Notes from the Director of Oblates

(Picture: Br. Sixtus in his Cell - Monastery of Christ the Word in Zimbabwe, 2016)

Living inside this monastery which has no parish to staff and administer has its advantages, and the opportunity for us to extend Benedictine hospitality farther afield has become even more evident during this pandemic, as you will see.

Mid-March 2020 will always be known as the point at which we became astutely aware of the onset of something ominously threatening. “Beware the Ides of March,” warned the soothsayer to Julius Caesar as penned by William Shakespeare (the original one, not the 81-year-old W.S. in London who was the second person ever to be vaccinated against the coronavirus on December 8. Honest. Who could make this stuff up?).  Two days after the Ides on Sunday the 15^th came St. Patrick’s Day, on Tuesday the 17th.  A close friend visiting from St. Louis was flying home the next day and we were given permission to have dinner off-campus. We headed to Newport that evening, by which time the state had mandated that all food and beverage establishments had to close by 11 p.m. 

For a St. Patrick’s Day in a town like Newport, the streets were eerily empty. Our first choice for dinner had closed down that morning not wanting to bring their staff in for only a partial workday. Our second choice was decided for us by the chalkboard-sandwich board propped on the sidewalk fronting the Gas Lamp Grille on Thames Street. The sign announced 25% off all dinner items that night, so as to empty out the freezers and fridges before the first of the many shutdowns to come. Tom and I enjoyed the lobster ravioli and the lobster rolls we had been craving (plus actual, real-time live sports on the television).

In December, according to the ancient Roman calendar, the Ides falls on the 13^th, which is our Third Sunday of Advent and the Fourth Night of Hanukkah for our Jewish friends and neighbors. That means we are now at the 9-month mark of these dark times, normally a period of typical human gestation but delivering to us instead a rapidly rising rate of fatalities. The purple and rose candles and oil-fueled menorahs take on an even greater and deeper meaning than in recent memory. It also means, hopefully, that families are staying safe and healthy, indoors and together. The dearth of sports at all levels, of cinemas and shops being closed, and of in-person learning being put on ‘pause’ for many, the concept of the family circle has been revived. Like pandemic pioneers, we are circling the wagons for safety and protection. Also for safety, the state fire marshal has set the occupancy limit in the Portsmouth Abbey Church at 880 persons. Taking into consideration the current spacing restrictions, the pre-Thanksgiving departure of the student body from campus, and the lack of a parish, we have a lot of seats which could be filled. 

2 pilgrims to the Holy Door at the Monastery of Christ the Word in Zimbabwe
during the Jubilee Year of Divine Mercy in 2016

Thus, in a spirit of Benedictine hospitality, we welcomed a small group of neighbors from St. Philomena School across Cory’s Lane who were led by their chaplain, Dr. Tim Flanigan, who is also a Portsmouth Oblate. On Saturday morning, December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, they attended the monks’ Conventual Mass celebrated by Prior Administrator Michael Brunner.  For the past several weeks they have been meeting via Zoom to discuss the book, 33 Days to Merciful Love, by Fr. Michael Gaitley M.I.C. (Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception), author also of the book, 33 Days to Morning Glory.  According to information from the Marian Fathers based in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the group has been exploring “new material on the heart of St. Therese of Lisieux’s Little Way, uncovering the power of trust in the face of personal darkness, and laying the foundation for a personal consecration to Divine Mercy.” Following Mass, Dr. Flanigan welcomed the group and gave a short introduction. I was asked to speak about the Oblates of St. Benedict and about my work in Zimbabwe at the Monastery of Christ the Word during their observance of the 2016 Jubilee Year of Divine Mercy as decreed by Pope Francis. Brother Benedict closed out the morning assisting the group in praying the rosary and in reciting the consecration prayer.

The Missionary of Charity Sisters from Harare in the Monastery of Christ the Word in Zimbabwe chapel before the Divine Mercy image, October 2016.

The monks’ Advent - Christmas Blessing, normally a major end-of-the-year event for the school community, is still scheduled take place, though in a somewhat shortened format, on Tuesday, December 15, at 5:15 p.m. EST. Although the church will be mostly empty this year, everyone is cordially invited to listen in and watch via our livestream connection. The service will conclude with Evening Vespers.