Showing posts with label Blessed and Cistercians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blessed and Cistercians. Show all posts

Wednesday 20 January 2016

Cyprian Michael Tansi Local BBC Leicester

 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leicester/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8248000/8248717.stm
Page last updated at 09:07 GMT, Tuesday, 15 September 2009 10:07 UK
Blessed Cyprian may be new saint
Blessed Cyprian Tansi
Blessed Cyprian is one step away from sainthood
A Nigerian monk who spent the last 14 years of his life at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey is one step away from sainthood.
Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi was beautified by Pope John Paul II on 22 March 1998.
For the last 11 years hundreds of Catholics have gathered in Leicestershire in pilgrimage to Blessed Cyprian.
To be elevated to the state of saint, a second miracle must be proved.
In the beginning
Iwene Tansi was born in 1903 at Igboazunu in Nigeria, later receiving the name of Michael at his baptism.
As a young man he worked as a teacher, before beginning the journey towards becoming a priest.
Tansi was ordained for the Onitsha diocese at the age of 34, and became a man of great prayer and personal sacrifice.
 As a person he was very ordinary, very humble, obviously a great man of deep prayer and dedication 
Father Anselm Stark
He arrived at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey near Coalville in 1950 ready to start follow a monastic life, joining a community of 71 people.
As Father Cyprian his daily life would have very similar to that which the monks follow today.
They monks wake early to attend the first church service of that day at 03:30, with seven following church visits before bed.
Manual labour would features heavily in their day. Fr Cyprian worked in the vegetable gardens and orchard which in his day stood on the site of the 2009 pilgrimage.
Father Anselm Stark has been at the monastery for 55 years, and knew Fr Cyprian personally.
"As a person he was very ordinary, very humble, obviously a great man of deep prayer and dedication.
"We didn't realise towards the end how sick he was, he never complained about anything. Of course when we got him into hospital it was too late."
Fr Cyprian died in the Leicester Royal Infirmary on 20 January 1964, at the age of 61.
At first he was buried in the monastery grounds, but in 1986 his remains were exhumed and returned to Nigeria.
A miracle
When Cyprian's remains were taken back to Nigeria there was a big ceremony to welcome them back - lots of people wanted to go to Onitsha Cathedral - she insisted must go
In order for Blessed Cyprian to become a saint someone must have their prayers to him answered in a miraculous way that can be proved, such as a healing.
Mount Saint Bernard Abbey (Photo: Paul Burnell)
Blessed Cyprian lived at Mount Saint Bernard for 14 years
Fr Anselm says that it was at the welcoming ceremony at Onitsha Cathedral that Cyprian's miracle occurred.
A dying woman had begged her carers to allow her to attend the ceremony, despite their concerns for her health.
"When the coffin was brought up the aisle of the cathedral she put out her hand and touched it, and was instantly cured of her stomach cancer," says Fr Anselm.
In 1998 Cyprian was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Since then pilgrims have collected each year in Leicestershire to celebrate his life and pray for another miracle which could see Blessed Cyprian be raised to the state of a saint.
After a 10 year break, the 2009 event, including a mass and procession, returned to Mount Saint Bernard Abbey.
Hundreds of people from across the United Kingdom, many with Nigerian roots, took part.
Sister Bernadette said there was much to understand from Blessed Cyprian's work, "humility, patience, endurance, divine providence - the will of God".
"It means a lot to me, it is a day of prayer, a day of reflection, a day to look at Tansi's life and realise how we can emulate him as a fellow Nigerian." 
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   http://www.mountsaintbernard.org/index.html  



Blessed Cyprian Tansi was a monk of our community for 14 years, from 1950, until his death, in 1964. Iwene Tansi was born in 1903 at Igboezunu in Nigeria. At the age of nine he was baptised, receiving the name Michael. As a young man, he worked as a catechist and school teacher before entering a seminary at the age of 22. He was ordained a priest for the Onitsha diocese in 1937 at the age of 34. From the moment of his ordination, Michael Tansi joined an energetic apostolic zeal to a life of profound prayer and demanding personal asceticism.

His care for the people committed to him in the diocese of Onitsha made him ardent in propagating devotion to the Sacred Heart, to Our Lady, and the Rosary. His belief in the value for the whole Church of the hidden life of prayer in a contemplative Order, led Fr Tansi to join Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in 1950.

On becoming a Cistercian monk, he took the name Cyprian. Fr Cyprian worked in the refectory and bookbindery.The transition to Mount Saint Bernard and the Cistercian life must have been difficult for him, but what always made him remarkable was the iron strength and tenacity of his will which was, from boyhood, directed entirely towards God. No tragedy or trial could weaken his complete trust in God's providence. He used to say, "if you are going to be a Christian at all, you might as well live entirely for God". Fr Cyprian died in the Leicester Royal Infirmary on the 20th January 1964, aged 61.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22nd March 1998, in Nigeria.

PRAYER TO BLESSED CYPRIAN TANSI
Blessed Cyprian,
during your life on earth
you showed your great faith and love
in giving yourself to your people
and by the hidden life
of prayer and contemplation.
Look upon us now in our needs,
and intercede for us with the Lord.
May he grant us the favour we ask
through our prayers. Amen.

Blessed Cyprian's Feast Day is on 20th January.

