“Boniface Wimmer: An American Abbot,” a special commemorative exhibition of artifacts owned and used by Saint Vincent founder Boniface Wimmer, will be featured by The Saint Vincent Gallery from Friday, October 30 to Sunday, December 13 in honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth. Admission is free and open to the public.

An opening reception will be held in the Gallery on Thursday, October 29 from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

The exhibit includes Wimmer’s prayer books, pectoral crosses, pontifical rings, crozier, and snuff boxes (including one from Tiffany and Company); his gold pen, various hand-written letters and diaries, and handwritten letters from King Ludwig I of Bavaria will also be included. There will be gifts from King Ludwig on display, as well as gifts given to Saint Vincent over the years by various members of the Royal Wittlesbach of Bavaria and made of fine porcelain from the Schloss Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory. An added feature of the exhibition is a display of photographic portraits of Wimmer and his 10 successor archabbots of Saint Vincent Archabbey, including the current archabbot, the Rt. Rev. Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B.

The Saint Vincent Gallery is located on the third floor of the Robert S. Carey Student Center at Saint Vincent College and is accessible to those with physical challenges.

Gallery hours are noon to 3 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and noon to 3 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Gallery is closed on Mondays.

Further details are available at www.stvincent.edu/gallery or by contacting the Gallery at 724 805-2197.

All Souls (Benedicine Influence)

 

A few pictures from around the Archabbey (a friend of our Br. Maximilian, OSB did a beautiful job in carving the Abbey Seal into a pumpkin).  Also, you can see the beautiful colors in the leaves changing around the Monastery.

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From: http://www.fisheaters.com

31 October and 1 and 2 November are called, colloquially (not officially), "Hallowtide" or the "Days of the Dead" because on these days we pray for or remember those who've left this world.

The days of the dead center around All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows') on November 1, when we celebrate all the Saints in Heaven. On the day after All Hallows', we remember the saved souls who are in Purgatory being cleansed of the temporal effects of their sins before they can enter Heaven. The day that comes before All Hallows', though, is one on which we unofficially remember the damned and the reality of Hell. The schema, then, for the Days of the Dead looks like this:

October 31: Hallowe'en:   

unofficially recalls the souls of the damned. Practices center around the reality of Hell and how to avoid it.

November 1: All Saints':

set aside to officially honor the Church Triumphant. Practices center around recalling our great Saints, including those whose names are unknown to us and, so, are not canonized

November 2: All Souls': 

set aside officially to pray for the Church Suffering (the souls in Purgatory). Practices center around praying for the souls in Purgatory, especially our loved ones

The earliest form of All Saints' (or "All Hallows'") was first celebrated in the 300s, but originally took place on 13 May, as it still does in some Eastern Churches. The Feast first commemorated only the martyrs, but came to include all of the Saints by 741. It was transferred to 1 November in 844 when Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica to All Saints (so much for the theory that the day was fixed on 1 November because of a bunch of Irish pagans had harvest festivals at that time).

All Souls' has its origins in A.D. 1048 when the Bishop of Cluny decreed that the Benedictines of Cluny pray for the souls in Purgatory on this day. The practice spread until Pope Sylvester II recommended it for the entire Latin Church.

The Vigil of, or evening before, All Hallows' ("Hallows' Eve," or "Hallowe'en") came, in Irish popular piety, to be a day of remembering the dead who are neither in Purgatory or Heaven, but are damned, and these customs spread to many parts of the world. Thus we have the popular focus of Hallowe'en as the reality of Hell, hence its scary character and focus on evil and how to avoid it, the sad fate of the souls of the damned, etc.

How, or even whether, to celebrate Hallowe'en is a controversial topic in traditional circles. One hears too often that "Hallowe'en is a pagan holiday" -- an impossibility because "Hallowe'en," as said, means "All Hallows' Evening" which is as Catholic a holiday as one can get. Some say that the holiday actually stems from Samhain, a pagan Celtic celebration, or is Satanic, but this isn't true, either, any more than Christmas "stems from" the Druids' Yule, though popular customs that predated the Church may be involved in our celebrations (it is rather amusing that October 31 is also "Reformation Day" in Protestant circles -- the day to recall Luther's having nailed his 95 Theses to Wittenberg's cathedral door -- but Protestants who reject "Hallowe'en" because pagans used to do things on October 31 don't object to commemorating that event on this day).

Some traditional Catholics, objecting to the definite secularization of the holiday and to the myth that the entire thing is "pagan" to begin with, refuse to celebrate it in any way at all, etc. Other traditional Catholics celebrate it without qualm, though keeping it Catholic and staying far away from some of the ugliness that surrounds the day in the secular world. However one decides to spend the day, it is hoped that the facts are kept straight, and that Catholics refrain from judging other Catholics who decide to celebrate differently.

