Annual Retreat - Rule of St Benedict, Cistercian Community Contemplative Life

The concluding Retreat Conference of our Annual Retreat was directed to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

A opening quotation from St. Benedict lead directly through Lectio Divina into the depths of Mary.
 RB. Prologue

L I S T E N  carefully, my child,
to your master's precepts,
and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20).
Receive willingly and carry out effectively
your loving father's advice,
that by the labor of obedience
you may return to Him 

The powerful  reflection is summed up beautifully in some words from Caryll Houseland. Added pages ....

Annual Retreat - Final Conference on
Blessed Virgin Mary

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COMMENT - Responses below, at end.

Caryll Houselander ‘The Reed of God’ Part Two pp.40-45. 1948 ET HOMO FACTUS EST HUMANLY speaking, the time of Advent must have been the happiest time in Our Lady's life. The world about her must have been informed with more than its habitual loveliness, for she was gathering it all to the making of her son. But sometimes a pang of grief must have shot through her; for example, when the young wheat grew and she saw it pierce the earth with little swords. Perhaps the first sword to pierce her heart was a blade of green wheat. For was not her precious burden a grain of wheat sown in a field? Was He not bread? The world's bread that must be broken? Everything must have spoken to her of Him, as if the beauty of the world was one more prophecy. To children it seems perfectly natural that God's thoughts should become snow and water and stars; and creation itself is simply His meditation on Christ. The seed in the earth is the unborn child. The snow on the field is the Virgin Mother's purity. The bloom on the black thorn, flowering through the land, His birth. The falling of the red rose leaves foretells His passion, the wheat is bound in sheaves because He ,was bound, it is threshed because He was scourged. The fruit is red on the bough because He was crucified; because He rose from the dead, spring returns to us again. If such is the beauty of the world to ordinary children, what must it have been to the Mother of God, when her whole being was folded upon the unborn Christ within her? He was completely her own, utterly dependent upon her: she was His food and warmth and rest, His shelter from the world, His shade in the Sun. She was the shrine of the Sacrament, the four walls and the roof of His home. Yet she must have longed to hold Him between her hands and to look into His human face and to see in it, in the face of God, a family likeness to herself! Think of that! But perhaps you cannot, unless you happen to be a young priest newly ordained, waiting for the moment when you will hold in your hands the first Host that you have consecrated at your first Mass. It must have been a season of joy, and she must have longed for His birth, but at the same time she knew that every step that she took, took her little son nearer to the grave. Each work of her hands prepared His hands a little more for the nails; each breath that she drew counted one more to His last. In giving life to Him she was giving Him death. All other children born must inevitably die; death belongs to fallen nature; the mother's gift to the child is life. But Christ is life; death did not belong to Him. In fact, unless Mary would give Him death, He could not die. Unless she would give Him the capacity for suffering, He could not suffer. He could only feel cold and hunger and thirst if she gave Him her vulnerability to cold and hunger and thirst. He could not know the indifference of friends or treachery or the bitterness of being betrayed unless she gave Him a human mind and a human heart. That is what it meant to Mary to give human nature to God. He was invulnerable; He asked her for a body to be wounded. He was joy itself; He asked her to give Him tears. He was God; He asked her to make Him man. He asked for hands and feet to be nailed. He asked for flesh to be scourged. He asked for blood to be shed. He asked for a heart to be broken. The stable at Bethlehem was the first Calvary. The wooden manger was the first Cross. The swaddling bands were the first burial bands. The Passion had begun. Christ was man. This, too, was the first separation. This was her son, but now He was outside of Her: He had a separate heart: He looked at the world with the blind blue eyes of a baby, but they were His own eyes. The description of His birth in the Gospel does not say that she held Him in her arms but that she "wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger." As if her first act was to lay Him on the Cross. She knew that this little son of hers was God's Son and that God had not given Him to her for herself alone but for the whole world. This is one of the greatest of all the things that we must learn from our contemplation of Our Lady. Few mothers realize that their children are part of a whole and that the whole is the family of God, to whom every child born owes all the love and service of a brother or sister. Many mothers try to shield their children from the common life, to give them a sheltered upbringing, so to shield them from all risk of sickness or pain or poverty that they are shielded from vitality and the vast experience of living.   (Read) . . .

