A Summer on the Hill

BenedictinePerspectives: The Labors of Monks

MONK LIFEFrom the Vocations Office of Saint Meinrad Archabbey Fall 2014 • No. 3

Ministry Spotlight:Care for the Poor

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On the cover: A replica of the St. Benedict Statueon the front of the Archabbey Church. Photo byNovice Charles Peñalosa.

FEATURES2.....................................................From the Vocation Director

4-5..................................................................Benedictine Scholars

6-7 ............................................................Benedictine Perspectives

8-9...................................................................Monk Spotlight

10 ................................................................Ministry Spotlight

Produced by the Vocations Office and the Communications Office of SaintMeinrad Archabbey.

Vocations Office, Saint Meinrad Archabbey100 Hill Drive, St. Meinrad, IN 47577vocations@saintmeinrad.org, www.saintmeinrad.org(812) 357-6318

© 2014

Greetings fromthe Hill.

If autumn is atime of harvest,of gathering inthe fruits of thegrowing season,then it is only

because much had happened in thesummer. Such has been the case hereat Saint Meinrad. It was a really busyand beautiful summer!

In May, June and July, we hosted threeyoung men for our BenedictineScholars Program, an eight-weekprogram that allows men betweenyears of college to live on the groundsof the monastery, working a job in themorning and taking a class in theSeminary and School of Theology inthe afternoons.

They eat, pray and live side by sidewith us, getting a real taste and

extended taste of the monastic life.(You can find an article about theprogram in this issue of Monk+Lifeby Jinu Thomas, one of ourScholars from two years ago.)

The monastic community alwaysbenefits from the green and energeticpresence of the BenedictineScholars. And, we are confidentthat their time with us will bear fruitin their own lives – in their spiritualgrowth and in their discernment oftheir vocation in the Church.

Whether these men end upchoosing a monastic vocation, wepray they have learned with ussomething about themselves andhow to foster the seeds of charity,obedience, prayer and self-gift thatlead us all to holiness.

The summer was also busy with the“One Bread, One Cup” youthliturgical leadership program that

happens at Saint Meinrad everysummer. The OBOC programbrings hundreds of high schoolstudents and 20 very dedicatedcollege interns to campus to studythe liturgy, to learn more aboutservice in the Church, and tosharpen their skills in the arts ofprayer and building Christiancommunity.

During the last few years, the Officeof Monastery Vocations has workedmore closely with the OBOCprogram, and we were honored bythe presence of four of the OBOCinterns who joined the monasticcommunity for a five-day live-in atthe end of their internship.

Finally, we saw a host of vocationguests: some coming to visit SaintMeinrad for the first time, others forthe second or third time, and a fewto finish up their applications forentrance into the monastery this fall.It was a good and busy summer.

This October we welcome five newcandidates to the monastery. Two of

From the Vocation DirectorBr. John Mark Falkenhain, OSB

MONK LIFE

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these candidates originally came toknow Saint Meinrad through the“One Bread, One Cup” program,and one was one of ourBenedictine Scholars two yearsago. The remaining two candidatescame to know us through oureducational apostolate and ourWeb presence.

Needless to say, we are filled withgratitude for God’s providenceshown to our community. However,we might take even greaterpleasure in knowing that our workof planting and cultivating the seedsof faith may be bearing fruit allover the Church – in other religiouscommunities, in families, inparishes, in schools, in big citiesand in small towns like ours.

Please join our prayers ofthanksgiving for God’s great gifts:the earth, the sky, the rain, the fruitof our labors and His greatest giftof love to us, Jesus Christ. In allthese, let God be glorified! �

BENEDICTINE HILLS PILGRIMAGESATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2014

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Benedictine Scholars, Hyeon Woo Kim, Von Erick Sandoval and Kevin Thompson pose fora portrait with Br. John Mark Falkenhain, OSB.

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“One Bread, One Cup” participants attend liturgy in the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel.R

www.saintmeinrad.org/bhp

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extent, daydream aboutvisiting one.

So the flier, to me, waslike a jackpot. It gaveme the opportunity tolive in the monasteryfor free, with a stipendand also take agraduate course intheology. What morecould I ask for? Or,frankly, did I knowwhat I was asking for?Probably not. But aslight desire was there.Plus it was only asummer.

Fir s t R eact ions

We were five in total (chosen forthe program). An engineer,historian, ace photographer,philosopher and theologian (all"aspiring to be's," of course).Except for one, we were on thegrounds of Saint Meinrad for thefirst time.

