St. Petel"'s Abbey9\&ws[e-t-ter

Vol. 16 NO.2 Spring/Summer 1994

Fr. Matthew, 'colorful' monk, dies at 97By Abbot Peter Novecosky

In January we lost our oldest monk.Fr. Matthew Michel died at the age of97. He missed his goal of living to be100 by just three years.

He belonged to that tradition ofmonks whom we would call "colorful."

He was not afraid to say what was onhis mind, whether it was to his parish­ioners or to the abbot And he also had

a heart so soft that tears could easilycome to his eyes.

He began his life as a monk in thefirst monastery, behind St. Peter's Ca­thedral. His link to St. Peter's Abbeywent back to Abbot Bruno Doerfler. Fr.Matthew saw St. Peter's Cathedral whileits inside was still bleak and bare, beforethe brush of Berthold von Imhoff trans­

formed it into a vision of the heavenlyJerusalem. He saw the basement beingdug for St. Peter's College and hewatched the fIrst bricks being laid. He

Fr. Matthew Michel at age 95.

was the first monk of St. Peter's to studyfor and obtain his doctorate. It was dur­

ing this time that he met the famed BabeRuth and received one of his prized pos­sessions: an autographed baseball.

Fr. Matthew lived through the diffi­cult and debt-ridden years of the DirtyThirties. He helped transform rural lifein Saskatchewan by his work with ruralelectrification in the 1940s and '50s.

And most of his years were spent as aparish priest serving a variety of parish­es in the abbacy. He retired to theabbey in 1984.

I remember seeing a picture of Fr.Matthew in front of my grandparents'house, at St. Scholastica. He used tostay there overnight on Saturdays whenhe drove there weekly as parish priestin the 1920s. He was a young priestthen and was not afraid to travel longdistances in summer or winter, in allkinds of weather. I remember himtelling me how the parishioners of St.Scholastica, my home parish, movedthe church across the road, without ask­ing permission, so that they could staywithin the bounds of the abbacy.

Fr. Matthew was instrumental in

beginning the pilgrimage at Mt. Carmelsome 72 years ago, and he was therewhen Fr. Patrick Peyton began hisfamous rosary crusade there in the late1940s.

Before Fr. Matthew retired from dri­

ving his four-wheel-drive Eagle car, Iremember some of the Elizabethan sis­

ters from Cudworth worrying out loudabout his driving habits. They feared hewas an accident waiting to happen. Butluck was with him and I don't think he

had any serious accidents.To the end he kept a lucid mind. I

was always amazed at how well hecould put words together, even in his

Bell tower being built by Koby Constructionof Saskatoon.

late 90s. He could be downright elo­quent of speech while chatting in ourrecreation room.

And I kept being amazed at his senseof humor. To the very end he enjoyedplaying a trick, with a twinkle in his eye.

Fr. Matthew's life spanned most ofthe history of St. Peter's. At the end, heremembered incidents from the earlyyears better than he remembered theevents of the previous week.

And for those who were privilegedto know him, his life will be remem­bered as one that gave color to ourcommunity and to our abbacy.

Colleague recalls a famous homily

in handball, no one could be superior.He had a voice that reached the clouds.Though as far as I can recall, he neverplayed a musical instrument but hecould sing like Caruso! Even in his lastyears he loved to sing German hymnsand "Take Me Out To The Ball Game"at the top of his voice!

By Francis Lohmer, OSB

(Fr. Francis was born just 15 milesfrom Fr. Matthew's birthplace in WestSt. Paul, a suburb of Minneapolis. Fr.Matthew was six years his senior.)

He laughed, he wept, he sang - allcontained in that one hour-long GoodFriday Homily never to be forgotten bythe parishioners of St. Michael's Parish,Cudworth, of which I was pastor at thetime and Fr. Matthew was chaplain ofthe hospital; I thought he would appre­ciate being invited to give the GoodFriday Homily. "Well, being it's GoodFriday, we're expected to do a bit morepenance," one parishioner commentedafter the service.

