Hello all,
One of the biggest snow storms that I have ever witnessed just finished here in Paoli, PA. It started snowing last night at 5:00 PM, and didn't finish until just now, around 3:00 Pm. Overall, the groundskeeper said that there was a total accumulation of 30". I absolutely love snow, so it was great for me. Although, I did try to make a snowman, but the snow was not packable.
The downer side is that our plane was cancelled for today, and possibly tomorrow. I have been checking Northwest Airlines every couple hours and so far I am good to go.
I will definitly miss PA and Daylesford Abbey.
MD
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Fr. Rolheiser on Spirituality
Hello all,
I just finished reading an article on celibate chastity which used Fr. Rolheiser's understanding of spirituality from his book, "The Holy Longing," a book I read last year around this time. I disagree with this understanding of spirituality, and thought that I would comment on it for two reasons: I enjoy debating and I don't know what else to write about on this blog, and would like to update it regularly :).
Fr. Rolheiser writes that spirituality can be defined as what one does with the the energy within oneself. In other words, he believes that spirituality is defined by how our bodily energies (like sexuality) are put into action. To better understand his viewpoint, please read his book. My explanation is not thorough enough to capture exactly what he means by spirituality. For this purpose, however, this basic principle is what I didn't understand. This example is only being used to help me talk about my thoughts.
In my own opinion, I see what he is describing as "action" or "will," but not spirituality. This creates a secular understanding of spirituality, which is hard for me to grasp.
If I could define spirituality, I would say (purely my opinion) that spirituality is a constant lifting of the soul towards God . This "lifting of the soul" involves a receptivity, or even better put, a desire for the Grace of God. It is not how we act according to our inner energies.
This involves an acknowledgement of the existence of the supernatural, the power of God, and the weakness of oneself (and of humanity). It also involves having a desire/passion/restlessness to have one's heart rest in Christ's love while longing to do His will (which involves loving God and neighbor).
This being said, I believe one's actions reflect one's spirituality, not define it.
This is why meditative prayer (like the rosary, lectio divina, etc.) and spiritual excercize is so essential to the Christian life: it disposes the soul to God and opens the soul to recieve Grace. This is the same reason why the Liturgy of the Word is before the Liturgy of the Eucharist during Mass. The readings, homily, etc. help dispose one's soul to the reception of the infinite Graces of the Eucharist. According to Church teaching, we do not all recieve the same amount of Grace during the reception of the Eucharist, but each person recieves as much as his or her soul is open to. The amount of Grace recieved is dependent upon how open we are to it, or the state of our "spiritual life".
Rolheiser believes that this more traditional claim limits God's ability to fill anyone with His grace; that we are putting God in a box.
I believe that God gave us the gift of free will, and that we do not have to accept the grace of God if we do not want it. As Erasmus says, we must "turn towards God" to recieve His Grace. I do believe that God gives his grace out freely and to all, but it is up to us to accept it. If I want to give you a birthday present, does it automatically become yours? No, you must accept that gift. The Church claims the same thing happens with God. We must accept God's gift of grace. The excercize of our souls through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving helps us to do that - it helps our spiritual life- our spirituality.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this topic. Let me know if I am in error!
Slainte!
I just finished reading an article on celibate chastity which used Fr. Rolheiser's understanding of spirituality from his book, "The Holy Longing," a book I read last year around this time. I disagree with this understanding of spirituality, and thought that I would comment on it for two reasons: I enjoy debating and I don't know what else to write about on this blog, and would like to update it regularly :).
Fr. Rolheiser writes that spirituality can be defined as what one does with the the energy within oneself. In other words, he believes that spirituality is defined by how our bodily energies (like sexuality) are put into action. To better understand his viewpoint, please read his book. My explanation is not thorough enough to capture exactly what he means by spirituality. For this purpose, however, this basic principle is what I didn't understand. This example is only being used to help me talk about my thoughts.
In my own opinion, I see what he is describing as "action" or "will," but not spirituality. This creates a secular understanding of spirituality, which is hard for me to grasp.
If I could define spirituality, I would say (purely my opinion) that spirituality is a constant lifting of the soul towards God . This "lifting of the soul" involves a receptivity, or even better put, a desire for the Grace of God. It is not how we act according to our inner energies.
This involves an acknowledgement of the existence of the supernatural, the power of God, and the weakness of oneself (and of humanity). It also involves having a desire/passion/restlessness to have one's heart rest in Christ's love while longing to do His will (which involves loving God and neighbor).
