Discernment Program at San Benedetto in Norcia

Via New Liturgical Movement:


The Monastery of San Benedetto in Norcia will hold its 11th annual summer vocational discernment program in 2011 from July 4 – July 29.

The purpose of the program is to offer young men (usually age 18-30) a time to discern God’s will for their life in a more concentrated way than normal worldly circumstances permit. Attendees will be invited to participate in the life of the monks as a way to guide their decision.

Participants should try to arrive a few days early to get over the jet lag. To apply, please write to the Novice Master at vocations@osbnorcia.org.

"Rays of Musical Light: Cloistered Nuns Share Record Label With Elton John"

From Catholic Online
By Sonja Corbitt

NASHVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - "The whole world, compacted as it were together, was represented to [Benedict's] eyes in one ray of light" (The Life of Our Most Holy Father Saint Benedict, Pope Saint Gregory the Great).

It seems the cloistered, self-sufficient community of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation near Avignon, France, also sees the world through a Benedictine ray of light, and is about to diffuse a radiant love all over the world through the slow, soaring movements of their Gregorian chant.

Benedictine vows include Stability, Fidelity to the Monastic Life, and Obedience, and their communal life is centered around the eight canonical hours of the Divine Office. The Benedictine Divine Office is one of the most ancient daily observances of any kind anywhere in the world, and Gregorian chant is the oldest music ever written down.

Originating in the ancient Jewish prayer tradition, Benedictines continued the practice of daily singing of the psalms (meaning, songs) and have conducted the Divine Office for the 1500 years since St. Benedict first wrote and compiled his Rule. The Benedictine sisters at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation, following the Liturgy of the Hours, sing eight times a day.

Ora et Labora, Pray and Work

The mystery and poetry of Scripture at its earthly best, Benedictine prayer rolls on, as daily as parenting, washing dishes, and marriage. Its chant is a living, lived-in song, a relationship with God and Church revealed and expressed in ordinary, but sacred, words and music. It is benediction.

It is this blessing, this work of prayer at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation, France that attracted the attention of a talent scout for Decca Records. "When you hear them chanting, it's like an immediate escape from the stresses, noise and pace of modern living," he said of the prayer of Benedictine nuns cloistered there.

Decca Records is part of Universal Music, a British label which also produces albums by The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Amy Winehouse, U2 and Elton John. After chant first gained secular popularity through Enigma's chart successes in the 1990s, and the last Gregorian chant album released sold over a million albums, Decca Records went on a worldwide search for the finest female Gregorian chanters.

Their anxious ears finally came to rest on the lilting prayer of the Benedictine sisters in Avignon who were chosen over more than 70 other convents worldwide. Typically, prospective pop stars cannot garner enough publicity, but this group is slightly different.

Hidden Life

"We never sought this, it came looking for us," said the abbey's Reverend Mother in a statement released by Universal Music, and indeed, their seclusion posed some challenges for both the record label and the religious community.

"Before starting the recording we were a bit nervous," said English speaking Sister Raphael in an interview. She expressed the whole community's concern for the extraordinary project:

"We were a bit afraid of what was going to happen to our cloistered life, so we confided this to St. Joseph in our prayer: that if this was going to help people to pray, if it was going to help people find God, if it's going to help people find peace, [he should] make this go through."

And "go through" it did, presumably under his patronage and special protection. In accordance with St. Joseph's lifelong, heroic protection of the consecrated, Decca took exceptional measures to protect the isolation the nuns vow until death.

The album contract was passed to the sisters for their signature through the beautiful wood-worked partition that secludes them from the outside world, and recording engineers were only allowed into the convent when the nuns were in different parts of the abbey.

After setting up microphones in the chapel, they retreated to a separate room when the sisters sang, remotely directing the recording. To promote the album, the sisters filmed their own television commercial and photographed the album cover.

"We had to give the cameras to the nuns, because they had access to the more beautiful parts of the monastery," a Decca spokesperson remembered fondly, "so we had to actually hand everything over to them. And they were making their own TV advert, they were making their own CD cover, and it was a very interesting and different way of working."

A Ray of Musical Light

They have no access to newspapers, TV or radio, but the sisters are now on Facebook and YouTube, and their album, Voice: Chant from Avignon, will be released early this November. Remarkably, although the nuns never leave the convent, the whole world will feel the radiant peace of their singing.

"I think that our music appeals to a wider audience, secular and non-secular. The words have a very profound meaning that is coming from the Sacred Scripture. The singing in our daily lives is very important for us. It is our prayer," said Sister Raphael, conveying the heart of her community. It has been said that other than the Bible, the Benedictine Rule was the most influential book in the development of western civilization, a light in medieval darkness.

"It's not quite a question of how we feel when we sing, but who we are, and for whom we sing," the sisters confirm. Indeed, the chanted Office is a song of Love, and they consider this song as one way to contemplatively bring sacred, musical, Benedictine light to a dark, frantic, noisy world.

Solemn Profession of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Kansas City

Kansas Catholic has FANTASTIC pictures of the Solemn Profession of Vows of the

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles.

Click on Kansas Catholic above to see all of the pictures, and make sure to see all four parts.

Below are just of few of the incredible photos...

