ASSUMPTION
ABBEY

 

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JANUARY
CHRONICLE

 

Bro. Placid is a great traveler, who loves to go on trips to see his multitude of relatives around the world. He has taken some great vacations. But this year our man decided to do things a bit different—he stayed in his room! What’s that you say? His room? What on earth was he doing in there? Well, he is writing another book. This time the subject is his home parish, St. Anthony’s. That rural church, which has been closed for many years now, was located about 15 miles south of Napoleon, ND. Placid says he has so much material, he does not know what to leave out.

 

We had a jolt on January 11 when the fire alarms went off during Vespers. The shrieking siren and flashing lights brought the chanting to a halt for a few seconds. Thank God that the problem was not a fire, but a malfunctioning sprinkler system. We installed this system about ten years ago, and it has never been used. In fact, unlike many other abbeys, we have never suffered a major fire here. Years ago we prayed a long litany every day to ask God for fire protection. We stopped praying that prayer about 40 years ago, but God continues to watch over us.

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This has been a hard winter. We thought last winter was pretty awful, but this one is shaping up to be just as bad. We have huge piles of snow that never melts, and now we have power outages. Since we get very little rain up here in the winter, we rarely get ice storms. But in the period around January 25 we got a lot of freezing fog. At first it did not seem too dangerous, but eventually it started to bring down the power poles. At least 6,000 homes were without power, and some for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, our new generator never once kicked in because our power never went off. Go figure!

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Another item about Bro. Placid. He announced that this month is his 50th anniversary on the Abbey farm. When Abbot Ignatius asked him in 1960 if he would like to work down there, he said “No.” But the Abbot said: “Oh, all the young guys like to drive around on tractors, so you’ll like it.” Although Placid grew up on a farm, he says that he actually knew nothing about farming when he came here. He says he has learned all he knows from the local farmers. Of course, he also likes to socialize.

 

 

FEBRUARY
CHRONICLE

 

The local boys’ basketball team, the Richardton-Taylor Raiders, is having a tough season. Normally, they have a good team, but this year they have not won a single game. Perhaps the boys are thinking that they are the worst team in the world, or at least in the history of Richardton. But the 1954 Abbey Cubs took a back seat to no one when it came to incompetence. We did win a couple of games, but I remember losing once to Beach 82-28. In that game, as in many others, it was strictly men versus boys, and we were not the men.

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The Abbey now has a vocations committee. We never had one before, at least in living memory, but now the situation seems to call for one. We have not had a novice in many years, and so we are concerned. Abbot Brian has appointed Bro. Michael head of this committee, and he has assembled an all-star cast: Fr. Patrick, Fr. Sebastian, Bro. Bertrand, Fr. Benedict and Bro. Jacob. Of course, God sends vocations, but the committee wants to see what it can do to prepare the ground.      

This committee is backed up by a new lay advisory board, which met for a supper meeting on February 11. The members of this board are: Bonnie Staiger (Bismarck), Rick and Jen Padilla (Dickinson), Jeff Vranna (Dickinson), Mark Rummel (Richardton), Chris Hartze (Bismarck) and Marlo Nelson (Dickinson). Since the vocation problem affects the whole church, we are grateful to these friends for agreeing to think about it and advise us accordingly.

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Abbot Brian attended the annual winter retreat of abbots at Prince of Peace Abbey, Oceanside, CA, February 5-9. The speaker this year was Dr. Michael Downey, who gave a series of lucid talks on the Trinity. But he knows the abbots are practical men, so he made sure to relate this lofty spiritual doctrine to everyday monastic life.  

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On February 12, Bro. Victor woke up and found himself 90 years old. His confreres and friends threw him a big party on February 14, with plenty of cake and ice cream. All things considered, Bro. Victor has probably spent more years living at Assumption Abbey than any other monk in its history. Ad multos annos!                                           

MARCH
CHRONICLE

March began as February ended, with endless days of fog and mist. The weather bureau reported that Bismarck has had 17 days of heavy fog since January 1, and Hettinger has had twice that many. In this matter, we take a back seat to nobody. But we would certainly like to see the sun again some time. This kind of weather is more characteristic of the Great Lakes region, not the Great Plains. We prefer clear, even if bitter, weather.

