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Abbatial Blessing of Mother Benedict McLaughlin takes place in Newport

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Cori Urban

More than 500 people attended the Nov. 11 Abbatial Blessing at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Newport of Mother Benedict McLaughlin, OSB, first abbess of Immaculate Heart of Mary Abbey in Westfield.

More than 40 years after the first American cloistered monastery of the Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes was officially dedicated in Westfield, it was raised to the status of an abbey in June, and Mother Benedict was elected the first abbess.

With an international congregation of nuns, abbesses, abbots, and priests as well as family members and friends of Mother Benedict, Vermont Catholics and others eager to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event, the Saturday morning Mass was celebrated by Right Rev. Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, OSB, abbot president of the Solesmes Congregation from France.

The imposing church that overlooks Lake Memphremagog was a suitable site for the large gathering, hosted by parishioners and Vocationist Father Rijo Johnson, pastor of Mater Dei Parish based in Newport, which includes St. Mary Star of the Sea Church.

“I feel a deep sense of gratitude to our foundresses for bringing the Solesmes tradition of Benedictine contemplative life to the United States and an awareness of the responsibility to hand on the heritage that it has been a privilege to receive,” Mother McLaughlin wrote in an email before the Abbatial Blessing.

During the Mass, which was celebrated in Latin, the abbot president asked the abbess-elect questions about such things as her intention to persevere in her resolve to keep the Rule of St. Benedict and instruct her sisters to do likewise; about her intention to show fidelity, obedience and reverence to the Church and the pope and his successors; and her intent to show obedience to her ordinary in the government of the abbey according to the canonical laws and constitution of the congregation. To all of these and other questions, she replied, “Volo” (I do).

During the Litany of Saints, the abbess-elect prostrated herself in the sanctuary, and the abbot president blessed her. He then presented the abbess with the Rule of St. Benedict and the abbatial insignia (a ring and a crozier).

The newly blessed abbess was greeted by her two assistants and the guest abbesses, and then the nuns of her own community offered their obedience.

Among those that greeted her was Sister Laurence Couture, OSB, the first prioress. “I am very happy; this is a great day,” she said as she waited for the Mass to begin.

She said Mother Benedict “will be very good” as abbess. “She is a good nun and very bright.”

Mother Benedict, 62, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. “I wanted to be a missionary, which is why I studied foreign service, but the Lord had a different idea,” she said in her email.

She worked for seven years as a legal secretary in a large Washington, D.C., law firm to pay her college debt before she could enter the monastery.

“My discernment visit to the [Westfield] monastery coincided with Holy and Easter weeks, and I was captivated by the beauty and power of the liturgy, solemnly celebrated with Gregorian chant and deeply rooted in history,” she explained. “But it was the singing of the psalms — using God’s own word to speak to God — that ultimately drew me to enter.”

She made her final profession in 1995.

“The contemplative life is, by its very nature, a hidden life, so that the nuns can be totally available for God, who loves us and who deserves to be loved above all else in return,” she wrote. “However, there can be a temptation for nuns to think that because their life is hidden with God that they are forgotten by people. The outpouring of kindness and generosity on the part of the diocese, our neighbors, and friends since the announcement of our becoming an abbey, has proven that this is far from the truth. We are immensely grateful.”

Josh Perry, director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Burlington, said the work of the abbey goes unseen by most Catholics in the diocese, but the lives of the nuns in the community are a living witness to St. Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing” and St. Benedict’s call to the “work of God” – “ora et labora” (prayer and work).

“The presence of the abbey in Vermont has become an integral part of the identity and mission of our local Church. In one sense, I view the ministry of the sisters (and the other contemplative communities here) as one of the lungs that breathes life into the wider work of our Church, the other lung being the liturgical life in our parishes that nurtures the spiritual life of Catholics who then go out into the world to spread the Good News,” he said. “The nuns of the community support and hold us up in our evangelizing work through their constant and dedicated prayer. The prayer of the contemplative communities in the Church sustain the Church in its ministry to the world.”

He called the Abbatial Blessing an opportunity for the diocesan Church gathered together to publicly join with the nuns in giving thanks to God for their important presence. The presence of abbots and abbesses from the United States, Canada, and abroad and the celebration of the Mass in Latin — is a visible sign of the universality of the Church — made the blessing not only “a celebration of the abbey or even just of our diocese, but a celebration of the entire universal Church,” he said. “It’s an honor and a joy to be a part of that.”

