The 2007 Journal

61 Pages·2007·9.94 MB·English

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T H E S A I N T L O U I S A B B E Y
J O U R N A L
2006-2007
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S
aint Louis Abbey was founded through the close cooperation between
Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey in England and Saint Louis
laymen who, in the early 1950s, had a vision of building and maintaining
a Catholic college preparatory school of the highest order and supporting a
Benedictine monastery to run that school. In 1955 that vision became a reality
and today the Abbey consists of a one hundred fifty acre campus in West Saint
Louis County with a monastic community that operates a day school for talented
and motivated young men in grades seven through twelve, and a parish of the
Archdiocese of Saint Louis.
The heart of the Abbey is centered in the monks, the Benedictine Rule
and the vow of stability taken by the monks to remain at the Abbey for life.
Radiating from the monks is a warmth that nourishes an ever-widening family of
students and faculty, alumni, parents, parents of alumni, parishioners and other
friends who, in their diversity, are bound together through participation in the
life of the Abbey. Laus tibi, Domine.
Editor: Julie S. Constantino
Assistant Editor: Shelly M. Kurtz
The Saint Louis Abbey Journalis published by
the Development and Public Relations Office
of The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis,
500 South Mason Road, Saint Louis, Missouri,
63141-8500. We look forward to keeping
alumni, parents, parents of alumni, parishioners
and friends informed, and we encourage ideas
for articles and class notes.
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
www.stlouisabbey.org
www.priory.org
Cover Photograph:
The seals designed by Paul J. Bussmann ’75
commemorate anniversaries completed on
June 3, 2007, for the Abbey, the School
and the Parish.
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T H E S A I N T L O U I S A B B E Y
J O U R N A L
Volume XLVI 2006-2007
CONTENTS
FROM THE MONASTERY
From the Calefactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
The Abbey Golden Jubilee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Golden Jubilee Scholarship Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Vocations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Business Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Endowment Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Development and Public Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Necrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
FROM THE SCHOOL
Headmaster’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
The School Golden Jubilee: September 6, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Graduation Day: May 27, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Achievements and Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Special Prizes and Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
The Year in Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Faculty Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Junior School Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
College Counseling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Admission News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Aim High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Campus Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
FROM THE ALUMNI
President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Reunions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
FROM THE PARISH
Pastor’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Parish Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Parishioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Saint Louis Abbey Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Saint Louis Abbey Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover
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F R O M T H E M O N A S T E R Y
Father Abbot, Father Paul and Father Ralph processing into the Abbey Church led by Brother Alban
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Yet this we know, that on the Last Day, when all is revealed,
From the Calefactory
there shall have been worked out in these lives, in response to the
call of the Lord, at the intercession of Saint Louis, of Saint
J Anselm, of Saint Benedict, and for all of their mother Saint Mary,
une 2007 marked the
Mother and Mediatrix of Grace –there shall have been worked
conclusion of the two-year
out in these lives, in these children of God, according to the pre-
celebration of the Golden
destination of the Lord and the measure of the gift of his grace,
Jubilee of Saint Louis Abbey
the pattern of Christian holiness. This too we know, that on that
and Saint Louis Priory School,
Day, we shall see that holiness to be nothing less than this: each
and the fortieth anniversary of
one of them, with whose lives our lives were intertwined here,
Saint Anselm Parish. At the
each one of them, and each of us, now definitively caught up,
Solemn Vesper Service of
each in a unique way, into the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity,
Thanksgiving on June 3, Abbot
into the triune life of God, into communion with the Father, the
Thomas
Son and the Holy Spirit, and through them, with one another,
delivered the following homily:
that communion which is glory, and eternal life, and boundless
In this last service of prayer
joy forever: Laus tibi, Domine! Praise to you, O Lord! What else
Abbot Thomas Frerking, OSB and praise of our Jubilee years
have I in heaven but you? Apart from you I want nothing on
for Saint Louis Abbey, Saint Louis Priory School and Saint Anselm
