O.C.S.O. M G M - 2011 Assisi Sept 7

News:
Appreciate greatly the New Blog for Meeting of the General Chapter.
Abbot Mark (Nunraw) is attending for the first time.
He has had exciting time travel problems.
On Tuesday the Flight failed in London because of a Strike in Fumicino. 
A later Flight reached Italy and on to Termini for a train on to Assisi - a much late arrival.
Hopefully he was in time for the Opening Mass and Homily of the Abbot General.
We hope to have contact from Abbot Mark.

This morning, at Nunraw, we celebrated our community Mass of the Holy Spirit for the Assembly.
We prayer for the Holy Ghost:
Intercession.
1. Let us pray that the same Spirit, who inspires the Capitulants during the General Meeting may breathe new life in the Order....
2 For the leaders of the Order that theymay recognise the  Spirit's work, and protect and foster it...
3. May the Holy Spirit fall on the order and the world again, with all his gifts and a new Pentecost...
4. Mary, Queen of Citeaux, conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to you, especially  for Abbot Mark in his first challenge of this experience...

http://ocso-mgm-en.blogspot.com/

O.C.S.O. M G M - 2011 Assisi

fax: +390758051600

At fixed times all the abbots/abbesses come together. They discuss there the salvation of their own souls and of those committed to them. They take measures regarding the observance of the Holy Rule and of the Order where there is something that needs to be corrected or added. They foster anew among themselves the benefit of peace and charity. They devote themselves to maintaining the patrimony of the Order and safeguarding and increasing its unity. (C.77)

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 07, 2011

Homily of The Abbot General for Opening Mass of MGM, September 7, 2011

When St. Luke wanted to express the heart and purpose of Jesus mission to his people he did so in the words of the prophet Isaiah:  Jesus was anointed with the Spirit of the Lord to bring good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind, liberty for the oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. The Spirit of God brings good news, freedom, healing, life.  It is the spirit of the Jubilee Year that undoes and puts right human injustices and makes life possible for all.  God, in the experience of Israel, is a God who gets his people out of trouble and enables them to live.  He is a Saviour and he is merciful to the needy, the poor.

In the Gospel today we find Jesus bringing the dialogue onto another level.  The poor, the hungry, the weeping and the excluded for the sake of Jesus are blessed because they are his disciples and because they come to him looking for life.  They are blessed because he cares about them in their need and they are blessed because this need of theirs is the path by which they will come to true and everlasting happiness.  Their neediness calls down God's mercy and this opens them to life with Jesus, to the blessings of his kingdom.  At bottom, in their neediness they are open to being made new by God.  They are open to being saved. 

The woes pronounced against the rich are not a condemnation of the rich but a warning not only that doing well in this world and being highly thought of by this world are not necessarily a blessing but that in fact they can make it very difficult for the rich to become disciples, to see the world differently and to accept the salvation which the Gospel message offers.  If we don't see the need to be saved then we don't need a Saviour.  And so they miss their opportunity of knowing the joy of being children of God, of living as brothers and sisters and of giving oneself for others.   In fact the only way for the rich to be saved is to share what they have with others as we find happening in the earliest Christian community where the disciples shared what they had and distribution was made to each as each had need. 

The Spirit of the Lord then, the Spirit of Jesus is a spirit that gives life, but a life that is not for this world only but is eternal and which is everlasting happiness.   The goodness of God, as the refrain to the Psalm said is for all.   And as Paul reminds us in the first reading, with God there are no distinctions among people.  God does not have favourites but he does call us to be disciples and to put on the mind of Christ. 

Gathered together in prayer to God that his Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus may guide us in our work for the salvation of our souls and of those committed to our care, may our celebration of these sacred mysteries renew us with the Spirit of Jesus, helps us to work justly in all we do and experience the mercy of God and of the Order. 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2011

Domus Pacis

The "Domus Pacis" is a Franciscan House of Welcome, adjacent to the Sanctuary of Porziuncola, and so close to the places dear to the memory of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

It is a privileged place to immerse yourself in the mystical beauty of Assisi, to grasp its soul and feel St. Francis' spirit. He always lived in this city and it was the stage for his truly remarkable life.

Only 3 kilometers from the historic medieval city, near the train station, the "Domus Pacis" is the ideal place for pilgrims and tourists, groups, families and individuals who want to find in the city of the Poor Man of Assisi a period of refreshment and peace, immersed in its art and green surroundings.

