If God is speaking to his people through the Scriptures, and we are part of God’s family, then God is saying something to us through each reading. That is why it is important for us to do our part during the readings of the Mass by really listening and thinking about the words of Scripture. The Word of God continues to be alive and active ( Hebrews 4:12), seeking us out and helping to draw us nearer to God. It is not something of the past that happens to narrate a stage of revelation” ( The Mass, p. Guy Oury reminds us that “The Word of God is not a document. What if the readings don’t make sense to you? Fr. Silence is an important means for the faithful to actively participate in the Mass, since it allows the opportunity to really listen with our hearts and take in God’s Word. Not only are we silent while the readings are read, but there should also be a brief silence after each of the readings. As the Diocese of Peoria’s A Study of the Mass teaches, “Even these brief moments allow us to meditate on the marvels and mysteries we just heard… In our world of ‘noise,’ this silence may seem uncomfortable to us. Yet, this is all the more reason for us to pay close attention to this detail of the sacred Liturgy” (p. Guy Oury himself died on November 2, 2000, at the age of 71.The General Instruction of the Roman Missal reminds us that silence is a very important part of the Mass. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, Massachusettes, demonstrates an appreciation by a monk who worked closely with Dom Gabriel Sortais during the lastyears of his life. Brian Kerns of the Abbey of the Genesee, near Piffard, New York. There is an admirable objectivity in the present biography, which was ably translated into English by Br. He was given all the papers in thearchives at Bellefontaine that were gathered together following Dom Gabriel's death. Guy Oury, OSB, was asked by Dom Emmanuel Coutant, the Abbot of Bellefontaine, to write the biography of his predecessor, Dom Gabriel Sortais. This book offers insight into the lives of the Trappists during the troubled times of World War II and alsothroughout the changes of Vatican Two.Fr. Oury works from the primary sources, which include witnesses and documents from the Abbey of Bellefontaine in France, where he was a monk and later abbot before being elected Abbot General of the order, as well as the archives of the Generalate in Rome.

Dom Guy Oury, a Benedictinemonk of Solesmes, has written the story with remarkableclarity. His tragic death during thecourse of Vatican Two impeded the implementation of hisvision for the whole Order. Dom Gabriel put his stamp on the order in a very personal way, a form that remains with us today despite his best efforts to bring the Order up-to-date. Dom Gabriel Sortais: An Amazing Abbot in Turbulent Times is an engaging biography of one of the most colorful Abbot Generals among the Trappists.

The Mass by Guy Oury