earth. My body and my heart faint for joy; God is my possession
Parish, we give thanks to the Lord for all the graces and blessings
forever. For from him, and through him, and in him are all
he has given us during the Jubilees, and during all the fifty years
things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
which led up to them. How innumerable and how incomprehensi-
ble these graces and blessings In his homily, Abbot Thomas made reference to those monks
are. We can only point toward the communities which are their now in the Community who may well be present to celebrate the
context, only intimate, in the words of revelation, their Abbey’s one hundredth anniversary. What follows is a brief
deepest meaning. description of each one of the newer members of the monastic
From a monastery of three on the day of its foundation, he Community:
has brought us to be an abbey of thirty, among whose younger Brother Alban Salinas’99, the first
members are those who will surely see the celebrations of its one alumnus, after Father Gregory, to try his
hundredth anniversary. From a little group of teachers and boys in vocation and persevere: After completing
four temporarily partitioned rooms in a barn, he has brought the his undergraduate degree cum laudein
School to be a nationally recognized institution which numbers Philosophy and Languages at Saint Louis
among its alumni men of leadership and service in all the voca- University last spring, he has had a full-
tions of Christian life. From its beginnings as a handful of wor- time assignment in the School this year,
shippers in a little chapel in the old monastery building, he has teaching two Theology courses, assisting
brought the Parish to be the spiritual home of a thousand families, Father Ralph with coaching Varsity
among whom are many of the lay leaders of the Church of Saint Tennis, serving as Assistant Faculty
Louis, in whom are so many marked by an intense Eucharistic Moderator of the Student Council, and serving as Assistant
devotion and a dedicated service of the poor, from whom have Director of Admission. It would not be too much to say that he
come some twelve vocations to the Church in the past few years. has had outstanding success in the School. God willing, he will
Yet these institutions, I say, are only the context of the lives of make his Solemn Vows on August 25, 2007, and have one more
the now tens of thousands of human beings who have made them year of full-time work in the School, before he begins his full-time
up over these fifty years, and to whom the Lord’s blessings have studies in preparation for ordination to the priesthood.
been given and in whose souls his graces have been worked. Before
the images in our minds and hearts of all these men and women, Brother Linus Dolceholds a Doctorate
of all these children of God, our inner and our outer voice fall in Physical Chemistry from Princeton
silent. Who in this life can comprehend the immense tapestry of University, and as a Junior monk taught
their lives and journeys? Who can search out the meaning of their physics, physical science, and mathemat-
joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears, their sufferings and exulta- ics in the School. To express how well he
tions, the secret whisperings of Almighty God in their hearts, and did in the School, I need only say that
their turning to him? “O the depth of the riches of the wisdom one of the members of the Science
and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments Department, not given to effusive lan-
and beyond investigation his ways!” guage, just kept saying, “When will he
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be back? When will he be back?” Brother Linus is presently in know as much or more as oneself. He has taken over from Brother
full-time theological studies with the Dominicans in Washington, Sixtus as the monk mostly responsible for Abbot Patrick’s care.
DC in preparation for ordination; he is resident at Saint Anselm
Brother Cassian Koenemann’97, the
Abbey, where Father Dominic is assigned for a three-year period.
third young alumnus monk, holds a B.S.
Brother Maximilian Toczylowski’00, the degree magna cum laudein Economics
second of the young alumni monks: As a and Human and Organizational
Junior monk, he also had great success in Development from Vanderbilt University;
the School, as well as in the Aim High before entering the Postulancy, he worked
program. He made his Solemn Vows last as a consultant for IBM in Washington,
September, and he is completing his DC. He was the major force behind the
undergraduate degree at the University of recent redesign of the Abbey website, and
Notre Dame. Next year he will be at Saint is already active in the monastery vocations work. He is also one
Benet’s Hall, Oxford, where, after a year of the monks responsible for Abbot Luke’s care.
of preliminary study, he will undertake the Oxford University
Brother Cuthbert Elliott’02, the fourth
B.A./M.A. in Theology in preparation for ordination to the priest-
young alumnus monk, graduated last
hood. He will be well qualified to teach both Theology and
Spring with a B.A. degree summa cum
History in the School, as well as to coach Cross Country and
laude from the College of the Holy Cross,
Track.
with a double major in Classics and
Brother Francis Heinis a graduate of Theatre. He is in his first year of the
Chaminade; he holds an B.A. in novitiate, and (God willing) will profess
International Studies from the University his Simple Vows on September 1, 2007.
of Missouri at Columbia, and an M.A. in
International Business from Webster Brother John McCusker’01, the fifth
University. From 1989 to 1996 he lived young alumnus monk, received his B.A.
