The Altar of the Former Abbey Church Decorated ... - St. John's Abbey

Abbey Christmas Past,
page 4
The Collegeville-China
Connection, page 7
The Sesquicentennial
Is Coming! page 10
The Church of Saint
James, Jacobs Prairie,
page 12
Saint John’s and the
American Benedictine
Academy, page 14
Robert Koopmann, OSB,
Master Musician, page 16
The Altar of the Former Abbey Church
Decorated for Christmas

Contents
Features
7
The Collegeville -
China Connection
by Douglas Mullin, OSB
10
The Sesquicentennial is Coming!
by William Skudlarek, OSB
11
Report on the Congress of Abbots
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB
Departments
3 From Editor and Abbot
18 The Abbey Chronicle
20 Vocation News
The Abbey Banner
Magazine of
Saint John’s Abbey
Volume 4, Issue 3
Winter 2004
Pages 4-6
Cover Story
Abbey Christmas Past
by David Klingeman, OSB
—photo by Baldwin Dworschak, OSB
12
The Church of Saint James,
Jacobs Prairie
by Daniel Durken, OSB
14
Saint Johnʼs and the American
Benedictine Academy
by Richard Oliver, OSB
Editor: Daniel Durken, OSB
Copy Editor and Proofreader:
Dolores Schuh, CHM
Designer: Pam Rolfes
Circulation: Ruth Athmann, Cathy Wieme,
Mary Gouge
Printer: Palmer Printing, St. Cloud, Minnesota
Member Catholic Press Association
16
Robert Koopmann, OSB, Master
Musician
by Daniel Durken, OSB
26
Making The Saint Johnʼs Cross
by Paul Richards, OSB
Photos credits: Abbey Archives, Bahama Catholic, Greg Becker,
Monica Bokinski, Thomas Coval, Daniel Durken, OSB, Baldwin Dworschak,
OSB, Brett Hendrickson, Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Fran Hoefgen,
OSB, Kris Isaacson, Robert Koopmann, OSB, David Manahan, OSB, Doug
Mullin, OSB, Robin Pierzina, OSB, Verenice Ramler, OSB, Alan Reed, OSB,
Joachim Rhoades, OSB, Paul Richards, OSB, Saint James Church, Nicholas
Thelen, OSB, Hugh Witzmann, OSB
22 Abbey Missions:
Bahamas and Japan
24 Strengthening Foundations
27 Spiritual Life
Back Cover: Three Seasonal Books
The Abbey Banner is published three times
annually by the Benedictine monks of Saint
John’s Abbey for our relatives, friends and
Oblates.
The Abbey Banner is online at
www.sja.osb.org/AbbeyBanner
Saint John’s Abbey, Box 2015, Collegeville,
Minnesota 56321. 320-363-3875

EMMANUEL
by Daniel Durken, OSB
There is one word that sums
up the message of Christmas
and the New Year.
The word is EMMANUEL. It
means “God is with us.”
Only in Matthewʼs Gospel (1:
23) is EMMANUEL found in the
New Testament. Good Jew that he was, Matthew picked
up the word from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Just
when king and people were convinced that God had deserted
them at a time of impending destruction and death,
Isaiah promised that a child named EMMANUEL would
soon be born. Before the child grew up the crisis would be
over and God would still be with them.
“Perfect!” thought Matthew. The newborn child of Mary,
this Jesus would deliver everyone from a more pervasive
enemy than Isaiah faced, namely, sin. Jesus is our new
EMMANUEL. He is truly “God with us!”
Later in the same gospel Jesus reconfirms this name when
he tells his disciples, “Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (18:
20). His name is still EMMANUEL for he is with us.
The last words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel reaffirm this
name. Just when we think Jesus will leave his disciples he
tells them, “Behold, I am WITH you always, until the end
of the age” (28:20). Jesus remains EMMANUEL, God
with us.
What a powerful and exciting name is EMMANUEL!
What a pity that there is not one Catholic church in the
whole of Minnesota named EMMANUEL Church! We prefer
the names of obscure saints like Columbkill, Clotilde,
Eloi, Finbarr, Gall, Hedwig, Kevin and Wendelin rather
than a thoroughly biblical name like EMMANUEL.
Let me recommend that EMMANUEL become our mantra
for the New Year. EMMANUEL is more than a name.
EMMANUEL is a prayer, the renewal of our faith, hope
and love of our God who is not against us, not above or beyond
us, not far away from us. In Jesus God is with us. In
fact, Jesus is more than with us. Wonder of wonders, Jesus
is God WITHIN us!
I wish you all a MERRY EMMANUEL!
Terrorism and
the Birth of Jesus
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB
FROM EDITOR AND ABBOT
Terrorism is a symbol of
the inhumanity of our
world. Our world is decidedly
different today because
we can see “everything.” In the
past, violent tragedies could be
ignored because they were not visible. In the nineteenth
century, the Red Cross was founded when photography
allowed people to see the tragedies that occurred in other
parts of the world. However, today we suffer from visual
overload. We see too much. Violence is served up to us in
living color, twenty-four hours a day.
It is important to note that the past ages were not less inhuman
than ours. Whole groups of people could die from
plague, starvation or environmental catastrophe and very
few of the world’s people would ever learn about it. And
wars of ethnic cleansing have happened throughout human
history.
In the face of this situation, we experience disorientation
and confusion. What are we to do? Pessimism begins
to close us in on ourselves. Every thought begins with
ourselves, our community, our family. Even if a door to
possible healing action is open, to us it seems closed. We
lose our capacity to view the world with compassion.
In this season of Advent and Christmas, we celebrate the
love and compassion of our God for the very world we live
in. In the gift of the Son to the world, God does not disengage
from the suffering and inhumanity of our world but
moves toward it. Jesus, newborn son of Mary and Son of
God, stands for humanity, for compassion and for reconciliation.
Jesus does not turn away from the inhumanity of
his own time but brings the message of the Reign of God
to it.
As his followers we have a role in the legitimization
of a vision of peace, a vision of compassion, a vision of
humanness in our world. It is a vision that may be very
small, like a child, but be brought to its full development
by the Spirit of God to something beyond our imagining.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 3

FEATURE
page 4 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
The main altar of the former abbey church
(now the Great Hall) at Christmas, c. 1955
Abbey Christmas Past
by David Klingeman, OSB (with special thanks to Patrick McDarby, OSB)
Christmas celebrations over
the centuries have focused on
family gatherings highlighted
by long-loved traditions to commemorate
the birth of Jesus. Likewise,
monks of Saint John’s Abbey have
ushered in the Christmas Season with
unique traditions.
Chrysostom Schreiner, OSB, vicepresident
of the university
before his pioneer missionary
work in the Bahamas, introduced
the first Christmas tree
for students in 1886. The
few students who remained
on campus during Christmas
vacation were treated to a
celebration provided by the
monks. The school paper,
The Record, of 1926 gives this
description:
“Eighteen students remained
on campus (while all the
others were busily engaged
in packing and scattering
in all directions). But the
Mellow memories abound of the celebration of
Christmas at Saint John’s
gloom soon lifted through the cheerful
work of Pirmin Wendt, OSB, and
Roland Kapsner, OSB. On Christmas
Eve a program took place in the
auditorium where a richly adorned
Christmas tree was set up. Music
solos were followed by songs of the
monastery choir. Some of the nevergrow-old
Christmas songs were
sung in chorus.”
Students pause to pose for a picture after
decorating their Christmas tree in 1918.

