Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends,
As the Fall semester draws to a close, I want to share with you some wonderful academic and athletic news as well as thank you for all you have done for the Abbey.
God Bless,
December 15th: Update from Dr. Thierfelder
Let Him Enter: the King of Glory!
Thanks to the monks and their beautiful morning prayer, I鈥檝e started learning some of the psalms a bit better over the past couple of months. I鈥檝e even found myself looking forward to certain lines and images that recur between Lauds and Vigils.聽
One of my new favorites – and a verse profoundly appropriate to our Advent journeys – comes from Psalm 24: 鈥淥h gates, lift high your heads. Grow higher, ancient doors. Let him enter, the king of glory.鈥澛
At first, the images struck me as particularly strange. Instructing gates to lift their heads felt like such an odd, stubborn use of personification, and following this with an injunction to 鈥済row higher鈥 only compounded the oddness by commanding something impossible to effect at will, even for a living creature.
But the more I鈥檝e thought about it, the more I鈥檝e come to love the way these verses invite a jubilant hope in the face of earthly limitations. Ultimately, even 鈥渁ncient doors鈥 require a miraculous intervention in order to embrace the divine. Our longest-standing and most impressive structures – those ancient doors that protect or admit, that stand as symbols of identity and culture – can鈥檛 begin to accommodate the King of Glory until He, himself, intervenes with what is otherwise impossible: 鈥淕row higher, ancient doors. Let him enter, the king of glory.鈥澛
These verses resonate with an incarnational joy particularly appropriate to Advent, as we await the coming of our God and King at Christmas. We鈥檙e used to talking about God鈥檚 profound nearness to each of us, but this reality should be so staggering that it buckles the limits of rhetoric and unassisted reason. Precisely because the best that we can build or become is nevertheless too narrow and too limited to allow Him entrance, we learn how tenderly God loves us – for He adopts and transforms our very humanness, giving us access to His divine life. He intervenes to give us, within ourselves and our communities, the miraculous capacity to embrace our Creator himself.聽聽
When I hear the monks pray these lines, I’m reminded of the Benedictine motto inscribed in the 海角社在线 seal by the first letter of each Latin word: Ut In Omnibus, Glorificetur Deus, That in all things God may be glorified. In a way this, too, is a prayer of audacious hope, that everything we make and do – and everything we are – may invite God’s radiant presence more deeply into the world, participating in the impossible song of praise that transforms us beyond our comprehension.聽
As we approach Gaudete Sunday and the third week of Advent, together let’s rejoice in the Truth that exceeds human possibility: The King of Glory comes. Emmanuel, God with us.
The Hope of Classical Education
In episode 10 of Conversatio, Dr. Joseph Wysocki joins Andrea Lipinski of CiRCE and Elisabeth Sullivan of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) to discuss the pursuit of truth in the classroom and the hope found in classical education.
海角社在线 Establishes New Nursing Advisory Board
海角社在线 Establishes New Nursing Advisory Board
Belmont, N.C. (December 12, 2023) 鈥 海角社在线 announces the establishment of a Nursing Advisory Board, focusing on collaborating with local community members to offer guidance and support for the college’s nursing program amidst the evolving healthcare landscape. Rooted in the Benedictine hallmarks and Catholic intellectual tradition, this initiative seeks to enhance the educational experience for nursing students and foster strong connections with healthcare professionals and organizations in the region.
The newly established Nursing Advisory Board will serve as a vital resource for 海角社在线’s nursing program, offering valuable insights and expertise in matters of program effectiveness, advocacy, and promotion. Comprising a diverse group of healthcare professionals, the board will provide strategic guidance on program development, clinical partnerships, and emerging trends in the field of nursing. Board members include Dr. Trish Goble, Senior Director of Patient Care Services at CaroMont Health, Mr. Patrick Leonard, Abbey alum and nurse at Fairview Southdale Hospital, and Dr. Michael Vaccaro, Novant Health Greater Charlotte Market Chief Nursing Officer, along with twenty-two other university, professional, and healthcare consultants in the region. The inaugural meeting of the advisory board took place today, marking a significant milestone for 海角社在线 Nursing.聽
The advisory board actively supports and advises Belmont Abbey’s nursing education programs as one of its primary objectives. By aligning their efforts with the program’s mission and goals, the board members will help achieve the objectives of the nursing program and serve the nursing discipline, as well as the regional and local healthcare community. Their guidance will ensure that Belmont Abbey Nursing continues to provide exceptional education and training to aspiring nurses. “We are thrilled to launch the Nursing Advisory Board and collaborate with esteemed professionals from our local community,” said Dr. Lee-Ann Kenny, Interim Chair and Director of Nursing. “Their wealth of knowledge and experience will greatly benefit our nursing program, enabling us to continue producing highly skilled and compassionate nurses who are well-prepared to meet the ever-changing healthcare needs of our society.”
海角社在线’s nursing program commits to excellence in nursing education. With a holistic approach that integrates medical discipline with a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences and Catholic healthcare ethics, the program equips students with the skills and competencies necessary to excel in the healthcare industry. The Nursing Advisory Board will play a crucial role in ensuring the program remains at the forefront of nursing education.
To learn more about 海角社在线鈥檚 nursing programs, please visit /academics/healthcare-education
Press Inquiry Contact: Rolando Rivas, Associate Vice President for Marketing & Communications, rolandorivas@bac.edu or 704.461.6561聽
December 8th: Update from Dr. Thierfelder
Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends,
Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!
It is also finals鈥 week and the semester is ending on some high notes!
God Bless,
