Fr Eamonn Anselm Magrath, Rest in Peace, 25 January, 2014

Nunraw  1946 ─ 1967

Brentwood Diocese 1967 ─ 2013

R I P

FROM: William ...

Dear Father Donald,

Thank you for sharing with me the funeral of Fr Anselm. As Fr Abbot Mark's homily concludes, with his passing and that of Fr Stephen last February a chapter in the life of Nunraw closes - and, as it does - so too the old Abbey closes: I find that very poignant. It is almost as if Fr Anselm's funeral comes to mark the close of an era... and the event coincides with the memorial of the Cistercian Founders.

I suppose matters will be progressing with the transfer of the old Abbey to the new owner. Such finality, cutting the ties with the past.

It is perhaps during the Night Office most of all that these changes find their meaning, in the quietness and the stability of the daily life of the Community, in which the love of God shines in the darkness.

Thus, in much sadness, and yet with confidence in the eternal Providence of God.

With my love in Our Lord,

William 

Fr. Anselm 1947

FROM: Donald ...

Dear William,

Thank you of the so many interesting Email not yet caught up with.

Today we celebrated the Solemnity of the Citeaux Fathers.

Yesterday we had the unique funeral of the Monk (Nunraw) and Priest (Brentwood Diocese).

Fr. Mark has just sent me the panegyric - thus with the Attachments and maybe the whole story may piece together.

The family shared with us the Album of Pictures in the Refectory later. 

God love.

Donald

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   Monk                                       

     Fr. Eamonn (Anselm) Magrath

     

                                14.05.1918 – 13.12.2013

                                Priest 

  

Funeral Homily of Fr Eamonn Anselm Magrath              25 January, 2014

The Gospel (Luke 12: 35-40) tells us to be ready, to wait patiently for the Lord's coming.  I have never known anyone who has waited so patiently to meet his Master as has Fr Eamonn, our Fr Anselm. 

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the details, Fr Eamonn died on 13th December.  We were expecting a funeral during the Christmas rush.  Then we were told that there would be a delay as it would take another 4 days for official permission to move his remains from England to Scotland.  Shortly after that the undertaker phoned to say that there was a further problem as Fr Eamonn had fallen in hospital before he died. There would therefore have to be a post-mortem.  With Christmas and the holiday period, weeks went by.  The next news was that his body had not yet been returned after the post-mortem.  It took another week or so before the death certificate and other documents were obtained and the journey north possible. 

I wonder if he would have been allowed some exasperation during that wait.  No doubt it increased his desire to be with God.  

In the beginning of Nunraw's history, Fr Eamonn, who took his middle name (Anselm) as his monastic name, came over with the very first of the founders from our mother house at Roscrea, Ireland.  In the early years at Nunraw he became the first Fr Master of the lay brothers.  As the M. C. he had to organise the liturgy for the main ceremonies at the abbey.  He was nothing if not meticulous, as can be seen in the chronicles he kept of the ongoing events at Nunraw.  

Fr. Anselm, hewing of stone

  There are photographs of him laying the stonework in the building of the new abbey.  There were no end to his talents.  He was a gifted carpenter, making, for example, the first of our choir stalls, to which Brother Antony later added in the same style.  Anselm seemed to be everywhere producing what was required for the growing numbers in the community in its heyday.  

While we were waiting for the return of his remains to Nunraw, the image that kept passing before my eyes was that of a bottle, with its message closed inside, thrown into the sea and left to the whims of the currents.  Now, finally, it has come to shore.  He has been found and ready for the remaining short distance to his final resting place.  

Anselm has been waiting a long time for the Master to come.  In the parable in today's gospel, he has been waiting and ready. The Master, as promised, has come.  He has put on his apron and ready to set him down at table and to serve him.  'Good and faithful servant' just about sums up the situation.  All his contributions to the Nunraw community, all the serving and caring among his parishioners in the diocese of Brentwood, have been recognised and can now be suitably acknowledged by his Lord and Master.       

Fr Master of the lay brothers, on his r. Abbot Camillus

Fr Anselm came with the first group to make the foundation at Nunraw.  Fr Stephen Murphy was, I think, the last of the founders to arrive a couple of years after Anselm.  Stephen died almost a year ago.  So, Anselm was both the first here and the last to go of that founding group.  It is a fitting conclusion to one period in the life of our community.  The lives and deaths of these two holy men, who may not have been martyrs, may yet be the seed from which a new generation of monks come to populate these buildings which has already nourished many monks' lives.  We pray that this wish comes true.  

