Celebration of the Martyrs of Wales
October 13, 2013
Cathedral of St. Asaph
Thank you Bishop Gregory for your kind words of welcome to your Diocese and to this ancient and noble cathedral. I want to also thank Dean Nigel for the invitation to preach on this splendid occasion of the Celebration of the Martyrs of Wales and the blessing and dedication of the vestments commissioned by Fr. Peter Allsworth and Debbie Cotter in memory of their parents. I am a littleintimidated by the invitation, however, since Iunderstand that I may be making a bit of historytoday, being the first Roman Catholic priest to preach in this cathedral since the English Reformation. …So Bishop Gregory, if I should misspeak and wind up in the Tower of London, I hope you will come to my defense.
In the seminary, we were taught to avoid the perpendicular pronoun “I” when preaching, meaning don’t talk about yourself. I have been asked to do that very thing, however, since to most of you I am a complete stranger.
My name is Fr. Vincent de Paul Crosby and I am aBenedictine monk and priest at Saint Vincent Archabbey, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. I entered that monastery 45 years ago. The Benedictine Order to which I belong is the oldest order in the church tracing its origins back to St. Benedict of Nursia who lived in Italy from about 480 to 547 AD. To put this in some historical context, Benedictines were already around for 100 years when St. Asaph occupied thecathedral on this spot 1400 years ago.
In my monastery, I serve the community and the greater Church as a Liturgical Artist. I feel veryblessed to be able to work every day in the studio.
My monastery is a large one, considered the largest in the world since we have 165 monks living and praying together while we run a small liberal arts college, a seminary and several parishes. We are a vibrant and lively community, blessed with many new vocations. I believe the reason we are so blessed is that we have been committed from our very beginnings in 1846 to living at the heart of the Church, willing to serve her needs. Our monastery has given birth to 18 other Abbeys in the United States, Canada and Mexico. We also have missionpriories in Brazil and Taiwan and are are poised to make an entrée into main land China.
I feel there is a certain “rightness” to my being here today. You may be surprised to learn that mygrandfather was Episcopalian. He made the mistake, however, of marrying a very good Irish Catholic andthe rest, as they say, is history.
I have always felt an affinity with the churches of the Anglican Communion. The Benedictines monks whocame before me were very influential in the early growth of the Church in Great Briton. I can see thismonastic influence in your love for good and beautiful Liturgy, and in the nature of yourgovernance. So as a Benedictine monk I feel verymuch at home in your midst.
It was through the wonder of the Internet thatDebbie Cotter found my studio website setting in motion the series of events that led to my being here today. I see God’s hand in this. After all in a very real way my monastery owes its existence to the apostolic energy of the Church in Great Britonwhich in 766 it sent one of its own, St. Boniface, to evangelize Germania. Within just a few years, St.Boniface founded St. Michael’s Abbey, in Metten. Then from that very Abbey, 1000 years later in 1846, another Boniface, Boniface Wimmer, leftGermany to found my monastery, Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Benedictine house in the North America. And now 165 years later, it comes full circle as I return to the land from where it all began.
We are celebrating today the Feast of the Martyrs of Wales…all of whom lived Our Lord’s words in the today’s Gospel: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
I know very little about the martyrs of Wales. I know that St. David is the Patron Saint of Wales, the “prince of Cambrian saints”. I know that St. Kentigern was a disciple of St. David, and that he founded this Cathedral and appointed St Asaph its first bishop.
I also know of a charming story from the life of St.Kentigern. Apparently St. Kentigern would frequently pray standing in the icy cold river. (The Celtic monks always outdid the Roman monks in their love of extreme asceticism.) On one occasion, having suffered veryseverely under this hardship, St. Kentigern sent the boy, Asaph, who was then attending him, to bring atorch of blazing wood so he could warm himself. Instead of carrying the fire safely as a torch Aspahbrought live hot burning coals in his own apron.When Kentigern noticed that the apron had notbeen harmed by these coals, he understood this to be a sign of the sanctity of his disciple.
This was seen as miraculous. But I think even moremiraculous was the prophetic message of theburning coals. God used Asaph to remind Kentigern of the words of Isaiah from our first reading, ”When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.“ You will be burned but not consumed.
What is this fire that can burn but not consume? I would suggest that it is zeal. The kind of zeal the Psalmist praised when he wrote, “Zeal for your house consumes me”... Certainly, the martyrs had this zeal…so much so that they were not afraid to let it totally consume their mortal life, in the sure hope of eternal life. When the early Church was free to worship publically and Christianity becameacceptable, the red martyrdom of blood was lesscommon and life for a Christian became rathercomfortable. In reaction to this many Christians fled to the desert of Egypt or to the Celtic holy places of this land to embrace the white martyrdom of a life of asceticism in the hope of regaining their first love, their holy zeal.
Their example stands as a constant reminder and a challenge to us. How willing are we to embrace the white martyrdom of living a life that in many ways requires us to be countercultural in order to be faithful to our first love … to the holy zeal of taking up our cross to follow Christ. This need not be in the extremes of the asceticism of those early Celtic saints but rather in the more moderate fidelity of the ordinary things of life. As Mother Theresa of Calcutta said “We can do no great things, just small things with great love.”
The vestments I designed for use on the feasts of martyrs are in vibrant reds that reflect the intensity of the passion the martyrs suffered and the love they lived. You will see several black squares withsmall flames that are meant to reference the hot coals St. Asaph brought St. Kentigern.
It is my hope that when we see these hot coals we willbe reminded of the zeal of the holy martyrs and question our own zeal…remembering the words we sang in our opening hymn:
“Grant us but half their burning zeal.”
I ask that you pay particular attention to the coals on the chasuble that will be worn today by theBishop. The position of the coals near the wrists, the feet and on the chest is meant to remind us of our Lord’s five precious wounds signs of hisconsummate zeal for our salvation. We know that although he was burned he was not consumed. The fire of those wounds instead ignited into the glorious light of resurrection. So as we continue this holy Eucharist in memory of the Martyrs of Wales, let us pray in anticipation the words of our closing hymn:
Fr. Vincent de Paul Crosby, OSB