Thanks to its many Conference rooms and facilities, the House is ideal for hosting conferences and meetings with the most diverse requirements.

(from the 'Domus Pacis' leaflet)

Archive Day Retreat at Nunraw

First Scottish Catholic Observer 
Pilgrimage Sept 2001

Warm Welcome from Monks of Nunraw

OUR first Scottish Catholic Observer pilgrimage to Nunraw Abbey was a great success and is likely to become an annual date in the calendar.Three coaches set off from Paisley, Glasgow, Bellshill and Motherwell carrying pilgrims from Strathaven, East Kilbride, Paisley, Linwood, Glasgow, Bellshill, Motherwell, Wishaw and Ardrossan.

Fr Raymond Jaconelli, the guestmaster, was there to greet us with refreshing cups of tea and a welcome smile. Fr Raymond who hails from Airdrie, will celebrate 50 years at Nunraw next month.

Among the pilgrims was a 20 strong group from the Sacred Heart Parish in Bellshill led by Cathy Eailie, President of the Motherwell Diocesan UCM.

After enjoying our packed lunch, and a browse in the gift shop we made our way up through the mature woods to the abbey where Abbot Donald McGlynn celebrated Mass in the chapel.Abbot McGlynn welcomed us to Nunraw, and said that it was the first time the community had welcomed such a large group.He added that it was especially pleasing as the abbey had to close for visitors during the foot and mouth crisis as it lies in the heart of farming countryside, and the monks have a herd of cattle.

After Mass, we made our way back to the guest house where Fr Jaconelli and his volunteers had brewed another cup of tea.We enjoyed a stroll round the grounds, and before boarding our coaches for a return home gathered for a group photograph. Then we bade farewell to the Cistercian community and promised to come back next year.

If you would like to find out more about Nunraw
you can visit their website http:/ /www.nunraw.org. 
And don't miss next week's Observer when there will be a special full page colour souvenir picture of all the Nunraw pilgrims.

WORDS: Harry Conroy . PHOTOS: Paul McSherry

SCO 7 Sept 2001

Retreats Feature

Scottish Catholic Observer  5 Oct 2001

Where you can catch the sound of God's voice,

By Harry Conroy   

The description, 'retreat', is perhaps self -explanatory.

It is an opportunity to withdraw from the daily hustle and bustle of everyday life to allow your body and mind recover from the stress of modern living. It is also a holiday in the true meaning of the word allowing time for spiritual thought and prayer. Sadly, too often, the oft repeated saying: 'I feel as if I need a holiday' when returning home after the annual 'break' can too often be true.  The modern holiday brings with it pressures - queuing at airports, too many late nights, over indulgence with food and drink, and sleep disturbed by noisy all-night parties in the surrounding streets.

A retreat on the other hand is a step back from the bustle, a slower pace to allow your mind and body to rest and refresh themselves.

They can range from evenings such as the Lenten Retreat in Daily Life organised by the Ignatian Spirituality Centre in Glasgow or the Lent Quiet Days at the Carberry Christian Conference and Retreat Centre in Musselburgh to week-long breaks.

The Ignatian Spirituality Centre offers weekend and week-Iong Celtic theme retreats on Islay off the coast of Kintyre.

While the Cistercian community at the Sancta Maria Abbey at Nunraw has a guest house which is guided by the words of St Benedict who said:

"Let all guests be received like Christ Himself, for He will say: 'I was a stranger and you took me in."

Guest Master, Fr Raymond Jaconelli, who this month celebrates his Golden Jubilee at Nunraw, has this to say:

"One of the most characteristic features of modern day living is its all pervading background of noise and bustle.However there is another side to our life which is also greatly affected by this unremitting noise and bustle, namely the spiritual aspect of our lives; the faith dimension our lives; the prayer and relationship with God aspect of our lives." Fr Jaconelli, who hails from Airdrie, summed up what many people would like to take from a retreat when he said: "We have all heard that voice of the Lord in the ear of our heart at one time or another, be it in the stillness of a church or on a starry night."

He added: "Places such as Nunraw provide the faith charged atmosphere in which we can all catch the sound of that voice as God speaks to us with his eternal word of Peace!"

