New prior touting Dominicans’ presence in St Louis

With the start of the academic year, the number of Dominican priests teaching at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury has doubled.

The Dominicans have been in St. Louis for more than 25 years, have seen a time of growth and are establishing their roots even deeper in the archdiocese, according to their new local religious superior.

Dominican Father Michael Monshau came to St. Louis this fall as prior, or religious superior, of St. Dominic Priory and is an adjunct professor of homiletics at the archdiocesan seminary. He joins Dominican Father Thomas McDermott, who teaches spiritual theology at the seminary.

Father McDermott is the subprior, or assistant superior, of St. Dominic Priory. Formerly serving 18 years as a missionary and provincial in Nigeria, he has a master’s degree from the Dominicans’ Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis in 1983 and a doctorate from the Angelicum in Rome.

Father Monshau was prior of the priory in Oakland, Calif., and professor of homiletics and liturgical studies at the Dominican’s School at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., before coming to St. Louis. He had previously taught at a diocesan seminary in Michigan. He attended the seminary at Aquinas and doctoral studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

The first Catholic priest in the country to receive "a PhD in homiletics," he has written books on preaching and spirituality. Two books were published this year, "Preaching at the Double Feast: Homiletics for Eucharistic Worship" and "The Grace and Task of Preaching."

Of his role in the diocese, he said, "Any religious order would want to do whatever it can to help the local ordinary and serve the local Church. We’re pleased to be at the service of the archbishop."

Having two priests available to help the diocese is "very satisfying," he added.

He noted that Vatican II affected a liturgical renewal that emphasized preaching. It also invited religious orders to reclaim the primary charism of their founder. The Dominicans, or the Order of Preachers, "have been given a uniquely pressing mandate to assist the Church in her preaching renewal since preaching is so integral to our identity," Father Monshau said.

Aquinas is the only Catholic doctor of ministry program in the country, he noted. The Dominicans’ school at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley is "the only Catholic faculty where one can work toward a PhD in homiletics," he said.

The Dominican Priory is on two floors of Jesuit Hall at St. Louis University. "We realize we’re at a point where we need to start thinking about our own priory building to better establish our identity in the fabric of the archdiocese and demonstrate that we’re a permanent fixture in St. Louis," he said.

Today is "a very good time for the Dominicans in St. Louis," he said.

Aquinas Institute recently moved to its own building in Midtown St. Louis adjoining St. Louis University.

Twenty-five Dominican men live at St. Dominic Priory, and 15 of them are seminarians attending Aquinas.

Another five seminarians are on pastoral assignments at different parishes throughout the Province of St. Albert the Great, based in Chicago.

One of the priests, Father David Delich, works full time with Food for the Poor, a Catholic agency that sends priests across the country to seek donations to programs helping people in Third World countries. Two other priests assist with that ministry on a part-time basis.

Another priest, Father Benjamin Russell, is the archivist for the province. That office recently was moved to St. Louis.

Some of the priests serve at parishes on weekends as emergency substitutes or regularly fill in at parishes.

The seminarians do their internships in parishes across the archdiocese.

Dominican vocations are strong in the United States. Father Monshau sees the age of seminarians lowering again, though many are coming to the order after being in the military, in business or college. One of the novices this year is a former member of the University of Notre Dame’s boxing club.

"I see a new vitality in the commitment to a vibrant community life," Father Monshau said.

Many of those entering the Dominicans value the traditions of the order such as wearing the habit and chanting the Divine Office, he said, "and I see that as a strength."

"We have a well placed hope in our future," he added. "As a religious order, one of the oldest in the Church, having been founded in 1215, it pleases us that people recognize we’re here in great numbers and here to stay."
___________
by Joseph Kenny, Review Staff Writer

Fr. Monshau will be one of the guest homilists as the upcoming Novena to the Immaculate Conception (details here)