Notes to Oblates of Mount Angel Abbey

A Note to Our Dear Oblates
April 13, 2024

Dear Oblates,

“Why are you troubled and why do questions arise in your hearts?”
-Gospel reading for the third Sunday of Easter

During this Easter season, the gospels place before us scenes of the Lord’s resurrection. Last Sunday, it was that of Saint Thomas touching the hands and side of Christ. Today, we read of Jesus appearing to the disciples after encountering them on their way to Emmaus. And as so often happens in the gospel accounts of the resurrection, the disciples doubted. Can we blame them? Not too much. Someone rising from the dead had never been heard of. Therefore, in answer to Jesus’s question, “why are you troubled and why do questions arise in your hearts?”, they could have answered, “we saw you perform miracles; we heard your teaching; we thought you were the Son of God; but the way you died on the cross was an insurmountable hurdle for us to overcome. How could the one who called himself Son of God die in such a humiliating way. This is why we are troubled. This is why questions arise in our hearts. Our hopes had been utterly crushed, and we don’t want that hope to vanish again.”

However, Jesus reassures the disciples that it is really him. He says, “touch me and see because a ghost does not have flesh and bones.” The good news of the resurrection is that Jesus is truly God-with-us until the end of time. Dying once, he dies no more. Rising from the dead, he bestows on us eternal life. The gospel message is indeed such good news it is hard to believe. It is not easy to believe how much God loves us; that he would send his Son into the world to share in our human condition; that his Son would suffer and die for our sins and rise from the dead that we might be sons and daughters of the Father. And yet, the good news is true and changes everything. During this Easter season, the Lord asks us to look upon our life and the world with hope. Do we believe that the love of God and the power of the resurrection can transform anything? With God all things are possible.

There are 16 people signed up for the Oblate Pilgrimage to Switzerland and Italy from June 19-30, 205. To learn more and register, go to the website at https://www.206tours.com/cms/mountangelabbey/ . The Login is “Saint” and the Password is “Francis206”. You will need to create an account with 206tours before being able to register. When you have completed all the steps, click “complete order”, and a pop-up for your credit card information will appear. Please contact Sandra Koceja for any questions at (619) 607-0365 (c) or romevilla11@gmail.com.

Some of you have mentioned problems with the livestream. Our communications department writes, “there have been some technical issues with Vimeo, the company that “moves” the livestream to the web page. They fixed the issue, but then it popped up again – for the past couple of weeks. If viewers can switch to the YouTube channel when the web isn’t working well, that should be working. The link is right under the player on the web page.”

The Oblate Study Days are coming up quickly (Jun 13-16, 2024). The speaker is Dr. Christin McIntyre and she will be speaking about Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare. Please see website for more information. After next week, I will open it up to the public if there are rooms available.

Prayer request. Please pray for the monks as a bug is going around the monastery and have gotten a fair number of monks sick. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

Oblate Calendar

May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

A Note to Our Dear Oblates
April 5, 2024

Dear Oblates,

Rome, Sweet Home

As you may know, I was on a pilgrimage to Rome with the Chesterton Academy students just before Holy Thursday. There were about 100 of us all together, and we got back just in time for the Triduum liturgies. It was a very memorable and grace-filled experience. I was privileged to have offered the Holy sacrifice of the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica two times, once in the main church by the chair of Saint Peter and the other time down in the crypt. I was also able to offer Mass in the main body of the church in the basilicas of Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls, Saint John Lateran, and Saint Francis in Assisi. Being in Rome, I really got the sense of the universal Church and the Apostolic foundations of the faith. Many of the churches in which we visited had the statues of all the 12 apostles. It was amazing to see the beauty of all the churches. Even a side altar of an unknown church is more beautiful than many churches here in the United States.