"Benedictine monastery in Oklahoma elevated to abbey"

From Today's Catholic

Our Lady of the Annunciation at Clear Creek, a Benedictine monastery near Hulbert in the Diocese of Tulsa, has been elevated to the status of abbey. The change was announced Feb. 11 by Abbot Antoine Forgeot of the Abbey of Our Lady of Fontgombault in France, the monastery’s motherhouse. Father Philip Anderson, one of the original 13 monks who came from the French abbey to help found Clear Creek in 1999, has been elected abbot. He has served as prior of the monastic community since its foundation. “It’s a moment of perfection, and the moment you become fully what you were meant to be. To become an abbey is to reach a certain point of maturity,” the abbot-elect said. Clear Creek was established as a monastery at the invitation of Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa. In the 10 years since it was established, monasteries nationwide and worldwide have declined in membership, but the Oklahoma monastery has grown from its original 13 monks to its current population of 18 professed monks. Twelve of them are priests and six are brothers. In addition, the community includes eight novices and postulants and seven men who have made their first vows.

"Vocations and the Contemporary World"

From Catholic Exchange
by Br. (Nov.) Gregory Symonds, O.S.B.

Peace be with you! My name is Br. Nov. Gregory Symonds. I am a novice at St. Bernard Benedictine Abbey in Cullman, AL. I would like to share with you in this article some thoughts and reflections about vocations and contemporary American society.

You might have heard about the crisis in the Church on the dearth of vocations. Much of what has been written on this is true. I would like to point out an often neglected aspect to the discussion—debt.

Fr. Anthony Bannon once wrote that debt is the number one vocation killer and he is correct. In the “dearth of vocations” talks, we often hear about a “liberal regime” squashing “orthodox” men and women from formation programs. What we do not hear much about are the many stories of men and women who wish to dedicate their lives to God vis-à-vis religious life or priesthood but have accrued debt and are hindered in their desire.

In the lives of such men and women, the Lord has called them to do some other work for Him before calling them into holy service. Such work is a type of “preparatory stage” for these men and women so that they may make vows or holy orders with a better mind and heart for the life of a priest or religious. This usually means that some human or intellectual formation is necessary. Whatever the reason, the Lord has providentially willed the work but it sometimes comes at a price.

Many of our young Catholic men and women are asked to attend college by vocation directors. This request is often made because the directors see something lacking in the character of these men and women. This “lacking” will vary from person to person but whatever it may be, vocation directors wish it to be addressed before entrance to seminary/religious formation can take place. Believing it to be the Will of God, these young men and women do enter college and obtain their degree.

Attending a four-year college educational program, however, does not come without a price tag and this fact is often overlooked.

By the end of a four-year degree program at a reputable University, the average student will have paid roughly $80,000. Some of this is reduced by grants and scholarships but a large bulk of that cost is taken up in educational loans. These loans must be paid back before a person can enter the religious life or in the case of diocesan priesthood, reduced to a certain amount (which varies from diocese to diocese).

Fifty or so years ago, the cultural and financial situation was not like it is today. A number of religious communities and dioceses accepted young men and women out of high school in larger numbers than they do now. The order or diocese educated them and paid the costs because the person was dedicating their lives to Christ through the order/diocese. The cultural situation, however, shifted in the last forty years with the reforms in the Church after Vatican II and in the secular world with the onset of greater lay-involvement in the Church and higher education being pushed more in American society respectively.

Many vocation directors now value prior education and the experience that comes with it so as to have more well-rounded social individuals able to meet the challenges the Church faces in contemporary society. As a direct result, more vocations were becoming “delayed” and others were lost entirely in a monumental task of repaying their academic debts.

To put it simply, the Church was not prepared for the shift in culture and has suffered casualties. To rectify the situation, efforts are currently underway to answer this need in the Church. I would like to point out one in particular—The Laboure Society in Eagan, MN.

In 2001, Minnesota businessman Cy Laurent realized that vocations in the Church were becoming compromised due to academic debt. Together with other people, Laurent founded the Society in order to help these men and women retire their debts by instituting an attractive 501(c) (3) program for benefactors. In addition to the program, the Society provides hope and encouragement through personal and individual coaching to the men and women seeking the benefit of the Society’s program. These men and women are called “aspirants” in Society parlance.

The Society does not have its own funds and operates solely upon donations given by generous benefactors through the individual aspirant. Thus, each aspirant has to raise awareness of their cause in order to find benefactors. To do this, the aspirants have come up with creative ideas. Outside of standard employment, some examples of their creative efforts include making music CD’s, hosting fundraisers and even appearing on the radio. These efforts have met with success and the Society takes great pride in the over 100 men and women it has helped so far to enter the consecrated life/priesthood.

I would like to make a personal appeal for every reader to support the work of the Society by assisting its aspirants. The Society is available on the Internet at www.labouresociety.org where you can find more information about the program, how it works and how you can help. Vocations are depending upon you—mine included.

Br. (Nov.) Gregory Symonds, O.S.B. is a novice at St. Bernard Benedictine Abbey in Cullman. You can visit him on his blog at http://d-rium.blogspot.com.

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles groundbreaking on new convent

Kansas Catholic has a great post about the ground breaking for the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles new convent. Too many pictures and captions to copy here. Please take the time to visit and enjoy the post HERE.

"The Monks of Le Barroux"

Fr. Zuhlsdorf has created a lengthy and beautiful post about the Monks of Le Barroux.

You can view his post HERE.

"108-year-old monk dies at St. Meinrad"

From the Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith

The Rev. Theodore Heck, believed to be the world’s oldest Benedictine monk, died at age 108 today at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Southern Indiana.

Heck, who died a month before what would have been his 80th anniversary in the priesthood, was a former professor and rector at St. Meinrad’s college and seminary. The monastery said he was the oldest monk in the monastic orders following the tradition of St. Benedict.

