Celebrating 90 Years of Monastic Life. 1927-2017
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LENSTAL ABBEY CHRONICLE Celebrating 90 years of GLENSTAL ABBEY monastic life. Murroe, Co Limerick www.glenstal.org 1927-2017 www.glenstal.com (061)621000 S T A Y I N TOUCH WITH G L E N S T A L ABBEY If you would like to receive emails from Glenstal about events and other goings on please join our email list on our website. You can decide what type of emails you will receive and can change this at any stage. Your data will not be used for any other purpose. 1 | P a g e CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF MONASTIC LIFE 1 9 2 7 - 2 0 1 7 Welcome Contents On the 90th anniversary of our foundation it is our pleasure to share Where in the World…… page 3 with you, friends, benefactors, Oblates at Glenstal….. page 6 parents, students, colleagues and School Choir…………… page 8 visitors, something of the variety and richness of life here in Glenstal Out of Africa…………… page 10 Abbey. In the pages of this My Year in Glenstal Chronicle we hope to bring alive and UL…………………… page 13 the place which we are privileged Glenstal Abbey Farm… page 14 to call home. Thinking of Monastic Life……………………….. page 15 We have come a very long Life as a Novice……….. page 15 way from those early days when the first Belgian monks arrived here Malartú Daltaí le back in 1927. What has been Scoileanna thar Lear…. page 18 achieved is thanks in no small Guest House……………. page 19 measure to the kindness and Retreat Days……………. page 19 generosity of so many. The monastic Oak Jubilee…………….. page 21 community are profoundly grateful for all the blessings we have Glenstal Forest…………. page 22 received and for this we give thanks Fr David RIP……………... page 22 to God. Abbey Church…………. page 23 Ordination………………. page 24 Brendan Coffey OSB Cardinal Schönborn…... page 25 Abbot of Glenstal School News……………. page 25 Looking Towards Our Centenary…………. page 26 2 | P a g e CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF MONASTIC LIFE 1 9 2 7 - 2 0 1 7 Where in the World Fr Denis Br Emmaus Br Jarek Sant’Anselmo, Rome St Benet’s, Oxford I spent the past Academic The process of application, Year in Sant' Anselmo which St Michael’s, Toronto which took place last year is located on the Aventine Hill was very long and required in Rome and where legend a lot of detail. However, all has it that Remus was One of the aspects that went well and last banished following a row impressed me most about September I embarked with his brother Romulus. studying at the University of St upon my first journey from Amongst other things the Michael’s College in Toronto Glenstal to Oxford. The Aventine claims the oldest is the emphasis it places on community here generously usable street in Rome. Sant' the inter-relational dynamic decided to send me to the Anselmo is the seat of the of theology. It’s a fitting university in this picturesque Abbot Primate of the approach for a college town so that I might pursue Federation of the Black located in a city known for its further studies in the thought Monks which includes all cultural diversity, friendliness, of Early Christianity. My monks and nuns under the optimism and wide range of course is one of Rule of St Benedict, except religious traditions. Exploring postgraduate studies in the the Cistercians and the Catholic theology in such an theology of the Fathers of Trappists. The Abbot Primate, ecumenical setting has had the Church. The beginnings Gregory Polan is the only a significant impact on my of my time in England were monk whose stability is in interest in the theological rather exciting. The Sant' Anselmo. Monks from all architecture in Oxford is over the world stay here stunning. Moreover, while studying for their everywhere you go here various degrees, licentiates you can meet and doctorates. There were accomplished professors. 