Saint Albert Priory

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

April 2004

The Easter Triduum with the Friars

The Easter Triduum is the most significant time of the Church year. At one point in the liturgy we pray in thanksgiving for the great gift of creation, but even more so for the greater gift of redemption! We ponder the dramatic words “0 felix culpa,” “Oh happy fault... that won for us so great a Redeemer!” The mysteries celebrated are so profound that the Church invites us to gather frequently dur­ing these three sacred days for worship.

The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday is followed by adoration at the altar of repose until Midnight. Some people make a pilgrimage to one or more churches late in the evening on Holy Thursday to pray, symbolic of accompanying Christ for one hour in the garden. Visitors may pray at Saint Albert’s Chapel on Holy Thursday after the liturgy until Midnight. On Good Friday and Holy Saturday we await the Easter Vigil, which our Brothers have been planning for weeks. The schedule for these events is elsewhere on this page. Please join us if you can. You are always welcome. Easter blessings to you.

Father Michael, O.P.
Prior

Gratitude for the Generosity of our Friends

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! In recent weeks, a number of people have given very generous gifts to the Priory, enabling us to continue providing this environment of prayer, study and brotherhood for our young friars. Often, a gift comes from a friend, neighbor, or relative who reads about our needs in this bulletin. We are profoundly grateful. Some have sent gifts to cover the $250 or so that it costs to send a Brother on his annual retreat. One very kind soul recently sent us $ 1,000, because she read that our annual chapel candle bill costs that much; talk about lighting a candle in church! A $ 10,000 bequest has been added to the $50,000 one dear friend contrib­uted toward our $ 120,000 kitchen renovation. One of our Dominican priests recently preached a parish mission during his vacation time, raising over $4,000 for our medical expenses! Several Dominican communities send us frequent donations above and beyond the amount each community is expected to pay toward the support of the Prov­ince and its projects. Yet, we need more! Right now, we need to rebuild the brick pillars and iron fence that create the Birch Court entrance to the Priory; this will cost in excess of $4,000! We friars at Saint Albert’s are deeply grateful for all the gifts received and we pledge ourselves to re­membering our benefactors in our prayers. Our thanks to all of you!

Liturgy Schedule

The Public is Always Welcome!

Meet More Brothers in Studies

Br. Dominic Br. Zechariah Br. Harris

Most of our friars in their third year of vows (the profession class of 2001), are studying elsewhere this year, but three Western Province members of that class, Brother Dominic DeMaio, Brother Zechariah Foreman, and Brother Harris lngle, have remained at Saint Albert’s to continue their studies this year at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley.

Brother Dominic, originally from Corvallis, Oregon, is the son of Michael and Ruth DeMaio. He met our Order at the Newman Center at the University of Oregon during his student days. He is interested in using his facility for Spanish in service of the Latino community.

Brother Zechariah is a graduate of Stanford Uni­versity. His father, Rev. Chris Foreman, pastors a Korean Southern Baptist congregation; his mother, Dr. Kim Foreman, teaches in the education department at SFSU. Brother Zecha­riah edits the priory journal, 0 Lumen.

Brother Harris is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harris lngle, Sr., of Benicia. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkeley and worked in the United Kingdom before entering the Order. Brother is a photographer; in fact, many of the photos in every issue of this bulletin are his work.

Spring Concert

Once again, the San Francisco State University Chamber Singers, conducted by Joshua Habermann, will perform a benefit concert for Saint Albert Priory. Entitled “Welcome Home Concert,” it will be performed on Sunday, April 18, at 3:00 P.M.  The donation is $15.00.  The concert will occur in the Saint Albert Priory Chapel, and will be followed by a coffee and dessert reception in the Priory. For more information, please contact the Provincial Office at (510) 658-8722 during office hours.

A Pilgrimage to the Dominican Nuns’ Monastery in Menlo Park

The last days of Lent, the Triduum and the Easter season itself are good times for a spiritual pilgrimage. A short spiritual journey, even one lasting as short as a morning or an afternoon, can be as spiritually uplifting as a retreat. A good pilgrimage site is the home of our own cloistered Dominican nuns: Corpus Christi Monastery at 215 Oak Grove Avenue in Menlo Park, The nuns have perpetual adoration in their chapel, which is open to the public from 6:30 a.m. to 5: 30 p.m. each day. Mass is celebrated daily at 8:00 a.m. and through-out the day the various hours of the Divine Office are prayed. To get there, take Highway 101 south, beyond the San Francisco airport to the Marsh Avenue exit. Take Marsh Avenue west (a right turn if you are headed south) to the end of the road at which point, turn left onto Middlefield Road; stay on Middlefield to Oak Grove Avenue, and there, turn right. The monastery is located on the left side, down several hundred yards.

Annual Visitation of Father Provincial

One of the important duties of a Provincial in our Order is to visit every community in the Province. In the case of a house of formation like Saint Albert’s, the Provincial’s visit must occur annually. Our Provincial, Father Roberto Corral, O.P., is concluding his annual visita­tion of our Priory this first weekend of April. He has been here for an entire week, during which time he preached to us, spoke privately with each friar, examined our community life and joined us for as much of our community life as his schedule allowed. At the end of the visit he gives us an assessment of the quality of our fraternal life and shared mission. Visitation is always an important and encouraging time for a Dominican community, and once again this year, Father Roberto’s visit has been a great blessing for all of us.

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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