This comes from Vultus Christi and also a reader:
With a heart full of joy, I was hoping you would share the news that the Diocese of Tulsa is going to be the site of a unique, and quite exciting, founding of its second Benedictine Monastery. You can catch all the news here:
God has blessed us with a wonderful Bishop, and Holy men dedicated to the Work of God!
On Vultus Christi:
The foundation of the Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle in the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma is a timely response to the Year of the Priesthood. The following notes present something of the vision for this new monastery under the Rule of Saint Benedict. Please address all inquiries to Father Mark at the address given below.
For Catholic men between the ages of 18 and 35.
Postulancy: 3-6 months
Novitiate: 2 years
Temporary Vows: 3 years
Monastic Consecration after 5 yearsCONTACT:
Reverend Father Mark Daniel Kirby, O.S.B.
1744 South Xanthus Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-5324
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“Whenever monks come back, marriages will come back.” –G.K. Chesterton
Wow, the Diocese of Tulsa sure is getting some great press these days. First, Bishop Slattery decides to regularly celebrate Mass ad orientem in his Cathedral and now this.
I can’t help but think of these lines:
“OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain,
And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet, When the wind comes right behind the rain.”
If only Mr. Hammerstein knew…
Very cool! I hope this new monastery gets lots of vocations!
Wish there was something like this in Upstate New York….sigh….
As a Texan I may smile somewhat ironically and recall the question, can anything good come from Oklahoma? But the answer surely is an emphatic yes. Tulsa must be ranked as one of the spiritual powerhouses of the country right now. This news is especially heartening coming on the heels of the news from Scranton. My prayers will be with Fr. Mark and his new Benedictine establishment there, and for Bishop Slattery, for whom one prays: “Ad multos annos!”
This is excellent news. I think the Church needs more new foundations and not less. If only more dioceses would wake up and realize the importance of monastic life.
I’m guessing not, but will they celebrate the Tridentine Mass and the Benedictine Breviary in Latin, like the monks at Clear Creek Abbey?
Having been to Clear Creek Monastery in Eastern Oklahoma several times, and being acquainted with Bishop Slattery, I imagine that this new Monastery will celebrate in the extraordinary form.
So I’m guessing they think someone over 35 has nothing to contribute….
I thought Fr. Mark was Cistercian. To which monastery is he professed?
Dear Pater OSB and others, Thank you for your interest in the new diocesan Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle. As a Cistercian (O.Cist.) I professed and lived the Rule of Saint Benedict for over 25 years. I rejoice that the call to live this particular form of Benedictine life came through the Churcc and is confirmed and supported by the Church. The Holy See authorized my release from the Order of Cîteaux specifically in order to embrace this “call within a call.” The new monastery will not be aggregated to an existing monastic congregation within the Benedictine Confederation; it is erected by the Bishop of Tulsa as a diocesan monastery. Here is some of the background:
Move to Tulsa, Oklahoma
In February 2008, Bishop Slattery invited me to Tulsa to live my monastic vocation in daily Eucharistic adoration and reparation, while offering spiritual support to my brother priests. On July 16, 2008, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a rescript from the Holy See arrived, allowing me to settle in the Diocese of Tulsa for this specific work; the rescript provided for my release from the Order of Cîteaux after a suitable time, my incardination into the Diocese of Tulsa, and the renewal of my monastic profession under the Rule of Saint Benedict in the hands Bishop Slattery, specifically to undertake a Benedictine life having Eucharistic adoration and the spiritual support of the clergy as defining characteristics.
A New Beginning
On April 2, 2009, the 4th anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, in the 25th year of my monastic profession, having been released from the Order of Cîteaux and incardinated into the diocese of Tulsa, I made a new profession under the Rule of Saint Benedict in preparation for the foundation of a monastery of diocesan right, dedicated to Eucharistic adoration and to the spiritual care of the clergy: the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle.
The rite of monastic profession on April 2, 2009, in the presence of Bishop Slattery, Abbot Raphael, O.Cist. of Rougemont, distinguished representatives of the Benedictine Order, and of the diocesan clergy, expressed the essential elements of this mission called forth by the Church, for the Church
The Mass was that of Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent with the readings and chants proper to that day. The Rite of Monastic Profession took place after the Gospel.
I. REQUEST
The Bishop asks Father Mark:
What is your request?
He answers:
The mercy of God, and yours, Most Reverend Father.
II. ADMONITION
Our Lord Jesus Christ, ?because of His great love for sinners, emptied himself and taking flesh of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, entered this world as Priest and Victim. ?By offering Himself upon the Cross as a spotless oblation to the Father, He won for us forgiveness of sins, changing the wrath which we merited into mercy.
No one, therefore, ?however great may be the weight of his sin, ?should despair of receiving mercy: for even now He intercedes with the Father on behalf of those who place all their trust in Him.
III. PROMISE
After this the Bishop poses the following questions to Father Mark:
Tell me, then:
Do you promise perpetually before God and his Saints stability in the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle, effective upon its canonical erection in this Diocese of Tulsa, conversion of manners, and obedience according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the Constitutions of the aforesaid monastery?
Father Mark replies: I do.
Do you promise to persevere, day after day, in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, in a spirit of thanksgiving and intercession, so as to make reparation before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus for all your brothers in Holy Orders, but especially for those who do not adore, for those who are most wounded in their souls, and for those who are exposed to the powers of darkness?
Father Mark replies: I do.
For your brother priests and in their place, do you promise to abide before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus, drawing near to His Open Heart, so that in the ever-flowing streams of Blood and Water all souls might be purified, healed, and sanctified, but first of all the souls of His priests.
Father Mark replies: I do.
Do you desire to be presented to Our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Priest and Lamb of Sacrifice, so that by the action of the Holy Spirit, you might live more closely united to him as priest and victim?
Father Mark replies: I do.
Do you believe ?that if you ever act otherwise you will be condemned by him whom you mock?
Father Mark replies: I do.
Although conscious of your weakness, are you resolved to live this charism in total dependence on the Blessed Virgin Mary, Advocate of Priests and Mediatrix of All Graces, and in communion with Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse, and Saint John, the Beloved Disciple who, in obedience to the word of Jesus crucified, took Our Lady into his keeping?
Father Mark replies: I am.
The Bishop adds: May God who has begun this good work in you, bring it to completion.
Father Mark replies: Amen.
IV. READING OF PROFESSION DOCUMENT
Father Mark reads the profession document he has written beforehand, signs it and places it on the altar.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I, Mark Daniel Kirby, priest, in religion, Father Mark Ioannes Maria a Corde Iesu, promise perpetually ?stability in the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle, effective upon the canonical erection thereof in this Diocese of Tulsa, conversion of manners, ?and obedience ?according to the Rule of Saint Benedict ?and the Constitutions of the aforesaid monastery: ?this before God and his Saints, whose relics are here, ?and in the presence of the Most Reverend Edward J. Slattery, Bishop of this diocese of Tulsa. ?In witness thereof ?I have written this document with my own hand ?and signed it here in the oratory of the Episcopal Residence, ?in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma,?on this 2nd day of the month of April ?in the year of our Lord 2009. ?
So I’m guessing they think someone over 35 has nothing to contribute
No, it’s that they understand that older men often have difficulty in adjusting to the monastic life.
Wonderful news! May they be blessed abundantly!