I came to the area at the end of June1921 with Frs. Paul, Leonard and John,and Fr. Matthew was appointed oursocius and as such gave us our 'jobs'for the day and also put up a list ofwhat we were to do and not to do dur­ing the day; often it meant helping atthe building of the new Abbey/Collegein progress at the time, pushing wheel­barrows of cement with our soft deli­cate hands and weak backs and thenreturn to the old Abbey beside thecathedral; not only that but Fr. Matthewforbade smoking!

The largest room in the old Abbey ,was the chapel. I recall one incident Fr.Matthew never forgot was the timePrior Peter accidentally dropped hissnuff box and as it rolled along thefloor Fr. Matthew could not help laugh­ing, thus causing quite a distractionduring the Office, and as a result PriorPeter gave him a penance - I believe itwas several Our Fathers and HailMarys.

Shortly after the boundaries of thenewly formed Saskatoon Diocese wereannounced, it was found that the littleScholastica church was outside ourAbbacy and so one night Fr. Matthewwith a crew of parishioners moved thechurch across the road to the presentsite within our Abbacy. The cemetery,however, remains in the SaskatoonDiocese.

Fr. Matthew was responsible forbuilding several churches in the Fr. Matthew's 'winterized' horse

Abbacy. He always enjoyed braggingabout the way he built churches with agood third of it in the ground. Afterbuilding St. Joseph's Church in Fulda,he remarked, "That's the way all ourchurches should be built in WesternCanada. It withstands the cold."

Of course, everybody knew him as afirst class baseball player and fan, and

Recollections of Fr. Matthew aboundFather Matthew was our parish

priest at St. Martin's & Naicam. I thinkit was in the late '40s when he got thepower lines to farmers in that district.My parents bought a deepfreeze whenwe got the power. The freezer wasgiven to me by my mother, Mrs. KarlDraude Sr. It served me for years. OnJan. 22, 1994, the day Fr. Matthewdied, my deep freezer gave up theghost. Seems ironic to me that thisshould have happened the same day. ­MaryBaran

***

Fr. Matthew took several walkseach day. Often he would wanderover to the fish tank outside thePorter's Office where Sr. Victoria

heard the inevitable poem recited:"Fishy, fishy in the brook/Papa catchhim with a hook! Mama fry him in apan/Baby eat him like a man."I"Ohyes, pretty fishy!" At the parakeetcage he would say: "Pretty Dicky,pretty Dicky bird."

***

Our Abbey Secretary, Myrna Hof­mann, recalls the following incident:Once when Fr. Matthew's niececalled from the States, I took the calland relayed the message to him as hecouldn't hear well enough to under­stand her on the phone. She had askedme to give him a big hug from herand when I did, he was very touched,(and so was I). He had tears rolling

2

down his cheeks.***

Mter using a new car for a while, Fr.Matthew was asked: "How many mileson a gallon will the car go?" Hereplied, "I don't know. When I want togo somewhere, I don't care how muchgas it takes." Jerome Weber, OSB,was Fr. Matthew's abbot for 30 years.

***

Fr. Martin Brodner, OSB, whospeaksGerman fluently,recallsone of Fr.Matthew's favorite expression: "I don'tbelieve it? I don't believe it" - Es ist zukrein - (it's enough to make one cry?)This was usually in response to some­thing he did not hear or understandwell.

Around the abbey with the monksBy Martin Brodner, OSB

The winter, with its record deep­freeze temperatures, has helped usaccumulate enough snow to fill our 17million gallons reservoir with snowwater. Many neighboring homes takeadvantage of this pure snow water toreplenish their cisterns.

A FAST RISlNG BELL TOWER isthe most exciting activity on the Abbeygrounds. With its foundations begunMarch 21 (Feast of St. Benedict) welook to its completion by end of June.At present, mid-May, it is half-way toits 75-feet height

Abbot Peter, second from right, blessed the Severin Conference Centre.

Poo/table, donated by Leonard Novecosky, and book and magazine stand.

