St Meinrad Archabbey and Seminary – Page 2

On retreat …

This weekend is the 71 st annual retreat of the New York area Benedictine Oblates of the Archabbey of Saint Meinrad. The retreat is being held at Mariandale Retreat House, Ossining, NY with the retreat master being Brother John Mark Falkenheim, OSB. His theme is “Grace and Human Nature in the Rule of Saint Benedict.”

Pray for the 35 Oblates.

Attention in Prayer

This morning on my train ride into the City, I was reading a monograph by Archabbot Lambert Reilly, OSB, the emeritus archabbot of St Meinrad Archabbey, “Prayer: A Conversation with God.” I recommend it. Why? Because I need to be reminded that prayer is not a monologue but a dialogue; it is the heart speaking to the Heart. I also have to remember it is not about me exclusively but about Him who is greater than I.

The Archabbot is conversational in his presentation; one would be tempted to think that there’s a lot of words but no content because he’s narrating his experience. On the contrary, this essay-turned-talk is full of good advice on prayer; it was prepared for Benedictine Oblates but is applicable to many others. Get the piece if you can.

Archabbot Lambert speaks of three types of attention in prayer:

1. “the attention by which we are lost in God.” A short-lived experience of God; a gift from Himself; no strings attached; +Lambert quotes Saint Teresa of Avila: “Don’t seek the consolations of God; seek the God of consolations.”

Continue reading Attention in Prayer

Monastic Worship Forum launched

Periodically the Benedictine monks, nuns and sisters meet to discuss issues pertaining the sacred Liturgy and sacred music as done in their monasteries. They met two weeks ago at the Archabbey of Saint Meinrad for the meeting and decided to formally merge the liturgical and musicians’ groups into one: The Monastic Worship Forum. This work has been in process since 2009. The purpose of the Forum is to provide support, education, and formation in the sacred Liturgy for monastic contexts in order that God maybe glorified.

Benedictine monk Father Godfrey Mullen chairs the committee that will lead the Forum. Father Godfrey earned his doctorate in Liturgy from the Catholic University of America and serves as the VP for Saint Meinrad Seminary and the Archabbey’s director of Liturgy.

The new website can be found here.

Blessed Ildefonso Schuster, and all Benedictine saints and blesseds, pray for us.

Aidan Kavanagh, monk, priest, liturgical scholar: 5th anniversary of death

Students of the sacred Liturgy are familiar with the scholarship and some would say “pioneering work” in the realm of adult baptism and the new (in 1972) Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) by Father Aidan Kavanagh, a Benedictine monk and priest of the Archabbey of Saint Meinrad.

Most of Father Aidan’s professional teaching life was spent away from Saint Meinrad having only taught a few years in his monastery’s seminary. In discernment with his abbot, Father Aidan devoted his energies to teaching at the University of Notre Dame and then for many years Yale Divinity School (New Haven, CT).

Why mention this? Well, today is the fifth anniversary of Father Aidan‘s death. The necrology is always an occasion to express our gratitude to God for graces bestowed on his through his children. I am grateful for the books written by Father Aidan (he is required reading in the study of the Liturgy) and the countless peoples he taught and guided in the Christian life.

May God be merciful to Father Aidan and may his memory be eternal.

From Swiss Guard to Benedictine monk

Pilgrims to the Vatican notice a few things: the pope, the architecture and the Swiss Guard. The Guard, in their colorful uniform, are quite identifiable because of the closeness to the Pope. These young men in the service of protecting the Holy Father are Swiss, Catholic, unmarried and fulfilling their military requirement.

Occasionally, a vocation to protect temporalities leads to a vocation to protect and to proclaim the divine as a priest or vowed religious. Not long ago Marco Rudolf Honegger entered the Einsiedeln Abbey becoming Brother Mauritius; Brother professed solemn vows in 2010. As part of his formation to be a priest Brother Mauritius went to Saint Meinrad Archabbey and Seminary to further his education.

The Criterion, the Indianapolis Archdioceses’s newspaper, records the story.

Thanks to Dom Francis de Sales of Saint Meinrad Archabbey for the story. He writes The Yoke of Christ blog.

Saint Meinrad, the Martyr of Christ-like Hospitality

O God, You made glorious in the martyrdom of the hermit Meinrad. Through his intercession, help me to grow in my love for you and in the devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May I follow his example in the Christ-like hospitality and in single-hearted prayer.

There are very few abbeys in the USA that have enduring monastic presence, life, study, music and the like, that the monks of the Archabbey of Saint Meinrad have given to the Church. As I am an oblate of the Archabbey and friends with some of the monks there, I am short on objectivity with the good work and prayer life of the monks. Pray for the monks of Saint Meinrad.

Office of Compline, edited by Fr Samuel Weber

Edited by Fr. Samuel F. Weber, OSB

$18.95 USD

Foreword by Archbishop
Raymond L. Burke

From Ignatius Press:

This volume contains the Office of
Compline for every day of the year, in Latin and English, according to the
novus ordo of the Roman Catholic Church, with Gregorian Chant settings. On the
facing pages for the Latin, the official English text is also arranged for
chanting, using simple English tones. New translations have been made for the
official hymns of the Office, and all the hymns are given with the Gregorian
melodies proper for each season and feast of the liturgical year.

This book
will find a welcome in parishes, cathedrals, religious communities and
seminaries, as well as families, all who wish to pray together at the end of
the day.

Complete instructions are given for praying Compline. The Foreword by
Archbishop Raymond Burke explains the rich spiritual tradition of prayer at the
close of day, and provides an inspiring meditation on the texts and meaning of
the Office of Compline.

The scriptures give only one command concerning the
frequency of prayer: pray without ceasing (Lk 18:1; 1 Thess 5:17). This volume
will prove to be a welcome companion to all who are seeking to make a full
response to the Gospel, and persevere in unceasing prayer.

The editor, Fr. Samuel Weber, is a Benedictine priest and monk of the Archabbey of Saint Meinrad and is the Director of the Institute of Sacred Music in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis

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