In his homily at the Mass, Father Gabriel O’Donnell, a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph and professor of Spiritual Theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., said the blessing of an abbess sets her apart from the other nuns as one who must inspire and encourage as well as correct and call to account: “It would be an impossible task were it not for the grace of Christ which makes all things possible when undertaken in His name and for the good of His flock.”

He encouraged her to “cling to Christ” and let Him love her and let that love give her confidence that He will guide her at every moment.

Monks and nuns are always waiting, keeping vigil for the arrival of the Lord. “They greet Him each morning and through the day in the life of worship, in the silence of the monastery, in prayer, and withdrawal from the world. Every aspect of monastic life is ordered to the future,” he said.

The former prioress, in contemplating the joy of the celebration she attended for her new abbess, looked back briefly as she commented, “I never thought (the monastery) would be an abbey. We were just so happy to open the monastery.”

Msgr. John McDermott, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Burlington, read an apostolic blessing from Pope Francis and offered his own congratulations, best wishes and prayers at the end of the Mass: “It’s a great day for the Abbey of the Immaculate Heart of Mary [and] a wonderful and beautiful day for the Diocese of Burlington.”

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November saint: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Kay Winchester

For someone who started life in precarious health, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini certainly proved herself to be a powerhouse when it came to the mission she felt called to fulfill.

Maria Francesca Cabrini – her given name – was born two months premature in 1850 in the town of Sant’ Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Italy. The youngest of the family’s 13 children, she and three of her siblings were the only ones to survive past adolescence. As a young girl, she nearly drowned, which lead to a lifelong fear of water; despite that she ended up crossing the Atlantic Ocean nearly 30 times in service of God and her vocation.

Francesca Cabrini was a well-educated young woman, studying at a convent school run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. Having achieved high honors and a teaching certificate, Francesca sought admission to the order but was turned down, not once, but twice, because of her frail health. Instead, she went on to teach for six years at the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadagnono, Italy. A local bishop, admiring her zeal, suggested that she found her own religious order and, in 1880, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was born.

When the orphanage closed, Francesca, who had added Xavier to her name in honor of St. Francis Xavier, went on to establish seven homes and a free school and nursery in her native Italy. However, it had always been her dream to become a missionary and she had set her sights on moving her order to China. When she approached him about it, Pope Leo XIII had another idea; telling her “Not to the East, but the West,” he prevailed on her to journey to America, to minister to the Italian immigrants who were flooding into New York.

Following a harrowing trip across the ocean, Sister Frances Cabrini and six other sisters arrived in the New World in 1889.They did not have an auspicious beginning; the home that was originally set aside for an orphanage turned out to not be available. The local archbishop suggested very forcefully that they turn around and head back to Italy.

That, however, was not Sister Frances Cabrini’s way. The sisters went ahead with their work anyway, and, when necessary, begged for food and supplies door-to-door in the poor Italian neighborhoods of the lower West Side. In time, their tireless work was noted, and the wealthy Countess of Cesnola donated a valuable property near 59th Street to serve as an orphanage and housing for the sisters. They soon increased their presence to two other addresses in New York and subsequently went to Chicago. Mother Cabrini, as she was now known, now found herself and her work in demand throughout North America.

She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1909 and died in one of her own hospitals in Chicago in 1917. Canonized in 1946, she became the first American saint. Patron of immigrants, her feast day is celebrated Nov. 13.

Sources for this article include:

cabrininationalshrine.org/timeline-and-her-life-s-work

catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=278

franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-frances-xavier-cabrini/

Schreck, Alan. “Catholic Church History from A to Z.” Michigan: Servant Publications, 2002.

Vermont Catholic Charities Advent Appeal

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Mary Beth Pinard

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone. — Isaiah 9:1

Please consider being the light for Vermonters in need of emergency assistance by making a gift to Vermont Catholic Charities’ annual Advent Appeal. For 29 years, you have answered the call to bring the joy and hope of the Advent season to those in need.

The “Season of Giving” has no bounds for people in need. At Christmastime and throughout the year, it is a daily struggle for many Vermonters to maintain housing, stay warm or feed their families. By giving to the Advent Appeal you help people in crisis, especially the most vulnerable among us — children, struggling parents, the elderly, and those dealing with medical issues.