RE-ROOFING was badly neededabove the dorms in the arena. Dormsshould be in good condition by end ofMay.

SEVERIN CONFERENCE CEN­TRE For many years part of thelower floor of Severin Hall served asour main library. This was movedlast summer to the chapel area whichwas vacated when our church wascompleted in 1990. During the win­ter months, Br. Wolfgang, Br.Francis and Allen Vedress preparedthe place for a convenient confer­ence and guest recreation room.Officially named Severin ConferenceCentre, it was blessed on May 20when the monks were all home for achapter meeting.

The colored glass windows projectfor the abbey church was also complet­ed with their blessing on February 20with due appreciation being expressedto Fr. Alfred, Sister Salesia, OSE, andher brother Walter Zunti for their manyhours of patient work. Fr. Alfred esti­mates 2,875 hours given to this under­taking.

NEW TELEPHONE SYSTEM wasinstalled last Fall. Fr. William soonmastered its possibilities and "ironedout many a wrinkle" to bring it to itspresent good use. Fr. William is now atwork at a final major church project:the reconstructing of our pipe organ.

HEDGE TRIMMING Fr. Albertand Br. Randy are keeping their eyeson our hedges and have been trimmingthem down to size these early springweeks.

BR. DEMETRIUS WASYLYNIUKcompleted his second year theology atMt Angel Abbey, Oregon, and returnedhome on May 14. The alert was sentout to our BEES and they arrived with­in a week. Along with BR. KURT thetwo look forward to replenishing ourhoney supply during the summer . . .and so do we all!

SABBATICAL Fr. Andrew Britz,editor of the Prairie Messenger, left

mid-February for a five-month sabbati­cal to European shrines and the HolyLand. Since May 17, he is in Rome tak­ing a five-week course in monasticism,and hopes to return to the Abbey onJuly 12. On his return he will take upresidence as parish priest at Englefeldto replace Fr. Harvey Wingfield whoseassistance we gratefully welcomed forthe past three years. He will be return­ing to S1.Martin's Abbey, Lacey, Wash.Fr. Andrew continues as editor of thePrairie Messenger.

HOME CARE Our youngest monk,Br. Anthony Nguyen, has been doing

- Continued on next page

3

Around the abbey · more changesyear as a switchboard operator in theporter's office of the Abbey. In theevening, during the school year, heworks in the library.

of student workers. Inadvertantly omit­ted in the last issue was the name of a

permanent employee Gregory Saretsky.Greg will soon be completing his first

Continuedfrom previous page

COLLEGE Fr. Richard Meidl is

replacing Fr. Andrew in CollegeAdministration and also helping in theBusiness Office. With our two-yearuniversity program, we had about 200students this past year and are lookingforward to possibly even more for thecoming school year.

SUMMER EMPLOYEES this yearare all students, most of them studentsof St. Peter's College: they are VanessaGzenda, Daniel Aspel, Gerard Saretsky,Adam Shaw, Jason Blechinger and KimLoehr. Vanessa, with several years'experience in our gardens, is supervisor A completely enclosed meeting roomfor 12.

SMOKE FREE AREAS Along withthe growing desire of visitors and thepublic in general, we are feeling our wayto designating smoke free areas in ourCollege, Press, Guest Wing and otherareas. Allowance is made to accommo­

date the "smokers" as well "with charityto all; with malice to none."

FARM/GARDENS are ably moni­tored by Br.Bernard. The seeding iswell advanced. We are trying anewbrand of com this year. Come and sam­ple it in September.

-excellent home care service, helpingour elderly monks, especially Fr.Matthew (+ January 22 at 97) and Br.Conrad who patiently bears the afflic­tion of Alzheimers. He is also janitor ofboth Abbey and church.

RETIRED and/or RECYCLED LastAugust Fr. Martin, golden jubilarian,returned to the Abbey, still nursing hissciatic legs a bit, and is finding oodles of"unfinished work" to nibble at Besides

Fr. Alfred (already mentioned), we findFr. Norbert still supplying valuablemusic service in our worship (along withBr. Gerald, Br. Kurt and Fr. William)and Br. Gregory who at 89 1/2 is theoldest monk residing in the Abbey,while Fr. Francis at 91 1/2 still takes The new kitchenette facilitiescare of St. Scholastica and St. Mary'sVilla (weekdays) from Humboldt.

