Winter - Saint John`s Abbey

Transcription

Volume 7 • Issue 3 • Winter 2007
THE A B B EY
BANNER
Magazine of Saint John’s Abbey
Closing the
Sesquicentennial, 4
Blessed Franz
Jägerstätter and his
Collegeville
connection, 6
Benedictine heritage
of Northeast England, 7
Collegeville pilgrims
visit the Holy Land, 11
A Benedictine and
Buddhist pilgrimage,
12
Minnesota Public
Radio celebrates
40th anniversary, 14
Tombstone Tales, 16
Meet a Monk: Michael
Naughton, OSB, 18
Teaching Award to
Rene McGraw, OSB,
20
Monks publish, 22
Prep expansion, 30
Closing the Sesquicentennial
Contents
Pages 4 and 5
Cover Stories
Lee Hanley and Photo Shop
Closing the
Sesquicentennial
Features
6
Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
and his Collegeville connection
7
The Benedictine Heritage of
Northeast England
by John-Bede Pauley, OSB
14
Minnesota Public Radio’s
40th Anniversary
by Jean Scoon
16
The Tales of Tombstones
by Daniel Durken, OSB
11
Collegeville pilgrims
visit the Holy Land
by Eric Hollas, OSB
18
Meet a Monk: Michael Naughton,
OSB
12
A Benedictine and Buddhist on a
Paul Bunyan pilgrimage
by William Skudlarek, OSB
20
Rene McGraw, OSB, receives
teaching award; his convocation
address
22
Monks’ publications
26
Nickolas Becker, OSB, and Dan
Morgan, OSB, profess first vows;
Novice Aelred Senna, OSB, invested
27
Martin Rath, OSB, retires;
new assignments
28
Rich Ruprecht, master baker
30
New Prep building begun
Departments
3 From Editor and Abbot
29 Saint John’s Benedictine
Volunteer Corps
Back Cover: Schedule for
Sunday at the Abbey series
24 The Abbey Chronicle
31 Spiritual Life
NOTE: Please send your change of address to: Ruth Athmann at [email protected] or P.O. Box 7222,
Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7222 or call 800-635-7303.
Editor: Daniel Durken, OSB
[email protected]
Copy Editor and Proofreader:
Dolores Schuh, CHM
Designer: Pam Rolfes
The Abbey Banner
Magazine of
Saint John’s Abbey
Volume 7, Issue 3
Winter 2007
Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Cathy Wieme,
Mary Gouge
Printer: Palmer Printing, Waite Park,
Minnesota
Member Catholic Press Association
The 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.
The Abbey Banner is online at
www.sja.osb.org/AbbeyBanner
Saint John’s Abbey, Box 2015, Collegeville,
Minnesota 56321
FROM EDITOR AND ABBOT
It’s over!
The Incarnation:
building bridges
rather than walls
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB
O
Abbey Archives/Greg Becker
n June 12, 1987, at the
Brandenburg gate in Berlin, then President Ronald
Reagan spoke a stirring challenge:
“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you
seek freedom, tear down this wall!” On November 11,
1989, an amazing event began to unfold. The people of
Berlin began to gather on both sides of the wall and started
to take it down.
O
bedient to the assignment of Alexius Hoffmann,
OSB, pictured above with his 1887 stenography
class, to tell, “How I spent the Sesquicentennial,”
I will say, “I spent it publishing articles on our nineteenmonth celebration from April 5, 2006, to November 10,
2007.”
The initial notice of the Sesquicentennial appeared in the
Winter 2004 issue with the article, “The Sesquicentennial
is Coming!” by William Skudlarek, OSB, co-chair with
Patti Epsky of the planning committee.
In the following nine issues 32 articles and 116 photographs described key events and pertinent people who
made memorable these 150 years of Saint John’s Abbey.
Five extra-special events occurred: the dedication of the
Abbey Guesthouse, the dedication of the Petters Pavilion,
the expansion of the Abbey Cemetery, the ground-blessing-and breaking for the addition to the Prep School’s Bede
Hall, and the death of Angelo Zankl, OSB, whose 106
years made him the last living link with one of the original
founders of the abbey.
After all has been sesquicentennially said and done,
our heads and hearts overflow with wonder, gratitude
and joy for the poignant reminders of what our 150 years
of worship and work have wrought. There may be a
few, however, who wish we had imitated the Sisters of
Humility of Mary of Davenport, Iowa, who celebrated
their Sesquicentennial two years ago and did it all . . . on a
Friday to Sunday weekend. +
Symbolically, forty years of history were moving in
another direction, toward a unified Germany and the end
of Soviet domination. Despite these powerful events being in our living memory, there are people in our country
who want to build a wall between Mexico and the United
States. The state of Israel is also constructing a ten-foot
high concrete wall to separate Palestinians from Israelites.
Surely one of the most profound meanings of the incarnation, of Jesus taking flesh, is God’s saving intention to
overcome the “wall” between heaven and earth, between
the Triune God and humankind. That is why the angels
cry out, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s
people on earth!” If God has taken the wall down, surely
we must not build them. If we do so, we are going in the
wrong direction.
The economic, environmental, and political issues in
the Middle East and wherever there is mass migration are
complicated, messy, seemingly intractable, and require intense effort to understand. Furthermore, we often discover
how we as a nation have helped to create the conditions
for the current awful state. In the face of such complexity,
it is easy to throw up our hands in despair. However, it is
also difficult to learn how to do a knee replacement, how
to treat alcoholism—or how to do conflict transformation.
But we work at them.
If we wish to follow the Word Made Flesh, walls will
not do. In fact, when it comes to the big issues like global
warming, migration, poverty, and violence, it is only our
deep commitment to and engagement with how to extend
the work of Jesus, how to help parents, here and in other
places like Mexico, make a future for their kids, that will
build bridges rather than walls. +
The Abbey Banner Winter 2007 page 3
SESQUICENTENNIAL CLOSING
A Proclamation by Governor Tim Pawlenty
NOW, THEREFORE, I, TIM
PAWLENTY, Governor of
Minnesota, do hereby
congratulate Saint John’s
Abbey and University for
their 150 years of service to
the people of Minnesota and
proclaim November 9, 2007
as: Saint John’s Abbey and
University Day in the state
of Minnesota. +
The Sesquicentennial Proclamation
of Governor Pawlenty presented by
Tim Marx, 1979 alumnus and
Minnesota Housing Commissioner
Daniel Durken, OSB
W
HEREAS For one hundred and fifty years these
Benedictine men, along
with the faculty and staff of Saint
John’s, and with the support of the
people of Minnesota, have faithfully witnessed to their Benedictine
charism of prayer and work, and have
continued to serve us through their
wisdom, courage, intellect and spiritual gifts, making a significant, remarkable and visionary contribution to the
cultural, intellectual, social, political
and religious life of Minnesota, the
Midwest, the United States and the
world.
A preferential option for the young
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB, at Saint John’s Prep School’s Legacy Dinner on
November 10, 2007, the 150th anniversary of the opening of the school
O
ne hundred and fifty years
ago a handful of monks made
an important decision. It was
made with very little information
and not nearly enough resources. It
just seemed like a good idea. Those
monks made a preferential option
for the education of the young. They
committed themselves to bending
their methods of teaching, their ideas
about what was needed here in the
backwoods of Minnesota, to the reality of the frontier. They committed
themselves and the resources of the
fledgling community to giving young
people a chance.
page 4 The Abbey Banner Winter 2007
They trusted that with a good education the students would do great
things, becoming thoughtful and caring citizens. Whatever they did and
wherever they went, they were profoundly impacted by the formation for
community that they received, by the
thickness of Benedictine spirituality
that was everywhere.
In 150 years the Prep School has
changed much. Boys and girls have
studied together here since 1973 with
a residential program for both and a
strong international, multi-cultural
program. The mission remains. All of
you here this evening, and so many
others, have taken up this mission of
providing a first-rate education for
young people grounded in an experience of community and the spirituality of Saint Benedict. Today, however,
it is education for citizenship in a
global community.
