Pics of the St Meinrad Archabbey

Ablen's pic of Meinrad buildings.jpgHere are some wonderful photos of the Archabbey of Saint Meinrad (in southern Indiana) by Mark S. Abeln, a photo journalist and blogger of 2010. The images are posted on Mr. Ablen’s blog, Rome of the West. I hope he has time to go back to and record some of the monk’s life, particularly the sacred Liturgy. 

As a Benedictine Oblate of the Venerable Archabbey of Saint Meinrad, and a friend of several monks there I am very enthused. The Abbey is a spiritual home with great men of good spiritual reputation and considerable talent. Watch for the good work of Father Denis Robinson, OSB, president and rector of the Seminary and School of Theology. 
The sites of interest:

Our Lady of Walsingham



Our Lady of Walsingham St Louis Abbey.jpgSeptember 24th is the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. She has had greater recognition in the past few years by Catholics in the USA due to an increased interest in ecumenism and the establishment of the personal ordinariats that offer Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. The prayer, though, is prayer not just for ecumenism but for Our Lady to be present to us in mercy. We pray…

O blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, Mother
of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon us, our
parish [our monastery], our country, our homes, and our families, and upon all
who greatly hope and trust in your prayers, (especially…). By you it was that
Jesus, our Savior and Hope, was given to the world; and He has given you to us
that we may hope still more. Plead for us your children, whom you did receive
and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our
separated brother and sisters, that with us in the one true fold they may be
united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of your Son. Pray for us all, dear
Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may be made worthy to see and
praise God, together with you in our heavenly home. Amen.


Image above is from the Oratory Ss. Gregory and Augustine, the Benedictine oratory at St Louis Abbey.

Continue reading Our Lady of Walsingham

Our Lady of Mercy



OL of Mercy.jpg

Hail, Holy
Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry
poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy
toward us and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your
womb, Jesus.

O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary!


The narrative of this feast of Our Lady has its origin in the devotion of Saint Peter Nolasco in the late 12th century France. Father Paul Haffner tells us more here.


The feast of Our Lady of Mercy is close to the heart of the Sisters of Mercy of Alma, and those who have an awareness of the role of Mercy in life.

May Our Lady of Mercy be with us, pray for us.


Religious life 2012: Profession of vows, entrances and ordinations

Heilengkreutz monks.jpgThe promise of the hundredfold of the Lord is evident in the lives we lead; how we live our Baptism ought to be evident and with those who have responded to the Lord’s call to follow Him more closely in the Christian life in which we live more intensely by through the consecrated life.

As Pope Benedict said, 
It is no less challenging to follow Christ today, It means learning to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, growing close to him, listening to his word and encountering him in the sacraments; it means learning to conform our will to his. This requires a genuine school of formation for all those who would prepare themselves for the ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life under the guidance of the competent ecclesial authorities. The Lord does not fail to call people at every stage of life to share in his mission and to serve the church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life (48th World Day of Vocations, 2011).

Calling of St Matthew detail Caravaggio.jpg

The key words for us ought to be “to follow,” “to keep our gaze,” “listening,” “conforming,” and “encountering.” The crux is, to whom do we belong? Of course, I would hope that we could easily say that we belong to Christ and to His Church. But we know that while we may honestly believe this fact, it is not so every day. We say one thing but we don’t always follow and keep our gaze on the Lord. May this be our prayer and our work today!
This is the third year that I have surveyed, in representative manner, some of the US monastic communities and religious orders who have had members profess simple and/or solemn vows, new members who received the habit or have receive ordination to the Order of Deacon or Priest. While the numbers may be sobering, the point is not about numbers as much as to recognize the many testimonies of grace, the rich living of the offer God has made to our sisters and brothers to love and serve Him in religious life. Corrections welcome.


Monastic life
monks
  • St Vincent’s Archabbey: 4 profess simple vows; 4 profess solemn vows; 2 ordained deacons, 2 ordained priests
  • St John’s Abbey: 2 monks make a profession of solemn vows; 3 professed simple vows
  • St Benedict’s Abbey (Atchinson, KS): 1 monk solemn vows, 3 received as postulants, 1 postulant in Brazil
  • Belmont Abbey (Charlotte, NC): 1 novice entered; 2 monks profess solemn vows
  • St Martin’s Abbey: 1 entered as a novice
nuns

Continue reading Religious life 2012: Profession of vows, entrances and ordinations

Saint Matthew

St Matthew VCampi.jpgO God, who with untold mercy were pleased to choose as
an Apostle Saint Matthew, the tax collector, grant that, sustained by his
example and intercession, we may merit to hold firm in following you.