I was also able to go on the Scavi tour, where we learned the history of the discovery of the actual bones of Saint Peter, which is buried directly beneath the baldachin in Saint Peter’s. We also visited the catacombs of Saint Sebastian, the Colosseum and ascended the Holy Stairs. There were many moving moments of prayer during my time in Rome, but there are two that stick out in particular. One, was praying at the altar of Saint John Paul II in Saint Peter’s. While the students were climbing the cupola, I decided to stay down in the main church for some quiet prayer. Saint Pope John Paul II seemed to be telling me, “just get out of the way and pray.” As you may know, he was quite the poet and those words really spoke to me. Another prayerful experience was visiting the Church of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. The first thing we did when we entered the church was sing Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus. After that we went to the tomb were Saint Cecilia was buried. This was quite a different experience from praying before the altar of Saint John Paul because here I was praying with all the students. And although we were praying in silence, there was a deep sense of the presence of God and Saint Cecilia.

On one of the days I was able to escape my duties as chaplain and meet up with Father Ephrem and Father Israel. We had a nice lunch together, and afterwards, they showed me around to the Benedictine sites of Rome. Therefore, we visited the Church of Saint Frances of Rome, where she is buried. We also visited the place where Saint Benedict stayed when he was a student in Rome. They also took me to the Church of Saint Gregory and Sant’ Anselmo. Visiting these places helped inspire ideas for the pilgrimage I am planning next year.

All in all, it was a truly blessed trip and I am grateful for this opportunity to have gone to Rome for the first time with the students of the Chesterton Academy. They, like myself, were very moved and blessed by the experience. Thank you for your prayers.

Our next Oblate Sunday will be on April 14th. For this day, Father Phillip will be speaking to us about the plan of Saint Gall. The plan of St. Gall was a 9th century master plan for the architecture of a monastery. For in-person, click here. For remote option, click here.

Click here to read Br. Ambrose’s latest article on the Sacred Pascal Triduum. It is entitled, “The King Has Brought Me Into His Bedchamber,” and references St. Ambrose.

I wanted to let you know that Br. Anselm’s February oblate retreat videos are available on the oblate video web page.

Prayer request. Please pray for the priests of the Baker diocese who will be with us on retreat this upcoming week. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

View from our dormitory

Celebrating Mass at the basilica of St. John Lateran

At a nice restaurant with the local Chesterton students

With Fr. Ephrem, Fr. Israel and Fr. Leo (Westminster Abbey)

Tomb of St. Frances of Rome

Praying before altar of St. Cecilia

Oblate Calendar

April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

A Note to Our Dear Oblates
March 30, 2024

Dear Oblates,

The Easter Vigil

Tonight is the most important night of the year, for on this night Christ the Lord will rise gloriously from the tomb, conquering sin and death, and opening for us the gates of paradise.

This vigil will begin with the blessing of the fire and the marking of the Easter candle and on this candle, the priest will make the sign of the cross and say the following words, “Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, all time belongs to him and all ages, to him be glory and power through every age and forever. Amen.” This wonderful symbolic gesture reminds us that Christ has indeed entered into human history in the fullness of time and his mark on the world is symbolized by the marking of the candle. From all eternity the Son was with the Father and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the beginning and the end, and so we are living within his time. This moment in which we are living belongs to him. Every hour and minute of our lives belong to him. Are we living for him?

The dominion of Christ over time and history should give us hope, for no matter how dark the darkness is, we know that the light of Christ has already triumphed completely over the darkness. All time, all power, all peoples and nations belong to him and nothing happens apart from his permissive will. If Christ can rise gloriously from the dead, what can he not do? Yes, indeed, the life of our Lord tells us that with God all things are possible. We simply have to trust and believe in his promises, so this night for the Christian is the realization of the long awaited hope for which we so longed. It is a celebration of the victory of love over hatred; of light over darkness; of grace over sin. In baptism, we were buried with Christ and raised to new life with him. May the reality of our baptism be realized in us daily, and especially during this night of nights.

Our next Oblate Sunday will be on April 14th. For this day, Father Philip will be speaking to us about the plan of Saint Gall. The plan of Saint Gall was a 9th century master plan for the architecture of a monastery. Click here for more details. For in-person, click here. For remote option, click here.

Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

Oblate Calendar

March
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

A Note to Our Dear Oblates
March 16, 2024

Dear Oblates,

Dear St. Joseph

On Tuesday, we celebrate the solemnity of Saint Joseph, patron of the universal church and special patron of Mount Angel Abbey. For 85 years, we have been imploring his intercession for our spiritual and temporal needs by praying his litany every day.