On behalf of the monastic community, I thank you for your strong,
dedicated support. Without your help
we could not continue the mission. It
is very humbling and gratifying to be
with you on this 150th anniversary of
the opening of Saint John’s Prep. +
SESQUICENTENNIAL CLOSING
The Closing Sesquicentennial Blessing
by Michael Kwatera, OSB, edited and prayed by Prior Tom Andert, OSB,
at Saint John’s Sesquicentennial Closing Celebration, November 9, 2007
We praise you, God of our past,
for showing us your love in Jesus Christ.
You have been our refuge and our strength
from one generation to the next,
and you have held us in a love
that is ever ancient and ever new.
And so we pray: TO YOU BE GLORY FOREVER.
We praise you, God of our present,
for making your salvation known to us in this place
and for calling us to renew the church in our time.
We thank you for the monks of Saint John’s Abbey
who generously exercised the ministry
of Word and Sacrament,
of pastoral care and works of charity.
We thank you for inspiring their worship and work,
for strengthening them to serve you and your people,
and for building up this community of faith
so that they might glorify you in all things.
Bless our community
and maintain our unity in the bond of peace.
And so we pray: TO YOU BE GLORY FOREVER.
We praise you, God of our future,
as we accept new challenges and opportunities
to be faithful disciples of your Son, Jesus Christ.
We trust your never-failing presence
in our strengths and weaknesses,
in our successes and failures
in our joys and sorrows.
Grant that your Holy Spirit help us to do your will
so that we may remain close to you and to each other.
Pour out your abundant blessings upon all the members
of this community – our students, staff and faculty,
families, friends, oblates, alumni/ae and benefactors,
and all who work with us,
so that we may be a blessing for others.
And so we pray: TO YOU BE GLORY FOREVER. +
Photos by Daniel Durken, OSB
A
lmighty and loving God, we give you
praise and thanks for the life of Saint John’s
community in this place for 150 years.
The names of 312 volunteers are listed on this
Sesquicentennial Thank You. In addition, a dozen
groups such as Abbey Schola, CSB Campus Singers,
SJU Men’s Chorus and Media Services Crew contributed their time and talents.
Hilary Thimmesh,
OSB, sold and autographed Saint John’s
at 150: A Portrait of
This Place Called
Collegeville, the
Sesquicentennial
history he edited.
The book is available
from Liturgical Press
(1-800-858-5450)
or Saint John’s
Bookstore (1-800420-4509). $39.95.
Dan and Linda
Marrin received
the Prep School’s
39th Armor of
Light Award at the
Legacy Dinner that
closed the
Sesquicentennial
on November 10.
They served as
the National Chairs
of the successful
To Light the Way
Comprehensive
Campaign that
raised more than
$18 million.
FEATURE
Blessed Franz Jägerstätter and his
Collegeville connection
Google
“Franz lived as a saint and died a hero” (prison chaplain).
Icon by Fr. William McNichols. In upper
left, a winged devil carries off the Nazi
flag. The Greek words identify Saint
Franciscus.
The biography
of Blessed
Franz published
by The Liturgical
Press
I
n 1977 The Liturgical Press
published the third edition of
Gordon Zahn’s In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz
Jägerstätter. Thirty years later the
word Blessed can be prefixed to that
proper name. On October 26 over five
thousand people, including Franz’s
94-year-old widow, gathered in the
cathedral of Linz, Austria, to celebrate
the beatification of this martyr for
his resistance to the unjust war of the
Nazi regime. His feast day is May 21,
the day of his baptism.
Born May 20, 1907, in St. Radegund, Austria, young Franz was a
jolly, fun-loving, “he-man” type who
expressed his daring by being the first
in his community to own a motorcycle. In 1936 he married a young,
exceptionally devout woman who
A photograph
of Franz
supported his religious awakening.
They became parents of three daughters. He was a daily communicant
and served as the sexton of his parish
church.
Hitler’s troops moved into Austria in 1938, and Franz was the only
man in the village to vote against the
Annexation. He had a brief period of
military training but publicly declared
he would not serve in Hitler’s army.
When Franz was called to active
duty in February, 1943, he steadfastly
refused to fight. He was imprisoned
and beheaded on August 9, 1943. His
remains were cremated and buried
next to his hometown church. Above
his grave stands a crucifix with these
words of Jesus: “Whoever wishes to
save his life must lose it, but whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it.”
In his preface to the biography,
author Zahn wrote, “Jägerstätter’s witness has lost none of its relevance for
our day. He went to his death resigned
to the fact that few would know nor
long remember what would happen
to him, but that did not weaken his
resolve in the least. It was enough that
he knew and that his God knew, and
he gave thanks for being permitted to
offer his life for his faith.”
Zahn attended Saint John’s University in 1946. For his witness to
non-violence as a way of life and his
co-founding Pax Christi USA with the
late pacifist Eileen Eagan, Zahn was
presented the Pax Christi Award in
1982. +
In Solitary Witness is available from
Templegate Publishers, Springfield, Illinois,
at 1-800-367-4844.
FEATURE
The Benedictine Heritage
of Northeast England
by John-Bede Pauley, OSB
Visits to a region rich in monastic history
Brother John-Bede at the tomb of St. Cuthbert in
the cathedral of Durham, England
T
he history of Christianity in
England is unique because of
the important cathedrals and
schools established by Benedictines.
During my studies at Durham University, I have discovered some of our
monastic and Benedictine heritage in
northeast England. Rich in monastic
history, this region includes Jarrow
(of Saint Bede of the eighth century),
Lindisfarne (of Saints Aidan and
Cuthbert of the seventh century), and
Rievaulx (of Saint Aelred, one of the
major figures of the twelfth-century
Cistercian reforms).
This fact is all the more striking
when one visits a re-created AngloSaxon site at Jarrow, a twenty-minute
train ride from Durham. Known
as “Bede’s World,” archeological
remains and reconstructions plus a
modern museum memorialize Saint
Bede (673-735), monk, author of the
invaluable Ecclesiastical History of
the English People and the only
English Doctor of the Church.
The kinds of timber buildings Bede
himself would have known as a boy
have been recreated here. One is the
“pit house,” a common-room dwelling with its peaked covering over a
rectangular depression some twenty
inches deep, fifteen and a half feet
long and almost thirteen feet wide.
From such simple beginnings came
one of the most learned scholars of
his day.
All photos by John-Bede Pauley,OSB
Hadrian’s Wall, a short drive from
Durham, marks the northern edge
of the vast Roman Empire. Yet this
northeastern part of England was at
one time not peripheral but central.
During the seventh and eighth centuries, when Oxford was a meadow and
Cambridge a marsh, well before any
of the European universities had been
established, this part of England was a
major center of learning and culture in
Christian Europe.
The “pit house” was an Anglo-Saxon common-room shelter with
a peaked roof.
FEATURE
How many sesquicentennials has
this church celebrated since 685?
St. Paul’s Parish Church and the west wall of abbey ruins at Jarrow
At the age of seven, Bede entered
Saint Paul’s Monastery at Jarrow
and spent the rest of his life there,
learning, teaching and writing. How
impressive to Bede’s parents must
have been the church and monastery,
all built of stone in contrast to their
timber structures, as they
offered their son to the
care of the community.
of the Benedictine monastery of the
Middle Ages that was refounded on
the site of Bede’s monastery. Remains
of the building from Bede’s day were
found during excavation.
One of the buildings
from Bede’s day, a freestanding chapel that stood
to the east of the monastery church, forms the
sanctuary of Saint Paul’s
Church, the current parish
church of Jarrow. Inside
the church is the original
stone slab that records the
dedication of the church on
April 23, 685, just seven
years after Bede’s entrance
into the monastery. Behind
the church are the remains
The sanctuary of St. Paul’s Church, Jarrow
The relics of Bede now rest in the
Galilee Chapel of Durham Cathedral. It is my privilege to walk past
the saint’s shrine on my way to the
university’s music department. The
shrine of Saint Cuthbert, known as
FEATURE
twelfth-century Norman
architecture. Rievaulx, the
other large Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire, shows
more signs of the Gothic.
