Abbey Notes

abbey notes By Br. William McMillan, OSB From August 2-4, Fr. Demetrius Thomas, OSB, Br. William McMillan, OSB, and Br. Finnbar McEvoy, OSB attended the Conference of Major Superiors of Men’s National Assembly 2022–whose theme was “One in the Mission of Christ: CoResponsibility in Religious Leadership–at the Hyatt Regency in Buffalo, New York. Within the conference, there was a Young Religious Gathering, where brothers and priests discussed difficulties facing their communities and how religious communities across the country could work together. The monks participated with their brethren in daily mass, conferences, and fellowship. In August, Br. Finnbar McEvoy, OSB matriculated at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA where he began his studies in pursuit of ordination. So far this semester, Br. Finnbar has studied mostly philosophy, and he has been learning Greek through translating the Gospel of John. Besides classes, Br. Finnbar has integrated himself in the life of St. Vincent Archabbey such as house chores with the junior monks, recreation with the community, and praying with the community. The seminarians are composed of monastic seminarians and diocesan seminarians, who come together for much of their priestly formation. Besides classes, Br. Finnbar has weekly formation workshops, one-on-one

Abbot Jonathan (bottom row, second from right) with his fellow Abbots President in Italy during the Synod of Abbots President.

meetings with various formators, and opportunities for small group fellowship with fellow seminarians. One of the biggest shifts has been that from the teacher in the classroom to the student: “It has been a humbling experience, and I am continually reminded of how much my students have taught me over the years, ” he said. Br. Finnbar looks forward to returning home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Please continue to pray for Br. Finnbar!

In August, Fr. Demetrius Thomas, OSB and Br. William McMillan, OSB traveled with Fr. Mark Dilone, OSB of Newark Abbey and JP Lodato, a mutual friend, to Fr. D’s hometown of Hastings, Pennsylvania. Fr. D’s parents, Leroy and Louisa Thomas, hosted the group. They visited Fr. D’s home parish Queen of Peace in Patton, PA, whose pastor is Fr. Ananias Buccione, OSB, a monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA. Fr. Ananias showed true Benedictine hospitality in welcoming the group to his home and cooking an excellent dinner for them–not to mention his homemade limoncello! They also took a trip to visit the St. Vincent campus. They may have, at some point, done some shooting at a local club. Finally, they toured Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, the campus of St. Francis University, and Carmel of St. Therese of Lisieux in Loretto, PA.

In his role as Abbot President of the American Cassinese Congregation, Abbot Jonathan Licari, OSB traveled to Italy for the Synod of Abbots President, an annual meeting of the heads of all the congregations in the world-wide Benedictine confederation. Abbot Primate Gregory

J. Polan, OSB, and the abbots president of the congregations met together from August 29 –September 2, 2022 at the Monastery of St. Scholastica in Subiaco, Italy. During the course of this meeting, the Abbot Primate and Abbots President examined various issues impacting the Church and the Benedictine Confederation. In addition, the Synod examined annual reports on the principal activities and events of the Primatial Abbey of Sant’Anselmo, Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, and Collegio Sant’Anselmo. Their meetings were punctuated by daily celebrations of Lauds, Mass and Vespers with the community of Saint Scholastica.

Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo,

OSB,D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Newark and Regional BIshop of Union County, participated in a formation seminar organized by the Dicastery for Bishops for new bishops. The program had been postponed several times due to the pandemic. The seminar was held from Sep 1-8, 2022 at Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy. There were 155 bishops in attendance from 45 different countries. Both Latin rite and Eastern rite bishops participated. Among the Oriental rites bishops there were seven from Ukraine, whose stories of the suffering Church in their homeland moved all the assembled bishops. Various dicasteries from the Roman Curia made presentations on episcopal leadership in a Synodal Church from one perspective or another. All the presentations were in Italian, with simultaneous translations available in several languages. The highlight of the seminar was a private audience with Pope Francis in the Clementine Hall, in which the Holy Father simply received and answered questions from various bishops on diverse topics. In this way, the Pope himself modelled synodal leadership simply by listening to the new bishops. Following the formal program, Bishop Elias, along with his two classmates ordained with him to the episcopacy in Newark, Bishop Michael Saporito, Regional Bishop for Bergen County, and Bishop Gregory Studeris, Regional Bishop for Hudson County, made a pilgrimage to Montecassino, where the tomb of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica are venerated. The bishops had a guided tour and joined the monks for midday prayer and

Abbot Jonathan Licari presided at the Mass of the Holy Spirit for Delbarton School on September 11, 2022.

On October 11, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of the Diocese of Paterson celebrated Mass at Delbarton with the entire student body. He is pictured here on right, after the service, with Abbot Jonathan Licari, OSB and Headmaster Fr. Michael Tidd, OSB.

(continued from page 62)

pranzo. During their time together in Rome, the three Newark Auxiliary Bishops also visited the papal basilicas, the Vatican Museum, and the archeological site beneath the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica where the actual tomb of St. Peter is located. The final tour was to Ostia Antica, a large archeological site 15 miles southwest of Rome.

