Programs and Events
of the Mount Angel Institute

Christian in the World

Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy

with Dr. Deacon Owen Cummings
January 14  |  9:15 to 11:45 am
Abbey library auditorium

Many of Doctor Cummings’s published works have explored aspects of the liturgy and the Eucharist. This is also an area he has taught for many years (and teaches still) in the seminary. Happily, this will also be the area that he will discuss in the upcoming series, which he has titled “Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy.”

Doctor Cummings has two objectives for this series. In the first place, he proposes to look at the renewal of the Church initiated by the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65). He notes this renewal “was in a sense already on the way before it began in 1962,” by which he means that Vatican II was the result of a renewal that had been simmering for decades. In addition, he notes the Council’s major documents are now “the established teaching of the Church,” and they “remain powerful statements of the life-giving vision of Catholicism.”

Inasmuch as the Council “firmly placed the liturgy at the heart of the Church’s renewal,” the second objective of this series will be, first, to examine the meaning of the liturgy and secondly to concentrate on how Pope Francis “underscores the importance and centrality of the liturgy and seeks passionately to contribute to its ongoing renewal.”

To accomplish these two objectives, Doctor Cummings will offer these four lectures:

January 14: Vatican II at 60! Consistent with the first objective, Doctor Cummings will devote the first presentation to a discussion of Vatican II, noting both the very vibrant theological activity that preceded and culminated in the Council and the teaching that the Council promulgated, thus shaping the Church’s renewal up to this day.

February 11: What is Liturgy? Since the presentation will be concentrating on liturgical renewal, Doctor Cummings will devote his next presentation to explaining what “liturgy” actually means and entails. Many of us have a passionate interest in “the liturgy,” but all too often we don’t take the time to reflect on how we define and understand what it really is. Doctor Cummings has taken the time to study the liturgy and understand it, and he is very capable of conveying his profound understanding to his listeners.

March 11: Pope Francis and the Liturgy. Like any pope, Pope Francis must be concerned for the Church in all its many diverse aspects; his many writings bear witness to that concern. Perhaps because some of his other writings have caught the public’s eye, his deep concern for the liturgy is not immediately apparent even to the faithful. In this presentation, Doctor Cummings will discuss some of Pope Francis’s significant teaching on the liturgy of which many of us might be only vaguely aware.

April 1: Reflecting on Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi. Many are not familiar with the document Desiderio Desideravi, and given the Latin title, it may intimidate many more. An “Apostolic Letter,” the document was issued on June 29, 2022, and was addressed to all Catholics — clerics, religious and laity. Its subtitle is “On the Liturgical Formation of the People of God.” Thus, it fittingly will be the climactic presentation of this series devoted to the liturgy of the post-Vatican II era.

For more information, see the CITW web page.

Interfaith Panel Discussion: Encountering God in the Margins

January 20  |  1:00 to 2:30 pm
Abbey library auditorium

Join us for an interfaith panel discussion on the theme of the dignity of life, especially within the context of prison ministry and beyond. Explore the challenges and graces of those working with people society might often forget or overlook, discover insights into how different faiths inform one’s approach to difficult ministries, and identify potential ways to collaborate. Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Perlstein serves as a chaplain at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon, and is the co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Salem, Oregon. Rev. Fr. Gerasimos (Jerry) N. Markopoulos serves at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Eugene, Oregon, and does prison ministry at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Rev. Sean Page serves as the chaplain for the Oregon Youth Authority working with juvenile offenders and also serves as the pastor of Cedar Hills Baptist Church in Beaverton, Oregon.

Lux Christi: Organ Meditations on the Light of Christ

January 22  |  3:00 to 4:30 pm
Mount Angel Abbey church

Join us for an afternoon of meditation through music centered on the Light of Christ. Dr. Andrew Koch will be performing, accompanied by a scriptural meditation before each piece. Each passage will highlight an aspect of the Light of Christ, followed by music meant to bring out the meaning of the passage. A reception in the guesthouse lobby will follow the concert.