in Japan, first working for the govern- degree in History and Theology from the
ment of the Aomori Prefecture and then University of Notre Dame in 2005, and
at the five-star hotel in Lake Towada ended his undergraduate work on the
National Park. He speaks, reads and writes Japanese fluently. He is Dean’s Honor List. Brother John worked
currently completing studies in Philosophy at Saint Louis at an inner-city Catholic school during
University. the 2005 - 2006 school year as a teacher
in the Augustinian Volunteer Program,
Brother Sixtus Roslevichobtained his
with a fifth-grade homeroom and teach-
B.A. in Theatre from Penn State; from
ing various subjects from grades five through eight. He began his
the 1970’s until 2005, he was Property
novitiate in January 2007.
Master for the Repertory Theatre and
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and
The Lord continues to bless us by sending men our way to try
Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts at Webster
their vocation; it is particularly gratifying, in this Jubilee year, to
University. Beginning in the summer of
see how many young alumni have taken this step. Please continue
2007, he will pursue theological studies at
to pray that the Lord will send us men of generous and dedicated
the Beda College in Rome, where Father
spirit, who truly desire to seek God and live the Benedictine way
Gerard did his theological studies, in preparation for ordination to
of life. It will indeed be they who stand here in fifty years to cele-
the priesthood.
brate our next great Jubilee!
Brother Andrew Senaystudied physics at
the University of Missouri at Rolla, and
holds a B.A. in Political Science from
Saint Louis University. Like Father
Ambrose, Brother Andrew is a voracious
reader, and it is hard to bring up a subject
in conversation about which he does not
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The Abbey Golden Jubilee
October 2005 – June 2007
We begin this article with Golden Jubilee events occur-
ring during the period August 2006 through June
2007. The inauguration date of the Golden Jubilee was
October 15, 2005, and we covered events through July 2006 in last
year’s Journal. A complete chronological booklet of the entire two-
year celebration is being compiled by Father Timothy and will be
available to all members of the Abbey family upon completion.
The first event in this second Golden Jubilee year was the
Mass to celebrate the School’s Golden Jubilee was celebrated by
Fortieth Anniversary Celebration Mass for Saint Anselm Parish on
Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, Headmaster Father Michael and
August 26, 2006. The Mass was followed by dinner at Greenbriar
Guestmaster Father Augustine.
Country Club attended by an outstanding number of parishioners
Athletic Association, music in the church, air conditioning in
and friends who heard reminisces from both the current Pastor
the church and other highlights. Father Timothy concluded
Father Gerard, and the former Pastor and first Benedictine monk
with his dream – weekend Masses where everyone is there a lit-
pastor Father Timothy.
tle ahead of time, takes full, conscious and active part, and goes
Father Gerard thanked Cardinal Ritter for establishing Saint
away at the end or a little after, changed by the word of God
Anselm Parish in 1966 and Monsignor Slattery, the founding
and nourished by Christ’s Body and Blood, to put into fruitful
pastor. He thanked Father Columba Cary-Elwes, founding prior of
practice all that they have heard and prayed.
the monastery, and all of the monks who welcomed the establish-
The next celebration was the Golden Jubilee of the first day
ment of the Parish on the monastery grounds and for use of the
of Priory School on September 6, 2006. The School doors
monastery church. He thanked Abbot Luke and the monks for
opened on September 6, 1956. The celebration began with
agreeing to take over the care of the Parish in 1981, and Father
Mass officiated by Archbishop Raymond Burke; it was a School
Timothy as first monk pastor from 1981 to 1995.
Mass at 8:15 a.m. attended by all students, Society members,
Father Timothy began by saying reminiscences are not system-
alumni, parents, alumni parents and friends.
atic history; they are not complete; so do not take umbrage if you
are not mentioned.