For those who do want to celebrate Hallowe'en, customs of this day are a mixture of Catholic popular devotions, and French, Irish, and English customs all mixed together. From the French we get the custom of dressing up, which originated during the time of the Black Death when artistic renderings of the dead known as the "Danse Macabre," were popular. These "Dances of Death" were also acted out by people who dressed as the dead. Later, these practices were moved to Hallowe'en when the Irish and French began to intermarry in America.

From the Irish come the carved Jack-o-lanterns, which were originally carved turnips. The legend surrounding the Jack-o-Lantern is this:

There once was an old drunken trickster named Jack, a man known so much for his miserly ways that he was known as "Stingy Jack," He loved making mischief on everyone -- even his own family, even the Devil himself! One day, he tricked Satan into climbing up an apple tree -- but then carved Crosses on the trunk so the Devil couldn't get back down. He bargained with the Evil One, saying he would remove the Crosses only if the Devil would promise not to take his soul to Hell; to this, the Devil agreed.

After Jack died, after many years filled with vice, he went up to the Pearly Gates -- but was told by St. Peter that he was too miserable a creature to see the Face of Almighty God. But when he went to the Gates of Hell, he was reminded that he couldn't enter there, either! So, he was doomed to spend his eternity roaming the earth. The only good thing that happened to him was that the Devil threw him an ember from the burning pits to light his way, an ember he carried inside a hollowed-out, carved turnip.  

Model of a Monk (RIP Br. Lambert, OSB)

Brother Lambert Berens, O.S.B., a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey, died Thursday, October 29, 2009. He was the son of the late Peter and Sophia (Randerath) Berens, was born in Lieck (now Heinsberg–Lieck), Germany, on July 4, 1913. He was one of ten children. His brothers and sisters are: Hubert Berens of Heinsberg–Lieck, Anna Zimmermann, of Heinsberg, Peter of Heinsberg, and Barbara Hennen of Heinsberg–Unterbruch. Three of his brothers: Brother Othmar Edmund Berens, O.S.B., Joseph, and Heinrich, and two sisters, Gertrude Lisges and Maria Dombrowe, are deceased.

He received his education in Kirchoven. He made simple profession of the monastic vows on February 11, 1932 at the Benedictine monastery in Ilbenstadt, Germany.

In May, 1939, the Gestapo ordered the Ilbenstadt monastery suppressed, or closed. The monks were told to leave. Brother Lambert was sent to the Benedictine Monastery Kornelimünster in Aachen.

In 1939, he was forced to leave his monastery and serve in the German Army. He was first sent marching to Paris, but when the city capitulated his outfit was marched to the south of France and then marched back to Germany in 1940. Later, when Germany invaded Russia in June of 1941, his troop was sent near Leningrad, where he was wounded. He was wounded a second time during a battle near Shisdra, Russia, in 1942, and a few months later was wounded yet a third time near Leningrad. Finally, in 1943, he was sent back to France, where his outfit executed maneuvers but engaged in no active battles.

On the third day of the Allied invasions in June of 1944, Brother Lambert was taken prisoner and sent to the P.O.W. camp at Ortley, England, and then later to the P.O.W. camp at Fort DuPont, Delaware City, Delaware, where he remained for a year before he was shipped back to a transfer camp in Attichy, France in 1945. He became a free man in January 1946 when he was returned to Bonn, Germany.

Brother Lambert returned to a post–war Germany that was confusing. He returned to his hometown and found his family all well, but his original monastery Ilbenstadt, shut down in 1939, was not reopened. So he returned to the Kornelimünster monastery in 1946. In 1956 he transferred his stability to Saint Vincent Archabbey. He became an American citizen in 1959.

At Saint Vincent, Brother Lambert was in charge of the greenhouse and truck garden (1952–64, and 1965–69). He also worked at Saint Benedict Priory, the Archabbey's missionary apostolate in Brazil (1964–65). From 1969 to 2001 he worked in Saint Vincent Library processing and repairing books, and in his spare time helped maintain the grounds of the Archabbey. In the fall of 2001 he began assisting in the Saint Vincent Archabbey Development Office until his death.

At the library, Brother Lambert prepared books to be added to the collection, prepared items for binding and checked returned items. He also examined the collection to identify Saint Vincent authors, alumni authors, Benedictine authors and Saint Vincent imprints, among other duties. He also conducted an inventory of the entire collection every four to five years and was the only known person to have handled every book in the library.

Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., said “Brother Lambert has been a great inspiration to the entire Saint Vincent community—young and old—his faithful perseverance in prayer and his steadfast commitment to his assigned responsibilities provided a wonderful example of what it means to be a faithful servant.”

In the fall of 1999 Brother Lambert received the Presidential Medal of Honor as part of the Saint Vincent Founders’ Day celebration. College President Father Martin R. Bartel, O.S.B., praised Brother Lambert for his many years of devoted service to Saint Vincent, noting that “throughout his life he quietly served as a model of humble devoutness. His hard meticulous work and dedication to whatever task is assigned him, provide an example to be emulated by both Benedictine and lay colleagues alike. To those that know him well and/or work with him, he is the personification of the Benedictine motto, Ora et Labora (prayer and work).”

