t h e s a i n t l o u i s a b b e y

JOURNAL2008-09

PRIZE RECIPIENTSForm Prize – Matthew R. Menendez

imProvement – Charles J. EpsteinAnthony R. Hayes

theoLogy – Douglas J. HallJames A. KopfensteinerMatthew R. Menendez

Literary – James F. Fuller

Achievements and AwardsSaint Louis Abbey was founded through the close cooperation between Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey

in England and Saint Louis laymen who, in the early 1950s, had a vision of building and maintaining a Catholic college preparatory school of the highest order and supporting a Benedictine monastery to run that school. In 1955 that vision became a reality. Today the Abbey consists of a one hundred fifty acre campus in West Saint Louis County with a monastic community that operates a day school for talented and motivated young men in grades seven through twelve, and a parish of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.

The heart of the Abbey is centered in the monks, the Benedictine Rule and the vow of stability taken by the monks to remain at the Abbey for life. Radiating from the monks is a warmth that nourishes an ever-widening family of students and faculty, alumni, parents, parents of alumni, parishioners and other friends who, in their diversity, are bound together through participation in the life of the Abbey.

LauS tibi Domine Praise to you, O Lord

eDitor: Julie Lohr

art Direction anD DeSign: Shelly Kurtz

contributing PhotograPherS: Grace JenkersonBrother Mark Kammerer, OSBShelly KurtzJerry NaunheimJohn NotterEdith VarleyRick Willmann

the Saint LouiS abbey JournaL iS PubLiSheD by:Development and Public Relations Office The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis500 South Mason RoadSt. Louis, Missouri, 63141-8500

Phone: 314.434.3690Fax: 314.434.4526

emaiL: development@priory.org

Web SiteS: www.stlouisabbey.orgwww.stlprioryschool.orgwww. stlprioryalumni.org

We look forward to keeping alumni, parents, parents of alumni, parishioners and friends informed, and we encourage ideas for articles.

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s a i n t l o u i s a b b e y j o u r n a l Volume XLVIII

2008/09

Table of Contents

From the monastery

From the Calefactory: .................................................................................................................................... 3

Golden Jubilee of Father Paul Kidner's Ordination: ....................................................................................... 6

Solemn Profession of Brother Francis Hein: ................................................................................................... 7

Vocations: ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

Abbot Patrick Barry Says Good-Bye to Saint Louis Abbey: ............................................................................. 9

Luke Rigby Award: ....................................................................................................................................... 10

Obituaries: ................................................................................................................................................... 14

Necrology: ................................................................................................................................................... 16

From the school

Headmaster's Message: ................................................................................................................................. 19

Junior School Report: .................................................................................................................................. 21

Achievements and Awards: ........................................................................................................................... 22

Varsity Athletes Post Season Honors: ............................................................................................................ 30

The Year in Sports: ....................................................................................................................................... 31

Graduation Day: .......................................................................................................................................... 32

Class of 2009 – College Choices: ................................................................................................................. 35

College Counseling: ..................................................................................................................................... 38

Technology: ................................................................................................................................................. 40

Admission News: ......................................................................................................................................... 41

Class of 2015: .............................................................................................................................................. 41

Faculty Development: .................................................................................................................................. 42

Student Faculty Awards ................................................................................................................................ 43

Parent Organizations: ................................................................................................................................... 44

From the alumni

Year In Review: ............................................................................................................................................ 47

From the Parish

Pastor’s Message: .......................................................................................................................................... 49

Parish Committees: ...................................................................................................................................... 49

Saint Louis Abbey Calendar ................................................................................................................................. 56

Saint Louis Abbey Organizations ................................................................................................... inside back cover

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Monastery

Stainless steel sculpture of Saint Benedict, created by St. Louis Artist Wiktor Szostalo, was a gift from Ampleforth Abbey to commemorate our elevation from a Priory to an Abbey statis in 1990.

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From the CalefactoryAbbot Thomas Frerking, OSB

Since the appearance of last year’s Saint Louis Abbey Journal, in August 2008, we have all suffered a period of very significant, even severe, economic constraint, and many, faced with unemployment or the dwindling of investments which had been critical for their retirement years, have suffered true material hardship, and all the stress, uncertainty and anxiety that goes with it. We have all been forced to reflect on this situation and what it means for us. I suspect that the form the reflection has taken for you has been the same as the form it has taken for us, namely, a reflection which is focused on the question: What is essential for our life and wellbeing, and for the life and wellbeing of those for whom we are responsible? Would you permit me to share with you a little of my reflection on this topic? I have no doubt that it is naïve in numbers of areas, and off the mark in others. But perhaps your reading it, and consider-ing what you think of it, will lead to your own reflection becoming clearer and stronger.

First of all, it seems to me that as Catholics we can only begin with the one certain truth we know about the meaning of our life and about what we should ultimately aim for, and that is the truth that we are all – each and every one of us – called by the Lord to holiness. This great truth was emphasized again and again by the Second Vatican Council. All Christian vocations are directed toward this one great goal; they are simply assemblages of different means for moving toward it. And what is holiness? Our Lord told us what it is: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-40; cf. Mark 12:30-31) This is what we are all to be aiming for, whatever our vocation, whatever our material situation in this life.

Now what is the love of God? The Lord said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) The Christian faith carries with it, then, the call to observe all the commandments, the whole moral law. Christianity is, to be blunt, a hard and de-manding religion; indeed, it demands of us infinitely more than we can achieve by our own human powers. But we believe in the gift of grace, the grace of God which does give us the capacity to keep the commandments, which does free us from sin, which does make it possible for us, if we will, to avoid all mortal sins, and progressively to be freed of our venial sins as well. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” But the Lord said something else as well, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever.” (John 14:15-16) And again, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him, and we will

come to him and will make our abode with him.” (John 14:23) In the love of God, then, there is not only the keeping of the commandments, but the coming of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – into our soul, the abid-ing of the three Persons there forever, the beginning already in this life of knowing and experi-encing them and their presence, the knowing and experiencing which in the next life will burst forth into the Vision of God face to face, which is eternal life, eter-nal and infinite bliss. So there is also for the Christian in this world this direct knowing and loving of God, already the beginning of eternal life, of perfect fulfillment. For each of us, the indispens-able basis and also perfection of this is the Eucharist, “the source and summit of the Christian life,” and in particular the Sunday Eucharist, the indispensable and unfathomable mystery of sacrifice and communion. But for each of us as well, there must be our daily personal prayer, in those forms of prayer, of the unlimited number of forms there are, to which the Lord calls us. In all our callings to prayer there is this common calling, to strive to make our prayer ever more unceasing, so that we are always aware of the Lord who is with us, in all the actions and sufferings and events of our daily life.

What, now, is the love of neighbor? What it is can be easily said, but, like the love of God, the love of neighbor requires the abun-dant grace of God, and lifelong effort, in order to be brought forth from us at least in some measure. Love, the great Christian moral and spiritual tradition teaches, is wishing good to the other, and a wishing which intends to be practical, and actually acts for the good of the other to the extent that doing so is possible. Love is perfected by the feelings of love, but these feelings are not essential to it; what is essential is acting for the sake of the good of the neighbor, serv-ing the neighbor. And then, the love which Jesus taught, charity, is wanting the good of the neighbor on account of God: that is, be-cause the neighbor is in the image of God, because the neighbor is called to be a son or daughter of God, because – and this is the way Saint Benedict puts it again and again – because Christ dwells in the neighbor, and whatsoever we do to the neighbor we do to Christ. Since this love of neighbor is on account of God, it is one and the same love as the love of God: the one love of charity is directed to two objects, God and the neighbor, for the one who truly loves God must love his image, and the one who truly loves the neighbor, truly sees that the neighbor’s deepest identity is being an image of God and loves the neighbor in that deepest identity, must love God.

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Now the neighbors closest to us are our own family. So this love of neighbor must begin in the family – in the natural family for those of us who are called to the lay vocation and to Christian marriage, and in the spiritual family for those of us called to the monastic life.

The Lord said that the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. So love of God and love of neighbor, and all that they carry with them to be authentic, such as justice and self-control and courage and truthfulness and all the other virtues – so love of God and love of neighbor really is the whole of what we are made for and called to, where happiness actually is. And we in fact all know that for this love little in the way of material posses-sions is required, that in fact, love can flourish either in prosperity or adversity, and just as well in adversity as in prosperity, and in this life perhaps even better in adversity. And this is true, is it not, of the love of neighbor as expressed in our family? For do we not know that in families in adversity, if the grace of God is received by open hearts, love and unity can grow stronger, can flourish more in a simpler life than in a more complex one, and that they bring with them greater and stronger and deeper joy and peace than any happiness that may come from material goods.

But our neighbors include not only our families, but the larger communities of which we are part in our work and social life, the still larger political community, and indeed the global community and all our brothers and sisters in the human race. And here it can seem that

love of neighbor requires more in the way of material goods, because such goods are either real or perceived necessities for such larger communities. In this connection, we have had to think a great deal about our School during the past year, and what are the right policies for it in a time of major economic constraint. It has seemed to us that one very fundamental policy required by the love of neighbor in such a time is the policy: “Put people first, not material and financial resources.” We have tried, then, to ensure over the past year that no family must withdraw a son from the School because of the current economic difficulties, that no family is barred from sending a son who is qualified to the School because of those difficulties, that such moderation of tuition increase for the coming year as we can manage is established for all families in the School. For those alumni and par-ents who have lost employment, many efforts have been made by the School’s alumni and parent networks to help them find new employ-ment. We have tried, again, to see that no faculty or staff positions currently occupied are discontinued in order to reduce expenditures, and to see to it that at least there is no decrease in salaries, wages and benefits for next year. And we have been determined to ensure as well that the outstanding Catholic, Benedictine and college-preparatory educational standards of the School – the true good we can give to our boys – remain unimpaired.

All this has required sacrifice and generosity on the part of all. Parents and families have had to sacrifice in order generously to

Saint Louis Abbey monks participate in the Installation of Archbishop Carlson, June 10, 2009.

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support what we cannot do without in the way of tuition and the various forms of giving that are needed to supplement it. The faculty and staff have had to sacrifice in order generously to accept a salary and wage freeze for the coming year. All of us have had to sacrifice in order generously to accept the deferral of a number of mainte-nance and facilities projects, including notably the construction of the new Grandstand at the synthetic field. We in the monastery have tried to do our part, too: the number in studies for next year will be reduced; the number working in the School, and the loading of some of them, will be increased; the salary and wage freeze will apply to monks as well as to lay faculty and staff; expenditures in the monastery have been decreased through various forms of belt-tightening. All these measures taken in order to “put people first” have resulted in the necessity of withdrawals at exceptional levels from the endowment, an endowment already decreased in size by the global decline in the value of investments. Such a rainy-day use of the endowment of an educational institution is a major purpose of such an endowment. And yet in the coming years, withdrawals will have to return to normal levels, and so sacrifice and generosity will still be required of all in the School family.

Despite all this, which at first seems to be diminishment, we have seen all the constituencies of the Abbey and School rising to the occasion, we have seen quite clearly the sacrifice and generos-ity of the whole Abbey Family, we have had the opportunity to reflect on what is truly essential for the School’s mission of Catholic, Benedictine, college-preparatory education of the highest excellence, we have seen large numbers of new families joining us so that in fact the School will have next year the largest enrollment it has ever had. We are left with much to ponder as to what the true place is of material and financial resources in the dedicated Christian life.

I should like to conclude by sharing with you a passage from a sermon by John Henry Cardinal Newman, the great nineteenth-century English Catholic churchman and theologian, soon to be beatified. At first, I was hesitant to do so, for his words can seem somewhat severe, and moreover, my sharing them can seem to be callous with regard to those who in the present economic situation are not suffering merely constraint, but severe material hardship and need. It is clear that we must all do all that we can to provide for the material needs of people in the latter category, and that doing this is a necessary condition of being able to help them with their spiritual needs. But despite these concerns, I have decided to share the pas-sage with you, for I believe it articulates, with Cardinal Newman’s great graces of insight and eloquence, what alone in the end is the true answer to the question upon which we have been reflecting, the question what is essential for the life and wellbeing, or rather, the life and blessedness, of ourselves and of all our brothers and sisters. Here is the passage (John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Ser-mons, VII, 59-62,72-73, as quoted in Friends of Henry Ashworth, A Word in Season, V [Villanova: Augustinian Press, 1995], 147-149):

Saint Paul says that we ought to be content with food and raiment; and the wise man says, Give me neither poverty nor riches.

Yet a great number of us, I may say, nearly all, are not content with enough, we are not satisfied with sufficiency; we wish for something more than simplicity, and plainness, and gravity, and modesty, in our mode of living; we like show and splendor, and admiration from the many, and obsequiousness on the part of those who have to do with us, and the ability to do as we will; we like to attract the eye, to be received with consideration and respect, to be heard with deference, to be obeyed with promptitude; we love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats; we like to be well dressed, and to have titles of honor.

Now that these worldly advantages, as they are called, are not pro-ductive of any great enjoyment even now to the persons possessing them, it does not require many words to prove. Let me ask anyone who had succeeded in any object of his desire, has he experienced in his success that full, that lasting satisfaction which he anticipated? Did not some feeling of disappointment, of weariness, of satiety, of disquietude, after a short time, steal over his mind? I think it did; and if so, what reason has he to suppose that that greater share of reputation, opulence, and influence which he has not, and which he desires, would, if granted him, suffice to make him happy? No; the fact is certain, however slow and unwilling we may be to believe it, none of these things bring the pleasure which we beforehand suppose they will bring. And why is this? It is, in a word, because the soul was made for religious employments and pleasures; and hence, that no temporal blessings, however exalted or refined, can satisfy it. As well might we attempt to sustain the body on chaff, as feed and nourish the immortal soul with the pleasures and occupations of the world.

For us, indeed, who are all the adopted children of God our Savior, what addition is wanting to complete our happiness? What can increase their peace who believe and trust in the Son of God? Shall we add a drop to the ocean, or grains to the sand of the sea? Shall we ask for an earthly inheritance, who have the fullness of an heavenly one; power, when in prayer we can use the power of Christ; or wisdom, guided as we may be by the true Wisdom and Light of men? It is of small conse-quence to those who are beloved of God, and walk in the Spirit of truth, whether we pay or receive honor, which is but transitory and profitless. To the true Christian the world is a scene of probation. Every soul is a candidate for immortality. And the more we realize this view of things, the more we shall be led habitually to pray, that upon every Christian may descend, in rich abundance, not merely worldly good, but that heavenly grace which alone can turn this world to good account for us, and make it the path of peace and of life everlasting.

Dear friends of the Abbey Family, please be assured of our ongoing prayers for all of you and your families, and please remember all of us monks in your prayers.

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MonasteryGolden Jubilee of Father Paul Kidner's Ordination

This year marked a very special celebration in the Abbey com-munity: the Golden Jubilee of Father Paul’s ordination. Born in Oswestry, England, Father Paul entered the novitiate at Ampleforth Abbey in York, England, in 1952 and was later ordained on July 20, 1958.

His calling was not one found in a burst of light: rather, God’s call was realized gradually. It seems however, that the foundation was laid long before Father Paul was born. His mother’s family was replete with vocations, and includes one martyr, the Blessed Thomas Pickering, killed at the behest of Charles II in 1679. He also men-tions influence of the cousin of his grandfather, a priest and “color-ful character” whom he often saw when visiting his grandparents. Perhaps most powerful was the persistent prayer of his mother, who only after his decision to be ordained revealed she had daily prayed

for his vocation. “People were a stronger influence on my vocation than books,” wrote Father Paul, “especially the monks at Ampleforth who had taught me for six years and whom I liked and respected. The variety of characteristics and talents struck me; they were not all of the same mold.”

Father Paul has been a crucial figure in the history of the Ab-bey and School. He was Headmaster from 1974 to 1983, and has served as Assistant Headmaster, chaired the Math and Theology Departments, was the Director of Athletics, and College Guidance Counselor. In the Monastery, he distinguished himself as the Prior from 1989 until 2005, and currently serves as the Cellarer, the monastic officer charged with the entire temporal administration of the monastery and its works, as well as the Director of Studies. In addition, he still finds time to teach mathematics and is an Associate College Counselor.

During the homily delivered at his Jubilee Mass, he remarked, “Without the need which you have expressed in many different ways, I could not have served God and his church as a priest.” That journey of service began almost immediately upon his ordination. “I’m going to uproot you,” were Abbot Byrne’s infamous words to the then 27 year old Father Paul. Sent to teach at the newly founded Priory in St. Louis, Father Paul was transplanted to a new country and task. “Yet the one whom we now honor, coming so soon after the beginning, brought the great graces of implementation, con-solidation, fidelity, in all the areas of our life and work, so that the charism might perdure, so that the generations which followed – now you and we – might be able to receive that charism deep into our hearts and ourselves learn fidelity to it,” remarked Father Abbot in his tribute at Father Paul’s Ordination Celebration Mass.

Quoting the Rule of Saint Benedict, Father Abbot described in glowing terms how Father Paul has exemplified the monastic and priestly vocations. “‘Prudent, moderate, kind, not dilatory or prodigal, seeing all created things as like the sacred vessels of the altar, obedient, humble, like a father to all.’ Dear friends, who more fully possesses these qualities than the one whom we honor today?” “The blessings far outweigh the challenges,” remarks Father Paul, “though one thing has been the time constraint.” Fortunately, Father Paul has had 50 years of practice in time management, and in turn, he has blessed the Abbey and School with his wisdom and guidance. “Don’t come with any preconceived ideas about what the monastic life is about; you are not coming to reform the monastery,” said Fa-ther Paul with a chuckle, recalling the advice given to him as a new monk, “you’re coming to learn from the monks how to serve God. The main thing is openness to responding to whatever direction the Lord pushes you in.” We offer our prayers and thanksgiving to God for sending us a priest and monk who has exemplified this wisdom.

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Solemn Profession of Brother Francis Hein

With joy and thanksgiving the Abbot and Community of Saint Louis Abbey announce the solemn profession of Brother Francis Hein. On August 23, 2008, Brother Francis asked God and his holy Church to be allowed to bind himself, by the bond of life-long profession, to God and to his service through the monastic way of life lived out in this monastery.

The readings chosen for his profession Mass expressed perfectly what the monastic way of life is. It begins, like every Christian vocation, with God’s love for us. “God is love,” says Saint John, and he says, “This is the love I mean, not our love for God, but God’s love for us . . . we love, because he first loved us.” “This immense mystery of God’s love for us – for you, for me – this immense mystery confronts each one of us. We spend so many years of our life fleeing from it, turned away from it, seeking goodness, happi-ness, consolation, in the apparent goods of this world. But then he

gives us the grace to stop, to turn, to turn ever so slightly – but that is enough, that is all that is required, and then his love for us floods our hearts. This great turning-point came in your life, Brother Francis,” remarked Father Abbot at Brother Francis’ Mass of Solemn Profession.

Father Abbot concluded the homily at Brother Francis’ Solemn Profession with the following remarks, “Well, Brother Francis, these are great words, words of fire …What joy, then, to be called to go to the Lord by this most sure and most direct path of his Gospel and the Rule of his saint. Come, then, Brother Francis, and with faith and hope and love, with joy, make your vows.”

Brother Francis was born in St. Louis on January 27, 1966. He graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory School and received a B.A. from the University of Missouri, Columbia and a M.A. from Webster University. He also took courses at Sophia Uni-versity, Tokyo, and Saint Louis University. Prior to his entering the Abbey, he spent a number of years as a human service professional, first, as a consultant and civil servant in Japan for ten years and later in the hospitality industry in St. Louis for eight years.

Brother Francis joined the monastic community in August 2004. He is currently serving as Economus of the Abbey and teaches theology and fine arts in the School. As he continues his studies for the priesthood, he will be following in the footsteps of three of his uncles who became priests.

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Brother Francis chants the Suscipe as he makes his Solemn Vows, August 23, 2008. At right: the "mystical burial"

during his Solemn Profession.

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MonasteryVocationsFather Ralph Wright, OSB, Director

Some time ago I wrote: “We are, as human beings saved by Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.” This means that our loving and our knowing comprise a blending of divine and human operations, we are collaborating, working with God. No human science tells us this. We believe it because we believe that it has been revealed by God to us in Christ Jesus. It is by faith that we hold to this divine dimension of our beings, of our lives. This is a great mystery.

Psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, biology and the other human sciences have told us many extremely wonderful things, but this is not one of them. The human being as indwelt by God has a dimension of mystery that no human science can describe and even revelation, the teaching Church guided by the Holy Spirit, can only speak haltingly about it. This divine dimen-sion of our being constantly eludes our frail words and just as in dogma our formulae are constantly seen to be inadequate vehicles

for handling the mystery, so in moral, which stems from dogma, as ‘behavior’ stems from ‘being’, we are left stammering. It is not only marriage which, in the words of St Paul, is a ‘great mystery’. We are too. Authority reminds us of this and its implications. But the words do not necessarily convince, and we experience constantly the incompleteness of the reasons given. We endure the inevitable state of constant controversy.

It is in the divine dimension of our thinking that vocations to our Abbey occur. It is the Holy Spirit in our minds and hearts that evokes the possibility of a spousal consecration to God in the monastic life. Prayer, the Eucharist, Confession, Lectio Divina are therefore all part of this process. We hope that our novice, Brother Dunstan Holms, from Fairfield, Connecticut, will be taking his simple vows at the end of August. As yet, we have no one beginning the novitiate this September. The Lord has been very good to us, and we thank Him daily for the new monks that He has sent to join our community over the last ten years. Please pray that more will be open to His call. We thank you for your ongoing prayers for this the growth of our community in numbers and holiness.

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F r o m t h e m o n a s t e r y

Abbot Patrick Barry Says Good-Bye to Saint Louis Abbey

Abbot Patrick shared the following remarks in gratitude to Abbot Thomas and the community of the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis. Abbot Patrick returned to Ampleforth on May 20, 2009.

It has been decided that the time has come for me to return to Ampleforth, the monastery of my vow of Benedictine Stability. I will express as best as I can, my undying gratitude for all you have given me so generously over the last 12 years – in the care for me in sickness and health, your charity and support, and above all in you sharing with me your full Benedictine prayer life.

My earliest association with this community was in a visit 49 years ago. On that occasion I celebrated Holy Week and Easter with you in the little old chapel at the west end of the old Monastery which had just been built. The only other new building on the site was the new science building. It looked lonely in the empty spaces to the east – with its white hooded roof it seemed like a group of contemplative nuns brooding in prayer over the empty site of what would be – but was not yet – the Priory School.

After that visit, I took part in the ceremony of granting of inde-pendence in 1973. That was followed by a whole series of visits. I had started going to Santiago and discovered that it cost no more to go via St. Louis than to fly direct.

And so, I saw the buildings growing and the whole foundation prospering under Prior, then later, Abbot Luke. I was always grateful for his very warm welcome. I greatly enjoyed my visits.

I was here again for Abbot Thomas’ blessing. When I retired from Office on reaching the age of 80, Abbot Thomas welcomed me to come and stay. That was 12 years ago. During those years, I was happily able to move, as needed, between Ampleforth, St. Louis and Chile.

Then just as my work in Santiago was nearing completion, I was struck down by illness, first with a hemorrhaging ulcer, then with temporary loss of memory which was diagnosed as a rare and elusive affliction called Transient Global Amnesia. The affliction turned out to be not as serious as had been feared.

Things became more serious when I came down with cancer of the bladder in 2005. I remember with great gratitude Father Laurence’s care and the generosity of some of the Oblates who daily took me down for treatment. It was all fruitless and in the end they decided on the big operation with scant hope of my survival. But God thought otherwise. Eventually, I was brought back to the Abbey – a very feeble shadow of myself. I owe it to Brother Sixtus initially and to Brother Andrew after that. I thank them now with all my

heart for all they have done for me in so many ways. I am deeply grateful to them and to all the brethren for the patience and support which enabled me to regain some strength. Beyond all that care I have received, from those I have mentioned and from many others, I want especially to acknowledge and thank God and this community.

In February of this year, I went for the usual doctor visit and tests. They found that the heart murmur that I have had since age 12, may very well cause me to need a heart procedure in the next few years. The doctors told me that although there was no crisis urgency, the heart murmur was worse and given my age it would be best to operate early.

So I had an entire week of dismal meditation on that theme. On Friday evening, the doctor telephoned and the cardiologist report was much better than expected. To tell the truth, I am still trying to calm the sense of thanksgiving that message inspired.

The rest is quickly told. I went round of all the doctors, and they all said that I could fly. I referred it all to Abbot Cuthbert, and he was good enough to give me his approval and blessing. That in outline is why I am on my way home. It has been a difficult time of trying to balance the existing ties to St. Louis with my yearning for Ampleforth, to which I am drawn by my vows and memories.

As I look back and reflect on it all, I am filled with gratitude and thanksgiving and with deep appreciation of all that I have received from this community – but above all from the loving grace of the heart of Christ.

Abbot Luke and Abbot Thomas (seated at left and center) join the Oblates as they bid farewell to Abbot Patrick (seated at right).

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MonasteryLuke Rigby Award

On Saturday, October 18, 2008, the Saint Louis Priory School Fathers’ Club sponsored the 22nd Black Tie Scholarship Dinner at the Kemp Auto Museum in Chesterfield, Missouri. Chair Frederick For-shaw, Sr., welcomed guests who came to honor James J. Murphy, Jr. ’61. Abbot Thomas Frerking was introduced, and he presented his address.

Abbot Thomas

May I add my welcome, on behalf of the Priory School and especially myself and the monastic community of Saint Louis Abbey, to all of you who are with us this evening, and whose pres-ence, we know, signals your most generous support of the School and the Abbey. And on behalf of all of us present here tonight, may I thank our hosts, the Saint Louis Priory School Fathers’ Club, their President, Robert Jones, and the Chair of this Black Tie Scholarship Dinner, Rick Forshaw, and may I commend them for the outstand-ing achievement in support of our School which has just been announced.

Dear friends, in the current series of Black Tie Scholarship Dinners, we have begun to honor those greatest friends of the Abbey and its works who are members of the earliest generations of alumni of Saint Louis Priory School. It is very appropriate, then, to recall how the Founders of our School described the sort of man they wished the School they were establishing to prepare its boys to become. He should be a man, they said, truly educated in the Catholic liberal arts tradition, and therefore, they said, “a complete man, intellectually and morally fit for the life of individual responsi-bility – the life enriched by faith – the life broader than the limits of self-interest or occupation – the life of the good man and the good citizen.” How excellently, dear friends, the man whom we honor tonight fits this description.

“Intellectually and morally fit”: formed by the Catholic liberal arts education which the School gave him, he aimed for the highest intellectual standards, and attended one of the most distinguished universities in the United States, yet at the same time, in the spirit of the liberal arts, combined the study of his technical discipline with broader cultural and historical studies, and, most fundamentally, never separated the cultivation of intellectual skills from the cultiva-tion of that moral integrity and that faith which were his precious inheritance from his worthy family, and the central objects of atten-tion of his School.

“Fit for the life of individual responsibility”: he became a man not only fit for individual responsibility, but fit for leadership, leadership in the company over whose great growth he presided, leadership in his community, leadership indeed nationally in the field of his expertise.

“Fit for the life broader than the limits of self-interest or occupa-tion”: in contrast to the mentality so sadly common in our day,

concerned only to purchase the services it wants, without a care for the institutions which provide them, he has had great care for, and exercised great care over, a very large number of religious, educa-tional and charitable institutions, institutions of the kind on which our common good depends.

“Fit for the life enriched by faith”: the quality not spoken of much by him in words, but so manifest in all his actions and in the fundamental direction of his life.

“A good citizen, a complete man, a good man”: a virtuous man indeed of the city, the civitas, the polis, that unit and denominator of human civilization, whose survival depends on how many of its citizens are persons of virtue and responsibility.

“A complete man”: a man indeed of many parts, whose human-ity is completed by the faith and desire which transcend the limits of the purely human world.

“A good man”: yes, a good man, a man whose care, together with his wife, is for his family, then for all whom he meets, espe-cially the poor, the little ones, a man whose care above all is for God; a man whose attention is always first on persons, and only then on processes, procedures and things; a man who shrinks from notice and praise, whose leadership and service are behind the scenes; who has learned so well the lesson of Saint Benedict, that in humility is the way to life.

Dear friends, what more outstanding service of the Abbey is there than to live with excellence the life for which the Abbey’s School seeks to prepare its sons, and to be there always for the Abbey as it seeks to form new generations for that life and always in all things to give glory to God? It is my joy and my privilege to present this year’s Luke Rigby Award for outstanding service to Saint Louis Abbey to James J. Murphy, Jr.

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James J. Murphy, Jr.

Thank you very much for an honor I’m quite certain I do not deserve. After 51 years of knowing and loving the Benedictine com-munity at the Saint Louis Abbey, I have learned it is fruitless to argue on some topics. It is very much like a Sanskrit saying: “When we understand, things are as they are. When we don’t understand, things are as they are.” So here I am.

It is a real pleasure to be among so many who mean so much to me – particularly the monks but also the faculty and staff at the Priory, fellow parents and alumni; plus members of the Murphy Company team and several business associates; my fellow classmates in the Priory Class of 1961; the honorees who preceded me; and my cherished family – most importantly, my wife, Mimi.

My profound thanks goes to former Abbot Luke Rigby, former Headmasters Father Timothy Horner and Father Paul Kidner, whose forté as a math teacher is one of many claims on our hearts during his 50 years as a priest. Each of these dedicated men influenced my development immeasurably, and I am forever grateful.

I want to add my thanks to Rick Forshaw for his leadership in making this Fathers’ Club Event a success. Many years ago, I had his role as chair of this event, and so I appreciate the effort it takes to create such a resounding success.

We are together tonight at a benefit, and it strikes me that we are all here for various degrees of the same reason. It is we, singularly and collectively, who are the beneficiaries of a Benedictine commu-nity that has given us so much. From the time Fred Switzer and his band of founders convinced Abbot Herbert Byrne of Ampleforth, England, to send forth the three founding monks who established

Priory in October 1955, each of us – along with all of St. Louis – has been drawing upon an unlimited credit account that we’ll never be able to repay in full.

The good monks could regale us with expert conjugations of the root of the word for credit – which is the Latin word, cr_dere, mean-ing to believe or to think. And in these interesting financial times, we can readily appreciate the creative and propulsive power of beliefs among the Priory’s original benefactors and the monks who helped form this great institution from a dream. We are all very blessed to have been swept along in our formation by their great faith.

My original contact with Priory came when Sister Elaine, my wonderful 8th grade teacher at Our Lady of the Pillar, encouraged me and several of my classmates to take the entrance examination for the second class at Priory. She thought it would be a good practice exam before similar exams at St. Louis’ other private Catholic high schools. Since my father graduated from a Jesuit high school here and my uncle was a Jesuit priest, I think my parents assumed I would attend a Jesuit institution. All of my Pillar classmates received acceptances to Priory within one week, except for me, and two of them eventually enrolled.

So I had assumed the worst. A week later, Priory contacted us – not only with an acceptance, but also with the financial aid my parents required, given my spot as the oldest of six children. Priory had three tuition assistance scholarships available that year. The third and last recipient’s family had notified Priory they were relocating to Texas and their son would not attend Priory. I would be his replace-ment, and I felt very blessed to have this option. I am thrilled Sister Elaine is here this evening.

Father Paul, Father Timothy and Sister Elaine share in recognizing honoree, Jim Murphy, Jr.

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MonasteryI was confident the quality of the education at Priory would at

least match my other options. What swayed me to Priory is that my small class size ensured I could compete year-round in varsity sports, despite my average skills. I correctly anticipated the agony of defeat more often than the thrill of victory – many times, painfully so.

I also experienced a new sport from a brilliant left-handed cricketer named Father Timothy, whose expert eraser throws were certainly attention-grabbing in the classroom.

My parents quickly developed a great appreciation for and close friendship with the monks, eventually becoming Confraters – hon-orary members of the Abbey community who tried to practice the challenging Benedictine principles in their lives. My mother, Emily Murphy McCaffrey, now 88, was one of Father Timothy’s favorites, despite belonging to the Mothers’ Club. She was unable to join us this evening, but sends her greetings and best wishes to everyone from Sea Island, Georgia.

My father also would have truly loved being here tonight. He was well aware of the endowment of blessings showered by the good monks upon our family, including my two brothers who attended Priory. When my father passed away in 1982, three of the monks were at the hospital within half an hour to be with us – all in an elegantly understated way. And when someone in the Priory family experiences adversity, you’ve never seen anything quite like the depth of quiet caring they share.

When our son, Joey, applied to join the Class of 1997, he replied to our questions about his interview with, “Oh, they loved me!” There is something naturally humorous about a 6th grader whose self-assessment of how an interview went goes to the subject of love. But his response still resonates with me. “They loved me!” What

sums up our experience of the men of the Saint Louis Abbey more than this?

Abbot Luke clearly was the first person who came to mind when I was among many asked several years ago by the St. Louis Business Journal who I most admired and respected. Father Timothy obvious-ly would have been next – but perhaps with a different interpretation of admiration!

In the early 1970s, I will never forget Abbot Luke’s deceptively firm guidance in insisting on Priory’s independence from Ampleforth – rather than closing the doors due to a lack of vocations within the international Benedictine system. The move was akin to the Ameri-can Colonies’ break from England. Around the same time, he also opened an Archdiocesan parish staff fed with monks shared from the Priory. As if to underscore this declaration of independence, he even became an American citizen. His mild-mannered determination eventually led to the Priory’s conversion to a full-fledged Abbey.

While the monks who have fed us a rich feast of goodness and blessings do not need, desire or expect it, I think it is important to recognize and express our gratitude for all they have accomplished … and all they have given – and continue to give – to us.

I want to note one other special person from my Priory associa-tion – a woman appointed by Abbot Luke to be the school’s develop-ment director long before women were considered seriously for such critical roles. In Julie Constantino, Abbot Luke found someone for whom the word, “No,” rolled like water off a duck’s back. One year, she conned us into offering a week at Murphy Company’s condo in Colorado as a Priory auction item. A week before the auction, applying my dry sense of humor to distract her from the stress of a week in the realm of heaven’s opposite, I called Julie and told her I

Members of the Class of 1961 join Jim Murphy to celebrate his award.

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had some bad news. “The condo burned down. You can’t use it in the auction,” I reported. “Oh, that is so sad,” she initially responded. Then she quickly added, “But you did have insurance? You will get insurance proceeds now!” Julie, thank you for joining us this evening!

While I have dwelled heavily on the earlier years of Priory, we are just as blessed in new ways during recent years. One of the greatest challenges any organization faces is leadership succession. Many fail because they do not properly plan, and neglect developing future leaders. The transition from Abbot Luke to Abbot Thomas went smoothly. Overcoming with apparent ease a significant physical disability, Abbot Thomas almost always wears a smile and leads the Abbey forward with a hopeful, upbeat attitude. We are most fortunate that there are other monks within today’s monastic community of 30 who show the potential to assume leadership after Abbot Thomas for several generations. The future is very bright.

One of the initial visions for Priory was to educate talented Catholic boys to the best of their abilities. That enabled Priory students to compete for entry into the very best American universities, regardless of the institution’s religious affiliation. Ultimately, the goal was to prepare Priory graduates, regardless of their religion, to assume major leadership roles in all areas of society. They started on the wings of a prayer, and from the first class of 30 students, graduates went to Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Brown and elsewhere.

And while the wisdom of the day was that Catholic boys should matriculate to Catholic colleges, the Benedictines – highly educated as they were at Cambridge and Oxford – had no qualms about us continuing our education in secular institutions. In that way, they believed we could extend the spiritual rootedness they had fostered in us to new places.

In my view, their lessons have been simple and somewhat counter-cultural:

Rather than direct promotion of their accomplishments, they’ve used the power of attraction based on actions that speak far more eloquently than words. They have attracted vocations in record numbers – including several of the best and brightest alumni, who are now on their way to becoming monks at the Saint Louis Abbey. Most of you know that Father Gregory, the current Prior and former Headmaster, is also an alumnus.

Rather than tending to self-centered interests, they daily express the power of caring. They share this by extending to others an invitation to service, by which every student of Priory comes to know the paradox which says, “In giving, we receive.”

Rather than settle for having a winner and a loser, they show the higher wisdom of win-win, mutually beneficial relationships – the same kind to which God invites each of us. They teach all of us to go out and do what’s right … with humility.

As we visit among these expensive status symbols on wheels, per-haps there is a Benedictine lesson … that we consider how we “drive” ourselves in the world, and how we let the light and excellence of God’s craftsmanship within us shine with a splendor that’s symbol-ized in these well-waxed models we see tonight.

And so I close where I began – with immense gratitude …for all the monks of Saint Louis Abbey and Priory have meant to me, for your role in forming the best parts of me, for touching three genera-tions of my family with love, and for all you mean to this commu-nity of Priory and of St. Louis.

God bless you, and God bless all of us who are the recipients of your loving care and commitment. Thank you.

Bob Jones, Fathers' Club President and wife Terri Goslin-Jones; Father Michael, Headmaster; Rick Forshaw, Black Tie Dinner Chair and wife Michele

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ObituariesConfrater Isabelle C. Garrigan died on July 31, 2008.

The following is an excerpt from the homily given by Father Gerard for his mother at her funeral Mass.

Isabelle Garrigan grew up in the colorful community that in-habited the area near the historical Hodia-mont Street Car Line.

It was a community of neighbors that gave her much love and who she loved dearly. More importantly it included the loving members of her own family to whom she returned that love.

With her incompa-rable powers of observation she remembered, the particularities of the individuals in her community as no one I have met ever did. As an elderly woman, she even remembered back to when she was a baby in her crib.

At the end of my mother’s life, she told me not to leave her that she did not want to be alone. Shortly thereafter she was at peace, showing not the slightest hint of struggle, peacefully making the transition from this life to the next.

At the end of her life on earth, God her loving father in heaven had taken away her suffering and replaced it with his perfect and eternal peace, just as her earthly father had taken away her suffering in the crib and had replaced it with peace by his kindness to her.

As the old saying goes: “See with what peace a Christian dies.” This Christian woman, this devout Catholic Christian woman certainly died with that profound Christian peace. And I believe the reason for that was because she remembered, she remembered as no one else I ever met. This woman who remembered almost everything about almost all of the people she ever knew in the beloved commu-nity of her neighborhood, the community of her family, her friends, her classmates, her neighbors. I have no doubt that at that moment when she left this world for the next, I’m sure she remembered even further back than when she was a baby in that crib. I think she remembered all the way back to her very beginning in this life.

I believe that at the end of my mother’s life on this earth, when she came face to face with her God in heaven, she remembered that

it was from that same God she had started at the beginning of her life on this earth. “In my end is my beginning. In my beginning is my end.” I’m sure my mother remembered the loving God who called her peacefully to herself as the same loving God from whom she knew “Nothing could separate her, neither death, nor life, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature.”

At a Soldan High School reunion a few years ago, one of my mother’s classmates said: “Isabelle, you never walked. You always ran.” Yes, my mother had a lot of energy, so I’m sure she was always running and not walking when she was young. And she kept much of that energy late into her life.

My mother was a Confrater of our Benedictine Abbey, which is why she is being given this monastic funeral. She loved our monks dearly, and I am sure she is very touched to have this monastic funer-al which we accord to the close friends of our monastery, our Con-fraters. In the Prologue of his Rule for monks, Saint Benedict writes about running: “But as we progress in this way of life and faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflow-ing with the inexpressible delight of love.” I’m sure my mother is still running with inexpressible delight of love in heaven.

My Mother’s favorite song was written in 1917 by Shelton Brooks. It is thought to be perhaps the first commercially produced jazz recording in history. Ella Fitzgerald and many others have performed it. My mother never tired of playing it on the piano with great animation, with a glint in her eye as she recited the words.

“I’ll be down to get you in a taxicab honey, Better be ready about half past eight, O Honey don’t be late I want to be there when the band starts playing… Gonna dance off both of my shoes When they play those jelly roll blues

Tomorrow night at the dark town strutter’s ball.”

Please God, Mom, you are now “Dancing off both of your shoes,” with your loving God, the Lord of the Dance, whom you re-membered from your beginning, whom you remembered had “Gone before you to prepare a place for you,” and a place for us, a place that is your final neighborhood and ours, your final community and ours which we Catholics call the “Communion of Saints,” where you are not alone, but, please God, united with your parents, your husband, your son, your brother, your sisters and with all your many friends and relatives whom you never ceased to remember.

Mom, may you play on, with infinite joy and forever on your piano which you loved so dearly. May you play on for all eternity surrounded by your loved ones you remembered, for your God who is love, from whom “not even death could separate you”, whom you remembered from our beginning to your end which is your begin-ning. Play on. Play on. Play on.

F r o m t h e m o n a s t e r y

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Confrater Suzanne L. Naunheim died on December 5, 2008.

As one of the Abbey's Confraters, Sue Naunheim dearly treasured her many years of Sunday morning Mass and coffee with the monas-tic community. Linked by prayer and friendship with the Abbey, she was often guided and counseled by various members of the Commu-nity in almost subliminal fashion, whether after Mass or during her visits.

