MONK LIFE From the Vocations Office of Saint Meinrad Archabbey
Fall 2015 • No. 7
On the cover: Nov. Thomas Fish, OSB, plays the trumpet during the ordination Mass of Fr. Luke Waugh, OSB. FEATURES 2 .....................................................................From the Editor 4-5 ..........................................................The Evangelical Counsels 6-7............................................................Year of Consecrated Life 8 ..................................................................A Lay Perspective 9 .............................................Mea Culpa: Truth in Community
This online publication can be viewed at www.saintmeinrad.org/monk-life Produced by the Vocations Office and the Communications Office of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Vocations Office, Saint Meinrad Archabbey 100 Hill Drive, St. Meinrad, IN 47577 vocations@saintmeinrad.org, www.saintmeinrad.org (812) 357-6318 © 2015
From the Editor
Br. William Sprauer, OSB Perspective is what Monk Life is all about. We hope to create a window into our lives as monks, a window into our way of thinking and seeing the world. Each of the articles in this fall issue reflects deeply on some of the fundamental pillars of monastic life: celibacy, solitude, obedience, community, prayer, humility – things that, for the most part, are looked down upon in popular culture. Celibacy? Really? You mean you don’t…? Obedience? You mean you have no freedom? Poverty? You mean you have nothing to call your own? All of these are very reasonable responses to the evangelical counsels; 2
yet, in professing the vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, we stand in solidarity with the lonely, the poor and the powerless. We take on some of their pain as our own in a radical sign of compassion, a sign that is certainly not without hardship, yet, as Fr. Edward reflects in his article, there is no resurrection without the cross. As we end the Year of Consecrated Life and move into the Holy Year of Mercy, we monks must reflect on how our profession of the evangelical counsels gives us perspective into the lives of the lonely, the poor and the powerless. We walk not one mile, but two, with those who ask us, so that when someone confides their loneliness or their powerlessness, we know their pain from experience.
Late this summer, I underwent a foot surgery that required me to be nonweight-bearing for several weeks. Needless to say, it was very painful, both emotionally and physically. Through this life experience, however, I gained valuable perspective on what it’s like to have mobility issues. All of the everyday, routine tasks we tend to take for granted instantly become difficult. Having others within the community with whom I share similar mobility issues is a comforting thing. While we hope to share our own monastic perspective through a publication such as this, our hope is that by intentionally marginalizing ourselves as monks, we may gain perspective on the unintentionally marginalized and share in their pain and suffering, as Christ has shared in our pain and suffering. +
Monastic
Observance
Retreat
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Dec 28 - Jan 1
Clockwise from top: Fr. Luke Waugh, OSB, is congratulated after his ordination to the priesthood on June 7, 2015. Fr. John McMullen, OSB, prays quietly in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Monks line up in statio to process into church for Vespers. Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSsR, receives Fr. Luke’s promise of priestly obedience.
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The Evangelical Counsels: Celibacy Br. John Mark Falkenhain, OSB
This month, in my regular meetings with the novices, I have been asking each of them about their experience of celibate chastity so far. When we talked as a group several weeks ago, I asked them to give some thought to what their motives for choosing celibacy were when they first decided to join the monastery. Truth is, for most men who are pursuing the religious life or priesthood, their initial motive for celibacy is usually: “It came along with being a monk (or nun).” Or, “It came along with the package of priesthood.” But there is much more to it. And even if this is the reason that lands a young man or woman in the celibate life at first – that it came along with the territory of religious life – it will not be enough in the end. Celibacy is not a senseless, small print, part-of-thecontract agreement. It’s a big, important pathway to … (I thought I would make you wait for it. See if you can figure it out by the end of the article.) This is the third installment in my threepart series on the evangelical counsels that I started last fall, shortly after Pope Francis had announced the year dedicated to consecrated life. As you may recall, I took on the challenge of convincing my readers that these three disciplines – obedience, poverty and celibacy – are not only central to the 4
charism of consecrated life (including the monastic life), but that they are attractive, charismatic features of the life as well.
Hopefully, I was successful with obedience and poverty. I have all kinds of confidence that you see how attractive celibacy is, too (contrary to what most teenagers say when I invite them to think about being a monk!). Let’s begin with a little scenario. A young guy decides he wants to be a monk. He begins telling his family and friends. The reaction he gets from many is: “But don’t you want to get married? Don’t you want to have a family?” Some of his friends even ask: “What about sex? Don’t you want to have sex?!” He could say: “No. I don’t really want those things. I only want to be a monk.” But if he says that, then he’s probably lying. Or he may not even be called to celibacy. Let me explain. The first thing to remember is that celibacy is about love. A disinterest in marriage, family and sex are not the signs that one is called to celibacy. The desire for marriage, parenting and a well-ordered sexual life are good and holy things. They are calls to love, and the whole of the Christian life is aimed at love. God is love! I often think that if someone cannot imagine him or herself in these kinds of loving relationships, he very well may not be called to celibacy.
