Archived Monthly News
Mount Saviour Monastery
April
2006
News:
On Easter Sunday, Br. James
Kelly died in his sleep. He was due to carry the Pascal
candle and sing the "Exultet" but the Lord had other plans. For
the funeral mass and burial, Fr. Martin shared some reflections that you can read. A
memorial service, requested by his family, will take place on Saturday, May 13th at 11 a.m. at the
monastery.
Fr. James Kelly
O.S.B. (1931-2006)
Born Clement Kelly, in Dansville,
NY on August 20, 1931 to Clement and Caroline Kelly.
Baptized in St. Patrick's Church, Dansville. Entered Mount
Saviour Monastery on October 7, 1951. Clothed as postulant and
receiving James as his name in religion on Nov. 1, 1951.
Sent to St. Benoit-du-Lac in Canada, which at the time
benevolently
trained the novices of the recently ( earlier in 1951) founded
Mount Saviour, where he began his novitiate on July 22, 1952.
Pronounced his simple vows on July 25, 1953.
Sent to study philosophy at Conception Abbey, MO. in September of that
year and to S. Anselmo in Rome the following October to continue his
studies for the priesthood. Ordained subdeacon at Assisi in 1956
and a deacon at the abbey of Subiaco in June of the following
year(1957). Together with others from Mount Saviour studying at
S. Anselmo he spent the summer of 1955 at the abbey of Maria Laach in
the Rhineland, the summer of 1956 at the abbey of Engelberg in
Switzerland, and the summer of 1957 at the abbey of Solesmes,
France. On July 11, his solemn profession was
received on behalf of Mount Saviour by Dom Ildefonso Rea, abbot of
Monte Cassino in the newly restored basilica of that abbey.
Ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James Kearney
at Mount Saviour on July 25, 1958. Returning to Rome to complete
his studies just prior to the election of Bl. John XXIII, he received
his S.T.L. from S.Anselmo in June, 1959. In December 1962
he was sent to aid the community of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem,
beginning studies at the Ecole Biblique in October of 1963, remaining
in Jerusalem until June 1967. During these years he learned
to converse in both Hebrew and Arabic and traveled on education trips
to Egypt (several occasions, including visits to the then well nigh
undiscovered Coptic monasteries), Iraq and Iran, several visits to
Lebanon and Syria. On one of his visits to Turkey (1967) he was
received and entertained by both the Orthodox Armenian patriarch
Schnoik and by the Greek Orthodox patriarch Athenagoras, who introduced
him to other Greek prelates as "Fr. James, my spiritual grandson." This
same year, 1967, he received his S.S.L. from the Pontifical
Biblical Commission.
Professor of Scripture at St. Bernard's
Seminary, Rochester NY from 1968-1970, he began research as Visiting
Fellow at Princeton Seminary in 1970 for his S.T.D. with specialization
in Scripture received from the Antonianum in Rome, after further
studies at the Franciscan Biblical Institute in
Jerusalem. He was Visiting Scholar at Cambridge
University in 1977-78 and served as campus minister to Hobart College
1979-81 and to Cornell University 1981-83, as well as at St. Leo
College 1983-86. He subsequently served as civilian
chaplain to the U.S. Army in Germany,1987-90 (Nuremberg) and to the
U.S. Dept. of Defense at Bad Aibling , near Munich, from
1990-1994. Since then he has remained at Mount Saviour,
occasionally giving Scripture workshops both at Mount Saviour and in
parish communities, in addition to serving as Mount Saviour's outreach
to the poor in the form of preaching once per month on behalf of Food
for the Poor.
He died in his sleep before the
Easter Vigil on April 16th, 2006.
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On Holy Thursday, the video of the monastery was shown on our local
PBS atation. We received encouraging feedback. The lambing
season began on that day and the numbers keep increasing rapidly.
By the end of the month, 132 ewes had given birth to 245 lambs.
The weather was very favorable and the workload was minimized due to
healthy animals.
Coming Events:
Fourth
Annual Damasus Winzen
Memorial Lecture. Sunday 7 May 2006. 4 PM. by Fr Martin
Shannon of the Community of Jesus, Orleans, Massachusetts.
Fr. Shannon recently
presented a brilliant Dissertation:
Damasus Winzen: A Voice for
Liturgical Reform in the United States, to the Faculty of the
School of
Theology and Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of
Philosophy.
The lecture will be followed by Vespers, refreshments and
Compline. We invite you to what will be a lively late afternoon
and evening.
May 19-21:
Mount Saviour Series of
Retreats 2005-2006:
Eucharist as Prayer
May 27th at 7:00 p.m. For the
residents of Brooklyn and New York City
The EVERYDAY, the documentary about
Benedictine Life at Mount Saviour Monastery will air on the Prayer
Channel.
May 31-June 8, 2006 at
Mt. Saviour Monastery, Elmira, NY
Radical Encounters: Finding and
Forming Community
A 3 credit summer course on
religion and community
with a one-week residency
. Click here
for details.
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