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HERE IS WHAT'S CURRENT

MONASTIC RENEWAL CONTINUES

While the community mourns the recent loss of Brother Francis Crowley, it remains hopeful in the addition of four monks of St. Louis. The community will have nine monks regularly in residence for the school year. Fr. Michael Brunner, superior of the community, begins his first full academic year in residence, heading the Department of Theology and teaching in the school. Brother Benedict Maria has returned from his ongoing novitiate in St. Louis to reside at Portsmouth, working in communications for the monastic community. He is joined by Fr. Edward Mazuski and Fr. Francis Hein, who will both teach. Brother Sixtus Roslevich also joins the community this year from St. Louis, working with the Oblates.

 

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OBLATE'S WELCOME A NEW DIRECTOR

Brother Sixtus Roslevich, a monk of Saint Louis Abbey joining its collaborative work with Portsmouth, will serve as the new Director of Oblates. Oblates live in the secular world in accord with the Rule of St. Benedict, their spiritual lives modeled "after our monks in rhythms of silence and speech, solitude and hospitality, contemplative prayer and liturgy" (from the monastery website). Directed for many years by Dom Damian Kearney, the group now looks forward to renewal and development, with a Day of Recollection at the Abbey on Sunday, October 13. (Learn more about the Oblates and Brother Sixtus.)

THE CURRENT - THE NEWSLETTER IN NEWS

This September 8 will see the inaugural issue of "The Current"! This newsletter is intended to provide up to date information on what is happening in the monastery, as well as to provide a window into the spiritual journey of the extended monastic community. It is a work in progress – please feel free to provide feedback, suggestions, and corrections. "The Current" will be appearing in paper, email, and web formats. The present editor is Blake Billings, '77.  Thanks for reading!
To comment email: current@portsmouthabbey.org
To subscribe: click here
 

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IN MEMORIAM

BROTHER FRANCIS CROWLEY, OSB

We will miss Brother Francis’ incorrigible positivity. We will miss his devotion to the Sacred Liturgy. We will miss his clear and present Love. We will so miss his “Ter-rific!” We will miss all of this, and so much more, but we will not forget. How could we? Of the many memorable monks one may have encountered in this community, Brother Francis is surely in secure company at the top of the list. Shall we say he was a late vocation? He was always operating in light of God’s time, and in his pre-monastic days, always checking Mass times and locations if traveling, so as to not miss a single one. A late vocation? No, surely on God’s time. In fact, he was indeed an early vocation. Called early to our Lord, called early from our earthly community, and now we pray drawn ever more closely to the heavenly community he so desired to join. (Read more on Brother Francis)

 

CENTENARY MASS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21,  5:00 PM

The monastery invites one and all to join in a Mass of celebration of the monastery’s 100^th year, at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 21. This extraordinary event will take place under a large tent to be set up on the Holy Lawn. The event will be enhanced by the presence of alumni at Reunion Weekend, with the full school to be in attendance. On our website notes some of our school’s history. Our founder, Fr. Leonard Sargent (pictured at left), was an American-born member of the English Benedictine Congregation. He was later assisted by another late American vocation, Fr. John Hugh Diman - both older converts to Roman Catholicism. Fr. Hugh was instrumental in starting the monastery's school seven years later. Eventually called Portsmouth Priory, and later elevated to the status of Abbey, this monastery represented the early entry of English Benedictine communites in the United States, together with Saint Anselm's in Washington D.C., and later Saint Louis Abbey in Saint Louis, Missouri. 

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ORIENTATIONS, EXHORTATIONS MARK THE NEW YEAR

The school’s various orientations to start the year include one on Spiritual Life for new students. Headmaster Dan McDonough spoke at this first Sunday session on the significance of prayer here at Portsmouth. The monks, he told them, are praying for them every day, and hopefully the students realize and feel that support. “And while God is indeed everywhere, we believe that He has a special presence in the church in which you are sitting. Try to carve out time and to consider the church a true place of refuge. Prayer is a conversation, between you and God,” he said, encouraging them to pray for friends and for their own troubles. Here, in the tabernacle, God is present: “consider visiting Him, listening to Him, to actually give God the chance to do something for you.” Fr. Michael echoed these comments, “It is a big part of our education here, to learn about our relation to God. It is something to work on every day.” Fr. Michael continued this exhortation for the entire school in his homily at the Mass for the opening of the school year. You can find his full homily here.



