Mon Vol. 1, No. 4 MonksOK From Abbot Lawrence W i t h this final journey to the church with our All Souls Day, dedicated to prayer for the these words, confrere to celebrate the funeral Mass. Burial deceased who now experience the cleansing Pope Paul VI takes place after Mass in the Abbey Cemetery. of Purgatory. Throughout the month we join summarized Members of the community prepare the with the entire Church to intercede for our the teaching grave, lower the casket, and complete the beloved departed. of the Catholic burial along with family members and friends. C h u r c h All of these gestures are corporal works of This year, our special annual visit to the regarding the mercy performed for our brother monk. Abbey Cemetery will take place on November Communion of 5. The schedule of the liturgy for the day is Saints and the Along with the liturgy, we remember our printed on the front cover of this issue of relationship confrere at our meals for thirty days by keeping MonksOK! We invite you to join us for any or that exists a crucifix and two candles at his normal place all of the liturgies and commemorations on between all those who are united in Jesus at table. We remember all our deceased that day. Christ – a relationship which death does not confreres throughout the year by reading a destroy. Founded on the testimony of Sacred short biography of each on their anniversaries We also invite you to share with us the Scripture and handed down to us through the of death. In doing so we not only remember names of persons you would like us to pray unbroken tradition of the Church, our belief them in prayer, but we also continue to be for in a special way during November. You can in the Mystical Body of Christ provides great inspired by the witness of their lives. Finally, send us these names in the envelope included comfort to us when we experience grief at the during the first week of November we make a with this issue of MonksOK!, or by submitting death of a loved one and fills us with hope special visit to the Abbey Cemetery in order your prayer request through our website. We as we long to be reunited in to pray for our deceased confreres. Through will keep all names submitted at the altar in Christ with all those who the Abbey Church through November. have gone before us on the "We believe in journey of faith. the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being In his Rule, St. Benedict admonishes purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming I am happy to extend monks to “keep death daily before their one Church; and we believe that in this communion, congratulations to Fr. Charles Buckley, eyes.” This is not meant to overwhelm the merciful love of God and his saints is always OSB, who was appointed on August the monks with a sense of fear or dread [attentive] to our prayers.” (Pope Paul VI, 4 as Acting President of St. Gregory's or gloom. Rather, such awareness of our Creed of the People of God) University, following the retirement of mortality helps us to keep a proper perspective David Wagie, Ph.D., who had served as on life in this world, using the opportunities of president for 2½ years. You can read more this life in order to prepare well for the fullness of these customs we express about Fr. Charles B. – as well as Fr. Charles life promised by the Lord for those who love him our belief in the Mystical Body of Christ M. – on page four. Fr. Charles B. will serve as (cf. 1 Cor 2:9). and affirm that the bonds of our monastic president until the SGU Board of Directors community extend beyond this life and into makes a more permanent appointment. We Our monastery customs for honoring and eternal life promised by our Lord. ask for your prayerful assistance as we go remembering our deceased confreres express about this important task of appointing the beautifully our communal life. We begin by This holds true, of course, for all Christian next president of our university mission and tolling one of our church bells immediately people. Our belief in the Mystical Body of community. upon the death of a monk, whose passing Christ inspires us to invoke the intercession then is announced solemnly at the next of the saints and moves us to pray for our scheduled celebration of the Divine Office. deceased loved ones to assist them in entering Once preparations are made, the community into heaven. The Second Vatican Council Late in August, Br. Andrew received a welcomes the body of our deceased confrere reaffirmed this practice in the Dogmatic shipment of starts for the hundreds of back to the monastery to lie in state so that the Constitution on the Church. We read: poinsettia plants which he will cultivate in monks, family and friends of the community our greenhouse. Yes, our attention is already can pray for the deceased throughout the day In full consciousness of this communion turning to preparations for Advent and the and with the Office for the Dead. of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, celebration of Christmas. As you make plans the Church in its pilgrim members, from the for the holidays, know that you are welcome Our funeral liturgies are very simple and for very earliest days of the Christian religion, has to join us for the Divine Office and Mass at music we use the ancient texts and melodies honored with great respect the memory of the the Abbey. Our schedule for Christmas will of Gregorian chant. We process with the casket dead; and ‘because it is a holy and a wholesome be listed on the back cover of this issue of down the same hallway used for our daily thought to pray for the dead that they be loosed MonksOK! processions from the monastery to the church from their sins’ she offers her suffrages for them.” for the Divine Office and Mass. We sing (Lumen Gentium 50; cf. 2 Mac 12:45). the Litany of the Saints while making We are mindful of this Communion of Saints especially during the month On The Cover: Black and White of November. On November 1st we Image of the Cross in the Abbey celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, Cemetery. and on November 2nd we observe MonksOK Summer/Fall 2009 2 Vol. 1, No. 4 MonksOK The Relic Chapel The word “relic” comes from the Latin “reliquiae” meaning "remains". Relics are classified in three categories. First-Class Relics are parts of the bodies of saints or instruments of the Passion, like fragments of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Second-Class Relics are objects which have been in close contact with a saint, such as articles of clothing or personal items. Third-Class Relics are objects that have been touched to the body of a saint or to either first or second class relics. In the Old Testament, the miraculous relics of the prophet Elisha are mentioned in 2 Kings 13:20-21. In the New Testament, Acts 19:11-12, mention is made of cloths being touched to the hands of the Apostle Paul. God has often shown His approval of the use of relics as sacramentals by working miracles through them. Relics deserve to be venerated. The bodies of the Saints were temples of the Holy Spirit and instruments through which God worked. We honor relics by preserving them with reverence, visiting the places where they are enshrined, and praying before them, asking some particular saint’s intercession in our behalf or that of another. Throughout many years relics have been obtained by individual monks of both Sacred Heart Abbey and St. Gregory’s Abbey, and through donations. The Relic Chapel in the Abbey Church was established in 1994, and has approximately 244 relics on display. After the death on August 28, 1993, of Rev. Conrad Betzen, O.S.B., a monk of St. Gregory’s Abbey, members of his family inquired about establishing a memorial in his honor. After some discussion, it was decided to build cabinets to display our collection of relics in one of the side chapels of the Abbey Church in memory of Fr. Conrad, O.S.B. The Abbey Church is open for visitors daily from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. All are welcome to visit and to pray in the Abbey Church. After sixty nine years, the old slate roof of the abbey church needed to be replaced. The roofing job was done by Preferred Roofing & Construction Co. of Yukon, OK. We are grateful to Bill Feland of Preferred for his generous gift in-kind of a portion of the roofing materials. 3 MonksOK Summer/Fall 2009 Vol. 1, No. 4 MonksOK Meet the Monks: Father Charles (Damian) Massoth, O.S.B., served as the eighth abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey. He was born in Piqua, KS. He came to St. Gregory’s Abbey after serving in the US Navy during World War II and made profession of vows as a monk of St. Gregory’s Abbey on Feb. 25, 1946. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 7, 1951. Having completed a master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma, Fr. Charles served in a variety of positions in the abbey, high school and college, including Business Manager, Dean of Admissions and Records, Registrar and as an Instructor of Business courses at both the high school and college level.