionum, n. 4).

Dear brothers and sisters, those who enter the monastery seek there a spiritual oasis where they may learn to live as true disciples of Jesus in serene and persevering fraternal communion, welcoming possible guests as Christ himself (cf. Rule of Benedict, 53, 1). This is the witness that the Church asks of monasticism also in our time. Let us invoke Mary, Mother of the Lord, the “woman of listening”, who put
nothing before love for the Son of God, born of her, so that she may help communities of consecrated life and, especially, monastic communities to be faithful to their vocation and mission. May monasteries always be oases of ascetic life, where fascination for the spousal union with Christ is sensed, and where the choice of the Absolute of God is enveloped in a constant atmosphere of silence and contemplation. As I assure you of my prayers for this, I cordially impart the Apostolic Blessing to all of you who are taking part in the Plenary Assembly, to all those who work in your Dicastery and to the members of the various Institutes of Consecrated Life, especially those that are entirely contemplative. May the Lord pour out an abundance of his comforts upon each one.

Some data:

Currently, there are 12,876 monks living in 905 monasteries and 48,493 contemplative nuns living in 3,520 monasteries, two-thirds of which are found in Europe. Spain has, by far, the most of any country.

The story is carried here.

Religious Life & Priesthood: the Dominican Way

BY STEPHEN MIRARCHI

National Catholic Register Correspondent

June 8-14, 2008

WASHINGTON — When five Dominicans were ordained on May 23 at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., it was the fruit of a long process.

The Order of Preachers, whose religious and priests are commonly called Dominicans after their founder St. Dominic, took a high profile role in Pope Benedict XVI’s U.S. visit. And their profile is only getting higher.

The Dominican House of Studies — the order’s prominent seminary in Washington, D.C. — recently announced plans to build a new academic center and theological library, confirming an increase in vocations and a broad expansion of the order.

The Dominicans’ long-standing reputation for forming highly educated religious and priests appeals to many called to vocations these days, but study alone is not the draw, said Father John Langlois, master of students at the Dominican House of Studies.

“We see study as a contemplative activity,” he said. “We seek to integrate it into our prayer life. It’s pushing lectio divina [prayerful reading of Scripture] to a new level: This is a meditative study of theology, nourishing our life of prayer.”

To that end, the study of St. Thomas Aquinas — one of the Church’s master theologians and a Dominican himself — is an important emphasis for those in formation.

“They imbibe the teaching of Aquinas,” said Father Langlois, who agreed that the Angelic Doctor is neglected even in Catholic education these days. “If they don’t do it here, where are they going to do it?”

The new priests for the Dominicans are: Father Martin Philip Nhan, Father Pius Pietrzyk, Father Hugh Vincent Dyer, Father John Martin Ruiz-Mayorga, and Father Thomas Joseph White. There are as many stories as there are Dominicans.

“Our formation takes place in the context of our community life,” said Father Langlois, “which models the life for the brothers. There’s a fraternity with the older members who’ve been active for many years, and they share their experience. It’s a complete integration of study, prayer, common life and the apostolate, from direct service with the poor to hospital and campus ministries to RCIA in parishes.”

Even the order’s prayers, while deeply liturgical and traditional, have their own ring to them.

“There are distinctive antiphons and Psalm tones,” Father Langlois said, “as well as Dominican propers. There are some chants that are proper to the order. We do a fair amount of chant, and we’re trying to integrate it more. While our Salve Regina and Regina Coeli are in the same modes as the Gregorian, they are distinctive, with their own flourishes.”

This unique path within the living tradition of the Church comes down from the establishment of the order, said Father Gabriel O’Donnell, vice president and academic dean of the pontifical faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies.

“Our way is unique in that we are tied together by the decision of St. Dominic and St. Thomas,” said Father O’Donnell, who has spent some of his life in diocesan seminaries. “We’re tied inextricably together through liturgical life and community life; it’s not possible to be formed for the priesthood without the whole life.”