The body will be received at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, October 31, in the Elizabeth J. Roderick Center of Saint Vincent Archabbey. Viewing will be held from 7:15 to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, November 1 in the parlor of the Roderick Center. A Vigil Service will be held at 7:15 p.m. Sunday in the Archabbey Basilica. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., at 2:30 p.m. Monday, November 2 in the Archabbey Basilica. Interment will follow in the Saint Vincent Cemetery.

Prayer Request

In your charity, please play for the repose of the soul of our Br. Lambert Berens, OSB who died this morning.  Br. Lambert was a beloved confrere, extremely hard worker, and dedicated monk. 

Saints of God, come to his aid! Come to meet him, angels of the Lord! Receive his soul and present him to God the Most High. May Christ, Who called him, take him to Himself; may angels lead him to Abraham's side. Receive his soul and present him/her to God the Most High. Give him eternal rest, O Lord, and may Your light shine upon him forever. Receive his soul and present him/her to God the Most High. Let us pray: We commend our brother, Lambert to you, Lord. Now that he has passed from this life, may he live on in Your presence. In Your mercy and love, forgive whatever sins he may have committed through human weakness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles (October 28)

From: saintvincentarchabbey.org

Eph 2:19-22; Ps 19:2-5; Lk 6:12-16

"Imparts knowledge"

The heavens declare the glory of God because they display the beauty of God. The bright blue sky on a crisp autumn day delights the eyes, and even the grey and cloudy days invite calm and meditation. Indeed the voice of the heavens is the wind, the very breath of God, and the thunder, the very voice of the LORD. The very sky just by being what it is declares the glory of God. The firmament is bright with the moon, the sun, stars, rainbows, meteors, comets, galaxies, clouds, and the aurora borealis. Such beauty stops us and demands our loving gaze. When we behold the LORD's handiwork, how can we stop from singing? The lover of creation, who becomes the lover of the Creator, can no more stop singing than the fire can stop burning. Indeed, we join the silent and noisy rejoicing of all creation: "Blessed be God who pours out the word to day, and imparts knowledge night after night." Every creature declares, proclaims, and pours out a word of praise and wonder for the mystery of God’s beauty seen in all his handiwork. Indeed, we who listen with the heart hear the word of praise on the lips of brother sun and sister moon. Indeed, all creatures of our God and King invite us to join in their silent melodies. We listen so carefully that not a discourse or a voice is not heard. It is the company of friends gathered around the Word Made Flesh, Jesus the LORD, who continue his discourse and his words in the Scriptures and in the Oral Tradition of the Church. Indeed, it is their voice that resounds to the ends of the world and their message through all the earth. These Apostolic Witnesses have given what only they could give. An eyewitness and an ear witness to the good news of Jesus the Christ. This is the good news every generation has longed to hear. The good news every people have needed to hear. The good news is the Father reaching out to embrace the whole world through his two arms, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Father holds us close to his own heart and summons each one of us to eternal intimacy, face-to-face with the Creator of Heaven and earth. This same apostolic witness is the only good news we have to offer people of our generation and our community.

We celebrate two of the Twelve, Saint Simon and Saint Jude. They are named in today's gospel as disciples who were called to a further commitment and mission as apostles. These faith filled followers were sent to be faithful witnesses in the word and in the blood. Like most of earliest believers these two gave everything up in sacrifice with the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. We, too, are called to such radical witness. We are no strangers to the mysteries of Christ. Indeed, we have shared in his dying and rising. The Holy Spirit has transformed our fear to faith; our witness is unashamed and on occasion even bold. We are not sojourners in the Church. Indeed, we have signed on the dotted line. We are no strangers to the mysteries of Christ. Indeed, we have shared in his dying and rising. The Holy Spirit has transformed our fear to faith; our witness is unashamed and on occasion even bold. We are not sojourners in the Church. Indeed, we have signed on the dotted line. We are at home in the Body of Christ; our life doesn't make sense anymore without Christ and his Church. As Saint Paul tells his beloved Ephesians, we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Notice the use of the less demanding word "holy ones" in the new translation. Why is saint so unfamiliar to us? Are we not called to be saints? If only saints, angels, and God dwell in the heavenly kingdom, where do we fit in? We are not angels, and we are not God, so we must be saints. Yes, those who make it to heaven from the human race are called saints, and that sanctity begins here and now. We have been built upon the solid foundation of the Apostles and prophets; Christ Jesus himself is our capstone. Through him, with him and in him, we are growing together into a holy temple, a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Indeed, the LORD God, Almighty, is at home in us and among us. Through our community the LORD welcomes his distant and unfamiliar children to come and realize his love and tender mercy. This is our apostolic witness, first community then preaching and celebrating the mysteries of Christ the LORD. This is how we are fellow citizens with Saint Jude and Saint Simon.

