“Dominicans, even when they preach on the frontiers, speak from the heart of the Church, where the Gospel is, where the living tradition is. No ecclesial heart transplants for us. We are the Church’s preachers.” — Most Reverend Anthony Fisher, O.P.

Wondering what a Dominican priest is?  Me too!  Take a look at this talk given by Anthony Fisher, O.P., Bishop of Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, in Dublin to the Friars of the Irish Province for the close of the Year of the Priest.

I don’t normally talk about ministry here—it’s true—and maybe I should more often, but this was too amazing for me to pass up.  I wanted to share with “the world” (that is, all 3 of my faithful readers) what I learned this past week.  According to Instituto Fe y Vida (Faith and Life Institute, a highly useful clearing house for information about Hispanic ministry): the majority of Catholic Youth in the United States (ages 0-30) are Hispanic.

You might be thinking big deal, but consider it again.  The majority!  And they are growing.  Seriously.  They generally have larger families and their numbers increase continually through immigration.  Regardless of what you think about immigration laws in this country, this is a huge deal for the Church.  The reality is there, and a lot of organizations have a lot of great stuff on paper (all of our seminarians are supposed to learn Spanish, for instance) but is that happening?

There’s a wonderful opportunity in all of this, for the renewal of religious congregations and their ministries as well as for the possiblity of an influx of vocations—if only we can encourage them before it’s too late.  Consider all the Irish vocations in the U.S. Church of the past, where every 3rd priest was named McDermott!

I’m doing some research about all of this… and hopefully I’ll have some more to say as the semester progresses.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of All the Americas… Pray for us.

Great stuff, especially for those discerning hearts.

I say hearts because I am reminded of a young man on the weekend who was “at that point” ready to make a decision, ready to act, but not quite aware of it.  I asked him if he knew of the Christian band Relient K and if he had heard their song “Over Thinking”:

i was thinking
over thinking
cause there’s just too many scenarios
to think about
to figure out…

Now, the song is about romantic relationships, but its message is clear to me: I can fantasize for years about what it might be like to follow a vocation… but if I never move beyond that, what’s the point?  Ah, the cliché… Am I waiting for the burning bush?

In the words of St. Therese of Lisieux:

“To those whom he loves much, Jesus does not give much, but rather ask much.”

Give it a look see, but lest you complain that it is too austere or blank, remember that’s the way the Cistercians do it.

Be sure, also, if you are still intrigued after viewing the photos, to read Pawson’s essay about the design of the monastery.  This, I think, tells you more about the design than the pictures will.

 Now, to the main topic swimming around in your minds.  Does he (meaning I, myself) like this?

Well, you knew, I hope, it wasn’t going to be that easy… (Never deny…)

With that said, I can hear the objections now to the picture I chose to show here: it looks like something from Star Trek, like some inter-galactic council about to meet.  Where are the Christian symbols, for instance?

“Some of the vocabulary of Novy Dvur may be new – the cantilevered cloister, for instance, has no literal precedent in Cistercian architectural history – but my aim has been to remain true to the spirit of the twelfth century blueprint, to express the Cistercian spirit with absolute precision, in a language free from pastiche and charged with poetry.”

The “Cistercian spirit” is not for everyone, nor is minimalism.  But, as Pawson points out so concisely, in life as well as architecture, there is a beauty in simplicity that is unmatched by the crowding of superfluities and ornamentation.  One could easily contrast the austerity of Pawson’s minimalism with the extravagance of the Baroque.  One might also be tempted to choose between them, to say “I prefer” one to the other.  One might also be led to believe that simplicity in design is really proof of a lack of imagination or skill.  However, as many an architect will attest, and perhaps first among them Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, simple architectural details are often more difficult to realize than complicated ones.  Why?  Consider the complexities of construction, the delays, the inefficiency, the myriad professions on the jobsite that must be coordinated, the intricacies of accurate measurement, the difficulty of “getting it just right” and making things line up… for all the technology we have these days, making a truly straight line is still nearly impossible in construction.  Further inspection into minimalist design reveals the real driving force behind the forms and materials: the play of light and space.  This is of the essence of architecture—to create space and to illuminate it.  In such an environment the tiniest of subtleties become massive design elements.  The shape of a corner, the detail of how a wall meets the floor, all fill roles with which they are not commonly associated.

So, you might be saying “That’s great… you mean to tell me that these minimalist designs are actually the most complex and beautiful of them all, surpassing even the baroque in attention to detail? And, of course, all of this is lost on the lay observer.”  Well, to a certain extent, yes!  I couldn’t appreciate the delicacy of Vivaldi’s Requiem Mass as well as some of my more musically inclined brothers can.  Likewise, I wouldn’t expect them to immediately take delight in the simplicities of Pawson’s architecture.