May he rest in peace.                                                    
 Homily: Abbot Mark. Saturday 25 January 2014

COMMENT: Cistercian Founders

The plentiful Links

Life of Robert of Mosleme

 http://www.ocso.org/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=145&lang=en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alb%C3%A9ric_of_C%C3%AEteaux

The Virgin Mary, patroness of the Order, gives St. Alberic the white Cistercian Cuculla

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Insight Page on the Cistercians
 http://www.paradoxplace.com/Insights/Cistercians/Cistercians.htm aradoxplace Italy Spain Britain Photo & History Pages

Link to all Abbey and Cathedral Pages in Paradoxplace

THE CISTERCIANS

Master Abbey Builders of the 1100s and 1200s

 ONE - THE EARLY YEARS

Introduction to the Paradoxplace Cistercian History and Photo Pages The early years of the Cistercian Order (this page) Link to Cistercians (Two) - Saint Bernard and the Cistercians' Big Leap Forward Books on the Cistercians and their Abbeys Chronology Entry
CISTERCIAN ABBEY PHOTOS
FRANCE	ITALY
THE FOUNDATION ABBEYS IN FRANCE
BRITAIN	SPAIN & PORTUGAL

Dom Donald's Blog: Scottish Cistercian Trail

03 Oct 2009  

Scottish Cistercian Trail - Nunraw and Eleven Ancient Abbeys. Introduction: Beginning of Cistercian Monks 1098. To contemplate God as perfectly as it can be done by men living in common, to contemplate God day and night, ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

1. Melrose Abbey. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Descriptive ...

   www.bartleby.com/360/7/139.html   Cached
   

   Melrose Abbey. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Descriptive Poems: III. Places. Bliss Carman, et al., eds. 1904. The World's Best Poetry. VII. Descriptive: Narrative
   

   Descriptive Poems: III. Places

   Melrose Abbey

   Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)

   From “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” Canto II.

1. 
   

2. WALES  

   www.blupete.com/Literature/Poetry/WordsworthTinternAbbey.htm   Cached
   

   Wordsworth's poem, ... FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear

3. William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey". - Blupe

4. te

Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen - Fathers of Cistercian Monks and Nuns

Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen, Cistercian Founders 

Solemnity:  

Gospel Matthew 4:12-23.

Homily by Fr. Aelred.

Robert, Alberic, Stephen (A)

1. Today’s  Gospel (Third Sunday in Ordinary Time) gives us an account at the calling of Christ’s first four disciples. They were called and they immediately followed Jesus, leaving behind nets, boats, and parents. These are models for disciples of all times. For the genuine disciple does not merely say. ‘Lord, Lord’, but also does the will of the Father as taught by Jesus.

2. Today we honour these other disciples who also let all when they heard the call of Christ. Sts Robert, Alberic and Stephen, the Founders of the Cistercian Order. Monastic history shows that periodic reforms are normal and necessary. This happened in the French Benedictine abbey of Molesme in 1098 when Abbot Robert  and a group of followers seceded from Molesme. They were looking to distance themselves from the many entanglements and comforts of feudal society and live in greater seclusion and poverty. Above all they were seeking to live according to the Rule of St. Benedict with greater fidelity, as they had promised when they made their monastic vows. They founded the new monastery of Citeaux.

3. Pressure was soon put upon Abbot Robert to return to his former monastery of Molesme. After his departure the community elected Alberic. Alberic was Abbot for ten years and maintained a tranquil atmosphere at the new monastery. But the community lived in considerable material poverty and recruits were slow in coming.

4. After the death of Alberic the monks elected Stephen Harding, an Englishman, as Abbot. Stephen had many gifts of scholarship and practical organisation. His engaging personality attracted numerous disciples. Among them, in 1113, was the future Saint Bernard, accompanied by a large retinue of relations and friends. The new monastic order now rapidly expanded throughout Europe and beyond fostering a spiritual renewal of the Church.

5. This brief sketch of Cistercian origins shows how three men heard the call of Christ to follow Him in a particular monastic way of life, in a more intense life of prayer. But it would be wrong to see monks as having a different aim in life to other Christians. The aim of all, lay and monastic, is to arrive at that fullness of charity St Paul speaks of in 1^st Corinthians 13, ‘Love is patient’ and so on. 