From the Gospel of Saint Luke we learn that Simon was called a Zealot and Judas the son of James was called Jude. Perhaps Simon was called a Zealot because he was a member of the party of the Zealots who were willing to cause the Roman oppressors as much trouble as they could, even to the point of violence. On the other hand Saint Simon the Apostle could have been called a Zealot because before he started following the Lord Jesus he was a member of this revolutionary movement. After meeting the Lord Jesus he had another agenda and another zeal all together. He was struck with the lightning of meeting Christ the Lord, and it changed everything. Now, he put away the sword and took up the word, the only weapon fit for the Kingdom of God. Perhaps Judas the son of James was called Saint Jude the Apostle by early church tradition because his name reminded everyone of the other Judas, who became a traitor. Saint Jude was no traitor; he was willing to do what Judas Iscariot was not willing to do. He was willing to take the morsel offered at the Last Supper and become what he ate, the body and blood of Christ. Saint Jude accepted the service of washing dirty feet just as Christ had washed his. Judas Iscariot did neither. His attitude echoes another traitor who shattered the eternal liturgy with his announcement, NON SERVERUM, "I will not serve." No wonder he name is changed in the tradition. Today we remember and celebrate the Apostles, Saint Simon and Saint Jude, who were chosen by the Lord Jesus after carful thought and a nighttime of prayer to the Father. These Twelve he called to himself and sent forth to proclaim to the ends of the earth, "Jesus is LORD!" Are our voices one with this apostolic witness? Are we willing to shed our comforts, attachments, luxuries, and even our blood to give witness to our Lord and Savior?

Simon and Jude

From: http://www.simonjude.net/

Saint Simon

The name of Saint Simon usually appears eleventh in the list of the Apostles. Born at Cana in Galilee – the site of the Lord’s miracle at a wedding feast – St. Simon was surnamed “the Zealot,” probably due to his affiliation with a Jewish reform group. Following the Lord’s Resurrection, he preached the Gospel and initiated the life of the Church in Persia (modern day Iran) and Asia Minor (Turkey). He was martyred sometime in the mid-first century, and is often depicted with the instrument of his martyrdom – a saw. St. Simon’s relics are now housed at the Vatican along with those of St. Jude. St. Simon is especially called upon when we face difficulty and contempt for our religious beliefs or the practice of our religion.

Saint Jude

Saint Jude, also called “Thaddeus,” was the Apostle who asked the Lord at the Passover Supper the night before His Death why He had manifested Himself only to His disciples and not to the whole world (John 14:22). Saint Jude is also the Apostle who authored the epistle contained in the New Testament, encouraging the early Church in the face of adversity. St. Jude preached the Gospel along with St. Simon in Persia. St. Jude was renowned for his effective preaching and refutation of the enemies of the Church, in casting out demons, and in converting the Zoroastrian king. St. Jude was martyred by being run-through with a spear, and his relics are housed at the Vatican. St. Jude is known around the world as the patron of causes despaired of… when everything seems hopeless, his prayers are often sought.

Pope Encourages Personal Relationship With Christ

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Only Jesus is "joy to the heart," says Benedict XVI, citing words from St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

The Pope reflected today during the general audience on this 12th century saint, highlighting his personal relationship with Christ.



According to the Holy Father, "in a more than decisive way, the abbot of Clairvaux configures the theologian to the contemplative and the mystic. Only Jesus -- insists Bernard in face of the complex dialectical reasoning of his time -- only Jesus is 'honey to the mouth, song to the ear, joy to the heart.'"



Ideas like this one, noted the Pontiff, won the saint his traditional title: "Doctor Mellifluus: his praise of Jesus Christ, in fact, 'runs like honey.'"

Benedict XVI observed that "the abbot of Clairvaux does not tire of repeating that only one name counts, that of Jesus the Nazarene. 'Arid is all food of the soul,' [the saint] confesses, 'if it is not sprinkled with this oil; insipid, if it is not seasoned with this salt. What is written has no flavor for me, if I have not read Jesus.' And he concludes: 'When you discuss or speak, nothing has flavor for me, if I have not heard resound the name of Jesus.'"



The Pope said Bernard's concept of true knowledge of God consists in a "personal, profound experience of Jesus Christ and of his love."



"And this, dear brothers and sisters," he said, "is true for every Christian: Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience his closeness, his friendship, his love; only in this way does one learn to know him ever more, and to love and follow him ever more. May this happen to each one of us."

Catholic Underground in Pittsburgh this Saturday

http://www.catholicundergroundpittsburgh.org/

Memorial of Saint John of Capistrano (Oct, 24, 2009)

From: saintvincentarchabbey.org

Rom 8:1-11, Ps 24:1-6; Lk 13:1-9

"Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face."