In the monastery a typical Christmas
for many years looked like this: By
December 23 the abbey was all but
emptied of priests. The Christmas
parish assignment roster for 1956
listed the names of seventy priests
sent to churches as close as Avon,
Minnesota, and as distant as Thorp,
Wisconsin, and included ten parishes
in Saint Paul, nine in Minneapolis.
Pre-Christmas days were hectic.
Young monks trudged through the
woods to gather branches for wreaths
and to select and drag fifteen-foot pine
trees up flights of stairs to be decorated
in various recreation rooms. The
abbey schola had extra rehearsals.
A German holiday tradition inspired
a Christmas Eve experience. In
Germany children were not allowed to
see the decorated Christmas tree until
Christmas Eve. While the children
were kept occupied elsewhere the
mother decorated the tree and placed
presents under it. When all was
ready, a bell was rung and the children
bolted into the living room to see the
tree and open their presents.
This Christmas Eve surprise was
likely background for the Saint John’s
tradition. After serving the Christmas
Eve supper the novice monks returned
to their quarters which had been kept
Advent barren. As they trudged up
Junior monks perform a Christmas play in 1963.
A 1961 festive Christmas meal with ice sculpture by Roman Paur, OSB
the stairs to the novitiate area, the
strains of Silent Night emanated from
their dark recreation room where
the community had gathered around
a Christmas tree decorated in their
absence. Surprise!
Added to the unexpected excitement
was the opportunity for novices to
speak with professed monks, something
they were not allowed to do in
pre-Vatican II days. This “Christmas
Surprise” ended in 1966 and was
replaced with the community assembling
in the novitiate for dessert,
caroling and a chance to inspect the
simple rooms of the novices.
FEATURE
The visit to the novitiate was followed
by a program of speeches,
carols, an original play composed and
directed by a creative monk and instrumental
solos and duets. The liturgical
part of the Christmas celebration
had begun in the late afternoon with
the chanting of Solemn First Vespers.
The abbot, deacon, subdeacon and
cantors were dressed in festive vestments.
The abbey chronicle of 1917
noted that this was the first year First
Vespers of Christmas was sung in its
entirety. The celebration of Midnight
Mass at Saint John’s dates back to
1869.
At noon on Christmas Day a festive
dinner was served with specially
prepared dishes along with homemade
wine. As the community left the dining
room, the treasurer stood at the
door with a cigar box in one hand and
a box of candy bars for the monks to
select from in the other. The chronicle
of 1904 noted that each monk received
“a package of candy, nuts,
some apples and a bottle of wine.”
Christmas caroling was a popular
pastime in Christmases past. Following
the morning Mass and breakfast, a
(continued)
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 5

FEATURE
group of high-spirited carolers visited
the campus infi rmary to cheer up any
patients and then moved on to the
Collegeville suburb of Flynntown
to carol at the homes of abbey employees.
A group went to the kitchen
after dinner and exchanged German
carols with the German Franciscan
Sisters who had prepared the delicious
Christmas meals.
The 1960s ushered in a new post-
Christmas celebration. Late in De-
Collegeville
Christmas Weather
by Bradley Jenniges, OSB, abbey
weather monk
Saint John’s weather observations
go back to 1892. The
whitest Christmas was in 1996
with 17 inches of snow, succeeded
by a brown one in 1997. One of
the coldest Christmases was in
1968 with a low temperature of
–27 degrees. On Christmas Day,
1982, the mercury rose to +5
degrees, the highest temperature
in over a week of frigid cold that
included a low of –35 on December
19 and a high of only –20 on
December 23. On Christmas Day,
1922, the temperature rose to a
record high of 46. +
page 6 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
cember when poinsettias began to wilt
and the air was cleared of incense,
the community held a Christmas
celebration that brought back monks
who were pastors or chaplains. The
celebration provided an opportunity
to catch up on abbey news and visit
with members not often seen. Following
a festive meal and dessert, monks
gathered around a piano to belt out
favorite Christmas carols. The grand
fi nale came when a confrere picked up
Monk musicians accompany a 1978 Christmas
sing-along.
a tambourine to lead the singing of The
Twelve Days of Christmas. The rendition
of the FIVE G-O-L-D-E-N RINGS
verse was loud and long enough to
make even Scrooge smile.
David Klingeman, OSB, is the abbey and
university archivist. Patrick McDarby,
OSB, is the editor of Confrere, the monastic
community’s monthly newsletter.
NOTE: Readers are invited to
access the 2004 live broadcast of
Saint John’s Abbey 11:15 p.m. Christmas
Concert and Midnight Mass
at www.saintjohnsabbey.org/info/
broadcasts.html, or choose “Broadcast
Services” under the heading “Prayer”
in the menu on the left of the website.
Links to the Christmas liturgy of 2002
and 2003 are also available.
A toboggan slide on the slippery slope of Lake Sagatagan in the 1920s

Chinese graduates of Saint John’s
University and the College of Saint
Benedict honored Thomas Thole, OSB,
at a reunion in Hong Kong in November
2003. Father Tom, wearing a red tie, is
front and center in the first row. At his left
is SJU president, Dietrich Reinhart, OSB.
The Collegeville-
China Connection
by Doug Mullin, OSB
East is East and West is West
and the twain do meet!
The contrast between Collegeville
and China could not be
more pronounced. Collegeville
is a Midwest area of 2,950 people
during the school year, situated on
2,600 acres of forest, lakes, lawns and
asphalt with less than 150 years of
existence. China is a Far East land of
more than a billion people, sprawled
over 3.6 million square miles with five
thousand years of continuous civilization.
Yet their connections are strong
and stable.
Brother Doug stands between Fathers Joseph
Xia (l.) and Martin Wu at their graduation from
Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary in
May 2003.
The Collegeville-China connection
began with the 1929 arrival of Aidan
Germain, OSB, at Saint Benedict’s
Priory in the city now called Beijing.
Father Aidan joined the faculty of Fu
Jen Ta Hsueh, the Catholic University
of Peking. The priory and university
were founded by Saint Vincent
Archabbey several years earlier at the
request of Pope Pius XI. Aidan was
followed by two other Saint John’s
monks, Terence Carroll, OSB, and
Basil Stegmann, OSB.
Beginning with only twentythree
students, in four years the
university was officially recognized
by the Chinese government
and enrollment increased to more
than a thousand. Nonetheless, the
depression-struck American Benedictine
monasteries were unable
to support the school financially.
In 1933 the Holy See transferred
responsibility for the university
to the Society of the Divine Word
and the Saint John’s monks returned
home.
In 1941 Japanese troops occupied
China, forcing Americans to
leave Fu Jen. This was followed
FEATURE
by the 1950 Communist takeover of
Beijing. Two years later Fu Jen was
annexed to Beijing Normal University
and Fu Jen ceased to exist.
But hope never dies in China. In
1954 the Fu Jen Alumni Association
in Taiwan proposed that the university
be reestablished there. Pope
John XXIII supported the request
and the university was approved by
the Taiwan Ministry of Education in
1963. To endorse the establishment
of this resurrected Fu Jen, St. Vincent
Archabbey founded Wimmer Priory in
Taiwan in 1964.
When Thomas Thole, OSB, became
adviser for international students
at Saint John’s, new connections
emerged. Students from Hong Kong
quickly developed an appreciation
for Tom’s fatherly care. By the early
70s Saint John’s enrolled more than
two dozen students from Hong Kong.
The relationships he built continue to
be a strong component of the current
Collegeville-China connection. In
November 2003, Hong Kong alumni/
ae of Saint John’s and the College
of Saint Benedict honored Tom who
received a Presidential Citation from
Dietrich Reinhart, OSB.
(continued)
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 7

FEATURE
In 1980 the College of Saint Benedict
and Saint John’s initiated summer
China study programs under the direction
of Baulu Kuan, OSB. By fall of
1988 a semester study abroad program
at Southwest China Normal University
in Beibei (Sichuan Province) was
initiated by Sister Baulu and Cyprian
Weaver, OSB.
To date over two hundred students
have participated in this program.
This year nineteen CSB/SJU students
continue the connection. Every year
a number of CSB/SJU grads return
to China to teach English through
Maryknoll’s volunteer service program.
This year nine CSB/SJU grads
were accepted into this program.
But it is more than students who
have been impacted by their China
experiences. After working with the
program for four years, Father Cyprian
accepted an invitation in 1993 to
teach in the medical college and open
a graduate school of medicine in the
reincarnated Fu Jen Catholic Univer-
page 8 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
sity. Cyprian continues his work at
Fu Jen where he is acclaimed as an
excellent and dedicated scholar, monk
and priest.
Another connection is focused on
developing leadership for the Church
in mainland China. For the past ten
years, Saint John’s Abbey and School
of Theology•Seminary have supported
students in the “Training of Chinese
Seminary Teachers and Formators
Project” of Maryknoll. In this program
Maryknoll works with Chinese
bishops to identify priests and sisters
to do advanced theological studies
in the United States and Europe to
prepare them for teaching in Chinese
seminaries and religious formation
programs. More than a dozen eager
learners have gone through this
program.
Timothy Kelly, OSB, Abbot President
of the American Cassinese Congregation
of Men Benedictines, has
been especially supportive of Chinese
students at Saint John’s and even after
Sisters Teresa Ma (l.) and Pauline Yu flank
Abbot John Klassen. The plaque says,
“Peace be within your walls” (Psalm 122:7).
they move on for further studies, leadership
and ministry. Abbot Timothy
serves on the Board of Directors for
the China Bureau of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops and is
a founding member of the Benedictine
China Commission.
In the fall of 2003 I traveled with
Sister Baulu on the annual Benedictine
Study Tour of China. A project of
the Benedictine China Commission,
this tour introduces participants to the
past and present work of Benedictines
in China and explores possibilities for
future efforts there. Participants are
introduced to traditional Chinese culture
including art, history, philosophy
and religion.
In Beijing I reconnected with Matthew
Zhen and Anthony Yao who had
become good friends while studying
liturgy at Saint John’s. These two
priests were generous and gracious
hosts as they took time away from
their busy schedules in seminary lead-