Help people like Doreen and Sue put food on the table. Doreen is a grandmother who moved in with her daughter, Sue, to help care for her four grandchildren while Sue recovered from an illness. We provided the family with a food card. Doreen stated, “We are grateful for this assistance. After a difficult year, this support will allow us to have a memorable Christmas. God bless you.”

Help parents like Mike and Julie keep the lights on. Mike and Julie are parents of two children. They work full-time but had an unexpected car repair which put them behind on their bills. They faced a utility disconnect notice. We assisted them with the utility bill. They stated, “Your kindness paved a path to safety and peace.”

These are real people, and with your support we can assist people just like them, our neighbors in need. Every gift — whatever the size — makes a difference. Last year, thanks to your generosity, more than 1,300 adults and 900 children received aid through the Advent Appeal and our year-round Emergency Aid Program. Please support this worthy effort by sending a check to Vermont Catholic Charities, 55 Joy Drive,

South Burlington, VT 05403 or giving online at www.vermontcatholic.org/ adventappeal or scanning the QR code above. Your gift helps us continue to be the hands and feet of Christ, showing God’s love in concrete ways.

On behalf of Vermont Catholic Charities and all the Vermonters you will help, thank you. May the peace of the Advent and Christmas seasons be with you and your loved ones.

With gratitude,

Mary Beth Pinard

Executive Director, Vermont Catholic Charities

—Originally published in the Nov. 11-17, 2023, edition of The Inland See

Younger U.S. priests increasingly identify as theologically conservative, politically moderate

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Our Sunday Visitor

A closer look at the largest survey of U.S. Catholic priests in 50 years has revealed “a major shift in how priests view themselves and their priesthood,” said researchers.

Compared to their older peers, younger priests are far more likely to describe themselves as theologically orthodox or conservative, politically conservative or moderate, and prepared to be “first responders” to the abuse victims they encounter in their ministry. Furthermore, researchers noted “a significant proportion of American priests say that they had ‘personally experienced sexual harassment or abuse or suffered sexual misconduct’ during their formation or time in seminary.”

The findings were detailed in “Polarization, Generational Dynamics, and the Ongoing Impact of the Abuse Crisis: Further Insights from the National Study of Catholic Priests,” a November 2023 report released by The Catholic Project, an initiative from The Catholic University of America designed to foster effective collaboration between the church’s clergy and laity in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis.

The report drew on data collected for The Catholic Project’s landmark “National Study of Catholic Priests,” the results of which were issued in October 2022 and featured responses from 3,516 priests (out of 10,000) across 191 dioceses and eparchies. The national study also included in-depth interviews with more than 100 priests selected from those respondents and a census survey of U.S. bishops that drew 131 responses.

Three themes were the focus of the November 2023 report on that data: polarization, generational dynamics and the ongoing impact of the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

Stephen White, executive director of The Catholic Project, told OSV News the research represents an effort “to really understand how our priests are doing … so that we can provide the data that can help bishops and priests.”

He said, “This is really a tool for the edification and help of the church.”

With respect to theology and doctrine, younger priests are far more likely to describe themselves as “conservative/orthodox” or “very conservative/orthodox,” as opposed to “very progressive,” “somewhat progressive” or “middle of the road,” according to the report.

“More than half of the priests who were ordained since 2010 see themselves on the conservative side of the scale,” said the report. “No surveyed priests who were ordained after 2020 described themselves as ‘very progressive.'”

That shift became particularly apparent among the cohort of respondents ordained between 1985-1989, and has continued to the present, according to the report.

One survey respondent quoted anonymously in the report said “priests in their 70s and 60s now would be one cohort,” with a Pope John Paul II generation that “would be very orthodox” with some “freeflowing” liturgical approaches. The respondent broadly characterized priests ordained during Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy as “the hard-on-everything kind of guys,” while “the young guys now … have a lot in common with those last few cohorts.”

The report noted that while theologically “progressive” and “very progressive” priests once made up 68% of new ordinands — the 1965-1969 cohort — it added that number today “has dwindled almost to zero.”

White also told OSV News that as “the priesthood has become more unified over time theologically, it’s become more moderate politically, and it’s become more racially diverse, racially and ethnically diverse over time.”

