Abbot Pet r's Message

St-o Pete~is

Abbey

The major event of the spring at theabbey was undoubtedly the blessingand dedication of the new abbeychurch, Sts. Peter and Paul. This tookplace on St. Benedict's Day, March21.

The Ursulines of Bruno and theFranciscan Sisters of St. Elizabethjoined our celebration. Members ofthe staff and their spouses were invitedand a number of Oblates were alsopart of the crowd of over 200 people.It was great to have them all join inour celebration. Another celebrationfor the public is planned for June 29.In order to make the celebrationpossible, many hands rallied togetherto get the church ready. The furniturewas put into place the previous day,just a day after the floor tiles werefinished. Some last minute jobs wereeven done the last morning. A greatbig thank you to all who pitched in thelast week, community members andnon-community members!

We had another great celebrationin the church with the Oblates twodays later, at our regular Oblate Day.These past few months have includ­

ed a lot of meetings for me - as wellas a bit of fun. The major' 'fun" eventwas being a linesman at a hockey game

with the Flying Fathers, if gettinga pie in your face can be called"fun. "

On Feb. 1 Abbot Jerome and Iflew to Conception Abbey, just out­side Kansas City, for an abbots' meet­ing. Then I flew to Dallas, Texas, fora meeting of about 200 U.S. and Ca­nadian bishops, sponsored by theKnights of Columbus. This meetingfocused on the formation of con­science.From Feb. 22-25 I was in Edmon­

ton for a meeting of religious superiorsfrom Western Canada (CRC-W). Itwas a good chance to meet many newpeople and to enjoy the hospitality ofthe Grey Nuns, especially the swim­ming pool.

I enjoyed the same hospitality thenext weekend, when I drove to Ed­monton with Bishops Mahoney andMorand for a meeting of WesternCanada bishops. It was a special pleas­ure to see a very-much-recovered Bish­op Delaquis at the meeting.A t Easter I had the honor to preside

at the Easter Triduum services in thecathedral. Father Martin and his staffdid a super job in preparing the serv­ices.

April 9 and 10 were taken up with

Vol. 14, NO.2 Spring 1991

a trip to Saskatoon for a meeting ofSaskatchewan Catholic bishops as wellas a day-long meeting between theCatholic and Anglican bishops ofSaskatchewan.

On the April 14 weekend I startedto visit abbacy parishes to celebratethe sacrament of confirmation. Thiswill occupy me pretty well until theend of June.

St. Peter's new skyline from the south: College - built in 1921, Abbey cloister ­built in 1961, and Sts Peter and Paul Abbey Church - 1991.

AbbatialBlessing 1990

Abbot-Ordinary Peter's coat of armsand motto.

Sr. Martina Gramlich, OSE, presented Abbot Peter with a quilt made of old vestmentson behalf of the Sisters of St. Scholastica's Convent. On Dec. 1, 1990, the conventwas vacated and both Sr. Martina and Sr. Victoria Koenig (above) now reside inHumboldt.

A small social with the Abbacy staff' Fr. William Thurmeier, Rita andJohn Kelly,Br. Thomas Ward, Srs. Celine Graf and Yvonne Billesberger, with engaged ColleenWickenheiser and Terry Garchinsky.

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Thing$ tl~dand new at the abbey:

Frequently unrecognized but always appreciated and essential are the services provid­ed by Anne Back and Freda Hilgers. Sylvia Reiter of Annaheim often helps out ona relief basis.

The major event of the quarter­century took place in St. Augustine'sChurch, Humboldt, when Peter Nove­cosky, elected as Abbot of St. Peter'son July 22, was blessed as Abbot­Ordinary by Bishop James Mahoneyof Saskatoon on November 26, 1990.

Student monks this past year wereBr. Stanley Vindevoghel, finishing hisdegree in Social Wode at ReginaUniversity; Br. Richard Meidl in thirdyear theology at St. Meinrad's Arch­abbey, Illinois; and Br. DemetriusWasylyniuk in the last year of pre­theology at Mt. Angel Abbey in Ore­gon.

It is just two years since AbbotJerome turned the sod and blessed thesite of the Abbey church, May 11,1989. On Sept 3, 1990, Abbot Peterblessed the cornerstone, and on March21,1991, feast of St. Benedict, bothabbots shared in the blessing of thenew Abbey church of Sts Peter andPaul. After 88 years the monks of St.Peter's finally have a suitable buildingto sing the praises of God and to of­fer the eucharistic celebration.

