Abbey Banner - Winter 2018

Abbey Banner Winter 2018-19

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If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple.

Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ §215

John-Bede Pauley, O.S.B.

This Issue Abbey Banner Magazine of Saint John’s Abbey Winter 2018-19

Volume 18, number 3

Published three times annually (spring, fall, winter) by the monks of Saint John’s Abbey.

Editor: Robin Pierzina, O.S.B. Editorial assistants: Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.; Dolores Schuh, C.H.M. Abbey archivist: David Klingeman, O.S.B. University archivists: Peggy Roske, Elizabeth Knuth Design: Alan Reed, O.S.B. Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Jan Jahnke, Ashley Koshiol, Beth Lensing, Cathy Wieme Printed by Palmer Printing Copyright © 2018 by Order of Saint Benedict Saint John’s Abbey Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-2015 abbeybanner@csbsju.edu saintjohnsabbey.org/banner/ ISSN: 2330-6181 (print) ISSN: 2332-2489 (online)

Change of address: Ruth Athmann P. O. Box 7222 Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7222 rathmann@csbsju.edu Phone: 800.635.7303

Cover: Old and new. Shadow of the twin towers of Saint John’s first church on the façade of the new church Photo: John-Bede Pauley, O.S.B.

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The Incarnation Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B.

Together with our obligation to use the earth’s goods responsibly, we are called to recognize that other living beings have a value of their own in God’s eyes.

Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ §69

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arlier this year, using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers discovered the BOSS (Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) Great Wall, a vast superstructure of 830 galaxies that is a billion light years in diameter. This is the latest reminder that space is really, really big! At a cool billion light years across, a distant complex of galaxy superclusters may be the largest structure yet found in the cosmos.

This issue explores the meaning and value of stewardship. Saint Benedict reverences all of life: God’s creation and the work of human hands. Consistent with the Gospel (Matthew 25:31-46), he insists that his monks care for the sick (RB 36), honor and respect others (RB 4.8, 14-19, 70-71; 72). Benedict also insists that the property and tools of the monastery be treated as though they were the sacred vessels of the altar (RB 31.10). Respect for God’s children (everyone!) and respect for God’s creation (everything!) are the heart of Benedictine stewardship. Caring for the woods, wetlands, and wildlife that surround Saint John’s is another expression of the love and respect that monks (and all disciples of Christ) manifest in their daily relationships. Dr. Bernard Evans identifies the threat to life, and especially to the poor, that climate change poses; he calls us “to be stewards of all creation.” Land manager Mr. John Geissler explains the geological formation of central Minnesota as he outlines the efforts to care for this special place. Brother Aaron Raverty details the history of the Saint John’s Fire Department, guardians of the Collegeville campus.

The Saint John’s Pottery, embodiment of Benedictine stewardship and selfsufficiency, has graced our community since 1979. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified firewood from the abbey arboretum is used for the biennial firing of the Johanna Kiln, creating thousands of works of fine pottery and sculpture. Photos of several pieces from the most recent firing are featured in this issue.

Committed to moderation, yet sensitive to human infirmities, Saint Benedict judged that two cooked dishes were sufficient for the daily fare of his monks (RB 39). Most natives of the upper Midwest know that the centerpiece of a meal—whether for a humble supper, a festive holiday, or a funeral luncheon— is hotdish. Brother Ælred Senna invites our readers to share their favorite hotdish recipes, promising to publish the winner in the next edition of Abbey Banner. (See page 37 for more details.) So keep those cards and letters coming in, folks!

As the Advent season prepares us for Christmas and Epiphany, Abbot John Klassen opens this issue with a reflection on the Incarnation and on our graced, if frail humanity. Pope Francis urges us to share the joy of Christ’s birth by extending hospitality to others, especially the marginalized, the sick, and the hopeless. We also are introduced to our newest member, Brother Mariano Franco Méndez; Benedictine Volunteers in Uganda; new titles from Liturgical Press; and more.

The staff of Abbey Banner joins Abbot John and the monastic community in offering prayers and best wishes to all our readers for a blessed Christmas and healthy new year. Peace!

Brother Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

Individual galaxies like our own Milky Way are bound together by gravity into clusters, and these clusters clump into superclusters. These can, in turn, link together into long lines of galaxies called walls. On the grandest scales, the universe resembles a cosmic web of matter surrounding empty voids—and these walls are the thickest threads.

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The scale of the universe, as it continues to change, to die and be reborn, taxes our human ability to comprehend. To further complicate matters, Christians believe that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, in a specific time and place. Given the scale and time frame of the universe, it is a mind-boggling miracle that God chose this earth and our vulnerable, human form to be for us in our redemption and transformation.

I recently read theologian John F. Haught’s book God and the New Atheism. The new atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens (deceased), and Sam Harris fault the Bible for its lack of good science, for the kind of God who is portrayed, for the slaughter that is described and even celebrated. For these scholars, that our faith is so embedded in the history of human beings is a sign of its complete inadequacy. For them, that moral ideas and reflection occur within the human landscape of economics, politics, history, and other concepts makes the ethical thinking in the Bible second-rate and disposable.

Of course, the Christian tradition, both East and West, has dealt with this form of Gnosticism before. As theologian Nathan Mitchell has noted, these writers give us a form of “excarnation,” in which one separates the divine, the transcendent, from the human.

The incarnation forcefully reminds us that God revealed the divine image to Israel and to us in history, in time. Our salvation, our slogging toward eternal life, is not worked out under ideal conditions—in an ideal family, monastic community, or Church—but rather in the ordinary circumstances of the here and now, with our own frail and graced humanity.

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Christmas Hope Francis, Bishop of Rome Mary gave birth to her firstborn son . . . and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7

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n these words, Saint Luke brings us to the heart of that holy night: Mary gave birth; she gave us Jesus, the light of the world—a simple story that changes our history forever.

Everything that night became a source of hope.

By decree of the emperor, Mary and Joseph had to leave their people, their home, and their land, and to undertake a journey in order to be registered in the census. This was no easy journey: they had to leave their land!

At heart, they were full of hope and expectation because of the child about to be born; yet their steps were weighed down by the uncertainties and dangers that attend those who have to leave their home behind.

Birth of Christ Luke frontispiece, Donald Jackson, 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

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This is the English translation of Pope Francis’ homily for Midnight Mass, 24 December 2017.

They arrived in Bethlehem, a land that was not expecting them, a land where there was no place for them. And there, where everything was a challenge, Mary gave us Emmanuel. The Son of God had to be born in a stable because his own had no room for him. “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him” (John 1:11). There, amid the gloom of a city that had no room or place for the stranger, there the

revolutionary spark of God’s love was kindled. In Bethlehem, a small chink opens up for those who have lost their land, their country, their dreams.

So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary. We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions who do not choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones. In many cases this departure is filled with hope, hope for the future; yet for many others this departure can only have one name: survival. Surviving the Herods of today, who, to impose their power and increase their wealth, see no problem in shedding innocent blood.

Mary and Joseph, for whom there was no room, are the first to embrace the One who comes to give all of us our document of citizenship, the One who in his poverty and humility proclaims and shows that true power and authentic freedom are shown in honoring and assisting the weak and the frail.

That night the One who had no place to be born is proclaimed to those who had no place at the table or in the streets of the city.

The shepherds are the first to hear this Good News. By reason of their work, they were forced to live on the edges of society.

Their state of life, and the places they had to stay, prevented them from observing all the ritual

prescriptions of religious purification; as a result, they were considered unclean. Their skin, their clothing, their smell, their way of speaking, their origin—all betrayed them. Everything about them generated mistrust. They were men and women to be kept at a distance, to be feared. They were considered pagans among the believers, sinners among the just, foreigners among the citizens. Yet to them—pagans, sinners, foreigners—the angel says: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy . . . . For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

This is the joy that we are called to share, to celebrate, and to proclaim. The joy with which our merciful God has embraced us pagans, sinners, and foreigners— and demands that we do the same. The faith we proclaim tonight makes us see God present in all those situations where we think God is absent. Gold is present in the unwelcomed visitor, often unrecognizable, who walks through our cities and our neighborhoods, who travels on our buses and knocks on our doors.

This same faith impels us to make space for a new social imagination, and not to be afraid of experiencing new forms of relationship, in which none must feel there is no room for them on this earth. Christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the

power of charity—the charity that does not grow accustomed to injustice, as if it were something natural, but that has the courage, amid tensions and conflicts, to make itself a house of bread, a land of hospitality.

In the child of Bethlehem, God comes to meet us and make us active sharers in the life around us. God offers a child to us, so that we can take him into our arms, lift him, and embrace him.

So that in him we will not be afraid to take into our arms, raise up, and embrace the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned [see Matthew 25:35-36]. In this child, God invites us to be messengers of hope. God invites us to become sentinels for all those bowed down by the despair born of encountering so many closed doors. In this child, God makes us agents of God’s hospitality.

Little child of Bethlehem: we ask that your crying may shake us from our indifference and open our eyes to the suffering. May your tenderness awaken our sensitivity to recognize our call to see you in all those who arrive in our cities, in our histories, in our lives. May your tenderness persuade us to feel our call to be agents of hope and tenderness.

Christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity—to make itself a house of bread, a land of hospitality.

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ule of Benedict

Monastic Profession

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uring the celebration of the Eucharist on 24 October 2018, the fifty-seventh anniversary of the dedication of Saint John’s Abbey and University Church, Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B., and the monastic community witnessed the profession of first vows by Mariano (David) Franco Méndez. Also present for the festive liturgy and the supper following it were dozens of local Latinx family members, including energetic children whose pitch and volume are not often heard in the monastery.