Many retreat centres use their beautiful surroundings to help them create the peace within - as well as without - such as Craig Lodge in Dalmally, Argyllshire which is often described by visitors as an 'Oasis of Peace' , while Noddfa is situated between the mountains and the sea in North Wales where carers can enjoy short breaks or parish groups can also visit and enjoy quiet reflection in the morning before spending the afternoon in the hills or by the sea.

Nunraw Television 1967 A Hard Bed to Lie (Br. Oliver)

Jesus Recovered 

by Malcolm Muggeridge,   

A HARD BED TO LIE ON

Chap. 6, pp. 59-65, 1967.

Nothing, I suppose, could be more alien to the spirit of this age than monasticism. Just for that reason, it has always had a particular fascination for me. The quiet, the order, the essential simplicity of a monk's way of life, all seemed alluring in a world increasingly given over to noise, violence and the avid pursuit of what passes for happiness. My own life, I should in honesty add, has been far from monkish, and it is only latterly that the positive aspects of monasticism, as distinct from just turning away from one's own vomit, have become comprehensible to me.

Abbot Columban with Malcolm Muggeridge

An opportunity to pursue this interest further arose when the B.B.C. asked me to take part in the filming of an enclosed religious order for a television programme. This involved spending three weeks in a Cistercian abbey—at Nunraw in Scotland. It might be supposed that it would be impossible for an outsider to get to know Cistercians, who follow the strict Trappist rule of silence. In fact the rule as now applied does not preclude necessary conversation. The monks no longer need to practise their weird sign-language, and anyway they were given a special dispensation to speak to me. I have rarely been thrown with such talkative and agreeable men. I grew very fond of them, and think of them still with the utmost affection.

My first acquaintance with them, however, was rather forbidding. I went up to Nunraw some months before the filming began, to explain the project, first to the Abbot, and then to the assembled community. They were gathered in an assembly hall which, as I subsequently discovered, they use for their chapters: their faces seemed very remote, almost forbidding, as I looked anxiously around at them. Their identical costume (nowadays priests and lay-brothers wear the same habit) and cropped heads added to the sombre effect.

I could not but recall prison audiences to whom I have occasionally given lectures. The difference was that, whereas prisoners' faces mostly look brutalised and angry, or just withdrawn into a sullen vacuity, the monks' faces, as I noted on closer examination, were serene; some of them, as it seemed to me, actually shining with inward sanctity. Goodness, of course, does shine, whereas evil casts a physical, as well as moral, shadow where it falls. At the Transfiguration the disciples present were positively dazzled by the shining ecstasy in Christ's face; when poor Judas picked up his thirty pieces of silver a cold and terrible gloom, I am sure, hung like a cloud over the scene.

I explained to the monks that I had always been interested in monasticism and hoped it would prove possible to show on the television screen what life in an enclosed order like theirs was really like: also to provide an explanation out of their own mouths of what induced them to forgo things like marriage, pleasure, success, money; all that in a materialist society like ours is considered to make life worth living.

The commonest judgment to be heard in the outside world, I said, was that they were fugitives from reality rather than seekers after a reality of their own. They were thought of as selfish, cowardly men who sought the attainment of their own serenity by cutting themselves off from the conflicts and dilemmas which amicted their fellows. Preoccupied exclusively with their own salvation, they left the world to its fate.  

Matthew 18:15-20 I am in the midst of them. v.20

Sunday, 04 September 2011  Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time  
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew18:15-20.. . .    

v. 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

St Bernadette 'RETREAT'

Today's Gospel has much about disputes and going to take issue to court.

Hopefully most of us are peaceably, most of the time.

I have the thought of 'glory of the Holy Spirit',
- in our hearts we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.

- or more to the point that the Holy Spirit gives us his life..

. . .

St. Bernadette's Parish Retreat

St. Bernadette’s, (Erskine)

Parish Retreat

Nunraw Abbey 3^rd September 2011-09-04.

Fr. Byers presides at Mass of St. Gregory the Great

Homily:

St. Gregory the Great.

It is perhaps appropriate that our visit to Nunraw should come on the feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great.

Of noble birth and of strong intellect it was probably presumed that Gregory would follow the family tradition and go into Publish Life. To use modern ideas he became a Local Councillor.

However, Gregory’s upbringing had also given him strong faith, a love of prayer and a closeness to God.

His political career saw him brings charge and great benefit to people. He saw where reform was needed and was not afraid to push and implement reform.

