7/2/2009
Monk ordained at Mount Angel
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| Monk ordained at Mount Angel |
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ST. BENEDICT — A monk who at age 40 decided he could not keep running from God was ordained a priest Saturday at Mount Angel Abbey here.
Benedictine Brother Ralph Recker, who pursued other professions for decades before visiting the monastery in 2001, was ordained as a priest by Archbishop John Vlazny in the Abbey Church.
Father Ralph, the youngest of 12 children, grew up on a farm in northwest Ohio. The Recker family maintained a strong German Catholic tradition. In addition to Father Ralph, three of his siblings entered consecrated life: Sister Nancy Recker belongs to the Sisters of the Precious Blood order; his late brother, Louis, became a permanent deacon; and his brother Carl — now known as Father Odo — is also a member of Mount Angel Abbey. Louis’ son Anthony Recker was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Toledo on May 30.
Father Ralph earned a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Meinrad Seminary, a Benedictine school in south central Indiana. It was there that he first considered becoming a monk. He visited Gethsemane Abbey, a Trappist community in Kentucky, where he read key books by their most famous monk, Thomas Merton.
However, at that time in his life he was not ready to pursue a vocation. Instead, he moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he lived and worked for 20 years. In San Antonio he maintained an active Catholic life at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish, while also struggling with his calling to a vocation.
At the invitation of his brother, Father Odo, Ralph visited Mount Angel Abbey, where Father Odo had become a monk nearly a decade earlier. While at Mount Angel, Ralph fell in love with the Benedictine monk’s life and especially with the way the monks pray the Liturgy of the Hours. An outdoorsman, he also fell in love with the beauty of Oregon. He applied to the monastery and was accepted as a candidate and made his solemn profession as a monk in September 2007. He was ordained as a transitional deacon in 2008.
Father Ralph believes he is called to be a priest because of God’s persistent messages to him throughout his life. It was a calling that he could not ignore. As he neared 40, he could no longer run from God, he explains. He decided to stop, listen and seek what God was calling him to do.
Through his own spiritual discernment, guided by wise leaders, he concluded that God was calling him to serve as a monk and priest.
Father Ralph’s first assignment will be as a formation director at Mount Angel Seminary, helping future priests with all aspects of their lives.
Father Ralph presided at a Mass of thanksgiving on the day after his ordination in the Abbey Church.
He will offer Masses of thanksgiving at St. Paul Parish in Silverton on Sunday, July 5; at St. Mark the Evangelist in San Antonio, Texas Sunday, July 12; and at Holy Family Church in New Cleveland, Ohio, the parish of the Recker Family for more than a half-century, Sunday, July 19.
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