Assumption Abbey - 60th Anniversary - September 24th

 

ABBEY FESTIVITIES CONTINUE:

 

To celebrate the 60^th Anniversary of the Founding of Assumption Abbey  here in the Ozarks, the Trappists held a two-day reunion of former members of the community, celebrating a milestone -- 60 years, and thanking many of the very men who helped in the building of Assumption Abbey over these 60 years.   Former abbots,  James Conner and Mark Scott, were also present for the events.

 

On Thursday, September 23^rd, the festivities began with a Mass, followed by a tour of the monastery, a dinner in the monastery dining room, and an afternoon of conversation sharing memories of the years. Abbot Brendan Freeman, from the founding New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque, IA was the celebrant for the Eucharist of the day.

 

On Friday, September 24^th, the celebration continued with a Mass celebrated by Bishop James Johnston, the bishop of this local Springfield/Cape Girardeau diocese. A festive meal was followed by more activities for the men who had returned for the special moment in the Abbey history.

 

We congratulate our Trappist neighbors on this historic moment in their history, and we pray for many more years of presence here in the Ozarks.

Br. Josef's 25th Jubilee

 

I Made My Vows to the Lord!

 

Our Franciscan Prayer Fraternity on September 19^th celebrated with our Br. Josef Anderlohr his 25^th anniversary of being a Franciscan.   Br. Josef is one of the original four Franciscan friars who began our Prayer Fraternity here.

 

In the context of an Open House from 2 pm to 5 pm, Br. Josef welcomed a number of area friends he has met over the past 5 years, as well as other Franciscans and priests. In the picture above, Br. Josef is seen with a number of friends from the Ava area.

 

What were we celebrating?    25 years of being a Franciscan!     A member of Br. Josef's province, Joseph Rayes, OFM, wrote a book, LIVING RELIGIOUS VOWS: a personal pilgrimage.   We get a glimpse of what we were celebrating in this quote from the book published by St. Anthony Messenger Press:

 

"From the earliest times in the history and tradition of the Church, men and women have come together to profess and concentrate on the Gospel counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a pattern of life.   These vows, promises made to God, shape their lifestyle.   How?    They affect choices, decisions and attitudes in the same way that marriage vows do.   By promising to make God their primary love through the vows of chastity, religious also direct their love and affection.   In the vow of poverty, they promise to live simply, to depend completely on God.    In the vow of obedience they promise to discern God's will with their community rather than alone and to carry out the communal decisions.   In a word, the vows direct seeing, doing, and living so as to lead to that personal and intimate relationship with God that is central to his reign."

 

CONGRATULATIONS  BR.  JOSEF!!!

Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis

STIGMATA OF ST. FRANCIS  -- September 17th

 

Sept. 17th is a special day for Franciscans as we celebrate the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis.  This day, this feast is a testimony to the power of prayer in the life of St. Francis.   You might say it is testimony to the longing of St. Francis' heart to mirror the love of Jesus in his very own life.    In 1224, on the Mount of  LaVerna, while at prayer,  St. Francis' body was imprinted with the marks of Jesus' wounds.   What is remarkable about this grace in St. Francis' life was how it fulfilled what our Franciscan tradition says was a LIFETIME PRAYER for St. Francis:  

 

"Lord, I ask of you two graces before I die: that I may love others with the depth of love you had for us in dying on the cross for us and that I may experience in my own body some of the pain that you experienced in dying on the cross for us."

 

St. Bonaventure tells us of this moment in Francis' life in his Minor Legend: 

 

Two years before Francis, the faithful servant of Christ, gave his soul back to God, he was alone on the top of Mt. Alverna.  There he had begun a fast of forty days in honor of the Archangel Michael and was immersed more deeply than usual in the delights of heavenly contemplation.  His soul became aglow with the ardor of fervent longing for heaven as he experienced within himself the operations of grace.

 

As he was drawn aloft through ardent longing for God one morning near the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and was praying on the mountainside, he saw what appeared as a seraph with six bright wings gleaming like a fire descending from the heights of heaven.  As this figure approached in swift flight and came near the man of God it appeared not only winged but also crucified.  The sight of it amazed Francis and his soul experienced joy mingled with pain.  He was delighted with the sight of Christ appearing to him so graciously and intimately and yet the awe-inspiring vision of Christ nailed to the cross aroused in his soul a joy of compassionate love.