It was like stepping into a forgottenage. Every now and then, for thefirst few weeks, we couldn't helpgetting excited about the stonewalls, the dark corridors and theunusual serenity surrounding theHill. For the three of us fromChicago, this town in southwestIndiana, which had the same nameas the monastery, was basically no-man's land.

Our rooms, though not in themonastery itself, were in the samehallway. We were to join the monks

Editor's note: Jinu Thomas reflects onhis experience in the BenedictineScholars Program, which offerscollege men a chance to live, studyand participate in the life of SaintMeinrad's monastic community foreight weeks during the summer.Find out more at:www.saintmeinrad.org/bsp.

To write about the BenedictineScholars Program in the length of atypical article is like trying to fit anelephant in the typical dorm room.Though only two months in length, itwas filled with experiences, someordinary and others not quite.

One might find it ordinary that abunch of college kids joined the monksfor prayer, unless they knew that wesat in the choir stalls, which is anhonor rarely conferred and almostnever to students like us. One mightfind it ordinary to sit down and have aconversation about life with family andfriends, but to do so with Benedictinemonks is not quite so ordinary.

Before Ar r iv a l

When I first saw the flier for theBenedictine Scholars Program (BSP), Ihad just finished watching a BBCseries called “Cadfael.” “Cadfael,” afictional creation of Ellis Peters, is anEnglish Benedictine monk in theMiddle Ages operating as a watered-down version of the Sherlock Holmesof his times. Because of its monasticsetting, the show from time to timewould give us a peek into themonastic life of the Middle Ages. Itgot me interested enough to randomlyGoogle "monasteries" and, to some

in prayer (and sit in their choirstalls, a rare honor to be offered tofive college students) and mealsthroughout the day. In the morningwe had our assigned jobs for theweekdays and in the afternoon wewere to have classes. We also wereto join the monks for other recreationtimes and be free the rest of time.

Hogwart's is what a friend of minecalled Saint Meinrad, and I canpretty much say all of us, thoughunsure of how the next eight weekswould be, were excited to be there.What attracted me the most washow we were received by themonastic community. We were fivestrangers, college kids, who wereto interfere in their privacy for twomonths. Yet they were exceptionallywarm and considerate to us, whichdid relax my nerves.

Benedictine Scholars:A Summer on the HillBy Jinu Thomas

Jinu Thomas assisted the on-campus electricians aspart of his summer work.

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When you think of a program likeBSP, I believe it is common to havereservations, especially since theprogram almost completely benefitsthe participants. But we were madeaware from the beginning that thehope of the program was to help usencounter monastic life moreprofoundly.

Fir s t Week s

Morning prayer at 5:30 a.m. wasa challenge. Coming from collegewhere you rarely see bed beforemidnight, waking up that earlymeant you were back in bed andsleeping like a log by 9 p.m. Yetthe schedule itself was not hard(with plenty of free time for naps).All five of us were assigned jobsand mine, in particular, was to bethe electrician's aide.

This meant I worked with Renus,who has been working for theArchabbey for over 50 years andwho also happens to be the politestman I know to date. We changedfilters and light bulbs on a dailybasis. Sometimes he worked withthe elevators and I just wore mytool belt and looked cool.

Being on a schedule meant youwere really hungry when lunch ordinner time rolled by. The afternoonclass was more like a distinguishedlecture series given by differentmonks on various aspects ofmonastic life and communal life,including history, art and spirituality.Our excitement was still high toexperience this new way of life.

To the college interns who were oncampus for Saint Meinrad's "OneBread, One Cup" program, wewere the inside men with access toall cool monk things. We evenmade friends with some of them,who coined for us the term

"wannabe monks." Beingintroduced as the BenedictineScholars often raised a feweyebrows among other visitors inthe monastery, especially since mostof us had probably never seen theRule of St. Benedict before.

The P laces You Migh t Go

You would think that at a monasteryyou would pretty much be stuckdoing nothing but pray all the time.If the "Mythbusters" were to takethis as a challenge, I could savethem time by pointing out that itisn't true. "Come to the monasteryand see the world" is what onemonk told us.

We, too, had plenty of outings,including a visit to New Harmony,a detailed tour of Our Lady ofGethsemani Abbey, a tour throughone of the woods the Archabbeyowned, a visit to Bardstown, KY, anouting to Jasper, IN, and, beyondthat, the journey that we each tookseparately – the one into our ownselves.