Born in San Juan de Aragón, Mexico City, Brother Mariano (32), spent the past year discerning a vocation to Benedictine life in Collegeville. He had previously completed a novitiate year and two years in simple vows at Abadía del Tepeyac, near Mexico City. Because his parents had fulltime jobs, Mariano was raised by two single women, to whom he gratefully attributes his Christian and intellectual formation. He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and theology from Universidad La Salle, and a master’s degree in psycho-oncology from the Instituto Mexicano de Psicooncología (IMPo; Mexican Institute of Psycho-oncology). After

Listen, my son, to your master’s precepts.

Rule Prol.1

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The Tools of the Monastery Eric Hollas, O.S.B.

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onks regularly cite Saint Benedict’s admonition to treat the tools of the monastery as if they were the sacred vessels of the altar (Rule 31.10). This underscores the importance of work, because “then are they truly monks when they live by the labor of their hands” (RB 48.8). But is there more here than meets the eye?

Two miracles from Saint Gregory the Great’s Life of Saint Benedict reinforce the importance of objects in our lives. In one story Gregory tells of a plate that Benedict’s nurse had borrowed. It slipped from the table and broke on the floor, and the accident left the nurse disconsolate —both at the loss of the plate and the predicament in which she now found herself. Sixth-century justice may have exacted punishment for such carelessness, but that was the furthest thing from Benedict’s mind.

Instead, empathy welled up, and his heart went out to his servant. After a moment of prayer, Benedict handed back the plate, restored to its original condition.

Brother Mariano Franco Méndez and Abbot John Klassen

completing his graduate studies, Mariano served as a high school psychologist and guidance counselor, and taught religion and psychology.

“The monastic life,” reflects Brother Mariano, “is a calling and response based on love for God and neighbor, because being a monk means not being completely isolated from the world, but closer, embracing it through prayer and ministry. When I was a missionary for a year in the mountains of Puebla and in the poor areas of León, Guanajuato, I realized that I liked to help and be in contact with people. However, when night came, I loved silence, peace, and the solitude of the mountains—and that’s when I realized that my vocation

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

was not to be a missionary, but to be a monk. What attracted me to Saint John’s Abbey were the atmosphere and community life, and the manner in which the monks helped me to discover and rediscover my gifts.”

Brother Mariano is pursuing theological studies in Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. He also works with the Hispanic Ministries program at the Church of Saint Boniface, Cold Spring, Minnesota, where he assists with youth ministry and marriage preparation, and teaches about prayer and the Bible. An avid photographer, Mariano enjoys reading (especially psychology, history, and spirituality) as well as walking or biking around the campus.

Gregory also tells of a young Goth whom Benedict had received into the community. Wielding a scythe to clear brush, the young monk was stunned when the blade came loose and landed in the lake. Trembling with fear, he told Brother Maurus, who in turn told Benedict. The latter then extended the handle into the water, and in an instant the blade returned to its proper place!

No thing is more important than people.

The salient feature in both stories was the compassion that Benedict showed. Less benign lords might have taught their servants a lesson about the care of private property, but Benedict knew there was no malice in either the nurse or the young monk. What would punishment accomplish—other than to reinforce the fear that gripped both of them?

There is a vital lesson that we can draw from these stories. Things definitely have importance, but no thing is more important than people.

Things serve monks, and everyone else for that matter, and from that they derive singular value. But if the tools of the monastery have value, of how much greater value is the one who seeks God? In a world that tends to cede pride of place to wealth, Benedict’s actions point to a major Christian principle. People have value, regardless of how much or how little they own. And there is a corollary. Work has significance, as Benedict affirms. But a few things truly excel in value. These include prayer, study, rest, and recreation. Then there are empathy and forgiveness. And above all, there is love.

Eric Pohlman, O.S.B.

No thing is more important than people.

Father Eric Hollas, O.S.B., is deputy to the president for advancement at Saint John’s University.

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Care for God’s Creation Bernard Evans The sea is rising.

We have to move.

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South Pacific islander offered this glum assessment of her peoples’ ancestral home during an interview for an Academy-Awardnominated documentary, Sun Come Up. The Carteret Islands lie fifty miles off the coast of Bougainville, a territory belonging to Papua New Guinea. The islands are sinking, but they also are threatened by a warming and expanding ocean. Because of salt water inundation, residents can no longer grow the crops they need for survival. Before long the land itself will be covered by the rising sea. These islanders are among the first climatechange refugees, and they are a symbol of who suffers most from environmental degradation.

People who are poor carry the greatest burden from environmental damage. Two events in late summer 2018 illustrate this point. When Hurricane Florence struck the North Carolina coast, mayors in cities along the shore encouraged residents to evacuate. News commentators noted that some residents chose not to follow these instructions and remained in their homes— decisions that seemed to put both the residents and emergency rescuers in danger. Not mentioned were the reasons for waiting out the storm: residents could not afford the gasoline to

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drive farther inland, nor could they afford a hotel room if the shelters were filled. At the same time, the United Nations issued a report noting that world hunger is again on the rise. The steady decline in global hunger ended in 2017, when the number of undernourished people rose to 821 million, up from 750 million in 2013. According to the UN report, the principal reason for this increase in world hunger was the natural disasters brought on by climate change.

Today rising sea levels offer one of the most striking examples of how people with limited resources are affected by damage to the environment. Coastal communities throughout the world are threatened by rising seas. One quarter of the human population lives on or near sea coasts, and the majority of the world’s megacities are located in coastal areas. New York, Miami, and Los Angeles already are preparing for the impact climate change is likely to have on their citizens—more frequent and violent storms, and higher water levels on their shores. The more

If we are doing something today that threatens people living in the future, we must change our behavior.

Malé, Maldives, Indian Ocean

affluent parts of the world are able to take steps to lessen the impact of global warming.

In other parts of the world, many are not able to make such adaptive preparations. Bangladesh is one such nation, along with the Maldives—and so are the Carteret Islanders: “The sea is rising. We have to move.”

Yet another example is Kiribati, an island nation in the central Pacific region. A 2017 CBSN: On Assignment report told their story. Like the Carteret Islanders, those on Kiribati are preparing to move. Some of the residents of Kiribati are acutely aware of why they face this crisis—climate change. And they know that the United States

Oblivious/Wikipedia

contributes twenty-five percent of human-caused carbon going into the atmosphere. They also know that the United States has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, the climate accord negotiated by nearly two hundred state parties.

There is a large disconnect between what causes climate change and who suffers most from its effects—as with many other environmental problems.

The vast majority of scientists recognize that human behavior, especially in more affluent nations, contributes most to climate change. The resultant sea-level rises already are having their greatest and most damaging impact on people least

responsible for this crisis, on people least able to respond or adapt to the impact this warming now has on their homelands.

Catholic social teaching emphasizes a preferential option for the poor. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are expected to act on behalf of those with the greatest needs.

This means providing direct assistance, but it also means recognizing, naming, and changing whatever is causing people and nations to need this assistance so desperately. Preferential option for the poor means that when we are faced with more than one choice, more than one option as to what action should be taken to address a problem, we will choose what we believe will bring the greatest benefits to those with the greatest need.

Related to climate change, and especially rising sea levels, the preferential option for the poor might lead us to several actions.

One might be to support a carbon tax. Another could be to help family and friends learn about the plight of people like those living in Kiribati or the Carteret Islands. We could urge international conventions to recognize as refugees those migrants fleeing from the poverty caused by environmental degradation. We might also use our voting privilege to elect candidates willing to address climate change—and other environmental problems—through effective public policies.

The Christian life must be marked by love for our neighbors—the ones next door and those across the globe, the ones living with us today and those coming after us. The virtue of prudence tells us that if we are doing something today that threatens people living in the future, we must change our behavior. We are called to be stewards of all creation, because it is God’s, and because it is good (Genesis 1:31). We have no right to live in a way that threatens the well-being of this earth and all its inhabitants—human and other living creatures. Pope Francis reminded us in Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home) that “all creatures are moving forward with us and through us toward a common point of arrival, which is God” (§83). The people of Kiribati and the Carteret Islands may be few in number, but they are a powerful symbol of our call to care for all of God’s creation.

Dr. Bernie Evans, professor emeritus of Saint John’s University, is the program director of the Collegeville Institute Rural Minnesota Fellows program.

Disciples of Jesus Christ are expected to act on behalf of those with the greatest needs.

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Winter Landscapes: Our Glacial Past John Geissler

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quiet winter trek through a snow-covered woods is a perfect way to take note of what we can’t see in other seasons. The trees, shrubs, and woodland wildflowers that hold our attention in spring, summer, or fall are put to bed under a blanket of snow. Now our eyes are allowed to take in wider views of the undulating landscape, and with crisp wonder we can visualize its ancient story of erosion and deposition.

The rolling topography featured in the Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum and the surrounding Avon Hills landscape is the handiwork of moving and melting ice about 12,000 years ago. Imagine the force required to scrape, transport, and deposit the sculpted sediment, 100–400 feet thick, above the bedrock that is found here! The questions I often

receive when teaching about glacial geology are: what caused the ice to move, and where was it coming from? An ice age begins when the heat of summer is not enough to melt all the snow from the previous winter. If this happens for enough consecutive years, a pile of snow forms that eventually condenses under its own weight into a higher density dome of ice. Eventually the ice of these domes gets so thick that the sheer weight of the domes pushes out the edges or lobes— visualize the movement of very thick pancake batter. Thus, gravity is the force behind glacial advance. Conversely, glaciers retreat when the ice at the edges melts faster than the ice is advancing. These are two key concepts to understand what happened here in central Minnesota.

