From The Oblatemaster’s Desk:-

Theme for this Oblate Letter no.7 according to Letter no.1-- “Artists and Craftsmen in the Rule. Arts and Crafts in the Benedictine way”…..Those who have noted the list of themes given for these Oblate Letters in our 1st, Winter edition early last year, 2009, will have seen that the craftsmen of the monastery are the focus for this issue (as the Infirm were the focus of the last & the Cellarer and Work are the focus of the next. Hence they may not have been totally floored by visual, monastic “Voices” (sic!) taking the place of our usual written selection from the corpus of monastic authors. These visuals, or “icons” in the wider sense, literally illustrate the theme in the most direct fashion. With such a theme why not look at examples of the very matter under discussion?
The Rule sets the chapter on Craftsmen between one on the Abbot’s Table as an interface between the monastery and the world—guests and pilgrims--- and a chapter on the reception of new brethren, another interface with the world. This context puts arts and crafts and their exercise firmly in the context of the monks’ and the monastery’s interface with the world. Having “left the world” what do you do when it reinvents itself in the monastic enclosure and in the inner enclosure of the soul?
“Chapter 57 The craftsmen of the monastery----If there be craftsmen in the monastery, let them practise their crafts with all humility, provided the Abbot give permission. But if one of them be puffed up because of his skill in his craft, supposing that he is conferring a benefit on the monastery, let him be removed from his work and not return to it, unless he have humbled himself and the Abbot entrust it to him again…….take care that they be not guilty of any dishonesty……let the goods always be sold a little cheaper….that in all things God may be glorified.” R.B. We note principally that it is God in and through the monastery, and specifically through the Abbot, that is conferring a favour on the craftsmen by letting them be of service. The aim throughout in this and in everything is the glorification of God.
On our front page in this issue we have 3 works of art & products of craftsmanship, each gracing the walls of a monastery and in a prominent place. They are part of the daily lives of two monastic communities. The first two grace the walls of the Abbey of Kornelimünster near Aachen in Germany and the third, the walls of Pluscarden Abbey, near Elgin in Scotland. In order they are Emmaus, the Empty Tomb and, The Four Seasons (illustrating the text from Job 38.4 “Where were you when I created the World?”. None of these is by a monk in these instances though the first two are by a friend & associate of Kornelimünster Abbey (reproduced by their kind permission) Janet Brooks Gerloff & the last by a group of friends & Oblates of Pluscarden Abbey (Netta Ewing, designer & the St.Albert’s embroiderer’s Guild). The first is an example of the professional artist or craftsman who works or worked for (Janet Gerloff died in 2008), or was under the patronage of the Abbey, a category not directly covered by the Rule and yet where would the monasteries of the world be without them, especially very often the very buildings and much of their physical furnishings? Yet though the professionals be not monks their patrons bring their work under the ethos of the Rule. The Pluscarden example as a gift is yet another category that nevertheless illustrates the Rule in chapter 57 that governs all that is in the monastery’s physical (and total ) environment “that in all things God may be glorified”. Whether sponsored or pure gift these items’ persistence in the monastery illustrates the Rule as applied to the work of artists and craftsmen.
Each work of art or craftsmanship, or both, is a microcosm of God’s creation and therefore can almost be said to take on a life of its own, hence the wonderful richness for spiritual insight and at the same time huge responsibility where this self-sufficient life becomes upbuilding or inimical to the life of the monastery & hence to spiritual life as the Rule makes clear so pointedly. Like God’s creation which it imitates & mirrors, the work of art can be used as an aid or as a hindrance to salvation. May I say that I find our three examples to be aids to spiritual growth and insight like the great catecheses and catenae of scriptural texts of a few of the vast cathedral stained glass windows of the world? May I just point out that our second example of the Empty Tomb has a squared off entrance to the Tomb and so the artist who was well-versed in scripture, was not “speaking” literally because the stone was “rolled” back—so immediately the artist asks us to reflect at a deeper level. Similarly the Four Seasons and its reference to a text in Job takes us back to creation as a tool for interpreting the work & its meaning and immediately takes us to Genesis and the prologue of St John’s gospel and indeed the cross & resurrection as the New Creation as in St. John’s gospel and much of St. Paul.
