The Journey of a Monastic Vocation
Are you interested in exploring the monastic life? First thing’s first: contact us! Let us know you are interested in learning more about the Benedictine life here at Saint John’s Abbey. Second thing to know: in the Catholic Church, discerning your vocation is a process of learning, praying, building relationships, and making a choice. As you explore the monastic life, there is no commitment beyond honest, prayerful discernment. After learning what you can about the monastic life, if you decide it’s not for you, that’s OK. If however, you discover the beginnings of a foundation to continue building you faith and relationship with God upon, then there’s a next step.
Monastic Candidate
A candidate has expressed interest in joining the community for the purpose of more fully discerning a call to the monastic life. Candidates live and pray with the community for three months, following the monastic lifestyle as best they are able. Candidates pray the liturgy of the hours (also called the divine office) and learn the traditional meditation on scripture called “lectio divina.” Importantly, this is a phase of vocation discernment, not a commitment to become a monk. Some men spend the three months in prayer with the community and discover they have a call elsewhere. Others however, led by the Spirit and encouraged by the community, apply for admission to the novitiate.
Novice Monk
A novice monk is clothed in the habit and welcomed as brother, though he is in vows yet. Continuing to pray with the community at the liturgy of the hours, and advance his practice of lectio divina, novices live as monks in the novitiate under the guidance of the director of formation for a year. He learns through classes, lectures, experience, and reflection about life in this monastery and about himself. If after a year he decides that this community is for him, and the community decides by vote that he is for it, he professes temporary vows for one to three years (sometimes longer) and becomes a junior monk.
Junior Monk
Accepted into the community for this final phase of discernment, a junior monk makes temporary vows once again. Continuing under the guidance of the director of formation, but with more liberty to explore the monastic life in his own way, junior monks advance their study of monasticism and theology and work in community apostolates. After three years he decides whether he wants to make solemn lifetime vows, or he asks to extend his temporary vows. The community decides by vote whether to accept him into full membership in the monastic community.
Senior Monk
A senior monk is a full member of the monastic community. He has made solemn vows to help guide his vocation for the rest of his life, and commit him to his community. No longer guided by the director of formation, senior monks are well practiced in the spiritual life of the abbey, praying as a community in the Church, but also in private practices like lectio divina. Senior monks follow careers suited to their abilities and interests. Some are priests, serving the needs of the Saint John’s community, but also many may live or commute to minister to parishes or wherever needed. Some monks work in the apostolates of Saint John’s as high school teachers or university professors, writers and publishers, craftsmen and land mangers, and some even live away from the monastery as researchers, advisors, and graduate students.