Tower Topics ~ Summer 2001

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A message from Abbot Gregory

Dear Friends,
Greetings of peace from Conception Abbey.

As spring gives way to summer, we think of two national holidays that remind us of our movement from one season to another: Memorial Day on the last Monday of May and the Fourth of July.

On Memorial Day we remember those men and women who have given their lives for the cause of freedom in our democratic country. On the Fourth of July we commemorate the act of independence that freed us from our ties to England and gave us, as Americans, the freedom to serve and worship God according to our conscience.

Those of us born in the United States all too often take our freedom for granted. If we have traveled to other nations that have oppressed religious freedom, or where Christianity is not a dominant belief, we have glimpsed what our forebearers worked and fought to give us as citizens of the United States. Those of us who have relatives who lived behind the Iron Curtain have heard stories of the way religious liberty was suppressed; and we’ve also heard stories of how courageous people practiced their faith quietly and unobtrusively to keep it alive both for themselves and for their children.

In thinking about the religious freedom that we possess as citizens of the United States, I am reminded that the foundation of Conception Abbey was due in part to the religious oppression that took place in Switzerland following the French Revolution. In the 1840s, the Abbey of Muri, our grandmother house, was suppressed. The monks were dispersed and not allowed to live the common life of their Benedictine heritage. There was a fear that this same situation could come to our mother house at Engelberg, Switzerland, which was a thriving center of faith and Catholic culture. With the concern both of possible oppression and a genuine zeal for establishing a new monastic foundation in the mission land of the United States, Father Frowin Conrad came to northwest Missouri. Here he established a Benedictine monastery, where the monks would be free to live their rich heritage and to share their Catholic faith with the people of the area.

These are days for us to reflect on the power of Christ’s grace that moved our ancestors in the faith, and now moves us to appreciate the gift of religious freedom and to pass it on to future generations. When we follow the prompting of the Spirit, we never know how great an impact it will have on those who hear our words and witness our actions. The dynamic faith and the ardent sense of mission of our founder, Abbot Frowin, has touched the lives of many through the works and apostolic labors of Conception Abbey. Through our work in priestly formation, the retreat ministry for pilgrims and guests, the apostolate of the proclamation of the Gospel through the printed word, and our work in parishes and chaplaincies, we bring the Gospel to life for many people. It is God’s Holy Spirit that has inspired all of this; and it is God’s Holy Spirit that continues to inspire others to live by faith, to see the face of God, and to be of loving service to one another.

It is sometimes hard for us to appreciate the gift of religious freedom that we have in this country. May our efforts to live our Christian faith strengthen our sense of religious liberty and foster the work of the Gospel in our world.

Sincerely in Christ

Abbot Gregory J. Polan, O.S.B.

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