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Requiescat In Pace
My dear friend and spiritual advisor, Father James, who is a monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, informed me that one of his friends and fellow monks died recently. Brother Frank Gorzynski died on March 19th, after a rapid decline. He had battled multiple health issues over the years and had spent considerable time living in the monastery’s infirmary, which is a skilled nursing facility. I didn’t know Brother Frank, though I did get to speak to him briefly in the hallway of the monastery’s visitor’s center during a visit. I remember his prominent eyebrows and his achingly sweet smile. Brother Frank was 92 years old and…
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H.M.S Cistercian
My recent pilgrimage to the monastery of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky has deepened my appreciation for the writings of the abbey’s most famous monk, Thomas Merton. I have been reading with much enjoyment Merton’s lively history of the Order of the Cisterians of the Strict Observance, also known as the Trappists. The book, The Waters of Siloe, describes the origin of the order and how persecuted French monks came to the shores of the United States to establish the monastery where Merton spent his hidden contemplative life. Having been inspired by Bruce Charlton and the writers at the Junior Ganymede blog to read a bit of Mormon history, I have…