Spring - Saint John`s Abbey

Transcription

Volume 8 • Issue 1 • Spring 2008
A B B EY
BANNER
Magazine of Saint John’s Abbey
Meet a Monk: Andrew
Goltz, OSB, 4
Peter Engel, OSB,
and the Chicago World’s
Fair, 6
Church of Seven Dolors,
Albany, Minnesota, 10
Abbey Gift Shop, 13
Abbey Photo Book, 14
Abbey Associates, 15
Festivities in Fujimi, 16
Benedictine Volunteers,
19
“Phoenix Rising,” 21
A Gift with Strings
Attached, 22
Why Saint John’s
Cemetery?, 23
Obituary: Philip
Kaufman, OSB, 24
And More
Andrew Goltz, OSB,
displays a 17th century parchment
Contents
Pages 4 and 5
Cover Stories
Meet a Monk:
Andrew Goltz, OSB,
book preservation specialist
Daniel Durken, OSB
The parchment Brother Andrew is holding is a
ratification of privileges that Matthias, Holy Roman
Emperor, issued to a noble Czech Family on 29 August
1612. The parchment measures 30 x 30 inches.
by Kathleen Parker
Features
6 “Meet me in Chicago, Peter, meet
me at the Fair”
by Lee Hanley
10 The Church of Seven Dolors,
Albany, Minnesota
by Daniel Durken, OSB
Articles
Editorials
3 From Editor and Abbot
21 “Phoenix Rising,” a fund-raising
program for students in Tanzania
What’s New?
13 Abbey Gift Shop
14 Abbey Photo Directory
15 Monastic Associates Program
Strengthening Foundations
22 A Gift with Strings Attached
23 Why Saint John’s Cemetery?
Missions
16 Festivities in Fujimi, Japan
18 A Bahamian Tribute to the
Benedictines
Obituary
24 Philip Kaufman, OSB
The Abbey Chronicle
25 Special Events of November,
2007, through March, 2008
Benedictine Volunteers
19 Benedictine Volunteers check
in from Tanzania, Guatemala,
Newark and Collegeville
Banner Bits
28 Magnus Wenninger, OSB,
receives Lifetime Achievement
Award
29 Doug Mullin, OSB; Bill Boom
30 Brothers Luke, Raphael and
Xavier
Spiritual Life
31 There’s a Wideness in God’s
Mercy . . .
Back Cover
Renovated Stella Maris Chapel
to be Blessed
NOTE: Please send your change of address to: Ruth Athmann at rathmann@csbsju.edu or P.O. Box 7222,
Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7222 or call 800-635-7303.
Editor: Daniel Durken, OSB
ddurken@csbsju.edu
Copy Editor and Proofreader:
Dolores Schuh, CHM
Designer: Pam Rolfes
Abbey Banner
Magazine of
Saint John’s Abbey
Volume 8, Issue 1
Spring 2008
Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Cathy Wieme,
Mary Gouge
Printer: Palmer Printing, Waite Park,
Minnesota
Member Catholic Press Association
Abbey Banner is published three times
annually (spring, fall, winter) by the
Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey for
our relatives, friends and Oblates.
Abbey Banner is online at
www.sja.osb.org/AbbeyBanner
Saint John’s Abbey, Box 2015, Collegeville,
Minnesota 56321-2015
FROM EDITOR AND ABBOT
“I was in prison and
you visited me.”
Do not be afraid!
o not be afraid! I know
that you are looking for
Jesus the Crucified. He
is not here. He has been raised
exactly as he promised.” This is
the core Easter message and
variations of it appear in all the
Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. He is not here,
meaning the Risen Lord is no longer in the tomb. But he
is here with us, in you and in me, in our communities.
A
t Midday Prayer on Holy
Saturday the monastic
community prayed, “God,
on this day your Son went down to
visit the spirits who were in prison.
Look with kindness on all who wait for their
liberation from sin and death and give them a share in your
glory. We ask this through Christ our Lord.”
Ordinarily I would not have paid special attention to
the phrase “in prison.” But this time I made the connection with my experience as a volunteer chaplain at the state
prison in St. Cloud.
Prisoners are in exceptionally good company. Consider
people in the bible who were prisoners. Joseph of “technicolor dream coat” fame was jailed in Egypt. Samson,
strong man among the judges, was blinded by the Philistines and put to work in a prison. The prophet Jeremiah was
beaten and thrown into prison.
In the New Testament John the Baptist was imprisoned
and beheaded for telling King Herod he could not marry
his sister-in-law. The high priest and the Sadducees put the
apostles in the public jail for healing the sick. Paul wrote
his letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and
Philemon while in prison. The outstanding prisoner was Jesus who spent the night before his crucifixion as a prisoner,
beaten and mocked by guards.
The outstanding experience of my prison ministry was a
penance service during an inmates’ retreat. I was deeply
moved by the sincerity of the prisoners’ confessions of the
offenses, outrages, sins and stupid mistakes for which Jesus
suffered, died and rose again. Most of the men believe that
God has forgiven them. It is not easy for them to forgive
themselves.
Like the tax collectors and prostitutes with whom he associated, some of Jesus’ favorite people are prisoners. He
identifies with them when he tells us, “I was in prison and
you visited me.”
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB
D
How often we hear these encouraging words in the
Scriptures: Do not be afraid! All through our lives we are
challenged by our fears. As children we are afraid of
getting lost or being abandoned. Later we are afraid that
we will not be liked or that we will just look stupid. Still
later, we are afraid that we will lose those we love.
Underlying all these fears is our awareness of our
fundamental vulnerability as humans. We can never escape
these fears—they are part of our human condition. But the
Risen Lord tells Nicole Gausseron (The Little Notebook):
“Nicole, I am with you—do not be afraid . . . I have chosen
you; I protect you; I am leading you—do not be afraid.”
The most important reality in the resurrection is the
grace-filled and free action of God. God raised Jesus from
the dead. The mystery of the resurrection is the mystery of
God’s very self. It is the mystery of God’s freedom in the
creation, in sending the Beloved Son who empties himself
for our sake. Our God is a God of the living, not of the
dead. God will not let the Beloved Son rot in the tomb
nor will God abandon us. God will not allow the suffering
servant, the just one, the innocent one to go unvindicated.
When the Risen Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary there is a message and a mission: “Go and
tell . , ,” The resurrection is not a private vision for the
devotion and edification of the women involved. Witnessing to the resurrection means “go and tell.” “Go, tell my
brothers and sisters.” There will be no sour grapes, no
grudge. Ultimately it is Matthew who expands this mission
to “Go and teach all nations . . .” In our own time, we can
do no less. +
In the United States 2.2 million men and women (28%
are Catholic) are imprisoned. If we can’t visit a prisoner in
person we certainly can pray for those incarcerated and for
their families. +
Abbey Banner Spring 2008 page 3
FEATURE
Andrew holds his favorite project: the register of
the names of all members of the Saint Benedict’s
Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota. He restored
this volume for the community’s Sesquicentennial
Celebration last year.
Meet a monk:
Andrew Goltz, OSB,
book preservation
specialist
by Kathleen Parker
John Parker
“We should gloat over a book, be rapt
clean out of ourselves.”
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
M
ost mornings Brother
Andrew can be found in
his workshop in Alcuin
Library, bits of paper and cloth adrift
around his chair, glue brushes sprouting from smudged old jelly jars on the
table and huge, antique iron machinery looming in the corners. Andrew is
a preservation specialist, responsible
for mending, restoring and preserving
the Alcuin and Clemens libraries’ collections. He is a man well acquainted
with books.
Andrew took a circuitous route to
his work in the library, but books
have always been a part of his life.
Born seventy-five years ago into a
farming family of Milaca, Minnesota,
he has been an avid reader since
page 4 Abbey Banner Spring 2008
boyhood. After high school graduation he joined the Navy as a way to
see the world.
A growing friendship with a chaplain led to Andrew’s exploration of
the Catholic faith. “As it turns out,”
he grins, “he had a good book for me
to read.” Eventually Andrew found
a spiritual home in Catholicism.
Nonetheless he admits, “The religion
question was still out there.” His
search for a meaningful response to
God led him to investigate monasticism. Andrew continued to search
and eventually entered the abbey as
a novice in 1957. This year he will
celebrate his golden jubilee of first
profession of vows.
“I joined the monastery and the
next day they put me to work
digging a ditch,” Andrew recalls with
little nostalgia. It was hard but necessary work, and relief was forthcoming as he was soon assigned to the
woodworking shop. He then moved
to the glass shop which was set up
specifically to assemble the spectacular stained glass window of the
abbey church. When this work was
completed he had a variety of assignments: porter, bursar, assistant in the
Saint John’s observatory. To further
demonstrate his versatility he earned
a nursing degree that prepared him to
help establish Saint Raphael Hall, the
abbey retirement center.
