Conception Abbey
Conception, Missouri

Tower Topics ~ Winter 2007

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Ora et Labora

Dear Friends,

Greetings of peace from Conception Abbey.
The Benedictine motto is Ora et Labora, Prayer and Work. Everyone understands how prayer lies at the heart of monastic life, yet the emphasis which St. Benedict gives to work is not immediately understood. When many people speak of work, it is as a labor which must be done for any variety of reasons. But for St. Benedict, work has a sacred meaning and is a part of the monastic life which is understood to enrich the life of the individual monk and the lives of others as a form of loving service.

St. Benedict and the other early founders of monastic communities saw work as a most noble endeavor, continuing the work of God’s creation and making one partners with God in the on-going work of creation. As man and woman were created in the image of God, they share in a special dignity as children of God. Likewise, there is a great dignity in being able to carry on the work of God in our world by using our gifts and talents for the glory of our Creator and the progress of the human family toward the well-being and care of all people.

Parents work both in the home and outside it to provide for their children and to enhance the good of others by their labors. Scientists, engineers, teachers, and other professionals work to pass on to others information and knowledge that enriches our life. I remember when I first began teaching Scripture in our seminary college, one of my grade school teachers told me, “Teaching is a most noble profession. You pass on to people gifts that will be with them for the rest of their lives.” That is true for so many professions.

In the monastic life, while there are days when our work can be tedious and challenging, we are trained in the spirit of St. Benedict to see our work as a creative, noble, and enriching endeavor. This is true whether our work is welcoming guests, teaching in the classroom, maintaining on our abbey grounds, preparing Christian greeting cards, or serving one another at meals in our monastic refectory.

In this issue of Tower Topics, we highlight the work of several members of our community whose endeavors bring beauty, joy, admiration, and well-being to others. Over the years, several of our monks have taken up the craft of wood-working. Fathers Samuel, Benedict, Brother Jude and now Brother Paul have made beautiful crosiers for our abbots and for bishops who are friends of Conception Abbey. Our Father Roland, who for many years taught art in our seminary college, now in semi-retirement, “throws” pots, producing beautiful pottery. True artists among us are Brother Michael, a master calligrapher, and Brother Pachomius, a new but quickly progressing iconographer. For years, Father Norbert has worked at polishing rocks and making crosses from them. And also, we take note of one of our employees, Juliusz Draganski, who has spent the last 25 years with us as a painter after emigrating from his native Poland.

May this issue of Tower Topics inspire you to see all your labors, in whatever small corner of the world in which you live, as a partnership in God’s wondrous work of renewing and re-creating our world.

Sincerely in Christ,

Abbot Gregory J. Polan, OSB

We welcome your comments:
communications@conception.edu
www.conceptionabbey.org

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