Fr. Jay Kythe, O.S.B.

About

Hometown: New Orleans, LA

Date of Profession: First Profession on December 8, 2014 (Solemn Profession December 9, 2017)

College: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

College Major: BA in Computer Science and Mathematics

Graduate School: Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, OH and The Saint Paul Seminary School of Theology in Saint Paul, MN

Graduate Degree: MA in Philosophy and Masters of Divinity

Previous Jobs: Associate Pastor and Pastor of various parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as a Diocesan Priest and a member of the priestly fraternity The Companions of Christ

Patron Saint: Saint John of the Cross

Favorite Movie: The Shawshank Redemption

Favorite Books: The Lord of the Rings

Favorite Music: Cello Classical

Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Watercolor, Calligraphy

Favorite Way to Pray: Lectio Divina

Favorite Devotion: The Stations of the Cross and the Rosary

Place of Pilgrimage you Most Want to Visit and Why: Holy Sites in Spain, especially to pray at the tomb of Saint John of the Cross -- I am moved by the stories of Spanish saints and mystics

What drew you to St. Benedict's Abbey? The kindness and hospitality of the monks first drew me to the Abbey, which opened the door to see this place as a place where God desired to love me. The brick and stone spoke to me of stability in an unstable world, especially the impressive bell tower.

Favorite Verse: Ephesians 6:12-13: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.”

Favorite Quote: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt, "The Man In The Arena" Speech at the Sorbonne Paris, France April 23, 1910