2020 Apr The Current

Apr 5- 11

holy week arrives

Holy Week is upon us, in a way unlike any we have previously experienced. With the School in session at a distance, and liturgies not open to the public, we move into uncharted waters of live and recorded broadcasts, and spiritual communion. Yet the High Holy Days arrive nonetheless. In a message for Holy Week, Fr. Michael Brunner challenges us to assess the status of our own love for the Lord, in light of the figures of Judas, Peter, and John. And he comments on our present struggle: "We, this nation and indeed the world, are right now in the midst of a crisis. And this crisis brings out what and who we and our leaders are. It is bringing out the best and the worst in humanity, and we haven’t seen it all yet. But this crisis requires of us faith, hope and charity…selfless love modeled on the behavior of Jesus himself. The simple act of social distancing is an act of charity, as buying up all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer you can and refusing to distance or quarantine is pure selfishness, and betrays the whole community. This is not complicated. What is required of us now is to act Christ-like, or Judas-like. But that, of course, is our choice every day, crisis or not. May our Lenten prayer and penance, may our reverent observance of the Triduum this Holy Week, bind us closer to the person of Jesus Christ in a more genuine, selfless love that overflows to everyone in this world. In that way Jesus’ love will save us in more ways than one." You can find his entire message and other homilies on our Reflections page.

historical proportions: crises in the monastery's history

The global pandemic is in many ways unprecedented, and we need to re-imagine many aspects of our lives. We realize that we are in a distinct and difficult moment in human history. Yet the crisis bears similarities to other periods of crisis in the past, whether they be health pandemics, times of war, economic struggles, natural disasters, or other catastrophic events that have affected mankind. Even within the 100-year history of this monastery, different calamities have had their impact. In this month's "Archives" section, we survey several events that have touched on our history here. If the Book of Ecclesiastes is correct in claiming, "There is nothing new under the sun," perhaps we can find that claim to be not a critique, but in fact a consolation. We may see that as we have survived similar types of situations, we can endure through this one. We believe that the Lord in whom we trust has Himself endured suffering and even death. As we enter into the sacred mysteries of Holy Week, recounting at the Easter Vigil the great moments of salvation history, we may remember that all of those salvific moments were God's response to the most challenging of human crises.

Distance Learning, Spiritual Proximity

The School reopened this week, with "distance learning" courses being held over the internet through video conferencing and the School's academic website. Headmaster Dan McDonough announced on Wednesday that this mode is now in effect until the end of this academic year: "With the national social distance guidelines now extending through April, not to mention further restrictions in Rhode Island, it seems clear we will continue distance learning for all students through May 22." No matter when liturgies are again publicly available, it appears that they will not include the School at least until the beginning of the next academic year. As students, teachers, and families adjust to "distance learning," the entire church adjusts to "spiritual communion." Please keep posted to the monastery website for ongoing liturgies, homilies, and more. And please note that the church remains open for personal prayer, and that prayer requests of the monastic community can be made here.

Universal Communion during the Crisis

In responding to the need for "spiritual communion," the Vatican has been served by the access to liturgies it has already been providing. These are provided effectively online, such as the daily more intimate Santa Marta Mass, with English language translation and commentary. The Holy Father has been reciting there a prayer of spiritual communion to minister to those separated physically from the sacrament: “At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself and I offer Thee repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee. Amen.” This prayer is attributed to Servant of God Rafael Merry del Val, a cardinal is known for having promoted the Litany of Humility. Santa Marta Masses are available online here through the Vatican's website.

Images:
Cross on altar of Santa Marta Chapel;
Tabernacle of the chapel;
View of the altar.

teachings on suffering and sickness

Bergamo, Italy has been hard hit by the coronavirus.
Pope Francis asks for prayers

introduction of salvifici doloris
pope saint john paul II

1. Declaring the power of salvific suffering, the Apostle Paul says: "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"(1).

