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Abbey BannerSpring 2012

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How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches. --Psalm 104:24

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches. --Psalm 104:24

4 Abbey Banner Spring 2012

This Issue

Before all things and above all things, care must be taken of the sick,so that they will be served as if they were Christ in person;for he himself said, “I was sick, and you visited me [Matt 25:36].” --Rule 36.1-2

This issue of Abbey Banner explores several ways that our community heeds Saint Benedict’s exhortation (and the gospel expectation) to care for the sick. Father Roger Botz, a twenty-six-year veteran hospital chaplain, shares the challenges, the pain, and the satisfaction of healthcare ministry. Brother Kenneth Kroeker outlines our community’s participation in the Rush Study of Alzheimer’s disease. Father Timothy Backous relates the story of Brother Paul Richards and his donation of blood stem cells to his brother.

In 1857, a year after the founding of our community, monks of Saint John’s opened a school with an enrollment of five boys. From those humble origins, Saint John’s educational apostolate has grown to include a middle school and International Baccalaureate high school, a liberal arts undergraduate college, and graduate school of theology and seminary. Last September, after years of study and prayerful discernment, the monastic community decided to reorganize the college and graduate school into a new civil corporation, Saint John’s University. Brother Dennis Beach outlines the reasons for corporate restructuring, while he also affirms the monastic community’s commitment to continue its educational ministry into a new century.

Saint John’s educational and pastoral ministry extends well beyond central Minnesota. Two of our partners in ministry, Mr. Charlie Swanson and Mr. J. D. O’Connell, recent graduates of the university, share their tales of service in The Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps—in Chicago, and in Nairobi, Kenya. We also learn about the daily life and ministry of our confreres in Japan.

In the mid 1960s Saint John’s established the Monastic Manuscript Microfilm Library to preserve collections of ancient manuscripts. Father Eric Hollas offers a progress report on how that organization, today known as the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, continues the work of cultural preservation.

While wars or revolutions have been primary threats to manuscripts and libraries, severe weather and pestilence have been the traditional enemies of woods and wetlands. Mr. Benjamin Carlson explains the salvage and forest regeneration efforts that followed last August’s storm damage to the abbey forest.

We also learn about the Saint John’s Oblate program and about a treasured method of prayer. We meet a monk from Iowa, review recent publications, savor the culinary adventures of our novices, and more.

Abbot John Klassen opens this issue with a meditation on resurrection life; Father Timothy Backous concludes with reflections on death, the gateway to resurrection joy. The editorial staff joins them in extending prayers and best wishes to all our readers for a blessed Easter season.

--Brother Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

Abbey Banner Magazine of Saint John’s Abbey

Published three times annually (spring, fall, winter) by the monks of Saint John’s Abbey.

Editor: Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.Editorial assistants: Aaron Raverty, O.S.B.; Dolores Schuh, C.H.M.Abbey archivist: David Klingeman, O.S.B.University archivist: Peggy Roske.Design: Alan Reed, O.S.B.Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Tanya Boettcher, Mary Gouge, Jan Jahnke, Cathy Wieme.

Copyright © 2012 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved.

Printed in Waite Park, Minnesota, by Palmer Printing.

Saint John’s AbbeyCollegeville, Minnesota 56321-2015

[email protected] http://www.saintjohnsabbey.org/banner/ index.html

Change of address: Ruth Athmann at [email protected] 7222, Collegeville, MN 56321-7222Phone: 800.635.7303.

Cover: Nurse Ann Sand and FatherDon LeMay in the abbey retirement center. Photo: Michael Crouser.

Abbey Banner Spring 2012 5

Resurrection Life

Abbey archives

Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B.

If you go to Assisi, Italy, you will find the bones of Saint Francis. If you go to Durham, England, you will find the bones of Saint Cuthbert. But if you go to Jerusalem, to the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, you find only an empty tomb—consistent with the angel’s message: “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here” (Mark 16:6).

Some things just keep on coming around, like taxes on 15 April, or the opening of the lake and the return of the loons. There is a danger that we might begin to treat the resurrection of Jesus in the same way. After all, it comes each year: “O yeah, it’s just Jesus rising from the dead again.”

But Easter is not like the inevitable return of spring. Easter is about the cataclysmic shattering of the tomb of death. It is the breaking in of a new world. Resurrection time is vertical. It breaks in from above, like a ray of divine energy, and breaks open our routinized religiosity.

Some may ask the question: “So what? What difference does it all make?” When God raises Jesus from the dead, it means that Jesus is alive as the Christ. Christ is present among us, to us, and in our world. We are grafted into the risen Christ at baptism; we share in the Body and Blood of the risen Christ in Eucharist; and we encounter his presence in the other sacraments.

When God raises Jesus from the dead, God breaks the iron gates of death. That means we can live in a totally different way, freed from the compulsion to somehow do an end run on death, an experiment that is utterly doomed. There is a glorious life beyond our life and death in this world, in union with the triune God.

Christ is risen—he is risen indeed! If I just discovered the love of my life, I surely don’t want to go home to vacuum the rugs or file a stack of papers. So a question: “What do I want to do that is totally new for me because Christ is risen, and I share in that resurrection? What do we as Church want to do that is totally new because Christ is risen, and we share in that resurrection?”


Care for the Sick

Hospital Chaplain

Roger Botz, O.S.B.

There’s an old saying among hospital chaplains: “If you want to hear God laugh,

tell God how you’re going to spend your day.” Indeed, a daily procession of unforeseen events will lead me on a series of unexpected activities. An accident calls me to the emer-gency trauma center; a patient suffers a coronary arrest; parents of an ill newborn request bap-tism; a cancer victim dies; a recovering addict needs his Fifth Step heard; a resident in the mental health unit has religious concerns; an indigent needs bus fare. And, of course, the bedrock of my service as hospital chaplain is ministering to indi-vidual patients. Through it all I am challenged to be a non-anxious presence, an empathic guide, and a sacramental com-panion in the experience of grief and growth, the feeling of pain and joy, the search for meaning and hope, the struggle to cope and to heal, and the task of moral reflection and action.

Health care in central Minnesota was begun by the Benedictine Sisters of Saint Joseph, Minne-sota, in 1886. From the earliest days the Benedictine Rule’s dictum that the sick be cared for as if they were Christ has been a lived value at the St. Cloud Hospital.

Years ago Catholic hospital ministry was largely sacramental, caricatured as a retired priest stopping by each patient’s room with a “wave and a wafer.” The

competencies of a priest were the requirements of a chaplain. Recent decades have seen more professional development. Now clinical pastoral education, solid theological training (minimally a master’s degree), and professional certification are the norm. The St. Cloud Hospital, which has always prized chaplaincy, currently has fourteen chaplains; four of us are full time. The makeup of our department mirrors the diversity of our “clientele.” We are women and men, Catholic and Protestant, young and not so young. We all work across denominational lines and with people of any and no religion. We utilize community contacts to serve patients who request ministry from religious traditions not represented among our staff, such as Muslim and Native American.

Sacramental ministry remains a vital part of my daily hospital chaplaincy. Catholics readily recall childhood admonitions to call a priest in times of serious illness. All of our chaplains are attuned to make appropriate referrals to a priest.

I have served in the St. Cloud Hospital for twenty-six years. The attraction of this ministry for me is that it is so immediate and personal. Regularly I meet persons whose emotions are near the surface. Whether one-to-one or sacramental, the encounter is always sacred. It is hugely gratifying to bring to hurting people a God who is incredibly generous, loving, and forgiving. Sometimes it is the first time a person has met such a God.

Father Roger Botz, O.S.B., serves in the spiritual care department of St. Cloud Hospital.

Father Roger Botz ministering at theSt. Cloud Hospital.

Abbey archives


Alan Reed, O.S.B.

Rush Alzheimer’s Study

Kenneth Kroeker, O.S.B.

For the past eighteen years forty-eight monks of Saint John’s Abbey (twenty-

two living and twenty-six deceased) have participated in the Religious Orders Study of Alzheimer’s Disease conducted by Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) in collabor-ation with other medical centers.

Thanks to our Benedictine vow of stability, which bonds monks to a specific stable community throughout their lives, it has been easy to follow the monks on an annual basis. However, as useful as the Religious Orders Study has been, it is limited because the abbey does not have the diversity of race, ethnic origin, and educational and socioeconomic status of the U.S. population over the age of sixty-five. To address this

shortcoming, in 2001 another long-term study was launched in the Chicago area among seniors who live in subsidized housing or retirement care facilities.

Alzheimer’s disease is a malady of the brain characterized by progressive loss of memory and cognitive skills, such as difficulty communicating, recognizing objects and faces, using objects, and managing finances, as well as anxiety, depression, agitation, aggression, and personality changes. Currently there is no cure or effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

Postmortem exams of partici-pants’ brain tissue have shown that there have been individuals who had been living with the changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease but were symptom free when they had their cognitive testing done prior to their death. The factors that contributed to these individuals’ ability to function normally are still largely unknown.