Christ makes the goal of our Christian life plainly evident when He answers the question, “What is the most important commandment?” He says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:37-39). Love! Love of God. Love of neighbor. The whole of our Christian lives boils down to this; and so any discipline we embark upon, any vow we take, must be aimed at fulfilling this great command: To love God and to love our neighbor. How does this play out for the celibate? A few years ago, a dear friend of mine lost her husband of 40-some years. They hadn’t been able to have children, and so for nearly 50 years, they had been each other’s constant companions. They each worked for the Church – one in education, one in development work. They read Augustine together, they prayed together, they worshipped together. They ate together, slept together, sat quietly in the living room reading together. Then, one day, rather suddenly, Willie died. And Laurie was alone. She had lost the one person who knew and understood her better than anyone else.
Laurie suffered greatly in her loss (all widows and widowers do). She wondered how she would handle the loneliness. She wondered, even after some months had passed, if she would ever stop feeling sad, if she would ever feel happy again. The loneliness seemed unbearable. Around the same time, I had been feeling lonely as a celibate. I used to hide my loneliness from others, thinking that if I felt lonely, I was doing celibacy wrong: that I was somehow not praying properly or had not formed the right kind of supportive relationships among family or community members. One day, it finally occurred to me that I was supposed to be experiencing loneliness. I had invited it in, after all, and had done so, apparently, to help me better love God and the people around me. When I began to compare Laurie’s loneliness to mine, an important distinction became evident. I had chosen to be alone, but she had not. This led me to see that one of the reasons the celibate chooses loneliness is so others would not have to be alone in their loneliness. My experience as a celibate allowed me to see into Laurie’s new world in a way that many couldn’t. We shared a desire to be known by someone – mine chosen, hers an unwanted burden. It’s a great act of mercy and compassion to suffer and be with others in their sorrow. I also considered that if I could manage to be joyful, happy, fruitful and generous in my unmarried, unattached, celibate state, I might further offer a sense of hope to others who grieve and experience sorrow over finding themselves alone.
Think about it. If in our vow of poverty and obedience we make ourselves voluntarily poor and powerless to be in solidarity with those who also suffer from poverty and oppression, then in our celibacy we join the lonely, the widowed, the sexually marginalized, the rejected in their loneliness. In our celibate state, we stand next to them and try to say that there is still happiness and joy and it comes from Christ. One final thought about loneliness relative to celibacy. Loneliness is simply the experience of being disappointed in our desire to be known and understood. The truth is, we all experience loneliness. Widows feel great loneliness because they have just lost the one person on earth who knew and understood them best. Happily married people experience loneliness when, despite having lived together for years, their spouse still manages to disappoint them by saying something inconsiderate or embarrassing them in front of others, or by still not rinsing out the ice cream dish and putting it in the dishwasher – even after years of harping! In the best of marriages, with the closest friends, there is always still a part of us that remains unknown and misunderstood – – except by God. Here, then, is where loneliness ends, but not before it has drawn us to our deepest desire. We must remember that moments of loneliness are windows into our desire for God – the only one who can know and love us as deeply and completely as we desire.