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Feast-Anniversary of Fr. Cyprian Iwene Tansi: the only Nigerian blessed

 Community Mass -Blessed and Cistercians, 
    Feast-Anniversary of Fr. Cyprian Iwene Tansi: the only Nigerian blessed

Uploaded on 25 Jan 2011
On the 16th of January, 2011 Nigerians in Rome gathered at SS Simon and Jude's Catholic Church, Torre Angela to celebrate a unique feast in honour of Fr Tansi.

         Youtube   

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Monday, 20 January 2014
20 January Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, OCSO
Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, OCSO 

 BLESSED CYPRIAN MICHAEL IWENE TANSI (1903-1964)

 Iwene Tansi was born in Aguleri near Onitsha, Nigeria, in 1903. He was baptised when he was 9 years old with the Christian name, Michael. His baptism affected him deeply even at such a young age and he shocked his non-Christian parents by daring to destroy his own personal idol, traditionall

At the age of 22, after several years of working as catechist and school teacher, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest for the Onitsha diocese in 1937, when he was 34. As parish priest he worked zealously in Eastern Nigeria for 13 years, selflessly serving the religious and material needs of his people.

 He had to travel on foot to visit his widely scattered parishes, would spend whole days hearing confessions and was always available to the people in their needs, day and night. He was particularly eager to give young people a good preparation for marriage and to counteract the tradition of "trial marriages" which prevailed among the pagans at that time. The large Christian populations of many Igbo villages are a present witness to his zeal.
However, in spite of all he was doing, he felt the call to serve God in a more direct way in a life of contemplation and prayer and, if possible to bring the contemplative monastic life to Nigeria. In 1950 his Bishop was able to free him to try his vocation at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, near Nottingham, England, and to be trained in view of founding a contemplative monastery in the diocese of Onitsha. His new name in the monastery was Father Cyprian. The complete change of lifestyle, particularly living under obedience when he had been a leader of people, the change of climate, food and most of all the culture shock were severe tests, but he was convinced that this is where God wanted him to be. Father Mark Ulogu, who later became Abbot of Bamenda, joined him a year later.
In 1962 Mount Saint Bernard decided to make the foundation in Africa, but for various reasons it was made in the neighbouring country of Cameroon, near Bamenda, rather than in Nigeria. Although he was appointed as Novice Master of the foundation, Father Cyprian was too sick to go. He died on January 20, 1964, a few months after the departure of the founders.  


The reputation for holiness that he had left in Nigeria before going to Mount Saint Bernard never ceased to grow. After his death, many people claimed to have received favours through his intercession. The process for his beatification was opened in the diocese of Nottingham, then transferred in 1986 to the Archdiocese of Onitsha, whose Archbishop was the present Cardinal Francis Arinze, who had been among the first children baptised by Father Tansi when the latter was a young parish priest. On March 22, 1998, at Onitsha, during a trip to Nigeria made for that very purpose, Pope John Paul II beatified Father Cyprian Michael Tansi, proclaiming him to be a model of priestly zeal and prayer.

Further references:
Fr. Gregory Wareing, A New Life of Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (Coalville, Leicester LE6 3UL: Mt. St. Bernard Abbey. 1994). Father Gregory was Blessed Cyprian's Novice Master.
Veronica Onyedika Chidi Umegakwe, Footprints of Father Tansi: The Tomb is not his Goal (Awhum, Nigeria: Our Lady of Calvary Monastery, 1993). The life of Blessed Cyprian is here presented in a five act play by the chief coordinator of the Father Tansi Lay Contemplative Prayer Movement.
Elisabeth Isichei, Entirely for God. The life of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Studies Series 43, 1980 and 2000).

Dom John Moakler, "Some Thoughts about Blessed Cyprian Tansi" in Hallel 25 (2000), pp.79-93.
See also the Web Page on Blessed Cyprian Tansi, developed and managed by Father Chidi Denis Isizoh, secretary of Cardinal Arinze at the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with non Christian Religions www.afrikaworld.net/tansi/index.html  
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Monday 20 January 2014

20 January Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, OCSO

Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, OCSO 

 BLESSED CYPRIAN MICHAEL IWENE TANSI (1903-1964)

 Iwene Tansi was born in Aguleri near Onitsha, Nigeria, in 1903. He was baptised when he was 9 years old with the Christian name, Michael. His baptism affected him deeply even at such a young age and he shocked his non-Christian parents by daring to destroy his own personal idol, traditionall

At the age of 22, after several years of working as catechist and school teacher, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest for the Onitsha diocese in 1937, when he was 34. As parish priest he worked zealously in Eastern Nigeria for 13 years, selflessly serving the religious and material needs of his people.

 He had to travel on foot to visit his widely scattered parishes, would spend whole days hearing confessions and was always available to the people in their needs, day and night. He was particularly eager to give young people a good preparation for marriage and to counteract the tradition of "trial marriages" which prevailed among the pagans at that time. The large Christian populations of many Igbo villages are a present witness to his zeal.
However, in spite of all he was doing, he felt the call to serve God in a more direct way in a life of contemplation and prayer and, if possible to bring the contemplative monastic life to Nigeria. In 1950 his Bishop was able to free him to try his vocation at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, near Nottingham, England, and to be trained in view of founding a contemplative monastery in the diocese of Onitsha. His new name in the monastery was Father Cyprian. The complete change of lifestyle, particularly living under obedience when he had been a leader of people, the change of climate, food and most of all the culture shock were severe tests, but he was convinced that this is where God wanted him to be. Father Mark Ulogu, who later became Abbot of Bamenda, joined him a year later.
In 1962 Mount Saint Bernard decided to make the foundation in Africa, but for various reasons it was made in the neighbouring country of Cameroon, near Bamenda, rather than in Nigeria. Although he was appointed as Novice Master of the foundation, Father Cyprian was too sick to go. He died on January 20, 1964, a few months after the departure of the founders.  
 
