Kansas Monks Summer 2017

Summer 2017

1

Ora

Labora

8 - Lectio Divina

4 - From the Abbot

9 - God’s Presence

6 - The Abbot’s Table

Br. Leven Harton offers some advice on how to engage in the Benedictine practice of Lectio Divina or Holy Reading.

Fr. Meinrad Miller offers 5 thoughts to keep the Lord before our eyes and in our hearts throughout the day.

24 - Opus Dei

We look at that which is most central to monastic life, what St. Benedict calls Opus Dei – the work of God – lifting the world to God in the Liturgy of the Hours..

Abbot James discusses the role of the Abbot and the challenges of spiritual fatherhood.

We look back at the 2017 Abbot’s Table – the most successful Abbot’s Table to date!

10 - The History

We journey from St. Benedict in Italy, to Bavaria, to Pennsylvania, and finally to Kansas, where the monks have been praying and working for 160 years.

in the next Kansas Monks • 2 0 1 8 A b b o t ’s Ta b l e H o n o r e e s • S e c u r i n g o u r F u t u r e - M o n k s e s t a b l i s h o p e r a t i o n a l e n d o w m e n t • a n d m u c h m o r e . . .

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20 - Prison Oblates

We delve into the ministry of Fr. Matthew Habiger - bringing Christ to prisoners through the Rule.

22 - 50 Years a Priest

In 2017 Fr. Duane Roy celebrates 50 years of priestly service as a monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey and servant to the people of Brazil.

23 - Why I Support the Monks Benedictine College Alumna Becca Caudle explains why she is grateful to the monks.

LEGAC Y Ho w d o y o u w ant to b e rem em b ere d?

Thi s q ue st i o n c an b e a h arsh one; it st r ike s at the v e r y he a r t of our mor t a lity – w h e n s o m e o n e m o v e s on f rom th i s life, our me mor ie s of the m live on, in our he a r t s a nd mi n d s .

O u r a c t i o n s , a ll th at we d o, are af fe c te d by tho s e me mor ie s ; the mome nt s th at w e ’ve sha re d w i th o ur f amilie s , f r ien d s , te a che rs , p a stors , or me ntors mold our char ac te r – o u r ch a ra c te r i s th e su m of all th at w e ’ve le a r ne d – a ll that w e hav e re ce iv e d.

Fo r 1 6 0 y e a r s th e m onk s of St . B ene dic t ’s Abb e y have b e e n pray ing a nd w ork i n g h e re in No r th e a st K ansa s . Th rou g h ou t that t ime the y have pre a che d a nd t aug ht a co u ntl e s s nu m b er o f p e o p le – and th eir work ha s , in tur n, for me d the C atholic com mu n i ti e s throug h o ut the G re at Pl ains and b e y ond. The ir hi stor y i s div e rs e , hav ing s t ar te d a s a le a n , y e t d e ter m ine d b and of me n c a r ing for the immig ra nt s of the raw K an s a s Te r r i to r y ; to the fou n d ation of Par i she s a nd S cho ol s ; to to d ay, a s the monk s s e ek to b e e v e r f a i th f ul to th eir ch ar i sm a s Pa stors a nd E duc ators .

At th e h e a r t o f all of th i s , th e cor ne rstone on w hich a ll that g re at t ra dit ion d e p e n d s , i s th e m o n k s’ life of d e e p of p rayer. Re g a rdle ss of the c irc umst a nce s , the mo n k s h ave s u s t a i n e d n o t on ly th eir ow n work but the w ork of a ll tho s e a round the m w i th th e i r pr ay er. Th e mon a ster y h a s s er ve d a s a lig hthou s e , a b e a con on the hill, c a ll i n g u s to s t r iv e fo r s o m e th in g b e yond ou rs elv e s – to st r iv e for s ome thing g re ate r.

Fo r m e, I lo o k b ack fon d ly and am g rate f ul for a ll that I have re ce ive d f rom the mo n k s .

No m atter w h at may com e, th e world i s fore ve r cha nge d b e c au s e of the mon k s o f St .

B e n e d i c t ’s Ab b e y – j oin m e in celebrat ing thi s 160- y e a r-old t ra dit ion of pr ay e r an d w o rk , a n d lo o k in g for w ard to th e next 160.

- J. D. B e n n i n g Edi to r, Ka n sa s Mon k s , B C ’08

A S K A N D I T W I L L B E G I V E N TO YO U ; S E E K A N D YO U W I L L F I N D ; K N O C K A N D T H E D O O R W I L L B E O P E N E D TO YO U. - m at t h e w 7 : 7 Summer 2017

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F r om the A bb ot Sp ir i t u al Fa t h e r h o o d

When I was elected abbot in December 2012, one of the natures or types or titles of the office that I struggled with was the idea of being a spiritual father – not that I don’t believe the abbot holds that role in the community, and not that I haven’t taken seriously the responsibility of guiding the community spiritually in my role as abbot. It is the second half of that descriptor I’ve had to come to terms with: the weight, the heaviness of being a “father.” I can only imagine fear in a first-time father’s heart when mother and child come home from the hospital; it is real, and he can’t make his fear about himself – he is called to make a gift of self.

Even as I type this column anxiousness wells up in me thinking about this designation I hold for my brothers as “spiritual father.” I have to laugh, also, as half the community entered the monastery before me, so the thought of trying to have this father/son relationship with them is intimidating. I work to get past the lie that I don’t have anything of significance to share with those who taught me, those who ministered to me, those who helped me find my vocation, those who formed me in my monastic life, those whom I still call “Father” or “Brother.”

So what was supposed to change in me all of a sudden, that day back in December 2012 that qualified me as the “spiritual father” of my community? It can only be grace, and, over this time, recognition of the need for a big dose of humility. I actually write this column from a monastery in Minnesota, attending meetings of Benedictine educators and superiors. I write from here analyzing not only an anxious heart about this concept of being a spiritual father, but also examining a longing I had yesterday to be with my brothers – or to carry out the theme – my sons.

It really was a rather stupid thing, this desire to be back in Kansas, to be back there so I could be with my brothers on a community outing. I wish this desire were for a more noble reason, but I wanted to be back with my brothers who were watching and playing in the Pitching for Priests softball game. It’s an annual game between the priests and religious of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and those of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, to raise funds for vocations promotion.

I know. A softball game.

But I sat last night in my monastery guest room in Minnesota and desired to be at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City with my brothers to the point of it hurting. I went to Twitter to see how the pre-game tailgate sponsored by our Atchison Serra Club went; thanks to Benedictine College’s Twitter feed there were a handful of photos. I scoured the internet looking for a score – the game didn’t seem to receive top billing in the world of Kansas City sports. I left a text message

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The abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them.

Whatever the number of brothers he has in his c are, let him realize that on judgment day he will surely have to submit to reckoning to the Lord for their souls — and indeed for his own as well.

- rule of saint benedict 2:37-38

with a confrere asking for an update; they were all enjoying the fellowship after the game among the priests and religious from both dioceses, and, rightly so, didn’t have time to respond. Finally, as I was about ready to give up and call it a night, the phone rang. It was my brothers calling to tell me the outcome of the game.

We won – the Archdiocese of KCK – and my brothers, my sons, called to share their joy. A walk-off, inside-the-park, two-run homer won it… and I asked myself, “What was this desire to be among them?” I finally chalked it up to the noble recognition that it really was about more than a softball game.

Being a parent – natural or spiritual – is difficult, it’s tough, and it can be agonizing.

