Fall A.D. 2003

+PAX

I suppose it is a function of our living in the northern latitudes that the four seasons seem to us such distinct and important divisions of the year. Perhaps it is the transitional seasons of spring and fall that we think the most dramatic. In contrast the Bible for the most part recognizes only the extremes of the year, summer and winter. This does not mean, however, that we cannot find spiritual lessons in the other seasons.

Now in September the first indications of fall are unmistakable. The songs and calls of the birds have almost disappeared and are replaced by the far less melodious chirping of insects. The afternoons can still be warm but it cools off quickly in the evening. When I walk to the church for Vigils in the early morning it is true night and there is no longer a slight hint of dawn in the east. When it is clear the stars are sharp and bright. Orion and Pleiades, the winter constellations, are rising ever higher. At Vespers the light of the setting sun streams thought the western window and crosses the length of the church to shine briefly on the altar cross. When Compline has been prayed it is dark again. Here and there in the woods one finds a brightly colored leaf that has turned and fallen early. These leaves will multiply until the peak of color is reached sometime in mid October. Then there will be wind and rain to strip the trees and the scene will go from color to black and white.

The season has something melancholy and pensive about it, but I do not see this as negative. It is good to reflect, to weigh, to ponder, to have sober and sobering thoughts. We should not flee from them so quickly and hasten off to entertainments or other distractions. The autumn mood makes us more open to deeper reflection and we should welcome this opportunity. Like an old cemetery this season prompts us to see everything within a larger context, to take our lives both more seriously and less seriously at the same time.

I take a walk in the late afternoon of a fall day. The low light from the sun reflects off the red and yellow leaves and fills the air with a golden glow. It puts me in a pensive mood and thoughts float into the mind like falling leaves.

Death. “The grass withers, the flower fades.” The Scriptures use the transitory cycles seen in nature to remind us that the time allotted us also is not without its limit. Yet in the color and light filled days of autumn we are more open to seeing ourselves within this cycle of life and death. We need this perspective, and we cannot ever be wise if we do not bear in mind that this earthly life will end. It is good that at the close of each day at Compline we pray that “the Lord almighty grant us…peace at the last.”

Harvest. Fall presents the year in its mature and fruitful state. Yes, this is the end, but it is the end in the sense of a completion. Death in the fall season does not come as ruin and destruction. It is not a negation of all that was before but an affirmation of it. The aspirations of spring have achieved their purpose and intent; the growth of the summer has reached the goal toward which it was tending. It is the harvest, and that is an occasion for thanksgiving.

Judgment. “Even so, Lord, quickly come / To Thy final harvest home;…Come, with all Thine angels, come, / Raise the glorious harvest home!” A Thanksgiving hymn brings to mind that in the Scriptures harvest is often associated with the final judgment. It is an article of the Creed that Jesus Christ “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” The Litugical Year also sets this before us in the latter Sundays of the fall season. If we understand this judgment rightly it should not only be a warning but also a comfort and encouragement.

Glory. Autumn has been called the season of glory for obvious reasons: it is filled with light, beauty, color, brilliance. Yet all of this seems only to be a hint of something even greater. Fall is the silent gesture of nature toward some mystery that is yet to be revealed. If the Fathers could call Sunday the eighth day of the week to indicate the newness of the Resurrection, perhaps we can imagine that one day, one year, there will be a fifth season. Autumn will be followed not by winter, but be crowned with a new and final season of glory. St. Paul understands this life even in its afflictions to be “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” With the glory filled last season of the year we are approaching the horizon of time.

Heaven. “God made sun and moon to distinguish seasons, and we cannot have the fruits of the earth except in their seasons. But in heaven it is always autumn.” Those words were written by John Dunn. It is unclear whether he trying to tell us something about heaven or about the season of autumn. Nonetheless the association of the two is interesting. Both encompass themes of fulfillment, beauty, reward, and thanksgiving. So the blessing is pronounced upon the faithful departed in the Book of Revelation “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” Both autumn and heaven are a time of rest and glory.

Sincerely,

Fr. Richard G. Herbel

New windows have been installed in the bedrooms of the retreat house. Through the summer months guests appreciated larger windows and the ease with they could be opened and closed. The better widows should also make the rooms warmer in the winter.

In July on the Solemnity of St. Benedict Fr. Thomas McElwey was formally received as a postulant of the community. He has been in residence here since November of last year.

On the eve of the annual Fellowship Day our associate member Dr. George Weckman led a Hymn Sing from the organ in the new church. He selected a half dozen of some of his favorite hymns. Congregational singing of the stanzas was interspersed with organ preludes from various composers. The program concluded with the prayer office of Compline.

Building News

The annual Fellowship Day proper was held on August 30^th this year. The day began with the Holy Eucharist followed by fellowship over coffee. The speaker this year was Bishop Paull E. Spring, recently retired from the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. At midday the bell for the tower was blessed and raised and then lunch was served to all present.

The beginning of September we welcomed Isaias Beh Ramirez, a Presbyterian seminarian from Yucatan, Mexico. He will be living with us for a prolonged period of time in order to learn about monastic life and the traditional liturgy. Eventually he hopes to establish such a form of religious life in his homeland.

The biggest news of the summer is that the bell tower is now complete. In June the steel frame was put in place and during July and August the stone was laid around it to match the rest of the building. On Fellowship Day the bell was blessed and then lifted to its place. After a silence of more than two and a half years the bell rings again to announce the hours of prayer.

As planned, the new bell tower stands directly behind the floor of the old Quonset hut chapel. This area will be landscaped to provide a meditation garden and place for an occasional outdoor liturgy. A square gazebo is being planned to cover the area where the altar formerly stood.

We now have great hopes that the ceramic tile floor inside the church can be in place by Christmas. We have been able to secure the materials and labor essentially at cost for $12,000. A benefit auction is planned in October at which we hope to raise at least half that amount. We hope the rest can be raised through direct contributions. If you are interested in this project a gift of $450 would buy 100 sq. feet; $225, 50 sq. feet; and $45, 10 sq. feet.  

Chapel Sponsors

·      september  
by friends of St. Augustine's House in the Pittsburgh area.

·      October  
by Sylvia B. Snyder in memory of her parents William DeFord Beasley and Henryetta Kurtz Beasley.

·      November      
by Donald R. Fritz in thanksgiving for a 30 year anniversary and numerous blessings.

A gift of $1000 supports our use of the chapel by paying the mortgage for a month.

Bp. Paull Spring; George Weckman at the organ; 
lifting of the bell; 
tower construction; bell in completed tower; 
blessing of the bell; congregation singing at Mass

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