As I was reflecting on the figure of Saint Joseph, I was drawn to his time in Egypt with our Blessed Mother and Our Lord Jesus Christ. This exile into Egypt is something of an analogy to the Christian life. Jesus, Mary and Joseph were in a foreign land with an unknown people, who had customs, values and a language that they did not know. In some ways this is the Christian in the world. We are in a foreign land, whose language, ways and values differ from ours. As Saint Benedict says, “your way of acting should be different from the world’s way” (RB 4).

We can imagine how different Jesus, Mary and Joseph must have seen to the Egyptians. They were so humble, kind, patient, quiet and loving. How different, we too, must be from the ways of the world, which is greedy, violent, loud and arrogant. Due to this stark contrast, our faith and trust in God’s power and love has to be concrete. This reality reminds us that we are a pilgrim people and that our journey here on earth is but an exile. Our true homeland is in heaven, and we trudge through the desert of this earthly exile in order to reach that place of eternal rest. May St. Joseph, patron of exiles, pray for us as we journey through this foreign land to our true native land.

Our next Oblate Sunday will be on April 14th. For this day, Father Philip will be speaking to us about the plan of Saint Gall. The plan of Saint Gall was a 9th century master plan for the architecture of a monastery. Click here for more details. For in-person, click here. For remote option, click here.

Please pray for the three men who will be entering the monastery on Monday. They are Townsen Poissant, Zachary Sturm and Alexander Delsman. Also, please pray for me as I will be chaplain for a pilgrimage to Rome with the students of the Chesterton Academy. There will be about 100 of us going. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

A friendly neighbor along the stations path.

Oblate Calendar

March
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

A Note to Our Dear Oblates
March 9, 2024

Dear Oblates,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…Everyone who does wicked things hates the light.”
– Gospel reading for the 4^th Sunday of Lent

In this well-known passage, God’s love is contrasted to the hate of those who do evil. “God is love,” and love is always self-effusive; it gives away of itself and pours itself into the other. This kenotic love of God is manifested from all eternity in that the Father has given all that he is to his Son, and in the Incarnation, God gives his Son completely to the world, even to the point of death. What wondrous love is this! It is a pure act of altruistic love. A love that stretches beyond our wildest imagination. How much does God love us? He loves us with a love greater than any love can be imagined.

This love of God is strongly contrasted by the hatred of evil doers. As opposed to God, the evil doers simply take or hold on to what they have. They are not open to relationship but hide like Adam and Eve did because their works are evil. They are afraid of the demands of love and the sacrifice, which true love entails. Simply put, evil doers hate, kill and destroy. This has been the way of the devil since the beginning of time.

During this Lenten season, let us ask ourselves, “in what ways do I love like God? How do I give of myself and open myself up to relationship? Or do I rather take from others, hold on to what is mine and hide from God and others?

We only have 3 weeks left of Lent. If you would like to watch some sources, I would recommend Br. Anselm’s talks from last year’s day of recollection, or watching Catherine Schneider’s Lenten meditation from a few weeks ago.

I will be giving a Day of Recollection on May 4th at St. Andrew Church in Sumner, WA. To register, please contact Oblate Janine “Solanus” Schutt at jeschutt@hotmail.com. Schedule is as follows:
9am – Mass
10 – Refreshments
11 – Conference 1
12 – Noon Prayer and lunch
1 – Conference 2

Happy feast day of Saint Frances of Rome; she is the patroness of Benedictine oblates! A special blessing to all who take Saint Frances as their oblate name.