6. Speaking about this primacy of love, a monk of the Eastern Church gave this advice to his fellow monks: ‘Console the distressed, and do not make you longing for prayer a pretext for turning away from anyone who asks for your help, for love is greater than prayer.’ So the desire for prayer and closer union with God in our lives should never be used as an excuse to sever contact with those in need, ‘for love is greater than prayer’.

St Francis de Sales, Mass. Fr. Nivard

24 Jan 2014 Early Morning Sky

Friday Yr. II, St Francis de Sales

On Friday, 24 January 2014, 

Nivard ... wrote:

Daily Reading & Meditation, c. Don Schwager

Friday (January 24): Mark 3:13-19

"Jesus appointed twelve to be with him"

 

In today’s Gospel Jesus chose very ordinary people to be his Apostles. They were non-professionals. They had no wealth or position. Jesus chose them from the common people who did ordinary things. They had no special education, and no social advantages.    

   Jesus wanted ordinary people who could take an assignment and do it extraordinarily well.

   When the Lord calls us to serve, we must not shrug back because we think that we have little or nothing to offer.    

   The Lord takes what we can offer and uses it for building of his kingdom.

   We can apply all this to St Francis de Sales whose Memorial we celebrate today.

   Some people seem to be gentle by nature.

   Others are ‘barrels’ of vinegar!

   Most of us lie between these two extremes.

   We need to work at becoming more gentle and humble each day as did St Francis de Sales.

   Jesus constantly whispers in our ear, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart. Be like me.”

                *************

Father, Take our lives and all that we have as an offering of love for you through Christ our Lord.

Nivard.

Francis de Sales. How reading St. Francis de Sales has made me a better priest

January 24  
St. Francis de Sales
(1567-1622)

Francis was destined by his father to be a lawyer so that the young man could eventually take his elder’s place as a senator from the province of Savoy in France. For this reason Francis was sent to Padua to study law. After receiving his doctorate, he returned home and, in due time, told his parents he wished to enter the priesthood. His father strongly opposed Francis in this, and only after much patient persuasiveness on the part of the gentle Francis did his father finally consent. Francis was ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a center for the Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable success.
At 35 he became bishop of Geneva. While administering his diocese he continued to preach, hear confessions and catechize the children. His gentle character was a great asset in winning souls. He practiced his own axiom, “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar.”
Besides his two well-known books, the Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God, he wrote many pamphlets and carried on a vast correspondence. For his writings, he has been named patron of the Catholic Press. His writings, filled with his characteristic gentle spirit, are addressed to lay people. He wants to make them understand that they too are called to be saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to the Devout Life: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman.... It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world. ”
In spite of his busy and comparatively short life, he had time to collaborate with another saint, Jane Frances de Chantal (August 12), in the work of establishing the Sisters of the Visitation. These women were to practice the virtues exemplified in Mary’s visit to Elizabeth: humility, piety and mutual charity. They at first engaged to a limited degree in works of mercy for the poor and the sick. Today, while some communities conduct schools, others live a strictly contemplative life.

Comment:

Francis de Sales took seriously the words of Christ, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.” As he said himself, it took him 20 years to conquer his quick temper, but no one ever suspected he had such a problem, so overflowing with good nature and kindness was his usual manner of acting. His perennial meekness and sunny disposition won for him the title of “Gentleman Saint.”

Quote:

Francis de Sales tells us: “The person who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender towards everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light.”

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/Saint.aspx?id=1270

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http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/how-reading-st-francis-de-sales-has.html

How reading St. Francis de Sales has made me a better priest

“Introduction to the Devout Life”, the spiritual classic in which St. Francis de Sales sets forth the life of devotion not so much for the consecrated religious or cleric but for the laity, is surely the most popular work of the Doctor of the Catholic Press. This is one of those very few books worth reading two hundred times and more. It serves as a trustworthy guide to sanctity.

Since my ordination to the priesthood (three and a half years ago), this little “Introduction” for lay people has had an immeasurable impact on my own approach to moral and spiritual theology – reading St. Francis de Sales has made me a better priest.

. . . . . .