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Snow and rain replaced the fog about March 10, but that did not stop Frs. Abbot and Sebastian from driving 60 miles to Beulah to hear confessions. Beulah is 35 miles north of the freeway, so we wondered if we would ever see them again. But when we came to morning prayer, there they were, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

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This was one of those months when “everything goes wrong.” Well, at least the elevator broke down and the sewer line from Schnell Hall plugged up. The latter made it necessary for a large group of retreatants to find another bathroom (a block away) for a few hours. And the former had the effect of trapping some of our disabled brothers on the second floor of the monastery. With many of these modern conveniences, you just don’t know how much you depend on them until....  

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Fr. Terrence traveled to Abiquiu, NM, for the week of March 20-27 to give some talks to the monks of Christ in the Desert. This place really is out in the desert: thirteen miles from the nearest paved road. As for the traveler, he had never set foot in the State of New Mexico before. Now he has only one or two states to go. But of course it is not a worthy ideal for a monk with the vow of stability to have visited every state.

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On March 16 the North Dakota State University Concert Chorus gave a concert in our church. The 56-member choir sang mostly sacred works, and sang them very well indeed. Choirs like to perform in our church because the barrel vaulting produces a lovely mix and reverb. This group also endeared itself to us by performing on the front steps of the sanctuary, so we did not have to move the altar.

APRIL
CHRONICLE

After a rather dismal March, April started out bright and sunny. Easter Week was especially splendid, with day after day of balmy weather. Yet things in the community were not all that happy. A particularly harsh bug of some kind visited many of the monks, inflicting some of them with bronchitis, and others with flu symptoms. Morning Office was something of a disaster zone, with all the coughing and discomfort. Fr. Gerald had to be taken out by wheelchair twice, and the second time meant a trip to the hospital in Dickinson.

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When Fr. James came back from parish assistance at Bismarck on April 12, he was all banged up. Why? Seems he had fallen from a horse! Now, before you get any romantic ideas about pioneer monks riding out into the wild to bring the Gospel to remote settlers, just forget about it. True, James had done parish supply duty that weekend, but later he was out pleasure-riding with his relatives when he managed to fall off his docile mount. Anybody who has ever done that knows it cannot lead to anything good. But James is a trooper and he won’t let a little equine adversity keep him from preaching the Good News.

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The deer have done some significant damage to our haystacks this winter. So when the State Game and Fish Department held an open meeting at Mott on April 14, one of the irate “landowners” was none other than Bro. Placid. He was proposing to make an indignant speech, but whether he ever did is unsure. These meetings are only held every five years, and they are used to determine how many licenses will be issued for a given zone. The Game and Fish has been reducing the number of licenses recently, but we could use some more intense hunting in our area. The deer population here is out of control.

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On April 27, we had an outdoor lunch. This is a little early for a picnic in North Dakota, but it wasn’t exactly planned. Viking Glass was fixing a leaky window on the north wall of the cafeteria, which left a gap about 25 ft. wide for the north wind to come through. Some people moved closer to the blast of air, and some moved away.

MAY
CHRONICLE

Our retreat giver this year was Sr. Irene Nowell, O.S.B., of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery, Atchison, KS. The annual event was held from May 30 to June 3, with confreres attending from far and wide. Sr. Irene is a well-known biblical scholar, so it is no wonder that her conferences were heavily based on Scripture. Actually, Irene has been providing Catholic preachers with material for many years with her work in various homiletic services. She is a real pro.

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Fr. Terrence attended the International Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo, MI, May 13-16, where he presented a paper entitled “The Theme of Abbot/Shepherd in Aelred’s Pastoral Prayer: Benedictine Echoes.” He also has a new book just out from the Liturgical Press entitled Pillars of Community.  This 250-page volume, which costs $21.95 (a real steal!) studies the monastic Rules before the time of St. Benedict, and especially the ones that emphasize community. This includes the Rules of Basil, Pachomius, Augustine and the Four Fathers.