Pope Benedict said today,

Matthew,
the author of the first of the four Gospels, was a publican – a tax-collector –
and the story of his call to become an Apostle reminds us that Christ excludes
no one from his friendship. Tax-collectors were considered public sinners, and
we can hear an echo of the scandal caused by the Lord’s decision to associate
with such men in his declaration that he came “not to call the just but
sinners”  (Mt 2:17). 

This is
the heart of the “good news” which Jesus came to bring: the offer of
God’s grace to sinners! The parable of the publican in the Temple makes this
same point: by humbly acknowledging their sins and accepting God’s mercy, even
those who seem farthest from holiness can become first in the Kingdom of
Heaven.

So, there’s hope for  me (us).

Notker Wolf re-elected Abbot Primate for world-wide Benedictines

Ab Notker Wolf.jpgAbbot Notker Wolf, 72,  was elected for the third time by the world’s abbots and conventual priors who are at the quadrennial meeting currently in session at Sant’Anselmo, Rome.

Abbot Dr. Notker was the Archabbot of St Ottilien when he was elected the Abbot Primate in 2000. Abbot Notker professed vows in 1962, ordained in 1968, elected abbot in 1977, and elected the primate in 2000, 2008, and now in 2012. Abbot Notker will serve in the Office of the Primate for 4 years.

The election for the Primate’s Office happened today 9am Rome time following the singing of the Office of Terce. Typically the election for Primate is chaired by the Archabbot of Montecassino, but being sick, instead of Abbot Pietro, the Abbot of Subiaco, Mauro Meaci chaired the election. Each monastic superior was called forth to drop his vote. Dom Mauro announced the tally, and called on Abbot Notker seeking to know if he accepted election. He did accept. According to law, the re-elected Abbot Primate made a profession of faith and the oath of fidelity with his hand on the Bible. All assembled then sang the Te Deum followed by a solemn blessing imparted by the Abbot Notker. Noon Mass was celebrated at the nearby Santa Sabina Church and the normal work of the Congress continued.

As an aside, the Prince of Jordan was with the monks for lunch on the 20th.

May God grant him the graces needed to fulfill his person and work.

Abbot Notker is a very generous monk with great humanity. He’s travelled the world seeking to build and encourage the communion among the Benedictines, the local churches and society. I have nothing but praise for what Abbot Notker has done for the Confederation as the Chancellor of Pontifical Athenaem of Sant’Anselmo. Under his leadership very much needed repairs of the Sant’Anselmo building have been done as well as other needed bricks and mortar repairs and upgrades and are being made, the expansion of women religious receiving an education there, building of development offices in Europe and the USA to raise funds to endow the various schools of philosophy and theology at Sant’Anselmo and asking the monks who live and work at Sant’Anselmo to have a great fidelity to the life of the project. He’s been instrumental in the founding of a Benedictine priory in Cuba and has worked with the Chinese in securing the various freedoms needed for the Church.

Abbot Notker arms.jpg

But with all this very good work done by the Primate and his staff, there’s much work to do. Not all is complete and Abbot Notker can’t rest on his laurels. Several things, in my considered opinion need attention: getting name recognition of Sant’Anselmo better known, especially in the USA, the greater cultivation of benefactors, the attraction of new monks, nuns and laity to teach at the Anselmo, to develop more dynamic programing in the constituent academic areas, to attract talented people –not necessarily monks, perhaps the utilization of the Oblates– to work there. Plus, it is reasonable to say that he and his staff ought to use technology much better to communicate with the world’s monks and nuns but also with the laity. There are a great amount of Oblates who love the love the Benedictine way of life and would appreciate being included more for the effective advancement of what is proposed by the Rule and the Church. It is disappointing that the Confederation doesn’t use technology viz. the Primate’s office and the school. The Curial offices on the Aventine Hill don’t need to feed the media monster but they do need to communicate more effectively using the internet, especially in the renewed emphasis the Church has placed on the proclamation of the Word of God. For example, the OSB website, Wikipedia and Confederation websites need a serious overhaul. Perhaps doing more work with the interface of monasticism and evangelization would be good as well as forming an international group of Oblates to live, work and pray as a community for the good of the Confederation.

