Resurrection Priory in Guatemala recently celebrated the happy event of an ordination to the priesthood. Father Carlos Antonio Pop was ordained on January 30, 1999 by the Most Reverend Bishop Geraldo Flores at San Marcos church. Fr. Carlos is originally from the town of Coban, where the Priory is also located. He professed first vows to the community in 1991, and has worked in a variety of jobs since then. These include youth group ministry, librarian, and assistant guest master. He has also made recordings for a radio program run by the Diocese. The monks that know Carlos describe him as full of enthusiasm and an effective speaker to young people.

Since 1964, monks from Blue Cloud have been working in Guatemala. Resurrection Priory was officially founded in 1970, and at present has sixteen members. Only three of these, Frs. Basil Dilger, Cletus Miller, and Bernardine Ness, are from the United States. All other members are native Guatemalans, and have made profession since 1980.

FARM AND GARDEN

Among the different works and apostolates of Blue Cloud Abbey, our farm and garden work may be the most traditionally monastic. During the 15 centuries of Benedictine monasticism, farming has been a very common occupation for monks. Benedictine abbeys today are more likely to be involved in education, but farming still ranks as a good way for monks to support themselves. Br. Chris is the main worker on the farm, but he gets help from various other monks as needed, including Br. Paul, Br. Donald and Br. Novice Stephen. Br. Chris also claims a couple of cats in the garage as his assistants, but the rest of the community is not sure just what work these cats do!

  Blue Cloud has a combination of pastureland, farmland for cash crops, and a vegetable garden for our own kitchen's use. The garden provides us with potatoes, tomatoes, corn, squash, cabbage, beans and other healthy things. Br. James manages the garden with help from several other monks and often the young men in our associate program. Our kitchen department cans many of the vegetables for winter use.

 Our location on a ridge in the Coteau Hills is not particularly good for farmland, but our main crop at present is alfalfa, which seems to do fairly well here. We have just over 300 acres planted in alfalfa, and many more acres of pasture. We also have some acres of "prairie hay", which is just tall grass, cut and baled.

A single planting of alfalfa can keep growing and producing crops for up to five years. Alfalfa is harvested two or three times a summer. This process involves cutting the recent growth, not unlike mowing grass, and then baling it up to make hay. Weather can play a large part in the success of this operation, as rain at the wrong time can spoil the harvest.

 The hilly region around Blue Cloud is home to a large number of beef cattle. We sell the alfalfa bales as feed to local ranchers. The last few years have seen rather low prices for both livestock and feed, but at least for now there is still a market for hay. We share the concerns of the farmers and ranchers around us who struggle with the tough agricultural economy.  People who have lived in Dakota for many years tell me about families that were raised on 160 acre farms, a generation or two ago. Many farmers need much larger farms these days, sometimes many hundreds of acres in order to stay competitive. The South Dakota landscape gives evidence of this, with abandoned farmhouses showing where smaller farms have closed down. Of course, this is only part of a long-term trend that began over a century ago. America was once a nation of farmers. The social trends concentrating American population in cities and suburbs will not be reversed by somebody wishing them away. From an economic point of view we might say the decline of farms is just a sign of changing times, but the human cost and effect on families is not so easily explained away.

 There is a lot of "common sense" evidence that living on a farm supports family life in ways that typical modern suburban life does not. The variety of work found on a farm, especially the opportunity for children to work alongside their parents, provides a healthy foundation for life. As the percentage of families involved in farming continues to shrink, the values supported by this way of life may also become less common.I ask our readers to please remember the many farm families of America in their prayers. Pray for their success and well being, that the way of life they represent will not become a thing of the past.

 "The monks must not become distressed if local conditions or their poverty should force them to do the harvesting themselves. When they live by the labor of their hands, as our fathers and the apostles did, then they are really monks"

This summer will see the release of Br. Benet's latest book, The View from a Monastery, by Riverhead Books. The publisher describes it as "A Benedictine brother explains what it's like to be a monk". In Br. Benet's own introduction, he says "There are many false notions about monasticism. Pious people think we are holy. People who don't know much about religion think we are peculiar. The truth of the matter is that we are neither...." The book provides a rare glimpse of our way of life from the inside. Copies are available for sale through our gift shop.

  As mentioned in previous issues of the newsletter, Pope John Paul II has set new standards in his use of modern communications technology to get the Church's message across. This spring, the Sony Classical music label released a recording that will stand as another papal ground-breaker. The compact disk, entitled "ABBA PATER" , features John Paul speaking and singing with a variety of musical accompaniment. We recently received a copy of it here at the abbey, and it has been getting steady use in my player.

  While most of the arrangements feature an orchestra or choir, a couple of the songs feature electronic synthesizer music with a distinctly modern rhythm. Another reviewer even described it as having a "new age" feel to it. (I must distinguish terms here: new age music is simply a marketing term that usually refers to a soothing, jazzy style of music. It does not have a direct connection to so-called new age spirituality, which is often incompatible with Christianity.) There are also a few short segments of Gregorian chant, which has returned to popularity in recent years.

  While this is not the first time Pope John Paul has appeared on a record, it is the first time any pontiff has taken part in a professional, studio-produced project like this. The producers, Vincent Messina and Leonardo De Amicis, have taken recordings of John Paul from his public masses and addresses, and artfully mixed them with music by the Orchestra Nuovo Sinfonietta Roma, the Roman Academy Choir, and operatic soprano Catharina Scharp. The result is a very tasteful performance that could appeal to young and old alike.

  The disk comes with an explanatory booklet containing the pope's words, including translations into different languages. Besides showcasing John Paul's versatility at different languages, the selected passages each have an important message. It can be as simple as an exhortation in the second track "Cristo e Liberazione" (Christ is Freedom), when he says "Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity", or a call for greater unity between religions in "Padre, Ti Chiediamo Perdono" (Father, We ask Your Forgiveness). The title track is probably the musical highlight of the disk, where John Paul sings the Our Father in Latin. Although the vocal came from within a Mass at St. Peter's, the producers have carefully blended in an orchestra in the exact key of his voice.

  Perhaps following on the popular success of Gregorian Chant recordings in recent years, the creators of ABBA PATER want both to entertain us and give a spiritual message. This is not an easy combination of tasks! Yet the recording does succeed to a large degree in doing just this. It manages to avoid the sort of extreme sentimentality that so often characterizes the combination of religion and pop music. I'd recommend this recording to anyone interested in new music or who enjoys hearing the Holy Father speak.

- By Fr. Matthew