May 29, 2013

In Memoriam: Father Paschal N. Kneip, O.S.B.

 Father Paschal N. Kneip, O.S.B., a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey, died Friday, May 24, 2013. He was born in Pittsburgh on July 17, 1924. He is the son of the late John F. Kneip and Ethel (Davies) Kneip. He is one of six children. His siblings, Carol Mason, Mae Wynne, Arthur, John, Jr., and Anthony Kneip, are all deceased.


He attended Saint Ambrose Grade School in Pittsburgh, and is a 1943 graduate of Saint Vincent Preparatory School. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1948 from Saint Vincent College, and studied for the priesthood at Saint Vincent Seminary.
He entered the Benedictine monastic community of Saint Vincent Archabbey in 1945. He made simple profession of vows on February 13, 1946, and solemn profession of vows on February 10, 1949. He was ordained a priest in Saint Vincent Archabbey Church by Bishop John Dearden of Pittsburgh on May 15, 1951.
For most of his priestly life he served in the pastoral and secondary education apostolates of the Archabbey. After ordination he served as parochial vicar of Saint Gertrude Parish, Vandergrift (1951); Saint Mary Parish, Erie (1951-60); Saint Gregory the Great Parish, Virginia Beach, Virginia (1960-66); Sacred Heart Parish, Jeannette (1967); and Queen of the World Parish, St. Marys (1966). While serving in pastoral apostolates, he also taught at Barry Robinson School for Boys, Norfolk, Virginia (1960-66); Greensburg Central Catholic High School, Greensburg (1967); Elk County Christian High School (1966); Saint Pius High School, Savannah, Georgia (1967); and Benedictine Military School and Benedictine Priory, Savannah, Georgia (1967-74). He taught mathematics and moral and social guidance while at Benedictine Military School and Barry Robinson School. He also served as procurator and business manager at the Benedictine Priory in Savannah.
From 1974 to 1981, he served as pastor of Saint Gertrude Parish in Vandergrift. For 19 years (1981-2000), he was pastor of Saint Gregory the Great Parish, Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 2000 he was named senior priest at Saint Gregory the Great Parish, and in 2003, he was assigned pastor at Saint Andrew the Apostle Parish, Chincoteague Island, Va., until his retirement to the Archabbey in 2011.
Father Paschal was a member of the Diocesan Priest Council and the Executive Board for the Dioceses of Greensburg and Richmond. He also served on the Saint Vincent College Board of Directors. In Richmond, he served on the Diocesan Development Board, the Board of Directors for Marian Manor (an adult retirement home), the Board of Directors for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Health Care Center (Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses) and the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Christian and Jewish Outreach of South Hampton Roads.
While he was pastor at Saint Gertrude Parish, Vandergrift, he completely restored the school, expanded the cemetery, and began the process of having the church placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
At Saint Gregory the Great Parish, he managed a number of building projects including the construction of church, social hall, cafeteria, middle school, and pre-school. He also directed the renovation of the office and meeting room complex, the gymnasium, the Knights of Columbus Hall, library, kindergarten, athletic room and storage building for the school as well as the convent and priests' residence. Ten properties containing homes and ten acres of ground were purchased for school and parish expansion. In recognition of his service, the parishioners named a building on the Parish campus "Paschal Hall." In 2003, Father Paschal accepted the invitation of Bishop Walter Sullivan to become pastor of Saint Andrew the Apostle Parish in Chincoteague, Va., where he managed the construction of a new parish social hall.
In recognition of his outstanding support for Catholic education over the years, Father Paschal was named “priest most supportive of Catholic education” by the Richmond Diocesan School Board in 1984. In 2000, he received the “That in All Things God May be Glorified” Award from Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia. The National Catholic Educational Association Award was received for the dedication and contribution to Catholic education in the Diocese of Richmond. He received the Christo Rey Award from the Hispanic Catholic community of Tidewater for loyal and dedicated commitment to the Hispanic community. Father Paschal was also presented with the Special Support Award from the Naval Security Group at Northwest and Fort Story in Virginia Beach. In 1995 Father Paschal received the Saint Vincent Seminary Alumnus of the Year. In honor of Father Paschal’s commitment to children and families, the Reverend Paschal N. Kneip Scholarship Fund was established in his honor at Saint Vincent Archabbey in 2005. The scholarship helps to provide education for candidates for the priesthood or religious life.
The body will be received at the Elizabeth J. Roderick Center of Saint Vincent Archabbey at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 28, with viewing to follow in the parlor of the Roderick Center until 7 p.m. The body will be transferred to the Basilica for a vigil service at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 29 in the Archabbey Basilica. Interment will follow in the Saint Vincent Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Rev. Paschal N. Kneip, O.S.B., Scholarship Fund, Saint Vincent Archabbey, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA 15650.