Such was his success that eventually he was made Prefect of Rome – the equivalent of Mayor or Provost, I suppose.

His strength of faith also saw him establish monasteries, not only in Rome but also in Sicily. (Family home).

Despite the supposed success of Gregory’s political career he was not happy.  There was a constant niggle in him that encouraged a change in the direction of his life.

And so Gregory left the Public Office and entered a monastery to devote his life to prayer, reflection on the Word of God and writing his thoughts.

However, the best laid plans do not always follow your own directions. Gregary simply wanted to say his prayers.

Having already proved himself as a diplomat in his public life, the Pope encouraged and really insisted that Gregory take religious orders and become a deacon. This Gregory accepted in obedience. He soon learned that the Pope had further plans.

Gregory was sent as Papal envoy to Constantinople. His faith and prayer, his diplomacy and leadership, his sensibility and compassion worked wonders – especially in places of conflict.

After five years Gregory returned to home to his monastery, to his life of prayer and contemplation. Peace! Best laid plans!

He managed only five years before the Pope died as plague ravaged the city of Rome.
Gregory was elected Pope by acclamation. He bemoaned the burden of Office because it meant the loss of an undisturbed life of prayer.

However, despite that, all his background experience helped him be a great leader on the Church. His teaching, his writing, his pastoral care for the needing.

He worked hard to introduce Liturgical reforms. We even think of singing in the Liturgy, Plainchant of Gregorian chant.

I remember a retreat Father once saying “Never be so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly use.” I like that.

In today’s Gospel, the religious leaders want to be so heavenly minded as to force people to abide by their interpretation of a rule. Jesus speaks differently. St. Paul in the first Reading speaks of the faith that leads people from where they are at, at grace roots level, and builds there at a closer union with God.

Both Readings sum up the life of Pope Gregory the Great. Faith, down to earth pastoral care; building himself and others in faith and prayer, leading them closer to God.

In typical Scottish terminology we might simply say – see Gregory, he was GREAT!

West to East - from St. Bermadette's, Erskine(Paisley), to Nunraw, background Lothian, distant Forth and Fife

Some of the pilgrims

Fr. Jim Byers at Our Lady shrine  Nunraw guest-house

Fr. Jim Byers finds the location of relative, Dan McLaughlin, who for years volunteered at the Abbey construction.

Dan set up the shrine for Our Lady in the sunken garden in the Guest House. Later, after his death, his ashes were interred here.  

 + + +

Post-Card of Glendalough

Post-Card from Noreen.

26.08.’11

Dear N and D,

Greetings from Glendalough.

. . .

The video presentation was on the history of monasticism in Ireland. 

... Thoughts were with your brothers and prayer for you and for vocations.

...

Yours 
Noreen

COMMENT Archive OCSO General Chapter 2002, Br. Stephen

Hi, William,
Thank you for appreciating the Posts on Br. Stephen and 2002 MGM.
So that was swan-song farewell of the General Chapter 2002.
Since then Dom Raymond were at the next two MGMs. 2005, 2008.
Abbot Mark will be setting off next week to Assisi for the 2011 General Chapter.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to be with him.
Yours,
Donald

+ + + 

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: WILLIAM WARDLE ...
To: Fr Donald .....
Sent: Sat, 3 September, 2011 9:14:26
Subject: Re: [Blog] Br.Stephen

Dear Father Donald,

 

It is lovely to remember, and I have such dear memories of Br. Stephen greeting me - I too received his wink like Richard North! whose talks with Br. Stephen described in his book 'Fools for God' delighted me, and I carry in my pocket book THE white piece of card he gave me with the eternal words which he had written, "Lord Jesus, teach us to love you more and more". When he caused me to talk about my life in the world, which was rather demanding at that time, he always left me feeling that my feet were more firmly on the ground and my head settle back on my shoulders. And when next we met, he carried a knowing look!

 

Good memories of a deeply spiritual and loving man. I keep remembrance of him, and of his passing in my anniversaries.

 

... in Our Lord,

William.

From: Fr Donald
To: williamwardle2bp@btinternet.com
Sent: Friday, 2 September 2011, 21:06
Subject: [Dom Donald's Blog] Br.Stephen (John) died 14 Feb 2008 NEWS Archive

Brother Stephen Heenan OCSO Cistercian Monk, Nunraw.

