Dear Friends of
Dedication Day will be Sunday, August 12 with Mass at 10 AM followed by a brunch and then music in the Chapter Room around 12:30 P.M. This is a special occasion when we thank God that we are here and thank all the people who have helped us be here. We invite you to join us in thanking God for the blessings you have received especially in the past year.
St. Benedict uses two important phrases in the Prologue of
his Rule that are a little hard to identify and even a little hard to
translate. “Open our eyes to the deifying light.” And “Let us listen with
thunderstruck ears.” What is the deifying light? It could be the
light that is making us ever more into the image and likeness of God, which is
why God created us in the first place. It could be Christ the light of
the world, or the brilliance of the Transfiguration, etc. Thunderstruck
ears could refer to the thunder of God’s voice as heard at the great theophany at
Doug Cumming did a fine job
again with the Christmas Crèche. We were also very grateful to the
members of the Servants of the Word Community in
Another great blessing for us was Fr. Roman Paur, Prior of St John’s Abbey in
This made the task of our Visitation by Abbot Timothy Kelly and Abbot Melvin Valvano much easier. We ask your prayers to help us carry out their suggestions and advice over the next few years. That is the best gift you can give us and we to you!
We were also richly blessed to have had Abbot Gregory Polan OSB of Conception Abbey as our Community Retreat Director. You might remember a total stranger terrorized their Monastery and killed two monks and wounded two others. Abbot Gregory shepherded the community through the experience to a time of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace. He is more than qualified to help others – which he did for us! The Retreat ended the morning of Epiphany and Maureen Cadley invited us to St. Gertrude’s Guest House for a festive supper.
We were pleased to host the Cornell Catholic Community and
the students of Cathedral Prep in
We are over-joyed that The Everyday, the DVD about our monastic life, won three nominations and two Emmy Awards at the 50th Annual N.Y. Emmy Awards Event on 1 April. Matt Kells had been in our Summer Program a few years back and wanted to do something for us in return. He teemed up with Shawn McGinn who won
an Emmy for the photography and Chris Ward who won an Emmy for the Audio with the help of Srael Boruchin and Kate Geis. We are very proud of all of them and very grateful. We hope people who view it will be moved to make a Retreat here and those considering following Christ in a religious vocation would likewise find their way here.
Speaking of vocation Br. John Thompson is attending
workshops sponsored by the National Religious Vocation Conference in
FUTURE ACTIVITIES
The 5th Annual Damasus Winzen Memorial Lecture by Sister Mary Collins
OSB
will be held Sunday 6 May on Worship and Faith. Sister Mary Collins
teaches at
Radical Encounter Course for College Students Monday May 28 to Thursday June 7.
The Emmaus Experience VI – Return of the Prodigal Son: Stories of Forgiveness, Healing and Reconciliation. Friday October 5th to Monday October 8th.
Mount Saviour Summer Experience for men ages 20-35 (flexible on age). July 1-July 31. This is a four –week experience in a Catholic Benedictine Monastery that draws participants – through prayer, community life, work and study into a world of relationships and networks that reveal God. There is no fee for the program but the participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the monastery. The number of participants is limited to ten.
Other events are on our web site www.msaviour.org
Books and audiovisuals: The Every Day, the Emmy Award Winning DVD or VHS is available at $22.95.
The Lectures on our 50th Anniversary: The
Contribution of Monastic Life to the Church and the World has
presentations that can be read and re-read with profit. The first part of
the book treats of general Benedictine Contributions and there are pictures of
life at
Since the Mass is the source and focus of most of our spirituality, I want to recommend three books to be studied in sequence: Mark Searle’s Called to Participate is $9.95. Vatican II said that Participation was the goal of our worship, but it did not say what Participation was! So we had everyone singing and moved the furniture around but neglected the underlying theology. Benedictine Jeremy Driscoll’s What Happens at Mass at $10.95 is the next one to read and study. Finally Nathan Mitchell’s Meeting Mystery: Liturgy, Worship, and Sacraments is $20.
Other books to read are Albert Nolan’s Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom is $16. and Carl Arico’s Taste of Silence: A guide to the Fundamentals of Centering Prayer is $16.95. All of these book scan be obtained through the Monastery bookstore.
SPECIAL NEEDS
We have mentioned the removal of the two old boilers covered with asbestos : $30,800. and their replacement for $41,000.
We
need to replace the urethane insulation on the roof covering the central
portion of the
We need people who value time spent with the Lord in the company of others who have some of the same values. The experience of time spent in this way enables them to be aware of the deep joy Jesus experienced during his lifetime. Time spent in this way is called a “Retreat.”
Nine women from St. Mary’s Church in
We welcome the opportunity to celebrate your Mass intentions. The Diocese suggests $10. We also accept less.
Please remember us in prayer and, if possible also in your estate planning and will.
Our Legal title is –The Benedictine Foundation of New York State.
We are grateful for your prayers for vocations.
In Xto,