After years of splitting the Easter Vigil into two parts, we returned to the more common practice of holding the entire vigil on Saturday night, with a separate mass of Easter morning on Sunday. We were uncertain how many guests would come on the restored Sunday mass. Attendance was good, however, with the abbey church nearly full.

The month of February brought several Protestant retreat groups to Blue Cloud. Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Episcopalian churches were included. March saw additional Lutheran and Methodist groups, a group from Annunciation Parish in Morris, Minnesota, Region Eight Youth Ministers, and a group of seminarians from the Fargo diocese. April retreat groups included a Women's AA group, the confirmation class from St. Peter's Parish in Wheaton, Minnesota, a Marriage Encounter group, and the oblates of the abbey. A priests' retreat from the Sioux Falls diocese was scheduled for May. Summer is often a busy time for the retreat center. Camp Mahpiyato will not be open this summer because of staffing difficulties.

After a dry winter, we finally got enough of a spring rain to start planting the garden during the fourth week of April. The new greenhouse gave Br. Chris more room to get new seedlings started. We have already been serving hydroponically grown lettuce.

No monks are celebrating jubilees of profession or ordination this year, but some of us have anniversaries worth noting. Fr. Thomas Roznowski will mark 60 years of profession, Fr. Wilfrid Lambertz 45 years of ordination, Fr. Raymond Otto 35 years of profession, Br. James Hanson 30 years of profession, Fr. Matthew Kowalski 20 years of profession. Congratulations to all our community members for their years of service. Vocation director Fr. Denis informs us that four men have applied to enter the abbey as candidates later this year. Please remember to pray for their perseverance and for vocations to religious life and priesthood.

On March 23, 2003, our confrere, Father Peter Schwartz, died at a Watertown hospital. He had been hospitalized only a few days after having suffered a stroke in his infirmary room at the abbey. Fr. Peter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on St. Patrick’s Day in 1925. He was baptized Raymond Patrick. He had been in failing health for several years, and had undergone numerous surgeries.

A veteran of World War II, Raymond Patrick took advantage of the G.I. Bill at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After a brief period as a brother at St. Benedict's Abbey, Benet Lake, Wisconsin, he entered the clerical novitiate at Blue Cloud in 1956. His solemn profession was made in 1960, and he was ordained to the priesthood in 1962.

Fr Peter’s priestly life was spent mostly on the missions formerly staffed by our community. He was stationed at all four of the missions, and more than once at three of them. Often he became the pastor in a location where the rectory needed fixing up. Besides his assignments on the reservations, he was also the pastor or associate in three parishes of the Fargo Diocese. There were times when he was recalled to the abbey and worked here as our kitchen master, house prefect, and assistant guest master. When he was at the abbey in the late 1980s, he was the pastor of St. Mary’s in nearby Wilmot. For a time prior to his being sent to the missions, he was the vocation recruiter and director of Camp Mahpiyato.

We ask the members of the Swiss-American Congregation and all other Benedictines to remember Fr Peter in their prayers for the deceased. His funeral and burial were on March 28, 2003. May he rest in peace, free from the many afflictions that came his way in this life.

Fr. Bernardine Ness visited from our mission priory in April. Along with greetings from our confreres, he brought news about his latest efforts to advance religious education there through use of modern video technology.

"The last mile of any communication network is the most important. You can have the best program in the world, but if it does not get to the people, the link is broken. The Catholic Television network in Latin America is trying to bridge that gap. The newly organized group calls itself One America, at least for now. They are broadcasting all over Brazil and will soon be covering other Latin American countries with programs sent to satellite from Brazil. Other alternatives using high speed internet are being investigated.

In Coban we are applying for a license on Channel 52 with one thousand watts of power. So far only a few schools have television sets, and most are watching old fourth generation videotapes, which do not give a good impression of the educational content. We will be downloading programs from the satellite and also sending programs back to the network from Guatemala. We also hope to use streaming video from the high speed internet connection. The plan is to use the daytime hours for education and the prime time evening hours for evangelization programs.

I have been helping set up three Catholic television stations around Guatemala City with a potential audience of 2 million people. The station in Coban will be directed to a local rural area. This area has the dubious distinction of having the worst standard of living in all of Central America, according to a report by the United Nations. One of the problems facing the station in Coban is the last mile. Some villages do not have electricity, and those that have electricity have few television sets. Solar cells and batteries can be used, but flat screens which do not use much power are still very expensive.