You see hurt in a brother’s heart, disappointment, struggle, fear. You hurt for them as they hurt, you are disappointed you can’t assuage their disappointment, you struggle to help them progress through their struggles, you fear for them in their own fear. And yet you also find satisfaction and joy in journeying with them, hoping you’re helping them find this same joy. Like when you are able to share a spiritual concept in a conference, and you see the light come on. Or you are able to work through a problem a brother has and the outcome is better than either of you could have envisioned. Or you see growth in a difficult task given to them in their work. Or you witness a brother’s acceptance of a particular cross that you’ve helped him carry. Or you get a phone call on a Friday night from a group of monks jubilant over winning a softball game. You pray and yearn with all your heart that they know this happiness and joy and perseverance in their vocation, even with something so simple as playing in or rooting on their brothers in a softball game.

That title “spiritual father” still catches in my throat, but it makes more and more sense each day in my heart. The gift of being a father is something one grows into, and like any spiritual journey, we are never completely there. I am afforded many opportunities to continue my growth as spiritual father, and that is the beauty of our vowed, consecrated lives. We are given ample opportunity each day to seek the conversion we desire; conversion that St. Benedict and God our Father desire for us also. And each step, well taken, into that journey allows the joy of being God’s sons to well up inside us.

Photos, Page 4, Top to Bottom : Serra Club of Atchison hosted a tailgate • Fr. Meinrad leads Vespers in the ballpark parking lot • Br. Leven Harton slides into third base Page 5, Top to Bottom : Fr. Simon Baker is announced from the dugout • Br. Leven signals to first base • Br. Pius Rombach looks on while his teammates are at the plate

Summer 2017

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More Than 840 Gather for Fifth Annual Abbot’s Table More than 840 people gathered for an evening of celebration and fellowship at the fifth annual Abbot’s Table at The Sheraton Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The monks presented the Lumen Vitae Medal to Elmer Fangman and Bishop Robert Barron.

The event kicked off with the Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Bishop Barron offered an incredible homily, reminding the assembly that, “the wounds of Jesus symbolize our sins... The author of life came, and we killed him...the Gospel hinges on the fact that we need a Savior... and after Christ shows us His wounds, Jesus then says ‘shalom, peace.’

In this, the showing of the wounds, reminding us of our sin, and the speaking of the word, ‘shalom’ we have salvation.

It shows us that there is no sin that God cannot forgive. We have already commited the greatest sin, we killed God. The author of life came and we killed him, but God returned in forgiving love.”

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann began the evening by welcoming all in attendance and thanking them for their support of the monks. Following dinner Abbot James presented the Lumen Vitae Medal to long-time dean of Benedictine College Elmer Fangman.

Elmer grew up just outside of Seneca, Kansas, attending a parish staffed by Benedictine monks and educated in grade school by Benedictine sisters. Elmer was a boarder at Maur Hill Prep School and was a 1957 graduate of St. Benedict’s College. During his post-graduate studies at the University of Kansas, Elmer formed a friendship with the Chaplain of the St. Lawrence Center and eventual sixth Abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Fr. Brendan Downey. In 1970, he returned to Atchison with his wife Ann and eight children to serve as Dean of Benedictine College. Elmer served as Dean of Students for 31 years.

In a tremendous show of humility, Elmer spent his entire acceptance speech thanking the monks for what they did for him and his family, “Over my lifetime, and particularly the last 45 years, I have been blessed to have the monks as my pastors, confessors, teachers, classmates, advisors, co-workers and friends. Again, I say ‘Thank You’ to a house full of friends at St. Benedict’s Abbey.”

Abbot James then presented the Lumen Vitae Medal to Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is also the host of two groundbreaking, award-winning documentary series about the Catholic Faith: Catholicism and Catholicism: The Pivotal Players. Before being named bishop he served as rector and 6

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professor at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, educating priests from across the country including many in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

Bishop Barron is an Amazon bestselling author and his website, WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year. He is one of the most followed Catholics on social media with more than 18 million views on YouTube.

Bishop Barron, during his remarks, discussed the great influence that Benedictine monks have had on his life and priesthood, “When I was 17, I read Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain, and that really tells the story of someone falling in love with God... whenever I would go on retreat, I would go to a Benedictine house; it was always the Benedictines who were calling me back... but what I really want to talk about is evangelization and why we need to work [at it.] Today, 25 percent of Americans say that they consider themselves ‘nones,’ that they have no religion. This should be a majorleague wake-up call. What we need is this ‘New Evangelization!’

We need to get on the front lines!

We have to tell the world of not just the beauty but the [intelligence] of Catholicism.”

Abbot James then announced that the monks had received a $160,000 challenge gift in celebration of 160 years of monastic life in Kansas. Through

2017

A b b o t ’s T a b l e underwriters

K a n sa s Mo n k s the generosity of many, the monks were able to meet this challenge.

The evening closed with the announcement that the sixth annual Abbot’s Table will be held on April 7, 2018, at the Overland Park Convention Center. The Lumen Vitae Medal will be presented to Louise Naumann and her son, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, and to the Dunn family.

Louise spent many years of service in Catholic education in St. Louis, Missouri. Archbishop Naumann celebrates 20 years as a bishop this year. The Dunn family has been serving and assisting the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey for nearly 75 years, working with seven of our nine abbots and playing an integral role in a variety of projects at the abbey.

Abb ot ’s Ta bl e Save the date:

April 7, 2018 o v e r l a n d pa r k convention center honoring:

Louise Naum ann and her son

Archbishop J o s e p h F. N a u m a n n -and-

T h e D u n n Fa m i l y

Ter r y & Michelle S exton

A bb ot ’s Ta bl e B e ne d ic tine Colle ge John & Tere sa G illc r i st M.G .P. Ing re d ient s , I nc .

Mitchell C ap it al Management Frank & Ann Ur y a sz

P r io r’s Guild Ap o stle s of the Inte r ior L i fe L ar r y & Tre sa Bu e ss i ng B ob & Shirle y C henowe th C ou ntr y C lu b B an k S e an & Ju lie D ohe r ty E a ste rd ay C har it ab le Found ati on E xchang e B ank & Tr u st Michael R. & Marlys Haverty Family Foundation J E D u nn C onstr u c ti on Ku ckelm an, Torline & Ki rk l and The L ittle Flow er Fou nd ati on Kathy & Jack N e w man In honor of Ble ss e d Os c ar R omero Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery Tr inity Hou s e Jim & Katie O ’Br ien Vill a St . Franc i s B ob & Jane t W hole y

Tab l e Sp o n so r s Re c o g ni z e d o n Pag e 23

Summer 2017

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Conversing

with God

Praying with Scripture through Lectio Divina b y B r. L e v e n H a r t o n

For spiritual reading I have been revisiting one of my favorite monastic books, The Path of Life, by Fr. Cyprian Smith. In his chapter on prayer he makes an evocative statement: “What we are trying to build in our prayer is a relationship, and that is not a matter of technique but of love, trust, surrender and giving. Otherwise what we are calling prayer is simply a kind of mental therapy,” (100). I think this is a profound clarification for those of us who are steady and committed pray-ers, and a solid, guiding principle for those who are beginning to pray. Our prayer must be all about an encounter. If we are not making of ourselves an offering to another in our prayer, then our efforts have more to do with psychological health and mental well-being than meeting the living God. Prayer, of whatever variety, is firstly an act of communion with the God who has created and redeemed us—and that must be our experience of it.

That being said, different techniques and methods can help us wade into these deep and (sometimes) intimidating waters. A particularly daunting proposition for many is to spend extended time alone with God in silence. What do I do for my weekly Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament? How do I know that I am listening to God? How does God speak? Just how is prayer an encounter? An ancient monastic practice of mental prayer is called Lectio Divina, or reading the Scriptures in order to encounter God – specifically to listen to His voice. I offer you my own method for praying with scripture:

After calming my mind and heart, clearing out all the other concerns and anxieties, I call down the Holy Spirit and request of the Lord, “Teach me how to pray!” Then, I read a selected passage one time at an unhurried, careful pace, pausing to let individual words and phrases stick out – let the words puncture me. When the first reading is complete, I ask, “What is the moral of the story? What dogma or doctrine is being communicated literally?