It does not mean
you have not done
wonderful work for
the Parish. Father
Timothy said the
Parish Council is the
principal organ of
lay involvement in
the Parish. He spoke
about the Parish
support of
Mirebalais in Haiti
and his trips there,
the generous support
of Holy Trinity
Parish with a schol-
arship fund and
manual labor for
their playground,
the Saint Vincent de
Paul Society, the
Student Council members with Archbishop Raymond L. Burke after the School Mass
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In his homily, the Archbishop said, “Today, we travel back in School and monastic Parish. Our gratitude for the gift of these
our memory to fifty years ago, this very day, when Saint Louis great treasures is expressed, best of all, by our profound respect for
Priory School began its first day of classes. The memory of the the monastic life and our generous support of the monks called by
fifty years is not for us an indulgence of nostalgia but an inspira- Christ to the monastery.” A reception was held in the Monastery
tion for today and the future, for the mission of Priory School after Mass followed by the School day.
remains the same, to be a School for our Lord and for His service. The Fathers’ Club Golden Jubilee black tie dinner was held on
The monks of the Abbey, the lay teachers and the boys and young October 7, 2006, with a record-breaking event to honor
men of Priory School come here, so that they, like the man in the Founding Headmaster Father Timothy Horner. A detailed report
Gospel who was freed from demonic possession, may proclaim by on the event follows on page 8.
their lives, by attitude and word and action, all that our Lord Jesus After the presentation of six in the series of Saint Louis Abbey
Christ has done for them, for all of us…..In recalling the historic Concerts presented in the first year of the two-year celebration
event of September 6, 1956, the opening of Priory School, it is and recorded in last year’s Journal, the second year featured an
important for us to extend our memory yet two more years to a additional six concerts enjoyed by all in the beautiful Abbey
critical visit to Ampleforth Abbey by Monsignor James Curtin and Church. They were as follows in chronological order. Octarium, a
a group of dedicated laymen, to ask the Father Abbot to mission Kansas City-based group of eight singers, presented a program of
some of the monks to Saint Louis to establish an abbey, which, in compositions representing quite a range of styles that “laud and
accord with the Benedictine tradition, would also be a School of magnify Saints and Angels” on October 21, 2006. Starting with a
Christ….Thanks be to God, they convinced Father Abbot, and work dedicated to Saint Cecilia, the patroness of music, written by
today we celebrate the inspiration which led them to Ampleforth a contemporary American composer, the program successively
and all of the dedication and hard work which planted the Abbey focused on the Feast of All Saints, the Blessed Virgin, the three
and School in good soil and cared for its growth to the health and theological virtues (faith, hope and love), Saint Valentine, and the
strength which we witness today….In coming to offer the Holy angels.
Mass in thanksgiving to God, I, as Archbishop, am filled with On October 29, 2006, Christopher West presented a talk,
profound gratitude for all that Priory School has meant and Body Language: Commentary on the Intersection of Faith, Sex, and
means for the life of the Church in
the Archdiocese. We recall fifty
years of Priory School with grati-
tude and with the profound sense
of our responsibility, as
Archbishop, monks of the Abbey
of Saint Mary and Saint Louis,
parents and students, lay teachers
and staff, volunteers and benefac-
tors, to continue the mission of
Catholic education in the
Benedictine tradition. Before the
great responsibility for Priory
School, I urge us all to return daily
to the font of true education in
excellence, namely, Jesus Christ.
The key to the future of Priory
School is the key of the foundation
of Priory School, the monastic life
lived faithfully and generously, and
the imparting of the fruits of the
ancient monastic vocation to stu-
dents and their families, and all
who are blessed to be part of
Priory School. Priory School and
Saint Anselm Parish are, indeed,
unique treasures in the Archdiocese
of Saint Louis, our only monastic Alumni Golden Jubilee Club PrioristaiDinner — May 19. 2007
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Culture. Christopher West is a fellow of the Theology of the Body The Golden Jubilee theme was carried throughout all Alumni
Institute and holds visiting faculty appointments at Creighton events during the two-year celebration. On May 19, 2007a
University in Omaha and the John Paul II Institute for Marriage fundraiser for the Endowment Campaign, Keeping the Promisewas
and Family in Melbourne, Australia. held in the Busch Home at Grant’s Farm. Alumni were invited to
In their second concert at the Abbey Church on November join the Prioristai –an Alumni Golden Jubilee Club for those who
19, 2006, Something Old, Something New, Saint Louis Collegium contribute cash or pledges in the amount of $25,000 or more, or
Vocalepresented works by two outstanding composers of the remember the Abbey in their will with at least $100,000. The
Venetian School, Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi party was hosted by Kim and Andy Busch ’81, and it was a sensa-
along with compositions by Heinrich Schutz. tional event. Details and photographs can be seen in the Alumni
The annual meeting of the Saint Louis Abbey Society Board of section of this Journal.