One of the domes of ice forcing the movement in our direction

was centered near Hudson Bay, Canada. Geologists estimate that ice in this location was about two miles thick. (For reference: the largest skyscraper in the world today is just over a half mile high.) In fact, the weight was so great that the dome depressed the crust of the earth! One area to which this immense dome pushed a lobe of ice was the Lake Superior Basin. Over Duluth the ice was estimated to be one mile thick. Not surprisingly, it scraped the North Shore landscape down to the bedrock. All this eroded material had to be deposited somewhere, and the Avon Hills is where some of it came to rest.

Saint John’s is at the unique location where the Superior Lobe reached its limit and melted at the same rate as it was advancing— like a conveyor belt scraping up material from the North and melting and depositing it here.

Geologists were able to decipher the pathway of this ice lobe by the trail of characteristic rocks that it scraped from the North and deposited along the way.

These gifts of the Superior Lobe are a foundational piece of the topography and soils we stand on today in Collegeville.

Armed with this knowledge of how the beautiful glacially tumbled stones—prominently displayed in Saint John’s stone walls, bridges, and arches— traveled here, we can next look at individual stones to learn how they were formed. I will leave you with teasers on two of my favorites. First, banded iron for-

Saint John’s Outdoor U archives

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Abbey Conservation Corps The Abbey Conservation Corps (ACC) continues to make a substantial impact on Saint John’s, though perhaps not as dramatic as that of the Hudson Bay ice dome! Here are a few of the recent activities of the ACC at the abbey arboretum.

Chapel Trail Bridge Replacement

Abbey Conservation Corps volunteers constructed a new 70-foot boardwalk to replace the aging and failing last bridge just before reaching the Stella Maris Chapel on Lake Sagatagan. A special thanks to the generous donors who covered the cost of replacement.

Buckthorn Busting The ACC removed buckthorn from twenty-five acres of the abbey

arboretum where this invasive shrub was most abundant. This battle will continue every year, but it will get easier each year we stay on top of it!

John Geissler

Abbey Conservation Corps volunteers gathering acorns

mation (a rock with alternating dark gray and rust-red colored bands) formed as a result of the first oxygen-producing organisms about 2.5 billion years ago.

Second, Lake Superior agates were created by volcanic activity in the Lake Superior Basin 1.1 million years ago.

Whenever you pick up a rock— and they are everywhere around us!—you are picking up a piece of earth’s history. My hope is that your curiosity is now piqued to observe more closely the next intriguing rock or landscape you come upon, and to learn more about its formation. Ancient rocks and quiet hills are just another piece of the treasured landscape called Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum that never ceases to amaze with its story.

Conifer Bud Capping

Volunteers bud capped nearly four thousand young conifers to protect their terminal buds from winter deer browse.

Acorn Collecting

Three bushels of red oak and two bushels of white oak acorns were collected by ACC volunteers and delivered to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Badoura State Forest Nursery near Akeley. These soon-to-be seedlings will be available for our oak regeneration efforts in two or three years.

Prep School Stewards

Thanks to the students and staff of Saint John’s Preparatory School for their stewardship efforts.

Check out: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEzqRw7ylVY&feature=youtu.be>.

It’s never too late to be part of a team donating time, talent, or treasure to land stewardship projects in the 2,944-acre Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum! Abbey Conservation Corps volunteers participate in projects such as tree planting/care, invasive species removal, prescribed burns, trail maintenance, and more. For more information, see our website: <https://csbsju.edu/outdooru/ events/volunteer>; call 320.363.3126; or just show up!

Mr. John Geissler is the Saint John’s Abbey land manager and director of Saint John’s Outdoor University.

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Saint John’s Fire Department Saint John’s has invested heavily in the installation of firesuppression systems and smoke detectors in campus buildings.

Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.

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arly humans first mastered fire about a million years ago, though much of that mastery was illusory. Fire, out of control, spells disaster. In historic times the need to avert calamity was met by the emergence of organized groups with resources for staving off such catastrophe: firefighters and, eventually, fire departments.

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Decades ago, prior to the establishment of a formal fire department, Saint John’s Abbey had but a single watchmonk. Nightly he patrolled the grounds, alerting others to possible danger. (He was also responsible for waking one of the community’s novices to ring the bell each morning so that the monks would not be late for prayer.) When the monastic community first settled in Collegeville, Brother Justus Zwak (1863–1889) and a few brothers working in the shops cared for a hose wagon and equipment. The inadequacy of this level of fire protection became obvious on 21 January 1939, when a fire on the upper floor of the old carpentry shop (today’s abbey woodworking shop) did significant damage to the building. Until that time, the only equipment available to fight fires was a horse- or manpowered twowheeled, hose-rolled trailer and a pile of buckets.

combustion and quickly spread to the attic in which the wood was stacked. Since the wagon had no pump, the only available water pressure came from the old water tower on the east side of the campus. A call to the Saint Cloud Fire Department (twelve miles away) summoned a pumper truck that helped salvage the building. The floor and the roof needed replacement, but the building was saved. This devastating fire motivated the monks to purchase a new Ford truck chassis, which the brothers repurposed for firefighting duty, the first area pumper truck west of Saint Cloud. The community also organized the Saint John’s Fire Department.

The carpentry shop fire started in the bookbindery where some oilsoaked rags enabled spontaneous

Saint John’s huge quadrangle was for many decades one of the most vulnerable structures on

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Carpentry Shop fire, January 1939

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campus. In the 1930s, after Brother Edward Zwak (1903– 1991) was appointed the first fire chief, a system of wet standpipes, hose racks, and fire doors was mounted throughout the building. An infrastructure of looped fire mains supporting hydrants around the campus was also installed at this time.

It wasn’t until 1956, however, under the guidance of Fire Chief Brother John Anderl (1916– 2003), that monks received formal training from an outside firefighting agency, coalescing into a more effective team. The department connected a fire alarm system of more than 6,000 feet of electrical conduit and fourteen miles of actual wire in 1959. A few years earlier, the original fire doors installed in 1939 were supplemented by smoke doors. More recently,

In the mid-1970s, able-bodied novices and junior monks discovered that their pursuit of a monastic vocation included “volunteering” for service on the fire department, for which they received monthly training. A 1972 Saint John’s University Record article states: “Besides [Fire Chief Brother David] Erceg and a station, the department has a 21-member monk force and four fire engines, including a newly arrived $25,000, 1972 fire truck.” In more recent times, as the pool of eligible monks diminished, the community considered adding students to the force. Since 2000, volunteer campus staff and students have been formally trained and added to the ranks of the fire department. Today three monks, sixteen students, and two university staff members—Mr. Michael Roske, woodworking shop manager, and Fire Chief Mr. Steve Berhow—constitute the Saint John’s firefighting team. For added protection, the department is a member of the Central Minnesota Fire Aid Association, a consortium of fifteen municipalities clustered around Saint Cloud, Minnesota, all of which come to one another’s aid when summoned.

By the grace of God, no fire has escaped beyond any college dorm room in which it started,

nor has anyone died in a fire at Saint John’s. There have been some spectacular and destructive fires in other buildings, however.

Fire destroyed some of the grainand wood-processing mills near the edge of the Watab (Stumpf Lake) in 1882, and the Stella Maris Chapel on Lake Sagatagan was set ablaze by a lightning strike in 1903. In August 1927 Saint John’s huge dairy barn burned to its stone foundation.

The 1940s pig-barn inferno forced the relocation of the Collegeville porkers to the present-day Forest Mushrooms property south of campus. A keg-party fire destroyed the old maple syrup sugar shack in February 1971. Another major fire occurred on 21 April 1988, when a bottle rocket landed atop Guild Hall (the old gym), igniting the roof. The Saint John’s Paint Shop, a building listed on the

Brother John Anderl assisted the fledgling fire department beginning in 1939 and was appointed chief in 1952. Though easily excitable, he was the star of the department throughout his decades of service. He assisted in the development of the first coded alarm system for the campus and was instrumental in the construction of Saint John’s fire station in 1965.

In addition to winning seventeen awards for fire and rescue work, he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Minnesota Fire Chiefs Association.

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National Register of Historic Places, went up in flames on 14 January 2014, along with hundreds of oak bed-frames and chairs from the abbey woodworking shop that were being varnished in the building.

The novelty of firefighting monks has not gone unnoticed. The Saint John’s Fire Department and its volunteer monks have received a fair share of publicity over the years. Articles appeared in Catholic Digest (May 1964; May 2000) and People magazine (December 1999), in addition to occasional features in Minnesota newspapers and on Minnesota Public Radio.

Monk fire chiefs over the years included Brothers Edward Zwak, John Anderl, David Erceq, Arnold Jirik, Walter Kieffer, John-Ambrose Stattlemann, and [Prior] Bradley Jenniges. In 1996 Mr. Bob Pogatschnik, former fire chief of Avon, Minnesota, became the first layman to lead the Collegeville crew. He was succeeded by Mr. Jay Bohan in 2001, and by Mr. Steve Berhow in 2008. The Saint John’s Fire Department, explains Chief Berhow, “responds to fire, medicals, and disasters of any kind on campus. As fire chief, I also do all inspections on campus, safety- and fire-related.”

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs), overseen by Life Safety Services director Mr. Shawn Vierzba, complement the firefighters’ efforts in providing

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emergency assistance. Firefighting volunteers likewise double as stewards of the land when called upon to assist the abbey arboretum staff with controlled burns in our prairie and adjacent areas.

