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

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