Thursday, January 24, 2013 Around the diocese Southern Cross, Page 11FeAture

Rita H. DeLorme

Belmont Abbey’s beaconBelmont Abbot Emeritus Oscar Burnett, OSB:

“His Golden Years have burnished his love for God, Church and Family”

In September, 2008, Abbot Oscar Burnett, OSB, was a particularly happy choice as speaker at the Red Mass - the Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit - offered annually at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist for the edification of lawyers and other judiciary members. The Savannah native, now abbot emeritus, was abbot at Belmont Abbey, North Carolina, from 1991 to 1999. In the course of his career as a religious, he “filled virtually every office of importance in the mon-astery,” according to the Abbey’s online site.

Abbot Oscar, one of five children of Oscar C. Burnett, Sr. and Nell Wheeler Burnett, attended Sacred Heart School and Benedictine Military School in Savannah and served for two years in the U.S. Air Force. Following his military service, he enrolled at Armstrong College (now Armstrong Atlantic State University), and the Off-Campus Division of University of Georgia at Savannah, and graduated from Emory University’s Lamar School of Law.

After graduating, the new lawyer was associated with Crawford & Company Insurance Adjusters in Atlanta. In 1951, he opened his own office in Savannah. Six years later, he left his successful practice to become a Benedictine monk. While preparing for the priesthood, Burnett utilized his legal background in teaching Advanced Business Law at Belmont Abbey College. He was ordained a priest on December 22, 1962, at Belmont Abbey Cathedral by Bishop Francis J. Reh of Charleston.

Fifty years later, in the homily he gave at the Red Mass in 2008, Abbot Oscar answered the question of why he decided to enter the religious life. His humorous reply to those who inquired was that his former clients were getting out of the penitentiary and it was time for him to seek sanctuary. “There

was a grain of truth,” he noted. “The fundamen-tal meaning of sanctuary comes from the Latin word sanctus, meaning holy. The first meaning is sacred space; the second is: a place of ref-uge.”

“A restless and unfulfilled attorney practicing man’s law, I decided to undertake the chal-lenge of God’s law,” Abbot Oscar added. How well he took up this challenge has been

evident throughout his life as a religious. With his patron, Saint Oscar – a ninth-century Benedictine monk - as example, the new Benedictine moved toward his goal and stated ambition: to be a good man. At the Golden Jubilee of Abbot Oscar’s ordi-nation as priest, on November 10, 2012, Abbot Placid Solari, OSB – who succeeded Abbot Oscar - observed that the church where the ceremony was taking place (Basilica of Mary Help of Christians) had become a Minor Basilica because of his prede-cessor’s leadership. Abbot Placid also recalled that, when Belmont Abbey College wasn’t faring well, Abbot Oscar “courageously addressed the issue in the Board of Trustees, and took up the office of president.” Abbot Placid concluded: “Anyone who holds the college dear owes Abbot Oscar an incal-culable debt of gratitude.”

Abbot Oscar Burnett’s years at Belmont saw him assuming other duties as well as those of abbot and president of Belmont Abbey College. Over time, he was prior, sub prior, novice master, and

procurator. At the college, he was teacher, dean, chief administrator… the list goes on. His ministry extended to leadership in inter-faith relations and the Ecumenical Institute then operated jointly by Belmont Abbey College and Wake Forest Institute.

Product of a sensible, upright family, Abbot Oscar went along his way, leading by example. Recently, a comment about this seventh abbot of Belmont Abbey appeared on “Your Daily Tripod: Serve God” ( http://yourdailytripod.blogspot.com ) that illustrates the regard former students at Belmont have for him. A contributor to this blog surmises that the former abbot might have risen “through the halls of power” if he hadn’t chosen to enter religious life, adding that “Abbot Oscar to this day serves as a beacon on the hill – teaching us that we cannot serve two masters.”

J. Kevin Roland, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Savannah and a good friend of Abbot Oscar, observes: “Oscar Burnett is prayerful, reflective and a gentleman of kindly ways. A friendship with Oscar is a friendship for life. His Golden Years have burnished his love for God, Church and Family.”

Columnist Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the

Diocesan Archives. She can be reached at rhdelorme@diosav.org.

Open House Sunday, January 27, 2013

12:30pm in the Parish Center

Lunch Provided, Presentation & Tour

7020 Concord Road, Savannah, GA 31410

(912)897-5224

Registration Wednesday, February 6

We invite you to come and join one of the most exciting schools in Savannah!