Paint Shop fire, January 2014

Eric Pohlman, O.S.B.

Chief Berhow has the last word: “My story as always starts with hiring new students and the continued process of training all the firefighters. Saint John’s Fire Department members are Minnesota-state certified. We thankfully do not have a lot of fires but respond to about 280 calls per year. We, as a department, all work together to keep Saint John’s a safe environment.” A fitting conclusion to a burning issue!

Brother Aaron Raverty, O.S.B., a member of the Abbey Banner editorial staff, is the author of Refuge in Crestone: A Sanctuary for Interreligious Dialogue (Lexington Books, 2014).

Saint John’s firemonks (l to r): Father Nick Kleespie, Brothers Eric Pohlman and John Brudney

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

Rest easy, Collegeville. Your volunteer firemonks are on the alert!

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

The firefighting skills of the monk volunteers has varied greatly. In the 1970s, comparisons of the firemonks to the antics of the Keystone Cops were not uncommon nor unwarranted, as suggested by an article in the 14 February 1972 issue of The Record: The department’s main business consisted of fighting grassfires together with Saint Joe’s crew of crack firemen. Other than occasional difficulties in cajoling one of its engines up a slight incline, Saint John’s had a smoothly running grassfire control operation. It did, that is, until last spring. [Chief David Erceg] recalls: “We got called in the afternoon to take care of our portion of a ten-mile long fire along a set of railroad tracks. It started off badly with the rupturing of one engine’s brake line, but we took off with the remaining pair of trucks. One of these (a ladder truck), was hit by a cattle truck while negotiating a left turn off Highway 52.” The day’s final tally: some arbitrarily shortened ladders, a bunch of would-be grass preservers thrown into the ditch, some disgruntled cows, a fine for the cattle trucker, and what Chief Erceg calls “the worst day in the history of the department.”

The Saint John’s Fire Department has five vehicles in its fleet. Engine 1, a 2004 Pierce (Contender series), and Engine 3, a 2017 Pierce: each is equipped with a 750-gallon water tank, carries a crew of five, and is capable of pumping 1250 gallons of water per minute (GPM). Ladder 2, a 1991 Grumman (Simon-Duplex chassis), equipped with an Aerial-Cat 102-foot platform ladder and a 300-gallon water tank, carries a crew of six and can pump 1500 GPM. Medical 4, a 1988 Ford E350 (Econoline) coach, carries a crew of six and is a basic life support (BLS) ambulance. Grass Rig 5, a 1986 Ford F350 pickup, carries a crew of two with a 200-gallon water tank capable of pumping 134 GPM, and is used for fighting grass fires.

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Eric Pohlman, O.S.B.

Firehose carts (above left) were the only firefighting equipment that Saint John’s had until 1939. A Ford truck chassis purchased in 1938 was built into a firetruck (above right) by Brothers Edward Zwak, Stephen Thell, and John Anderl; it was retired in 1971. The 1916 Seagrave hook and ladder truck (below), c. 1956. Photos: Abbey archives

The 102-foot platform ladder on Ladder 2 (1991 Grumman) has been used to change lightbulbs or to lift maintenance staff onto the church bell banner to repair the bells. Its true value was confirmed during the paint shop fire in January 2014.

Abbey archives

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Title of Article

Brandon Russell

Richard Bresnahan

Shumpei Yamaki

Clay and Fire 2017 Since 1979 Saint John’s University artist-in-residence and master potter Mr. Richard Bresnahan has directed the Saint John’s Pottery. For ten days in October 2017 dozens of volunteers assisted Richard and the pottery staff during the fourteenth (biennial) firing of the Johanna Kiln, the largest wood-burning kiln in North America. Local clay and glaze materials were transformed into thousands of works of pottery and sculpture. Shown here are a few examples of the fine work created during the 2017 firing.

Photos by Peter Lee

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Richard Bresnahan

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Richard Bresnahan

In Times of Trouble notes that it is applicable to all Christians. The late 1960s were a tense and chaotic time, much like our own. As Father Merton writes:

Lauren L. Murphy

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enedictine men and women make three vows during their monastic profession: obedience, stability, and conversion to the monastic way of life.

The second vow has been coming to mind lately. There is much chaos swirling around these days. Politically, culturally, ecclesiastically—there are issues to cause anxiety and angst everywhere. And thus I’ve been considering that little word: stability. For Benedictines, it has a twofold meaning. They vow stability to a place, to a particular monastery with a particular group of people. But it is also a vow to stability of heart, a commitment to remain steadfast and to attempt balance in the midst of noise and distraction. In a world of chaos, stability is a radical act.

Liturgical Press has several books this year that help readers embrace this stability, to nurture peaceful hearts and minds. In Sauntering Through Scripture, Genevieve Glen, O.S.B., breathes new life into scriptural stories and prayers, biblical figures, and psalms. The brief reflections come from her lectio divina, and they invite readers to share in the lectio practice themselves. Typically, lectio is described as a “chewing” on Scripture, savoring its flavor and ruminating on the richness of the text: it feeds and nourishes. Sister Genevieve borrows from Pope emeritus Benedict XVI to use the meta-

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Frank Kacmarcik, Obl.S.B.

phor of sauntering, of taking a slow walk through the Bible, stopping to visit with people along the way, gazing at important landmarks. In so doing, she invites readers to pause with the text, to take it in rather than rushing past to the next place or friend or prayer. She allows us to sit with the texts and let them do their work on us.

Regrettably, anger is all too prevalent an emotion these days.

In some ways, perhaps, we can’t help but respond with anger to the world around us. However, Mary Margaret Funk, O.S.B., proposes that we renounce the violence of anger, and instead turn toward the love of God and Christ. In Renouncing Violence, she shows how to go about this revolutionary practice. Sister Meg acknowledges that violence

appears in our lives in many ways: from the small violence of straining our senses to the large violence of rage and death.

“Violence,” she writes, “undermines our steady journey toward God. Jesus is the way out of the cycle of violence.” She provides a concrete way to return our minds and hearts to Jesus through the practice and symbolism of using holy water to bless, cleanse, and free us from violence, wherever it is emerging—in our personal lives and in our world.

In 1968 Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O., completed his last manuscript, The Climate of Monastic Prayer.

Liturgical Press has published a new edition, with a foreword

by Sarah Coakley, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his death.

Although this book was put together for monastics, the author

This is an age that, by its very nature as a time of crisis, of revolution, of struggle, calls for the special searching and questioning which are the work of the monk in his meditation and prayer. For the monk searches not only his own heart: he plunges deep into the heart of that world of which he remains a part, although he seems to have “left” it. In reality the monk abandons the world only in order to listen more intently to the deepest and most neglected voices that proceed from its inner depth.

This contemplation, this deep listening, is not unique to monastics. Thomas Merton lays out the context of monastic prayer in such a way that it is broken open for all Christians looking for a way to find stability in turmoil.

Spirituality: An Art of Living by Benoît Standaert, O.S.B., presents ninety-nine topics divided into twenty-six chapters following the letters of the alphabet.

While grounded in the monastic tradition, this volume also reaches beyond the cloister to contemplative readers of all types. Father Benoît is a Benedictine monk who has

encountered other cultures and religions and has found much wisdom in this range of traditions. Within his writings he weaves together what he has gathered from his own tradition and from others. The result is a tapestry with threads from Benedictine tradition, Scripture, Buddhism, philosophy, and more.

The ninety-nine practices fit together and create a philosophy of life. Father Benoît writes: “Each letter provides only a door or a window; all letters together give access to the living space of a grand spiritual home, an area with room to breathe and with place for many.” Indeed, is this not what we are all striving for!

Finally, if your copy of the Rule is a little tattered and torn, or if you’re looking for a gift for friends or family, a new hardcover edition of The Rule of St.

In a world of chaos, stability is a radical act.

Benedict in English (reprint of RB 1980) is now available. A

pocket-sized volume with a ribbon for marking your place, this edition is perfect for reflection and study.

May your reading be fruitful, and your heart be steady.

Ms. Lauren L. Murphy, a freelance editor, worked for ten years at Liturgical Press and continues to edit for them as needed. She spends her days with words and tea, her husband and pets.

Feel free to visit her website: murphyedits.com.

Sauntering Through Scripture: A Book of Reflections by Genevieve Glenn, O.S.B. Pages, 144.

Renouncing Violence: Practice from the Monastic Tradition by Mary Margaret Funk, O.S.B. Pages, 168.

The Climate of Monastic Prayer by Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O., foreword

by Sarah Coakley. Pages, 172.

Spirituality: An Art of Living: A Monk’s Alphabet of Spiritual Practices

by Benoît Standaert, O.S.B., translated by Rudolf Van Puymbroeck.

Pages, 428.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English edited by Timothy Fry, O.S.B. These volumes can be ordered through www.litpress.org; or by calling 1.800.858.5450.

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Revelation’s Four Creatures Martin F. Connell

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lthough its last two chapters end with a lovely description of the “new Jerusalem,” much of the Book of Revelation includes terror-laden images: “flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder” (4:5), “sword and famine and pestilence and wild beasts” (6:8), “smoke of the great furnace” (9:2), “the bottomless pit” (11:7), and “the seven plagues” (15:6).

Eek! Perhaps because of the fears it stirs up, the Book of Revelation was not proclaimed much at Mass during the four centuries before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

Revelation was not, however, out of the imagination of the monks of Saint John’s Abbey. Its imagery, in fact, fills the murals in the Great Hall, the entry point for many visitors to Saint John’s.