Sue's warmth and graciousness seem to embody the qualities that define the spirit of the Abbey Family. Laudable for all she did for the Abbey and Priory School, her personal, human qualities made her standout. In particular, her good-hearted openness, concern for others, and contagious cheerfulness were a special gift and chance to learn from her example.

Most notably, one could learn from her marriage of 59 years, especially in her relationship to her family, which was the center of her life. Sue, and her husband Bo, were an inseparable couple, and this committed and binding love was reflected in her family. Sue did not interfere with her children's lives, but let them experience the world in their own fashion. Asking them only one question a day, she expected a real answer, but did not insert herself into their lives. In this, she gave the gift of freedom.

While the Abbey community rejoices for Sue, as the Catholic faith teaches that the joys of heaven and even of purgatory are beyond imagination, there is a great sense of grief for the loss of such a mem-ber. Thus it is with beloved individuals – when they die, as Sue has, it leaves all with very mixed feelings. As the community prays for her, there is hope that in the end, the Lord's greeting to her, and hopefully heard by those praying for her, was no less than “Come, my love, my lovely one come.” Please pray for her, and her family.

Confrater J. Joseph Horan, a dear friend of the Abbey, died on March 29, 2009.

Joe Horan was a long standing friend and benefactor of the Abbey community. From the earliest days, he helped establish the community. As a parent of students in the school, he learned first-hand about the monk's educational mission, and as a parishioner, he experienced the growth of the monastery's pastoral ministry. But above all, he is remembered as one who both prayed with and for the community.

From his childhood in Parkview and St. Roch's school to his teen years when he met the love of his life, Susan Buder, Joe's joy of life was legendary. His love of Sue was an amazing partnership of 66 years, embodying not only the love of husband and wife, but of best friends. Perhaps the most important thing that parents can do for their children is loving and supporting one another in a visible way, which Joe and Sue achieved. He was a role model for his children, and later his grandchildren, and no doubt, also for his great grand-children.

Although Joe was quite a disciplinarian, he was honest compas-sionate and trustworthy. With seven children over 15 years, he still had the great gift of making each of his children feel spe-cial. Perhaps it stemmed from knowing he gave you his full attention. While Sue and Joe did not gush about their rela-tionship, they were very real and solid couple, whose legacy lives on.

At his 80th birthday party, he told those of his children, 20 grandchildren, and 15 great grandchildren who were there, “Work hard, fear God and love one another. Jesus said, 'I am the Way, I am Truth, I am life.' We are to imitate him.”

Love of friends followed as a close second to love of family. Old and new friends, and even those he to whom he was not yet ac-quainted, kept him energized. Joe simply enjoyed people. Possessing genuine warmth, he touched everyone and treated them as a friend, as he saw them all as “someone.” With a twinkle in his eye and a smile that could light a room, he loved telling stories, which was his forte. Using his wit to make people laugh and feel comfortable, he was truly a gracious gentlemen and will be sorely missed. Please pray for him and his family.

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MonasteryNecrology

Prayers are asked for the following deceased friends of the Abbey Family.James L. Beckmann, father of Peter ’87

Zeliha Bilsel, MD, friend of the Abbey

Dorothy Brady, mother of Tim ’73, grandmother of John ’03 and Kevin ’08

Richard Briggs, grandfather of Brayton ’12

Norbert V. Bussmann, friend of the Abbey

J. Patrick Byrne, Jr. ’81

Mary Lee Coco, sister of Joe Genoni, faculty member

Joan Redow Coonrod, mother of Ann Raley, faculty member, grandmother of Paul Jacobs ’03

Joseph J. Desloge, Jr., father of Jay ’88

J. Michael de Ungria, MD ’87

Frank L. Erickson, father of Rob ’97 (deceased)

Frank J. and Joanne K. Flynn, friends of the Abbey

Philip R. Gale, MD, father of Tom ’73

Isabelle C. Garrigan, mother of Father Gerard, Confrater

Sharon M. Garrigan, sister-in-law of Father Gerard

Thomas N. Geiss, former head of Junior School

Rosemary S. Gillespie, mother of Joe ’74, Mark ’76 and Matt ’78 (deceased)

Sister Anne Madeleine Godefroy, VHM, friend of the Abbey

Florence Ann Haas, grandmother of Alex ’09

Joyce M. Heck, friend of the Abbey

Mary Anne Bryan Hoffmann, friend of the Abbey

J. Joseph Horan, father of Joe ’63 and Oscar ’66, Society Board Member, Confrater

Mary Gene Hyde, mother of Jim ’74

Jamie O. Inawat, MD, father of R.J. ’01 and Ryan ’06

Pamela B. Kerr, mother of Grant ’05

George K. Kesler, former Director of Finance

Margaret B. Kinsella, MD, mother of Matt ’77 and Charles ’79

Brendan T. Langford ’12

Warren W. Langford, friend of the Abbey

Leo J. LeBlanc, MD, father of Peter ’66, grandfather of Peter, Jr. ’96

Herbert J. Lischwe, parishioner

Alois J. Lorenz, parishioner

Michael J. MacDonald ’71

James B. Malloy, grandfather of John ’07 and Brian ’09

Timothy R. McCarthy, father of Tim ’75

Clare A. McGinty, parishioner

Rosalie McNearney, mother of Bob ’72, John ’75 and Gerry ’79

Bernice E. Miller, mother of Jerry Miller, faculty member; grandmother of Joe ’86, Tim ’87 and Jeff ’01

William J. Monahan, Jr., father of Joe ’06 and Paul ’09

Suzanne L. Naunheim, mother of Bob ’69, Keith ’70 and David ’73, grandmother of Ted ’01 and Geoff ’05, Confrater

James F. Neuner, parishioner

Willa J. Neuwirth, friend of the Abbey

John A. Nuetzel, father of John ’64

Bishop Edward J. O’Donnell, friend of the Abbey

Irene Orlando, mother of Justin ’99

Henrietta Osterholt, mother of Bill ’77

James L. Ottolini, MD, parishioner

Francis X. Paletta, MD, father of Chris ’70 and Rick ’74, grandfather of Damian ’95 and Chris ’05

George T. Pettus, friend of the Abbey

Gary G. Pfortmiller, MD, father of John ’07

Charles L. Phillipp ’65

John J. Phillips, MD, father of Ed ’83 and John ’85

Loretta Pignotti, grandmother of Nick ’09

Barbara Puricelli, grandmother of John ’13

Kay Quinn, friend of the Abbey (former parishioner)

Mildred Rancilio, friend of the Abbey

Frances J. Reinhardt, parishioner

Robert J. Sassenrath, father of Bob ’79

John H. Schulz, father-in-law of Linda Schulz, faculty member; grandfather of Tim ’06, Matt ’08 and Paul ’12

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F r o m t h e m o n a s t e r y

Helene S. Schweitzer, mother of Peter ’64

Daniel F. Sheehan, Jr., father of Dan ’76

Rose E. Stutz, parishioner

Kenneth H. Token, grandfather of Ryan ’13

Grace H. Tracy, parishioner

Eugene F. Tucker, MD, father of David ’73, grandfather of Eugene ’90 and Patrick ’05

Shirley R. Vickroy, mother-in-law of Stacia Frantzel, staff member

Vallee L. Willman, MD, father of Phil ’71, Stephen ’75, Mark ’77 and Tim ’79 (deceased); grandfather of Alec ’11

Tyrus D. Winter, MD, father of Ed ’76

Leah Wurtsbaugh, grandmother of Jack Wegmann ’11

Charles H. Wyers, father of Stephan ’81 and Mark ’84

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School

A PRIORy FIRST: Four students achieve perfect ACT scores From left: Senior Christopher D. Keeline, Junior Douglas J. Hall, Father Michael, Senior Joseph A. Wagner and Junior Matthew R. Menendez

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F r o m t h e s C h o o l

Headmaster’s MessageFather Michael Brunner, OSB

The 2008-09 school year was a memorable year, for many reasons. It began differently with no book night. Books are now pur-chased online and delivered to your front door. Both the pricing and convenience were a big hit among the parents.

Book night was always the first gathering of the Priory School family after the summer and was an opportunity to reconnect, share summer stories and experiences, and marvel how the 9th graders had grown since May. So that we would not lose the great aspects of book night, we created the Back-to-School Roundup, which occurred on August 18 and was very well attended. This event began with Mass in the Kevin Kline Theatre, after which there were introductions of the new teachers and a few announcements. Then everyone headed outside for a barbecue and music sponsored by the Fathers’ and Mothers’ Clubs and Student Council. It was a great way to start the school year.

Our school community was again enriched this year with two bright, talented and simpatico students from the Manquehue school of San Benito in Santiago, Chile. We also had two week visits from eight students from Taiwan and two students from the All-Irish school of Coláiste Ailigh in Letterkenny, Ireland. The presence of these students added so much to our school community and to our students’ educational experience. I extend a special thank you to the families who opened their homes and hosted these students.

I returned from Camp Ondessonk a few hours ahead of the 7th graders on their retreat. A parent shared with me that the stock market had plummeted 700 points. Fears of recession gave way to additional fears and some evidence of depression. It certainly was depressing psychologically, and everyone – some more and some less – has been affected by this downturn in our economy. Lost jobs, lost homes, lost dreams are the human costs of sudden loss of wealth. Along with other institutions whose endowment funds are invested, we too lost money, money we relied on to produce income for sup-port of our School’s operations.

We tightened our belts and reduced the operating expenses that we could for this year. The Grandstand, which would crown our present construction projects, had to be deferred until better times. As we budgeted for the coming year, all the indications pointed to a reduced enrollment with fewer families being able to afford private school tuition. We were also concerned about losing current students so we made the commitment to do everything possible to keep our students at Priory. As a result, we budgeted increased financial as-sistance for the 2009-10 school year.

We know that our faculty and staff are pivotal to being able to provide education of the highest excellence. This made the decision to freeze faculty and staff salaries for next year a difficult one. Our

faculty and staff have committed themselves to working just as hard and to being just as dedicated to our students as they always have been. The good news is that we did not have to separate any faculty or staff members from employment.

As tribute to the fidelity of our faculty and their commitment to teaching, Priory celebrated golden and silver jubilees in 2009. Father Paul Kidner became the first Priory faculty member to reach the milestone of 50 consecutive years of teaching at Priory. We praised and roasted him at an April dinner celebration. Although he has the record, he’s not stopping; he’s still teaching and hiking and college counseling with no plans to slow down or stop.

In addition, Jake Wenger, Rick Suarez and Dr. Edward Ritchie will be celebrating 25 years of Priory teaching at a special dinner for them on October 3, 2009.

On May 24, we graduated a marvelous class, in fact the 50th – the Golden Graduating class of 62 talented, highly qualified seniors. In their midst were two students with perfect ACT scores, Christo-pher Keeline and Joseph Wagner, and many with scholarships. They are all scholars going to top-tier colleges and universities. We will miss them very much. They gave a lot to Priory; they added a lot to Priory.

The graduation of a Senior Class always means the meteoric rise of a Junior Class to leadership of the student body. These rising seniors easily allow us to forecast another spectacular, memorable school year for 2009-10. They already have in their midst two stu-dents with perfect ACT scores, Douglas Hall and Matthew Menen-dez, and many potential National Merit Scholars.

The next memorable and wonderful school year at Priory will be-gin August 31. There will undoubtedly be many surprises. But here’s what we do know:

Priory’s enrollment will be at a record 425. We have been fortu-nate that many families from Gateway Academy High School, which closed at the end of this school year, were attracted to Priory. We have enrolled 18 new students from the 7th through the 12th grade, so there will be many new faces in the classrooms. We warmly welcome these new members of the Priory family. I thank everyone for making Priory a place that was attractive to them.

I’d like to thank those faculty members who will be leaving us. William Walker is returning to the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Mo., and Benjamin Abraham is returning to Harpeth Hall in Nashville,Tennessee. We wish them well and hope they return to

School

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their former schools enriched by their time with us, as we were en-riched by their time here. Following the untimely death of her sister this past fall, Jackie Mathis has been doing double duty of teaching and helping her parents run a family business in Oregon. Sadly, she must leave us to spend more time in this pursuit. We will miss her dearly as she has given so much of herself to the Junior School these past eight years. Brother Francis Hein is temporarily leaving for four years of theological study at Dominican College in Washington, D.C.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to those new faculty mem-bers who will be joining us. Brother Dunstan Holms will begin

teaching Latin. Beth Collier will be joining us in College Counsel-ing, most recently at Rockwood Summit High School and priorly at Miami University in Ohio. Thomas Carroll will join our Classical Languages department coming to us from Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Dr. Vaughn Griesbauer, from Gateway Academy, will be joining our History department. And lastly, Kyle Oberle ’01 will be teaching science in the Junior School.

2008-09 was a banner year. I have no doubt that in 2009-10 the banner will fly even higher. I thank you for making that possible, for helping us realize our dream everyday – That in all things God may be glorified.

Juniors receive their class ring at Mass on April 17, 2009.

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Junior School ReportDiana Hartnett, Director of the Junior School

The end of the school year arrived quickly, as nearly 150 Junior School students prepared for exams amidst the exhortation to clean out the building in haste so that the construction crews could finalize the new wing of the Junior School and prepare the current space for occupation in the fall. And even though the construction has been happening all around us for most of this year, we have not let this potential distraction interrupt a fine school year, complete with great academic achievements, community service opportunities, and several chances to just have fun together.

We welcomed 82 new Form I students last fall, and within days, they were navigating the halls like professionals. Their older and wiser big brothers, the 67 Form II students, introduced their younger confrères to the many components of the Priory Junior School: homework, ping pong and foosball, turning in assignments in the office, Hallowe’en and birthday parties, memorizing Latin declensions, baseball and soccer games, the Geography Bee, the Junior School hockey championship, reading thousands of pages for English, amazing juggling, checking the test board, frisbee, summer reading discussion groups, Advisory football, PowerSchool, Field

Day, and a host of other activities that round out the days and weeks here. A keen friendship between the two classes was quickly born, and the younger boys assimilated themselves seamlessly into the fabric of the School.

The success of our four Community Service projects, a “Play it Safe Hallowe’en Fun Fair” candy drive for St. Matthew’s parish, a food drive for Catholic Family Services, a clothing drive for Catholic Family Services, and a book drive for City Academy, underscored the reality of the challenges in our community and the importance of being Christ to all of our brothers and sisters in need. The over-whelming response by the Junior School boys to help at the Xanadu Auction, the proceeds of which benefit our scholarship program, was typical: our boys love their School and want to be an important part of it.

And then, before we even knew it, it was ended. On Saturday, May 23, the Class of 2013 gathered in the Abbey Church to say good bye to the Junior School. Father Michael’s homily showcased for everyone the immense respect that this fine group of young men has earned from everyone fortunate enough to know them.

My grateful thanks, once again, to the great generosity of all of the Junior School boys and their families. God bless you all.

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Achievements and Awards

Form Vi Class of 2009

NATIONAL MERIT RECOGNITIONFinalists

Samuel L. Doerr J. Marlow Gazzoli Andrew D. Kabbes Joseph M. Koors Stephen T. MackeDaniel R. PasqueNicholas M. PignottiNicholas D. Sabino

semi-Finalists

Christopher D. Keeline

letters oF commendation

Christopher J. BrennerKenneth C. CappsNicholas J. MilesJonathan M. MiramontiJoseph A. Wagner

ADVANCED PLACE-MENT SCHOLAR AWARDS national scholars

J. Marlow GazzoliChristopher D. KeelineStephen T. MackeNicholas M. PignottiJoseph A. Wagner

scholars with distinction

Christopher J. BrennerKenneth C. CappsSamuel L. DoerrCharles J. FriedmanM. Richard HennessyAndrew D. KabbesJoseph M. KoorsNicholas J. MilesBrett J. MoritzDaniel R. Pasque Dalton M. PollvogtNicholas D. Sabino

Paul L. SmelcerJoseph L. St. AmourAndrew P. Thome, Jr.Kevin T. Wacker Tyler J. Willibrand scholars with honor

Ryan D. BurrDaniel T. IgoeWilliam J. Neukum

scholars M. Theodore AltepeterSpencer J. FitzgeraldS. Colin GambaroJonathan M. MiramontiAndrew C. SextonMark R. Telthorst

SPECIAL PRIZESValedictorian

Daniel R. Pasque

alumni Prize – recognizing creativity and service to the schoolCharles J. Friedman

Bakewell memorial award – recognizing contributions made to the School through ability, charac-ter, leadership and serviceJoseph A. Wagner

GeorGe hereFord award – recognizing achievement in the area of the artsW. Charles Bernard

John B. kistner, Jr. memorial award – recognizing an exemplary high standard of character and integrityDaniel R. Pasque

GeorGe morrison memorial award –recognizing achievement in the area of journalismJames E. Havel

tutoria award – recognizing leadership and service in the Tutoria ProgramM. Richard HennesseyBrian J. Malloy

the Priory award – representing the total Priory studentJoseph A. Wagner scholar athlete – recognizing scholarship and athletic abilityM. Theodore Altepeter

Best athlete – student body choiceAndrew C. Sexton

coaches cuP – athletic coaches' choiceCharles J. Friedman

student council awards – recognizing service to the SchoolM. Theodore AltepeterCharles J. FriedmanAndrew D. KabbesJohn C. TabashJoseph A. Wagner

PRIZE RECIPIENTStheoloGy seminar – Robert G. Jones Daniel R. PasqueJoseph A. Wagner

christian B. PePer Greek – J. Marlow Gazzoli

literary –Mark J. Havel

French –Stephen T. Macke

sPanish –Joseph A. Wagner

history – James E. Havel

mathematics – Stephen T. Macke

comPuter science –Stephen T. Macke

science –Daniel R. Pasque

senior theses awards

– Traditional Theses M. Theodore AltepeterKenneth C. CappsJames E. HavelAndrew P. Thome, Jr.Joseph A. Wagner

– Creative Writing Theses Samuel L. DoerrRiley J. O’Connor

– Fine Arts ThesesW. Charles BernardRyan K. LenzDaniel R. Pasque

studio art –Alejandro A. Finan

thesPis –Mark J. HavelDaniel T. Igoe

national French contest

ranked in top 10 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French J. Marlow GazzoliStephen T. Macke

archBishoP John l. may serVice award – acknowledges service to the communityPaul C. Monahan

Father FinBarr dowlinG, osB, sPirit award – exempli-fies the Priory School SpiritDaniel C. Noyes

HONOR ROLLRyan J. AllenM. Theodore AltepeterW. Charles BernardChristopher J. Brenner*Kenneth C. Capps*Samuel L. Doerr*Jerome V. Dwyer, Jr.Spencer J. FitzgeraldCharles J. FriedmanS. Colin GambaroJ. Marlow Gazzoli*Alexander G. Haas

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James E. HavelRobert M. HeitzM. Richard Hennessey*Christian F. HerbosaDaniel T. Igoe*Robert G. JonesAndrew D. Kabbes*Christopher D. Keeline*Joseph M. Koors*Stephen T. Macke*Jonathan M. Miramonti*Paul C. MonahanBrett J. Moritz*William J. Neukum*Daniel C. Noyes*Charles S. O’DonnellDaniel R. Pasque*Nicholas M. Pignotti*Dalton M. Pollvogt*Nicholas T. RossNicholas D. SabinoWilliam A. SarniAndrew C. Sexton*Paul L. Smelcer*Joseph L. St. AmourJohn C. Tabash*Mark R. TelthorstAndrew P. Thome, Jr.*Kevin T. Wacker*Joseph A. Wagner*Joseph M. Wallace*Tyler J. Willibrand*Michael T. Yemm**Form VI Honor Roll all three terms

SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AWARDSamerican mathematics comPetition –Highest ScoreDaniel R. Pasque

team+s –tests oF enGineerinG aPtitude, mathematics and science

First in State, Division II Advanced to NationalsKenneth C. CappsJ. Marlow GazzoliChristopher D. KeelineJoseph M. KoorsStephen T. Macke*Daniel R. PasqueNicholas M. Pignotti

Nicholas D. Sabino** denotes co-captains

OTHER AWARDSdauGhters oF the american reVolution – certificate of award for outstand-ing work in American History John C. Tabash american leGion citizenshiP and americanism award – sponsored by the American Legion, this award is based on courage, honor, leadership, patriotism, scholarship and service, which when cultivated, result in better citizenship. Daniel T. Igoe

GeorGe washinGton carVer – sponsored by the Missouri Depart-ment of Elementary and Secondary Education, is presented to the top 10 percent of the Class of 2009.Kenneth C. CappsJ. Marlow GazzoliStephen T. MackeDaniel R. PasqueNicholas M. PignottiJoseph A. Wagner

the J. michael means and daVid m. neukum medieVal arts award – recognizes achievement in Priory’s Medieval Arts program.William J. Neukum

BriGht FliGht missouri hiGher education academic scholarshiP – a merit-based scholarship in the amount of $2000 per annum to Missouri's qualifying graduating high school seniors who enroll in a Missouri accredited college or university. M. Theodore AltepeterChristopher J. BrennerKenneth C. CappsSamuel L. DoerrSpencer J. FitzgeraldCharles J. FriedmanJ. Marlow GazzoliM. Richard Hennessey

Christian F. HerbosaAndrew D. KabbesChristopher D. KeelineJoseph M. KoorsStephen T. MackeNicholas J. MilesBrett J. MoritzDaniel C. NoyesDaniel R. PasqueNicholas M. PignottiDalton M. PollvogtNicholas D. SabinoPaul L. SmelcerJoseph L. St. AmourAndrew P. Thome, Jr.Kevin T. WackerJoseph A. WagnerMichael T. Yemm

austin rennick Poetry award initiated to honor Father Austin who taught English for 50 years. It acknowledges excellence in the creative writing area of poetry.Riley J. O’Connor

wednesday cluB Poetry contest

Honorable MentionChristopher J. BrennerJ. Marlow GazzoliAndrew D. Kabbes

missouri toP 100 scholars – sponsored by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, this award recognizes

the top 100 students in the state of Missouri Class of 2009. Joseph A. Wagner

united states Presidential scholars – recognizes and honors some of our Nation’s most distin-guished high school seniors.Christopher D. KeelineJoseph A. Wagner

saint louis Priory school serVice award – Robert G. JonesDaniel C. Noyes

Presidents student serVice challenGe award – recognizing seniors who contribute at least 100 hours of service to the community within a twelve month period.Ryan J. AllenKenneth C. CappsSpencer J. FitzgeraldM. Richard HennesseyDaniel T. Igoe Robert G. JonesNicholas J. MilesPaul C. MonahanWilliam J. NeukumDaniel C. NoyesAndrew P. Thome, Jr.Joseph A. Wagner

Senior Special Prizes: (from left) Daniel T. Igoe, John C. Tabash, Joseph A. Wagner, J. Marlow Gazzoli, Kenneth C. Capps and Daniel R. Pasque.