So what is the blessing, the reward that we shall receive from the LORD God, our savior? What do we expect from the LORD who made the earth and its fullness and all those who dwell upon it? He founded the seas, and he established the rivers. How can we even climb the mountain where he dwells? How can we stand in his holy place to receive anything? We must have clean hearts, and sinless hands. We must not desire anything that is vain. What is vain? It is vain to desire anything more than we desire the LORD God Almighty. Can we claim membership in the race that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob? We are commanded to ask, seek, and knock. Whenever we ask, we receive. Whenever we seek, we find. Whenever we knock, it is opened to us. Our Heavenly Father always answers our prayer by the abundant gift of the Holy Spirit. For what more could we ask? Does not the gift of the Holy Spirit far surpass all we could have ever imagined? Is there anything else we need? As Saint Paul teaches his beloved in the church in Rome, "If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you." Indeed it is only the Holy Spirit who can enable the growth necessary so that we can bear His Fruits to nourish and refresh our world: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The law has only so much to offer. It does guide us in forming a good conscience so that we can continue to choose the will of God. However, the law has not power to strengthen our weakened flesh. Indeed, we are weakened because the desire or tendency toward sin remains enfleshed as patterns of behavior, habits of the heart. What we cannot do of our own accord, God does within us by the gift of grace in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. We are too close to our own situation to see ourselves clearly, as God sees us. We all too easily make excuses for our weakness and sinful habits. They have become our friends; they seem to offer some level of comfort that is within our reach and our control. Left to our own devices we have no hope for change, for growth in spirit and truth. We need the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ in order to be strong and even to desire the Father's will more than our own will. In the Holy Spirit we belong to Christ and we no longer belong to sin, to our habits of seeming self-affirmation. Because Christ has taken up residence in our hearts, we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. As Saint Paul writes elsewhere, we can say with total confidence, "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me!"

Before the Lord Jesus told the parable in today's gospel, where did you think he was going? Perhaps it seem like he was trying to answer the question we often express this way: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Actually, he refuses to answer that question. The Galileans were killed because Pilate wanted to achieve some political goal. Those crushed by the tower of Siloam were killed because of a freak accident. There is no easy explanation for "physical evil." The Lord Jesus used these two examples from the news of his day to simply summon his listeners to repent. Even more so, this crowd was warned to stop thinking themselves to be better human beings because they did not suffer in these ways. They may have been even more painful events ahead of each of those who gathered around the Lord that day. Then comes the good news, and it's in the parable. The gardener says to the orchard owner like Jesus says to the Father with his whole life and ministry. "Father, let me pour my life upon the cross and pour out the Spirit upon this fig tree of yours, then it will bear fruit." We are the fig trees. This is our grace filled, Spirit filled opportunity! If we do not bear fruit this time, will there be another opportunity? At a dark and turbulent time all through the Western world Saint John of Capistrano was summoned to sanctity and to service. As a Franciscan Friar and Catholic Priest this great Christian Optimist helped the plague infested and war torn peoples of Europe to triumph over the darkness of Moslem domination and begin to heal from the Western Schism when there were three claimants to the Holy See at one time. This Holy Friar continues to pray for us that darkness will be lifted from our hearts and that we might bear the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in our day.

Pope Benedict on Bl. Peter the Venerbale, OSB

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr

Rom 4:13,16-18; Ps 107:6-9,42-43; Lk 12:8-12

"The LORD remembers his covenant forever."

When the LORD remembers, things happen. When the LORD forgets, even then, great things happen. The LORD remembers his covenant with Abraham that he renewed with Isaac. When the LORD remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then he leads forth his people with joy, with shouts of joy. Indeed, the LORD leads us from slavery and from exile and from sin. All through history the LORD's remembering is for our blessing, in every generation! At the same moment the LORD remembers his covenant and leads us out, the LORD forgets our sin, our complaining, our refusal to remember his love and mercy in the way we treat one another. Such is the remembering and the forgetting of the LORD our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of Saint Paul who recognizes that Abraham is the father of all who have faith, Jew and Gentile alike. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who promises the Holy Spirit to those who are called to testify in court for their faith in the LORD God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This promise is also intended for us who live in this age and endure persecution.

Abraham is our father in faith. The LORD made a promise to Abraham and fulfilled that promise in Christ, "I have made you father of many nations." In Christ the eternally begotten son of the Father, Abraham's faith is fulfilled. He has inherited the world through the righteousness that comes from faith. This faith is the gift that enabled Abraham to trust in the promise and that is also a gift. Everyone who receives that gift of faith and trusts in the promise of the LORD is a descendant of Abraham. The LORD promised him literal descendants through Isaac whom God called him to offer up in sacrifice. This seeming contradiction was the ultimate test of Abraham's faith. He believed that the LORD who gives life would give life to his son, Isaac. In Christ this promise is completely fulfilled because of the resurrection of Christ and because we share in that gift from on high. We, too, trust in the LORD who calls into being what does not exist, He calls into being a completely new creation by the power and out pouring of the Holy Spirit, a body of Christ made up of reconciled Jews and Gentiles.

