Eucharistic Procession on Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

The summer has brought a blossoming of activity for the Portsmouth Institute, seen principally in its flagship Humanitas Symposium, held from June 9-11 here at Portsmouth. Adding to this the PIETAS retreat for teachers and the Oxford Programme, the summer reveals the growing network of events and activities that comprise the Institute. The topic for the symposium was “To Cultivate and to Toil” And Abbot Michael Brunner captured the inspiration and guiding theme of the gathering in his invocation:

Almighty and loving God, we ask you to be with us during this Portsmouth Institute as we consider the meaning of work in profession and vocation. Because you created us in your image, you call us to cooperate with you in the work of creation through our work, cultivating and caring for the garden of this world, work for which you have made each of us suitable through the different talents and abilities you have given us. Our work is therefore your gift to us. Jesus your son modeled work for us as a carpenter for most of his life with us. He modeled work for us in his tireless work of preaching the Gospel and in healing the sick and crippled. Our Holy Father Benedict has taught us that work is prayer – and that the first work to which we are called, our first vocation is worship and praise of you, the source of all goodness. He has taught us that "idleness is the enemy of the soul," and that when we live by the labor of our hands, we are following the example of the apostles and the courageous first followers of Jesus our Lord. Our Holy Father Benedict has taught us that the means of our work are not separated from the Christian life, and the tools of our work are to be treated with great respect; that both work and the means we employ for work can be encounters with the sacred in even the most simple circumstances.

So, may You guide us to pursue our vocations as work in which we experience your creation, serve others and cultivate our relationship with you, which is the soul of prayer, so that in all things you, our God, may be glorified. During this symposium, may we listen with the ears of our heart and see with the eyes of love, and see and hear what you, our God, are doing in our lives and in our world; may we see the opportunities to choose and serve truth and beauty, so that we may cooperate and not hesitate. May we serve to be perfect; may we be perfect to serve. Lord we ask you to bless the work and the participants in the Portsmouth institute who seek to do your will and follow your great commandment of love with courage and understanding. Help us to understand deeper the great blessings of our vocations as children of God, as stewards of the earth and, as we hope to be, citizens of heaven. May this year’s presentations and conversations help us grow in this holy desire and in its free, creative fulfillment, with Your grace and help. We make our prayer to you in the name of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, together with the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

Chris Fisher

The Institute’s Executive Director, Mr. Chris Fisher, in opening the symposium on Friday evening noted that the theme was an appropriate outgrowth of the topic of the previous summer, which looked at the question of human liberty. Employment of our God-given freedom points directly to labor, to vocation, to all that God asks of us in the free cultivation of our talents. The keynote address offered by Thomas Hibbs then turned to the example of Frederick Douglas, who spoke of the experience of dignity he discovered in his labor, once he had escaped slavery and could in liberty engage in gainful work. This sense of dignity is profoundly challenged in the contemporary world, Hibbs noted, particularly in the diminished sense of a common good.

Thomas Hibbs

Our labors need to help create our human institutions, but these are increasingly populated by laborers seeking only their own ends. Hibbs related such inadequate ends to imbalances in work and rest, highlighting a need to cultivate proper modes and habits of rest amidst our toil. There is a healthy anxiety, which can be instrumental in motivating us to important good work, though we see more frequently an unhealthy variety, in a world that struggles to find the natural and life-giving balance of labor and rest. Hibbs insightful commentary served as an excellent precursor to the seminars of Saturday, which comprised the weekend’s own “toil,” in lively discussions of related topics, as gathered in the focus texts for the weekend. These texts, published by Cluny Press in a handsome volume made for the Institute, included excerpts from Pope Saint John Paul II, Herman Melville, Josef Pieper, Pope Benedict XVI, Thomas Aquinas, and sessions were punctuated by a series of lectures on various aspects of human labor. Michael Matheson Miller of the Acton Institute spoke on “work as Idol”; Michael Krom of the Benedictine Leadership Program at St. Vincent College turned to “work as Prayer.” Tommy Heyne, M.D. of the Harvard Medical School then offered the first afternoon lecture on “Work as Mission.”

Ross Douthat

The day's study culminated with a keynote address offered by Mr. Ross Douthat on “Workism and the Death of Civilization.” Each of these lectures led directly to breakout discussions guided by faculty of Portsmouth Abbey School, addressing such topics as acedia, vocation, evangelization, stewardship, and the common good.

Fr. Edward and Br. Joseph lead Vespers

Resonating with Hibbs’ theme of work balanced by rest, the symposium also offered moments of hospitality, as well as opportunities to share in liturgy. Vespers of Friday and Saturday gathered the attendees. The Friday service was in fact the first event on the schedule for the symposium, echoing Benedict’s call to begin any good work with prayer, and was celebrated as Solemn Vespers incorporating Divine Adoration. Saturday evening offered a sacred concert in the church, with choral music provided by the Collegium Ancora of Providence, directed by Mr. Vince Edwards. This beautiful and prayerful occasion featured works of Mozart, Byrd, Grayston Ives, Stephanie Martin, Hans Leo Hessler, Benjamin Britten, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Sarah Macdonald.

Collegium Ancora

The conferees returned to the church Sunday morning for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. As Chris Fisher noted in his remarks in the church on Sunday morning, the symposium thus began and ended with Divine Adoration, with Sunday’s Solemnity concluding with a Blessed Sacrament Procession which returned to the Church of St. Gregory the Great for Benediction, presided over by Bishop Emeritus Thomas Tobin of Providence. This extraordinary liturgical opportunity provided an appropriate liturgical complement and culmination to many of the weekend’s themes of labor, and of our vocation to build up of the body of Christ.