Cyprian Weaver, OSB,
teaches at Fu Jen Catholic
University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Parishioners of Saint Benedict’s
Church, Saint Benedict, China,
welcome Brother Doug (in bright
blue jacket) and Sister Baulu
Kuan, OSB (with camera).
ership and their work on the national
liturgical commission.
Baulu and I visited Beijing Normal
University, now the premier university
in China for teacher education. I was
invited to lecture on my own research
on teacher development to about thirty
graduate faculty and students. They
were incredibly kind and gracious,
giving us a huge banquet after the
lecture.
We were also invited to be the first
foreign speakers to address the three
hundred plus faculty and students of
the newly opened Fu Jen Educational
Training Center, established by the
mainland Alumni Association of the
old Fu Jen University.
Finally, I was privileged to lecture
on “Religion in American Life” as
part of the Mid-East Research Institute
and College of International
Cultural Exchange at Northwest
University in X’ian. I spoke to over
one hundred enthusiastic students and
FEATURE
faculty members who seemed to have
an endless reservoir of engaging questions
that convey their deep interest in
religion and American life.
One notable site we visited is the
little village of Saint Benedict which
grew up near a former Trappist
monastery. During the Cultural
Revolution, the Chinese government
changed the name of the village to the
Chinese word for “Progress” but the
villagers would have no part of it. In
addition to keeping the name “Saint
Benedict” for their village, they have
maintained steadfast joy in their faith,
devotion and hospitality. They were
overjoyed to welcome two traveling
Benedictines.
Doug Mullin, OSB, associate professor
of education at the College of Saint
Benedict and Saint John’s University, is
pursuing theological studies in our School
of Theology•Seminary in preparation for
ordination to the priesthood.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 9

FEATURE
At the evening meal in the
monastic refectory, table
reading is prefaced by the
announcement of a significant event
that happened on that date in the history
of Saint John’s. On May 20 this
year the reader announced, “Today we
commemorate the arrival in 1856 of
the first Benedictine monks in Saint
Cloud.”
Which is to say, the 150th anniversary
of the beginning of Saint John’s
is now less than two years away!
This spring Abbot John Klassen,
OSB, and Brother Dietrich Reinhart,
OSB, president of Saint John’s
University, appointed a Sesquicentennial
Board, co-chaired by Patti Epsky,
executive assistant to the president,
and William Skudlarek, OSB, administrative
assistant to the abbot. Their
charge is to pull together the work
already done by the initial Sesquicentennial
Task Force and a Planning
Committee, to do further planning and
to oversee the implementation of all
the events and activities that will com-
page 10 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
1856 - 2006 = 150 Years
memorate the past 150 years and look
forward to the future.
Some major decisions have already
been made. The sesquicentennial will
officially begin on April 5, 2006, the
150th anniversary of the departure of
the five pioneer monks from Saint Vincent’s
Abbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania,
to Minnesota. The celebration will end
on November 10, 2007, the 150th anniversary
of the opening of Saint John’s
Seminary, as the school was then
known. The abbey’s principal celebration—a
solemn Eucharistic liturgy and
a picnic for friends and neighbors—is
scheduled for June 24, 2006.
Hilary Thimmesh, OSB, professor
of English, has created a prospectus
for an anniversary book and gathered
a group of twelve authors who are
writing historical essays on significant
periods, people and apostolates of our
150-year history. The publication will
feature a wide selection of photos (archival
and contemporary) and numerous
sidebars highlighting significant
The first Benedictine building on the
Mississippi at Saint Cloud, 1856
The
Sesquicentennial
is Coming!
by William Skudlarek, OSB
individuals and interesting incidents
from our past and present.
Sesquicentennial events will focus
not only on the history of Saint John’s
but also on what we are now and what
we hope to become. They will point
to Saint John’s as a place of excellence,
service, community and spirituality
in the modern world. They
will show that this is an ecumenical
place, a welcoming community and
a Central Minnesota good neighbor.
Finally, the events will honor our
monastic partners, the women of Saint
Benedict’s Monastery.
The completion of The Saint John’s
Bible, scheduled for 2007, and the
anticipated dedication of a new Abbey
Guest House in 2006 or 2007, will
highlight the forward-looking character
of the celebration.
William Skudlarek, OSB, is the administrative
assistant to Abbot John Klassen
and professor of homiletics at Saint John’s
School of Theology•Seminary.

Report on the Congress of Abbots
by Abbot John Klassen, OSB
Every four years the abbots (or
administrator) of all Benedictine
monasteries, the abbot
presidents of all twenty-one Benedictine
congregations and the priors of
dependent houses gather in Rome for
the Abbots Congress. There are 260
monastic communities in the world
and approximately 200 of their leaders
were at this meeting from September
21-28, 2004. Abbesses of women
Benedictine monasteries and representatives
of Benedictine women’s
congregations were also present.
The focus of this year’s congress
was “Globalization: Phenomena, Opportunities
and Challenges.” Keynote
speakers were Herr Norbert Walter of
the Deutsche Bank and Professor Andrea
Riccardi, one of the founders of
the Sant’ Egidio community in Rome.
“Globalization: Phenomena, Opportunities and Challenges”
Both speakers alluded to the disorientation
and confusion caused by the
rapid changes in the world, accelerated
and directed in unpredictable ways
by technological advances and the
eruption of violence. The dissolution
of the Soviet empire in 1989 brought
hope that we would be moving into
a new era of peace. Instead, there
are now twenty-eight open wars and
eighteen “frozen” ones.
But there are positives that come
from globalization: the free movement
of goods and services, the diversification
of societies and cultures, the more
complete awareness of tragedies and
blessings in our world. Both speakers
urged that monastic communities stay
engaged with the dilemmas and blessings
in our world.
FEATURE
Two-hour workshops were available
to the participants. Topics included:
ecumenism, financial management,
liturgical questions, new monastic
communities, leadership and non-ordained
abbots, sexual abuse, abuse of
power, the monastic response, precarious
communities, lay communities
and movements, formation, Oblates,
ecology and inter-religious dialogue.
Participants had opportunity for a
day trip to Subiaco, Monte Cassino
or Norcia, important Benedictine
sites. We also had an audience with
Pope John Paul II at Castelgandolfo.
Finally, the Congress was an occasion
for leaders to get to know each other,
to exchange stories, to find out what
is working and what is not. For this
first-timer, it was well worth the time
and energy.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 11

