ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE
Celtic Orthodox Benedictine Fathers
Of
Holy Trinity Celtic Orthodox Monastery
A MONASTIC COMMUNITY OF STRICT OBSERVANCE
A BEACON OF LIGHT SHINNING AMID THE DARKNESS
E-MAIL: bishopbriankennedy@yahoo.com
COME AND EXPERIENCE MONASTIC WORSHIP
MONASTIC WORSHIP – DIFFERENT BY DESIGN
ASK THE BISHOP (YOUR QUESTION IS IMPORTANT TO US)
http://www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/ask.html
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Established in the 6th century, the
Benedictine Community fell victim to the moral lapses of the world in which it
found itself. The Abbots were usually from the wealthy families and were
interested only in power, money and position. All forms of Religious pieties
were conspicuous in its absence. While there were some who rose above the sin
and depravity of the Monastery to become great Saints, the norm was Monks who
had become victims to the world, the flesh and the devil.
In 836, the Council of Aix-La-Chapelle
openly admitted that homosexuality and other forms of sin and vice was rampant
in the Monasteries. Reforms were needed. The needed reforms came at a price, a
political price.
Pope Sergius III Canonically established
the Monastery at Cluny in 910. The Monastery brought many reforms to the Order
and enhanced academics to the Monastery. In many ways, the Monastery was
a much-needed remedy to the ills of the time. The price exacted was involvement
in the political ambitions of Pope Sergius III. When the Pope established the
Monastery, he made it exempt from interference by the local Bishops. They were
responsible only to him and to him directly. The Pope appropriated to
himself authority over other Patriarchs and attempted to establish an office
higher than Bishop.
This was unacceptable to any who wished
to retain the faith and praxis of Holy Orthodoxy. This caused the first split
in the Order of St. Benedict. It was now a family divided. Those who rejected
the political involvement, the arrogance of Sergio's III and the innovated
theologies of the Vatican fled to the East. All that were left were under the
suppression of the Pope.
Today there are many large, rich and impressive
Monasteries and Churches that were established in their wealth by the sins of
the founders and early inhabitants. Their goal was only to establish wealth,
power and social position. Rather than being a temple to the glory of God, they
are temples to the avarice and greed of the early Churchmen who built them. The
Papal re-invented community continued calling itself Benedictine but had
abandoned the Orthodox and Catholic faith of Benedict for the rewards and the
temporal blessings that came from Rome. Under the Pope and with Vatican support
they grew in power and worldly recognition.
The Monastery at Cluny lived up to the
expectations of Rome in producing 5 Popes from their number. Notable among
these is Hilderbrand, known as Pope Gregory VII. He wrote: The Dictates of the
Pope:
"The Roman Pontiff alone can rightly be called
Universal, He alone can depose or reinstate Bishops, in a Council the Papal
Legate, even if a lower grade, is above all Bishops, and can pass sentence of
deposition against them, All Princes shall kiss the feet of the Pope, It is
permitted to him to depose Emperors, No Synod shall be called a general one
without his order, No Chapter and no book shall be considered canonical without
his authority, and He himself may be judged by no one. That the Roman Pontiff,
if he has been canonically ordained, is undoubtedly made a saint by the merits
of St. Peter. He who is not at peace with the Roman church shall not be
considered catholic."
Also of note, from the Monastery at
Cluny, was Pope Paschal II who used a forged letter attributed in error to St.
Andrew that said any who did not agree with the See at Rome was a heretic.
THE FIGHT TO REMAIN ORTHODOX IN FAITH
AND PRAXIS:
In 925 many Benedictine Monks who wished
to remain faithful to Holy Orthodoxy left the West and went to MT. Athos in
Greece while others went to Jerusalem. The Archabbot from Amalfi, Italy was
among those who went to Jerusalem. Most of the Monks went to MT. Athos with
whom they already had connections and friends. They were the Benedictine of
Amalfi, Italy who served under Archabbot Gerard Tonque, O.S.B. This was a time
when Rome was diminishing and Constantinople was ascending as the New Rome and
center of the Empire.