(not pictured) Bennett T. Krack, Stephen T. Macke and Nicholas M. Pignotti

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Form VClass of 2010

BOOK AWARDScornell Book award – excellence in academics and personal initiative in pursuing, embracing, or cultivating diversity in the school environment or in the larger com-munity.Craig A. Boyce II

dartmouth Book award – intellectual leadership and positive contributions to the athletic and extracurricular life of the school.Douglas J. Hall

harVard Book award – awarded by the Harvard Alumni Association for excellence in scholar-ship with achievement in other fields.Matthew R. Menendez

holy cross Book award – exceptional academic achievement, sincere concern for others and a respectable attitude in all endeavors.William C. Fox, Jr.

notre dame Book award – academic excellence and service to both the Catholic Church and the community.Andrew M. Lall

Princeton Book award – maintaining a consistent honors average while demonstrating an unusual level of volunteer service and commitment to the community.Robert A. Becker

saint louis uniVersity Book award – excellence in academics, service, leadership and spirituality, and best personifies the Jesuit motto, “men and women for others.”L. Clayton Dahm

saint michael’s colleGe Book award – recognize juniors com-mitted to academic endeavors and to

sustained and sincere commitment to community service.James A. Kopfensteiner

west Point u.s. military academy Book award – academic excellence, athletic or extracurricular prowess and leader-ship abilities, and best embodying the Academy’s motto “Duty, Honor, Country”.Matthew F. Rhodes

williams colleGe Book award – for talent, achievement and a passion for learning.Alexandre M. Todorov

yale Book award – for outstanding personal character and intellectual promise.Jeffrey R. Swaney, Jr. SPECIAL PRIZESamerican leGion missouri Boys' state – sponsored by the Mis-souri American Legion to give young Missourians a better understanding of our state government by employing a “learning by doing” method of teach-ing the basic principles of democracy.Bennett T. Krack

Bausch and lomB science medal – for outstanding achieve-ment and superior intellectual prom-ise in the field of science Matthew R. Menendez

rensselaer medal – for outstanding achievement in mathematics and science. Jeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.

GeorGe eastman younG leaders award – presented by the University of Rochester to a junior who has demonstrated strong leader-ship experience, high academic grades, and involvement in extracurricular activities.William C. Fox, Jr.

Frederick douGlass and susan B. anthony award –presented by the University of Rochester to a junior who has demonstrated a commitment to understanding and addressing difficult social issues, dedi-cation to community action, and has strong grades in rigorous humanities and social studies courses.Craig A. Boyce II

XeroX award For inoVataion and inFormation technol-oGy – presented by the University of Rochester to a junior who has best demonstrated a strong interest in innovation and/or information technology, has sought exposure to new technologies, and has led others to new approaches to old problems.Chad E. Huber

Brunner trust award – established by Father Michael in memory of his father, Maurice T. Brunner, to honor a member of the junior class for sterling character, high standards, lofty goals and hard work. Filip A. Swat

“i dare you” leadershiP award – recognizes personal integrity, balanced living, and the potential for leadershipBenedict J. ConstantinoMatthew F. Rhodes

koman-willman award – established by the Class of 1979 in memory of J. B. Koman and Timothy J. Willman. A junior is selected for his all-round contribution to the life of his class and school.Matthew R. MenendezMatthew F. Rhodes

saint louis county out-standinG student leader – sponsored by the St. Louis County Youth programs and presented to a student who has made a significant contribution to the School.William C. Fox, Jr.

PRIZE RECIPIENTSForm Prize – Matthew R. MenendezJeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.

imProVement – Colin M. BarryPatrick M. Moley

theoloGy – Benedict J. ConstantinoL. Clayton DahmJoseph A. Hayes

literary – Benedict J. Constantino

classical lanGuaGes – Matthew R. MenendezJeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.

Vocal music –L. Clayton Dahm

all district choir – L. Clayton DahmDouglas J. HallMichael C. Haueisen

all district solo / ensemBle – L. Clayton Dahm

HONOR ROLLEric M. Anderson*Robert A. Becker*W. Ryan Bedell*Craig A. Boyce II*Richard C. Byrd*Benedict J. Constantino*Daniel L. Croghan*Andrew L. CusumanoL. Clayton Dahm*Timothy M. Davies*Nicholas S. Fosko*William C. Fox, Jr.*James F. FullerAndrew M. HalenkampDouglas J. Hall*Anthony R. Hayes*Joseph A. Hayes*Nicholas J. Hedlesky*Bryan C. Hercules*Matthew B. Jones*Maximilian J. Jones*

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Book Awards (from left) Alexandre M. Todorov, Andrew M. Lall, William C. Fox, Jr., Matthew F. Rhodes, James A. Kopfensteiner, Douglas J. Hall, Jeffrey R. Swaney, Jr., Matthew R. Menendez, Craig A. Boyce II, Robert A. Becker and L. Clayton Dahm

James A. Kopfensteiner*Bennett T. Krack*Andrew M. Lall*Sean J. LambBrendan G. McDermott*Peter L. McLaughlin*Matthew R. Menendez*Patrick M. Moley*Daniel W. Ohmes*Charles G. Peterson*Michael M. Puettmann*Daniel H. Reitz*Matthew F. Rhodes*Zachary M. Ross*Luke M. Schmerold*Luke O. Simpson*Jeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.*Filip A. Swat*Samuel D. TankersleyStephen A. Theisen*Alexandre M. Todorov*Quinn M. Underriner*Jon W. Van Breusegen** Honor Roll end of year

MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGESnational French contest – ranked top 10 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of FrenchEric M. AndersonJon W. Van BreusegenBennett T. Krack

Alexandre M. Todorov – ranked 2nd nationally

ranked top 20 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of FrenchBenedict J. ConstantinoMaximilian J. Jones

NATIONAL LATIN EXAM - Level 4PoetryGold Summa Cum Laude Stephen A. Theisen

Silver Maxima Cum Laude Luke O. SimpsonFilip A. SwatJon W. Van Breusegen

Magna Cum Laude Alexandre M. Todorov

Latin VGold Summa Cum Laude William C. Fox, Jr. Matthew R. MenendezJeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.

Silver Maxima Cum Laude Andrew M. LallMatthew F. Rhodes

Magna Cum Laude Bryan C. HerculesJames A. Kopfensteiner

Cum LaudeMaximilian J. Jones

SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AWARDSamerican mathematics comPetition –Highest ScoreJeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.

SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AWARDSteam+s – tests oF enGineerinG aPtitude, mathematics and science

First in State, Division II JVFifth in the Nation, Division II JVEric M. AndersonRobert A. BeckerJames A. KopfensteinerMatthew R. Menendez*Daniel H. ReitzJeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.** denotes co-captains

Fourth in State, Division II JVAdvanced to NationalsAndrew M. Lall*Zachary M. RossLuke J. Schmerold** denotes co-captains

OTHER AWARDSwednesday cluyB Poetry contest– Third PlaceBenedict J. Constantino

Presidents student serVice challenGe award – recognizing juniors who contribute at least 100 hours of service to the community within a 12-month periodConor P. Ahlering Eric M. Anderson Robert A. Becker Craig A. Boyce IIDaniel L. Croghan L. Clayton Dahm Saagar N. Desai William C. Fox, Jr. Douglas J. Hall Nicholas J. HedleskyMatthew R. MenendezPatrick R. MulvihillCharles G. PetersonMichael M. PuettmannMatthew F. RhodesZachary M. RossLuke O. SimpsonStephen A. TheisenAlexandre M. Todorov

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FORM VForm iV Class of 2011

PRIZE RECIPIENTSForm Prize – Richard J. Mazuski

imProVement – Mason T. Meiners

theoloGy – Richard J. MazuskiCharles A. Rosebrough

literary – Zachary W. WeissAlexander P. Willman

HONOR ROLLDouglas R. Brooking*Niall D. Caparon*Francis P. Cassidy*John S. CiapciakJohn H. Cole*Michael D. CollinsHenry B. Cordova*Anthony C. Cribbin*Nicholas S. D’Orazio*Matthew D. Dowling*Nathan J. ForshawJonathan P. Gower*Joshua H. Hartke*Kevin H. Hess*Kyle E. Hill*Peter J. Jochens*Matthew J. Keating*Brendan M. Kelly* Anthony W. King Stephen C. Kleinheider*

Jacob A. Martin*Richard J. Mazuski*Mason T. Meiners*Spencer S. Meyer*Brett W. Moen*James D. Molloy*Clayton W. PettiSalvatore J. Revetta*Thomas C. RichCharles A. Rosebrough*Samuel J. Sagartz*L. Gustavo Sanchez-Conde*Andrew R. Schwartz*Sean M. Sigillito*David L. Taiclet, Jr.*Yale W. ThomasLiam H. WareJohn T. Wegmann*Zachary W. Weiss*Alexander P. Willman** Honor Roll end of year

MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGESnational French contest– ranked in top 10 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of FrenchJacob A. Marti –ranked 6th nationally

Richard J. Mazuski –ranked 3rd nationally

Sean M. Sigillito –ranked 6th nationally

national latin eXam – leVel 3 ProseGold Summa Cum Laude Andrew R. Schwartz

Silver Maxima Cum Laude Mason T. Meiners

Magna Cum Laude Francis P. CassidyAnthony C. CribbinNicholas S. D’OrazioBrendan M. KellyJames D. MolloyAdam H. Still

Cum Laude Michael D. CollinsNathan J. ForshawVincent JonesBrendan P. Mulqueeny

PoetryGold Summa Cum Laude Jacob A. MartinRichard J. MazuskiCharles A. RosebroughSamuel J. SagartzZachary W. Weiss Silver Maxima Cum Laude Niall D. CaparonJohn H. ColeHenry B. CordovaKyle E. HillThomas C. Rich II

SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AWARDSteam+s –tests oF enGineerinG aPtitude, mathematics and science

First in State, Division II JV Fifth in Nation, Division II JV

Jonathan P. Gower Richard J. Mazuski

Fourth in State, Division II JV Advanced to NationalsJohn H. ColeJoshua H. HartkeWilliam T. HellmuthAnthony W. KingStephen C. Kleinheider

SPECIAL PRIZESPhotoGraPhy – Clayton W. Petti

stained Glass – Andrew J. Erker

all state orchestra – Richard J. Mazuski

all state district solo / ensemBle – Richard J. Mazuski

missouri scholars academy – the Academy is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elemen-tary and Secondary Education and provides experiences and enrich-ment opportunities to advance students throughout Missouri schools.Richard J. Mazuski

huGh o'Brian youth Founda-tion – founded in 1958 by actor Hugh O’Brian to motivate, train, and reward future leaders. A three-day seminar is held with today’s leaders in business, government, education, athletics, communica-tions, science, and the arts.Kyle E. Hill

wednesday cluB Poetry contest

Second PlaceMcCarthy J. GreweFourth Place John S. CiapciakFifth Place Richard J. Mazuski

Student Leadership Awards: (from left) Filip A. Swat, Benedict J. Constantino, Joseph A. Wagner, Daniel C. Noyes, William C. Fox, Jr., Matthew F. Rhodes and Matthew R. Menendez

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FORM VForm iii Class of 2012

PRIZE RECIPIENTSForm Prize – Joseph M. PasqueJacob C. Mohrmann

imProVement – Brian P. BucolJohn Schmerold, Jr.

theoloGy – James M. CappsJacob C. Mohrmann

literary – Benjamin L. Corley

HONOR ROLLBrian P. Bucol*James M. Capps*Benjamin L. Corley*Rakesh B. Dara*Joseph J. DiMarcoMarc A. DunbarSeve A. Esparrago*Kyle R. FinneganMatthew G. Fuglsang*Carter D. Gage*Andrew J. Hernandez*Peter J. Hilboldt*Trevor J. Jin*Spencer T. King*Andrew S. Kopfensteiner*Colin A. Kopsky*Nicholas P. Krueger*Krishna A. Kumar*Reid J. LaVenture*Bradley J. Lenke*Matthew D. Lenz*Kyle B. Martin*Robert E. McAuliffe III*James T. MerendaJacob C. Mohrmann*Charles J. Moore*John P. O’BrienLuke F. O’Dowd*Joseph D. O’Sullivan*Joseph M. Pasque*Brendan H. Phillips*Peter L. Reitz*Andrew J. Rhodes*

Nicholas J. Russon*John Schmerold, Jr.*John F. Schwartz*Luke D. Slabaugh*Nicholas A. Stillman*John C. Szatkowski*John G. Taiclet*Brendan J. Thomas*Edward W. TooleyNathan J. WatsonAndrew J. Wright*Thomas T. Yoon* Honor Roll end of year

MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGESnational French contest– ranked in top 10 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of FrenchRobert E. McAuliffe III –ranked 5th nationally

ranked in top 20 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French Jonathan-Laurence P. DierdorfLuke D. Slabaugh

national latin eXam – leVel 2 Gold Summa Cum Laude James M. Capps *Jonathan-Laurence P. DierdorfSeve A. EsparragoAustin T. FedererAndrew J. HernandezTrevor J. Jin

Andrew S. KopfensteinerReid J. LaVentureMatthew D. LenzKyle B. MartinRobert E. McAuliffe IIIJacob C. MohrmannCharles J. MooreJohn P. O’BrienJoseph D. O’SullivanJoseph M. PasqueBrendan H. PhillipsPeter L. ReitzAndrew J. RhodesJohn F. SchwartzLuke D. SlabaughNicholas A. StillmanJohn C. SzatkowskiVan B. Thomas * denotes perfect score

Silver Maxima Cum Laude Patrick Conners, Jr.Benjamin L. CorleyRakesh B. DaraJoseph J. DiMarcoPeter J. ForshawDavid R. FournieCarter D. GageSpencer T. KingBrennan M. KluesnerColin A. KopskyKrishna A. KumarZachary C. LaValleeJ. Clayton SwangerBrendan J. Thomas

Edward W. TooleyNathan J. Watson

Magna Cum Laude Zachary F. BehnenLuc A. BettaiebKyle R. FinneganBradley J. LenkeMichael A. LombardoKevin J. LudwigNicholas J. RussonNicholas S. SaraiAndrew J. Wright

Cum Laude Alexander P. Atkinson Matthew G. FuglsangPeter J. HilboldtScott F. Leer

SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AWARDSamerican mathematics comPetition –Highest ScoreJoseph D. O’Sullivan

SPECIAL PRIZESdrama – Luke D. Slabaugh

kestrel cuP – awarded to the most promising tennis player in the freshman classSpencer T. King

Athletics Awards: (from left) J. Jeffrey Hopson, Jr., Daniel M. Nogalski, Spencer T. King, M. Theodore Altepeter, Andrew C. Sexton and Charles J. Friedman

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FORM VForm ii Class of 2013

PRIZE RECIPIENTSForm Prize – Brian B. Steiner

imProVement – Victor A. MasettiJohn W. Rourke IVPatrick T. SchaferBrian T. VaporeanJohn D. Vitale

theoloGy – Justin A. Davis-MorganMichael J. KingBrian B. Steiner

literary – Michael J. King

humanitarian award – Bradley C. FinneganJohn P. FonsecaJoseph P. KreienkampThomas J. Weissert

HONOR ROLLQuentin O. Amice*Connor C. Behnen*Evan J. Boulware*Thomas S. Burton*Peter J. Cogan*Justin A. Davis-Morgan*John L. del Rosario, Jr.*Ryan P. Donlin*Timothy P. Dubis*Kevin M. Eggert*

Connor P. FlavinAndew J. Fogarty*Wyatt D. Gill*Steven J. Hanley*Thomas R. Hartke*Alexander Haueisen*J. Jeffrey Hopson, Jr.*Daniel H. Jacob*Daanish Jamaluddin*Michael J. King*Grant M. Koby*Nicholas R. Kohler*Joseph P. Kreienkamp*Patrick C. Lindmark*Victor A. MasettiWilliam H. Moore*Jack M. Mueller*Alexander C. Noddings*Nehal A. Patel*John D. Puricelli*David A. Sescleifer*Brian B. Steiner*Samuel L. Taylor*Ryan T. TokenAlexander J. Towler*Graham C. Trout*William J. Uelk*Mitchell F. Van Bree*Brian T. Vaporean*Jacob S. Walburn*Charles I. Welsh** Honor Roll end of year

MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGESnational French contest– ranked in top 10 percent of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French

Justin A. Davis-Morgan –ranked 5th nationallyAlexander C. Noddings

national latin eXam – leVel1 Gold Summa Cum Laude Quentin O. Amice*Patrick S. BachmannConnor C. Behnen*Evan J. BoulwareThomas S. BurtonPeter J. CoganJustin A. Davis-Morgan*John L. del Rosario, Jr.*Ryan P. Donlin*Timothy P. DubisKevin M. EggertAndrew J. FogartyWyatt D. Gill*Steven J. Hanley*Thomas R. HartkeJ. Jeffrey Hopson, Jr.Daniel H. Jacob*Andrew JonesMichael J. King*Joseph P. KreienkampPatrick C. Lindmark*William H. Moore*Jack M. MuellerAlexander C. Noddings*Nehal A. Patel*John D. PuricelliThomas RaybuckBrian B. Steiner*Samuel L. Taylor *Alexander J. Towler*William J. Uelk*Brian T. VaporeanCharles I. Welsh * denotes perfect score

Silver Maxima Cum Laude Michael K. GarvinAlexander HaueisenDaanish JamaluddinGrant M. KobyNicholas R. KohlerVictor A. MasettiDavid M. NogalskiPatrick T. SchaferDavid A. SescleiferGraham C. TroutMitchell F. Van BreeLogan M. Wende

Magna Cum Laude Samuel M. BrunsJoseph P. Ciapciak, Jr.John P. FonsecaWyatt A. GaleBlake H. HustedtRyan G. SigmundKhaliq R. SnowRyan T. TokenJacob S. WalburnThomas J. Weissert

Cum Laude Adam G. Meadows

SPECIAL PRIZESstudio art –Brian B. Steiner

calliGraPhy –Alexander C. Noddings

PhotoGraPhy –Mitchell F. Van Bree

Vocal music –Jack M. Mueller

Best athlete –J. Jeffrey Hopson, Jr.

coaches cuP – David M. Nogalski

Father GreGory mohrman, osB, serVice award – acknowledges dedicated and creative service to the Junior School and the greater Priory school community. Samuel M. Bruns

Form Prize Winners: (from left) Joseph M. Pasque, Andrew T. Cammon, Jacob C. Mohrmann, J. Jarrett Lowell, Richard J. Mazuski, Brian B. Steiner, Jeffrey R. Swaney, Jr. and Matthew R. Menendez.

