October 2009
Vol. XXX, No. 10
Dear Oblates and Friends of Portsmouth,
Last month, in September, we celebrated the patronal feast of this monastery, that of Pope St. Gregory the Great. In the long history of the papacy, only two other Popes have been given the epithet Great: St. Leo (d. 461) and St. Nicholas (d. 867). Soon, a fourth Pope will, undoubtedly, be added, when John Paul II is canonized.
St. Leo is well known for his courageous stand against two invasions of Rome: that by Atilla, king of the Huns, and later by Genseric, King of the Vandals, when the imperial authority in the West was crumbling. By default, the Pope became the only figure of stature to withstand aggression, using moral rather than military force to protect the city of Rome and its inhabitants from plunder and slaughter. Nicholas did much to consolidate papal authority in the West, settling disputes among rulers, controlling ambitious ecclesiastics, and taking a strong stand against the claims of Eastern patriarchs. Gregory's pontificate was to give to the Church the power, prestige and recognition that would culminate in the triumphant papacy of Pope Innocent III in the 13th century.
Gregory was born in about 540, shortly before the death of St. Benedict in 547, an anarchic period when the Roman Empire in the West was coming to an end, with the Church under the Pope assuming the leadership which had always been the prerogative of the Caesars. The qualities Gregory possessed were precisely those needed to give the office of the Pope the authority needed to establish order and direction in a world being overrun by barbaric invaders, intent on pillage and usurpation of the lands in Italy.
When rank and wealth were of supreme importance in gaining the respect of the people and exercising power, Gregory came from patrician stock and was heir to a large fortune and extensive landholdings. After spending his first adult years in the civil service in Rome, he was eventually elected to the highest post in the city, First Consul, then became a monk and renounced his wealth which he used to establish an abbey in Rome and six others on his estates in Sicily. Responding to a call to serve the church, he left his monastery to represent the Pope in diplomatic negotiations with the Emperor in Constantinople, and on returning to Rome, the Pope having died, he was chosen to be his successor.
In his 14-year pontificate Gregory demonstrated the qualities which earned him the title "Great" and have given him the distinction of being called the Founder of the Medieval Church. The menace of the Lombard invasions he dealt with by assuming the leadership no longer exercised by the imperial representative in Ravenna. He was practical in the measures he took to protect and care for the Roman populace, using the wealth of the church to feed the hungry and help pay the tribute demanded by the Lombards. His diplomatic experience gave him the ability to deal tactfully with the other barbaric tribes in Northern Italy as well as to improve relations with the Church in the East. Factionalism and disunity in church organization in Spain, Gaul and other provinces were dealt with through letters and emissaries, as he insisted on recognition of his authority as Pope and Bishop of Rome to regulate disputes. Gregory's concern for the spread of the Gospel led him to send Augustine with a band of 40 monks in 597 to lay the foundations for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons in England, so causing monasticism to have a vital role in the formation and life of the church, which was to remain loyal to the Papacy for nearly 1,000 years until the dissolution of the monasteries and the break with Rome by King Henry the Eighth in the 16th century.
But it is in the intellectual and spiritual sphere rather than for his administrative labors that Gregory is considered both great and a saint. He is one of the four doctors of the Western Church, exercising his pastoral role as teacher of scripture and theologian. Like the other great doctor, St. Augustine of Hippo, he was an indefatigable writer of letters and sermons, finding the leisure necessary for meditative reflection despite his deep involvement in running a Church with temporal responsibilities as well as spiritual concerns. Gregory was an epic figure of authority who was yet able to occupy high office without sacrificing humility; placing the emphasis on demonstrating the loving care of a father for his people, a shepherd for his flock. He it was who first coined the papal title, "Servus servorum Dei," Servant of the servants of God, preferring this to the grander title of Patriarch of the West.
Gregory's importance to us at Portsmouth is found in his connection with the monastic life. It was as a monk that he began his career in the church, when he embraced the monastic state after transforming his house in Rome into the monastery of Saint Andrew, and later, he was to become the first monk to serve as Pope. In the Second Book of his DIALOGUES, Gregory recounted what he knew of the life of St. Benedict. Much of this book reflects the hagiographical style of his age, emphasizing the miraculous for the edification of what we nowadays would regard as a too-credulous audience. But even if we disregard the so-called miracles, we are indebted to Gregory for what factual data there may be of Benedict's life, and these details corroborate what we know of this tumultuous period. Gregory was not himself a follower of Benedict's Rule, but he did give it a quasi-endorsement in his DIALOGUES. At the end of his biography he recommended the Rule as the most reliable means of describing Benedict's character and manner of life. This Rule is the legacy Benedict bequeathed not only to monasticism, but to the Western world and for which, because of its enormous influence, he was designated Patron of Europe by Pope Paul VI.