 

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SUMMER PROGRAMS ENRICH OUR MISSION
Students, monks, and faculty participated in array of summer programs, such as the Portsmouth Institute’s  Oxford Summer Programme, the School’s Lourdes trip, and “The Rome Trip,” led by Peter and Michelle O’Connor. The  Oxford Summer Programme included participants both from Portsmouth and from Saint Louis Priory School, developing the links connecting these two monasteries. Combining early morning study with afternoon exploration, the students became familiar with the storied landmarks of the city of Oxford, making side trips to London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and elsewhere. The students were able to stay at Saint Benet's Hall, the Benedictine college at Oxford, established by Ampleforth Abbey in 1897. Meanwhile, Peter and Michelle O'Connor, assisted by Fr. Edward Mazuski, led an energetic group of students - who must "love to walk," as Mr. O'Connor requires - through some of the seemingly endless religious and cultural sites in the Eternal City. Students are also able to visit Monte Cassino and Subiaco, personally encountering these founational places in the Benedictine tradition. The  Rome Humanities Program has grown into a staple of the School's summer offerings, with returning students carrying back a greatly deepened awareness of the vital history of the Catholic Church and a tangible sense of Benedictine origins. The Lourdes Pilgrimage (more on this  here), started through the generous dedication of Hugh J. Markey '40, continued its work with Ampleforth College, spending a week in Lourdes assisting pilgrims in need. Collectively, these programs make a notable impact on students returning from the summer, an impact filtering into both academic experience and the spirtual life of the community.

LECTIO DIVINA: A NEW SPRING

Rooted deeply in monastic practice, lectio divina is emphasized in Benedict’s Rule. The practice has encompassed not only the prayerful reading of the Bible, but other accepted spiritual writers. The spiritual life program at the school has been working to cultivate this practice among faculty and students for the past ten years now. Increased visits from members of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement (MAM), with their devotion and energetic enthusiasm for all matters spiritual, has generated regular participation in lectio groups of dozens of students. The Manquehue Movement is a lay Benedictine group based in Santiago, Chile, but having deep connections to the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC). The school has invited groups during the winter term, the Chilean summer, who have planted seeds of development for this devotion. Mrs. Cata Quirgoa and Mr. Alvaro Gazmuri, a married couple who gave birth this summer to their firstborn, daughter Clara, have been in residence with us for nearly two years, guiding these nascent groups to stable and visible growth. Their presence has deepened our own connection to their Movement. This relationship is indeed mutual, with the couple consciously deciding to baptize their daughter here in our church, a tangible witness of their feeling so much at home with us. We have seen tendrils of this relationship in other ways. The School has made two summer trips to Santiago, to participate in the Movement’s “trabajos” trips, which combine a Benedictine routine of the divine office, including a steady diet of lectio, with community service in the form of constructing basic housing for people in need. The School has also sent several groups of faculty to Chile to learn more about the Movement and encounter its vigorous spiritual vitality. This friendship extends across the EBC, which created a formal relationship with the movement in 2009. Pope Benedict has spoken of a “new spiritual springtime” made possible through lectio divina, and the growth happening through these efforts on our campus gives evidence of this change of season.