What is the message of this passage?” Then I read the same passage a second time, with the same attention and care. After this second reading, I begin to apply the “message” of the passage, as well as any new insights from the second reading, to my own daily life. Each of these periods of meditation should take about five minutes. Finally, I read the passage one more time.

After this reading, I shut my Bible, turn my mind’s eye to gaze at the Lord, and begin to speak. Whatever I have been meditating about up to this point is good content for a conversation. I speak, then listen, and speak again, and listen again, letting the interaction unfold naturally, not forcing it.

This manner of prayer, Lectio Divina, has the great benefit of using Scripture as it is intended: to bring each human person into contact with the life of the Holy Trinity. As the Catechism says in the very first paragraph, “God [ . . . ] in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.” All that the Holy Church offers to us: the sacraments, the ecclesial life, the doctrinal guidance, the liturgy, and, of course, the rich tradition of private prayer – is developed for this purpose. These bring us into contact with God. May we commit to daily prayer and find our lives enriched and expanded by our encounter with Jesus.

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Remembering God’s Presence Fi ve th o ug h t s for g row ing y our d aily pray er life

by Fr. Meinrad Miller Just looking at our schedules can cause panic and stress in our lives. The stress to keep up with work, with friends, family, and society can lead us to forget about God. St. Benedict reminds us of how easy it is to forget about the presence of God in the midst of the rush of life.

It hasn’t gotten easier in 1,500 years. In chapter seven of his Rule, St. Benedict reminds us, “The first step of humility, then, is that a man keeps the fear of God always before his eyes (Ps 36:2) and never forgets it.” Psalm 36 says that our “eyes are closed to the fear of God.” This fear of God is translated as awe and reverence. Proverbs 9:10 teaches us, “the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” To know the Holy One is not simply to know a few abstract things about God, but it is to encounter God, to allow that awe of God to be with me throughout the day. With that in mind I propose some tips to help us be mindful of God’s loving presence.

Be gin the Day Wi t h Pr ay er Certainly formal prayer such as the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, or Morning Prayers and offerings are a good thing. But even before I get to that, it is good to wake up and to thank God for His presence in my heart right now. Some people like to pray the Angelus at this time because it reminds them that just as Mary freely gave her yes to Jesus taking flesh in her womb, so I say yes at the beginning of each day to the Holy One, the Holy Trinity, who calls me to Communion.

Pr ay on the Way Try turning your daily commute or time spent waiting into an opportunity for prayer. I confess that I enjoy listening to the news or music as I drive. I allow someone else to tell me what to think, how to act.

It has been said that the air we breathe is filled with moral relativism. Often ideological voices will tell me why faith is unimportant, or why God does not need to be remembered. Even if I choose to listen to the news or music it is good to also pray, to ask God what His will is for me today.

G i ve Tha nk s We should always make sure to give thanks. The fact that I can breathe, think, act, and pray are gifts freely given to me by God who loves me. His grace, given in the Sacraments and prayer strengthen me.

Do I stop to thank the Father for blessings I take for granted: freedom. life, health (or in the case of suffering, the ability to offer it with Jesus this day)?

Pl ace yo u r A nxiet ies in G od ’s H and s Nearly all of us face some form of worry or anxiety. Jesus told Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Most people face some level of shame and addiction in their lives. Their anxieties can become unbearable. We have need of only one thing: the presence of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

End yo u r Day w i t h Pr ay er Before retiring for the evening, recall that the Scriptures often speak about God working with us even in sleep. In Song of Songs 5:2: “I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. The sound of my lover knocking.”

God is the lover who comes to us in our sleeping, in our waking, at every moment.

Summer 2017

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from

Benedict to

Bavaria to the

Bluffs in

Kansas

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O n e t housand five-hundred y e a r s.

P r e c i o u s little in this w orld ha s tha t kind of longe vity.

A sh o r t 450 years after C h r ist wa lke d the Ea r th, one ma n sta r te d a r e v o l u tion. H e saw a need f or the c ultur e to tur n its e ye s ba c k – ba ck t o w a r d C hrist. Watching the c ultur e se e mingly de volve a r ound him, h e e st a b l i shed the first B enedictine mona ste r y a s a pla c e of de e p pr a ye r – a p l a c e t o focus on glorifying the Lor d.

A s t h e centuries crept by, mona stic ism spr e a d a c r oss Eur ope . Both me n a n d w o men dedicated them s e lve s to living a c c or ding to the Rule of S t.

B e n e d ict. Monasteries became gr e a t ba stions not only of pr a ye r, but o f e d u c a t ion, study and missiona r y e nde a vor.

A s m o n asticism grew, m any s a w it a s a n a ff r ont to pr ogr e ss a nd a thr e a t to g o v e r n ment. Martin L uther, onc e a n Augustinia n f r ia r himse lf , de c la r ed t h a t t h e monastic life had no sc r iptur a l ba sis, wa s pointle ss, a nd wa s no t c o m p a tible w ith the true spir it of Chr istia nity. Na pole on be lie ve d th a t m o n a steries represented an e xiste ntia l thr e a t to his r ule , or de r ing th a t t h e y b e stripped of any posse ssions a nd the ir la nd be a uc tione d off .

D e sp i t e these attempts at ha lting the spr e a d of mona stic ism, St. Be n e d ict’s R ule persisted like a f or c e of na tur e . Spr outing ba c k up in E u r o p e and eventually sprea ding to Ame r ic a ; mona ste r ie s now dot th e c o u n t r y and seek to continu e to be tha t sa me home to pr a ye r a nd wor k t h a t S t. B enedict established ...

O n e t housand five-hundred y e a r s a go.

F o r t h e past 160 years, St. Be ne dic t’s Abbe y ha s se r ve d a s a c ity on a h i l l , seeking to be a light of Chr ist to the wor ld. I n the se pa ge s we hop e t o t e l l you the story of 160 ye a r s of Ora e t Labora – Pr a ye r a nd Wor k – o ff e r i ng you a glim pse into the jour ne y f r om St. Be ne dic t’s c a ve in I taly t o t h e B luffs on the Missour i Rive r.

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The great Roman empire was disintegrating. Disillusioned by the decadent life around him, the son of a Roman noble left the city to live as a hermit in a cave near Subiaco, thirty miles east of Rome. He soon attracted admirers and the young man began to pursue and educate disciples whom he gathered into a cluster of small monasteries. Our “family tree” is rooted in sixth century Italy – planted by the young man who would become St. Benedict of Nursia. At Monte Cassino, he wrote his Rule which still serves as the guiding text for Benedictine communities today.

As Napoleon rose to power he began suppressing and ultimately secularizing monasteries throughout France, Italy, and beyond.

Feeling that the monks held too much power with their land holdings, abbeys were forced to give away their possessions and sell off their land. In 1803 St. Michael Abbey’s property was confiscated, the monastery was shuttered and by 1815 all of their property was auctioned off.

4 80 a.d.

• • • 7 16 a.d.

• • • 7 66 a.d.

• • • 1803 a.d.

• • • 1830 a.d.

•

In 716 St. Boniface traveled from his Abbey in England to spread the Catholic faith to the people of Germany. As he led the faithful as the Archbishop of Mainz, abbeys were founded in and around Germany, spreading Benedictine monasticism.

Under the guidance of Charlemagne, in 766, Blessed Gamelbert of Michaelsbuch, in association with monks from the Archcenobium of Monte Cassino, established St. Michael Abbey in Metten, Bavaria. For the next 1,000 years the monks of Metten served the people of their region as pastors and educators, establishing the tradition that is carried on today by the American-Cassinese Monks.

