ST. PETER'S

ABBEY

! Vol. 12, NO.2 Autumn 1988

St. Peter's Cathedral, Muenster, Saskatchewan. See Parish Profile inside.

Published by the Benedictine community of St.Peter's Abbey, Muenster, Saskatchewan, SOK2YO,three times a year: February, June and Oc­tober. Deadline: the 15th of the previous month.Editor: Gerald Moran, OSBRegular contributors: Abbot Jerome Weber,OSB; Peter Novecosky, OSB; Albert Ruetz, OSB;Bernard Lange, OSB; Maurice Weber, OSBPhoto credits: Photos by Meidl, Moran, Ruetz,Ward & Weber.

Abbot Jerome's ActivitiesBy Abbot Jerome Weber

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Clandinin, of like every bishop for his diocese, toSt. Claude, Man., donated $35,000.00to make a report on the abbacy, to makethe Abbey as a scholarship fund, the a personal visit to the visible represen­interest of which each year is to help tative on earth of Jesus Christ, and topay for the education of priesthood stu- visit those congregations at thedents. I went to visit them on Aug. 24, Vatican with which I have some con­to thank them personally for this great tact from time to time. It is also re­act of generosity. I stayed overnight at quired to go to the tomb of the apostlethe nearby Trappist Monastery of Our Peter, who was appointed by Christ toLady of the Prairies and enjoyed the be head of his church, and to that of st.hospitality of Abbot Marcel and the Paul. In this way the local churchmonks. keeps in direct contact with the very

On Sept. 14 I left for Collegio Sant' origins of our Catholic faith.Anselmo in Rome to take part in a Con- The bishops from the Maritime pro­gress of Benedictine abbots and priors, vinces of Canada were making such aSept. 16-27.About 230were present, and visit at the same time as I was inthey came from every continent and Rome, and I was able to follow themmany countries. There were several after each bishop had a private au­papers read on the topic "The Holy dience with the pope. After all theSpirit and monastic life." These formed private audiences were over, we allthe topic for discussions among various gathered with the pope who then gavelanguage groups: English, Italian, an address to us at the end of whichFrench and German. There were also there was a picture taken of the wholeseveral discussions about the school in group with the pope in the centre.which liturgy, philosophy and theology On the following days, I went toare taught. some of the congregations and also to

During those days we also visited the Basilica of st. John Lateran, andSubiaco, where St. Benedict began his the Basilica of Mary Major. In the lat­life as a monk. On Sunday, Sept. 23, we ter, according to tradition, the bones ofwent to the square in front of St. st. Jerome are in a small vessel underPeter's Basilica for the Mass celebrat- the high altar. It happened to be Sept.ed by Pope John Paul II during which 30, the feast day of St. Jerome and myhe declared blessed Cardinal Joseph nameday. On the following Monday,Dusmet who had been abbot of the Ben- Oct. 3, I returned to Canada, happyedictine abbey in Sicily before he was again to be at home.appointed bishop of Catania, in Sicily,and a cardinal. He was chosen by PopeLeo XIII to reopen the Benedictine Col-lege of S. Anselmo in 1887.

The next day, Sept. 26, we had anaudience at the Vatican with Pope ST. PETER'S ABBEY NEWSLETTERJohn Paul II. Later in the day we wentto the Basilica of st. Paul to con­celebrate Mass in honor of BlessedJoseph Dusmet along with CardinalMayer, a Benedictine who was prin­cipal celebrant and homilist.

I was privileged to have a privateaudience with Pope John Paul II onSept. 27. As abbot ordinary of Muen­ster, I am required every five years, Logo designed by Kurt Van Kuren, OSB.

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Abbot Jerome Weber visits with Pope John Paul II on Sept. 27, 1988.

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Father Edward Benning diesFather Edward Benning, 78, died of

a heart attack Sept. 21 in St. Paul'sHospital, Saskatoon.

Father Edward (Clarence) Benningwas born in Arcadia, Wisconsin, in1910. He took his high school studiesand first year university at St. Peter'sCollege from 1924-29.

He was preceded to St. Peter's bythree brothers, Leonard and Xavier,already doing their seminary studiesas members of St. Peter's Abbey, andAnthony, a senior high school student.

As a student, Clarence distinguishedhimself in several dramatic produc­tions and oratory contests, and alsoplayed the violin in the schoolorchestra.

In June 1929,Clarence was investedas a novice, receiving Edward as hismonastic name. After completing hisnovitiate'at St. John's Abbey, College­ville, Minn., he made his first profes­sion of vows on July 22, 1930. He re­ceived the BA degree from St. John'sUniversity in 1932,with special creditsin Greek and French.

Father Edward was ordained to thepriesthood on June 6, 1936,at St. John'sAbbey.

