Situated amidst pasture land and forest in the eastern reaches of County Meath in Ireland, Silver- stream Priory is an autonomous In cœnaculO Benedictine monastery of diocesan right committed to ceaseless prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in a spirit of repara- SILVERSTREAM PRIORY tion and intercession for priests. Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration JULY 2018 — NO. 2 (16) Dear Oblates, Friends, & Benefactors, there seems to come into focus. The immo- aschaltide, ascensiontide, lated Lamb who, at Knock, stood upon the and Pentecost 2018 opened altar of the Holy Sacrifice, having the Cross onto the lyrical beauty and above Him and the Angels of the Thrice–Holy sunshine of the feasts of Cor- Hymn in a movement of adoration all about pus Christi and the Sacred Him, draws Ireland to Himself. And I, if I be Heart. This year, for the Corpus lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to p Christi procession, we took a Myself (John 12:32). new route through our enchanting woodland On Monday, 18 June, Father Subprior path. Summer is already upon us. Work on and D. Finnian travelled to the cathedral in nine new cells is underway; the long–awaited Mullingar to represent Silverstream at the construction of the new church is imminent. announcement of the appointment of the Together with the Catholic faithful all over new bishop of the Diocese of Meath: The Ireland, the community prayed and fasted in Very Reverend Canon Thomas Deenihan of preparation for the referendum of Friday, 25 the Diocese of Cork and Ross. At the same May 2018. Tragically, the majority of Irish vot- time, they expressed our heartfelt gratitude ers supported the repeal of the amendment to the Most Reverend Dr Michael Smith, who safeguarding the life of the unborn. Our sorrow has been to us the best of fathers and the was immense, but the monastery’s daily round most solicitous of shepherds. of prayer continues as a kind of mystic heart- Silverstream Priory’s growing Benedictine beat that, in its own way, testifies to the sacred- family is profoundly grateful for the prayers, ness of life in every season and at every hour. sacrifices, and support of all of you who are As we approach the 140th anniversary of making it possible for us to abide always in the the events at Knock (1879–2019), the myste- temple, praising and blessing God. Amen (Luke rious significance of the heavenly icon shown 24:53).—Father Prior University of Michigan in the United States of America? There, in a kind of exile, far from your beloved family, God’s providence sent friends into your life, mere men to be sure, but chosen instruments in His hands. There Our Lord began to speak to your heart, drawing you to Himself in the Sacrament of His Love. In January 2017, you wrote to me: Some weeks ago a good friend named Mr Gryniewicz made a comment on the book In Sinu Jesu. Thus, I decided to buy it and started reading it. Not long after I began the book, I had a strong attraction to continue reading it, yet I did not want it to end. I love the book and have a deep- er desire to spend more time before the Blessed Sacrament. It is hard to take time now from my studies to do this. ... I found “OHomilyNLY of G FatherOD SUFFICES” Prior at the Silverstream Priory by Divine Providence. Vestition of Brother Lucas Maria I understand that the community in Ire- García Lopez, 8 June 2018 land is in its early years and that many challenges have to be overcome. Hence, I Dr Ricardo García López, 29, was clothed in the do not know if I would be a good postu- Benedictine habit on the feast of the Sacred Heart lant but at least I would like to visit the of Jesus, becoming Brother Lucas. The son of Manuel Priory knowing that only God suffices. García Pérez and Catalina López García of Cádiz, Spain, Brother Lucas is the brother of Enrique and The grace of Our Lord was at work in Manuel. He studied at the University of Seville, your heart. On Saint Patrick’s Day, March graduating with a degree in Pharmacy. He then 17th, 2017, you wrote again to tell me of an attended the University of Navarra in Pamplona, experience you shared with two men named Spain, and the University of Michigan in Ann Ar- Joseph and Seth: bor, Michigan, where he obtained an international Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology. The sub- On Ash Wednesday night Joseph and I ject of Brother Lucas’ doctoral dissertation was “The were in adoration with the Most Blessed Role of Tox3 and Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors in Sacrament for the whole night and it was Embryonal Brain Tumours”. As