In fact, the report noted that in contrast to the theological trend among priests, the trend in their political views “seems to have stabilized to include a large proportion of ‘moderates.'”

“While roughly half (52%) of the recently-ordained cohort described themselves as ‘conservative’ or ‘very conservative,’ a full 44% (the highest percentage of any cohort) self-described as ‘moderate,'” said the report.

Yet “it’s important to qualify” such descriptors, said White.

“These are ways that priests themselves chose to describe themselves. And across generations, that changes,” he said, stressing that “context matters.”

“At the Second Vatican Council, Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) would have fairly been described as sort of a reformer or more progressive relative to his surroundings,” White said. “And without having changed too much 30 years later, he would have been described very differently.”

Additionally, “despite younger age and ordination cohorts trending more conservative/orthodox both politically and theologically, the overwhelming majority of these youngest priests do value accountability to Pope Francis,” who is often regarded as being more liberal than his predecessors, said the report.

The researchers found as well that priests tended to trust bishops whom they perceived to share their theological and political views. Overall, levels of trust expressed by priests in their bishop varied widely among dioceses, from 100% to as low as 9%.

Noting that “the causes and consequences of these shifts” are “no doubt complex,” the report said qualitative interviews with respondents pointed to “two watershed moments” that shape priests’ perception of themselves: the Second Vatican Council and the clergy sexual abuse crisis of 2002.

Regarding the abuse crisis, the report anonymously quoted several respondents ordained after 2002 who indicated they accepted that healing the wounds is essential to their pastoral ministry.

“The Lord intends to use me and my priesthood to help restore this and restore the trust and credibility of the priesthood for people,” said one respondent, while another quoted his seminary rector as saying, “You guys will spend your entire priesthood restoring trust.”

The data showed that “71% of priests report knowing at least one victim-survivor of clergy sexual abuse, with 11% knowing five or more.”

However, priests are also among the victims of sexual abuse with 9% reporting they personally experienced sexual harassment or abuse or suffered sexual misconduct during priestly formation or seminary; another 6% said they were unsure or preferred not to answer.

The majority of priests surveyed (69%) “say that they feel well-prepared to minister to a victim of abuse, and 54% report that they are already doing so,” the report said.

“There’s a sense in which the church in the United States is about two decades ahead of much of the rest of the church in responding to the abuse crisis,” White said.

He and his team found in their report that “against the backdrop of all these challenges, priests remain largely satisfied in their ministry and few (4%) are considering leaving.

“Many of these trends have been decades in the making and show little sign of reversal any time soon. Building trust and restoring confidence begins with mutual understanding,” the report stated. “It is our hope that the data presented here can strengthen that understanding among all Catholics, but particularly for our bishops and priests upon whom so much depends.”

— Gina Christian, OSV News

Grandparents as teachers

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Mary Regina Morrell

The cut on my arm was a small one, but my three-year-old grandson noticed the blood immediately and ran over to blow on my arm to stop the flow.

“You have a booboo. You need a bambaid!” he proclaimed. “I get it.”

Not your ordinary “bambaid,” mind you. Only a teenage mutant ninja turtle bandage could fix what was wrong. At that moment, he fixed more than a tiny cut.

This morning, as I was getting dressed for work, the bandage was still there. I could have removed it from the noticeable spot on my arm, but I didn’t. I wore it to work in all its green glory. Truthfully, it is more beautiful to me than any piece of jewelry I could be wearing, except perhaps for the adjustable dollar store mood ring I often wear – a gift from an adorable granddaughter. On a tough day I just look down at the changing colors and smile. It always improves my mood.

It is not simply the experience of being a grandparent that gives you the freedom to make decisions that others might scoff at, or question, or to value things now that would have had little value in the past.

It is the unconditional love within the relationship that changes everything; the difference in the case of a grandparent is that our love has matured like fine wine. We have gained the perspective and wisdom of age to know what is truly important and valuable; we develop a freedom to not worry about what others may think, which allows us to wear cartoon bandages to work, make taffy from marshmallows by pulling it back and forth between our fingers, make silly faces in a restaurant if it inspires a child’s laughter, allow “Hop on Pop” to become a daily activity, not just a book, or be a 24 hour presence for a sick child, no matter how tired or sick we are.