After visiting several
ruins, one longs to see one
of these ancient buildings restored, even if only partially.
Mount Grace Priory, the last
of the ten English Carthusian charterhouses to be
dissolved under Henry VIII,
includes a restored two-storey cell.
The nave of Durham Cathedral
“the most revered saint of northern
England,” is at the east end of the
cathedral. Cuthbert (634-87), the
patron saint of Durham, lived both
the communal and solitary monastic
life and later became the bishop of
Lindisfarne. Over one hundred English churches are dedicated to him.
A dense fog that saved the city from
bombing in World War II was attributed to his intercession. Given the vicissitudes of England’s religious history,
the survival of these two saints’ tombs
into our own day is remarkable.
To take in an even fuller
restoration, I made a pilgrimage much farther north
to Pluscarden, Scotland. The
monastic community has
restored part of the original medieval buildings and
church. Here the full monastic horarium is prayed, keeping the same hours Bede
would have known. A few
lines from a poem on the
Pluscarden website capture
the spirit of the site:
The tomb of Saint Bede in Durham Cathedral
At Lindisfarne (also called Holy
Island) situated off the coast a few
miles from the Scottish border, the
ruins of the monastery bear a striking
resemblance to the Norman architecture of Durham Cathedral. Norman
arches are also found at the Cistercian
Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, to the
south of Durham. Though the ruins
contain some signs of later Gothic
“modernization,” much of what
endured until the dissolution of King
Henry VIII (1537) was the original
The priory on Lindisfarne or Holy Island off the coast near the Scottish border
FEATURE
The Lauds and Matins of the past,
In that calm place,
Still seem to linger in the air
Half-heard, half-dreamt . . .
[And] rise again
Triumphant from defeated stone . . .
John-Bede Pauley, OSB, a monk of Saint
John’s Abbey, is working on a Ph.D. in
musicology at the University of Durham
in northeast England.
Cistercian Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, north of Durham
A restored cell of Mount Grace Carthusian Priory
The Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx in Yorkshire
The altar of Pluscarden Abbey, near
Elgin in Morayshire, Scotland
FEATURE
Collegeville pilgrims visit
the Holy Land
by Eric Hollas, OSB
“And now our feet are standing within
your gates, Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:2)
Collegeville pilgrims are blessed by Father Geoffrey
as they renew their marriage vows in the church at
Cana in Galilee where Jesus changed water into wine
at a wedding.
s we twenty-five Collegeville pilgrims lined up at
the great doors of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
the Franciscan community escorted
us into one of the holiest shrines of
Christianity and led us to the traditional tomb of Jesus. After the prior’s
greeting of peace and blessing, we
bowed and entered the tomb.
A
The solemnity of that experience,
reserved for only a few groups, was a
stark contrast to the days preceding it.
For one week friends of Saint John’s
Abbey, led by Geoffrey Fecht, OSB,
and myself, as part of our Sesquicentennial celebration, had toured Galilee
to visit sites associated with the life
of Jesus.
We wandered through the narrow
streets of Nazareth to visit the church
marking Jesus’ childhood. In Cana
couples in the group renewed their
marriage vows. On a hill overlooking
the Sea of Galilee we meditated on the
Sermon on the Mount. At Capernaum
we strode the pavements that Jesus
trod and saw remains of homes and
a synagogue that were familiar to his
eyes. At the Jordan River we repeated
our baptismal promises. At Bethlehem
we celebrated the Eucharist at the
Church of the Nativity in the crypt
that once sheltered the remains of
Saint Jerome, fourth-century Scripture
scholar and Doctor of the Church.
Jerusalem was our ultimate destination. Our visit coincided with the
fortieth anniversary of the Six Day
War that united Jerusalem. Emotion
was especially evident at the Western
Wall, the “Wailing Wall,” remnant of
the Second Temple destroyed in 70
A.D. Places such as the Benedictine
Dormition Abbey and the Mount of
Olives served as sanctuaries from the
summer heat and noise of the city. We
were received by His Beatitude Michael Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of
Jerusalem, who described the ongoing
conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
We proceeded to Qumran, the Dead
Sea, Mount Sinai and Cairo where
we visited a church that recalled the
Holy Family’s sojourn in Egypt. In a
papyrus shop we met a Benedictine
pilgrim group from Manila, led by
Gerardo De Villa, OSB, a Saint John’s
University graduate. A small world
indeed. The Holy Land still has the
power to draw Christians from the
ends of the earth. +
Up and away
to the top of
Mount Sinai!
Eric Hollas, OSB, is senior associate of
arts and cultural affairs for Saint John’s
office of institutional advancement.
FEATURE
A Benedictine
and Buddhist on a
Paul Bunyan Pilgrimage
Daniel Durken, OSB
by William Skudlarek, OSB
Jotipalo Bhikkhu and William Skudlarek
“It is possible for people of very different religious convictions to walk together in peace.”
S
aint Benedict did not mince
words when he spoke about
monks who spent their lives
wandering from place to place.
“Gyrovagues,” he said, are even
worse than the “detestable sarabites,”
whose only rule is to do whatever
they desire.
So what was I thinking when I
agreed to accompany a Buddhist
monk on a tudong—a wandering
pilgrimage—trusting in the generosity
of strangers for our food and lodging?
I met Jotipalo Bhikkhu (“bhikkhu” is a Buddhist term for monks)
at Abhayagiri Monastery in northern
California three years ago. When
he told me of his interest in doing a
tudong and invited me to accompany
him this past summer, I accepted the
invitation.
There is something about a pilgrimage that crosses religious traditions
and even attracts people who are not
connected to any institutional religion.
Christian pilgrims walk to Compostella. Muslims undertake the Hajj. For
others, as one writer put it, “pilgrimage [itself] is the religion, and movement is the purest form of worship”
(Michael Perry, Population 485, p.
209).
The tudong has a long and venerable tradition in Buddhist monasticism, and I wanted to learn about it
by actually doing it. I also wanted to
walk with a Buddhist monk as a sign
of interreligious harmony. In a time
when religious and cultural differences are exploited to produce fear and
suspicion, I hoped that when people
saw the two of us on the road—Jotipalo in his saffron robes, I in my black
habit—they would recognize that it is
possible for people of very different
convictions to walk together in peace.
As we planned our itinerary,
Jotipalo did an Internet search and
discovered the 100-mile Paul Bunyan
Trail in Minnesota, between Brainerd
and Bemidji—the perfect length and
location. We began our pilgrimage at
the trailhead on the afternoon of July
11, the Feast of Saint Benedict. The
religion editor of the Brainerd Dispatch was there to interview us, and
shortly after we were on our way.
We each carried a small tent in our
packs, and the first night we slept in
the woods just off the trail. The next
morning we arrived in Nisswa. A half
hour of standing on a sidewalk holding our empty alms bowls produced
nothing but puzzled stares, so we had
lunch at a restaurant, using monies
people had donated before the trip
and which I was carrying. (Jotipalo’s
monastic rule does not allow monks
to handle money.) We made our way
to the local Catholic church to request
permission to pitch our tents on the
church grounds and were invited to
sleep in the rectory instead. The following night parishioners welcomed
us into their home.
During the eight-day pilgrimage we
only had to camp out one other time.
FEATURE
Along the way people, some of whom
had read about us in the Brainerd and
St. Cloud newspapers, hosted us, gave
us food, or simply stopped to say how
grateful and happy they were to see
the two of us walking together.
For Buddhists a tudong is an opportunity to grow in trust by living in the
present and experiencing how totally
dependent we are on the goodness of
others. That lesson was brought home
to me most clearly the Sunday we
went to Mass in Pequot Lakes.
Before the pastor started Mass he
introduced us and explained what
we were doing. He also announced
a second collection for a shelter run
by the parish. I thought it would be a
good idea for us to contribute ten dollars from our limited resources. When
I asked Jotipalo how much we should
give, he replied, “Fifty dollars.”
Fifty dollars?! I panicked. We might
run short; we might go hungry. But
when the basket came around, I put in
the forty-seven dollars I had on me.