In a monastery interview posted on YouTube, Heck said in 2006 he still enjoyed the monks five-times-a-day gatherings for prayer.

“As long as I can hear and I can pray, I’m glad to be with them,” he said.

“Everybody needs a family life of some kind,” he added. “Here we are kind of a spiritual family of young men and older men living together in harmony.”

A native of Chariton, Iowa, Heck was born on Jan. 16, 1901 and was later raised in Missouri and Indiana.

He enrolled in the high school seminary at St. Meinrad in 1918, professed his vows as a monk in 1923, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1929.

He earned a doctorate in education at Catholic University of America and taught for more than 50 years at both the high school and graduate seminaries at St. Meinrad. As rector, he oversaw the accreditation of St. Meinrad’s undergraduate and graduate programs.

The high school and college programs have since closed, but the graduate School of Theology continues to operate.

At age 70, a time when most people have wrapped up their careers, he began a 17-year term as pastor of St. John Chrysostom Parish in New Boston, Ind.
The funeral will be Saturday.

Benedictine monks make vows committing themselves to lives of prayer, obedience, celibacy and stability, or staying rooted in their community.

"A monk's life... but just until Monday"

Another article on the same story as before. This is an outstanding use of free advertising!

From BBC News
By Yvonne Murray

With Britain becoming an increasingly secular society, the number of people devoting themselves to the monastic life has been in freefall.

But now several monasteries and convents are fighting against the trend by offering taster weekends in the hope of bringing fresh members into the fold.

With little more than a crucifix on the wall and a Bible by the bed, the guestrooms at Worth Abbey are designed to resemble the monks' quarters.

"They have a comfortable bed, which they'll enjoy for the night," says the weekend co-ordinator, Fr Luke Jolly. "6:20am is our first monastic prayer," he says.

That is the first of five prayer services that visitors are asked to attend each day in the modern circular church, its interior bathed in natural light from the glass-domed ceiling.

At lunch the food is plentiful, with lasagne, tomato soup, cheese and salads.

No talking is allowed at any meals and instead the monks listen to a reading - today it is from a biography of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But there is plenty of time for a chat afterwards, over coffee and chocolates or while taking a walk.

The quiet garden is set amongst the rolling hills with a bridge over a reflective pool, where weekenders go to contemplate life in a religious order.

The Monastic Taster Weekend is designed for men who want to explore whether a life of obedience, stability, poverty and chastity could be for them. Meanwhile, both young men and women can come on the Compass Project - a series of nine weekends. Neither has a specific charge to attend, although donations of up to £70 are accepted.

Worth Abbey is one of a number of monasteries and convents which have decided to address the decline in their members by advertising their way of life - in the religious press, on the internet and even in in-flight magazines - and by inviting potential recruits to try it for themselves.

In 1982, there were 217 novices in the Catholic Church in England and Wales but by 2007 that figure had dropped to 29.

"Britain's become really a secular society... we advertise because we are aware that there are lots of options offered, particularly to young people," Fr Luke explains, "and the voice of God can get drowned out. So we're putting that option back before them."

One of the weekend visitors, Lisa Paget, is a Catholic convert. With her highlighted hair and facial piercing she perhaps looks like an unlikely candidate for convent life.

In fact, she spent some years as an atheist, dabbled with Hinduism and at one point was engaged to be married.

"When I first started coming on the weekends," she laughs, "the services seemed really boring and I couldn't wait to get through the booklet!

"But over time I really got into the rhythm of it and the idea of consecrating time which is a gift from God."

"I came to a crossroads in my life," she adds, "and decided I needed to explore where God was calling me to. And coming here is making me think more about becoming a nun."

A former weekender, Brother Robert Verill, has already taken the plunge and become a Dominican friar.

For many years, he was interested in religious vocation but was not sure if he was quite ready to swap his career as a software engineer for a life in the church.

"I was rather frightened of approaching my parish priest," he says. "Somehow, I imagined he might present me with a form for me to sign on the dotted line and he'd snatch me up!"

Now he returns to Worth to talk to the new Compass members about the commitment he has made to a life of celibacy.

"It's try before you buy, isn't it?" says Ric Slatter, a recent media graduate who is wondering if the priesthood is his real calling.

"I still can't quite make my mind up," he says. "A lot of the preconceptions I had about how difficult obedience and celibacy would be are kind of being answered by these weekends. At the same time the idea of marriage and kids is still very attractive."

With the financial markets in turmoil and unemployment on the rise, Fr Luke wonders if they might see more inquiries from people considering religious vocation.

He says: "I think they will be looking for a way of life that is different from the one the world's been offering so far."

For many who are used to the fast pace of modern life, the prospect of years of quiet contemplation could seem a little boring.

But the Abbott of Worth, Christopher Jamison, strongly disagrees.

"This is a rivetingly exciting life," he says. "I put it this way: modern life often looks very exciting from the outside but like some glitzy magazines there's not much in it. Whereas here in the monastery it's the opposite - the outside is very calm but what's going on inside is pulsating with life."

People might be convinced of that, the monks believe, if they come to stay and that, they hope, will help to prevent this 1,500-year-old tradition dying out.

"Goodbye beer, hello Brothers"

From the Bolton News
By James Higgins

HE enjoyed a beer in the pub with his pals and loved the occasional biscuit.

But Peter Berry’s life in the fast lane is well and truly behind him — as he has become a monk.

The 46-year-old from Farnworth became the first person in nine years to join the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey at a ceremony in Hereford.