Less known, but also revealing how Saint John’s monks drew from Revelation, are two other works of art—by Brother Placid Stuckenschneider (d. 2007) and Father Hugh Witzmann (d. 2012).

These artists took their inspiration from Revelation 4:6-7: “On each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.”

Although nothing in the Bible links these four creatures to the

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gospel writers, Saint Irenaeus of Lyon (ca. 130–200) made the connection, as have many Christian teachers and preachers in subsequent years. What is the connection with the evangelists?

Because the Gospel of Matthew opens with Jesus’ human genealogy (1:1-17), Matthew is linked to the human face. Mark, whose Gospel opens with the ministry of John the Baptist (1:1-11), is linked to the roaring lion, crying out in the desert. After its prologue, Luke’s Gospel describes a priest’s sacrifice in the Temple (1:5-22), so Luke is linked to the ox, a sacrificial animal. Because John’s Gospel describes the ascent of the Word of God (1:118), John is linked to the eagle.

The Saint John’s artworks that employ the four creatures have different but complementary

theologies. The first, The Four Evangelists by Brother Placid, is the metal sculpture on the façade of the Liturgical Press building.

Starting at the bottom right and moving clockwise, we see the human face (Matthew), the lion (Mark), the ox (Luke), and the eagle (John). The theology of the configuration is fulfilled by the eucharistic chalice at the center, catechizing that the Word of God proclaimed at Mass prepares the Church for the consecration of the bread and wine to follow.

Indeed, some churches in the Middle Ages, when liturgical books were handwritten, stood each of the gospel-books at the four corners of the altar to frame the sacrament as a fruit of the incarnate Word.

The second work of art is in Alcuin Library. Father Hugh called his sculpture The Madonna of the Gospels. It was exhibited at the New York World’s Fair in 1965, the same year the Second Vatican Council closed, anticipating the reform of Catholic worship and the inclusion of more of the Book of Revelation in the new Lectionary.

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

The Four Evangelists by Placid Stuckenschneider, O.S.B.

The theology of Hugh’s work differs from

Mary is the image of the Church in attentive hearing of the word of God, which took flesh in her. Mary also symbolizes openness to God and others; an active listening which interiorizes and assimilates, one in which the word becomes a way of life.

Verbum Domini §27

Although devotion to Mary rankles some, her openness to the converting Word from the Annunciation to Pentecost is an example for all Christians, even those who deny her significance, revealing how profound was her openness to receiving the incarnate Word of life (John 1:14; 1 John 1:1-4), and her vocation as a mother, even under extraordinary circumstances (Matthew 1:18-21).

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

Mary as not only the mother of Jesus and Mother of God, but also the theology of Mary as one who was open to the Word of life coming to her through the angel’s annunciation. Mary trusted the angel’s message and so brought her Son, the incarnate Word of God, into the world.

Mary is still the bearer of truth, salvation, and life to a world that, apart from God, is broken by lies, damnation, and death.

The Book of Revelation was written for a Church in a difficult time, hence its strident and engaging images. The Church today is also in a difficult time, as many, inside and outside, see the sins and wounds of its leaders and members. The works of these artists of Saint John’s inspire us to receive the Word of God as our word, and to pray that errant leaders and believers alike follow the example of Christ, God’s Word, and his mother.

Pope Benedict XVI issued an apostolic exhortation in September 2010 that helps us appreciate The Madonna of the Gospels:

Dr. Martin F. Connell is professor of theology at Saint John’s University.

The Madonna of the Gospels, 1964, by Hugh Witzmann, O.S.B.

Placid’s. In Placid’s piece, the Gospels are the frame for the celebration of the Eucharist. In Hugh’s piece, Mary—mother of Jesus and Mother of God—is the frame, and the four Gospels are, as we say in the Hail Mary, the “fruit of your womb.” Seeing the Gospels in the place where traditionally one sees the infant Jesus in Mary’s lap, viewers are moved to recognize the proclamation of readings at Mass as “in the flesh”—Jesus incarnate from his conception and birth from Mary.

Father Hugh’s theology supports the Roman Catholic theology of

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Lives of the Benedictine Saints Walburga Richard Oliver, O.S.B.

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very happy family might resemble every other happy family, but not many are as saintly as that of Saint Walburga (710–779)! Her father, King Richard of the West Saxons, is a saint. He obtained by his prayers the recovery of his threeyear-old son Willibald when the child suffered a serious illness.

Walburga’s mother, Winna, was the sister of Saint Boniface, Apostle of Germany. Her two brothers became Saints Willibald and Winibald; together they founded the double monastery— of women and men—at Heidenheim, and Willibald later became Bishop of Eichstätt, Bavaria.

Walburga’s Saxon name, like the Greek Eucharia, signifies gracious.

Before Walburga’s father left on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his sons in 721, he entrusted his daughter, eleven years old, to the abbess of Wimborne, a double monastery in Dorset. Richard the Pilgrim died of a fever in Lucca, Italy, where the citizens reported miracles to have occurred at his tomb. Richard is depicted with the Blessed Mother and his three children, a bishop, an abbot, and an abbess, at Eichstätt Cathedral, where some of his relics reside and where his son had served as bishop.

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Walburga spent twenty-six years in the claustral school and as a member of the community of Wimborne, Dorset, founded 705.

The monastery was noted for its holiness and austere discipline, and Walburga received an excellent education. Thanks to this tutelage, she was later able to write Saint Winibald’s Life and an account in Latin of Saint Willibald’s travels in Palestine.

She is thus considered by many to be the first female author of England and Germany.

Walburga’s uncle, Saint Boniface, judged that monastic women were best qualified to instruct and train others in the maxims and spirit of the Gospel. Among the women he called in 748 from England to Germany, was his niece, Walburga, and her Wimborne classmate Lioba.

They sailed with fair weather, but soon a terrible storm arose.

Walburga prayed, kneeling on the deck, and at once the sea became calm. On landing, the sailors proclaimed the miracle they had witnessed, so that Walburga was everywhere received with joy and veneration! Another tradition suggests that, on her way to Germany, Walburga visited Antwerp. In The tenth-century legend of Saint Walburga’s life affirms her gentleness, humility, and charity, as well as her power to heal the sick through prayer.

that city’s most ancient church, which later bore the title of Saint Walburga, there was a grotto in which she used to pray. At Mainz she was welcomed by her uncle, Saint Boniface, and by her brother, Willibald. Walburga spent two years at Bishofsheim where Saint Boniface named her friend, Lioba, the abbess.

Walburga became abbess of the women’s monastery at Heidenheim, Franconia, Bavaria, where her brother Winebald was co-founder and abbot of the men’s monastery. So eminent was the spirit of evangelical charity, meekness, and piety of Walburga, and so remarkable was her zeal and effect on others, that at the death of Abbot Winebald in 760, her brother Willibald (consecrated the first bishop of Eichstätt by Saint Boniface) appointed Walburga abbess of both monasteries.

Bishop Willibald ordered the remains of their brother Winebald to be moved to Eichstätt sixteen years after his death, at which ceremony Abbess Walburga assisted. Two years later she herself passed to eternal rest, 25 February 779, having lived twenty-five years at Heidenheim as superior of both men and women monastics.

The tenth-century legend of Saint Walburga’s life affirms her gentleness, humility, and charity, as well as her power to heal the sick through prayer. Many years after her death, devotees trans-

Wikimedia Commons

Gabriel of Eyb, Bishop of Eichstätt, with Saints Wilibald and Walburga (1520), painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder

lated the bones of Walburga from Heidenheim, then in ruins, to Eichstätt where her brother, Willibald, had been the bishop.

Her relics were entrusted to the care of a community of Benedictine nuns founded to maintain her shrine.

Amazingly, Walburga’s bones began to produce a clear liquid, called “oil” for want of a more accurate word, that people began to use as a tool for prayer for the sick. Countless numbers experienced healing of body or spirit through her intercession. Walburga’s oil continues to flow every year from about 12 October to 25 February, two of her feast days. It seeps from her relics through a thick slab of

stone where it is collected. The Benedictine nuns who care for the tomb and abbey place it into small glass vials that are given to the faithful. Healings attributed to Saint Walburga’s intercession are still reported.

Monastic life has continued without interruption at Abtei St. Walburg since 1035, and the community’s faith has been shared widely. The sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, trace their roots (founded in 1857) to the Eichstätt community. In 1935 Benedictine nuns carried their namesake to Virginia Dale, Colorado, where they founded the Abbey of St. Walburga.

Walburga’s festival, because of various translations of her relics, is marked on several days of the year, but especially on the day of her death, 25 February. The Roman martyrology commemorates her feast on 1 May. The night of 1 May, the date of the translation of Walburga’s relics to Eichstätt, is known as Walpurgisnacht; it is also a pagan festival marking the beginning of summer and the revels of witches. Though the saint had no connection with this festival, her name became associated with witchcraft and superstitions because of the date. She might also have been the dubious inspiration for Walburga Black, one of the witches in the Harry Potter series of children’s books.

Saint Walburga is the patroness of at least six European cities, and she is the patron saint for sailors and against hydrophobia (rabies) and storms. Pope Francis has said that “the contribution of women is not limited to ‘feminine’ arguments or to encounters of only women,” adding that dialogue “is a path that men and women must accomplish together.” Saint Walburga might well serve as a model and inspiration for the pope to create expanded roles of leadership for women in today’s Church.

Brother Richard Oliver, O.S.B., president emeritus of the American Benedictine Academy, is the coordinator of abbey church tours.

