Editor's Note

- “I AM”
  
  April 16, 2025
  
  As we were in the midst of Passiontide, preparing for the week of the Paschal Mystery, we heard Jesus say in John’s Gospel: “"Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." This was doubly etched into my mind, since as I listened to it read aloud, I saw it engraved on our altar. This was no visionary experience: the phrase is literally engraved on the edge of the main Benson altar of the church. This coinciding led me to focus on this “I AM,” the divinity of Christ, and the strange difficulties we have in recognizing it. The “I AM,” Abbot Matthew reminded us that day, presents to us John’s emphasis on Jesus as God Himself with us. The Easter Season upon which we now embark calls us all the more vigorously to that hope. But where do we encounter the Risen Lord? Our articles this week provide angles of insight into this divine presence. Dom Wilfrid Bayne speaks of how we see it in beauty, in our awareness of the significance of the beautiful. Abbot Michael Brunner reminds us of the cross, of Christ’s suffering, as manifesting in our hearts the love of God. And in the news of our new bishop, we are heartened to see Christ Himself in the ongoing vitality of the church, in witness to our apostolic faith. May these and other manifestations of the Risen Christ lead you further into the Hope of Easter.
  
  Pax,
  Blake Billings
- Holy Week
  
  April 9, 2025
  
  The articles of the week remind me of an ironic joke that has circulated over the years, that with monastic visitations, conferences, retreats, pilgrimages or other engagements, one should consider the vocation to “become a monk and see the world!” Each of our articles this week seem to tell us something about the engagement of monasteries in missionary work, in the gospel message as intended for all the world, of how our extended community reaches out far and wide. The 100th celebration for St. Vincent’s Archabbey’s founding of Fu Jen Catholic University in China shows us how Benedictine education has included international foundations – indeed, Portsmouth itself was once an “international foundation.” Our article on Charles T. Fisher, Jr. outlines something of the life of a man who continues to be present in memory in our church, which he indeed helped to build. He decided that the journey from Michigan was not too far for the Benedictine experience his sons would receive at Portsmouth, a decision still made by families around the nation and even around the world. We see such bilateral engagements, of monastery and world, as intrinsic to the gospel message itself, as in the story of the Samaritan woman interpreted by Fr. Damian Kearney in his 1987 Lenten reflection. Samaritans blended the very categories of Gentile and Jew, he notes, or perhaps embodied the corruption of them, in the eyes of ancient Judaism. But the message of salvation and the true meaning of the messianic age is delivered to this Samaritan woman directly and personally by Our Lord. His message of salvation is intended for the whole world, and spreading that message becomes the apostolic call of all Christians – even when they are cloistered.
  
  Pax,
  Blake Billings
- Passiontide
  
  April 2, 2025
  
  The pace of Lent, for me, seems to accelerate greatly as we enter into Passiontide. That is perhaps a great mercy – or perhaps a sign of the weakness of my Lenten observances. But the three articles we present this week have helped me to consider both the roots and the implications of my own faith. First, in learning more about Frederick R. Childs, I considered the role of family and community. His nephew Frederick (Rick) ’75 was a Sixth Former and a prefect when I arrived at the School. I encountered his grandchildren over my years teaching at the School. His son, Fr. Luke Childs was one of my first teachers of Christian Doctrine, focusing on Scripture, which I now teach. Second, Fr. Edward’s homily, drawn from the strange story of the revelation and covenant made with Abram, and connected to the stunning story of the Transfiguration, directed me to a reflection on some of the core elements of my faith. And finally, the preparations for the ordination of Br. Benedict Maria that introduce the issue are surely inspiring and hope-giving. It is a blessing to anticipate the addition of another priest to our community, and to happily have Br. Benedict return to the monastery from his years of study. All of this provides a very rich fare as we continue our Lenten fast.
  
  Pax,
  Blake Billings
- Laetare Jerusalem
  
  March 25, 2025
  
  The week leading this year to Laetare Sunday (March 30), our Lenten exhortation to rejoice, has included the Solemnity of the Annunciation. This feast has helped me to see this week’s three articles as emblematic of the entire Lenten journey, as one shaped by recollecting, reading, and remedy. First, recollecting: surely this guides Lent, with the remembering of sin and weakness. Br. Sixtus’ article recounts days dedicated to such recollection, illuminating our vocation and God’s closeness to us. Second, reading: Fr. Damian Kearney recommends to us Dante’s Divine Comedy, which I have indeed been studying. That work is an unceasing revelation. I happened to rediscover this week Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter on Dante, “Candor Lucis Aeternae,” published in 2021 on, of all days, March 25. For Pope Francis, the mystery of the Incarnation, celebrated with the Annunciation, is “the true heart and inspiration of the entire poem” – the intimacy and humility of the God taking on human flesh. He writes: “The journey that Dante presents is not illusory or utopian; it is realistic and within the reach of everyone, for God’s mercy always offers the possibility of change, conversion, new self-awareness and discovery of the path to true happiness.” Can a sentence more clearly frame the structure and purpose of Lent? This leads, thirdly, to the remedy. I am reminded of it by our third article, on our renewed attention to the Stations of the Cross and the prominence of Cross Hill. Dante’s journey takes us through the Holy Triduum, beginning on Holy Thursday, descending into Good Friday, and culminating in the bright light of redemption on Easter Sunday. So too, our journey to Cross Hill continues, and those days that shape the trajectory of the Divine Comedy also frame for us this week the joy of the Lenten pilgrimage, as we rejoice on Laetare Sunday.
  
  Pax,
  Blake Billings
About
- Blake Billings '77, Ph.D. is a graduate and current faculty member of Portsmouth Abbey School. He received his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, then joining the Jesuit Volunteer Corps to assist in an inner-city parish in Oakland, California. From Oakland, he went to Leuven, Belgium, receiving degrees in theology and philosophy. He returned to the Abbey in 1987, teaching for three years before getting married and returning to Leuven to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy, which he was awarded in 1995. Having taught in higher education at various schools, including St. John's University, Fairfield University, and Sacred Heart University, he decided his calling was at the secondary level, gratefully returning to Portsmouth in 1996, where he has resided ever since. He became an oblate of the Portsmouth community ten years ago. His four children were all raised on campus and graduated from the school, the youngest in 2020.