(not pictured) Daniel S. Martin and Charles M. Rapp

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FORM VForm i Class of 2014

PRIZE RECIPIENTSForm Prize – Andrew T. CammonJ. Jarret LowellDaniel S. MartinCharles M. Rapp

theoloGy – Andrew T. CammonChristopher R. ChivettaJ. Jarrett Lowell

literary – Michael E. Clark

humanitarian award – Daniel Stein

HONOR ROLLPatrick K. Agnew II*John P. Austin*Timothy M. Avery*Jeffrey A. Bebee*Andrew T. Cammon*Christopher R. Chivetta*Stephen R. Clark, Jr.*Michael E. Clark*Hugh J. Cole*Dominic S. Coppola*Ryan W. Corley*Paul D. Davies*Daniel M. De Simon*Zachary T. Denton*Taylor G. Dubray*John W. FoxD. Fitz Freeman*Brendan M. Gaffney*David C. Gantt II*Louis C. Garvin*Tristan J. HellmuthCarlo M. Herbosa*

Michael A. Herman*Jack A. Herr*Aidan M. JohnstonDuncan M. Kinzie*Matthew R. Kovac*Kenneth A. Krueger*John P. Lauer*Tony Y. Lee*Charles E. Lohmann*J. Jarret Lowell*Matthew T. Ludwig*Daniel S. Martin*D. Griffin Meert*Dean J. Mellas*Thomas J. Menteer*Thomas J. Niemann*William J. O’Brien*Andrew W. O’Sullivan*Grant F. OehlerAntonio L. Petralia*Charles M. Rapp*John J. RhodesFrancisco G. Sanchez-Conde*

Kevin M. Schilling*Eric S. Stange*Daniel Stein*Ahdarsh R. VallabhaneniColburn J. Wagner*Daniel J. Watson*M. Parker Weigle*Spencer T. Wright*Alex Y. Wu*John P. YannakakisEverett W. Zornes* Honor Roll end of year

SPECIAL PRIZESstudio art –Thomas J. Niemann

drama –J. Jarret Lowell

Vocal music –John P. Lauer

Humanitarian Awards: (from left) Joseph P. Kreinkamp, Bradley C. Finnegan, Daniel Stein, Thomas J. Weissert and John P. Fonseca

30

SchoolVarsity Athletes Post Season Honors

BASEBALL:

Ryan J. Allen: Second Team All-League

Charles J. Friedman: Honorable Mention All-League

Robert M. Heitz: Honorable Mention All-League

M. Richard Hennessey: First Team All-League

Luke O. Simpson: Honorable Mention All-League

BASKETBALL:

James A. Kopfensteiner: Honorable Mention All-League

Andrew C. Sexton: Second Team All-League

CROSS-COUNTRY:

Niall D. Caparon: All-District; State Qualifier

Kenneth C. Capps: Second Team All-League; All-District; State Qualifier

Chad E. Huber: All-District; State Qualifier

Jon W. Van Breusegen: Second Team All-League

FOOTBALL:

Ryan J. Allen: First Team All-League, Tight End; Third Team 3-A All-State football coaches, Tight End; Honorable Mention All-Metro, Tight End

Raymond H. Bayer III: Honorable Mention All-League, Defensive Lineman

Charles J. Friedman: First Team All-League, Linebacker

Matthew B. Jones: First Team All-League, Quarterback; Second Team 3-A All-State football coaches, Utility Player; First Team All-State sports writers, Punter; Second Team All-Metro, Punter

Brian J. Malloy: First Team All-League, Wide Receiver

Patrick M. Moley: Honorable Mention All-League, Offensive Lineman

John F. Notter, Jr.: Honorable Mention All-League, Offensive Lineman

Matthew F. Rhodes: Second Team All-League, Offensive Lineman

Nicholas T. Ross: First Team All-League, Defensive Lineman

Zachary M. Ross: Second Team All-League, Offensive Lineman

Andrew C. Sexton: First Team All-League, Wide Receiver; Co-Winner Robert Hughes Award as ABC player of the year; Second Team 3-A All-State football coaches; Wide-Receiver; First Team All-State sports writers, Wide Receiver; First Team All-Metro, Wide Receiver

John C. Tabash: First Team All-League, Offensive Lineman; First Team 3-A All-State football coaches, Offensive Lineman; Second Team All-State sports writers, Offensive Lineman; Second Team All-Metro, Offensive Tackle

GOLF:

Robert G. Jones: Second Team All-League; All-District; State Qualifier

Mason T. Meiners: First Team All-League; All-District; State Qualifier

Stephen A. Theisen: First Team All-League; ABC medalist; All-District; State Qualifier

SOCCER:

Joseph H. Altepeter: First Team All-League

M. Theodore Altepeter: First Team All-League; First Team Class 2 All-State; Class 2 Co-Defender of the Year

Trevor W. Davis: Honorable Mention All-League

Peter W. Kelly: First Team All-League; ABC League Co-Player of the Year; First Team Class 2 All-State; Second Team All-Metro

Joseph M. Koors: Honorable Mention All-League

Jonathan M. Miramonti: First Team All-League; Second Team Class 2 All-State

TENNIS:

Kenneth C. Capps: Second Team All-League

Jesse J. Fortune: First Team All-League

Matthew J. Keating: Second Team All-League; State Qualifier, Doubles

Spencer T. King: Honorable Mention All-League

Nicholas M. Pignotti: Second Team All-League

Andrew P. Thome, Jr.: First Team All-League; State Qualifier, Doubles

TRACK:

Michael M. Puettmann: All-District, High Jump

WRESTLING:

Henry B. Cordova: Second Team All-League

Zachary C. LaVallee: First Team All-League

Ryan K. Lenz: Second Team All-League

Andrew C. Link: Second Team All-League

Nicholas A. Stillman: Second Team All-League

Jeffrey R. Swaney, Jr.: Second Team All-League; State Qualifier

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The Year in SportsJoseph Genoni, Athletic Director

The 2008-09 athletic seasons were unique due to the excite-ment of the expansion and improvement projects underway for the athletic department. The fall began with the installation of a new synthetic turf field. In October, the football and soccer teams played games on this field. Homecoming saw the blessing of the new field, and of course, a victory.

As the year progressed, anticipation increased daily despite the construction obstacles of needing to close the front entrance of the Activities’ Center and to rent a baseball field for the beginning of the season. By May, the baseball team was able to practice and play on the newly renovated baseball field, which has been named McCabe Field in honor of Marty McCabe.

We are all excited about the summer 2009 projects that include the completion of new and upgraded fields, a new fitness center, and many additional improvements to the Activities’ Center and the athletic complex.

In addition to the construction, the year was filled with many significant accomplishments and great memories by our student athletes. Here are some of the highlights of the year:

The 2008 VARSITy FOOTBALL team finished the season with an 8-4 overall record and a 3-2 ABC League record. The team won the District and competed in post-season competition for the first time since 1992. After winning its first game in post-season against Imagine College Prep, 47-7, the team met Cardinal Ritter. In a tense game that came down to the final seconds, Priory lost to Cardinal Ritter 22-17.

Many individual honors and records were accomplished this year. Drew Sexton caught 79 passes for 1,408 yards with a one game record of 201 yards receiving. Matt Jones set school records at Quarterback with 271 attempts, 177 completions, 2,630 yards gained passing, and 29 touchdown passes. Colin Bruns set a record with a 98 touchdown yard run from scrimmage. In addition, post-season honors went to Drew Sexton: co-winner of the Robert Hughes Award as Most Valuable Player in the ABC League and First Team All-Metro and All-State wide receiver. John Tabash, Offensive Lineman, was First Team All-State and Second Team All-Metro. Matt Jones earned First Team All-State and Second Team All-Metro as a Punter. Ryan Allen was chosen Third Team All-State and All-Metro honorable mention as a Tight End.

The 2008 VARSITy SOCCER team came in first place in the ABC League with an 8-2 record and finished 20-5 overall. In ad-dition, the soccer team won the District and lost in the first round after District play to St. Dominic, 2-0. Earning post-season honors were Pete Kelly, chosen ABC co-player of the year; First Team All-State and Second Team All-Metro. Ted Altepeter earned First Team All-State and Class 2 co-defender of the year honors.

The 2008 CROSS COUNTRy team had another solid season with 95 medalists, 12 team top three finishes, and third place in

District. The Varsity team had three runners qualify for State: Ken Capps, Niall Caperon and Chad Huber.

The 2008-09 VARSITy BASKETBALL team, led by All-League performer, Drew Sexton and James Kopfensteiner finished with a 9-15 overall record.

The 2008-09 WRESTLING team had a squad of 27 wrestlers, all but one were underclassmen which holds promise for next year. There were strong performances by Zach LaVallee, Nicholas Stillman, Drew Link, Ryan Lenz, Henry Cordova and Jeff Swaney. Each of these wrestlers medaled in either the ABC meet and/or the Priory Invitational. In addition, Jeff Swaney qualified for State.

The 2008-09 VARSITy HOCKEy team had another success-ful season. It finished Second in the Mid-States Suburban Central league with a 6-1-2 record. In John Notter’s first year as head coach, the hockey team made it to the finals of the Wickenheiser Cup. Christian Herbosa, Dalton Pollvogt, Kevin Yuan, Paul Tych-sen and Charlie Bernard are seniors who were instrumental in the success of the team.

The VARSITy BASEBALL team which struggled with one of the wettest seasons in a long time, finished with an 7-11 record, 5-6 in an extremely, tough ABC League. The varsity baseball team looks forward to 2010 and playing its games on the newly reno-vated McCabe field.

The VARSITy TENNIS team had a successful year with a record of 9-2 and came in second in the ABC League with a 4-1 record. Its success continued at District where it finished first as a team. In addition to the team success, the doubles team of Drew Thome and Matt Keating qualified for State.

The VARSITy GOLF team finished tied for first for the ABC League title, tied for First in the ABC League Tournament, and tied for Second in District. In addition to the team’s success, Steve Theisen was a medalist in the ABC tournament, All-District and a State qualifier. In addition, Bob Jones and Mason Meiners were All-District and State qualifiers.

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Father Michael blesses the new Mondo synthetic turf field at Homecoming, October 25, 2008.

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Graduation Day: May 24, 2009Valedictorian Daniel Pasque spoke to the audience

Good afternoon, it’s really a humbling privilege to be talking with you on this exciting and monumental day. I first ask for your patience and understanding as I try to capture my thoughts con-cerning the remarkable last six years we’ve spent together as a class in just five to six minutes. First however, it would be an injustice for me to not stop and thank Father Michael, Abbot Thomas, Mr. Gleich, all of the teachers, staff and monastic community, and our parents, for this chance to speak, for working so hard for us, caring for us, and simply for loving us well and making these last six years the incredible experience that they were.

And now it is only appropriate to extend a similar expression of gratitude and humbled respect to you, my classmates. I am a more than blessed man to be able to walk across this church today and receive a diploma alongside you all. I want everyone here today to know that this group seated in front of me is one of the most remarkable groups of students, classmates, friends, and brothers that you will ever meet.

However, I don’t refer to the stereotypical excellence that is so frequently preached about in situations such as this. Admittedly, this is a class of extreme academic prowess. For example, some of us in this very room will one day be working for Stephen Macke, right over there, so make sure to get on his good side when you get the chance today. And athletically, I don’t believe any case needs to be made about the skills of this class. From the football and soccer teams to the hockey team to even the ultimate-frisbee team, we have succeeded. And without a doubt we are class filled with hilarious and unforgettable characters. Marlow Gazzoli, you have forever changed how lunch will be announced at this school. Charlie Fried-man, your high-frequency voice will haunt me the rest of my life. Nick Ross, I don’t need to explain. Joey Wagner, you’re perfect, and you have life-changing stories. Honestly, I could go through each and every one of you.

Yet it is not for these reasons, as stunning as they are, that I am most proud to be able to say that I’m a part of the class of ’09. No, it is because everyone here today is here to honor a class that loved each other well. A class that over six years grew closer and closer together. A class that showed me that the idea of a class as a fraternal family is more than just a cheesy and impossible ideology.

To the bro’s, I’ve gotten to talk to you and gotten to know some of you better over the years, and if anything could be said about you all, you look out for each other. You care for each other where it really counts, and you fight for each other when the need demands. To the Fab Five, the events at our Senior Retreat have especially opened my eyes to the depth of relationship that you all have. To my closest friends, I’ve been overwhelmed with admiration these past years as I watched some of us get knocked down really hard by life, only to be picked back up by others. I’ve seen some of us just need someone to be there with them and for them, and someone always was.

And to all of us as a whole, I’ve watched us all stand on top of a mud pit together, united against the cold and the underclassmen. I’ve watched us all stand up proudly at the repertoire theatre and pop the collars of our matching pink polos. I’ve sat in the senior lounge and seen people who normally don’t “hang out” together talk away study hall after study hall: laughing, chatting, and sharing stories, joys and frustrations. And I was there as we sat in a room around one candle, lowered our defenses, and poured out our hearts to each other. We are a class that has done high school together, and therefore, we have done it right. We are a class that has loved each other well.

And so, this brings me to my challenge for today, a challenge for myself, for you my classmates, and for everyone else here. We are all too familiar with the overused cliché of “changing the world.” But having spent six years with you, witnessing your compassion for one another, “changing the world” is no longer a cliché but a convic-

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tion and a challenge for the future. So the choice is ours when we leave, to either spend ourselves in love or to not. To first love our God with everything we have, because if everything we have learned about our faith is real, if it’s the truth, if it is more than just the teachings of older men, routine commitments and Sunday gather-ings, then there is no other way to respond. If God truly humbled himself from his untouchable holiness to be killed on a Roman torture machine and suffer the wrath our actions merited, and if he really did that to bring us back to himself because he wants us that much, then we don’t want to miss what life would be like if we opened our lives to him, to love him in everything.

And finally, friends, let us love others, every second of every day in the little things as well as the big. Let us be the employees who

drop what they’re doing to help a frustrated coworker and be the friends who aren’t satisfied with “I’m doing ok.” Let us be the sons who never forget to tell their moms “I love you” and be the hus-bands who bring flowers home for no special occasion. Let us be the strangers who wave and say “good morning” and be the dads who never miss a soccer game. Let us be men so defined by our compas-sion that our epitaphs simply state, “He loved his savior and the people in his life.” Because then we can say, regardless of anything, that we have done it right.

Class of 2009, you have changed my life. I am so proud to be a part of each of your lives, and I honestly love every one of you. May God bless you all and everyone else in here today. Thank you.

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The Bakewell Memorial Award Recipient Joseph Wagner spoke to the audience

Abbot Thomas, Father Michael and Mr. Gleich, thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

At the beginning of senior year, I was collecting quotes for my yearbook page, and I wanted to find a quote that I thought described our class. I found what I was looking for in the first two verses of Psalm 133. It states:

“How good, how delightful it is for all to live together like brothers.”

Once I read this quote, I knew it was perfect – what a great way to describe our class of 62 guys who have grown to be such close friends over the past six years. But becoming a unified class is not something that just happens on its own. It takes time, effort, and an appreciation for your fellow classmates.

It is remarkable to reflect upon the journey that we have taken to get where we are today. On the first day of 7th grade, many of us knew only a few of the 72 boys in our class. We came from over 30 different schools, but we quickly learned to grow together in The Priory Way. Every year we had those class experiences that we enjoyed and that brought us closer together: from our visits to Camp Ondessonk in 7th and 8th grades, to our Senior Retreat a few months ago, and everything in between.

But what we have mastered over the years is incorporating all our individual traits into an entire class portrait. Scholars, athletes, musi-cians, comedians, and so many different personalities blend together

to define our class. It is similar to a painting, in that every detail is essential to appreciate the entire image. All the parts add their own color and style to the painting, and the absence of even one small aspect becomes immediately noticeable. Only by stepping back and looking at the painting as a whole can you appreciate how all the parts complement each other in creating the masterpiece.

There is no better example of this idea than the picture of the Priory’s founding fathers in the high school. For those who have not seen it, it is a picture of Father Columba, Father Timothy, and Abbot Luke standing in front of the abbey churches at Priory and Ampleforth. It is made up entirely of the faces of students who have attended Priory. Each student, in his own way, becomes a part of Priory.

The great mix of personalities in our class is why so many of my greatest memories involve spending time with classmates. Making the STUCO movies. Watching classmates perform in the Battle of the Bands. Running cross country and playing basketball. Watching the football team during one of the best seasons in Priory’s history, and seeing John Tabash handle an unfortunate opponent. Going to soccer games, and watching Dan and Trevor chest bump on the field. Cheering on the hockey team at the Wickenheiser Championship game. And, of course, playing ultimate frisbee. Our classes would not have been the same without Charlie’s singing or Marlow’s teacher impressions. The experiences that we’ll always remember happened here; Priory, forever, has become a part of us.

And what more could we have hoped for. Priory is what it is en-tirely because of the people. We are so fortunate to have the constant presence of the monks on campus. Their lives are an inspiration, and their impact is immeasurable. We have been blessed with fantastic teachers and coaches, as well, who have guided and supported us throughout our education. Earlier this year, a plaque in the high school was unveiled with the inscription:

“Everyone to whom much is given, of him much will be required.”

Here at Priory, we have been given so much by these people: a premier faith-filled education that has prepared us not just for col-lege, but for life. So to all the monks, teachers, and coaches, thank you. You, and our families, are the reason why we turned our rings a few moments ago. You all prepared us to live in the world as the young men we have grown to be.

So finally, as we sit at our graduation, remember what got you to this point: the guidance of our teachers and mentors, the love from our families, and the friendship of our classmates. These relationships are among the most important in our lives. Take this guidance, love, and friendship and extend it to all the new people you meet, so that through your own actions, you may always see and remember what it means to be part of our Priory Class of 2009.

Thank You. Laus Tibi Domine.

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F r o m t h e s C h o o l

Ryan Joseph AllenUniversity of Pennsylvania

Michael Theodore Altepeter* Washington University in St. Louis

William Charles BernardUniversity of Denver

Christopher James Brenner*Washington University in St. Louis

Ryan Daniel Burr University of Missouri, Columbia

Kenneth Christopher Capps* Stanford University

Trevor William Davis Saint Louis UniversitySamuel Louis Doerr*

Southern Methodist UniversityJerome Valentine Dwyer, Jr.

University of Missouri, ColumbiaAlexander Gerard Erker

Fordham UniversityAlejandro Anthony Finan

Drury UniversitySpencer Jewell Fitzgerald

Marquette UniversityCharles Jacob Friedman

Boston CollegeStephen Colin Gambaro

University of Missouri, ColumbiaJoseph Marlow Gazzoli*

Princeton UniversityAlexander Gerard Haas

University of Georgia

James Edward Havel Boston College

Mark Jerome Havel Wake Forest UniversityRobert Martin Heitz University of Dayton

Michael Richard Hennessey* University of Notre Dame

Christian Francisco Herbosa Tufts University

Daniel Thomas Igoe College of the Holy Cross

Robert Gerald Jones American University

Andrew David Kabbes* Vanderbilt University

Christopher Daniel Keeline Carnegie Mellon University

Peter William KellySouthern Illinois University,

EdwardsvilleThaddeus Matthew King

University of TorontoZachary Ellis Knippel

Texas Christian UniversityJoseph Mark Koors

Case Western Reserve UniversityRyan Kienstra Lenz

The Catholic University of AmericaStephen Thomas Macke*

University of TulsaBrian James Malloy

Miami University of Ohio

George Ryan McCormick Marquette University

Nicholas Joseph Miles Loyola University of Chicago

Jonathan Michael Miramonti*Lehigh University

Paul Charles Monahan Saint Louis UniversityBrett Joseph Moritz* University of Miami

William Joseph Neukum*University of Miami

Daniel Clemens Noyes Marquette University

Riley James O’Connor University of Missouri, Columbia

Charles Schreiber O’Donnell University of Denver

Daniel Ryan Pasque* Washington University in St. Louis

Nicholas Matthew Pignotti* Duke University

Dalton Mitchell Pollvogt* University of Notre DameNicholas Timothy Ross

University of ChicagoNicholas David Sabino*

Vanderbilt UniversityWilliam Anderson Sarni

Colgate UniversityAndrew Christian Sexton*

Boston College

Paul Lawrence Smelcer* University of Tulsa

Siddharth Krishnan SridharTrinity University

Joseph Leonard St. Amour University of Michigan

John Christopher Tabash University of Chicago

Mark Robert Telthorst Saint John’s University

Andrew Paul Thome, Jr.* University of Missouri, Kansas City

School of MedicinePaul Lawrence Tychsen

U. S. Marine Corps Reserves and the University of Missouri,

Columbia (Spring 2010)Kevin Thomas Wacker

Washington University in St. LouisJoseph Andrew Wagner*

Vanderbilt UniversityJoseph Michael Wallace

Texas Christian UniversityEvan Matthew Weiss

University of Missouri, ColumbiaTyler James Willibrand

Georgia Institute of TechnologyMichael Thomas yemm

University of Missouri, ColumbiaKevin Ignatius yuan Marquette University

*cum laude graduate

S a i n t L o u i S P r i o r y S c h o o L c L a S S o f 2 0 0 9

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Two generations of Priory alumni: (from left) Jon Igoe ’70, Dan; Jim O’Donnell ’71, Charlie; Dan Wagner ’81, Joe; Dan Sexton ’65, Drew; Tom Capps ’78, Ken; Joe Gazzoli ’70, Marlow; Mitch Pollvogt ’76, Dalton; Mike Altepeter ’72, Ted; Iggy yuan ’74, Kevin.