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Benedictine Volunteer Corps eager to get back to this routine after short weekend trips to surrounding mountains, waterfalls, districts, or cities. Although I have enjoyed the opportunity to explore the beauty of Uganda, nothing has compared to the time I’ve been able to spend with this community. The monks’ interesting insights and knowledge, their intense passion for God, and their humility to be the center of any joke—all have allowed me to find a home for myself here in Tororo.

Lewis Grobe, O.S.B. Tororo, Uganda his past summer I had the opportunity to help set up a new site for the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps at Christ the King Priory in Tororo, Uganda. Founded in 1983, this Benedictine monastery of thirty-five monks serves the local community through its Benedictine Eye Hospital and Benedictine Vocational Training and Production Centre.

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Brennan Lafeber, BVC 2018-19

Among the many certificates offered at the vocational school is one in woodworking and carpentry. The woodshop houses a planer, sander, radial arm saw, band saw, table saw, mortiser, and shaper. Many of these machines came from Europe and are built to last. During my visit the shop was working on an order of 150 pews for a local church, a presider’s chair, bee hives, and doors. The furniture is often designed by the monks and then crafted by the students and lay employees. After the wood is initially worked, the individual pieces are moved to open sheds where they are further worked, assembled, sanded, stained, and finished.

Much of the furniture is made of mvule (Milicia or Chlorophora excelsa), a local, slow-growing hardwood, sometimes referred to as African teak. It is dense, durable, and resistant to termites.

There is no readily available kiln, so the wood is air dried on site.

Brennan Lafeber (left) and Tanner Thiele dine with Ugandan friends.

The monks have also dedicated about seventy-five acres of their land to planting trees and housing their bees. The monastic community hopes that within a few decades, some of these trees will be ready for harvest and use in their shop.

Furniture crafted here can be found throughout the monastery, schools, and guesthouse. The woodworking shop of Christ the King Priory observes many of the principles that guide Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking: a commitment to craftsmanship, use of local resources, dignity of manual labor, and honest use of materials. Benedictine values in Africa and America!

Father Lew Grobe, O.S.B., a Benedictine Volunteer Corps alumnus, is a woodworker and assistant director of the abbey’s formation program.

BVC

archives

Community Life Each day hardworking monks fill the vocational school, the eye hospital, and the hundred acres of fertile farmland. Beautiful voices fill the makeshift chapel during daily prayers and Mass.

And often enough, uncontrollable laughter fills the dining room during meals. Similar to Saint John’s Abbey, Christ the King Priory in Tororo, Uganda, is a community filled with prayerful, engaged, active, hospitable, and talkative monks.

I’ve been able to create a routine here that allows me to participate and engage in all of these activities. In between work at the eye hospital and in the gardens, I spend time either in personal prayer and reflection, or debate with the dozen or so novices as to which team will win this weekend’s Premier League soccer matches. I am

Laboring Hands Although Brennan Lafeber and I work primarily in the Benedictine Eye Hospital, creating their future website, once a week we do manual labor with the monastic community. Over the past months we have dug trenches, weed-wacked with machetes, and hauled roughly five-hundred pounds of fresh fertilizer, courtesy of the cows.

These jobs are tough, just like the instruments used to complete them. Though my blisters have now become calluses, the first days here were not kind to my hands. In fact, some of the monks were worried about us and insisted that we use gloves— even though they never do. We politely refused, as we hope that over time our hands will become used to the work that many of the community members do every day.

met. Each has his own garden, in addition to managing the larger farmwork, and each seems to be skilled in many different areas. One day they dig holes for planting banana trees or beans, and the next they tend to the cows, cleaning their stalls, milking them, and chopping up fresh grass twice a day for the cows to eat.

It is truly amazing to work alongside these people!

Tanner Thiele, BVC 2018-19

Ugandan woodworker and supervisor (right); detail of a wooden Tabernacle (below)

BVC

The monks of Tororo are some of the hardest workers I’ve ever BVC

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Meet a Monk: Michael Patella Boston, during which he also pursued a master’s degree in American studies at Boston College. Three years later Michael was transferred to Power Memorial Academy in New York City—across the street from Lincoln Center. He recalls: “I could eat, supervise the students, buy a ticket to that evening’s opera performance, and be back in time for class.”

Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

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any older Bibles include maps showing the geography associated with the ancient stories of Israel, along with timelines and indications of movement when the chosen people migrated from place to place. Rarely were those journeys from point A to point B, however. Instead, the colorful squiggles trace movement in all directions, with one consistent feature: they never backtracked but always moved forward toward a final destination. Father Michael Patella, O.S.B., could draw his own colorful lines that began in Rochester, New York, when he and his twin sister Francine were born on 28 December 1954 to his parents Anne and Thomas. Please note: that is the feast of the Holy Innocents, which Michael is quick to emphasize. These “innocents” were welcomed by a 5-year-old brother, Tom, so the children in his family tripled in an instant.

Except for kindergarten and one course at New York University, Father Michael’s entire education was in Catholic schools, which, he observes, “probably explains why I value my Catholic education so highly.” As a child, he lived across the street from Saint Ambrose Church and School, five doors down from the rectory, and only five-hundred feet from a convent, so even the air he breathed was decidedly Catholic. He quotes his parish bulletin tagline that formed his

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Abbey archives

young worldview: “Culver Road and Empire Boulevard, crossroads of the Kingdom of Heaven”! In that environment he shared classes with his friends, learned to serve Mass as an altar boy, and climbed the ranks of the Boy Scouts, all the way to Eagle.

Michael attended Bishop Kearney High School, where the Christian Brothers taught the boys and the School Sisters of Notre Dame taught the girls. In addition to writing for the school newspaper, The Coronet, he was active in the glee and drama clubs, and even found his way to the stage as Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady and Mr. Babcock in Mame. After graduating from high school, he joined the Christian Brothers and attended Iona College, majoring in English and theology. His first assignment after graduation was to Catholic Memorial High School in

Even though his years with the Christian Brothers were happy and productive, Michael remembers that “a part of me longed for greater prayer and community life.” His continued vocational discernment led him to the Benedictine community of Saint Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey. Here he was also happy, but he still yearned for more study and research.

When he arrived in Collegeville in 1985 to begin seminary studies, “everything clicked.”

“My monastic vocation gelled with the opportunity to engage in the kind of education I wanted to do. Two good abbots—one from Saint Mary’s and one from Saint John’s—assisted in my transfer to Saint John’s Abbey.”

Since his move to Collegeville, Michael has studied Scripture in Rome and Jerusalem and is now a tenured professor of theology, also serving as rector of Saint John’s Seminary. He led the Committee on Illumination and Text that helped plan The Saint John’s Bible, a project that still calls him on the road from

on the Fourth of July has an element of that.”

Father Michael and Pope Francis, 2017

time to time. He is a member of the abbey schola and delights in joining his confreres each day for prayer and meals. He especially relishes the opportunity to serve as master of ceremonies for the annual Fourth of July celebration in the monastery’s backyard.

These festivities include the raising of the American flag, singing “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” reciting the 4-H Pledge, and poetic interpretations of current events, constitutional profundities, or television series. All this is done before (and somehow with perfect synchronicity) a confrere flies overhead in a small-engine plane, dropping red, white, and blue streamers onto the gathering. For the monks, it is an electric moment—not a few have to fight back tears.

“For me, the best part of being a monk,” reflects Father Michael, “is planning and participating in the major feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Saint Benedict, when

Servizio fotografico, L’Osservatore Romano

the liturgies lead so well into the feasting with our confreres. I am reminded of the phrase at the end of the Rule of Benedict [73.8], ‘Are you hastening toward your heavenly home?’ and at those moments I want to say, ‘Yes, and this is it!’ Even our big picnic

Twins Michael (right) and Francine

The monks of Saint John’s Abbey are fortunate and grateful that this New York boy found his way to the hinterland that we call home. By no means was it a direct route, but that our community is his final destination is the outcome we celebrate, gladhearted that our cold, bleak winters didn’t scare him off!

And that leads to a final story from Michael: “In my first year at Saint John’s, we had a huge snowstorm at Thanksgiving. I was staring out the window when Father Geoffrey walked up to me and said, ‘That’s it.

We won’t see the grass or bare ground until April.’ I chuckled, but when I looked, he wasn’t laughing.”

Patella archives

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Benedictine Heritage: Blood and Water Michael Roske

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t has been said (perhaps too often) that the Benedictine influence might be “in the water” at Saint John’s. My direct encounter began not more than two weeks into my life. I was born and baptized here during a cold January winter. In those “ice age” days the Great Hall was still the church. That weekend, it was 20 degrees below zero and windy. To escape the cold, my mother brought me into the church proper to be warm until the pastor arrived.

However, when he did arrive, my mother was chastised for “bringing a heathen into the church.” History confirms I was not a happy camper with this water or the priest!

Benedictine monks were constantly appearing at our family home while I was growing up.

It was more likely in my blood than the water. From pastors out for a walk during mushroom searches, to gatherings at our family cabin, they were mysterious to me; yet they became a part of the family makeup. My education was thoroughly Benedictine with both nuns and monks taking their turn through grade school, Saint John’s Prep, and Saint John’s University. In college, I arranged a J-Term at a Trappist monastery to get another sense of what was drawing me in. My uncles began to think I might someday save their souls, but that didn’t happen.

