Anniversary celebration keeps going at St. Gregory’s Abbey

As a continuation of the Sesquicentennial celebration, the 150th anniversary of the Mission of the Catholic Church in Oklahoma, the monks of Saint Gregory’s Abbey looked for additional ways to reach out and involve parishioners in our state.

"During this Sesquicentennial Anniversary, we wanted to do a project that involved every parish in Oklahoma,” said Father Adrian Vorderlandwehr, O.S.B. “Many Catholics are not aware of Saint Gregory's Abbey and our mission. We wanted to reach out to the parishes and their parishioners, find out their prayer requests and pray for them, one parish at a time.

“We're doing what monks do best ... pray." 

Every week, Father Adrian goes to the post office with an armload of packages. Each package includes prayer booklets, some in English and some in Spanish. Each booklet contains the Sesquicentennial prayer, the early history of the Benedictines in Oklahoma and the founding of the church in Oklahoma. On the back of the prayer booklets, the parishioners are encouraged to share their prayer requests either through e-mail or through the abbey website at monksok.org.

Parish bulletin editors receive an e-mail from Father Adrian about the project, letting the parish know what upcoming day the monks of Saint Gregory's Abbey will be praying for the parish and their parishioners. The Abbey has received a constant stream of prayer intentions.

The Sesquicentennial celebration will continue over the next 18 months. 

“We monks and friends of the monastery recently have had wonderful opportunities to look back on the marvelous things God has done in the life of our monastic community and in the life of the Church in Oklahoma over the last 150 years,” said Abbot Lawrence Stasyszen, O.S.B. “With celebrations on Oct. 12 and 13 we marked the sesquicentennial anniversary of our foundation and the beginning of the mission of the Church in Indian Territory. In doing so we remembered many signs of God’s providential love guiding the course of our own local history.

“The improbable circumstances that brought two French monks to Indian Territory; the tragedy of the great fire of 1901 that led us to new ministries and to our future permanent home in Shawnee; the separation from our French roots that resulted in new leadership, significant growth of the community and expansion of our facilities; the unique talents and personalities of the generations of monks in the community; the many colleagues, students, oblates and benefactors who have an important part of our life – all of these are but a few of the signs of the presence of God that has brought us to the current day,” 
 
Theresa Bragg is the director of communications at Saint Gregory’s Abbey in Shawnee.

Fr. Adrian Vorderlandwehr, O.S.B. put together packages of prayer booklets for parishes. Photo Theresa Bragg.