Diocese Celebrates Religious

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Diocese Celebrates Religious

Brother Sixtus Roslevich, O.S.B.
- The monastic community was well-represented at the annual Religious Jubilee Celebration held in the historic Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul on April 23, the Saturday within the Octave of Easter. The event provided another important opportunity to continue to strengthen the bond of collaboration between Portsmouth Abbey and our Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.
  
  The Jubilarian Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, Providence
  
  The celebration of the Holy Mass by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the Renewal of Religious Vows and the luncheon which followed were prepared and presented, according to the day’s program, “in Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the gift of vocations to the religious life.” I was blessed to attend as a member of the Portsmouth Abbey community, as well as a member of The Council of Religious. Thankfully, Fr. Andrew Senay, O.S.B. of St. Louis and our new postulant, Mr. Michael Vento, were also able to take part in the special day. Unable to be held in person during the past two years due to Covid restrictions, this year’s celebration saw the coming together of a large number of men and women religious eager for a day together, finally, of conviviality, camaraderie, and spiritual companionship.
  
  Bishop Thomas Tobin celebrates the Mass (Fr. Andrew Senay, O.S.B. third from left)
  
  The day’s homilist, Father James Mary Sullivan, O.P., Pastor of St. Pius V Parish in Providence, inspired the assembly with an important message. He began with a reference to the first reading, Acts 4:13-21, in which the leaders, elders and scribes have been interrogating Peter and John: “Perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men,” they “were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.” Remember, said Fr. Sullivan, that “companionship is to have bread with someone.” This led him to a story about St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, who traveled with his bishop in the year 1203 from northern Spain to Toulouse, in the south of France. Stopping at an inn, Dominic stayed up the whole night (after his tired bishop went to bed) conversing with the innkeeper, “giving witness to his faith” and, like the Resurrection, “a miracle took place. And the innkeeper was converted back to the church,” on which he had turned his back in years previous, through no fault of his own, and “had fallen into dangerous errors about what the church professes and about how to live the Christian life.” Fr. Sullivan continued:
  
  “That’s my favorite story in the life of St. Dominic. And I’m sure that, as religious, all of us have our own favorite stories about our founders and maybe even less saintly members of our congregations and communities, but favorite stories nonetheless. And all of them remind us of something that was entrusted to us as religious, something that was given to us through no merit of our own but solely by the favor and the grace of God. And that is to live a certain way by poverty, chastity, and obedience, and to be entrusted with a particular mission in the church, for the church, for the people of God… And it’s really not important what that mission is, and it doesn’t even matter if that mission has been changed over the years, the mere fact of our consecration, of our vowed life, is enough. That itself is our gift back to the church for all that the church has given to us.”
  
  As for Peter and John being recognized as companions of Jesus, Fr. Sullivan asked, “wouldn’t we wish for that for ourselves when people look at us? Wouldn’t that be a remarkable thing, if when people encountered us, they encountered boldness?” That word “boldness” is a favorite of Pope Francis, he reminded us, in the manner in which St. Luke uses it to describe Peter and John. Despite their boldness, Fr. Sullivan said, “we realize that these are just ordinary men. But how do boldness and ordinariness come together? We do the great things that we do, not because of our own power.” Quoting Pope Francis, he said that “holiness is also boldness.” And in conclusion, Fr. Sullivan said, “this boldness is an impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in the world. There are plenty of innkeepers still who need to meet Christ, and we might be the ones that the Lord has sent to meet them. Stay up all night and bring them to Him.”
  
  The jubilarians with Bishop Tobin
  
  Following the homily, Sr. Elizabeth Castro, H.M.S.P., led the Renewal of Religious Vows for those gathered, who responded together in the words of St. Paul in the Letter to the Ephesians 3:16-18, 20-21. Remarkably, the jubilarians present, and several who were unable to attend in person, celebrated their anniversaries of 80, 75, 70, 65, 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30 and 25 years of religious life. Bishop Tobin extended his thanks and appreciation to Sr. Elizabeth and her Council of Religious for the great work in organizing the day’s celebration and especially for her leadership in “pulling us all together today.” After many photos were taken at the altar of the group with Bishop Tobin, everyone retired to the beautiful Cathedral Hall where they did, indeed, have bread together as companions.
  
  The religious of the diocese are expected to gather once again, this time for their oft-postponed summer picnic, on Saturday, June 11, when the Portsmouth Abbey monks will host everyone in their spacious and beautiful monastic garden.