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After I met and married the smartest woman I know, we moved to Madison, Wisconsin, for her graduate work, yet continued to feel the tug of family and community. We moved back to Collegeville to raise a family, to allow our children to experience this community life as we had both experienced it in our lives. Our family was guided by a “CCAP” motto: Communicate, Cooperate, Appreciate, and Participate. These were our family’s early values in a more secular world, before the Benedictine values became something of a hallmark on campus. A copy of the Benedictine values has quietly hung in our home for the past eighteen years, hopefully influencing our children in subtle ways.

I respect and treasure the principles of this community. The Benedictine heritage and its values suggest what I might do to live a full life, a structured goal accessible to all. By accepting and living within this mindset, I began to realize the strength of those words. I have come to appreciate the values of stewardship and stability in the work I do in managing the abbey woodworking shop. It is my small piece in a larger puzzle. I have not looked back at what might have been. It is in front of me, if I seize the moment. I now recognize that we lived the best of both worlds in the shadow of the abbey bell banner, both secular and a little Benedictine. And I hope that my early baptism

esides fall foliage, September brought curious weather to central Minnesota. On 15 September, the day after Hurricane Florence crashed ashore in the Carolinas, the high in Collegeville was 90°F with an oppressive dew point of 71. Two days later the temp dropped thirty degrees and made sweaters a necessity. Rain and overcast skies turned October blue into gray. Four inches of snow fell overnight on 9 November, accompanied by a wind chill of -4. Lake Sagatagan froze for the season on 13 November, a herald of an early winter. Penance services and holiday baking are a herald of Christmas. Readings from Isaiah herald light overcoming darkness. Come, Lord Jesus!

Aidan Putnam

water continues to strengthen what has become more comfortable every day.

Mr. Michael Roske is the manager of the Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking Shop.

Communicate Cooperate Appreciate Participate

August 2018 • Among the guests living in the monastery during this academic year are fourteen religious and a diocesan priest who are pursuing studies at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. By their presence and participation, they enliven the daily life and prayer services of our community. For the visually literate, however, the most notable addition to the monastic choirs are the orange robes of Ajahn Jotipālo, an American Theravada Buddhist monk of the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah. A resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research this year, Ajahn Jotipālo also joins the monastic community for prayer and meals.

University archives

Joined by hundreds of friends, alumni, and current and former football players, the Collegeville community said farewell to Saint John’s University Coach John Gagliardi during the Mass of Christian Burial on 15 October in the abbey and university church. John, who died on 7 October at the age of 91, had served as the head football coach from 1953 until his retirement in 2012. During those sixty years, the Johnnies won four national championships and twenty-seven conference championships. John’s numerous and notable athletic accomplishments—including being the winningest coach in collegiate football with 489 victories—are documented elsewhere. His greatest success, however, was realized not on the playing fields but in the character development he enabled. To his colleagues and thousands of former players, John was a friend and mentor whose wit and wisdom were life-giving and life-changing. The Gagliardi family urged all those touched by John’s life to keep his memory alive by following his example: “compliment your spouse often, listen intently to others, and see the best in all.”

September 2018 • Benedictines are cautiously engaging the technology of the twenty-first century. On 4 September a new Order of Saint Benedict website, OSB•ORG, launched: <https://www.osb.org>.

The International Benedictine Web Portal is a repository of all things Benedictine: the life of Saint Benedict, translations of the Rule in numerous languages, a brief history of the Order, information about the Benedictine Confederation, and

links to archived articles. One of the editors of the site is Brother Richard Oliver who initiated the archival site <https:// www.archive.osb.org/> thirty years ago and continues to maintain it.

• On 20 September Father Columba Stewart, director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), announced the release of the complete version of vHMML 3.0, HMML’s online resource for manuscript study: <https://www.vhmml.org/>.

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The largest online collection of manuscripts in the world, vHMML’s Reading Room includes 40,000 items; 27,000 have complete digital versions of the actual manuscripts, and more are added weekly. Among the project’s numerous supporters is the National Endowment for the Humanities.

• Father Lew Grobe and the staff of the Saint John’s Abbey Woodworking Shop announced that, following a year of preparation, its new website has gone live: <https://www.sjawood.org>.

A monthly blog (This Month in the Shop) with stories and photos about current and past projects can also be accessed through the site.

October 2018 • In order to reduce the deer population of the Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum to a level that allows natural regeneration of the forest ecosystem, essential to the health of the woods and to the long-term habitat of deer and other wildlife, the abbey is hosting its seventeenth controlled deer hunt since 1933. The archery hunt, primarily for antlerless deer, opened on 17 October and will run until the end of December. Twenty deer had been taken during the first weeks of the season.

• The abbey gardeners are also trying to protect the community’s produce from hungry deer as well as from smaller vermin.

This fall several volunteers

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loved ones filled the space. During all prayer services and the Eucharist, the monks also commemorated thousands of family and friends whose names had been sent to the community.

The earth has yielded its fruit for God, our God, has blessed us.

Psalm 67:7

Fence builders (l to r): Tom Meoska, Donald Morovits, David Meoska

assisted Father John Meoska install a new fence around the monastery garden—six feet high, with strategically located entryways. Fencing for about threequarters of the space has been completed. The remainder of the fencing, including strands of barbed wire to bring the height of the fence to seven feet, is scheduled to be finished in 2019.

November 2018 • The monastic community honored the memory of deceased

John Meoska, O.S.B.

confreres, family, and friends throughout the month of November. On the feast of All Souls, 2 November, dozens of colleagues and neighbors joined the monks in the abbey cemetery for a midday prayer service, recalling by name those who recently died or were buried there in the past year. For three weeks an altar of remembrance/ Ofrenda de día de Muertos was maintained near the north entry to the monastery [below]. Photos and memorabilia of deceased

Altar of remembrance/Ofrenda de día de Muertos

• To mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Benedictine Institute at Saint John’s University, the institute hosted a social on 8 November. Dozens of current and former employees, neighbors, and monks enjoyed light refreshments, beer or a hemina of wine, and Benedictinetrivia bingo. A moderately good time was had by all.

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

The Lord of the harvest has been busy. From asparagus (112 lbs) to zucchini (262 lbs), 2018 was a bumper year for the monastery’s produce gardens. Topping the tonnage totals were several varieties of squash at 5175 pounds. The community’s salad table was blessed with 1425 pounds of tomatoes along with 214 pounds of greens and 403 pounds of cucumbers. Fifty-six pounds of rhubarb made a delicious sauce. Other tasty tallies of the community’s cornucopia included: radishes (90 lbs), chili and sweet peppers (121 lbs), carrots (140 lbs), beets (155 lbs), green and dried beans (190 lbs), tomatillos (258 lbs), and potatoes (1497 lbs). The abbey’s grape arbor provided 375 pounds of fruit for snacking or jelly. The trees of the abbey arboretum also reflected the Lord’s bounty.

Brother Isidore Glyer reports that 430 pounds of raw black walnuts yielded 170 pounds in the shell. The oak trees overwhelmed the squirrels with an enormous quantity of acorns. Six tons of produce. Millions of acorns. And lots of honey? Alas, the robust harvest figures do not apply to the abbey apiary. Father Nick Kleespie reports that a paltry 116 pounds of honey were collected this year, less than a third of last year’s production. Lazy bees.

December 2018 • Ornaments crafted by Brother Andrew Goltz and some 18,000 LED lights added sparkle and brightness to the 30-foot artificial tree in Saint John’s Great Hall throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons.

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

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Fifty Years Ago Excerpted from Confrere, newsletter of Saint John’s Abbey: 15 November 1968

• [From Abbot Baldwin Dworschak:] November is the month that our confreres Abbot Peter Engel and Fathers Virgil Michel and Thomas Borgerding went to their reward. If they continue to be remembered, it is primarily because we value their dedicated lives. That is the basis for our veneration of the saints this month, especially the Benedictine saints. Before all else the Church wishes us to rejoice in the sanctity, the dedication of our fellow believers, whether they are canonized or not. It is by laying firm hold on our fellowship with the saints in Christ that we become like them.

• Father Godfrey Diekmann was in Rome, 7–15 October, for a meeting of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. For two days the committee met with the episcopal representatives of Englishspeaking countries, and for a day and a half it met with Anglican and other Protestant observers.

The purpose of the meeting was to finalize all four Eucharistic canons and the Ordinary of the Mass. The meeting with the Protestants was held to arrive at a common text for shared prayers in the liturgy, e.g., the Our Father, the two Creeds, the Gloria.

• Bishop Ernest Unterkoefler, chair of the Bishops’ Committee

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Monks in the Kitchen on the Permanent Diaconate, requested that Saint John’s draw up a two-year curriculum of studies for the training of permanent deacons. Father Kieran Nolan fashioned a preliminary statement of goals and organization along with a program of studies.

I Say Casserole, You Say Hotdish Ælred Senna, O.S.B.

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17 December 1968

• Bishop George Speltz, in a letter to Abbot Baldwin on 19 November, responded affirmatively to the latter’s request that Communion be given under both species to all those who participate at the daily community Mass. Because of the flu epidemic, this permission has not been put into general practice.

At the Thanksgiving Day community Eucharist, however, all those present were invited to drink of the cup of salvation.

The Mass that Thanksgiving Day was a highlight of community liturgy. Father Joel Kelly was the presiding minister. The special readings selected for the celebration were the Hymn of Creation in Genesis 1, an e. e. cummings’ poem, “i thank You God for most this amazing day,” and the encounter between Jesus and the ten lepers. The brethren praised the Lord with the sound of flute, recorder, bass, guitar, tambourine, and organ.

• Father Oliver Kapsner, director of the [Hill Museum & Manuscript Library] writes from Vienna: “We have finished the work in the monastic and allied

Decorated initial D: Saint John the Baptist.