Prayer request. Please pray for for the success of the Mount Angel Chamber Choir concert tomorrow. Please pray also for Abbot Jeremy on March 12, which is the 8 year anniversary of his election! Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Easter

We had a little snow last week

St. Benedict with the two oblate patrons icon by Br. Claude

Oblate Calendar

March
9 – St. Frances of Rome (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
10 – Oblate Sunday (9am-Noon): Br. Matthew on Silence, Part II.
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

A Note to Our Dear Oblates
March 1, 2024

Dear Oblates,

This Sunday’s gospel is an allegorical gem for the season of Lent. Let’s first explore what some of these things symbolically represent for us individually. What is the temple? In one sense, the Church, but in another, it is our very body. We know this because Jesus refers to his own body as a temple in the gospel. What exactly do the merchants and money changers represent? What they were doing could give us an answer. All of them were exchanging a temporal product or gain for something that was to be offered up to God and made holy; and they were doing it in the temple, which was dedicated exclusively to the worship of God. Therefore, the merchants and money changers represent all the things in us that threaten God’s rightful place in his temple; things that challenge the worship, time, space, and reverence due to God. They are the tempters; all of our little vices and sins we replace the God of glory. So what does this gospel show us we ought to do today in this special season of Lent? It shows us that we should ask Jesus to come into our temple through the Holy Spirit with zeal so that he may with our cooperation drive out all the merchants and money changers found in us and everything they offer. But how do we cooperate with his work? Jesus drove out these individuals in the gospel with a whip and his word. Today, we can “whip” our vices through fasting and temperance and listen to Jesus’ true words in our daily lectio divina. We do this, of course, by always looking forward to the coming Passover, Jesus’ Pasch, the Holy Triduum, where we remember how he offered up his temple for destruction, so that it may be raised. He did this so that we could join him in his death, which leads to the bliss of eternal life.

– Reflection by Br. Jesse

Our next Oblate Sunday is March 10th. Br. Matthew will be presenting his second talk on silence. His talk is titled “The Enemies of Silence.” The description is, “This month, we will pick up where we left off from our theological basis of silence in RB 6 to see the ways in which we are pulled away from its practice and give some possible remedies to combating these distractions.” To sign up for in-person, click here; for remote option, click here.

Br. Ambrose’s Christian in the World Talk can now be accessed here.

Prayer request. Please pray for the continued healing of Fr. Liem, who was taken to the hospital last week and is back home now. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

Oblate Calendar

March
9 – St. Frances of Rome (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
10 – Oblate Sunday (9am-Noon): Br. Matthew on Silence, Part II.
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

February 24, 2024

Dear Oblates,

“The Mountain of Transfiguration and Mount Calvary”

Tomorrow the gospel is that of the transfiguration, and as I reflected upon it, I saw many parallels between the transfiguration and what will happen in a few weeks on Mount Calvary. These parallels, sometimes a contrast, can show us how this gospel can be a very appropriate Lenten selection. The first similarity between both accounts is that they both take place on a mountain, a place where God often reveals himself. On the mountain of transfiguration Christ humanity was transfigured into heavenly glory. On Mount Calvary, there was a another type of transfiguration; a man who was God appeared to be subhuman. At the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ in glory. On Mount Calvary, two thieves shared in His condemnation. At the transfiguration there is a great light; on Mount Calvary darkness reigns. At the transfiguration, the Father says, “this is my chosen son.” On Mount Calvary, Jesus cries out, “my God, my God why have you forsaken me?” At the transfiguration the Father says, “listen to him.” On Mount Calvary, the Word of God is made mute. However, despite all these differences, the full understanding of both events is revealed in the resurrection.

There you have it. It is not much of a reflection, but it was what came to my mind while doing my lectio divina. This is a way of allowing the liturgical year to be a context of our own lectio.

After my last email, one of our oblates who is blind, mentioned to me her own sense of super hearing, and how her husband will have to gently remind her to turn it off in public.

The Lenten Meditation from today was recorded. Please click here to view the video. I think it can be a great way to enter more fully into the spirit of the Lenten season. You can perhaps watch it on a Wednesday or Friday.

Our next Oblate Sunday is March 10th. Br. Matthew will be presenting his second talk on silence, to sign up for in-person, click here; for remote option, click here.

Just in time for Lent, Br. Ambrose latest article entitled, “To love fasting” is available here.

You can “meet” our newest oblates here.