From 1936-43he taught a variety ofhigh school classes at St. Peter's, in­cluding French, Latin, and religion. Hecontinued his interest in music anddramatics, played violin again in thecollege orchestra, and supplementedthe annual major dramatic produc­tions by a special Red Cross benefitprogram for several years.

During the summer of 1942he assist­ed Father Rudolph Palm, OSB, at LakeLenore, and then was administrator ofthe parish after the latter's death inAugust of that year.

In the fall of 1943Father Edwardwas appointed pastor of st. Michael'sParish, Cudworth, and st. MaurusParish, Dana and chaplain of St.Michael's Hospital. From 1945-61hewas Pastor of St. Michael's and St.Leo's north of Cudwroth. During this,his first parochial assignment, hebegan his devoted service to the CWL,

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which continued through his ministry.Since then he had the following

pastoral and chaplaincy assignments:Bruno and st. Ursula's Convent, Danaand Peterson, 1961-1967; St. Augus­tine's, Humboldt, 1967-74; Fulda andst. Elizabeth's Hospital, 1974-76;Englefeld and Leroy, 1976-81; Cud­worth and st. Michael's Hospital, andCFS Sagehill (Dana), 1981-86.

During his pastoral ministry FatherEdward supervised the building ofthree churches: St. Leo (1947), St.Maurus, Dana (1962), and the new Ho­ly Guardian Angels Church at Engle­feld (1980).

In all these assignments and pro­jects, Father Edward distinguished him­self by his dedication and his quiet andfriendly leadership.

In February 1986,Father Edwardsuffered a cerebral stroke which lefthis right side paralysed. After severalweeks in St. Michael's Hospital, Cud­worth, he returned to st. Peter's Ab­bey, Muenster, where he co-operatedvaliantly with the V.O.N. Home Caretherapists from Humboldt who visitedhim several times a week.

At the time of his death he was inSt. Paul's Hospital, Saskatoon, begin­ning his recovery from successful hipsurgery.

Funeral services for Father Edwardwere held at St. Peter's Cathedral,Muenster. Interment was in the AbbeyCemetery.

May he quickly enter into the "joyof the Master" promised to the goodand faithful servant.

Parish Profile

In 1919from January to June, theentire inside of the church was deco­rated by Count Berthold Imhoff, afriend of St. Peter's first abbot, BrunoDoerfler. Count Imhoff, who won anArt Academy Award in Berlin at theage of 16,was born in Germany but lefthis homeland to settle in Pennsylvaniaat the age of 24. In early 1914,he joineda band of settlers heading for Sas­katchewan's isolated frontier where hesettled in the St. Walburg area. Duringhis career he decorated numerouschurches throughout Saskatchewan.Imhoff's paintings may be found atLeipzig, St. Benedict, Denzil, PrinceAlbert, Reward, St. Leo, Humboldt,Paradise Hill, St. Walburg, North Bat­tleford, and Bruno, as well as St.Peter's Cathedral.

In 1939Imhoff died at his home inst. Walburg at the age of 71, leavingwell over 200 paintings which are nowexhibited in the Barr Colony MuseumBuilding in Lloydminster - a town onthe Saskatchewan-Alberta border.

For his paintings in St. Peter's

Fr. Martin Brodner celebrating theSunday Eucharist in St. Peter's Ca­thedral.

St. Peter's Cathedral- church of the abbot-ordinary.(Compiled from Fifty Golden Years and edited by G.M.)

The first mass celebrated in theMuenster district was one mile southof the town-site on May 21,1903.A cairnerected at the location commemoratesthe occasion. Father Peter Wind­schiegel offered the first parish masson June 28of the same year. That sum­mer a log church was erected just eastof the present cathedral which servedthe parishioners of St. Peter's Colonyuntil 1910.

The present cathedral, as it nowstands, was begin in 1908and official­ly opened on July 10, 1910. BishopAlbert Pascal of Prince Albert, inwhose diocese the parish was located,blessed the new church on October 2,1910.

Until the opening of St. Peter's A.b­bey/College building in 1921a t its pres­ent location southeast of the town ofMuenster, the history of St. Peter'sParish was so closely linked to that ofSt. Peter's Abbey that the history ofone is really the history of the other.Mter the Benedictine community mov­ed to the new building in November1921, the old abbey was used as theparish house, with Fr. Peter Wind­schiegl as first resident pastor.

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Cathedral, Imhoff used the monks formodels. The most famous one is thatof St. Paul which is modeled after Ab­bot Bruno Doerfler. Abbot Brunopassed away unexpectedly (aged 53),just a few weeks after the paintingswere completed.

The majestic evergreen trees aroundthe cathedral were planted first in 1932by August Olthass and completed in1933by John W. Korte.

In the summer of 1970, in prepara­tion for Saskatchewan Homecoming'71, the outside of the church wasrepaired and repainted, making theinside secure against the weather.The canvas paintings were cleanedand protected with a thin coat ofvarnish.