These words seem to be found at the end of the long road that winds through the suffering which forms part of the history of man and which is illuminated by the Word of God. These words have as it were the value of a final discovery, which is accompanied by joy. For this reason Saint Paul writes: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake"(2). The joy comes from the discovery of the meaning of suffering, and this discovery, even if it is most personally shared in by Paul of Tarsus who wrote these words, is at the same time valid for others. The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help—just as it helped him—to understand the salvific meaning of suffering.

2. The theme of suffering - precisely under the aspect of this salvific meaning - seems to fit profoundly into the context of the Holy Year of the Redemption as an extraordinary Jubilee of the Church. And this circumstance too clearly favors the attention it deserves during this period. Independently of this fact, it is a universal theme that accompanies man at every point on earth: in a certain sense it co-exists with him in the world, and thus demands to be constantly reconsidered. Even though Paul, in the Letter to the Romans, wrote that "the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now"(3), even though man knows and is close to the sufferings of the animal world, nevertheless what we express by the word "suffering" seems to be particularly essential to the nature of man. It is as deep as man himself, precisely because it manifests in its own way that depth which is proper to man, and in its own way surpasses it. Suffering seems to belong to man's transcendence: it is one of those points in which man is in a certain sense "destined" to go beyond himself, and he is called to this in a mysterious way.

3. The theme of suffering in a special way demands to be faced in the context of the Holy Year of the Redemption, and this is so, in the first place, because the Redemption was accomplished through the Cross of Christ, that is, through his suffering. And at the same time, during the Holy Year of the Redemption we recall the truth expressed in the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis: in Christ "every man becomes the way for the Church"(4). It can be said that man in a special fashion becomes the way for the Church when suffering enters his life. This happens, as we know, at different moments in life, it takes place in different ways, it assumes different dimensions; nevertheless, in whatever form, suffering seems to be, and is, almost inseparable from man's earthly existence...

See the "Church" column for more.

APR 12-18
- prior michael's easter message
  
  Last summer in Rome I stayed at the monastery of Sant' Anselmo on the Aventine Hill, just a few steps away is the Basilica of Santa Sabina. Whatever you may think a Basilica is like, this isn’t it. It is one of the oldest and safe to say the plainest, most simple, almost devoid of décor churches you can imagine. But on its main door is one of the earliest depictions of Jesus’ crucifixion, from the fifth century. Unless you knew it was there, you'd probably miss it. And looking at it, it might take you a while to realize what it was. The cross was important to the early Christians, but Jesus usually was not depicted on it. And if he was, he was usually clothed and not suffering. The cross was his throne. What was always important to keep in mind was the Resurrection. Without that, the cross and Jesus’ passion was an embarrassment, an abject failure. The crucifix as we know it became popular in the Middle Ages in Europe, when the Black Death swept away almost a third of the population. It was natural for people then to identify with the suffering of Jesus and the corpus on crucifix let them know they were not alone in their suffering.
  
  I couldn't help thinking of this as we look forward to celebrating the Resurrection while participating in the liturgies of this Holy Week, in this sure to be memorable “Pandemic Year.” It’s not the Black Death but it’s the worst plague the world has seen since 1918, and it has touched every people and nation. We are told to expect up to 200,000 deaths here in the U.S. But there will be an end to it. Life will return to some state of normalcy that will likely be somewhat different from what we knew prior to March 2020. So in many ways we too can identify with Jesus’ passion and death, but we must more importantly identify with His resurrection. That is the goal of our life, the meaning of our faith, the gift God promises inside and outside of pandemics. The crucifix stands above our altars and on the walls of our homes, but we are an Easter people, an Easter church, a resurrection people. God is with us.
  
  I have to remember that as I look around our campus these days, a campus usually vibrantly alive with happy and exuberant young people. To say it seems dead around here is not an overstatement. We will celebrate Easter in the Abbey Church, empty of people. But it will not really be empty. You will be there, in our thoughts, in our prayers and our hearts. We will celebrate this Easter for ourselves and for you, knowing that you will return. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. That’s part of our faith too. God's apparent social distancing motivates us to seek Him more.
  