Directors was held on December 8, 2006– the Feast of the To complete the weekend activities, again hosted by Kim and
Immaculate Conception. This is the traditional date for this annu- Andy Busch ’81, the Annual Alumni Picnic was held on May 20,
al event and it was fittingly held in the high School library with 2007, on the lawn of the Busch Home beginning with Mass at
more than one hundred Board members and their spouses present noon celebrated by Father Gregory ’76, and followed by a bar-
to hear commemorative speeches about the first fifty years of the beque, games for the children and visits from Grant’s Farm ani-
Abbey and the School. The main speaker for the evening was mals. The weather was as brilliant as the event.
Headmaster Father Michael Brunner. He gave special emphases to On June 3, 2007, there was an 11 a.m. Parish Mass to cele-
certain areas of the School, its work and its outreach as it carries brate the end of the Fortieth Anniversary of the founding of Saint
on its founding mission in the opening years of the third millenni- Anselm Parish. It was followed by a picnic on the grounds for all
um. Father Michael delivered a slide presentation on the Chilean Parish and Abbey family members to attend.
Manquehue Movement he visited with Priory School students in Later in the day on June 3, 2007, the monks of Saint Louis
the summer of 2006. Abbey cordially invited members of the Abbey family to join them
On December 16, 2006in their Christmas program, Saint at 5 p.m. for the Service of Thanksgiving for the closing of the
Louis Women’s Choralebegan with two pieces devoted to the Virgin Jubilees of Saint Louis Abbey, Saint Louis Priory School and Saint
Mary, both set to ancient Latin texts. They were followed by a Anselm Parish. The program was held in the Abbey Church and
Magnificat set by Guillaume Dufay. The rest of the program consisted of Solemn Latin Vespers and a Homily by Father Abbot.
included choral arrangements of popular Christmas tunes by A reception followed in the Monastery.
contemporary American composers. OnJune 8, 2007, a final concert in this Golden Jubilee two-
On December 17, 2006, the monks invited all members of year celebration was presented by KANTOREI, The Singing Boys
the Abbey family to join them for their annual 5 p.m. Mass and of Rockford, a community choir based in Rockford, IL. The pro-
Christmas Reception in the Monastery. It is always a joy to see old gram included selected choral masterpieces including music of the
friends, new friends, parishioners and alumni home for the Czech Republic, Scotland, France, Brazil, and Japan. As a tribute
Christmas holiday gather for this special event hosted by the to our American musical heritage, the boys sang arrangements of
monastic community. It is an event that many look forward to folk hymns and spirituals.
annually as it provides an opportunity to come home to the Abbey
and visit with the monks and friends.
In honor of the Golden Jubilee, the theme of the Mothers’
Club Xanadu XXXIX Auction held on February 3, 2007, was
Saint Louis Priory School - Field of Dreams – If you build it, they
will come – Celebrating Fifty Years. It was a record breaking spec-
tacular event chaired by Jerri Hoffmann and Sandy Finney, and
their team of nearly one hundred volunteers! See the School sec-
tion in this Journalfor photographs and details.
Calmus, a group of five singers from Leipzig, Germany, pre-
sented a concert on February 24, 2007. Their concert featured
works by Renaissance giants Josquin des Pres and Orlando di
Lasso, and two contemporary composers, John Tavener and Trond
Kverno. They included a very artful setting of Psalm 23 by
Wilhelm Weismann, a professor of the Leipzig Conservatory.
On May 12, 2007, Armoniapresented a program, Musical
Meditations on Jesus’ Life, focusing on Jesus’ life, death Saint Louis Abbey Golden Jubilee Concert Series: KANTOREI, The
Singing Boys of Rockford, Illinois
and resurrection.