Prayer request. Please pray for our students, who are in the midst of their midterms. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

Me with Catherine and Joseph Schneider, the two performers for the Lenten Meditation. They are students of Chesterton Academy of the Willamette Valley. Please click here to view the video

February 17, 2024

Dear Oblates,

“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
– Gospel for the Friday after Ash Wednesday

When I was doing my mission work in East Timor, I had the experience of visiting a blind community. I was moved by their kindness, inspired by their innovation, and edified by their support of one another period but the thing that really stood out, surprisingly, was their ability to speak English. While I was in East Timor, I taught many students English, and so I knew how difficult it was for them to properly pronounce English words, but within this blind community, their pronunciation was nearly perfect. If I were blind, I would have thought that I was speaking to an American. Why was this so? I believe that being deprived of their sense of sight, their auditory sense was heightened and intensified. In order to survive, they needed to listen more carefully than the average person.

I think this concept can be applied to fasting as it relates to the spiritual life by fasting, we deprive ourselves of a material sense, so that our spiritual sense can be heightened. If we are satiated from images, words and food, what room do we have for God? Therefore, we can fast from the number of images we take in with our eyes, so that with the eyes of the heart we can focus on him in whose image we are made. We fast from a cacophony of words and noise, so that with the ears of our heart we can listen more carefully to the quiet voice of God. Also, we fast from the amount of food we filled ourselves with, so that we can fill the hunger of our heart with Him who is the Bread of Life.

What may God be calling you to fast from this Lenten season? How can this practice make room for God in your heart?

I encourage you to attend our Lenten Meditation with sacred music and sacred images. It will be on Saturday, February 24, from 9-10 am in the library auditorium. The cantor will be Catherine Schneider. Please register by clicking here. See below for more details.

FYI, 8 oblates have already signed up for the Oblate pilgrimage.

Prayer request. Please pray for the men on discernment retreat with us this weekend. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

(L-R) Br. Matthew, Fr. John Paul and Br. Ambrose celebrate Kansas City Chiefs 2024 win!

Please register by clicking here

Oblate Calendar

February
24 – Lenten Meditation with Sacred Music and Sacred Images by Catherine Schneider. Library Auditorium, 9-10am.
March
9 – St. Frances of Rome (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
10 – Oblate Sunday (9am-Noon): Br. Matthew on Silence, Part II.
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

February 9, 2024

Dear Oblates,

“We hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.”
– Prologue 46

If you ask, “why is it that the Rule of Benedict came to trump all other rules,” I would have to say that one of the main reasons was that it was a way of life that was neither harsh nor burdensome for monks. Saint Benedict’s way stands in sharp contrast to the severity to which some monks of the desert practiced their monasticism. Saint Benedict moderated the amount of food, the amount of sleep and the amount of prayer to manageable amounts. Throughout the rule, we see this principle of nothing harsh, nothing burdensome being employed. A few examples shall suffice. In chapter 39, Saint Benedict says that there should be “two kinds of cooked food” because of individual weaknesses (39:1). In another chapter he writes that the amount of manual labor should be done with “moderation on account of the faint hearted” (48:9). In speaking about the proper amount of rest, he says that after their meal “they may rest on their beds and complete silence,” aka, take a nap (48:5).

Saint Benedict was very much aware of human weakness and limitation. The quality he sought for in a monk was zeal in seeking God. If he had this, then that was sufficient. He did not have to have a heroism of a desert father, but merely had to have the desire to seek God and be willing to live a moderate life of prayer, work, discipline and reading. Now, doesn’t that sound more appealing than simply living on bread or staying up all night to pray vigils? The Benedictine way should give us great joy, for it tells us that in order to grow close to God, there is a way that is neither harsh nor burdensome. It is the humble way of this little rule.

Do you find life harsh or burdensome? How can you apply the principles and values in the holy rule to make your life a little less harsh and a little less burdensome?

Dr. Pamela Patnode (oblate) will be giving a talk entitled, “The Rule of St. Benedict: The Joy of Practicing Benedictine Spirituality Within the Lay Person’s Life.” It will be on February 11th in the library auditorium at 10:30am.