Spring at the Archabbey

The Spring at Saint Vincent brings with it a time of completion as the academic semester ends, and a time of renewal as the summer begins. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Benedictine monks at Saint Vincent remain prayerfully occupied with the work of the Lord.



Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday is a movable feast, celebrating the Most Holy Trinity,  the Christian belief that God is Three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and yet One God. 




Ordination to the Priesthood

On Saturday, May 25, 2013, Father Jeremiah Lange, O.S.B., a monk of Saint Vincent 
Archabbey, was ordained to the priesthood by Most Rev. Lawrence E. Brandt, J.C.D., Ph.D., 
Bishop of Greensburg. Also concelebrating was Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B.













Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday May 19, marks the end of the Easter season in the Church calender celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. Pentecost falls 50 days after Easter.


The  Ascension

The  Ascension, a Holy Day of Obligation, celebrates the day that Christ, in the presence of His apostles, ascended bodily into Heaven. The Ascension occurred on the 40th day of Easter, so it falls on a Thursday, and thus is often called Ascension Thursday



Seminary Commencement 2013


Saint Vincent Seminary Awarded 20 degrees at its May 10 commencement, including an honorary doctorate to Rev. Joseph Mele, rector of Saint Paul Seminary, Pittsburgh, and a former faculty member of Saint Vincent Seminary. Four students received dual degrees. In addition to monks and lay persons from the dioceses of Greensburg and Pittsburgh, they are from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, the dioceses of Harrisburg, Charleston, Covingotn, Erie and Wheeling-Charleston; Conception Abbey in Missouri and Monastery of Christ in the Desert, New Mexico. 




Pictured are front, from left: Very Rev. Joseph Mele, Ph.D., D.D., rector of Saint Paul Seminary, Pittsburgh, and former faculty member of Saint Vincent Seminary, who received an honorary doctor of divinity degree; Rev. John Mary Tompkins, O.S.B., vice rector of Saint Vincent Seminary; Very Rev. Timothy F. Whalen, rector of Saint Vincent Seminary; Rev. Patrick Cronauer, O.S.B., academic dean; second row, from left, Bridgette Ann Trunzo of Latrobe, master of arts degree, with high honors; Matthew R. Larlick, Diocese of Harrisburg, master of divinity degree; Br. Paulavang Vuong, O.S.B., master of divinity degree; David M. Renne of the Diocese of Erie, master of divinity and the master of arts degrees, both with honors, and recipient of the Diakonia Award and the Omer U. Kline, O.S.B., Homiletics Award; third row, from left, Stephen Kelley, Diocese of Harrisburg, master of divinity degree and the bachelor of sacred theology certificate, both with highest honors; Jacob Straub, Diocese of Covington, master of divinity degree and the bachelor of sacred theology certificate, both with honors; Michael Norton, Diocese of Covington, master of divinity degree; Feiser Muñoz, Archdiocese of Atlanta, master of divinity degree; Cong Nguyen, Archdiocese of Atlanta, master of divinity degree; fourth row, from left, Michael Kirk, Clemson, S.C., master of arts degree, with high honors; Ryan Stichweh, Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, master of divinity degree, with honors; Brother Jeremiah Lange, O.S.B., Saint Vincent Archabbey, master of divinity degree with high honors, and the Honorable Judge Bernard F. Scherer Award; Br. Paul Sheller, O.S.B., Conception Abbey, master of divinity and master of arts degrees, both with highest honors, and the Sacred Scripture Award. 




Ordination to the Diaconate



Brother Michael Antonacci, O.S.B., and Brother John Paul Heiser, O.S.B., were ordained to the diaconate on April 27, 2013 by Most Rev. Lawrence E. Brandt, J.C.D., Ph.D., Bishop of Greensburg, in Saint Vincent Archabbey 
Basilica.














Year of Faith Lecture Series

His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze gave a series of lectures at Saint Vincent Archabbey, Seminary, and College on April 17 and 18, 2013, and also celebrated Mass with Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., and members of the Saint Vincent Community, where relics of Blessed Pope John Paul II and Saint Kateri Tekakwitha available for veneration. The lectures were part of the Archabbey Year of Faith Lecture Series and the topic was Vatican II. 
















Mass of Thanksgiving in memory of 
Blessed Pope John Paul II


Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, who served as the personal secretary to the late Blessed John Paul II through his 27 years as pope, offered Mass at Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica on April 12. Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., members of the Benedictine community and students of Saint Vincent Seminary and College, as well as members of the Basilica Parish, took part in the Mass. The cardinal presented Saint Vincent with relics from Blessed John Paul II during the Mass.