This being said, I believe one's actions reflect one's spirituality, not define it.
This is why meditative prayer (like the rosary, lectio divina, etc.) and spiritual excercize is so essential to the Christian life: it disposes the soul to God and opens the soul to recieve Grace. This is the same reason why the Liturgy of the Word is before the Liturgy of the Eucharist during Mass. The readings, homily, etc. help dispose one's soul to the reception of the infinite Graces of the Eucharist. According to Church teaching, we do not all recieve the same amount of Grace during the reception of the Eucharist, but each person recieves as much as his or her soul is open to. The amount of Grace recieved is dependent upon how open we are to it, or the state of our "spiritual life".
Rolheiser believes that this more traditional claim limits God's ability to fill anyone with His grace; that we are putting God in a box.
I believe that God gave us the gift of free will, and that we do not have to accept the grace of God if we do not want it. As Erasmus says, we must "turn towards God" to recieve His Grace. I do believe that God gives his grace out freely and to all, but it is up to us to accept it. If I want to give you a birthday present, does it automatically become yours? No, you must accept that gift. The Church claims the same thing happens with God. We must accept God's gift of grace. The excercize of our souls through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving helps us to do that - it helps our spiritual life- our spirituality.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this topic. Let me know if I am in error!
Slainte!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
History Class and Poverty
The reason we came out to Philadelphia, and more specifically Daylesford Abbey, was to study the history of our Order with Fr. Ted Antry, a well respected Norbertine scholar. I don't normally enjoy history very much, so I can't say that I was looking forward to the experience.
After the first class however, I was fascinated. Learning about Norbert, about Blessed Hugh of Fosse (the first abbot of Premontre), and about Norbert's Canons, I began to better understand the Order today and better understand our spirituality.
In the documents of Vatican II, the Magisterium of the Church called all religious orders to readopt their founder's charism, which for the Norbertines means our way of life, and more specifically, a life of asceticism.
So, how did Norbert want his canons to live?
In short, Norbert was a reformer. At the time (during the Gregorian Reform) priests had their own property and many lived very wealthy lives. After Norbert's converstion, he tried to bring back the lifestyle of Christ's Apostles, as spelled out in the Acts of the Apostles. This meant living in community with all things in common, while at the same time maintaining an apostolic lifestyle. Shortly after he founded the first Norbertine Abbey (Premontre), he gave the Norbertine Order the Rule of St. Augustine, which lays out how the disciples of Norbert should live. In this reform spirit, Norbert required intense penance and poverty for his followers. In fact, his rules were so strict that some of his first disciples died as a result (they had to walk in the snow barefoot, etc).
Learning about this helped me to reflect on how I am living "in the spirit of St. Norbert" as one of his disciples. More importantly, reflecting on Norbert's simplicity and poverty is helping me to better understand why this poverty and simplicity can lead to holiness - whether it be for the sake of discipline (free the mind from passions and strengthen the will), for identifying and understanding the poor (even though the poor don't choose their condition), to arouse the soul in love of God, as a tool to reawaken a sense of thanksgiving, or to open the soul up toward God in prayerful sacrifice (though sacrifice and uniting suffering with that of Christ's). In this way, holy poverty (as opposed to forced poverty of the poor) is a beautiful and powerful thing!
Now the challenging part is to put that into practice... :)
In Norbert and Augustine,
MD
Sláinte Mhaith!
After the first class however, I was fascinated. Learning about Norbert, about Blessed Hugh of Fosse (the first abbot of Premontre), and about Norbert's Canons, I began to better understand the Order today and better understand our spirituality.
In the documents of Vatican II, the Magisterium of the Church called all religious orders to readopt their founder's charism, which for the Norbertines means our way of life, and more specifically, a life of asceticism.
So, how did Norbert want his canons to live?
In short, Norbert was a reformer. At the time (during the Gregorian Reform) priests had their own property and many lived very wealthy lives. After Norbert's converstion, he tried to bring back the lifestyle of Christ's Apostles, as spelled out in the Acts of the Apostles. This meant living in community with all things in common, while at the same time maintaining an apostolic lifestyle. Shortly after he founded the first Norbertine Abbey (Premontre), he gave the Norbertine Order the Rule of St. Augustine, which lays out how the disciples of Norbert should live. In this reform spirit, Norbert required intense penance and poverty for his followers. In fact, his rules were so strict that some of his first disciples died as a result (they had to walk in the snow barefoot, etc).