Klosterneuburg, Melk, Austria

institutions in Austria and have begun work in the large Austrian Nationalbibliothek in Vienna where we could be occupied for possibly three more years. To date we have photographed manuscripts (from the 6th century to 1600) in 37 Austrian libraries. Since April 1965 we have photographed over 13,000 bound manuscripts for which nearly 3 million exposures (black-white) were made, and these are preserved on 70 miles of microfilm. There are 31,000 color exposures of illuminated initials and miniatures.

• On 7 December Fathers Vitus Bucher, Aelred Tegels, Kieran Nolan, Jerome Theisen, and Michael Blecker met with the faculty of United Theological Seminary, New Brighton, to discuss the exchange of professors and students in an ecumenical endeavor.

n Minnesota there’s an ageold debate: Is it hotdish, or is it casserole? As a non-native Minnesotan, I’m probably not qualified to decide. But here are the culinary facts. Hotdish requires three essential elements —a starch, a protein, and a vegetable. These are bound together by some sort of (preferably creamy) sauce. Hotdish may also feature a textural element as part of the topping—perhaps tater tots, as in the quintessential version, or maybe crushed potato chips, or even saltines.

When our editor challenged me to uncover a brilliant new hotdish recipe, I felt a degree of panic. How could a Texan by birth hope to uncover something new and amazing in the realm of hotdish? Alas, I may not be up to the task, but all is not lost.

I’m sharing two options for a Texan version of hotdish known as “enchilada casserole”—one red, one green. The recipe includes all the requisite hotdish elements—tortillas for starch, beef or chicken, some diced onions, enchilada sauce (okay, it’s not creamy, but you can add sour cream!), and cheese. Give it a try!

I would love to receive your favorite recipe for either a classic or an innovative midwestern hotdish. I’ll test them, taste

Enchilada Casserole (Two Ways) • 1 1/4 lbs. ground beef; or 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken is great) • 6 to 10 corn tortillas (quantity will vary depending on the shape of the dish) • 2 cups red or green enchilada sauce (homemade or canned) • 1/4 cup sour cream (optional) • Diced onions, to taste (optional) • Shredded cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, or a combination Preheat oven to 350°F. For beef casserole: Brown the ground beef and drain; add red enchilada sauce, and stir together until heated through.

For chicken casserole: Heat green enchilada sauce; add shredded chicken and heat through.

Either way, stir sour cream into sauce mixture, if desired.

Spread a bit of meaty sauce on the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish.

Add a layer of tortillas, overlapping them slightly.

Spoon in more meat sauce; sprinkle with diced onions, then cheese.

Repeat the layers until the dish is as full as desired, ending with onions and cheese.

Bake for 20–25 minutes, until everything is bubbling.

Let casserole rest 5–10 minutes before serving.

them, and in the next issue we’ll publish my favorite! Send your recipe to me at asenna@csbsju .edu or mail to P.O. Box 2015, Collegeville, MN 56321.

Brother Ælred Senna, O.S.B., is associate editor of Give Us This Day and a faculty resident at Saint John’s University.

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In Memoriam

Monastic Time

Please join the monastic community in prayerful remembrance of our deceased family members and friends:

Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

Mary Annella Bieniek, O.S.F. Roger E. Birk James J. “Jimmy” Bischof John L. Bostwick, O. Praem.

Abbot Joseph M. Boyle, O.C.S.O. Antonio Calabria Dorothy Callahan, Obl.S.B. Marcene M. Carroll Noreen Carroll Mary Courteau, O.S.B. Donald Coy Donald Eugene “Don” Culhane Angela Dolores DelGreco Gary A. Dirkes Loretta E. Dullinger Sandra “Sandy” Durning Werner J. “Vern” Eibensteiner Pauline Fernandes, O.S.B. Mary J. Foley Lloyd E. Fritz John Gagliardi

Jerome Grundmayer Robert Hale, O.S.B. Cam. George Harris Oliver James Hennen Olivia Hermann, O.S.B. Arnold F. “Arnie” Hoeschen Jack Jensen Norbert Johnson Joshua Allen Jones Deacon Lawrence Kaas Rev. Bernard W. Kahlhamer, Obl.S.B. Abbot Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O. Harvey J. Kliber Marie Walburga Koll James Konchalski, O.S.B. M. Gwendolin Koniar, O.S.F. Eileen Kosel, O.S.F. Cecelia Anne “Cel” Marrin Colin James Marrin Michael R. Miller William A. “Bill” Murphy

Anne Nguyen Victoria Ann Ortman Richard Osterberg Ivo Osterloch Dorothy L. Pflueger Joseph Pham Vincent Pham Van Tinh Leroy J. Ratke Madeleine Gloria Saltness Evelyn Scheckel Michael G. Schleper Rosella Schommer, O.S.B. Claude Seeberger, O.S.B. Julius Coller “Jules” Smith Mark Thomas Starbird John J. “Bud” Streitz Robert Taft, S.J. Richard Thell, O.S.B. Jay Paul Weber Aleene Yanish David Norman “Dave” Young

Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.

Psalm 116:15

A Monk’s Chronicle Father Eric Hollas, O.S.B., offers spiritual insights and glimpses into the life of the Benedictine community at Saint John’s Abbey in a weekly blog, A Monk’s Chronicle. Visit his blog at: monkschronicle.wordpress.com.

Father Don’s Daily Reflection Father Don Talafous, O.S.B., prepares daily reflections on Scripture and living the life of a Christian that are available on the abbey’s website at: saintjohnsabbey.org/reflection/.

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t happens regularly: visitors, eager to join the monastic community for a prayer service, settle in after a gentle lesson in how to “work” the books that fill each choir stall. After the opening hymn, the monks begin reciting the psalms at a pace that totally catches the guests by surprise. We, of course, are used to it: a slow, deliberate praying of the ancient texts. But most churchgoers find it painfully slow. Regularly, a few guests jump forward on a line, not observing the pause between stanzas. This is followed by an awkward moment when the monks fall silent, but the guests keep going. Occasionally visitors never do catch on, no matter how many times they are caught off guard by silent pauses! For the most part, however, guests slowly adapt and blend in, adding strength and fullness to our Opus Dei. This is just one aspect of monastic life that others find odd. But the more they get to know us, the more sense it all makes—in a monastery, things move slowly. Some of our graduates refer to it as “monk time.”

In most organizations, decisions are made quickly. In monasteries, we measure time in decades or centuries, so what’s the hurry? A good example is our beautiful abbey guesthouse. The time between the first discussions led by Abbot Jerome Theisen and the groundbreaking was nearly thirty years. That’s a lot of discernment!

Take a breath.

Think about what you are doing.

But what is the rush? Just like the pace of choir recitation, so too, deliberation and planning need careful execution. Saint Benedict understood this character of communal living as an extension of prayer itself. Everything a monk undertakes should have others’ best interests at heart. As there is no need to rush from line to line when praying the psalms, so too there is no need just to get things done. Stop, take a breath, think about what you are doing, and then take the next step.

In our society the pace of life has become breakneck. We define a “slow” computer as one that takes more than an instant to give us what we want. The success of eating out is measured by how little time is spent in the drive through. Amazon is using drones to drop packages from the sky to enable delivery in minutes. Two-day delivery used to sound cutting edge. Now, it’s almost a joke.

Those who enter the monastic world will experience the polar opposite of breakneck speed. But what is interesting is our unconscious need to speed things up. When that happens, the abbot will urge us to slow down, and eventually we get back to our usual rhythm. Even monks need reminders to maintain “monk time.” Perhaps this slower pace of life is something we can share with the rest of the world.

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Winter 2018-19 Volume 18, Number 3

4 This Issue Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

14 Saint John’s Fire Department Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.

5 The Incarnation Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B.

20 Clay and Fire 2017

6 Christmas Hope Francis, Bishop of Rome

22 In Times of Trouble Lauren L. Murphy

8 Monastic Profession

24 Revelation’s Four Creatures Martin F. Connell

9 Rule of Benedict: The Tools of the Monastery Eric Hollas, O.S.B.

26 Lives of the Benedictine Saints: Walburga Richard Oliver, O.S.B.

10 Care for God’s Creation Bernard Evans

28 Benedictine Volunteer Corps Lewis Grobe, O.S.B.

12 Winter Landscapes: Our Glacial Past John Geissler

30 Meet a Monk: Michael Patella Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

32 Benedictine Heritage: Blood and Water Michael Roske 33 Abbey Chronicle Robin Pierzina, O.S.B. 36 Fifty Years Ago 37 Monks in the Kitchen: Casserole or Hotdish Ælred Senna, O.S.B. 38 In Memoriam 39 Monastic Time Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

Lenten Retreat Friday–Sunday, 8–10 March 2019: Listening Our Way Through Lent Presented by Mary Stommes, editor of Give Us This Day The retreat begins with supper at 5:30 P.M. on Friday and concludes Sunday after lunch.

Cost: Single room, $195; double room, $340 ($170 per person); suite (double), $380 ($190 per person); meals included.

For those who wish to commute: $65 per person; retreat conferences, Saturday and Sunday lunches included.

Triduum Retreat Thursday–Sunday, 18–21 April 2019: Presented by Father Columba Stewart, O.S.B. The retreat begins at 4:00 P.M. on Holy Thursday and concludes Easter Sunday after lunch.

Cost: Single room, $290; double room, $520 ($260 per person); suite (double), $580 ($290 per person); meals included.

Register online at abbeyguesthouse.org; call the Spiritual Life Office: 320.363.3929; or email: spirlife@osb.org.