That corpus, as it were, goes beyond preparation for the priesthood. A more apt description, said Father O’Donnell, “is formation for a way of life in which one is a priest. You’re not a Dominican and a priest; you’re a Dominican priest.”

The same charism cannot be mirrored in diocesan formation, which prepares a man for a way of life he carries with him from one parish to the next.

“Dominican formation,” said Father O’Donnell, “is not preparatory; it is the way of life we continue until we die. Formation is never outside of the framework of the strong community of faith. The community takes responsibility for caring for each other, and there’s a lot of freedom there.”

Challenges

Still, Father O’Donnell admitted, community life has its challenges. “We’re all a little bit eccentric. The greatest penance of Dominican life is the common life.”

Brother Austin Litke, who’s finishing his second year of theology at the Dominican House of Studies, agreed.

“Community life presents you with all kinds of involuntary penances, and they’re always more efficacious than the ones we take on ourselves. If you embrace that, it creates a habit of deferring your will to another, and in the spiritual life that trains you to give your will to God.”

The common life is, in fact, what drew Brother Austin to transfer to the Dominicans after studying for five years in diocesan seminaries as a collegian and first-year theologian.

“Back in my home diocese in rural western Kentucky, [diocesan priests are] pastors for likely two or three parishes. Being very busy in the ministry of parishes is a beautiful way of life, but I felt the draw of the common life. Part of it is temperament, but part of it is accountability, which forms character. The common life is a school of charity, day in and day out, and that’s a challenge.”

Brother Austin also agreed that study integrated with prayer and the common life takes a different kind of dedication.

“In diocesan seminaries you study in a way that you most likely won’t again. Here, study is to be a part of our lives always, a formal commitment that distinguishes how we live our priesthood. There’s a continuity of life here; there’s no urgency to get ordained.”

How seminarians are guided along that path — how their formation is administered, in other words — is a question specific to their ministry, said Father Stephen Boguslawski, president of the Dominican House of Studies and executive director of the John Paul II Cultural Center.

“The diocesan rector establishes the general tone of the seminary; he oversees the whole operation,” he said. “He stands in for the bishop, and that means a high concentration of administration in one person. In Dominican formation, those responsibilities are diversified; I, for instance, oversee the intellectual development as well as our own” plan of studies.

That expansion of responsibility extends down through the ranks, with the newest seminarians learning directly from Dominicans ordained for decades.

“There is a sense in Dominican formation,” Father Boguslawski said, “that all are being led by their older brothers; in that sense it’s more comprehensive. What happens in the choir or in the chapel is carried into the classroom, just as what happens in the library affects their manner of prayer.”

This program of formation is working exceedingly well for the Dominicans, said Father David Toups, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ associate director of the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “There’s a very healthy integration of spiritual, human, academic and ministerial formation at the Dominican House,” he said. “Section 115 of the “Program for Priestly Formation” speaks of spirituality as the integrating force of the other dimensions, and I see that happening there.”

The author of “Reclaiming Our Priestly Character” — a scholarly and spiritual treatise on the sacrament of Holy Orders — Father Toups lauded in the Dominican House of Studies’ formation what he sees in successful seminary programs across the country. “In all of his addresses, Pope Benedict XVI brings it back down to the basics: a personal, loving, and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s about teaching our young people how to pray. It’s a genuine relationship with Christ that grounds everything.”

Father Boguslawski also mentioned the importance of reaching youth.

“The rising generation is coming with a different set of challenges forged from the matrix of the culture. That’s why the ‘Program of Priestly Formation’ will always undergo updating.”

In the meantime, the Order of Preachers will continue to serve according to their charism.

“From the very inception of our ministry,” Father Boguslawski said, “the order was established to serve the Church and the bishops through the preaching office.”

From field to sanctuary: Chase Hilgenbrinck follows Jesus more closely

Thanks to the American papist, this article comes to the fore because it highlights the

sacrifice of one young man, Chase Hilgenbrinck, who left money, fame and power to accept the sacrifice of the priesthood for his own salvation and that of others. The witness of the priesthood is more important than fame of the soccer fan. Pray for all those who are preparing for the priesthood. Here is ESPN’s Kieran Darcy’s article on Chase.