Annual Retreat

We are in the course of our Annual Retreat. 

The Director speaks excellently on the Rule of St. Benedict and on Cistercian Community.

Providentially, the Readings of the Night Office echo in powerful harmony with St. Paul 1Cor 12, Eckhart, and Hugh of St Victor

SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Monastic Night Office

WEDNESDAY

First Reading

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Responsory        1 In 4:1-2; 1 Cor 12:3

Test the spirits to see whether they come from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you may recognize the spirits that come from God: t every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

V. No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except under the influence of the Holy Spirit. t Every spirit ...

Second Reading        From Talks of Instruction by Meister Eckhart

All people are not called to God in one way, as Saint Paul says.

• If then you find that your shortest way does not lead by many external works and great hardship or austerities - which, to be frank, are of no great importance, unless someone is specially impelled thereto by God, and has the power to do them well without injury to his inner life - if you do not find anything of this in yourself, be quite content and do not pursue it any further.
• Then you might say: "If this is of little importance, why then did our ancestors and so many saints do this?" Then remember that our Lord gave them these practices and he also gave them the strength to carry them out and this was well pleasing to him on their part, and by so doing they were to achieve their salvation. For God has not restricted human salvation to any particular way of life. What one possesses another lacks. God gave efficacy to all good ways and it is not denied to any good practice. For one good thing is not opposed to another good thing.
• Now you might say: "Our Lord Jesus Christ had at all times the highest way: we are in duty bound to follow him." That is quite true. It is right that we should follow our Lord, but not in every detail. Our Lord fasted forty days. No one should venture to follow him in this. Christ did many works with the intention that we should follow him in spirit, but not physically. Therefore one should strive to be able to follow him sensibly, for he aimed at our love rather than our works. We should always follow him in our own way. As I have often said, I think much more of a spiritual work than a physical work. What do I mean? Christ fasted forty days. Follow him by paying attention to the thing that you are most inclined to do or ready to do, renounce that and watch yourself well. It is often more fitting to keep yourself from anxiety than to abstain entirely from food.
• In the same way, it is sometimes more difficult to suppress one word than to be absolutely silent. It is sometimes more difficult to endure one little contemptuous word of no importance than to receive a hard blow that one was expecting, and it is much harder to be alone in a crowd than in the desert. It is often harder to abandon a small thing than a great one and to do a small work rather than one which we consider great. Thus we can quite well follow our Lord according to the measure of our weakness, but we cannot and must not consider ourselves to be far from him.

Responsorial      1 Cor 12:4-7

There is a variety of gifts but the same Spirit; t there is a variety of

          service, but the same Lord. -

V. In each of us the Spirit is manifested in a particular way for the good of all. t There is a ...

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THURSDAY

First Reading

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Responsory        Rom 12:5; see 1 Pt 4:10; 1 Cor 12:21

We, though many, are one body in Christ, and as members of that body, we belong to one another. t Each of us has received a gift, so let us use it in mutual service, as good stewards of God's varied graces.

V. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor can the head say to the feet, I have no need of you. t Each of us ...