During the Bavaria suppression of the monasteries their Metten property was available for purchase. Johann von Pronath, a Bavarian politician, acquired a great deal of land in Metten. By 1830 he convinced King Ludwig I to re-establish St. Michael Abbey. In 1837 the monks opened a school that is still in operation today, renewing their dedication to education.

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In 1833, after hearing that the German Catholics in America were in desperate need of priests, Fr. Henry Lemke resolved to travel to America. Upon his arrival in 1834 he was assigned to a parish and learned English from, while teaching German to, Bishop Francis Kenrick (Philedelphia), and his brother, Bishop Peter Kenrick (St. Louis.) He went on to serve Reverend Prince Gallitzin, who was a renowned servant to the Catholics of Pennsylvania. When Benedictine monks first arrived in America, Fr. Henry invited them to establish the first monastery on Gallitzin’s land.

In 1846 Fr. Boniface Wimmer, with 18 other monks, traveled to America. Upon their arrival they were invited to Carrolltown by Fr. Henry Lemke. Finding the conditions there unfavorable, Fr. Boniface accepted an invitation to serve as pastor of St. Vincent Parish in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

On October 24, 1846, he established St. Vincent as the first monastery in the United States. By 1855 there were more than 200 monks, among them Fr. Henry who joined in 1852. Pope Pius IX elevated St. Vincent to Abbey status and Fr. Boniface was named its first abbot.

In 1857 Archabbot Boniface sent Fr. Augustine Wirth and Br. Casimir Seitz (right) to Kansas. Upon their arrival, Br. Casimir was ordained by Bishop Jean Baptiste Miège, S.J. On April 27, 1857, Fr. Augustine, the first prior, and Fr. Casimir arrived in Doniphan, Kansas, and established St. Benedict’s, the third monastery in the United States. Fr. Henry Lemke had fallen ill and was called back to St. Vincent.

• • 1834 a.d.

• • • 1846 a.d.

• • • 1855 a.d.

• • • 1857 a.d.

• • • 1858 a.d.

At the urging of a friend, Fr. Henry Lemke traveled to Kansas in 1855. Seeing the desparate need for priests in the area, he urged Archabbot Boniface Wimmer to send more monks and establish a monastery in Kansas.

In 1858 the monks established their first educational apostolate: St. Benedict’s College. They initially struggled to raise money to build their first priory and the college faced a brief closure. An 1859 flood shifted the course of the Missouri River at Doniphan and the monks moved their fledgling establishment to Atchison. King Ludwig I provided the funds that would be used to construct the first priory.

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With the community growing and financial hardship weighing on the monks, a new prior, Fr. Louis Mary Fink, was appointed in 1868. He succeeded in re-opening St. Benedict’s College and guided the community until 1871, when he was consecrated bishop and selected as the eventual successor to Bishop Miege with his retirement in 1874. As bishop, he oversaw the 1877 transition of the Vicariate of Kansas into the Diocese of Leavenworth. During his tenure the diocese grew from 25,000 to 35,000 and more dioceses were established in the surrounding area. He served as bishop until his death in 1904. He remains the longest serving bishop of what is now the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

In 1875, with the financial difficulties coming to a head, Archabbot Boniface resolved to send his best, naming Fr. Oswald Moosmueller prior. Under his leadership the priory was able to gain control of its debt and more men began joining the community. Archabbot Boniface was certain that Fr. Oswald would be elected as St. Benedict’s first abbot.

On April 7, 1876, St. Benedict’s was named an Abbey. On September 29, 1876, Fr. Innocent Wolf, a priest of St. Vincent Archabbey, was elected Abbot on the first ballot. He served as abbot for 45 years. In truth Abbot Innocent was the founding father of the community. At the death of Abbot Boniface in 1887 Abbot Innocent was so respected by the monks of St. Vincent that he was elected successor to their founder. However, he declined and remained at his post in Kansas. The community grew from twenty to ninety-seven members at the time of his retirement in 1921.

1866 a.d.

• • • 1868 a.d.

• • • 1869 a.d.

• • • 1875 a.d.

• • • 1876 a.d.

•

Though the priory had moved a few times in its infancy, the true establishment of the monks in Atchison came with the laying of the first bricks at the corner of Second & Division. The church was built around the building that was in use, for a time creating a “church within a church.” The church that broke ground in 1866 is still in use as a parish church today.

For the first several years of the monastery’s existence, there were more Benedictine monks than diocesan priests in the diocese.

This left the care of the Catholic settlers up to the monks of St. Benedict’s; a circuit was established that crossed Kansas to Colorado and traveled back across Nebraska and Iowa before returning to Atchison. Monks would ride on horseback, offering the sacraments to the early pioneers.

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Though no true “dividing line” exists when the monastery transitioned from its pioneer roots to the stable community we know today, Abbey historian Fr. Peter Beckman uses 1880 as this marker. The number of settlers was rising and parishes were established throughout the region to replace the circuit riders.

The college enrollment had grown rapidly with a large percentage of the students going on to be ordained to the priesthood.

In 1896 Abbot Innocent became ill and was forced to take a sabbatical, traveling to Rome to recuperate; his health remained in a constant state of flux and at one point he received last rites. Leadership of the Abbey was left in the hands of Prior Andrew Green. During this time the monks continued to staff parishes and were called upon to send more monks out as the number of Catholics in the area grew.

By 1902, the Benedictine monks continued to spread throughout the United States and it was necessary that the Rule of St. Benedict be translated into English. Fr. Boniface Verheyen, a St. Benedict’s professor of ancient language and physical sciences, stepped forward to translate the Rule; his translation served as the standard for the American-Cassinese monks from its publication in 1902 until the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

• • 1880 a.d.

• • • 1883 a.d.

• • • 1893 a.d.

• • • 1896 a.d.

• • • 1902 a.d.

By the 1880’s the college enrollment had grown to 139 students; the college found itself in great competition with St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s, Kansas, and the need for more classroom space was great. Ground was broken in 1878 and Bishop Fink Hall was completed in 1883. Though initially this sent the Abbey into deep debt, income from the college was boosted and they were able to work their way out quickly.

As the monastic community continued to grow alongside the student body, it became apparent the monks would need a new abbey. In 1893 a new building was constructed directly north of the abbey church. As the college established a foothold in the area, local men began joining the monastery, beginning the transition from an immigrant community to one of Americans. The lay brothers continued to pray the Psalms in German for a time, as had been their custom, but they began the transition to English.

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Abbot Innocent’s tenure of 45 years ended in 1921 and on November 10, 1921, Father Martin Veth was elected as the second abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey. He was born in Dettlebach, Bavaria, in 1874. The family emigrated to the United States and came to Atchison when Martin was ten years old. In 1893 he entered the novitiate which necessitated a move of three blocks from home to monastery. He received his theological education at Sant’Anselmo in Rome and was ordained at the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln in Switzerland on July 16, 1899. Abbot Martin was a man of deep personal spirituality and his emphasis was on strengthening the holiness of the community members. His weekly conferences to the community emphasized classic themes of Benedictine spirituality and the Church’s liturgy as rich nourishment for spiritual growth.

In 1926 the monks had again outgrown their monastery and were in desperate need of a new abbey. The tudor gothic style abbey was designed and approved and ground was broken in the spring of 1927.

In 1929 the nation was struck by the great depression and construction of the new monastery was halted. All hope of building the centerpiece of the structure, the abbey church, was thwarted. Carrying of the debt was a very heavy burden up until 1940 with many portions of the new abbey left only partially completed. The progress was enough that the monks were able to move in, though they were forced to use their chapter room as their chapel until the abbey church could be completed. Up until the construction of the 1929 abbey, the novices had to be sent to St. Vincent for the novitiate; the new abbey allowed the novices to go through the novitiate in Atchison.