(not pictured) Steve Willibrand ’76, Tyler; Dennis yemm ’73 (deceased), Mike.

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SchoolCollege CounselingBarbara Sams, Director

Class of 2009 Shines in the College Admission Process

Brilliant scholars, dynamic leaders, faithful servants, and genu-ine friends, the Class of 2009 definitely left their mark. The Office of College Counseling was privileged to be a part of their lives as they made the transition from Saint Louis Priory to college and beyond.

The Class of 2009 nationally represents the largest class of high school graduates in the history of the United States. This added competition coupled with the mid-year economic collapse made this year more unpredictable than most. Yet, the class was once again very successful in terms of the college choice outcomes. The 62 members of the Class of 2009 filed a record 396 college applications to 116 different institutions. Of this number, 186, or 47 percent of the applications, were to the most competitive colleges (as defined by “Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges,” 2009 edition). Highly Competitive colleges received 89 applications, or 22 percent. Very Competitive colleges received 108 applications, or 27 percent, with the remaining 13 applications, or 3 percent, in the Competitive and Special category.

In terms of acceptances, the class had an overall acceptance rate of 64 percent. Tier 1 applications were received very favorably at a rate of 41 percent (compared to the average national acceptance rate of 20 percent for the Tier 1 schools to which our students applied). Tier 2 applications were accepted at the rate of 84 percent; Tier 3 at the rate of 87 percent; and the remaining applications were accepted at the rate of 85 percent.

Students from the Class of 2009 will be attending 39 different institutions, including one international school, The University of Toronto. Twenty-seven percent will be attending Catholic colleges, 50 percent other private schools and 23 percent will attend public schools.

The Class of 2009 was recognized for its scholastic, athletic and extracurricular excellence. The class has been awarded more than $1.3 million per year (or more than $5.2 million over four years) in scholarships. Several members were selected for unique, presti-gious academic opportunities at a variety of schools. These students include: (Please note this data was self-reported by the students as of May 10. The list may be incomplete.)

M. Theodore Altepeter, named a John T. Olin Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis

Kenneth C. Capps, named a Notre Dame Scholar at the University of Notre Dame

Samuel L. Doerr, named a National Merit Scholar at Southern Methodist University

S. Colin Gambaro, invited to join the Honors College at the University of Missouri, Columbia

J. Marlow Gazzoli, named an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia and a Benjamin Franklin Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania

Robert G. Jones, invited to join the Washington Mentorship Program at American University

Andre D. Kabbes, named a National Merit Scholar at Vanderbilt University and invited to join the Honors College at Boston College

Christopher D. Keeline, named a U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate, invited to join the Honors Program at the University of Illinois; and invited to join the Honors Program at the University of Tulsa

Joseph M. Koors, named a National Merit Scholar at Case Western Reserve University

Stephen T. Macke, named a Presidential Scholar and a Na-tional Merit Scholar at the University of Tulsa, named a Presidential Scholar and Rensselaer Medal Scholar at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and named a Mesmer Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis

Paul C. Monahan, invited to join the Strobel Honors Account-ing Program at DePaul University

Brett J. Moritz, invited to join the business honors program at Boston University, invited to join the Law School Honors Program at the University of Miami, and invited to join the Honors College at the University of South Carolina

William J. Neukum, named a President’s Scholar at Southern Methodist University

Daniel R. Pasque, named a National Merit Scholar at Washing-ton University in St. Louis

John C. Tabash, named a President’s Scholar at Bentley Uni-versity, invited to join the Cox School of Business BBA Honors Program at Southern Methodist University, and invited to join the Honors College at the University of Missouri, Columbia

Joseph A. Wagner, named a U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate, named a Missouri Top 100 Scholar, named an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia, named a Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar at Vanderbilt University, named a Notre Dame Scholar at the Uni-versity of Notre Dame, and invited to join the Honors College at Boston College

Joseph M. Wallace, invited to join the Honors College at Texas Christian University

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In addition to these academic achievements, several of the students will be playing sports for a variety of schools including Ryan J. Allen who will play football at the University of Pennsylvania, M. Theodore Altepeter who will play soccer for Washington University in St. Louis, Peter W. Kelly who will play soccer for Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and Nicholas T. Ross and John C. Tabash who will both play football at the University of Chicago.

Congratulations and best wishes to all of the students. You will be missed.

Office of College Counseling Prepares for Transition

As we wrap the 2008-09 school year, the Office of College Counseling is preparing to make another significant transition. Wil-liam Walker has decided to return to the Missouri Military Acad-emy in Mexico. We are pleased, though, to welcome Beth Collier to Saint Louis Priory School. Collier will join the office in August of 2009 when she will begin working three days a week.

Collier comes to the Priory most recently from Rockwood Summit High School where she was a College Admission Specialist for the past nine years. While at Rockwood Summit, she earned a reputation as an intelligent, insightful, and compassionate profes-sional. She has extensive counseling experience specializing in career counseling, the scholarship and financial aid process, and the stan-dardized testing process for college admission and placement. She

has presented at local, regional and national conferences on the best counseling practices. Collier is active in the Missouri Association for College Admission Counseling, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and the College Board.

Collier has always made education a priority. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English from Stephens College, she went on to earn a Master of Arts in English from Miami University in Ohio. She has professional experience both in the classroom and as a college admission representative. Collier taught English while at Miami University and also at St. Louis County Community College, Meramec Campus. She was an admission representative for both Miami University and Stephens College. Collier is married to Christopher Collier and has two daughters, Madeleine, age 6, and Charlotte, age 3.

When asked about her new position, Collier stated, “I am very excited to begin my tenure as the Associate Director of College Counseling at Saint Louis Priory School. Priory has impressed me with its rich history of educating young men to be leaders of tomor-row; I am thrilled to become part of the Priory family. I know that my many years of experience in the Rockwood School District will provide an excellent foundation for serving the students and families at this unique institution.”

Please join us in welcoming Beth Collier to the Saint Louis Priory community.

Seniors show school spirit on National Candidate Reply Day.

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SchoolTechnologyAndrea Nunziante, Director

At Priory, technology is a key element in the educational devel-opment of our students. Students are growing up in a world where technology is critical for their futures. It is our belief that technology should remain up-to-date and evolve to reflect the ever-changing technological needs of our modern world.

In the past two years, we have made several technological im-provements on our campus. Perhaps the most visible to students and parents is our online grading system and the unified wifi network.

First launched full throttle in the 2007-08 academic year, Priory successfully implemented and integrated PowerSchool into the framework of the School. PowerSchool provides for considerable interaction between faculty and parents. Its online grading program provides ready access to a student’s daily performance, teacher com-ments, and daily assignments. Faculty can more effectively manage their classes by having direct access to student information at school as well as away from school. Parents, students and teachers have 24/7 access to the information contained in PowerSchool via the parent/teacher portal. The parent portal also allows for access to posted assignments, the course syllabus, attendance information and behavioral reports.

During our 2008-09 winter trimester, the School implemented an online signup for parent/teacher conferences, both in the high school and the Junior School. This process allowed families to register online in the convenience of their own home. No longer was their jostling for a space on the sign-up sheet or arriving to the conferences only to find that your son had signed you up for six conferences in 30 minutes. Teachers also have abilities within this program which allow them to create schedules according to their coaching, monastic or educational conflicts.

In the spring of 2008, Priory introduced two new web sites. Created exclusively for the Priory alumni community, the alumni web site is constructed to resemble a community web site similar to known social web sites like Facebook or MySpace. The second web site was designed exclusively for the Priory School. These two new web sites provide real time data and information about upcoming school and sporting events, maps to these events, calendar items, or recent significant accomplishments within the school.

This past year, several upgrades were completed within the actual infrastructure of the Priory network. These upgrades included replacing servers and core switches within our unified wifi network. The new switches provide a full 1GB between classrooms and build-ings. This change facilitates faster access to Internet resources for both teachers and students. The improved wifi network also allows for better management of our wifi system.

Finally, a new appliance was recently installed to provide better security and traffic monitoring. On campus data is now more secure thanks to daily backups and monitoring of all campus servers.

Our technology team, composed of myself, Nick White (cur-rently deployed in Afghanistan) and Derek Ward, works continually to maintain our system and train our faculty on its effective use. Our work is ongoing, since technology is continually evolving. This summer will see us updating the high school computer lab (301), the library computer lab, all of the Junior School classroom, and the gymnasium. In addition, we are working on a new long-term tech-nology plan which takes into account all of the improvements on our campus. Stay tuned for more exiting IT news in the near future!

Andrea Nunziante and Derek Ward showcase the backbone of Priory's technology infrastruction.

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Mulvihill and Brother Cassian celebrate with the 2008 Brain Game champions, Parkway West Middle School Gifted Education Program

S a i n t L o u i s P r i o r y S c h o o l C l a s s o f 2 0 1 5

John C. Agnew Blake J. Anselm Shravan C. Atluri Alejandro P. Ayala Logan A. Bealke + Taylor N. Boyce * Sean M. Buss Sean M. Carey * John G. Cook Urban A. Cornett Thomas R. Donlin * Robert E. Donnelly III Elliott H. Dow Grant C. Dow Parker C. Dow Cory A. Dubray *

Bryan A. Dunbar * Robert F. Erbs III + Cole Esparrago* Parker S. Ferguson Joseph M. Fitz E. Harrison Flotron + Ian R. Gage* Dylan H. Gill * Jack E. Gorczyca J. John Grewe * Edward J. Griesedieck IV Mitchell J. Guard Joseph W. Hanley * William C. Hassell Jose M. Hernandez Arthur J. Hidalgo V

Alexander J. Hill * William E. Huss George T. Jochens * Jack H. Johnson Conor J. Kelleher Daniel N. Kelly – Conor W. Killen Matthew J. Kinnison John J. Klaesner Benjamin M. Kraus Zachary A. Kuchan Patrick K. Lane – Alexander Lennartz William A. Macke – Gagan Mandava Markos P. McAuliffe +*

Connor P. McCarthy + Jeffrey M. Michalski Nicholas M. Millsap Stephen H. Millsap Matthew P. O'Brien Robert F. Onder III George A. Paletta III Michael M. Peters – William S. Pollnow Stephen S. Poth – Dominic Revetta * Michael J. Ricci Patrick J. Rolwes Thomas M. Rosebrough * Aris C. Sevastianos Joseph H. Spellmeyer

Ian B. Steiner * J. Henry Steuby + Daniel G. Steurer Sohaan V. Swaminathan Andrew M. Swyers Brandon A. Tajkarimi Matthew A. TinkhamNathan J. Vonder Haar Nathan M. Walk Matthew B. Wennemann Daniel S. West William P. Whaley Blake A. Wilson Nicholas E. Zaegel

+ son of Priory alumnus * brother of Priory student – brother of Priory alumnus

AdmissionDeacon Thomas Mulvihill ’80, Director

The tremendous efforts of the monks, lay faculty, staff, parents and students in the Admission process this year have resulted in an impressive group of young men who will join the ranks of our student body. Special thanks are owed to Assistant Director Brother Cassian Koenemann ’97 and Administrative Assistant Linda Meyers for their tireless efforts to serve our admission candidates and spread the word about the School.

In the Regular Admission Program for 6th graders, this fall will see a full compliment of boys, while our Early Decision Program for 5th graders has provided a solid base for the Class of 2016 which we will build upon in the coming year. You may find these Admission Program highlights interesting:

Many of our applicants have strong ties to the School, with 24 percent of the candidates and 35 percent of the enrolled students being siblings of current or past students or sons of alumni.

We attracted admission candidates from a total of 44 different zip codes and 64 different schools, the highest number in nearly a decade.

With Saint Louis being among the top five most competitive independent school markets in the country, we need to be more aggressive and creative in identifying prospective students and at-tracting them to our campus than even just a few years ago. To this end, we are pleased with the success of our inaugural Brain Games, a fun, one-day academic competition held on campus last October for co-ed teams of 6th grade students from eight “feeder schools.” Designed to test the students’ knowledge in a variety of subjects, the event attracted over 100 guests, including nearly 20 young men who applied for admission.

Board of Advisor Member Sarah Igoe, who, with her husband, Jonathon ’70, spearheaded the effort, credited the Priory family with this terrific admission “win.” “Without a doubt,” said Igoe, “the Brain Games owes its success to the hard work and enthusiasm of the many volunteers that made it a reality: students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni…and the monks! We’d love to see an even bigger volunteer corps turn out for this year’s effort.”

The 2009 Brain Games is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2009. For more information on how you can participate, please call the Admission Office at 314.434.3690, ext. 101.

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SchoolFaculty Development Joseph Gleich, Associate Headmaster and Director of Studies

Priory is very committed to faculty development. A major focus has been supporting the academic work of several faculty members leading to advanced degrees. Both Kevin O’Connell and Father Au-gustine Wetta are very close to completing their respective Masters degrees. By December 2009 each will have earned his degree. Ber-nard Kilcullen has reached the dissertation stage of his Ph.D. having received approval for his topic and outline. This spring Kilcullen traveled to Delbarton School in New Jersey and the Manquehue school of San Benito in Santiago, Chile for research purposes. This summer he is spending much of his time working on the chapters of his dissertation. Timothy Bussen is nearing completion of his second Masters in English, and Russell Ham ’94 is almost half way to his Masters. To top it all off, Steven Rolwes plans to begin work on his Masters in Theology.

For those faculty members who already have advanced degrees, their interests have been cultivated in many other ways. Sherri Meyers served as a reader for the AP French exam in June, and Jake Wenger traveled to Costa Rica this summer to evaluate locations for the 2010 student trip which he is planning with Cristina Caza-bonne. This combination cultural, environmental, service and native

language trip is being organized with the assistance of alumnus Jonathan Rabeneau ’95.

Jerome Miller attended the American Classical League confer-ence; Mark Marting attended both the American Choral Direc-tors Conference and All-State Choir/Orchestra; Linda Schulz and Reverend Dr. Eugene Logusch attended AP Conferences; Barbara Sams and William Walker attended a college weekend at Notre Dame, and Joseph Gleich and Sams visited ten different colleges this summer on two separate trips; Matthew Barrett ’95 benefited from participating in the November ISACS conference; and O’Connell followed up his earlier research on the possibility of adding Manda-rin to our curriculum by attending a second conference in Chicago this spring. Add to this, the extensive number of local and regional conferences which our teachers and coaches attended this past year, and you can see that our faculty members are very professionally active.

Priory will participate in its next Independent Schools Associa-tion of the Central States (ISACS) evaluation cycle in the 2010 calendar year. To prepare for the evaluation, six faculty members were targeted to serve on several evaluation teams. Father Michael Brunner, Diana Hartnett, Karol Smith, Gleich, Wenger, and Miller each committed four days to visit various schools, observe classes, interview faculty and administrators, and write lengthy reports as

part of the accreditation pro-cess. Insight gained from these visits allows us to see programs similar to ours from a unique perspective. Not only does this allow us to expand our hori-zons and improve our network of academic peers, but it also improves our own self-evalu-ation process. It is very likely that other faculty members will serve on accreditation teams during the 2009-10 school year.

It is not possible to delin-eate everything that our faculty does to grow as teachers, advi-sors, mentors and coaches. They are fully committed to striving for excellence in every position in which we place them. In short, they strive to be outstanding role models for the young men they have been called to educate.

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Student Faculty AwardsThe Student Faculty Awards were established by the Class of 1996 to honor the very special people who exemplify the outstanding characteristics of a Priory teacher. They are presented by the Senior Student Council members.

CLASSROOM INSTRUCTOR – presented to the faculty member who in-spires students with a mastery of the subject matter and the ability to convey it to them.Joseph Gleich

COACH – recognizes outstanding instruction in the area of athletics — instruction to all various levels of talent, helping students reach their potential and above all, making it fun.John Notter, Sr.

MENTOR – presented to a faculty member to whom students have been able to turn when the going was rough, and whose opinion they admire and respect.Father Michael Brunner, OSB

SHIELD DEDICATION – presented by the Senior Class to the faculty member who has the greatest impact on them as a class.Andrea NunzianteKevin O’Connell

F r o m t h e s C h o o l

(From Left) John Notter, Sr., Joseph Gleich, Kevin O'Connell, Father Michael and Andrea Nunziante

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Parent OrganizationsThese outstanding organizations at the Saint Louis Priory School are

vital to the operation of the institution. Without them, we would not have the financial assistance generated from their events, and more im-portantly, the friendships which develop throughout our entire volunteer network. We are proud to say that each year, a new group of friends step forward to support all of the works of the monks in the monastery, the school and the parish.

Mothers’ Club and Xanadu AuctionPresident Stacy Sabino orchestrated an extraordinary year for the

Mothers’ Club with a very talented group of mothers. Her task of overseeing the numerous events run by the Mothers’ Club weekly and even daily is huge. It begins with setting the calendar of events,

and she promptly put it together and assigned committee work to approximately one hundred volunteers. She and her Vice President Judy Wagner were present at all events from the beginning to the end of the school year.

Again this year, the Mothers’ Club pulled off a fabulous Xanadu led by Chair Sara

Grzeskowiak and her Co-Chair Joyce Finneran. Their theme of A Night on the Town provided an exciting and pleasurable atmosphere for the 40th anniversary of the Xanadu Auction which was dedi-cated to all of the former Xanadu Chairs.

Together Grzeskowiak and Finneran were on a mission to secure fabulous new packages for the Main Auction and that they did. The Baseball Field Naming Rights became the new item to sell at the highest value in the history of Xanadu – $32,000. They replaced the Home & Garden section with Wine, Dine & Dash, and it proved to be a huge success. They raised a net profit of $305,000 as all guests raised their paddles high as the “curtain went up”. Together with the Fathers’ Club Black Tie Scholarship Dinner, a check in the amount of $380,000 was presented to Abbot Thomas and Father Michael at the Mothers’ Club Spring Luncheon.

What a fabulous year it was, and we owe tremendous praise to Grzeskowiak and Finneran who spent the entire year with Xanadu at the top of their daily priority list. As important as the money raised was the way in which they ran this event and all of the activi-ties of the Mothers’ Club; a sincere love of Priory School and a deep gratitude for the education of their sons was the message portrayed. Thank you, mothers, for a superb year!

Fathers’ Club and Black Tie DinnerPresident Robert Jones and Vice President Paul Reitz were at

the helm. They began the year with a general meeting and barbecue in the Switzer House. An emphasis was placed on involvement and fathers stepped forward to help create a very exciting year.

The Fathers’ Club hosts numerous events for fathers and sons in-cluding fall and spring Junior School Rec. Nights, a Father/Son ban-quet in January, and a float trip in June. In addition, they provide volunteer service to chaperone and assist on school outings such as the senior and junior retreats, school dances and mixers, and admis-sion programs. Alfred Lall is the Treasurer of the Fathers’ Club, and he assists in all of the events.

Fredrick Forshaw, Sr. agreed to Chair the Black Tie Scholarship Dinner held on October 18, 2008, at The Kemp Auto Museum. It was a wonderful event this year with net proceeds of $75,000 raised for scholarships; an article about the dinner is on page 10 in this Journal.

School

Judy Wagner and Stacy Sabino

Bob Jones, President of the Fathers' Club and wife, Terri Goslin-Jones at the 2008

Black Tie Dinner

Xanadu Chair Sara Grzeskowiak, and Co-Chair Joyce Finneran present a check to Abbot Thomas and Father Michael at the Mothers' Club

Spring Luncheon on April 21.

