MEMORABLE MOMENTS ON THE STAFF AT SAINT MEINRAD

THESE ARE THE THINGS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET 



Institute For Priests and Presbyterates
Ongoing Formation for Individual Priests and Whole Presbyterates






One of many post-seminary ongoing formation programs


One of over 100 Presbyteral Convocations in 9 Countries



Teaching the Deacon Transition-Out-of-Seminary Class




Text Books for Seminarians and Priests












A Teaching Kitchen With Dining Room and Living Room

A Residence for the Retired Priest Programs

A Campus Coffee Shop







Leading a yearly discussion between international priests and international seminarians in our WORLD PRIEST program. 



The Restoration of Monte Cassino 
partnering with Jim Patterson II

BROTHERS FROM TOGO IN AFRICA

MONKS FROM AFRICA STUDYING AT SAINT MEINRAD ARCHABBEY

SAYING GOODBYE TO BROTHER DAVID, 
SOON TO BE FATHER DAVID



Brother Cajetan OSB, myself, Brother David OSB and Brother Justin OSB joined me for Mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption on June 9th. I have tried to offer them support during their years at Saint Meinrad.

Brother David wanted to say goodbye. He will be returning to his monastery in Togo very soon.
Togo is a French speaking country in west Africa.
Brother David is a deacon now and will be ordained a priest very soon after he gets home. The other two will remain as students at Saint Meinrad for a a few more years.



Brother Cajetan OSB, Brother David OSB and Brother Justin OSB



Abbott Romain, OSB
Monastery of the Incarnation
Togo, Africa
Brother David's abbott, Abbott Romain, was a student of mine at St. Meinrad a few years ago.

The monastic community in procession. 

CONGRATULATIONS MY FRIEND!

ARCHABBOT KURT STASIAK, OSB (on the right)

10th Abbot of St. Meinrad Archabbey

Blessed July 26, 2016 by Archbishop Joseph Tobin (on the left)

Archbishop of Indianapolis

St. Simeon Residences

A HOME FOR THE SENIOR PRIEST PROGRAM

 Encore Priests

Conceptual drawing of new entry way into the St. Simeon Residences 

My last program to create, before retiring as Director of the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates, was a program to address the fact that 50% of all priests in the United States will be retiring by 2020. This program was envisioned to help retiring priests stay active in ministry by doing things they have always wanted to do, but never got the chance to do them - maybe even doing some things they never imagined doing. I named this program  Encore Priests.

With the help of my good friends, Patricia Tafel Kirchdorfer and my go-to interior designer of choice, Timothy Schoenbachler, spaces were funded and designed to house retired priests who wanted training for new ministries in retirement. This housing area shares the same floor with the St. John Vianney Life Skills Center and a double classroom. The floor below houses the offices of the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates and a beautiful chapel. St. Simeon Residences is named after St. Simeon the old man who met the child Jesus when he was brought to the Temple by Mary and Joseph.

Bede Hall had just recently undergone a major renovation. The upper floors where guestrooms are now located were basically gutted, new walls were built and things like plumbing, electrical, windows were updated. While this brought the old building into the 21st century the budget did not allow for much in the way of making the guest room areas “warm and inviting.”

It was a dream of mine to dedicate one floor of guest rooms in the newly rehabbed Bede Hall for use by visiting priests attending Encore Priest and other continuing education programs. For longer-term stay, I wanted them to have accommodations that were comfortable and pleasing - far from what existed. I envisioned rooms and hallways that made them feel like they were staying in a nice hotel with some simple amenities.

Thanks to a generous gift by Patricia Kirchdorfer my dream became a reality. She made her gift in memory of her father, Paul Tafel, who was baptised as a convert by his friend Archabbot Ignatius Esser OSB. Bede Hall, coincidently, was the last building constructed while Archabbot Ignatius was abbot. 

Patricia Tafel Kirchdorfer (daughter) and Paul Tafel (father)   

With her gift, Saint Meinrad agreed to let us renovate a floor and dedicate it especially for long-term use by visiting clergy. As in all projects there were limitations - budget, fire codes and various Meinrad restrictions.

With the help of Tim Schoenbachler, my go-to interior designer, we were able to create guest rooms and hallways that are a remarkable transformation. The before and after photos below show the dramatic change. These renovated guest rooms were dedicated on March 7, 2015.

ABOVE: Before our renovation. A typical hallway in Bede Hall had white walls, dropped in ceiling, stark white LED lighting and terrazzo floor.

BELOW: After the renovation. A wood chair rail breaks up the wall with deep beige below and light beige above. Wood crown molding and cross beams are used to break up the ceiling and make the hallway seem less cavernous and long. It also helps to make the dropped-in ceiling look less conspicuous. Library tables with lamps, plants and art also break up the space and give it some life.

BELOW: typical guestrooms before our renovation. The guest rooms were, to put it simply, spartan - white walls, twin beds, a pull-out sleeper, a small desk and a crucifix on the wall. Room furniture was maximized for occupancy when used for youth programs - a 10 x 12 space that could sleep three.

BELOW: Two of the renovated rooms. The guest rooms now have a queen size bed with a headboard, window drapes, a comfortable lounge chair, a TV and small fridge chest, a desk and desk chair, a chest of drawers, several lamps and art for the walls. Walls are painted in a warm beige with a darker accent wall. 

