by Jennifer Brinker, St Louis Review Staff Writer
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After months of anticipation and hard work, Father Daniel Augustine Oppenheimer finally received a Christmas present he had long been waiting for.
Literally hours before the Christmas Midnight Mass, the founder and prior of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, a diocesan religious institute of consecrated life, put the finishing touches on the congregation’s new chapel at the Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chesterfield.
But just who are the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem? In 2004, the religious congregation arrived here at the invitation of Archbishop Raymond L. Burke.
One of the group’s hallmarks is the use of the 1962 liturgy in celebrating the Mass in its historic Latin form, which is consistent with Pope John Paul II’s 1988 apostolic letter, "Ecclesia Dei Adflicta."
Its members, known as canons, pronounce vows of stability, conversion of life and obedience. They live in community and under the rule of St. Augustine of Hippo, a fourth-century bishop, theologian and one of the doctors of the Latin Church.
A convert to Catholicism in 1977, Father Oppenheimer said he first discovered and embraced traditional Roman Catholic forms of worship as practiced in certain parishes of the Episcopal church, of which he was a member during childhood. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, however, the priest said his former church went through "a serious doctrinal and moral deformation," which ultimately caused his conversion to the Catholicism.
"When I first experienced the historical forms of worship, they had a profound effect on me," said the New York native. "My heart was just seized and taken up in love toward God."
"Historical forms of worship are not merely cultural expressions," said Father Oppenheimer. "They are graced vehicles of historic Christian faith. They led, without doubt, to my embracing true Catholic Christianity. They are, in the words of Pope Pius XII, holy and worthy of all respect."
In 1991, Father Oppenheimer was ordained to the priesthood in Germany, and in 1997, he met Archbishop Raymond Burke in Rome, who offered the priest guidance in establishing a new foundation of religious priests. With the support of the archbishop, the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem was juridically erected in 2002 in the archbishop’s former Diocese of La Crosse, Wis.
Archbishop Burke has noted that "the worthy celebration of the Church’s worship of God" is the heart of the congregation’s work.
In a written decree at the time of the congregation’s establishment, the archbishop wrote, "May all members of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem generously respond to the will of God for them, and in accord with the pastoral mission of this particular Church, give glory to God and serve others through the promotion of the worthy celebration of the Sacred Liturgy."
Father Oppenheimer said the congregation can be further defined as a clerical institute that "lives religious life with a choir orientation."
That means its members are solely focused on the priestly life, with worship to God throughout the day.
Much of the canons’ day is spent in prayer, said the priest. "The members of our community are bound to the choir ... to the solemn celebration of the Church’s full liturgy. This properly takes place in the sanctuary of our church and comprises the heart of the Church’s worship of Christ."
"Our community is a reflection of the most ancient form of clerical life," said Father Oppenheimer. "The tradition of canons regular is rooted in first Christian community as described in the Acts of the Apostles."
As a symbol of their profession to the congregation, canons receive the Rite of Tonsure, a ritual in which the crown of a canon’s head is shaved to symbolize the crown of thorns placed on Christ’s head at His crucifixion. The hair is specifically cut in five places to symbolize the five wounds of Christ at the crucifixion, added the priest.
In the fall of 2004, Archbishop Burke invited the community to St. Louis, and its members established themselves in the Chesterfield area. Father Oppenheimer and two seminarians — Fraters Alban and John Berchmans — reside at the the priory, a former convent of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, located next to Linda Vista Catholic School.
Upon their arrival in St. Louis, Father Oppenheimer went to work at converting the monastery’s large garage into a chapel for the community. The project, financed through donations from individuals, took about seven months to complete, he said. The chapel can comfortably hold about 25 guests.
Last fall, after they made their first profession as novices, Fraters Alban and John began their studies at the canons’ newly established Studium Augustinianum, a program of philosophical studies based on pontifical university academic programs in Rome. Formation takes place at the priory.
Father Oppenheimer also has opened the seminary program to interested lay men who are interested in philosophical studies. Lay students must be able to follow the canons’ "wider spiritual regime," he added. Currently, there are two young men who are taking part in the program with the seminarians.
The priest said the order uses the 1962 Latin Mass for several reasons, including its foundations in Scripture, patristics, the teaching and spiritual tradition of the early Church fathers, and the Latin Church’s ascetic tradition of Christian self-denial.
These elements, said Father Oppenheimer, "constitute an irreplaceable source of grace, which is the particular ecclesial patrimony or spiritual inheritance of Western Catholicism."
In formation and pastoral ministry, Father Oppenheimer said, he insists on the importance of a full understanding of the Church’s history and experience and the influence this has on the Catholic faith.
"We are trying to live the way disciplined priests have always lived in the history of the Church," said Father Oppenheimer.
He noted that co-existence of the traditional Latin Mass and today’s post-Second Vatican Council Mass "is living proof that nothing has changed regarding the doctrinal self-understanding of the Catholic Church."
Canons, he added, participate "in the traditional Latin liturgy in a living manner — as active members of the Catholic Church of today.
"Neither the liturgy as we celebrate it, nor ourselves as religious, can be considered museum pieces," he said. "If such were the case, then the Church herself would be pointless."
Father Oppenheimer said he is grateful to Archbishop Burke for inviting the congregation to St. Louis. The priest said he is looking forward to "a fruitful development of our ministry in the archdiocese. The importance of living continuity with the Church’s long history is not merely a matter of intellectual speculation.
"We live the liturgy as received from our Western tradition in the light of its universal practice. The faithful have a deep sense of ‘being home’ when they use the ancient forms we employ. But our life is about faith, not ritual form. We are priests, and as such we must think and act with the Church.
"Our liturgy is a gift from the Church which we give back to the faithful," said Father Oppenheimer. "It is an exquisite offering of deep contemplative value. It speaks to hearts of today, hearts so often alienated by the dryness of rationalism in religion and secularism in all other walks of life.
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Sidebar:
Canons offer opportunities for prayer, adoration, Mass.
The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem offer opportunities for prayer and participation in the Mass throughout the week. Their schedule is:
Daily Mass is offered Monday through Saturday at 7 a.m. in the chapel of the Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1635 Kehrs Mill Road in Chesterfield.
Vespers is celebrated daily at 5:15 p.m., rosary and compline at 7:30 p.m. daily, and eucharistic adoration on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., all in the chapel.
A traditional High Mass is celebrated on Sundays at 9:45 a.m. at the chapel of the Passionist Monastery, 15700 Clayton Road in Ellisville.
The canons can be reached at (636) 536-4082. The congregation’s Web site is www.canonsregular.com.
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