Father Alfred Engele, former pastorof Watson, turned 80 on April 15,1991. He joins the following monkswho are in their 80s and 90s: Frs. Mat­thew Michel, 94; Francis Lohmer, 88;Xavier Benning, 89; and Bros Domi­nic Distel, 85, Gregory Brodner, 85,Conrad Abs, 84, and Fr. NorbertSchwinghammer, 80. Fr. Alfred hasembarked on a second career whileretired at the Abbey - stained glasswindows for the Abbey church. Hisnew hobby and studio have beenfeatured" on national TV.

Upcoming events in 1991:Br. Rich­ard Meidl will be ordained to the dia­conate on June 15, 1990; the nextOblate day will be held on June 22;and the "official" opening of the Ab­bey church will take place on June 29,the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul. OnJuly 11, 1991, the second feast of St.Benedict, Br. Randy Senecal of Rose­town will pronounce Solemn Vows.His will be the first profession in thenew abbey church. The next collegereunion will be held on the holidayweekend in August - the 3rd and 4th.The last reunion was five years ago.

Early in September, possibly the 8th,Br. Novice Anthony Nguyen of Saska­toon will make first vows.

Lucius (Br. Aidan) Allison of Cal­gary left the novitiate program onMay 27 and moved to Regina wherehe hopes to pursue studies at theUniversity of Regina. Br. Demetriuswill spend the final year of the junior­ate at the abbey in preparation forfinal vows. Since returning from Mt.Angel Abbey/Seminary on May 13 hehas assumed his former position as in­firmarian and is assisting Fr. XavierBenning with beekeeping.

Monk-professors in the college thispast year were: Albert Ruetz - math;James Gray - English; Lawrence De­Mong - French, and after studyingat the Jesuit University in San Fran­cisco, Br. Kurt van Kuren taughtpsychology. Prior Albert also assistsFr. Leo Hinz in St. Augustine's Parishin Humboldt and Fr. Lawrence is full­time pastor of Lake Lenore, Marys­burg and St. James. Fr. James is afull-time solitary, formation instruc­tor and spiritual director. Winter andsummer, Fr. James works in the aspengroves and gardens and is the abbeyweather observer.

Fr. Philip Loehr returned to the Ab­bey last September and is engaged insupporting the Christian Farm Crisisorganization, as well as writing for thePrairie Messenger on justice and socialissues. Also last fall Abbot Jeromemoved to the chaplain's suite in St.Elizabeth's Hospital where he is keptbusy caring for the sick. Two monksstill serve the missions in Brazil: Frs.

"Sylvester Vredegoor and BernardStauber.

This past year the following monkshave been full-time pastors residing intheir parishes: Daniel Muyres, FlorianRenneberg, Francis Lohmer, GeorgeBrodner, Joseph Ackerman, LeoHinz, Roman Schneider, RudolphNovecosky and Werner Renneberg.Pastors living at the Abbey include:Xavier Benning, Martin Brodner andAndrew Britz. Some pastoral changesare expected this summer. The prin­cipal jobs of the remaining monks (notmentioned above) are: Basil Schaan,subprior, business manager and main­tenance director; William Thurmeier:novice master, electronics, choir direc­tor and organist; Bernard Lange: farmmanager - livestock, repair shop,garden and crops; Francis Fortney:maintenance, engineer, heating, plumb­ing, grounds, water; WolfgangThiem: carpenter, masonry, green­house, night watchman; Michael Mc­Alister: abbey maintenance depart­ment, candles; Gerald Moran: guest­master, vocation director, organ,barber, newsletter; Thomas Ward:food service manager, MC for litur­gies, sacristan; Randy Senecal: workco-ordinator, college repairs andmaintenance, grounds. The above listis not all-inclusive; many positionsmust go unlisted for lack of space.Many of the retired monks listedabove continue with the work theyhave been doing for years. For exam­ple, Fr. Norbert is organist, confessor,assists with the sick, and cares for thearchives and lists the death notices.

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Bishop Morelli of Brazil was a visitor withthe Development and Peace organizationthis past winter.

Elizabeth Saretsky retired from the Ab­bey accounting office lastfall and shareda farewell cake with the community.

Celebrating 25 years as Oblates are CelineWolsfeld and Maria Reinelt, both of Hum­boldt.

Former monk-teachers were honored by the College last November: Frs. NorbertSchwinghammer, Philip Loehr, Martin Brodner, Abbot Jerome Weber, Florian Ren­neberg and Xavier Benning.

Enrolled as Oblate candidates on November 17, 1990, are, from left, back row: LeeNickel, now of Yellowknife, N. W. T.; Mary Lieffers, Cudworth; Frank Boser, Hum­boldt; front row: Pol Zwart, Regina; and Ken Wood of Saskatoon who made his finaloblation as a Benedictine Oblate on the same day.

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'",~t:;·<Enrolled as Oblate candidates on March 23, 1991, are: Agnes Lummerding, Bruno;Leonard and Sadie Novecosky, Burr; Bernard and Christine Tritz, Glaslyn. Abbot Peterand Prior Albert make the photo complete.