  HOLY WEEK IN A NEW WAY
  
  The services of Holy Week, both here at Portsmouth and around the globe, have been encountered in a new way this year. The faithful have turned to their video screens to watch them, live-streamed or prerecorded, through spiritual rather than physical communion. Brother Benedict was worked extensively here to make these services available to the extended monastery community. The Mass of the Lord's Supper provided our first live-streamed service, and it was broadcast seamlessly, and may be viewed on the monastery's YouTube channel. The Eucharistic Vigil was held quietly by the monks and a handful of others (the legal limit!) Thursday night, in the absence of students coming in at their dormitories' assigned times. The Good Friday stations on Cross Hill, a devotion consistently held here, led by Brother Joseph and guided by readings of Julian of Norwich, was also presented by video recording. The Good Friday service and the evening Tenebrae were provided live and now reside on YouTube. We turn to the great Easter Vigil, which this message precedes.
  
  Those reading this note, participating in these liturgies or others at a distance, may value remembering Servant of God Rafael Merry del Val's prayer of spiritual communion: "At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself and I offer Thee repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee. Amen." Be assured that this extended spiritual fellowship remains in the prayers of the monastic community.
  Images: Eucharitic Vigil and Stations on Cross Hill

works: service in quarantine

One of the many aspects of life that have had to undergo rethinking during the pandemic is our effort to serve others. Priorities have shifted, opportunities have become restricted, all while community needs have expanded. Pope Francis has called our attention throughout this Holy Week specifically to the theme of service, as our attention is drawn to Christ the Servant. The School would typically be sending students out into the local community in service to the elderly, to young students, to the poor. The monastery would extend hospitality to guests, visit its members in nursing care. Liturgical life would enable us to gather and pray, physically bringing our offerings to the altar, receiving Christ in the host. This month's column on "Works" similarly struggles to express how we may serve at this time. While virtual attendance and spiritual communion provide some remedy, as Dr. Timothy Flanigan, "It is harder to connect... loneliness is an issue." Dr. Flanigan is on the frontline of this crisis, specializing in infectious disease and working in direct care in Providence. He offers some of his perspective for us at his time. We also consider the ypes of community needs now emerging and what we can expect moving forward.

Image: Buses sitting unused in parking lot typically active with day student cars.

reflections during the pandemic

Abbot Matthew Stark at reversed altar

As we have moved from the Lenten desert to the mysteries of the Triduum, our reflections and homilies have reflected the difference in our lives. The seasons of Lent and now of Easter have been encountered against the backdrop of an unexpected and in many ways unprecedented context. Even the visual context of homilies has changed, now presented at the altar with the homilist's back to what would have been the congregation. Themes have tried to capture this backwards world. On Sunday, March 13, Fr. Edward spoke of the emptied holy water dispensers, no handshakes at the sign of peace, and dispensation from attendance at Sunday Mass, directing us to consider an approach then new to many, now quite familiar: "spiritual communion." As the crisis expanded its scope, he drew our attention to prayers to the Blessed Mother. Brother Sixtus was drawn to consider his uncle, who lost his very young life to influenza in 1918. Father Paschal noted how our present situation may connect us to the omnipresence of death and dying in the ancient world at the time of the early church. Father Michael's message for Holy Week spoke of how this crisis "requires of us faith, hope and charity…selfless love modeled on the behavior of Jesus himself." As these reflections have been offered during the season of Lent, may we hope that we see the crisis abate, enabling us to regather our hope and turn our thoughts to the Easter resurrection. You can find ongoing homilies and reflections on our Reflections page.

APR 19-25
- The Paschal Candle.
  