Having said this much let us concentrate for a few moments upon Emmaus. Three or four persons I have heard give a first interpretative statement on this dismissing it as being contrary to the two accounts in Luke & Mark, contradicting their sheer facticity. Perhaps they thought it tarred with the reductionist brush of demythologisation? They saw our Lord as being apparently represented wraith-like contrary to the scriptural evidence. While not disagreeing with or disregarding this as to it being their genuine estimation of it, in each case, it was an immediate reaction based on seconds of perusal rather than the result of hours or weeks. Emmaus in Kornelimünster Abbey is positioned ( a large canvas ) where the monks have their statio ( place of standing in liturgical, silent , meditative readiness) in the position in their cloister, the last item to be seen prior to entry into the Church and the Liturgy; the place where in our monastery & many others there is a crucifix. It is not designed for instant appraisal—quite the reverse. Also unlike many a work of art, this one is unassumingly unobtrusive (like the Lord it depicts), hiding its artistry & pointing beyond itself to the realities it illustrates & that it leads the heart to ponder. Like the Cathedral windows it is a catena of scriptural texts (going far beyond the two accounts of Emmaus). The artist has obviously strained every Christian artistic nerve & sinew to comply with the requirements of the monks and the Abbey and of Christian, monastic life (exemplifying the correct application of RB 57).
Emmaus, here, is post Picasso, post de-construction, post-Modernist etc. It asks us to view things in a new way and rather like the four gospels and 73 books of the Bible to view things in many different ways at once; ways which cross-fertilise & complement. Several questions point to the danger of the hasty, quick, surface appraisal. 1) How many times does the picture depict our Lord at the purely representational level? (Some see at least four or five for starters!) 2) Why is there this fairly narrow choice of colours & which colours are excluded and why? 3) Is the picture devoid of symbolic representations of Biblical & scriptural symbols & themes – e.g. the Lamb, the snake, the fish, the cross, the New Jerusalem, the Church? 4) Does this representation of Emmaus stop upon the road or does it reach the “breaking of bread”? --- E.g. are there two chalices visible? Is bread absent and if not is it being broken? 5) The artist does not expect us to stand on our heads! But does the artist at least expect us to tilt our heads to horizontal, left and right? 6) Why is there a chiaroscuro effect almost of light and darkness and who is light and where is darkness found?
7) Why is there a line just below the top border in Emmaus? (Is the Temple a clue?) 8) Is there a triumphant Risen Christ in the picture!?—These are a few preliminary questions with which to appraise this picture which in almost every feature is multivalent with several differing and complementary visual readings leading always on a path of greater depth.
There are many( an almost indefinite number?) of additional meanings & readings of Emmaus here-- and one we have not even touched on is Baptism, immersion in Christ & rising to new life, the Lenten journey to Easter, Red Sea desert etc.!!! {Is the Transfiguration absent from the visual allusions & therefore a visual reference to the Law & the Prophets & the Old Testament & the New? By the way our statio in our cloister has its crucifix & so have most. You have spotted the central Cross in Emmaus?!!
Emmaus by Janet Brooks Gerloff exemplifies art at the service of faith; an art that does not draw attention to itself but functions in stimulating the life & wellbeing of faith in the individual & in the community. Her art obviously has a deep and respected place in the life of Kornelimünster Abbey and I suspect that it can, though not the work of a monk, it can almost be a parable of how the “craftsmen of the monastery” could & should function spiritually & fundamentally but self-effacingly fostering the life and viability of the monastic community in pilgrimage together in & to Christ. Our Oblates, in many and often hidden ways, are doing that too! “Shall I compare thee to a good artist?.......Let me count the ways!!(paraphrase?)