Nevertheless, the Rush Study has suggested strategies that can lower the risk of the onset of the disease. A healthy diet, exercise, and mental and social stimulation are essential ingredients. A diet that includes fish oil, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and limited saturated fats can slow memory loss as well as have benefits for one’s overall health. Aerobic exercise is also helpful, increasing the blood flow to the brain, thus maintaining the health and efficiency of the brain’s cells and neurons. Engaging in mental activity—through reading, playing cards, doing crossword puzzles, attending concerts, or

visiting museums—has also been found to lower rates of memory loss. These activities assist a person’s ability to perceive new information and stave off depression and isolation that can result in decreased mental alertness.

The Rush researchers have noted that monks derive benefits from living in community that individuals in the general population often lack. Monks also tend to have more years of higher education and consider themselves lifelong learners. The researchers feel that monks have a greater sense of connection with others and a tendency to be more socially engaged than the average person.

Brother Kenneth Kroeker O.S.B., a registered nurse, assists with health-care accounting in the abbey business office.

Alan Reed, O.S.B.

Martie Thomes and Father John Kulas.

Carol Lee, R.N., director of the abbey retirement center.


Brother’s Keeper

Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

--John 15:13

In March 2008 Mr. Bill Richards of Saint Paul, Minnesota, following a diagnosis of acute

myelogenous leukemia (AML), began the difficult process of chemotherapy that, happily, put him into remission. A short time later, however, Bill developed a condition called myelodysplasia—meaning his blood platelets were not maturing. His doctor sent him to the University of Minnesota Medical Center to be screened for a possible blood stem cell (bone marrow) transplant—a cutting-edge medical procedure that has shown great promise in the world of cancer treatment, but was nonetheless judged a long shot for success by some medical experts.

Blood stem cell transplants require a good donor match. Bill reached out to his siblings and found that two of his brothers, Paul and Bob, were such matches. Because Paul—Brother Paul Richards, O.S.B.—lived closer (and, he would claim, was in “much better health than Bob!”), Brother Paul was given the nod.

In September 2010 Brother Paul underwent the harvesting of his stem cells at the hospital where his brother Bill was waiting—a two-day process that involved mostly sitting still as a myriad of machines worked their wonders. Paul could

sit, sleep, or read, but no movement was allowed. (His penchant for getting things done made this a challenge!) But he forced himself to sit quietly in order to help his brother.

Bill’s wife, Patty, recalls: “At the end of each day, a person from the clinic brought a beautiful bag of stem cells up to the floor where Bill awaited them. A nurse simply delivered these bags of Paul’s stem cells as if they were a blood transfusion. Nothing scary or dangerous or even remarkable about the delivery, but each day this event was nothing short of a spiritual experience for both of us. We cried, prayed, and rejoiced in these life-saving bags of Paul’s stem cells.”

The blood stem cell transplant was a success, and even though Bill’s health struggles continue, this medical marvel staved off

a serious and potentially fatal disease. Brother Paul didn’t “lay down his life” (the procedure did not put his life or health in danger), but he did respond to his brother’s need with gen-erosity and bravery. Though Bill and Patty (along with their family members) find it difficult to express the depth of their feelings and gratitude for this life-giving act, they know that Brother Paul showed immense love and sacrifice, and will always be a hero to them.

Father Timothy Backous, O.S.B., is headmaster of Saint John’s Preparatory School.

“Each day this event was nothing short of a spiritual experience for both of us. We cried, prayed, and rejoiced in these life-saving bags of Paul’s stem cells.”

WikimediaRembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. Etching, Christ Healing the Sick, c.1649.

Care for the Sick


Saint John’s Oblates

Donald Tauscher, O.S.B.

What is an oblate? “An oblate is a lay or clerical, single

or married person formally associated with a particular monastery. The oblate seeks to live a life in harmony with the spirit of Saint Benedict as revealed in the Rule of Saint Benedict and its contemporary expression.” Saint John’s Abbey enjoys the affiliation of about 650 oblates.

How does one become an oblate of Saint John’s? An oblate candidate spends time in prayer, discernment, and homework (study and writing) for a year, ideally visiting the monastery and participating in oblate events before making final oblation. As their state in life permits, oblates dedicate themselves to “stability of heart, fidelity to the spirit of the monastic life, and obedience to the will of God.” Through daily prayer, preferably a form of the Liturgy of the Hours, reading and meditation on the Rule, conscious application of Benedictine principles, such as silence, humility, hospitality, and participation in oblate gatherings, oblates live out their commitment to this form of Benedictine life.

The reasons for becoming an oblate may be as diverse as the reasons for becoming a monk. Foremost is the desire for a prayer life in communion with a praying, faith-filled community. For Marianna, an oblate for fifty years, the most important benefit is that it helps her to deepen her spiritual life with like-minded people. Others say: “I want

help to develop a good prayer life”; still others: “Saint John’s is such a special place, an oasis of peace.”

Several oblates and candidates are currently in prison, devoted to turning their lives around and setting goals for lifelong spiritual growth (ongoing conversion). Mark writes from Texas: “Prayer is very powerful, and God hears us. United prayers are even more powerful. I am doing okay. God continues to bless me.” Joseph, in Wisconsin, writes: “I am drawn to serve God, and I think you could help me out. I am a convicted felon in prison right now . . . [about to] be baptized.”

The oblate program has con-tinued to share blessings of prayer, fellowship, and support with an increasingly wide range of people committed to seeking God right where they are.

For additional information about Saint John’s oblates, visit www.saintjohnsabbey.org/oblates/index.html; or call 320.363.2018.

Those who wish to integrate the wisdom of Saint Benedict into their daily lives might consider these commentaries:

•• How To Be a Monastic and Not Leave Your Day Job by Brother Benet Tvedten, O.S.B.

•• A Blessed Life: Benedictine Guidelines for Those Who Long for Good Days by

Wil Derkse.

•• The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century by Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.

•• Seeking God by Esther de Waal.

Additional books about Benedictine life are available from Liturgical Press: online at www.litpress.org; or by calling: 1.800.858.5450.

Father Donald Tauscher, O.S.B., is director of oblates for Saint John’s Abbey.

Abbey archives

Bronze “Ethiopian” cross designed byFather Hugh Witzmann.


University Reorganization

Dennis Beach, O.S.B.

On 1 July 2012 a new corporation will begin operations in Minnesota.

That corporation is Saint John’s University. “What?” you might think, “Hasn’t Saint John’s University been operating in one form or another since 1857?” You would be right, even though it is also true that a new corporation named Saint John’s University will begin operations on 1 July.

Those who read the “Abbey Chronicle” in the last issue of Abbey Banner may have noted that the monastic community voted in September to authorize the formation of this new civil corporation. So it’s not secession that’s afoot, nor is anyone getting booted out of

the nest. Instead, because the nest has gotten more complex and multilayered over the years, the new university corporation is a reorganization of the man-agement of the nest—not the university separating itself and heading off in a radically new direction. In fact, as far as the Church is concerned, Saint John’s University continues to be “one canonical legal person” under the sheltering wing of Saint John’s Abbey.

So why change at all? At one time the university was basically a family operation, with the family being the monastic com-munity. Others joined in the work, but it was largely the monks who shaped the character of the school. The infusion of Benedictine character into the university, into the students who

attended it, and into the faculty and staff who collaborated in running it, happened naturally, through the characters wearing habits. Those days are gone. They are gone in part because the abbey is smaller and the work of the abbey is more diverse than ever.

As two task forces, representing the monastery and the university respectively, worked together on the possibility of restructuring, one of the chief goals was to align authority with responsibility. The principle was that those charged with directing one of Saint John’s apostolates should also have the corresponding authority to carry out this responsibility. Over the years, as the university grew larger and more complex, it sometimes seemed that responsibility and

Michael Becker


authority had drifted apart. It wasn’t a problem of giving or withholding permission to act, but of acting with the efficiency and nimbleness that a modern educational enterprise needs. The alignment of authority and responsibility—not separation—was the goal.

At the same time, the monas-tery’s vision of its future has been growing. The abbey staffs fewer parishes but has a much expanded guest apostolate, with more on-campus retreats and spiritual direction opportunities, and more monks involved in environmental stewardship and sustainability concerns. The community’s mission is “to seek God through a common life of prayer, study, and work, giving witness to Christ and the Gospel.” The monks are looking to free up their energy and resources to concentrate on embracing this mission as a monastery in the twenty-first century. With dedicated regents, who have been collaborating in the governance of the university for years, reorganizing the management of the university was seen as a way of freeing all concerned to develop each aspect of Saint John’s to its best potential.

Freedom will not mean drifting apart. Monks will still be in-volved in university governance (five will serve as trustees); others will be engaged in teach-ing, administration, campus ministry, and serving as faculty residents. The monks and the university regents also wrote and affirmed a Sustaining Agreement, the purpose of which is “to sus-tain and nurture a lasting and

effective partnership between the monastic community and the university trustees, so that both may serve the educational mission of the university more effectively.” The goal of this agreement is to become more intentional about what may, in the past, have been taken for granted. If, since 1857, the close alignment of the monastery and college was maintained by the sheer pervasiveness of monastic involvement, in the coming years that Benedictine spirit will be nurtured and cultivated with more intentionality, more deliberateness.