800 years of the Franciscans

Edward Pentin explores some interesting matters with the Custos of the Holy Land

Next year marks the 800th anniversary since the Franciscan Order received papal
approval. To find out more about the importance of this anniversary, we spoke with the Custos of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM. The Custos also discussed the reasons behind the historical presence of the Franciscans in the Middle East, his hopes for the Order and the wider Church in the region, and the chances of peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

How significant is next year’s 800th anniversary to the Franciscan Order and what celebrations are you planning in the Holy Land next year?

The celebration of the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Order of the Friars Minor has, in the first place, a charismatic and spiritual significance. We are all summoned to rediscover the evangelical and ecclesiastical roots of our vocation. The inspiration of St. Francis was truly to live the Gospel in full, in a passionate imitation of Jesus Christ, in poverty and simplicity. At the same time, he strongly felt he was part of the Church and shared in its mission for the salvation of the world. Friars Minor all over the world have to renew their vocation in reference to the problems of their environment in different social and cultural situations. In the Holy Land, we will be engaged above all in the permanent training of friars, with a series of initiatives that will begin with the renewal of the religious profession, done as a community, in the Basilica of Gethsemane and, at the end of a series of formative meetings, will culminate in the celebration of two regional Chapters, in Galilee and in Judea. We will try to involve the whole of the large Franciscan family, i.e. the Franciscan nuns and the lay members of the Third Order, as well as the young people in our parishes.

How important is it in terms of working towards peace that there be a Franciscan presence in the region?

The commitment to peace belongs to the original nucleus of the Franciscan vocation, but it is not a question of a political nature. In St. Francis’s will, it says: “The Lord revealed to me that we should give this greeting: ‘May the Lord grant you peace!'” This means that peace is not only a balance of political and economic interests, but more deeply, it is the result of an encounter with God, which overcomes the force of sin and violence within us. A man who is reconciled with God naturally desires to establish relations of justice and peace with other men. The Franciscan presence in this region is important because it aims to represent the search for peace according to a spiritual vision, which respects the deepest nature of the person, summoned to live the love for God and his brothers.

Franciscans have traditionally been well represented in the Holy Land and the Middle East in general. Why do Franciscans have a special charism to minister in
the region?

The Friars Minor, at the start of their evangelical mission, were present in all the countries of the known world. St. Francis himself came to the Orient and visited Egypt and the Holy Land. It was the time of the Crusades and therefore the confrontation between Christianity and the Arab-Muslim world was marked by rejection and head-on opposition. History tells us, however, that Francis wanted to meet the Sultan of Egypt peacefully, to be a brother to him and announce the joyful beauty of the Gospel to him as well. The Franciscans have never abandoned these lands because, despite all the difficulties, they want to offer all men, believers and non-believers, their peaceful testimony of faith. Over the centuries, the Franciscan charism has entered into deep communion with many different cultures, offering the gift of an evangelical life lived in joy and above all putting itself at the service of the neediest.

Some have speculated that the anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order could coincide with peace in the Holy Land. How hopeful and optimistic are you that that could happen? What are the major obstacles to it not happening?

It would certainly be marvellous if the efforts to build up peace were achieve their result soon, even this year. It is the desire of all men of good will and we pray each day that this will happen. It would be a providential coincidence if this were to occur in the year of the anniversary of our Order, almost a divine blessing for so many centuries of missionary service. But I believe in the optimism of the faith, which places its trust entirely in the omnipotence of God, without forgetting, however, the freedom that He himself granted to men. There are still many obstacles that slow down the peace process and their solution is often not easy. The greatest obstacle, all things considered, is not wanting to believe in peace, in not desiring it as an absolute good, which can be obtained only at the price of substantial sacrifices. The parties must consider each other with sincere esteem, no longer as enemies, but as brothers in the common humanity.

What currently are the main challenges you face in your work as Custos?

