“Come let us worship …”
For Christmas 2016, in a touching tribute to their confreres who have passed into God’s Eternal Kingdom, members of the Norbertine community placed a Christmas wreath on each headstone in the St. Norbert Abbey cemetery. Below, several Norbertines share their thoughts about the headstones they selected and the impact that these respective Norbertines had on their lives.
By Fr. Sebastian Schalk, O. Praem.
Fr. Basil Reuss, O. Praem. († March 20, 1959), had a special influence on my life in giving me a reason to profess temporary vows at the end of my two-year novitiate.
The story begins with my wanting to know if I was making the right decision to abandon my career as an engineer at the Western Electric Company in order to enter the Norbertine Order.
All of the fraters made a retreat every year in August, and in 1956 Fr. Reuss preached this retreat for second-year novices, who were preparing to profess their first vows on August 28. Something he said at one of the conferences encouraged me to consult him personally. His counsel gave me what I needed in order to profess the three-year vows with my classmates.
Remembering:
- Fr. Aaron Walschinski, O. Praem., and Fr. Alan Scheible, O. Praem.
By Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.
- Fr. Guy Guyon, O. Praem.
By Fr. Stephen Rossey, O. Praem.