After Mass a woman sitting in front
of us turned around, pressed a twentydollar bill in my hand, and said,
“What you two are doing is really
wonderful.” Outside the church a man
did the same. When I told Jotipalo
about it, he smiled and said, “I knew
that would happen.”
Reliance on the generosity of householders (the laity) is central to the
monastic code the Buddha entrusted
to his followers. Jesus also wanted his
disciples to be aware of their depen-
dence on others. When he sent them to
announce the kingdom, he told them
to take nothing with them, but rather
to accept the hospitality of those to
whom they were sent.
What better way to announce the
kingdom than by witnessing to the
way it is already present in the kindness people offer to strangers? +
William Skudlarek, OSB, is General
Secretary of Dialogue Interreligieux
Monastique/Monastic Interreligious
Dialogue (DIM/MID). He and Jotipalo
Bhikkhu posted a daily journal of their
pilgrimage on www.monasticdialogue.
org. Go to the News menu and click on
“Interfaith pilgrimage.”
Trails from Rails
Pathways to Adventure and Discovery
Diane McCormac/Echo Publishing
Paul Bunyan State Trail - Heartland State Trail
(Minnesota)
Jotipalo and William on the Paul Bunyan Trail
FEATURE
“I
n many ways I should be giving this award to Saint John’s Abbey.
The unique characteristics of the Benedictine abbey enabled Minnesota
Public Radio to exist — and to succeed.”
–Bill Kling ’64, on receiving the Colman J. Barry Award for Distinguished Contributions to Religion and Society
last April in recognition of his leadership of Minnesota Public Radio for the past forty years.
Bill Kling, founding president and CEO
of Minnesota Public Radio, accepts
the Colman J. Barry Award.
Minnesota Public
Radio celebrates
its 40th anniversary
by Jean Scoon
I
t all started right here at Saint
John’s. This nation’s premier
public radio network was born
forty years ago in Collegeville. It was
the brainchild of the visionary Colman Barry, OSB, president of Saint
John’s University from 1964-71, and
Bill Kling ’64, an economics major
with a passion for radio.
Those were the pioneering days of
public radio, and Father Colman was
excited by its potential to function
as an extension of the university’s
liberal arts mission on behalf of the
wider community. He dreamed of
public radio serving as an “opening of
windows to all clans and tribes in our
times, as monasteries, those cherished
first schools of Western society, have
done for centuries.”
The monks of Saint John’s built a
broadcasting studio on the fourth floor
of Wimmer Hall in 1966. When it
was completed Colman said to Kling,
“Here’s your office. Start a radio station.”
And so he did.
On January 21, 1967, KSJR-FM
Collegeville went on the air for the
first time, with Kling as director of
broadcasting. Tuned-in citizens of
Central Minnesota were treated to a
recording of the Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra that evening.
A few years later, in order to allow
KSJR to expand and reach a wider
audience, Saint John’s helped establish an independent nonprofit entity. It
gave the entire investment it had made
in the station, including equipment
and broadcasting licenses, to this new
entity—an act of unusual generosity.
FEATURE
Steve Woit
Colman Barry, OSB, and Bill Kling
in the studio of KSJR in 1967.
From these humble beginnings at
Saint John’s, Minnesota Public Radio
(MPR), with Kling at the controls,
has grown into the largest regional
public radio enterprise in the nation,
broadcasting award-winning programming from state-of-the-art facilities in
downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.
MPR’s fortieth anniversary was
celebrated by alumni and friends at
the annual “Saint John’s Day” held
at the Minnesota History Center in
St. Paul. The following excerpt from
the Colman J. Barry Award citation
presented to Bill Kling epitomizes his
creative contribution:
Today, as we celebrate both Saint John’s 150th anniversary and Minnesota Public Radio’s 40th year, there can be no greater
affirmation of your success than this: You have fulfilled Fr.
Colman’s dream beyond his
wildest expectations—and he dreamed big. +
Jean Scoon is the director of Advancement Publications and Communications
at Saint John’s University—and listens to
MPR everyday.
MPR TODAY
•
•
•
•
• Largest regional public radio enterprise in the nation
800,000 Minnesotans listen an average of 8.5 hours a week
Two full-time networks—news and classical music
Subcarrier for the Radio Talking Book system with the State Services for the Blind
Reaches nearly 15 million listeners weekly nationwide through its American Public
Media Network
FEATURE
Tales of the Tombstones
C
emeteries are special places,
made memorable by the earthly remains of our loved ones.
But there is something extra-special
about the cemetery of Saint John’s
Abbey. Here lie the monks —teachers, pastors, missionaries, craftsmen
and skilled laborers, spiritual mentors,
Everyone’s favorite is the tombstone
of Sherman Gogin (1904-1920). His
tribute reads, “But fifteen years old
was Sherman / Yet a giant in stature
and mind. / From infancy wonderously pious and / Toward everyone
considerate and kind.”
superiors and the proverbial “characters”—whom the monastic community welcomed, educated, assigned,
loved or at least tolerated for the past
150 years. Here, too, are the men and
women who worked and prayed with
us as parishioners, teachers, neighbors, Oblates, friends.
If Kenneth Borgert was anything like
this description, I wish I had known
him: “A musician, a storyteller. He
loved fully and he remembered to
laugh. Our beloved lives on in spirit.”
Added to the uniqueness of this cemetery are the tales of the tombstones.
In contrast to the granite markers of
the monks that are only engraved with
their names and dates of birth and
death, a number of the tombstones in
the parish section display a creative
flair for remembering the deceased.
Come with me while I show you a few
of these tombstone tributes.
The marker of the Richard and Sharon
Beach Family is engraved with the
petals of a flower on which are their
names and the names of their children
(Jerome, Jeffrey, Jason, James and
Joan) and these words: “As each petal
falls, God tenderly takes it in his hand
to reassemble, until one day his blossom is complete. The family is God’s
eternal daisy.”
FEATURE
The tombstones of parents sometimes
list the names of their children. The
marker of Joseph and Theresa Eisenschenk gives these fourteen names:
Jerome, Maurice, Marcella, Maryann,
Coletta, Dennis, James, Arnold,
Elvira, Rosalie, Leon, Kathleen,
Theresa and Carol.
In a parish with a decidedly German
character, the marker of Joseph and
Gloria Ebacher stands out with its
French saying, “With you on earth.
With you in heaven.” Joseph was a
university French teacher.
The memorial of John and Jean
Matzke capitalizes on the eastern
orientation of the parish cemetery
with this quotation from William
Shakespeare: “But look, the morn,/
in russet mantle clad,/ walks o’er
the dew/ of yon hi eastward hill” (by
Horatio in Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 1). +
Remember our loved ones
who have gone to their rest:
William Earls
Martin Fruth
Leroy Jasmer
Kendrick Laloo
The tombstone of J.F. Powers, his
wife Betty and daughter Mary quotes
Alexander Pope: “Heav’n, its purest gold by Tortures try’d; The Saint
sustained it, but the Woman dy’d.”
The careers of George and Isabelle
Durenberger are remembered: “They
lived their lives together in this community from 1933. She as mother
and executive assistant to university
faculty. He as father, professor and as
coach 1928-1960 and athletic director 1930-1972.” Then is added the
coaching philosophy of “Big George”:
“A coach should be judged not only
on his ability to produce winning
teams, but also on whether or not he
has made a positive contribution to
the moral, mental, social and emotional growth of students.”
Jimmie McDonagh
L.T. Miller
Aloysius Nordick
Richard Pennock
Marie Schmit
Raphael Stovik, OSB
May they rest in peace.
FEATURE
Michael at the entrance to the International
Benedictine College of Saint Anselm in Rome.
Lee Hanley
Meet a Monk:
From Iowa to
Italy with Michael
Naughton, OSB
A
“checkered career” is the way
Father Michael describes
his life as a member of Saint
John’s Abbey. His cousin Marilyn
taught him that there is a big world
beyond the fertile fields of corn and
soybeans surrounding his hometown
of Marshalltown, Iowa, and he wanted
to see it.
