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Douai
Oblate
February 2002
No 15
Recommended Book: Elizabeth J CanhamIT IS rare to have an article about a monk of another community, but the death of Fr Godfrey Diekmann OSB on February 22 at the age of 93 is an event which could not pass unmarked.
Fr Godfrey was a monk of St John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. His contribution to the church was enormous. He was a peritus (expert theologian appointed for consultation) at the Second Vatican Council.
What were Fr Godfrey’s qualifications for this important task? He was trained as a patristic scholar, that is some one who studied the theologians of the first centuries of the church. He taught patristics for sixty-two years till his retirement in 1995 but his most important work was in the field of liturgy. He studied at Sant’Anselmo College in Rome receiving his doctorate in 1933. However, he had been encouraged by his mentor, Fr Virgil Michel OSB to use his time in Europe to become immersed in the Liturgical Movement.
Fr Virgil himself had done just that in 1924-5 meeting and becoming a disciple of Fr Lambert Beauduin OSB, whose classic work La Piété de l’Eglise he translated into English. With the active support of Abbot Alcuin Deutsch he introduced the Liturgical Movement into the United States.Books were needed for this so he set up the Liturgical Press and also started what has become the premier liturgical review in English, now called Worship.
After Fr Virgil’s untimely death in 1938, Fr Godfrey who had already been assisting him took over this work with enthusiasm and became the editor of Worship until 1963, and remained editor-emeritus till his death. During this period he organised annual Liturgical Weeks, and spared no efforts to spread the movement for participation in the liturgy.
So it was not with any surprise that he was appointed a peritus at the Council. He was one of the leaders in the preparation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. After the Council he was a member of the Consilium for Implementing the Liturgical Reform, and a founder member of the International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). He took part in meetings of ICEL up to June 1996, when at the age of 88 he travelled for a meeting in Rome.
Fr Godfrey became an ardent supporter of inclusive language in the liturgy and women’s ordination. At a recent interview in the Abbey care center he spoke passionately about what he defined as the biggest problem facing the church, "It’s that people are deprived of the eucharist. The priest shortage is so desperate ... In some places there is one priest for 10,000 people and that’s criminal. Something has to give. I fail to see the cogency of the arguments against women’s ordination and a married clergy" (report in the Star Tribune).
It is impossible to be a liturgist and not to become involved in justice and peace issues and ecumenism. Fr Godfrey was present when Martin Luther King made his famous ‘I have a dream speech’. He taught that the liturgy, the source and summit of true Christian spirit must overflow into work for justice and peace. He took part in the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Ala, where he carried a banner that read ‘Selma is in Minnesota, too’. Fr Godfrey was a member of National Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, a founder member of ICET, the interdenominational body for English liturgical texts and a co-founder of the Ecumenical Institute of Spirituality.
Although Fr Godfrey worked primarily in the USA, his influence in Britain was large, and his work has affected us all. ‡
ALL life is a pilgrimage, Are you hastening to your heavenly home? writes St Benedict in the final chapter of the Rule. For God’s people here we have no lasting home. From the call of Abraham, through the Exodus to the Baptismal journey of Christians, life is a pilgrimage. St Benedict answers his rhetorical question with Then with Christ’s help keep this little rule we have written for beginners. That this is the way not only for vowed monastics but also for people outside monasteries is the message of this book.It is yet another book on Benedictine spirituality by an Anglican female author. Elizabeth Canham is an English woman brought up in a free church, an Evangelical biblical fundamentalist who was led into the High Anglican tradition and in order to follow her vocation to be an ordained priest embraced voluntary exile and settled in the United States where she was ordained in Newark Cathedral in 1982. At that time the Church of England did not ordain women. After parish work in New York City she moved to South Carolina where she was invited to join the community of Holy Savior Priory, Pinewood, an Episcopalian monastery which followed the Rule of St Benedict, as a claustral oblate. She remained with that community five years until it closed in 1991. Now she is Director of Still Point Ministries at Black Mountain, North Carolina.
With such a background Elizabeth Canham has valuable insights into the Rule, which she continues to use as her rule of life. Her story begins on top of a bus in the Old Kent Road, where she saw a sign on a building CLUTCH CLINIC. It referred to a car service centre specialising in repairing clutches, but in it Elizabeth heard God calling her to open her hands, not to clutch things, but to let go and be open to God’s grace. She saw this as a call to conversion, to let go of all the things that get in the way of God’s gifts, including one’s home and country. It teaches an important lesson of not holding on to things, but of overcoming the desire to possess and control, in other words a lesson in detachment, a proper approach to creation. The good things of the world are for our use and enjoyment, they are God’s gift, but as soon as we cling to them we turn them into gods and lose that freedom God gave us, we become the slave of things.
Coming from a fundamentalist background Elizabeth Cranham’s chapter on Praying the Scriptures is particularly enlightening. In abandoning biblical fundamentalism she did not abandon her love of the scriptures, which she likens to an ‘intoxicant’. In seminary she met biblical criticism, which brought about a conflict with what she had been taught in her free church, "as a result, the schizophrenic syndrome between religious upbringing and ... academia began". The struggle lasted several years but she managed to avoid the loss of faith some people suffer in these circumstances. "Only when I could readily face the fear of loss - loss of certainty, external affirmation, an infallible Bible, and a cherished support system - did the idols begin to shatter." From this Elizabeth gained new insights, and was led into the practice of lectio divina. It is only when one lets go of literalism that one can enter into monastic lectio divina. Her letting go of biblical literalism also brings her a new understanding of creation, insights into ecology and a sympathy for liberation theology.