Part of that intentionality is a commitment on the part of the new board of trustees to seek out, educate, and support monks of Saint John’s Abbey to work in Saint John’s University as teachers, as faculty residents in

the dorms, as campus ministers and spiritual directors, as admin-istrators, staff members, and certainly as fans in the stands. Just as certainly, the monks will seek out and welcome students and staff, not only to be part of the university, but to join in worship, visit the guesthouse, work or shop at Liturgical Press, study or teach at the prep school, and enjoy the beauty of the lakes and woods. The goal: the monastery and university reorganize behind the scenes, so that on the scene, students and faculty, staff and friends will continue to experience one unified Saint John’s.

Brother Dennis Beach, O.S.B., a faculty resident and associate professor of philosophy in the university, was a member of the university task force that addressed corporate restructuring.

Benedictine education

“To the achievement of the aim of Christian education, Benedictines bring first a healthy sense of freedom born of the saintly wisdom of our founder, who thoroughly understood human nature and made moderation, discretion, flexibility, and versatility characteristic of the Rule. . . . Without being able to accurately define this freedom, I should suggest that it means freedom from subjection to arbitrary authority—authority used selfishly or unreasonably or for ulterior motives—the kind which inhibits or in some way interferes with the normal productive faculties of persons to love, to reason, to will, and to feel. It is this generous and noble respect of the dignity of the human person which distinguishes the Benedictine approach to education in a special way. . . . In this atmosphere everything favors the development of mature personality and opportunity for creative endeavor. Education becomes a high adventure before it becomes a tedious exercise.” --Father Walter Reger, O.S.B. (1894–1971) 8 February 1955


Benedictine Volunteer Corps

South Chicago: Saint James food pantry

Charlie Swanson

Although I was ecstatic to be assigned to Saint James Parish in Chicago,

I was definitely not prepared for the vast opportunities that have made my experience with The Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer Corps so wonderful. I feel that we have accomplished a lot since September, and we are now busy planning even more activities to benefit the less fortunate.

Twelve Saint John’s under-graduates came here on retreat as part of their winter holiday, praying and serving in south Chicago. They all left with stories and fun memories, knowing they really made a difference in our community. For a week, they helped out at our pantry, organizing, stocking, and distributing food and clothes. They wrote

handmade cards to our seniors who visit regularly. They also helped at various other service organizations in the area.

After the Johnnies left, in addi-tion to working at our pantry, we focused on three main events: the mobile pantry, nutrition classes, and preparing for “Jazzin’ to Feed.” Our mobile pantry is offered on the second Saturday of each month. Kraft Foods, in partnership with other organizations, delivers about ten pallets of different fresh foods such as bread, vegetables, and potatoes. About sixty vol-unteers open bags and form an assembly line, passing food throughout our building. Some volunteers hand out coffee and hot chocolate to the nearly 350 families who come to receive food each month. Since we live so close to Chinatown, over sixty percent of our clients are Chinese.

Nutrition classes began in February, and we were busy recruiting volunteers to help aid in these classes. Clients learn the basics of food handling,

portion size, simple recipes, and physical fitness, all taught by nearby college students. Upon graduation from this five-week program, participants were able to show off their knowledge by “shopping” for nutritious food at our pantry.

On 28 April we have our annual major fundraiser, Jazzin’ to Feed. Our neighborhood is in the heart of where jazz developed in Chicago, and each year some of Chicago’s most talented jazz musicians play at our event. In addition to wonderful music and good company, participants will enjoy great food from a local restaurant, beer and wine, and opportunities to purchase fun items at a silent auction. Proceeds go to our social ministries. We hope to see you here!

Mr. Charlie Swanson is a 2011 graduate of Saint John’s University.

BVC archives

BVC archives

Charlie Swanson (above and top photo) at work at Saint James Parish, Chicago.


Nairobi, Kenya: Life in the slum

J. D. O’Connell

Working within the second largest slum in Kenya has been a

powerful experience for both Grant Stevens and me. We live and pray with a small community of monks at Saint Benedict’s Parish, across the street from the slum. Our work is focused at Saint Benedict’s Children Centre, a program dedicated to rehabilitating boys living on the streets of the Mathare slum, reconnecting them with their families, and in many cases providing them with the funds necessary for education.

At the centre we serve as social workers, fundraisers, farmers, and “American cultural experts” as we field the kids’ constant

curiosities about our lives back home. The boys keep us busy with their seemingly ceaseless energy. Playing soccer or board games, studying in the library, teaching, or doing arts and crafts projects constitute activities on any given day.

When we are not working with the children, we devote our energies to raising money to support both education and financially sustainable projects. Currently the children centre is supported almost entirely by a single international donor. Because funds are the only limiting factor of the number of boys we can aid, we have worked to create projects capable of generating income and making the centre less dependent on donations.

Our first project is a small shamba (farm) behind the centre, where we are growing

food using a variety of urban farming techniques. Eventually the shamba will produce enough food to reduce significantly the money needed for daily meals and to help increase the number of children the centre can support. The second part of the shamba project will be to build a chicken coop. The birds and the eggs will be sold in the community, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the centre and our neighbors.

A pressing matter that has recently arisen is the aging roof. The centre has been operating for almost twenty years, twelve of which have been from the newer location. The corrugated steel roof is leaking badly, and our goal is to replace it with a flat concrete top. The new roof would provide a much needed safe and usable space. In our remaining months we will be working hard to raise the money needed to make the new roof a reality.

To stay up to date with the boys, the centre, the projects, or to contribute, please visit us at mathareproject.webs.com or follow us on Facebook at Saint Benedict’s Children Centre. Please send comments, questions, or ideas via e-mail at [email protected].

Mr. J. D. O’Connell and Mr. Grant Stevens are 2011 graduates of Saint John’s University.

food using a variety of urban farming techniques. Eventually the shamba will produce enough food to reduce significantly the money needed for daily meals and to help increase the number of children the centre can support. The second part of the shamba project will be to build a chicken coop. The birds and the eggs will be sold in the community, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the centre and our neighbors.

A pressing matter that has recently arisen is the aging roof. The centre has been operating for almost twenty years, twelve of which have been from the newer location. The corrugated steel roof is leaking badly, and our goal is to replace it with a flat concrete top. The new roof would provide a much needed safe and usable space. In our remaining months we will be working hard to raise the money needed to make the new roof a reality.

To stay up to date with the boys, the centre, the projects, or to contribute, please visit us at mathareproject.webs.com or follow us on Facebook at Saint Benedict’s Children Centre. Please send comments, questions, or ideas via e-mail at [email protected].

Mr. J. D. O’Connell and Mr. Grant Stevens are 2011 graduates of Saint John’s University.

BVC archives

Grant Stevens (second from left) and J. D. O’Connell with friends in Nairobi.


Trinity Benedictine archives

Missionary Outreach in Fujimi

For monks ministering in Japan, the goals of mission are shaped by the

conveniences and rapid modern lifestyle of the second largest economy in the world. Japan has a remarkable culture that is building upon centuries of advances in spirituality, architecture, technology, and lifestyle. Monastic spirituality existed in Japan long before Christian missionaries ap-proached these shores. Yet, there is no doubt that the Bene-dictine tradition offers insights for all who seek a way of peace and a path to greater spiritual fulfillment, so the treasures of this tradition are shared with the people of Japan.

The primary apostolate of Trinity Benedictine Monastery is to receive all visitors as Christ. Christians (of all traditions) and non-Christians alike regularly visit the monastery to reflect and to pray with the monks. Members of the community direct individual and group retreats, adjusting to requests for anything from the basic tenets of Christianity to the intricate

details of liturgical rubrics. In- creasingly, lay associates (oblates) are binding themselves to the monastery because they are attracted to the spirituality of the Benedictine tradition, and because of a strong desire to be connected with a community whose primary purpose is to seek God. Brother Andrew Lam coordinates retreats, candidacy formation, and regular communication among the nearly fifty oblates of the community.

Monks also assist in the ministry of the local Church. There are seven parishes within an hour’s train ride of the monastery, as well as nursing homes and pre-schools founded in the Catholic tradition. Every Sunday Fathers Peter Kawamura and Thomas Wahl board those trains to offer sacramental ministry in Japanese, English, Spanish, or Tagalog. The Catholic Church of Japan has one million members; half of them are international residents. The immigrants to the region come from the Philippines, Peru, and many other countries seeking economic opportunities

to support their families. There are many social and spiritual challenges for people who have been uprooted from their homes. The Church is one place where they can assemble to support one another, so the Fujimi monks are eager to help create a place for them to gather.

Monks are also active in the wider circle of religious life in Japan. Father Tony Gorman serves as chaplain to 47 Trap-pistine sisters in Nasu. Others conduct sessions in monastic studies and offer retreats at several other communities.