The reputation for holiness that he had left in Nigeria before going to Mount Saint Bernard never ceased to grow. After his death, many people claimed to have received favours through his intercession. The process for his beatification was opened in the diocese of Nottingham, then transferred in 1986 to the Archdiocese of Onitsha, whose Archbishop was the present Cardinal Francis Arinze, who had been among the first children baptised by Father Tansi when the latter was a young parish priest. On March 22, 1998, at Onitsha, during a trip to Nigeria made for that very purpose, Pope John Paul II beatified Father Cyprian Michael Tansi, proclaiming him to be a model of priestly zeal and prayer.

Further references:
Fr. Gregory Wareing, A New Life of Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (Coalville, Leicester LE6 3UL: Mt. St. Bernard Abbey. 1994). Father Gregory was Blessed Cyprian's Novice Master.
Veronica Onyedika Chidi Umegakwe, Footprints of Father Tansi: The Tomb is not his Goal (Awhum, Nigeria: Our Lady of Calvary Monastery, 1993). The life of Blessed Cyprian is here presented in a five act play by the chief coordinator of the Father Tansi Lay Contemplative Prayer Movement.
Elisabeth Isichei, Entirely for God. The life of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Studies Series 43, 1980 and 2000).

Dom John Moakler, "Some Thoughts about Blessed Cyprian Tansi" in Hallel 25 (2000), pp.79-93.
See also the Web Page on Blessed Cyprian Tansi, developed and managed by Father Chidi Denis Isizoh, secretary of Cardinal Arinze at the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with non Christian Religions www.afrikaworld.net/tansi/index.html  
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For an example of his spiritual teaching, reflecting his own spiritual experience
Excerpt from a Retreat preached by Father Cyprian Tansi in August 1962
"We do very little good when we embark on our own. We do much good when we allow God to direct us and direct our enterprises. The apostles, you remember, went out fishing, laboured the whole night and got nothing. They were on their own, the Lord came and told them to cast the net and they would find. They did so and were not able to draw up the net, so great was the number of fish caught. When they worked by themselves, they took nothing. When they worked in the company of our Lord, they were full. So with us. We must learn to avoid worrying ourselves about things, learn to do away with anxieties of all sorts. "When you have something to do, an assignment to perform, remembering that we are not doing our work, but God's work, we must first go to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, place our plans before Him and ask for his advice and assistance. We must examine before him how he would like us to produce, whether he would like us to do one thing or the other. If any doubt, consult your spiritual director for advice. You should never undertake to do anything unless you are sure that God wants it done in the way you are planning. Above all things you should never do your own will: you should do only what the superiors want to be done. You should never force the superiors to yield to your will by any stratagem. "And while doing whatever you have to do, you should do it at a pace and speed that will allow you time continually to turn to God for guidance. Your conversation with God should be continual. Remember that you cannot achieve this spiritual disposition in a day. You need time, practice and patience. All that I request you now is to examine and to see whether what you are told is the truth. If it is, then make a resolution to continue to make effort in this direction without minding whether you succeed or fail."
- Michael I. Tansi, o.c.s.o., Irrational Love: Incarnation and Redemption, an Incomprehensible Love (Onitsha, Nigeria: Archiocesan Secretariat, 1989), p.35

Monday 17 June 2013

Reflections on Bl. Marie-Joseph Cassant by Fr Lode van Hecke, ocso, 2004




 Blessed Marie-Joseph CASSANT (1878-1903)

Portrait by Sr Anna-Maria, Vitorchiano
Collect
Biography
Letter of Blessed MJ Cassant to his parents
What does Fr. Cassant offer to us today? (D. Bernardo Bonowitz - OCSO)
Some comments in order to prepare the beatification (P. Lode van Hecke)

Collect

O Lord. Glory of the lowly,
who inspired a burning love
for the Eucharist in Blessed Joseph Mary,
and led him into the desert
through the Heart of Jesus;
grant, we beseech you,
that by his intercession and example
we may prefer nothing to Christ,
that he may bring us to life everlasting.
Who lives and reigns..