St Benedict’s teaching on hospitality leads Elizabeth to ask "Is my home truly a place of hospitality?" She sees God’s hospitality as a loving creator as a model for us. Every possession is gift, there can be no such thing as private ownership, we are lent things on trust, to use and enjoy, not to abuse and own. Benedict’s guidelines "suggest ways in which our homes and church communities can become places of profound Christian hospitality today". St Benedict’s attitude to things teaches us that we are guests in God’s world, entrusted with creation to look after, not to exploit. This is an important lesson for us who are surrounded by advertisers telling us we need to own more, that our lives will be incomplete without the latest gadget or device, and when the health of society is measured by how much people buy.
Not surprisingly one of the chapters is on ‘Simplicity’. At the beginning of the twenty-first century there is an urgent need for greater simplicity of lifestyle. We must learn to live more simply that others may simply live. St Benedict teaches us to be counter-cultural in our approach to life, to value skills and nature.
The chapter on prayer has helpful ideas on praying the psalms in our moden world and the importance of praying anywhere, whether in noisy New York City or in a solitary country place.
St Benedict has important lessons for people in any walk of life regarding work. Whatever has to be done, however menial, should be given full attention, and done with the utmost care. It is all a question of respect for things that God has made, and for people who will be affected by our work. With St Benedict there is no place for the ‘its-not-my-job’ syndrome, if somethings needs doing then do it and do it well.
There are chapters on each of the Benedictine vows showing how the virtues these embody are essential for right living in the world today. Stability is a quality our world needs, "slowing down, being willing to wait ... refusing the quick-fix alternative ... discipleship is about is about faithful living, not visible success ... be prepared to wait, sometimes a long time, to hear the word of God that tells you it is time to move on". This is sound advice for everyone. Conversion of Life, although having a chapter, really underlies the whole book. For all Christians conversion must be continuous from baptism to the grave, it is a quality we all need. Obedience is prayerful listening to God and positive responding, the motive for which must be love. It is remarkable how these three vows are interlocking, something Elizabeth Cranham’s narrative implies.
This book is highly recommended for Douai Oblates.
Heart Whispers, Benedictine Wisdom for Today by Elizabeth J Canham. Eagle Books, Guildford, Surrey 2001. Available from the Abbey Bookshop price £6.99 ‡
IN January Fr Gervase was invited to Cromer by Oblate Ron O’Toole to meet a group who had been gathering monthly to study Benedictine spirituality. Ron is deacon in the parish of Cromer and with the enthusiastic support of the parish priest Fr Peter Brown some months ago he advertised a meeting to talk about Benedictine spirituality. Amazingly about 40 people showed up. Of these some eighteen asked if they could continue meeting each month to learn more about St Benedict and his Rule. Some of them showed interest in becoming oblates, and so I was invited to meet them. They come from all over north Norfolk, some travelling to Cromer each month from as far as Norwich.Eight asked to become oblate novices. Thus they form our first oblate chapter away from the monastery. Some monasteries have a dozen or more chapters. During the year they will try to come to Douai for one of our retreats. They will continue to meet on the first Thursday of each month for a formation session under the leadership of Oblate Ron O’Toole, which concludes with tea and evening prayer.
They have placed the group under the patronage of St Julian of Norwich.‡
Ordination
THE MAJOR event this year has been the ordination as priest of Fr Benjamin Standish OSB on Candlemas Day, February 2 by Bishop Crispian Hollis. Before coming back to the community in 1999 Benjamin had been an oblate. It was good to see so many of the oblates present for this occasion and particularly that the two deacons at the Mass were oblate Ron O’Toole of the diocese of East Anglia and oblate novice Peter Lattey of our diocese of Portsmouth. Ron was able to stay to be deacon at Fr Benjamin’s first Mass the next day.Oblation & Enrollment as Novices
Congratulations to Zina Neagle who made her final oblation in the Abbey Church after Compline on December 9 during the Advent retreat. The ceremony was followed by a celebration with some of the monastic community in the Conference Centre. Also congratulations to Francis Buxton, Barbara Blythe-Smith, Sue Fisher, Anthony Howes, Colin and Patricia Johnson, Beryl Mitchell, and Diana Stubbs who became oblate novices at Cromer on January 9. See story above.Sick
Oblate June Bartlett is due for major surgery on March 8 to remove part of her spine. For the past several weeks she has been in considerable pain and forced to use a wheel chair. She came to the Abbey for Mass on February 24 and afterwards she received the Sacrament of the Sick. Oblates Simon Bryden-Brook and Katherine Ryan who happened to be at Mass were able to be present. Please pray for her full recovery
Prayers are also asked for Fr Vincent Dean OSB who is in Battle Hospital, suffering from senile dementia. He had been getting progressively more forgetful and incapable and finally after causing a small fire he had to be hospitalised. We were unable to provide the care he needs.Retreats
The retreat in December was very well attended. A booking form for forthcoming retreats is included with this newsletter, please book up in good time as accommodation in the guest house is limited. At the suggestion of people who find weekends difficult you will see we have scheduled an extra retreat mid-week, from Monday April 29 till Wednesday May 1. This is an experiment. Last time we had a mid-week retreat it was not well attended. So please come if you think you would find mid-week better.Meeting of Oblate Directors
Following the example of the Oblate Directors in the United States, we are hosting a meeting of Oblate Directors from monasteries in the British Isles here at Douai from June 18 to 21. If there is anything you think we should have on our agenda please suggest it. It will be good to exchange ideas with directors from other monasteries and to learn from our collective wisdom. So far ten communities have responded positively.Notice please
When an oblate novice would like to proceed to make oblation or someone wishes to become a novice would they please apply before the retreat so that the ceremony can be scheduled in advance. ‡
10/03/02(GH)