BOOKS: Our thoughts are dominated by our Holy Father’s recent State Visit which determines our choice of two books for our attention. The first is “CO-WORKERS OF THE TRUTH--Meditations for Every Day of the Year” PUBLISHED BY Ignatius Press, San Francisco. ISBN no. 0-89870-409-X. Author Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVl. Edited by Sister Irene Grassl, translated by Sister Mary Frances McCarthy SND & Rev. Lothar Krauth. No one could ask for more accessible yet digestible & substantial spiritual nourishment in well-chosen sections for each day of the year. A spiritual calendar & compendium of the Holy Father’s thought, thinking with the mind of the church. Continuing in that strain and following on the recent beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman, another who thought with the mind of the Church our second choice is an anthology of his work by an acknowledged expert on him & one of his major biographers, Fr. Ian Ker. “THE GENIUS OF JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: Selections from His Writings.”—available second-hand at present (published 1989) from£24. ISBN no. 0198266820,Clarendon Press, Oxford. This too is a substantial work but some of the writing is stunning!
PRAYER INTENTIONS AND NEWS AND EVENTS: - In thanksgiving for a happy & fruitful Oblate weekend in the middle of the summer. We pray especially for more young vocations to our monastery & that our monasteries at St. Mary’s Petersham, USA & Kristo Buase, Ghana may become well-established & also flourish with vocations.Br Antony of Kristo Buase, a junior there is returning here on the 14th of this month, September, to continue his studies & formation. We also pray for our noviciate, Brothers Joseph, Simon, James (pre-postulant), Adam, Jakub. We also pray for our two Vietnamese priest-monks who have joined us for two years to learn (more) English & Latin, Fathers Pierre Marie & Peter Thu. We pray for the repose of the souls of two of our Oblates, the Very Rev. Duncan Canon Stone and John Cairns who died in the Spring & Summer of this year respectively, RIP. We pray for our new Oblates Bridget Mackay, Beth Fraser (who also battles with illness) and Ann McAllister and our new novice Oblates, Bob Clark (who like Beth & those below, also battles illness), Fiona Sellar, Christina Nicol & Marie Stronach. The sick we pray for also including Norah Napiontek, Irene Coultarde, Bob Barr’s Wife & brother-in-law and many others in remission, other suffering infirmity of body or soul, or in the weakness of old age. We are praying as this goes to press for the Pope’s State visit and its fruitfulness both during & after. We also pray in thanksgiving, for the re-building of the shop & the refurbishment of St. Scholastica’s , for a happy “ Chant forum” & happy & fruitful session on the Collects of the Mass & a happy & fruitful visit of Abbot Friedhelm of Kornelimünster Abbey ( & also of the Cellarer, Br. Michael & of Fr. Martin to Kornelimünster Abbey) & of Fr. Abbot, as overall Superior of St Mary’s, Petersham to the same & of Fr. Giles, local superior of Kristo Buase to his “ home base”. Please pray for the fruitfulness of our own community retreat (for the monks) being given shortly to us by our own Oblate, the Right Rev. Richard Moth, and Bishop of the Forces.
Please note that there are now occasional or regular meetings of our own (& sometimes other) Oblates planned or already taking place in Glasgow (Peter Aitken)0141 427 2084, Dundee(Fr. Aldo is rapidly recuperating thank God)01382 611282, Aberdeen(Brian Milne)01224 483928, Dunfermline(Pat Carrigan){St Margaret’s Chapter see their website}, Thurso (Jane Coll who doubles as website committee member for the ( inter )* Oblate Website http://www.benedictine-oblates.net/ her email--- She has already uploaded some preliminary details of the Oblate Weekend and pictures from our Oblate Martin Gardner’s blogspot http://www.benedictoblate.blogspot.com/ {see more below} ----------Pluscarden Abbey’s own website is www.pluscardenabbey.org in case some of us get confused!!
A SHORT REPORT OF THE OBLATE WEEKEND HELD AT PLUSCARDEN ABBEY FROM FRIDAY 30TH JULY TO MONDAY 2ND OF AUGUST 2010
(Martin Gardner (who has a blogspot) is preparing a DVD of much of the proceedings (Jane Coll has put some of this on the Oblate Website (i.e. the “Congress” website not the Abbey’s!!) & other accounts will be found in “ Pluscarden Benedictines” ,the magazine, on Pluscarden’s website account of the weekend( soon, please God), and at the end of this letter as well as your Oblate renewal form you will find a place to request more items from the Oblate Weekend if you wish—discs, print offs of items or pictures.)
