Rev. Dom Benedict Lang, O.S.B., a member of the Portsmouth Abbey monastic community for nearly 60 years and the well-known dispenser of blessings around campus for all of those years, passed away yesterday, October 22, at St. Clare's Home in Newport, RI, where he had lived since November of 2004. He was 93.
Dom Benedict taught at Portsmouth Abbey School for many years, was in charge of Tin Box, worked in the Business Office, and received all Mass intentions for the monastery. He was perhaps best known, however, for freely giving out God's blessings, in Latin, to all whom he encountered. By one count, Dom Benedict shared more than 1.6 million blessings, complete with the sign of the cross, with students, faculty, staff and visitors during his years on campus. He, indeed, shared wholeheartedly of himself and has left an indelible mark on the Portsmouth Abbey community. A full memorial tribute to Dom Benedict will appear in October's Monthly Musings and the Winter 2007 Bulletin.
Dom Benedict's life will be celebrated at a Mass of Christian Burial in Portsmouth Abbey's Church of St. Gregory the Great on Wednesday, October 25, at 11:15 a.m. Portsmouth Abbey alumni, family and friends are welcome to attend.
Dom Benedict's obituary follows.
Rev. Bernard Benedict Lang, of 285 Cory's Lane, Portsmouth, RI, died on October 22, 2006, at St. Clare's Home in Newport, where he had been residing for two years.
Born in Brockton, MA, on December 22, 1912, son of the late Joseph and May Lang, he attended public schools and graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science degree. He founded and operated in his hometown a shoe factory, which he had to give up at the outbreak of World War II, to serve in the Army Air Force, being stationed at Amchitka in the Aleutian Islands and on Saipan in the Pacific. Born a Jew, he had entered the Catholic Church in his youth, and upon returning to civilian life, joined the Benedictine monastic community of what was then called Portsmouth Priory in 1947. He spent his novitiate at St. Anselm's Priory in Washington, DC, returning thereafter to Portsmouth, where he was ordained priest in 1953. For many years he taught Christian Doctrine, Latin, French, and History in Portsmouth Abbey School, ran the athletic supply shop, and assisted in the School's Business Office, from which he finally retired when he was 91. He also helped out in local parish churches and convent chapels throughout his priestly life until ill health compelled him to give up that ministry.
He was predeceased by his only brother, Carleton Lang.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Portsmouth Abbey's Church of St. gregory the Great on Wednesday, October 25, at 11:15 AM., followed by interment in the Abbey cemetery.
