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'...all of the participants highlighted Benedictine hospitality
as a central expression of counter-cultural, prophetic existence.'

The Benedictine Monks of
Weston Priory
Highlights From the Fall/Winter 2003 Bulletin

Life Together in One Heart Chronicle

MORE FROM THE FALL/WINTER 2003 BULLETIN  •  PREVIOUS CHRONICLES

December 2002

    At the beginning of December 2002, we welcomed Benedictine men and women from monasteries in North, Central, and South America to reflect with our community on The Prophetic Role of Monasticism in Today's World and Church: Sister Christine Vladimiroff, prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie; Sister Fidelina Monzalvo, from Casa San Benito, Managua, Nicaragua; Sister María del Carmen Cruz, from the Monasterio Reina de Paz, Cobán, Guatemala; Brother Marcelo Barros, prior of the Monastery of the Annunciation, Goiás, Brazil; Abbot Jerome Kodell, Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas; and Sister Patricia Henry, from Monasterio Pan de Vida, Torreón, Mexico.     Sister Fidelina
    Sister Fidelina

     
    group discussion
    Discussion group on 'The Prophetic Dimension of Monastic Life.'
     
    Brother Marcelo's paper, “The Prophetic Dimension of Monastic Life” (included in this issue of the Bulletin), launched four days of rich, challenging, and fruitful discussion among all of us. We all realized that it would not be enough to speak of the call to prophetic existence in the abstract. The challenge, rather, was for each of us to concretize the prophetic dimension of monastic living within the particularities of the different social, political, and ecclesial situations in which our communities live. Our discussions moved from theory — whether scriptural or historical — to the concrete exigencies facing the life of each of our communities.
     
    group discussion
    Sister Christine Valdimiroff, OSB, speaks at the priory.
     
    Sister Christine Vladimiroff posed three questions which, she said, should guide a community's discernment as we try to live faithful, gospel-inspired lives: (1) Who are we? (2) What do we stand for? (3) With whom do we stand? In other words, how are we making the promise of the Reign of God tangible within our communities, as well as for those whom we touch?
     
    Surprisingly, all of the participants highlighted Benedictine hospitality as a central expression of counter-cultural, prophetic existence. What seems so humble and ordinary a dimension of our life — the practice of inclusive welcome — becomes a sign of the Reign of God in a world in which human beings are treated as objects, numbers, statistics, outcasts, or replaceable commodities. We thank each of our Benedictine brothers and sisters for enriching us with their presence and their monastic wisdom.
     
    Celebration of the Eucharist
    Celebration of the Eucharist concluded the days of reflection.
     
    Shortly after the symposium, we began earnest preparations for Christmas. A few days before the feast itself, five of our Mexican Benedictine sisters came to Weston for two weeks, to celebrate Christmas with us. Their visit included the traditional Las Posadas, the Latin American preparation for Christmas, which we celebrated together with Felipe and Elena Ixcot and their family.

January 2003

    We began the New Year by welcoming a group of young men for our Winter Experience “Living With A Monastic Community.” Twice yearly, we open our community life to young men wishing to explore the relevance of Benedictine values to life in today's society. We wish to express our gratitude to each of the young men who shared in our life for those days.
     
    Our Proclamation of a Year of Jubilee was read as part of the Sunday Eucharist on the solemnity of the Epiphany.
     
    Near the end of January, we welcomed Brother Álvaro Oliveira and Brother Lorenzo (Michael) Campos into the community as postulants.

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December 2004 to May 2005
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December 2002 to November 2003
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December 2001 to May 2002
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December 2000 to June 2001
June 2000 to November 2000
January 2000 to May 2000


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The Monks of Weston Priory
58 Priory Hill Road, Weston, VT 05161-6400
Tel.: 802-824-5409; Fax: 802-824-3573