Love of Learning

Portsmouth monk at study (Dom Alban Baer, 1940s)

 This monthly column focuses on a theme important to monastic life and history: the love of learning. But to what extent, and in what manner, is the pursuit of learning to be part of the monastic life? This was a discussion that engaged the founders of the first American monasteries affiliated with the English Benedictines. Leonard Sargent, Portsmouth’s founder, sought first and foremost “a house of prayer” and a community “not being committed to any activity beyond ‘the Work of God’” (i.e., the praying of the Divine Office). His message: “God will indicate what more He wants done.” Thomas Verner Moore, one of the group that founded St. Anselm’s in Washington, D.C., was more interested in a community engaged in higher level scholarship, closer to resources available through university life (see Benedict Neenan’s book, Thomas Verner Moore). Both ultimately found themselves in a community establishing secondary schools. In Sargent’s case, perhaps this manifested “what more He wants done”, as it seems his monastic venture would not have succeeded without it. The plan to start a school at Portsmouth also led to the addition to the community of Fr. Hugh Diman, long an educator, already a founder of two schools, and a crucial component in the survival and growth of the early Portsmouth community.  

 

 

James MacGuire hosts 2011 Portsmouth Institute

The Portsmouth community has continued in this educational work for nearly a century. It even, more recently, expanded this dimension of its work, into an apostolate now shared with Saint Louis Abbey. The Portsmouth Institute for Faith and Culture, developed in 2008 through the vision and inspiration of one of the School’s alumni, James MacGuire ‘70, in many ways is the outgrowth of this monastic “love of learning.” Having worked for some time on the campus, MacGuire worked with the Portsmouth monastic community to produce a summer conference, utilizing the availability of the monastic community and the School campus during the period of School break, to open a space for prayer and reflection, and to situate that experience in the context of monastic prayer and community. The Institute began with a series of such summer conferences, focusing on such themes as “The Catholic William F. Buckley” (2009), “Newman and the Intellectual Tradition” (2010), “The Catholic Shakespeare” (2011), and “Modern Science, Ancient Faith” (2012). It turned to a number of Catholic intellectual leaders drawn from around the country and the world. It presented conferences designed to include not only lecture, seminar, and discussion, but also private prayer, shared meals, and liturgy. The Institute has continued now for over ten years, through recent remote sessions and now back to the in-person. It has expanded its profile to include the flagship summer conference together with an array of additional programs: lecture, seminars, retreats, trips abroad – all woven from the same inspiration which the theme “love of learning” aptly expresses. 

 

 

Institute’s Chris and Lauren Fisher host Cardinal Timothy Dolan (2018)

The Portsmouth monastic community developed its relationship with Saint Louis Abbey over that same period of time. It is a relationship that has seen the generous commitment of several St. Louis monks to spend extended time at Portsmouth, with several of them ultimately transferring their stability to this monastery, including its present abbot, Michael Brunner. Sharing not only an English Benedictine heritage, as well as a dedication to the survival and growth of their respective houses, the two abbeys also have come to share in this apostolate of learning, still called the Portsmouth Institute. Under the executive directorship of Mr. Chris Fisher, the Institute offers an impressive selection of opportunities, at Portsmouth, St. Louis, Providence, the University of Oxford, online, and elsewhere. It has, from its inception, included a number of directors and advisors to help craft its offerings and to strengthen its programs. Chris expresses the Institute’s mission in this way: “The monastic emphasis on ‘love of learning and desire for God’ has had a profound influence on my own spiritual journey, so it’s a special privilege to share the Benedictine vision of the integrated life with students, teachers, and lifelong learners. Ultimately, I hope that the Portsmouth Institute can help Catholics discover how study, work, prayer, and community life are all opportunities to grow in love and imitation of Christ.”

A sampling of the Institute’s offerings quickly reveals their Benedictine heritage and character. The original summer conference, central to MacGuire’s first concept, continues to offer a holistic community experience of several days. Now entitled “The Humanitas Summer Symposium,” it features, in addition to its slate of lectures, “hospitality, liturgy, and prayer.” A half-day version along this same model was offered this past week to the School’s faculty, organized by the Institute as part of series produced in conjunction with the McGrath Institute for Church Life. Whether it be such lecture series, the Oxford University program for students; the Pietas summer retreat for teachers, the Conversatio publication for a variety of articles on theology and faith - all of this programming is designed to remain solidly in touch with this spiritual heritage, the life of faith, and the desire for the understanding faith seeks. A separate article in this issue looks more closely at the schedule of recent and upcoming events.