Mr Berry, who is now known as Brother Andrew, said: “I felt the call to Belmont in 1998. For me, it was inevitable. I’m very happy and content. Belmont is where God wants me to be.”

When asked what he would miss most about everyday life, Brother Andrew said: “Being free to go the pub with my mates and being able to eat the biscuits I choose, instead of those I’m given.”

Brother Andrew first arrived at the monastery in 1998 but after a few months he left, feeling unready for a monastic life.

He returned in 2004 and, by monastic tradition, changed his name. Now he has joined the monk’s community following a “solemn profession” ceremony.

His fellow monks have welcomed him to the fold — and not just for his faith. He also has a wealth of experience from the computer industry and most of the 40 monks at Belmont regularly use information technology.

Brother Andrew also has a degree and a master’s degree in theology, and is taking a further theology qualification. He hopes to be ordained to the priesthood and is training at Oscott College, a seminary linked to Birmingham Archdiocese.

More then 30 students and staff from Oscott College attended his ceremony at a packed Belmont Abbey church.

It was witnessed by his grandmother, Marjorie Berry, aged 86, from Farnworth and Brother Andrew made his vows to the Rt Rev Paul Stonham, the Abbot of Belmont.

Brother Andrew sang his commitment in Latin and then carried out symbolic rituals.

It ended with him undergoing three days of silent retreat — which meant he couldn’t enjoy the reception afterwards!

But grandmother Mrs Berry said: “It was a wonderful ceremony. I was so proud of Andrew — but I’ve been proud of him all his life.”

The Abbot said: “We are absolutely delighted. Men with vocations are now often older with a career behind them. They are much more stable.”

"I Only Show You the Cross" St. Vincent Archabbey

The Benedictines at St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA are celebrating the 200th Birthday of their founder, Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. In honor of the occasion they have created a website which you can see HERE.

Religious Communities and Young Vocations

"A Monastic Kind of Life"
From SLATE
By Harold Fickett
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Catholic Church has always seen the contemplative life as the "Air Force" in its spiritual struggle, as the Rev. David Toups of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commented—a conduit of spiritual power. Though the number of young people entering monasteries, convents, and the priesthood has drastically dropped from the mid-20th century, some new approaches to religious vocations have inspired some young people in America to embrace this idea, replenishing several of the older religious orders and filling new ones. One such community with a young population, nestled in the Ozarks, is a place that could symbolize Catholicism's true hope for renewal in our time. Founded in 1999, the Clear Creek Monastery has grown from 13 to 30 monks who are intent on building a community that will "last for a thousand years." Clear Creek is also part of the "reform of the reform," a rethinking of Vatican II that has led a number of religious orders—such as the Dominican Sisters in Nashville, the Sisters for Life in New York, and Benedict Groeschel's Franciscan Friars of the Renewal—to rediscover their original mission and flourish.

The growth in these orders provides a striking contrast to the continuing decline in Catholic monastic and religious life generally. In 1965, there were twice as many religious priests and brothers as today. There are just one-third as many nuns. According to Sister Mary Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the average monk is in his early 70s, the average nun in her mid-70s. The mission of many orders has become simply caring for their aging populations as they sell properties and consolidate with others.

The Vatican II document dealing with monasticism, Perfectae caritatis, counseled both "a constant return to the sources" of the Christian life and "their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time." Issued in October 1965, this re-examination of the religious life came as the cultural revolution of the 1960s began its magical mystery tour. It was received with wild and contradictory enthusiasms by a restive population of monks and nuns. Many of the large Catholic families of the World War II generation sought spiritual favor—or simply status—by giving one of their children to the church. These donated priests, nuns, and monks often wanted to leave or instead sought to accommodate the religious life's demands to their personal ambitions. For a time, the life of Catholic religious orders became about social justice issues, psychological issues, peace studies, interreligious dialogue, the ecology movement—everything and anything, seemingly, except the central proposition: that one can know a loving God and be transformed.

The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles are the most famous example of the combustible combination of the times and the dissatisfaction of many religious. In 1966, humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers led a series of "encounter sessions" with the sisters, urging them to seek personal fulfillment. Within the next several years, the order nearly vanished. In many orders at the time, the vow of chastity was widely ignored.

Russell Hittinger, the Warren professor of Catholic studies at the University of Tulsa, admits that many of those who entered religious life before Vatican II simply did not have a calling. Those who truly have a call to monasticism—or other forms of the religious life—begin by falling in love with the pursuit of holiness, as did the monks of Clear Creek.

The Clear Creek story goes back to the University of Kansas. In the early 1970s, six young men who would become founding monks of Clear Creek were students in the Pearson College Integrated Humanities Program. Literally hundreds of Pearson's students became Catholic converts, inspired by professor John Senior, who conceived of a contemplative monastery close to the Lawrence campus. After he learned of a traditional Benedictine monastery in Fontgombault, France, he sent two young men off on a scouting mission with an instruction: "Bring back an abbot." These American students, and the others who soon followed, went to France thinking they would soon return to establish a monastery, bringing renewal to American Catholicism and society. But the demands of monastic life and obedience soon revealed this to be youthful presumption.

In 1999, a full 25 years after leaving for France, six of the original University of Kansas students, along with seven fellow monks, returned to America to start Clear Creek, establishing the first foundation for men of the Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes in America. On a 1,200-acre tract of land once owned by an infamous moonshiner, the Clear Creek monks use the old Latin rites both for Mass and the daily offices. Indeed, a return to traditional practices is a common element among those religious orders experiencing renewal. Many young nuns, for example, choose to wear a traditional habit even when their older religious sisters choose modest secular fashions.

