And the angel said to Mary in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the pwer ofthe Most High will oversahdow you.
Therefore the child to be vorn
will be called holy, the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
peace and joy, bpv
Happy Fourth Week of Advent!
FYS Class tours…
Each academic year a number of FYS classes tour the church. (FYS stands for First Year Symposium.) It is a pleasure to host these first year students from our colleges. Their professor has used Columba Stewart’s text, Prayer and Community which talks about the Benedictine monastic way of living and praying together so it is a great follow up for the students to tour the abbey church, it’s place in our history and the history of Benedictinism on our campuses. A wonderful group of students. The below picture was taken in one of the many lower chapels.
God bless these young people as they prepare for the last days of their first semester here at the college of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University!
Peace, bpv
About once every ten years…
About once in every ten years Lake Sagatagan freezes in such a way that the conditions create a quality of ice on which it makes it perfect to skate. I am sure that you will be seeing some pictures in the near future of some of our young monks showing their ice skating ability – or lack there of ! - but until then I thought that I would share a shot of the ice as it is right now. At this time we have almost no snow and the calm conditions in which the lake froze over produced a very large skating rink!
Peace, bpv
New Prior in Fujimi
My classmate, Fr. Edward Vebelun, OSB was just appointed as Prior of Holy Trinity Monastery in Fujimi, Japan. Fr. Edward and I began as novices together here at Saint John’s some 17 plus years ago. Since that time he learned Japanese (amazing!) and was attracted to our priory in Japan. He has flourished there and now is the Prior of that monastery. Because Holy Trinity Monastery is a priory and not an abbey (a monastery which has its own abbot) Abbot John is the abbot of Holy Trinity. It is the hope of many priories that eventually they will grow in numbers as well as self sufficiency so that they can apply for permission to elect their own abbot.
Above is the blessing of Fr. Edward as the new Prior of Holy Trinity Monastery.
Below is a picture of the monks of Holy Trinity Monastery.
from l. to r.
Fr. Thomas Wahl
Fr. Roman Paur
Br. Maria Dominic Hidenori Takahashi (Junior)
Abbot John Klassen
Br. Maximilian Shuuta Oka (Junior)
Prior Edward Vebelun
Br. Paul Makoto Tada
Fr. Peter Hidenari Kawamura
Br. Franciso Tomohisa Shimose (Junior)
Fr. Cyril Anthony Gorman
Br. Andrew Hong Ching Lam (Junior)
Br. John Chrysostom Liting Long (Junior/absent)
Blessings upon Prior Edward!
Peace, bpv
New Sculpture of Saint Benedict
Br. David Paul Lange, OSB has been commissioned to create a life size sculpture of Saint Benedict which will eventually be placed on campus. This last Saturday he gave a glimpse of his work which at this writing in the process of being cast in bronze. In the second picture below he is shown talking about the evolution of his design and the clay image which he just completed last week.
Notice the young girl seeminly “listening” to Saint Benedict. Congratulations Br. David Paul. We look forward to the bronze sculpture arriving on campus!
Peace,
bpv
Celebrating the Season!
Every year the choirs of Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict as well as musicians from Saint John’s Abbey and of course the Saint John’s Boy’s Choir put on one of the finest Christmas concerts that I have ever enjoyed!
Performing groups included the Amadeus Chamber Symphony, directed by Axel Theimer; CSB/SJU Brass Choir, directed by Dale White; CSB Campus Singers, directed by Teri Larson; CSB/SJU Chamber Choir, directed by Theimer; Saint John’s Boys’ Choir, directed by André Heywood; and SJU Men’s Chorus, directed by Theimer.
After two concerts in the Great Hall under the huge Christmas tree to sold out audiences here at Collegeville the 100’s of musicians, instruments, risers, etc. are shifted to the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis for another concert. This was the 25th anniversary of that annual event which in recent years has also been sold out.
Congratulations to the conductors, directors and musicians and all the technical assistance for a job beautifully done!
Peace,
bpv
Abbey Guesthouse Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary!
What was only a dream for many, many years became a reality five years ago when we finally built a free standing guesthouse. This past week we realized that over 19,000 visitors had enjoyed the hospitality that this wonderful building provides. It is primarly staffed and managed by monks, the meals are homecooked and the accomodations are beautiful. Thanks be to God!
“All guests should be welcomed as Christ.” RB
Peace, bpv
Three tours of International Students!
It is a pleasure to host almost 2500 students on our campus each school year. (This of course, does not include another 2000 from the College of Saint Benedict!) The student body is truly enhanced by the number of international students in our schools and as part of their program their instructors always are interested in making sure these young adults are made aware of the Benedictine roots of both campuses. Today I and two of our novices had the pleasure of giving the students a tour of the Great Hall and the Abbey Church. We had a great time and the students were a real joy to host. Below are the three groups in the baptistery of the Abbey Church.
Blessings on these wonderful students!
peace, bpv
First Sunday of Advent!
Above is the Advent wreath in our monastic dining room or refectory. Traditionally the novices assemble it and the youngest novice in statio, or order of entering the community, lights the new candle each Saturday beginning a new week of Advent.
Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel!
Advent blessings,
bpv
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