Communication Across Differences: Tools for Productive Conversations

with Marshal Bolin
January 29  |  10:30 to 11:50 am
Abbey library auditorium

As followers of the Gospel, we are called to make peace with those in our lives. We are asked to show love to our neighbor, invite the ostracized to our table, and even to love our enemies. How can we do this in the midst of conflict, especially when we are taught according to a model that highlights my needs against yours? Marshall Bolin, a conflict resolution educator and mental health consultant from St. Paul, Minnesota, guides us through a possible way in the form of Nonviolent Communication. Attendees of the workshop will come away with an understanding of how conflict starts and how it can be recovered from. Marshall provides a promising glimpse of a world where we communicate across our differences without fueling the fire or compromising our values.

Christian in the World

Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy

with Dr. Deacon Owen Cummings
February 11  |  9:15 to 11:45 am
Abbey library auditorium

Many of Doctor Cummings’s published works have explored aspects of the liturgy and the Eucharist. This is also an area he has taught for many years (and teaches still) in the seminary. Happily, this will also be the area that he will discuss in the upcoming series, which he has titled “Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy.”

Doctor Cummings has two objectives for this series. In the first place, he proposes to look at the renewal of the Church initiated by the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65). He notes this renewal “was in a sense already on the way before it began in 1962,” by which he means that Vatican II was the result of a renewal that had been simmering for decades. In addition, he notes the Council’s major documents are now “the established teaching of the Church,” and they “remain powerful statements of the life-giving vision of Catholicism.”

Inasmuch as the Council “firmly placed the liturgy at the heart of the Church’s renewal,” the second objective of this series will be, first, to examine the meaning of the liturgy and secondly to concentrate on how Pope Francis “underscores the importance and centrality of the liturgy and seeks passionately to contribute to its ongoing renewal.”

To accomplish these two objectives, Doctor Cummings will offer these four lectures:

January 14: Vatican II at 60! Consistent with the first objective, Doctor Cummings will devote the first presentation to a discussion of Vatican II, noting both the very vibrant theological activity that preceded and culminated in the Council and the teaching that the Council promulgated, thus shaping the Church’s renewal up to this day.

February 11: What is Liturgy? Since the presentation will be concentrating on liturgical renewal, Doctor Cummings will devote his next presentation to explaining what “liturgy” actually means and entails. Many of us have a passionate interest in “the liturgy,” but all too often we don’t take the time to reflect on how we define and understand what it really is. Doctor Cummings has taken the time to study the liturgy and understand it, and he is very capable of conveying his profound understanding to his listeners.

March 11: Pope Francis and the Liturgy. Like any pope, Pope Francis must be concerned for the Church in all its many diverse aspects; his many writings bear witness to that concern. Perhaps because some of his other writings have caught the public’s eye, his deep concern for the liturgy is not immediately apparent even to the faithful. In this presentation, Doctor Cummings will discuss some of Pope Francis’s significant teaching on the liturgy of which many of us might be only vaguely aware.

April 1: Reflecting on Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi. Many are not familiar with the document Desiderio Desideravi, and given the Latin title, it may intimidate many more. An “Apostolic Letter,” the document was issued on June 29, 2022, and was addressed to all Catholics — clerics, religious and laity. Its subtitle is “On the Liturgical Formation of the People of God.” Thus, it fittingly will be the climactic presentation of this series devoted to the liturgy of the post-Vatican II era.

For more information, see the CITW web page.

The Invisible World of Christ’s Love for the Poor
Artist in Residence, Johnny Defilippis

February 8 – 18: Exhibit in the Mount Angel Abbey library auditorium
February 12  |  1:00 to 2:30 pm: Talk given by the artist

Join us for an afternoon with Johnny Defilippis, our Artist in Residence this year, who strives to display the true beauty and worth of our human race through art. More than viewing art as imitating nature, art can also be a motivating force that teaches us to love one another. Art becomes prophecy. His talk will focus on the art of the life of Christ and how it can help us in preparation for the Lenten season.

