Brother Sixtus recounts a number of “greetings and farewells” which have happened over the past weeks.

2025 Manquehue group

Manquehue Departure. As this issue goes to press with a date-stamp of February 23, we sadly say farewell to our six friends of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement (MAM) as they return to Santiago de Chile. Oblates José Antonio and Anthony, with Nicolás, Cristóbal, Renato and Javier have been an integral part of our lives in both the monastery and the school during this winter term, sharing daily Masses and the Divine Office, meals, lectio divina, a superb PowerPoint presentation in Señor Roberto’s Spanish class, laughter, conversation and so much more. They spent the school’s annual Winter Weekend in New York City, traveling down and back on Amtrak, experiencing the beauty of the snowy coastal panorama. Nico was in charge of getting pages embossed in an official-looking “Pilgrim’s Passport” meant for touring the cathedrals of England, but was happy to go home after his second visit here with an official stamp of Portsmouth Abbey. Sadly, they will miss our Oblate Lenten Day of Recollection, as their unique oblate program is such a vital component of the Movement.

Mitch Kriner, Roberta Stevens, Morgan Palmer, Joe Verstandig at

the Stillman Dining Hall, posed before photo of early grounds and students

Newport Tree Conservancy. This month we have had several pleasant interactions with the Newport Tree Conservancy whose Living Collections Manager, Joe Verstandig, contacted us last year. He had stumbled across reference to Fr. Hilary Martin (1907-1981) in a story in The Current and was compelled to contact us. Fr. Hilary had been responsible for two specific types of juniper planted throughout the grounds, some say because they resembled heather on the Scottish moors, thus acknowledging Portsmouth’s early links to Fort Augustus Abbey on the shore of Loch Ness. Mr. Verstandig joined us for lunch in the Stillman on Monday, February 10, joined by Morgan Palmer of the Conservancy staff, Mitch Kriner who serves as Director of Grounds at the School, and Roberta Stevens, our monastic librarian, who happens to also serve as vice-president of the Portsmouth Garden Club – and who also knew Fr. Hilary very well. Over lunch we heard about two plants: the Juniper horizontalis “Abbey” and the Juniper conferta “Hilary”, both of which at one time were available at area nurseries. Two days after the lunch, Joe and Morgan returned to gently take twenty cuttings of the last surviving shrub of the Hilary juniper. They are now being propagated in the Conservancy greenhouses in the hope of reintroducing Fr. Hilary’s creation to the island. Mrs. Stevens summed up the project: “It is a fascinating addition to the rich history of the monks’ dedication to the monastic stewardship of the landscape and a testament to those who have chosen to affiliate with the community of monks dedicated to carry on here.”

Br. Sixtus at Holy Name School

Vocation Visits. “Silo mentality” is a corporate phrase heard over the past few years, for me mainly at the collegiate academic level. Portsmouth Abbey seems to be bucking that trend, however, by reaching out beyond the “silo” to make our Benedictine “brand” better known, especially throughout the Dioceses of Providence and Fall River, and even the Archdiocese of Boston, with our advertising efforts there and the recent installation of our former bishop, Richard G. Henning, as their new archbishop. In my capacity as our monastery’s Director of Vocations, I have been able to “meet and greet” students young and old to discuss Benedictine life. On February 11, after a week’s postponement due to illness among the students, I was pleased to return to Holy Name School where a good friend of the monks is the principal and pastor of the church. Fr. Riley Williams makes use of our monastic library on occasion, prays Vespers with us, stays for dinner and Compline and is on his way back north by 7:15 p.m. My own recent drive to his school was to speak to the eighth-grade class of Mr. Robert Deschesnes not only about Benedictine monasticism, but about the catacombs in (or under) Rome, relics, altar stones, and altars in general. They were a bright bunch of students, very attentive, and fascinated by the various relics, especially the bone chips, from the Abbey collection which I had taken along as visual aids. Four days later, on St. Valentine’s Day, I attended the School Mass at the Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Hope in Warwick, a special Mass said for “All Priests, Religious and Consecrated of the Diocese of Providence.” The Mass had been planned by The Serra Club of Providence, headed by our friends, Presidents Lisa and Keith Kline, parishioners at St. Philip Parish in Greenville. Also on my itinerary is a vocations panel at the University of Rhode Island Catholic Center which includes a Mass. I was invited by Fisher Everin, a URI student who has been attending Vespers with us when his schedule allows. He asked me to speak about my own vocation as a Benedictine, and how I got to this point in my life. Coming up in March during spring break will be several stops in Connecticut including the National Vocation Summit at the Legionaries of Christ Novitiate and College of Humanities in Cheshire on March 14-16; a visit to Fairfield University where there are currently nine PAS alums enrolled; and to Sacred Heart University where three of our graduates are studying. I am hoping that there will be enough time to follow up on an invitation from David Moran ’71 to stop by Regina Pacis Academy in Norwalk where he teaches Latin at the independent, Catholic classical school. The last time I spoke to David’s students was long-distance via a remote video connection (pre-Zoom). I owe them a face-to-face visit.

“Trinity” in the Abbey church

Acquisition of a Lippold Drawing. To modify our theme of “Greetings and Farewells,” we can mention that, rather than a personal welcome, we recently were delighted to “greet” a unique archival gem. A large square cardboard packet arrived in the mail early this month addressed simply to “Portsmouth Abbey”. Inside was a tissue-paper working drawing measuring 19” x 27” by Richard Lippold (1915-2002) of the upper wing of his wire sculpture which he titled Trinity. Since 1960 it has graced, literally and figuratively, the Abbey Church interior, its golden wires emanating from the two-sided crucifix suspended above the main limestone Benson altar, reaching out in all directions to the monks’ choir and into the upper reaches of the octagonal lantern above the nave. The drawing came from the archives of the Willard Gallery in New York City where Lippold was the subject of eight exhibitions between 1946 and 1973. The address on an envelope fragment which accompanied the drawing indicates it was returned to Lippold in Locust Valley, New York, from “Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Architects” in Chicago. The drawing – signed “For Marian with all my love – Passiontide, 1960. Richard” – is a gift to Portsmouth Abbey from Miani Johnson, daughter of Marian (Willard) and Dan Johnson, owners of the Willard Gallery, Inc., which closed in 1987.

An Invitation. Finally, we look forward to greeting Oblates and Friends, who are reminded to mark your calendars for March 9, the first Sunday of Lent, for our next Day of Recollection. The student body will have departed on their spring break the previous day, allowing us unfettered access to the Stillman Dining Hall where we shall be in the good hands of Sarah Rodrigues, Director of Dining Services. Details will be forthcoming.

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