1919 a.d.

• • • 1921 a.d.

• • • 1925 a.d.

• • • 1926 a.d.

• • • 1929 a.d.

•

Up until 1919, St. Benedict’s educated high school and college students. The monastic community had a separate property to the south of Atchison that was comprised mostly of farm ground with a large house where the brothers working the farm lived. In 1919, with the acquisition of the Midland College property, the high school portion of St. Benedict’s began the transition to the new site, forming the monks’ second educational apostolate: Maur Hill Prep School.

One of the first things that Abbot Martin wished to tackle was the College curriculum. Under his leadership they separated from the European model and adopted the American Liberal Arts curriculum still in use today. Academic Dean Fr. Sylvester Schmitz led the monk faculty through this challenging transition.

Monks began teaching a broader range of subjects and lay faculty joined the ranks of the monastic professors.

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In the 1930’s the monks established Camp St. Maur for boys, hosted at the Maur Hill campus. Its first director was Father Alfred Koestner, a man skilled in the ways of scouting. Several future monks first encountered Benedictine life through the camp.

The abbatial administration of Abbot Cuthbert saw the post-war expansion of St. Benedict’s College with the return of veterans studying on the G.I. Bill, the building of new residence halls, and the increase in the numbers of lay faculty. As the college grew a new worship space was needed and the great dream of an abbey church became a reality.

Ground was broken in 1955 and the church was opened for worship in 1957, marking the 100th anniversary of the community’s foundation.

In 1944 World War II raged across the globe. The call to arms of young men left few who were able to continue college studies and enrollment dwindled to 75 students.

Ten of the monks, mostly faculty members, were chaplains in the Army and the Navy. Fifty alumni lost their lives in the terrible conflict and St. Martin’s Memorial Hall, the first new college building erected after the war, was named in honor of them and their sacrifice.

• • 1930 a.d.

• • • 1943 a.d.

• • • 1944 a.d.

• • • 1957 a.d.

• • • 1961 a.d.

In 1940 Abbot Martin fell ill and never truly recovered. In 1943 he stepped down as Abbot and Fr. Cuthbert McDonald, an Ireland native, was elected abbot.

Orphaned as a boy, Abbot Cuthbert came with his two siblings to live with an aunt in Kansas City. He entered the monastery in 1915 and, after seminary studies and ordination, went on to graduate studies at the University of Michigan.

He returned to join the faculty of St. Benedict’s College, eventually serving as dean of students before being elected as the third abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey.

In 1961 Pope John XXIII asked the “priest-rich” countries to send priests to the “priest-poor.”

Out of that appeal grew the hope of Abbot Cuthbert to make a foundation in Brazil. In 1962 three monks, Father Matthias Schmidt as prior, Father Otho Sullivan, and Father Stephen Burns, established themselves in the central west of Brazil in Mineiros in the state of Goiás.

Along with founding a monastic community they assumed the parochial apostolate for the city and surrounding area. Today more than 30,000 Catholics are served by the monks of St. Joseph Priory.

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In 1962 Abbot Cuthbert resigned due to ill health and 51 year old Father Thomas Hartman was elected fourth abbot of the monastery on June 7, 1962. He was a native of nearby Wathena, Kansas, and was the first American-born abbot of the community. Abbot Thomas had served many years as a mathematics professor and at the time of his election he was the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Atchison. St. Joseph Priory, Mineiros, Goiás, Brazil, had just been established the previous year and he continued to support this new initiative by sending additional monks to serve. Over the years fourteen American monks from our community spent time praying and working in Brazil.

In 1959, Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council, which concluded in 1965 under Pope Paul VI. After Vatican II, Benedictine monasteries were given the permission to develop new ways of praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The priests and lay brothers joined as one choir and the Psalms were prayed in English.

Fr. Matthias Schmidt, the Brazilian priory’s first prior, was recognized for his talents relating to the Brazilian people and became auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Jataí in 1972. In 1976 he was named bishop of the Diocese of Rui Barbosa.

As bishop he became an ardent defender of the rights of the poor who were the vast majority in his mainly rural diocese. As a result he was subject to a considerable amount of calumny and even death threats by those who were opposed to any social mobility of the poor in the area. On May 24, 1992, when he was giving a retreat at a town in his diocese, he died instantaneously of a heart attack as he was walking and praying the rosary. He was 61 years old.

Abbot Brendan Downey was elected as the fifth abbot on March 21, 1973.

Fr. Brendan had served as the first nonabbatial president of St. Benedict’s College.

He later became the chaplain of St. Lawrence Student Center at the University of Kansas while the Center was still in its infancy. He combined this ministry with teaching in the Kansas School of Religion. In the monastery he was appreciative of the best of the Benedictine tradition while the community was moving through the transitions following Vatican Council II.

1962 a.d.

• • • 1965 a.d.

• • • 1971 a.d.

• • • 1972 a.d.

• • • 1973 a.d.

•

Abbot Brendan was a leader in promoting the collaborative marking of the 1500th anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict. Fr. Timothy Fry, monk and professor in the College’s English department, was chosen to be the general editor of a new translation of the Rule of St. Benedict.

The massive effort was entitled RB 1980. The Conversations about the possible merger of Mount St. Scholastica College and St. volume continues to enjoy Benedict’s College were beginning already in 1969. The process began in earnest in international respect for the 1970 and the first graduation of the new Benedictine College was held in 1972. Abbot quality of the translation and Thomas was a key leader in this process on the part of the Abbey. its scholarship.

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Father Herbert Hermes was named bishop of the Prelacy of Cristalândia, state of Tocantins, Brazil, on June 20, 1990.

Along with his preaching the Gospel and bringing the sacramental life to his people, he established centers for the fostering of human rights in several towns in the prelacy. Under his leadership, lawyers were hired in order to educate people to what their constitutional rights were and to help defend them in court.

Both Bishop Herbert and Bishop Matthias gained national recognition in the areas of social justice promotion. Bishop Herbert, now emeritus since 2008, continues to reside in the prelacy and assists in the pastoral ministry there.

On May 30, 1994, Fr. Barnabas Senecal was elected eighth abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey. Abbot Barnabas was a Kansas Monk in truth, born in Atwood, Kansas, on October 16, 1937. He entered the Abbey with his twin brother in 1958, joining his uncle, Fr. Lucien Senecal, and his brother, Fr. Gerard, who were already members of the community. From 1966 to 1990 Abbot Barnabas was a teacher and administrator at Maur Hill Prep School. He then spent three years in parochial ministry at Holy Spirit Parish in Overland Park, Kansas, from where he was elected abbot. Abbot Barnabas was called upon by the Archdiocese to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. His abbatial motto was “Sing to the Lord a new song.” Often he concludes a homily with an appropriate song and he was dubbed in some circles as “the singing abbot.” Upon reaching the mandatory age of retirement at 75, Abbot Barnabas’ abbatial leadership concluded. He remains busy in pastoral care as the associate pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Atchison.

Abbot James Albers is the ninth abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey.

He was born in St. Joe (Ost), Kansas, on October 19, 1971, but raised in Bendena, Kansas.

A 1994 graduate of Benedictine College, he professed vows on December 8, 1996. Elected abbot on December 28, 2012, he chose as his abbatial motto Currite vitae lumine, “Run with the light of life.”

• • 1980 a.d.

• • • 1989 a.d.

• • • 1990 a.d.

• • • 1994 a.d.

• • • 2012 a.d.

Following the death of Abbot Brendan, Fr. Ralph Koehler, prior of the monastery, was elected sixth abbot on November 28, 1980. A native of Seneca, Kansas, and one of nine siblings, he was born January 20, 1929. Before his priestly ordination on May 31, 1962, he volunteered to go to the Brazil mission.