"China's Catholic Moment"
An article in a recent issue of First Things titled "China's Catholic Moment" by Francisco Sisci, a cultural attaché in the Italian embassy in China, makes a compelling case for a major breakthrough that could take place in Vatican relations with the Chinese government. There are now an estimated 110 -130 million Christians in China, which represents almost 10 % of the population, a significant increase from only 2 % after World War II. Of these the majority are Protestants, but the Catholics with both an underground and official, state-sponsored church, constitute a rapidly growing 12-to-14 million membership.
The Vatican is encouraging the reconciliation of both factions and is working closely with the bishops and clergy of the official church to achieve the unity that will make the Catholic Church more efficient and better able to deal with its members and the State. The impressive increase in the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious orders is an encouraging sign of the vitality and continuing growth of the church. Sisci maintains that there is "a spiritual vacuum" which can be filled by Christianity which upholds certain values shared by the government. State officials seem to be favoring the Catholics over the Protestants for a number of reasons. The central government of the church in Rome possesses a well-disciplined organization absent in the non-Catholic sects, one which speaks with authority and can be dealt with directly, an approach which is readily intelligible to the Chinese manner of doing business and exercising political power. The State leaders see in the Church an ally in promoting the progressive ideas that favor cooperation with the West, in contrast to the traditionalist ideologies of Confucianism and Buddhist-Taoism, which tend to look backward to their own cultural roots rather than outward and forward.
"Just as China imported science and Western methods of industrial organization, so it could import what Beijing understood to be the spiritual counterpart of Western science. In the view of the party, the naturalization of Christianity in China is not essentially different from the importation of socialist ideology two generations earlier. Christianity, like socialism, can be translated into Chinese characters."
Nevertheless, Buddhism, with its emphasis on unity and peace, is now being openly recognized and supported. by the Communist Party which appreciates the importance of religion as a way of helping to "harmonize society" and as a means of contributing to the country's economic and social development, a force for maintaining order, stability and progress. It is to the Catholic Church, however, that the Party looks as a means of keeping China in step with its move toward "Westernization," and despite the occasional diplomatic reversals, both sides seek an accord that would be mutually beneficial. The government is accepting the fact that there is no "contradiction in being a good Catholic and a good Chinese." Time, open-mindedness, and a willingness to accept tolerance as a virtue and even a necessity, are required if healing the divisions between the two sections of the Catholic Church is to take place. Likewise, patience and understanding are essential in the ongoing discussions between the Catholic Church and the Communist State, once intransigent and diametrically opposed to each other.
Liturgical Calendar for October
1 St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church
(4 St. Francis of Assisi, Deacon & Founder omitted)
4 SUNDAY XXVII OF THE YEAR
6 St. Bruno, Hermit, Founder of Carthusians
7 Our Lady of the Rosary
9 SS. Adrian and Denis, Martyrs
11 SUNDAY XXVIII OF THE YEAR
Oblate Day of Recollection: Dom Damian
13 St. Edward the Confessor, King
15 St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church
17 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop & Martyr
(18 St. Luke, Evangelist omitted)
18 SUNDAY XXIX OF THE YEAR
23 St. Boethius: Martyr, Statesman, Philosopher:
The Consolation of Philosophy
25 SUNDAY XXX OF THE YEAR
28 SS. Simon and Jude, Apostles
31 All Hallows Eve
Next Oblate Day of Recollection: November 22
Feast of Christ the King: Dom Paschal Scotti
Portsmouth Abbey's Patron Saint: Saint Gregory the Great
Portsmouth was founded in 1918 under the auspices of Downside Abbey in England by Dom Leonard Sargent who was a monk of that abbey. Since Saint Gregory is the patron saint of Downside, Dom Leonard thought it fitting to name his monastery after the one who was responsible for establishing monasticism in England. Portsmouth is the first foundation of the English Congregation in the United States. In the 18th century there was an attempt to found a monastery from England by John Carroll, first bishop of the United States, who had been consecrated at Lulworth Castle by Bishop Walmesley, an English Benedictine, who is buried at Downside. This hope was not realized despite the enthusiastic support of Bishop Carroll, but the seed had been planted and finally took root on the shores of Narragansett Bay a little more than a century later.
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