The Fujimi community is also involved in ecumenical and inter-faith associations. The need to cooperate with all Christians is obvious when one considers that their total membership comprises less than one percent of the general population of Japan. These interfaith associations acknowledge the beauty of the long Buddhist and Shinto traditions and the way these traditions have shaped the culture and spiritual understanding of the Japanese.

Roman Paur, O.S.B.

Father Tony Gorman, chaplain to the Trappistine sisters in Nasu, Japan.

Trinity Benedictine Monastery.

15

Most exquisite green, Spring’s weeping willow’s beauty;Weeping is for joy. All nature seems filled with hope When the world is at the new.

Tiny diamonds hung, At dawn, heavy mist condensed,Glittering necklace, Pregnant with spring’s gentle breath, Buds ready with soft green leaves.

Dust returned to dust But how glorious between:Plant to bud to white Fragrant flower to yellow Drooping ghost and fall to earth.

Will tomorrow’s rose Be more lovely than today’sWith its red petals Still half-hidden in bud’s heart Promise of beauty full-blown?

Spring overture came With trill of birds returningFrom warm southern clime; No more just the raven’s caw, Now sweet winged song lifts high.

--Neal Henry Lawrence, O.S.B.

Father Neal Henry Lawrence, O.S.B. (1908–2004), was a monk of Saint John’s Abbey who served at Saint Anselm’s Priory in Tokyo and Trinity Benedictine Monastery in Fujimi for nearly forty years. In 1975 he began to write tanka poetry in English and soon was regarded as a pioneer in this oldest form of Japanese poetry.

Roman Paur, O.S.B.

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

Eric Hollas, O.S.B.

It’s a far cry from the Baroque monasteries of Austria to the beleaguered libraries of

Lebanon, but therein is a tale, unique in the history of the book. It was Pope Pius XII who first encouraged the Benedictines to take up the preservation of the ancient libraries of Europe after two world wars had devastated the cultural heritage of a con-tinent. While cities could be rebuilt, the manuscripts that had shaped civilization could not be recopied once they had been destroyed.

In 1965 the monks of Saint John’s Abbey took up the challenge; Father Oliver Kapsner, O.S.B. (1902—1991), oversaw the first filming in Austria. Using what today would be considered the most primitive of equipment, he and his colleagues exceeded the initial goals and captured for posterity all the major and minor

collections in Austria. They continued their work in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Malta, and Ethiopia, compiling a record that no one could have imagined.

As the Hill Museum & Manu-script Library (HMML) approaches its fiftieth anniversary in 2015, its mission remains consistent and the work continues at a feverish pace. Father Oliver would have a difficult time absorbing the changes that have made the Hill Library a world leader in the photographic preservation of manuscripts.

The evolution can best be appreciated by contrasting HMML’s first efforts in Ethiopia and its current practices. The first team of preservationists lugged

bulky cameras, by donkey, from one isolated site to another. There was no guarantee as to the quality of the microfilm they produced; in the latter years of their work, the film arrived at HMML via diplomatic pouch.

Today there is no film, and there is no bulky equipment. Now lightweight and compact digital cameras take incredibly accurate images. E-mail and Skype leave no doubt as to the progress or whereabouts of a particular team. Nor are there worries about the quality of the product. Stunningly sensitive images arrive at the Hill Library, and technology allows us to share those images with scholars around the world in an instant.Those same technological advances have transformed the offices at the Hill Library itself. Several years ago HMML reclaimed valuable internal space when it retired its massive


Walid Mourad (left), HMML’s Middle East field director, and Father Columba Stewart, Executive Director of HMML, examine a manuscript.

Father Oliver Kapsner (left) in Austria.Abbey archives

Wayne Torborg

card files. Complex searches can now be performed in a matter of seconds with electronic files; researchers can access the files and images from virtually any computer, anywhere. In a fitting tribute to our founder, the new system is called “Oliver.”

If the daily procedures at HMML have changed, it is the change in geography that most easily grabs our imagination. The Hill Library was born at a time when the Cold War threatened the very survival of the libraries of Europe. Economic fragility compounded that problem. But the fortunes of western European libraries have changed, and this has allowed HMML to shift its own limited resources to places where the threat to survival has not diminished. Today it is not the Portuguese National Library where HMML is at work, but rather in the fragile Middle East.

With the danger of destruction very real, in 2003 the Hill Library began shifting its work to sites in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and elsewhere. Once again technology came to the rescue, allowing a dramatic acceleration in the work. Advances in digital equipment have been accompanied by a significant decline in the cost of preservation; HMML can now tackle a range of sites on a scale that was simply impossible in the 1960s and ’70s. Today cameras click from India to Ethiopia, gathering at HMML a photographic collection that is unrivalled anywhere.

A visit to HMML’s Web site [www.hmml.org] reveals an impressive inventory of current and recent projects in a roster of sometimes exotic names that conjure up glamorous images. The intriguing names belie the hard work involved in preservation. Whether in Aleppo or Beirut or Homs, the working conditions these preservationists encounter are unlike anything they would find in an American office.

At the monastery of Saint Mark in Jerusalem, one of the most fascinating projects is currently underway. With some three hundred manuscripts, Saint Mark’s is not the largest collection that HMML has encountered. Nor is the political environment so dire. But the opportunity to access, preserve,

and share manuscripts that date to the early ninth century is irresistible. Founded as a Coptic monastery, Saint Mark’s transferred to Syrian control in the late fifteenth century, when it became the seat of the Syrian bishop of Jerusalem. It is but one of dozens of fascinating projects.

Like the grandest of visions, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library had more ambition than resources in its earliest years. The dream that Father Oliver took with him to Austria continues unabated today under the leadership of Father Columba Stewart, O.S.B. He and his colleagues have extended the reach of HMML to locales that Father Oliver could scarcely have imagined, and they use technology of which he could not conceive. But the goal is unchanging, even if the geography has changed dramatically. And the cumulative results are breathtaking.

Father Eric Hollas, O.S.B., is senior associate for arts and cultural affairs at Saint John’s University.


Abdulahi Ali-Sherif, founder of the Sherif Harar City Museum in Harar, Ethiopia, examines an Arabic manu-script.

Columba Stewart, O.S.B.

Photo: Paul Crosby

Above: Fourteenth-century Armenian Book of the Gospels. Frontispiece to the Gospel of Luke, MS. Bzommar, Lebanon, 18 fols. 128v-129r.

Left: Resurrection image. Bean MS 3. Album of cuttings of illuminated initials. Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota.

Opposite page: Image of Pentecost from a liturgical gospel Lectionary. MS. CFMM 37/2 fol. 5v. Manuscript on vellum, 13th century. 40 x 30 x 10.5 cm. Copyright ©: Syriac Orthodox Diocese of Mardin, Turkey.


Abbey Arboretum archives

Weathering the Storm: Forest Stewardship

Benjamin Carlson

On 2 August 2011 a wind-storm pummeled Saint John’s with straight-line

winds. The storm lasted only fifteen minutes, but what it lacked in duration, it made up in intensity. For every second it lasted, two trees in the Saint John’s Abbey forest were lost. By the time the storm passed at 8:10 a.m., over 1800 trees were broken off, tipped over, or stripped of their branches beyond repair.

In the months following the storm, the abbey’s forestry staff has been working against the clock in order to salvage the most valuable timber before it decays or is damaged by insects. In order to collect data on the number, location, and status of felled trees, Mr. Tom Kroll, abbey land manager, and others, with the help of the global positioning system (GPS), scoured the woods to record the location of every felled tree. Each tree recorded was given a unique number, and a note was made as to the species, type of damage, lumber volume, and harvesting priority. The data was then compiled into a map using geographic information systems (GIS). This information will aid in the cleanup process and also guide future land management plans.

The August windstorm signifi-cantly affected about one to two percent of the abbey forest’s larger trees. Red oak suffered the greatest damage (more than 650 lost), followed by sugar maple and basswood trees. The type of damage—whether it be

tipped, broken off at the base, or stripped from the top—indicates how the lumber potential may be affected (trees broken off at the base often yield less useable lumber).

After the recording process, the next step of storm damage mitigation—salvaging—began almost immediately. The abbey’s forestry staff, especially Mr. Dan Vogel and Mr. Gary Pflueger, has been cleaning up felled trees and salvaging saw timber. Many of the trails have been reopened, but the ski trail near the freeway and part of the Pine Knob loop (northern edge of the abbey forest) remain closed—either because of blockage or logging activities.

Salvaging the high-quality saw logs will provide some income to compensate for the cleanup costs. Plenty of red oak and pine

lumber will now be available for the abbey woodworking shop; however, with so much felled timber on hand, some logs have been sold to specialty markets, with at least six semi-truck loads going for high-quality oak veneer, some of which is destined for use in Japan. The fifteen-minute August windstorm damage represents what the abbey would typically harvest in a three-year period.

