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By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer
CONYERS—Before he became an abbot, and before he entered a
monastery, Dom Augustine Moore was known as Father Fred Moore, a diocesan
priest in his native state of Kentucky.
Drawn to the contemplative life, it was here where he entered the
Trappist community of Gethsemani, and was given the name Augustine.
In 1944, Father Augustine came to Georgia as a new monastic
community was established in rural Rockdale County. Just over a decade later,
he was chosen the first American definitor, or councilor, to the abbot general
of the order, spending two years in Rome and on pastoral visits to monasteries
in North America and Europe. He was elected abbot in Conyers three times,
serving as the spiritual head of the community from 1957 until 1983, a 25-year
period which bridged the dramatic transition in the church, and in religious
orders, before, during and after the Second Vatican Council.
While abbot he oversaw much of the building of the monastery,
including the completion of the abbey church in December 1960. His leadership
was characterized by a spirit of charity, an openness to lay people coming to
the monastery and interaction with the archdiocesan community, and ecumenism.
Although his health now requires that he stay in the monastery
infirmary, Father Augustine, also called Father Gus, is still a “voracious
reader” and characteristically cheerful, with self-deprecating good humor.
In an interview, he apologized for not having a profound spiritual
insight regarding his milestone 90th birthday. “I’m sorry. If I think
of anything world-shaking, I’ll call you,” he said from his bed, with
an impish laugh.
Having to be confined much of the time “flat on your back,
day after day, you could go stir crazy,” he said, but he really
experiences the grace of prayers being offered by those who remember him in
prayer.
“Their prayers do help,” he said. “I want them to
know.”
Reading has been a great diversion since childhood, he said, when
he and one of his brothers would go through one library book after another, and
it continues to serve him well. Two cataract operations last year gave his
eyesight a great boost.
“Another thing I’ve learned lying here is that the
important thing is to listen to people,” he said. “If I have had any
success, it is in learning to listen to people. Let them know, you know what
the score is.”
In addition to care given by brother monks, the infirmary is now
staffed by a registered nurse, Theresa Stockton, who is a lay Cistercian. She
said the retired abbot has benefited from physical therapy and has been able to
walk a bit again with assistance.
Mass is celebrated in the infirmary, where nine monks are staying,
at 5 p.m. every day and Father Gus said he also spends time in the afternoon in
the infirmary chapel, saying the Divine Office and making the Stations of the
Cross.
In his room in the monastery is a portrait of Jesus, a crucifix, a
framed photograph of St. Therese of Lisieux and an image of Our Lady of
Guadalupe to provide inspiration and reflection.
Reflecting on Book of Genesis and the Gospel of John, Father Gus
is particularly trying to become more cognizant of the presence of God the
Father these days.
Despite pain from a recent fall, aggravated by a cough, he tries
to express his insights on the relationship among the Three Persons in the
Trinity, but finally has to simplify it to a sentence or two.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Jesus and
Our Blessed Mother. More and more I get a feel for the Father.”
Dom Augustine Homilies To Be Published
By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer
CONYERS—Recognizing him as a spiritual father, the Trappist
monastery honored retired abbot, Dom Augustine Moore, OCSO, Dec. 13 with a
collection of his homilies and retreat talks that will be published as a book
in January. The abbot, whose title, by own preference, is usually shortened to
“Father Gus,” was recognized on his 90th birthday. He has been a
member of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit for over 57 years, arriving in
Georgia in November 1944, the year the new monastic community was established
in rural Rockdale County.
The birthday luncheon, held in the monastery refectory, marked
“a joyous occasion,” said Dom Basil Pennington, OCSO.
“What the community is, says what has to be said” about
Dom Augustine, Dom Basil said. “It is a privilege to follow a little bit
in his footsteps.”
A special luncheon was served in his honor. Wheeled in for the
luncheon, Father Gus accepted a prototype of the book. “I’ve resisted
writing all my life” but “the more I got into it, I appreciated it. I
thank you very, very much,” he told the gathering, which included four of
his nephews, Mickey, Fred, Joe and Louie Dugan, and Louie’s wife, Joanne.
The book, “Within the Heart of Mary,” was edited by
Brother Chaminade Crabtree, OCSO, and will contain 44 homilies, spanning the
liturgical year, 23 retreat talks, and 20 talks given to lay Cistercians
associated with the monastery. Brother Chaminade found copies of the homilies
and retreat talks when he was cleaning Father Gus’ old room after he moved
to the infirmary.
A niece, Nancy Goss, who is a newspaper editor and columnist in
Pikeville, Ky., took his handwritten homilies one year, typed them in her
computer, and gave him the typed copies, along with the originals, on her next
visit. Additional notes written when he was a novice at Gethsemani, and more
homilies and talks given to lay Cistercians were transcribed by Nancy Cates, a
lay Cistercian, Brother Chaminade said.
There are also anecdotes and letters sketching the vibrant
spiritual impact he has made on people from every walk of life. Father Gus gave
his permission for the book to be done. The title comes from one of his
homilies.
Brother Chaminade said that it is part of Cistercian heritage for
reflections and talks given by the spiritual fathers to be handed on to
succeeding generations of Trappist monks. He saw the abbot as a spiritual
father in his own right.
“He inspired people . . . the monks as abbot, later (others)
as people came to him for counsel . . . Part of my inspiration was that his
direction would still guide others. We have a spiritual father. I wanted to
preserve that wisdom,” he said.
He has also been struck by the humble way the abbot is accepting
being dependent on other people now because of his health and age.
“He’s always in such good spirits.”
“He’s a special person, the way he has taken older age
with humility. He can’t get around like he used to. He has to rely on
others . . . St. Bernard says our life is a life of learning humility. Dom
Augustine is learning about humility. That humility will be crowned.”
Brother Chaminade, who entered the community in June 1996, said
his first contact with Dom Augustine was as a retreatant where he heard him
give a talk on the subject closest to his heart, abandonment to divine
providence, based on a spiritual classic by Father Jean Pierre de Caussade.
“I went to the bookstore and bought the book. God works in mysterious
ways. Here I am, within the community.”
Brother Ken Sullivan, OCSO, who entered the community in December
1969, said he felt Dom Augustine was “the best we ever had . . . He is a
very gentle, very kind man, cheerful and with a sense of humor.”
“This life is difficult. You need a certain gentleness and
relaxation to live it. Dom Augustine had that. He knew how to bend with the
punches. I think he was very successful.” |