Next Oblate Days: June 22 and November 16, 1991

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"No it's not beer!"

Mrs. Agnes (August) Toennies, house­keeper for Severin Hall, has become quiteattached to our two parakeets, and has

assumed the job ofvacuuming seedshells and feathersfrom the floor.The two buggieswere a gift to thecommunity fromtwo of last year'sresidence students:

Jeff Chan of Ed­monton and Liem

Nguyen of Balgonie(near Regina).

the Abbey Newsletter and wishing fur­ther information should contact theCollege.There is no doubt that the new ab­

bey church will be a central focus forall returning alumni. There couldn'tbe a more appropriate focus. Old andrecent graduates of St. Peter's are infor an inspirational treat when theyvisit Saints Peter & Paul Church.

The alumni committee looks for­ward with great eagerness to renewingacquaintances with all of you on Aug.3 and 4.

St. Peter's College Reunion '91An former students and staff of St.

Peter's College are invited to take partin the alumni reunion on Aug. 3 and4, 1991.

A 12-person committee consistingof Fathers Andrew Britz and AlbertRuetz, Deborah Sarauer, Tony Saret­sky, Karen Siermachesky, GermaineDauk, Ralph Hofmann, Elizabeth Sa­retsky, Walter Sarauer, MaureenWeber, James Wasserman and Dr.Gerald Junk has been formed. Theyhave met three times so far to plandetails of this event. Anyone reading

St. Peter's College Reunion committee consists of the above, (seated): Elizabeth Saret­sky, Debbie Sarauer, Tony Saretsky and Maureen Weber. (Standing): Fr. Albert Ruetz,James Wasserman, Ralph Hofmann, Walter Sarauer and Fr. Andrew Britz.

Over 200 staff, Ursuline and Elizabethan sisters witnessed the blessing when all pastors were present toconcelebrate.

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Finishing the Abbey Church interior .. " OJ

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By Fr. Philip Loehr, aSB

The current deep interest of themonks of 81. Peter's Abbey in socialjustice goes back at least to the early1930s.

To highlight individually themonks who have been active in issuesof social justice would result in a longseries of biographies with muchoverlapping. Instead, our plan is to tellthe story from about 1930to the pres­ent, reporting on individual monks asthey come into that history. That his­tory will continue in future issues ofthis newsletter.

In the early 1930sthe main event thattouched off a special interest of themonks in social justice was the publi­cation in 1931 of the second greatsocial encyclical Quadragesimo Anno(Reconstructing the Social Order). Itwas issued by Pope Pius XI - as theLatin title indicates - on the 40th an­niversary of the first social encyclicalRerum Novarum (On the Conditionof Labour) issued by Pope Leo XIIIin 1891. This year we are celebratingthe centenary of that first great socialencyclical.

The fact that most of the worldwas in deep depression in 1931 had alot to do with the timing of that sec­ond social encyclical, and with theissues that it raised.

Father Wilfred Hergott was by thattime the editor of the Prairie Messen­ger, and he gave the encyclical a greatdeal of coverage. He also reported thedevelopments in the church and in theworld which were influenced in someway by thai encyclical. In Canada oneof those developments was the found­ing of the CCF party in 1932, the fore­runner of the current NDP.

The two Canadian newspaperswhich gave the most balanced report­ing on that party were Father Wil­fred's Prairie Messenger and HenrySomerville's Catholic Register, pub­lished in Toronto. Somerville hadgrown up in England and rememberedthe controversies that greeted the riseof the Labour Party in that country.He saw many similarities with the con­troversies generated by the CCF.

Meanwhile at S1. Peter's College

lFa~heirFrancis Lohmer brought thestudy of Pius Xl's encyclical into hisGrade 11 religion class. Father Mat~thew MncheBcame back from studiesat the Catholic University in Washing­ton, D.C., at about that time. In hisGrade 12 religion class he combinedthe study of the encyclical with a bitof elementary sociology. The studentsat that time did not yet grasp the im­portance of the social doctrine of thechurch, or of sociology, but those stu­dents did learn that they were impor­tant, and those classes prepared themfor further reading and study alongthose lines.

In that era the monks of 81.Peter'sAbbey regularly went to St. John'sAbbey at Collegeville, Minn., for theirstudies in philosophy and theology.There they came in contact with Fa­ther Matthew's cousin, Father VirgilMichel, who was dean of S1. John'sUniversity and a professor of sociolo­gy. Father Virgil was a pioneer of theliturgical movement in the UnitedStates and also of the rural life move­ment in the Midwest United States.The national convention of the Na­tional Catholic Rural Life Conferencewas held at St. John's in 1941. FatherVirgil did not live to see that conven­tion, but one could sense that his spiritwas there.

