St. Therese and the Requiem Mass for Father de Feydeau

From the blog : How can I keep from singing

November 18th : Preached this morning from the requiem by the Prior, Father Anderson - who on Saturday buried his own mother.

+ Requiem Mass

The Reverend Father Dom Francois de Feydeau de Saint-Christophe November 17, 2009

For unto thy faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away: and the abode of this earthly sojourn being dissolved, an eternal dwelling is prepared in heaven (Preface of the Dead)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

My very dear Brother Monks,

The words just quoted from the Preface for the Requiem Mass express the Faith of the Church that shines in the face of the darkest trial that assails the human heart—that is to say the sad reality of death.

Rooted in the Most Precious Blood and water that poured forth from the side of the Savior on Calvary, the Faith comes to our aid in this moment of sorrow, reminding us of Christ’s eternal victory over sin, the world and the “enemy death that shall be destroyed last, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet”. (I Cor. 15:26)

Sharing in this same Faith and making it “earn interest” like the good servant of the parable, that great Theologian of the Little Way, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus of Lisieux gives us her particular insight into the reality of bodily death. As she neared her own end at the age of twenty-four this young Doctor of the Church made the boldest of

affirmations: “I die not; I enter into life.” When a man or a woman--in particular a religious--comes to that crucial moment of the great passage to the other side of things, the truth comes forth without pretention. Saint Therese affirms her belief in eternal life, not in order simply to comfort us, but rather because it is the truth.

Of course, the Saint of Lisieux did not mean to dismiss the possibility of Hell or Purgatory, but having made her great discovery concerning the Merciful Love of God, to which she consecrated herself as a victim of Divine Mercy, she simply was beyond doubting that the Judge of Heaven and Earth would forgive her every fault if she only remained small--very small--with the trust of a little child. And lest we be tempted to think that it was on her merits as a Carmelite nun that she felt so bold in presenting herself to the just Judge, she affirms categorically that she will appear before Him with “empty hands”, that is to say without the merits any good works to speak of--save her childlike confidence itself.

Saint Therese liked to quote the line from that other great doctor of Carmel, Saint John of the Cross, who said that “on the evening of this life it is on love that we will be judged”. Although she felt quite incapable of performing the feats of asceticism that we so admire in the great Saints, she knew for a fact that there was immense love in her heart—better yet, she knew that her vocation was to be the love in the heart of her mother the Church.

As we prepare to commit the mortal remains of a beloved monk to the earth, to that very earth from which the first man was taken, we do well not to forget the luminous path traced by so many saints—from Our Blessed Father Saint Benedict to Saint Therese of Lisieux--that have illumined the world and transfigured the experience of death. Above all we must not forget what Our Lord said about the need for the grain of wheat to die, in order that it not remain sterile but produce much fruit. If we cannot help feeling the bitter grief of seeing a father and brother stolen away from the visible plane of our existence, we must not act like the pagans of yesterday and today, who live without real love in this world and without hope for the next.

May Our Lady of a Happy Dying, Notre-Dame du Bien Mourir, so venerated at Fontgombault Abbey, our mother-house in France, who manifestly helped our brother through the narrow passage of his last days, obtain for us all to die so well. Thus having followed the path of our monastic spirituality, in imitation of the Ecce, Fiat of the Virgin of Nazareth, may we all come to take our places in the eternal liturgical celebrations of Heaven in the presence of God and of the Lamb. Amen.

Article by Father Prior

There have been some interesting finds about Clear Creek lately during some of my searches on the internet --- Like this:

Article here

From June 2009 issue of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic -- see article on page 14.

Pope Benedict to Artists

art by James Langley

MEETING WITH ARTISTS

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Sistine Chapel
Saturday, 21 November 2009l

Here are some of my favorite lines from the speech:

“This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart, and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration. And all this through the work of your hands . . . Remember that you are the custodians of beauty in the world.”

"The experience of beauty does not remove us from reality, on the contrary, it leads to a direct encounter with the daily reality of our lives, liberating it from darkness, transfiguring it, making it radiant and beautiful."

"Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence”

Simone Weil wrote in this regard: “In all that awakens within us the pure and authentic sentiment of beauty, there, truly, is the presence of God. There is a kind of incarnation of God in the world, of which beauty is the sign."