Lumen Fidei: Pope Francis. Day Seven of Christian Unity Week

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Seven: Together... we belong to Christ

Isaiah envisioned a day when Egyptians and Assyrians would worship together with Israel as God’s people. Christian unity belongs to the design of God for the unity of all humanity, and indeed of the cosmos itself. We pray for the day when we will worship together in one faith and one Eucharistic fellowship.

We are blessed by the gifts of various church traditions. Recognising those gifts in each other impels us towards visible unity.

Our baptism unites us as one body in Christ. While we value our particular churches, Paul reminds us that all who call on the name of the Lord are with us in Christ for we all belong to the one body. There is no other to whom we can say, "I have no need of you" (1 Cor 12:21).

Vatican Resources

_______________________________________

Lumen Fidei: A Summary on Pope Francis' First Encyclical

06 Jul 2013

Chapter 2 seeks to understand the relationship between faith and several other aspects—reason, love, truth, and theology. Lumen Fidei shows that truth is necessary for faith so that it can remain grounded. Faith is rooted in ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

For some reason, the writer wished to remove this Blog.
Thanks for his article, I hope he can gain access by the Link.
I loved the illustrations.
Please excuse the delay - it is a first in tracing in the Blog archive.

Happily, the ENCYCLICAL LETTER 
LUMEN FIDEI  is accessible Online at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html
and it has Downloaded with ease.  

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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Night Office, James Quinn S.J.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Five: Together... we are called into fellowship

Ecuminism 1987

The Clergy Review January 1987

Editor, Questions raised by the present state of ecumenism, 11 Articles

The Church, The Churches and the World

By James Quinn, S.J.

Church of the Sacred Heart, 28 Lauriston Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

Extract

   §   11 The Churches

The will of Christ

At the Last Supper Christ prayed for his Church, that it might be one. Unity among all his .followers is clearly his great desire. This unity is to be complete and perfect, having as its source and model the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

But Christians, though accepting Christ as their Lord, find themselves divided from each other in different ways. In obedience to Christ we must do all in our power to undo division- among Christians, and in their place to build up true Christian unity.

The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree on Ecumenism, points out that work for Christian unity is a duty of every Catholic. It is a work for the whole Church, not for bishops and priests only. Each parish should have its own contribution to make towards the Church's commitment in this field.

The ecumenical movement is essentially a meeting of Churches, through their members. But it must not be simply the enthusiasm of the few: it must be the responsibility of all, according to each one's talents and opportunities.

The way of renewal

The Decree on Ecumenism also points out that the way to Christian unity is through spiritual renewal within each Church, and in the life of every Christian.

The unity of the Church is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the bond of love. It is therefore a work that demands our co-operation through prayer. Prayer is the first and necessary condition of work for Christian unity.

Work for Christian unity requires also the fruits of prayer in our individual lives and in the life of the whole Church. It demands spiritual renewal, holiness of life, fidelity to Christ.

It asks for a spirit of penitence for sins against charity. There arc many personal and community barriers - suspicion, prejudice, lack of charity, bad example - which must be removed before the Holy Spirit can heal our divisions.

The spirit of unity

If we are to grow together into the fullness of unity, we must first want unity. We must want it, not for our own glory but in humble obedience to Christ.

We should want other Christians to be one with us because we miss their presence and feel somehow incomplete without them. We must see them, not as rivals or strangers, still less as enemies, but as fellow-pilgrims who belong to us in a very real sense, through our spiritual kinship with them by baptism.

There should be a spirit of forgiveness where we may think that other Christians have wronged us. There should be a spirit of repentance for our own sins against other Christians.

Above all, we should not live in the past but in the reality of the present, and in hope of a more Christian future.

The Eucharist and Christian unity

The Church is essentially a communion of faith, hope and love. It is a communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as a com­munion with all its members in the Body of Christ.

Baptism is the basic, initial sacrament of Christian unity. It establishes a sacramental bond among all who have been baptized.

Holy Communion is the crowning sacrament of Christian unity, setting the seal on perfect unity.

The supernatural communion which is the Church must be seen as a true community in itself, but also as a community seeking to welcome into its unity the whole family of mankind.

The article below:

James Quinn SJ The Church, The Churches and the World

23 Jan 2013

www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=15970. Apr 14, 2010 – The hymns of Father James Quinn SJ are found in almost every contemporary English language hymnal, taken from the collection New Hymns ... 2.