This was a weekend mainly for our own Oblates. “Charity begins at home” & so this first official venture by way of a 2010 meeting — a synaxis—was mainly for Pluscarden Oblates; that spiritual family of this Abbey community with their Abbot, Abbot Hugh. Therefore, of the official programme his was the first live(!) introductory talk on day two of the programme. The aim was twofold: - 1) For our Oblate brethren to renew their spiritual bond at its source here at the monastery and also with one another, & still to have considerable portions of time simply experiencing the monastery’s normal life & liturgy even over a brief weekend & 2) To receive some special input from brethren near & far, our own monks & oblates & frequenters of the monastery. Each element of the special input was independent & “free-standing”, the only stipulation having been that it be informative or edifying (or both!). Please God that has been so.
The "virtual" input attempted was by way of DVD's at the unmonastic time of just after Compline! “The exception proves the Rule!" This had the multiple aim of engaging brethren, monastic and lay, in giving us input though separated by distance; almost as an analogy of our Oblates most of the time! Also it produced material which can be available to most of our Oblates who by age, infirmity or for other reasons could not be physically present. They are always much in our thoughts and prayers. In addition it extended our gathered Oblates' daily schedule of inputs while still leaving breathing-space for private prayer & reflection or simple relaxation while not impinging on the normal monastic routine of the Abbey as a whole.
Communal meals in the "tabernacle" ( marquee!) with Grace before & after as usual, & full participation in the Day Hours (& the rest by some stalwarts) was fundamental to the whole Oblate synaxis whose peak & culmination throughout was of course the Mass—The Synaxis.
Over 50 Oblates having foregathered by supper-time or Compline of Friday the 30th of July the programme continued with a DVD- the virtual presence of the Abbot Visitor of the English Province of the Subiaco Congregation, Fr. Anselm Atkinson, Superior of St. Mary’s Monastery, Petersham, Massachussetts, USA, & Monk of Pluscarden Abbey, giving a talk specially made for us for the beginning of our Oblate Weekend. His measured pace, calm, assurance and thoroughness made a monastic "conference" par excellence. Concentrating on our areas of greatest ignorance e.g. Central and North America he acquainted us with our wider monastic family as Pluscarden monks and Oblates ranging from monasteries in the heart of village life to monasteries in the desert or in the heart of the city, from monasteries with ageing communities to communities overflowing with youth & and giving retreats for groups –of thousands!
The following day on Saturday, day two, after Terce & then Mass then followed by meeting over coffee (during which two made their Oblation in the Lady chapel!) Fr Abbot gave the Keynote Address at 10.30 am in the marquee. He took us as Oblates on a pilgrimage to the wellsprings of our Christian, Catholic, Oblate life, our sharing, through Baptism , in the prophetic, priestly, kingly life of Christ.
Fundamental were these texts:-
“After reflecting on the whole of its content, I have come to the conclusion that, according to Vatican II, to believe is to enter the mission of the Church by agreeing to participate in the triple ministry of Christ as prophet, priest and king.” John Paul II, Be not Afraid, ET, 1984, p. 67.
“It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord as at once king and priest, and also as prophet. Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.”CCC 436.
“Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them.” CCC 783
Thus the whole people, the lay faithful, are given the ability and responsibility to accept the Gospel in faith and to proclaim it in word and deed, their prophetic role; in their priestly role “... For all their works, prayers and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently borne - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…” (Vat ll LG 34 )
“…. and in their kingly role by subjecting their own wills & bodies to the Creator they help to order creation according to God’s will. By doing so they will impregnate culture and human works with a moral value. In this way the field of the world is better prepared for the seed of the divine word and the doors of the Church are opened more widely through which the message of peace may enter the world...”Vatican II, LG 36
This is our remit & charter as baptised, as the people of God, as the Church & as Oblates exercising our threefold mandate.
After lively contributions from our fifty attending Oblates we prayed Sext with the monks and & then we Oblates lunched together under canvas (as the People of God!)
None was followed by our next talk from the Cellarer of our monastery, Br Michael, on monastic work, his specialism.
Salutary were his opening remarks that reminded us that while most connect the life of a monk with the liturgy, with prayer & with sacred reading, by far the largest amount of time in the Rule if it is calculated by the times allotted by St Benedict, is given over to work.
So a consideration of it is primary to an understanding of monastic life (& hence Oblate life).