FEATURE
Having proved himself a jackof-all-trades, in 1990 Andrew was
assigned to the library to assist with
the rare books collection. His work as
the library’s book preservation specialist for the past eighteen years is
the longest job he has ever had. “It’s a
nice job and I like it,” he says with a
satisfied smile.
Andrew’s daily work involves
repairing general books for the libraries of both campuses. The Alcuin
and Clemens libraries hold nearly a
million volumes, and long years of
use mean many suffer wear and tear.
Every week Andrew repairs around
fifty books, replacing worn or broken
spines, tightening loose bindings or
reattaching pages gone astray.
Andrew had his most valuable
learning experiences by working
alongside experts. He is committed
to carry on this practice of hands-on
training, now coaching an apprentice,
Bob Lillard, who has been working
under his tutelage for two years.
“Book preservation is a good fit for
a monk,” says Andrew in his gentle,
unassuming manner. The abbey had
a binding operation nearly from its
beginning, and he uses some of the
original equipment from the abbey
shop, including a guillotine paper cutter and a seven-foot iron book press.
The unhurried, quiet work of book
repair proceeds at a pace suited to a
life that values contemplation over
competition. It is evident that Andrew
enjoys caring for the kinds of collections he has always treasured. And
with a smile he says, “I’m still reading books.” +
Kathleen Parker is director of libraries and media for the College of Saint
Benedict and Saint John’s University.
Abbey Archives
Andrew designed a box to contain an eighteenthcentury document signed by Empress Maria Therea
of Austria with her wooden seal which he is holding.
Daniel Durken, OSB
Occasionally Andrew is asked to
work on a special project. The libraries rarely do restoration of rare books,
preferring the more common practice
of creating a special preservation
casing for fragile items. Andrew has
made boxes for a rare 1480
Bible and a facsimile of a
tenth-century Exultet scroll.
Recently he completed custom cases for a collection of
rare signatures, including a
box designed to hold a document signed by Empress Maria
Theresa of Austria (17171780) with her large wooden
seal attached. One of his most
satisfying projects was the
restoration of the handwritten, leather-bound register of
Saint Benedict’s Monastery
as a gift for the community’s
Sesquicentennial Celebration
last year.
John Parker
Special preservation and
restoration projects
In 1960, Andrew worked on the stained glass
window in the facade of the new Abbey Church.
Andrew will restore the broken spine
of this book.
FEATURE
“Meet me in Chicago, Peter,
meet me at the Fair.”
Abbey Archives
by Lee Hanley
Peter Engel, OSB, took his camera to the
Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.
Abbot Peter Engel, OSB, 1856-1921
I
n the summer of 1893, the year
before his election as the fourth
abbot of Saint John’s Abbey,
Father Peter—professor of chemistry
and physics and an avid photography
buff—took his camera to the Chicago
World’s Fair and left us a remarkable
record of his visit.
The saga of this Columbian Exposition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the landing of Christopher
Columbus is so riddled with obstacles
that it is amazing the fair happened at
all. The stakes were high. This was to
be the sequel to the Paris Exposition
Universelle of 1889 and something
“really, really big” was needed to
compete with the icon of the Paris
exposition—the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower had relegated
the Washington Monument to second place among the earth’s tallest
structures. In addition to Chicago
beating out New York in a congressional vote to determine the host city,
the project’s planners, architects and
artisans survived major fires and lousy
weather to complete the 633-acre
installation along the Lake Michigan
shore and open for a five-month run
on May 1, 1893.
Twenty-seven-million people, more
than a quarter of the nation’s population at the time, visited the fair. Erik
Larson’s book, The Devil in the White
City (N.Y., Crown Publishers, 2004),
weaves the intricate details of the
Exposition’s unlikely success with a
parallel and true tale of H. H. Holmes,
a “charming doctor” and serial killer
of perhaps thirty female fair goers.
Holmes set up his office and crematorium at the far end of the spanking
new “El” train line carrying folks
to the fair and there he lured young
women into his office and murdered
them.
The Columbian Exposition was a
dazzling showcase for cutting edge
products and technology. It was the
first event of its kind to be powered
and lit by electricity—thus the “White
City” moniker. Telephone lines made
it possible to broadcast live a New
York orchestra concert. Other new
products included Thomas Edison’s
motion picture machine, Cracker
Jacks, Shredded Wheat, Cream of
Wheat, Quaker Oats, Aunt Jemima
pancake mix, Juicy Fruit gum, diet
carbonated soda and Pabst beer.
All photos of the fair are by Peter Engel, OSB
FEATURE
T
Transportation
t ti Building
B ildi — designed
d i
d by
b Adler
Adl & Sullivan
S lli
and an apprentice named Frank Lloyd Wright
The term “Midway” for the fair’s
central corridor was coined here, and
there was a 166-foot high “wheel”
designed by Pittsburgh bridge-builder
George Ferris. This was the first
Ferris wheel with thirty-six glassenclosed cars, each of which accommodated sixty passengers or a total
of 2,160 at one time. The White City
was the herald of America’s arrival as
an exciting land of invention, commerce and industry.
Among the fair-goers was Peter
Engel who lugged his camera and
glass plates the length and breadth of
the Exposition grounds. Some forty
of these historic glass negatives are
stored in the abbey archives. Ten
years later Abbot Peter oversaw the
All the men wore hats and the women wore long dresses.
Parasols were common.
FEATURE
construction of Wimmer Hall, the
institution’s library that now houses
the computing center, business offices and the studios of KSJR and
Minnesota Public Radio. The building featured an immense skylight to
illuminate one of Minnesota’s earliest
and most sophisticated photographic
studios. Peter wrote in his journal,
“My spare moments from 1881-1894
were mostly taken up with work in
the photographic gallery.”
Fair organizers, eager to make a
buck to help offset the event’s $27million price tag, charged a relatively
expensive fee of $2.00 to
bring a camera on the grounds,
and this dissuaded many
shutterbugs from taking
pictures. Peter’s 4 x 5-inch
glass plates were the largest
format allowed. The Exposition contracted with its own
cameraman to make the
official photographic record.
The Blarney Castle
Ship Columbia anchored in Lake Michigan
off Wimmer
Hall
A 1914 photo
h t off Saint
S i t John’s
J h ’ photo
h t studio
t di on top
t floor
fl
Wi
H ll
German House
FEATURE
A visit to Google reveals that most
of the official images are relatively unpopulated, sterile views of statues and
structures. They stand in stark contrast
with the human components of Peter’s
portfolio. Look at these views from
Peter’s day at the fair and you will see
more than the striking facades designed by such architectural greats as
Louis Sullivan and his young assistant
Frank Lloyd Wright (the Transportation Building). You will also get a
glimpse of a moment in time as fairgoers saunter about on a summer day
115 years ago. Look closely and you
30 More Photos:
will not find a single hatless
man or a woman without a
long skirt and a parasol.
For a virtual day at the fair
visit the well written journal
of Edgar Rice Burroughs of
Tarzan fame that details his
extended June, 1883, visit to
the Exposition (www.erbzine.
com/mag12/1275.html). +
Lee Hanley is a photographer
and the abbey’s director of
communication and chair of the
Communications and
Publications Committee.
Inexpensive lunch items:
10¢ sandwiches, home-made pies for 5¢
www.saintjohnsabbey.org/chicago/
Visitors were entertained by
authentic belly-dancers.
Strolling the “Midway” in top hat, long dresses and parasols.
FEATURE
The Church of Seven Dolors, Albany, Minnesota,
boasts a back yard golf course and awesome art
Lee Hanley
“We have profited much by the educational, social, and cultural advantages offered
by Saint John’s Abbey and University.” (Centennial History)
The Church of Seven Dolors, Albany, Minnesota, with repairs being made on the steeple
A
lmost a century passed between 1863, when the first
settlers of Albany were grubbing tree stumps before planting their
crops, and 1960 when a nine-hole golf
course was built in the broad back
yard of the Church of Seven Dolors,
a Benedictine parish ten miles west of
Saint John’s. In between times there
arose a town and a church that bear
the fruits of the hard work and faith of
their pioneer founders.
Memoirs of the original settlers tell
the story of their stamina. Mathias
Wievoda left Austria and landed in
New Orleans where he paid a
Confederate soldier fifty cents for a
grey overcoat and set out on foot for
Minnesota. He covered the windows
of his one-room cabin in Albany with
honed and shaven deer hide.
