For many years Conception Abbey was deeply involved with Liturgical Movement and its promotion. Many monks specifically helped with the National Liturgical Weeks during the 1930s - 1960s. I will be posting sections of a paper I wrote on this very topic that highlighted the activities and writings of these monks.
The first monk I will highlight is the former Abbot James:
Fr. James, whose participation in the NLW was limited to the 1950 NLW, held at Conception Abbey, with the week’s theme, “For Pastors and People,” presented a paper during the afternoon session of August 24th entitled “The Chief Processions During the Year.” He was also a contributor to the discussion following a paper delivered by Fr. Alphonse Westhoff of Kirkwood, Missouri on the topic of “The Mystical Body.”
Fr. James’ comments revolve around offering “a pastoral tip” (NLW 1950: 56) in which he believes that the building up of the Mystical Body, the “one great sacrament: Christ and His Church, the whole Christ, the mystical body,” (NLW 1950: 56) is presented to the world in varied ways, one of which is the liturgical procession. He is insistent that it is the pastor’s duty to explain the “sublime mysteries” contained in the church processions because “a procession is a manifestation, a showing forth, of our unity in Christ,” a concrete expression of the Mystical Body (NLW 1950: 56). He is also aware of the affective appeal of the act of procession, “I think, people love to walk together. I think they love processions, and the Ritual is full of them, so why not let them go out in procession, why not let them pray in procession…” (NLW1950: 56-57).
