Benedict Simmonds
b. 11/30/38
d. 1/17/13
First profession 3/21/86
Solemn profession 6/17/89
Br. Benedict Simmonds died peacefully Thursday evening at 8:00 PM. Abbot Robert Barnes and Abbot Damian Carr (of Spencer, here for a meeting) were with him reciting the prayers for the dying.
In the course of the day, a number of Br, Benedict’s local friends–Shirley Echelmann, Madeline MacNeil, Beverly Pearce, George Patterson, George Ohrstrom–either volunteered time to watch at his bedside or visited to say their farewells. Br. Benedict had expected to die five years ago from a congenital kidney problem but had to courageously soldier on with fatigue and physical limitations. Yet he would participate in important community meetings and cast his vote in community decisions, very much a part of our life at Holy Cross Abbey. It is both a sorrowful and beautiful day in the community, a monastic life beautifully concluded.
When the schedule for his funeral is finalized, it will be posted here