So Michael came to Collegeville,
entered the abbey, was ordained in
1966 and accepted a variety of assignments––associate pastor, director
of pastoral education in Saint John’s
Seminary, high school teacher in
Nassau, Bahamas, editor and director of Liturgical Press, administrator
of an abbey in Richmond, Virginia,
and now the prior of the International
Benedictine College of Saint Anselm
in Rome.
The seventeen years (1984-2001)
Michael served as editor and director
of Liturgical Press were particularly
productive ones. During his tenure
new projects and products of the Press
include the following: the introduction
of desktop publishing that allows each
typesetter to page design a publication in one on-screen operation; the
acquisition of titles and imprints of
the publishing houses of Michael Glapage 18 The Abbey Banner Winter 2007
zier, Inc., and the Pueblo Company to
expand the Press’ academic offerings
in Scripture, theology and liturgy; the
publication of two new theological
journals, several encyclopedic dictionaries and multi-volume commentaries on the Old and New Testaments;
and the publication of Spanish titles
such as the Spanish-English quarterly
Misal del pueblo.
Three years ago Michael began
his assignment as the prior of Sant’
Anselmo in Rome. Founded in 1687,
restored in 1888, and settled in its
present location on Rome’s Aventine
Hill in 1893, the College of Saint
Anselm is the international academic
institution for Benedictines.
The school’s name, “Atheneum,”
originally meant a temple or building
where scholars and poets read their
works. Sant’ Anselmo is more aptly a
university with graduate programs in
theology, monastic studies, philosophy and liturgy. It is also the home
of the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy,
drawing students from all over Rome.
Men and women enroll in the school
but only men—thirty-five professors
and administrators and eighty-five students from forty-six countries—live in
the college.
The official language of the school
is Italian. About this Michael says:
“The Italian language is Baroque
(probably echoing the architecture).
One has to learn to think in a different way, inverting things such as, ‘It
I know,’ or ‘To him I asked today to
bring me the book new when he is
returned from the city distant.’ It is
like thinking in seventeenth-century
English, a brain-fryer. Somehow
Italians make it work, and work very
quickly. It is easy to understand nonItalians when they speak Italian, but
on the streets I hardly understand a
word, and it is not because Italians
speak quietly!”
Marshalltown
FEATURE
As the prior of Sant’ Anselmo,
Michael “runs the house,” serving
those who are there to earn degrees.
He organizes the academic year in
conjunction with the rector of the Atheneum who sets the school schedule.
Much of Michael’s time is spent as
the “point man” for the acceptance of
new residents. This involves obtaining
the proper signatures and seals from
the Congregation of Religious and the
Vatican Secretariat of State. Michael
has observed that every office and
official has a seal. He fantasizes that
Italian officials are buried with their
seals instead of a rosary in their hands.
“Checkered” indeed has
been the Iowa-to-Italy journey of this monk who is
willing and able to respond
generously and creatively to a
multitude of ministries. There
is no reason to believe that
Rome will be the last of his
assignments. Michael keeps
his passport up-to-date and
handy. +
Rome
Perhaps the most important duty of
the prior is to show up at daily events
such as Morning Prayer, Mass, meals,
recreation and important social events
of the house. His presence and sometimes a few well-placed words to individuals keep residents from becoming
academic recluses or social gadflies.
Luigi Bertocchi, OSB
Non-European residents must also
apply for a resident permit, a procedure that changes almost with the cycles of the moon. New students have
to wade through a thirty-page booklet
of data. The admission procedure has
tightened up considerably in recent
years due to world conditions.
Lee Hanley
The college follows an adaptable
monastic schedule: Morning Prayer
and Mass are celebrated at 6:20 in language groups in small chapels around
the house; Midday Prayer is at 12:50,
Vespers at 7:15 and optional Compline
at 8:00. Pranzo, the main meal at
1:00, and Vespers (celebrated in Latin
with Gregorian Chant) draw the community together. Having an excellent
cook encourages attendance at pranzo.
There are long stretches of time for
study and classes each morning and
afternoon.
The church of
the College of
Saint Anselm,
Rome
Michael relaxes with pipe in his office.
FEATURE
Rene McGraw, OSB,
receives Teacher of
Distinction Award
Lee Hanley
“Rene is truly a master teacher, in and out of the classroom”
(Dietrich Reinhart, OSB).
A
t the university faculty awards
assembly in May, Father
Rene, associate professor of
philosophy, received the Robert L.
Spaeth Teacher of Distinction Award.
Named after the popular teacher
and dean of the college from 1979 to
1994, this award recognizes a colleague who brings a special passion
and mastery to the learning community. This excerpt is from the citation
read by Dietrich Reinhart, OSB,
president of Saint John’s University.
Rene is a philosopher who pursues
philosophy—thinking about difficult
and deep ideas—in communion with
others. His following among decades
of students is a legend; his classes are
demanding and fascinating. He really
wants students to understand the text
by reading it one sentence at a time.
Somewhere in this close word-byword inspection, a world of thought
opens up.
Rene is one of those rarest of us
who, simply in conversation, makes
our minds active, and we leave the
conversation or his classroom enriched. This special relationship is
perhaps his greatest contribution to his
profession. He has nurtured interest
and understanding in both his best and
more casual students.
A colleague of Rene observes, “I
have watched a steady stream of
confused, worried, troubled students
make their way to Rene’s office
for advice and comfort. And I have
watched these students return years
later to pay their respect for a man
who extended kindness and wisdom
when they most needed it.”
Rene is truly a master teacher, in
and out of the classroom, and it is
with great pleasure that I salute Father
Rene McGraw as recipient of the
2007 Robert L. Spaeth Teacher of
Distinction Award.
Opening a road to truth and insecurity
by Rene McGraw, OSB
Excerpts from Father Rene’s Address to the Assembly
at the 2007 Academic Convocation and Matriculation of Saint John’s University
I
am reading Michael Dillon’s
book, The Politics of Security.
Since his primary field is international relations, he begins with the
way international relations have long
been understood as nations struggling
for security. Look at our invasion of
Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 9/11 our
nation wants to make the country secure so that nothing like this will ever
happen again.
People worry about their jobs and
want to be secure from immigrants,
even though they don’t want to take
jobs the immigrants take. Nations
build bigger and better weapons and
then find out that they are not secure
anyway because little countries defeat
big countries. Where has all the security gone?
As Dillon looks at international
relations, he sees that the search for
security has become the pot of gold at
the end of every rainbow. It is not just
international relations that are guided
by the search for security: it is education, business, housing, religion and
philosophy. Indeed it is all our lives.
FEATURE
We look to get a good education in
college to insure a good job so we will
have security. Sometimes we even
wonder whether we are securing a
place in heaven.
Lee Hanley
In first grade we work hard to
secure the approval of our teacher
and parents. If we are a bit shy and
non-athletic on the playground, we
work hard to make our life secure with
friends who like us no matter what.
In high school, where sports are all
demanding, we are embarrassed if we
are males who are also interested in
theatre, music or art.
Father Rene moderates a class discussion.
Yet we are never secure. I love the
gospel story in which Jesus talks about
the man who decides to build bigger
barns to take care of his abundant harvest. He finishes and says to himself,
“You have so many good things stored
up for many years, rest, eat, drink,
be merry!” But God said to him,
“You fool, this night your life will be
demanded of you” (Luke 12:19-20).
Death is our ultimate insecurity.
If education, international relations
and life are not about learning how to
gain security, then what is it all about?
Education should make us want to
reach a fuller truth. Not security, but
truth, which the great moral thinker
Mahatma Gandhi said is the goal of
life. It’s like a tree with thousands of
leaves. We pick up a leaf here and
there and gradually begin to see how
one leaf is connected to a branch of
the tree, and the whole tree is fed by
the roots, the soil and the sun. We
begin to pick up a hundred leaves. But
ten thousand leaves remain that shall
not be gathered up in this life. Truth
never quite fully arrives.
The philosopher Martin Heidegger
uses a different image. Truth is about
uncovering. What students should discover is that what was once hidden becomes a little more uncovered. It is
like the little theatre at the College of
Saint Benedict. There is no curtain,
and so in darkness the actors come
out. As the lights gradually come on,
what was hidden is revealed. But each
person in the audience never sees or
hears everything. Never, even with
repeat performances, will we get the
whole story. Never will we get the
whole truth. We shall always be insecure.