During the years 1984-85,a majorrenovation amounting to $60,000.00wasundertaken, and the property on whichthe cathedral and cemetery sits wassurveyed and purchased by the parishfrom the abbey for $1.00.This was thefinal step for the building to become anHistorical Site.

Over 20 ladies from st. Peter'sParish have joined the convent. Whilethe names are too numerous to listhere, it will be of interest to note thatfour members of the Albert Nenzelfamily joined the religious life invarious convents: Sisters DemetriaNenzel, CSJ, Carmelita Nenzel, CSJ,Mary Clare Nenzel, SA, and Ambrose

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Altar boys with Fr. Martin are, L. toR.: Ian Wasserman, Jeff Thoen andBrent Loehr. There are a total of 33altar boys in the parish.

Nenzel, OSU.Five sons of the parish have joined

the Benedictine order: Augustine Nen­zel, Philip Loehr, Jerome Weber, LeoHinz, and James Gray. Those joiningthe clergy of other religious groupswere: Francis Lenz, aMI, WilliamKroetsch, CSsR, Gerald Biwer, OFM,and Robert L. Maney (no communityaffiliation listed).

The first visit by Bishop AlbertPascal, aMI of Prince Albert was in1905.He later became a close friend ofAbbot Bruno, having named him vicargeneral and administrator of thePrince Albert Diocese in his absence.On August 20 of that year he ordaineddeacons and confirmed 57 personswhile he stayed in the colony for 15days. The first ordination in the parishby Bishop Pascal took place on April29, 1906, when he ordained LeoOjdowski and Casimir Cismowski aspriests for St. Peter's Monastery.Fathers Leo and Casimir were pioneermonks born in the United States.

Bishop Pascal's love for the Benedic-

tine monks was very evident. A fewmonths before his death, he requestedthe Holy See that st. Peter's Abbey beelevated to an abbey-nullius and thatthe territory in charge of the Benedic­tine community be directly subject tothe Holy See as is an ordinary diocese.This request was granted on May 6,1921in a document referred to as an

apostolic constitution. In effect, thisnow made st. Peter's Church a Cathe­dral - the seat of the abbot-ordinary.

Since 1971visitors from all over theworld have signed the cathedral guest­book after viewing the many life-sizedpaintings and the architecture of St.Peter's Cathedral, located near a smallSaskatchewan town named Muenster.

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Often seen in the cathedral congregation are the three Muenster resident Ursu­lines: L. to R. Srs. Miriam Spenrath, Lenore Moldenhauer, and Marian Noll.They have a reputation for whipping up a fast and delicious batch of pancakesfor Sunday breakfast. Sr. Miriam is the principal of the St. Peter's Pre­Vocational school, St. Lenore teaches in the Muenster Public School, while Sr.Marian is managing editor of the Prairie Messenger.

Missionaries and student monks addresses:Rev. Lawrence DeMong, OSBC.P. 161Maceio, Alagoas57,000 BrasilPhone: 011-5582-221-6815

Rev. Br. William Thurmeier, OSBSt. Basil's College95 St. Joseph StreetToronto, Ontario M5S 2R9Phone: (416) 925-4368

Br. Richard Meidl, OSBSt. Meinrad's ArchabbeySt. Meinrad, Indiana47577 U.S.A.Phone: (812) 357-6738(persona!)

Fr. Sylvester Vredegoor, OSBCollegio S. AnselmoPiazza Cavalieri De Malta, 500153ROMAItalia

Br. Bernard Lange, OSBCollegio S. AnselmoPiazza Cavalieri De Malta, 500153ROMAItalia

Br. Kurt Van Kuren, OSBc/o The Jesuit ComunityUn./San Francisco, 650 Parker AvSan Francisco CA 94118U.S.A.7

June 24Fr. Peter Novecosky left for st. John'sAbbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He willbe away for three weeks attendingsummer courses. Bro. Gerald Moranwill join him in one week for courseson the liturgy and Virgil Michel.

Fr. Norbert's Abbey ChronicleEdited by Brother Gerald

today. tBro. Michael McAllisterdeparted for the Bosco Camp where hewill work with children for the next twoweeks. tBro. David Gauthier will notgo on for final vows and has left forSaskatoon where he will take summercourses at the University of Saskatch-ewan.

June 28We just learned today of the death ofthe abbot of Mount Angel Abbey inOregon. Abbot Bonaventure preachedthe community retreat two years ago.He died of cancer on June 22.

June 29Today, the patronal feast of the abbey,Saints Peter and Paul, a communitymeeting was held re the abbey church.Fr. Andrew resigned as editor of thePrairie Messenger so that he coulddevote more time to the building of thenew abbey church.

June 30Fr. Don MacGillivray, a Saskatoonmissionary in Brazil, visited the abbey

July 1The Saskatchewan History and Folk­lore Society toured the abbey groundsagain this Canada Day. St. Peter'sCathedral was also part of their tour.