When John Dirkes and Elizabeth
Dobmeier were married on May 12,
1870, they walked the seven miles
from St. Joseph to St. Cloud for the
ceremony and later walked sixteen
miles from St. Joseph to St. Nicholas
for their honeymoon.
For five years the sacraments were
celebrated in the homes of the
Catholic settlers until they erected a
30- x 20-foot log building in 1868 to
serve as a temporary church. Parishioners were asked to pay $5.00 for the
support of the church. The unusual
name of the parish came about this
way:
FEATURE
A Station of the Cross with
German title
Records in the parish history reveal building a larger church, adding
a sacristy, a tower and high altar,
erecting the rectory and an addition
to the church, until finally the present church was built and dedicated
in 1900. This was followed by the
construction of Holy Family School,
a new rectory, a convent, and the
renovation of the church’s interior
in 1968 to conform the sanctuary to
liturgical adaptations of the Second
Vatican Council. In 2003 a Parish
Center and Gathering Place were
added to the parish complex and everyone wondered, “How did we ever
get along without this space?”
During the first century the parish
was served by twenty Benedictine
pastors. A comment in the Centennial History is noteworthy: “From a
layman’s viewpoint, it might be said
Lee Hanley
Mary’s seven sorrows are: 1. Prophecy of Simeon 2. Flight into Egypt
3. Loss of the Child Jesus in the
temple 4. Meeting Jesus on the Way
to the Cross 5. Crucifixion
6. Taking down the Body of Jesus
from the cross 7. Burial of Jesus.
Daniel Durken, OSB
Simon Groetsch was digging a well
on his farm. He was at the bottom
while a worker above operated a pulley to lift out the large buckets of dirt.
The worker lost control of the pulley
handle and the full bucket hurtled
toward the bottom of the well. Simon
saw the bucket coming and called
upon the “Dolorous Mother” for help.
Suddenly the rope became entangled
and the bucket stopped just in time.
In thanksgiving Simon and his wife
promised to donate a statue of one of
the Seven Dolors (Sorrows) of Mary
to the church. The statue was brought
from Bavaria and installed on a side
altar and the name “Seven Dolors”
was given to the church.
Lee Hanley
Above the crucifix of the main altar are depictions of five
sorrows of Mary, namely (l. to r.), Simeon’s prophecy at
Jesus’ presentation in the temple, flight into Egypt, finding Jesus in the temple, meeting Jesus on the Way of the
Cross, and removal of Jesus from the cross. The crucifix
represents the fifth sorrow. Below the altar table is the
Seventh Sorrow - the burial of Jesus.
The sanctuary of the Church of Seven Dolors
FEATURE
No such rigors developed during the
pastorate of Corwin Collins, OSB,
who recently resigned after the longest pastoral term of over twenty-one
years (1986-2007). A native of the
Bronx with an obvious Irish heritage,
Father Corwin worked well with the
parish council all those years and
speaks proudly of the generous spirit
of the 2500 parishioners. His successor, Jonathan Licari, OSB, adds an
Iron Range and Italian background to
his experience as teacher, monastic
superior and pastor of one of the largest Twin Cities’ parishes, Holy Name
in Medina.
Corwin Collins, OSB, pastor,
1986-2007
designed butternut
wood backdrops of
the main and side
altars, the Stations of
the Cross with their
original German
titles, the plentiful
statuary and the
richly colored
stained glass
windows will
prompt the visitor to
say with Saint Peter
at the transfiguration
of Jesus, “It is good
to be here.” +
Father Jonathan, pastor
Lee Hanley
An example of these “rigors” occurred in 1888 when Gregory Steil,
OSB, became the first resident pastor.
He urged the people to establish a
parish school staffed by Benedictine
Sisters but when a majority of parishioners vetoed Gregory’s proposal, he
left the parish. The St. Cloud Diocese
bishop, Rupert Siebenbusch, OSB,
closed the church for a month until
the issue was resolved in favor of
opening a parochial school.
Lee Hanley
that the platoon system of changing
pastors was the correct thing, for certainly one pastor could not endure all
the rigors of a growing parish for any
great length of time!”
The gathering place. A basketball court to the
left completes the addition.
The pre-school and
K-6 Holy Family
Grade School
Daniel Durken, OSB
A visit to this church, close to the
fabled Lake Wobegon Trail, is a
rewarding experience. The finely
Photos by Daniel Durken, OSB
WHAT’S NEW?
Display of Abbey Gift
Shop items
New Abbey Gift Shop
opens
S
aint John’s Abbey’s interest
in having a special space to
showcase and sell the creations
of community artists and craftsmen
was realized on December 5, 2007,
with the opening of the new Abbey
Gift Shop. The opportunity presented
itself when the pastor of Saint John
the Baptist Parish and the guest master of the Abbey Guesthouse moved to
different offices and vacated the south
room just inside the entrance to the
Great Hall.
The Gift Shop features items
such as:
• popular bread paddles and the
Saint John’s Cross:
Abbey Woodworking
• wood engravings:
Placid Stuckenschneider, OSB
• creations of dried flowers under
glass and homemade jams and
jellies:
Dunstan Moorse, OSB
• art prints:
Jerome Tupa, OSB
• pottery:
Neal Laloo, OSB
• polyhedrons:
Magnus Wenninger, OSB
• liturgical vestments:
Janet Merdan, abbey tailor:
• icons and figures:
Nathanael Hauser, OSB
• poetry books:
Kilian McDonnell, OSB
• music CDs:
Robert Koopmann, OSB and
Martin Rath, OSB
• assorted picture post cards and
note cards
• and more!
The Gift Shop is open during the
daily hours of the Great Hall, from
7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The shop
operates on the self-service principle.
The key to the shop is available from
the attendants at the Information Desk
of the Great Hall. Customers are free
to browse and bring items for
purchase to the Information Desk
attendants. +
Paul Richards, OSB (standing), and
Herard Jean- Noel, OSB, are the
managers of the Abbey Gift Shop.
Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB
WHAT’S NEW?
Cover of the Abbey Photo Directory 2008
New Abbey Photo Directory published
“Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!”
A
Intended as a finishing feature of
the abbey’s Sesquicentennial that
concluded last November, the project,
begun in the summer of 2006, was
completed in April, 2008. The 54page Directory with black and white
photos of each monk has four pages
of full-color scenes of community life.
The soft cover book, in horizontal,
landscape format is twelve inches
wide by nine inches tall. The Directory was printed by Palmer Printing of
Waite Park, Minnesota, the printer of
Abbey Banner.
Previous editions of the Abbey
Photo Directory were published in
1969, 1980 and 1993. In the latter
edition 240 members of the monastic
community were pictured. Since 1993
83 of those monks died and 22 others
left the community.
The Directory is a limited edition
only distributed privately. +
A divider page of the Abbey Photo Directory featuring
community scenes.
Editors Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB (l.) and
Lee Hanley discuss publication issues.
Daniel Durken, OSB
Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB
smile is always appreciated
but there is nothing “candid”
about the formal photographs
of the 153 community members taken
by Simon-Hoa Phan, OSB, and Lee
Hanley for the 2008 edition of the
Abbey Photo Directory. Brother Simon-Hoa is the university’s assistant
professor in art. Lee, a layman, is the
abbey’s director of communications,
chair of the communications and
publications committee and a veteran
photographer.
WHAT’S NEW?
Dan Morgan, OSB
Abbey
announces new
program for
young men
by Paul-Vincent Niebauer, OSB
Young monks and guests enjoy a recreation period.
Features of the Monastic
Associates Program:
• The vocation director and subprior
are co-directors of the Monastic
Associates Program.
• The program is designed for
20-30-year-old men.
• Associates must exhibit an interest
in sharing the prayer, work and life
of the monastery although this is
not intended as a permanent
commitment.
• Associates have paying jobs on
or off campus or are assigned work
for the abbey.
• Associates participate in the
schedule of the monastery
including table, housekeeping and
liturgical service as they are able.
• Associates work for or pay for
room and board in the monastery.
• Associates receive weekly
instruction in the Benedictine life
as well as spiritual direction.
• Associates are not pledged to
renunciation of private ownership, nor are they bound to
religious obedience in the manner
of a monk or claustral oblate.
How ever, they are expected to live
chaste lives, cultivate a simple
lifestyle and follow the guidance
of the abbot, his council, the
chapter, and the community of
monks and associates in matters
pertaining to the community.
• Associates go through an
assessment process. Before
moving into the monastery,
prospective associates can live in
the community for a probationary
period or several extended stays.
After being accepted, associates
make a public covenant between
themselves and the monastic and
associate communities.
