While the time-honored Benedictine motto, ora et labora does not appear anywhere in the Rule of Saint Benedict , it has become a sort of shorthand way of describing the balance with which we monks try to live our lives. (Note to self: Does anyone use shorthand anymore?) Pray and work. Sounds pretty simple. Given the countless categories and subsets of monastic work (administrative, liturgical, academic, hospitality, infirmary work, inside work, outside work, etc.), it seems obvious that the prayer side of the balance scale must have its own similar but unique categories.

The phrase seems to tie together recent journeys for me. The book read nightly at our refectory dinners throughout October and November brought the “ora” more sharply into focus for me, particularly intercessory prayer. A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life by Zena Hitz (Cambridge University Press, 2023) includes a section headed “Intercession” in the chapter titled “The Family of Humanity.” Hitz concludes that labora (work) “in itself is for the good of others, a form of service. When done for love, the simplest work is an act of charity.” She succinctly writes, “The practice of intercession, praying for the needs of others, is central to any religious life, especially those in cloisters or hermitages. For enclosed communities, it is the way that the family of humanity is kept in view. In intercessory prayer, prayer for others, the sick, the dying, the devastated, the grieving, the unjustly imprisoned, the victims of every crime and every injustice, everyone anywhere who suffers for any reason, all come into focus. It is an ascetic practice: the replacements of thoughts of oneself with thoughts of others, the sacrifice of one’s own will and one’s own concerns for God’s sake.” This is a book well-worth your time.

On November 19, I was humbled to share in a Zoom call with our good friend, the author Heather D. King, living now in Tucson. Regular readers of the monthly magazine Magnificat will be familiar with her “labora”, in the form of her inspiring contributions, the latest in the December issue an installment in the “Credible Witnesses” series, in which she writes about the life of Marguerite Chevignard (1883-1954), sister of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Heather is also a good friend of Abbot Matthew Stark, and I first met her years ago here at Portsmouth when she gave a presentation for the Portsmouth Institute. I was inspired by her book, Redeemed: Stumbling Toward God, Sanity, and the Peace That Surpasses All Understanding (Penguin Books, 2008). As a reader of The Current, Heather knows that I serve as the Director of Oblates and shared in a recent note that she will make her Promise of Oblation at St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California, on December 12. I shared with her the fact that I had providentially visited St. Andrew’s twice, many years ago, as I was discerning a monastery in which to test my vocation as a postulant. We spoke of our shared desire for more solitude and silence in our lives. The hour passed far too quickly, but I promised her that I would put out the request for intercessory prayers for both Heather, as she takes another major step in her journey as a Benedictine Oblate, and for the repose of the soul of her mentor, Fr. Francis Benedict, who passed away in July. In taking my copy of Redeemed off the shelf to give it a second read, I again noticed she had inscribed it, “For Brother Sixtus – Our Vocation is Love! Thank you for welcoming me.” In response I now say, “Welcome again, Heather, this time to the joy of being an Oblate!”

Fr. Robert Mosher, S.S.C. at

diocesan Day of Recollection

A couple of days after that call, I was off to Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, to visit some Portsmouth alums, seven of whom attend the Jesuit school founded in 1843. It was a pleasant two days of ora et labora. My host and guide was James Meko ’24, who highlighted his tour with the imposing 1927 Dinand Library, designed by the Boston architectural firm of Maginnis & Walsh as part of the post-World War I expansion of the campus. During the same decade, the firm designed our St. Benet’s Dormitory, dedicated in 1930. Our original 1926 Priory building at Portsmouth, was also designed by the firm. In a further coincidence, as James and I entered the library’s main doors, we were met by a signboard advertising a lecture on stained-glass that had just begun. It turns out the speaker was my friend, Dr. Virginia Chieffo Raguin, Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita at Holy Cross and an internationally respected expert in stained-glass. We had served together, along with Dr. Katie Zins, head of the Humanities Department at P.A.S., as advisors in researching a historic and culturally significant window saved from the ca. 1830 St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren, Rhode Island.

My ora et labora road trip ended in Narragansett on November 23 for the Advent Day of Recollection organized by the Bishop’s Office for Religious in the Diocese of Providence. We were hosted for the second year in row by Br. James Dries, F.S.C., Director of the Christian Brothers Center. Sr. Elizabeth Castro, H.M.S.P., Director of the Bishop’s Office, organized the daylong gathering which drew 25 consecrated religious men and women from throughout the state. The new superior of the Columban Fathers in Bristol, Fr. Robert Mosher, S.S.C., celebrated the noon Mass for the Feast of St. Columban and later led the participants in Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction. As is still practiced in some religious houses, Fr. Bob invited the congregants to voice their own needs and the needs of their loved ones during the Intercessions, or Universal Prayers. When the main presenter for the day unfortunately took ill two days before the event, Sr. Elizabeth reached out to me the day before the program began, asking if I could fill in with a 45-minute talk. Through much labora and even greater ora, plus the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the presentation came together. A wise novice master helped put things into perspective for me twenty years ago. He said, “Brother, sometimes your ora is your labora, and sometimes your labora is your ora.”

That seems to be the case these days for Br. Joseph Byron – as I watch him from my office windows working out the finishing touches on his latest major project, the installation of new Stations of the Cross just below Cross Hill, behind the monastery gardens. The project has been long in the plans, awaiting the various pieces necessary to come together to make the Stations a reality. Every Good Friday, a member of the monastic community, in recent years Brother Joseph, has led the Stations as part of the School’s retreat, inviting oblates and friends to join. The temporary signs posted to mark the stations will now be replaced by a set of permanent pillars, donated by the Ramos family. Bronze reliefs from Lourdes, a gift of Mrs. Hope Carter, are affixed to each pillar. We will have more on this new addition to our grounds in a later issue. Already, it is a remarkable “labora” that is inspiring much “ora”, and we look forward to its use during Holy Week this year, and indeed hope the Stations can inspire our journeys in prayer throughout the year.

Installation of Stations of the Cross