Reflections on
Bl. Marie-Joseph Cassant
by Fr Lode van Hecke, ocso, 2004.
We sometimes know very little about the saints of our Order, and I wouldn’t want Fr. Joseph, who is in many regards very simple, to slip through the cracks.
But in what way is Joseph an inspiration for us? It is perhaps not obvious for people of today, especially the last generations. We are usually struck first of all by things which draw us away from him, and the list can be long.
Let us recall, first of all, that he had a very short life : March 6, 1878 - June 17, 1903, twenty-five years. Joseph, as a child, had many draw-backs, even if he came from a well-to-do family. Small and of a weak constitution, he had trouble following in class, to the point that his difficulty in studying was an obstacle to his admittance to the seminary : he so longed to become a priest ! Finally, he entered Saint-Marie-du-Désert on December 5, 1894. His life there was very ordinary, but it’s his vulnerability which strikes. He needs a Spiritual Director who must continuously reassure him against his scruples. He will never be given any position of responsibility. He is at times nerve-racking by his clumsiness at work. The “little way” as epitomized by Thérèse of Lisieux perhaps finds an even better candidate in Joseph in that he does not possess Thérèse’s natural gifts.
Furthermore, after 100 years, many things in his life have become dated. According to our standards, he was too young to be admitted to the monastery: a child of 16 years old. You will say that Thérèse of Lisieux was 15 years old and that Fr. André Malet – his Spiritual Director, of whom I’ll speak again – entered at 14! But at first glance, our Joseph is not a man of their stature. He will always seem fragile and dependent. He is, for example, haunted by the prospect of having to leave the monastery and face such an anti-clerical France. The “law on associations” which entails the expulsion of religious congregations comes into effect in 1901. The threat then is very real and the abbot orders the moving of part of the furniture and the library. We are getting ready to leave if necessary. Thanks to Dom Chautard’s intervention, the Trappists will never have to leave France, a fact little known to Joseph. But he is also obsessed by the idea of being abandoned by Fr. André, who continually calms his scruples and encourages him. He has such a great need of him. “The world” appears in his eyes as dangerous and hostile. It will take a good deal of personal work before he comes to progressively accept any eventuality. Thérèse of Lisieux lived at the same period (she dies the year of Joseph’s simple profession). But she, on the other hand, dreams of martyrdom and the idea of confrontation spurs her on. Joseph doesn’t have either the intellectual acumen of the Carmelite who was interested in studies beyond the strict minimum required. Joseph studies with a great deal of difficulty, notwithstanding his intellectual curiosity, which is limited to what is necessary to be a good monk and especially a priest. His difficulties in studies will remain his cross throughout. A last comparison with Thérèse : she would’ve loved to be a missionary and is interested in people to convert while Joseph’s interests did not go beyond the walls of the abbey.
But I am nevertheless struck by his qualities, less spectacular, but solid: his faith and his confidence, his uprightness, and his good sense (he is not stupid), a good discernment, a will of steel. He reads assiduously: he feels the need to feed his mind, even during mental prayer (otherwise, he falls asleep or his spirit wanders!). He writes a great deal: he makes note of important passages, prayers and reflections. I will mention only this one: “What’s the point of religious life if one does not change himself?” It’s a good formula which implies a great deal of faithfulness. The verb in French is not usually used in that reflexive way. To change oneself (“se modifier”), for Joseph Cassant, implies on the one hand, to remain true to self – you cannot become completely different - , but on the other, that a real transformation (which is sought out) is in order – otherwise it is stalemate. Important question which I can ask from time to time: do I really change myself? Fr. Joseph probably applied it only to himself, but the question can be extended (the expression “religious life” points in that direction): does my community transform itself, and the Order? In that sense, changing oneself is simply part of life.
What is his specific grace? I believe that it is his “innocence,” to be child-like, which most of us lose, except some rare exceptions like him, and never get back. We see it on his face in a picture that was taken in 1897. (Of the rare pictures that we have of him, it’s by far my favorite.) What makes this innocence real is his peasant good sense which keeps him well-grounded and an exceptional strength of character which made him go forward regardless of the obstacles. If Joseph is not very muscular, he is nonetheless a lumberjack. He is clear-sighted not only for others but also for himself. Recognizing his limits, he has learned to accept them without withdrawing into himself. All of these qualities make him a rather sturdy individual. But at the same time, his child-likeness makes him disarming. But one can push this even further. Because of his devotion to the Sacred Heart, with his sense for the Eucharist, he is truly on a mystical quest. He has been ordained priest on October 12, 1902. His motto “Everything for Jesus,” in his case, should be taken strictly to the letter. There is no question of sentimental devotions or superficial spirituality. Through this slant – together with his child-likeness -, he reaches back to a tradition which dates back to the 12th century, even to the Bible. How could he be other than a man of heart, and loved by everyone: everyone? Except for a member of the community, a professor of theology (no less), who later became his infirmarian: this brother never missed an opportunity to humiliate him. The heroic virtues of Joseph start here and will cumulate in his terrible death from tuberculosis, incurable at the time and detected much too late. It is, of course, this last trial which places him above any form of sentimentality or head in the clouds. Joseph lives up to the situation and proves himself to be of the caliber of a little Thérèse. “To live only of love and for love” could’ve been written by Saint Bernard or the Little Thérèse: no, it was written by Joseph.
To synthesize the teaching of Father Joseph, I readily take the words of Dom Bernardo Olivera during his homily at Sainte Marie du Désert, June 17, 2003 :
- Joseph was : a simple man who accepted himself as such ; a disciple of Jesus who let himself be instructed ; a young monk who accepted direction ; - Joseph knew : how to seek peace and pursue it ; he was able to forget himself to server others; he managed to renounce his self-will in order to follow that of his Lord ;
- Joseph is : a lover, who let himself be crucified ; a thankful individual who let himself be transformed in thanksgiving (Eucharist); a priest of Christ who sacrificed himself on the altar.
I cannot but mention the important role of Fr. André Malet, his Master of Novices, Spiritual Father, and professor of theology - he will later become abbot of the community - a figure of high stature, a guide without compare. Without him, Joseph would not have been what he later became. Father André will know how to discern an austerity sought for itself and how to direct it towards a spirituality which is more monastic and even mystical. The danger was that penitence would smother contemplation. The point is to love; the rest has its place, but subordinate. He will communicate to Joseph devotion to the Sacred-Heart – very popular at the time – and a keen sense for the Eucharist. You have the impression that everything was already there in the first sentence that Fr. André said to Joseph when he first came to the monastery: “I will help you to love Jesus.” In the spiritual adventure in which they shared, Joseph became an example of confidence and obedience; Fr. André will become a model of spiritual discernment. Finally, the disciple will precede the master. The latter understood this very well when he said that he hoped, one day, to be buried at the foot of his disciple.
We therefore understand that the Abbot General, every chance he gets, loves to speak of our little brother as a patron for our times and for our Order. At a time when precariousness is found everywhere, Fr. Joseph can be a help to those who suffer from the limits they must endure. He is an example that holiness is within their reach




