Editor's Note

October 23, 2024

The feast of All Saints is the only feast day that, in a way, casts a shadow. It is a great day of illumination, as the sanctity of all time is heralded and celebrated. If, as Thérèse of Lisieux hoped for herself, saints in heaven are dedicated to doing good on earth, this feast day can only bring us tremendous hope, with all those helpers scattered across the ages. It casts its shadow, then, on the following day, which we call a “commemoration” – of all those who have died, those of the “church militant,” our own church that still struggles to hear and to accept all of that heavenly assistance. In this issue, we hear some of the voices, of those whose sanctity has been canonized as well as of those still with us here below. Fr. Paschal explores the message of Pope Saint John XXIII. Br. Sixtus recalls the voices of friends, living and dead, that have been woven into his own experience. The Portsmouth Institute continues its work to make available more voices that may add to our insight and edification. If we recall that famous directive of Benedict’s Rule, to “listen,” may we realize more fully this week the breadth and depth of the Voice that speaks to us through all these voices.

Pax,
Blake Billings

October 16, 2024

With a blast email sent out on the spot at 7:19pm, October 10, by Brother Joseph Byron, message title “Northern lights”, the local Abbey community was directed simply to “Go look outside”. (No time for punctuation) I was on duty in the School library, but like Abraham directly followed his command. And, like Abraham, I was rewarded. Some of the parents visiting for the evening reception that Thursday did not need to get the memo, as they were already on the plaza north of the Winter Garden. Not a bad GPS location for viewing. Many of us captured images of the photogenic sight – thank you, parent Michael O’Hara, for the cover photo. While this may be pushing it, the directive to “Go look outside” may well capture key themes in all three of our articles this week. Br. Sixtus, in determining the parameters of our oblate community, sometimes needs to “go look outside” of our own “village” to get the full information. And do we not learn from Abbot Michael that to discern wisdom, we are called to “go look outside” our own worldly values or limitations and to measure ourselves somehow by God’s own wisdom? And in encountering the boathouse, we should take a stroll and “go look outside,” across the grounds and down to our beautiful shore where we will see it, “the cherry” Upjohn placed on the top of his designs for this property. Whether you, dear reader, are within walking distance of our shore or in some “village” far away, maybe Br. Joseph’s commandment offers advice that is worth considering.

Pax,
Blake Billings

October 9, 2024

Our issue this week has been drawn to the notion of “vocations.” My own personal experience of faith has more often revolved around “location” than “vocation.” If “vocation” entails a vivid clarity concerning the path of my life, this has most often eluded me. My vocation experience has been more along the lines of Newman’s Kindly Light: “one step enough for me” – whether I liked it or not. I have more often found myself in a place, and then begun to find myself, so to speak. It is rare encouragement to hear, as we do with the talk by JP Devaney in this issue, such a clear and specific vision of a life’s vocation, at any age. Perhaps we should also speak of vocation when reading of Eileen McGuire. I first encountered Eileen when I was a student here in the 1970’s, contemporaneous with her sons. She remained a steady presence in this community through much of my professional life here. Yet I was unaware of her “avocation” for painting, as Brother Sixtus reports in this issue. Nor did I ever have opportunity to discuss with her what her sense of her own vocation might be. But it does seem clear that her vocation revolved around this location, and her stability of life here made possible a profound engagement in this community. Whether consciously decided in advance, or learned in retrospect through a life well-lived, this seems as clear evidence as any of an authentic vocation. I do share with Eileen as with JP the experience here of a location and a community that has left an enduring impact on me. And with our Director of Vocations, Br. Sixtus, let us pray that more and more find the vocation to come to share in that experience.

Pax,
Blake Billings

October 3, 2024

We seem to find in this week’s The Current a striking example affirming the “Galloping Time” treated in Daniel Sargent’s talk, republished from the Portsmouth Bulletin of Winter 1974. A curious coincidence of time arises when we realize that the Dom Luke Childs lecture we also report on this week was given by Paul Speer of the class of 1974. This presents the coincidence that Dr. Speer was a himself student at the School and we assume present in the audience when Daniel Sargent gave his talk, in September of 1973. Our Archives meet our present day! This intertwining of past and present should not surprise – we have, after all, also included a homily that firmly links our present experience to the religious life of ancient Israel, telescoping back well more than three millennia to discover prophets arising in the midst of Israel’s community life. Moses makes the plea that “all the people of God” should so speak prophetically – then and now, Abbot Michael proposes. And the demons of Mark’s Gospel, he suggests, still insinuate themselves into our lives in many ways, putting their own will over that of God. The beat goes on: our present continues to encounter our past and time seems to gallop, across reunions and generations and over the ages.

Pax,
Blake Billings

September 25, 2024

Abbot Matthew’s discussion of Merleau-Ponty’s theme of being “condemned to meaning” caught my eye, as it seems to have caught the ear of parents when it was first delivered in the early 1970’s, and it seems an appropriate way to kick off our “Voices of the Monastery” series. My own philosophical training came largely in Europe, amidst an intellectual culture impacted greatly by phenomenology and existentialism. I was familiar with Sartre’s discussion of our being “condemned to freedom” – apparently a lot of condemnation in the air amongst the French existentialists. Discovering Abbot Matthew’s text was for me a bit of a refresher, not only for ideas of Merleau-Ponty, but of the impression made on me as a student here in the 1970’s by the monastic community. Having arrived at the School a cynical and sophomoric Fourth Former, the thoughtful, prayerful, and humble intellectualism I discovered amongst the monks here left an impression. The whole God question, the entire notion of religious experience, moved into new territory. Fr. Gregory’s thoughtful homily in this issue, on the opening of God’s grace, provides evidence that such a culture of the intellect remains in place here. And even as we uncover old altars or re-cover liturgical chairs, we seem to rediscover physical and liturgical links to our previous incarnations and a continuity in our religious life. Let us hope that, in all of this, we continue to discern that meaningful voice who speaks to us not of condemnation but of salvation.

Pax,
Blake Billings