History of

St Moses the Black Priory

On September 9, 1990, about two hundred people from around the city of Jackson and the state of Mississippi gathered at St. Mary Parish Church to celebrate Evening Prayer, during which the Priory of St. Moses the Black was officially inaugurated. Abbot Benjamin Mackin, O. Praem., of DePere, Wisconsin, was the celebrant and the Very Rev. Gene Gries, O. Praem., Prior of the new foundation, was homilist. Bishop William Houck of Jackson welcomed the new community to his diocese, the founding community includes confreres Richard Chiles, Xavier Colavechio and Gene Gries. The bishop also blessed statues of Sts. Norbert and Moses the Black, which were made by a young parishioner of St. Mary for the occasion. Bishops Joseph Brunini, retired bishop of Jackson, and Robert Morneau, Administrator of Green Bay, Wisconsin, were joined by Abbot John Logan of Daylesford Abbey, Paoli Pennsylvania, and Norbertine confreres from DePere, Albuquerque, Daylesford, and Orange, California. A number of diocesan and religious clergy, as well as nuns and laity from the surrounding areas, joined in the celebration. After the ceremony, the assembly gathered in the parish cafeteria for a reception, and about 40 guests joined the community for dinner later in the new Priory. This marked the official beginning of a new foundation from the Abbey of St. Norbert in DePere, Wisconsin, the fourth in its history. Other foundations include Daylesford Abbey, St. Norbert Priory in Lima, Peru; and the Priory of Santa Maria de la Vid in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The history of this new foundation actually began seven years earlier in 1983 when Abbot Mackin proposed to the canonry chapter that we should begin to look outward, to seek other opportunities to serve the Church, and to use our resources for the poor. The first result was the decision to establish a foundation to work with Hispanics in the Southwest United States. That decision resulted in the foundation of Santa Maria de la Vid Priory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The reaction of the DePere community to the Albuquerque foundation was very positive, and the chapter continued to look at the possibilities for yet another foundation, this time to work primarily among the African-American population. During 1986 the Abbot and Council discussed the possibilities for a new foundation, and decided to ask Fr. Richard Chiles, O.Praem.,. to investigate the possibilities for such a foundation in the Southeast United States. Community members suggested the names of about a dozen dioceses which would fit the criteria established by the chapter, namely, where there was a sizeable number of African-Americans, where we might exercise our preferential option for the poor, where there was hope for success in establishing eventually a new abbey, and where the local bishop would be interested. The Council selected six dioceses from those submitted, and the Abbot contacted the bishops to apprise them of our intentions. Richard followed up with appointments to meet the bishops and look at the possibilities each diocese presented. In the fall of 1987, Richard submitted his report on each diocese to the Abbot and Council, who shared the information with the whole community. The Council sent two of its members, Frs. DeWane (now the Abbot of DePere) and Gries, to Jackson, Mississippi to look at the possibilities there, since the report from Richard showed that to be the most favoraple location. The canonry chapter of 1988 considered the reports and adopted the motion submitted by the Council that "St. Norbert Abbey, DePere, establish a regular house of the Norbertine Order, eventually to be an independent priory or abbey, in the year 1990, with an orientation to ministry among Blacks." The minutes of that session include in the rationale for the decision this statement: "Essentially an act of faith and an act of thanksgiving for the graces and blessings visited upon St. Norbert Abbey by the Lord, it is timely that we respond once again by making a new foundation."

Frs. Richard Chiles, Xavier Colavechio and Gene Gries volunteered for the new venture, and their services were accepted by the Abbot. The date set for the beginning of the new foundation was July, 1990, and the Abbot and Council made plans to implement the decision of the chapter. Abbot Mackin went to Jackson to meet with Bishop Houck and work out the details of the agreement. The bishop offered the community St. Mary’s Parish as a place to begin. The rectory is large enough to accommodate seven people, and the neighborhood in which the parish is located is about 75% African-American. The parish itself has about 25% of its members who are African-American, out of a total of 225 families. The community agreed to serve the parish for five years, beginning in 1990, with the possibility of renewal for another five years. The bishop agreed to permit the establishment of a religious house, with all rights and privileges, in the diocese. He also suggested a number of other apostolic works which the members of the community could consider, including other parochial assignments, secondary and higher education, campus ministry, retreats and spiritual direction, and hospital chaplaincies.

In November, 1988, the bishop contacted Abbot Mackin, asking about the possibility of his sending someone a year early to work in St. Mary. The former pastor had left for a sabbatical and the bishop had no one to replace him. In fact, the parish had been without a resident pastor since January. After some consultation, the abbot asked Fr. Colavechio if he would be willing to go to Jackson in 1989. Some consideration was given to supplying a companion, since those who volunteered for the new venture were committed to living in community. Fr. Gilbert Mihalyi, a retired but very active member of the confrere, agreed to go to Jackson for a year, until the rest of the community was ready. Fr. Colavechio was missioned to the new foundation at the canonry chapter of 1989, and went to the new house. June 23rd is the date of the first Norbertine taking up residence in the new foundation. Fr. Colavechio was appointed administrator of St. Mary’s Parish, and set about to work in the parish and lay the groundwork for those who were to follow.

