Vespers and Benediction

In honor of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, join the Benedictine Monks as we pray Vespers, the evening Psalms and Canticles, in the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament on the Vigil of the Feast of St. Joseph in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Monaca on Thursday March 18, 2021 at 7:00PM.

Father Joseph Adams, OSB will lead our prayer and devotions, and our evening praises will be enhanced by monastic chant under the direction of Fr. Cyprian Constantine, OSB, Choirmaster and Principal Organist of St. Vincent Archabbey.  We hope that you will join us for this celebration!

[Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HEO6BaSFRU to view a video of this Solemn Vespers and Benediction Service.]



Fr. Joseph Adams, OSB
Fr. Joseph Adams attended St. Catherine Laboure Parochial School in Wheaton, Maryland and was a 1982 graduate of Wheaton High School.  After high school he served in the United States Air Force, and entered the Benedictine monastic community of Saint Vincent in 1996.

He made a simple profession of vows on July 10, 1997 at St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica, and solemn profession of vows on July 11, 2000.  He earned a bachelor of arts degree in history from St. Vincent College in 2001.  In 2002 he began emergency medical technician and licensed practical nurse training at Bowman Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.  In 2003 he began studies in facilities management and electronics at Triangle Tech, Pittsburgh.  He studied at St. Vincent Seminary beginning in 2005 and received the master of divinity degree in 2009.  Made a deacon on August 9, 2008, he was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 2009 by Most Rev. Lawrence E. Brandt, Bishop of Greensburg, in the archabbey basilica.

All throughout this time he continued to have the desire to serve his country and became a United States Army Reservist as an EMT and field medic, and now serves in the Reserves as a chaplain.  Fr. Joe, a US Army Reserves captain, was called for active duty at various times and deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Jordan.

A man of many hats, over the years he has served as a miller at and then building manager of St. Vincent Gristmill; socius of novices; fire captain thru to chief with the St. Vincent Fire Department; St. Vincent College resident’s hall director; assistant director of vocations; an electrician’s assistant; and a director of public safety as well as an assistant pastor.

Fr. Adams was born on December 12, 1964 in Silver Spring, Maryland and is the son of Paul V. and Rita A. Adams of Lusby, Maryland. He has two brothers, Paul L. Adams of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and David T. Adams of Gaithersburg, Maryland; and two sisters, Julie M. Gonzales of Dale City, Virginia and Jennifer M. Adams of Lusby, Maryland.


Fr. Cyprian Constantine, OSB
Fr. Cyprian Constantine, a native of Boulder, Colorado, has been a member of the Benedictine monastic community since 1971. Father studied piano and violin at an early age before undertaking organ studies.  He earned a bachelor of music education degree in 1971 at the University of Colorado, where he studied violin with Oswald Lehnert and organ with Don Vollstedt.  He went on to earn a master of divinity degree from St. Vincent Seminary in 1976 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1977.

Upon receiving a master of music degree from Northwestern University in 1979, having studied organ with Wolfgang Rübsam, Fr. Cyprian was named organist/director of music for Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg the same year.  He returned to the Archdiocese of Denver in 1993 and served as organist at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and as director of liturgy for the Archdiocese.  Later, he returned to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he received the doctor of musical arts degree in organ in 1992.  While a doctoral student at Colorado University, Father Cyprian not only served as organist/choirmaster and parochial vicar for Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Boulder, but also as organist/director of music at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Denver.

Fr. Constantine has appeared a number of times as organ recitalist in the St. Vincent College Concert Series as  well as other places around the country such as Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Pittsburgh; Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg; the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.; Whatley Chapel at the University of Denver; St. Paul and Our Savior Lutheran churches, Trinity Methodist, and First Baptist churches in the Denver area; and as dedicatory recitalist in Covington, Kentucky and Baltimore, Maryland, as well as in Rome, Italy.

Fr. Cyprian is principal organist and instructor in music for the monastery novices, assistant professor of fine arts, and Music Department Chairman at St. Vincent College.  He is the director of the Archabbey Schola and the liturgical formation director as well as a faculty member for St. Vincent Seminary.


Benedictine Monastic Schola
The members of the Benedictine Monastic Schola will include Fr. Jean-Luc Zadroga, Fr. Canice McMullen, Fr. Joachim Morgan, and Fr. Thomas More Sikora.


(All must abide by diocesan and CDC directives which include wearing masks, sanitizing, and practicing social distancing.  We will continue to be vigilant in doing our part to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.  Please note this paraliturgy is subject to change in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines.)