The fullness of truth would be the
uncovering that comes when all is
revealed. Then we would be secure.
But that shall never happen this side
of eternity. Only one hundred or
one thousand of those leaves will be
uncovered during our lifetime.
It is exciting when we uncover one
more connection, when we see how
math, physics, technology, war, peace,
justice and literature are beginning
to connect. When biology, poetry,
anthropology and philosophy all
touch each other, the exhilaration we
experience is the very heart of liberal
education which is the road to
truth . . . and insecurity. +
FEATURE
Monks publish works on poetry,
music and prayer
Yahweh’s Other Shoe
by Kilian McDonnell, OSB
espite Father Kilian’s recognition that only five percent of the public
read poetry, he is not deterred from publishing his poems. This collection was one of the five finalists in the poetry category of the 2007
Minnesota Book Awards. One of the author’s favorites is:
D
JOSEPH, I’M PREGNANT BY THE HOLY GHOST
Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man . . .
planned to dismiss her quietly.
Matthew 1:19
Life was simple before that angel
pushed open the kitchen door,
announced light and trouble, as though
a foe had roiled the bottom of the well
and now the pail brings up only
murky water. I’m chosen for some
terrible grace beyond the well.
After short light long dark,
left to stumble through the Sinai
Desert. No manna to gather, no quail
to catch. Nothing. When I tell Joseph
I’m pregnant by the Holy Ghost,
he stares, ox-dumb in hurt. I’ve asked
him to believe that I, God’s
Moses-girl, part seas, give
Torah. He turns, leaves
without a word. Why should my dearest
love believe? Yahweh’s not fair.
Where’s the voice of light? Where
the pillar of fire? My man drops
me cold, as though I were a concubine
dismissed without a drachma for cheating
on her master’s blanket with that
swarthy Roman soldier from the barracks.
Joseph doesn’t expose me; I will not
be stoned. My heart eats Yahweh’s
cinders; I drink the last date wine
gone sour at the dregs.
God does nothing. But I carry life.
CD of multi-lingual hymns
by Trinity Benedictine
Monastery, Fujimi, Japan
M
embers of Saint John’s
dependent priory in Japan
recorded a CD of Japanese,
English and Latin hymns to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of
Saint Anselm’s Parish and Priory in
Tokyo (1947). From this foundation
Trinity Benedictine Monastery was
established in Fujimi in 1999.
The nine
selections on
the CD are
as follows:
+ + +
+ + + +
+ + Morning Hymn, Japanese
translation of Come,
Thy Almighty King
Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79),
Canticle with antiphon for the Feast of Saint Benedict
Offering of Incense, arranged by William Skudlarek, OSB, from Gregorian chant, Psalm 141
Japanese Evening Hymn
composed by Trappists of
Tobetsu, Hokkaido
Magnificat (Luke 1:45-55),
Canticle with antiphon for the Feast of Saint Scholastica
Canticle of Simeon (Luke 2:29-
32) with antiphon, arranged by William Skudlarek, OSB
Japanese Marian Hymn,
composed by Saburo Takada
Salve Regina in Latin, traditional Gregorian chant
Easter Hymn (English) of the text O Filii et Filiae by Jean
Tisserand; tune by Richard Proulx
FEATURE
Sacred Music and
Liturgical Reform
The Bells of the Banner CD
by Martin Rath, OSB
by Anthony Ruff, OSB
The Collegeville Prayer of
the Faithful Annual,
2008 Cycle A
by Michael Kwatera, OSB
A
nthony Ruff, OSB,
associate professor of
liturgy and liturgical music
at Saint John’s University/School of
Theology•Seminary, has published
the doctoral dissertation he defended
at the University of Graz, Austria,
in 1998.
Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations
(Chicago/Mundelein: Hillenbrand
Books/ Liturgy Training Publications,
2007), is a 682-page comprehensive
study of the historical and theoretical
currents which led to the teaching on
sacred music of Vatican II. The book
is praised as “a balanced answer to the
continuing debate about the place of
the music of the past in the liturgy of
the present.”
R
ecently retired as chaplain
of St. Mary’s Care Center in
Winsted, Minnesota, Father
Martin produced a CD of original
recitations and melodies to entertain
and inspire the elderly, the sick and
the blind whom he served.
Guitarist and vocalist Dale Strong
provides the musical accompaniment.
Selections include “A Man of Peace,”
“In the Evening Twilight,” and “Oh
How I Love You.”
F
ather Michael, director of
liturgy and of Oblates for Saint
John’s Abbey, presents the
Prayer of the Faithful for the Sundays
and major feasts of the new liturgical
year. Included is a CD-ROM of intercessions easily adaptable for parish
use.
The author recognizes that “preparing prayers for the Christian assembly
to pray is a challenging but rewarding
task.” He meets this challenge admirably well.
These titles may be purchased from
Liturgical Press (1-800-858-5450
or www.litpress.org) or Saint John’s
Bookstore (1-800-420-4509 or www.
csbsju.edu/bookstore.org). The publications of Fathers Anthony and Martin
are only available at the bookstore. +
THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
What’s Up?
The Abbey Chronicle
“Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.”
(Pietro Aretino)
“The Icicle Bicycle” by Fran Hoefgen, OSB
■ The Minnesota Gophers’ new
football coach, Tim Brewster, brought
the team to Saint John’s for a week
of creating esprit de corps and practicing. Randy Taylor of the coaching staff visited Saint Raphael’s
Retirement Center on August 10 and
distributed University of Minnesota
caps and t-shirts to the residents.
O
Daniel Durken, OSB
ur midsummer drought
was dissipated in
August when we were
blessed with more than six
inches of welcome rain on
twelve days of measureable
precipitation. The next two
months followed the same pattern—3.11 inches of rain on
fourteen days of September
and 5.20 inches on eleven
days of October. The first half of
November, however, has been dry
except for the first few snow flurries on the 5th, just enough to delight
optimists as their first sign of spring.
August 2007
U of M coach distributes caps and
t-shirts.
Daniel Durken, OSB
■ The south side of the Breuer wing
of the monastery began showing its
age several years ago with stains
from rusting screens discoloring the
façade. A display of photos entitled
“Our Shabby Abbey” revealed that it
was time to spruce
up the building.
Painters and carpenters restored “Our
Clean Cloister” as
these before,
during and after
photos show.
■ The community met on August 20
to “articulate a statement of expected monastic practices for monks,
whether living at the monastery or
elsewhere. Among the practices, the
statement addressed common and
individual prayer, Eucharist, meals
and communal decision making.”
■ Early in the academic year, Saint
John’s University and the College of
Saint Benedict reported the largest
THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
combined enrollment of any national
liberal arts college: 1,917 at Saint
John’s, 2,049 at Saint Benedict’s
for a total of 3,966 undergraduates. The School of Theology has 84
full-time students. The Prep School
enrolled 337 students, a 39-year high.
Orientation for freshmen Johnnies
included a “Meet a Monk” session.
September 2007
■ Finian McDonald, OSB, orchid
grower extraordinaire, won two firstplace blue ribbons and one secondplace red ribbon from the Orchid
Society of Minnesota in conjunction
with the Minnesota State Fair. His
blue-ribbon winners were the denrobrium and the phalaenopis orchids.
His orchid arrangement was a red-ribbon winner. Congratulations, Finian!
October 2007
November 2007
■ The newly completed Petters
Pavilion won an award from the
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota
for preserving one of the state’s
historic properties, the Saint John’s
Abbey Church. The pavilion’s design
carefully complements the church so
that, as an architect for the building
stated, ”It looks like it was always
there.” Work has begun to reroute the
roof drains to eliminate water leaking
into the pavilion during heavy rains.
■ The abbey continued its
tradition of praying for deceased family members and friends of those who
submitted the names of the dead on
Remembrance Cards. Monks picked
up one or several of the hundreds of
such cards and during the Liturgy of
the Hours and the Eucharist prayed
for those listed.