At the chapter of 1990, Fr. Gene Gries ended his four years as Prior of the community, and was missioned to the Jackson foundation as its superior, as well as vocation and development director. He left DePere the following week, and took up his new work on his arrival in Jackson. Fr. Richard Chiles was at this time completing his dissertation for the doctoral degree at Northwestern University, and joined the community upon its completion.

The three volunteers for the new community met for the first time as a chapter in June, 1989, shortly before Fr. Colavechio left for the South. They spent three days of discussion and prayer, laying the groundwork for living together in a small community, emphasizing their commitment to common life and common prayer as the basis for the new house. They agreed to begin Morning Prayer in common with those laity who would choose to participate, as soon as it was feasible after F.r Colavechio’s arrival. Plans for underscoring a contemplative dimension to common life were agreed on, and a patron for the foundation was chosen. A number of possibilities were considered, but in the end, the group chose to recommend St. Moses the Black to the abbot as the patron. His life story in its general outline parallels that of St. Norbert (see the life of St. Moses the Black on this website): he was a man of peace and reconciliation; his feast falls on the same day as St. Augustine’s -- in a sense, he has been marginalized in the sanctoral cycle, and the three volunteers perceived their mission as one especially to the marginalized of society.

Members of the community participated in seminars and courses on Black Theology and Culture, attended the Xavier Institute in New Orleans as well as the National Black Pastoring Congresses in 1989 and 1990 as part of their preparation for apostolic work. The community consulted with such experts as Fr. Cyprian Davis, O.S.B., and Sr. Jaimie Phelps, O.P. to gather information and suggestions. This led, among other things, to the design for a coat of arms for the Priory. The shield is divided into four quadrants by a black ankh cross, which originated in Egypt and is a symbol for St. Moses the Black. In the upper left quadrant, white waves on a blue background suggest both the Mississippi and Fox Rivers, home and origin of the foundation. The upper right quadrant contains three white fleur-de-lis on a blue background, representing the Norbertine Order. An African acacia tree, black on green, fills the lower right quadrant, and is the symbol of peace. The final quadrant depicts clasped black and white hands on a red background, signifying the mission of the foundation: reconciliation. Black, red and green are the colors of the African-American flag.

Fr. Colavechio introduced Morning Prayer before the daily Eucharist at St. Mary in September 1989, after several short talks and an article published in the parish bulletin. The response from the parishioners has been good; between 8 and 12 of the laity join the community each morning for the Liturgy of the Hours. Whenever there is an evening parish meeting, it begins with Evening Prayer in common. Communal anointings and rite of Reconciliation are usually celebrated in the context of Evening Prayer. Since Fr. Gries’ arrival, the community gathers early each weekday morning for centering prayer in common, each Thursday evening for reflection on the Sunday Scriptures, and on Saturday mornings for shared prayer. Community meetings and community days apart are built into the schedule. Fr. Gries then began to investigate the possibilities of taking on other apostolic works, meeting with the bishop, vicar general, college officials, etc.

In 1992 Fr. Richard Chiles, O. Praem, replaced Fr. Gene Gries as Prior, after the latter was called back to assume the role of Canonry Prior.  In the same year, the parish apostolate of St. Moses the Black grew with the addition of the Christ the King Parish community. Ambitious expansion plans for the Priory and its ministry are in preparation, and a strong partnership with the diocese in these efforts has been established. This community was begun as an act of Faith in God, has prospered and will reap increasingly fruitful results in the years to come.  The project was thus off to a good beginning and has continued to flourish for the last decade, with the firm hope that volunteers from DePere joining the community and attracting other young men to join the community as Norbertines.

Why Mississippi? It is the poorest state in the nation. At this time, the state ranks 49th or 50th in per capita income, in education, in health care and in environmental concerns. Its reputation for being beset with racism is based on a past that is rapidly changing, there has been much progress in this area since the 1960’s, and there is still a long way to go. Though St. Mary’s Parish Church was formally established 153 years ago when the whole state formed the diocese of Natchez, the Catholic population today is only 2 to 3% of the total population. The diocese covers 65 of the 82 counties in the state, and eight of the counties have no Catholic church at all and 14 of them have only a mission church from another parish. A total of 89 priests work in the diocese, 56 of them diocesan clergy. The diocese works closely with other religious denominations in the area of social concerns. With grants from HUD, the diocese has built a retirement home for the elderly and a halfway house for those being mainstreamed back into society after psychiatric care. Both these buildings abut St. Mary Parish property, and provide an opportunity for ministry from the Priory. The Norbertine house is the first permanent house of male religious located in the diocese. Other religious communities have men working in various parishes, but the individual priests and brothers belong to a Province much larger than the state, and so come and go according to assignment. Statistics alone indicate the great need the Church has in Mississippi. Not only does the Jackson Norbertine community see itself involved in apostolic work in this home mission diocese, but also desires to give witness through its contemplative dimension and by common life and prayer that it is possible to live together in peace, that people of differing backgrounds, cultures and races can live the gospel values, overcoming their differences and making an effort to build the Kingdom. Our hopes and dreams may well be summed up in a statement made by Bishop Houck during the Inauguration Liturgy: "I dream that someday, some other bishop of Jackson will gather with some other Norbertine abbots to bless the first abbot of a new Norbertine Abbey, located right here in the city of Jackson."