"In Coenaculo" - Silverstream Priory (November-December 2015) | Page 6

Beautiful
Co. Meath

With Our Lady, hide yourselves in Christ, as He
is hidden in the bright cloud of the Holy Spirit.
With Our Lady, hide yourselves in Christ, as He
is hidden in the sacred species.
With Our Lady, hide yourselves in the Heart of
the Lamb, even as He is hidden in the tabernacles of
the world, unseen, unknown, and forgotten by men.
The monk is a man called more to hiddenness
than to appearing; more to silence than to discourse; more to the praise of God than to conversation with men. In all of these things the monk participates, here and now, even amidst the shadows
and changes of this passing world, in the glorious
mystery of the Assumption of the Mother of God.
The traditional Gospel for this festival of the
Assumption is, as you know, Saint Luke’s account
of the hospitality given Jesus in the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany. It was, by the
insp iration of the Holy Ghost, and following a most
luminous theological instinct that the Church, for
centuries, proclaimed and meditated this Gospel
in reference to the all–pure Mother of God, Mary
most holy, seated in quiet repose at the feet of her
risen and ascended Son in glory.
«One thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the
best part, which shall not be taken away from her»
(Luke 10:42).
Again, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
and following a most luminous theological instinct,
holy tradition has long applied this same Gospel
passage to the monastic vocation, recognising that
in a world and, indeed, even in a Church, where too
many souls are burdened with cares and troubled
about many things, the monk must remain, on behalf of all and for all, at the Lord’s feet, listening to
His Word.
Today, dearest Dom Finnian and Dom Elijah,
you are choosing the best part, and it shall not be

taken away from you. You are being given three
years during which, bound by your vows, you will
enter more deeply into the secrets, and trials, and
joys of Mary’s part.
In a few moments you will, with Our Lady, enter into the great upward movement of the Suscipe.
Might this not have been Our Lady’s own prayer in
the hour of her holy dormition: Suscipe me, Domine,
secundum eloquium tuum et vivam, «Take me unto thyself, O Lord, and I shall live»? The Virgin Mary
was not disappointed in her hope, nor shall you be
disappointed in yours. «Know ye that no one hath
hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded. For
who hath continued in his commandment, and hath
been forsaken? or who hath called upon him, and he
despised him?» (Ecclesiasticus 2:11–12).
Dom Finnian and Dom Elijah, you have both
made known your desire and your resolve to persevere in the school of the Lord’s service established
by our holy Father Benedict. You have both declared
yourselves ready to risk a fully Eucharistic life, to fall
under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost so as to
become a hostia pura, hostia sancta, hostia immaculata, — a
pure victim, a holy victim, a spotless victim. Now,
then, in the radiance of the Assumption of the
Mother of God, you may make your profession of
triennial vows. >

PA X

in remembrance of our simple profession
according to the rule of our holy father
benedict, on the fifteenth of august, in
the year of our lord 2015, feast of the
assumption of the blessed virgin mary, at
silverstream priory, co. meath, ireland

DOM FINNIAN JOSEPH
KING & DOM ELIJAH
MARIA CARROLL

H

Earken, O my son, to the precepts of thy Master,
and incline the ear of thine heart; willingly receive
and faithfully fulfil the admonition of thy loving Father,
that thou mayest return by the labour of obedience to
Him from Whom thou hadst departed through the
sloth of disobedience. To thee, therefore, my words are
now addressed, whoever thou art that, renouncing thine
own will, dost take up the strong and bright weapons of
obedience, in order to fight for the Lord Christ, our true
King. — Rule of Saint Benedict

Orate pro nobis peccatores ad Dominum Jesum!
Pray for us sinners to the Lord Jesus!