A Letter from Father Prior
Dear Oblates, Friends, and Benefactors: This is the first of what, I trust, will be an ongoing series of letters to our extended monastic family. I want to share our life with you, principally because it is a demonstration of the power of the love of Christ.
The Invitation to Tulsa
Four years ago, in 2007, His Excellency, Bishop Edward J. Slattery invited me to the Diocese of Tulsa to pursue, under his paternal authority, a simple monastic life under the Rule of Saint Benedict, characterized by adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, in intercession for the sanctification of priests, in reparation for the sins that disfigure the Face of Christ the Priest, and in a readiness to accompany priests on their journey toward holiness.
Small Beginnings
I began living this “vocation within a vocation” after more than twenty–five years of monastic life, in the relative solitude of a little rented house in Tulsa. Soon, however, other men heard of what is, in effect, a new expression of traditional Benedictine life, and asked to discern whether or not God was calling them to embrace it. A number of men have come, tested themselves here, and gone on to other things. Such comings and goings are to be expected. For each of us, they are part of bigger design woven by Divine Providence. Brother Benedict Andersen, currently a novice, will (God willing) make profession this coming summer. Other men are waiting to experience our life and, with God’s grace, pursue it.
Why the Cenacle?
From the beginning of my experience in Tulsa, I understood that this new expression of Benedictine life was to reflect the mysteries of the Cenacle, that is the “Upper Room” in which Our Lord washed His Apostles’ feet, instituted the Sacraments of the Priesthood and of the Most Holy Eucharist, and appeared to His Apostles after His Resurrection. The Cenacle is also the place wherein Our Blessed Lady and the Apostles persevered in prayer for nine days after the Ascension of Jesus, waiting for the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Considering these things, it seemed fitting that the new monastery, erected with Bishop Slattery’s blessing, should be named for Our Lady of the Cenacle.
Move to 21st Street
Two years ago the need for a larger house became evident. By an act of Providence, one Saturday morning a local physician, a devout Orthodox Christian, appeared on the doorstep of my provisional little monastery. This was the beginning of a blessed friendship with Dr. Tracy Loper. Dr. Loper recommended that I lease the house of one of his colleagues, suggesting that it might be a suitable place for our embryonic monastic community. This house, located at 1132 East 21st Street in Tulsa, became the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle and, as such, has served us well.
Need for Silence and Space
It became clear, all the same, that a larger house in a rural setting was needed both for the accommodation of men trying their vocations and for hospitality to priests in search of silence, rest, and spiritual refreshment in the radiance of Our Lord’s Eucharistic Face. We began searching for a suitable property within the Diocese of Tulsa. All our explorations came to nought.
Invited to Rome
In June 2011 I was invited to address ADORATIO 2011, an international convocation on Eucharistic Adoration, held in Rome. While there I had the opportunity to meet a number of fine priests and seminarians from Ireland. A seed was planted in my heart: a desire to bring our life of adoration to Ireland, for the refreshment, sanctification, and consolation of so many seminarians and priests persevering heroically in a critical social context of humiliation, hostility from the media, and apparent hopelessness.
Exploring in Ireland
Not having found a suitable property in the Diocese of Tulsa, with Bishop Slattery’s blessing, I visited County Meath, Ireland in October 2011, in order to explore the possibility of taking over a contemplative monastery slated for closure. The Visitation Monastery in Stamullen, County Meath is a large stone house set in spacious grounds with a view of the Irish Sea. It has everything needed to allow for the growth of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle, and for the continuation in Ireland of the work begun very humbly in Tulsa.
Bishop Smith’s Welcome to County Meath
On October 19, 2011, His Lordship, Bishop Michael Smith of the Diocese of Meath expressed his willingness to welcome the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle in the former Visitation Monastery in Stamullen. Having obtained the assent and blessing of both bishops, I decided to go forward with the relocation to Ireland, placing all my trust in Our Lord’s merciful goodness and in the solicitude of Our Lady’s maternal Heart.
A Monastic Mission to Ireland: Returning Love for Love
Given the immense number of priests and religious who left their native Ireland to establish and serve the Church in the United States, it seems to me that the hour has now come for some Americans to return love for love by leaving the United States to serve the Church in Ireland. Ours will be a distinctively monastic mission: a hidden life of liturgical prayer and adoration with a “welcoming heart” for priests.
Asking for Your Support
To launch this monastic mission to Ireland, and to support it in the years that lie ahead, I am asking for your financial support.
We have been offered a five-year lease of the monastery in Stamullen, with the option to purchase the property at an advantageous price.
In the meantime, our immediate needs concern the expenses of our relocation to Co. Meath, Ireland, including:
- transport of furniture, very large library, and sacristy to the new monastery. Total of $15,000.
- rendering the monastery in Stamullen safer: fire alarm system (€20,000, that is $26,000); emergency lighting (€7000, that is $9100); electrical checking and partial rewiring (€13,000, that is $17,000); portable fire extinguishers (€5000, that is $6500). Total of €45,000, that is $59,000.
- occupying, furnishing, heating, and caring for the monastery and grounds in Stamullen; food, and health insurance; Divine Worship, hospitality, and printing. This comes to €10,000 monthly, that is $13,000 monthly.
In addition to these ongoing expenses, we want to raise the funds necessary for:
- the eventual purchase of the monastery at Stamullen and the land belonging to it; the renovation of the monastery buildings; the transformation of several stone outbuildings into a facility for welcoming guests and, in particular, priests in need of silence, prayer, and intimacy with Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love. For this we will need to raise €1.5M, that is $1.9M.
Across the Ocean
As things stand, we hope to move to Ireland in February. We are fortunate to have a network of friends and competent advisors in Ireland; these are priests and laymen convinced that our presence there will contribute to the renewal of Catholic life in the Isle of Saints and of Scholars.
Your Contributions
There is not a Catholic in the United States who is not indebted, in some way, to the tireless labours of Irish priests and religious. Our monastic mission to Ireland is an opportunity for all of us to demonstrate our gratitude to the Church in Ireland, and to offer Our Lord, in a land once rich in monastic life, a new monastery wholly dedicated to the adoration of His Eucharistic Face, and sanctification of men chosen to be the special friends of His Sacred Heart, His priests. Thank you for your assistance.
Donations may also be sent by mail:
In North America
Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle
P.O. Box 52709
Tulsa, OK 74152
In Europe
Silverstream Priory
Stamullen
Co. Meath
Ireland
In the Light of the Face of Jesus,
Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, Prior