Learning about this helped me to reflect on how I am living "in the spirit of St. Norbert" as one of his disciples. More importantly, reflecting on Norbert's simplicity and poverty is helping me to better understand why this poverty and simplicity can lead to holiness - whether it be for the sake of discipline (free the mind from passions and strengthen the will), for identifying and understanding the poor (even though the poor don't choose their condition), to arouse the soul in love of God, as a tool to reawaken a sense of thanksgiving, or to open the soul up toward God in prayerful sacrifice (though sacrifice and uniting suffering with that of Christ's). In this way, holy poverty (as opposed to forced poverty of the poor) is a beautiful and powerful thing!
Now the challenging part is to put that into practice... :)
In Norbert and Augustine,
MD
Sláinte Mhaith!
Monday, January 25, 2010
March for Life
Hello all,
I apologize for not writing in such a long time. I have been moving around a lot between Chicago, De Pere, and now Philadelphia, and have not had much time to write down my thoughts.
Last Friday the other novices and I had an opportunity to see Washington DC (since it is fairly close to Philly). While trying to plan the trip, we realized that the March for Life was taking place and decided that it would be great to participate in such an event. So, we did!
We signed up to travel with St. Monica's parish in Paoli, PA (within a couple miles of Daylesford Abbey) and took a bus down and back with them. It was a fantastic experience. The members of St. Monica's were very hospitable and were very enjoyable to spend time with!
I was shocked to see the numbers that showed up for this march. I had seen on EWTN the past several years that it was not uncommon for hundreds of thousands of folks to show up, but I never realized what that actually looked like in person. It was incredible!
We had the great opportunity to meet several priests and religious from all over, which was very exciting. We talked with Capuchins, O.F.M's, S.O.L.T's, Benedictine nuns from Poland, Benedictine men, C.F.R.'s, and several more. It was really fascinating. Some of them actually knew who the Norbertines were too.
Overall, it was great to pray and meet so many people and to see that the pro-life movement is becoming stronger every year. After all, between the ages of 15 and 30, 58% of people are pro-life!
Let us remember to pray for the unborn and for the end of abortive genocide every day!
Thanks for reading!
Slainte!
I apologize for not writing in such a long time. I have been moving around a lot between Chicago, De Pere, and now Philadelphia, and have not had much time to write down my thoughts.
Last Friday the other novices and I had an opportunity to see Washington DC (since it is fairly close to Philly). While trying to plan the trip, we realized that the March for Life was taking place and decided that it would be great to participate in such an event. So, we did!
We signed up to travel with St. Monica's parish in Paoli, PA (within a couple miles of Daylesford Abbey) and took a bus down and back with them. It was a fantastic experience. The members of St. Monica's were very hospitable and were very enjoyable to spend time with!
I was shocked to see the numbers that showed up for this march. I had seen on EWTN the past several years that it was not uncommon for hundreds of thousands of folks to show up, but I never realized what that actually looked like in person. It was incredible!
We had the great opportunity to meet several priests and religious from all over, which was very exciting. We talked with Capuchins, O.F.M's, S.O.L.T's, Benedictine nuns from Poland, Benedictine men, C.F.R.'s, and several more. It was really fascinating. Some of them actually knew who the Norbertines were too.
Overall, it was great to pray and meet so many people and to see that the pro-life movement is becoming stronger every year. After all, between the ages of 15 and 30, 58% of people are pro-life!
Let us remember to pray for the unborn and for the end of abortive genocide every day!
Thanks for reading!
Slainte!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Schedule
A lot of you have been asking me what my schedule is like here, so I thought I would let you all know!
Here is what a typical Monday looks like!
7 -8 AM- Lauds and Mass
8 - 9 AM- Breakfast
9 - 10 AM- Spanish Class
10-11 AM- Religious Life Class
12 - 12:15PM- Noon Prayer
12:30 PM- Lunch
1-4 PM- Work Period
5 PM - Vespers (evening prayer)
6PM - Dinner
7 PM - Workout (by choice)
9 PM - Compline (night prayer)
10 PM- Bed
On Tuesday we meet with other novices for seminars on religious life, and the other days are not usually as full.
Pax!
Here is what a typical Monday looks like!
7 -8 AM- Lauds and Mass
8 - 9 AM- Breakfast
9 - 10 AM- Spanish Class
10-11 AM- Religious Life Class
12 - 12:15PM- Noon Prayer
12:30 PM- Lunch
1-4 PM- Work Period
5 PM - Vespers (evening prayer)
6PM - Dinner
7 PM - Workout (by choice)
9 PM - Compline (night prayer)
10 PM- Bed
On Tuesday we meet with other novices for seminars on religious life, and the other days are not usually as full.