Second Reading

From a treatise by Hugh of Saint Victor

• As breath passes from the head to the members of the body to give them life, so the Holy Spirit comes to Christians through Christ. The head is Christ, the members are Christians. There is one head and many members, a single body consisting of the head and its members, and in this single body a unique Spirit who is fully in the head, and in the members by participation. Since then there is one body and one Spirit, no one who is not in the body can be vivified by the Spirit; as scripture says: Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ is not a member of Christ. There is one Spirit in one body. Nothing belonging to the body is dead; nothing separated from the body is alive. By faith we become members; by love we come alive. By faith we receive union; by love animation. The sacrament of baptism unites us; the body and blood of Christ vivifies us. Through baptism we become members of the body; through the body of Christ we share in that body's vitality.
• Holy Church is the body of Christ: one Spirit vivifies it, unites it through faith, and sanctifies it. The members of this body are individual believers, who all form one body because they have one Spirit and one faith. In the human body each member has its own distinctive function, but it is not exercised for itself alone. Likewise in the body of holy Church, the gifts of grace are distributed, but even if some gift is given to only one member, it is not for that member's exclusive use. Only the eyes see, yet they do not see for themselves alone but for the whole body. Only the ears hear, yet they do not hear for themselves alone but for the whole body. Only the feet walk, yet they do not walk for themselves alone but for the whole body. So it is that any gift possessed by only one person is not merely for that person's own use; for he who gives his gifts so generously and distributes them so wisely desires each of them to be for all, and all for each.
• Thus it is by analogy with the human body that holy Church, that is, all believers, is called the body of Christ, for it has received the Spirit of Christ whose presence in a person is indicated by the name Christian which Christ has given him. This name designates Christ's members, those who share in the Spirit of Christ, those who are anointed by him who is the anointed one; for the name Christian comes from Christ, and Christ means anointed, anointed with that oil of gladness which he has received in fullness above all his fellows, in order to pour it out on all his companions as the head upon the members of the body: like precious ointment upon the head which runs down from the head to the beard and then to the edge of the garment to flow over all and give life to all. So it is that when you become a Christian, you become a member of Christ, a member of the body of Christ sharing in the Spirit of Christ.

          Responsory        Eph 4:11; Rom 12:6

Christ's gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, t to build up the body

of Christ.

. V. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them t to build up ...

"The Lord be with you" St. Peter Damian

The Reading of the Night Office conveyed the impression of St. Peter Damian gifted as some kind of a polymath, and impression of  strength of character of leadership. 
The course of  our Annual Retreat is focused on the Rule of St Benedict and Cistercian Community and Contemplative Life. One talk reminded me of  St. Peter Damian's, "Eleventh Treatise  entitled, The Book of 'The Lord be with you'. See excerpt below ...

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Monday, 21 February 2011

St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1007-1072)

Maybe because he was orphaned and had been treated shabbily by one of his brothers, Peter Damian was very good to the poor. It was the ordinary thing for him to have a poor person or two with him at table and he liked to minister personally to their needs.  

Peter escaped poverty and the neglect of his own brother when his other brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His brother sent him to good schools and Peter became a professor.

Already in those days Peter was very strict with himself. He wore a hair shirt under his clothes, fasted rigorously and spent many hours in prayer. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching and give himself completely to prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of St. Romuald at Fonte Avellana. They lived two monks to a hermitage. Peter was so eager to pray and slept so little that he soon suffered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the Bible.

The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him. Abbot Peter founded five other hermitages. He encouraged his brothers in a life of prayer and solitude and wanted nothing more for himself. The Holy See periodically called on him, however, to be a peacemaker or troubleshooter, between two abbeys in dispute or a cleric or government official in some disagreement with Rome.

Finally, Pope Stephen IX made Peter the cardinal-bishop of Ostia. He worked hard to wipe out simony, and encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance. He wished to restore primitive discipline among religious and priests, warning against needless travel, violations of poverty and too comfortable living. He even wrote to the bishop of Besancon, complaining that the canons there sat down when they were singing the psalms in the Divine Office.

He wrote many letters. Some 170 are extant. We also have 53 of his sermons and seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred examples and stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin.

He asked often to be allowed to retire as cardinal-bishop of Ostia, and finally Alexander II consented. Peter was happy to become once again just a monk, but he was still called to serve as a papal legate. When returning from such an assignment in Ravenna, he was overcome by a fever. With the monks gathered around him saying the Divine Office, he died on February 22, 1072.

