For a mere 24 hours, on October 3-4, the monks of Portsmouth were pleased to host two monks of St. Louis, Fr. Laurence Kriegshauser and Fr. Cuthbert Elliott. Fr. Laurence celebrated his 52nd anniversary of ordination recently on September 27, 1969. He has held quite a number of positions over years both in the monastery and in St. Louis Priory School, having taught English there for 30 years, as well as teaching a course on the Psalms and Old Testament at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. He is the author of Praying the Psalms in Christ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2009). Currently he serves as the monastic librarian and as part of the infirmarian team. Fr. Cuthbert, a 2002 graduate of Priory, is now the Head of School. More about his role here in a minute.

We previously noted in The Current that, as part of the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC), the monastery periodically participates in what is called a “General Chapter” of the congregation. Each house sends as its representatives two monks: the superior (either the abbot or the prior administrator) along with a delegate elected from among the community. Such a gathering was initially planned for July 2021 at Douai Abbey in the U.K. to have been preceded by a preliminary introductory conference for all delegates at Buckfast Abbey in July 2020. Covid travel restrictions, which varied among countries, forced the postponement of those two meetings. Fast-forward to next summer, and Portsmouth will send two of its monks, Prior Michael and Br. Sixtus, to Buckfast for the gathering. And while the next session of the Chapter is not scheduled until July 11, 2022 (St. Benedict’s feast), preparation is well under way for discussions. The member houses have been asked to reflect on three focus topics: the love for the Gospel, the fundamental reason for the existence of the congregation, and diversity within its communities. The July meetings are an opportunity for the houses of the order to share their vision for their communities and for the congregation, and to clarify and develop their understanding of monastic life.

This process pertains to the work of the “Continuing Formation Commission, which the General Chapter created to concentrate collective reflection within the EBC and to help with ongoing discernment about monastic formation. Fr. Cuthbert of St. Louis is currently the sole American member of the commission, hence his role in helping guide the Portsmouth community in an ongoing exploration of the themes under consideration for the General Chapter. Fr. Laurence’s role during the 2½-hour meeting held in the Calefactory on Sunday afternoon was to facilitate discussion and to encourage everyone to share their thoughts about the three “punchy” questions, which had been distilled from an original list of about 20, down to 12, and then to the final three. The two St. Louis monks had also visited St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington, D.C., the only other EBC house in the United States, to conduct discussions and elicit suggestions from those monks. This weekend, Fr. Edward Mazuski of Portsmouth will travel to his hometown of St. Louis to serve as facilitator for meetings with that community. The sharing of brotherly wisdom and the concomitant camaraderie has been evident in these meetings, which have been productive even in their brevity. And the shared discernment has proven helpful not only to the three American EBC houses, but for our other communities of monks and nuns scattered around the globe.