FEATURE
In the summer of 1954 Saint James
Church of Jacobs Prairie, Minnesota,
commemorated the celebration
of the first Mass offered there
a century earlier. In his congratulatory
letter to parishioners Bishop
Peter Bartholome of the Saint Cloud
Diocese used an adjective that best
describes this special place. Twice he
referred to the “little parish” of Saint
James. The third time he redundantly
called it a “small little parish.”
Unlike the mustard seed of Jesus’
parable that was the smallest of all the
seeds but became the largest of plants,
Saint James Church has remained a
“little parish.” If you blink on Stearns
County Highway 2 between Saint Joseph
and Cold Spring you will miss the
fieldstone-faced church with rectory
and parish hall set off the road behind
cemetery and groomed lawn. But do
not let physical size deceive you. This
place is large in tradition and faith.
page 12 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
The Church of Saint James, Jacobs Prairie, 1854-2004
The Church of Saint James,
Jacobs Prairie
by Daniel Durken, OSB
Here in the fall of 1854, the premier
missionary of this territory, Francis
Xavier Pierz, celebrated Mass on three
occasions in the homes of the first
settlers: Michael Fuchs, the Jacobs
brothers (Nicholas and Theodore after
whom the place was named) and Chris
Koch.
With the arrival of the Benedictines
to the Saint Cloud area in May, 1856,
newly ordained Bruno Riss, OSB, was
assigned to the parish of Saint Joseph
with missions in Jacobs Prairie and
Richmond. He was the first of some
forty-three Benedictine pastors to
serve Saint James Church.
Years later Father Bruno recounted
the ways of the walking missionary in
those days:
Whenever we set out on a trip we
stowed away in the fathomless
depths of a carpet sack, one altar
stone, a Missal, a book of Gospels,
For 150 years this Benedictine parish has remained
small in size and large in faith.
a Breviary, vestments for Mass,
candles, crucifix, altar wine for two
weeks, altar breads; in fact all that
was needed; moreover, some linens
and—snuff. This baggage weighing
some sixty pounds was fastened to
the end of a substantial stick; this
was slung over the shoulder and
Bruno Riss, OSB, first pastor, 1856-57

Anna Maria Brunner, first child to be
baptized, August 5, 1856, at Jacobs
Prairie
we plodded over hills and through
swamps, in every season, exposed
to biting cold and vexatious mosquitoes,
from station to station for
six-to-eight and occasionally twelveto-fifteen
miles a day. Such was
pioneer missionary life.
The life of the laity was no less
strenuous. Bruno’s arrival in mid-August
was accompanied by a devastating
invasion of grasshoppers that devoured
the grain fields. Months of misery
plagued the settlers who had little or
nothing to begin with and still less after
the grasshoppers had scoured the land.
One year later four area pastors proposed
a solution: parishioners would
vow to make an annual procession on
July 4 and September 6, the feast days
of Saints Ulric and Magnus, venerated
in southern Germany as patrons
The Quilt Auction at the Celebration
against grasshopper infestations.
Bruno reported, “God heard us
who were weak and helpless
against such small insects. In the
early days of June a brisk northwest
wind set in and carried a
whole cloud of the little fiends
with it to other climes. One
week later a southwest breeze
carried off the rest. We were saved.”
Other crises soon developed. The
first log church was destroyed by fire
in 1858 and soon replaced by a second
chapel which in turn was replaced by
a third and larger structure in 1864
which in turn was leveled by a tornado
in 1894 only to have the fourth
church burn down in 1930. The fifth
and present church was built that same
year and still stands solid. An addition
to this fiery sequence occurred when
the parish house burned down in 1984.
Yet another critical condition arose
in August of 1862 when Indian uprisings
threatened the area. Blockades
were erected at Saint Joseph and Richmond
and seven feet high earthworks
established defense lines. Panic and
precautions were short-lived, however,
and by October the situation had
returned to normal.
If the parishioners of Jacobs Prairie
ever dreamt that their parish would
one day be more than just a prairie,
that dream was dissipated as a brew-
FEATURE
“The Singing Nuns,” Saint James’ parishioners
who entertained at the Sesquicentennial
Celebration, June 12, 2004
ery, flour mill and granite industry
flourished in nearby Cold Spring.
Thus Saint James Church remains
a “small little parish.” The St. Cloud
Visitor of June 10, 2004, reports that
“Modern members of St. James are
comfortable with their modest parish
size and take pride in and relish the
quality of parish life if not quantity of
parishioners.” The parish is described
as “close-knit and family-like with a
good variety of young and old.” One
parishioner said, “We’re small, but
that’s what I like about it.” Mathias
Spier, OSB, the current pastor, sets the
parish population at 102 families.
Father Mathias had plenty of help to
organize the parish’s Sesquicentennial
Celebration last June. He credits the
very active parishioners for their ability
and willingness to pitch in and get
both worship
and work done
in an inspiring
fashion. In a
parish where
the turnover
of pastors has
been unusually
frequent, the
stable element
has been
the laity who
Mathias Spier, OSB,
present pastor, 2002-
planted their families, their crops and
their faith deep in the soil of Jacobs
Prairie.
Daniel Durken, OSB, is the editor of
The Abbey Banner.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 13

FEATURE
Saint Johnʼs and the American Benedictine Academy
by Richard Oliver, OSB
Several monks of Saint John’s
Abbey played pivotal roles in
the foundation and development
of the American Benedictine
Academy (ABA). Its predecessor, the
National Benedictine Education Association
(NBEA), founded in 1917,
had outlived its role as a “coordinating
agency for the educational work”
of Benedictine institutions.
Alcuin Deutsch, OSB, fifth abbot of
Saint John’s, was never enthusiastic
about this association. He proposed as
page 14 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
The Board of Directors of the
American Benedictine Academy:
l. to r. Ramona Fallon, OSB; Adel
Sautner, OSB, executive secretary;
Cyril Drnjevic, OSB; Rosemary
Rader, OSB, past-president;
Richard Oliver, OSB, president;
Theresa Schumacher, OSB, vicepresident;
Simeon Thole, OSB
“. . . a non-profit association whose purpose is to cultivate, support and transmit
the Benedictine heritage within contemporary culture” —the Academy’s mission statement
Abbot Alcuin Deutsch, OSB,
originator of the ABA in 1947
a successor to the NBEA “an organization
with a different scope and objective,
one that would serve as a medium
of contact and stimulation among
American Benedictine scholars.”
Since the early 1920s Abbot Alcuin
was familiar with the scholarly publications
of the Bavarian Benedictine
Academy. He presented his idea of an
American Benedictine Academy to the
leadership of the American Benedictine
Congregation. On December 30,
1947, seventeen abbeys enthusiastically
approved the final revision of the
Academy’s statutes.
Final authority of the
Academy was vested in
the abbot-president of the
American Cassinese Congregation,
at that time Mark
Braun, OSB, Saint Gregory’s
Abbey, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
At the constitutive
assembly, Martin Schirber,
OSB, Saint John’s professor
of economics, was appointed
the Academy’s first
Martin Schirber, OSB,
first vice-president of
the ABA, 1947
vice-president by the executive board
of reigning abbots.
In the beginning there were three
classes of membership: educationally
qualified, ordained monks who had
voting rights; qualified women monastics
and lay people; all professed
members of contributing communities.
Membership grew from 315 in
1949 to 415 in 1954. After the Second
Vatican Council (1965) all members
received full voting rights. Membership
dropped from 785 in 1970 to 91
in 1976. A thorough re-organization
of the Academy with a new constitution
was effected in 1978. Current
membership numbers 314.
Publications of the
Academy began in 1948 with
the ABA Newsletter, giving
information about sectional
and board meetings plus
items of general Benedictine
interest. This publication
was succeeded in 1987 by
the American Monastic
Newsletter, edited by Judith