Tuesday 31 May 2011

Menology of the month of June

Father John Gabriel Sherry

OCSO 11 June 1968
Fr. Gabriel

Born 21 February 1915
Entered Roscrea 17 September 1933
Solemn Profession 6 October 1938
ordained 8th January 1941.
Co-founded Nunraw 1946
Died 11 June 1968



A CISTERCIAN MENOLOGY
Abbreviations:

CF =  Cistercian Fathers Series, Cistercian Publications, Spencer/Kalamazoo.

CS = Cistercian Studies Series, Cistercian Publications, Spencer/Kalamazoo.

Lekai = Lekai, Louis J., The Cistercians, Kent State Press, 1977.

Les Moniales = Bouton, Jean de la Croix, Les Moniales Cisterciennes, Deuxieme Partie, 1987.

MBS = Modern Biographical Sketches of Cistercian Saints and Blessed, by a Monk of Gethsemani, l954 mimeo.
The anonymous author, in retelling the original medieval Lives of our saints, has caught something of their spirit of simplicity and ingenuous charm, while adding background and including some of his own "teachings".
  
NCE = New Catholic Encyclopedia, McGraw-Hill, New York 1967.

JUNE 1

Bernard, Mary and Grace + c. 1180     Achmed was the younger son of a Moorish noble in Catalonia, Spain; his elder brother was named Almazor and his sisters Zaida and Zoraida. He was a skilled diplomat and in this capacity was sent to Barcelona to effect a change of military prisoners. The party lost their way in a wood one night. In the middle of the night, Achmed was awakened by the sound of singing. It was that of the monks of the recently founded abbey of Poblet. He was so impressed that he told his companions to go on without him. He stayed at the abbey, received instructions in the Christian faith, was baptized receiving the name of Bernard, and became a monk. He was appointed cellarer and his generous alms were rewarded with miracles. Concerned for the welfare of his family, he received permission to go to them. He converted an aunt and his two sisters to Christianity, the latter being given the names Mary and Grace. Their elder brother, however, enraged at their conversion, killed Bernard by driving a spike into his forehead and beheaded his sisters.

MBS, p. 160 

JUNE 2

Raynald  12th century
Having been a Benedictine at the monastery of St Amandus for twenty years, he went to Clairvaux, and there lived in great simplicity and holiness to a ripe old age. To him is attributed a vision in which he beheld the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, with two other women, visited the monks who were gathering the harvest.

Louis de Estrada + 1581
Superior of the Cistercian college at Alcala, Spain, and abbot of the monastery of Huerta.

JUNE 3

Armezana + 1225
Elected abbess of Our Lady of Canas, Spain, in her old age, she governed the house wisely for thirteen years until her death.

Polycarp Jaricot + 1909
A priest of the Congregation of Prado, he entered Tamie. He was prior there for eight years, then for fourteen years chaplain at the convent of the Immaculate Conception in Laval.

JUNE 4

Clementine Gorris + 1886
Nun of Oelenberg in Alsace, France. Wishing to live a hidden life, she was observed to live but for one thing and to be totally consumed as a holocaust burning with love for God. She died at three o'clock in the afternoon on the First Friday of the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

JUNE 5

Fulgerius + 1307
Monk of St Bernard on the Scheldt. For thirty years he was chaplain of the convent of Nazareth. He wrote lives of holy men and women of our Order.
  
JUNE 6

Gonzalo + 1466
Abbot of Acibeiro, Spain.

Joseph-of-St Germanus + 1613
A man of learning and holiness, he was made a consultor of the Sacred Congregations by Pope Paul V, restored regular observance at the monastery of St Cecilia and later entered the Congregation of Feuillants.

Augustin von Zandycke + 1859
The first novice of Mont-des-Cats, he was guest master and infirmarian. Due to gangrene, his arm and leg had to amputated, but he bore the pain and mutilation with great patience and serenity.

JUNE 7

St Robert of Newminster + 1159
Born in Yorkshire. After studying in Paris, he returned to England, became a parish priest and then a Benedictine at the abbey of Whitby. In 1132 he joined the monks of St Mary's, York, and participated with them in the founding of Fountains. Seven years later he founded New Minster near Morpeth, Northumberland and became its first abbot. Under his administration, the house prospered so much that it was able to establish three daughterhouses: Pipewell, Roche and Sawley.  Robert wrote a commentary on the Psalms and a book of meditations no longer extant. He "was strict with himself, kind and merciful to others, learned and yet simple."