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On the weekend of May 1-2, our oblates gathered here for their semi-annual retreat. The theme this spring was our mission in Bogotá, Colombia. Therefore, it was only fitting that there were talks by Frs. Lawrence and Valerian, two former priors of Monasterio de Tibatí. Abbot Brian gave the third talk. We had a good crowd, even though several oblates had to cancel at the last minute. Lucky they did, because our facilities were maxed out. That is not a legitimate word, but everybody knows what it means.

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From May 22 to May 28 a group of faculty and students came here from Colorado College to experience monasticism. Four women stayed at Sacred Heart Monastery and three men lived with us. Besides praying and eating with our communities, they attended common lecture-discussions on monasticism. It was a nice thing to see some fresh, young faces hereabouts.                           

 

 

Bro. Michael (left) and Bro. Basil engage in one of our favorite pastimes, namely, folding and inserting our development letters. Actually, Michael is exceptionally happy because he is the boss.

 

The Young and the Old. Bro. Jacob (left) is pictured with Br. Victor at a picnic some years ago. Victor recently celebrated his 90th birthday.

JUNE
CHRONICLE

 

The big event this June did not happen at the Abbey. Rather, it was the celebration of the centennial of the Diocese of Bismarck on June 11-13 in the capitol city. Abbot Brian attended the inaugural dinner on June 11 and the monks had a table in the exhibition hall on June 12-13. This table, manned by Bro. Michael and Bro. Jacob, was visited by many people. Proof of that is the fact that they bought 35 copies of our republished cookbook. In addition, many of the Benedictine pastors served as confessors at the penance service on Saturday afternoon in the Civic Center. All in all, a gala affair.

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Another major event for June was the General Chapter of the American Cassinese Congregation, held in Cullman, Alabama, June 13-18. Three of our monks attended this important meeting: Abbot Brian, Fr. Valerian and Bro. Alban. Valerian was our elected delegate and Alban is a member of the President’s Council. One note of sadness in regard to the Chapter: Abbot Timothy Kelly, the President of the Congregation, was unable to attend due to serious health problems. Indeed, he was forced to resign his position, and was replaced by Abbot Hugh Anderson of St. Procopius, Illinois. In addition, Valerian and Alban were elected to the Abbot President’s Council for the next three years.

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This spring one of our long-lost members returned to us. Sort of. A tombstone for Bro. Isidore Peter was purchased by his family and set up in our cemetery. Bro. Isidore was actually the first member of our Abbey to die. In 1898, he died at Jamestown at the age of 22 from encephalitis (sleeping sickness). But the new monastic community at Devils Lake was too poor to have the body shipped up there from Jamestown. The body was never shipped here to Richardton. In fact, Fr. Denis could not locate the grave when he went there to look for it some years ago. But Bro. Isidore has still symbolically returned home after 112 years.

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In preparation for the centennial celebration of the Abbey church building next month, a centennial committee has been meeting for the past year or so. This committee includes four members from the Abbey and four from St. Mary’s Parish. They are: Abbot Brian, Fr. Sebastian, Fr. Odo and Bro. Alban from the Abbey; Pastor Fr. Boniface, Sue Hoff, Bridget Greff and John Gengler from the parish. Their work is hidden, but without them there would be no centennial celebration.

 

JULY
CHRONICLE

The week of July 4-11 was a special one for the Richardton Catholic community. 2010 is the centennial of the consecration of the Abbey/St. Mary’s church building, so a notable celebration was in order. It began on the evening of July 6 (the actual date of the consecration in 1910), with a Solemn Vespers for the monks and parishioners. Abbot Brian presided at the ceremony, which was followed by a historical sketch by Fr. Denis, the Abbey Archivist. In his remarks the historian recounted how people from surrounding parishes had walked in procession 15 or 20 miles the previous night to be at the Abbey for the consecration ceremony. And that ceremony was not for the faint of heart: it began at 7 a.m. and lasted until at least noon.

