Posted on Sat, Sep. 02, 2006

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In a letter, the late abbot of Mepkin Abbey shares his final thoughts

‘I feel totally taken over by God’

By CAROLYN CLICK

cclick@thestate.com

MONCKS CORNER — The late Rev. Francis Kline, the dynamic abbot of Mepkin Abbey, was remembered Friday as a man of enormous spiritual and intellectual gifts. But in the end, it was Kline himself who had the final, sacred word at his memorial service.

In a letter read to the hundreds gathered in the Luce Gardens on the grounds of the Trappist monastery, Kline, who died Sunday at the age of 57, wrote of the cancer that had ravaged his body, his love for the Mepkin brothers and his total, abiding faith in God.

“God has spoken,” Kline said in the letter to Trappist abbots and abbesses written 13 days before his death. “His Word has changed me into a contemplative which I never thought I would become. By that I mean I feel totally taken over by God. Quite literally I have no one else. Nor do I wish for anyone else.”

On a cloudless day, the words soared out over the bluffs along the Cooper River and the land Kline treasured. One by one, speakers told of a man deeply engaged in the monastic life even as he held influence outside the boundaries of the abbey.

He was remembered for his work in conserving the more than 3,000 acres of Mepkin in perpetuity, and also ensuring thousands of acres of pristine Lowcountry land would be preserved, including Bonneau’s Ferry and Strawberry Chapel.

Kline, a Juilliard-trained musician, was also remembered for his gift of music, for the stirring organ recitals he gave, for his commitment to the arts and to the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

“He was our own St. Francis,” Gov. Mark Sanford said, as he drew comparisons to the 12th century St. Francis of Assisi.

Kline was the third abbot of Mepkin, an 18-century rice plantation given to the Trappist order in 1949 by publisher Henry R. Luce and his wife, Clare Boothe Luce. The Roman Catholic monks belong to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and adhere to the Rules of St. Benedict of Nursia, the 5th century monk who set down guidelines for monastic living.

Under Kline’s guidance, Mepkin became a sought-after place of contemplation and education for people of all faiths.

He was born Joseph Paul Kline Dec. 21, 1948, in Philadelphia Pa., to Joseph P. Kline and Vanetta Hiltner Kline, who survive him. Educated in Roman Catholic schools, Kline entered the Juilliard School with intentions of becoming a world-class organist. That he did, although two years after graduation, he decided to abandon a professional career and enter the Trappist monastery of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where he took the name Francis. He was appointed the third abbot of Mepkin in 1990.

He had a “deep and abiding” love for monastic living, said Sister Bridget Sullivan, general superior of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, and it was his hope that more men and women would choose the contemplative path.

In the letter read by Father Stanislaus Gumula, one of the 21 Mepkin brothers, Kline reflected the peace that had descended upon him as a result of his immersion in monastic life.

“Now that some months have passed, we are learning to trust the time God gives and to plan for the future and not weep about the past,” he wrote. “Instead, we weep with joy about the future, God’s future, not Mepkin’s.”

Friday’s ecumenical memorial service is one of three set to remember Kline. A private funeral Mass was celebrated in the Abbey Church on Wednesday for the Mepkin brothers and Kline’s family, which include his parents, two brothers and their wives and nieces and nephews. He is buried on the grounds of the Mepkin Church, next to the first abbot of Mepkin. A simple cross and spray of roses marks the grave.

On Sept. 11, a Eucharistic Mass will be held at 7 p.m. at Christ Our King Church in Mount Pleasant.

Reach Click at (803) 771-8386.