Saint Andrew Vocation Newsletter February, 2016 Lenten Weekend Retreat Coming March 4-6

“We urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times.” (Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 49) As Lent 2016 approaches its midpoint with the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), past vocation visitors to the abbey especially those who have never made a “Living with Benedict” weekend are encouraged to take a break from their usual routine and come to the abbey.

Reserve a room today with Fr. Finbar at 216-721- 5300, ext. 273 or at [email protected]. The retreat will focus on elements of the Benedictine approach to Lent including Lectio Divina, self-denial, and contrite prayer. In addition to conferences, there will be time set aside for evening Eucharistic adoration, periods of silence for personal prayer, and participation in the community’s Liturgy of the Hours.

Monasteries are popular destinations for Lenten pilgrims. Over the weekend of February 19-21, six students from neighboring Case Western Reserve University reserved our abbey’s guest rooms for a private retreat. Likewise, a number of clergy and lay guests have also made reservations to use the guest rooms for a private retreats before Easter.

Monks Carry Lenten Messages to Parishes in the Diocese

With the arrival of Ash Wednesday earlier this month, a number of abbey monks were invited to give Lenten and Eucharistic conferences and devotions in parishes around the Diocese of Cleveland. Benedictine High School president Fr. Michael Brunovsky, OSB gave a three night Lenten mission at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Parma leading up to Ash Wednesday. During that same three night period of February 7-9, BHS president Fr. Gerard Gonda, OSB preached a similar Lenten mission at St. Anthony’s Parish in Akron. On the following Sunday, February 14, BHS Latin and Greek teacher Fr. Bede Kotlinski, OSB gave the homily for St. Anthony’s Parish Eucharistic Devotions. Retired Clement Zeleznik, OSB, chaplain at Loyola Retreat House in Clinton, Ohio, which is sponsored by our abbey, presented a Day of Prayer and Reflection for Priests on February 3 and will conduct another retreat day for priests there on March 2. Fr. Gerard will preach a Palm Sunday weekend retreat for lay men and women at Loyola Retreat House on the theme of the Paschal Mystery entitled “Thorns to Lilies.”

Deacon Thomas Prepares for Ordination with Holy Land Trip

Abbey seminarian and deacon Brother Thomas Sanders, OSB, joyfully announced that he will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, May 14, at 10:00 AM in the Abbey Church by confrere Bishop Roger Gries, OSB, retired auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. “Father Thomas” will then celebrate his First Holy Mass at his home parish of St. Thomas the Apostle in Sheffield Lake, Ohio on Sunday, May 15, tentatively scheduled for 3:00 P.M. All former “Living with Benedict” weekend retreatants or those who have made private vocation retreats at the abbey are welcomed to attend these events.

During his final year of theological studies at Saint Vincent’s Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Deacon Thomas has served on weekends at Saint Benedict’s Parish in Carrolltown, Pennsylvania. He has experienced preaching and baptisms among other parish activities. The parish is under the administration of monks from Saint Vincent’s Archabbey Deacon Thomas after a Baptism at St. Benedict’s Church However, Deacon Thomas will soon have a very special preparation for his ordination as he travels to the Holy Land with fellow seminarians from Latrobe. From February 26 to March 6, Deacon Thomas with seminarians and faculty members will experience these holy locations in Israel: the house of Simon the Tanner in Jaffa, Herod’s palace at Caesarea Maritima, Mt. Carmel, the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Chorazin, Caesarea Philippi, the Fortress of Nimrod, Bethsaida, Kursi, Haifa, the site of Armageddon, Mt. Tabor, Nazareth, Cana, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum. Jericho, Bethany, Herodion, Bethlehem, , the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, the Via Dolorosa, the Holy Sepulcher, Yad Va Shem, the Dead Sea, Qumran, and Masada.

Although the Franciscans have been the official custodians of the Holy Land Shrines for over 800 years, the Benedictine monks are responsible for the Church of the Dormition on the traditional site of the place where Mary, the Mother of Jesus, ended her life, not dying, but “falling asleep” as her body and soul were assumed into heaven. In the early 5th century, a Byzantine called Hagia Sion was built on this site. It was destroyed in 614 AD. A new church was built in the 12th century with a of the Order of Our Lady of Mount , which later merged with the Jesuits. That church was destroyed in the 13th century. It wasn’t until 1898 when Kaiser Wilhelm of bought the property that a new church was planned. The current church was dedicated in 1910 and it was given to the care of Benedictine Monks from the abbey of Beuron in Germany (See photo at left of current Benedictine monks praying vespers at the Abbey of the Dormition.) Since 1973 the Abbey of the Dormition has been hosting an ecumenical year of study for very good theological students from Europe. Fr. Placid is now the Oldest Monk in our Congregation