  The Paschal Candle reflects much of the Easter message. The powerful proclamation made while it is being inscribed at the Easter Vigil: “Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him, and all ages; to him be glory and power, through every age and forever. Amen.” The petition while inserting the incense nails: “By his holy and glorious wounds may Christ the Lord guard us and protect us. Amen.” And there is the great hymn, the Exsultet, sung before the candle, highlighting the chant of the Vigil. The U.S. Bishops enumerate several requirements made of the candle: “This candle should be made of wax, never be artificial, be renewed each year, be only one in number, and be of sufficiently large size that it may convey the truth that Christ is the light of the world.” Brother Sixtus Roslevich created the community’s candle to reflect that Light for this year, drawing on the tradition of monks creating their own paschal candles. While this annual renewal can mean creating (or purchasing) one completely anew, the renewal of this year’s paschal candle involved both new materials and recycled ones. “With the country and the world in an almost standstill mode, I felt it was proper for this period of austerity,” Brother Sixtus says. The simplicity of his design does not detract from its beauty. The centering image is the Portsmouth Abbey coat of arms, set against a blue reminiscent of that of St. Louis Priory School, the combination appropriate to our integrated communities. Though its underlying meaning is in fact shaped somewhat by the interests of simplicity: “In fact, it’s …wide painter’s tape from Home Depot!”): Other materials were similarly gathered from what was on hand: recycled “alpha and omega” symbols, the numerals for 2020, and the five red wax incense nails. “The tiny gold beads that outline everything are map pins from the monastic library, originally yellow, but sprayed gold,” Sixtus notes. The product is a unique and effective design capturing a spirit of simplicity and a prayerful devotion. We hope that its light, seen by most now only through their video screens, will still “convey the truth that Christ is the light of the world.”
  
  Portsmouth Institute's Summer Conference Canceled.
  
  The Portsmouth Institute has announced that it is canceling the summer conference scheduled for this June. On Tuesday, April 14, Institute director Chris Fisher sent out the unfortunate news: “Despite our most optimistic hopes, it appears that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to alter American life in the weeks and months ahead. We continue to pray for your health and wellbeing. We also know that we have a personal responsibility to protect you, our faculty and staff, our monks, and the communities in which we all live. To that end, we have made the decision to cancel this year’s in-person summer conference, ‘Incline the Ear of Thy Heart: Rediscovering the Virtues and Practices of the Christian Life,’ scheduled for June 19-21. Instead, we will explore our conference theme in digital format over the weeks and months ahead. Our aim is to offer in new and creative ways the Portsmouth Institute’s signature Benedictine experience of Catholic thought, contemplation, and hospitality that you have come to expect.” The Institute already has made available online programs, and continues to explore and develop those opportunities. One such program was held on Wednesday, April 15, as Margarita Mooney, founder and executive director of the Scala Foundation interviewed Carlo Lancellotti, Professor of Mathematics at College of Staten Island, on the topic, “St. Benedict and Education: Bringing Order Out of Chaos.” Mr. Fisher also pointed to the summer retreat, now to be held “virtually,” on “Benedictine wisdom for living in quarantine” offered by Fr. Augustine Wetta of St. Louis Abbey. Please visit the Portsmouth Institute’s website for updated information on all of its programming.
  
  The Wisdom of Chant
  
  When the monks of Norcia, Saint Benedict’s birthplace in Italy, released an album of chant in 2015, called “Benedicta,” the prior at that time, Cassian Folsom, was asked what he hoped people would take away from hearing the chant. He replied directly: “an experience of serenity and peace, and the calming of agitation.” In this spirit, during this time of great stress in our community and around the world, we turn in this month’s “Wisdom” column to a different sort of wisdom. We might speak of it as embodied wisdom, embedded wisdom: the wisdom inherent in, settled into, the millennia-old practice of chant. Our exploration does not intend to provide a scholarly analysis of chant, nor any profound theological insights into its role in liturgical life. It is merely to call the reader’s attention to the practice, and to direct readers to some recordings that are available, to facilitate listening and appreciation. As Prior Cassian hoped, so too we might hope that, in absorbing some of this song-prayer, we might also discover “serenity and peace,” and encounter its distinctive wisdom. See the "Wisdom" section for more.
- Apr 26 - May 2
  
