900th Anniversary of the Norbertines

U.S. Norbertines’ varied works as ‘stationaries’ center on education Not long into her first semester teaching at Loyola University Chicago, Mara Brecht, formerly an associate professor of theology and religious studies at St. Norbert College, encountered a problem: A recalcitrant student had decided he didn’t like the way she taught, and it showed in his attitude. He even used an assigned paper as a platform for criticizing her and the readings she had selected for the course. Brecht decided it was time to invoke the spirit of hospitality and reconciliation she’d taken away from St. Norbert and Norbertine pedagogy. She believes [...]

It began three floors above the Ugly Pub Tavern. There, in 1979, Daylesford Abbey’s Father Dominic Rossi and his prayer group took over the operation of a shelter for homeless women in Philadelphia that eventually grew into The Bethesda Project, a non-profit with more than a dozen shelters that provides support, food, and housing to that city’s chronically homeless.  Now, more than 40 years later, Bethesda Project serves 1,400 homeless people each year at 14 sites throughout Philadelphia, helping to address a glaring need. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Philadelphia in 2020 had 4,676 sheltered homeless and [...]

Norbertine Abbey by abbey, here are some of the enterprises that sustain the U.S. houses: Daylesford Abbey, Paoli, Pennsylvania Spirituality and Retreat Center  Daylesford, which touts itself “an oasis of peace in the lovely Chester County countryside,” rents out space for retreats and conferences. Among the packages offered: a $220-per-guest, two-night retreat including meals, lodging, and conference space.  In 2011, Daylesford agreed to let a brewer use its a portion of its industrial kitchen for six hours at a time for boiling watern and mashing grain, and its basement for fermenting and storing beer. Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph, Tehachapi, California [...]

New-media outreach, Springhouse Media, launched during pandemic deemed a success worth continuing at Daylesford Abbey. On the grounds of Daylesford Abbey, in Paoli, Pennsylvania, is an old springhouse that years ago was converted into a chapel. The spring flowing through the simple stone structure once supplied all the water for the property and provided natural cooling for perishable food before the advent of refrigeration. But the centuries-old building has become a symbol of modernity and progress since Daylesford priests tapped it last year to serve as the namesake and icon of new-media outreach efforts they launched in response to the coronavirus [...]

Daylesford’s digital ministry includes a series exploring scripture through the lens of rock music  Sometimes Father John Zagarella ministers in flowing vestments. Other times he wears a “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” T-shirt. “Captain Fantastic” is an Elton John album released in 1975, and Zagarella, a longtime fan of John’s, wears a shirt bearing an image of the album’s cover in Episode 5 of Season 2 of his “Rock the Word 153” series on Daylesford’s Facebook page. “Rock the World 153,” Zagarella’s ongoing exploration of scripture through the lens of rock music, is part of Daylesford Abbey’s social media [...]

Making a Better World, Community by Community U.S. Norbertines’ varied works as ‘stationaries’ center on education Not long into her first semester teaching at Loyola University Chicago, Mara Brecht, formerly an associate professor of theology and religious studies at St. Norbert College, encountered a problem: A recalcitrant student had decided he didn’t like the way she taught, and it showed in his attitude. He even used an assigned paper as a platform for criticizing her and the readings she had selected for the course. Brecht decided it was time to invoke the spirit of hospitality and reconciliation she’d taken away from [...]

  What Was Norbert Like?   Father Chrysostom Baer of St. Michael's Abbey, in Orange County, California:  “He was both encouraging and daunting. He was extremely charming and friendly, and yet his otherworldliness would have been a challenge. He was both a good conversationalist and quiet. And, yes, he had a sense of humor.” Father Eugene Gries of Santa María de la Vid Abbey, in Albuquerque, New Mexico: “A short man dedicated to the Church.”   Father Joel Garner of Santa María de la Vid Abbey, in Albuquerque, New Mexico: “I imagine Norbert as a very charismatic man, physically vigorous and strong-willed. He [...]

What would you ask Norbert if you could? Asked that question, a handful of modern-day Norbertine followers responded thus: Father Andrew Ciferni of Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, Pennsylvania: “First of all, I would want to ask him for his opinion on the quality of life we were living. And I don’t mean are people not living in corruption of public sin. It’s the mediocrity – what I see as the mediocrity. I would ask him how he would address that. How he would restart the fire.” Prior Brad Vanden Branden of St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere:  “‘Yours is a monastic [...]

Many medieval knights were hired, thugs. Paid to keep order in an age devoid of cops and roiling with brutality, they often targeted innocent people with their capricious cruelty and violent behavior. Through this dark and bloody feudal world strode a lanky missionary preacher doggedly pressing for peace and mercy: Norbert of Xanten. Confronted with demoralized clergy and enslaved serfs, Norbert had plenty of work to do. But he wasn’t alone. In his travels, he encountered many like-minded reformers. In Paris, there were the Canons of St. Victor, parish clergy who adopted the ascetic ideals of William of Champagne. At Clairvaux [...]