• Participation in the Monastic
Associates Program is renewable
semi-annually for up to three years.
Contact: Br. Paul-Vincent Niebauer,
OSB / Vocation Director / Saint John’s
Abbey / P. O. Box 2015 / Collegeville,
MN 56321-2015 / E-mail:
pniebauer@csbsju.edu
Phone: 320-363-2548
The first
Monastic
Associate
of Saint
John’s
Abbey
Aelred Senna, OSB
S
aint John’s Abbey announces
its new Monastic Associates
Program in recognition of the
interest and needs of young men who
want to explore Benedictine community living more intensely but are not
yet ready to make a lifetime commitment to a monastic vocation. The program enables young adults to consider
monastic life while experiencing it
fully for a well-defined period of time.
Associates pray with the community,
learn about the monastic tradition,
develop a taste for prayer and reading
scripture in a reflective way, and use
their skills for work and leadership.
J
ason Ziegler, 28, is the first
Monastic Associate of Saint John’s
Abbey. Coming from Berryton,
Kansas, Jason received the Bachelor
of Arts degree in philosophy in 2005
from Kansas University, Lawrence,
Kansas. He was a summer Monastic Experience Participant (MEP) in
2001. Since beginning his associate
program last November he has worked
in the Abbey Vocation Office. Jason
is applying for graduate studies in
systematic theology this fall in Saint
John’s School of Theology. +
MISSIONS
Present for the 60th anniversary of the founding of
Saint Anselm’s Parish, Tokyo, are (l. to r.): Thomas
Wahl, OSB, Peter Tada, OSB, Roman Paur, OSB,
Leo Schumacher, pastor, and Archbishop Peter
Takeo Okada.
Festivities in Fujimi
by Roman Paur, OSB
Saint Anselm’s Church, Tokyo,
commemorates 60th anniversary
Publication of the biography of
Neal Lawrence, OSB
I
F
n 1947 Abbot Alcuin Deutsch,
OSB, sought permission from the
archbishop of Tokyo to start a parish
and a monastic community in that
megalopolis. On the First Sunday of
Advent, November 28, 1947, Archbishop Peter Totsuo Doi gave his
approval for this new parish in the
Meguro Ward of Tokyo. It would be
dedicated to Saint Anselm, tenth
century Benedictine abbot and
doctor of the church, and given to
Saint John’s Abbey in the hope of our
developing a monastery and a school
for boys.
On December 2, 2007, the First
Sunday of Advent, Saint Anselm’s
Church honored its Benedictine
founders at the commemoration of its
60th anniversary. Tokyo’s Archbishop
Peter Takeo Okada presided at the
celebration of the Eucharist along
with Fathers Leo Schumacher, pastor,
and Roman Paur, OSB, prior of
Trinity Benedictine Monastery,
Fujimi. An overflow gathering of
friends welcomed monks of the
Fujimi community after the Mass.
ather Neal would have been
one-hundred years old on January
22, 2008, the day his biography, The
Six Lives of Father Neal Lawrence
by Robert Morton, was introduced at
Saint Anselm’s Church, Tokyo. This
book details the six stages of Neal’s
long and fruitful life as businessman,
naval officer, diplomat, monk and
priest, teacher and poet.
A native of Clarksville, Tennessee, and a graduate of Harvard, Neal
worked for Lever Brothers from
1929 to 1943, rising to a senior
executive position. Drafted into the
Navy in 1943, he took part in the
battle of Okinawa where the horrors of war convinced him to work
for peace. After the war he became
a diplomat stationed in Tokyo and
oversaw the economic reconstruction
of Okinawa.
His desire to work for peace eventually moved Neal to embrace the
Catholic faith and monastic life. He
entered Saint John’s Abbey novitiate
in 1954, made his first profession of
vows in 1955, began seminary studies
and was ordained to the priesthood in
1960. He was assigned to the abbey’s
dependent priory in Tokyo where he
served there and at the Fujimi
monastery for forty-four years.
Neal’s fifth phase as a teacher took
him into the classrooms of major
Japanese universities and earned him
a decoration by the emperor of Japan
for his contributions to education and
culture. Last but not least, he began
writing tanka poetry in the traditional
Japanese format of the 5-7-5-7-7
syllable count. Between 1978 and
2000 Neal published four books of
tanka poems.
The author of Neal’s biography,
Robert Morton, is an associate
professor at Chuo University, Tokyo,
vice president of the Asiatic Society of
Japan (publisher of the biography) and
editor-in-chief of the Society’s journal, The Transactions of the Asiatic
Society of Japan.
The 139-page biography is available
for a gift of $25.00 to Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi, by writing
to Roman Paur, OSB / Saint John’s
Abbey / P.O. Box 2015 / Collegeville,
MN 56321-2015 (fclr@csbsju.edu).
MISSIONS
Research library on the works of
Saint Anselm
T
rinity Benedictine Monastery
gratefully accepted a major gift
of some five hundred books making
up the Saint Anselm collection of
Professor Gyo Furuta. This is perhaps the most important resource on
Saint Anselm and medieval Europe
in Japan and could attract significant
scholarship. Professor Furuta is one
of the founders of Kanda International
Studies University, Chiba City, Japan,
where he taught philosophy and was
director of the comparative culture
research center. He translated into
Japanese the writings of Saint Anselm
and the Rule of Benedict.
Professor Gyo
(Gabriel) Furuta
among his books
on Saint Anselm
in the monastery
library
Monastery accepts gift of a tracker
pipe organ
T
he monastery is grateful to the
retired surgeon, Dr. Michio
and Mrs. Yumiko Otsuki who
donated their tracker pipe organ
commissioned in 1999 and crafted
by the Tsuji Organ Company, Gifu
Prefecture. This beautiful instrument
is used to accompany community
worship as well as for organ concerts
in the Community Cultural Program.
Sponsoring a Community Cultural
Program
Dr. Michio and Mrs. Yumiko
Otsuki, Japanese friends
who donated their $100,000
pipe organ to the Fujimi
community
T
he monastery’s Community
Cultural Program begun last year
has been welcomed by the people of
Fujimi with standing room only attendance. The program was initiated with
a piano concert of classical music by
Professor Augusto Borromeo from the
Philippines and two performances by
a regional group of nine accomplished
student violinists. Planned for this
year are organ concerts played on the
new chapel tracker pipe organ. +
Roman Paur, OSB, is the prior of Trinity
Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi, Japan.
L. to r., Kieran
Nolan, OSB,
Her Highness
Princess
Takamado,
Roman Paur,
OSB, and Robert
Morton, author
of The Six Lives
of Father Neal
Lawrence
MISSIONS
Pictured are several of the executives of the Bahamian Chapter,
l. to r.: Pierre Dupuch, Dayrrl Butler, Monsignor Preston Moss,
Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, Saint John’s President, Prince Wallace,
Basil Christi and John Young, Saint John’s Associate Vice President for Advancement.
PHOTO CREDIT ???
A Bahamian tribute to
the Benedictines
by Pierre Dupuch
Excerpts from an article published December 31, 2007,
in The Nassau Guardian of the Bahamas
M
any questions go through
a young Bahamian’s head
when making his first trip
far from his home for an education.
Why Saint John’s University where
winter temperatures are thirty-belowzero? We’re from the Bahamas where
sixty-above calls for sweaters and fur
coats.
As the bus sped from Minneapolis to
Collegeville we thought of great men
like Frederick Frey, OSB, founder
of Saint Augustine’s College in Nassau where we went to high school.
Other Benedictines of the Bahamas
include Fathers George, Magnus,
Elias, Cornelius, Burton, Leonard,
Prosper, Brendan, Marcian, Gaul,
Ephrem, Silvan, Theophile, Bartholomew, Fintan and Mel along
with Brothers Barry and Henry and
many more. All are household names
in the Bahamas.
The Bahama-Collegeville connection began when the original Benedictine missionary to the Bahamas,
Chrysostom Schreiner, encouraged
several young Bahamians to attend Saint John’s. Useph Baker and
Etienne and Eugene Dupuch were
among the first. Eugene composed
the “Johnny Fight Song” and became
a legislator, Queen’s Councilor and
leading lawyer.
Lou Adderly, an athletic icon in the
mid-1950s, learned to play tennis in
his bare feet with a piece of wood as
a racket and the tar road as a court.
He was the conference champion in
tennis in 1953-55 and wrestling in
1953-54. He taught and served as
headmaster at Saint Augustine’s.
as professors, advisors, even friends.
Martin Schirber and Gervase Soukup taught economics and advised large
corporations. Godfrey Diekmann,
renowned liturgist and Vatican Council
II advisor, taught theology. Paul Marx
was a leader in the “Right to Life”
movement.