If we forget who we are, we will deny the Lord Jesus before others. Such forgetfulness will lead to our not being acknowledged before the angels of God. This teaching becomes even more severe when the Lord Jesus continues, "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." What is this great blasphemy? Perhaps it is the willful denial that we can be forgiven. Perhaps there are some who foolishly think in their hearts that they have so grievously offended the LORD that even He cannot forgive them. To deny the Holy Spirit access to our hearts so that he might give us the grace to repent and believe the Good News is to close off all hope for new life, mercy or kindness. Such is the despair of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. However, those who do welcome the Holy Spirit have nothing to fear. Even when we are summoned before religious or civil authority, we have nothing to fear. What we are to say and when we are to say it will be given us from deep within our Spirit-filled hearts. This Holy Spirit hovers over us whenever we are in communion with the Body and Blood of Christ. This Holy Spirit breathes in us even as we cry out Abba, Father. We have nothing to fear. Saint Ignatius had no fear as he approached Rome and his own self-sacrifice as wheat ground between the teeth of the lions. His great desire was for the unity and order of the Church. He knew, what we sometimes forget, the price of commitment to Christ.

APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY DECREE (Special Indulgence for the Year for Priests)

As has been announced, the Holy Father Benedict XVI has decided to establish a special Year for Priests on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of St John Mary Vianney, the holy Curé d'Ars, a shining model of a Pastor totally dedicated to the service of the people of God.

During the Year for Priests which will begin on 19 June 2009 and will end on 19 June 2010, the gift of special Indulgences is granted as described in the Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary, published on 12 May.
 

Shortly the day will come on which will be commemorated the 150th anniversary of the pious departure to Heaven of St John Mary Vianney, the Curé d'Ars. This Saint was a wonderful model here on earth of a true Pastor at the service of Christ's flock.
 

Since his example is used to encourage the faithful, and especially priests, to imitate his virtues, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI has established that for this occasion a special Year for Priests will be celebrated, from 19 June 2009 to 19 June 2010, in which all priests may be increasingly strengthened in fidelity to Christ with devout meditation, spiritual exercises and other appropriate actions.
 

This holy period will begin with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day of priestly sanctification on which the Supreme Pontiff will celebrate Vespers in the presence of the holy relics of St John Mary Vianney, brought to Rome by the Bishop of Belley-Ars, France.
 

The Most Holy Father will likewise preside at the conclusion of the Year for Priests in St Peter's Square, in the presence of priests from across the world who will renew their fidelity to Christ and the bond of brotherhood.
 

May priests commit themselves, with prayer and good works, to obtaining from Christ the Eternal High Priest, the grace to shine with Faith, Hope, Charity and the other virtues, and show by their way of life, but also with their external conduct, that they are dedicated without reserve to the spiritual good of the people something that the Church has always had at heart.
 

The gift of Sacred Indulgences which the Apostolic Penitentiary, with this Decree issued in conformity with the wishes of the August Pontiff, graciously grants during the Year for Priests will be of great help in achieving the desired purpose in the best possible way.
 

A. Truly repentant priests who, on any day, devoutly recite at least morning Lauds or Vespers before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed for public adoration or replaced in the tabernacle, and who, after the example of St John Mary Vianney, offer themselves with a ready and generous heart for the celebration of the sacraments, especially Confession, are mercifully granted in God the Plenary Indulgence which they may also apply to their deceased brethren in suffrage, if, in conformity with the current norms, they receive sacramental confession and the Eucharistic banquet and pray for the Supreme Pontiff's intentions.
 

Furthermore the Partial Indulgence is granted to priests who may apply it to their deceased confreres every time that they devoutly recite the prayers duly approved to lead a holy life and to carry out in a holy manner the offices entrusted to them.
 

B. The Plenary Indulgence is granted to all the faithful who are truly repentant who, in church or in chapel, devoutly attend the divine Sacrifice of Mass and offer prayers to Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest, for the priests of the Church, and any other good work which they have done on that day, so that he may sanctify them and form them in accordance with His Heart, as long as they have made expiation for their sins through sacramental confession and prayed in accordance with the Supreme Pontiff's intentions: on the days in which the Year for Priests begins and ends, on the day of the 150th anniversary of the pious passing of St John Mary Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month or on any other day established by the local Ordinaries for the benefit of the faithful.
 

It will be most appropriate, in cathedral and parish churches, for the same priests who are in charge of pastoral care to publicly direct these exercises of devotion, to celebrate Holy Mass and to hear the confession of the faithful.
 

The Plenary Indulgence will likewise be granted to the elderly, the sick and all those who for any legitimate reason are confined to their homes who, with a mind detached from any sin and with the intention of fulfilling as soon as possible the three usual conditions, at home or wherever their impediment detains them, provided that on the above-mentioned days they recite prayers for the sanctification of priests and confidently offer the illnesses and hardships of their lives to God through Mary Queen of Apostles.
 

Lastly, the Partial Indulgence is granted to all the faithful every time they devoutly recite five Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glorias, or another expressly approved prayer, in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to obtain that priests be preserved in purity and holiness of life.
 