MBS, p. 162; NCE, vol. 12, p. 534

Urraca + 1262
Second abbess of Our Lady of Canas, Calahorra  Spain.

Dositheus le Roy + 1695
Monk of La Trappe. God seemed to be his very breath, for he had regard for nothing apart from God.

JUNE 8

William + 1209
Novice master of Melrose, Scotland, he became abbot first of Cupar, and then four years before his death, abbot of Melrose.

Bernard Barnouin + 1888    
A French diocesan priest, he became superior of a group of "farming brethren" and with them restored monastic life at the ancient abbey of Senanque near Avignon in 1855. Within a short time, he revived three other abandoned monasteries, among them that of Lerins, which became the headquarters of the whole Congregation of Senanque. Affiliated to the Common Observance, it retained a life of purely contemplative character.

Lekai, p. 194 

JUNE 9

John  12th century
Prior of Clairvaux, he fulfilled the office entrusted to him with diligence, discretion and prudence; he was kind and full of charity for his brethren.

JUNE 10

Everard von Rohrdorf  1160-1245
Abbot of Salem, Germany, he governed his monastery for nearly fifty years, and made it flourish as no one before or after him did. Pope Innocent III employed his services on various missions.

Alan Adam + 1709
Lay-brother and porter at Grussau, Silesia, he was known throughout the district for his charity to the poor.

JUNE 11

Placid of Rodi + 1248
As a child he was a poor shepherd. He loved to sing praise to God and when he learned to read, the Psalms became his constant prayer. He lived an eremetical, austere life for many years. Later when disciples came to him, he formed at Ocra a community which he named the Monastery of the Holy Spirit because of his great devotion to the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. He then went to the abbey of Casa Nova and affiliated his house to the Cistercians.

MBS, p. 170

Gabriel Sherry, OCSO 11/6/68 -53, Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw.
JUNE 12

St Aleydis (Alice) of Schaerbeek  c. 1215-1250  
                 Alice was brought to the convent of La Cambre, near Brussels, Belgium, at seven to be educated, and later was professed as a nun. Sometime afterward, she was found to have contracted leprosy and was isolated from her community. Her first night in her leper's hut was one of real anguish and crisis for her, but seeking consolation from Christ, she began to realize that she had received a new vocation: to be identified with the Suffering Servant, with him whom "we thought of as a leper, as one struck by God." In her isolation, her love of God and of all humanity deepened, and she learned to accept each new pain as a gift from God.  Toward the end of her life, no part of her body was without suffering except her tongue, and with it for as long as she was able, she chanted the praises of God.  On the feast of St Barnabas in 1250, she commended herself to God and the following morning just at dawn, as if taking her rest, she breathed forth her soul.

Life, translated by Martinus Cawley  

JUNE 13

Abraham  12th century
Abbot of La Pree, endowed with great meekness and delicacy of conscience.

M Augustine de Chabanne + 1844
Professed at St Antoine des Champs, Paris, in 1787, she was thrown into prison during the Reign of Terror and was on the point of being guillotined; but with the fall of Robespierre, she was released. She fled to Switzerland to the convent of La Sainte Volonte de Dieu. Dom Augustin de Lestrange esteemed her spirit of regularity and all-round competence and made her superior there. She and the other nuns took part in the monks' travels to Russia and finally came to England in 1801. Lord Arundel gave them part of his estate in Dorset and Mother Augustine became the foundress of Holy Cross Abbey, Stapehill. She governed it for forty-two years in great poverty and labor, but also with a great spirit of sacrifice and penance.

JUNE 14

A group of Knights Templars, fighting for the faith according to the statutes of St Bernard, was captured and slain by the Mohammedan Sultan at the stronghold of Jacob's Ford.

Bl Gerard  12th century     
              The second oldest of St Bernard's brothers, Gerard was a knight and soldier. When he refused to follow his brother to Citeaux, the latter foretold that he would be wounded in battle and imprisoned, and so it happened. In prison, he came to his senses, and having been set free, miraculously according to the Life of St Bernard, he became a monk and with his brothers went to Clairvaux, where he was cellarer. He was a capable administrator and also a wise counsellor to Bernard.  He received those who came to the monastery and when possible, took care of their business, so as to spare his abbot from being interrupted unnecessarily in his prayer and writing.
On his last night on earth, he began to pray, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."  Suddenly his face became transfigured and he kept repeating, "Father, Father," as though the full realization of what it means that God is our Father had dawned upon him.
St Bernard, having restrained his grief at Gerard's funeral, gave eloquent voice to it in his twenty-sixth Sermon on the Canticle.

MBS, p. 41

Marie-Joseph Matton + 1775
At the age of forty-two he became a monk of Le Gard. He was sent to the new house of Mont-des-Cats and later made chaplain of Soleilmont. He afterwards returned to Le Gard and was appointed subprior, which office he retained when the community transferred to Sept-Fons. He had about him an admirable dignity and affability, innocence and gentleness.

JUNE 15

Mary Reiff  1587-1615
Nun at La Maigrauge, Switzerland.

