2020 June The Current

HERE IS WHAT'S CURRENT...

The Mass Reopens
The Portsmouth Institute Convenes
Our Monthly Columns: A Review

THE MASS REOPENS: SUNDAY MAY 31

DAILY SCHEDULE OF MASS AND VESPERS
MONDAY-SATURDAY MASS - 7:20 am

SUNDAY MASS - 8:30 am

VESPERS (Everyday) - 5:30 pm

LIVE BROADCAST OF MASS AND VESPERS WILL CONTINUE

All links and videos will be available on our Home Page.

THE MASS REOPENS

SCHEDULE

Sunday 8:30 am only

Monday-Saturday: 7:20 am

Live broadcasts will also remain available on the monastery website

THE MASS REOPENS
NOTICE: With the Vigil of Pentecost this Saturday, May 30, the Diocese of Providence is opening liturgical life. It has made available diocesan guidelines and requirements for the safe return to the pew, to be followed throughout the diocese. Notably, the faithful still have a general dispensation from attendance at Mass on Sundays and holy days. Portsmouth Abbey also welcomes worshipers back to the Church of St. Gregory the Great with the Pentecost celebration. In view of this, Fr. Michael Brunner has announced the following practices all should note for this return.

PORTSMOUTH ABBEY - DIRECTIONS FOR ATTENDANCE

1. Attendance at Mass will be limited in order to prevent risk of infection. If the church, has reached its capacity (approx 150), you may not be admitted. So come early.

2. Anyone who has symptoms of any sickness (even mild symptoms) may not attend the public celebration of Mass.

3. Worshippers must sanitize their hands immediately upon entry to the church. Bring your own sanitizer if you wish.

4. Likewise, you must wear a mask at all times.

5. Families may sit together. Otherwise six feet distance must be maintained between worshippers. Every other row of pews is closed off.

6. You may be directed where to sit.

7. There will be no congregational singing. Missalettes have been removed from the pews.

8. Communion will be distributed in the center aisle. Worshippers approach the priest single file.

9. Pews will come up one by one to receive, persons maintaining a distance of six feet between each other.

10. Communion will be under the species of bread only, received in the hand.

11. Depart from the church single file and slowly, maintaining a distance of 6 feet between persons in front of and behind you. Church will be sanitized before and after each Mass.

Sohrad Ahmari, John Garvey
Heather King, Fr. Augustine Wetta

THE PORTSMOUTH INSTITUTE CONVENES

The Portsmouth Institute Convenes. Beginning on Tuesday, June 9, The Portsmouth Institute will convene its 11th annual summer conference, with a series of online presentations and discussions. The Institute will provide "On Demand Daily Keynote" addresses, delivered by email each day from June 9-12. Then, providing additional time in this distance mode of presenting, the conference will reconvene for live Zoom Q&A sessions with the speakers on Saturday, June 20. This year's theme, resonating with central aspects of Benedictine life, is "Incline the Ear of Thy Heart: Rediscovering the Virtues and Practices of the Christian Life." The conference seeks to rediscover these virtues and practices "to strengthen the faith and preserve it in our secular age." Despite the limitations of the virtual experience, Director Chris Fisher remains upbeat about the Institute's offerings: “While we cannot meet in person at the Abbey this year, our virtual summer conference will offer us a chance to gather for an experience of conversation, contemplation, and hospitality that you have come to expect from the Portsmouth Institute.” This year's speakers include Sohrab Ahmari, author of From Fire, by Water: My Journey to the Catholic Faith; John Garvey, President of the Catholic University of America; Heather King, author of Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux; and Fr. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B., monk of St. Louis Abbey and author of Humility Rules: Saint Benedict's Twelve-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem. The Institute's website has complete information on registration and participation. Mr. Fisher also thanks the sponsors of the conference, who have remained steadfast in the face of the challenges of present moment: The Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, Thomas Aquinas College, The Providence College Humanities Forum, The Aquinas Institute at Princeton, and The Grace J. Palmisano Center for Campus Ministry at Merrimack College.

OUR MONTHLY COLUMNS: A REVIEW

With our monthly features on pause for the summer, we remind you of topics we explored throughout the year, with links in case you missed an issue.

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ARCHIVES: (Sep-Dec 2019) Fr. Leonard Sargent; Fr. Hugh Diman; Three Pieces of History (in the Abbey Church); Oblate Ade Bethune. (Jan-May 2020) Fr. Gregory Borgstedt; E. Charlton Fortune and Esther Puccinelli; The Weekly Reader; Crises in Portsmouth's History; Ansgar Nelson;

WORKS: (Sep-Dec 2019) Student Volunteers; My Brother's Keeper; Star Kids; Clothe-A-Child; (Jan-May 2020) The Wind Turbine; Service Learning; Columba Marmion on Work; Our Present Crisis; The Work of Prayer.

WISDOM: (Sep-Dec 2019) Blessed Columba Marmion; Fr. Julian Stead; Fr. Aelred Graham; Benedictines on Advent; (Jan-May 2020) Card. Basil Hume; Lenten Preparations in the Monastery; Collected Lenten Reflections; Chant; Fr. Gregory Polan.

CHURCH: (Sep-Dec 2019) English Benedictine, Roman Catholic; All Saints; Advent Lessons (Jan-May 2020) The Presentation; Lent; Messages on Sickness and Suffering; Visual Art; Centenary of John Paul II.