ABOUT THE ARCHABBOT:
Archabbot Gerard Tonque was born in
Sasso di Scalo near Amalfi. He was from the famous family of Saint Didier and
the first generation born in Italy. His parents were from Provence, France and
he retained strong ties to Provence.
THE MONKS IN JERUSALEM
Archabbot Tonque, O.S.B. went to Jerusalem to
further develop a hostel (hospital) and a program for the protection of
pilgrims passing from Jaffa to Jerusalem who were constantly besieged by
bandits and conflicting Princes. This was not a new ministry for the
Benedictine of Amalfi but now it was a ministry that was to receive the
undivided attention of the Archabbot who would personally direct the effort. As
part of the effort to expand the ministry, the Archabbot directed other Monks
to establish hospitals and small Orthodox Benedictine Monasteries and service
centers along the path used by pilgrims. The Monks established a hostel in
Saint Gilles, Asti, Pisa, Bari, Otranto, Taranto and Messina.
The Benedictine who left Amalfi and went
to Jerusalem became known as the Latin Orthodox Benedictine. The Latin Orthodox
Benedictine had previously established them selves in Jerusalem with the
Monastery of St. John the Baptist. The Monastery of St. John the Baptist and
the Latin Orthodox Benedictine ministry to the sick pilgrims had been financed
and supported by the wealthy merchants of Amalfi prior to their permanent
departure from Amalfi. Soon it became obvious not all the Monks had the same
vision for the future.
Archabbot Tonque was a good man but his
vision was not a shared vision by all the Monks. Conflict arose over the number
of laity who was being recruited into ministry. To some, the aspect of devotion
and Monasticism was being lost in favor of more mundane activities. It was
thought the mundane activities had merit but were beginning to compete with the
Monasticism of the Benedictine Community.
Archabbot Tonque resigned his position
as Archabbot and withdrew from the Benedictine Order to establish a new Order
upon the Rule of St. Augustine. The Benedictine relocated to the nearby
Monastery of Santa Maria Latina.
The division was without rancor or
hostility. Archabbot Tonque remained emotionally attached to the Papacy. This
was another sentiment not shared by all the Monks.
THE MONKS AT MT. ATHOS
At the urging of St. Athanasios of MT.
Athos, many of the Benedictine from Amalfi founded the Monastery of the Virgin
of the Amalfians near Morphonou, a small bay north of Great Lavra. The
Monastery was supported by the inhabitants of the Amalfi quarter of
Constantinople who had come from southern Italy. Before Venice began to extend
its control into the Eastern Mediterranean, Amalfi had been the emporium of the
Orient in the West. Ships from the rich port at Amalfi supplied goods for the
Latin people in Constantinople and on MT. Athos. When they took refuge from the
arrogance and innovated ecclesiology of Rome they were welcomed at MT. Athos
because the Amalfians were already known and had friends at MT. Athos. Some of
the Benedictine from Amalfi who wished to remain Orthodox in faith and praxis
went to Jerusalem and in 1050 established the hostel for pilgrims, which was
the starting point for the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.
A Benedictine Monk from Amalfi and living
at the Benedictine Monastery of the Virgin of the Amalfians at MT. Athos was a
man named Leo who translated the famous MIRACULUM a S. MICHELE CHONIS PATRATUM,
the legend of the oldest shrine to St. Michael in all of Christendom.
The translation was made from the
writings of Patriarch Sisinnius of Constantinople (426-27). Leo also translated
many Greek Novels. Bishop Anselm of Havelberg writes of the scholarly
Benedictine monks and other scholarly Western Orthodox living In
Constantinople. The report is contained in the second and third books of the
"Dialogi" written around 1149.
