"In Coenaculo" - Silverstream Priory (November-December 2015)

IN CŒNACULO
a newsletter for friends of silverstream priory

Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament
Stamullen • Co. Meath • Ireland

October-November 2015

A Letter from Father Prior

Solemn
Profession of
D. Benedict

Dear Friends of Silverstream Priory,

T

2015 will be forever remembered
as a season of blessings in the history of Silverstream Priory. By God’s providence two Irish
benefactors came forward with a gift that will
allow us to conclude the purchase of our monastery and of the fifteen acres on which it is situated. I invite all
our friends to join with us in thanking God for this generous
gift and in praying for the individuals who, seeing our urgent
need, responded to it so magnanimously.
As is our custom, we held Solemn Exposition and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament daily from the Feast
of Corpus Christi (Thu. 4 June) until the Feast of the Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Fri. 12 June). The incense of an uninterrupted prayer rose before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus,
obtaining, I am sure, an outpouring of graces upon all the
priests of the Church whom, by vocation, we represent before the altar.
On the feast of Saint Benedict, 11 July 2015, Mr Jon David Kabel (Brother Melchisedech), from Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, and Dr Cathal Laurence Steele (Brother Luke)
from Belfast, Northern Ireland, made their Oblation, under
the Rule of Saint Benedict, for Silverstream Priory. Both
men are husbands and fathers, living their Benedictine vocation in the stability, enclosure, and obedience of family life.
22 July, the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, saw the installation of a new henhouse and poultry run by the Green Hen
Works Company in Mullingar. Significantly, the new equipment was delivered on the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene:
the iconographic symbol of Saint Mary Magdalene is an egg!
The summer also saw the felling of a number of unsightly
conifers that had long darkened the landscape. The trees
were not native to Ireland and had grown to so great a size
that they were affecting everything else growing in their
shade. The removal of the conifers has made the land around
the monastery buildings more luminous and bright. The inside of the monastery is also affected; light now streams in
through the windows.
he summer of

Simple Profession of
D. Elijah & D. Finnian

Fore Abbey
(Benedictine),
Westmeath

“Our monastic adventure
is daunting, but we place
our hope in the word
of the Angel to Our
Lady: No word shall be
impossible with God.”