one of five novices a wonderful and blessed time. Tonight we at Silverstream Priory, Brother Lucas will learn to are also doing it and Seth is joining us. live the 6th century Rule of Saint Benedict in 21st The one thing I like the most is the com- century Ireland. A lover of music and enthusiast of panionship with the Lord that In Sinu Jesu Gregorian Chant, Brother Lucas sings in the commu- talks about. I found no words to say before nity’s schola. At other times he can be found working the Most Blessed Sacrament, but just being on the land, serving in the monastery kitchen, and there is enough. I pray that one day not too translating texts from English to Spanish. far away I will visit Silverstream Priory. y dear son, in the story of a Dear Ricardo, in these letters you said two soul no detail is insignificant. things that will be of the utmost importance M The design of your life in all its in your future monastic life. You said, “Only complexity and richness bears a God suffices”, and you said, “Just being there divine imprint. Does not God say to the man is enough”. Hold fast to these two things. You whom he has chosen for Himself: I claimed added, “I pray that one day not too far away thee for my own before ever I fashioned thee in I will visit Silverstream Priory”. The “one day thy mother’s womb; before ever thou camest to not too far away” came quickly. You did visit birth, I set thee apart for myself (Jer. 1:5)? Silverstream Priory. Was it not the hand of God that led you You arrived among us last September and from your home in Cádiz to the University of lived among us for three months bringing Navarra in Pamplona and, from there, to the something of the warmth and brightness of 2 that saying, went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:17–22) Our Lord looked upon you, dear son, and loved you. You returned His look with a look of your own, a look of adoration fixed upon the Host. You are setting out today on the hard and rugged paths of the monastic journey be- cause Jesus has ignited in your heart a spark of desire capable of rising to meet the immensity of His desire for you. Rather than being struck southern Spain to this little corner of County sad at the words of Jesus, you have been struck Meath. You returned to us in January for our with joy. Rather than going away sorrowful, monastic retreat and, after your pilgrimage you choose today to go forward in gladness. to the Holy Land, returned again in April to Last evening at First Vespers we entered take your place in this school of the Lord’s ser- into the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The vice (Prologue). You found your two friends Magnificat Antiphon, taken from St Luke’s from Michigan clothed in the habit of Saint Gospel (12:49), was nothing less than incan- Benedict and bearing new names; your friend descent; it gave us Our Lord’s own words and Joseph is now Brother Chrysostom, and your mysteriously revealed to us the fornax ardens friend Seth, Brother Thomas Aquinas. caritatis (“furnace of burning charity”) that is The night of adoration that you shared His Sacred Heart. with Joseph and Seth on St Patrick’s Day 2017 Ignem veni mittere in terram, has borne fruit surpassing anything that you, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur? or they, or any of us could have imagined. For where there are two or three gathered together I am come to cast fire on the earth: in my name, there am I in the midst of them & what will I, but that it be kindled? (Matt. 18:20). What is a monk if not a man into whose Yesterday morning at Holy Mass, I repeat- heart Jesus has cast the fire of a great desire? ed to you Our Lord’s words in Saint Luke’s What is the desire of the Heart of Jesus if account of the Last Supper: Desiderio desider- not that you, dear son, should become, like avi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum, antequam St John the Baptist, the shining model of all patiar (And he said to them: With desire I have monks, a lucerna ardens et lucens, a burning desired to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer, and shining light (John 5:35)? You have Luke 22:15). I told you, dear Ricardo, that a mo- heard me tell before the wonderful story of nastic vocation is the encounter of two desires: Abba Lot and Abba Joseph: the immense burning desire of the Sacred Abba Lot went to Abba Joseph and said Heart of Jesus for man, not only for mankind, to him, “Abba, as far as I can I say my little but for each man, for one man, for a particular office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I man with a story all his own.