There are many challenges and they are serious but, thanks to God, I am surrounded by many brothers who love their mission and put all their efforts into their vocation. This allows me to look at my work with peace of mind. As well as our commitment to peace which we have discussed, the real challenge for a man of religion is always a life of faith, to which we have been called to give our lives to God. The spiritual dimension of our vocation must be cultivated with humility and passion. My office requires me to be a credible witness of faith, for my brothers and for Christians, so that we do not forget the presence of the Lord amongst us. As the Custos, we are called to a great pastoral effort at the service of the local Church and at the same time a strong social and cultural involvement in support of the populations subject to harsh tensions. We are witnesses of hope and this pushes us to seek dialogue at an ecumenical and inter-religious level, to create an environment of communication and collaboration between different traditions. This constant commitment to seeking unity and agreement between men, in this lacerated and divided world, is a truly epochal challenge.

Has there been any recent progress on fulfilling the remaining issues surrounding the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel?

The negotiations have now been continuing for many years in a seesaw fashion. Recently much progress has been made, although there are still a number of points to be clarified on legal and fiscal matters. The present crisis in the Israeli government will certainly delay the meetings again. However, sooner or later, we know that an agreement will be reached.

What plans and hopes do you have for the future for the Franciscans and the Church in general in the Holy Land?

The Franciscans in the Holy Land are constantly becoming more international, welcoming friars from many different countries all over the world. This will make us increasingly witnesses of the universal fraternity to which all men are summoned, breaking down separations and overcoming the disagreements produced by selfishness. Over the centuries, Franciscanism continues to show it is topical, because it is based on the immediate adherence to the Gospel, without undergoing the conditioning of a particular culture or social system. Contemporary man, suffocated by material needs, feels the call of the values of the Spirit increasingly strongly and has a deep nostalgia for the absolute; he needs to be accompanied in this search. The Franciscan Order will be increasingly present on this path to authentic humanization.

The Church in the Holy Land has recently been very concerned by the exodus of Christians, in flight towards quieter countries. I think that in the future it will be increasingly committed to the work of evangelization, to form mature and responsible Christians, capable of being an evangelical yeast in a society in which they are a minority. The quality of our Christian life will still allow us to be, as the Lord wishes, “the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”

This is article was first published in The Holy Land Review

Serving the Body of Christ–updated

I updated my survey of religious communities who are getting vocations today. The survey, “Serving the Body of Christ” gives a sketch of the vitality of religious life today. If there are communities not listed, and you know of communities of men and women who are faithful to the Church, then please send me an email and I’ll update the list.

A new congregation of Maronite sisters: Radiating Christ to the world

Recently, Bishop Gregory Mansour and Sister Marla Marie took up Pope Benedict’s idea
of spiritual motherhood with an application to the Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron. The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light will be working in the parishes of the eparchies by assisting the laity and clergy with programs oriented toward religious education, family life, youth and the elderly. Pretty all-encompassing!

The sisters in the new order will live the communal life of the convent, through contemplative prayer, meals, fellowship, silence and solitude, and exercise and rest, even as they do pastoral work in parishes. Daily prayer will involve communal recitation of the Divine Office, daily Divine Liturgy (Mass), Eucharistic adoration, spiritual reading, and recitation of the Rosary. A prayer life centered on the Eucharist and devoted to Mary will be “our whole-hearted response to God and the source to nourish us to live in community and serve in the apostolate of parish life.”

Bishop Gregory said of the new group:

“The contribution made by consecrated women in the Church is beyond measure. The Maronite Church is no exception. The time has come for the Eparchy of Saint Maron to foster and sponsor a community to assist the priests in the pastoral care of the Eparchy. Sister Marla Marie Lucas has approval to do just that. She and the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light will begin officially (ad experimentum) this June 2008. Please find below an article on this new beginning. Pray for her and please support this effort so that women who feel called to make a complete gift of self in consecrated service to Christ and His Church may find a home in the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light.”

More info is found here and here, and the blog.