Scores of families have purchased land nearby to raise their families in the shadow of the monastery, where they often join the monks in their liturgical celebrations. These families tend to be the crunchiest of the Crunchy Cons, into home schooling, the "local foods, local markets" movement, and sustainable farming. This growing community is one of the surest signs of Clear Creek's importance. This follows the classic spiritual pattern: Saints traipse off into the wilderness, and the world eventually follows, unbidden, as with the Cistercians, who turned the swamps and fens of Europe into arable land and saw communities spring up around them.

The emergence of Clear Creek and other growing monastic communities suggests there will always be young people who ask whether their devotion to God should take precedence over their own personal ambitions and even the natural desire for a family. (The A&E special God or the Girl was an insightful documentary about this.) Today's young people, who have grown up in a highly commercialized and manipulated landscape, are particularly eager to connect with a more authentic way of living. Far from being pressured into pursuing religious vocations, they find their families often protest, feeling they are losing their children to a life that's too isolated.

But after the first heady period of romance comes a long and difficult obedience, as every monk or nun eventually recognizes. Fidelity can result in humility, though, which is the deepest source of the beauty to be seen at Clear Creek and other monastic foundations. From its rich liturgical rites to the pastoral details of its life as a working farm, as the monks raise sheep, make furniture, tend their orchard, and care for a huge vegetable garden, Clear Creek is what a monastery is meant to be—a sign of paradise.

Father Anderson says, "We were only a bunch of bums, but by becoming nothing, you can be a part of something great."

Harold Fickett is an associate editor of GodSpy.com and the author of The Living Christ and other books.

Update on the Progress at Clear Creek Monastery

My apologies for not posting this sooner. It's been going around the internet for a while, but when I first saw it, I thought it was the older video about Clear Creek and stopped watching it too soon. Please help support the Monks in this beautiful and worthy endeavor!

Inside a Benedictine Monastery

"Conception Abbey blessed with vocations"

From the Catholic Key
By Jarrod Thome

Photo at left - from left, Brothers Paul Sheller, Victor Schinstock, Guerric Letter, Pachomius Meade, Anselm Broom, Abbot Gregory Polan, Brothers David Wilding, Placid Dale, Macario Martinez, Bernard Montgomery, and Novice Adam Burkhart. Photo courtesy of Jarrod Thome.

CONCEPTION - The Rule of St. Benedict isn't always an easy thing to follow. In fact, some early monks who entreated St. Benedict to become their abbot eventually tried to poison him. Nevertheless, there has been a great need for monasticism in our world and St. Benedict's words have served as a guide for this vocation for 1,500 years. Today, with nine young monks in formation at Conception Abbey, it is evident that there is still a great need for the witness of Benedictine monasticism in the world.
St. Benedict begins his Rule with the words, "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart." Last month at Conception, four young men expressed their desire to heed the master's instructions-two through the profession of solemn, perpetual vows, one through the profession of simple vows, and one by beginning a novitiate year.

The two solemnly professed, Brother Victor Schinstock and Brother David Wilding, are now full-fledged members of the community, making them voting members of the monastic chapter which makes major community decisions.

Brother Victor, 26, is the son of Gene and Jeanne Schinstock of Hutchinson, Kan. Originally from the rural setting of Kinsley, Kan., Conception has been a good fit for Brother Victor. His faith, knowledge and prayer life have all grown in the peace the Abbey affords. For the past two years, Brother Victor has served as the Director of Admissions and Vocation Promotion for Conception Seminary College- a title he relinquished shortly before his solemn profession. Since his profession, he has entered the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to pursue graduate work in Biblical Studies.

Brother David, 33, grew up in Union, Mo., the last of three children of Thomas and Mary Jo Wilding. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music, specializing in the organ, from Southwest Missouri State University. Not only an asset to the community, Brother David's talent for music was actually responsible for his first visit to Conception. Before discovering his monastic vocation, Brother David was involved in the Lay Ministry program of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. One of his friends from the program e-mailed him and encouraged him to visit Conception and see the organ that resides in the basilica. This trip sparked others and kindled the fire of his eventual monastic vocation. Today Brother David serves the community through his talent at the organ and his work with the seminary liturgy program and the Printery House's computer and website department.

Born Isaac Dale, the middle of 3 sons born to Paul and Deaonna Dale, Brother Placid, 25, grew up in Salem, Mo. The family was always very active in their parish as Brother Placid was growing up, and as he got older, he became involved with several different youth conferences. This involvement gave him opportunities to grow deeper in his faith, which otherwise might have been difficult in the predominantly Southern Baptist community. Brother Placid's father is an alumnus of Conception Seminary College and, after the tragic shootings of 2002, the family made a visit to the Abbey. Impressed by the prayer and peace of the place, the experience of this visit would stay with Brother Placid through his time at Missouri State University in Springfield where he majored in vocal music education. After a friend gave him a copy of the Rule of St. Benedict, Brother Placid's inclination toward a monastic vocation grew and he returned to Conception four different times, each time expressing more interest. Finally he began to work here as a volunteer, which lasted seven months before entering the postulancy in April of 2007. Novice Isaac became Brother Placid on the feast of the Assumption, August 15, 2008.