There are 240 Bahamian alumni
of Saint John’s. As doctors, lawyers,
teachers, politicians and civil servants
their influence is felt. We simply bow
our heads and say “Thank you” to all
these men who helped make us men. +
Pierre Dupuch is a Nassau publisher.
Cyril Paul, a native of Trinidad and
a Nassau policeman, excelled in track
and leads a popular calypso band. Tim
McCartney received his doctorate in
physiology summa cum laude from
the University of Strasbourg, France,
and worked for the Bahamas government.
Bahamians found at Saint John’s
that each student is a name, not a
number. Teachers knew students by
their first name and they knew them
Bahamian alumni celebrate Saint
John’s Sesquicentennial
A
bout seventy-five alumni gathered in Nassau at the home of
Mark Munnings ’84 on January 19 to celebrate the Sesquicentennial
of Saint John’s. The festive occasion
featured the official chartering of the
Bahamian Chapter of the Saint John’s
Alumni Association. +
BENEDICTINE VOLUNTEERS
Benedictine
Volunteers
check in from
Tanzania,
Guatemala,
Newark and
Collegeville
The three lighter colored faces in an upper row belong to (l. to r.) Lew Grobe, Derek
Johnson and Paul Conroy with students at Hanga Benedictine Abbey, Songea,
Tanzania.
“We highly recommend this program to Saint John’s alumni.”
Paul Conroy, Lewis Grobe and
Derek Johnson at Hanga Benedictine Abbey, Songea, Tanzania:
Michael Anderson and Liam Sperl
at the Abbey of Jesus Christ Crucified in Esquipulas, Guatemala:
W
ienvenidos a la Abadia de Jesucristo Crucificado! Our projects range from working in a citrus
orchard to teaching English, assisting
medical missions and working as
fundraiser and laborers on a project
for homeless children called the City
of Joy. Aimed to give new hope to
abandoned children, the City of Joy
will be home for eighty Catholic
Sisters and 100 children. For more
information and how to help, e-mail
us at michaeland3@yahoo.com.
The experience has been amazing
and eye-opening. The people of Tanzania are genuine, happy and grateful
to have people who want to help them.
We are grateful for this opportunity to
serve them. +
Note: Paul and Lew prepare for the
900-mile “Phoenix Rising” bike trek
in May (see page 21).
B
We started a recycling program to
address a large problem throughout
Guatemala - the quantity of unattended litter and trash. We use bamboo
sticks to fill up bottles with litter. We
are amazed at how much trash can be
forced into a bottle. When the bottles
are full they are used as building
blocks for the library we are helping
to construct in the City of Joy project.
No photo credit available
e [Lew and Derek] teach
English and math to first year
students and opened the new abbey
website (www.hangaabbey.org). I
[Paul] continue to teach English to
second and third year students at the
Hanga Seminary while improving
their grammar skills in the new English and debate club. We’re finishing
a Library of Congress labeling of the
3,000 books from the Books for Africa
program.
L. to r.: Michael Anderson and
Liam Speri rest a while during their
litter picking and packing product.
Our time here helps us grow in our
ability to be self-driven, mature,
fluent in Spanish and prayerful. Our
interactions with the monastic community make our life one of tranquility, mindfulness and peace. +
Jonathan Seldat and Ted Welle at
Saint Benedict Prep, Newark, New Jersey:
A
s members of this small monastic community of Newark Abbey
(eighteen members), we are called to
take part in the prayer and work that
are vital to our daily schedule. We
have grown to appreciate silence and
solitude after working among the 571
young men of Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School.
We are the “in-house substitutes”
who never know what adventure lies
around the corner every morning—
from supervising an elective class of
ten seniors to teaching a chemistry
class of thirty. We organized a tutoring program for our students with
nearby college students and we see
that grades of all students are improv-
ing. We are seeking
funds to hire two or
three full-time staff
persons who will
also work with the
tutoring program.
Being removed
from the safety that
Saint John’s gave us
for four years has
made us see issues that exist
in the States and the world.
If we have helped just one
student or left an impression
on this small community of
monks, this year at Newark
will be a success. +
Jon Seldat (far left) and Ted Welle (far
right) with students of Saint Benedict’s
Prep School
Severin Kolb and Paul Walters at Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota
S
Aelred Senna, OSB
everin from Russikon, Switzerland, spent ten weeks at Saint
John’s. Fluent in German, he tutored
four Prep School students in the language, assisted Mark Thamert, OSB,
in the university’s German department, and did odd jobs on the grounds
and in the sacristy.
Aelred Senna, OSB
Severin Kolb
Paul Walters
In a recent e-mail, Severin wrote,
“I met people who live a religious
and peaceful life and this inspired me.
The abbey is one of the most peaceful
places I have ever been. I had a quiet
place for myself and time to think
about my life. I became much happier
and open. “
Paul, a 2005 Saint John’s graduate,
works closely with Paul Richards,
OSB, on the volunteer program. He
is developing fund raising strategies
through grant writing and solicitation and revamping the application
process. Each week he shops in St.
Cloud for items requested by the
monks.
Paul says, “My time here has
been meaningful and valuable. I am
enjoying the work and the wonderful
experience of living and praying in
fellowship with the monastic
community.” +
SJU alumni and others interested in this
program should contact Paul Richards,
OSB, director, at prichards@csbsju.edu
or call 320-363-3007.
“Phoenix Rising”:
A fund-raising program
for students in Tanzania
by Paul Conroy
Liberation through education!
Education to eradicate poverty!
L
ew Grobe, a fellow Saint
John’s University grad and
Benedictine Volunteer here at
Hanga Abbey in Tanzania, one day
eagerly exclaimed, “I’ve got a great
idea! We’re gonna bike 900 miles
from Dar-es-salaam to Hanga to raise
money for students who can’t afford
to go to school.”
I soon realized that Lew was serious. While I question our sanity in
undertaking such an endeavor, this
“Liberation through education!”
“Education for a brighter future!”
“Education to eradicate poverty!”
It is encouraging to see these words
screen-painted on the backs of secondary school uniforms throughout
Tanzania. But they aren’t realistic.
Take $320 (the annual income for the
average Tanzanian), subtract $350
(the average price for one year of high
school) and you have a depressingly
high number of Tanzanian youth using
hoes in fields instead of books
L. to r.: Paul Conroy, Onesmo Sanga, OSB, and Lew Grobe and their
“Phoenix Rising” bikes
coming May we’re doing it. We call
it “Phoenix Rising” after the legendary bird of hope that lived 500 years,
burned itself to ashes on a pyre and
rose to live another period. “Phoenix”
is also the trade name of the bikes
we’ll be riding.
in schools. While the statistics are disheartening, change is on the horizon.
We hope to help push (and pedal) this
change along.
Our ultimate goal is to raise $25,000
to start an annual endowment to help
pay school fees for Tanzanian youth
who without such help will never set
foot in a classroom. Our three-week
safari will be conducted on singlespeed, Chinese-manufactured “Phoenix” bicycles, the most durable mode
of transportation in East Africa.
Starting in the sweltering, oceanside megalopolis of Dar-es-salaam,
our journey will take us through
crowded streets of bustling cities to
desolate dirt roads winding through
uninhabited bush, home of stealthy
lions and lumbering elephants to the
small village of Hanga in the southern
highlands.
If we have raised nothing more
than the concerns of our parents and
the heads of astonished locals, we
will have accomplished little. So it
is on behalf of the voiceless youth
of Tanzania that we ask you to help
us to help them get a basic education and make our “Phoenix Rising”
trip a success. Please check out our
website—http://www.hangaabbey.
org—and click on the “Phoenix Rising” logo for a more in-depth look at
our mission and bike trip and how to
donate. +
Paul Conroy is a member of the Saint
John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps and
has been in Tanzania for two and a half
years.
STRENGHTHENING FOUNDATIONS
Abbot John and Patty and Mike
Bourassa welcome “Ole Bessy”
back to Saint John’s.
Geoffrey Fecht, OSB
A Gift with Strings
Attached
by Geoffrey Fecht, OSB
“Ole Bessy” returns to Saint John’s.
S
oon after the first Benedictine monks and their students
settled into their newly constructed stone building high above
Lake Sagatagan, an old German
settler drove his horse-drawn wagon
up the rough and winding road to the
monastery. In the back of the wagon,
bedded on a thick carpet of straw, lay
a string bass. The instrument had been
in the settler’s family long before his
arrival in Minnesota.
