Becoming a Benedictine

Becoming a Benedictine Monk

"See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of life..." RB Prologue

What are the stages to become a monk?

The Postulancy

A candidate who asks to join the Belmont community is invited to spend an initial period of time as a Postulant under the guidance of the Novice Master. This is a time of discernment on the part of the Postulant and the Community. The newcomer and the community have a chance to get to know each other. Postulants share the life and work of the novitiate and take full part in the Community’s liturgy and prayer. Church law says that it is necessary to have an adequate knowledge of the Christian faith and sufficient physical health, maturity and psychological stability to take the next step in becoming a novice. The Postulancy might be expected to last 9 months but is free to leave at any time.

Clothing

The beginning of the novitiate is marked by the "clothing" of the Postulant to become a Novice. It takes place in the Chapter Room.

Arriving at the Chapter Room in his lay-clothes, the candidate is given the monastic habit to wear, for centuries the traditional garb of the Benedictine monk: tunic and belt, scapular and hood.

The Abbot gives the novice a copy of the Rule saying: "Receive the Rule of our holy father Benedict; listen carefully, my son, to the master's instruction, and attend to them with the ear of your heart."

The Novitiate

The Novitiate is a time of discernment to help the Novice discover if he is ready to commit himself to the monastic life. It is designed to give time and space to foster a life of prayer through the practice of lectio divina, and the liturgy. Studies would include the Sacred Scriptures – including the Psalms, the Rule of St Benedict and monastic history and tradition. Gaining from the experience of monks who have lived the life for many years, the novice would seek to grow in self-knowledge and an ability to live with compassion and sensitivity with others. Work is generally in the service of the community including household jobs, gardening and practical tasks. The novice remains free to leave at any time while he discerns if he has a true vocation to live the monastic life at Belmont.

Temporary Vows

If the novice wishes to commit himself to the monastic life, the whole community will consider his application before he can make his Profession which is a temporary commitment for a period of three years. The monk promises stability, obedience and conversatio morum, the traditional Benedictine vows.

What are the vows?

Stability

The vow of stability is unique to monastic communities. What this means is that the monastery where the monk makes profession is home for the rest of his life. Unlike other religious, the monk belongs to a particular community and not an order, and would not be transferred from one religious house to another.

It is true that some monks are sent out to do work in parishes or abroad, but the monastery where he professed will always be "home", and the community will always be their "family" to which they return from time to time. This aspect of the monastic life may be particularly attractive today. The vow of stability binds one to this community for life. In the flux and change of contemporary life many find such stability a source of strength and peace. Although some monks of Belmont may live and work outside in parishes or even abroad, the monastery will always be their 'home'.

The word "obedience" has behind it the Latin verb "to listen". By the vow of obedience the monk undertakes to listen deeply to God, which is the fundamental conversation going on in our lives. That conversation primarily goes on in our listening to the voice of God in the Scriptures and in prayer, but often that voice of God is mediated in human relationships.

The monk undertakes to listen to the Abbot, who is believed to take the place of Christ in the monastery and to the other members of the Community. This deep listening sometimes tells us that we are not to do what is easiest or most comfortable for ourselves, but to think of the greater good of the community, or even what is better for ourselves, which sometimes we are slow to realise. This deep listening and responding is the living out of obedience.
Obedience

The word "obedience" has behind it the Latin verb "to listen". By the vow of obedience the monk undertakes to listen deeply to God, which is the fundamental conversation going on in our lives. That conversation primarily goes on in our listening to the voice of God in the Scriptures and in prayer, but often that voice of God is mediated in human relationships.

The monk undertakes to listen to the Abbot, who is believed to take the place of Christ in the monastery and to the other members of the Community. This deep listening sometimes tells us that we are not to do what is easiest or most comfortable for ourselves, but to think of the greater good of the community, or even what is better for ourselves, which sometimes we are slow to realise. This deep listening and responding is the living out of obedience.
Conversatio Morum

The third vow, conversatio morum , can literally be translated as "conversion of life", although its exact meaning is much debated, so it is often left in its Latin form. It means being faithful to the monastic way, being true to a single-hearted quest for God.

Although monks do not take them explicitly, it encompasses the other traditional vows which all religious profess - chastity and poverty. We do not marry to be free for God, and our life should be marked by simplicity and frugality, avoiding an ever-increasing accumulation of possessions but holding what we have in common.

If we do remain faithful to the monastic way, St Benedict promises us that "as we progress in our monastic life and our faith the heart expands and we run along the way of God's commandments with a delight of love that cannot be described"

Juniorate

He is now no longer a novice, but a ‘Junior.’ However he continues to live his monastic life amongst the novices under the guidance of the Novice Master, further deepening his monastic studies.

After this he will normally begin theological and philosophical studies and be immersed in the wider works of the community, including its pastoral aspect.

Solemn Profession

After three years, a junior may ask to make his Final Profession of monastic vows for life. With solemn vows the monk becomes a member of the Chapter, and has the right and duty to discuss and vote on issues concerning the community.

We still follow the rite as described by St Benedict in the 6th Century. "When he is to be received, he comes before the whole community in the oratory and promises stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience. This is done in the presence of God and his saints...He states his promise in a document drawn up in the name of the saints whose relics are there, and of the abbot who is present... With his own hand lays it on the altar. After he has put it there, the novice himself begins the verse: Receive me, Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; do not disappoint me in my hope (Ps 118[119]:116). The whole community repeats the verse three times, and adds 'Glory be to the Father'. Then the novice prostrates himself at the feet of each monk to ask his prayers, and from that very day he is to be counted as one of the community. RB58

Diaconate and Priesthood

Many of the monks at Belmont are ordained to the Priesthood because of the extensive pastoral work that the community undertakes, but not all monks have a vocation to the priesthood, and those who are not priests are full members of a monastic community. The Abbot decides about this at the time of Solemn Profession and philosophical and theological studies are undertaken in preparation for ordination.

Video - Becoming a Monk

Video - Monastic Profession