Pax!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Update
Hey all,
I apologize for not writing for such a long time. We have been fairly busy here at the Holy Spirit House of Studies, but that will soon change! I promise to write more in the future!
I thought I would give you a little bit of an update.
On some what of a goofy note, a razor has not touched my face for about 5 weeks now, so I have a pretty nice beard. I also buzzed my hair, so I have a new look. I am starting to look a bit like a fransiscan, but that was not my intent. haha. By having a buzzed head and a beard, I go through fewer razors and shampoo lasts a long time (which means less money out of my pocket). I may not have the beard for much longer, but we will see.
Sadly, a week ago from last Friday a Hungarian Norbertine that has stayed at St. Norbert Abbey for a long time passed away. We went up to St. Norbert Abbey for his wake and funeral. It was great to see so many men in white all in the same place at the same time for the event. We even had a Norbertine prior from Hungary come to participate in the event. It really made me feel part of the Norbertine family and 900 year tradition.
On a brighter note, we went back to Racine last Tuesday for another Inter-Community Novitiate retreat. We stayed with the Racine Dominican sisters at their massive convent and had a great time meeting with other novices from other communities. We are making great friends with our "younger cousins" the Augustinian Friars (they follow the same rule as us, the Rule of Augustine- but were founded 150 years after us) which is really great. We were also the pioneers of a rosary group among the novices, and it was very successful! It was really one of my first times leading a prayer group as a Norbertine.
On Thursday we left Racine and went back to the Abbey for the Feast of all Norbertine Saints (which is also the Feast for all Canons Regular). Thursday night we got to spend time with the Norbertines that live on the St. Norbert Campus (Old St. Joes Priory), which is where I hope to stay in the future as a professed Norbertine. It was great to see the college and the guys at the priory.
After a couple of relaxing days at the Abbey, we came back to the campus and had Mass with the students on Sunday, and then left for Chicago shortly after.
So now you are all filled in!
You are all in my prayers!
Pax,
MD
I apologize for not writing for such a long time. We have been fairly busy here at the Holy Spirit House of Studies, but that will soon change! I promise to write more in the future!
I thought I would give you a little bit of an update.
On some what of a goofy note, a razor has not touched my face for about 5 weeks now, so I have a pretty nice beard. I also buzzed my hair, so I have a new look. I am starting to look a bit like a fransiscan, but that was not my intent. haha. By having a buzzed head and a beard, I go through fewer razors and shampoo lasts a long time (which means less money out of my pocket). I may not have the beard for much longer, but we will see.
Sadly, a week ago from last Friday a Hungarian Norbertine that has stayed at St. Norbert Abbey for a long time passed away. We went up to St. Norbert Abbey for his wake and funeral. It was great to see so many men in white all in the same place at the same time for the event. We even had a Norbertine prior from Hungary come to participate in the event. It really made me feel part of the Norbertine family and 900 year tradition.
On a brighter note, we went back to Racine last Tuesday for another Inter-Community Novitiate retreat. We stayed with the Racine Dominican sisters at their massive convent and had a great time meeting with other novices from other communities. We are making great friends with our "younger cousins" the Augustinian Friars (they follow the same rule as us, the Rule of Augustine- but were founded 150 years after us) which is really great. We were also the pioneers of a rosary group among the novices, and it was very successful! It was really one of my first times leading a prayer group as a Norbertine.
On Thursday we left Racine and went back to the Abbey for the Feast of all Norbertine Saints (which is also the Feast for all Canons Regular). Thursday night we got to spend time with the Norbertines that live on the St. Norbert Campus (Old St. Joes Priory), which is where I hope to stay in the future as a professed Norbertine. It was great to see the college and the guys at the priory.
After a couple of relaxing days at the Abbey, we came back to the campus and had Mass with the students on Sunday, and then left for Chicago shortly after.
So now you are all filled in!
You are all in my prayers!
Pax,
MD
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Goofy Video
Here are some Premonstratensians (Norbertines) from all over the world goofing off! It is a fun video made by some European Norbertines!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1AtotcWy4U
The Norbertines pictured are from all over the world, some of which are from St. Norbert Abbey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1AtotcWy4U
The Norbertines pictured are from all over the world, some of which are from St. Norbert Abbey!
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