Readings: Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 1 John 4:7-16; Matthew 11:25-30 The community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM, like a Sunday Mass, Abbot Joseph Wittstock presiding and preaching. It is a non-work day for the community and we follow the Sunday schedule. Abbot Joseph has been away, attending the Regional Meeting (12-20 June) of our U.S.A. Abbots […]

Readings: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17John 6:51-58 The community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament begins at the conclusion of Mass and continues through Vespers, ending with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The monastic community will keep thirty minute watches in […]

Readings: Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18 Today’s Gospel may seem puzzling–after all, there are Gospel passages that mention the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit and today is Trinity Sunday. But if the Church has chosen this text for our celebration, it’s worth considering why. I’d suggest that this Gospel actually provides […]

Readings: Isaiah 49:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-10; John 19:17-18, 25-39 It is with some uneasiness that I undertake to preach this funeral Mass homily, knowing Fr. Paschal’s disdain for eulogies that bear little resemblance to the one being eulogized! Accordingly, I suspect that he has been pleased with the very frank, honest, but affectionate postings […]

The Mass of the Resurrection for Fr. Paschal Balkan will be celebrated on Saturday, 10 June at 2:00 PM in the Abbey Church. The burial in the monastic cemetery will follow immediately after. Earlier in the day, Fr. Paschal’s body will have been received by the community after Lauds (approximately 7:25 AM). Between that time […]

When I showed up six years ago I don’t think Fr. Paschal was one of my fans.  After all, here I was ‘a secular’ being given access to the monastery as I tried to understand it better so I could raise a little money and hopefully raise a few monks…it wasn’t normal to have a […]

This month’s selection is actually from a Cistercian Mother–St. Gertrude of Helfta. But in what sense was she a Cistercian, since her monastery wasn’t under the jurisdiction of Citeaux? From the earliest days, the monks were reluctant to be responsible for monasteries of women. However, women were directed from the start to Tart, a reformed Benedictine […]

The Mass of the Resurrection for Fr. Paschal Balkan will be celebrated on Saturday, 10 June at 2:00 PM in the Abbey Church. The burial in the monastic cemetery will follow immediately after. Earlier in the day, Fr. Paschal’s body will have been received by the community after Lauds (approximately 7:25 AM). Between that time and […]

I imagine there may be a few people who had met Fr. Paschal who didn’t learn that he was born in South Boston, but very few. Even if Paschal himself had somehow forgotten to mention that he was a “Southie”, his accent would have said so. For all the decades that he lived in the […]

Fr. Paschal Balkan (2 April, 1927 – 1 June, 2017) died this morning at Winchester Medical Center while his community was celebrating the Mass of St. Justin Martyr. Fr. Paschal was in the forefront of everyone’s thoughts and prayers. Details of his funeral celebrations will be posted later.