Br. Michael quipped regarding his own arrival at Pluscarden that the kind of training opus Dei members encouraged him to engage in as a student before coming to the monastery turned out to be so uncongenial that it made him the more impatient to enter Pluscarden!
Referring to St Benedict's Rule when discussing the work undertaken at Pluscarden Br. Michael emphasised that the Rule is moderate and wise, making sensible allowances for the many differences of temperament and aptitude in the monastic community and this led him on to considering many practical aspects (in which as Cellarer he is particularly well versed)
Pluscarden doesn't undertake outside work, like some Benedictine monasteries that run schools.
Our most important “work” in our monastery is the Opus Dei & the liturgy. St Benedict insisted on lectio divina, too, and then manual labour counterpoise this, a wise balance. Singing the Mass and Divine Office, though primary, does not take up the largest part of the day. Even adding in Lectio divina, manual work, or other duties occupy the rest of the day. As in any household, domestic & other chores must be done. If possible, all the brethren share such work e.g. the cooking. Br Michael said that in days of yore it was usually assumed that new entrants wouldn't be able to cook, but nowadays most postulants have been living independently before entering the monastery and are used to cooking for themselves.(Gone are the days of “ He can’t even boil an egg”?!)
The garden, fruit and vegetable growing is another, not insignificant, work in this Abbey. Pluscarden is self-sufficient for fruit and vegetables, but not for other foodstuffs. Some monasteries run a dairy farm, but Pluscarden does not.
Notably Br Michael also mentioned the care of the sick, which St Benedict considered to be one of the most important works and must be done 'as if serving Christ himself'. In this instruction St Benedict once again shows his wisdom and understanding of human nature by adding that the sick brethren must refrain from unnecessary demands on those caring for them.
This topic of work led on to another lively discussion as touching very directly on all our lives.
After tea & some leisure (!), Vespers communal supper and Compline we had the final item of the day (may our Holy Father not hold us accountable) or rather two items to replace Fr. Giles advertised, specially recorded disc on Kristo Buase which sadly to date is lost in the Ghana/British post (watch this space!). These two items were recordings of the Solemn opening Mass at Pluscarden in 1948(very atmospheric, full of pathos, very historic-momentous!) and another historic programme made by Swedes of a not much later vintage. For me the key moments of that were Br. Andrew being interviewed beside a pile of rubble which was to be rebuilt into enclosure wall and the interviewer heavy with gloom saying it would take ages & Br. Andrew replying nonchalantly, leaning on his spade “a few months” and again the gloomy interviewer stressing the solemnity & slog of monastic life again Br. Andrew glowingly with his rich burr said emphatically” It’s all joy”. He was (& is! RIP) a credible witness, indeed!
On Sunday, August the 1st, day three of the Weekend, two of our postulants became novices while everyone else prepared for Mass. Fr. Abbot presided and preached at the ten am Mass and his final two paragraphs were on the Gospel of the day and held a message for all of us monks or Oblates “The poor rich fool! God, says St Basil, was so good to him. His harvests, his wealth - it was all a gift of God. He didn’t see that. If only, instead of hugging it all to himself, he had passed the gift on. God was loving him so that he would love others. “Are you short of barns?” asks St. Basil. “You will find them in the empty stomachs of the poor.” Every gift we have, material or otherwise, every gift is for giving on. And then it won’t be “vanity of vanities.” And the breath of eternal life will be in us.
“You have died, says St Paul, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.” Yes, Christ has died, and Christ is risen. And by baptism what’s his is ours. So we have accepted death, and overcome it. We’re already judged and justified. And so we can live: by faith, hope and love, and in the fullness of time all together in the house and vision of the living God.”
A Talk on the Liturgy of the Day from Fr. Benedict Hardy, Emeritus Oblate Master followed which after a detailed point by point account grippingly given heartrendingly concluded, “This bread indeed will last as long as the Church lasts, until the end of the world.
We know that spiritual delights far outweigh mere corporal ones. One of the great emphases of all the mystics. As St. Ignatius found; mere corporal joys very quickly pall, and leave one listless and sad. If you have too much they are bad for you and have negative effects. But spiritual joys ever increase. You can’t have too much of Christ - too much communion with God - too close a friendship with the angels.