Meanwhile at S1. Peter's AbbeyFather Wilfred's Prairie Messengercontinued to keep people abreast ofsocial issues. Father Francis Lohmeralso helped educate people of the areaabout co-operatives and credit unions.

With the recovery of the economyafter World War n, and with relative­ly good times for farmers and localbusinessmen, few issues of social jus­tice came to the fore during the im­mediate post-war years. However, bythe early 1950sas farms got bigger andfarm families got fewer, our rural ab­bacy began to be confronted by ruralissues of social justice.

Father Philip Loehr was the firstRural Life director for the abbacy. Heorganized a few Rural Life conferencesin Humboldt in the 1950s. His workon rural life issues and occasionalwriting in that field continued during

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the time that lFstber Augustil!llieNenze}was Rural Life director.

In the early 1960sthey were joinedin that interest by Rev. Irving Fraser,the United Church minister newly ar­rived in Humboldt from rural On­tario. These three clergymen organizeda few more Rural Life conferences.

It was at those conferences thatschool centralization came under dis­cussion as both an effect and a causeof rural depopulation. Good roadsand school buses had made it possi­ble to centralize country schools intotowns and villages. An important aimof those conferences was to keep thatcentralization within reasonable limits.

No one at that time dared to fore­see the situation today when the ruralpopulation has declined to the pointwhere only a few select communitiescan hope to keep their schools. How­ever, Bishop Klein of Saskatoon, at­tending one of those early 1960s con­ferences, reported what was happeningalready then in the once populous St.Joseph's Colony at the west end of hisdiocese. In one rural parish that usedto have 85 families all the land wasalready in the hands of only six farm­ers.

Meanwhile a new area of socialjustice was opening up at the abbey.During the years 1962 to 1965 bothBishop Klein and Abbot JeromeWebef had been attending sessions ofthe Second Vatican Council. Thisbrought them into contact with bish­ops from the poor countries - the"Third World" as it began to becalled.

The most persuasive of those bish­ops were those from eastern Brazil.They convinced the bishop and the ab­bot to give at least temporary help tothat area of the world to tide it overits current shortage of priests, religiousand other teachers of religion.

Abbot Jerome knew his history. Hewas aware of how in the early yearsof this century, when the present ab­bacy was still S1. Peter's Colonywithin the Diocese of Prince Albert,monks had come from the UnitedStates and Europe to tide the colonyover until home-grown vocations

Rest in peaceThe following deaths have occurred since the last newsletter:Earl Fortney, brother of Br. Francis Fortney, in early November 1990.Paul McAllister, brother of Br. Michael McAllister, on April 18, 1991.Martin Leuschen, aged 71 of Bruno, died May 11, 1991, Oblate of St.

Benedict, attached to St. Peter's Abbey.

would make it self-sufficient in pastorsand later in teachers at St. Peter'sCollege.

By 1943 the abbey and the abbacywere no longer in need of clergy fromoutside. Now it was eastern Brazilwhich was asking this type of helpfrom the abbacy of Muenster and theDiocese of Saskatoon. Both Saska­toon and Muenster provided missionteams of priests, religious and laypeo­pIe to work in Brazil.

Fr. Leander Dosch, OCSO

In 1966 two priests of the abbey,Father Sylvester Vredegoor andFather Alvin Hergott, along withsome Ursuline sisters and Sisters of St.Elizabeth, prepared for their Brazilassignment by courses at the LatinAmerican Institute in St. Mary's,Ont., conducted by Scarboro FatherJack McIvor.

A year later Father Leander Doschtook those courses and joined theBrazil team in early 1968.

Right from the start our missionteam found Brazil, with its troubledpolitical, economic and social history,a veritable laboratory course in socialjustice.

(To be continued in an upcomingissue.)

This article was prepared by FatherPhilip Loehr, OSB, who is engaged insocial justice today.

St. Peter's Abbey NewsletterMuenster, SaskatchewanSOK 2YO

1+ Canada PostesPosl CanadaPoosr....,.·oo.<1 P-.:;.'D.l~

ST. PETER'S ABBEY NEWSLETTER

Published by the Benedictine community of St. Peter'sAbbey, Muenster, Saskatchewan, SOK 2YO, threetimes a year: February, June and October. Deadline:the 15th of the previous month.

Editor: Gerald Moran, OSB. Regular contributors:Abbot Peter Novecosky, OSB; Albert Ruetz, OSB;Bernard Lange, OSB; Tony Saretsky. Photo credits:Babych, Moran, Rauckman, Ward.

Logo designed by Kurt Van Kuren, OSB.

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FIRST PREMI~RECLASS CLASSE

NO.4

MUENSTER, SASK.