MONKS FOUND SAFE HARBOR
In 933, Patriarch Theophylactus of
Constantinople established as a Parochial Entity the Benedictine who had fled
from Amalfi, Italy and were then at MT. Athos, giving them the name Athonite
Benedictine. They were a recognized and canonically established part of
Orthodoxy under his personal Omophor.
SILENT VICTIM OF THE CRUSADES
The Papal Crusades that ravaged and
raped Constantinople and violated all Christian sensibilities created a hatred
for anything from the West among many Orthodox in the East. For this reason the
Athonite Benedictine Monks eventually had to leave the East. In the 14th
century (1345) Patriarch John IV Kalecas established all Athonite Benedictine
Monasteries as autocephalous (independent of any Patriarch).
THE BENEDICTINE MONKS LEAVE MT. ATHOS
The Monks, for the most part, went to
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and England.
The Monks that went to Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, France and England became integrated into the Celtic Orthodox Church
that was a catacomb church in resistance to the Papal onslaught on the Celtic
Church that began actually in the 7th Century when the Celtic Bishops and
Clergy were murdered and replaced with the Papal Bishops and Clergy over the
dating of Pascha. The Monks who went to Ireland in 1345 became known as the
Celtic Orthodox Benedictine Fathers as a result of their association with and
membership in the Celtic Orthodox Church that was a church in resistance, a
catacomb church. All Celtic Orthodox Monastic under life time
vows wear a gold wedding band on the left hand.
HOLY TRINITY
CELTIC ORTHODOX MONASTERY
IS A
POWERHOUSE OF PRAYER AND BIBLE STUDY
http://www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/celtic_lectio_divina.html
WE PRAY WITH MARY AND THE SAINTS
BUT NOT TO THEM
SEE: http://www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/lectio.html
THE CELTIC
ORTHODOX BENEDICTINE MONKS TODAY
The Celtic Orthodox Benedictine Fathers
are a traditional, Western Rite, Orthodox Monastic Community of strict
observance.
The Celtic Orthodox Benedictine Fathers
are a 'Mendicant' order. The word Mendicant means beggar so the Celtic
Orthodox Benedictine Monks own nothing at all and receive no compensation for
their Priestly and religious ministry. The Monks are supported by the
love offerings of the people who wish to cooperate with the Monks in serving
the poor and wish to help support the Monastery. Mendicant Monks never
live better than the people they serve. We live and work in the poor
areas where are found the people we serve. Our Motto is
"WITH THE
POOR PEOPLE OF THIS EARTH WE CAST OUR FATE."
We do not sleep in beds rather we sleep
on a mat on the floor to show solidarity with the poor who have no place to
sleep or call home and to be one with the Christ who had no place to lay His
head. We believe we cannot understand the poor unless we share their
fate. We cannot relate to the poor unless we share their
circumstances. We cannot minister to the poor unless we are one with them
in feeling what it means to be disenfranchised and live the 'solitary life'
imposed upon them. They are not alone, we stand with them. We are not
alone because the Christ stands with us all, embracing us all in His Love and
Providence, to the glory of God the Father.
We believe in our Heavenly Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ for our "daily bread" and receive by faith the
blessings of God's Word. By our example we teach others to rely on God's
providence and to receive by faith sufficiency for the day. We receive by
faith according to the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus and we have never
been disappointed in our hope. Neither have our people, who place their
trust in God, been disappointed in their hope as they receive their daily bread
from the Father's bounty through Christ our Lord. We give thanks and
praise as we rejoice in the Father's love received in, with and through our
Lord Jesus the Christ. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ sent
His son to be our salvation in this world and in the next.
ALL CELTIC
ORTHODOX DEACONS, PRIESTS AND BISHOPS
ARE REQUIRED
TO PRAY THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS DAILY
http://www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/hours.html
GOD LOVES YOU
AND SO DO WE
NOVENA TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER
http://www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/novena.html
http://www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/