I like to think that by not marrying, the celibate takes a fast track to this loneliness. He maybe gets a little sooner to this state of dependence on God to feel known and understood. And when he finds such consolation and joy in God’s limitless love, he discovers that he is not alone after all and his joy spills over into hope for others who long and ache for intimacy. We could go on to talk about spousal meanings of celibacy, ascetic theologies and celibacy as way of living in persona Christi. In the end, they all point toward love. I don’t think I could have known all this when I started out in monastic life. Just like marriage, we learn what our commitment means by living it. When I joined the monastery, I accepted celibacy as simply “part of the deal.” When it got tough, I decided to stick with it and trust in the wisdom of the Church – that it would lead me to greater love. I know it to be true. If someone questioned me now about my choice, I think would offer them this little poem I wrote a couple of years ago. I sowed a corner of my field in loneliness. It’s not a weed. I put it there. Now and then I pull up the self-pity and doubt that creep in around it. It has taken hold now, and next year I may plant another acre or two. The neighbors think I’m crazy. They say: “We spray against that.” and walk away, laughing and shaking their heads. But they don’t see its bloom in the middle of the night, Or taste its fruit in the early hours of the morning. +
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Testimonials
Year of Consecrated Life In honor of the Year of Consecrated Life, we asked several religious to give short testimonials about their experience of consecrated life in the monastic setting. Each issue of Monk Life during 2015 features their responses to these questions: • What does monastic life mean to you? • What is most important to you about monastic life? • What is it about monastic life that brings you joy? Fr. Edward Linton, OSB When, many years ago, I professed my monastic vows of stability, obedience, and conversion to the monastic way of life, I never dreamed that my life would develop in the way it has. Reflecting back, my life 30 years later doesn’t look much like I would have anticipated or wished on my profession day. That is because, on that day, I understood the vows I was taking as more restrictive: just staying put, simply doing what I was told and merely fitting in. However, I have come to understand that the vows I took mean so much more and are surely meant to liberate, not to restrict. During these past 30 years, I have been assigned quite a variety of work. I have had the opportunity to work with young adults as a college teacher. I have had the opportunity to work among the poor as pastor of an 6
inner-city parish. I am now working with Benedictines from all over the world at our international headquarters in Rome. I wouldn’t have wanted any of it 30 years ago! I might have even said that the work I have done doesn’t sound very monastic. However, the lesson I have learned from my monastic profession is that God wants something better for me than I can imagine for myself! Certainly, this doesn’t mean that there haven’t been disappointments. There have been disappointments – plenty of them. After all, the Gospels require them: “whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10:38)! The Rule of St. Benedict encourages us to embrace them: “…the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the Lord’s sake…” (RB 7:35). I don’t mean to dismiss these disappointments or even excuse the human behavior that sometimes causes them. However, they have allowed me to encounter God, who makes the
crooked ways straight (Lk. 3:5). Time and again, through disappointment and trial, God has reminded me that something better has been prepared for me than I can imagine for myself! Nov. Thomas Fish, OSB After entering the monastic life, I found it difficult to describe the life to family and friends. I felt like all I could articulate to them were external and formal aspects of monasticism, whether it be the horarium (daily schedule), liturgy or what work I had done for the week. There was something unsatisfying with this explanation. The only “goto” phrase that I could muster was that “the liturgy was beautiful.” I did not have the vocabulary to describe how melodies and words to the hymns moved my spirit with gusto.
There is an older monk here whom I greatly respect. He is the cheeriest person I have ever met. There are days that he might feel under the weather, but he always seems to pull himself back up and greet people with a smile. The monks have a great sense of humor as well; this comes out during community recreation, whether we are sitting in a circle talking or playing a card or board game. Each exchange between community members is a glimpse into what it means to be human. They offer themselves in a loving and genuine way. Reading about monastic life is helpful, but some things have to be experienced. If you are curious about our way of life, by all means, plan a trip and come visit Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Let us hope that our lives become a witness to what the monastic, and the Christian, life exemplifies. Nov. Timothy Herrmann, OSB At Vigils recently (our first community prayer of the day), we heard from a homily attributed to St. Peter
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What I wanted to share with my family and friends was that my confreres were a strong testament to the monastic life. Part of seeking God is trying to further understand what it means to be part of His creation. Because my fellow confreres are so different from one another, each one offers a different glimpse into what it means to be human.
Fr. Edward Linton, OSB, currently works as the coordinator of guest services and of the monastic continuing formation programs at the Benedictine headquarters, Sant' Anselmo, in Rome.
Chrysologus; his words invited my further reflection: “Love peace and all the world will be tranquil and quiet.” Peace. Peace is such a great gift from God and something worth pursuing. Amidst the hustle and bustle of prayer and work in the monastery, I think there is a residual and lasting peace about our efforts. What I find so joyful about the monastery is its peace. I think the closer we grow toward perfect peace, the more tranquil and quiet our world becomes. This tranquility and quietness is an interior and spiritual disposition that allows us to hear God’s voice, even when the outside world is chaotic. Growing, however, toward perfect peace is a lifelong process, and I am learning more and more to be patient and allow God to work. The more I get out of the way, the more God gets in the way.