This was different for each of usand, if you choose to come, it willindeed be different for you as well.The pace of life, the witness of acommunity and consistent prayermeant that we were challenged togo deep into ourselves. I willconfess that, of all things I havewritten above, this was the greatestblessing and the hardest encounter.

The silence on the Hill, whichbegan as a retreat experience,became a nagging loneliness afterthe first few weeks. To me, thereality was that I had erased allpossible distractions and all thatwas left was me. This was what theprogram referred to as the fruit ofan extended visit. If the first fewretreat-weeks were like the

excitement of being in a gym for thefirst day, the next few weeks were thediscipline of going to the gym regularly.

But the story isn't complete yet. Thefinal summit was that, in beingconstantly challenged to see myself, Iwas being challenged to see God. Idon't know how I can convey thisbetter. I understood finally what thecontinuous conversion to holinessmeant; it required first knowingyourself and knowing God. It washard; it was always in progress, but Iunderstood that God needed to be inthe center of it.

I can firmly say that somethingawakened inside me during my eightweeks – a desire to stay connected toGod in the manner that I hadexperienced at Saint Meinrad, whichhas kept calling me back there even tothis day. I cannot say all of us had asimilar experience. Yet I know forcertain that all of us at least had someanswer to the choice of remaining as"wannabe monks" or taking the plungeand applying for the monastery. Forme, it was the latter. �

Kevin Thompson was one of this year’sBenedictine Scholars.

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Periodically,someone willagitate thecollectivemonastic psychequestioning theproper work formonks. Ifdelivered with

just the right tone and a hypercriticalsniff, the question will suggest a purity,a sort of aching refinement of monasticvision from which, sadly, mortals ofthis age have fallen away. A casuistryof suitable and unsuitable occupationsmay be expected to follow.

It is a discussion that is, for the mostpart, fruitless. The Rule of St. Benedictseems to me admirably clear andconcise. The fundamental “work” ofthe monk is opus Dei, not principallythe liturgical offices, but thatbelieving in and following the LordChrist, which is the work mandatedby the Father.

It is the labor oboedientiae by whichone who hears the call shakes off thetorpor of drifting with the worldly herdand engages the hard and difficultthings by which one goes to God.These are succinctly laid out in theladder of humility and provided in theinstitutes of the Rule and abbot, theSchool of the Lord’s Service.

With this opus Dei as theirreplaceable foundation and becauseof it, the kinds of work that the monkmight be put to are set by thenecessities of the community and itscommon rule and the wise judgmentsof the abbot about the monk and thecommunity’s needs.

The Rule offers norms: it’s better onthe whole if the works of monks arewithin the clusura; if a monk isunequal to lectio for the longerprescribed periods, he does somework (on Sunday!); if a workassigned a monk seems to himutterly beyond his strengths, he maywithout obstinacy present his caseto the abbot but, in the end, accepthis judgment – his very obediencewill profit him; there are chores andtasks of all kinds for the ordered lifeof the community and everyoneable is to do his part with almost noexception; if the situation of themonastery requires the sweat-workof bringing in the harvest, thoughthey be quite unaccustomed, themonks will get to it; laziness,carelessness, indolence meritcorrection and require expiation.No work, no eat.

One need not read thesweep of monastichistory to have arealistic view of“monastic work.” Onecan think of the workof the monks of ourhouse in our day.

Beyond the “chores”(which are many anddemanding) andinternal offices,consider fire chief,professor, operationsmanagers of varieddivisions,artist/artisans, writers,painters, chaplains,graduate students,

sacramental ministers, pastors,Hispanic community service, retreatdirectors, academic and residentialdeans, chauffeurs, cooks, infirmaryassociates, secretary, EMT,carpenter, musicians, tribunaljudges, missionaries, consultors toRoman dicasteries, clinicalpsychologist, forester, archivists.

Monks of this house have workedas physician assistant, universityprofessors in the U.S. and abroad,founder of a black communityeducation center, constructionsupervisor, manager of physicaloperations and services, tinker,tailor ….

As in all else, there is a history ofchange in the work of a monastichouse. When I came here as a boyin the minor seminary, there was ineffect a kind of aspiration to allthings needed being providedwithin the monastery. Monks dideverything.

Benedictine Perspectives:The Labors of MonksBy Fr. Colman Grabert, OSB

All able-bodied monks are expected to share in thework of the monastery.

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Changing demographics of themonastery and economic efficiencyin the larger context made for therapid undermining of the ideal ofself-sufficiency. Manual labor, in thesense the Rule understands it, is amuch smaller part of monasticwork; the majority of us aremanagers and desk folk these days.Review the earlier inventory.