July 2Bro. Richard Meidl will be actingguestmaster while both Fr. Peter No­vecosky and Bro. Gerald Moran are atst. John's Abbey for summer school.Fr. Bernard Stauber returned homefrom Brazil.

July 9Oblate Day was considered to be verysuccessful.

Fr. Xavier Benning was the main celebrant for his 60th anniversary of ordina­tion on July 2 when his brother, Fr. Edward, and Abbot Jerome joined himas concelebrants. About 50relatives, all descendants of another brother, TonyBenning, attended the Mass. Fr. Xavier's special thanks went to Tony and Maryfor providing so many nieces and nephews to help celebrate the occasion.

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On the Feast of St. Benedict, July 11,Randy Senecal from Rosetown madesimple profession in the presence ofthe community and most of his rela­tives.

July 10Bro. William Thurmeier arrived homefrom Rome where he has been attend­ing Sant' Anselmo the past three years.His final year before ordination will bein Toronto at St. Basil's Seminary. tFr.Martin Brodner was admitted to St.Elizabeth's Hospital for irregular heartbeat. tThree postulants are invested inthe novice's habit: Vincent Regnier,Joe (now Demetrius) Wasylyniuk andDenis Fortin. Earlier in the day, thefourth postulant made a last minutedecision not to enter the novitiateprogram.

Celebrating ordination anniversarieswith the community on July 11 wereFr. Xavier Benning, his 60th, and Fr.Lawrence DeMong, his 25th.

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July 12Fr. Martin returned home from the hos­pital where he was recuperating froman "accelerated heart rate." tBrothersThomas Ward and Nicodemus VanAmelsvoort departed this morning forMorristown, New Jersey, where theywill attend the Monastic Summer In­stitute for Juniors at St. Mary's Abbey.They will be away for the entire coursewhich lasts four weeks.

July 16Fr. Joseph Ackerman drove to st.John's Abbey earlier this week, wherehe renewed acquaintances before driv­ing Fr. Peter and Bro. Gerald backfrom the summer liturgy course. Afterstaying overnight with the Benedictinesisters in Winnipeg, they arrived homesafely for supper.

The Muenster Fire Department helda practice/drill session at the collegebuilding on July 13. They were ableto force water high enough to hit thebell tower, the highest point on theproperty.

July 18Fr. Maurice Weber ended up in Shau­navon Hospital with high blood pres­sure while visiting his relatives.

July 23Fr. Andrew Britz' father, Anton Britzof Lake Lenore, passed away in hospi­tal shortly after being admitted forheart problems. Mr. Britz was 84yearsof age.

July 26Some of the abbey community attend­ed the funeral of Anton Britz today. Aninformal farewell for Fr. LawrenceDeMong was held after Vigils tonight.Fr. Lawrence is going to the abbeymission in Brazil for one year while Fr.Sylvester Vredegoor is on sabbatical inRome.

July 28Br. Basil Schaan travelled to Melfortfor a Crop and Livestock Field Day. tFr. Xavier Benning left to attend hissister's funeral. Sr. Benedicta died inSouth Dakota.

July 30For the second time this year theaquarium fish have been disturbed by

night visitors. The fish maternity wardand kindergarden pen, as well as thehermitage were lying at the bottom ofthe tank. The beautiful blue Chinesefighting fish donated by a friend of theabbey was stolen.

Aug. 1August came in very wet with 43 mm(1% inches) of rain; late but still ap­preciated. The garden vegetables areready for harvesting.

Aug. 6Fr. Maurice has left for the Universi­ty Hospital where he will undergo testsfor the next week.

Aug. 11All the monks, except for four, attend­ed the 75th anniversary celebrations atthe Ursuline Convent in Bruno. Reli­gious celebrations will take place onAugust 15.

Aug. 15Brs. Basil Schaan, Conrad Abs andFrancis Fortney travelled to St. Laur­ent for the ordination of Phil ReIlandas deacon.

A farewell gathering was held in the community room on Aug. 25for the student­monks who will be departing in the next few days for further study. They arefrom left: Bros. Kurt VanKuren, William Thurmeier, Thomas Ward andRichard Meidl.

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Last year's St. Pius X seminarians who have returned for the opening retreatheld at St. Peter's Abbey are pictured above. The retreat which began on Sept.2 and ended on Labor Day was conducted by Prince Albert's Bishop B. Morand.The new rector, Fr. Ken Beck, planned for a shorter retreat this year and asa result the seminarians did not take part in the annual potato picking andthrowing "contest".

Aug. 16Fr. Albert Ruetz, Oblate director forthe abbey, will attend the Oblate con­ference to be held at Mt. Angel Abbeyin Oregon. tAnother community meet­ing re the abbey church is scheduledfor tomorrow.