SPORTS: BODY AND SPIRITUALITY

In recently honoring team captains at a School assembly, Athletic Director Al Brown referred to the importance of an often overlooked attribute in sports: kindness. “We do not often associate this with athletics,” he noted. But captains need to be such role models for their entire team and in relations with opponents – engaged in serious competition, but exhibiting qualities of good character. They are called “to win humbly, to lose graciously, and to shake hands after the game,” captain Josh Plumb ’20 told his peers athletes. Coach Brown had already highlighted for faculty over the summer the connection between character and athletics, noting an article by Princeton’s Brett Tomlinson, “Good Sports: Coaches Drill Character with Team Strategy,” which develops this moral and spiritual dimension of the athletic endeavor. Similarly, Coach Brown has also recommended, Saint Benedict’s Rule for Fair Play in Sports, by St. John’s graduate Larry Haeg. Haeg goes far beyond simple “fair play” to develop Benedictine themes in all areas of sport, like “good zeal,” or the need for “attentive ears” in both player and coach, or athletes as “stewards of the game.” Haeg even suggests a portrayal of the young Saint Benedict as a lean and determined J.V. athlete! There is much to commend this analysis, which provides a solid foundation for the Benedictine experience cultivated here at Portsmouth. Hospitality: “Visiting teams should be welcomed as guests on our home”; Good zeal: “Spectators are naturally passionate but must know the difference between the two “zeals” – the ‘zeal of bitterness’ and the ‘good zeal.’” Community living: “The entire team shares in the contributions of each of its players.” Haeg’s little book is worth the read, and helpful in situating our athletic project amidst our greater mission. If you have a chance to visit Coach Brown in his office, he may have a spare copy or two on his shelf.

CELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL

It is not often that we will find a Mass celebrated on the Holy Lawn. But it is rare to celebrate a century. So the school gathered there, joined by members of the board, alumni, oblates and friends of the monastery. The late afternoon shadows began to accentuate the candles lit on the altar, and the procession began from the newly christened science building. The student Schola started the celebration with the hymn, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” a theme echoed in Fr. Michael Brunner’s homily, as he called the gathered Abbey family to consider the century of monastic effort to steward the gifts of God. Fr. Michael recognized Abbot Matthew Stark in particular, who in his tenure, “has stayed the course through the ups and downs; …was elected the first Abbot; …who still teaches us, inspires us with his dedication to prayer, to monastic life, to the people of this community.” He also pointed to the partnership now established with Saint Louis Abbey, to the real uncertainties of the future, uncertainties not unprecedented in the course of this Abbey’s hundred years. He offered a prayer of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn which concludes, “…whatever I in this life may yet reflect, that you will give me. And whatever I shall not attain, that, plainly, you have purposed for others.” The Mass adjourned to several venues on this evening for which the weather was more than cooperative, providing a comfortable setting for the multi-purposed weekend which saw meetings of the board, reunions of alumni, the gathering of friends, and the ongoing life of the school in session.

PRESERVING THE MONASTIC FOUNDATION

Fr. Michael Brunner's homily at the Centennial Mass developed the themes of stewardship and sacrifice, calling for both as the Abbey moves towards its future. "The beginnings of Portsmouth Abbey were not easy, and the history of this Abbey is not a story of easy and smooth growth always on an upward trajectory. It is a story of real monastic life with its ups and downs. The early monks struggled to make this foundation stick. They were real monks living their lives according to the rule of St Benedict, living by the work of their hands and minds, serving the people of God… For one hundred years the monks have been stewards of this monastery and the school, supported by loyal and generous friends." (Read the complete homily)

BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION

 

One can plunge at virtually any point into the writings of Columba Marmion and find oneself breathing in a heady air of contemplative wisdom. His teaching centers on Christ, always on Christ, outlining with great clarity and simplicity critical dimensions of the monastic life, as centered in the Christian search for God. This Irish born monk joined the thriving monastery of Maredsous in Belgium, having encountered the place on his way home to Dublin from seminary studies in Rome. Having discovered there a monastic vocation, he was after some years allowed to pursue it. Marmion then helped to found the Abbey of Mont-Cesar in Louvain, Belgium at the turn of the twentieth century, serving as its first prior. He became the abbot of Maredsous, serving from 1909 until his death in 1923. "The Current" presents some brief quotations of his writing as appetizers, encouraging the reader to take up some of this spiritual master's works. As part of our monthly series on Benedictine Wisdom, you can find these brief quotations and links for further reading here.