In order to ensure that the forest properly regrows, some level of regeneration is necessary, which is the third step in storm damage mitigation. Left to itself, the forest will naturally regenerate to some degree, a process that occurs whenever a felled tree creates an opening in the forest canopy. In areas that were only marginally or sparsely affected by the windstorm, such a hands-off method will be sufficient.

Storm damage in the abbey forest, August 2011.


Currently the forest condition favors the regeneration of such species as sugar maple and ironwood rather than red and white oak. Since we would like to see some of the red oak mixed forest preserved, artificial regeneration will be carried out in many of the severely damaged areas. To do this, the forestry staff will plant many seedlings grown from seeds collected from the abbey forest. Mr. Kroll explained that “We will regenerate a mix of species, but we will retain a red oak emphasis, since they are worth more and have historical and ecological significance.” This active forest regeneration management will ensure that a healthy, diverse stand will be present for future generations.

Whitetail deer in the abbey forest pose another significant threat to forest regeneration. The abnormally high deer population is “a potentially greater threat to forest health than windstorms

like the one last summer,” asserts Mr. Kroll, because of their tendency to feed on young tree saplings. Although Saint John’s hosts controlled annual deer hunts, additional practices such as fencing off plantations, bud capping (wrapping a piece of paper around the terminal leader and bud of the tree), and spraying repellent are still necessary for controlling deer and limiting damage.

In addition to the hardwoods, pine trees will be planted in

areas where conifers blew down during the windstorm, such as on the Pine Knob and in other historic conifer plantations in the abbey forest. “Some of the pine trees lost in the storm were planted in 1896—in response to the 1894 tornado—making them the first documented forest plantings in the state of Minnesota,” reported Mr. Kroll; thus they are aesthetically and culturally important to replace.

The monks of Saint John’s Abbey have been intentional about the use and stewardship of their forest and lands, consistent with their Benedictine values and heritage. The tornado of 1894 inspired the first forest planting in Minnesota, and the forestry stewardship practices in response to the windstorm of August 2011 will simply be another example of the Benedictines’ commitment to their land.

Mr. Ben Carlson is a junior environmental studies major at Saint John’s University and student employee of both the environmental studies department and the Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum.

Benjamin Carlson

Benjamin CarlsonLand manager Tom Kroll (left) and Dan Vogel with a good day’s work.


Running the Path of Life Meet a Monk: Dale Launderville

Abbey archives


I know only one monk with his own copy of the massive Assyrian Dictionary. This

same monk is an avid follower of college basketball. Dead (even very dead) languages, and basketball? This could only be that very learned Iowan, Father Dale Launderville, O.S.B.

Father Dale came to Saint John’s from Storm Lake, Iowa, to enroll as a college freshman. Like so many of his and later generations, he was deeply influenced by Father Rene McGraw’s insistence that deep questions deserve hard thinking, and that hard texts deserve deep reading. Graduating with a degree in philosophy in 1973, Dale headed to law school, but the call of the monastery soon overcame a less enthusiastic embrace of the law. Dale entered the Saint John’s Abbey novitiate in July 1974. After first profession of vows as a Benedictine monk a year later, he

began seminary studies and was ordained in June 1979.

While studying in Jerusalem, Father Dale became fascinated by the Old Testament, and he soon headed off to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to begin the arduous process of doctoral studies in a field that requires immersion in a host of difficult languages. There he chipped away at Hebrew, Akkadian, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and the various modern languages necessary for scholarship in biblical studies. His dissertation on theories of kingship in the ancient world drew on his linguistic gifts and was eventually published as Piety and Politics: The Dynamics of Royal Authority in Homeric Greece, Biblical Israel, and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2003). His most recent book, Celibacy in the Ancient World: Its Ideal and Practice in Pre-Hellenistic Israel, Mesopotamia, and Greece (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2010), returned to the same comparative landscape, examining the unexpected pre-Christian background of a central theme in monastic life. In between he published the fruit of his reflection and teaching on the prophets in Spirit and Reason: The Embodied Character of Ezekiel’s Symbolic Thinking (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2007).

This impressive scholarly career might give the impression that Father Dale spends all of his time indoors, deciphering impossible scripts. Not so. He heads out

daily for a run, even on the colder days. He is generous with his priestly ministry and has served in numerous leadership positions in the undergraduate theology department and School of Theology. A decade after his first visit to the Holy Land he returned to direct the program in 1987. That semester I made my own first visit to Jerusalem, and Dale was a knowledgeable and energetic guide. When it was my turn to lead the program five years later, it was a great pleasure to have Dale with us during his sabbatical. In the meantime he had become the dean of the School of Theology, beginning a decade of service in a difficult period of transition.

The diocesan seminary program was winding down as bishops were concentrating their attention on the regional seminary in Saint Paul, and the lay graduate student population was growing as new opportunities were opening up for ministry by the non-ordained. Dale thought through these challenges and responded

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

Father Dale assisting with sap collec-tion for maple syrup, c. 1985.


Alan Reed, O.S.B.

to them in a creative manner. More recently he has been chair of the undergraduate department of theology while continuing to teach in the graduate school.

Father Dale is known to be an outstanding teacher. In the classroom this normally quiet monk shows his passion for Scripture, Christian tradition, and intellectual inquiry as he takes students from Genesis to Vatican II and beyond. His courses on the Psalms and Prophets are famously gripping. Students speak of his astonishing command of the texts and the way he can illuminate, and even channel, the intensity of the psalmist or prophet whom he is teaching. We monks see the same passion when Dale preaches, sharing his joyous exploration of the biblical nar-rative and its relevance to the very different world of today.

I asked Dale to name his favorite psalm and Old Testament prophet. He chose Psalm 108, especially its opening lines: “My heart is ready, O God; I will sing, sing your praise. Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp. I will awake the dawn. I will thank you, LORD, among the peoples; among the nations I will praise you, for your love reaches to the heavens and your truth to the skies.” He noted that those particular lines have kept coming back to him over the years—very apt, since they could be the job description for a Benedictine monk. The prophet he chose is Ezekiel and the passage is 36:22-28, in which God promises to bring Israel home to their own land, wash them clean of their infidelities, put

a new heart within them, and make them God’s boast before the world. No matter how unfaithful we are, God cannot but be faithful to the promise made to the people. This helped me understand the answer to my final question. What advice would Father Dale give to his younger self? He replied, “Do not underestimate the fidelity of the senior monks; keep listening; take care to recognize the hidden struggles of others.”

These are the words of a monk who has been faithful to his lectio divina, wrestled with the challenges of life in community, and remained faithful.

Father Columba Stewart, O.S.B., is the executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library.

Do not underestimate the fidelity of the senior monks; keep listening; take care to recognize the hidden struggles of others.

Father Dale taking a break before the March Madness Final Four.


Luke Dysinger, O.S.B.

An ancient art, practiced at one time by all Christians, is the technique known as

lectio divina—a slow, contem-plative praying of the Scriptures that enables the Word of God to become a means of union with God. The art of lectio divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply, to hear with “the ear of your heart,” as Saint Benedict encourages in the opening verse of the Rule.

Select. To engage in this practice, choose a word or phrase of the Scriptures that you wish to pray. Many Christians use one of the readings from the eucharistic liturgy for the day; others pre-fer to work slowly through a particular book of the Bible. It makes no difference which text is chosen, as long as you have no set goal of “covering” a certain amount of text. The amount of text covered is in God’s hands, not yours.

Read. Turn to the text and read it slowly, gently. Savor each portion of the reading, constantly listening for the “still, small voice” of a word or phrase that somehow says, “I am for you today.” Do not expect lightning or ecstasies. In lectio divina God is teaching us to listen, to seek God in silence. God does not reach out and

grab us, but gently invites us ever more deeply into the divine presence.

Ponder. Take the word or phrase into yourself. Memorize it, and slowly repeat it to yourself, allowing it to interact with your inner world of concerns, memories, and ideas. Do not be afraid of distractions. Memories or thoughts are simply parts of yourself that, when they rise up during lectio divina, are asking to be given to God along with the rest of your inner self. Allow this inner pondering, this rumination, to invite you into dialogue with God.

Pray. Speak to God. Whether you use words, ideas, or images—or all three—is not

important. Interact with God as you would with one who you know loves and accepts you. Give to God what you have discovered during your experience of meditation. Give to God what you have found within your heart. Simply rest in God’s embrace. It is not necessary to assess the quality of your lectio divina, as if you were “performing” or seeking some goal. Lectio divina has no goal other than that of being in the presence of God by praying the Scriptures.

Father Luke Dysinger, O.S.B., is a monk of Saint Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo, California, and adjunct professor of theology at Saint John’s University School of Theology·Seminary.

Guide to Lectio Divina

Excerpted from “Accepting the Embrace of God: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina,” and used with permission of the author and Give Us This Day (Liturgical Press).

Resurrection icon by Aidan Hart.


