Archbishop John Nienstedt presided over Mass Wednesday, Sept. 29 at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas for an annual start-of-the-year event.
Nienstedt’s predecessor, Archbishop Harry Flynn, began this tradition at St. Thomas during his tenure, and Nienstedt has continued the event as a way to reach out to students. The Rev. Erich Rutten said he believes this tradition is a great way to start the year.
“We are very fortunate that the archbishop has shown a great interest in the university,” he said. “He is very generous. He is not only here for events like this, but he comes once a month for the Lectio Divina series. In his busy schedule, the fact that he makes it a priority to reach out to students I think is a wonderful thing.”
Rutten said the chapel was fairly full, as about 200 people attended the mass. Junior Heather Bartlett attended the mass and said she was surprised at the turnout.
“It was packed,” she said. “The archbishop is such an incredible voice at St. Thomas. The service was beautiful.”
Maggie Clemensen can be reached at clem0427@stthomas.edu.
Nice.
Archbishop Nienstedt is a very holy man and a kind and loving shepherd for our Archdiocese, and for His Excellency to take such interest in St. Thomas and especially in the students and seminarians here is an incredible blessing. I was blessed to be able to take part in Lectio Divina on several occasions during my time at UST, and Archbishop Nienstedt would not only teach us Lectio Divina, but he would facilitate one of the small groups, and he would attend a reception immediately following the Lectio Divina session, and personally greet each of the students there.
I have learned a lot from the witness of our Archbishop, and I want to thank him for his wise, gentle, patient, friendly, and loving witness to the Catholic faith, both at St. Thomas and throughout the Archdiocese.
I encourage all the students at St. Thomas, whether they are Catholic or not, to take the opportunity to attend Lectio Divina. If you do, you’ll not only learn how to pray Lectio Divina, a beautiful form of scriptural meditation, but you’ll also get to learn from the wise and loving witness of our Archbishop. This is a unique and incredible opportunity, and I encourage you to attend Lectio Divina.