85 monks and clerics resident Yet the main reason why I 3 | P a g e CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF MONASTIC LIFE 1 9 2 7 - 2 0 1 7 Where in the World Fr Denis Br Emmaus Br Jarek for the past year and all lived significance of art, began to feel at home here the daily monastic routine. particularly in regards to was because of the place I Sant' Anselmo hosts the learning how sacred art live: St Benet’s Hall. This is a Pontificio Ateneo, including relates to ecclesial and moral small college owned by the the Pontifical Liturgical imaginaries as part of a Abbey of Ampleforth, Institute as well as Philosophy broader present day social Yorkshire. Two senior monks and Theology faculties. imaginary by and through live here on a permanent Because I am not proficient which Roman Catholics live. basis. Thanks to their in Italian I attended classes By working on a series of presence the daily taught in English in the paintings when not attending Benedictine office is prayed Angelicum, a renowned courses, especially during this in the chapel. At the end of Dominican University which last year as artist in residence the day there are just three has St John Paul II as one of with the Dominican Institute of us, but as the Lord himself its alumni. Fr Paul Murray OP, of Toronto (with whom I said: ‘When two or three are an old friend of Glenstal, was board during semester), I gathered in my name, I am one of my Professors and have been able to add a there among them’ probably had the most practical dimension to my popular lectures in the coursework. In identifying the University. Never an empty significance art plays as a seat. Each day on my way to means of mediating the Angelicum I walked past meaning, my studies have the Circus Maximus, the more recently focused on the Palatine, the Colloseum, the disconnect between sacred Forum and Trajan's Column. art in churches today and a As one with a keen interest in post- conciliar liturgy that Classical Roman history I reflects Vatican II’s emphasis never tired of these amazing places. Rome can be the best and the worst of cities. I cycled quite a lot and neither the crazy drivers, the scooters nor the potholes deterred me. 4 | P a g e CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF MONASTIC LIFE 1 9 2 7 - 2 0 1 7 Where in the World Fr Denis Br Emmaus Br Jarek After a while you learn a sort on the contextual and In terms of my studies the of code in traffic which once historical. Overall, my system is based on you adhere to makes sense. experience in Toronto has research. I attended some Rome is a fascinating place been a formative one. lectures on Greek and and despite all its frustrations Syriac and a tutorial every is one that is hard not to get week. You have got to very fond of. prepare an essay every Ciao ciao week of the eight week term, then you meet your tutor in his office and read out what you have written. Then comes the icing on the cake, you have to defend the arguments you put into your piece of writing. This kind of work is quite demanding, and at the same time it can be very fruitful. The breaks between the terms are far from vacation times as far as Oxford is concerned. To be ready for the next stage of your time here you have to work hard already…in advance. As I was about to leave for Ireland at Easter I was asked by one the dons: ‘I presume you have got a list of reading for the break?’ 5 | P a g e CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF MONASTIC LIFE 1 9 2 7 - 2 0 1 7 OBLATES AT GLENSTAL ABBEY St Benedict wrote his little rule as a beginners' guide to holiness for those who wish to live under the authority of an abbot within a monastery. If you look at the shelves of many a monastery bookshop you will however find an increasing number of books written for those who take inspiration from St Benedict without taking the habit or the veil. Authors have shown that the wisdom of St Benedict can be applied anywhere from business management to sport to family life. Oblates are people who go one stage further and actually formalise their regard for St Benedict by forging a permanent spiritual bond with a particular monastery. This approach is not for everyone; there are those who benefit more from a freer approach, taking a dose of Benedictine spirituality now and then as needed, and freely looking elsewhere for spiritual nourishment as well. If one were to describe an Oblate it might be best to say what an oblate is not. Oblates do not take vows or make solemn profession like monks or nuns. For married Oblates the vows made at their wedding take precedence over any Benedictine undertakings; indeed one could say that for every Oblate the obligations of family and of justice and charity in daily life outrank any Benedictine considerations of a spiritual nature. Oblates live out their baptismal vocation like everyone else, but look to the Benedictine tradition for wisdom and support in this undertaking. Oblates don't remove themselves from parish life but bring a Benedictine dimension to their commitments within the local Church. How does this work in practice? It varies from monastery to monastery, but the paragraphs which follow outline something of what happens at Glenstal Abbey.