Eugene Bonhomme de la Prade  1766-1816
As a young nobleman he belonged to Louis XVI's royal regiment. He entered La Trappe and was a novice in 1791 when the monks went into exile. At La Val Sainte he was professed and made novice sub-master. Two years later Dom Lestrange sent him with two companions to found a house in Canada. However, due to political conditions, they were stranded at Amsterdam, settled for a time at what later became Westmalle, then went to Darfeld in Westphalia. Here he abandoned the regulations of Lestrange and returned to those of de Rance. When in 1814 France again became open to religious, he acquired the abbey of La Trappe and two years later Notre-Dame des Gardes, where he settled part of the Darfeld community. Seeking a home for the other part, he succumbed to his infirmities at a Trappistine convent near Liege.

JUNE 16

St Lutgarde  1182-1246   
           Born of bourgeois parents in Tongres, Belgium, Lutgarde's father had planned a marriage for his daughter, but when the money invested for her dowry was lost, her mother persuaded her to enter the Benedictine convent of St Trond, where she was elected prioress in 1205. Seeking more solitude and a stricter observance, she transferred to the Cistercian convent of Aywieres.  The Passion of Christ was the center of her religious life. There took place between Christ and Lutgarde a mystical change of hearts. In her 29th year, she received the spear wound and carried the scar to her death. The ideal of vicarious suffering in reparation for sin was highly developed in her spirituality. She undertook, at Our Lady's request, three seven-year fasts, in reparation for the Albigensian heresy. She was also sought by many, including abbots and Dominican friars, for the help of her counsel and intercessory prayers.
Eleven years before her death, she became blind.  During the last year of her life Christ asked three things of her: to offer thanks for all the benefits she had received; to pour herself out in prayer for sinners; to be without solicitude but full of longing.

Life by Thomas of Cantimpre, trans. by Martinus Cawley; NCE, vol. 8, p. 1085; Thomas Merton What Are These Wounds?
Marie of the Incarnation de la Tour d'Auvergne + 1911
Nun of Laval. Devoted to Therese of Lisieux, she strove to imitate her virtue and relied on her intercession in all her needs.

JUNE 17

St Teresa  1178-1250
The oldest daughter of King Sancho of Portugal, she and her sisters Sancha (March 13) and Mafalda (May 2), were given a pious upbringing and also taught practical skills of sewing, cooking and spinning. Teresa's special virtue was self-custody or discretion. When she was thirteen a political marriage was arranged for her with King Alphonso IX of Leon. Five years later the marriage was dissolved on the grounds of consanguinity. Teresa and her three children returned to the palace of Coimbra, where she led a secluded life and helped care for her younger brothers and sisters. At the former Benedictine monastery of Lorvao she established a Cistercian convent and lived there as a family sister until at the age of fifty-one, finally freed from family responsibilities, she made profession as a nun. She served the community as cellarer and portress. She was devoted to manual labor, choir, prayer and all the austerities of the Order.  One of her favorite practices was to meditate on the prayers for the dying and the rites of Extreme Unction and burial in preparation for her own death. This took place in church while her sisters were singing the Magnificat and had reached the verse, "He has received Israel, his servant."

MBS, p. 183

Marie-Joseph Cassant  1878-1903   
             As a child, he was deeply impressed by the ceremonies of the liturgy and greatly desired to become a priest. As he had no aptitude for studies, he, upon the advice of his pastor, entered the monastery of Our Lady of the Desert. Physically weak and lacking the ability for work, he was prone to temptations to sadness and discouragement; but with the support of prayer and obedience, he overcame them and was never wanting in courage, always with a smile on his face.  He rejoiced in the accomplishment of Jesus' will alone; he wished to have Jesus ever present to him and living within him. He died at the age of twenty-five after much suffering. His cause for beatification has been introduced at Rome.

JUNE 18

Commemoration of the abbots, monks and lay-brothers who were put to death in Germany and Poland during the wars of religion of the 17th century.



JUNE 19

Macarius D'Incamps  1727-1794
Guestmaster at Sept-Fons. After the French Revolution, he remained in his country, was betrayed, arrested and sent to the pontoons at Rochefort. He was put on a ship to be taken to Guiana, but succumbed to the harsh and injurious treatment he received and died on shipboard.

Francis of Assisi Couturier + 1854
A priest of St Sulpice, he became a monk of Port du Salut and shortly afterwards was elected abbot. Due to his outstanding prudence, the monastery remained unaffected by the political disturbances of 1830. When dying, Dom Francis consoled his brethren by telling them that they would never be expelled from their monastery. This came true in an almost miraculous way in 1870, 1880, 1940 and 1945.

JUNE 20

Constantius  12th century
On his way to see Count Theobald, St Bernard saw a man being led to execution. He took the thong with which the poor wretch was tied and said to the executioners, "Let me have this murderer, for I wish to hang him with my own hands." Constantius became a monk at Clairvaux and, under St Bernard's guidance, made atonement for his sins by obedience and penance for thirty years.

Michael Triquier + 1550   
            Monk of Fontaine-Daniel, he was appointed prior of Vaux de Cernay and later performed the same office at his own monastery, meanwhile undertaking the reform of several other houses of both monks and nuns.


JUNE 21

John of Kempton + 1350
As a boy he had fallen from the top of a tower and was believed dead. His parents promised St John the Baptist that if their son was restored to life, they would make an offering of him at his monastery, St John of Stams, Tyrol. Their prayer was heard and the boy returned to life. He became a priest and later a monk at Stams, outstanding for his holiness and contemplation.