This Decree is valid for the entire duration of the Year for Priests. Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
 

Given in Rome, at the Offices of the Apostolic Penitentiary on 25 April, the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord 2009.

Cardinal James Francis Stafford
Major Penitentiary

+ Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv.
Titular Bishop of Meta, Regent

L. + S.
Prot. N. 136/09/I

Welcome "Come and See" Vocation Guests!!!

"Let all Guests be received as Christ" RB, Chapter 53

This weekend the Archabbey is proud to welcome a number of young men discerning the religious life for a "Come and See" Weekend. Please keep these men in prayer as they discern the Lord's will for them in their lives. Also, please ask the Lord that he continue to bless our community with young and vibrant vocations and that our community may continue to grow in holiness and loyalty to the Church.

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of wisdom and divine love, impart Your knowledge, understanding, and counsel to youth that they may know the vocation wherein they can best serve God. Give them courage and strength to follow God's holy will. Guide their uncertain steps, strengthen their resolutions, shield their chastity, fashion their minds, conquer their hearts, and lead them to the vineyards where they will labor in God's holy service.
Amen.

Pope Benedict to Canonize Blessed Jeanne Jugan (Founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor)

From the Little Sisters of the Poor

The Little Sisters of the Poor have been helping the elderly and poor in the Western Pennsylvania area since 1872 when they first established their mission in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh.  Over the years our Benedictine community has built a wonderful relationship with the sisters as they have allowed our students and potential candidates to do works of charity at their home for the elderly. The Benedictine Community here at St. Vincent rejoices in the Canonization of their founder Jeanne Jugan who Pope Benedict will declare a Saint this Sunday. 

Jeanne Jugan gave herself entirely to God and the elderly poor. As our aging population continues to grow and dignity at the end of life is increasingly threatened, Jeanne Jugan offers herself as a friend and patron of the elderly. She is a Saint for old age.

But she is more than that!

• Jeanne is a Saint for every age as she challenges young people to give themselves to God and neighbor.
• She is a role model for those who care for the poor, the sick and the aging.
• To those who feel anxious in these tough economic times, she offers an invitation to live the Beatitudes, trusting that God will provide.
• She challenges all of us to do everything through love.

Jeanne is a friend of God and a hero for the poor. She is a Gospel witness for our time and a Saint for all times!

Growing up in hard times

Jeanne Jugan grew up in a small town in revolutionary France. Times were tough. Violence ruled the day. For thousands, begging was a way of life.

Those who openly practiced their faith were not merely ridiculed—they were imprisoned or killed. Jeanne received her faith formation—secretly and at great risk—from her mother and a group of women who belonged to an ecclesial movement of the day.


By the time Jeanne was four years old her father had been lost at sea. Her mother found odd jobs to make ends meet. Neighbor helped neighbor. As a young girl Jeanne worked as a shepherdess. She learned to knit and spin wool. Later she went to work as a kitchen maid for a wealthy family. 

On Fire with love for God  

Jeanne barely learned to read and write. Her education consisted mostly of on-the-job training in the school of real life. Neither beautiful nor talented in the usual sense, she was gifted with an extraordinary heart. Jeanne was on fire with love for God!

Those who let themselves be seized by the love of Christ cannot help abandoning everything to follow him… Barely out of her teens, Jeanne felt the call of divine love. Preparing to leave home, she told her mother “God wants me for himself. He is keeping me for a work which is not yet founded.”

Jeanne took the road less traveled, setting out to work among the poor and forsaken in a local hospital. 

Jeanne meets Christ in the Poor 

Many years went by before Jeanne discovered her vocation. Finally, one cold winter night she met Jesus Christ in the person of an elderly, blind and infirm woman who had no one to care for her. Jeanne carried the woman home, climbed up the stairs to her small apartment and placed her in her own bed. From then on, Jeanne would sleep in the attic.

God led more poor old people to her doorstep. Generous young women came to help. Like Jeanne, they wanted to make a difference. Like her, they believed that “the Poor are Our Lord.” A religious community was born!

There were so many old people in need of a home, so many souls hungry for love! The work rapidly spread across France and beyond. Struck by their spirit of humble service, local citizens dubbed the group the Little Sisters of the Poor. The name stuck!

For herself Jeanne chose the religious name Sister Mary of the Cross.
She would live it in its fullness.…

Jeanne is grafted into the cross

The work of the Little Sisters continued to spread, borne by the wind of the Spirit. So did Jeanne’s renown—until one day she was mysteriously cast aside by an ambitious priest who had taken over the direction of the young community.

Jeanne was replaced as superior and sent out begging on behalf of the poor. And then one day she was placed in retirement, relegated to the shadows. At the time of her death 27 years later, the young Little Sisters didn’t even know that she was the foundress.


Jeanne had often told them, “We are grafted into the cross and we must carry it joyfully unto death.” How she lived these words! What a radiant example of holiness she gave to generations of Little Sisters! 