Aelred Senna, OSB
■ A rain and wind storm, including
a tornado warning swept through the
Collegeville campus on
September 21. Four large
trees were snapped, crackled and popped. Several
downed trees had been
designated for eventual
elimination due to deteriorated condition. The
tree pictured had a cache
of hickory nuts and pine
cones stashed in the hollow trunk by provident
squirrels. The ever-efficient grounds crew had the tree debris
cleared by noon the following day.
Daniel Durken, OSB
Daniel Durken, OSB
■ Dunstan Moorse, OSB, reported
that approximately 100 bushels of
organic Haralson, Connell Red and
Honey Crisp apples were harvested
from the abbey’s orchard. The quality of the harvest is due to the selective pruning done last spring by
Benedict Leuthner, OSB, and Bruce
Wollmering, OSB.
■ Bruce Wollmering, OSB,
coordinator of the abbey gardens,
prepared an extensive inventory of the
garden produce harvested from midMay to early November. A sampling
of the products by pounds includes:
radishes, 60; lettuce, 54; peppers,
100; tomatoes, 1,823; zucchini, 204;
cucumbers, 330; summer squash, 345;
winter squash, 1,913; carrots, 68;
Peruvian purple potatoes, 189; and
315 pumpkins. The total yield was
10,189 pounds or slightly over five
ton.
■ Timothy Backous, OSB, said
it first (in jest): As the MC of this
month’s Administrative Assembly
luncheon on November 14, he began
by announcing, “Welcome to the
first event of the Saint John’s . . .
BICENTENNIAL.” +
FEATURE
L. to r.: JP Earls, (formation director), Father Nickolas,
Brother Dan, Abbot John
Robin Pierzina, OSB
Nickolas Becker, OSB,
and Dan Morgan, OSB,
profess first monastic vows
F
ocusing on obedience in his
homily preceding the profession of vows of these two
monks, Abbot John stated, “Each
of us is called to obedience. We are
called to listen to the Holy Spirit who
works a slow transformation in ways
we cannot imagine. Always the most
difficult obedience is to do what we
must do right now and not delay.”
And so without delay Father Nickolas and Brother Dan made their initial
commitment to obedience, stability
and the monastic way of life on the
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross, September 14.
Nickolas Lee Becker, 32, one of
five children of Robert and Mary
Becker of Wesley, Iowa, earned
degrees in history, Catholic life and
thought, and divinity from the University of Notre Dame and Saint Meinrad
Seminary. Ordained for the Diocese
of Sioux City, he ministered in several
parishes and taught theology at Briar
Cliff University, Sioux City. His interest in monasticism brought him to
Saint John’s.
Nickolas, while serving as faith
formation coordinator in university
campus ministry, facilitates programs
for students to learn more about our
Catholic and Benedictine traditions.
He is also studying Greek at Saint
John’s School of Theology.
Dan Patrick Morgan, 27, the third
son of Bernie and Mona Morgan of
Savage, Minnesota, is a 2003 Saint
John’s graduate with a major in computer science. He was a championship
swimmer on the swim team and is an
accomplished performer on the Irish
uillean pipes. For several years he
managed the United States branch of a
Swiss software company.
Dan is serving as assistant coach to
the Saint John’s swim team and assistant to the abbey’s vocation director.
He is taking a graduate course in Saint
John’s School of Theology. +
Benedictine candidate invested
The oldest of the three children of
Michael (deceased) and Patty Senna
and a Texan by birth, Novice Aelred
has spent the past decade as director
of product management for National
Geographic School Publishing/Hampton-Brown in California.
Previously he
worked as an
English as a
Second Language
teacher, and as an
actor and singer.
He was a college
seminarian for the
Diocese of Dallas
during the mid-80s
and has been
discerning a Benedictine vocation
since then. +
Eric Vargas
H
aving completed his threemonth formation program as
a candidate, Johnnie Haynes
Senna, 44, entered the novitiate
on September 11. He received the
name of Aelred, after Saint Aelred of
Rievaulx, a twelfth-century reformer
of Cistercians.
L. to r.: brother Michael Damon, mother Patty, Novice
Aelred, sister Dee Vos
FEATURE
Martin Rath, OSB, retires
H
Ordained in 1983, Martin ministered to several Minnesota parishes
and nursing homes. He founded and
was the spiritual director of Nazareth
House in St. Paul, a facility for prayer
and hospitality. The publication of
his CD, “The Bells of the Banner,” is
noted on page 23.
Robert
Pierson, OSB,
new Abbey
guestmaster,
previously
served as pastor, director of
field education,
spiritual director and rector
of Saint John’s Seminary, vocation
director and university chaplain. He
continues as Spiritual Life Program
director and volunteer chaplain at the
St. Cloud Prison.
Jonathan
Licari, OSB,
new pastor of
Seven Dolors
Church in
Albany, Minnesota, has taught
in and chaired
the university’s
undergraduate
theology department, served as prior
of the monastic community and as
pastor of Holy Name Parish, Medina,
Minnesota.
Cyprian
Weaver, OSB,
completed
sixteen years
of teaching and
research at Fu
Jen University,
Taipei, Taiwan,
and has accepted the position
of Director and
Head of the Histopathology Core
Laboratory Facility for the Lillihei
Heart Institute at the University of
Minnesota Medical School. +
Corwin
Collins, OSB,
completed
twenty-oneand-a-half years
as pastor of
Seven Dolors
Church, Albany,
Minnesota. He
will spend the
spring semester in a renewal program at Weston School of Theology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was
a teacher and administrator at Saint
John’s Prep School and Benilde-Saint
Margaret Mary High School in St.
Louis Park, Minnesota.
Luke Steiner,
OSB, now
serves as chaplain of the Poor
Clare Nuns in
Sauk Rapids,
Minnesota. He
previously was
pastor of Saint
Augustine’s
Church, St. Cloud, and Scripture
teacher, director of the Jerusalem
Study Program and rector of Saint
John’s Seminary.
Lee Hanley
aving celebrated his 85th
birthday and the 57th anniversary of his first profession,
Father Martin has retired from St.
Mary’s Care Center, Winsted, Minnesota, where he served as chaplain
the past eleven years. He previously
worked as gardener, monastic dining
room supervisor, assistant manager of
the university bookstore, night watchman and Collegeville postmaster.
Photos by Lee Hanley
New assignments
The Abbey Banner Winter 2007
page 27
FEATURE
Rich Ruprecht, master baker,
has made a lot of dough
I
f Rich Ruprecht received a
dollar for every loaf of Saint
John’s Bread he baked, he would
almost be a millionaire. Baking an
estimated thousand loaves a week or
about 50,000 loaves a year, Rich’s
production total would be 900,000
loaves, give or take a few hundred,
during his eighteen years in the Saint
John’s bakery.
Beginning in 1978 as a cook, Rich
gave us our daily bread from 1989
until his retirement last February for
health reasons. He learned the process
from lay employee Adrian Weber who
succeeded Clem Meyer.
It took a couple of years to master
the intricacies of the machinery and
the environment of the bakery where
the temperature is ten degrees warmer
than in the kitchen. His work
began at 3:30 p.m. and ended
at midnight.
The process begins by mixing the basic flour with All
Purpose Swany White flour
milled in nearby Freeport. A
pitcher of water is gradually
added to create just the right
consistency. When the large batch of
dough is ready, it is cut and weighed
into loaves of two pounds, two
ounces. The extra ounces compensate
for the weight lost in the baking. Then
the loaves are baked.
The hot, dry heat of the ovens
creates the tougher crust, one of the
likeable features of the genuine Saint
John’s Bread not matched by the commercial variety. Each batch of dough
produces between
sixty-three and
sixty-five loaves
in two to two-anda-half hours. Four
or five batches are
baked during the
eight-hour shift.
Daniel Durken, OSB
Paschal Botz,
OSB, of happy
memory, was a
frequent visitor to
the bakery. From
him Rich learned
The hosta with the mosta
Daniel Durken, OSB
At a dollar a loaf, he would almost be a millionaire.
that when Marie Antoinette said of the
rebellious poor, “Let them eat cake,”
she did not mean dessert cake. Rather,
the burnt bottom of the baker’s loaf
that was sliced off and tossed away
was called cake.