I keep a monastery vegetablegarden. It is sweaty, physical work.It strikes me, often, as quixotic. Ofcourse, we all anticipate fresh, newtomatoes and sweet corn comingin. And we enjoy the gardenmelons. But the global economylooms large over such small effortand reduces it, economically, to thestatus of the quaint enterprise ofaspiring locavores. Still one learnsfrom the effort.

In this flesh-and-bone labormanuum, one knows the meaningof “even one’s body is not in one’sown possession.” Here in physicallabor, as in the bodily reverencesrequired of us in the liturgy and theopus divinum, in the physicalgestures toward each other ofreverence and amends, one’s bodyis not at all one’s own possession,but is at the disposition, by vowand free gift, of others, of another.

As in worship, so in work,wholehearted obedience is bodily.One may, I suppose, think of this“other” as the abbot, or thecommunity; the monk is despoiledof his own clothes and clothed in“those of the monastery.” But in allthis, I think, more radically one’sbody now is made over to Christ,to the service of Christ, which is thelabor oboedientiae. St. Paulthought so. �

The gardener’s tools hang in the shed ready for use.R

Fr. Colman Grabert, OSB, works in the monastery garden pulling weeds.R

An artist, Br. Martin Erspamer, OSB, works on a piece of pottery.R

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Editor’s note: This article containsselections from a series ofautobiographical essays by Br.Jerome Croteau, OSB, about his timegrowing up on an Indian reservationin North Dakota: “Growing Up inNorth Dakota” and “The Time I Spentat Marty.”

The name of the town I grew up inwas Belcourt, North Dakota. It was onthe Turtle Mountain Reservation, thesmallest [Indian] reservation in theUnited States. The town was alsosmall, although there [were] a lot ofpeople on the reservation. The townhad not been planned out; the peoplejust seemed to build where theywanted to, so there was no order inwhere the houses were built.

When I was growing up, there weretwo general stores, one grocery store,two gas stations and one café. Therewas also a pool hall where theyserved snacks. The Indian mission andparish church at home was called St.Ann, the patron saint of the mission.During most of my childhood, myfather worked at the mission.

The winters in North Dakota meantlong nights because the sun wentdown at four in the afternoon, and soit got dark early. In the summertimewe went to bed before it got dark out.But in the wintertime we could watchthe stars spring up, all of them in theirexpected places, glittering andmoving.

When the moon was shining,especially when there was snow onthe ground, which was most of thetime in the winter, it was almost likeday. You could see the homes withtheir chimneys smoking, especiallywhen it was real cold out.

In the wintertime we went sledriding. There was a big hill at themission that we could slide down.And we used to go ice skating, andwe had a lot of places to do that.We also made snow houses andmade rooms in snow banks. Whenwe had snowstorms, there were alot of big banks, and they werehard enough to walk on. We alsomade snow forts and used to havesnowball fights.

In the summertime in North Dakota,the sun did not go down till ten atnight. So besides doing our work,we had a lot of time for outsidegames like baseball and football.And there was the game croquetwith our relatives across the road.On Sunday, one game would lastall day because we used to argueabout certain plays.

We did not have as much to amuseourselves as children have today,but we were able to create our own

MONKSPOTLIGHT

games. I remember that we playedCowboys and Indians in manyversions, and we played a lot ofHide and Go Seek.

Where we lived, just abouteveryone had a backyard wherewe all had a few cows and pigs.And we always had a big garden.I think our biggest crop waspotatoes and then came sweetcorn. We also raised a lot of peasand green beans and carrots. Weraised some celery and lettuce anda lot of cabbage. In the spring ofthe year, we hauled manure for thegarden and plowed it under andthen planted the crop we wanted togrow for that year.

I graduated from grade school fromSt. Ann’s Mission in December1945. I was always slow in school.I stayed two years in a couple ofgrades. I do not remember whichones they were. There was not sucha thing, then, as a special teacherfor slow students. I know I was notready for high school.

I went to St. Paul’s Mission [HighSchool], Marty, South Dakota, inJanuary 1946. The school year washalf over, but it did not take longfor them to see that I was slow in

Br. Jerome Croteau, OSB

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learning. I was given a specialteacher to help me along with mystudies, but it did not help muchbecause I did not do well in myclasses. So after a year and a half,I quit school and came [to SaintMeinrad in 1947].