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Fr. Matthew made things happen

Fr. Norbert assisting Fr. Matthew with the celebration o/the eucharist.

By Norbert Schwinghammer, OSB(Written in 1986)

My first recollection of FatherMatthew is from a grain elevator fire inthe village where he was on his firstpriestly assignment, as assistant to thepastor. The fire was out of control, andvillagers and fIremen stood in hypnoticawe as the young parish assistantappeared on the scene, the scapular ofhis Benedictine habit tucked under thebelt

"Give me an axe .... Give me ahand!" In minutes the newly animatedfire squad had hewn down the cat-walkwhich joined the small.offIce buildingto the elevator. No one mentioned itthen, but more than likely it was thanksto the saving of that little grain-buyer'soffice that many a farmer in the districtreceived his grain cheque that winterwithout delay.

The next recollection is of a streakof dust painted by a silver McGlaughlinSix. That was Father Matthew off onhis regular weekend parish missionfrom St. Peter's College, where he wasthe first rector. In winter, and in the'30s, when the silver McGlaughlin wasgrounded for want of money to buygas, the streak of dust was headed by a

coal-black pony.Father Matthew (Arthur) Michel

was born in St. Paul, Minn. He cameto St. John's University, Collegeville,Minn., in the fall of 1910, and soonheaded the university ball team as theno-hit-no-run-Ieft-hander from St.Paul. He entered the novitiate for St.Peter's Abbey at St. John's, and madethe first profession of his vows on July11, 1917. He was ordained to thepriesthood on March 27, 1921, byBishop O. C. Charlebois, OMI, at Le-

Pas, Man.One of the major achievements in

Father Matthew's parish life was hiswork in promoting rural electrifica­tion in Saskatchewan.

At a banquet in Naicamin Sep­tember 1968, the Hon. Gordon Grant,minister of Public Health and minis­ter responsible for the SaskatchewanPower Corporation, dubbed FatherMatthew, "Father of rural electrifica-

- FOUNDER, page 8

Homily at wake details powerful incidentsBy Albert Ruetz, OSB

Several years ago, in his semi-retire­ment, Fr. Matthew once said: 'There aretwo things that I will never forget howto do - to drive a car and to say MasS." Idon't know if Fr. Matthew ever forgothow to drive a car, he never drove thelast years of his life. But he was able tokeep saying mass until a couple monthsbefore his death. Thanks to Fr. Norbert'sassistance, Fr. Matthew was faithful insayingmass almost every day.

Once in the early '60s, I relieved Fr.Matthew in Naicam when he went tovisit his relatives in St Paul. When hereturned on a Sunday morning, hehadn't said mass yet, and I volunteered

to serve for him. Many times duringthat mass, he had to stop, because ofthe deep sobs and tears. I will neverforget this experience as long as I live.

He drove his horses hard, he drove hiscars hard and he drove himself hard.Several times this almost cost him hislife. Once with his four-wheel-driveEagle going from Cudworth to St.Benedict at night in winter when hemade a wrong turn and got way out in afield where even a four wheel drive wasno help. Luckily he had the presence ofmind to switch his lights off and on andwas rescuedby a farmerwith his tractor.

The life of Fr. Matthew had an influ­ence on others especially through ruralelectrification. We take electricity for

5

granted today in rural Saskatchewan ­but it got its start with Fr. Matthew; hewas called the "father of rural electrifi­cation". As a token of appreciation forthis he was presented with a new car.

We living here at St. Peter's will misshim - His famous baseball signed byBabe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. His singingin the recreation rooms: "Take me out tothe ball game with peanuts andcracker-jacks I don't care if I neverget back.... " His shuffling down thecorridors, asking, "Where am I?" or"What day of the week is this anyway?"