Not being a musician himself, the
settler figured this fledging monastic community with its new school
for boys was a fitting new home
for the instrument since music had
always been an important part of both
monastic and school life. For some
unrecorded reason the bass fell out
of the monastery’s possession and its
whereabouts became unknown.
Then in 1931 Clem LaBarre purchased this same string bass at the
Vavro Music Company in downtown
Saint Paul for $37.00. The instrument
became part of the family and was
affectionately named “Ole Bessy.”
Clem was a member of the local
symphony and played the bass at concerts throughout southern Minnesota,
northern Iowa and western Wisconsin.
In 1954, while living in Rochester,
Minnesota, Clem approached Kenneth
Warren, an international violin expert,
to have him assess the instrument.
Warren identified this rather rare
instrument as belonging to the
Klingenthal school of Germany and
crafted between 1770 and 1800.
According to the Rochester PostBulletin, “Warren said that, because
the original varnish was not intact
over the entire instrument, it would
not command the price of a Stradivarius although it undoubtedly had a
higher value than the usual bass viol.”
Upon his retirement, Clem gave
“Ole Bessy” to his daughter, Patty
Bourassa, who lovingly kept the bass
in a corner of her and her husband
Mick’s home in Crosslake, Minnesota.
To this day Patty treasures the memories of listening to her father play the
instrument in her childhood home.
On September 28, 2007, in recognition of Saint John’s Sesquicentennial,
“Ole Bessy” was packed up for
another road trip, this time to her
pioneer home. Bidding “Ole Bessy”
a tearful farewell, Patty delivered
the string bass into the welcoming
hands of Abbot John Klassen and
university professor of music, Robert
Koopmann, OSB. They reunited “Ole
Bessy” with other Sesquicentennial
instruments Saint John’s has in its
musical collection.
During the abbey’s Christmas Midnight Mass “Ole Bessy” took her place
in the orchestra that performed that
night. She was glad to be back home.
The abbey is grateful to the Bourassas and Clem LaBarre for preserving
and returning this treasured instrument to Saint John’s. [Clem LaBarre
died January 13, 2008. May he rest in
peace.] +
Geoffrey Fecht, OSB, is the abbey
development director.
STRENGHTHENING FOUNDATIONS
Personal Reflections:
Why Saint John’s Cemetery?
by Josie Stang
S
everal early purchasers of burial
sites in the expanded Saint
John’s Cemetery were asked to
give their reason for choosing to be
buried here. Their testimonials follow.
Daniel Durken, OSB
Robert and Joanne with Tom Andert,
OSB (l.), and Wilfred Theisen, OSB,
behind them.
Robert (1965 SJU alumnus) and
Joanne Neis:
Donald and Edward
Edward J. LeMay, 1965 SJU
alumnus and brother of Donald
LeMay, OSB:
“I purchased a cubic foot in the northeastern-most, closest-to-the-sky spot
in the columbarium of Saint John’s
Cemetery. I chose this spot because
it was here at Saint John’s that I first
read so much that I still value: The
Rule of Saint Benedict, Confessions of
Saint Augustine, and the Russians, i.e.,
Tolstoy. Here I first thought about the
care for the planet, climate change,
social justice, music, theatre, vagabonding, genealogy and genetics.”
“We purchased a spot in the Courtyard
Columbarium this past winter after
talking with Fathers Tom Andert,
OSB and Wilfred Theisen, OSB
about the new cemetery. Even though
we qualify for free veterans’ burial
benefits, we decided to let our strong
Saint John’s community ties outweigh
other options. We are avid Johnnie
sports fans and support the abbey’s
vocations program.” Bob teaches a
leadership section for a CSB/SJU
management class.
The blessing of the expanded Saint John’s Cemetery is scheduled for
10:30 a.m., Friday, June 6. Guests should gather at the cemetery at that
time.
Read about Saint John’s Cemetery in “A Cloud of Witnesses: Thoughts
on an Abbey Cemetery” by Gilbert Friend-Jones, Oblate of Saint
John’s, in Commonweal (February 29, 2008) (http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id article=2152).
Flip and Pat with Gordon Tavis, OSB
Flip (1951 Saint John’s Prep and
1955 SJU alumnus,) and Pat
Spanier:
“What could be more glorious than
on the day of resurrection to rise
on those beautiful shores of Lake
Sagatagan with all those wonderful
Benedictine monks? Having spent
eight years there and almost becoming one of them, this would really feel like home. We have family
living in different states and if they
so desire, this would bring them
back to their roots. Last October
we buried our Down’s Syndrome
nine-month-old grandson, Maximus Aurelius Stinnett, there—the
first one interred in this serene setting. Being an angel he can lead the
procession on that final day.” +
Josie Stang is the manager of Saint John’s
Abbey Cemetery (saintjohnsabbeycemetery.org or 320-363-3434).
OBITUARY
like harvesting garden produce and
making ice cream for island hotels
and the caring for a herd of goats to
provide nutritious milk for
undernourished children.
Philip Kaufman, OSB
1911-2008
F
ather Philip was not the ordinary, run-of-the-cloister monk.
From his trademark bow tie
to the publication of a controversial
book, he was a maverick. Born in
Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was the
first of the four children of Mozart
and Ruby (Feld) Kaufman, a Reform
Jewish couple.
At his funeral, Sister Joanne Kollash, OSB, of this community said of
Philip, “He possessed a listening, hospitable, compassionate heart and keen
intellect. I don’t remember hearing the
words ‘serve’ and ‘servant’ as much as
I heard it from him. Above all he was
a gifted liturgist and homilist.”
Like his namesake Philip in the
Acts of the Apostles who was “filled
with the Spirit and wisdom” (6:3), our
Philip “went about proclaiming the
good news” that concludes his book:
“The Catholic who obeys a sincerely
informed conscience, even if it is
opposed to official teaching, remains
a faithful Catholic.” May he rest in
peace. +
Abbey Archives
PHOTO CREDIT ???
Returning to Saint John’s, Philip
served as the associate director of the
newly founded Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. He then
joined the staff of the retreat and
conference center of Holy Wisdom
Monastery, founded by Benedictine
women in Madison, Wisconsin.
A major moment of Philip’s life
was the 1989 publication of Why You
Can Disagree and Remain a Faithful Catholic that brought him both
fame and disdain. Far from being an
invitation to “do your own thing,” the
book takes a new look at such controversial topics as papal infallibility,
birth control, divorce and remarriage
and democracy in the church. After
seven reprints a revised edition was
published by Crossroad Publishing
Company in 1995.
After earning a master’s degree in
government from Louisiana State
University, Philip moved to New York
City where he met Dan Sullivan who
planted in him the seeds of the Catholic faith that eventually blossomed
into Philip’s baptism at St. Anselm’s
Church, one of the two abbey-staffed
parishes in the Bronx.
Philip taught government classes at
Saint John’s for a year before entering
the abbey’s novitiate. He made his
commitment to the monastic way of
life in 1941 and was ordained in 1945.
He was assigned to Saint Augustine’s
Monastery and College in Nassau,
Bahamas, where he taught history and
religion for eighteen years. As business manager he initiated enterprises
Philip looks over the
vegetable garden that
helped to support St.
Augustine’s Monastery
and College, Nassau.
Remember our loved ones who have gone to their rest:
Rev. Raymond (Benedict) Avery
Bernice Doub
Arlene Finken
Jon Hassler
Michael Kopecky
Angeline Price
Rev. Alvin Rueter
Arthur Spring
John J. Symanitz
Carol Taylor
Bernie Thelen
Helen Wieber
Gordon Zahn
May they rest in peace.
THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
What’s Up?
The Abbey Chronicle
Fran Hoefgen, OSB
Daniel Durken, OSB
December 2007
■ Winter got off to a fast start with
almost six inches of snow on December 1 and 2 and another five inches on
the 4th. More cold than snow came
later as we shivered through belowzero temperatures on ten days in
December, sixteen in January, eight
in February and three in March for a
total of thirty-seven. With the lowest
reading of -19 on December 19 and 30
and February 20, the wind chills were
in the -30 to -40 range. Brrrrr!
■ Instead of using the usual tall pine
trees from our forest to decorate the
abbey church for Christmas, several
small, potted pines were added to the
poinsettia clusters in the sanctuary.
The little evergreens will be planted
Aelred Senna, OSB
E
aster came very early this
year—March 23. The calendar
of saints scrambled to substitute dates for the saintly celebrations displaced by Holy Week and
Easter Week. Saint Joseph’s Day was
bumped up to March 15 and Saint
Patrick’s Feast, March 17, was all
but lost in the shuffle. Benedictines
waited until April 1 to commemorate
the death of Saint Benedict, ordinarily celebrated on March 21. The Feast
of the Annunciation (March 25) was
postponed until March 31. But not to
worry. It will be another 220 years
(2228) before Easter comes this early
again.