The second event of our centennial celebration occurred on Sunday, July 11. Although it was the Feast of St. Benedict, this year we featured the liturgy of a consecration of a church. One of the special features of this liturgy took place at the very beginning, when twelve people carrying candles in the entrance procession proceded to mount them on the marble holders positioned around the building.

In his homily, Fr. Abbot conducted us on a sort of visual tour of the windows and art work in the church. He pointed out that it has multiple references to our dual heritage: the German saints for the local people and the Swiss saints for the monks who founded this abbey. The Solemn High Mass was followed by a luncheon held in the parish facilities a couple blocks east of the Abbey.

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While all this was going on, some people were otherwise occupied. Take for example, Bro. Aelred. He was sent by his employer, Fr. Joe Ponessa of Glendive, MT, as his personal representative to the National Catholic Charismatic Convention held at Mount Marty College, Yankton. When the monks heard this, they exclaimed, “What, is Aelred, too, among the prophets?”  See 1 Kings 10:11. When the group sang in tongues, our man came up with some old rock and roll lyrics he remembered from his youth. When the group tried to pray over him, he said he had to use the bathroom—from which he emerged four hours later.

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Bro. Alban traveled to St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada, to act as a visitator July 17-23. For those readers who always thought Assumption is near the North Pole, consider this: St. Peter’s is 500 miles north of here! Over the years we have had very cordial relations with our Canadian brethren.

AUGUST
CHRONICLE

Since Fr. Denis has returned to the monastery, we see a familiar scene played out in the community room every afternoon. For a few minutes before Mass at 5 p.m., he sits by the window table and plays a game of solitaire. Bro. Basil sits across from him and kibitzes, while various and sundry monks drop by and make comments. This is a practice Fr. Denis has pursued for many years, and we are glad to see him back at it.

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Bro. Llewellyn has had a very busy summer on the artistic front. In mid-July he unveiled his new triptych in the dining room where it now holds the center of attention. This amazing work is about eight feet across and four feet high, with a beautiful wooden frame. It is done on gesso (plaster) which gives the colors a wonderful radiance. The scene is the sort of ancient and contemporary combination often seen in medieval painting, with the motifs from the life of St. Benedict, but the setting from present day Assumption Abbey. This painting was a great attraction for a water-color class that met here on the last weekend of July. Then on August 29, the great triptych was presented to the public in a special blessing ceremony which many, many of Llewellyn’s friends and admirers attended.  

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Since this is the golden jubilee of the founding of Monasterio de Tibatí, our priory in Bogotá, Colombia, we sent a contingent of monks down there to help them celebrate. Abbot Brian was accompanied by Frs. Lawrence, Gerald and Valerian. The first two men named were among the founders of the priory. And the third man was the second prior of the community. Can you keep all that straight? The group flew down there on August 4, which is just two days earlier than the date of the original arrival on August 6, 1960. The current prior, Fr. Philip Vanderlin, has written a history of all the priors of Tibatí. We will be running this material for months to come.

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On Tuesday, August 3, Fr. Roman Paur of St. John’s Abbey was here to give us a day-long workshop on psycho-sexual issues. Everybody knows that the Catholic clergy has not had a clean record in this regard, and one reason for that is surely poor education. For a monk or nun to undertake a celibate life, they must have sufficient self-knowledge to anticipate the various challenges this presents for each person. Fr. Roman was here to give us deeper insight into these issues.             

 

Workers for Viking Glass test their window  in the cafeteria building repairs with water.

Fr. Raymond travels outside in the nice spring weather.

A stained glass window in the Abbey Church.

Monks and parishioners gather to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the consecration of the church.

Abbot Brian does some gardening outside of the slype.

Fr. Sebastian, and many of the other Monks are out in the garden helping Br. Louie pick the Potatoes.