ABBEY NEWS
Temporary Abbey Church Closings
This coming week our Church will be closed for:
Sext (11:15 AM) and Compline (6:40 PM)
and throughout the day on
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.
It will be open those days for
Lauds & Mass (6:00 AM) & Vespers (4:30 PM).
The reason for the closings is that technicians will be hard at work installing a new sound system. Many components of the current system were designed for the original building and were reused after the renovation. It turns out that speakers designed and arranged for one setting often do not function satisfactorily in another setting as we have found out. Hopefully the new speakers in a different arrangement will make it possible for everyone throughout the church to hear the readings clearly. Here’s hoping . . .
Moving Ahead
Typical scene from novitiate window.
At this month’s meeting of the Abbot’s Council our senior postulant, Br. Placid Larkin, was approved for entering the novitiate upon completing six months of postulancy. After making a five day retreat he will begin the new liturgical year with a ceremony in chapter November 27th, the first Sunday of Advent in which he will be clothed in the habit of a novice.
Lectio Notebook
One of St. John’s favorite words is the Greek verb menos which is 8usually translated as “abide” or “remain” or “continue.” He uses this word more than all other New Testament writers together and it is one of the richest words in his theological vocabulary. When he uses this word in reference to a person, it suggests a deeply personal and constant union. It would thus be contrasted with a contact that may be intense but which soon fades and has no lasting effect.
To abide in Jesus is to be attached to him in such a way that life would seem impossible without him; Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless abide in me (15:4). To be detached from Jesus is to live a shadow life that has no real meaning and benefits no one in a permanent way It is a waste of precious time.
A Mystical Portrait of Jesus
Demetrius R. Dumm, OSB
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