At age 21, Novice Adam Burkhart is the youngest member of the monastic community. He is the oldest of four children born to Bruce and Debbie Burkhart. A graduate of Bishop Miege High School, he also had his first exposure to Conception Abbey after the shootings in 2002, upon his father's meeting of Conception's own Father Regis at a doctor's office. From then on, the family would come up to visit Conception. At one point, Novice Adam attended one of the seminary's Encounter With God's Call vocation weekends but became more inclined to monastic life than the seminary. After graduating from high school and spending a year at Longview Community College, Novice Adam joined Conception Abbey as a postulant and entered the novitiate on August 14. He currently helps out in the Printery House and is taking some courses through the seminary.

The heirs of western civilization owe a great deal to the contributions of monasticism. With a steady stream of young vocations, Conception Abbey is living proof that this way of life still has plenty of contributions left to make. If you would like more information on Conception Abbey, please visit http://www.conceptionabbey.org/ or call 660-944-2823.

"Carnegie native monk is 'regular' guy with lofty goals"

From Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Becky Shelter

He might not have realized it at the time, but the seeds of Carnegie native Andrew Kurzawski's vocation were planted in him more than a decade ago.

"I was so fortunate when I was growing up at SS. Simon and Jude. It was the largest Catholic school in the diocese," Kurzawski said. "There were young, vibrant priests, and they played sports with us. They were guys you could relate to. I didn't see them as just priests."

"They were regular men living an exemplary life, guys trying to do the will of God in their lives. They chose to follow Christ as priests."

With nearly 175 monks in the community, St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe is Kurzawski's home now.

Known by the religious name Brother Gabriel Myriam, Kurzawski joined St. Vincent -- the first Benedictine monastery in North America -- 13 months ago.

Kurzawski professed his first vows during vespers for the feast of St. Benedict on July 10. The ceremony marked his first year in monastic life.

During the past year, Kurzawski studied the rule of St. Benedict, learned to pray and sing the psalms and studied church and St. Vincent history.

In July, he plans to renew his vows, and then after three to five years, he will take his final vows. He is studying to be ordained to the priesthood.

"Overall, I'm extremely happy," Kurzawski said. "I haven't found this type of joy in anything else I've done."
He explains that God calls people in different ways.

"It's important to see if you are called to be a married man or woman or a brother sister or deacon," Kurzawski says.

"God calls Catholic visionaries to all different vocations. As Catholics, we need to support and nurture young people, whether they are a brother, sister or friend. Help with their calling -- whether it is to be a priest or to get married -- it's important that we do that."

While at Carlynton, Kurzawski was the captain of the basketball team and he originally thought his future would be on the basketball court.

"When I was done with high school, my main focal point was that I wanted to play college basketball and teach high school," he said.

Upon graduating in 2003, he thought long and hard about his options.

The Rev. John Dinello, a Catholic priest at Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph in Bloomfield, is Kurzawski's godfather, and his influence made him see those called to religious life as regular people with an exemplary calling.

He also credits his vocation to the Rev. Carmen D'Amico, pastor of St. Benedict the Moor in the Hill District.

"I thought about the priesthood, and I thought about family. My parents probably dreamed of grandchildren. It took a while to grow on them," he said.

"They really respect (my choice), and they are extremely proud of me. They see that I'd be helping people. It's very rewarding."

Congratulations to Br. Gabriel Myriam! As Assistant Director of Vocations for St. Vincent's Archabbey, Br. Gabriel is responsible for moderating their community's excellent vocations blog - check it out HERE.

"Sisters in Solitude"

From Fort Collins Now

By Erin Frustaci

About 35 miles northwest of Fort Collins, life is quiet, peaceful and contemplative—a contrast from the fast-paced consumer-driven lifestyle found in other parts of the world. Tucked among rocky foothills and fresh country air, the tiny town of Virginia Dale is all but forgotten.

And yet, there is a certain timelessness for those who call it home. The natural landscape, free of distractions, serves as the perfect backdrop for a community of about 20 Benedictine nuns of the Roman Catholic Church whose life work and mission is prayer.

“The focus is not on all life’s accessories, but on life itself,” Mother Maria-Michael Newe said.

Despite the complexity of the modern world where people are attached to their Blackberries, email and iPods, Maria-Michael believes there is still a need for simplicity and peacefulness in society.

“I think people are seeking this, they are just afraid of it,” she said. “They are so used to being busy that they are not used to sitting still in the quietness.”

The nuns, who range from 23 to 93 years old and come from all over the world, build their days around the seven-day services which make up what is called the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours. Maria-Michael said the premise is to be prepared at all times to praise God. And if the volume of mail, email and phone calls for prayer requests is any indication, their work is greatly appreciated.

Throughout the day a chorus of voices chanting prayers can be heard from the chapel. At other times the stillness and deep quietness reverberates all around. Then there are also more unconventional sounds of the Abbey: An 89-year old nun weeding her flower gardens, an industrial mixer blending cookie dough for fresh homemade cookies, a green Gator’s engine starting as three young nuns prepare to heard cattle to a different barn.

The nuns work within the monastery and valley to support themselves. They divide up daily housekeeping tasks including cooking, cleaning, laundry and maintenance, as well as operate a gift shop that sells religious books and handmade cards and craft items. They also run a small online altar bread distributing business.

As a cloistered community, they only go outside for necessary business purposes such as grocery shopping or doctor appointments. Tuesdays are usually the days when select nuns make a trip down to Fort Collins to run errands.

“Work is a blessing,” Newe said. “It’s such a joy when you can bring home the gifts of God and help sustain the table.”