Aug. 21The juniors and novices enjoyed a coolafternoon at Waldsea Lake with the Ur­sulines. Corn-on-the-cob, roasted overan open fire, helped warm the weatherup. Another all-day outing to WaskesiuLake is planned for next Tuesday. Seegroup photo in this issue.

Aug. 22The Abbey Liturgy Committee meet-ing was held today. Melissa Stockbrugger presents Fr.

Albert Ruetz with a cheque for $538.74Aug. 27 on behalf of the 1987-88student bodyBros. Michael McAllister, Thomas toward the Alumni Scholarship Fund.Ward and Gerald Moran attend the The money was realized at the year­priestly ordination of Guy Rivard. A end social sponsored by the students.

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Sister Victoria, OSE, the newest member of St. Scholastica's community, ad­mires the art and hand-work done by "retired" Sister Martina, OSE. The quiltwas made out of "old" Mass vestments no longer in use.

Dominican friar, Guy was ordained byBishop James Mahoney in St. Paul'sCathedral. Five of Fr. Rivard's con­freres from Ottawa attended the or­dination and reception which followed.

Sept. 1The community's major annualchapter meeting today.

Sept.3Bro. Randy Senecal is visiting hismother Elaine in the Rosetown Hospi­tal. She was experiencing irregularheart beat and will be under observa­tion for a few days.

Sept. 6Today was Secretarial Arts registra­tion day. First-year university Arts &Science registration and photos willtake place tomorrow.

Sept. 10Charlie Mankowski, a long-term guest,has missed out on our annual potatoe­picking day. Charlie left two days agofor the Catholic Bible College of

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Roxanne Strueby and Darcy Loehrwho worked most of the summer inthe abbey gardens are seen here withRob Clark picking peas. Roxanne andDarcy live in the Muenster area andRob, who most recently comes fromEdmonton, is a student at St. An­drew's College, University of Sas­katchewan.

Some of the tastiest plums grown inSaskatchewan and nurtured byFathers Xavier Benning and JamesGray in the abbey orchard are pic­tured above. All four brands of plumsshown produced a good yield thissummer. Unfortunately, the supplyquickly dwindled after the firstpicking.

Sept. 14Fr. Edward was transferred to st.Paul's Hospital where he will undergoa hip operation for placement of a steelpin.

Sept. 13Abbot Jerome left for the Abbot's Con­gress in Rome and for his 'ad limina'visit. The same day, Fr. Edward felland broke his hip.

Sept. 11Marriage Preparation Courses beginthis afternoon and st. Peter's Chorusresumes rehearsals tomorrow eveningat 7:30 in the College building.

Canada at Canmore, Alberta, where hewill be a first-term student.

Sept. 16"Mountains, that you leapt like ramsor yearling sheep" (Ps 113). He may

not have resembled a yearling sheepbut when Bro. Randy Senecal leapt

Fr. Rudolph Novecosky, pastor of Annaheim invited the juniors and novicesincluding their formation director, Fr. Peter Novecosky, to his rectory for ~small informal social. From L to R are: Frs. Rudolph and Peter, BrothersDemetrius, Vincent, Randy, and Richard. Denis is hidden behind Sr. Genny,OSE, the housekeeper.

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Sister Victoria Koenig, OSE, joinedthe list of "monk-porters" in Septem­ber to help us in the Information Of­fice on the switchboard. Sister Vic­toria recently joined other membersof her community who live on the ab­bey grounds in St. Scholastica'sConvent.

over the dishwashing machine in hishabit, he was escaping from an im­aginary danger. Sensing danger froman empty bucket of water while dryingthe supper dishes, he cleared the ma­chine in his monastic garb like a deerover a garden fence.

Sept. 18Bro. Vincent Regnier and Prof. EdDyck entered the annual Terry FoxRun in Humboldt. There are conflictingversions of which one came first.

Sept. 21Fr. Edward Benning died of a heart at­tack in St. Paul's Hospital while re­cuperating from a hip operation. Seespecial obituary in this issue.

Sept. 22Bro. Wolfgang Thiem left for a homevisit to Germany this morning. Thesame day Bro. Gerald Moran departedfor his nephew's wedding in MedicineHat. Bro. Nicodemus Van Amelsvoortwill be leaving for his son's wedding inOntario in a few days.

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It has been a long time since threedeacons were gathered in the abbeyat the same time. From left are FriarGuy Rivard, OP of Ottawa (former­ly from Vonda, SaskJ, Bro. WilliamThurmeier, OSB (St. Peter's) andRev. Phil Reiland of the PrinceAlbert diocese. Friar Guy was or­dained to the priesthood on August 27.Bro. William and Phil will be or­dained next year.

After installing two new and longerculverts on Wolverine Creek, theroadway was raised about 5extra feetby the graders shown above. The jobwas completed in two days.

