Saint Anselm's Priory and Church

Note: On 18 April 1999, the Benedictines relinquished care of the parish of Saint Anselm to the Archdiocese of Tokyo. On 24 May the monks moved to

Trinity Monastery, Fujimi (Nagano Prefecture), Japan.

THE BENEDICTINES

St. Anselm's Church was for many years the church of a community of Benedictine Monks. Saint Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism, lived in Italy in the sixth century. He wrote his own Rule governing the life of a Christian community of men or women (monks and nuns); those who have consecrated their lives to following the Rule are members of the Order of Saint Benedict (O.S.B.), or "Benedictines."

Benedictine communities in Europe played an invaluable part in keeping alive the light of Christian faith, and with it western civilization, during the Dark Ages from about A.D. 600 to 1100. Key elements of St. Benedict's Rule are "Ora et Labora" ("prayer and work"). The monks or nuns offer up a constant cycle of daily prayer, which is interspersed with lectio and with work of various kinds: teaching, writing, pastoral work, caring for the sick and the poor, and studying the Scriptures, and all the arts and sciences.

The Benedictine community in Japan's is a dependent priory of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, U.S.A. (Saint John's conducts a university and theologate where many of its monks work and teach.) Most of the monks in Japan are American, but the founders were Swiss (Fr. Hildebrand Yaiser OSB), German (Fr. Joseph Schmerbach OSB), and American (Fr. Aloysius Michels OSB); and a growing number of the community is Japanese. The community has acquired a site at Fujimi in Nagano Prefecture near Mount Fuji, to which the community moved on 25 May 1999 to form form a Benedictine monastery.

The Rule of Saint Benedict, although it was especially intended for those living in community consecrated under vows of obedience, stability, and conversion of life, is applicable in its essentials to the everyday life of all Christians. It is possible for a layperson to become particularly connected to the life of a Benedictine community by being an oblate of Saint Benedict.

Saint Anselm, after whom the parish church in Tokyo is named, was a Benedictine monk, and also Archbishop of Canterbury in the eleventh century. He was an outstanding philosopher and theologian whose work pointed the way to that of Saint Thomas Aquinas in deepening and refining the intellectual grounding of the Christian faith. His motto was "Fides quaerens intellectum" (Faith seeking understanding) and he is counted as one of the Doctors of the Church.

 The Benedictines move to Fujimi

THE INTERNATIONAL PARISH

Saint Anselm's is primarily a church for a large Japanese parish, but for many years, there was also a Mass celebrated in English by the Benedictines each Sunday, to help serve the needs of the growing expatriate community in Tokyo.

The congregation for this Mass, the international parish, began at the start of 1982 by using the chapel of Saint Theresa. It then grew so that, since July 1984, the Mass was celebrated in the main church.

English was the common language of the congregation and the language of its liturgy, but its members came from many countries in every continent of the world.

The international parish had its own pastor, and its parish council met once a month. It shared a number of activities, such as the annual bazaar, with the Japanese parish.

Other activities of the international parish included an English Bible class on Wednesday evenings, a retreat and weekday Masses during Lent, and other special Masses and liturgies at particular seasons of the Church's year. All were welcome at any gathering of the international parish; refreshments were provided after the English Mass each Sunday so that members of the parish could get to know one another.

* Interior of Saint Anselm's Church *

 

  Neal Henry Lawrence OSB

Saint Anselm's Parish Church
4-6-22 Kamiosaki
Shinagawa-Ku, Tokyo, 141 Japan
Tel. 81-3-3491-5461 (the Parish)
Fax 81-3-3491-6527

Saint John's Abbey * Holy Trinity, Fujimi