Spring’s Aaah!
Daniel Durken, OSB
Winter’s Blah!
The Dandelion’s pallid tube
Astonished the Grass
And Winter instantly becomes
An infinite Alas. (Emily Dickenson)
A potted pine with lots of lights
in our woods to replace some of
those cut down to decorate recreation
rooms.
■ A capacity crowd joined the monastic community for the Christmas
Midnight Mass. Abbot John Klassen, OSB, reflected on the mystery
and marvel of God becoming human:
“The birth of Jesus doesn’t rid the
world of evil. For the Christian, just
as for everyone else, there will still
be sickness, senseless hurt, broken
THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
■ Mindful of Isaiah’s and John the
Baptist’s call to “Prepare the way of
the Lord, make straight his paths,”
our mantra for the New Year could be
“Make straight in ’08.” The community tried to do that during our annual
workshop on January 7-9. Facilitated
by Linda Marrin and guided by Task
Force members Mark Thamert,
OSB, Paul Richards, OSB, and
Doug Mullin, OSB, we discussed
“Expectations for the Common Life
of Saint John’s Abbey” and approved
three aspects of our commitment:
1. Regular observance of public and
private prayer, meals, meetings,
service and recreation
2. Balanced lives of prayer and work
3. Fraternal support for the physical
and spiritual well-being of each
monk
■ The five bells that swing and ring
from the banner of the abbey church
have a definite “crack record.” For
various reasons all of the bells except
one have developed cracks and were
replaced, some of them twice. On
January 21-25 the 5,665-pound Mary
bell and the 8,000-pound Trinity bell
were replaced.
Lee Hanley
Lift high the bell!
■ From
May ’07 to
March ’08,
Michael
Patella, OSB,
rector of Saint
John’s Seminary, visited
twenty-two
Benedictine,
Trappist and
Cistercian
Michael Patella, OSB
monasteries in fifteen states. He explained the
monastic character of our seminary’s
Master of Divinity degree and formation program and listened to the
concerns of abbots, formation directors and monks. Saint John’s School
of Theology concentrates on the
Master’s degree, pastoral and
■ An eleven page, thirty-two photo
article by Nancy A. Miller in the January-February issue of Architecture
Minnesota magazine gives copious
compliments to Saint John’s Abbey
Church, the Petter’s Pavilion and
Chapter House and the Abbey Guesthouse. Editor Christopher Hudson
notes, “St. John’s Abbey and University stands out as Minnesota’s true
architectural mecca . . . because Marcel Breuer all but set up shop there as
campus master planner and architect in
the mid-1950s, designing everything
from a utilitarian science center to the
hallowed abbey church, one of the
most beautiful and stirring concrete
buildings in the world.” The stunning
photography is by Paul Crosby.
■ Jerome Tupa, OSB, university
chaplain and artist-in-residence, was
introduced at the Naples [Florida]
Museum of
Art Reception
on January 29.
Jerome is
exhibiting his
Painting the
Pilgrimage:
From Paris to
Compostela
collection of
watercolors,
oil paintings
and sketches. Jerome Tupa, OSB
February 2008
■ A unique feature of our early Lent
was “The Prior’s Tale: Lighten Up
for Lent,” composed by Prior Tom
Andert, OSB. Attaching a small refuse bag for literal or symbolic use to
a purple-colored page, the prior
offered these suggestions to live a
little lighter:
+ clean your room and discard unneeded books, clothes and
files
+ lose five pounds
+ fast and abstain and donate a bag
of groceries to the local food
shelf
+ volunteer a bag of time visiting
confreres in the retirement
center
Lee Hanley
January 2008
pre-doctoral programs while the Seminary’s exclusive focus is the monastic
priesthood. Michael also received
feedback for our conference, Monastic
Witness and the Priestly Vocation, to
be held this July 7-9.
Lee Hanley
dreams, and cold, lonely seasons
when love is far away. We don’t get
heaven on earth. We do receive God’s
presence in our lives. It is that presence that redeems us.”
THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
Abbot John gives his annual “State of
the Institution” talk.
tion projects. The abbot reported that
he, Dietrich Reinhart, OSB,
Columba Stewart, OSB, and Donald and Mabel Jackson will present
the Books of Wisdom volume of The
Saint John’s Bible to Pope Benedict
XVI during an early April visit to
Rome.
Lee Hanley
■ Robert
Koopmann,
OSB,
professor
of music,
performed
works by
Johannes
Brahms,
Robert Koopmann, OSB
■ A live webcam mounted
on the façade of Alcuin
Library now scans the
campus from the Peter Engel
Science Hall past the Abbey
Guesthouse, across the front
of the church to the Stephen
B. Humphrey Auditorium. Access to the
webcam is found at the lower
left of the abbey’s homepage
www.saintjohnsabbey.org/.
Clicking the link opens a login
window. Select the login button.
Another small window opens
with the live feed from the webcam. Choosing the button in the
upper right of the screen opens a
window of controls for panning
and zooming the image.
Lee Hanley
work and then spread through Saint
John’s woods to tap 600+ sugar maple
trees to begin Operation Sap-toSyrup. Metal spigots were inserted
in tree trunks and collection pails
attached to catch the drip-drip-drip of
the sap. We need sunny, warm days
and cool nights for a bumper harvest.
The Prep School’s addition is rising.
■ Construction on the 22,600 squarefoot addition to Bede Hall, the
academic building of Saint John’s
Prep School, is on schedule to be
completed in time for the late August
start of school.
■ Eight men took part in the
annual Lenten Triduum vocation
retreat sponsored by Paul-Vincent
Niebauer, OSB, vocation director. +
March 2008
■ March came in like . . . maple sap
collectors. On March 1 seventy volunteers first invoked a blessing on their
Maple tree sap collectors
Daniel Durken, OSB
Lee Hanley
■ In Abbot John’s annual “State of
the Institution” to the university’s
faculty and staff on February 13, he
announced the separation of the
business offices of the abbey and
university to better deal with distinct
priorities. He further commented on
the success of the Abbey Guesthouse
with its current 45% occupancy and
satisfaction with the expanded Chapter House and Petters Pavilion. He
previewed renovation and construc-
Maurice
Ravel and Frederic Chopin at his
February 28 piano recital and added
a unique “Improvisations on Famous
Paintings.” Having previously done
improvisations on hymns, Father
Bob played musical reflections on the
paintings of Kandinsky, Friedrich and
Seurat with their works displayed on a
backdrop screen of the stage.
Saint John’s Arborateum
+ dump a bag of old wounds and
grumpy gossip and replace them
with a bag of compliments
+ donate an extra bag of prayers
for world peace
L. to r., back row: Charles Sawyer
(Minnesota), Michael Hahn (Minnesota),
Caleb Wenzel (Texas); front row:
Eric Pohlman (Indiana), Daryl
Jackson (Louisiana), André Heywood
(Minnesota). Not pictured: Mark
Coté (Massachusetts), David Kobza
(Indiana).
BANNER BITS
Magnus Wenninger, OSB,
“The Polyhedra Padre”
Friedman continues, “In the world
of mathematics Father Wenninger is
known simply as Magnus. At Art and
Mathematics conferences he really
loved constructing paper models of
polyhedra and polytopes. He would
spend each day happily sitting at a
table constructing models and conversing with anyone who happened to
sit down to watch him work.
Magnus Wenninger, OSB, receives
Lifetime Achievement Award
“Magnus is a pioneer in the field of mathematical art.”
(Nathaniel Friedman)
F
ather Magnus was introduced
to readers in a feature story by
Wilfred Theisen, OSB, entitled
“A Padre’s Passion for Polyhedra,”
published in the spring 2002 issue
of The Abbey Banner. The past six
years have seen no abatement of that
passion. Magnus was honored with a
Lifetime Achievement Award by the
Special Interest Group on Mathematics and the Arts of the Mathematical
Association of America at their San
Diego convention in early January.
The award reads as follows:
This award recognizes a lifetime
of work in developing methods of
construction of a variety of paper
models of polyhedra, and sharing
insights with teachers, mathematicians, and artists through
demonstrations and publications.
For generations of mathema ticians, Magnus Wenninger’s
meticulous work has provided an
introduction to making polyhedra models and has led to
significant sculptures. Magnus
Wenninger is honored as an
important pioneer in relating
mathematics and art.
“Magnus is considered an icon in
the world of mathematical art. . . .
[His five published] books are classics
in the field of mathematical models.
