Saint Leo Abbey
(Effective Sunday, August 29, 2021)
Monday – Friday
7:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:00 pm – Mass & Midday Prayer
6:00 pm – Evening Prayer
8:00 pm – Night Prayer
*Eucharistic Adoration & Evening Prayer on Fridays at 6 pm (excluding Feast Days & Solemnities)
Saturday
7:00 am – Morning Prayer
12:00 pm – Mass & Midday Prayer
6:00 pm – Evening Prayer
Sundays & Solemnities
7:30 am – Morning Prayer
10:00 am – Solemn Mass
12:00 pm – Midday Prayer
6:00 pm – Solemn Evening Prayer
July 22, 2021
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
Dear friends of Saint Leo Abbey,
As you may have heard, the Holy Father has issued a new mandate, Guardians of the Tradition, regarding the pre-conciliar liturgy. I want to share my response to this essential mandate and reminders about the liturgical customs of our Benedictine community. As Benedictine Monks, we are tasked as guardians of the sacred liturgy in service to the Pope, as we consider him the “Abbot of the Abbots.” Thus, our obedience to him and his mandates is without question. the Church is not a democracy; keep that in mind always. Like all Catholics, we are charged to follow the Church’s teachings; especially her instructions from the beautiful documents produced by the Second Vatican Council, while trying to accommodate all.
I am sure you have observed our use of ancient treasures in our Abbey liturgies: solemn processions with incense, ancient Marian prayers, Scriptural Antiphons, Psalms, and Canticles all proclaimed through Gregorian chant encompassing the English, Greek, and Latin languages. Gregorian chant is the Benedictine order’s tradition and gift to the universal Church. Guardians of the Tradition has placed no restrictions on the Church’s treasures of Gregorian chant, nor the traditions mentioned above; hence, our continued use of them during our celebrations of the Divine Office and Eucharist. As Benedictines, we are responsible for providing the Church with a sacred, reverent, and unifying liturgy; we will continue doing so until our dying day!
Our guests must be aware that Saint Leo Abbey is not a parish. We are an autonomous monastery that serves the spiritual needs of our monks while generously welcoming all that wish to pray with us. In other settings, you may have noticed that the assembly may pray quickly, without cohesion. At Saint Leo, we pray slowly as one body as we call God our Father, to hear us, aid us, and forgive us. We expect all to pray with us in the same manner as we promote what the liturgy demands: unity. As you pray with us, we respectfully ask you to follow our monastic traditions, including following the responses and bodily gestures of the monastic community, upholding the precept: a common bodily posture, observed by all, is a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community gathered together for the Sacred Liturgy (GIRM 42). In these simple yet significant details, we can make an immense difference in providing our community with a reverent liturgy. I ask all to consider our traditions the same way as when you visit a friend’s home, you follow their customs and do not impose your practices. Saint Leo Abbey is our home, and we welcome you among us to be one with us; following our ritual, not one’s own.
We are proud to be Benedictine monks! As theologians talk about theology, we Benedictine monks live theology, as we live in God’s presence, imploring Him with the needs and intentions of the Holy Father, the Church, and those who entrust us with their petitions. We hope to express our Benedictine identity by having reverent, unifying liturgical celebrations. God willing, you will feel God’s presence among us as you unite yourself in worship with us.
Lastly, I implore all to read the Motu Proprio, Guardians of the Tradition (Traditions Custodes), rather than merely listen to what is said about it on television, social media, or even from distressed preachers. Read what the Holy Father teaches and try to understand that the Holy See is not trying to alienate anyone but striving to ensure the unity which our liturgy demands, and the communion which Catholics are obliged to maintain as we move as one on our pilgrimage to the Lord (Can. 209). I desire that our community will soon offer our guests a deeper catechesis on sacred liturgy where all may learn why the liturgy is the heart of our faith, to lead all to that fully conscious and active participation that is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy (SC 14).
Yours in Christ & Saint Benedict,
Abbot Isaac Camacho, OSB
December 14, 2020
Greetings to our friends of Saint Leo Abbey,
It was necessary to close again because we are under quarantine as one of the kitchen employees
tested positive for the coronavirus. Since we were exposed to her, the monks were all tested.
Thanks be to God, the monks have tested negative, but we will be tested again this week to
ensure we do not have the virus at the end of our quarantine. We will send an email telling you
if we are infected or not.
In one of his recent meditations given during Mass, Brother Lucius told us that we were acting
as the Desert Fathers, the monks of the early Church. These early monks lived in cells, many
times caves, and only came together for the Eucharist. During these days, we are doing that
under quarantine, praying in our monastic cells, eating alone, and only gathering for the Eucharist.
We are such a small community that we cannot risk putting each other at risk; if Godforbid,
we are ill.
I invite you to join us from your homes to meditate on the idea of praying. To pray is something
that Saint Paul says we should do without interruption. That, my friends, is the call of the
monks to pray without ceasing.
Many books try to teach us how to pray. However, Saint Benedict offers a simple path for the
Monks, and I am inviting you to follow it. Benedict says that we should pray using the psalms.
Then Benedict strongly recommends the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, which we call Lectio Divina.
If we do Lectio Divina every day, we will be able to read, pray, meditate, and finally contemplate
God every single moment of our lives.
If you want a one or two pages long explanation of how to do Lectio Divina, please let me
know, and I will send it to you.
Once again, I want to say that I am sorry for closing the Abbey to the public. I hope and pray
that we will have good news by the end of this week; please pray for us. I cannot wait to have
you with us for the Midnight Mass of Christmas.
May the Lord God bless you and keep you. May He smile upon you and give you peace.
Peace,
Abbot Isaac
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Brother Lucius Amarillas, O.S.B., a junior Benedictine monk of Saint Leo Abbey, will profess solemn vows during Mass at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 14, 2019, at Saint Leo Abbey. Professing solemn vows will bind Brother Lucius to the monastery and the Benedictine order for the remainder of his life.
All are invited to attend this joyous occasion! If you cannot attend in person, you are invited to pray for Brother Lucius and watch the live video stream of the Mass via Saint Leo Abbey’s Facebook page.
Brother Lucius was born in Manteca, California and grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. After graduating high school, he moved to Florida and began studying religion at Saint Leo University. There, he started discerning a vocation with the Benedictine monks who founded the university.
For the last four years, Lucius has been through monastic formation, which consists of studying monastic history, Scripture, liturgy, and community life. Within the Abbey community, Lucius has been assigned several jobs from baking bread, cleaning and caring for the Abbey Church, and serving as the Abbot’s master of liturgical celebrations. With immense gratitude to Abbot Isaac, the monks of Saint Leo Abbey, as well as many others who have prayed for and accompanied him on his journey, Lucius looks forward to professing solemn vows of obedience, stability, and conversion of life. Following his profession of solemn vows, Lucius will continue graduate studies in theology at Saint Leo University and Saint John’s University, Collegeville.
The formation of a monk consists of a few stages the candidate progresses through: postulancy, novitiate, and juniorate. Following at least three years of the juniorate, if approved by the community, the junior monk may profess solemn vows, which binds him to the monastery and the Benedictine order for the remainder of his life.
These vows are unique to the Benedictine order. “Obedience” requires that the monk obeys his superior, the Abbot, and his successors. “Stability” requires that the monk remains a member of the particular monastic community in which he is making his vows, in this case, Saint Leo Abbey. Finally, “Conversion of Life” declares that the monk is indeed promising to live a life differently than the rest of the world, a life which is centered on monastic practices aiming for holiness.