Abbot Wolf can’t do this work all alone and in a short amount of time. He is 72 with realistically a term to work as Primate (4 years is not a long time). Abbot Notker needs our sincere prayer, fraternal and financial support.

On the Confederation, etc.

“The Benedictine Confederation was formed those monastic Congregations which, while preserving their autonomy, entered the union sanctioned by Pope Leo XIII in a the Papal Brief “Summum semper” and regularly approved by all of his successors. By order of Pope Pius XII precise legal prescision was made for this union in a Lex propria which was reviewed after the Second Vatican Council (1),”

The Benedictine Confederation was constituted and continues to exist in order that led by the Gospels, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and directed by the Church, monastic life according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the wise traditions of each Congregation and monastery adapted to the conditions of time and place may be fostered and fraternal assistance between Congregations in the areas of personnel, goods and works be encouraged in every way” (16).

“The Congress is not intended to be a Chapter General nor does it possess any power at variance with the autonomy of the Congregations or of monasteries; rather it serves the good of the Confederation with the limits described above (nos. 16-17)” (20).

All Benedictine saints and blesseds, pray for Abbot Notker, the Benedictine curia, and for us.

Re-creating the Apostleship of Prayer


I would hope that Catholics know and utilize the work of of the Apostleship of Prayer. You would know the Apostleship because of their publication of the Pope’s monthly prayer intentions, the advocacy of the Morning Offering and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Well, there is good work being done to make the ministry of these faithful Jesuits more known so as to lead all to Christ. 

Cindy Wooden of CNS notes, 

“Membership in
the Apostleship of Prayer involves a commitment to beginning each day with a
prayer offering one’s life to God and praying for the needs of the universal
church and the intentions of the pope. Members promise to end each day
prayerfully reviewing their blessings and failings.

The morning offering and
prayers are the basic membership requirements, and in many countries the
apostleship has no registration, no groups, no fees, and no special meetings.
The Jesuits estimate that about 50 million people fulfill the membership
requirements in the apostleship and its youth wing, the Eucharistic Youth
Movement.”

The September 17th article is here.

Please join the Apostleship of Prayer (see the link above).

Representing 126 Billion dollars



126 billion.jpg

Yahoo News published a story this morning published online a story, “Forbes Photographs ‘Titans of Philanthropy‘” noting the group which represents $126 Billion dollars. How many of those photographed can you name? Honestly… I can name a few but not the entire group without help. My prayer for these people is that they give their money to good causes that genuinely promote the common good influenced by virtue.

In the Forbes photo, left to right: Warren Buffett,
Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Peter Peterson, Leon Black, Jon Bon
Jovi, Marc Benioff, David Rubenstein, Steve Case, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen,
Marc Andreessen

Michael J. Brescia to speak at October White Mass, New Haven

Michael Brescia, MD.jpgThe 2012 White Mass of the Archdiocese of Hartford will host Dr Michael J. Brescia, Executive Medical Director of New York’s Calvary Hospital on Sunday, 28 October 2012, St Mary’s Church and Hall, (5 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT). 

Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell will be the celebrant of the Mass at 10am.

Dr. Brescia is known for the development of the Brescia-Cimino Arterio-Venous Fistula, a critical treatment for kidney disease.

The White Mass prays in thanksgiving for the service of physicians, nurses, helathcare providers and administrators.
Questions and reservations: Heather Vaccola: 2012whitemass@gmail.com
The White Mass is co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Hartford, The St Luke Society, The Connecticut Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center. This is the second annual Mass and it moves around the state.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen

Hildergard von Bingen Dormition Abbey.jpgO Lord, you were generous with your gifts of grace to the virgin Hildegard. By following closely her example and teaching, may we pass from the darkness of this life into your marvelous light.

Saint Hildegard (1098-1179) was a Benedictine of great learning ( a true polymath), a holy woman who was known for her visions, prophesies, poetry and spiritual guidance. Some have likened her to Dante and William Blake. She was given the title of the Sibyl of the Rhine. Since the 15th century Hildegard’s name was in the Roman Martyrology but was not officially canonized. On May 10, 2012 Pope Benedict XVI gave the entire Church the liturgical memory of Saint Hildegard (the equivalent of canonizing her); the Pope stated that on October 7, 2012 he will name the Saint a Doctor of the Church.

We pray for the Benedictine Congress in Rome that begins today and goes until the 25th through the intercession of Saint Hildegard.