Since his retirement Rich has given
full attention to his gardening. He
specializes in growing two hundred
varieties of hosta on his two-acre plot
near Rockville, about fifteen miles
from Collegeville. Without benefit of
identification signs, Rich names from
memory the “Paul’s Glory,” “Regal
Splendor,” “Big Daddy,” “Big Mama”
and “Baby Bunting.” Primacy of place
is given to the lancifolia variety, the
original hosta developed by a German
botanist from a plant in Japan and
brought to the United States by German immigrants in 1850.
Rich Ruprecht’s life is therefore
circumscribed by flour and flower.
He has done extraordinarily well
with both. +
BENEDICTINE VOLUNTEERS
Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps
gains six new members and a new location
Teaching at Hanga Abbey in Songea,
Tanzania, are 2006 graduates Lewis
Grobe, German and humanities major
from Minnetonka, Minnesota, and
Derek Johnson, economics major
from Edina, Minnesota. The 123
monks of Hanga Abbey, the largest
Benedictine community in Africa,
operate primary, secondary and
industrial schools, a seminary,
hospital and dispensary.
Elementary education major
Michael Anderson from Waconia,
Minnesota, and Liam Sperl, peace
studies major from Menomonie,
Wisconsin, are the first Benedictine
Volunteers to serve at the Abbey of
Jesus Christ Crucified in Esquipulas,
Guatemala.
Founded in 1959 by the monks
of Saint Joseph Abbey, Saint Benedict, Louisiana, the abbey is known
throughout Central America as a place
of pilgrimage. A million and a quarter
pilgrims visit Esquipulas annually to
venerate the more than 400-year-old
shrine of El Cristo Negro.
The twenty-three Benedictines
minister to the pilgrims, townspeople
and villagers. They also operate a
pre-K–12 school, a dairy farm, citrus
grove, radio station and a remarkable
flowering park around the basilica and
monastery. +
L. to r., Michael Anderson, Paul Richards, OSB
(director), Liam Sperl
David Leftwich, OSB
Daniel Durken, OSB
Four Benedictine Volunteers are
2007 graduates. Jonathan Seldat,
theology major from Marshall,
Minnesota, and Ted Welle, sociology major from Pierz, Minnesota, are
student tutors and teacher assistants at
Saint Benedict Prep in Newark, New
Jersey.
This inner-city school was established by the Benedictines of Newark
Abbey, founded in 1857. It has an
enrollment of 575 students in grades
seven through twelve.
Daniel Durken, OSB
I
nformed and inspired by a twoweek orientation program under
the direction of Paul Richards,
OSB, program founder, six recent
graduates of Saint John’s University
have departed for their service assignments at Benedictine communities in
the States and abroad.
The buildings of the Abbey of Jesus Christ Crucified in Esquipulas,
Guatemala
Back row: Derek Johnson, Ted Welle. Front row:
Brendan McInerny, Lew Grobe, Jon Seldat.
(Brendan withdrew from the program for personal
and family reasons.)
The Abbey Banner Winter 2007
page 29
Aelred Senna, OSB
FEATURE
A phalanx of hard hats and shovels start the construction of the Bede Hall expansion at the Prep School.
Ground-blessing-and-breaking for
Prep School expansion
The addition to
Bede Hall, Prep
School
H
ard hats and shovels were in
style on October 27 at the
ground-blessing-and-breaking for a 22,600 square-foot addition
to Bede Hall, the academic building
of Saint John’s Preparatory School.
Seventy-five people gathered for the
occasion that concluded with a supper
of bean soup and Saint John’s Bread,
reminiscent of the meal the first students and monks had 150 years ago.
The four-story addition will house
classrooms, restrooms and common
space for the middle school, two
music rooms, an elevator to
make both old (1962) and new
buildings handicapped accessible, a large multipurpose
conference room and space for
expansion.
Rice Building Systems, Inc.,
of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota,
is the design/build contractor
who expects to be finished for
the 2008-09 school year at a
cost of $3 million. +
Aelred Senna, OSB
Thanks to the 1997 addition of a
middle school for seventh- and eighthgrade students plus the increase of
international students, Prep School
enrollment has nearly doubled during
the past dozen years. The current total
of 337 students is a thirty-nine year
high. With an anticipated goal of 360
students, these teen-agers are outgrowing their buildings as fast as they
outgrow their clothes.
Guests enjoy a bean
soup and black bread
supper, the daily fare
of the first Preps 150
years ago.
SPIRITUAL LIFE
Benedict, Balance, and
Burnout
Daniel Durken, OSB
by Robert Pierson, OSB
We need to learn from Benedict’s example.
Slowing down on the Highway to Heaven
M
any people are too busy
these days. Too often the
retreatants I direct tell me
they struggle to find time to pray.
Many of them have a hard time
keeping their work and other commitments in balance. St. Benedict has an
answer: Do a bit of everything that is
needed to be well, and all will be well.
when we are not working. Many of us
also have a hard time saying “no” to
requests for our time and talent, and
we end up with too many good things
to do. When we recognize ourselves
being pulled in too many directions,
we need to remember that sometimes
saying “no” is the most loving thing
we can do.
The daily monastic schedule that
Benedict lays out provides time for all
the important things in a monk’s life:
community prayer, private prayer,
work, meals, sleep, etc. If we want
to translate the wisdom of Benedict’s
way into our lives outside the monastery, we need to learn from his example. We must make sure that we have
time for all the essentials for a good
life such as prayer, fulfilling work,
good nutrition, exercise, time with
loved ones, adequate sleep.
A friend recommended a good book
that has helped me practice what I
am preaching here: Slowing Down to
the Speed of Life: How to Create a
More Peaceful, Simpler Life from the
Inside Out (HarperCollins, 1997). The
authors, Richard Carlson and Joseph
Bailey, maintain that much of the
stress in our lives comes from how we
think about our lives. I do not have
enough space here to go into more detail. Check out their book for yourself.
I highly recommend it. You may order
it from the Saint John’s Bookstore at
1-800-420-4509. +
This kind of balance does not come
naturally. Too often work becomes
the most important thing on our plate.
We find that work occupies more and
more of our time and energy, even
Retreat Schedule for 2008
We have two group retreats
scheduled at the Abbey Guesthouse in the next few months.
February 29 to March 2
Our Lenten Retreat will be led
by Father Eric Hollas, OSB.
His topic will be: “The Pilgrim’s
Way from Ash Wednesday
to Easter.”
May 30 to June 1
Our Spring Retreat will be led
by Father Nathanael Hauser,
OSB. His topic will be:
“The Human Face of God.”
For further information about
these retreats, please contact the
Spiritual Life Office at
320-363-3929 or e-mail us at
[email protected].
Robert Pierson, OSB, is the director of the
abbey’s Spiritual Life Program and the
abbey guestmaster.
Sunday at the Abbey
The 2008 Abbey Lecture Series
Sunday at the Abbey is a January-April/September-December lecture series sponsored by Saint
John’s Abbey. Monks and invited speakers address the relationship of monasticism to theology,
culture, and contemporary issues facing the church and society. The presentations are held on
designated Sundays at 7:00 PM in the Chapter House of the Petters Pavilion adjoining the Abbey
Church. The lectures are free of charge.
January 20 Anthony Ruff, OSB, Associate Professor of Liturgy and Liturgical Music
“Sing to the Lord” — How United States
Bishops Write a Music Document
February 10
March 9
Adam Minter, American journalist in Shanghai who writes regularly about the Catholic Church in China
Catholicism with Shanghai Characteristics — Faith’s Future Meets Its Past
Hilary Thimmesh, OSB, Professor of English Flawed Monasticism: Religious Ideals and the
Good Life in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
April 13
Jerome Coller, OSB, Composer, Pianist, Organist
21st Century Hymns: One Composer’s View
Can We Create a Legacy?
Nonprofit
Organization
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PO Box 2015
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www.saintjohnsabbey.org
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Winter - Saint John`s Abbey

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