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honor tonight not only served
Golden Jubilee Scholarship Dinner through many works of study
and scholarship, but –to men-
tion only the work I wish to
O highlight tonight –was the
n Saturday, October 7, 2006, the Saint Louis Priory School Fathers’
chief translator of that transla-
Club sponsored the Golden Jubilee Black Tie Scholarship Dinner at the
tion of the Rule of Benedict
Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. This is an annual event, now in its twentieth
which is now the most widely
year and linked this year to our Golden Jubilee. Mr. Christopher G. Griesedieck,
used translation in the English-
Chairman, welcomed guests who came to honor Father Timothy, the School’s Founding
speaking world, and so, by giv-
Headmaster, and thanked them for their support of this record-breaking Black Tie
ing us Saint Benedict in our
Dinner; it provided a net profit of more than $160,000 for scholarships to the
School. Next, Abbot Thomas Frerking was introduced and he presented his address. mother tongue, was in a funda- Father Timothy Horner, OSB
mental way a founder of the Honoree
Abbot Thomas monastic spirituality by which
all these monks and nuns, and the people they serve, live and
May I add my welcome, on behalf of the Priory School and move toward the Lord. The one whose service we honor tonight
especially myself and the monastic community of Saint Louis not only served in the priestly ministry in Saint Anselm Parish,
Abbey, to all of you who are with us this evening, and whose pres- but as the first Benedictine pastor of the Parish beginning in the
ence, we know, signals your most generous support of the School early 1980’s was the founder of Saint Anselm Parish as a
and the Abbey. And on behalf of all of us present here tonight, Benedictine parish, a founder who founded so well that almost all
may I thank our hosts, the Saint Louis Priory School Fathers’ the essential features the Parish was first given as a Benedictine
Club, their President, Mr. Mitch Pollvogt ’76, and the Chairman parish remain its essential features today, getting twenty-five years
of this Golden Jubilee Scholarship Dinner, Mr. Chris Griesedieck, later.
and may I commend them for the outstanding achievement in A founder, a monastic founder –yes, that is the special form
support of our School which has just been announced. of service which we honor and for which we give thanks tonight.
Each year at this Scholarship Dinner, it is the Abbot’s honor The great blessing of a founder for a Christian community is this,
and privilege to express, on behalf of us all, our tribute and grati- that he not only models for others the ways of living and serving
tude to some member of the Abbey Family who has given out- to which that community is called by the Lord, but, by the grace
standing service to Saint Louis Abbey and its works. It is clear that of the Lord, he establishes institutions which enable generation
in this, the Golden Jubilee Year of Saint Louis Priory School, our after generation of those who follow, and who do not have the gift
honoree should be a person who has given not only outstanding, of founding, to go on living and serving in those ways to which
but unique, service to the School and to the Abbey whose School they are called, which they could not do if they had to invent the
it is. It is clear also that there is such a person, and it is clear at institutions for themselves. What deep respect and what great
once who he is –Father Timothy. gratitude we have for the one whom we honor tonight.
In your dinner program for this evening, I have outlined a few Ladies and gentlemen, it is our custom at this dinner that at
of the multitude of services our honoree has given over the years, the conclusion of my remarks I offer to the one whose service we
not only to Saint Louis Priory School and to the Abbey, but to all recognize a special award as a token of our honor and gratitude.
the Abbey’s works. Permit me to single out three of them, and to But we monks have a firm rule that monks do not give to other
draw a conclusion from them. The Constitutions of the English monks gifts or tokens of honor, and our honoree has made it clear
Benedictine Congregation declare that the traditional works of the that he wishes that no exception be made to that rule tonight.
Congregation’s monasteries are the spreading of the Gospel However, since so much of our honoree’s service has been to the
through educational work, through parish work, and through people of the Abbey and School to whom we have been called to
study, a study whose fruits are shared with others. The one whose minister, it is very right that representatives of them should be
service we honor tonight not only served in almost every major able to express their honor and gratitude to him this evening. So I
position within the Priory School –teacher, coach, department call on Mr. James D. Switzer, Alumnus of the Class of 1964,
head, Director of Studies, Headmaster –but was the founder of member of the Saint Louis Abbey Society Board of Directors, and
Saint Louis Priory School, a founder who founded so well that Founding Chairman of the Saint Louis Priory School Advisors, to
almost all of the essential features the School was first given, carry the evening forward. But first, if I cannot give the one of
which quickly brought it to national recognition, and established whom I have spoken a gift, may I ask you to join me in an expres-
it as, in its central identity, a Benedictine School, remain its essen- sion of our deep gratitude and deep respect for The Very Reverend
tial features today, fifty years later. The one whose service we Prior Timothy Horner, of the Order of Saint Benedict.
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