Brother Stephen removes a bundle of paper from his habit, On one small square of card he has written: "Lord Jesus teach us to love you more and more". "I just think the words. If I walked about saying it they’d think I was a crackpot.

"You've got to try and get a personal relationship with Jesus. You've got to ask him to help you,  

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: WILLIAM WARDLE ...
Sent: Fri, 2 September, 2011 18:42:44
Subject: Re: [Blog] Archive OCSO General Chapter 2002

Dear Father Donald,

 

I am delighting in the memory of the MGM of 2002 which you so kindly shared with me - I am still overawed as I view the photographs - and I am wondering if I might enquire as to whether this September's MGM will be publishing on the OCSO website the unfolding events in Assisi. Goodness - I remember my excitement when you first gave me a secret 'live' link to the MGM at Lourdes!

 

...  in Our Lord,

William

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Archive OCSO General Chapter 2002

ARCHIVE unearthed from Liam Tripod extant. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Abbots Meet at Cistercian General Chapter in Rome

September 2002

Dom Jude and Dom Joseph of Mt St Bernard, taken as they crossed the white line from Italy to Vatican City at the entrance to the Pope’s summer home, Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills. 

Br.Stephen (John) died 14 Feb 2008 NEWS Archive

Br. Stephen Heenan Cistercian Monk

Brother Stephen Heenan OCSO Cistercian Monk, Nunraw.

Brother Stephen removes a bundle of paper from his habit, On one small square of card he has written: "Lord Jesus teach us to love you more and more". "I just think the words. If I walked about saying it they’d think I was a crackpot.

"You've got to try and get a personal relationship with Jesus. You've got to ask him to help you, 

From Edinburgh Evening News, Friday 11^th May 2001

Getting into the habit of a spiritual lifestyle

    http://liamdevlin.tripod.com/nunraw/abbotsnews.htm     

WHEN Donald McGlynn waved the outside world goodbye and took his place in the monastery’ man had yet to travel in space. In those days, half a century ago, the cutting edge of technology was a car that started without a handle. Thing 5 have changed since then, both inside and outside Nunraw Abbey, the monastery among the Lammermuir hills near Haddington where Donald is now the Abbot.

He gazes at the crosses in the monastery's graveyard. "There are more crosses than people here now. When the numbers were even, I use d to glance at the graveyard and say 'The better half is over there'."

Just 17 monks remain at Nunraw, compared to more than 60 in its 1960s' heyday. Most of the monks have been here since the 1950s. It's fair to say that recruitment is a little on the slow side.

Rising at 3,15am end spending your days - and the middle of your nights - in quiet contemplation just can't compete with a company car and share options for today’s bright young things.

Maybe the monks need to offer an attractive relocation package. When you relocate here, it's for life.

Even renowned thinker Prince Charles would think twice about spending the rest of his life at Nunraw. The Prince has just made the news after spending one night in a Greek monastery, If perseverance is worth anything, the monks of Nunraw should have their own chat show and a column in Hello! by now.

Prince Charles's Greek surroundings were as basic as those at Nunraw Abbey were. Each room has a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a chair and a ... no, that's it. No TV. No PlayStation. Not even a poster of that tennis player scratching her bum.

Nunraw attracts it’s own international guests. The visitors' book includes entries from as far afield as Australia and South Africa. "Thank you for sharing your peace with us," says one visitor from Sydney.

If only they stayed a bit longer than a couple of nights did: 50 years, say.

The Abbot admits to concern about the lack of new blood in his ageing community. "Recruitment has been rather slow in the past year. The average age of the monks is 60-sornething. In 1962 the oldest was in his 40s. He seemed ancient to me then."

The Abbot left his former life in Glasgow to follow his calling. "I had no choice. In a true calling you feel you could not do otherwise" He sees too much choice as the problem for today's would-be monks.

"We live in a secular so society with little place for the sacred. It's happening right across the board in terms of the number of priests and church attendances. There are so many options for young people and religion doesn't really get a look in,

"But those options mean people are under tremendous stress.

"They are immersed in the material but they are aspiring to something more spiritual. People come here and it's amazing how the peace and prayer removes stress. We're not conscious of doing anything special.

"Just being able to walk in the fields and hear the birds works wonders."

For permanent residents, novelty soon makes way to devotion. The early rise is followed by a day of work, prayer and contemplation. Each monk has a regular task, whether gardening, carpentry or cooking. They pray seven times 8 day in the chapel and study some of the 30,000 books.