He served in a variety of positions there for fourteen years and returned to the United States in 1976. He was a Mathematics instructor at Maur Hill and prior of the Abbey until his election as abbot. Having been a member of the Brazilian mission, he was able to understand well their circumstances and encourage them with good counsel on his visitations to the priory.

On December 28, 1989, the community elected Father Owen Purcell as its seventh abbot. Abbot Owen, a native of Leavenworth, Kansas, had spent much of his priestly life at Maur Hill Prep School as instructor of Latin together with all the collateral duties that are characteristic of a boarding school. Simultaneously he was chaplain to the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery. In 1983 he became master of novices and he was prior of the monastery at the time of his election. It was during this time that financial circumstances dictated the consolidation of all of the activities of Benedictine College to one campus. In 1994 Abbot Owen began to experience serious health issues and his resignation was accepted. He entered into a new and fruitful life as pastor of several of the Abbey sponsored parishes.

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From His Cell

To Theirs

b e n e d i c t i n e o b l at e s i n p r i s o n b y R eb eka h F i re s t i n e

For the most part, as men and women, we end up in prison by serving ourselves, and perhaps, our addictions. Regardless of what they were, being only focused on ‘me’ cost us our freedom along with everything else in our lives. That’s the bad news. The good news is, God is giving us special opportunity—time to lead a prayer life that will completely alter your entire being.

- O b l at i o n M a n u a l f o r P r i s o n e r s From the confines of the monastery, reaching out all across the country, one monk is doing what he can to bring the Good News of the Gospel to men and women living on America’s periphery: the federal penitentiary system.

Fr. Matthew Habiger has taken the reigns of the Abbey’s Prison Oblate program – an effort to spread the love of Christ to the incarcerated. “It is a challenge and I don’t have the benefit of meeting prisoners face-to-face. But it is heart-to-heart. You can imagine how correspondence goes. These men and women have to articulate what’s on their minds and hearts and handwrite it.”

Listening through reading their letters has become the center of Fr. Matthew’s apostolate. With nearly twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners behind American bars, he has his work cut out for him.

The history of this Oblate program is rich—filled with love and life where it seemed to be absent. Fr. Louis Kirby, OSB, as a monk of Holy Cross Abbey in Cañon City, Colorado, developed a special program for the prisoners in his diocese of Pueblo.

Within a 20 mile radius of Cañon City, there are 11 prisons where monks of Holy Cross were involved in prison ministry. By taking the precepts of Benedictine Monasticism and the call of Oblates to live in the world, Fr. Louis designed a program specifically for incarcerated men and women to reclaim their dignity and to experience God’s love in the midst of serving a prison sentence.

Holy Cross Abbey was closed in 2004, and Fr. Louis transferred his vow of stability to St. Benedict’s Abbey where he continued his ministry until his passing in 2013.

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“After Fr. Louis died, the whole program fell into limbo. Two of the Oblates from Delta, Colorado, wrote me—I don’t know how they got my name,” Fr. Matthew said with a smirk, a look that conveyed total trust in God’s Providence. “They asked if there were any way to revive this program because it had done so much good in the past.” His response bore the true markings of a father, “How do you say no to that?”

Fr. Matthew took the idea to heart, desiring to help in any way he could. One thing led to another and today he receives nearly 50 handwritten letters each week, all from Oblates in prisons across the country.

“By its very nature, the priesthood is geared to bringing other people closer to God, but I never thought I’d be involved in this work.” He’d had his share of visiting jails, prisons and the Federal Penetentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, but his experience and knowledge of a life behind bars was limited. “Before this work I was kind of a babe in the woods! It takes time to get to know a system, but people are people.

“Wherever the need is, wherever the interest is and the desire to discover their faith is, that’s where we have to respond.”

But the life of an Oblate in prison is vastly disparate from the life of a monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey. Or is it?

When tackling how the prisoner (or a monk for that matter) ought to spend his time in his cell, Fr. Matthew offered a simple, but provoking thought, “If a man can discern that he’s to use his time well, he can make a retreat out of his cell.” With the help of Fr. Matthew and the whole community of Oblates, led by the Holy

Spirit, these men and women can go through true rehabilitation or true conversion to grow into the virtues they hadn’t developed before and become the persons they were meant to be.

“It’s to unlock the grip of vices on their lives and to grow into the virtues using all the available means, also helping others discover what they have discovered,” Fr. Matthew said.

With 380 prisoners (and growing) in the Oblate program database from coast to coast, 60 have completed their one-year candidacy and 161 are currently in their candidacy year. 34 people are learning to listen to the voice of God and discern if becoming an Oblate is part of His plan for their lives. Fr. Matthew is happy with the growth, “I never publicize except by word of mouth and the newsletters getting passed around. The program really takes on a life of its own. These men are delighted to know that they are not isolated. They belong to something. They belong to a group of people who pray.”

Following the Rule of St. Benedict, the Oblate program is a natural fit for a man living in close quarters with other men in confinement. Fr. Matthew explains that St. Benedict wrote his Rule for a group of men who were dedicated to their search for God as a community. Benedict understood human nature, with its strengths and weaknesses. He found a way to apply the principles of the Gospel to a group of men living a communal life, while also serving the larger community. The Rule sets up regular times for prayer and work, spiritual reading, meals, and recreation. It stresses obedience to legitimate authority, humility, and growth in all virtue. It gives meaning and purpose to their lives and many express their pleasure in discovering a regular prayer life, using the Liturgy of the Hours.

“They can identify very much with a monastery. They have a tighter regimen than I do!” Fr. Matthew quipped.

Oblates faithfully pray Lauds (morning prayer) and Vespers (evening prayer). They read Scripture and the Catechism. They try to build community and see Christ in the needs of their fellow inmates. They assist the Catholic chaplain with his needs and they attend Mass when available. They understand the meaning of the Cross and attempt to carry their burdens as a follower of Christ.

An Oblation Manual for Prisoners has been created by Oblates themselves to act as a “road map” as someone experiences God’s love as an Oblate of St. Benedict. Fr. Matthew works diligently to provide free resources for the prisoners in the form of books and materials to help them grow in their daily prayer lives and relationship with God. Along with these resources, the Oblates receive a monthly newsletter that keeps the community strong and connected through reflections, story sharing and prayer.

“Everyone has problems, but you might say prisoners have an additional set. You adjust yourself to the needs of the people you’re dealing with: faith needs, human needs, family needs, all of them.”

The Oblates in prison are real people who come from a troubled past, but don’t we all? Each of us has likely experienced some type of trauma, whether it be very small or of life-altering proportions. The prisoners deeply appreciate the fact that a personal interest has been taken in them. God’s love has been shown to them in a world where the light is often difficult to see.

“So it’s simply a matter of responding to the set of people that you’re engaged with,” Fr. Matthew said. “The more you get to know a person the more you appreciate them and you find out that there’s more to discover.”

Fr. Matthew’s hope for those in parishes around the country is an accepting love of neighbor and shared The monks are firmly responsibility for the dedicated to offering broader community. “I was the Sacraments and in prison and you came to providing pastoral care me,” Jesus says in Matthew 25:36. Fr. Matthew notes for the imprisoned. that whether face-to-face Monks (like Fr. Roderic or heart-to-heart through Giller, pictured above at a handwritten letter, the Lansing Penetentiary) personal connection made serve as chaplains at with a brother or sister local jails and prisons. in prison is one way we can live out our Catholic The Abbey’s prison lives in Gospel truth. oblate program serves Authentic encounters with 380 people across 21 marginalized brothers states. and sisters are what our Holy Father Pope Francis continues to encourage his flock to share.

Fr. Matthew teaches us the first step to opening our hearts to prisoners behind bars, prisoners to addictions, and prisoners who call shelters and streets “home”: “Recognize them as persons.”