Wonder: Where Faith and Science Meet

with Shannon and Steve Mayer

March 4  | 10:30 to 11:50 am
Abbey library auditorium

Drs. Steve and Shannon Mayer are professors of chemistry and physics, respectively, at the University of Portland. They are also committed Christians, keenly interested in the meaningful integration of science and faith and in developing pedagogy to help university students engage both heart and mind in the study of science. The aim of this talk is to explore, through personal reflections and examples from modern science, a thoughtful integration of science and faith. Integration of science and faith is important not only to scientists and science students, but is critical to the flourishing life of the Church, where science and faith are not contradictory, but complementary ways of encountering the wonder of creation.

As the Deer Longs: Inaugural Concert of the Mount Angel Chamber Choir

Led by Mrs. Myrna Keough

March 19  |  3:30 to 4:30 pm
Abbey Church

On this feast day of St. Joseph, join us for the inaugural concert of the Mount Angel Chamber Choir, led by Mrs. Myrna Keough. Listen to our own seminarians, monks, and friends sing of the longing we have for God and the desire that God has for us. Visit the musicians after the concert and join them for refreshments.

Christian in the World

Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy

with Dr. Deacon Owen Cummings
March 11  |  9:15 to 11:45 am
Abbey library auditorium

Many of Doctor Cummings’s published works have explored aspects of the liturgy and the Eucharist. This is also an area he has taught for many years (and teaches still) in the seminary. Happily, this will also be the area that he will discuss in the upcoming series, which he has titled “Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy.”

Doctor Cummings has two objectives for this series. In the first place, he proposes to look at the renewal of the Church initiated by the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65). He notes this renewal “was in a sense already on the way before it began in 1962,” by which he means that Vatican II was the result of a renewal that had been simmering for decades. In addition, he notes the Council’s major documents are now “the established teaching of the Church,” and they “remain powerful statements of the life-giving vision of Catholicism.”

Inasmuch as the Council “firmly placed the liturgy at the heart of the Church’s renewal,” the second objective of this series will be, first, to examine the meaning of the liturgy and secondly to concentrate on how Pope Francis “underscores the importance and centrality of the liturgy and seeks passionately to contribute to its ongoing renewal.”

To accomplish these two objectives, Doctor Cummings will offer these four lectures:

January 14: Vatican II at 60! Consistent with the first objective, Doctor Cummings will devote the first presentation to a discussion of Vatican II, noting both the very vibrant theological activity that preceded and culminated in the Council and the teaching that the Council promulgated, thus shaping the Church’s renewal up to this day.

February 11: What is Liturgy? Since the presentation will be concentrating on liturgical renewal, Doctor Cummings will devote his next presentation to explaining what “liturgy” actually means and entails. Many of us have a passionate interest in “the liturgy,” but all too often we don’t take the time to reflect on how we define and understand what it really is. Doctor Cummings has taken the time to study the liturgy and understand it, and he is very capable of conveying his profound understanding to his listeners.

March 11: Pope Francis and the Liturgy. Like any pope, Pope Francis must be concerned for the Church in all its many diverse aspects; his many writings bear witness to that concern. Perhaps because some of his other writings have caught the public’s eye, his deep concern for the liturgy is not immediately apparent even to the faithful. In this presentation, Doctor Cummings will discuss some of Pope Francis’s significant teaching on the liturgy of which many of us might be only vaguely aware.

April 1: Reflecting on Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi. Many are not familiar with the document Desiderio Desideravi, and given the Latin title, it may intimidate many more. An “Apostolic Letter,” the document was issued on June 29, 2022, and was addressed to all Catholics — clerics, religious and laity. Its subtitle is “On the Liturgical Formation of the People of God.” Thus, it fittingly will be the climactic presentation of this series devoted to the liturgy of the post-Vatican II era.