Such a simple life, untouched by the outside world, uncluttered by technology. You can read all about it on the monastery's website; http;//welcome.to/Nunraaw …  (Edit. This Link surface even more).

The Abbot's cousin designed the site and the Abbot is currently u sing it to track the progress of a package to a monastery in Cameroon.

As Cistercian monks, their life is not totally removed from the outside world. They have a TV, used for half an hour on Sundays to watch the news. They drink a glass of wine on feast days.

The current building opened in 1969 and was dubbed "the bargain abbey" because material and labour came from volunteers.

"I once told someone that people had paid to work here," says the Abbot. "He replied 'They paid to work “For God's sake!” I said; 'That is right - for God’s sake'.

Stephen Heenan was 34 when he entered Nunraw Abbey, in the days long before the new premises.

"I followed my brother here when I saw how happy he was, Before that I worked as a bookie in Glasgow. At the shop they were betting that I'd be out in a fortnight,"

Forty-seven years later, all bets on Brother Stephen's return are off.

"I enjoyed myself outside but it's easier to find God in here, I spend my time thinking about God."

Brother Stephen removes a bundle of paper from his habit, On one small square of card he has written: "Lord Jesus teach us to love you more and more". "I just think the words. If I walked about saying it they’d think I was a crackpot.

"You've got to try and get a personal relationship with Jesus. You've got to ask him to help you,

"I speak to youngsters who come here looking for someone to talk to,

"A lot of them have been drinking or taking drugs.

"That can lead to stealing and sleeping rough. I'd never heard about drugs when I was outside,"

Brother Stephen is a good advert for a monastic life. His sun bronzed features look two decades younger than his 81 years. He jokes constantly, making fun of himself and his colleagues. "Do you think your camera can take it?" he asks; the Evening News photographer.

"You have to have a laugh. Were not as bad as we look." He gestures at his robes, "But we couldn't be."

Cistercian monks do not take a vow of silence, which is just as well forth be charismatic Brother Stephen.

He agrees that lack of recruitment to Nunraw is worrying. "A young person now has; the world at their feet. They are not tied down to any one choice. Previous generations had to make a decision for life, whether it was to be a theologian or a bricky.

"The basic principle of a monastic life is that you grow where y’our planted, If a gardener constantly moves a plant it will fail. It has; to be rooted."

In the kitchen Father Hugh prepares lunch. The Abbot thinks Father Hugh has the most important job of all. "Dinner has been late twice in all the time I’ve been here, and that's twice too often,"

Father Mark works in the laundry and the garden. He came here 41 years ago, when he was 20. "There was less of a bridge between the monastic life and the outside world then. People travel abroad now and it's difficult for them to face staying here for the rest of their life." Like all the monks:, he claims not to miss women. "Worsen are still a part of life. Friendship with women doesn't mean marrying or having sex with them."

The Abbot says the outside world can be a complicated place. It is a place he still glimpses and does not miss.

"The oldest priest here is 92. He's in a nursing home at the moment. I went to visit him last month and the Grand National was on TV. It was the first time I'd ever seen it.

"Out of 42 horses, only four finished. I thought: 'Is that it?'"

Archive OCSO General Chapter 2002

ARCHIVE unearthed from Liam Tripod extant. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Abbots Meet at Cistercian General Chapter in Rome

September 2002

Dom Jude and Dom Joseph of Mt St Bernard, taken as they crossed the white line from Italy to Vatican City at the entrance to the Pope’s summer home, Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills. 

 Dom Donald with Dom Damian, Abbot of Gethsemani,

at the entrance to assembly of General Chapter 

	Abbot General, Bishop Mununu(formerly Prior of Kasanza) & Dom Ambrose.

AUDIENCE AT THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE CISTERCIAN ORDER OF THE STRICT OBSERVANCE (TRAPPISTS)


September 19,2002In the interior court of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo, at the end of the morning, John Paul II received the Abbots and Abbesses of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, as well as the monks and nuns participating in the General Chapter .This is the text of the discourse addressed by the Pope to the Trappists and Trappistines present at the audience:

DISCOURSE OF THE HOLY FATHER  

 The meeting of the two General Chapters of the venerable Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance offers me the pleasant opportunity of meeting with you, dear Abbots and Abbesses, as well as the representatives of the Trappist monks and nuns.