 

BELOW: Father Knott gives the donor, Mrs. Patricia Kirchdorfer and 

her daughter, Anne, their first tour. To say they were delighted, would be to put it mildly.

Her dedication speech is available here.

Life Skills Center

St. John Vianney Life Skills Center

When I was working full-time at St. Meinrad Seminary, one of my dreams was to build a "teaching kitchen" where seminarians and priests could learn to cook for themselves.  Over 68 % of priests in the United States are now living alone with cooks and housekeepers being things of the past. The influx of international priests has made this even more of a need. With the help of my friend, Jim Patterson II, that dream became realized in what was to become the St.John Vianney Center. It is part of the ongoing formation department of the seminary called the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates that I helped found and of which I became the first director. For more information go to: Institute for Priests and Presbyterates in my links.

 

The teaching kitchen features twelve stools for cooking class students, eight cook tops, four ovens, two microwaves, two dish washers, two sinks and a washer and dryer.

After cooking a meal together, the class sits down to enjoy the meal 

they have cooked or serves it to their guests.

Before cooking a meal together, the seminarians or priests gather together for praying the 

Liturgy of the Hours in this living room, which also serves as a lounge for 

those attending programs in the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates. 

                                    

 To go with the teaching kitchen, my friend Tim Schoenbachler and I worked together on publishing two versions of a cookbook he authored - one version for priests and a non-clerical version. Both cookbooks can be ordered at  My Bookstore

How To Leave the Seminary

SAINT MEINRAD SEMINARY ANNUAL INTENSIVE SPIRITUALITY WEEK

IV Theology Class

Managing a Successful Transition Out of the Seminary and Into Pastoral Ministry

August 24-29, 2015

For the last several years, I have been teaching the transitional deacons (those who will be ordained to the priesthood this coming spring) some of the very practical things they will need to know about the process of leaving the seminary and entering the priesthood.

This was my 2007 transition class.
There are others on the right outside camera range.

This year, originating from several countries, there were 21 deacons in the class: Diocese of Little Rock 4; Archdiocese of Indianapolis 3; Diocese of Evansville 2; Diocese of Owensboro 2; Diocese of Lexington 2; Diocese of Mobile 1; Diocese of Springfield MO. 1; Diocese of Layfayette IND 1; Diocese of Knoxville 1; Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau 1; Glenmary Home Missionaries 1; Diocese of Palayamkottai (India) 1.


This class is really about talking them through this major transition that the bishops have compared to "leaving home, graduating from school, beginning a career, getting married, and starting a family – but all at once.” One mid-west bishop said leaving the seminary is like a patient having all his IV tubes pulled out at once. 

  
Some of the issues we cover are:

• The dynamics of change in general: an ending, a neutral zone and a beginning.
• How to say good-bye and thank you to those who have brought you this far
• Tracking your own progress: the importance of keeping a journal.
• Now that you will be a priest, what kind of priest do you will to be?
• Moving from being a private person to being a public person.
• The relationship of priests to the bishop, other priests, lay people and permanent deacons.
• How to enter a parish and how not to.
• How to establish a personal budget and start saving for retirement.
• The necessity of ongoing formation and continuing education.
• What does the Church say about the radical communitarian dimension of ordained ministry.
• Understanding priests from other generations and avoiding the scandal of presbyteral polarization.
• The difference between being a seminarian in a seminary and being a priest in a presbyterate.
• What Canon Law says about parishes and pastors.
• The promise of of obedience and what it means in relating to the bishop and the presbyterate.
• Creative strategies for living alone.
• Maintaining personal and professional boundaries.
• How to leave a parish well.
• Expressing gratitude, giving affirmation and empowering others.
• Minding your call by developing a personal growth plan.
• Support available to priests in a typical diocese.
• The role of the priest in the universal call to holiness.
• What your First Mass plans say about your spiritual leadership style.
• A spirituality that works for the life of a diocesan priest after seminary.
• Deciding to grow up and a commitment to serious priesting.

This year's class of 21 is  quite interesting. The one in the front row is a medical doctor. The one behind him in the white beard is a  married former Baptist minister. His wife, Laura, works in the kitchen. They will be moving back to Arkansas after  his ordination to the priesthood. They are both fluent in Spanish because they were Baptist missionaries in South America before becoming Catholic.

Below are some single shots of a few of the 21 participants.

Deacon Kyle Rodden, Archdiocese of Indianapolis

Deacon Norman McFall, Diocese of Little Rock (married, former Baptist Minister)

Deacon Taryn Wittington, Diocese of Little Rock

 Deacon Braden Maher, Diocese of Springfield, Illinois   

Deacon James Brockmeyer, Archdiocese of Indianapolis      

Deacon Tyler Tenbarge, Diocese of Evansville

   

Deacon James Dennis, Diocese of Owensboro (Deacon Dennis is blind)

                                Deacon Meril Sahayam, Diocese of Palayamkottai, INDIA

Deacon Nicolas Ajpacaja Tzoc, Archdiocese of Indianapolis (from Guatemala)

The need arose in the class for a couple of textbooks. When I started, none were available so I took it upon myself to put two together. These books are now being used in several seminaries across the country and around the world. Both are available in English and Spanish. The second will soon be available in Vietnamese. Most readers will not need these books, but if you do, they are available through My Bookstore