When we “turn from evil and do good and seek peace and pursue it,” as the psalmist encourages (Ps. 34), we recognize God’s presence all around us. We are graced with the perseverance to realize the divine in the challenging moments of life, and we are blessed to rejoice in the consolations and delights of fruitful monastic living. We face our fair share of struggles and grievances in the monastery – especially when so many personalities are under one roof. Far beyond these perceived annoyances are the rich gifts God has nourished in us to make this community what it is. Part of conversion to the monastic way of life is reversing our lens so we see the good in one another. As I develop this Christ-like way of looking and living with my brothers, it helps shape how I encounter the world. And that has made all the difference in journeying with God along the path of peace. +
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Prayer for the Sake of the World
A Lay Perspective:
By Janis Dopp, Oblate of Saint Meinrad Archabbey “What is the one thing about our life here at the monastery that you, as a lay person, hope will never change?” The question was coming from a young junior monk during a discussion with lay people about our interest in the monastic way of life and what it is that brings us back, over and over again, to spend time with the community.
My answer came easily: “Your life of prayer and the opportunity to share that prayer with you.” The response was a simple explanation for a much deeper need that was being met by the community’s daily, public observance of prayer as it prayed the Liturgy of the Hours in the Abbey Church.
prayer life, which is the central focus of what they live to do. We are strengthened to challenge the priorities of the culture we live in and to define our own lives as encounters with our living God, who listens to our prayers and responds to our needs accordingly.
In a homily on the Gospel of Matthew, St. John Chrysostom observes, “You are the salt of the earth. It is not for your own sake… but for the world’s sake that the word is entrusted to you…the man who is clean of heart, a peacemaker and ardent for truth will order his life so as to contribute to the common good.”
aware that what they are doing is as much for my sake as it is for theirs. As the community joins the cantor in chanting, “O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me,” I am called to trust that God knows my needs and understands my cares. It is an internal reordering of the cultural imperative to trust in myself alone.
I need this reminder. It is what keeps me coming back, over and over again. It is what I take back home with me to chisel into my own routine. The monks’ desire to make prayer the center of their lives has life-giving and life-guiding benefits for those who look to them as living examples of what life, properly ordered, can be like. +
Each time I join the monastic community in its public prayer, I am
We are encouraged to place prayer at the center of our lives by their commitment to a structured 8
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While the ordered life of the people who live in monastic communities under the Rule of St. Benedict is an opportunity for them to grow in grace, it is also a gift to those who visit the monasteries and observe a way of living that is, for the most part, sorely lacking in the world outside the monasteries’ walls. We are reminded by the choices the monks have made that prayer, stability and obedience are virtues worth cultivating in every setting.
Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB, prays quietly in the monastic choir in the Archabbey Church. Fr. Cyprian died peacefully in the Lord on May 18, 2015.
Mea Culpa: Truth in Community By Br. John Mark Falkenhain, OSB Every once in a while, the distinctiveness of the monastic life really hits me. Such was the case this afternoon. Where else but in a Benedictine monastery might you find a group of 50 or 60 men gathered in a room at 3:00 on an ordinary Wednesday afternoon to apologize to one another for their annoyances, their mistakes and their offenses against one another? Regularly throughout the year, our monastic community gathers for what are called culpa services. The proceedings are simple: an opening antiphon with verse (sung), an opening prayer, a brief reading from the Rule, a short reflection by one of the confreres, then the reason for being there – the saying of “culpa.”
go about the rest of our day, trying not to make the same mistakes, trying to get it right.
This stopping to take responsibility, to apologize and pray for mercy, is really at the heart of the Christian life and the monastic vocation: conversion. And we ask for what we really need: support and accountability from our confreres in order to change those things that keep us from being saints. Culpa services increase patience and mercy in community life. Fr. Harry likes to say that one of the best things about culpa is hearing one another and then being able to say to ourselves: “Well, at least he knows he grumbles and he’s working on it!”
One by one, beginning with the abbot, we monks use a simple formula to acknowledge and ask pardon for our sins against community life. “For my impatience with my confreres and my poor example to the juniors, I ask you to pray for me. Lord, have mercy.” (The community responds: “Lord, have mercy.”)
It might take only 30 minutes, but culpa is one of the many little, but significant, details that distinguishes our monastic life and points us in the direction of what we came to pursue: the work of becoming each day a better, more Christ-like person. I love culpa services. I love this life. It just makes sense. +
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After everyone has taken his turn, the abbot concludes the assembly with a short prayer, a blessing and the dismissal. We depart and then
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“For my judgmental attitude...”; “For breaking day silence…”; “For my misuse of lectio time…”; “For gossiping and murmuring...”; “For my arriving late to meals and Office…” Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
The monastic community prays the Our Father together at the Conventual Mass.
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Interested in the Monastic Life at Saint Meinrad Archabbey? Contact Us: vocations@saintmeinrad.org www.saintmeinrad.org
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S I PRAY, REveal to me your way for me to you, lord god.
Amen