1. Thank you for this visit by which you want to renew the expression of your fidelity to the successor of Peter. I salute each one of you affectionately. I address a particular and grateful thought to Dom Bemardo Olivera who was the interpreter of our common sentiments and who brought out the end and objectives of your meeting. Through you I salute the Brothers and Sisters of your monasteries spread in all parts of the world. The Pope thanks you because from the silence of your cloisters, an incessant prayer for his ministry and the intentions and necessities of the entire ecclesial community goes up toward heaven.
2. Dear Brothers and Sisters! You are meeting these days to reflect on how the common spiritual patrimony, while preserving intact the spirit of its origins, can respond ever better to the exigencies of the present world. Humanity, especially following recent tragic events whose anniversary was celebrated in these days, appears disoriented and in search of securities: it thirsts for the truth, it longs for peace.
But where to seek a sure refuge, if not in God? Only in the divine mercy, I remembered this in my recent trip to Poland, can the world find peace and humankind, happiness. Of this secret, hidden from the wise and learned, but revealed to little ones (Cf. Mt II :25), your monasteries have been the privileged places for centuries.
Since the beginning, in fact, the Cistercians distinguished themselves by a sort of "mystical passion" in showing how the sincere search for God, through austerity and asceticism, leads to the ineffable joy of the spousal encounter with Him in Christ. This is what St. Bernard teaches when he says that the one who thirsts for the Most High has nothing left of his own and thereafter has everything in common with God. And he adds that in such a situation the soul "asks for neither liberty nor recompense, nor inheritance, nor even doctrine, but the kiss (of God) as a very chaste spouse, ardent with holy love and totally incapable of concealing the .flame from the one who embraces him". (Saint Bernard, Super Cantica Canticorum 7.2).
3. This exalted spirituality conserves all its witness value in the present cultural context which too often stirs up the desire for false goods and artificial paradises. Your vocation, very dear Brothers and Sisters, through a recollected existence at La Trappe, is truly a witness of the high ideal of sanctity which is seen in an unconditional love for God, infinite goodness and reflects a love which mystically embraces all humanity in prayer.
Your life style points out well these two givens in which love consists. You do not live as hermits in community, but as cenobites in a special desert. God manifests himself in your personal solitude, as well as in the solidarity that unites you to the members of the community. Your are alone and separated from the world in order that you can go beyond yourselves on the path of divine intimacy.
At the same time you share this spiritual experience with other brothers and sisters in a constant balance between personal contemplation and union with the liturgy of the Church. Keep intact this charismatic patrimony! It constitutes a richness for the entire Christian people.
4. The expansion of the Order, especially in the Far East, places you today in contact with different religious traditions with which it is necessary to weave a wise and prudent dialogue so that the unique light of Christ shines out everywhere in the plurality of cultures. Jesus is the resplendent sun of which the Church should be the faithful reflection, following the expression "mysterium lunae" especially dear to the contemplation of the Fathers. This duty, as I wrote in the Apostolic Letter "Novo millenio ineunte" makes us tremble if we take into account human fragility, but it becomes possible when we are open to the renewing grace of God (Cf. No.55).
May the sometimes very painful difficulties and trials not discourage you, dear Brothers and Sisters, Regarding this, I think of the seven monks of O.L. of Atlas at Tibhirine in Algeria, savagely assassinated in May of 1996. May their blood poured out be the seeds of holy and numerous vocations for your monasteries in Europe where ageing has increased in your monasteries of monks and nuns, and in other parts of the planet where another need is felt, the grace to assure the formation of numerous aspirants to the Cistercian life. I also hope for a more organic unity among the diverse branches of the Order, which would give in a manner ever more eloquent, the witness of a common charism.
5. "Duc in altum"! (Lk 5:4) I address to you also, very dear Brothers and Sisters, the invitation of Jesus to go out into the deep, invitation which resounded for the entire Christian people at the end of the great Jubilee year 2000. Go forward without fear on the road already begun, animated with the "good zeal" of which St. Benedict speaks in his Rule, preferring absolutely nothing to Christ (Cf. Chapter 72).
May Mary, the Holy Virgin, accompany you with vigilance and may the saints and blessed of the Order protect you. The Pope assures you of his constant remembrance in prayer and with all his heart blesses you who are here and your monastic communities.

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