"Those who eat my flesh and drinkmy blood have eternal life, and I willraise them up on the last day." MayGod grant him eternal life.

Benedictines ministered in Rosthern

The recreation area of Severin Conference Centre.

ln !lour last will and testament please remember St. Peters.Abbey. Our le{1altitle Is:

O;R..DE,X0 TST. BENED lcrMuenster, Sask. SOX 2YO

After that, there was a good pot-luckmeal, and then a program. Fr. Jeromeexplained to the people how it cameabout that there were Benedictinesinvolved with the beginning of St.Odilon and thanked them for the kindinvitation to be present at the blessingof their new church.

Deaths

Grand or Upright Piano(in good condition]

for new Guest

Meeting Room

Guestmaster682-1775

WANTSD

Deaths which have occurred sincethe last SPANewsletter are:

Agnes (Hinz) Enright, sister of Fr. Leo ­Dec. 24, 1993

Mrs. Josephine Junk of St. Mary's Villa- Feb. 16, 1994

Esther Vindevoghel of Wolseley, Sask.,mother of Br. Stanley - March 2,1994

Henry Dosch, father of Leander Dosch,OCSO - March 29,1994

Frank van Amelsvoort of Saskatoon ­March 2, 1994

Archbishop Charles Halpin of Regina ­April 16, 1994

Sr. Lidwina Gerdes, OSU, of Bruno ­Jan. 31,1994

Sr. Bernadette Wald, OSE, of Humboldt- Feb. 27,1994.

Lee Nickel, wife of Ben Nickel - May17, 1994

early in 1904 a small church was built,for the Catholics there, and that Fr.Benedict was the first pastor.The churchwas named St. Odilon (or Odilo); he hadbeen the abbot of the Monastery ofCluny,in France, 994-1049.

After the railway came throughMuenster in late 1904, it was no longernecessary to go to Rosthern. Fr. Bene­dict went to Muenster, and the Oblatepriests took charge oCtheparish.

A few years ago the parishionersbought what had begun as a Co-opstore, and remodelled it to be theirchurch. The blessing of this church byBishop Blaise Morand of Prince Alberttook place May 1, 1994. Under oneroof is the church and also a hall,kitchen, classrooms and washrooms.Because of the Benedictine connectionwith the beginning of the parish aninvitation to attend the blessing wassent to St. Peter's Abbey.

Abbot Peter Novecosky asked Fr.Jerome Weber to represent the abbeyand he was present to concelebrate themass which followed the blessing.

Most homesteaders and settlers whocame to St. Peter's Colony between1902 and 1904 from the United Statesor Europe arrived at Rosthern by train.It was the station nearest to the areadescribed as St. Peter's Colony. Therethe settlers could buy the supplies theyneeded and receive directions andadvice.

Among the arrivals in May 1903were Benedictine priests and brotherswho had been members of a Priory atCluny, not far from St. Louis. They hadagreed to transfer the Priory to a newlocation, at Muenster, and to providepastoral care for the Catholics in St.Peter's Colony.

In February 1904 they began the pub­lication of SLPeter's Bote there, a week­ly newspaper in German, though theactual printing was done in Winnipeg.From some news items in it we learnthat Benedictine priests offered mass inthe waiting room of the rink, or in thehome of Jos. Kopp. Further we learn that

By Jerome Weber, OSB

6

Long-term guest begins Oral History

We celebrate 90 years of printing the Prairie Messenger.

younger monks alike of our communitycould prove to be a source of greatvalue and interest to historians in the21st century.

tape, Simon is convinced once morethat this is the best way to gather andkeep a history of this area.

The interviews of the older and

Responsible for the major part of the renovation and maintenance of Severin ConferenceCentre are (from left): Br. Basil Schaan, Agnes Toennies, Al Vedress and Br. WolfgangThiem. Br. Francis Fortney missing from the photo.

Fr. Matthew showing his autographed baseball to the Junior Choir Camp .