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F r o m t h e s C h o o l

Alumni Mothers’ Club

Susan McCusker took on the role of the Alumni Mothers’ Club President. The Alumni Mothers’ Club hosted a fall luncheon at Priory in the Commons and a couples Mardi Gras Brunch at Bellerive Country Club in February. Alumni moms also joined cur-rent moms at the Christmas Boutique and Spring Luncheon.

One of the responsibilities of the alumni mothers is the organi-zation of the Emporium section at Xanadu. Under the leadership of Cathy Naunheim, they secured nearly 500 items from furniture to collectibles to jewelry and accessories. Stephanie Stitt hosted a gift gathering party at Veritas – Gateway to Food and Wine to aid in the effort. Prior to the event, the auction chairs had selected item for the auction which guests then purchased and donated to the auction. The Emporium section has become a real treasure. It helps to keep alumni mothers connected to the School and the Abbey and raises significant funds at the same time.

We also thank alumni mothers for their tremendous support of the monastic community. They provide Thanksgiving Dinner for the monastic community and can be seen frequently dropping off their favorite dishes for the monks to enjoy.

Hospitality Committee

Chair Mary Foushee and her hospitality committee members create the wonderful parties and receptions for the monastic com-munity. Every time Mary receives a call from the Abbey announcing a new profession or the monks’ need to entertain guests, Mary very graciously responds and quickly organizes the receptions gather-ing help chiefly from alumni mothers and providing refreshments, food and always flowers for a beautiful event. Of special note, is the organization of the very popular Monks’ Christmas Open House which is attended by members of the Abbey family. Mary and her right-hand workers, Lyn Leslie, Joan Casey and Sue Remspecher, orchestrated an elegant event again this year. Thank you, Mary, for all you do to help the monastic community with the work they have been called to do.

President Susan McCusker, (far right) visiting with other alumni moms at the Alumni Mothers’ Club fall luncheon

Former Xanadu Chairs Celebrate 40 years of Xanadu

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Alumni

John Edwards '90 and his son Joey visit with Father Abbot at the Alumni Grant's Farm Picnic.

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F r o m t h e a l u m n i

Year in ReviewMichael Turco ’04, Alumni Outreach Coordinator

The Priory Alumni Association had a wonderful year, as 2009 marks a year of growth for the Alumni Board, web site and alumni events. While much of this growth comes without fanfare, it is an important step towards creating the best experience for members of the alumni community. In the coming year, the Alumni Outreach program hopes to reconnect and deepen ties with alumni on a per-sonal level, reflected in leadership, communications and events. It is a good time to be an alumnus as the community looks to its future.

The Alumni Association is grateful to Ignatius Yuan ’74, who has served as the President of the Alumni Board of Directors for the past two years. His leadership and desire to move the Priory Alumni Association forward has been instrumental in the launch of the new web site, as well as overseeing changes to the Alumni Board struc-ture and events. While his term as president has expired, Yuan will remain a member of the Board for another year.

Taking his place is Philip Willman ’71, who has served as Vice President under Yuan. Willman fosters an attitude of improvement and change, while retaining the best portions of the Alumni experi-ence. Already he has been involved in enhancing a newly formed committee system, started under Yuan. The committee system allows for a “divide and conquer” approach, which has been an invalu-able tool for leadership, communications, volunteer opportunities and event planning. Willman will hold the presidency until 2011, allowing him time to take the next step in building-up the Alumni experience.

The Board also bids farewell to several other men whose leader-ship on the Board made this year of transition possible. For their dedicated service, the Alumni Association thanks Peter Gunther ’90, Theodore Jacoby III ’87 and Timothy Kaufmann ’98 for the countless hours put forward on behalf of the Alumni community. Their hard work has borne good fruit. Following in their footsteps, the Alumni Board welcomes William Busch ’78, Thomas Cummings ’89, Joseph Jordan III ’88, Emmett McAuliffe, Jr. ’76 and Dr. Eric Suba ’76 to its ranks, where no doubt they will serve with distinc-tion starting this August.

Both current and new Board members are no doubt pleased that the existing structure of the Alumni Board meetings has changed. Instead of meeting monthly, the Board will convene for quarterly dinner meetings, allowing the new committees (each Board member serves on two) time to meet and discuss their tasks in the interim. In addition, conferencing equipment will be available, allowing absent members a voice when they cannot be present. This means that no matter the distance, Alumni are not only welcome, but encouraged to take part in leadership of their community. As mentioned before, it is an exciting time for Priory Alumni.

One highly visible outgrowth of the Board has been networking and career oriented programs that benefit professionals and students. Spearheaded by Corge Umlauf '89 and Kaufmann, the new monthly Career Networking Happy Hour has been an easy and stress free way to meet alumni in different sectors, with the goal of matching individual interests to business needs. Umlauf also worked on im-proving the school's Career Day by making it an Alumni Association sponsored event, and bringing several area professionals to speak with students. From the number that lingered after the session, students genuinely appreciated the change.

In the Development and Public Relations Office, the Alumni Association now has an Alumni Outreach Coordinator, Michael Turco '04. With help from John Edwards '90, the Alumni Out-reach program has made efforts to expand subscriptions to the E-newsletter, which has been a monthly way to keep track of Priory highlights and events. In addition, the Alumni Directory will now only be online. Not only does this allow Alumni to instantly update their records, it places several powerful tools at their disposal, such as access to Priory news and events, message board, and calendars on the new Alumni web site launched last summer.

From a communications standpoint, the most important change is the release of Priory Magazine, which replaces both the Post Priory Post and Headmaster's Newsletter. Instead, it incorporates both school and alumni news, and features in-depth articles, interviews, and interesting facts about the Priory community. Now both students and alumni can enjoy “looking across the pond,” fostering a greater sense of solidarity and connectedness. Look for it near the end of each school trimester.

As mentioned above, this next year will be about reconnecting and strengthening bonds. The Alumni Association anticipates a comprehensive effort to collect current email addresses and migrat-ing alumni online. In addition, there will also be an effort to incor-porate online giving and registration, bringing a new method for alumni to both give back and participate in the Priory community, even when separated by distance or time.

But ultimately, it is the personal connection that makes Priory special. Efforts such as Priory's first ever out-of-town Alumni Event in Chicago highlight the importance of renewing friendships with alumni who have moved out of the St. Louis area, while not only welcoming, but including current students as alumni are crucial steps towards the goal of building the best community. In that, the Alumni Association has a joyful, if challenging task ahead of it, as it works to develop each member's potential as a son of God.

For more information on how to get involved, please contact Michael Turco at 314.434.0031 or email mturco@priory.org.

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Parish

Brother Cuthbert Elliott '02 adds incense to the thurbile at the start of Mass.

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F r o m t h e P a r i s h

Pastor's MessageFather Gerard Garrigan, OSB

One of my favorite quotations comes from the French writer Francois Mauriac who wrote: “The secret of grace is that it never comes too late.” God knows what he is doing. He loves us very much, and he will take care of us in his own way and by his own timetable which is always best for us, even though we spend much of our lives questioning his way of doing things in our lives. On June 8, we had our annual St. Anselm Guild Picnic at Longview Park. At the 7:30 a.m. Mass that same day, we had prayed for good weather for the picnic. About five minutes later, during the offer-tory, the lights went off briefly in church. We could hear the rain coming down. Earlier the sound of thunder boomed. It surely ap-peared that our prayer for good weather had certainly gone unan-swered. However, very shortly afterward the skies cleared, and we had beautiful, clear weather for our picnic.

Yes, God knows what he is doing, and he does love us very much. We sometimes give up on him when he appears not to an-swer our prayers or when he answers our prayers in his way, which we often fail to realize is the best way for us.

We continue to pray to God, to adore him, to thank him, to bring our many needs to him doing our best to grow in accepting his will in our lives and to deepen our appreciation of the infinite love he has for each one of us. Of course, we do this primarily in the Eucharist, the central form of prayer of our Church which should be at the center of all of our lives as Catholics. How blessed we are to receive the very body and blood of Christ really present in Holy Communion. Christ’s infinite power in his body and blood in the Eucharist empowers us to love him and serve him and others as we never could by our own effort. I am so very happy and proud that so many parishioners at St. Anselm receive the Lord daily in Holy Communion. I thank our Stewardship Committee that works so hard in so many ways to encourage increased Mass attendance among our parishioners at large so that more parishioners might more regularly receive the gift of the greatest gift ever given, the gift of our Lord himself really present in Holy Communion.

The Most Holy Trinity, the God we believe in, the God we adore, the God in whose name we were baptized, and the God whom we are called to serve by our baptism in the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, is a model of what we should be as a Church, as our local parish church of St. Anselm, as the church community that is our own family.

The Trinity we believe in is a community, a community of Persons that lives in loving relationship with one another. That is exactly what we are called to become. I think an excellent example of this community working in loving relationship with one another was clearly in evidence at our Parish Picnic that took place on Sun-day, May 31.

I cannot adequately thank Joan Arbuszewski for all of the hard work, the painstaking organization and the infectious enthusiasm she fostered among all who worked on or who at-tended the happy event. It was so heartwarming observing our Parish Council members and other generous-hearted parish-ioner volunteers working as a community in loving relation-ship with one another according to the example of the Most Holy Trinity. Quite a wonderful variety of groups and ages attended the fun day.

The presence of the monks in attendance was much appreciated. We even had a silent auction of various sports items this year which was a nice new touch. If you missed the Parish Picnic this year, please plan to come next year. The camaraderie is infectious.

I thank all of our parishioners for all you do to help me and our Parish Staff in our efforts to grow closer to God and to serve him and others more faithfully. May God bless you and all of your families for praying with us and for us and for all of your many acts of kindness. They will not go unrewarded by our loving Father.

PARISH COMMITTEES

Here now follow summaries of many of the good works that have occurred at St. Anselm during the past year.

Worship Commission, Liturgical Ministers and Altar Society

The Worship Commission has been under the leadership of Jim Gieszelmann this year. Joe Manno and Teresa Huxford Manno have served as captains of the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Commu-nion; Al Toczylowski served as captain of our Servers; and George Watson was the captain of our Ushers and Greeters.

Many of our parishioners are responding to God’s call of service. Over 70 men and women assist in the distribution of Holy Com-munion as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at Mass and to the sick and shut-ins in hospitals, in their own homes, or in nursing homes. We have special ministers taking Holy Commu-nion to Saint Luke’s and St. John’s Hospitals, in addition to Delmar Gardens–West, the Jewish Center for the Aged, and Town and Country Home.

Proclaiming the Word of God at Eucharistic celebrations, both at the weekend and at the daily Masses, is done by over 50 different people we call Lectors. These men, women and young people give freely of their time and talent to contribute to our worship experi-ence in this rewarding ministry.

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A group of 22 young people offers their service as Altar Servers at all weekend liturgies and at other liturgies, such as funerals and weddings. Many thanks are due Toczylowski who contributes many long hours assisting at our liturgies and helping our servers as our parish Master of Ceremonies.

Thirty-three generous women make up the Altar Society. Di-vided into five groups and those who do special assignments, they help keep the church sanctuary clean and the altar linens laundered. This group is always in need of more help.

St. Anselm Guild

For the last several years Bob and Rosemary Mosher have lead the St. Anselm Guild. The promotion of Christian values and spiri-tual growth while encouraging camaraderie and social binding is the mission of this group of parishioners 55 years of age or older. The group has 138 members.

The season kicked off in September with a journey up the Mis-souri River to the wine country of Hermann. Wine tasting and a delicious German lunch made for a great start of the year. In Octo-ber, Ray and Do Mohrman led the group to Our Lady of the Snows Shrine for a tour and chicken dinner at the visitor’s center. Next the Guild visited St. Peter’s Cathedral in Belleville, Illinois with a stop at Eckert’s Country Store. Henry and Joyce Heck were the hosts in November for a visit to St. Patrick Center which was celebrating 25 years of service to the homeless. Their director, Dan Buck, informed us of the wonderful work being done there. The annual Christmas party in December, hosted by Eileen Wohlert and associates, fea-tured a mouth-watering buffet and entertainment by Rich Lauen-stein’s Strolling Musicians. The Guild stayed home in February and was entertained with a delightful presentation by storyteller Marcia Ollinger. Thanks to Pat Golden and Donna Sondag, we all enjoyed

hearing stories and treating ourselves to a glass of wine before a tasty buffet dinner. In March, our host was Mary Walk. The theme was the history of flight from Kitty Hawk to the moon, as the Guild found themselves at the James S. McDonnell Aircraft Museum. Hosted by Ray and Dorothy Hellweg, the April outing took us to the St. Louis Walk of Fame and to lunch at Blueberry Hill in Uni-versity City. Ed and Lil Roberts planned a cruise on the Mississippi River for May. Lunch at Cunetto’s House of Pasta with a stop at Ted Drews capped off a perfect day. The season finale in June was once again the annual picnic. Bud and Marge Goldkamp’s games were the highlight with fine food, good friendships and plenty of fun for all.

Music

Some sacred music compositions reflect certain well-established Catholic traditions that are little known today. During this past year, this was certainly the case with respect to a concert given by a group of young singers from the Conservatory of Kansas City. Their pro-gram was built around the Lamentations of 16th century composer Thomas Tallis.

The service itself adapted to the music of the period. Officially set after the Council of Trent, the first polyphonic setting came in the 15th century from the Burgundian school. In 1506, a setting in the Petrucci collection featured composers from Josquin generations, leading to French, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish settings in the 16th century.

Lamentations, verses of mourning from the prophet Jeremiah, was the most important text of a rather somber Catholic Holy Week service called Tenebrae, which was celebrated in the late afternoon or evening during Holy Week. The service recreates the emotional aspects of the Passion story, and invites the worshipper to experi-ence the “darkness” from which the service derives its namesake. So important was it to worshippers that it was even adopted by the emerging Anglican Church. Today, it remains a special part of our community’s celebration.

While less well known than other services, Lamentations is argu-ably the best example of responding to suffering without abandon-ing one’s faith. For the people of today, Lamentations is an act of turning our despair over to God, instead of trying to cope with it through denial, distrust, or rejection. In this act, those who suffer give themselves over entirely to God in their misfortune.

Compositionally, Lamentations, as chanted at Tenebrae, is remi-niscent of chanting a psalm. A special reciting tone, a tonus lamenta-tionum, was derived from the tone of Psalm VI. So moving was this text that it was used in a great number of polyphonic compositions, such as the Baroque French setting of Lecons de Tenebres by Fran-cois Couperin, Michel Lambert and Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

As a community, we should congratulate the Kansas City singers for their artistic success, as their impeccable vocal craftsmanship and

Parish

Andy Toczylowski, Al Toczylowski and Brother Maximilian Toczylowski at the Parish Picnic

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interpretation, evocative of very dramatic and very personal dialogue with God, powerfully rendered the message in exquisite music. It was clear that this service moved many. Perhaps, in our pragmatic world with its “be positive” imperative, we forget the unpopular truth that pain and suffering will always remain part of the human condition. But, as the music suggests, in those moments of great trial, we, like Jeremiah, should turn fully to God and trust in his help.

Youth Ministry

Growth and foundation building best describe the year Youth@St.Anselm had in 2008-09. We added several new events to our cal-endar to further help the teens of St. Anselm become better Disciples of Christ.

The highlight of our fall semester was our “Spirit Led” Retreat. We took a group of nine to Apple Hill for a weekend of prayer, reflection and fellowship. The retreat was based on the story in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus denies the temptation of the Devil. We took a journey in prayer and worship, examining our own temp-tations so that we may be led by the Spirit in our lives. In addition to our faith building, we had much time for games and outdoor time. It was a great experience for all, and we will have another retreat this coming fall.

The spring featured the rebirth of our Luke 18 retreat in March in cooperation with Our Lady of the Pillar youth ministry. Luke 18 is a retreat for junior high students, but high school students lead it

and are responsible for leading small groups, giving wit-ness and by reflect-ing the light of Christ by just being themselves. It allows junior high students to see how big a role their faith will have in the future. It is a special retreat that we plan to continue for years to come.

Again, we fin-ished our program-ming year with Christ Power in June. This year’s theme is based on Pope Benedict VI’s encyclical Spe Salvi that teaches our youth the difference between worldly optimism and the great hope we have in Christ. Youth@St.Anslem took 25 teens on this retreat, a number that continues to grow each year.

F r o m t h e P a r i s h

Battle of the Rock Band Party in Jan 2009

Christ Power June 2008

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Top Row(left to right): Peg O'Brien, Father Gerard, Dotty Sanning, Cindy Vatterott; Row 3: Jack Fox, Jimmy Chalfant, Will Forsen, Mary yannakakis;

Row 2: Sean Benes, Luke Fiala, Jack Kloeppel, Collin Krewson, Aidan Ouimet, Joseph Pollnow, Jimmy McNulty; Row 1: Jessica Sotolar, Catie Ackerman, Jimmy Brauer, Jonathan Greeson, Patrick Walmsley, Grace Fiala, Tatiana Escandon

Parish

Sunday. April 26

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F r o m t h e P a r i s h

Parish School of Religion

Catechesis is an important term in Catholic tradition. Its pur-pose is to help a person’s faith become living, conscious and active, through the light of instruction. In this process, faith grows and matures. Such faith is a gift from God. This growth is intimately related to one’s response to this gift.

There are four traditional components of catechesis: community, worship or prayer, service, and message. The question becomes, what is the process by which we teach these four components of catechesis? In our process at St. Anselm we are rooted in Scripture, liturgy, witness and doctrine. The essential strategies used are reflec-tion, dialogue, prayer and action.

The sacramental preparation for and celebration of Confirma-tion took place in the fall. Forty-five teens received the Sacrament of Confirmation on January 13, 2009. These young people went through a strong program of classes, prayer sessions, a retreat, ser-vice, interviews, and spirit and service days. This is a program rooted in family involvement.

Eighteen children prepared for the Sacrament of Reconcilia-tion which they celebrated on November 4, 2008. This same group received First Eucharist on Sunday, April 26, 2009.

Our special areas of service included collecting food and non-perishable items for St. Patrick Center and for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Twice we made packages for the homeless at St. Patrick Center. More than 60 blankets were made and delivered to St. John’s Hospital for the children’s unit. We collected items for a Ron-ald McDonald House and had a very successful Hosea Tree delivery system and one for Birthright in the spring.

We hosted our 31st Vacation Bible School program the week of July 26.

Athletic Association

The youth of our parish enjoyed another year of sportsmanship while participating in the activities sponsored by the Athletic Association. As members of the Catholic Youth Council (CYC) League, our teams had fun while learning not only athletic skills, but also the important skills of fair play, gracious winning and gracious “better luck next time.”

Our children not only participate on the teams, but many of them also help out by serving as coordinators and referees. Our Athletic Association would not be possible without the support of many, many parents who help out as coaches, team parents, snack providers, parking enforcers, and who also attend to all of the other details necessary to make our Association run smoothly.

New leadership is needed in order for the Athletic Association to continue to sponsor athletic activities for the children of St. Anselm Parish.

St. Vincent De Paul Society

The St. Anselm Parish Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVDP) is a group of men and women called to minister to those in need without regard to race, religion, age or nationality. With humility and through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we believe that we are all God’s children and that each person has inherent dignity. Those whom we serve are not beggars. Most would prefer not to be in a position to ask for help. They are our brothers, our sisters, our clients.

To those in need, we are the visible helping hands for the St. Anselm Parish Staff and for hundreds of our parishioners who faith-fully support the SVDP ministry. Without their prayers, donations of food, clothing, beds and sacrificial financial gifts made in these difficult financial times, the SVDP ministry would be unable to serve the community. Last year we were again able to help over 500 families throughout St. Louis City and County.

Our clients are referred to us by a variety of trusted sources and social workers throughout the metropolitan area. Many are referred to us by the SVDP Central Office. Some referrals come to us di-rectly from the Parish Staff or from the Abbey. Others are recom-mended by Holy Trinity Parish, St. Pius V Parish Immigration and Refugee Ministry, St. Cecilia Parish, the Wellston Center, Cardinal Glennon Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Typically, we will visit with ten or more families each week.

The economic problems our clients face today are more daunt-ing than ever before. Because of today’s economic climate, many have lost their jobs or are working fewer hours with less pay. Some whom we visit are facing the loss of their home due to fire or other natural disaster. For most, past due mortgage and rent payments have become overwhelming and utility bills are astronomical. The dilemma becomes more challenging whey you add rising food and health care costs to the family budget. Many are facing the prospect of relocating to a shelter or reliance on food pantries to feed their families. When we visit our clients’ homes, we listen, offer caring support, pray with them and provide food and financial assistance that often make a critical difference in their circumstances.