Br. Stanley Vindevoghel, known for his ability to get things done with dispatch,is seen directing one of the many college summer projects - replacing crackedand raised cement walks. Besides the cement truck driver Marty Ruthven (sec­ond from left), and Leo Torborg (right) assisted Br. Stan.

Sept. 24Fr. Edward was buried in the abbeycemetery after mass at St. Peter'sCathedral.

Sept. 30Denis Fortin decided to terminate hisnovitiate program today. His depar­ture has saddened the remaining nov­ices quite noticeably.

oThe annual "staff" social was held this year on August 28with softball games,card games and fried chicken dinner.

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One of the longest outings of the summer for the juniors and novices was aday-long trip to Waskesiu Lake. It was a memorable one for the editor, beinghis first visit to Canada's National Park in Saskatchewan. The photo was takenby Mirella Fortin, mother of Denis Fortin who accompanied the monks on thetrip. From left: Brs. Thomas Ward, Demetrius Wasylyniuk, Richard Meidl,Gerald Moran, Vincent Regnier, Denis Fortin, Randy Senecal and Fr. PeterNovecosky.

h·­Petronella Anderson and R. Dale Jef­frey, both of Saskatoon, were enrolledas Oblate Candidates at the Masswhich began the Oblate Day. Fr.Albert Ruetz, who appears in bothphotos, is the Oblate Director.

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Some of the other Oblates present were

from Muenster and St. Gregor

from Humboldt17

~.

~'i

r ,.Ifrom Saskatoon

from Winnipeg, Camrose, Alberta, and Denver, Colorado.18

->"',+-~ ••.,

-,"x«,i •

from Carmel and Cudworth

St. Peter's CollegeMaurice Weber, OSB, Principal

St. Peter's College classes began on is in charge of the Book Store.September 8, 1988, with 73 full-time The number of monks involved instudents enrolled, as well as 71 part- the college seems to be decreasing. Ab­time students. Last year we began with bot Jerome quit teaching History 11285full-time students. In addition to the last year. Bro. Stanley Vindevoghel,college students, there are 24 office aSB, is dean; Fr. Florian Renneberg,education students here and 29 pre- aSB, teaches Biological Science 100;vocational students. Thus we have Fr. Albert Ruetz, aSB, teaches Math­about 125students here during the day. ematics 104 and 175, and also super­There are also six students staying in vises sports; Fr. Maurice Weber, aSB,residence in Severin Hall. acts as Principal and teaches Chem-

Most of the teachers are the same istry 110; and Fr. James Gray, aSB,as in previous years but we have add- teaches the day section of English 110.ed Denis Favreau for French 120to re- Bro. Stanley, aSB, has done a mar­place Fr. Lawrence DeMong, aSB, vellous job of keeping Michael Hall inwho is now in Brazil; Murray Brad- good order and repair. He also did a lotbury for History 112 to replace John of work on the grounds, planting treesHart; Professor James Penna for Phi- and grass and flowers. In this he waslosophy 110 to replace Steve Mc- helped by some community membersCullough; Gareth Cook for Music 100to and Martin Ruthven who worked at St.replace Sr. Zita Maier, asu; Rod Peter's during July and August.Bantjes for Sociology 110 to replace A problem has arisen with the gov­Professor John Thompson. Mr. Ed ernment grant system to the college.Dyck is teaching English 253,Canadian The minister of education has notedLiterature in English, while Ms. Col- that the grant would be based on theleen Murphy is teaching Psychology 1986-87number of students. Unfortunate­221,Social Psychology. Debbie Sarauer ly this is the year we had the least

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number of students for the last eightyears. Thus our grant is down to lessthan it was three years ago. This willcause some problems in budgeting andplanning. We hope to be able to swaythe government that a fairer assess­ment be made for our grants.

Although it is too early to make anaccurate assessment of this year'scrop of first-year students, they seem

to be fitting in well and appear to beadapting quite eagerly to universitystudies. The first quarterly examina­tion the third week of October will giveus a better idea of their potential.

We look forward to having a Bene­dictine teaching philosophy, sociologyand psychology in the years to come.At the moment some are being pre­pared for these opportunities.

St. Peter's Press - Prairie MessengerThis fall marks the beginning of the

84th year of operation of St. Peter'sPress. Fifty Golden Years tells us thatthe St. Peter's Bote, begun in February1904and first printed in Winnipeg, hadits first issue printed at Muenstercarrying the date of Sept. 5, 1905.Thistook place after the new printing shopwas set up and equipped with typeset­ting equipment at the old monasterybehind st. Peter's Cathedral.

Well, a lot of things have changedin the field of typesetting, editing and

printing in the last 80 years. Somemonks have lived through most ofthose changes.

Bro. Conrad Abs, 81, still puts in afull day after working 49 years at thepress. He would gladly put in longerhours if only the Prairie Messengerwould have a bigger subscription list.