Father Terrence Kardong, O.S.B., is a world-renowned scholar on the Rule of

Saint Benedict and monastic spirituality. He is also something of a self-styled curmudgeon. The combination of these two qualities brings a delightful pizzazz to his latest book, Con-versation with Saint Benedict: The Rule in Today’s World. Father Terrence explores the connection points and the sticking points between the Rule and contemporary culture. He points out various aspects of the world around us that he considers worrisome and the light that Benedict’s Rule might shed on them for Christians today. Moreover, he doesn’t hesitate to take up specific aspects of the Rule itself that he finds difficult. In other words, Conversation with Saint Benedict is an interesting exchange indeed. Among the many topics the author tackles are laughter and

tears, security, work, economics, monastic garb, cell phones, zeal, hierarchy, and channel surfing. Many readers will enjoy being a part of this conversation.

When Liturgical Press first published Abbot Francis Kline’s Lovers of the Place: Monasticism Loose in the Church in 1997, the book quickly found a wide audience beyond expectations. In an effort to introduce Abbot Francis’ work to a new generation of seekers, the book is being reissued, with a new foreword, under the Cistercian Publications imprint. Abbot Francis (1948–2006) decided to forgo a promising career in classical music in order to enter monastic life at the age of twenty-four. He had studied at the Julliard School and already attracted wide notice through a series of prominent organ recitals in New York City and Philadelphia. He entered the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky, in 1972;

eighteen years later he was elected abbot of Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, serving in this capacity until his death. Abbot Francis brought a wealth of experience and creativity to his work in Lovers of the Place, which insists that monastic tradition should go beyond the monastic enclosure to the whole Church and world, because both are much in need of a sense of the transcendent. While the book is, at face value, about the monastic search for goodness and truth, it is in fact also about the lifelong human search for these same realities.

In the new introduction included in this edition, theologian Michael Downey writes, “This volume, published first in 1997, articulates Francis’ vision of a monasticism which is still struggling to find its place not outside but within a Church endowed with many charisms, ministries, and offices. . . . Francis was intent on cracking open the monastic treasury, its well-worn ways of wisdom, and shaking it loose in the Church and the wider world.” Both books are available from Liturgical Press: online at www.litpress.org; or by calling 1.800.858.5450.

Mr. Barry Hudock is associate publisher for academic and trade markets at Liturgical Press.

New Benedictine Books

Barry Hudock

David Manahan, O.S.B. / Liturgical Press

Ann Blattner / Liturgical Press


Arnold Weber

The second son of Bernard and Louise (Arceneau) Weber, Father Arnold John

Weber, O.S.B., was born on 21 October 1925 in Saint Martin, Minnesota. The Weber family was strong in their Catholic faith; six of the twelve children pursued Benedictine vocations, four as sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, Saint Joseph, Minnesota, and two as monks and priests of Saint John’s Abbey. As a youngster Arnold enjoyed the rural life, especially the manual labor on the family farm and attending a country grade school.

Father Arnold’s road to religi-ous life, the priesthood, and significant leadership positions began in 1940, when he entered Saint John’s Preparatory School. After graduating in 1944, he enrolled in Saint John’s University, interrupting his undergraduate studies to begin the novitiate formation program at the abbey in 1945. After profes-sion as a Benedictine monk on 11 July 1946, he studied for the priesthood, graduating from Saint John’s with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and finishing his theological studies. He was ordained on 7 June 1952 and attended summer sessions at The Catholic University of America, earning a master’s degree in family sociology.

A man of great energy, exuber-ance, and enthusiasm for life, Father Arnold exercised his many gifts in a variety of assignments—high school teacher, coach, administrator, pastor, retreat director—from the 1950s until his retirement in 2003. His

homilies—always memorable, never brief—were delivered with a booming voice and enlivened by homespun wit and wisdom. He was accurately likened to a spark plug.

In 1959, with the help of his younger brother, Father Otto Weber, O.S.B., (1934–1987), Father Arnold founded the still popular Saint John’s Summer Leadership Camps. His influence and support of the development of young men continued throughout the 1960s as he served as the abbey’s first vocation director.

In 1977 Father Arnold became the president of Benilde-Saint Margaret’s High School in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota. Under his leadership enrollment grew from 700 to over 1,000. Four years later he used his dynamic leadership and pastoral skills at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Medina, Minnesota. He oversaw the building of an entirely new parish complex: church, rectory, gymnasium and classrooms for the parish school, and phenomenal growth in membership—from 350 to 2,700 families.

In retirement, despite the effects of Parkinson’s disease, he was active in the monastic life and continued his lifelong habit of serious reading and keeping informed about the contemporary Church. Father Arnold died on 9 February; the Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on 14 February.

“Of all the areas I am most proud of at Holy Name, one stands out: we have taken the Second Vatican Council seriously, both in liturgy and in our duty towards the needy.”

“You can’t get to heaven by writing a check . . . but you may want to try.”

--Arnold Weber, O.S.B.

Abbey archives


Abbey archives

John Patrick McDarby

The third of five children of Neil and Virginia (Galvin) McDarby, Father John

Patrick McDarby, O.S.B., was born on 10 December 1927 in Auburn, Indiana. His early years were challenging, formed by the Great Depression, the death of his father in 1936, and the need for his mother to seek employment outside the home. Following the outbreak of World War II, his two brothers joined the armed services and his mother moved to Saint Louis to take care of her dying father. John Patrick completed high school studies at St. Louis University High School, a Jesuit college preparatory school.

During a retreat in January 1945, Father Pat felt called to explore religious life. In 1946, after a year of studies at Saint John’s University, he entered the Saint John’s Abbey novitiate, receiving the name of David (reverting to J. Patrick in 1968). He professed first vows as a Benedictine monk on 11 July 1947, completed his undergraduate studies in philosophy and, following semi-nary training, was ordained a priest on 24 May 1953.

Father Patrick’s pastoral assignments included summer parish residency, hospital and prison ministry, and serving as a chaplain for Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Above all, his work was centered on education. His graduate studies in American literature at the University of Chicago prepared him for forty-three years on the English department faculty of Saint John’s University until failing eyesight led to his retirement in 1999. For twenty-one of those years

he served as a faculty resident, living primarily in Patrick Hall with Clyde and Edna, his Siamese cats.

Students grew accustomed to the evening routine: the cats prowled the floor, and Father Pat prepared a meal in his improvised dorm kitchen while the television blared Perry Mason reruns. A simple but substantial supper was more refined than the cats’ fare of Velveeta cheese.

Father Pat’s remarkable com-mand of the English language, and especially a love of words, their etymology and meaning, was demonstrated throughout his life. His homilies were care-fully crafted—clever, creative, and poetic. He was a formidable competitor with the dictionary game; students struggled to find words he didn’t know. He was the anonymous author of monks’ obituaries and of abbey Christmas card texts. He penned a “Word of the Month” feature for the in-house monastery newsletter, Confrere, for the fourteen years he served as its editor. A former confrere compared him to “a sort of Benedictine Walt Whitman, singing ‘songs of myself’ while celebrating all the possibilities that America held.”

For many years, despite having close friendships in the monas-tery, Pat lived on the margins of the community. When Abbot Jerome Theisen, O.S.B., talked him into moving from the dorm to the monastery, Pat found the change liberating. He spent his golden years in the monastery,

engaged in its daily rhythms, with a rediscovered appreciation for Benedictine life.

Father Patrick died peacefully on 13 March in the abbey’s retirement center. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on the feast of Saint Patrick, 17 March.


Hugh Witzmann

Father Hugh Witzmann, O.S.B. (baptized Reuben Aloysius Witzmann) was

born on a farm near Cold Spring, Minnesota, on 15 March 1928, the second of seven children of Benedict and Philomena (Diel) Witzmann. He attended country school, Saint Boniface Grade School in Cold Spring, and graduated from Saint John’s Preparatory School in 1946.

Father Hugh entered Saint John’s University as a priesthood student in 1947. After his soph-omore year he embarked on a 5200-mile trip to the western United States to broaden his education; it would not be the last of his extended trips. Upon his return he entered the novitiate of Saint John’s Abbey, receiving the religious name Hugh; he professed vows as a Benedictine monk on 11 July 1949. After completing his undergraduate studies, he pursued seminary

courses and was ordained on 4 June 1955.

Following ordination Father Hugh taught mathematics at the prep school and university and also provided pastoral ministry on weekends in many local parishes and in the Twin Cities. His interest in art led to summer studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he earned a master of fine arts degree in 1963. Art became Hugh’s passion and life. He served as an instructor of art history, sculpture, photography, and design at Saint John’s University from 1961—1997, when he was named artist-in-residence at Saint John’s. He was also an excellent photographer and award-winning sculptor. His bronze Madonna of the Gospels was displayed at the 1965 World’s Fair in New York.

Father Hugh studied with master sculptor Elmar Hillebrand in Cologne, Germany, and with art historian Joseph Gulman in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He sought and was awarded numerous grants from the National En-dowment for the Humanities, a Fulbright Scholarship to Italy, and a McPherson grant. These grants took Hugh to Columbia University; Syracuse University; the American Academy in Rome; the Johnson Atelier Institute, Princeton, New Jersey; and the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. He also pursued independent studies throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and Middle East, and India. His work as

a photographer resulted in a collection of slides for his art his-tory courses and for Liturgical Press.