In 1828 he was declared a Doctor of the Church

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THE ELEVENTH TREATISE OF ST. PETER DAMIAN

The Book of ‘The Lord Be With You'

Many of the brethren, followers of the eremitic life, have asked me whether, since they live alone in their cells, it is right for them to say Dominus vobiscum, Jube, domne, benedicere, and the like; and whether, despite the fact that they are by themselves, they should say the responses, as the custom of the Church demands. Some of them argue the matter within themselves in this way: 'Are we to ask a blessing of the stones and furnishings of our cells, or say to them, "The Lord be with you?" , Others fear that if they depart in any way from the prescribed order of the Church they are guilty of sin, in so far as they are diminishing their duty of divine service. … 

Chapter Three

The phrase Dominus vobiscum is the priest’s greeting to the people; he prays that the Lord may be with them, in accordance with the words spoken by the Prophet: 'I shall dwell within them', and with those spoken by our Saviour to His disciples and all the faithful: 'Behold, I am with you.' This form of greeting, then, is no mere innovation instituted by human authority; it has the sanction of the ancient authority of the Scriptures. Anyone who examines the holy writings carefully will find many examples of its use, both in the singular and the plural. Did not the angel say to the blessed Mother of God: 'The Lord is with thee'? And to Gideon likewise: 'The Lord is with thee, thou mightiest of men'? In the book of Ruth, too, we read that Boaz greeted his harvesters with the words: 'The Lord be with you.' And in the Book of Chronicles we find that the prophet sent by God hailed Asa King of Juda and his army as they were returning in triumph from battle with these words: 'The Lord be with you, for you were with the Lord.'

When the Church receives the salutary greeting of the priest, she greets him in return, and in doing so prays that, as he has desired that the Lord may be with them, so He may deign to be with him. 'And with thy spirit', she replies, meaning: 'May almighty God be with your soul, so that you may worthily pray to Him for our salvation.' Notice that she says not 'with thee', but 'with thy spirit'; this is to remind us that ail things concerned with the services of the Church must be performed in a spiritual manner. And certainly God must prefer to be with a man's spirit, for it is the soul of a reasonable man that is made in God's image and likeness; it alone is capable of receiving divine grace and illumination.

And the greeting which the bishop gives his people: 'Peace be with you' or 'Peace to you', also has its roots in the authority of Holy Writ, and is not just the product of man's mind. For we read in the Old Testament that the angel said to Daniel 'Peace be to you'; and in the New Testament the Lord almost always greets His disciples with the words 'Peace to you.' And He commended the same form of greeting to His disciples, saying: 'Into whatsoever house you shall enter, salute it, saying: …

Monthly Memorial - Office of the Dead

18^th February Friday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time

Office of the Dead

Community Mass was offered for the Monthly Memorial of deceased Brethren, Relatives, Associates and friends.

It was appropriate to mark the Month Mind of Franciscan Missionary of Mary, Sr. Mary Hynland. R.I.P.

   

Acknowledgement  to Vincent Toal, Editor  

Night Office Reading A Commentary on Death in the Psalms  by Fr Charles Callan.   All must finally die, rich and poor; high and low; strong and weak. At its best the longest earthly life is but a breath, and to people, worldly in the wrong sense, death can be a palling and chilling thought. Unless it is banished from the mind, it can cloud every bright prospect, sadden every joy, weigh down the strongest heart with gloomy foreboding. It is the certainty and finality of death that make it awful. Life is soon over, and the dead return no more. (p. 205 edit)    To righteous and godly people, however, the state of the case is different.                                                                                                     From the sleep of death, they wake up to everlasting enjoyment. From the darkness of the grave they come forth into eternal morning light. There is a streaming glory ahead, waiting upon the incident of temporal death, which the psalms only glimpse partially and dimly, but really, growing out of the felt certainty that communion and fellowship with God in this life, cannot be interrupted hereafter. (p. 206 edit)    Note therefore the advantage of the good Christian who knows, that for him, death is the gateway to life; to real abundant, overflowing eternal life. He is willing, to stay, but, only as long as God wants him to stay, as long as he can add to the glory of his heavenly Father, the sanctification of his own soul, and the good of his neighbour. … Apart from such motives and purposes, the present life and world have no strong hold on the true Christian who knows that he was made for, and even yearns for, better things. (p. 119 edit) The Psalms, Charles Callan OP, 1944