Sutera, OSB, Saint Scholastica Monastery,
Atchison, Kansas, and sent to
members three times a year.
Benedictine Studies was a more ambitious
publishing project of scholarly
monographs that eventually included
nineteen issues. The Academy sponsored
the following signifi cant studies:
A Benedictine Bibliography by Oliver
Kapsner, OSB, appeared in 1949-50
with subsequent editions. Worship and
Work, the history of Saint John’s by
Colman Barry, OSB, was published
in 1956. Come, Let Us Worship by
Godfrey Diekmann, OSB, appeared in
1961.
The American Benedictine Review,
a scholarly periodical, began publication
in 1950. Colman Barry, OSB,
professor of history and president of
Saint John’s University, became editor
in 1961 and improved the design and
reputation of the award-winning journal
to which dozens of Saint John’s
monks have contributed articles.
Responding to the appeal of Benedictine
prioresses in 1957 to make
serious theological studies available
to women monastics, Paschal Botz,
OSB, professor of theology at Saint
John’s, was appointed director of the
program. The Sacred Sciences Section
of the ABA proposed the estab-
Mary Anthony Wagner, OSB,
director of BIST and Dean of School
of Theology•Seminary
Paschal Botz,
OSB, fi rst director
of the Benedictine
Institute of Sacred
Theology (BIST),
1957
lishment of “a spiritual life institute
for Benedictine Sisters.”
The following summer the Benedictine
Institute of Sacred Theology
(BIST) opened under the direction of
Mary Anthony Wagner, OSB, Saint
Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph,
Minnesota, at the College of Saint
Benedict with sixty Sisters participating.
By 1963 there were 96 students
from 32 motherhouses in 22 states,
Mexico and Canada. The next year
the program received accreditation
to grant the master’s degree and was
subsequently incorporated into the
School of Theology•Seminary at Saint
John’s.
Besides organizing a biennial convention,
the Academy provides fi nancial
support for monastic learning and
research projects through an annual
Monastic Studies Award. The Academy
cooperates with the Alliance for
International Monasticism to provide
scholarships for monastic students
FEATURE
from around the world to participate in
the academy’s conventions.
Ten monks of Saint John’s are current
members of the Academy. Richard
Oliver, OSB, and Simeon Thole,
OSB, serve on the executive board.
Benedictine Oblates and lay people
have increasingly become members
of the Academy. Membership is
ecumenical and online application is
available at the Academy’s website:
www.osb.org/aba/
Richard Oliver, OSB, webmaster for the
Order of Saint Benedict, was installed as
the Academy’s president on August 15,
2004.
Richard Oliver, OSB, president of the ABA
Early Christian World Program
Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary under the direction
of Michael Patella, OSB, associate professor of theology,
is sponsoring a study tour, May 10-June 3, 2005, to visit places
in Turkey, Greece and Rome which nursed our faith in its
infancy. Sites to be visited include Galatia, Macedonia, Tarsus,
Istanbul, Antioch, Ephesus, Athens, Corinth and many more.
For complete information contact Linda Schreiber at 320-363-
3154 or lschreiber@csbsju.edu.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 15

FEATURE
A
visitor to the studio of Father
Robert (or Father Bob) gets
the immediate impression that
keyboards are a vital part of his day.
The five keyboards that are present
include not one but two pianos (so he
can play along at times with his piano
students), a synthesizer, a computer
and a typewriter. All five keyboards
are privileged to know the touch of
the flying fingers of this fifty-eight
year old master musician.
Robert began his association with
the piano keyboard at age six when
his mother and aunt, both good pianists,
introduced him to the musical
instrument that was to play such an
important role in his life. He soon
began taking piano lessons from a
Franciscan Sister at Saint Edward’s
School in Waterloo, Iowa.
An important factor in Bob’s musical
development was his mother’s
page 16 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
Robert Koopmann, OSB,
Master Musician
by Daniel Durken, OSB
support and encouragement. She
practiced with him daily. His father
was also musical, playing the clarinet
and guitar. By the time Bob was
twelve years old, he came to realize,
“I am pretty good at this.” His
mastery of Clementi’s “Sonatina in D”
was a turning point in the discovery of
this talent.
Sister Arnold, OSF, an accomplished
pianist, helped Bob develop
his musical talent through
high school. He says, “I was good
enough then that my peers considered
my playing ‘cool’ and did not
harass me.” He had ample opportunities
to perform both classical and
pop music, the latter giving him
the chance to improvise.
When it came time to choose a
college, Robert visited the College
of Saint Thomas and Saint John’s
University. Because of the presence
God gave us music that we might
pray without words.
at Saint John’s of concert pianist
Willem Ibes and the director of Saint
John’s Men’s Chorus, Gerhard Track,
the choice was easy. He was also considering
studying for the priesthood,
but opted for a major in piano performance
and music education.
After graduation in 1968, Robert
earned the Master of Music degree at
Ten-year-old Robert at the keyboard

So many notes!
the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Here he played professionally
with the Milwaukee Symphony and at
a summer musical repertory theatre.
Staying in touch with several Saint
John’s classmates, several of whom
had become monks of the abbey, Bob
seriously considered returning to
Collegeville to explore the vocation
of a monk and priest. He enjoyed the
exuberance of the monks at their work
as well as the beauty of the place.
“This is when ‘The Call’ came to
me,” Bob reminisces. “I wanted to try
the Benedictines first. If that didn’t
work out I could do something
else.” He was able to cancel
the contract he had made to
teach at Saint Norbert’s College,
DePere, Wisconsin, and
entered the novitiate in the
fall of 1970, making his first
profession of vows the following
year.
After beginning priesthood
studies and teaching parttime
for a year, Robert began
doctoral studies in music at the
University of Iowa, Iowa City,
and graduated with the Doctor
of Musical Arts in 1976. Returning
to Saint John’s he taught full time,
chaired the music department and
took summer theology classes. He
completed his seminary courses and
was ordained in 1981.
Robert currently gives piano lessons,
teaches first year symposium
and honors courses in music, and is
the abbey’s music director and organist.
He has been a faculty resident in
student housing since his ordination
and delights students and monks at
sing-alongs and pop concerts. He
gives concerts from Daytona Beach
to Duluth and from Nassau, Bahamas,
to Salzburg, Austria, Port Elizabeth,
South Africa and at Benedictine monasteries
in Tanzania. He has recorded
three CDs: Robert Koopmann Piano
Recital (1994), The Second Piano
Recital (1996) and Sacred Improvisations
(2004).
When asked if there is a tension
between his musical and monastic life,
Robert reflects, “At times, yes, but
never a doubt. I appreciate the community
support I receive. Learning
new music is like lectio divina, sacred
reading. As I play the music slowly,
my heart-strings begin to respond.
FEATURE
Robert’s CD of sixteen piano improvisations
on hymns, spiritualities and
chants (e.g., “Deep River,” “Precious
Lord,” “Adoro te devote”) may be
purchased at the Abbey Web Store:
www.saintjohnsabbey.org/store under
the heading “Fine Arts and Music.” $15
plus $2.50 shipping plus Minnesota
state tax of 6.5%.
There is a transcendent aspect to the
experience as the music becomes a
part of me and I become part of the
music.”
A plaque in his office epitomizes
Robert’s love of music and its performance:
Bach gave us God’s word.
Mozart gave us God’s laughter.
Beethoven gave us God’s fire.
God gave us music
that we might pray without words.
Daniel Durken, OSB, is an editor and
writer for Liturgical Press.
Robert entertains students with “My Old
Red Hen” at a Concert on the Tundra in
September 2004.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 17

THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
Campus air conditioners got
little use this summer. Only
twice did thermometers
register in the 90s—94 on June 7; 92
on July 21. Chilly days in August
brought lows of 42, 46, 48, and 49.
But September and the first half of
October treated us to weeks of warm,
sunny days with cloudless skies. By
mid-October crisp and cloudy days,
honking geese making a V-line south
and purple martins abandoning their
lakeside apartments assured us that it
was time to move on.
September 2004
A mother guards her son’s stuff on
moving-in day.
■ The tenth day enrollment figures
for the university are 512 first
year students and a total of 1,871.
Total undergraduate enrollment
decreased by approximately 2% at
both CSB and SJU. Both institutions
had anticipated and budgeted
page 18 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
Winter sits and waits for spring.
Misery loves company.
Whatʼs Up?
The Abbey Chronicle
by Daniel Durken, OSB
Autumn arrives in Collegeville; winter to follow.
for fewer students. The School of
Theology•Seminary has 139 students,
one less than last year. Saint
John’s Preparatory School numbers
310 students in its middle and upper
schools.
■ Saint Benedict’s Rule stipulates that
“If the community is rather large,
some brothers should be made
deans to take care of their groups
of ten” (chapter 21). The deanery
system at Saint John’s Abbey was
initiated during the tenure of Abbot
Jerome Theisen, OSB (1979-92).
Deans were appointed for groups
according to living arrangements or
by work assignments. The community
agreed to restructure deaneries
into intergenerational groups. For
one experimental year groups will
meet monthly to discuss topics
suggested both by the abbot and by
community members.
■ From late September
through early October the
campus was marked by
a one-mile path entitled
“Walk Through Time—
From Stardust to Us.”
Eighty-eight panels pictured
and described the 4.6
billion years of the earth’s
development with each foot
of the Walk representing
one million years. The final panel
gives cause to ponder: “Infinite
gratitude for the past. Infinite joy in
the present. Infinite commitment to
the future.”
October 2004
Apples by God; bowl by Neal Laloo, OSB
■ After last year’s bumper crop of
250 bushels of apples from the
abbey orchard, this year’s crop
was less than paltry. John Hanson,
OSB, George Primus, OSB, and
volunteers picked only about thirtyfive
bushels of the crisp, tart fruit.
One of the “Walk Through Time” panels