Father Hugh’s critiques could be as sharp as his photography. While evaluating students’ art projects, he looked at one particular object, shook his head as he picked it up, and muttered, “must be on the other side.” Commenting on his own—more than forty— bronze sculptures, Hugh observed, “Bronze is the only way to go for me. It is an ancient medium, so durable. Bronze is a metaphor of qualities I find in monastic living—simplicity, honesty and a humane beauty purified through fire. Sculpture should be seen and touched. When people see my works, I hope they touch them as well and feel the texture so they really understand the work.”

Sculpture brought Hugh more than satisfaction and honors; he also suffered lung impairment from his work with bronze casting that took its toll in his later years. Father Hugh died on 17 March in the abbey’s retirement center. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on 23 March.

Abbey archives

Doves of Peace.


Abbey Chronicle

praise and glory in this Easter season. Alleluia!

December 2011

• In early December Brother David Paul Lange unveiled the finished clay version of his life-size sculpture of Saint Benedict (below). Commissioned by a university donor, the statue is now being fabricated; it will return to campus for a blessing ceremony and dedication in June. Brother David Paul

explained that the artwork “has been five years in the planning and six months in the making, and at last my portion of the process is nearing completion. Need I tell you how happy I am to be done?” A professional mold maker spent a week in the sculpture studio constructing a mold of the statue before all the pieces were shipped to New York for the bronze casting.

• On 11 December Abbot John Klassen joined his cousin and confrere Father Roger Klassen at Immaculate Conception Church in New Munich, Minnesota, for the centennial anniversary celebration of the dedication of the church. The parish traces its roots to 1855 and the missionary work of Father Francis Xavier Pierz. A frame church was constructed in those pioneer days and was replaced by the present brick structure in 1911.

• A large congregation joined the monastic community for the Christmas Eve Mass at

Central Minnesota, like so much of the U.S., experienced a remarkably

mild, dry winter. Saint John’s did not have a white Christmas but did have a white Ash Wed-nesday. On Leap Year Day, Collegeville recorded ten inches of snow—the first significant snowfall since November. Nor did the usually dreadful January weather materialize; many locales recorded daily all-time high temperatures. The lack of snow combined with the warm weather made cross-country skiing in the Saint John’s woods impossible, and driving to fish houses on some area lakes risky. Robins serenaded the sunrise on the feast of Saint Joseph, 19 March, the same day that Lake Sagatagan became ice-free. Liturgically, the monks along with all the faithful adjusted to the translation of the new Roman Missal and its replacement of the Queen’s English with Caesar’s English. Now we render to the risen Lord

Abbey archives

Brother David Paul Lange.

Michael Leither


Saint John’s Abbey. The St. John’s Boys’ Choir and the abbey schola, directed by Mr. André Heywood and Brother Nickolas Kleespie, respectively, provided a delightful concert of Christmas carols before and during the Eucharist. Abbot John presided and preached. On Christmas day Prior Tom Andert and Father Jerome Tupa, pastor of the local Saint John the Baptist Parish, presided at the eucharistic celebration.

• Following recent health issues and hospitalization, Brother Paul Fitt proudly shared with the community that he had no less than three written doc-tors’ reports in which he was identified as a “pleasant 66-year-old gentleman.” Some of the less charitable confreres wondered if perhaps Brother Paul was the recipient of identity theft.

January 2012

• On 2–4 January the monastic community gathered for their annual workshop. Fathers Dale Launderville and Columba Stewart, drawing on Scripture and early monastic writings, and Dr. James Bryer, sharing his insights as a psychologist and psychotherapist, gave presentations on the topic of anger. They addressed how to deal with anger in our personal lives and in community, the way we experience anger and what to do with it, and finally forgiveness and reconciliation.

• On 22 January Rev. Teresa Roberts, a Presbyterian pastor and oblate of Saint John’s Abbey, preached at the community Eucharist, part of our annual observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

• Minnesota Public Radio quietly noted the forty-fifth anniversary of its first broadcast on 22 January. A yellowed Western Union telegram, dated 20 January 1967, granting authority to KSJR-FM to begin broadcasting, is still posted in Wimmer Hall on the Saint John’s campus, the original studio of the Minnesota Public Radio network.

February 2012

• In observance of Super Bowl Sunday numerous

monks enjoyed a gumbo feast, courtesy of Brother Theophane Windschitl, followed by cookies baked by Father Tom Gillespie. A few monks even watched the game.

• On 6 February members of The St. John’s Boys’ Choir joined the Czech Boys Choir (left) and Young Men’s Ensemble under the direction of Mr. Jakub Martinec for a concert in the Great Hall. The Czech Boys Choir, from the city of Hradec Kralove in North Bohemia, continues a tradition of boy choir singing dating to the thirteenth century with the first boys’ choir at the Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

• Ms. Eileen Haeg, abbey volunteer program director, reports that since November, over one thousand hours of service have been logged by volunteers assisting at the abbey gift shop, woodworking shop, oblate office, guesthouse, abbey archives, cemetery office, church sacristy, or visiting retired and infirm monks in the abbey’s Saint Raphael Hall retirement center. Ms. Sharon Schmitt has agreed to serve as the manager of the abbey gift shop. To become a volunteer, contact Ms. Haeg at 320.363.3304, or [email protected]. • On Sunday, 12 February, two busloads of monks joined the sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery for evening prayer and supper during the annual celebration of the feast of Saint

Martin Sedlacek


Scholastica. As always, the sisters’ gracious hospitality assured that “a good time was had by all.”

• The monastic community elected four monks to serve as trustees of Saint John’s University: Brothers Dennis Beach and Robin Pierzina for three-year terms; Fathers Eric Hollas and Rene McGraw for two-year terms. Brother Benedict Leuthner, abbey treasurer, will also serve as a trustee.

March 2012

• Father Columba Stewart was featured in the March 2012 National Geographic cover story on the “The Journey of the Apostles,” an article that included reference to the work of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in India and Father Ignatius Payyappilly, head of HMML’s project in Kerala. Father Columba was quoted in reference to the apostles, particularly Saint Thomas, and their significance in the early Church.

• Apparently it rained more than cats and dogs through an

WikimediaOndatra zibethicus.

Monastic mem-bers of the new university board of trustees (left to right): (top) Robin Pierzina, Dennis Beach; (center) Rene McGraw, Eric Hollas; and Benedict Leuthner.

Abbey archives

open monastery window on the evening of 19 March. Confreres were startled to find a note posted in the monastic dining room: “F.Y.I. A Muskrat is in the snack room behind the cupboard; traps are set for the Muskrat; do not remove traps.” The critter was caught and released into Lake Sagatagan by Brother Peter Sullivan.

On 10 March the annual maple syrup season began under the super-vision of Brother Walter Kieffer and biology professor Dr. Stephen Saupe, as 600 maple trees were tapped with 800 spiles. However, record-high day temperatures (70s) and overnight temperatures above freezing shortened the season. By the end of March, and the final day of the Saint John’s Maple Syrup Festival, slightly more than 2,400 gallons of sap had been harvested, resulting in a pitiful 39 gallons of syrup. Brother Walter observed: “It’s like farming; some years you have to be happy with what you get!

Abbey Arboretum archivesSarah Gainey explains the process of maple syrup production.


Fifty Years Ago

University archives

Excerpted from The Record, official newspaper of Saint John’s University:

12 January 1962

• Construction of the dormitory and the classroom building at the new Saint John’s Preparatory School site is on schedule, according to Father Cuthbert [Gregory] Soukup, prep school dean, who expects these struc-tures to be completed in time for fall classes.

Erection of the two buildings, ultimately intended to accom-modate 480 students, but tem-porarily being equipped for 360, is part of a projected construction program. A gymnasium and a fourth building to house cafeteria, auditorium, library, science, administration, and recreation facilities are planned, but no definite dates have been set for these projects. Facilities ultimately to be housed in the fourth building will temporarily be located in the first and second units.

9 February 1962

• An overflow crowd attended the Mozart Coronation Mass concert last Saturday evening in the abbey and university church. The Vienna Boys’ Choir (directed by Dr. Roman Zeilinger) joined the Saint John’s Men’s Chorus (directed by Mr. Gerhard Track) and the Saint John’s Symphony Orchestra for the presentation. The Mozart Mass was part of a series of concerts and lectures presented in commemoration of the consecration of the new church.

23 February 1962

• Father Thomas Bidawid, pastor of Saint Ephrem’s Chaldean Catholic Church in Chicago, will celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean Rite on Sunday, 4 March. Developed in Chaldea, an ancient region of what is now western Iraq, this form of the Divine Liturgy, according to Father Aelred Tegels, is the most archaic to be brought here this year, part of the series of Eastern Catholic rite offerings presented in the new church.

9 March 1962

• The Knights of Columbus will hold their Lenten catechetical quiz on Tuesday, 27 March. Teams representing Foley, Saint Cloud, Pierz, and Saint John’s councils will participate. The questions will be selected from the Baltimore Catechism by Father Daniel Durken.

