St Benedict's Abbey, Atchison, KS
Choir Stalls & Jean Charlot fresco - St Benedict Abbey, Atchison, KS
Originally uploaded by lablover47
"Monk Camp" is coming to an end tomorrow. We will sing the Divine Office in the above stalls one last time for Vigil and Laud. After the morning class, Randy, Jim and I will pack our suitcases and get on our way to Kansas City airport for our flight home.
I have benefited greatly from all 3 monk camps I have attended as a monk in annual vows. I will miss this connection with the extended Benedictine family; although, God willing, there will be other avenues of sharing, I suppose.
This "monk camp" has 21 monks in initial vows in attendance and a local novice. We come from 9 communities belonging to 4 different congregations (American Cassinese, Swiss American, English Benedictine, Holy Cross):
- St Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA (3 brothers)
- St Benedict Abbey, Atchison, KS (2 brothers)
- St John Abbey, Collegeville, MN (3 brothers)
- St Andrew Abbey, Cleveland, OH
- St Meinrad Archabbey, St Meinrad, IN (3 brothers)
- Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY (3 brothers)
- Blue Cloud Abbey, Marvin, SD
- St Anselm Abbey, Manchester, NH
- St Martin Abbey, Lacey, WA (3 brothers)
The brothers present have been in initial vows for varied lengths of time (between a few months and 3 years usually). The similarities of our experiences through the variety of backgrounds, life stories and community styles is one of the most interesting aspects of this experience.
Besides common worship, classes and organized social activities we also get a lot of free time to either isolate ourselves or socialize in smaller groups as the spirit moves. One such occasion is a mid-morning coffee and snack break in one of the monastery's common rooms. We tell each other stories of our personal or communal experiences and laugh a lot.
This week's class is an introduction to the Fathers* of the Church. It mixes a bit of patristics (theology and doctrine of the Fathers) with a lot of patrology (life and texts of the Fathers). You'll find a short entry about both under the same Wikipedia article about patristics.
Our course is presented in a lively, often humorous and sometimes passionate way by the personable Father Bernard Disco, OSB, of St Anselm, Manchester, NH. Fr Bernard's objective is to help our group become familiar with this era of the Church (1st to 8th century CE) and to facilitate lectio divina. The latter objective is a rich endeavor for which we receive lots of excerpts to explore the texts for ourselves. I have already determined that I am going to try and read more of Gregory Nazianzen's texts.
On Monday, at mass we commemorated St Paulinus of Nola whom I'd never heard of. At first, my impish Philistine self went to: "I didn't know New Orleans, LA, had a saint..." But it turns out Nola is an Italian town near Naples. Another thing that got my attention was that Paulinus became ordained as a priest when he already was a married man. And this didn't stop him from later being ordained bishop either. I was glad our Roman Catholic brothers think highly of him anyway. I wish this could translate to more openness for contemporary clergy's marital hopes; but that's another story.
In the afternoon, some of us took a tour of the Maur Hill Mount Academy, and of the St Scholastica Convent here in Atchison. The Academy is a ministry of the Sisters. It's a boarding school with a very high proportion of foreign students. I noted that the principal indicated that the Chinese students are so good in math that they have had to upgrade the curriculum.
In the evening, we were treated to an organ concert in the Abbey Church. Br. Randy got heard his favorite organ music up front (toccata & fugue JS Bach). The organists were the abbey's Fr. Blaine Shultz and Benedictine College's Dr Ruth Krusemark. The latter last played her own composition "To Perseus" which showcased to great effect the instrument's range.
On Tuesday afternoon, all of us went to Clyde and Conception, Missouri. As we drove through the rolling fields of western Missouri, a wind farm came into view with dozens of giant three-winged wind turbines. Many of these operate on grounds belonging to the Clyde sisters and Conception brothers. I always get a boost from seeing sustainable energy being tapped.
In Clyde, we were treated to a tour of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual adoration's convent. It features a high monument of Beuronese church decoration. It is a style that is often featured in American Cassinese Benedictine houses. It easily gets to overkill; as far as my own appreciation is concerned. My favorite pieces were the Austrian stained glass windows representing the apostles.
We later visited the soap-making workshop where the sister in charge kindly showed us how her soaps get made. A "benedictine discount" was offered and many soaps made their way out with the Benedictine Juniors... Yes, I got Grapefruit Orchidia and Swiss Lavender; definitely, 2 "pick-me-up" fragrances.
We then visited the Benedictine Monks at Conception Abbey. We were greeted by their formation director who took us on a tour of their church which was thoroughly renovated about 10 years ago. The contrast between the simplified lower walls and the elaborate murals (more Beuronese art) over the arches made for a strangely simple impression at eye level which was denied as soon as the eye caught sight of the higher level of the church.
Over all, I have been impressed by the willingness of all these heartland benedictine communities to construct, de-construct and renovate according to their present needs and vision of the future. It marks a suitable level of detachment from buildings no matter how glorious their past service and use. The only buildings unaffected by the deconstructions are the consecrated parts of these monasteries (churches, basilicas and chapels).
After our visit, we sang Vespers with the local monks and then were invited to a "haustus" (a monkish euphemism for a drink - usually in the form of beer and wine) followed by supper. Br. Randy and I sat with an anglophile monk who was full of curiosity for this Anglican strand of benedictinism we are part of and a postulant who together with 3 others had entered the community just over a week ago... I offered to pray for the 4 postulants in the days to come.
On the way back, the Missouri countyside between Conception Abbey and the city of St Joseph was beautiful in the setting sun. Cattle were scattered over the hedged meadows and some sought reprieve from the gruelling heat in ponds. It reminded me of old Flemish paintings of those subjects.
* Apologies for the non-inclusivity of the vocabulary as it is used in our class. The Ammas (Mothers) don't seem to have registered on this crowd's consciousness much yet.