In Christ we have everything - everything that anyone could ever desire. His riches cannot ever be exhausted. I can’t possibly enumerate them: but:
Forgiveness, mercy, healing, salvation, life; blessing, holiness, joy, communion; goodness, love, light, truth, fulfilment, elevation, every abundance...
In the Eucharist we are given all that. It is for us only to savour it.”—Fr. Benedict’s passionate delivery said everything of prayerful liturgy that can be said rather than sung! (And he sang it too!)
After Sext & lunch (again in the marquee) & None, there followed the final “live”Talk (so to speak) from Fr. Stuart Chalmers, pp of St. Ninian’s, Inverness, Oblate & Doctor, on Conscience. His memorable talk that ably covered the ground memorably & clearly in its turn concluded present reflection on it thus: - “This paper has attempted to present a moral theory of conscience which sees virtue and grace in the context of a life of holiness as both a remedy for fragmentation in moral theory and an environment in which the Christian conscience can flourish. However, such flourishing does not preclude all error. We will never reach perfection in this life, and so our moral judgements will still be subject to some extent to the drama of temptation and human frailty. Nonetheless, this does not diminish the honesty of our desire to live holy lives. In answering the call to holiness every day we are expressing our desire to follow the Lord, and to allow him to mould us, so that we may truly live in love, a “love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith” (1Tim1:5).
After tea there was an opportunity for Confession with multiple confessors available. That was followed by Vespers, Benediction, free or prayer-time & Supper and then after Compline (St Benedict forgive us!) we were gripped for an hour and ten minutes by a DVD, prepared over months of effort & expenditure of every kind(“Thank you!”) by Dr. Gabrielle Heitfeld-Panther, German, Cistercian Oblate& friend of Pluscarden who prepared it specially for us, at the instigation and request of Fr. Martin for we Oblates. To quote the sleeve, “My film takes the viewer on an interesting trip showing various ways of monastic life. It gives an insight into monastic beyond and above all on this side of the monastery walls; the latter point will be surprising for many people. The focus is on how Oblates and lay Cistercians live (with parallels for us); these are people who live in the spirit of Saint Benedict in their normal everyday surroundings. They speak and give us an insight into their everyday life……In particular the film is centred on the personal witness of a Cistercian Secular Oblate of the Cistercian Monastery of Langwaden.”-----This is a very prayerful creation and I recommend it ( Fr. Martin)
On the last, the fourth day of the Weekend ( three days, we understand ,of “ spiritual retreat” qualifying for a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions) Terce at 9.45 was followed by the Monday of the 18th Week’s Mass, the closing Mass of the Oblate Weekend celebrated by Fr. Martin during which preaching on the readings he said “Shortly we Oblates renew our Oblation when I invite you to stand & pledge your Oblation anew. Before that I must seek to cover my embarrassment that within minutes of the end of this Mass I ( & Br. Michael ) have acceded to a request that we go to a monastic synaxis in Germany representing our Abbey there so we must mount a thundering chariot not so very much later this very day even as Gabriel Franziska our final contributor thunders her way in the skies to arrive at the Abbey later this day(which was the day after her DVD world permiere?!) Please convey my apologies & thanks to her too. Thank you all each & every one. Through His people & in His people the Lord continues to feed & satisfy. As a priestly, prophetic, kingly people we continue to make Eucharist & Oblation as an Oblate family, a monastic family, a priestly, prophetic, kingly family, in & on behalf of & in solidarity with not the 50, not the 5000 but all humanity gathered in our Lord & Saviour, thanks be to God. AMEN”. This was the formal conclusion of the Oblate Weekend with the renewal of Oblation during Mass. True to their word Fr. Martin & Br. Michael “ flew off” immediately to Kornelimünster Abbey( which inspired the beginning of our Oblate Letter!) leaving Fr. Abbot saying our farewells over a final cup of coffee together in the marquee. The Oblate Weekend, “Spiritual Retreat”, The “Oblate Show “(Fr. Anselm, our Abbot Visitor!), the “Oblate Jolly” (an Oblate who wants to be anonymous!) was deemed by all, a joyful, uplifting and fraternal union together in the Lord. Thanks be to God!