 

When the vision vanished after a mysterious and intimate conversation it left Francis aglow with seraphic love in his soul.  Externally, however, it left marks on his body like those of the Crucified as if the impression of a seal had been left on heated wax.  The figures of the nails appeared immediately on his hands and feet.  The heads of the nails were inside his hands but on top of his feet with their points extending through to the opposite side.  His right side too showed a blood-red wound as if it had been pierced by a lance, and blood flowed frequently from it.

 

Because of this new and astounding miracle unheard of in times past, Francis came down from the mountain a new man adorned with the sacred stigmata, bearing in his body the image of the Crucified not made by a craftsman in wood or stone, but fashioned in his members by the hand of the living God.

To Pray is to:

TO PRAY

IS TO

LAUGH w-h-i-s-t-l-e

Dance ON HAPPY FEET

Sing! SHOUT

and JUMP! HIGHER THAN EVER BEFORE

But it is also to

Whisper WONDER

Stumble in dark places

Cry Scream

or just

hold a tired head in tired hands and wait.....

Prayer

is our tired

reaching out to the ONE who

holds us closer & loves us more

than we could dare imagine

- Greta Schrumm

(The quote above is similar in design, but not identical to a card that is done in fanciful calligraphy, a product of Conception Abbey Press -- the Printery House; we are not sure if you can still purchase it.)

ASSUMPTION ABBEY CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY

September 24, 1950 -- September 24, 2010

60 YEARS!

This month is a significant one for the Trappist monks of Assumption Abbey here in Ava, MO; it's important for us, too, as our Prayer Fraternity is on land we lease from the Trappists.

The Trappists are celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the arrival of the first monks starting the foundation here in the 'hills and hollers' of the Ozarks in southwestern Missouri. As the Anniversary booklet says: "Six monks arrived on September 24, 1950 to begin life in the three-storey fieldstone Swiss chalet house, which Joe Pierson and his sons built during WW II. There was no central heating, no electricity or running water, so the founders had a 'pioneering' winter."

If you go back to our blog for August 19^th (Assumption Abbey Celebrates 60 Years), you can read about the official celebration of the event on the Feast of the Assumption, the patronal feast for the Abbey.

To commemorate the actual date of the arrival of the first monks, the Abbey is hosting a first-ever reunion of former members of the Abbey. Fr. Cyprian, the current Superior of the Abbey, had this to say in his letter of invitation:

"Dear Alumni, one and all -- the Lord be with you.

This year completes the 60 year probation time which Joe Pierson included in his contract of donation of this land and original buildings for a monastic foundation.

A good part of the celebration is the acknowledgement that Assumption Abbey and community wouldn't be here now, if it were not for the time and work which so many men have contributed and given of themselves these past 60 years.

As a way of expressing the Thank You all deserve, we are having a once-in-a-lifetime Alumni Reunion."

This two-day event will take place on September 23^rd and 24^th. As the monks celebrate this important event in their lives, we congratulate them and we ask you to join us in praying in gratitude for the gift they have been to this area for the past 60 years, and pray for God to bless their next 60 years.

Prayer Quote from your Prayer Fraternity

 

from  St. Isaac of Syria

 

When someone has become aware of the coming of divine help, and that it is this which aids and assists him (her), then at once his (her) heart is filled with faith, and from this he (she) understands that prayer is:

     --  the haven of help,

     --  the fountain of salvation,

     --  a treasury of assurance,

     --  a saving anchor in time of storm,

     --  an illumination to those in darkness,

     --  a staff for the weak,

     --  a shelter in time of trials,

     --  a source of recovery at the time of sickness,

     --  a shield of deliverance in war,  and

     --  an arrow sharpened in the face of enemies.

 

(St. Isaac of Syria lived in the 7th century, for a short time was Bishop of Nineveh before retiring to a monastic way of life.  He is one of the greatest spiritual writers of the Christian East and his influence on the Orthodox Church continues to be profound.   This quote is from The Heart of Compassion, Daily Readings with St. Isaac of Syria, edited by A.M.Allchin and translated from the Syriac by Sebastian Brock.)