A hand-carved Nativity scene from
the Bahamas
■ This year’s abbey Christmas card
features a hand-carved wood relief
scene (11 x 15 x 2 inches) done by
an unknown wood carver in the
Bahamas. This image was chosen
to honor the ministry of monks of
Saint John’s Abbey in the Bahamas
since 1891 and to note the formal
transfer of governance of Saint
Augustine’s College to a lay board
of directors in May, 2004.
■ John Elton, landscape manager,
and members of the Grounds Crew
attended to the needs of trees on
campus. A tree specialist determined
that many trees have been
planted too deep and secondary
roots emerge to obtain oxygen
and moisture. These secondary
roots wrap around the main roots
and endanger the tree’s existence.
Workers cut off the secondary roots
and created a bowl that was well
watered and fi lled with wood chips
to better hold moisture.
Rev. Carl Wilkens, recipient of
2004 Dignitas Humana award
■ This year’s Dignitas Humana
Award was bestowed on Rev. Carl
Wilkens on October 18. The award,
sponsored by Saint John’s School
of Theology•Seminary, is given
to those who strive to advance the
human dignity of all persons. Rev.
Wilkens is recognized for remaining
in Rwanda during the 1994
genocide of the Hutu and Tutsi
tribes that resulted in the deaths of
800,000 men, women and children.
Prior to the presentation, the documentary
Ghosts of Rwanda was
shown. The fi lm presents scenes
of the massacre of victims and is
an indictment against the Security
Council of the United Nations and
the administration of the United
States for their failure to intervene
in this crisis.
A tangle of
secondary roots
THE ABBEY CHRONICLE
November 2004
■ Neal Henry Lawrence, OSB, 96,
monk and priest, Navy veteran,
diplomat, teacher, poet, scholar and
beloved missionary to Japan, died
November 3 at Holy Trinity Monastery,
Fujimi, Japan. His obituary
will appear in the spring 2005 issue
of The Abbey Banner.
Neal Henry Lawrence, OSB
Remember our loved ones who
have gone to their rest:
Harvey Botz
Msgr. Stanley Bourassa
Bertha Brinkman
William Buck
Marilyn Douvier
Sr. Mary Joseph Hastreiter, OSF
Bernadette Koetter
Margaret Leuthner
Cecilia Miller
Leslie Rivers
Mary Sinderman
Sr. Witrada Sperr, OSF
Richard Tavis
Bring them and all the departed
into the light of your presence,
O Lord.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 19

“
VOCATION NEWS
The cross invites us to serve
the Church and our world.”
With these words of his
homily, Abbot John Klassen, OSB,
gave context on September 14, the
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross, to Brother Joseph’s public
commitment to the Benedictine way
of life.
Joseph, 40, is the son of James
(deceased) and Joan Schneeweis of
Melrose, Minnesota. His academic
background includes the Bachelor of
Science degree in secondary social
studies education and Master’s
Andrew Coval, 26, the son of
Thomas and Marie Coval of
Philadelphia, was invested
as a novice during community Evening
Prayer on September 10. His
preparation for living the monastic life
continues under the supervision of JP
Earls, OSB, director of formation.
Andrew’s siblings include a fascinating
variety of brothers. He has a twin
brother, Chris, two younger adopted
brothers of Afghanistan origin, two
older foster brothers originally from
Vietnam and another foster brother
from Sudan.
page 20 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
Brother Joseph with his mother Joan
degrees in library and information
science, philosophy and divinity.
Joseph Schneeweis, OSB,
Professes Vows
Joseph’s work experiences are as
varied as his education. He was substitute
teacher, swimming instructor,
lifeguard and swimming/track coach
in his home town; school librarian and
dormitory monitor at Saint John’s Preparatory
School, Collegeville; a Peace
Corp teacher and trainer in Guatemala
and Swaziland; librarian at Louisiana
State University; and a facilitator of
“base communities” and catechism
teacher in a Dallas, Texas, parish.
For nine years (1993-2002) Joseph
Andrew Coval Continues
Formation Program
After graduating with degrees in
philosophy and pre-medicine from
Emory University, Atlanta, Andrew
worked with Mexican youth under
the direction of a Dominican community
in Chicago. He also spent
three months in a guest program at the
Trappist abbey in Conyers, Georgia.
At the Easter Vigil of 2001 he was
admitted into full membership in the
Catholic Church.
Andrew earned the master’s degree
in systematic theology at Saint
John’s School of Theology•Seminary
in 2003 and participated in the sum-
participated in the formation program
of the Jesuits. During this time he
worked in managerial positions in
Catholic Worker facilities in Houston,
Texas, Tijuana, Mexico, and Chicago.
He served as a Jesuit formation
assistant and librarian at a college in
Zimbabwe, a university chaplain at
Loyola University, New Orleans, and
a catechist in a Massachusetts parish
as well as in his hometown parish.
Joseph is now teaching world
history at Saint John’s Preparatory
School.
Novice Andrew Coval
mer Monastic Experience Program.
He taught religion in an Episcopalian
high school in Alexandria, Virginia,
and then completed the three-month
candidacy program in preparation for
his entrance into the novitiate.

Ryan Radmer, at left, and Robert Kirsch,
second from right, with students of
Saint Benedict’s Prep School
Two SJU Grads
Join Saint Johnʼs
Benedictine
Volunteer Corps
UPDATE ON 2003
VOLUNTEERS
Following his year of service
in 2003-04 at Colegio
San Antonio Abad, Humacao,
Puerto Rico, Quinn Martin
was baptized and received into
the Catholic Church at Saint
Johnʼs Abbey in early June,
2004. His consideration of this
step during his years at Saint
Johnʼs was confi rmed by the
example of the Benedictines of
Abadia de San Antonio Abad.
Quinn is pursuing a Masterʼs
degree at Seattle University in
a program for educating
underprivileged students.
After his year at Saint
Benedictʼs Prep, Newark, New
Jersey, Nick Banks is studying
at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, for the Masterʼs
degree in library science with
an emphasis on making
available and presenting
information to minority groups.
SJU alumni interested
in joining the Saint Johnʼs
Benedictine Volunteer Corps
should contact Paul Richards,
OSB, at 320-363-3007 or
prichards@csbsju.edu.
Johnnies teach at Saint Benedict’s Prep School, Newark, New Jersey
Robert Kirsch and Ryan Radmer,
2004 graduates of Saint
John’s University, have joined
the Saint John’s Benedictine Volunteer
Corps (SJBVC) and are teaching at
Saint Benedict’s Prep School in Newark,
New Jersey.
Initiated by Paul Richards, OSB,
subprior of Saint John’s Abbey,
SJBVC provides Johnnie alumni the
opportunity to join in the work and
prayer of a Benedictine community. A
two-week orientation program at Saint
John’s introduces volunteers to the
monastic routine and the basic principles
of the Rule of Saint Benedict.
They are then assigned to a Benedictine
community that offers them
meaningful work plus food, lodging,
a small monthly stipend and access to
needed transportation.
Volunteers are expected to spend
thirty to forty hours a week in the
work of the host monastery. They
also pray with the community once or
twice a day and join the community
for at least one meal a day.
Robert Kirsch, 21, of Fargo, North
Dakota, is a political science major
and intends to enter law school.
Originally excited and nervous about
VOCATION NEWS
the prospect of working in an inner
city high school, Robert is enjoying
the challenge of teaching American
history and coaching debate and mock
trial.
Ryan Radmer, 23, of Eden Prairie,
Minnesota, majored in English. He
wanted to do something different
after graduation and attended Brother
Paul’s presentation about this volunteer
program. Though he initially left
the room after the presentation, Ryan
decided to return to talk further with
Paul and take the plunge. He is tutoring
students, coaching lacrosse and
serving as a teacher’s aide.
Saint Benedict’s Prep School in
Newark was established by Benedictines
in 1868 when they arrived
in this city to minister to German
immigrants. With a seventh through
twelfth grade student population of
575 and a faculty of 65 (of which
seven are monks of Newark Abbey),
the school’s eleven-month calendar includes
a mandatory fi ve-week summer
session. Black students account for
67% of the enrollment, white students
10% and Hispanics 23%. The spirit
of the school fl ows from its motto:
“Whatever hurts my brother hurts
me.”
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 21