Arsenius de Janson + 1710
Monk of La Trappe, he was sent with others to found the monastery of Buon Solazzo in Tuscany. Noted for his humility and kindness to others.

Maur Standaert 1915-1995
Born in Brussels, he earned a licenciate at the seminary in Louvain, and then entered Scourmont at the age of 20. Hving made solemn profession, he returned to Louvain for a doctorate in theology. He was prior of Scourmont from 1949 to 1993. In 1967 he was asked to serve as interim chaplain to the nuns of Clarte-Dieu in the Belgian Congo (now Zaire), but his health obliged him to return to Belgium after a few months.
Throughout his monastic life, he used his gifts in the fields of liturgy, law, formation and ecumenism, for the good of the Order and the Church. He was on the board of directors of Collectanea for many years, and alwo helped launch Cistercian Studies Quarterly.

JUNE 22

Arnold de Compte
Lay-brother at Villers, miller at one of the granges, he was a wise and gentle counsellor to many persons.

Bernard de Girmont + 1834   
         Master of novices at Morimond, he was expelled from his monastery during the French Revolution. He joined the monks at Darfeld, where he was master of the lay-brothers. Later he acquired a monastery of the Canons of St Genevieve which became the abbey of Port du Salut, and a port of safety for many. He also built the convent of St Catherine's, Laval. He resigned as abbot in 1830, and lived four years longer, patiently bearing the infirmities of old age and blindness.

JUNE 23

Peter + c. 1136
Born in England. As a young man he went to France, where he became friends with the young Stephen Harding. Together they made a pilgrimage to Rome, reciting the Psalter together daily. Upon returning to France, they both entered the monastery of Molesme. Peter later became the spiritual father of the nuns of Jully, including St Bernard's sister Humbeline.
JUNE 24

Three monks of Villers who lived in the 12th century:
Boniface, the prior, William of Dongelberg, and
Henry of Geest.

Herman
A lay-brother of Himmerod, Germany, he was devoted to the Mother of God with childlike simplicity.


JUNE 25

Giacomo da Pecorara + 1244
Brought up in Pracinzo, he entered Clairvaux in 1215. He was elected abbot of Trois-Fontaines in 1231 and made a cardinal by Gregory IX. He then became a leader in the Church's struggle with Emperor Frederick II, was taken prisoner by Frederick's sons and, finally set at liberty, he was appointed Vicar of Rome by Innocent IV.

Dorotheus Carret + 1685
Monk of La Trappe.  When he entered the monastery he took the firm resolution to give himself entirely to the possession and dominion of Christ. Stricken with illness, he drew all his strength and solace from the contemplation of the crucifix.

JUNE 26

Bartholomew de Vir + 1158
Bishop of Laon, friend of Sts Bernard and Norbert, he built Cistercian and Premonstratensian monasteries in his diocese. Among the latter was Premontre, and among the former, Foigny. In his old age he resigned his bishopric and became a monk.

Ruandus + 1177
Abbot of Lanvaux in Brittany, he was made bishop of Vannes.
   
JUNE 27

The abbot and lay-brothers of Eaunes, Carcassonne, France, were killed by Albigensians in the 12th century.

John Boyng + c. 1433
Having reformed his own monastery, Termunten, in Friesland, John restored regular discipline at Ihlo and Bloemkamp, and then returned to Termunten. The General Chapter appointed him visitor in Friesland and later the province of Cologne, and he was instrumental in helping several other monasteries to reform. He persuaded the monks of the new monastery of Sibculo to adopt the Cistercian observances, and this house became the nucleus of the Sibculo League. Lastly he was appointed nuncio to the Council of Basle.
JUNE 28

Alan + 1236
Founder and first abbot of Balmerino, Scotland.

Guda
Nun of Noven, Germany.

Peter Klausener + 1850
Monk of the Darfeld community under Dom Eugene de la Prade who highly esteemed him for his magnanimity, humility and meekness. He later acquired the ancient monastery of Oelenberg in Alsace and became abbot there, governing the house with charity and courage. Confined to a chair by sickness during the last two years of his life, his favorite prayer was, "O Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy! From our foe defend us; at death's hour receive us."

JUNE 29

Peter I or Peter the Elder  + 1140
Third abbot of La Ferte, he was chosen archbishop of Tarentaise in 1124, the first Cistercian to be promoted to the episcopate. Among his many initiatives, he was instrumental in founding the abbey of Tamie, whose first abbot, named Peter, was also to govern the archdiocese of Tarentaise.

Mencia of St Joseph  + 1626
Abbess of the convent of the Incarnation, Cordova in Spain.

JUNE 30

St Adolph + 1224    A son of the count of Tecklenberg, Westphalia, he became a canon at Cologne. Having visited the Cistercian monastery of Camp, he was so impressed by what he saw and heard that he became a monk there. In 1216 he was elected bishop of Osnabruck. He was outstanding in his love for the poor and his charity toward them, as well as his support, both financial and spiritual, of many religious houses.

MBS, p. 50

Bl Arnulf 1180-1228
Born at Brussels, he became a lay-brother at Villers. His special grace was to live in extraordinary austerity. He also possessed a great zeal for souls and generosity towards the poor. At times he was seized with such exuberant joy that he could hardly contain himself. He was especially devoted to the seven joys of Our Lady on earth and her seven joys in heaven. He died on a Friday, kneeling and supported by his brethren.

MBS, p. 187