Prayer request. Please pray for Holy Mother Church as she begins the solemn Lenten season this Wednesday. Pray especially for those who will be baptized and confirmed. We have two oblate novices, who will experience this during the Easter season. Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

New Oblates

New Novices

New Novices

Oblate Calendar

February
10 – St. Scholastica (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
11 – Oblate Speaker: Dr. Pamela Patnode. (Library Auditorium 10:30am). “The Rule of St. Benedict: The Joy of Practicing Benedictine Spirituality Within the Lay Person’s Life.”
24 – Lenten Meditation with Sacred Music and Sacred Images by Catherine Schneider. Library Auditorium, 9-10am.
March
9 – St. Frances of Rome (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
10 – Oblate Sunday (9am-Noon): Br. Matthew on Silence, Part II.
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic

February 2, 2024

Dear Oblates,

“The Presentation of the Lord.”

Today is the 40th day after the Nativity of the Lord. In some way, we see this as the end of the Christmas season. On this day, Mary and Joseph present the child Jesus in the temple to be held in the arms of the aged man Simeon. This is a very ancient feast in the church. It was already celebrated in Jerusalem in the 5th century and in Rome in the 7th century. In the east, it is known as the feast of the Encounter, and for many centuries in the West it was called the Purification in reference to Our Lady’s purification. This feast is also known as Candlemas because on this day candles were blessed during holy Mass.

If we think about it, we soon realize that candles are present at the major events in our life. We receive a candle when we are baptized; there is a candle that is lit on our wedding day; and when we die, the Easter candle is lit as it is placed near our coffin. One spiritual image that the candle evokes is that of our Lord. Saint Anselm explains, “the wax produced by the virginal bee represents Christ spotless body; the wick, enclosed in the wax and forming one with it, images his soul; while the ruddy flame crowning and completing the union of wax and wick, typifies the divine nature.” Therefore, when we see the candle burning at Mass or even in our room, let us call to mind the presence of Christ who on this day appeared in the temple; and having been graced to be in the Lord’s presence, let us with Simeon be at peace.

Prayer tip. Place a little candle in your prayer space and light it when you pray. Take a moment and recall that God is present to you as the candle is present to you.

Dr. Pamela Patnode (oblate) will be giving a talk entitled, “The Rule of St. Benedict: The Joy of Practicing Benedictine Spirituality Within the Lay Person’s Life.” It will be on February 11^th in the library auditorium at 10:30am.

Please continue sending in your Lenten Bona Operas (Good Works). If you did not get one or have lost it, you can let me know by email what you plan on doing. Reading through Chapter 4 of the Holy Rule can be a good way to prepare. Thank you for engaging in this wonderful Lenten practice with the monastery. During this season, I encourage you to attend our Lenten Meditation with sacred music and sacred images. It will be on Saturday, February 24, from 9-10 am in the library auditorium. The cantor will be Catherine Schneider. Please register by clicking here.

Prayer request. Please pray for the oblates on retreat this weekend, especially for the seven, who will be making final oblation on Sunday. Pray also for all religious priests, brothers and sisters as this feast day is a special feast for all of us. Pray also for two of the Queen of Angels sisters, who passed away last week, Sr. Mechtilde Fennimore and Sr. Theresa Henscheid.

Please know that you can always send your prayer requests through our Oremus program.

Abbot Jeremy in Rome for the plenaria meeting of the Dicastery of Divine Worship in the Vatican. In Sant’Anselmo he received the title of Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Theology.

 

Oblate Calendar

February
2-4 – Oblate Retreat. Br. Anselm: In Heaven as it is on Earth: Learning to Live the Trinity.
10 – St. Scholastica (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
11 – Oblate Speaker: Dr. Pamela Patnode. (Library Auditorium 10:30am). “The Rule of St. Benedict: The Joy of Practicing Benedictine Spirituality Within the Lay Person’s Life.”
March
9 – St. Frances of Rome (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
10 – Oblate Sunday (9am-Noon): Br. Matthew on Silence, Part II.
21 – Passing of St. Benedict (plenary indulgence may be obtained by oblates)
April
14 – Oblate Sunday
May
12 – Oblate Sunday
24-26 – Oblate Retreat: Br. Isaiah on the Prophet Isaiah.
June
9 – Oblate Sunday
13-16 – Oblate Study Days: Christin McIntyre – Marian Mental Health and Spiritual Warfare.
16 – Oblate Picnic