Mk 8:31Sacra Pagina The first Passion Prediction

In addition to the previous Post, there is further clarification from .....

Sacra Pagina MARK 8

The first Passion Prediction.. (8:27-38)

…….. page 260

30     ……..

31      he began to teach them: Mark uses the auxiliary verb archesthai ("begin") twentysix times in his gospel and twice here in successive verses (erxaio). Having accepted Peter's confession that he is the Messiah, Jesus now begins to explain the true nature of his messiahship and what it might mean for his followers. it is necessary: The impersonal verb de; ("it is necessary"), used here for the first time, carries an overtone of apocalyptic determinism and will become increasingly prominent as the gospel proceeds (see 9:11; 13:7, 10, 14; 14:31). It injects the idea of divine agency as God's plan unfolds in Jesus' Passion and in the end-time events (three occurrences in ch. 13). It also foreshadows Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane when he recognizes and accepts his imminent death as God's will (see 14:36). These events will take place according to the will of God.
the Son of Man: Last used in 2:28, this title for Jesus will also become prominent in what follows (see 8:38; 9:9, 12,31; 10:33,45; 13:26; 14:21, 41, 62). It appears in each of three Passion predictions (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34). In the OT (Ezekiel and Daniel) there is no explicit connection between the Son of Man and suffering. be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes: In the Markan Passion narrative these three groups constitute the leaders of the Jewish opposition to Jesus. The Pharisees, so prominent in the controversy stories during Jesus' public ministry, will disappear in the Passion narrative. The "elders" represent the Jewish leaders, perhaps members of the Sanhedrin and other influential figures. The "chief priests" include primarily Annas and Caiaphas and the upper

Interpretation

Page 263 ……….

The journey begins in 8:27-30 with Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah. This serves as the starting point for the rest of the material in the journey narrative, which is designed to explain what kind of Messiah Jesus is and what implications this identity has for his followers. In 8:31-38 we meet a pattern that will be repeated in 9:30-37 and 10:32-45: a prediction of Jesus' Passion, death, and resurrection (8:31); a misunderstanding by his disciples (8:32-33); and instructions on true discipleship (8:34-38). The pattern in turn provides the framework for the other discourses and narratives along the way.

Mk.8:31 The first announcement of the suffering of our Lord

  

Thursday 17th Feb. Mark 8:27-33 Passion foretold Fr. Hugh introduces the Community Mass. God is a God of surprises. Our Lord asked the Apostles to describe his identity. Who do you say I am? They got it right. And then, Our Lord gives them a little more information about Himself – he would suffer and be glorified but knocked them over. But the cross is the way to glory. Christ turned out to be something much greater than they imagined. Mar 8:31-38  He began to teach them, etc. For the first announcement of the suffering of our Lord, the rebuke of Peter, and the lesson concerning the cross, and saving the soul, see notes on Mat_16:21-28. Compare Luk_9:22-27. Mar_8:38 is peculiar to Mark in this connection, though given in Mat_10:32-33, on which see notes. (PNT) Mat 16:21 - From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples. They were not strong enough to bear this teaching until they were convinced of his divinity. And suffer many things. In this strange way carrying out the true idea of the Messiah (Isa. 53). Of the elders and chief priests and scribes. The three constituents of the Sanhedrim.