With the death of Fr. Damian DuQuesnay, OSB of St. Leo’s Abbey in Florida on May 8, 2015, our Fr. Placid Pientek, OSB, assumed the honor of being the oldest of the 721 Benedictine monks of the American- Cassinese Congregation. Fr. Placid was born on July 26, 1918 (two days after Fr. Damian was born) and will celebrate his 98th birthday this summer. He is also the longest professed monk of the American-Cassinese Congregation being the only monk in the Congregation to have professed his vows before 1940. Fr. Placid’s first profession of vows was on July 11, 1939 (77 years of Benedictine monastic life). Finally, he is also the longest ordained monk in the Congregation. He was ordained a priest on September 23, 1944 (71 years as a priest). Two monks of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, Fr. Fintan Bromenshenkel, OSB and Fr. Magnus Wenninger, OSB were both professed on July 11, 1940 and ordained on September 2, 1945.

Fr. Placid was born in New York City and enrolled as a boarding student at Benedictine High School in the fall of 1932. Aside from the first two years of college he spent at St. Procopius College in Lisle, Illinois (1936-38), the year of novitiate he spent at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas (1938-1939), and the two years that he studied monastic formation at St. Anselmo, the International Benedictine College in , Italy (1952-54), he has certainly lived his Benedictine vow of stability by living 77 years (including his four years of high school) on the current abbey property. Fr. Placid is also the oldest living alumnus of Benedictine High School having graduated in 1936.

He served as a teacher of Latin and religion at the high school and also coached tennis, but for most of his many active years he served in administrative positions as business manager of the abbey and high school and athletic director. In the monastery he also was the novice master for a number of current monks including Bishop Roger Gries, OSB. Fr. Placid resides at Regina Health Center in Richfield, Ohio along with former Abbot Christopher, Bro. Joseph, Fr. Joachim, and Fr. Dominic.

We hear that …. Bro. Mario has been taking classes and serving as an intern in the pastoral ministry department of the Veterans Administration Hospital in University Circle…..Bro. Nicholas has been hired to work with the Diocesan Food Program that provides lunches for students at Benedictine High School……Bro. Philip is working with BHS students interested in pre-engineering with the assistance of Volunteer Coordinator, Mrs. Yvonne Schiffer. One aspect of the program consists of project challenges using the laser cutter in the abbey basement……..Bro. Gabriel and Bro. Peter traveled to Toronto, Canada over the holidays to attend the wedding of Bro. Gabriel’s godson …….. Bouncing back from sick bay, Prior Timothy produced an excellent drama in the high school titled, Whose Life is it Anyway? which dealt with the complex moral issue of the use of ordinary and extraordinary means of life support….He also bounced back to take the Ski Club for its January outing…..Fr. Anselm has been hired as a part-time member of the campus ministry program at Notre Dame College of Ohio located in South Euclid. He still remains on the high school staff as a theology teacher and assistant in campus ministry.

Monks enjoy the holidays with friends, benefactors

Time moves quickly between Thanksgiving and Christmas for most families, but especially for the Benedictine family of Saint Andrew Abbey and Benedictine High School. There are many holiday parties and socials as well as requests for special ministry like confessions during Advent. Once again this year, the abbey had its Thanksgiving festive dinner on Wednesday evening before the holiday. With no meetings or liturgies to cover, almost the entire community gathered for vespers, snacks, a great meal, a game of “Famous Catholics” on powerpoint, and movie about the early martyr St. Polycarp.

The Advancement Office for the abbey and high school organized a very successful Christmas Appreciation Night for donors on Thursday, December 10 which took place in the monastery calefactory and dining room complete with a long table of various holiday dishes and snacks. The monks welcomed these donors to an area of the abbey many had never visited. Joining the monks (and Fr. Michael) on Thanksgiving Eve Although there wasn’t any snow, the were (l-r): Paul Gnatowski, Bill Mortensen, Dave Majewski, Abbey Christmas Eve Mass at 10 PM drew Ken DiLorenzo, Dustin Wimberley, and Dan Fuerst. just about a full Church who heard Deacon Thomas preach with Abbot Gary as the main celebrant. As always, the abbot invited the guests over the BHS cafeteria for a late night holiday snack. Relatives of some of the monks regularly attend this special Mass. However, the monastery uses the full liturgical season of Christmas (which ends with the feast of the Baptism of Jesus) to continue the celebration. For the first time, the annual Abbey Christmas Gift Exchange took place at Regina Health Center in Richfield on January 6, 2016 so that our sick and retired confreres could participate. The evening began with vespers, then supper was served, the names were pulled for random wrapped gifts, and the evening ended with the singing of familiar Christmas Carols. Because of the proximity of Assumption Parish in Broadview Heights, confreres Fr. Justin Monks pray vespers before the gift exchange at Regina Center and Fr. Kenneth were also present.