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Volume 32, Number 3 |
Richardton, ND 58652 |
July 2004 |
Three Monks Celebrate Jubilees of Profession, Ordination
by Terrence Kardong, O.S.B.
Fr. Raymond (Francis) Dietlein was born in Braddock, North Dakota, southeast of Bismarck, in 1929. He came to the Abbey School in 1942 and spent the next six years in the usual round of classes and activities. In 1948 he was received into the Abbey novitiate with the famous Fr. Norbert as his novice master. He was professed in 1949 and spent a year in the Abbey Junior College. He did his last year of Philosophy at St. Martin's College, Lacey, Washington, where he earned a B.A. Fr. Raymond returned to Richardton for his theological studies and was ordained a priest on June 7, 1954. This year he celebrates his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood.
His first years after ordination were devoted to various managerial jobs at the monastery,
but everything changed for Fr. Raymond on December 10, 1956. He underwent open-
By 1962, Fr. Raymond could be assigned to parish work, and so he went to Haymarsh, Solen (1967) and Mercy Hospital, Devils Lake (1973) to minister. In 1979, he returned to the monastery, where he makes himself very useful in the telephone office, print shop and in chaplain work. Although Fr. Raymond's curriculum vitae is not terribly exciting, he is one of those solid pillars on which the community is built. He is quiet, but he is always present. He likes to listen more than talk, but when the brothers need sound guidance he is very accessible. He makes the kindness and compassion of Jesus easier to believe in.
Fr. Lawrence (Louis) Wagner also celebrates his Golden Jubilee of Ordination this year. He is one of those rare monks whose life story is so full of deeds and honors that it is hard to summarize. Fr. Lawrence grew up at Haymarsh, northeast of Hebron, where he was born in 1923. After high school at the Abbey, he went to work for a few years as a country school teacher. He returned to the monastery for philosophy studies in 1946 and was received into the novitiate in 1948. He made profession the next year and was ordained by Bishop Lambert A. Hoch in 1954.
Fr. Lawrence spent the rest of the 1950s mostly at Sant' Anselmo, the Benedictine college in Rome, where he earned a master's degree in theology. But things changed radically for him in 1960 when his offer to go to South America as a missionary was accepted by Abbot Ignatius. He and three other monks went to Bogotá, Colombia, where they established a Benedictine priory with a school for boys. Within a few months, Fr. Lawrence was named superior of that mission, a post he held for the next fifteen years.
In 1976, the Abbot Primate of the Benedictines (Rembert Weakland) asked Fr. Lawrence to try to straighten out the troubled economy of Sant' Anselmo in Rome, at which he labored for two very hard years. If a problem can be solved by sheer hard work, Fr. Lawrence is your man. But even harder was his departure from Colombia, which he had come to love deeply. At any rate, in two years the rescue was completed and he returned to the United States.
Fr. Lawrence was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Glen Ullin, on Nov. 1, 1978. This is virtually his home parish and he enjoyed his ministry, but the monks, perhaps on the theory that no one should enjoy his work too much, elected him abbot. In the election, Fr. Lawrence pointed out that he had been a major superior too long already, in which role he had hurt many people and also been hurt. Nevertheless, the monks persisted in their choice and he embarked on a decade as Abbot of Assumption Abbey.
During the 1990s, Fr. Lawrence spent a good deal of time as a parish priest, ministering at Kenmare, Regent, Bowbells and Lefor. But history repeated itself when the Abbot Primate (this time Viktor Dammertz) importuned him to return to Rome to work in the business office during a crisis. Again he said yes, but after another hard year (1992) in the Eternal City he was allowed to go home to western North Dakota.
Fr. Francis (Claude) dos Remedios was born in Bombay, India, in 1928. He came to us in 1988 from St. Mark's Priory, Kentucky, which had to close its doors. Claude dos Remedios came to this country to attend the University of Washington, Seattle. He earned a Master's Degree in Business there and took employment with a shipping company on the West Coast. This work required him to spend part of every year in Alaska. This would have killed the average person from a hot climate like Bombay, but he is remarkably adaptable. He can still be seen marching into the icy winds praying his daily rosary.
Claude left the business world in the 1970s, joining St. Mark's Priory in South Union, Kentucky. He soon began seminary classes at the Priory seminary for older than average students. He made his first vows in 1979 at St. Mark's, so this is his Silver Anniversary of Profession. Soon after his ordination in 1982, he became involved in parish work in Kentucky and that was his primary focus in North Dakota as well. As a monk of Assumption, Fr. Francis served at parishes in Glenburn, Flasher, Stanley, Max and Hebron. He retired back to the monastery in the summer of 2003.
Since Hebron is only a few miles from the Abbey, Fr. Francis was able to visit us regularly. He would come in for Sunday dinner, pick up a few bottles of good drinking water (which was scarce in Hebron) and return home. Everything was done quietly and with dignity. During his last years in Hebron the parish was able to complete a major building project involving a gathering space with bookstore and elevator. Fr. Francis has a vibrant piety and he contributed greatly to the devotional life of the parish. He now serves the community with his example and his prayers.
