New Novices at Silverstream
On Sunday, 9 February 2014, our provisional Oratory
was the scene of not a few tears and of much rejoicing as
Brother Elijah Maria (Alexander Taylor Carroll ) and
Brother Finnian Joseph ( James Pio King) entered upon
their noviciate. The ceremony began with the presentation
of the postulants by Dom Benedict, the reading of Sirach
2:1–13, and Father Prior’s homily (see text below). The
traditional Mandatum (Washing of the Feet) took place
after the homily.
B
eloved sons, James and Alex, you are cou-
rageous men and, in the eyes, of the world,
foolish men. You have thrown in your lot
with Dom Benedict and myself: by human
calculation, a risky thing to do. Listen to what the
Apostle says:
So much wiser than men is God’s foolishness;
so much stronger than men is God’s weakness.
Consider, brethren, the circumstances of your
own calling; not many of you are wise, in the
world’s fashion, not many powerful, not many
well born. No, God has chosen what the world
holds foolish, so as to abash the wise, God has
chosen what the world holds weak, so as to
abash the strong. God has chosen what the
world holds base and contemptible, nay, has
chosen what is nothing, so as to bring to nothing what is now in being. (1 Cor. 1:25–28)
You could have chosen a well-established abbey with magnificent architecture and a splendid
church, with vast scenic lands, financial security,
wise seniors, strong men in the prime of life, and
promising young men giving assurance for tomor-
row. Instead, you have come to monastery so poor
that it does not even own the buildings and land in
which it is established; a monastery in which you
will find no fine architecture and no splendid abbey
church; a monastery that is, in every way, fragile —
oh, so fragile — and marked already by cold, sickness, weakness, and a worrisome lack of security and
of means.
Paradoxically, here, the very insecurity of the place
will become your security. As your father, I will not
hide from you the secret upon which you will have
to stake your life here, the words of Christ to Saint
Paul: “My grace is enough for thee; my strength
finds its full scope in thy weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
This monastery came into being in response to
what I can only describe as a certain radiance, a
silent communication from the altar where, one
day — it was nine years ago on the Feast of Corpus
Christi — the Body of Christ was exposed in the
monstrance. The Church is not lacking in Benedictine monasteries; one can hardly justify the need
for yet another one. And yet, it was clear to me that
Our Lord was, in some way, waiting for another
monastery, one in which the light shining from His
Eucharistic Face would suffuse all things; one in
which men, drawn to the radiance of His Eucharistic
Face and to the fire blazing in His Eucharistic Heart,
would tarry in His presence, adoring for those who
do not adore, allowing themselves to be loved for
those who recoil in the face of Love, believing for
souls plunged into darkness, and hoping —hoping
especially — for priests tempted to despair of the
mercy of God.
To adore is to abide before Christ as Christ abides
before the Father. Christ, the Word, who from all
eternity was facing the Father, faces Him still in His
glorious humanity. He faces the Father in love. He
faces the Father in self–offering. He faces the Fa-