  notes from the prior
  
  Fom Father Michael, we offer the followng note, to reduce the "social distance":"This term of social distancing is a monastic paradox. On the one hand it makes our monastic life more like what St. Benedict and the early monastic fathers envisioned, a life very much isolated from the world. It's a paradise for introverts. But that has not ever been the life of English Benedictine monasteries, which have operated schools and parishes. So we are living the paradigmatic monastic life, but very much missing the people of God whom we serve. This was particularly felt during the Triduum…no washing of feet, no veneration of the cross, no fire, no Baptisms. We take some comfort that our liturgies are being streamed on our website, and are encouraged by the comments of appreciation we have received from many. Our schedule has remained much the same as before. The only difference is Sunday morning Conventual Mass, which now occurs at 8:30 AM. Of course, there is no Sunday Brunch following, which is a great loss. We seem to be handling this well…so far. Our spirits are good, and judging from our conversations after dinner each evening, perhaps we are being more brotherly to each other than prior to this distancing. We have more time for each other. Although we miss all the students and faculty and the many activities of the school, we now can be attentive to each other. I imagine the same thing is happening in families now confined to their homes. We have been enjoying more Indian food, thanks to culinary efforts of Br. Benedict. We pray every day for oblates, students, faculty and alumni/ae. Most of all we pray for all our health and safety, and a return to normal campus life. We weren't meant to be hermits."
  
  The Monks of Portsmouth - photo taken for the School's "Porch Project"
  
  the communion of beauty
  
  "Vatican News" recently published an article incorporating images from the Vatican Museum's collections with words of the popes. Its intention mirrored that of our "Wisdom" column of last week on chant - to help provide, in the words of Prior Cassian Folsom, "an experience of serenity and peace, and the calming of agitation." The Vatican News piece, "Beauty that Unites," expressed its intention in this way: "Beauty creates communion. It unites onlookers from a distance, uniting past, present and future. Pope Francis has recalled this on a number of occasions. The Church has always translated the universality of the Good News into the language of art. From this premise, this dramatic moment in history characterized by uncertainty and isolation, gives rise to this initiative which is a partnership between the Vatican Museum and Vatican News: Masterpieces from the Vatican Collection accompanied by comments from the words of the popes." Taking our lead from this initiative, we provide in this month's "Church" column some words of the popes, presented together with images from works of art here at Portsmouth. Our hope is that the writings may be illuminated through these art works, whose beauty may inspire the kind of "spiritual communion" the Vatican initiative seeks to cultivate. To read this article, please visit our "Church" column.
  
  Moving a Retreat to the VirtuaL
  
  The Portsmouth Institute offered a retreat directed by Fr. Augustine Wetta O.S.B., a monk of Saint Louis Abbey and a popular retreat leader, moving the event to cyberspace, as dictated by our current circumstances. Its inaugural virtual retreat, Crisis Converted: A Benedictine Guide to Hope, took place over the past week, from April 20-24. Fr. Wetta structured the retreat by topics resonating with the Benedictine tradition: Stability, Obedience, Conversion, Silence, and Death. Known for packing a refreshing sense of humor, Fr. Wetta put a more "upbeat spin" on these more somber sounding themes, setting them in the context of Christian Hope, in an effort to sanctify this time of quarantine. His reflection on stability:"We're All Monks Now. You can spend this time 'looking over the wall'…or you can start our own novitiate." Obedience: "Is your family really that annoying, or are you committing the fundamental attribution error?" Conversion, silence, and death all looked for the silver lining: "Are these the End Times? Of course they are. Might as well enjoy them."; "We're all stuck with nothing to do. Thank God!"; "Death: The End. Literally. And that's a good thing." Fr. Augustine, a Senior Fellow of the Portsmouth Institute, provided single 15 minute video reflections on each topic, delivered via email at 9:00 a.m. each day. As of this writing, the video sessions have been attended by over 1000 participants, and remain available on YouTube.