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Saint Albert Priory |
Dominican Friars |
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March 2004 |
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The Lenten Season at Saint Albert’s
The Church pro-vides the annual season of Lent to assist us in our search for holiness. These forty days are an especially fruitful spiritual resource because we can count on the support of one another in observing this season. It becomes easier for us to be more attentive to our spiritual projects when the others with whom we live and pray are following a similar path; in this way we sup-port one another. We friars at Saint Albert’s commit ourselves to lending that kind of support to one another as well as to those who worship with us. Our liturgies and other house customs during Lent are designed to help us remain constant in our search for God. Accordingly, great care goes into the planning of our Lenten liturgies. Also, on the Fridays of Lent, we will pray the Stations of the Cross at 4: I 5 p.m. Please do join us for the Stations of the Cross or any of our other liturgical services. May this Lenten season be a time of great grace for you! Father Michael, O.P. Brother Raymond, Golden Jubilarian
A Mass will be celebrated in honor of Brother Raymond’s golden jubilee at Saint Albert Priory on Monday, March 22nd, with our Provincial, Father Roberto Corral, presiding, and our Prior, Father Michael Monshau, preaching. Afterwards, the friars will celebrate quietly in the community room and refectory, according to Brother Raymond’s wishes. May God bless him with many more years of brotherhood and service as a Dominican! |
The Public is Always Welcome! |
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Meet Our Guest Students
Typically, student friars spend some time studying away from their own Province. This year, while six Western Dominican brothers are studying away from Saint Albert’s, eight men who are not Western Dominicans are here with us. These eight “Guest Students,” seven Dominicans and one Chaldean Rite diocesan seminarian, are cherished members of the community. The largest contingency of guest students is formed by the five friars belonging to our Order’s Vietnamese Vicariate, headquartered in Canada. They will more than likely spend all of their seminary years here, since the Vicariate is not yet ready to establish its own house of formation. Brother Luan Pho was the first of the current group from the Vietnamese Vicariate to arrive at Saint Albert. Born in Viet Nam and later from Phoenix, AZ, Brother Luan arrived at Saint Albert’s to begin his novitiate in August, 2000. He is interested in parish work and missionary service overseas. In 200 I , three more Vietnamese-born Brothers from the Vicariate arrived to begin their novitiate at Saint Albert’s. Brother Thich Van Ngo was born in Vietnam and later moved to Montreal from where he entered the Order. Brother Thich belonged to the Order when he was a young man in Vietnam, but his membership was interrupted due to the political situation. It was with special warmth that Brother was welcomed back to the Order when finally he was able to rejoin us. Brother Anthony Nguyen lived in Vancouver after his family was able to leave Vietnam. Brother Anthony is studying for a Master of Divinity degree at the DSPT; he would like to teach or minister in a parish after ordination to the priesthood. Brother Thien An Tran left his homeland of Vietnam in 1994 and relocated with his family to San Jose. Currently, Brother is teaching catechism to the youth of two parishes while working on his Master of Divinity degree. Brother Tap Vu is the newest Vietnamese Dominican in the Priory. He made his novitiate last year in Denver with our Chicago Province. Brother Tap, who has already completed his doctorate, is now studying Philosophy. His family lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Two of our student guests are Dominicans of our Eastern Province, who completed their novitiate last summer in Cincinnati and are now assigned to study philosophy with us for one year. Hailing from Mountainside, NJ, Brother Gregory Schnakenberg, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, expects to be as-signed to the Dominican Studies in Washington. D.C., next year. He enjoys liturgical studies and hopes eventually to minister in the academy. Brother John Martin RuizMayorga, also an Eastern I Province friar. is a native of Nicaragua, who now calls Victoria, Texas, his home town. Brother John Martin is inspired by the itinerant preaching of the Order, and would like to serve in that capacity following ordination. Frequently, visitors spot a black robe in choir and correctly conclude that its wearer, while obviously a member of the community, must not be a Dominican. Deacon Andrew Younan, who is from Detroit, Michigan, is a member of the Chaldean Rite. His bishop asked if he could live and study with our friars as he prepares for ordination; his presence has been a great gift to us these past two years. Andy will be leaving the Priory this Spring, and on July 3rd he will be ordained to the priesthood. The experience of sharing community life with these “guest students” has been a rich blessing for which the friars at Saint Albert’s are most grateful! LENTEN PILGRIMAGE Many people find that a religious pilgrimage, a journey made prayerfully, can be a strong support to their spiritual lives, especially during Lent. One great pilgrimage site is Saint Dominic Church in San Francisco, 2390 Bush Street (corner of Bush and Steiner Streets). The church is open daily, 6:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., with Masses, the Divine Office, Confessions and other services offered throughout the day. The Shrine of St. Jude is also located there. Visitors are welcome every day to this church under the care of Dominican friars. 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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March 22, the golden jubilee of
Brother
Raymond Bertheaux will be celebrated at Saint Albert’s! Brother grew ,
in San Francisco, from where he entered the Order in 1953; since then,
he has seen the work!! Stateside he has been assigned to Oakland, San
Francisco and Kentfield, but the majority of his fifty years as a
Dominican Cooperator Brother have been spent outside of the country. He
spent seventeen years at our Mexican mission in Chiapas, where he was
involved in catechetics and pre-diaconate formation. Then, he had one
year of study at the Angelicum followed by twelve years at Santa Sabina,
our Generalate in Rome, where he was assigned to the bookstore, the
archives, and the production staff of Analecta, an important publication
of the Order. Next, he spent eight years in Guatemala, In the summer of
2003 he arrived to begin his third tour of duty at Saint Albert’s, this
time serving as Provincial Archivist. Brother Raymond loves the prayer,
the chapel, and the architectural beauty at Saint Albert’s, but he says,
what he loves most of all about Saint Albert’s today is our brothers!
Brother has himself captured the hearts of the community since his
arrival only half a year ago!