Bishop Elias also attended the 84th Annual Convention of the Canon Law Society of American at the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio from October 1013, 2022.

September was a busy month for the Abbot-Administrator of St. Mary’s Abbey, Abbot Jonathan Licari, OSB. With the opening of the new academic year, Abbot Jonathan began attending the different administrative and social events that mark the start of the new school year. On September 11, he presided and preached at the Mass of the Holy Spirit for the Delbarton School community. He has also begun presiding at the Sunday Eucharist in the Abbey church and expressed his desire to preside on Sunday when his schedule permits. On Sunday, September 25, he joined members of the Sunday congregation for coffee after Mass. This was the first of such coffees, which will be held after Mass on the last Sunday of each month. On Thursday, September 15, a contingent of monks from St. Mary’s Abbey traveled to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark to attend the solemn abbatial blessing of Abbot Augustine Curley, OSB. Abbot Augustine was elected the third abbot of Newark Abbey on May 12, 2022. Among those in attendance were Abbot

President Jonathan Licari,

OSB, Bishop Elias Lorenzo, OSB, Fr. Richard Cronin, OSB, Fr. Demetrius Thomas, OSB, Br. Paul Diveny, OSB, and Br. William McMillan, OSB.

On September 23, Fr. Demetrius Thomas, OSB and Br. William McMillan, OSB released the first episode of their podcast “Cracks in the Cloister, ” available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. On the podcast, which has five episodes at the time of this writing, the monks discuss just about everything: religion, monastic life, vocations, teaching, books, movies, music, and, of course: martial arts! They hope this podcast gives listeners a glimpse into their lives as monks.

Mary and Kal Vadasz ’92 were blessed to have their sons, Michael and Gabriel, celebrate their third consecutive sacrament St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mendham with Fr. Edward Seton Fittin ’82 who also married the couple at Delbarton in 2013. Photo (l to r) is Michael, Fr Ed and Gabriel. From November 3-6, 2022, a group of priors from abbey throughout the United States met for their annual meeting.

Fr. Edward Seton Fittin, OSB

was among those who attended the meeting hosted by the monks of St. Louis Abbey, Creve Coeur, MO, outside of St. Louis. The presenter of the meeting was the long-time prior of St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pa.,

Fr. Earl Henry, OSB.

His presentation was cleverly entitled “Existential Phenominology of Priorship, ” and was filled with Fr. Earl’s practical and plain-spoken wisdom, after more than two decades as prior of the largest Benedictine abbey in the Confederation. He organized his presentations around three main interrelated areas: The prior’s

relationship with the abbot, the prior’s relationship with the community, and the prior’s vigilance and headaches. The priors shared stories and struggles, sought advice and offered some, and enjoyed praying with the monks of St. Louis Abbey and fellowship among themselves. The priors in attendance were from abbeys in Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The program also included a visit to the magnificent Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis.

Bishop Elias Presides at Baptism

On July 16, 2022, Bishop Elias Lorenzo, OSB, presided at the Baptism of Charlotte Grace Kurian in the Abbey Church. Charlotte is the daughter of Vin Kurian ’96 and Dr. Janet Pullockaran. Charlotte’s godparents are Biju Kurian ’97 and Janet’s sister Lisa Pullockaran.

Let Us Remember

“If we believe that Jesus died and rose, God will bring forth with Him from the dead those who also have fallen asleep believing in Him. ” 1 Thessalonians 4:14

Shirley Young Block, mother of Mark Block ’70, Stephen Block ’71 and Stuart Block ’73 Dave Clark ‘52, brother of Rich Clark ‘53, great uncle of Matt Clark ‘18

Bernard G. D’Andrea ’57

Jay Delaney, father of Andrew Delaney ‘05 Eileen Sullivan Fell, mother of Tim S. Fell ’89 Alexandra V. Fiddes, daughter of Marketing & Communications Director Jessica Fiddes and John Fiddes P’03, ’05, ’08; sister of John Fiddes ’03, Hugh Fiddes ’05 and Cameron Fiddes ’08; cousin of Michael Vermylen ’95, Tom Vermylen ’99, John Vermylen ’01, James Vermylen ’14, Mark Vermylen ’14, Teddy Vermylen ’17 and Harry Vermylen ’20 Bernard Fitzsimmons, father of Bernie Fitzsimmons ’93 Gerald E. Hanlon, father of Matthew J. Hanlon ’01 James Holland ’84, brother of Chris Holland ’85 Abel Gonzalez, Sr., a member of the Delbarton Housekeeping Staff and father of Grounds & Maintenance staff member Abel Gonzalez, Jr. James A. Grogan, Jr., grandfather of JJ Grogan ’14 and Bobby Grogan ’14 Joseph A. Leone, father of Christian A. Leone ’93 and Joseph J. (Jeffrey) Leone ’06; uncle of Thomas P. Gibbons ’09 and Matthew J. Gibbons ’12 James B. Moran ’61, brother of William (Bill) Moran ’59 John ‘Jack’ Mullen, father of Michael Mullen ‘75 and Shannon Mullen ‘83 Raymond Paske, father of Mark Paske ’90

Paul Serpico ’66 James Francis Villeré Jr. ’66