The Advent Wreath 2024

The Portsmouth Oblates gathered on December 1 for an Advent Day of Recollection, marking a new liturgical year and anticipating the upcoming jubilee. They were greeted by the freshly raised Advent-Christmas tapestry icon of Mary and the Child Jesus, designed and fabricated by Oblate Ade Bethune. The Advent Wreath was freshly illuminated with the first of its four candles. The Holy Mass inaugurated the Day of Recollection, with Fr. Andrew Senay offering the homily, noting, “The oblates are meeting here today. They have chosen. They have chosen to live out their call to Christ, their relationship with Christ, in the world according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. ..Here at advent, let us now grasp fully the meaning of the coming of Jesus into our world. ...Jesus is saying the relationship I want with you is in your hearts.”

Medieval door in Portsmouth’s collectionAdjourning from Mass to the Stillman Dining Hall for brunch and a conference, the oblates were treated to a heart-felt presentation by Brother Sixtus Roslevich, Director of Oblates. The dining hall had also been visually enhanced for the occasion, notably with the presence of a late medieval door, cordoned off and gently illuminated by a footlight. An explanatory note placed next to the door, describing a comparable door at the V&A Museum, reads:

“The survival of this doorway is due in part to the robust construction with thick broad planks strengthened by carved uprights and large iron nails. The door comes from a fine timber-framed house in Ipswich.” Br. Sixtus noted that the door was part of a set of linenfold panels installed in what is now the monastery’s private dining room, donated to the community in the 1950’s with the Mackay Collection. The visual presence of the door served as thematic to Brother Sixtus’ talk, entitled, “Jubilee Years and Holy Doors: Their Meaning in Church History.”

Display at the Oblate ConferenceBrunch with the Portsmouth OblatesOn the head table had been placed a number of items for visual display, notably two photos that served as touchpoints for Brother Sixtus in his presentation, as in his personal spiritual journey. Both pertained to Years of Jubilee: from the year 2000, when he was in Rome, and from 2016, when he was in Zimbabwe. We often associate “jubilees” with Queen Elizabeth II, whose reign covered not only the ruby (40th), but passed through the golden (50th), diamond (60th), and platinum (70th) as well. These landmarks in fact had steadily been paralleling, Br. Sixtus noted, his own lifespan. The 2000 photo was of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, one of the four that will be opened again on the occasion of the upcoming jubilee which will begin on December 24, 2024. Br. Sixtus had been in Rome then as a lay person, traveling with the Archdiocese of St. Louis in a group led by Archbishop (now Cardinal) Justin Rigali. One highpoint was attending Mass celebrated by St. Louis native Timothy Dolan, then Rector at the North American College. A second striking image in the visual presentation was of two Zimbabwean women gathered in 2016 to mark the Extraordinary Jubilee of Divine Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis. Br. Sixtus found himself in Zimbabwe at the time at the English Benedictine Monastery of Christ the Word in Macheke, which found itself at the center of pilgrimage. The cathedral in Harare, not anticipating the proclamation of a jubilee, was not available due to extensive renovation, so the monastery had been selected as a destination of pilgrimage and the location of a Holy Door, drawing a steady flow of pilgrims from Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Mozambique to make the passage. Br. Sixtus happily drew on his own Polish heritage, offering to pilgrims talk after talk on Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy. He told the oblates of his plans and hopes at that time to return to Zimbabwe, though obedience to his abbot eventually meant this would not happen. However, “when one (holy) door closes, another opens,” he quipped, noting that he soon found a calling to come to Portsmouth, completing his transferal in 2019.

Br. Sixtus, Dionne Larson, and

Abbot Michael Brunner

Echoing his commitment to Portsmouth, the oblates returned to the church after the conference for midday prayer, witnessing the Promise of Oblation of Dionne Larson, and renewing their own promises. The program then made available Divine Adoration, private prayer, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. With the completion of the Day of Recollection, scheduled during the quietude a School vacation, the monastery now shifts into high gear for the events of the Advent season with the School present, as we anticipate Christmas and the upcoming Jubilee.

Brother Sixtus Roslevich addressing oblates