Bro. Dominic Distel surpasses Bro.Conrad's record; he has worked at thepress for more than 59 years. Bro.Dominic, who turned 83on Nov. 1, stillhelps out on mailing day to wrap the

Frequently hot food has been disappearing from the kitchen right at meal-time.It seems from the photo above the press staff, the abbacy staff, and an occa­sional pastor have been socializing over roast corn, tomatoes and roast potatoesat noon-time. Some of the lucky ones at the outdoor meal are; L. to R: RoseMarie Strueby, Fr. Rudolph Novecosky, Randy Weber, Sr. YvonneBillesberger, Emily Greter, and the "meals-on-wheels" manager, Fr. PeterNovecosky.

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Prairie Messenger. (An interestinghistorical coincidence: Bro. Dominicwas born just two months after thepress was "born" at Muenster,)

There is some young blood at thepress too. Glenda Pomedli, originallyfrom Pilger, started full time work aslay-out artist for the Prairie Messengeron March 1 of this year. She replacedDonna Rauckman of Muenster. ChristieThoen has been working at the presspart time since last year, when she wasa Grade 12 student at Muenster.

Some changes are taking place atthe Prairie Messenger staff too. Themajor one is the hiring of Art Babychof Saskatoon as editor, effective Nov.1, 1988.Father Andrew Britz has beennamed editor-in-chief and will be ableto reduce his workload with the paperto about two days.

The press and Prairie Messengerhave 10 full-time and part-time lay

staff, in addition to the monks whowork there in various capacities.

The press has expanded its printingoperation in the past several years,most significantly perhaps in printinghistory books. Various communitiesand families have put together historybooks, ranging from 50 pages to 750pages, and the press is now wellequipped to serve the printing needs ofthe surrounding area. At present thepress is preparing to print a thousandcopies of a 750-pagehistory of the Arch­diocese of Regina.

As a contribution to the current in­terest in the early history of this area,the press has reprinted the account ofFr. Bruno Doerfler and his companions'trip from Minnesota in 1902to seek aplace to establish a German Catholiccolony in Western Canada. The book­let, entitled Questfor a new homeland,also contains Abbot Jerome's historyof St. Peter's Abbey up to 1921.

Terry Fox Runin aid of Cancer Research - alternate views

Distance: 10 kilometres (6 miles)Time: 51 minutes 5 secondsTotal Pledges: $132.00(for the CancerSociety)

The ExperienceIt was a good day for a run; the

temperature was cool, the wind waslow, and the sun was shining. A goodday for sure!

Upon arriving at the start of the runI inquired about our English professorEd Dyck; he had already begun hisrun. I then began mine confident Iwould catch up to him. On 7th Ave. and10th St. I did catch Ed and passed himfor the first time.

Continuing on, I felt good and wasplanning on a strong finish. Suddenly,after 51/2 km. I discovered myself backat the starting time. After a briefdiscussion there on discerning the hid­den meaning of the red line on the mapI was back running. On 3rd Ave. and6th St. I did catch Ed Dyck and passedhim for the second time.

I still felt good, although somewhatsilly and much more cautious. Notcautious enough though! I should havebrought my skates, seeing as how I wasrunning around the arena, anyway.Backtracking, I regained my bearings.On 8th Ave. & 13th St. I did catch Edand passed him for the third time.

This was to be the last time I wasto see the back of Ed's head. I strove,wearily, to finish the run, and afterdisregarding an arrow which wouldhave sent me on my way to Bruno,completed my first Terry Fox Run.

I thank the Abbey for its pledge of$50.00.

SincerelyBr. Vincent

September 19Dear Brother Gerald:

Several people have asked me howI enjoyed the Terry Fox Run yesterdayin Humbodt. so I thought I'd share the

21

experience with the community. I ranwith Brother Vincent, but his inter­pretation of the run, as I understand it,differs somewhat from my experience.

The day was wonderful for running:cool but not cold, calm but not deathlyquiet, sunny without being too bright.I wish I could say that the map provid­ed by the organizers was as wonderfulas the day. A 10 km route should takean older man like me about 1 hour (Iha ve been running for 20 years so I doknow my speed), but this one took atleast 10minutes longer. I wasted sometime, therefore, making sure I was ontrack. But the route was reasonably in­teresting, the fall colours were out, andI didn't really mind that much.