I don’t think there are too manykids these days who would havelasted at Marty. I do think theywere overly strict, but I don’t think itdid me any harm. I am glad I didspend some time there. When Icame [to Saint Meinrad], I was alittle shocked because they did nottoe the line that well themselves.

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However, as I get older, I see thatwe all fall short of our expectationsand that we have to do the best wecan and leave the rest to God.

Br. Jerome Croteau, 84, has heldseveral jobs throughout his monasticlife since arriving at Saint Meinradin 1947. He has worked on thelandscaping crew, in the vineyard,construction, and currently servesthe community as the monastichousekeeper. He often can be seenas early as 3 a.m., roaming thehalls of the monastery whilepraying the rosary.

He recently became an avid reader,and especially enjoys reading theworks of James Martin, SJ, andRichard Rohr, OFM. He is also incharge of the monastery’s winestores, an enviable position. Wheninterviewed for Monk+Life, Br.Jerome remarked that the mostchallenging and the most rewardingaspects of monastic life have beenliving closely with other people. �

Clockwise from top left:

Br. William Sprauer, OSB, Br. JohnMark Falkenhain, OSB, and Fr. GuyMansini, OSB, sing during the JubileeMass in July.

Fr. Christian Raab, OSB, carries inthe Gospel during a “One Bread,One Cup” Mass.

Fr. Brendan Moss, OSB, celebratesMass during “One Bread, One Cup.”

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As a juniormonk, one ofmyresponsibilitiesincludesheading downto the kitchenjust after lunchand helping

box up and distribute food for localmen, women and families whoneed assistance from the monastery.It’s easy to think that poverty is a“big city problem,” but the realityis, even in rural southern Indianathere are people in need. Asmonks, we are called to meet thoseneeds.

In the chapter titled “The Tools forGood Works,” St. Benedictcommissions the monks, as part oftheir monastic observance, to“relieve the lot of the poor” (RB4:14). This directive, occurring earlyin the Rule, appears to be orderedtoward the physical needs of thepoor, that is, food, clothing, etc.

But as we see in Chapter 53, “TheReception of Guests,” St. Benedicttells his monks that “great care andconcern are to be shown inreceiving poor people and pilgrims,because in them more particularlyChrist is received” (RB 53:15). Thissecond, and seemingly moreimportant, directive takes the originalcommission to “relieve the lot of thepoor” to a whole new level.

St. Benedict recognizes that we mustnot only feed and clothe the poor,but also speak to them, listen tothem, empathize with their troublesand concerns. In other words, we

must meet not only their physicalneeds, but their emotional needs aswell. We must recognize the poor ashuman beings, as worthwhile, lovable,children of God, “because in themmore particularly Christ is received.”

Our beloved martyr St. Meinradcertainly exemplified this monasticideal of receiving the poor andpilgrims. He received, and evencelebrated the Eucharist with, the verymen who would later rob and beathim to death. He still welcomed themas Christ, even though he knew itmeant sacrificing his life.

At Saint Meinrad Archabbey, wecarry out this tradition of receiving thepoor. Our almoner, Br. Raban, withthe help of the novices and juniormonks, packages and distributes foodboxes to local needy families on adaily basis. Br. James and I often jokethat Br. Raban “doesn’t do anythingbut sit with them and talk” while weare “doing all the work,” that is,packaging the food.

The reality is, Br. Raban has themost important task in receiving thepoor, namely listening to them andengaging them. Br. Raban trulyexemplifies St. Benedict’s directivethat “great care and concern are tobe shown in receiving poor people.”

Our Benedictine charism ofhospitality is without borders whenit comes to social or economicclasses. We are called to receiveeveryone in the name of Christ whocomes to our door. St. Benedictespecially commissions his monks tosee Christ in the poor, but moreimportantly, will they see Christ inus? Will we have the strength tohave “great care and concern” forthe poor as is asked of us?

It is easy to get wrapped up in therelative security of the cloister; buttending to the needs of the localpoor truly pulls us out of thatsecurity and puts us on the “frontlines” of our faith. �

Ministry Spotlight: Care for the PoorBy William Sprauer, OSB

Br. William Sprauer, OSB (from left), Br. James Jensen, OSB, and Br. André DeDecker,OSB, package food for the local needy.

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A S I PRAY,

REveal to me

your way for me

to you, lord god.

Amen

Interested in the Monastic Life at Saint Meinrad Archabbey?

Contact Us:vocations@saintmeinrad.orgwww.saintmeinrad.org