Following in the footsteps of their pioneer sisters, the nuns also are active ranchers. They run a herd of beef cattle, grow hay, collect eggs from the chickens, milk the cows and tend to the vegetable gardens.

The Abbey of St. Walburga relocated to Virginia Dale in 1997 after outgrowing its former location in Boulder. When the abbey first came to Boulder in the 1930s, the area was spacious and open. But as the city built out with busy highways and new subdivisions, an expansion of the abbey became problematic. The nuns spent several years looking for a new home. A Denver businessman and his wife eventually donated the land in Virginia Dale to them.

It’s a much different way of life, but one that is rewarding for those who are meant to live it, the nuns said. Contrary to misconceptions and pop-culture movies like Sister Act, Newe said the community is not a shelter for people who are running away from their problems. In fact, she said the women who join monasteries do it because they are called in that direction.

“You have to be mature enough to live in a community and yet be alone,” Newe said.
A typical day begins promptly at 4:50 a.m. with Matins, or vigils. More prayer sessions, including Lauds, follow. From 9-11:30 a.m. the women are dispersed throughout the property for the first work session of the day.

Many of them change into denim overalls to work on the farm, though they still wear the traditional veils. On Tuesday this week Sister Maria Gertrude Read, 23, and Sister Maria Josepha Hombrebueno, 30, spent the morning painting the fence by the farm a vivid red. The fall is busy time for maintenance in preparation for winter.

“We’ve been painting it bit by bit,” Read said. “We’ve been doing it for a couple weeks.”

Read just made her temporary vows two weeks ago. She has been in the Abbey for three years.

“I felt called to some kind of religious life,” she said.

She grew up in Boulder and was raised Catholic. However, she said it wasn’t as meaningful to her when she was younger. When she was 14 years old, she had a specific experience while at a church summer camp when she knew she wanted to become a nun. Before that, she said she had pictured nuns as scary.

“It was this push,” she said. “It was a transforming moment. My whole life changed after that.”

She began looking at different monasteries and then decided to look closer to home. She admits that she could have gotten married and had a “normal job,” but it wouldn’t have been the same.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say I wouldn’t have been happy somewhere else, but I wouldn’t have had the same fullness and joy.”

At 11:30 a.m. Sister Maria Gertrude and Sister Maria Josepha quickly cleaned up from their painting project and slipped back into their black habits, the traditional religious costumes or robes. After another prayer session in the chapel, the nuns gather for their formal meal at noon.

“When you live in a community, you really have to serve each other. You have to,” Newe said.

During that time, scripture is also read aloud. After the meal, the nuns have quiet time, where they can rest, go for a walk or spend private time praying. The afternoon is dedicated to classes for the younger women and another session of work before afternoon and evening prayers.

Most women begin their quest by visiting a monastery. Once they decide it is something they want to pursue, they become a candidate for about the first three months. After that, she will receive a postulant veil and remain a postulant for about nine months. During that time, the woman studies the Benedictine rule, traditions and ways of prayer. From there, she will become a novice for two years. At the end of that period she will make her first vows of obedience, stability and fidelity to the monastic life. After another three years, she will make her solemn perpetual vows.

Sister Raisa Avila, 22, is in the earlier stages of discernment, having only been at the abbey for about a year. She is a postulant.

“It’s a lifelong commitment, so you want to make sure,” she said.

Avila is originally from Vancouver, B.C., in Canada. She was born and raised catholic but didn’t take it seriously until she was faced with challenges. She was in school and had a different life, but she knew there was more out there for her.

“My love for God drew me here,” she said.

She attended a monastic living weekend at an abbey in Canada and was hooked. But Avila admits the path wasn’t always smooth. The transition into the lifestyle at the abbey has been challenging, Avila admits.

“I’m still human,” she said. “I cried when I left home. I missed my family, but at the same time, you have to make sacrifices.”

She said God has brought her through the tough times. She said she eagerly looks forward to the next stages of the process. Avila has also learned more about farming than she could have ever imagined. Though she did not grow up on a farm, she now greets the cows and llamas as if it were second nature.

During her afternoon work last Tuesday, she helped two other sisters heard the cattle to get them ready to be sold in an auction in Centennial. With a smile on her face, she then headed back into the chapel.

The abbey has become a place for prayer for the nuns as well as volunteers and people outside of the community.

“Our place really is a house of prayer. You don’t have to be catholic to pray here,” Mother Maria-Michael Newe said.

And while there are areas of the abbey that are cloistered such as the dining and living quarters, the public is invited to visit much of the property. In fact, the nuns run a retreat house on the property where groups and individuals can spend some time away for a set fee. The retreat house, which can fit about 23 people, is designed to offer quiet withdrawal from the busy noise of the ordinary home and work world.

Newe said prayer can be a hefty job at times, but it is also extremely rewarding. She said she often receives prayer requests for troubled relationships, illnesses and financial struggles. She is happy to take the requests because she said it is part of her duty.

“Somewhere in the world someone is needing that prayer,” Newe said. “And we take them and their cause to heart. It’s a work of love.”

Visit their blog HERE.

Pope Lauds Benedictines for Helping World Find God

From ZENIT

Urges Them to Found More Monasteries

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In an age marked by worry and absurdity, the Benedictines can teach people how to recognize the God whom they seek, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope thus encouraged the monks and nuns to found new monasteries, also outside of Europe, when he spoke with them Saturday at Castel Gandolfo.

"In many parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa, there is a great need of vital spaces to encounter the Lord," the Holy Father explained to the abbots and abbesses. "Hence, do not fail to meet with an open heart the hopes of all those, including those outside of Europe, who express a true desire for your presence and apostolate."