• Cyril Paul and his calypso combo return to Saint John’s on Friday, 16 March, to present a concert of Latin American music. Recalling his first SJU variety

show, Mr. Paul, a former Johnny track star and musical entertainer, said, “I sang Ole Man River and Autumn Leaves in French. I hope to do the same.”

23 March 1962

• Saint John’s Abbey and Uni-versity Church will receive one of the eight national honor awards from the American Institute of Architects in May.

• The Saint John’s weather station, founded by Father Peter Engel, later Saint John’s fourth abbot, has seen duty in the turret of the quadrangle, the tower of the science building [Simons Hall], and at its present site on the old apple cellar since its inception in 1892. Seventy years of the antics of the weather here in God’s Country have been faithfully set down in graphs, charts, and tables.

13 April 1962

• Taken from the second issue of The Record, February 1888: “Say, Father, can you see anything in my eye?” “Yes, a very bad pupil.”

Construction of Saint Bede Hall, the prep school academic building, on the south slope of observatory hill, spring 1962.


(Novice) Monks in the Kitchen

Paul-Vincent Niebauer, O.S.B.

A Culinary Trinity

Ælred Senna, O.S.B.

Saint John’s Abbey is blessed to have three novices this year, and doubly blessed

because each has an interest in making tasty treats for the rest of us!

Novice Richard Crawford acquired his taste for cooking in the fourth grade when he began learning “the basics” from his mother. In high school he honed his kitchen skills by making donuts and cooking at home, and picked up additional pointers while working as a waiter. He attributes his more recent culinary development to the Food Network—he’s an avid fan of Alton Brown’s Good Eats. His pasta dinner and homemade focaccia bread are a hit with his confreres.

When Novice David Allen was growing up, his father did most of the cooking, but even with

such a role model, David never felt “called to cook.” Perhaps because the kitchen is a fun place to hang out with confreres, or because things right out of the oven are so delicious, the “inner

My Madrina’s Chilaquiles by Novice Lucian López

• 20 corn tortillas • 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast• 1½ cups green salsa• 1 cup shredded white cheese (queso Chihuahua or Monterey Jack)• Sour cream

Slice the corn tortillas into inch-wide strips, and set them out overnight to dry out. Heat a little oil in a saucepan, and fry up a few at a time until crispy. After frying, salt lightly. (You’ve just made some great tortilla chips!)

Layer half the tortilla strips on the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking dish. Add layers of shredded chicken, green salsa, and shredded cheese (about half the total quantity of each). Repeat the layers, then cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F.

Serve like lasagna, and dollop a bit of sour cream on top.

baker” in Novice David has begun to rise. He now treats his confreres to banana bread, breakfast casseroles, and cake. We look forward to sampling his Nana’s recipe.

Novice Lucian López began cooking out of necessity at age 18 when he was a novice in another religious community, where everyone took turns with the kitchen duties. Being a resourceful novice, he asked his mother, his friends’ parents, and his extended family in Mexico for recipes. He still treasures the small, homemade recipe book that resulted from that research effort. The recipe for chilaquiles (left) is a favorite of his and of his confreres!

Brother Ælred Senna, O.S.B., is associate publisher of Give Us This Day at Liturgical Press.

Baking pies for the community (left to right): Novices David Allen and Lucian López, Brother Ælred Senna, and Novice Richard Crawford.

koláč

In Memoriam

34

Abbot Marion Balsavich, O.S.B.

Cabrini Beauvais, O.S.B.

Andrew Murray Britz, O.S.B.

Theophile Brown, O.S.B.

Marion S. Brunner

Robert Culligan

Dale DeGroot

Dolores E. “Dolly” Dierkhising

Mary Ann Ebnet

Patricia Friedman

Kenneth Geyer, O.S.B.

Mary Ann Henn, O.S.B.

Bernard Horzen, O.S.B.

Virginia Houske, O.S.B.

Lucille Hubmann, O.S.B.

Vivian Hayes Igel

Rosanne Keller

Marilyn Kulzer, O.S.B.

Patricia Catherine Lambert

Robert Lillard, Sr.

Victor E. Losacano

Timothy Marceau, O.S.B.

Audrey Martin, O.S.B.

Mary Elizabeth Mason, O.S.B.

Bernarda Maus, O.S.B.

John Patrick McDarby, O.S.B.

Richard “Ollie” Oliver, Obl.S.B.

Christopher A. Platz

Louis “Chic” Prickril

Wallace D. Rajdl

Joseph Regenfuss

Abbot Jerome Luke Rigby, O.S.B.

Chadwick Ruble

John Francis “Jack” Ruff

John W. Saxton

Charlene Schoen, O.S.B.

Cleo Schoenbauer, O.S.B.

Leander Paul Sis

Donald Stoehr

Michael Sullivan

Dorothy Tauscher

Karen Tykwinski

Margaret VanKempen, O.S.B.

Arnold Weber, O.S.B.

John Windschitl

Hugh Witzmann, O.S.B.

Matthew Wotelko, O.S.B.

Please join the monastic community in prayerful remembrance of our recently deceased family and friends:

Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. --Psalm 116:15

Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

Saint Benedict urges his monks to keep death daily before their eyes (RB 4.47). As a young man, this was hard to appreciate; Benedict’s words seemed morose, depressing, fatalistic. Life was for living, it seemed to

me, and there wasn’t enough time to be looking beyond it.

Things have changed. I recently encountered a poem and film, each of which deals with death. Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem entitled “Dirge Without Music” hauntingly expresses the most difficult reality of death—the absence of the beloved. It ends with this heartbreaking verse:

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

She has captured the essence of that time just after we experience loss. While it may be encouraging that our loved ones have escaped miserable illness or lengthy diminishment, there is still the feeling of unspeakable loss and sorrow. The physical manifestation of that person is now gone forever. This poem identifies our initial unwillingness to “go along with it.”

I also encountered a film by Gus Van Sant called Restless, the story of a young couple who meet at a wake and are drawn to each other’s quirks. He has survived a car accident in which both his parents died. He struggles to understand and accept this, having spent three months in a coma—waking up to find the only remnants of his parents’ existence to be a gravestone. She, on the other hand, can’t get enough out of each day. She is fascinated by birds, and one in particular that considers the onset of nightfall to be a harbinger of death. It is so startled and pleased when the sun returns in the morning that it sings the most beautiful song imaginable.

Her optimism is initially repulsive to the young man who looks at life as a cruel joke. Eventually he discovers her secret: she has terminal brain cancer and is resigned to the thought of dying. It is her lack of fearing death that instills in him the desire and joy of living every moment. He wants to speak words of tribute at her wake, but can only stand in silence and smile as we watch a montage of their brief but meaningful friendship.

The wisdom of Saint Benedict is evident in both Millay’s poem and Van Sant’s film. The sting of death can be a motivator and reminder to live each moment to its fullest, but so can the peaceful acceptance of its inevitability. We may not “approve” of death’s finality, but understanding death as an eternal gateway will bring us closer to resurrection joy.

An Eternal Gateway

Under-standing death as an eternal gateway will bring us closer to resurrection joy.

35

Banner MagazineBox 2015Collegeville MN 56321-2015

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PAIDSaint John’s Abbey

Abbey Banner Spring 2012 Volume 12, Number 1

4 This IssueRobin Pierzina, O.S.B.

5 Resurrection LifeAbbot John Klassen, O.S.B.

6 Care for the SickRoger Botz, O.S.B.Kenneth Kroeker, O.S.B.Timothy Backous, O.S.B.

9 Saint John’s OblatesDonald Tauscher, O.S.B.

10 University ReorganizationDennis Beach, O.S.B.

12 Benedictine Volunteer Corps Charlie SwansonJ. D. O’Connell

14 Missionary Outreach in Fujimi

15 PoetryNeal Henry Lawrence, O.S.B.

16 Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

Eric Hollas, O.S.B.

20 Weathering the Storm: Forest Stewardship

Benjamin Carlson

22 Meet a Monk: Dale Launderville


24 Guide to Lectio DivinaLuke Dysinger, O.S.B.

25 New Benedictine BooksBarry Hudock

26 Obituary: Arnold Weber

27 Obituary: John Patrick McDarby

28 Obituary: Hugh Witzmann

29 Abbey Chronicle and Fifty Years Ago

Robin Pierzina, O.S.B.

33 (Novice) Monks in the Kitchen: A Culinary Trinity

Ælred Senna, O.S.B.

34 In Memoriam

35 An Eternal GatewayTimothy Backous, O.S.B.

Benedictine Day of Prayer27 April 2012: Has Easter over the years made any difference in my life? Easter morality.

The day begins at 7:00 A.M. with Morning Prayer and concludes about 3:30 P.M.

Cost: $50, which includes retreat materials, breakfast, and lunch.

Rooms are available in the abbey guesthouse for an overnight stay the night before.

Register online at www.abbeyguesthouse.org; or call: 320.363.3929.

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