I wish all our parishioners a Happy Feast Day as we celebrate the feast of our patron saint, Benedict, on Monday, July 11. We are blessed to have our parish named after St. Benedict, one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church. The personal life, holiness and vision of St. Benedict has a great impact on the world order as it is today. His Monastic Rule became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe and a guide for the evangelization and civilization of many European countries in the Middle Ages. It is believed that much of the western education system emerged from the Benedictine Monastery. 

St Benedict is commonly referred to as the “Father of Western Monasticism” and “Founder of Western Civilization.” This is because in the sixth century, he withdrew from the chaotic collapse of the Roman Empire and found a new way to preserve the faith in a monastic community outside the city. For five centuries following his death, the Benedictine monks preserved the faith like a mustard seed during the Dark Ages. This helped to prepare the way for the rebirth of the western civilization in the Middle Ages. In 1964, Pope Paul VI proclaimed St. Benedict as the patron saint of all Europe. St. Benedict is also known as a great intercessor for prayers against evil spirits. Many miracles have been attributed to his intercession by those who wear the St. Benedict medal. He is often depicted in pictures holding a book, a raven, or a crosier. 

With the current radical cultural shift in the western countries that are becoming increasingly secularized and anti-christian, many Catholics are now calling for the Church to adopt the “Benedict Option” as a way to develop a resilient Church that can withstand the impact of the rise of the anti-christain culture. This idea, led by Rod Dreher, is a call for the Western Church to be prepared for a new era of “Dark Ages” by learning from the example of St Benedict, the authority of the Scripture and the wisdom of the early church to develop a way to safeguard the faith from the mainstream secularized culture that is destroying the faith. 

We will celebrate our feast day on Monday, July 11, beginning with a Holy Mass at 6pm and followed by a short movie about the life of St Benedict right after the Mass. Popcorn and water will be provided. Come with your family and friends and join us to celebrate our Feast Day. 

The surveying of the extensions and the internal rooms has been completed.

The general contractor could not get a concrete sub to do the footings earlier than the scheduled August date

The underground utility work is waiting for their material to come in. It has already been 1 month, maybe up to another 6 weeks before it arrives.

The general contractor is trying to expedite the customized manhole that is needed for the extension of the drainage work that will require the driveway in front of the Annex buildings to be excavated. The goal is to complete this prior to the start of school.

The general contractor met with the HVAC sub to investigate moving an air handler which would simplify the ductwork necessary for the choir loft. This change will provide St Benedict some additional savings 

The work next week will focus on laying out the choir loft, identifying the location of the required footings and saw cutting the existing concrete.

Last Saturday the grading company hit the power line and communication lines to the Annex buildings. Power was temporarily restored within 2 hours. The permanent power line repair was installed Wednesday morning. We were requested if we could have our A/V sub pull the communication cables. We contacted AV Experts Wednesday morning.  The general contractor did provide a Verizon HotSpot so the staff can access the internet. The staff can also access the Parish phones via their cell phones. A/V Experts came first thing Thursday morning and worked until all connections have been restored.