The witness of the Benedictine vocation is particularly important, added the Pontiff, "in a de-sacralized world and an age marked by the worrying culture of the void and the absurd."

"This is the reason why your monasteries are places where men and women, also in our age, run to seek God and to learn to recognize the signs of the presence of Christ, of his charity and of his mercy," he said.

The Pope appealed to Benedictines to "allow themselves to be led by the profound desire to serve all men with charity, without distinctions of race or religion," and to found new monasteries "there, where Providence calls you to establish them."

Moreover, the Holy Father also called their attention to the evangelizing, formative and cultural work that the Benedictines can carry out in Europe, "especially in favor of the new generations."

"Dedicate yourselves to young people with renewed apostolic ardor, as they are the future of the Church and of humanity," he encouraged. "To build a 'new' Europe, it is necessary to begin with the new generations, offering them the possibility to profoundly approach the spiritual riches of the liturgy, of meditation and of lectio divina."

Vocational crisis

The Holy Father also had words of encouragement especially for Benedictine abbesses, whose communities are suffering at present from a lack of vocations.

Benedict XVI asked them "not to be discouraged" and especially to avoid "the weakening of their spiritual devotion to the Lord and to their own vocation and mission."

"By persevering faithfully in it, you confess, instead, with great effectiveness in face of the world, your own firm trust in the Lord of history, in whose hands are the times and destinies of persons, institutions, peoples; to him we entrust all that touches upon the historical fulfillment of his gifts," he continued.

Finally, the Pontiff praised traditional Benedictine hospitality, through which one can transmit many spiritual goods to those who go to monasteries.

"This is a peculiar vocation of yours, a fully spiritual, human and cultural experience," he affirmed, which allows you "to offer the men and women of our time the possibility of reflecting more profoundly on the meaning of existence in the infinite horizon of Christian hope."

"Cloistered nuns would welcome new vocations with open arms"

From the Times of Malta

by Claudia Calleja

As a young girl, Mother Superior Marija Tiralongo laughed at the idea of becoming a nun let alone a cloister nun but, almost six decades after setting foot in the monastery, she now cannot imagine any other way of life.

"If I were re-born I would do it all over again and join the same monastery... except that I would join younger," she smiles as she recalls the experiences that led her to join the Monastery of Santa Skolastika in Vittoriosa that has been her home for the past 58 years.

She is now the mother superior, or badessa as they call her, of the monastery that hosts 15 Benedictine nuns - aged between 36 and 80 - who dedicate their time to working and praying for the people in the outside world.

The nuns, who will be celebrating the feast of St Benedict on Friday, would love to welcome new additions to their monastery and are encouraging any girls or women who think they may have the vocation to contact them to learn more about their way of life.

Sr Marija explained that their day starts at 4.30 a.m. with the morning prayer session followed by Mass at 7 a.m. They continue their day with a series of timed prayer sessions, chores, recreational time and silent-hours until they retire back into their rooms at about 9.30 p.m.

Travelling back to her younger days, Sr Marija said that, as a bubbly young girl, she never considered becoming a nun. But, when her father passed away, she opened her eyes to the world's hardships and started hearing God's call.

She initially ignored the call and continued living life as a typical young lady who loved setting her hair and wearing jewellery and fashionable clothes. Various young men showed interest in her but she always found an excuse to turn them down. "I would say that one had big ears, another would walk in a funny way," she laughed as she added: "God was already keeping me aside and saving me for himself."

One day she went to Mass and the priest spoke about giving oneself to God. That homily marked a turning point in her life. She knew she was destined to become a nun and when she went home she removed all her jewellery and gave it to her younger sister. She immediately started on the path to her vocation and decided to be a cloister nun.

"Once I was going to give myself to God, I wanted to give myself to Him entirely," she said.

She was consecrated at the age of 20 and has never once regretted her decision since. Initially, leaving her family behind was tough but God helped her through it, she said.

Sr Marija then noted that some people questioned why they remained locked behind four walls rather than going out to help people in need. "We are not here for ourselves. We are here to pray for the people outside... The world needs prayer," she said with conviction.

Prayer Request

Brother Gabriel Myriam Kurzawski, O.S.B., who works with Father Fred Byrne, O.S.B. in the St. Vincent Archabbey Vocation Office (Br. Gabriel is the blogger for their excellent vocations blog)contacted me to see if the readers of this blog could offer up at least one extra Hail Mary in their prayers for a few special intentions.

This Thursday, July 10th and Friday, July 11th, 2008 (the Feast of St. Benedict) the monks will have some very important events in the life of the Archabbey as 5 men (ages 22, 23, 33, 34, 39) will be invested in the Holy Habit and begin their year long Novitiate, 4 Novices (ages 23, 23, 34, 51) will profess first vows, and 2 monks will profess solemn vows.

I have confidence in that the prayerful generosity of this vocations "community" and know that we can gratefully storm heaven on behalf of these men.

The picture to the left is of the four novices, including Br. Gabriel, from left to right: Br. Maximilian Maxwell, OSB, Br. Jeremiah Lange, OSB, Fr. Sebastian Samay, OSB (Novice Master), Br. Gabriel Myriam Kurzawski, OSB, and Br. Michael Antonacci, OSB.

Br. Gabriel also sent me this great picture which (I assume) he took of his brother novices with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie during Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI's visit. More proof that young, joyful, and faithful men and women are indeed answering God's call. Deo Gratias! Please remember them in your prayers.