Our Grandparents

We thank you, Lord, for our grandparents who have played such an important role in our lives.
We remember with joy all of the time spent together doing simple things like fishing, doing a puzzle, baking cookies, taking a walk, reading a story and learning about the wonder of nature.

Thank you for the privilege of hearing their stories of life in another time and place that inspired us to work hard, be patient, courageously endure hard times, and dare to follow our dreams.

We are forever grateful for the wisdom and stability they provided when we felt our world was falling apart.

What a great gift to us that they loved us just because we were their grandchild. Thank you that they counted it joy to spend time listening as we told them about the big and little things going on in our lives. May we continuously feel their hugs and feel the warmth of their smiles so that we can better comprehend your constant and unchanging love for us.

We ask your kind forgiveness for the times we failed to appreciate our grandparents, for the times we were too wrapped up in ourselves and our own activities to spend more time with them.

Help us to become more like them as we age, learning how to accept with grace the limitations of aging bodies. Give us their strong and supernatural grace to face the loss of our own aging friends and family the same way our grandparents have. May we learn from them how to face the prospects of our own limited time on Earth and our own deaths with the dignity, peace, and assurance of eternal life.

And when our time comes to be grandparents ourselves, help us to follow in their loving footsteps.

Resources: Jesuitresource.org on xavier.edu

—Originally published in the Fall 2023 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.

Movie review: ‘Priscilla’

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Our Sunday Visitor

Hip-swiveling icon Elvis Presley was a singular figure in many respects. As “Priscilla” (A24), a dramatization of the courtship that eventually led to his marriage demonstrates, his take on romance was one of them.

Indeed, the relationship that writer-director Sofia Coppola’s screen version of Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me” charts is a strange mix of the respectable and the unsavory. Start with the fact that the star’s future wife (Cailee Spaeny) was only 14 when she first met the 24-year-old King of Rock and Roll (Jacob Elordi).

The stepdaughter of a U.S. Air Force officer (Ari Cohen) stationed in Wiesbaden in what was then West Germany, star-struck Priscilla Beaulieu gets to know Elvis during his own overseas service in the military. Once his stint in the Army is over, the two maintain a long-distance attachment until she graduates and moves to Memphis, Tennessee, under his auspices.

Though the pair’s deepening bond is a source of understandable concern to both her parents – Dagmara Dominczyk plays her mom, Ann – Elvis manages to convince them that his intentions are honorable. And, true to his word, he sees to it that the quasi-cohabitation that follows Priscilla’s return to the States remains chaste until their wedding night.

The screenplay makes clear, however, that this restraint was a source of discontent to Priscilla. Even for viewers committed to the virtue of chastity in the teeth of contemporary mores, moreover, Elvis’ self-control comes across as being at least partly influenced – and, to that extent, tainted – by his desire to control his much-younger partner.

This moral ambiguity typifies the ethical fault line on which the fact-based plot uneasily sits. Can it ever be healthy, after all, for a world-famous, wildly rich and therefore powerful adult to carry on even a nonphysical affair with a freshman in high school?

The film skirts a number of such red lines and takes the audience with it. Thus, Elvis isn’t exactly an addict, but he certainly pops a lot of prescription pills (and experiments, along with Priscilla, with LSD). Nor is he a full-blown abuser, yet his explosive temper – fueled, perhaps, by all the drugs he’s taking – finds vent in a series of ugly moments.

When the time comes for the script to portray Priscilla’s decision to seek a divorce, a similar tension prevails. As will by now be obvious, she had much about which to complain.

Still, on a dramatic level, her departure feels abrupt – if only because of the series of consistently swift reconciliations that have preceded it. Additionally, there’s an overwhelming temptation to speculate on what might have happened had Priscilla remained and tried to help her spouse break free of his downward cycle.

Overall, though generally low-key in tone, the picture is worrisomely peculiar in content. Accordingly, even after Priscilla has left the building, moviegoers will still be trying to sort through the ins-and-outs of this eccentric, sometimes uncomfortable but not, ultimately, unappealing tale.

The film contains mature themes, including addiction and borderline physical abuse, narcotics use, scenes of premarital sensuality, sexual references, frequent profanities, a few milder oaths, a couple of rough terms and at least one crass expression. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

—John Mulderig, OSV News