The Norbertines at St. Michael’s Abbey have a new video out in honor of the 900th anniversary of their order and it highlights the powerful witness of their priests and seminarians and how they’re transforming the world every single day. Watch the new video here.
This year, the Norbertine Order celebrates the 900th anniversary of their founding by St. Norbert in Premontre, France. The Norbertines is one of the oldest orders in the Catholic Church, there are Norbertines all around the world, and today it’s one of the youngest, according to the demographics of its members.
St. Michael’s Abbey was established as a small community of 7 in the early 1960s. The Abbey currently has 55 priests and 31 seminarians, with 10 more entering this Fall — which will mean SMA will have 91 men at various stages of formation and service this Fall. The order is very young, demographically — the average age of the community is 44 years old. St. Michael’s Abbey had a boarding school for boys from the 1970’s to 2019, and hosted an annual summer camp for over 40 years, which between the two touched the lives of over 100,000 boys through the years.
For more information on the new Abbey, click here.
To learn more about the architecture and art, watch Uniting Heaven and Earth.
The Norbertine Order was founded by St. Norbert in 1121 A.D. and is one of the oldest Catholic orders in the world. St. Michael’s Abbey Norbertine Fathers have served the Christian faithful in Southern California for more than 50 years—“lifting high the Holy Eucharist over the miseries and errors of this world” (Saint Pope John Paul II). The abbey in Orange County consists of over 100 priests and seminarians who serve the community in numerous ways —from teaching religious education in prisons to serving as chaplains to colleges, the military, and communities of religious women.
The above comes from an email sent on August 12.
The beautiful mixture of active and contemplative life in the order is rare and is reflected in the beautiful liturgies. May their tribe increase.
May God continue to bless the entire St. Michael’s Abbey community! Deo gratias!
Simply wonderful and yes it is so calming to the mind and body and yes it does make me tear up watching and hearing the Gregorian chant by the priests, there is nothing like Gregorian chant to take you into Heaven.
Gregorian Chant was the backbone of the entire Latin Rite Catholic liturgical tradition, until Vatican II. The Latin texts of all Masses, the Divine Office, and religious devotions, were all set to Gregorian Chants, and were meant to be sung, not spoken– except for Low Mass. You can find all of this in the standard text, the “Liber Usualis,” of pre-Vatican II (1962 edition). All seminarians, and monks and nuns who entered religious orders that chanted the Divine Office, prior to the Council, had to be taught the Latin Gregorian Chant– whether they could sing or not. Vatican II’s “Sacrosanctum Concilium” actually sought to preserve this sacred tradition, not destroy it. All ancient peoples, including Jews and the early Christians, believed in singing or chanting, in religious worship, as speaking was viewed as too “worldly” and profane. The Jews also had their own sacred beautiful Jewish Chant, which Jewish Cantors study and learn, to this day. The eight basic ancient Greek modes, on which Gregorian Chant was based, had a scientific and mathematical basis, also. Certain modes had certain effects, and beneficial effects were desired, while negative effects, on individuals and on society, were to be strictly avoided. Christians also had certain beliefs, that particular musical effects would be either Divine or diabolical. Modern scientists have studied the effects of Gregorian Chant on people, and have found, among other very positive effects– that it can beneficially alter brain waves and breathing, induce calm, lower blood pressure and anxiety, and lift depression. Of course– it is specifically designed to lift the soul to God, in Divine worship! All music does have a scientific and mathematical basis– and music can be used beneficially, for excellent purposes, in religious worship and secular life.
The ancient Greek concepts regarding beauty, aesthetics, truth, goodness, as well as virtue and character development, are very famous and highly-developed, in works of Plato, Aristotle, and many others. It is interesting that these concepts also have a definite mathematical and scientific basis. None of it is based merely on whims and fancies. This fascinated both ancient peoples, as well as modern people of today.
The universe and all things in it, created by God– reflect His Divine Goodness, Truth, Beauty, Intelligence, Wisdon, Justice– and much more! He made all things according to a beautiful and perfect design– including human beings, made in His Divine Image. All things in Nature reflect His glory! Many great people in history, both worldly geniuses and Saints of the Church, have marveled at all of this, down through the ages.
I believe that the ancient teachings of the Greeks were true, and that beauty, truth, and goodness are not just to please the beholder– and Virtue and Good Character are not just to for the good of society, or to please God — they truly are a reflection of the Divine, and bring the highest Good to mankind, in every way. And these concepts are very necessary, in shaping the characters of individuals and of entire nations.
In the modern era, the rejection of traditional, classic concepts of beauty, structure, form, harmony, goodness, balance, symmetry, etc. in the arts, in literature, music, and in many different fields, including religion and philosophy– has resulted in a diabolic devolution of the health and well-being of mankind, in body, mind and soul. The Devil and his evils truly can be found, violently raging, in this unfortunate devolution– ugliness, chaos, disorder, anarchy, rebellion, disorientation, imbalance, and rejection of all Goodness, Truth and Beauty, as well as Virtue and Holiness–which have origins in the Divine, and are very good and necessary for mankind. Like the ancient Greeks, I agree that all things in a culture should be based on these good, traditional, classic concepts, originating in the Divine, for a culture to optimally thrive.
And all the disordered devolutions that are presented in Modernistic concepts originating from 19th century philosophers, theologians, and artistic and literary geniuses– are dangerous, diabolic, and do great harm to society. I have always thought the horrific, ignorant, diabolic cultural “revolutions” in both intellectual and popular modern culture, (especially the late 1960s) was especially reflective of the extremes of Modernistic diabolic devolution—- very, very dangerous and evil! — and should have been banned, for the good of mankind. For those who don’t agree, and who also reject the teachings of the Holy Bible– it is all true!– and there is plenty to be found in today’s Modern Science to back that up, and prove it! This is all hard for me to explain, but it really is all true.
Examples of Satanic-based devolution and degeneracy can sadly be found in nearly all American families, neighborhoods, cities, and in all areas of American life and culture, today. Our country and its schools, churches and institutions, all need a full return to our God-given, Biblically-based Judeo-Christian culture, with maturity and responsibility to serve God and country, and to wisely handle our God-given freedoms.
Of course, St. Thomas Aquinas famously reconciled Aristotle’s works with Christianity.
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As I have pain from reconstructive surgery from cancer and aging, I find certain types of music, including Gregorian Chant, help lesson that pain. Scientists have discovered that plants thrive better when certain music is used around them, especially some classical.
I have found It is true also that we can take certain truths from pagan cultures and reconcile them with Christianity. The Buddhist saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,” has been true in my experience.
“…a shoot from the stump of Jesse….”