God lifts up the lowly

Like the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies, Jeanne’s life would bear much fruit. Thousands of young women followed in her footsteps. The Little Sisters’ mission of hospitality spread to the ends of the earth, like a great wave of charity.

In his time, God would raise Jeanne up. At her beatification Pope John Paul II said that “God could glorify no more humble a servant than she.”

Referring to Jeanne’s canonization on October 11, 2009, Pope Benedict has said that “This event will show once again how living faith is prodigious in good works, and how sanctity is a healing balm for the wounds of humankind.”

A friend of the poor — a Gospel witness for our time — a Saint for old age and every age! 

More in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pray the Rosary!!!

This weekend our community will welcome a number of young men discerning the monastic way of life for a "Come and See" weekend.  Today, on this feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I ask that you please offer a rosary for their intentions and that the Lord may speak to their hearts and show them his will and that our Lady may guide and nurtue them to her son.

From the Statutes of the Carthusian Order (Chapter 4: The Keeping of Cell and Silence)

Our principal endeavor and goal is to devote ourselves to the silence and solitude of cell. This is holy ground, a place where, as a man with his friend, the Lord and his servant often speak together; there is the faithful soul frequently united with the Word of God; there is the bride made one with her spouse; there is earth joined to heaven, the divine to the human. The journey, however, is long, and the way dry and barren, that must be traveled to attain the fount of water, the land of promise.

Therefore the dweller in cell should be diligently and carefully on his guard against contriving or accepting occasions for going out, other than those normally prescribed; rather, let him consider the cell as as necessary for his salvation and life, as water for fish and the sheepfold for sheep. For if he gets into the habit of going out of cell frequently and for trivial reasons it will quickly become hateful to him; as Augustine expressed it, "For lovers of this world, there is no harder work than not working." On the other hand, the longer he lives in cell, the more gladly will he do so, as long as he occupies himself in it usefully and in an orderly manner, reading, writing, reciting psalms, praying, meditating, contemplating and working. Let him make a practice of resorting, from time to time, to a tranquil listening of the heart, that allows God to enter through all its doors and passages. In this way with God’s help, he will avoid the dangers that often lie in wait for the solitary; such as following too easy a path in cell and meriting to be numbered among the lukewarm.

The fruit that silence brings is known to him who has experienced it. In the early stages of our Carthusian life we may find silence a burden; however, if we are faithful, there will gradually be born within us of our silence itself something, that will draw us on to still greater silence. To attain this, our rule is not to speak to one another without the President’s permission.

Love for our brothers should show itself firstly in respect for their solitude; should we have permission to speak about some matter, let us do so as briefly as possible.

Those who neither are, nor aspire to becoming, members of our Order are not to be allowed to stay in our cells.

Each year for eight days we devote ourselves with greater zeal to the quiet of cell and recollection. Fittingly, our custom is to do this on the anniversary of our Profession.

God has led us into solitude to speak to our heart. Let our heart then be a living altar from which there constantly ascends before God pure prayer, with which all our acts should be imbued.

Short Biography of St Bruno

Bruno was born in Cologne around 1030. He was still a youth when he was sent to Rheims, in France, to study at one of the most reputed universities in Europe. After completion of his studies, he started teaching at that university. In 1056, Archbishop Gervais chose him to be the Rector of the "schools" of Rheims; he held the office of Rector of studies for 20 years. Towards the end of 1076, Bruno chose exile because of the conflict between Manasses of Gournay, the archbishop of Rheims, and several important institutes of the city, including the Benedictine monastery of Saint Remi. On December 27, 1080, Gregory VII had to resolve to ask the clergy of Rheims to drive the corrupt archbishop away and to elect a new one. Bruno was chosen for this post of high responsibility and power, one of the highest ecclesiastical positions in the kingdom of France. But he had other plans. He had decided to follow Christ to the desert. It is only around the Feast of St John-Baptist, approximately on June 24, that he and six companions reached the far end of the desert of Chartreuse, under the guidance of Hugh, the young bishop of Grenoble. For six years, Bruno was able to enjoy the life he had chosen with his brothers. In the first months of 1090, Urban II, a former student of his, summoned him to Rome to help him in the service of the Church, but just a few months later, Bruno obtained the Pope's permission to return to eremitic life, provided that he would establish his hermitage in southern Italy, then under the rule of the Norman princes. Bruno chose a vast desert in the diocese of Squillace : Santa Maria della Torre. This is where he died, on October 6. 1101. From there he wrote two letters full of tender love which have been inspiring Carthusians for nine centuries. Bruno was beatified by Pope Leo X in 1514.

A few pics from our Fr. Ananias, OSB and his parish in Patton, PA

 

 

 

 

These are a few pictures of Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament at Queen of Peace Parish in Patton, PA.  Queen of Peace Parish is within the diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and offers the Holy Mass in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary forms with the official support of Bishop Joseph Adamec, Bishop of Altoona-Johnstown and Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, OSB, Archabbot of St. Vincent Archabbey. For more information please contact the parish at: (814) 674-8983