God Bless America

Almighty God, You have given us this good land for our heritage. We humbly ask You that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Your favor and glad to do Your will. Bless our land with honorable endeavor, sound learning and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitude brought here out of many nations and tongues. Endow with the Spirit of wisdom those to whom in Your Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Your law we may show forth Your praise among the nations on earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble do not allow our trust in You to fail. Amen. 

- President Thomas Jefferson 

Prayer Request

Please pray for our incoming novices: Mr. Joshua Morgan, Mr. Daniel McMullen, Mr. Joshua Zimmerman, Mr. Jefferey Wright, and Fr. Richard Loch who begin their 9 day postulancy retreat today before they recieve the holy habit on July 9th.  Please also remember our present novice class: Br. Romuald, Br. Matthew, Br. Michael, and Br. Isaac as they prepare to profess first vows on July 9th during 5 PM Solemn Vepers in the Archabbey Basilica (All are welcome to attend).  Our current junior monks will also renew their vows during the ceremony giving us 13 junior monks and 5 novices for the upcoming year...indeed the Lord is good.  May our Holy Father St. Benedict and Our Lady continue to intercede for these men a they strive to do the will of God in their lives.

Some of our young monks and incoming Novices pose for a picture last year in Fr. Sebastian's garden.

Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

 From: www.saintvincentarchabbey.org

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."

Our celebration of Saints Peter and Paul reveals both weakness and strength. Saint Peter is delivered from prison. Saint Paul is rescued from the lion's mouth. These Apostles of the Lord Jesus model for us a life that is poor in the eyes of the world yet powerful to the eyes of faith. These men of faith suffered the cost of discipleship and enjoyed the bounty of those who fear the Lord. If we fear the Lord, His angel encamps around us and we are delivered daily from the burdens of carrying the cross. Notice we are not delivered daily from carrying the cross, but we are delivered from the burdens of carrying the crosss. Every day we taste and see that the Lord is good and we are blessed because we take refuge in Him.

When King Herod took delight in the approval of his persecution of the members of the Church, he continued to wreak havoc and killed Saint James and arrested Saint Peter. Herod's delight was short lived. He could not keep Saint Peter in chains. Delivery from prison meant another opportunity for this Apostle to preach Christ, the Son of the Living God. Eventually his witness won for Saint Peter the reward of crucifixion upon an inverted cross to give all the glory to the Crucified and Risen Christ. The angel who encamped around Saint Peter did not prevent his self-sacrifice; rather he gave him the strength to share in the full outpouring of the Lord Jesus. Saint Paul also shared in this strength. He too was delivered from stoning and calamities. Yet, these miracles of rescue did not eliminate the ultimate self-gift of Saint Paul. He, too, shared in the total sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and was poured out in martyrdom by the sword. Both Apostles were delivered from persecution and death, yet the Lord delighted to receive each one as a living sacrifice of praise offered upon the altar of the cross. We, too, share in this mystery. The angel of the Lord encamps around us, and this angel provides both deliverance from danger and the strength we need to deliver ourselves over to the cross. Ultimately, we cannot avoid the cost of discipleship. Eventually, we must embrace the mystery of the cross. Finally, we give ourselves over to the full implications of baptism.

The power of the keys given to Saint Peter, after his profession of faith, is a power uniquely given to him and shared with all those who follow him in that office of loving service. The keys and the power to loose and bind are given to Saint Peter so that all of us can be admitted into the Kingdom of heaven. This apostolic authority provides all who follow Christ with the assurance of faith. We readily embrace this gift of Christ to his church, and we believe in the church even as we believe within the church. Our faith makes us one with Saint Peter and Saint Paul and with all who follow Christ, the Son of the Living God. Indeed we share in the same victory of faith, and we look to the Lord, and we are radiant with joy. This solemnity summons all who fear the Lord to take up the cross. Finally, it is the cross of Christ that is the key of power. Only through the cross do we gain access into the Kingdom of justice and peace. Only through the cost of discipleship do we bear authentic witness to the plan of God to gather all the nations into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only through laying down our lives in loving service do we have the power to loose and bind. Only this power will unlock the mystery of a burden that is easy and light. Suffering and death, through Him with Him and in Him, become more than a burden; they become the key that opens the gates of heaven.

1st Vespers at Famous Benedictine Monastery (St. Paul's Outside the Walls)

Friend and Graduate of St. Vincent Seminary to be ordained priest

 

Bishop David Zubik will ordain three men to the priesthood at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 26, at St. Paul Cathedral. The future priests are Deacons Robert Fleckenstein and Thomas Gillespie, both of Incarnation of the Lord Parish on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and Deacon Brian Noel, whose home parish is St. Paul Cathedral.

 

The ordination Mass will be cablecast live on the Christian Associates channel in the city of Pittsburgh.

 

Deacon Fleckenstein is the son of Wayne and Mary Kathryn Fleckenstein. He has one sister, Julie.

 

He attended St. Angela Merici School in White Oak, McKeesport Central Catholic, St. Joseph Regional School in Port Vue and Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport. Deacon Fleckenstein earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 2000.

 

Past employment has included work as assistant manager at Spencer Gifts, youth minister at St. Columbkille Parish in Imperial and St. Joseph Parish in O’Hara Township, and most recently as liturgy coordinator at Incarnation of the Lord.

 

In fall 2004, Deacon Fleckenstein was accepted into the priestly formation program and began studies at St. Paul Seminary and Duquesne University. He completed the pre-theology program and graduated with a master’s in philosophy in May 2006. He entered St. Vincent Seminary in fall 2006 and has completed his fourth year of theological studies.

 

Deacon Fleckenstein was involved in a summer pastoral experience at St. Joseph in O’Hara Township during his time at St. Paul Seminary. In summer 2007, he was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood, and he returned there for summer 2008.

 

On June 13, 2009, he was ordained a deacon at St. Paul Cathedral by Bishop Zubik. Deacon Fleckenstein was assigned for a pastoral experience at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Glenshaw for summer 2009.

 

Deacon Fleckenstein plans to celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving at Incarnation of the Lord Parish at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 27. Father Thomas Sparacino, pastor of St. Richard Parish in Richland Township, will deliver the homily.