Br. Sixtus Roslevich leading the recession at the Abbatial Blessing

The number of Portsmouth Oblates attending the Mass of the Blessing of Abbot Michael Brunner by Bishop Thomas Tobin on Saturday, May 7, did not go unnoticed. It was an historic event on many levels and it was important that so many close friends of the monastic community were able to join in the celebration along with the students of Portsmouth Abbey School, the men and women religious of the diocese seated in the choir area, visiting Benedictine monks from throughout New England, plus the angelic voices of the choir of St. Mary’s Church in Newport. After some typical travel delays, members of Abbot Michael’s family were able to arrive in time for the liturgies and the festivities. The other two American houses of the English Benedictine Congregation were represented. Abbot Gregory Mohrman of Saint Louis Abbey was a concelebrant at the morning Mass, as was Fr. Gabriel Myers of Saint Anselm Abbey in Washington, D.C. He represented Abbot James Wiseman who unfortunately experienced his own atypical travel delays in getting home from England. Following the Mass, attendees partook of midday refreshments: the students in the Stillman Dining Hall and the other guests in the Winter Garden reception area. The day’s events were well-covered the following week in the RI Catholic newspaper and further details may be found on their website. 

 

 

Abbot Gregory Mohrman reading the Gospel at the Mass of Blessing

A recent e-mail which I sent to oblates included some details about another upcoming event which may be reason enough to pay a visit to Portsmouth Abbey. Chris Fisher, Executive Director of the Portsmouth Institute for Faith and Culture, has always been generous in inviting our oblates to their various seminars and lectures, both the main gathering held annually in June as well as various other events that have begun to increasingly populate the Institute’s calendar. A special invitation will be in the mail soon to you for the annual summer conference which is now being rebranded as the Humanitas Summer Symposium, to be held on Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11. The overarching theme of this year’s new venture is “The Blessings of Liberty” and the Institute’s partners are the Portsmouth Abbey School Department of Humanities, the Humanities Program at Providence College, and Cluny Media.  The advance press materials stress that no academic experience is required, but simply a “love of learning and desire for God.” The two-day event will begin with dinner Friday evening and the keynote lecture will be delivered by Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, speaking on Liberty in the Christian Tradition. Three seminars will be held throughout Saturday: Liberty and the Soul, Liberty and the City, and Liberty and the Church. Following the third seminar, a panel discussion led by James Keating, Securing the Blessings of Liberty, will wrap up the afternoon. At 5:00 p.m., Bishop Conley will celebrate the Vigil Mass of Most Holy Trinity Sunday in the Abbey Church for participants and for others in the area who may have been unable to attend the day’s seminars.  This will be the Monks’ Conventual Mass for Sunday. 

 

 

Bishop James Conley, keynote speaker of the Humanitas Symposium

At the same time that the Symposium is taking place on Saturday, the monks will be simultaneously hosting the annual Gathering Picnic for all the religious of the Diocese of Providence elsewhere on campus in the monastic garden. Canceled for the past two years, it is our pleasure to finally be able to bring the consecrated men and women together at Portsmouth. They will attend an 11:00 a.m. Mass in the Abbey Church to be celebrated by Abbot Matthew Stark, to which everyone is invited. This event is being organized by Sr. Elizabeth Castro, H.M.S.P., who heads the Office for Religious in Providence. My participation on her office’s Council for Religious has been a great blessing in being able to share our time and treasure for the benefit of the diocese in general and of the other diocesan religious communities in particular. 

We were happy to see that several oblates of Portsmouth accepted the invitation of Dr. Tim Flanigan, deacon at the parishes of St. Theresa and St. Christopher in Tiverton RI, to join in the Divine Mercy Pilgrimage of Saturday, May 21. Transportation to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, home of the National Shrine of Divine Mercy, was included in the pilgrimage package. Also joining the pilgrimage from the monastic community were Fr. Andrew Senay of Saint Louis Abbey and Postulant Michael Vento. 

 

 

Abbot Michael and Brother Sixtus confer on Preparatory Rite of Simple Profession for Br. Basil

Once again, to follow on an earlier message to oblates, I would like everyone to know of the death on May 4 of longtime friend and Portsmouth oblate, the Rev. John R. Neilson, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Episcopal Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Masses were offered for him here at the Abbey, and the Burial Office and the Liturgy in Celebration of his life were offered on May 13, at All Saints. He is survived by his wife, Sandy, of 59 years. Upon hearing of his passing, oblate Wayne Sheridan, now living in Savannah GA with his wife, Sandy, wrote to say that, “Reverend John was always a ‘boon companion’ when we were with him at oblate events. He will be missed. May he rest in peace, indeed.” 

From July 11-21, if all goes well, Abbot Michael and I shall be attending the EBC’s General Chapter meetings at historic Buckfast Abbey in southwest England. Like so many other events, that gathering had been postponed due to Covid restrictions and travel limitations, but we are all anxious to get on with the important business at hand. If life in this country returns to anything resembling normalcy later this summer, it’s possible that we could reconvene for a Day of Recollection in mid-to-late August, with a Renewal of Promises on the agenda. Stay tuned! Thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes. Be assured of ours in return for you and your families. God bless.