ABBEY MISSIONS
Except for uprooted trees and
bushes, Saint Augustine’s
Monastery and College escaped
major damage from Hurricanes
Frances and Jeanne which roared over
the Bahamas in early and late September.
Other parts of Nassau and especially
the Family Islands were not as
fortunate. Archbishop Patrick Pinder
of Nassau reflects on the extensive
damage of the ferocious storms in his
letter to the Catholics of the Bahamas.
He writes in part:
“This hurricane was unique in that
it affected almost every island in our
archipelago. I had the opportunity to
travel to some of the islands and see
first hand some of the wreck and ruin
left behind in the wake of Hurricane
Frances.
page 22 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
“One does not easily forget the images
of destruction. There were the
roofs stripped away and entire homes
which collapsed under the persistent
hammering of the wind. One
does not soon forget the sight
of homes still standing but
with the entire interior, including
walls, furniture and all
personal belongings, destroyed
by storm surges.
“These are the images of
devastation I saw. These are
images of lives severely disrupted.
The scale of destruction was such as I
have never known to take place in our
Bahamian community before. What
is required of us is nothing less than a
full scale national response.
The roof top from one of the classrooms at Mary Star of the
Sea School, Freeport, Grand Bahama. Many of the classrooms
suffered damage from floodings.
The roof of the rectory of St. Agnes
Church on Grand Bahama was blown off.
Hurricanes Batter
Bahamas
“Some have speculated that this
natural disaster was God’s judgment
upon us. I suggest that we rather
think in terms of the opportunity that
Holy Saviour Church, Cockburn Town,
San Salvador, received severe damages.
Shingles were blown away. The middle
section of the stained glass window above
the altar was blown out in addition to two
doors and other windows.
this disaster provides for us to rediscover
some basic community values.
This is a time for us to seek out relatives
and friends to share what little
we have with those who have even
less. Let us go forward with the firm
conviction that our gracious God does
not abandon us in times of trouble.”
Readers who wish to contribute to
the Nassau Archdiocesan Hurricane
Relief Committee should write to:
Bahamas Mission of Florida, Inc. / Attention:
Msgr. Preston Moss /
P.O. Box N8187 / Nassau, Bahamas.
Photographs on this page come
through the courtesy of Paula Strachan-Reckley,
coordinating editor of
Bahama Catholic.

In 1999 the monks of Saint Anselm’s
Priory in Tokyo moved to
Holy Trinity Monastery in Fujimi,
a town of 15,000 located at the very
center of Japan’s island of Honshu.
Fujimi is 120 miles southwest of
Tokyo in the foothills of the Japanese
Alps, some 3,000 feet above sea level.
East of the town stands tall and majestic
Mount Fuji, the most revered of all
mountains in Japan.
Fujimi is especially known for its
fresh mountain air and since 1926
has been a center for rehabilitation of
tuberculosis patients. A 200-bed hospital
and a nursing home for 150 serve
the area. Recreation areas feature
mountain climbing, skiing, hang gliding,
mountain biking and golfing. The
town is a cool summer retreat from
the heat of urban centers. The summer
place of former Japanese prime
minister Inukai is two minutes from
the monastery and features a beautiful
all-season garden.
Fujimi is also noted for its fresh
mountain-grown vegetables, buck-
Overlooking Fujimi
Mount Fuji, the most revered of all mountains in Japan
Facts about Fujimi
by Kieran Nolan, OSB
“Whenever, wherever, good tasting water, Fujimi.”
wheat noodles and yogurt, ice cream,
fresh milk and especially its good
drinking water. The water supply protective
covers, seen all over town, have
the following words written in ENG-
LISH: “Whenever, wherever, good
tasting water, Fujimi.” This good tasting
water is put to excellent use in the
production of Japanese whiskey and
rice wine or Japanese saki.
The major industrial center in Fujimi
is the Seiko Epson laboratories
with over a thousand employees in
computer research. Other industries
include tomato juice canning and
camera factories.
In Fujimi one can find a Shinto
shrine, a Buddhist temple, St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church,
United Church of
Christ chapel, a
Lutheran church
and retreat center
and, of course, a
Benedictine monastery.
There is a
strong educational
system in Fujimi
that includes an
A Shinto Shrine
agricultural school and
an art school.
Future plans for connecting Fujimi
with the rest of Japan requires the
development of a linear motor car
capable of going 500 kilometers/390
miles an hour and that will be expected
to make the 120-mile trip to Tokyo
in one hour. An industrial park is
also in the
planning
stages.
A tension
exists
between
maintainingagriculture
and
developing
industry.
A hopeful
sign of the
continuation
of those
“good ol’
ABBEY MISSIONS
Saint Joseph’s Catholic
Church
days” is reflected in the unique
Onbashira (Worthy Pillars) Festival
celebrated every seven years. The fall
2004 issue of
The Abbey Banner
described
this celebration
of transporting
logs from the
mountain to the
Shinto shrine
at nearby Lake
Suwa.
In this context
the seven Benedictine monks of Holy
Trinity Monastery carry out their daily
routine of worship and work.
Kieran Nolan is a member and former
prior of Holy Trinity Monastery, Fujimi,
Japan.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 23

STRENGTHENING FOUNDATIONS
The fall 2004 issue of The Abbey
Banner informed readers that
the initial design of the new abbey
guest house by Japanese architect
Tadao Ando was incompatible with
the budget. The monastic community
therefore hired the Vincent James Associates
Architects (VJAA), a Minneapolis-based
firm, to continue working
with the abbey to build a retreat and
guest facility.
Vincent James has been a member
of the abbey’s design committee since
2001 and was one of the finalists originally
considered by the guest house
committee. He and Jennifer Yoos, his
wife and business partner, and their
team have begun the design process by
first exploring efficiency models and
then moving toward imaginative ways
of working with those schemes.
An early conceptual model of the
building is based on simple rectangular
forms interacting with each other in
ways that respond well to the program
and relate to the Breuer architecture of
the campus and to the guest facility’s
glorious setting overlooking Lake
Sagatagan. A preliminary model was
presented to the monastic community
page 24 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
on September 7 and a refined model
was revealed on October 12.
The conceptual design for the guest
house involves a three level, L-shaped
building housing public spaces and
guest rooms attached to a rectangular
retreat wing set into the hill below
the upper forms. The scheme offers
minimal invasion of the site, clear
organization of the different kinds
of spaces in the guest house and
views of the lake from each of the
visitor’s rooms.
Mr. James’ firm has won six
awards offered by the American
architecture profession,
four consecutive Progressive
Architecture awards and two
National American Institute
of Architects (AIA) Honor
Awards. The firm’s work
has been published widely
including a monograph on
the extraordinary design of a
house in northern Wisconsin.
VJAA is working on student
centers for the American University
of Beirut, Lebanon,
and Tulane University, New
Vincent James (second from rt.)
and members of his staff with
model of abbey guest house
New Architect, New
Design for Abbey
Guest House
by Alan Reed, OSB
Orleans. Mr. James also teaches at
Harvard Design School.
The guest house committee, the
senior council and the monastic community
thoroughly discussed the new
design. On October 19 the community
overwhelmingly approved the
conceptual design. The hope is to
begin construction of the building in
the fall of 2005.
Alan Reed, OSB, is the curator of abbey
and university art.
The architect’s conceptual drawing of the entrance
to the new abbey guest house

