Saint Albert Priory

Dominican Friars
5890 Birch Court
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 596-1800

December  2003

December at Saint Albert’s

For people of faith, the holiday season is a holy season. To be sure, our anticipation of Christmas includes gift exchanges, feasts, parties, songfests, the planning of holiday travel and the like.

What makes a difference for people of faith is that this season is centered on the great gift of the Incarnation. We recall the birth of Christ specifically so that His life, His values and His work can be reborn within each of us once again.  Christmas is a time to reaffirm the commitment we made to Christ at our baptism. To safeguard this spiritual orientation, we prepare for Christmas by observing Advent religiously and with care.

At Saint Albert’s we support one another in celebrating this holy season as it is intended to be celebrated: focused upon the gift of Christ’s birth in our midst. Therefore, our Advent liturgies will focus on our interior preparation for Christ’s
coming. Our Christmas events will be centered on the Nativity. Our concerts, liturgies, preaching, processions and other festive gatherings will safeguard the proper Christ-centered context for this holy season.

These December events are described in this bulletin. Please enrich our celebrations by joining us when you can! May God bless you!

Father Michael, O.P.
Prior

Poinsettias in Memory of Your Loved Ones

In memory of your beloved deceased, would you like to donate one or more poinsettias for our chapel Christmas arrangement? Our sacristans and other helpers from the community put great care into decorating our chapel appropriately for the Christmas season. Our custom is to create the desired contemplative atmosphere principally through the use of poinsettias. Our tradition has been to invite our friends and benefactors to help us obtain the needed number of plants by donating them in memory of their beloved dead.

This year, we will decorate the chapel in tones of white to enhance our chosen theme of “Light.” Therefore, white poinsettias are especially sought, although we will gratefully accept any plant that is given to us. Anyone wishing to donate poinsettia plant(s) this year should arrange for the plants to arrive at the Priory’s 5890 Birch Court entrance during the day on Monday, December 22 , or Tuesday, December 23 . We also know that some of our friends want to donate poinsettias without having to go to the trouble of purchasing them and delivering them here. Too, the sacristans often need to select a small number of plants themselves to achieve balance, so we are also grateful for cash donations ear-marked for this purpose. The deceased in whose memory plants are donated will have a special place in our prayers throughout this holy season.

Liturgy Schedule

The Public is Welcome!

Focus on the Friars: the Cooperator Student Brothers 

THIS YEAR AN EXCITING NEW PROGRAM HAS BEEN ADDED TO SAINT ALBERT PRIORY: the cooperator Brothers’ formation program. Whereas most Dominican friars are priests, some are not. The cooperator Brothers are those friars in our Order whom God has called to lives of service as religious Broth­ers. All are real Dominican friars, priests and Brothers alike. 

This past summer the post-novitiate forma­tion program for the Brothers moved to Saint Albert’s. Some cooperator Brothers serve as teachers, catechists, pastoral minis­ters or in various other forms of public administrators, tailors, office personnel, maintenance workers and the like. A cooperator Brother’s occupation is matched to his gifts and interests. Because the roles assumed by the Brothers are so varied, their formation program features a great deal of flexibility.  After an unhappy interval of many years, we are once again richly blessed with a number of men who are responding to the call to the cooperator Brotherhood. Five cooperator Brothers are currently in formation at Saint Albert Priory.

BROTHER ROBERT KING, originally from Seattle, entered the Order in 1998, and has been living at Saint Albert’s ever since, excepting for this past academic year which he spent in Seattle on a ministry internship with the Catherine of Siena institute, where he was engaged in the important ministry of the formation of the laity. Brother Robert finished an M.A. in Philosophy and is currently working on a master’s degree in theology; both of these degrees are undertaken at our Dominican School of Philosophy and Theol­ogy. Brother’s special interests are litera­ture, writing and film, and his current studies will enhance his ability to employ these skills in his future ministries. He will profess his solemn vows in January, 2004.

BROTHER THOMAS PATRICK GAVIN of Lowell, Massachu­setts, entered the Order in 2001. He belongs to the last class to have made its noviti­ate year at Saint Albert’s.  Following first profession, Brother Thomas Patrick spent one year in the brothers’ formation program at Saint Dominic Priory in Los Angeles, after which he returned to Saint Albert’s. This year he is engaged in religious studies in the Priory and at Queen of the Holy Rosary College in Mission San Jose. Brother Thomas Patrick is interested in comforting the sick and needy; he is also very gifted in the manual arts and plans to serve the community by attending to the plant management of our homes and ministries.

BROTHER MICHAEL MARY MATYAS entered the Order from Orange County, California, in 2001.  He made his novitiate at Saint Albert’s and participated in the Brothers’ forma­tion program in Los Angeles for one year. Now that he is back at Saint Albert’s, he is pursuing religious studies in the Priory and at Queen of the Holy Rosary College. Brother Michael Mary is also taking coursework in tailoring. Whereas we find Brother Michael Mary typically involved in the work of the sacristy, we also expect that much of his future internal ministry will be devoted to tailoring the friars’ habits and creating liturgical vestments.

BROTHER ISAIAH MARY MOLANO, originally from Philadel­phia and more recently from Riverside, California, is the youngest of the cooperator Brothers. He is also a member of the first class to make its novitiate at Saint Dominic Priory, San Francisco, having taken first vows earlier this year. Brother lsaiah Mary is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at our Dominican School of Philoso­phy and Theology; he hopes to work in pas­toral ministry when he completes formation.

BROTHER CHARLES IGNATIUS LIM has been in the Order since 2000. Brother has called home the Philippines, Hawaii and Seattle, and since entering the Order he has lived at Saint Albert’s as well as at out priory in Los Angeles, where the cooperator brothers’ program was located for the first two years of its existence. Brother Charles Ignatius is working on a bachelor’s degree at Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, where he is major­ing in business administration. With his education, he plans to serve Dominican institutions in administrative roles.

Preachers in Print

Brother Bernhard Blankenhorn recently had another scholarly article published. This time his work, entitled “Balthasar’s Method of Divine Naming,” appears in the fall 2003 issue of Nova et Vetera. Not all of our preaching is delivered from the pulpit; the written word is yet another of the various ways in which Dominican friars proclaim the Gospel, so Brother Bernhard’s accomplishment in publishing brings great satisfaction to the community. Brother Bernhard has recently received authorization to profess his solemn vows as a Dominican. He and Brother Robert King will profess their solemn vows during a liturgical celebration at Saint Albert Priory on January 31, 2004.

“Concerts at St. Albert Priory”

“II est ne’,” performed by the Schola Cantorum of the Priory and the Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble, will be performed in the Priory Chapel on Saturday, December 20th, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are available through the Priory office (510) 596-1800. A donation of $20.00 is appreciated.

Our Province participates in eScrip. The group name is “Western Dominican Province” and the group ID number is I 54804935. Can you support this endeavor? It’s free!

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