In the spirit of St. Benedict, Oblates in prison show us what it means to be close to the Father. Their steadfast commitment to prayer in the midst of opposition, hostility, and lack of support from other inmates is inspiring. Through this program, men and women in prisons from sea to sea are encountering the love of God through volunteers and pen pals.

The blessings of this program in this inmate’s words: “Let me tell you what you can give. You can give hope to men who have none. How do you do that? You come within these walls, build a house of love through your presence, and invite the homeless, loveless to live there. You give Living Water to men who are dying of thirst. You can help those who have never had any sense of meaning in their lives discover their purpose. You can help those who are lost and have never belonged to anything, to anyone, find a way to a place where they are loved and wanted. You can take men who are destitute and believe they have no value, and help them discover the greatest treasure this world has ever held.”

There is a growing need for the faithful to give of their time and care within this apostolate. Fr. Matthew and the Oblates in prison are always looking for pen pals. If you are interested, contact Fr. Matthew Habiger at mhabiger@kansasmonks.org. In addition, reintegration into society while on parole can be difficult for men and women transitioning out of the prison system. You can help support those who have been in prison by calling your nearest halfway house and giving your time, talent, or treasure in ways they most need.

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5 0 yea rs of Priestly Service F r. D u a n e R o y c e l e b r a t e s t h e 5 0 t h A n n i v e r s e r y o f h i s o rd i n a t i o n

Father Duane Roy, member of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kansas, since 1960, was ordained to the priesthood June 2, 1967. This was during the post-Vatican II days, when the Abbey was working to establish St. Joseph Priory in Mineiros, Goiás, Brazil. Monks were regularly being sent to and from this new mission.

Newly ordained, Fr. Duane helped in various parishes staffed by Benedictine monks from the Abbey during that summer, and also served as hospital chaplain. In the fall of 1967, he enrolled in a master’s degree program at Emporia State College. He served four years at Fort Riley in Junction City, Kansas, as weekend civilian military chaplain during the build-up of the Vietnam War. Soon, he felt the call to missionary life and requested of his abbot to work with the other Kansas Monks at the Priory in Brazil, founded in 1962. He and Brother Robert Heiman, along with two Benedictine Sisters from Mount St. Scholastic Monastery, traveled to Brazil in September 1971, four years after his ordination.

Fr. Duane is the fifth of ten children of John and Olive Morin Roy. Raised on a farm in Western Kansas, and educated in public schools, he was active in sports, 4-H, and parish life serving as an altar boy. All four of his paternal and maternal grandparents were French-Canadian immigrants.

After 46 years as a missionary in Brazil and a variety of pastoral and monastic duties, he is currently the only North American member of St. Joseph Priory in Mineiros, Goiás, where the Monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey founded their priory. Over the years, Fr. Duane served as Prior, Novice Master, and Pastor. For eight years, he served as Vicar General in the Prelature of Cristalândia, Tocantins, where Bishop Herbert Hermes, another Benedictine from Atchison, served for 19 years as bishop.

Among his many activities, Fr. Duane also taught human relations in a pre-nursing program in a state high school in Brazil, and sociology, for ten years, in the first local Fr. Duane is a true blue college in Mineiros, Goiás, co-founded by Kansas Monk, a descendent Father Eric J. Deitchman in 1984, where from the sturdy French Fr. Duane served twice on the Board of Canadian colonists who Directors. came to West-Central He contributed to the formation of Kansas during the religious men and women, and to priesthood nineteenth century. He students, as well as assisting the formation has lived in Brazil and of men to the permanent diaconate in the Fr. Duane Roy (center) was ordained at ministered there for forty Diocese of Jataí, where St. Joseph Priory the Abbey in 1967. He has spent nearly five years. In his selfis located. Fr. Duane conducted retreats for all of his priestly ministry serving in effacing way, he has held religious women preparing for profession, Brazil; currently he assists at a São leadership roles there, but for seminarians and lay deacons preparing Bento in Mineiros, Goiás. most of all, he was and is for ordination. He facilitated men and women a Christ–bearer to grateful in the Cursillo Movement and couples in people in that nation, Marriage Enrichment Encounters. At the Mineiros Benedictines’ Parish, he assisted in the formation bringing Christ to them in of several urban and rural sub-communities, which are still active today. th the Eucharist and in his His work and position took him to Rome in 1980 for the celebration of the 1500 year of St. pastoral care of both the Benedict’s birth; to Buenos Aires in 1978; to Mexico City in 1984; to Rio de Janeiro in 1990 and 2006 monastery and the parish in for International Encounters of Monastic Groups in Latin America.

Mineiros. May he continue The celebration of his 50th Jubilee of Ordination was held at the Abbey in Atchison on Ascension to bring the Lord to many Sunday where many of his relatives joined the monks in praise and gratitude. On July 15, he will for years to come!. celebrate with parishioners, diocesan clergy, and religious of diverse congregations at St. Benedict’s Parish in Mineiros, Brazil, where he presently serves.

-Fr. Denis Meade 22

Kansas Monks

2017

A b b o t ’s T a b l e ta bl e sp o n s o r s

Thank you for your support!

Monte Cassino

why I joined the

D e acon C huck & Su san Ad ams

Fellow ship of C atholic University Student s

B en & Vick i Biller

O ’Malle y B e verage

D an Fang man & D olly D uf f y

Sutherl and Family Tr inity Travel

Subiaco

for young professionals

by Becca Caudle - BC ’13 The Society of St. Benedict for Young Professionals is very near and dear to my heart. The society has given me the opportunity to give back to the place that has given, and continues to give, me so much. I attended Benedictine College and absolutely loved the monks’ presence in so many aspects of my education. After being out of college for three years I attended my first Abbot’s Table and hadn’t realized until that moment how much of an impact the monks had on my life. I wouldn’t have been able to attend Benedictine College without their faithful step into Kansas 160 years ago. There are many reasons that I want to support the monks, but first among them is my appreciation for the men of the Abbey and all of the hard work and dedication they put into their mission – each and every day. The monks’ charism of prayer and work is something that I am proud to support; I have learned a great deal from their example and try to incorporate that idea of prayer and work into my life each day.

As a recent college graduate, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make a huge donation anywhere, but I knew I wanted to give back to the church in a way that was meaningful and important. I quickly learned that one of the best places to do that was with the Society and St. Benedict’s Abbey. Being a member of the Society has allowed me the opportunity to meet others who are just as passionate and it gives me so much hope for the future of St. Benedict’s Abbey. I owe so much to the men of the Abbey; and if it were not for them, I would not be where I am today.

If you would like to join or assist with the Society of St. Benedict for Young Professionals, please contact the Abbey Director of Communications, J.D. Benning, for more information at 913.360.7888 or info@kanasasmonks.org

In honor of Bi shop L oui s M. Fink , O SB Sandy & Tom Fitzmaurice Rob er t & Di ane Har ton

Ko e chner Family Ke v in & Pam Kramer McAnany Constr uc tion Rob er t Ro one y

Gu ad alup ana s Si sters Hank & Su san Ke ele y

Nursia B ob & B e tty Alb ers Archdio ce s e of Kansa s City in Kansa s Archdio ce s e of Kansa s City Kansa s S eminar i ans C harle y & Janelle C ar r ig an Cohor t I I Di aconate C andid ate s of KC K Eque str i an Order of the Holy S e pulchre of Jer u salem Molly & Tom Fre eman Fr iend s of the Monk s Nanc y Gib s on, Johns on County S er ra C lub A .L . Hub er G eneral Contrac tor Er ic & S arah Klingele

L ife touch National S cho ol Studio s Maur Hill Mount Ac ademy McMahon Dr. Tib or & Michelle Mohác si Luke & Jack ie Nold Pa st St ate D e putie s of KS Knig ht s of Columbu s D oug & Jo anna R iv ard Waddell & Re e d Financ i al Adv i s ors Ro ss ( Ro sco) Hal se y D e acon John & Z ena Wei st Mark & B arb ara We tt a Pat Smith & Tom Whalen Ste ve & Je annine Wy att

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•opus Th

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Kansas Monks

J

o s e p h

Ly

n c h

s dei• - The work of God -

E v e ry

e v e n i n g at S t . B e n e d i c t ’ s A b b e y , there is a transformation.

