Ordinis splendor. |
Ordinis splendor. |
Fr. Luke was the last monk of St. Mary's Monastery in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania (Diocese of Allentown). Google reviews claim that the "beautiful old monastery" has long been up for sale: "It has 17 bedrooms and a beautiful chapel on 12 1/2 acres." Fr. Luke was Prior and co-founder of St. Mary's, where four formerly Trappist monks had started anew around 1975. They had had differences of opinion about observance and liturgy at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. Anderson had made his solemn profession in Spencer in 1953 and was ordained to the priesthood the year thereafter.
The community at St. Mary's transferred to the Common Observance and attained the status of a priory of the Cistercian Order. They earned their livelihood first by making computer punch cards (long before the PC!). Later, they became tailors, making pants. Over the years, more than a dozen novices had entered St. Mary's, but none stayed. Fr. Luke passed away on 4 January 2025 at the age of 97, the last of the four founding confreres. Alfred Schlert, Bishop of Allentown, officiated at the requiem. Anderson wrote a thesis at the Angelicum titled The concept of truth in the philosophy of William James (1965). He also had a master's degree from Princeton University. He served on the editorial board of the Cistercian Fathers Series from ca. 1970 and was also an editor of what was supposed to be the English translation of Bernard's collected works (a joint initiative of Cistercian Publications and Consortium Press in the early 1970s). He contributed "The Rhetorical Epistemology in Saint Bernard's Super Cantica" to the acclaimed collection titled Bernardus Magister in 1992. In 2005, he published The Image and Likeness of God in Bernard of Clairvaux's Free Choice and Grace, which he dedicated to St. Teresa of Calcutta, with whom he had worked on several occasions, holding workshops and giving retreats for the Missionaries of Charity. His retreats and conferences were especially popular; he was a regular retreat master at numerous monasteries and held countless university lectures.
2 Comments
Anyone visiting a contemplative monastery in the last decades knows that they usually sell products that are in some way sweet or pious, or both. There is usually a selection of alcohol as well. Selling such goods is a way of raising funds, and even if the monastery does not have a proper gift shop (most do), there will certainly be something on sale at the porter's gate, even if it is as modest as a home-made rosary. This approach to raising fund is a modern phenomenon, that's for sure, but just how modern is it and how has it been received? Christians convinced of the value of abstinence have long voiced criticism of the alcohol sales. Anti-monastic polemicists love to focus on this topic (Klueting 1990). But how about the aesthetics, or let's just say advertising, of presenting monastic goods to a wide audience? Some monastics (see my honey post from Dec. 10, below) are clearly gifted and take this work seriously. In the following pictures, all taken from around 1910, we can see the modest beginnings of such visual work. This one, above, is interesting because it shows a drawing of a Trappist monk with a sun hat at his feet. Notice that this Viennese newspaper ad includes "Palestinian Wine" and Cognac. This Trappist liqueur is, interestingly, marketed in the feminine form: Trappistin. I don't think it was produced by Trappistines. The drink is somehow understood to be a feminine object. They also sell chocolate. This Viennese shop, called St. Jerome's, specialized in medicine for digestive problems, constipation, gout, and even asthma. The shop carried products from many monasteries, a sales model often used in today's abbey shops. Carthusian liqueur, by the way, is its own topic. The Green Chartreuse is famous, and was available "in better stores everywhere." This shot shows the context in which some Cistercian or Trappist products were advertised: next to ads for Russian tea at Christmastime.
This label for a jar of honey draws attention to an area neglected in studies of Cistercian Aesthetics: How do and did Cistercians market their products? Since the 19th century, it has been a major topic in very many abbeys. They sell everything from liturgical garments to chocolate. Usually the product has some connection to the monastic life, not always.
|
AuthorPater Alkuin Schachenmayr Archives
December 2024
Categories |