MARK 8:31
KJV	Vulgate	GNB	3Greek
31  And2532 he began756 to teach1321 them,846 that3754 the3588 Son5207 of man444 must1163 suffer3958 many things,4183 and2532 be rejected593 of575 the3588 elders,4245 and2532 of the chief priests,749 and2532 scribes,1122 and2532 be killed,615 and2532 after3326 three5140 days2250 rise again.450	1  et coepit docere illos quoniam oportet Filium hominis multa pati et reprobari a senioribus et a summis sacerdotibus et scribis et occidi et post tres dies resurgere	31  Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life."	31  και2532  ηρξατο756  διδασκειν1321  αυτους846  οτι3754  δει1163  τον3588  υιον5207  του3588  ανθρωπου444  πολλα4183  παθειν3958  και2532  αποδοκιμασθηναι593  απο575  των3588  πρεσβυτερων4245  και2532  αρχιερεων749  και2532  γραμματεων1122  και2532  αποκτανθηναι615  και2532  μετα3326  τρεις5140  ημερας2250  αναστηναι450

Caesarea Philippi
Banias spring with Pan's cave on background
left with temenos and niches center 

     

The Doctrine of the Cross. 

pp.170-(R. Knox, The Gospel Story 171)

From that time onwards Jesus began to make it known to his disciples that the Son of Man must go up to Jeru­salem, and there, with much ill usage, be rejected by the chief priests and elders and scribes, and be put to death, and rise again on the third day. This he told them openly; whereupon Peter, drawing him to his side, began remon­strating with him; 'Never, Lord,' he said; 'no such thing shall befall you.'

. . .

A change now comes over the gospel story; a change in direc­tion. All roads have been leading to Caesarea Philippi; Peter's act of faith has been the objective of our Lord's instructions. He now turns his eyes towards Jerusalem; there he is to die. Peter has just confessed his belief that Jesus is God; he must remem­ber that he is also Man. They must get all ideas of an earthly triumph right out of their heads; as man he must suffer and die. And this at the hands of the accepted leaders of Israel, not the Gentiles. Up till this, our Lord has made only veiled references to his coming death (pp. 46, 48, 74, 146); this is the first clear, express declaration. Only faith in his divinity could stand up under this severe blow. Peter is shocked at the thought of it; the Master is overwrought; he needs cheering up. En­lightened by faith, Peter was solid rock; with human reason alone, he is a mere stone by the roadside. Our Lord is stern in his rebuke; he will not be turned aside from the way of the cross; Satan proposed this same way out to him when he suggested an alliance, at the beginning of his ministry (p. 36).

Jesus now points out the way to perfection: (1) The Cross. An expressive symbol of suffering, well understood by the Jews since the Roman occupation. It will take on a new meaning after Jesus' crucifixion. (2) Follow me. Not accompany me from place to place, but live my life; it is a personal, individual relation­ship, so well expressed by St. Paul (Galatians 2, 19-20).

The sombre prospect of the cross raised a difficulty about the speedy coming of the kingdom, promised by John (p. 30) and Jesus (p. 62). It will not be delayed long; it will be realized in the lifetime of at least some here today. (Actually the church was well established within thirty years. See Romans 10, 18.) 

Tre Fontane Abbey, EUR, Rome

    

Dom Giacomo Brière, Sup. 1994, Abbot 1996

Community Statistics 2009 Tre Fontane:

Total Monks 13, Choir Monks 11, Novice 1, Oblate 1. Non Stability 1.

Abbot Giacomo welcomed the group of

New Superiors Seminar, Rome Jan-Feb 2011

Abbot Giacomo welcomes visiting Superiors

 

Looking up hill to Monte Cistello, the former International OCSO College

  

   

The Story and the History is on the Website

Abbazia Tre Fontane

www.abbaziatrefontane.com

The ancient monastery of Ss. Vincent and Anastasius was founded in the 6th century by Cilician monks; it was later occupied by Benedictines. In 1140 it became Cistercian.  It was occupied by Franciscans in 1826; re-established by La Trappe in 1867 and raised to the rank of abbey in 1868.