The St. Anselm Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is made up of over 50 very active members and more than 200 honor-ary members. Some are young, others more seasoned, and most are parishioners. All are volunteers.

Grand Endeavor

The Grand Endeavor Committee, a joint effort between the parishioners of St. Anselm and Most Holy Trinity Parishes, contin-ues its mission of providing opportunities for both parishes to come together, pray together and work together on common projects. The individuals involved with Grand Endeavor bring about social change by assisting Holy Trinity School in fulfilling its mission of changing lives one person at a time.

Sunday. April 26

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ParishThis past year, St. Anselm parishioners, through Grand En-

deavor, raised over $80,000 for tuition assistance. Parishioners also came to the aid of Holy Trinity School by voicing their support for the School to the Archdiocese. This was instrumental in the Annual Catholic Appeal’s decision to continue to provide funding to Holy Trinity in the upcoming year.

In faith formation, Holy Trinity students learn in a culture of Catholic Christian faith and develop the ability to see God in all creation. In community service, the students in the upper grades of Holy Trinity School prepare lunches for the residents at Karen House one day every other week. Holy Trinity was one of two St. Louis area schools selected to participate in a science program |developed by Monsanto, the Saint Louis Zoo and Washington University. In athletics, Holy Trinity reintroduced the Trinity Tigers basketball and track programs and hopes to expand these programs in the coming year. Personal development continues to be fostered in Holy Trinity School through the Music in the Arts, the Multi-Age Learning and the Peacemaker programs.

Grand Endeavor is working to expand the opportunities that al-low parishioners from each parish to connect with one another and to bring together diverse parishes and communities in prayer and service to and with one another. If you would like to join our Grand Endeavor to make a difference in people’s lives, opportunities exist for individuals who would like to tutor, coach, mentor, evangelize, work on marketing plans, rehab the premises, or simply provide financial support.

Haiti Committee

The latter part of 2008 was a wretched period in Haiti. Four major storms, of which three were hurricanes, passed over the island and had the cumulative effect of washing away 60 percent of its harvest and substantial numbers of its livestock. Together with the other damage the torrential rain and wind caused, Haiti lost the equivalent of 15 percent of its Gross Domestic Product.

Events outside Haiti have aggravated the impact of these natural torments. Since the largest source of this nation’s legal foreign earnings is the remittances of the Haiti diaspora in the EU and the USA, the recession in the major world economies has dramatically reduced the ability of these people to send money home. When the huge jump in the cost of foodstuffs on the global market impacted food prices in Haiti, riots toppled the government in April 2008. More costly, imported food also means that aid dollars do not stretch as far in meeting the nation’s other pressing needs.

The Haiti Committee has sought, unsuccessfully so far, a partner to share the cost of expanding the St. Francis Xavier School in Baudin. We continue to accrue funds toward this project, but currently only have about a third of its $250,000 estimate. While the parish has been generous in its gifts to our effort, we are at a point where we either find another parish interested in joining with

us in assisting Haiti, or we will have to replace the current approach of funding capital projects with a new one that better matches the pattern of donations.

Pro-Life Committee (Our Lady of Guadalupe Cenacle for Life)

This committee is especially dedicated to Our Lady of Guadal-upe through our daily Rosary Crusade Prayer because of her role in terminating human sacrifice. And our times stand in a new millen-nium just beyond the church teaching about the Third Secret of Fatima: “He (the Pope) had been very close to death, and he himself explained his survival in the following words: ‘it was a mother’s hand that guided the bullet’s path and in his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death’” (13 May1994). That here “a mother’s hand” had deflected the fateful bullet only shows once more that there is no immutable destiny, that faith and prayer are forces which can influence history and that in the end prayer is more powerful than bullets and faith more powerful than armies. Perhaps we need a lot more humility and trust that God’s Mercy is in the process of his victory. We invite and welcome anyone and everyone to come join us in our daily Rosary Crusade Prayer.

Adult Education and Formation

One of this year’s highlights for adult education centered on a dramatization of the life of St. Paul. Pope Benedict XVI declared the Church would observe a year of celebration from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009 in honor of St. Paul the Apostle. Every so often, the Church sets aside an entire year to encourage all of us to focus on some particular and important aspect of our faith. This year we were to honor one of the great saints and the great missionary of the early Church.

The year of St. Paul was marked by many commemorative, cultural, social, liturgical and educational events throughout the world. The Holy Father highlighted the fact that the Pauline Year would be characterized by its “ecumenical dimension” because “the Apostle of the Gentiles was dedicated to bringing the Good News to all peoples.”

In accord with the global commemoration of the Pauline Year, St. Anselm Parish hosted a drama of the life of St. Paul, entitled The Journey of St. Paul presented by The Theatre of the Word, Inc. This insightful drama took place on Saturday, January 24 at the Kevin Kline Theatre in the high school of Saint Louis Priory School. Theatre of the Word, Inc. is dedicated to evangelization through drama. On that evening, we journeyed with Paul from his early hatred and persecution of the Church through his miraculous con-version and through his years of fighting for the faith as he battled shipwrecks, imprisonments, stoning and death, all for the sake of the salvation of souls. This encounter made many of those in attendance feel as though they had met St. Paul himself.

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F r o m t h e P a r i s h

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S a i n t L o u i s A b b e y C a l e n d a r 2 0 0 9 - 1 0

August Tue 11 ALU Board MeetingWed 12 SCH ISEE TestThu 13 MCL Board Meeting/Mass/LuncheonFri 14 OSB Vocations VigilSun 16-22 OSB Monastic RetreatSun 23 MCL Xanadu Kick-Off PartySun 23 OSB Conventual ChapterMon 24-28 SCH Faculty DaysThu 27 SCH Back-to-School RoundupSun 30 SCH Orientation for Class of 2015Sun 30 OSB New Parents’ ReceptionMon 31 OSB School Mass – Classes Begin

SeptemberTue 1 FCL Fathers’ Club BBQ and General MeetingWed 2 SCH Walk About WednesdayThu 3 SCH Form VI Parent/Student College NightFri 4 SCH Summer Reading DiscussionFri 4 MCL Form I Mothers’ CoffeeSat 5-6 SCH Senior PortraitsMon 7 SCH Labor Day – No ClassesTue 8 MCL Xanadu MeetingTue 8 SCH Form V-VI-JUM College FairWed 9 SCH Freshman Meet the Teacher EveningWed 9 SCH Walk About WednesdayThu 10 SCH Form V Parent/Student College NightFri 11 OSB School MassFri 11 OSB Vocations VigilFri 11 ALU Soccer GameFri 11-13 ALU Reunion WeekendSat 12 SCH ACT with writing optionSat 12 ALU Grant’s Farm PartySat 12 OSB Archdiocesan Mass for ReligiousSat 12-13 SCH Senior PortraitsTue 15 SCH Form I Parents’ ProgramTue 15 PAR Council MeetingWed 16 MCL Parent Network MeetingWed 16 SCH Walk About WednesdayThu 17 MCL Mass and LuncheonFri 18 OSB School MassFri 18 FCL Junior School Recreation NightFri 18 SCH Class PicturesSun 20 PAR Holy Trinity BrunchMon 21 SCH Form III Day of RecollectionWed 23 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 25 OSB School MassSat 26 ALU Homecoming vs. John BurroughsSun 27-29 SCH Form I – Camp OndessonkWed 30 SCH Walk About WednesdayWed 30 SCH Longitudinal Form III StudyWed 30 SCH Senior Essay Writing Workshop

OctoberFri 2 OSB School MassSat 3 SCH Priory CC Invitational Sat 3 PAR Candlelight DinnerSat 3 SCH Admission Event – Brain GamesSun 4 OSB St. Louis Chamber ChorusSun 4 SCH Faculty Silver Jubilee CelebrationMon 5 SCH Faculty Professional Day – No ClassesTue 6 MCL Xanadu MeetingWed 7 SCH PLAN Exam Day - SophomoresWed 7 SCH Walk About WednesdayWed 7 SCH Form I Parent/Teacher ConferenceThu 8 SCH Form II Parent/Teacher ConferenceFri 9 SCH Admission CoffeeFri 9 OSB School MassFri 9 SCH Junior School MixerFri 9 OSB Vocations VigilSat 10 SCH SAT I and IISat 10 MCL Trivia NightTue 13 SCH Form III and IV Parent/Teacher ConferenceWed 14 SCH Walk About WednesdayWed 14 SCH Form V and VI Parent/Teacher ConferenceWed 14 SCH PSAT Exam Day –Forms IV and VFri 16 OSB School MassSat 17 OSB Bach Society ConcertSun 18-27 OSB Cunaco (Chile)Mon 19 MCL Parent Network Brown Bag LunchTue 20 SCH ISSL Secondary School NightTue 20 PAR Council MeetingWed 21 SCH Mock Admission Interview Workshops-SeniorsWed 21 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 23 OSB School MassFri 23 ALU Career DaySat 24 SCH High School DanceSat 24 SCH ACT with writing optionWed 28 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 30 OSB School Mass

NovemberWed 4 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 6 MCL Parent Network Speaker Fri 6 OSB School MassSat 7 SCH SAT I and IISun 8 SCH Admission Open HouseMon 9 SCH Blood Drive – High School CommonsTue 10 MCL Xanadu MeetingTue 10 SCH AMC Math Contest – Junior SchoolTue 10 ALU Board MeetingWed 11 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 13 SCH Class Picture Re-TakesFri 13 OSB Vocations VigilMon 16 SCH Review Day – No ClassesTue 17 PAR Council MeetingTue 17-19 SCH Fall Term ExaminationsWed 18 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 20 SCH Grading Day – No ClassesMon 23 SCH Winter Term beginsWed 25 SCH Walk About WednesdayWed 25 OSB Ecumenical Prayer ServiceThu 26-27 SCH Thanksgiving HolidayMon 30 SCH School ResumesMon 30 SCH Form IV Day of Recollection

DecemberTue 1 SCH Fall Sports AssemblyWed 2 SCH Walk About WednesdayWed 2 MCL Xanadu MeetingWed 2 MCL Mothers’ Club Board MeetingWed 2 MCL Christmas BoutiqueFri 4 OSB School MassSat 5 SCH SAT I and IISat 5 SCH ISEE TestSun 6 PAR Saint Vincent de Paul BreakfastTue 8 SCH Holy Day – No SchoolWed 9 SCH Walk About WednesdayWed 9 SCH Form II Parents’ OrientationFri 11 OSB School MassFri 11 OSB Vocations VigilSat 12 SCH ACT with writing optionSat 12 SCH Priory/Visitation DanceSat 12 SOC Annual Dinner and Luke Rigby AwardTue 15 SCH Form IV College EveningTue 15 PAR Council MeetingWed 16 SCH Walk About WednesdayFri 18 OSB School MassSun 20 OSB Monks’ Mass/Open HouseTue 22 SCH Christmas Break BeginsWed 23 ALU Alumni Christmas Party

January 2010Mon 4 SCH Classes ResumeMon 4 SCH Rebel RendezvousMon 4 SCH Form VI Parents’ Graduation MeetingTue 5 MCL Xanadu MeetingFri 8 OSB School MassFri 8 OSB Vocations VigilFri 8 SCH Admission CoffeeMon 11 SCH Conversation with the HeadmasterWed 13 SCH Forms III and VI Parent/Teacher ConferenceThu 14 SCH Form V Parent/Student College NightThu 14 SCH High School Students to Repertory TheatreFri 15 OSB School MassMon 18 SCH M.L.King Holiday - No ClassesMon 18 FCL Father/Son BanquetTue 19 PAR Council MeetingWed 20 SCH Form II and V Parent/Teacher ConferenceThu 21 SCH Form I and IV Parent/Teacher ConferenceFri 22 OSB School MassSat 23 SCH SAT I and IISat 23 MCL Junior School Mother/Son Mass/LunchWed 27 SCH Form III Parent/Student MeetingFri 29 SCH School Mass

FebruaryWed 3 SCH Blood DriveFri 5 OSB School MassFri 5 MCL Xanadu Auction Preview PartySat 6 SCH ACT with writing optionSat 6 MCL Xanadu AuctionMon 8 SCH Faculty Development – No ClassesTue 9 SCH ASHME (High School Math Exam)Tue 9 ALU Mass/Dinner/Board Meeting with MonksThu 11-14 SCH Winter MusicalFri 12 OSB School MassFri 12 SCH Junior School MixerFri 12 OSB Vocations VigilMon 15 SCH Presidents’ Day – No ClassesMon 15-17 SCH Senior Retreat LaSalleTue 16 PAR Council MeetingWed 17 OSB School Mass – Ash Wednesday

Wed 17 MCL Day of RecollectionMon 22 SCH Form I, II & V ExamsFri 26 SCH Grading Day – No ClassesSat 27 SCH Battle of the BandsSun 28 MCL Senior Mother/Son Prom

MarchMon 1 SCH Spring Term beginsTue 2 SCH Winter Sports AssemblyFri 5 OSB School MassFri 5 FCL Junior School Recreation NightSun 7 OSB Vespers @Church of St. Michael & St. GeorgeMon 8-9 SCH Form V Retreat at LaSalleWed 10 MCL Parent Network Speaker Fri 12 OSB School MassFri 12 OSB Vocations VigilFri 12-21 SCH Spring Break BeginsSat 13 SCH SAT ITue 16 PAR Parish CouncilMon 22 SCH Classes ResumeFri 26 OSB School MassSun 28-30 SCH Form II Camp OndessonkTue 30 SCH Form V Mock Admission Meeting (tentative)Wed 31 SCH Easter Break-after JS Classes

AprilThu 1-5 SCH Easter Break Tue 6 SCH School ResumesThu 8 MCL Volunteer Appreciation Mass & BrunchFri 9 OSB School MassFri 9 OSB Vocations VigilSat 10 SCH ACT with writing option Fri 16 OSB School MassFri 16 SCH Junior Ring Ceremony and ReceptionSat 17 FCL Fathers’ Club PROGRESSive PartyMon 19 OSB School MassMon 19 SCH Field DayTue 20 MCL Spring Luncheon Tue 20 PAR Council MeetingThu 22 SCH Chorale Concert/Art ExhibitFri 23 SCH Awards DaySat 24 SCH Junior/Senior PromSun 25 PAR First EucharistSun 25 SCH Orientation – Class of 2016Thu 29-30 SCH Spring Play

MaySat 1 SCH SAT I and IISat 1 SCH Spring PlayMon 3-14 SCH Advanced Placement ExamsTue 4 SCH Orientation – Class of 2017Fri 7 OSB School MassFri 7 SCH Junior School MixerMon 10 SOC Board MeetingFri 14 OSB School MassFri 14 OSB Vocations VigilSun 16 ALU Grant’s Farm PicnicSun 16 OSB Evensong Tue 18 PAR Council MeetingMon 24 SCH Review Day – No ClassesTue 25-27 SCH Final ExamsWed 26 MCL Senior Mother/Son Mass/LunchThu 27 MCL Form II PicnicThu 27 SCH End of Year Faculty MeetingSat 29 SCH Form II Mass/ReceptionSun 30 SCH Senior GraduationSun 30 MCL Senior Lock In – The Pointe

JuneSat 5 SCH SAT I and IISun 6 FCL Float TripSun 6 PAR PicnicTue 8 ALU Board MeetingFri 11 OSB Vocations VigilSat 12 SCH ACT with writing optionMon 14 SCH Summer School BeginsTue 15 PAR Council Meeting

JulyFri 9 OSB Vocations VigilFr 23 SCH End of Summer SchoolSat 31 OSB Fiscal Year Ends

KEY: ALU Alumni

FCL Fathers’ Club MCL Mothers’ Club OSB Monastery PAR Saint Anselm Parish SCH Saint Louis Priory School SOC Saint Louis Abbey Society

Dates are subject to change

S a i n t L o u i s A b b e y O r g a n i z at i o n s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0

THE BENEDICTINE COMMUNITY

abbot

Abbot Thomas Frerking

Prior

Father Gregory Mohrman ’76

Sub Prior

Father Paul Kidner

in SoLemn voWS

Father Luke RigbyFather Timothy HornerFather Ralph WrightFather Benedict AllinFather Finbarr DowlingFather Laurence KriegshauserBrother Symeon GilletteFather Gerard GarriganBrother Mark KammererFather Dominic LenkFather Bede PriceFather Augustine WettaFather Michael BrunnerFather Ambrose BennettBrother Aidan McDermottBrother Linus DolceBrother Maximilian Toczylowski ’00Brother Alban Salinas ’99Brother Francis Hein

in temPorary voWS

Brother Sixtus RoslevichBrother Andrew SenayBrother Cassian Koenemann ’97Brother Cuthbert Elliott ’02Brother John McCusker ’01

novice Brother Dunstan Holms

choir obLate Brother Philip O’Donnell

SAINT LOUIS ABBEY SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORSMembers of the Abbey Society provide counsel, assistance and financial support to the monastic community.James D. Barnes ’61Linn H. Bealke ’62 Peter F. Benoist ’66

Barry H. Beracha Andrew D. Busch ’81William K. ’78 and Christina M. BuschDonald W. Bussmann, M.D. John R. Capps ’68Julian L. Carr Julie S. Constantino George C. Convy ’61Michael C. Convy ’66John E. Cramer III ’60Harriet Switzer Cronin, Ph.D.Louis F. Desloge, Jr., Chair Emeritus Robert C. Dunn, Jr., M.D. ’60Walter J. and Nancy E. GalvinCharles F., M.D. ’76 and Margaret B. GarvinFrank J. Guyol, Jr.Stephen J. Hall ’67F. Lee and Florence W. Hawes Frederick L. Hawes, Jr. ’79David H. and Jerri HoffmannBeatrice H. Human Jonathan W. ’70 and Sarah D. IgoeRobert G. Jones and Terri L. Goslin-JonesGene E. KalhornStephen M. Keller, M.D. and Anna M. Polizzi-KellerRobert V. Kerwin Theodore A. Kienstra, Jr. ’60Jeffrey T. and Mary E. KochelekMark A. Luning ’73D. Brad Marrs, M.D.James K. McAtee ’64William J. McKenna Robert M. Merenda ’65 Sam J. Merenda, M.D.Elizabeth J. MuddJ. Gerard Mudd ’75Richard W. Mullen ’63James J. Murphy, Jr. ’61Alfred R. NaunheimJames L. NoussJames L. Nouss, Jr. ’72Christian B. PeperRaymond C. Plas Charles F. Pollnow, Jr. ’80Robert G. PotterDaniel E. Richardson ’60Jerry E. Ritter

Fred N. Sauer ’63J. Joseph Schlafly III ’69Thomas F. Schlafly ’66Patrick T. StokesFrederick M. Switzer IIIJames D. Switzer ’64, ChairTerrence R. Tobin ’71 William J. Travis ’64 Larry D. Umlauf John R. Wagner, M.D. John G. WilmsenAndrew R. Zinsmeyer

SAINT LOUIS PRIORY SCHOOL

heaDmaSter

Father Michael Brunner

boarD oF truSteeS

The Abbot, Prior and monks in solemn vows form the Board of Trustees which governs Saint Louis Priory School. The Trustees are chaired by the Abbot.

aDviSorS

The Advisors, appointed for three-year terms, assist the Trustees in the governance of Saint Louis Priory School by providing advice and counsel. They are ex officio members of the Saint Louis Abbey Society Board of Directors for the duration of their terms as Advisors.James L. Nouss, Jr. ’72, ChairRobert J. Ciapciak ’74Sarah D. IgoeJudge Michael T. JamisonTheodore A. Kienstra ’60Allan L. Link III, DMD ’73Theodore J. MacDonald, Jr.Bart J. Margiotta ’65James E. O’Donnell ’71James D. Switzer ’64Father Peter Weigand, OSB

ex oFFicio aDviSorS

Martin S. FitzgeraldJoseph V. GleichJulie C. LohrDawn M. Szatkowski Philip L. Willman ’71

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

PreSiDent

Philip L. Willman ’71

FATHERS’ CLUB

PreSiDent

Paul H. Reitz

treaSurer

Alfred V. Lall

FatherS’ cLub event chair

Christopher P. McKee

MOTHERS’ CLUB

PreSiDent

Mary V. Rhodes

vice PreSiDent

Michelle M. Moen

correSPonDing Secretary

Jana T. Swanger

recorDing Secretary

Polly S. King

treaSurer

Beth A. Kopfensteiner

XANADU XLI AUCTIONchair

Mary L. Reitz

co-chair

Dawn S. Thomas

HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE

chair

Mary Foushee

SAINT ANSELM PARISH

PaStor

Father Gerard Garrigan

aSSociate PaStor

Father Benedict Allin

PARISH COUNCIL

PreSiDent Donald J. Mueth