Through them countless teachers and
students have been introduced to
polyhedra. In fact, by introducing
color, he created attractive examples
of geometric art. Thus he can be considered a pioneer in the field of mathematical art. His polyhedron models
are for sale at http://employees.csbsju.
edu/mwenninger/.” +
Daniel Durken, OSB, is the founding
editor of Abbey Banner.
(Signed) Nathaniel A. Friedman
Chair, Special Interest Group of the
Mathematical Association of
America – Arts January 6, 2008
Additional tribute to Magnus was
given in the November/December,
2007, issue of Hyperseeing, the
publication of the International
Society of the Arts, Mathematics and Architecture. An
article entitled “Magnus
Wenninger OSB: Mathematical Models” by editor
Nat Friedman, recounts
that Magnus became interested in polyhedra in 1961
when he saw the models
made by Robert Beard at
Columbia Teachers
College in New York City.
Pick a polyhedron.
BANNER BITS
Doug Mullin, OSB, appointed Vice
President for Student Development
Lee Hanley
T
he appointment of Father
Doug as Vice President of
Student Development at Saint
John’s University was announced by
Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, university
president, on March 5. The announcement said in part, “Fr. Doug’s professional career consists of a broad range
of leadership and teaching experiences
that provide a deep understanding
of liberal arts, residential education
within the Catholic and Benedictine
tradition. The Saint John’s and Saint
Benedict campus communities join
me in welcoming Fr. Doug to this
important role of leadership and
service within the College.”
Doug made his initial commitment
to the monastic way of life in 1979
and was ordained to the priesthood
this past August. He has a doctorate in
education from the University of
Minnesota and holds the rank of
associate professor in the CSB/SJU
Education Department. He has taught
at Saint John’s Preparatory School
and Saint Mary’s Mission School, Red
Lake, Minnesota, and served a sixyear term as subprior of the abbey. +
Meet Bill Boom,
New Physical Plant Director
Daniel Durken, OSB
I
f anyone deserves a big, long desk
strewn with construction
drawings, stapled reports and
miscellaneous memos, it is Bill Boom,
now in the sixth month of his
assignment as Saint John’s Physical
Plant Director. Hired last November
to fill the place of Linus Ascheman,
OSB, who died suddenly on June 27,
2007, he is still learning who’s who
and the campus pecking order.
There is no doubt, however, that Bill
knows the business for which he was
hired. He graduated from St. Cloud
Cathedral High School, worked as a
carpenter for ten years, took courses in
construction and drafting from
Dunwoodie Institute in Minneapolis
and was employed by a local
contractor for the past twenty years.
Benedictines are no strangers to him
as he grew up just across the street
from St. Raphael’s Convent of
Benedictine Sisters. He now lives in
Avon where he and his wife have two
daughters, two sons and four
grandchildren.
Relying on his willingness to be a
good listener, to compromise and to
give credit where credit is due, and
depending on a very supportive staff,
Bill is looking forward to major
construction projects including the
new Community Center and residence
hall in Flynntown and the addition to
Alcuin Library as well as the
renovation of Seton Apartments,
dining services in the Quadrangle and
Sexton Commons and Saint Raphael
Hall for retired and ill monks. In
the months ahead the campus will
certainly be booming. +
BANNER BITS
E
arly this year Abbot John
Klassen, OSB, announced the
retirement of Brothers Luke and
Raphael as sacristans. The work of
sacristan centers on community
worship and ranges from setting up
for the celebration of the daily
Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours to
trimming altar candles and cleaning
the abbey church and its chapels.
B
rother Luke, 84, served as
sacristan for thirty-four years.
Entering the community in 1958,
Luke worked in the garden, dining
room and woodworking shop. He cooked
and did building
maintenance at the
Priory of Tepeyac
near Mexico City
for four years. He
graduated from the
Saint Cloud School
of Nursing in 1972 and served as the
community’s infirmarian for six years.
His hobbies include watercolor and oil
paintings and baking desserts.
F
or the past twenty-two years,
Brother Raphael, 78, served as
assistant sacristan. He entered the
community in 1947 and had
duties in the monastery dining room,
the woodworking shop, the garden
and served as night watchman. He
Daniel Durken, OSB
Luke Dowal, OSB, and
Raphael Olson, OSB,
retire as sacristans
Brothers Raphael (l.) and Luke
spent three years as cook and baker
at Saint Maur’s Priory, South Union,
Kentucky, and a decade as cook and
custodian at Benilde High School, St.
Louis Park, Minnesota. The community is relieved and delighted to know
Raphael will continue to bake his
mouth-watering pies and grow
beautiful flowers.
Xavier Schermerhorn, OSB,
appointed sacristan
B
Daniel Durken, OSB
rother Xavier, who was assistant
sacristan for six years, has been
appointed chief sacristan for the abbey
liturgies and for weddings and funerals of Saint John the Baptist Parish.
Xavier, 48, made his initial
profession of vows in 2000. He
Brother Xavier
served as a nursing assistant in Saint
Raphael Hall for four years. He continues his assignment as the Master of
Ceremonies and chauffeur for Bishop
John Kinney during the bishop’s Confirmation schedule. +
SPIRITUAL LIFE
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
Like the wideness of the sea.
by Robert Pierson, OSB
I
had the privilege of preaching the
parish renewal mission at St.
Vincent de Paul Church in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, during the
first week of Lent. The theme of the
mission was based on a hymn text,
written by Frederick William Faber,
which is probably familiar to many
of us (from The Collegeville Hymnal,
#535).
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in His justice,
Which is more than liberty.
For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
Father Faber’s original text has
many more verses, and most hymnals
pick and choose which verses to use.
In all the hymnals I checked,
Catholic and Protestant, one original
verse almost never appears:
But we make God’s love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.
Why is this verse almost never used?
I would suggest that it has something
to do with the fact that we really DO
make God’s love too narrow, that we
really are uncomfortable with a God
whose mercy is so all encompassing that even the worst sinner can be
forgiven. Like the older brother in the
parable of the Prodigal Son, we want
the younger son to make restitution
before being forgiven. We don’t want
God to take him back too easily.
Of course, the good news of the story
is that God’s mercy is like “the wideness of the sea.” No one should fear
being beyond forgiveness. If we find
ourselves uncomfortable with that fact,
we may need to recognize that God’s
ways are not our ways. God’s love and
mercy are so much bigger than most of
us have ever experienced. +
Robert Pierson, OSB, is director of the
abbey’s Spiritual Life Program and abbey
guestmaster.
Upcoming Events sponsored by
the Spiritual Life Program
May 30—June 1:
The Spring Retreat will be led by
Nathanael Hauser, OSB. His topic
will be: “The Human Face of God.”
July 18—19:
Lectures by British theologian
James Alison in the Chapter House
of the Petters Pavilion:
• Friday at 8 p.m.: “Rethinking the
Atonement Theory of Salvation”
• Saturday at 9 a.m.: “Speaking the
Truth in Love: How to be
Catholic and GLBT”
For more information about these
events, please contact the Spiritual
Life Office at 320-363-3929.
Or e-mail us at spirlife@osb.org.
Paul Jasmer, OSB
June 28:
Renovated
Stella Maris
Chapel to be
Blessed
T
he renovated Stella Maris
Chapel will be blessed at 10:00
a.m. on Saturday, June 28, as
a highlight of the annual Reunion
Weekend of Saint John’s Preparatory
School.
A chapel dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin Mary under the title of Stella
Maris (Star of the Sea) was built in
1872 on a small island off the south
shore of Lake Sagatagan. The 16 by
12-foot structure was destroyed by
lightning in 1903.
A larger, Romanesque style chapel
was erected in 1915 and remains the
frame of the present chapel. In 1943
the walls of the chapel were strengthened with buttresses, and in 1989
a new roof was added and general
repairs made.
Thanks to the generosity of Don
Hall, 1955 alumnus of the Prep
School, a thorough renovation of the
chapel under the direction of Northfield, Minnesota, architect Ed Sovik,
began during the summer of 2007.
Interior upgrades include plastering the
walls with a weather resistant plaster,
covering the floor with twelve-inch
Mexican tile, and adding a Marian
sculpture. Outside improvements
include the removal of the field stone
buttresses and coating the exterior with
colored stucco. Stained glass windows
have been installed.
Stella Maris Chapel is the first
Marian shrine of the Saint Cloud
Diocese and remains a crown jewel
in the landscape of Collegeville. +
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Saint John’s Abbey
PO Box 2015
Collegeville, MN 56321-2015
www.saintjohnsabbey.org
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Spring - Saint John`s Abbey

Transcription

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