Link to speech on vatican website here

*Hat-tip to Genevieve at http://www.goldenbooklist.blogspot.com/

Talk about the prayer of petition

PRAYER OF PETITION
This was a talk that one of the monks gave awhile ago to a group of young people who made a pilgrimage to Clear Creek Monastery on behalf of Father de Feydeau before his passing. The words are beautiful and even though it was not God's will that Fr. de Feydeau stay in this world with us I think the talk below put everything in perspective and gave all of us who love Fr. de Feydeau the right frame of mind during his illness. Thank you God for Father de Feydeau!

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you can view the talk here

From the EOC : Article on Fr. de Feydeau

From Eastern Oklahoma Catholic website: http://www.dioceseoftulsa.org/article.asp?nID=1266

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Clear Creek’s Subprior, Father de Feydeau, Dies at 57

11/16/2009 - EOC Staff

The Requiem Mass and Funeral for the Rev. Father Dom Francois de Feydeau, subprior of Clear Creek Monastery, was held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17 at the Benedictine monastery located near Hulbert.

Father de Feydeau was a priest and monk of Our Lady of Fontgombault Abbey, France, of the Congregation of Solesmes, of the Order of St. Benedict. He was among the founding members of the Clear Creek Monastery. He died Nov. 15 at 57 and was in his 33rd year of monastic profession and 27th year of his priesthood. For some months, Father de Feydeau had suffered a brain tumor.

“May his soul and those of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God and the intersession of Our Lady, rest in peace, Father Philip Anderson, Clear Creek’s prior said in an email notifying Bishop Edward J. Slattery and the Diocese of Father de Feydeau’s death. Bishop Slattery was in Baltimore for the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Father François de Feydeau was born on March 16, 1953 to French parents of noble extraction living in Bizerte, Tunisia, where Mr. de Feydeau worked for a time as an engineer. The family later returned to France, where François grew up near the town of Versailles.

Always interested in sailing, he joined the French Sea Scouts and after preparatory school was admitted to the French Naval Academy, from which he graduated at the top of his class. Shortly after being commissioned an officer and sailing around the world in the Naval Academy ship the Jeanne d’Arc, he found himself free to pursue the vocation he had felt from a very early age and entered the novitiate of the Benedictine Abbey, Notre-Dame de Fontgombault.

He pronounced his perpetual vows as a monk in 1980 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1983. After having several important jobs at the abbey, including that of assistant novice-master, he was chosen to be among the founders of Our Lady of Clear Creek Monastery, arriving in Oklahoma in August 1999.

At Clear Creek Father de Feydeau was named sub-prior, cellarer (in charge of the daily work of the monks and all business matters) and master of ceremonies. He later became master of the students and taught moral theology.

He also served as spiritual director for many of the monks. His capacity for work and exquisite charity amazed all who knew him, both inside and outside the monastery.

On May 21st Father de Feydeau was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. After many weeks of suffering during which he displayed the utmost patience and abandonment to God’s will, he rendered his soul to God early in the morning of Nov. 15th and was buried at the monastery on Nov. 17th.

High Mass in Clear Creek

Here is a high mass from awhile ago at Clear Creek Monastery with Dom Antione Forgeot, Abbot of Fontgombault. Note: Father de Feydeau is serving as Master of ceremonies in black and white.

*hat tip to gitlancee

Father de Feydeau R.I.P.

Fr. de Feydeau in foreground in black and white

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On November 15, 2009, strengthened by the sacraments of our Holy Mother Church,

Dom Francois de FEYDEAU DE SAINT-CHRISTOPHE

a priest and monk of Our Lady of Fontgombault Abbey, of the Congregation of Solesmes, of the Order of Saint Benedict, rendered his soul to God in Our Lady of Clear Creek Priory.

He was in the 57th year of his age, the 33rd of his monastic profession, and the 27th of his priesthood.

May his soul and those of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God and the intercession of Our Lady, rest in peace.

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Father Benedict Groeschel

This is a beautiful video about the founder of an absolutely beautiful order. I encountered some of Fr. Benedict's monks during the Crossroad's Prolife walk last year and they were so full of life and love.

Hat tip to American Papist