What’s my personal verdict.  Well, it is a critique as any architectural critique goes: Pawson is a master at minimalism, without a doubt, but he is also an architectural force to be reckoned with.  Though one could not fully appreciate (or abhor) the full reality of the monastery at Novy Dvur without experiencing it in person, I believe it is safe to say from the material presented that Pawson exhibits a deft hand at design and with respect to the building as a monastery (aesthetics ‘aside’) has succeeded in creating a space well-proportioned to the life of a Christian monk.  Is it beautiful?  Without a doubt it expresses with clarity and precision the truths of monastic life and spirituality.  Is it tasteful?   I don’t deny that I would have liked it to be clearer about what it is… but this is the language of symbols, something that architecture has struggled with for the past century.  In that respect, I have some compassion for the design and Pawson, because I think that he has attempted to incorporate Christian symbolism in what is undeniably a very rigorist modern tendency to avoid what is classified as ‘pastiche’.  Now, every architect might have his own notion of what consists of pastiche, but it is the contemporary problem par excellence in my opinion.  The question is: how much can it look like the past without being unoriginal?  It is the deadly flaw of modernism: the unswerving and uncompromising desire for originality.

And the subject line of the post?  The Renewal of Religious Life?  I thought it would be important to highlight that a project like this can’t come to pass without a few things in place first, most importantly, monks to live in the monastery.  You look at the pictures and you notice quite a few young men.  On the monastery website there are a few photos of what looks like a profession of vows or reception of the habit taking place in the chapter room (with the Patroness of the Americas and the unborn, Our Lady of Guadalupe, conspicuously watching over).

Pawson writes in his essay:

“The new Cistercian monastery of Novy Dvur is one of the less documented consequences of the fall of communism in former Czechoslovakia. For those with religious vocations the Velvet Revolution of 1989 brought not only political freedom, but the chance to travel abroad in pursuit of a contemplative way of life which no longer existed at home.”

It seems that a particular Cistercian Abbey in Burgundy by the turn of the century (that is, 2000) had admitted a dozen or so monks from the Czech Republic after the fall of Communism.  The wealth of vocations led the abbey to consider what one might call a “monastery plant” back in Bohemia.

The only way we will see a renewal of Catholic architecture is with a prior renewal of Catholic vocations (of all kinds, religious, sacerdotal, and familial).  Only with a renewed and reformed Catholic culture will Catholic architecture be able to follow a still rather undetermined path towards a brighter, richer, more beautiful future.

So, I have three things today:

1. In preparation for Lent, I thought “Poetry Tuesday” could be a bit more prayerful. Here is Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val’s “Litany of Humility”.  He was Secretary of State under St. Pius X.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved… Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …

From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …

That others may be loved more than I… Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I … Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should.

2. And also for Lent, a link back to a previous post about asceticism, especially fasting (albeit, outside of Lent). I must add the caveat that I’m not advocating anyone do anything except give considerable thought to ascetic practices and I recommend that they be done under the direction of a wiser authority who can help to temper and moderate them.

3. A Suggestion to spend time with the Ultimate Sacrifice: If there were one “penitential” practice I would highly recommend this Lent, with a view to incorporating it throughout the year… it would be Eucharist Adoration.  Spend time with the Lord, where the only hunger pangs are his for you.  Simply by having to set aside the time to drive to a chapel and stay there for a period of time, you must choose not to do other things. You will soon find yourself having to sacrifice time that would have been spent otherwise and it will be penitential in its own way.  Everyday we must find a way to take Christ’s presence seriously in our lives and this is one that I cannot recommend enough.

“I chose this life because as wonderful as my other plans might have been, they were my plans…”

“You cannot stay in this life for any natural reason, because it’s not going to work…”

Upcoming Discernment Weekends with the Dominicans Friars in Spring 2009.

Province of St. Martin DePorres (Southern Province, USA)
February 13-15, 2009
New Orleans, LA
Fr. Charles Latour, O.P

Province of St. Albert the Great (Central Province, USA)
February 20-22, 2009
St. Louis, MO
Fr. Andrew Carl Wisdom, O.P.

Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Province, USA)
February 13-15, 2009
Washington, D.C.
Fr. Bill Garrott, O.P

Holy Name Province (Western Province, USA)
March 6-8, 2009
Oakland, CA
Fr. Steven Maekawa, O.P

Sacred Calling, Ordinary Men…