For more information, see the CITW web page.

Christian in the World

Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy

with Dr. Deacon Owen Cummings
April 1  |  9:15 to 11:45 am
Abbey library auditorium

Many of Doctor Cummings’s published works have explored aspects of the liturgy and the Eucharist. This is also an area he has taught for many years (and teaches still) in the seminary. Happily, this will also be the area that he will discuss in the upcoming series, which he has titled “Loving the Church, Loving the Liturgy.”

Doctor Cummings has two objectives for this series. In the first place, he proposes to look at the renewal of the Church initiated by the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65). He notes this renewal “was in a sense already on the way before it began in 1962,” by which he means that Vatican II was the result of a renewal that had been simmering for decades. In addition, he notes the Council’s major documents are now “the established teaching of the Church,” and they “remain powerful statements of the life-giving vision of Catholicism.”

Inasmuch as the Council “firmly placed the liturgy at the heart of the Church’s renewal,” the second objective of this series will be, first, to examine the meaning of the liturgy and secondly to concentrate on how Pope Francis “underscores the importance and centrality of the liturgy and seeks passionately to contribute to its ongoing renewal.”

To accomplish these two objectives, Doctor Cummings will offer these four lectures:

January 14: Vatican II at 60! Consistent with the first objective, Doctor Cummings will devote the first presentation to a discussion of Vatican II, noting both the very vibrant theological activity that preceded and culminated in the Council and the teaching that the Council promulgated, thus shaping the Church’s renewal up to this day.

February 11: What is Liturgy? Since the presentation will be concentrating on liturgical renewal, Doctor Cummings will devote his next presentation to explaining what “liturgy” actually means and entails. Many of us have a passionate interest in “the liturgy,” but all too often we don’t take the time to reflect on how we define and understand what it really is. Doctor Cummings has taken the time to study the liturgy and understand it, and he is very capable of conveying his profound understanding to his listeners.

March 11: Pope Francis and the Liturgy. Like any pope, Pope Francis must be concerned for the Church in all its many diverse aspects; his many writings bear witness to that concern. Perhaps because some of his other writings have caught the public’s eye, his deep concern for the liturgy is not immediately apparent even to the faithful. In this presentation, Doctor Cummings will discuss some of Pope Francis’s significant teaching on the liturgy of which many of us might be only vaguely aware.

April 1: Reflecting on Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi. Many are not familiar with the document Desiderio Desideravi, and given the Latin title, it may intimidate many more. An “Apostolic Letter,” the document was issued on June 29, 2022, and was addressed to all Catholics — clerics, religious and laity. Its subtitle is “On the Liturgical Formation of the People of God.” Thus, it fittingly will be the climactic presentation of this series devoted to the liturgy of the post-Vatican II era.

For more information, see the CITW web page.

Exploring Manuscripts: A Tour of the Books of Hours

with Br. Albert Klotz, OSB

April 23  |  10:30 to 11:30 am
Abbey library auditorium

Join us for a manuscript tour of the library’s medieval Books of Hours! Br. Albert Klotz, OSB, will be our guide as we explore wonderfully illuminated and hand-written manuscripts kept within the vault of the Abbey library.

Preaching Matthew

with Fr. Stephen Rowan
Wednesday-Thursday, December 14-15

This two-day workshop presents a series of reflections on Matthew’s Gospel, intended to give priests an overview of the Gospel’s themes for Year A of the liturgical year in the context of fellowship, prayer, and relaxation on the grounds of Mount Angel Abbey. Fr. Stephen Rowan, our presenter, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle and a faculty member at Mount Angel Seminary.

To make reservations, please contact the guesthouse at 503.845.3025 or email retreat@mtangel.edu.

Cost: Free Will Offering
Note: This workshop is limited to 35 participants.