The Bl. Maurice Tornay.
Honored among the many canonical saints of August.
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Mid-Summer |
The Bl. Maurice Tornay.
Honored among the many canonical saints of August.
Upcoming Activities
Although August is the height of the summer holiday season, the Canons Regular of Stift Klosterneuburg have a lot to do. August is full of feast days of the saints of the order, culminating in the celebration of the solemnities of St. Monica and St. Augustine.
Here's a brief look at the feast days:
August 2 - St. Eusebius - the first bishop to introduce the Vita Communis for the clergy in the West several decades before St. Augustine.
August 7 - St. Juliana - thanks to this canoness the Church established the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
August 9 - St. Altmann - the heroic bishop of Passau who actively promoted the canonical life during the Gregorian Reforms of 11th Century and a patron of the Austrian Congregation.
N.B. Since St. Edith Stein (Theresa Blessed by the Cross) is now celebrated on this day in the Roman Calendar, this celebration is often transferred to the next available day.
August 12 - Bl. Maurice Tornay - The most recent saint in the history of the Canonical Order, who was a missionary and martry in Tibet.
August 13 - St. Meinhard - Missionary canon and founder of the Church in Latvia.
August 17 - St. Alypius and St,. Possidius - friends and disciples of St. Augustine.
August 28 - St. Augustine - bishop and doctor of the Church, father of the Order
Clothing of Novices
At the first Vespers of the Solemnity of St. Augustine the community of Stift Klosterneuburg will receive the candidates for the novitiate, giving them the holy habit of the Canonical Order and a name in the community.
Profession of Vows
At the Mass on the Solemnity of St. Augustine two men, Dom Lukas and Dom Hugo, will profess solemn vows and the three novices, Dom Maximilian, Dom Bruno and Dom Georg, will profess temporary vows for three years.
Please keep these men in your prayers!
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A Novena in Honor of St. Augustine
Heavenly Father who orders all things for the good of Your children, through the intercession of St. Augustine grant to the canons regular who do battle beneath the banner of the cross and under the guidance of his rule of life, the strength to persevere until death in the pursuit of holy perfection in the priesthood. May the sacrifice of the altar and the sacrifice of praise they offer bring grace to the world and conversion to sinners. Grant further, oh Father, to those who on the feast of Holy Augustine will be clothed in the holy canonical habit, the grace necessary to live exemplary lives of sacrifice, love and obedience. May they know daily the joys of a perfect observance and on that day of resurrection and reward, may they enjoy for all eternity the bliss of the heavenly liturgy. As they praised you with their lips and their lives on earth, so may they praise you perfectly in heaven. We ask these things through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
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Praying Together in America
On Saturday July 17th Dom Clemens, Dom Elias and Dom Josef were joined by the two American candidates for the novitiate, Fr. Stephen Nash and Jose Trujillo, and friends and supporters of Stift Klosterneuburg to celebrate the Holy Eucharist at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Dom Clemens
Directing his homily to the future novices, Dom Clemens exhorted them to embrace fully the formation for brotherhood and Christian charity which is the Common Life. As Dom Clemens stated, the Canonical Life, with its foundation in the Sacrament of Holy Orders parallels Christian family life, whose foundation is the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. These two sacraments are the basis for the two principal forms of common life in the Church: the family and the religious life.
Dom Clemens carefully considered the many faceted reality of love with especial emphasis on the daily demand to choose to love the sometimes unlovable or difficult neighbor, whether he be a fellow member of the community or in the case of marriage, a family member. Love, he noted, is a choice and not merely a feeling. It is too important to be left to the caprice or whimsy of emotion.
Moreover, Dom Clemens strongly emphasized the real world nature of love, that it is never abstract or general. To love is always to love a specific person. As he rightly pointed out, one does not have a vocation to marriage in the abstract, but a vocation to marry a specific person. It is likewise for the canon. For him to love, that is to choose to put Christ at the center of his life, means to love his brothers in the community, specifically, concretely and really.
All agreed that Dom Clemens' homily gave us a deeper appreciation for the centrality of charity in the Christian life and a renewed commitment to put the love of Christ into practice in our daily lives.
Canons, future and current, with their host, Fr. Richard Carr (on the right).
Coming Soon...
Dom Josef reports from the Congress of the Confederation of Canons Regular, held in July at Champagne, France, the mother house of the Canons Regular of St. Victor.
Liturgical texts -- we are working on uploading the propers of the Canonical Order in English. In the future one will be able to download the approved texts for the celebration of the Mass or the Divine Office.
New Faces, new assignments...