TO GUESTS, OBLATES &FRIENDS OF ST. PETER'S:

NOTICE

The Abbey/College Library wishesto update its list of borrowed booksthis summer. If you have any over­due library books please return assoon as possible. Thank you..

The first successful applicant for theexperimental "Temporary Commit­ment" program at St. Peter's Abbey isMr. Simon Boivin of Winnipeg.

Simon intends to spend at least a yearas a long-term guest where he will beable to exercise his talents for the bene­fit of the monastic community. Afterspending several years with the CBC(French Network), he embarked on anew talent and goal- i.e. Oral History.

After interviewing 82 members andfriends of the Manitoba Oblates ofMary Immaculate, Mr. Boivin is con­vinced that Oral History is the area inwhich he does his best work.

He gained valuable expertise indealing with personal relationshipswhile a resident of the Homes forGrowth Inc., in Manitoba.

Simon has come to St. Peter's to"have a Christian experience and a yearof discernment." While here he willassist with the college French classes aswell as Oral History.

The purpose of Oral History is pri­marily to obtain as complete and accu­rate a history of a community as is pos­sible. The members of the communityare at liberty to choose to be inter­viewed. However, after several mem­bers of St. Peter's Abbey have permit­ted their life history to be recorded on

r···············C·o;;;c;i·o~·········w.....::!In the last issue it was incorrectly stat- :j

led that SylvesterVredegoor,OSB, was :j

i ordained by Bishop Francis Klein of ~~1 Saskatoon. It was, in fact, Bishop:!!Francis P. Carroll of Calgary who!j ordainedFr. Sylvesteron June 6,1964. !~;...........................................•...................................... i:

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Two Oblateshonored at

-St. Thomas MoreTwo Oblates of St. Benedict were

honored at the S1. Thomas More CollegeCorporation weekend in Saskatoon lastOctober. Former STM College membersMarikay Falby of Saskatoon, andAlphonse Gerwing of Prelate, Sask.,were recognized for their contributionsto S1.Thomas More and to the Christian

community.Marikay does community services Al Gerwing and Marikay Falby are Oblates of St. Peter's Abbey

work with the Saskatoon Catholic

School system. Alphonse is active as asocial advocate and spends many sum­mers in Brazil involved with rescuingabandoned street kids. Congratulations tothese Oblates of S1.Peter's Abbey.

Abbot Peter, Fr. Alfred, Sr. Salesia, Walter Zunti and Fr. Andrew at the commemorativeplaque outside the Abbey Church.

Benedictine SpiritualityAre you a seeker of the sacred? Is spirituality an important part of your life?Would you like a daily companion along the way? Subscribe to THE MONAS­TIC WAY, by Joan Chittister, OSB, one of today's most inspiring religiouswriters and speakers. Monthly, single-page format with daily reflections,$12/year. Sample copy $1.25. Write: B~netvision, 355 E. Ninth St., ERIE, PA16503, USA, or phone: 814-459-7199

Founder of Mt. CarmelAbbot Severin Gertken, after whom SeverinHall & Severin Conference Centre is named.

Published and printed by the Benedic­tine community of St. Peter's Abbey,Muenster, Saskatchewan SOK 2YO,twice per year, December and June.

Editor: Gerald Moran, OSB.

Regular contributors: Abbot PeterNovecosky, OSB; Albert Ruetz, OSB;Martin Brodner, OSB.

Photo credits: Falby, Moran

Logo by Kurt Van Kuren, OSB.

Continued/rom page 5

tion in Saskatchewan."There is only one other title which

Father Matthew cherishes more, that of"founder of Mount Carmel." Throughhim, the hill and vicinity were purchasedfrom John Bunko, and he celebrated thefirst principal mass there July 16, 1922.He did a lot of work preparing the

8

mount as a pilgrimage site.Father Matthew's last regular

assignment was to celebrate the week­day masses at St. Mary's Villa, Hum­boldt, and the Sunday mass at St.Michael's Hospital, Cudworth.

(In 1984 he retired to the Abbeywhere he enlivened the community withhis antics until his death on Jan. 22,1994. - Ed) .