By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News
“Be faithful.”
That was the simple response of Abbot Peter Novecosky on the day before he died, when Archbishop Donald Bolen asked him if he had a final word to leave his brother monks at St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster.
Presiding at the late Abbot’s funeral, Bolen said that at this point it was not easy for Novecosky to respond –“speaking was hard” – therefore, the words that were spoken were both intentional and reflective.
“The word he spoke to us – ‘be faithful’ – is a word for us to hold. For the Lord has been very faithful to our brother, has been faithful to the Abbey, has been faithful to our communities, has been faithful to each of us.”
Abbot Peter Novecosky, OSB, died on the Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aug. 14, 2024 at the age of 79 years.
At the funeral Mass Aug. 20 at St. Augustine Parish in Humboldt, SK, Bolen welcomed Novecosky’s sisters and family members, monks and other religious, priests and bishops, friends and parishioners, and invited them to a prayerful reflection about God’s action in the life of Abbot Peter Novecosky and in the lives of those around him.
“Abbot Peter is so woven into the life of this community of Humboldt, this region: especially the Catholic community of this region,” noted Bolen.
The youngest of eight children of Martin and Elizabeth Novecosky, Abbot Peter was given the name Wilfred when he was born April 27, 1945 at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Humboldt. Growing up in a farming family, he attended Willow Ridge School and St. Scholastica Catholic Church in the Burr district south of Humboldt. He attended high school and first year university at nearby St. Peter’s College in Muenster, which was operated by the Benedictine monastery.
At the age of 18, Novecosky asked to join the monastery, making his vows as a monk in 1964. “Like the apostle Peter, our Peter too had a change of name,” said Bolen. “He was given the name Peter. And like the apostle, he heard himself being called: he followed.”
Bolen noted that joining the Benedictines in the 1960s meant that Novecosky studied and entered monastic life at a turbulent time. “We see something of that sustaining and stabilizing faith from his monastic life, in the midst of many transitions.”
Twenty-two of Novecosky’s classmates at St. John’s Abbey in the United States eventually left monastic life – but the three from St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster all persevered, which was a point of some pride, said Bolen.
After his ordination in 1970, Novecosky’s first assignment was as a teacher and prefect at St. Peter’s College. When the boarding school closed in 1972 he was “off to the printing press, to formation work, to hospitality work, to the work of serving as prior, “ listed Bolen.
Then in 1990, following the resignation of Abbot Jerome Weber, OSB, Novecosky was elected Abbot of the monastery and Abbot-Ordinary of St. Peter’s Abbacy (Nullius), which looked after parishes throughout the region.
“As Abbot, his life expanded – expanded beyond the local community, beyond the Abbey. As Ordinary of the Abbacy, we see something of the way in which sometimes in the life of discipleship the Lord leads us into an expansive place, and then sometimes leads us into places of diminishment. Abbot Peter experienced both,” said Bolen.
“He became a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops; he was asked to serve on national committees. He became the national spiritual director for the Catholic Women’s League of Canada, who by coincidence gathered in Saskatoon just a week ago, and prayed for him,” said Bolen. “He took part in abbots’ meetings in the United States and in Rome, visited Brazil when the mission was taking place there. He took part in the Ad Limina visits to Rome with the western Bishops.”
“Starting in 1992 he took on the job which he carried until the end,” as secretary for the Association of Western Canadian bishops. “Whenever we met, he met with us. He took copious notes. He provided all kinds of administrative responsibilities,” Bolen described. “He was enormously appreciated by brother bishops in the West and the North. It is not surprising that we have many bishops here today, including bishops who have travelled a very long way to be here.”
Novecosky’s responsibilities and involvements at a wider level were also reflected in his work at the Prairie Messenger, the weekly Catholic newspaper published by the Abbey, “which helped to shape the horizons of our faith in this province at this time of transition,” said Bolen. He was the last editor of the Catholic newspaper, which closed down in April 2018.
“Abbot Peter was above all a monk. He was deeply committed to the monastic life, its rhythm of work and prayer – ora et labora – its striving for God in all things,” said Bolen. As a leader, Novecosky “let the rhythms of monastic life mould him, and bring stability, even in the midst of great change or tension.”
In 1998 another challenge came for the Abbey when it ceased to be a territorial Abbacy. “Parishes in the region, including this one, which had been served by monks were now incorporated into the diocese of Saskatoon,” said Bolen.
St. Peter’s Abbey remains “written into the life of faith for the people of this region,” the archbishop said. “Your relationship with the Abbey is part of your parishes, part of what it is to be Catholic…. The monastery has shaped so many of us and has had such a foundational and good influence. Abbot Peter was very much a part of that.”
Bolen continued: “He chose as his personal motto as Abbot ‘My heart is ready, O God.’ It is another version of Mary’s Fiat – ‘let it be done unto me according to your will’ – ‘My heart is ready, O God’ — ready for whatever life brings, ready to serve.”
“Abbot Peter’s death is a cause for grief, it is a loss for the monastery, it is a loss for the family, and it also signals a change which has been happening in our communities. It symbolically speaks of changing foundations of the Church here on the Prairies,” Bolen said. However, in the context of the Paschal Mystery of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, “the Lord calls us not to despair – God is up to something bigger. There are times of growth, there are times of letting go… Now let us hear the Lord say to Abbot Peter: ‘Peter Wilfred, come, follow me.’”
Before leading the final prayer of commendation at the conclusion of the funeral Mass, Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen described being “the last bishop of Saskatoon to experience Abbot Peter’s tremendous pastoral help and wisdom.” He added: “We benefited greatly from his wisdom, his pastoral insight, he was on our diocesan College of Consultors, he served on the Council of Priests, and in many other ways he made a considerable impact” in the province, throughout Western Canada and beyond.
Related: Obituary – Abbot Peter Novecosky LINK
Related: Live-stream from Schuler-Lefebvre Funeral Chapel LINK
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