Happy Feast of St. Benedict

O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance any one who had re-course to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.

Chant Workshop at SVA

In the past 60 years Gregorian Chant research on the ancient manuscript notation and on the evolution of the Gregorian modal system has brought about major changes worldwide in its performance practice. These include the recovery of ancient modes, a more accurate notation used in the new printed editions of chant, and a greatly augmented knowledge base for a reading of the earliest manuscript sources. This intensive workshop, May 23-27, 2011, will be an introduction to these changes and developments. Through historical, theoretical and practical study the workshop will provide a foundation for a historically-informed reading of the Gregorian chant repertoire. It is intended to serve Church musicians who want to explore the use of this repertoire in their music ministry.

Register online

Ash Wednesday 2011

FROM: www.saintvincentarchabbey.org

If we prayed Psalm 51 every day throughout Lent, perhaps we would retrieve the joy of God's salvation. However, this may be just too much to ask; so perhaps we could simply pray for forty days, "Lord, give me back the joy of your salvation." This is indeed the mercy for which we long with desert-like hearts. It is already an experience of his great goodness that we have the sacrament of reconciliation readily available; it is a sign of his great goodness that we have yet another lent in which to linger over his compassion. Like a spring rain upon a parched earth so, too, does his mercy fall upon our dry and arid souls. It is times like lent when we are summoned to acknowledge our offenses and keep our sin before our eyes always. Indeed, our failure in relationship with Abba and with all people is very personal and causes heart pain. However, we need not fear because the LORD creates a clean heart for us and renews our spirits within. The LORD does not cast us far from his presence no matter how far we may wander. He takes not his Holy Spirit from us lest we choke or languish. The joy of salvation is the point of Joel's preaching. The LORD is stirred to compassion; we have no need to fear. Indeed, it is the joy of salvation that makes us ambassadors for Christ. The Lord Jesus assures us that the hidden beauty of our repentance will reveal the glory of God in the abundance of our joy.

Repentance is useless unless it is whole hearted. The prophet Joel makes this clear in today's first reading. Our fasting, weeping, mourning, rending, praying, giving up things, and even taking on new things is a complete waste of time and energy if it is not from the depths of the heart, if it is not whole hearted. There needs to be some event, some social gathering, some assembly to begin everything, but it cannot stop there. "Blow the trumpet in Zion…call an assembly…gather the people…notify the congregation!" Without all this excitement no one will even notice that Lent has begun. Notice, though, in Joel’s preaching that everyone is invited from infants at the breast to ministers of the LORD. This summons is for all people. No one can be excused--even bridegroom and bride must quit their chamber! The whole people, the entire congregation of Israel is called, invited, and urgently summoned. Then the very personal and completely private weeping begins with the priests on down through the ranks of the assembled. This public manifestation of heart felt repentance is only the beginning of conversion. Moved from the depths of the human heart we pray, "Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them!" Indeed no one can rule over us and we are free from sin and when we are liberated from self-deception, and other-dependence. Such is the freedom of the children of God. Those, who live and move and have their being in Jesus the Christ and in the Holy Spirit, are truly free.

If we are not reconciled to God, we are not brothers and sisters. If we are not reconciled to God, we are not ambassadors of Christ. If we are not reconciled to God, we do not appeal on behalf of Christ. This is the choice that lies before us each lent. Indeed, this is why we have lent year after year. For our sake God made Christ to be sin he who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. This is not unlike the patristic insight that God made his Son like us to hide his divinity is our humanity so that when death swallowed him up, when Satan took the bait, God would enter into that place were he could never go without empting himself of glory. If we are reconciled to God in Christ we work together. If we are reconciled to God in Christ we have not received the grace of God in vain. If we are reconciled to God in Christ we live in an acceptable time; we have all the help we need. Behold this is our Lent, our acceptable time, our day of salvation.

What makes lent an acceptable time? What makes these forty days a season of salvation, mercy, grace? Three things make Lent, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Not that this is the only season for such activities, but during this season of preparation for a Holy Easter we strive to recover from the negligence of the rest of the year. However, what is it that makes these three pious practices more than merely Lenten activities? How do we prevent ourselves from performing righteous deeds so that other people may see just how holy we are? We do not blow trumpets. We do not stand on street corners. We do not neglect our appearance. Everything we do for Lent; we do in secret. This kind of hidden living is Lenten living. If we practice this for forty days, we just may come to find our true joy. If we practice living in a hidden world, we just might find ourselves at home in our innermost center. Lent gives us an extra push into the desert, into the wilderness, into the secret places where our true life is lived.

Chair of St. Peter

From: www.americancatholic.org

This feast commemorates Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as the servant-authority of the whole Church (see June 29).

After the “lost weekend” of pain, doubt and self-torment, Peter hears the Good News. Angels at the tomb say to Magdalene, “The Lord has risen! Go, tell his disciples and Peter.” John relates that when he and Peter ran to the tomb, the younger outraced the older, then waited for him. Peter entered, saw the wrappings on the ground, the headpiece rolled up in a place by itself. John saw and believed. But he adds a reminder: “..[T]hey did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (John 20:9). They went home. There the slowly exploding, impossible idea became reality. Jesus appeared to them as they waited fearfully behind locked doors. “Peace be with you,” he said (John 20:21b), and they rejoiced.

The Pentecost event completed Peter’s experience of the risen Christ. “...[T]hey were all filled with the holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4a) and began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.

Only then can Peter fulfill the task Jesus had given him: “... [O]nce you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). He at once becomes the spokesman for the Twelve about their experience of the Holy Spirit—before the civil authorities who wished to quash their preaching, before the council of Jerusalem, for the community in the problem of Ananias and Sapphira. He is the first to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. The healing power of Jesus in him is well attested: the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the cure of the crippled beggar. People carry the sick into the streets so that when Peter passed his shadow might fall on them.

Even a saint experiences difficulty in Christian living. When Peter stopped eating with Gentile converts because he did not want to wound the sensibilities of Jewish Christians, Paul says, “...I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.... [T]hey were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel...” (Galatians 2:11b, 14a).

At the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). What Jesus said indicated the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God. On Vatican Hill, in Rome, during the reign of Nero, Peter did glorify his Lord with a martyr’s death, probably in the company of many Christians.

Second-century Christians built a small memorial over his burial spot. In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine built a basilica, which was replaced in the 16th century.

Monks run great Campus Ministry Program

This winter Saint Vincent College students have been collecting small stuffed animals to distribute to disadvantaged children in Brazil and Taiwan.

A total of 479 stuffed animals were collected. The students will ship the animals to the locations where they will engage in service work this spring and summer. The spring break service trip to Brazil is from February 25 to March 4. While in Brazil the students will work with the Missionary Sisters of Christ and the children in the Sisters’ schools: Casa de Crianca and Aprenzizado do Dom José Gasper. The schools were founded to keep children who live in the favelas, or slums, off the street and to improve their quality of life and hope for the future.

The service trip to Taiwan will be in July. While in Taiwan, the students will work at Cathwel Service, an orphanage for 120 students who are born with disabilities or serious illness; as well as for those who are abandoned or parentless because their families are not able or interested in caring for them. In addition to the orphanage, the students will also live and work in a remote mountain village where they extend this same love and compassion to not only children but also to the elderly.

Through these service trips, the Saint Vincent students give of their time and love to transcend language, age and cultural barriers.