History

1140: St. Bernard of Clairvaux sent Cistercians, under the leadership of Bernard Pganelli, who was the first abbot before being elected pope under the name of Eugene III in 1145.

The abbey was held by Cistercians until 1826, but was pillaged by revolutionary armies and counted only a small number of monks.

1826: Given to the Observant Friars Minor.  They remain until 1867, but the monastery decays even further.

1867: Trappists took over at the invitation of Pius IX.

1868: A Brief of 21 April grants the community use of the monastery, three churches and a small property.  One of the first occupants is Fr. Franz Pfanner, future founder of Marianhill.

1870-71: The community is dissolved by a rapacious government.  The monks were allowed to remain as guardians and received a salary.

1874, 11 November: The monks form an agricultural corporation.

1886, 8 April: The acts of “affrancazione”.  The community, being an agricultural corporation, becomes owner of the property by the payment of an annual royalty. The monastery lands had long been infested with malaria.  Many monks came down with the disease and paid for their devotion with their lives.  The community need help to live and to pay the annual indemnity.

1892: At the union of the 3 Trappist congregations it was decided that the abbot general would be abbot of Tre Fontane and reside there.  In fact, that never came about, but in view of this arrangement the community is governed for some time by priors.

1894: A monk of Sept-Fons, Fr. Leon Ehrard, is sent to Tre Fontane.  He becomes cellarer, then prior, and finally abbot in 1919.  His hard work and intelligence transform the situation and the abbey flourishes both spiritually and materially.

1936: The community is juridically recognized, according to the laws of the Concordat with Italy and the property of the agricultural corporation was transferred to it.  The annuities had been paid.

1942: Part of the property was expropriated for the construction of a future exposition (E.U.R. - Esposizione universale di Roma), which never took place.  This became today’s EUR district.

As the city of Rome expanded, the greater part of the property had to be sold.  Today only 30 hectares remain.

Mk. 8:22-26 Blind Man of Betsaida

Community Mass

Introduction

Jesus heals Blind Mk. 8

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nivard - - -
Sent: Tue, 15 February, 2011 17:13:13
Subject: 6 Wk Thurs Blind Man Bethsaida  

In today’s Gospel St Mark, (8:22-26),

tells us that the blind man replied, "I see people looking like trees and walking." He could see everything distinctly.

   Jesus put spittle on his eyes, placed his hands on him and asked him whether he could see anything.
Knowledge always comes by degrees. It is only after a great deal of time and a long apprenticeship that we are able to reach perfect knowledge.
   

   First the impurities are removed, blindness goes, and so light enters. To teach perfectly it comes from the Lord's mouth. The Lord's spittle, which comes out, so to speak, from his substance comes under-standing. The word coming forth from his mouth is a word that effects a cure.  

   Like the blind man, we need only the touch of Jesus, as we do in receiving Holy Communion, and we will find healing for soul and body.

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Commentary of the day
Saint Jerome (347-420), priest, translator of the Bible, Doctor of the Church 
Homilies on Saint Mark's Gospel, n°8, 235 (trad. SC 494, p. 143)

« Open my eyes that I may consider the wonders of your Law» (Ps 119[118], 18)

Jesus put spittle on his eyes, placed his hands on him and asked him whether he could see anything.
Knowledge always comes by degrees...
It is only after a great deal of time and a long apprenticeship that we are able to attain perfect knowledge.
First the impurities are removed, blindness goes, and thus light enters.
The Lord's spittle is perfect teaching: to teach perfectly it comes from the Lord's mouth.
The Lord's spittle, which comes forth, so to speak, from his substance, is understanding, just as the word coming forth from his mouth is a cure...