L. to r.: Manuel Cely, OSB; James Harmon,
OCSO; John Mary Lugemwa, OSB;
Benedict Fischer, OSB; Matthew Rios, OSB;
Robert Sum, OSB; Austin Cadiz, OSB
Visiting Student
Monks Enrich
the Abbey
by Doug Mullin, OSB
For many decades Saint John’s
Abbey has been enriched by
visiting student monks from
around the world. They share in
our prayer and common life as they
pursue study programs at Saint
John’s University and the School of
Theology•Seminary. Many of them
are able to come to Saint John’s in
part because of the forty percent tuition
scholarship they receive from the
abbey. This year our visiting student
monks are:
• Austin Cadiz, OSB, 30, Our Lady
of Montserrat Abbey in Manila,
Philippines. He is pursuing the MA
in monastic studies. After completing
his studies this spring he will
return to his community to work in
formation.
• Manuel Cely, OSB, 33, Monasterio
Benedictino de Tibati in Bogota,
Colombia. Now in his fourth
year of studies towards the MDiv
degree, Manuel was ordained a
deacon this past June and will complete
his studies this December and
be ordained to the priesthood. He
hopes to work in his community’s
They are monks of promise for the church and their home communities.
schools and possibly in the formation
program.
• Benedict Fischer, OSB, 31, Assumption
Abbey, Richardton, North
Dakota, is pursuing the MA in
theology with the intention of being
ordained to the priesthood and
teaching or working in a parish.
• James Harmon, OCSO, 52, Holy
Cross Abbey, Berryville, Virginia,
since 1999, where he worked with
fruitcake production and sales
in this Trappist community. He
is studying for ordination to the
priesthood.
• John Mary Lugemwa, OSB, 25,
Mary Mother of the Church Abbey,
Richmond, Virginia. Originally
from Masaka, Uganda, John
Mary is working towards the BA
with majors in computer science
and philosophy. He plans to study
theology and canon law in Rome to
prepare himself to serve as a priest
and teacher.
• Matthew Rios, OSB, 41, Saint
Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo, Cali-
STRENGTHENING FOUNDATIONS
fornia, is originally from Manila,
Philippines. Matthew completed the
MA degree in theology and was ordained
to the diaconate last August.
He will finish his studies for the
priesthood in December and return
to Valyermo to work in formation
and liturgy.
• Robert Sum, OSB, 43, is from Saint
Procopius Abbey, Lisle, Illinois.
He began graduate theological
studies in 2001 and was ordained to
the diaconate early this year. After
his ordination to the priesthood
next summer Robert hopes to work
in liturgy and music within his
community and its schools.
Doug Mullin, OSB, is associate professor
of education and a student in Saint John’s
School of Theology•Seminary.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 25

FEATURE
As announced in the fall
2004 issue of The Abbey
Banner, the first edition
of The Saint John’s Cross is now
available for purchase by the
public. Since early September a
production team of monks and lay
people has been busy producing
this handsome cross designed by
the late Frank Kacmarcik, OblSB,
using wood from the abbey’s
forests.
The production process begins at
Saint John’s Woodworking Shop
where Gregory Eibensteiner, OSB,
manager, selects the white oak and
maple wood from stock on hand.
The wood is then planed, jointed
and cut into blocks measuring 1
3/8 inches x 1 3/8 inches x 6 3/4
inches. Each cross requires eight
of these pieces.
The process continues at the
Cold Spring studio of KC Marrin,
master woodworker and organ
builder, who supervises the re-
page 26 The Abbey Banner Winter 2004
Making The Saint Johnʼs Cross
by Paul Richards, OSB
“Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim!”
maining steps. The wood is cut
into the required shapes and sanded.
A stain made of vinegar, water
and steel wool is brushed onto the
pieces to obtain the desired black
color. The pieces are again sanded
and then assembled and glued
together.
More sanding and staining follow,
together with an oiling and
final buffing. Thin brass rods that
help to delineate the cross are
inserted into maple wood strips.
These maple wood pieces are then
glued to the oak wood arms of the
cross. The small piece at the base
of the cross is glued in place. Finally,
a hole for hanging
the cross is made. Each
cross is numbered and
dated as part of the initial
run of 750 crosses.
The entire process takes
about three hours.
The production team
thus far includes Bene-
dictines Simon Bischof (“work
boss” and driver between Collegeville
and Cold Spring), Hugh
Witzmann, Paul Richards, John
Hanson, Andrew Goltz and Finian
McDonald along with Kathy
McDonald and Rea Rinn.
This 14 inches x 16 inches cross
is priced at $140 plus $11 for shipping
and handling. Orders may be
placed at saintjohnsabbey.org/store
or by calling 320-363-3865 or by
writing to The Saint John’s Cross,
P. O. Box 2015, Collegeville, MN
56321.
KC Marrin (l.) and Simon Bischof, OSB, assemble
The Saint John’s Cross.

Illumination: “Madonna and Child” from a
15th century French Book of Hours, courtesy
of the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library. The
scene is from Revelation 12:1-6.
Sleepers, Wake!
by Eric Hollas, OSB
Advent wakes us and proclaims that our lives are
pregnant with possibility.
In a world headed every which way
but on the path to God, Advent is
a wake-up call. It’s an invitation
to stir from sleep and consider what
really matters in our lives—even if
that involves just a touch of anxiety.
For centuries the biblical readings
that introduce the Advent liturgies
have shaken Christians to their very
bones. They have generated fanciful
notions of the end-times when Jesus
will return to rule a kingdom that will
never end. But prior to his coming,
signs in the moon and stars will usher
in cataclysmic events that have allowed
Christian imaginations to run
wild.
Some expect an enormous war—Armageddon—which
will rock the
Middle East. Others envision the four
horsemen of the Apocalypse sweeping
across the sky, showering horrors
on the doomed and salvation on those
who recognize Jesus Christ. Still others
long for the rapture, in which the
saved will be snatched from the ranks
of the damned. And yet another variation
of this theme promises that the
exile of Palestinians from Palestine
and the return of all Jews to Israel will
hasten the glorious reign of Christ.
Apocalyptic thinking has cropped
up regularly in Christian history, and
yet it has never claimed a lasting
foothold among Catholics
or mainline Christians like
Lutherans and Episcopalians.
The reason it hasn’t is because
our shared sense of history reminds
us how often Christians
have looked to the skies to fi nd Jesus
Christ, only to discover that he was
already in their midst.
Whether in the New Testament community
or in the year 1000 or at other
moments of unbearable stress, some
have longed for the sudden appearance
of Jesus Christ to set things right.
The apostles expected the imminent
return of Christ. The same conviction
animated those who watched as the
bravest among them suffered martyrdom.
Whenever Christians have been
unable to fi nd a way out of terrible
challenges, they have joined in the
simplest of prayers: “Come, Lord
Jesus!”
Most of us go for long stretches
without refl ecting much on our lives
because getting through the day is
about all we can handle. But Advent
wakes us and proclaims that our lives
are pregnant with possibility. Advent
teaches that we should neither despair
about life nor see the signs in the
moon and the stars and the world as
SPIRITUAL LIFE
forces that will inevitably crush us.
Rather, in Advent we see Jesus coming—dimly
at fi rst—but ever more
intensely as Christmas nears.
Yet it is easy for us to be caught up
in the chaos of creation. Like a leaf
in a stream, we can be sucked into
an ocean that overwhelms us. But
Advent cautions us not to be weighed
down or swept away by the cares of
this life. Rather, we must take hold
and open ourselves to new life and to
all its potential. We must be standing
ready to see Jesus when he comes. If
we are really alert, we will discover
that he has been with us all along.
Eric Hollas, OSB, is Saint John’s senior
associate of Arts and Cultural Affairs.
For future dates and topics of
Benedictine Day of Prayer go
to www.saintjohnsabbey.org/slp
and click on “Day of Prayer”
or call 320-363-3929.
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 27

A Year of Sundays focuses on the
gospels proclaimed during the
liturgical year that begins on the
First Sunday of Advent in 2004
and continues through the Feast
of Christ the King in November
2005.
CV0-8146-2689-0
Paper, 80 pp., 4 x 5 1 /8, $2.00; 30 or
more copies, $1.00 each* (Asterisk
indicates discount price available
only on “no-returns” basis.)
Designed to help people celebrate
the season of Lent, Not by
Bread Alone may be used by
individuals for daily private reflection
and prayer. A six-part
exercise is offered for every day
of the Lenten season.
CV0-8146-2989-X
Paper, 96 pp., 4 x 5 1 /8, $2.00;
50 or more copies, $1.00 each*
(Asterisk indicates discount price
available only on “no-returns”
basis.)
PO Box 2015
Collegeville, MN 56321-2015
www.saintjohnsabbey.org
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