One of our most exciting projects has been lip-synch dubbing. Fr. Ed Dougherty SJ and the Christian Community of Our Lord in Brazil have made a wonderful series on the Life of Christ which we are adapting. We translate to the native Indian language and fit it into the space occupied by the original. Then we show the video on a large 10' by 12' screen in the villages. We have to take along a generator, projector and sound system, but it is worth it to see the people rapt in attention, hearing Jesus speak in their own language for the first time.

The television project has been preparing the people for this Mission Year. Every country in Latin America will be represented in the meetings to be held in November in Guatemala. Everyone will be looking for new and better ways to evangelize Latin America."

The haunting sound of the Native American Flute (wiikijo) has been heard for hundreds of years throughout the Plains Tribes. The flute, traditionally played by men and primarily used to bless ceremonies, courting, or to give warning of enemies, is finding increasing prominence in the musical scene among the Lakota and Dakota Indians. Artists such as Brian Akipa and Kevin Locke, both from South Dakota, have sold many albums featuring the Native American Flute.

Another player, not quite so famous, is Brother Michael Peterson. On listening for the first time a recording of the flute around four years ago, Br. Michael asked Fr. Stan if he knew anyone who played and/or made these flutes. Fr. Stan said, "I know just the man!" That man was Dan Jerome of Belcourt, ND, who has been making and playing the flute for years. Dan, being very generous, sent a flute via Fr. Stan to Br. Michael with the only instruction being, "It might need another coat of tung oil." Br. Michael, already having a music degree, albeit in classical voice, was up to the challenge of learning this new instrument.

Concerning learning how to play, Br. Michael says, "The sound was quite organic and reflected the open simplicity of the prairie lands and I found that I really didn’t need pre-recorded tunes to learn. Although since I have learned some traditional songs, but I found that the flute’s voice reflected the sounds of nature. All I needed to do was to go for walks to learn the ‘tunes’ for the flute."  Since learning, Br. Michael has played on many occasions--spontaneous or pre-arranged concerts--and would like to make a new recording of songs on tape and CD. Also, since learning how to play the flute, Br. Michael has also learning how to make them. "It took a little experimentation, but with the help of an instruction book and good bit of patience, I am making them to what I think is a good quality instrument. For those who are quite serious to learn how to play, I make and give away a flute to whoever might be interested in playing. Some people suggest I sell them, but since I was given my first flute, it only feels right that I also give away flutes. I have probably made around twenty flutes or so. To play and make the flute in a good way, helps me to connect to the rich heritage of the Indian people and to value that ongoing tradition."

In 1974, a special recording was made by the monks of Blue Cloud, with help from the native choir at St. Paul's Mission, Marty, South Dakota. Marking the 100^th anniversary of Swiss Abbot Martin Marty's work among the Indian tribes of the Dakotas, the recording is titled "Celebration on an Indian Theme". It records a mass offered at the abbey with music composed by Fr. Theophane, "with a view of providing the Indian people a musical setting . . . drawing on materials from their own music". A unique recording, it features music ranging from the abbey's pipe organ to a traditional Sioux Round Dance. The late Fr. Augustine Edele is the principal celebrant of the mass and Fr. Christopher Uehlein is the organist. Fr. Stan informs us that the Indian choir is a rare example of hymns sung in the nearly-extinct Dakota language.

  Issued nearly thirty years ago on vinyl 33 rpm record, this historic recording had been otherwise unavailable for years. This past year, Fr. Matthew had converted the stereo source to digital compact disk format. Starting in the fall, the compact disk recording will be distributed: first as a gift to our major supporters and then for sale to the rest of our friends and visitors. Those who have supported Blue Cloud through the years will find this recording an interesting part of our history.

Almost ten years ago, the American Indian Culture Research Center started a recording studio for educational video and sound production. Equipping this studio, located at the abbey, took a major investment in professional grade studio gear. Over the years, Fr. Stan used the AICRC studio to record his radio program, aired on several reservations. The studio has also been used by native Americans for independent productions, and for preserving historic abbey sound and video recordings.

Updated last year with digital equipment, the AICRC studio has recently been used for another archival project. Movies made by the monks in the 1950's, as they built the abbey and church, were recently converted into videotape  format by an outside firm. Since these films were silent, Fr. Matthew combined them with the sound of the Indian Mass on a video compact disk that can be played on a DVD player or personal computer. Although the sound and video are not directly related, the resulting Blue Cloud "multimedia presentation" is an interesting pastiche of our history. It may be released in the future on DVD, but for now we are only distributing it by individual request. Those interested in seeing this historical footage combined with the Indian Mass are invited to contact us.

During this project, a small number of Indian Mass phonograph records were discovered in mint condition, on the original vinyl. For anyone still using a 33 rpm record player, a limited number of copies are available.