The dark ness of the Abbey gives way to light, the silence gives way to song, and the stillness is broken in the procession of monks entering the church. Vespers, or evening prayer as it is often called, is a beautiful contrast to the work of the da y, a window to heaven in the midst of the difficulties and distractions of daily life. This stepping back and raising of the heart and mind to God occurs five times each day – beginning with morning praye r or “Lauds” and ending with night prayer, also known as “Compline.”

For 160 years, as soon as the bells tolls for prayer, everything stops, all gives way to the glory of God. These prayers together are known as the Liturgy of the Hours, and they are central to Benedictine life and the C atholic Church as a whole – they are prayed daily by countless religious orders and laity around the world.

continued on next page Summer 2017

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HistoryThe

origins of the

Liturgy

of the

Hours’ hail from

the Jewish tradition, with readings, Psalms, and hymns being offered in praise at set times throughout the day. The Christians of the early Church simply continued this practice, yet now praying with Christ and to Christ.

Over time, the Church developed the collection of prayers into what came to be known as the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours. When St. Benedict wrote his Rule, he arranged an exact form to be used by the monks; this laid the foundation for what would become the the traditional Roman Breviary. The form was adopted throughout the Church and prayed with relatively few changes until the twentieth century. For years Benedictine monks, along with the whole Church, prayed the Liturgy at seven different hours of each day, filling humble monasteries and great medieval cathedrals with the chanting of the prayers in Latin.

Centuries later, the Second Vatican Council made the Liturgy of the Hours somewhat simpler and more accessible to the lay people of the Church.

They now allowed for greater flexibility while still giving specific guidelines to maintain unity in how these prayers would be offered. It is this form, which combines both the prayers and Psalms, that has been passed down through the ages with music and style that are more local and unique, that the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey pray today.

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The Divine Office

Kansas Monks

As the name implies, the Liturgy of the Hours is not something that a monk completes at some point during the day and then moves on to his other duties. Instead, Fr. Denis Meade, the novice master at the Abbey, described it as “punctuating the day with prayer” and creating “hinges upon which the rest of the day revolves.” With the first words of morning prayer, “Lord, open my lips,” the monk consecrates his words and his entire day to God. In the same way, night prayer ends with the supplication that God grant him a “restful night and a peaceful death.”

These bookends, so to speak, are part of what makes the Liturgy of the Hours such a powerful presence in the life of a monk. Not only do they provide this skeleton or foundation to each day, but they are also a reminder. Pointing out this dual structure of the Liturgy, Br. Leven Harton, the vocation director at the Abbey, described it as a way to “turn our minds back to God and the fact that God has given us our breath.”

The Rule of St. Benedict states that one of the primary requirements for being accepted into the novitiate is an “eagerness for the Work of God.” This Work of God, or Opus Dei as it is called in Latin, is primarily referring to the Liturgy of the Hours. Therefore, for the monks, the praying of the Divine Office is an obligation. But the idea of praying the same prayers for the rest of one’s life is not looked at as a burden but as an opportunity to grow in personal relationship with God. The Liturgy and personal prayer are “like two hands washing each other,” explained Fr. Denis, “one leads to the other and enriches the other.”

Praying the Liturgy of the Hours well day in and day out is more than a personal commitment, it’s a commitment to the Church. “Since I professed solemn vows a few years back it’s easy to think I’m going to be praying this forever, no need to try too hard right now,” Br. Leven pointed out, adding that “to be there and having my heart and and mind united to the words that are being spoken is something that the Church expects of me, something that God expects of me.”

Concerning the Liturgy of the Hours, the Office of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship states that, “In this way the Church fulfills the Lord’s precept to pray without ceasing, at once offering its praise to God the Father and interceding for the salvation of the world.” By committing themselves to this daily prayer, the monks and the religious orders throughout the world are giving their lives to this twofold purpose of praise and petition.

Sine Qua Non

Not

without it

Of course, a commitment to the prayers, Psalms, and readings is essential, but Fr. Blaine, the organist at St. Benedict’s Abbey, said there is something else in the Liturgy of the Hours that is sine qua non, that is, absolutely necessary.

That something is music.

“It is part and parcel of the Liturgy,” Fr. Blaine says, explaining that it engages more of the person because it engages more of his talent.

Fr. Blaine is a worthy source for understanding the part that music plays in the Liturgy of the Hours, having received a Master’s degree in Music from the University of Wisconsin– Madison, and teaching the subject for forty-five years at Benedictine College. Today, he fills the Abbey with beautiful organ melodies, many of which he composed himself. Some of the other melodies, called Psalmtones, were taken from other monasteries around the world that Fr. Blaine would visit and trade his own compositions for ones that the local monasteries had written. As a result, St. Benedict’s Abbey holds an incredible variety of music for the Liturgy of the Hours, with melodies written anywhere from Atchison to England.

The beauty of these organ compositions melded with the voices of the monks reverberating through the Abbey Church gives the Liturgy life and makes it much more than simply words on paper.

A Liturgy

for the

Universal Church

Though the Liturgy of the Hours is an obligation and a central part of the daily life of Benedictine monks and others living the consecrated life, the Church calls every Catholic to join in this public “prayer of the Church,” as the Catechism calls it.

Br. Leven likened the psalms prayed in the Liturgy to watching a good movie or reading a good poem. “You don’t get it all the first time,” he said and pointed out that there’s “much more meaning and much more intentionality packed into the words than you’re able to get in ten minutes or in the hour and a half that it takes to watch the movie.” This is not just because the writers of the Psalms were able to understand the human experience and express it in beautiful ways. The texts themselves, Br. Leven said, are “infused with the being of God” and are “invested with meaning by an Author who is infinite.”

As a proof of their significance and power, the psalms have been prayed unceasingly for thousands of years. Comparing the psalms to modern music, Br. Leven said he told some high school students recently that “in fifty or one hundred years, no one is going to know who Lil Wayne is” but “the psalms still have vital force because they’re good and because they capture the human experience in a way that Lil Wayne and Kanye West can’t.”

Not only is there so much depth and beauty to be found in the psalms, but the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the Liturgy of the Hours “permeates and transfigures the time of each day”. In the midst of a mundane or busy work week, the Liturgy forces those who pray it to keep their minds fixed on Christ rather than on the distractions of daily life.

But any monk would be sure to point out that the Liturgy of the Hours is not prayed simply for one’s own benefit. The General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours says that lay people who choose to pray the liturgy “must remember that by public worship and prayer they can have an impact on all men and contribute to the salvation of the whole world.”

Good Zeal

Like the lighting of the Abbey Church and the filling of its heights with song every evening, the Liturgy of the Hours has the capacity to enlighten and transform souls.

Chapter 72 of the Rule of St. Benedict instructs monks to fill themselves with good zeal. This energy and enthusiasm is the spark that spurs the soul towards “the heights of perfection.” The Liturgy of the Hours is one way in which monks, lay people, and the Universal Church can direct their good zeal towards this goal.

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St. Benedict’s Abbey Atchison, Kansas

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Summer 2017 | Volume 12 | Number 1

s av e . t he . dat e

honoring:

Louise Naum ann and her son

A r c h b i s h o p J o s e p h F. N a u m a n n -and-

T h e D u n n Fa m i l y

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