My running companion, however,had even more difficulty with the mapthan I, and some of the time I wastedwas spent making sure he was ontrack. I am notorious for my sense ofdirection (put me in a building, turn mearound, and I'll think east is west andleft is right), but I'm pretty good atreading maps. Brother Vincent nodoubt has a much better sense of direc­tion than I, but the poor fellow kept get­ting lost! He started a few minuteslater than I, and since he's a good run­ner (and, I might add, about half myage) he caught up with me soonenough. We ran together for a fewminutes, complaining about the bad

map, before he "took off," as he put it.Well, take off he did - right off the

route, as it turned out. About fiveminutes later he caught up with meagain, grinning sheepishly and mutter­ing something about "getting lost." Ididn't say anything (when I run, I tryto conserve my breath) ; I just pointedstraight ahead and made a right-handturn signal with my arm. But BrotherVincent apparently doesn't read traf­fic signals any better than he readsmaps. Five minutes later, and hecaught up with me again. This time Idid speak: "Thirteenth," I gasped,"then right." The effort nearly cost methe race - I tripped on a kleenex ly­ing directly in my path and was savedfrom falling only by the timely inter­vention of a white-haired lady who waswalking the same route. "Look whereyou're going, young man," she cried asshe struck me on the leg with her cane.I immediately recovered my balance,and one block later the leg no longerhurt very much. Brother Vincent,meanwhile, was again "taking off" onpaths uncharted.

To make a long run short, both of usfinally did finish the route and pickedup our certificates and pledge sheets.When I suggested to him that a muchbetter route could be laid out on thegrounds of the abbey, he shook hishead. "Think of the map," he said.

- Ed Dyck

St. Peter's farm newsBy Bro. Bernard Lange, OSB

The summer has been hot and dry and the irrigation pumps.with record amounts of wind and muchbelow average rainfall. Mos~of the garden. vegetables were

The temperature and wind and lack good WIt~the exceptIon of some ca~­of moisture were fatal to some of our bage whIch suffered a he~t stroke IIIcrops because the weeds thrived in the June. Some carrots decIded no~ toheat and drought and choked out the grow. The rest was ver~ co-operatIve;grain. In July we plowed down about the cucumbers grew bIg a~d fat, the360 acres. This made harvesting a lot peas and beans were plentIful.faster, with fewer acres and a light The potatoes produced very well,crop. No grain bins are bulging and the considering they received no extraelevators are almost empty. water. All our surplus potatoes were

The corn crop came through very sold to people who requested them in. well with the help of Bro. Basil Schaan advance.

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During the Vigil Service on the eve of St. Benedict, July 10, three postulantswere invested as novices. L. to R. they are: Denis Fortin, Demetrius (Joseph)Wasylyniuk and Vincent Regnier. The novitiate is a twelve month period ofprayer, study, work, community living, made possible only with God's grace.

Stamp ExchangeU.S.A. used stamps exchanged forCanadian used stamps. Write: Fr.Rudolph Novecosky, OSB, Box 120,Annaheim, Saskatchewan, CanadaSOK OGO

"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_'l_"_"~, Oblate Days ,'Come, join us in prayer and Iifeasting, in the style of Benedict: Ii November 12, 1988 ii March 18, 1989 i: July 8, 1989 ', November 4, 1989 ,

!For information on the spiritual t'benefits of belonging to the Oblates I. of st. Benedict, contact: i

Oblate Director iFr. Albert Ruetz, OSB ,St. Peter's Abbey, ,Muenster, Sask. SOK 2YO'

e-:>"_"_"-"'_"_"_"_"_"_"_".J

2~

Rest in peaceIn your prayers please remember ourdeceased confreres, relatives and Oblates:Br. Mark Barton, OSB; St. Gregory's Ab·

bey, Shawnee, Oklahoma, - June 9/88.Fr. Martin Taylor, OSB; St. Benedict's

Abbey, Atchison, Kansas - June 5/88

Fr. Christopher Abair, OSB, St. Martin'sAbbey, Lacey, Washington - June17/88.

Fr. Michael Messer, OSB, AssumptionAbbey, Richardton, N.D. - July 10/88.

Mr. Anton Britz (father of Fr. AndrewBritz, OSB;) Lake Lenore - July23/88.

Sr. Benedict Benning, OSB; Rapid City,South Dakota - July 27/88.

Fr. Herbert Smith, OSB, St. Anselms Ab·bey, Manchester, N.H. - July 28/88 .

Fr. Daniel Regimbal, OSB: St. Martin'sAbbey, Lacey, Wash. - July 31/88.

Fr. Philip O'Connor, OSB, St. Benedict'sAbbey, Atchison, Kansas - Aug. 1/88.

Fr. Edward Benning, OSB; St. Peter'sAbbey, Muenster, Sask. - Sept. 21/88.

Me? A Monk?

COME, TRY IT for a week or two

Experience life in a monasterywith Benedictine monks at St. Peter's Abbey

Make arrangements now by contacting:Vocation DirectorSt. Peter's AbbeyMuenster, Sask., SOK 2YOPhone (306) 682·2581

St. Peter's Abbey NewsletterMuenster, SaskatchewanSOK 2YO

1+ Ca_ Po.l••Pool Ca_PoSl •...,.· Do'''' Potl DolyC

FIRST PREMI~RECLASS CLASSE

NO.4

MUENSTER, SASK.