Day 5 of WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY and throughout the year 2014 Has Christ been divided? (1 Cor 1:13)

Ordinary Time: January 22nd
Night Office Readings being used for Christian Unity 

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Five: Together... we are called into fellowship

We are called into fellowship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As we draw closer to the Triune God, we are drawn closer to one another in Christian unity.

Christ has initiated a change in our relationship, calling us friends instead of servants. In response to this relationship of love, we are called out of relationships of power and domination into friendship and love of one another.

Called by Jesus, we witness to the gospel both to those who have not yet heard it and to those who have. This proclamation contains a call into fellowship with God, and establishes fellowship among those who respond.

Vatican Resources   - extract:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/weeks

Day 5	Together... we are called into fellowship
Isaiah 43:1-7	I will be with you
Psalm 133	How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
1 John 1:3-7	We have fellowship with one another"
John 15:12-17	I have called you friends"

Three points for reflection

We are called into fellowship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As we draw closer to the Triune God, we are drawn closer to one another in Christian unity.

Christ has initiated a change in our relationship, calling us friends instead of servants. In response to this relationship of love, we are called out of relationships of power and domination into friendship and love of one another.

Called by Jesus, we witness to the gospel both to those who have not yet heard it and to those who have. This proclamation contains a call into fellowship with God, and establishes fellowship among those who respond.

Questions

• In what ways do you experience the call into fellowship with God?
• In what ways is God calling you into fellowship with others within your church and beyond?

Prayer

Father of love, you have called us into the fellowship of your Son and appointed us to bear fruit in our witness to the gospel. By the grace of your Spirit, enable us to love one another and to dwell together in unity so that our joy may be complete. Amen. 

Saint Agnes TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014

Saint of the day: 21st January   

Saint Agnes

St. Agnes Morelli Colonnade
The saint's statue is among those
on the colonnade
in St. Peter 's Square

 

 

  Saint Quote of the Day:

 Saint Ambrose of Milan

Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve.

-- Saint Ambrose of Milan

- See more at: http://faithofthefatherssaintquote.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.QJJ1S18A.dpuf

Virgin, martyr of Rome. St Agnes is one of the most famous of early Christian saints. Her death in 305 was recorded in the Deposito Martyrum just forty years later. Around that time a basilica was built over her grave in the Via Nomentana. Many early writers, including Ambrose, Jerome, Damasus and Prudentias praised her.

It seems she was a young girl who was killed because she refused to marry, having dedicated herself to Christ.

Because her name is similar to agnus, or lamb, her principal emblem is a lamb. Today in Rome, a special blessing ceremony is held for lambs that produce the wool from which the pallia for archbishops, are woven by the sisters of St Agnes.

There are hundreds of paintings, stained glass windows and church dedications to her across Europe. In England five ancient churches are named after her. The best surviving cycle of paintings is on a gold and enamel cup which once belonged to the Duke of Berry, then the Duke of Bedford and King Henry VI. It can be seen now in the British Museum.

http://catholicism.about.com/od/martyrs/p/Saint-Agnes-Of-Rome.htm

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Four: Together... we affirm that God is faithful

The eternal unity of Father, Son and Spirit draws us closer into the love of God, and calls us to participate in God’s work in the world which is love, mercy and justice. Mercy and justice are not divided in God, but rather are joined together in the steadfast love manifested in God’s covenant with us and with all of creation.

The new father Zechariah testifies to God’s manifestation of mercy in keeping his promises to Abraham and his descendents. God is faithful to his holy covenant.

As we continue to pray for the unity of the church, we must not neglect to meet together and encourage one another, spurring each other on towards love and good deeds, saying: "God is faithful."

Vatican Resources

COMMENT: Bl. Cyprian

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2006

Saint Quote: Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi

Yourself and your wife should keep always before your eyes that fact that you are creatures, God’s own creation. As a man’s handiwork belongs to him, so do we all belong to God, and should accordingly have no other will but His. He is a Father, a very kind Father indeed. All his plans are for the good of His children. We may not often see how they are. That does not matter. Leave yourselves in His hands, not for a year, nor for two years, but as long as you have to live on earth. If you confide in Him fully and sincerely He will take special care of you.

--Blessed Tansi’s letter to his houseboy

- See more at: http://faithofthefatherssaintquote.blogspot.co.uk/2006/01/saint-quote-blessed-cyprian-michael.html#sthash.sHCzpaMN.dpuf