出家

Discern a vocation to the 本尼迪克特ine monastic life with a discernment retreat at Mount Angel Abbey. Through our week-long discernment retreats we seek to provide a personal experience and encounter with the monks behind the cloister. We monks of Mount Angel welcome Catholic men 18 to 45 years old who are discerning a vocation to come and join us for a three-day monastic discernment retreat.

While on retreat you can:
  • Pray with the monks
  • Join us for meals
  • Tour the monastery cloister
  • Listen to conferences on monastic life
  • Hear vocation stories from the monks
  • Spend time in quiet prayer
  • Discern your vocation with monks and other retreatants

A typical 洞察力 Retreat schedule

星期五
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Arrival: Check-in at 宾馆 Lobby
4:30 pm 欢迎 & 取向
5:10 pm 晚祷
5:45 pm 晚餐
6:45 pm Eucharistic Adoration.
7:30 pm 祝福 & Compline (Abbey church)
8:00 pm Conference: “One thing I ask” – Conversion and Vocation stories
周六
5:20 am Vigils (Abbey church)
6:30 am Lauds (Abbey church)
7:00 am 早餐
8:00 am Eucharist (Abbey church)
9:00 am Hilltop tour followed by a conference:
“The 本尼迪克特ines, Some 历史 and Background;
including the 历史 and mission of the monks of Mount Angel Abbey”
中午 ​Midday Prayer (Abbey church)
12:15 pm 午餐
2:00 pm Conference: “清规戒律 and Formation”
Group Picture after the Conference
3:30 pm Emmaus Walks with monks
5:15 pm 1st 晚祷 for 周日 (Abbey church)
5:45 pm 晚餐
6:30 pm 娱乐
7:25 pm Vigils for 周日 followed by private prayer (Abbey church)
周日
6:35 am Lauds followed by private prayer (Abbey church)
7:35 am 早餐
9:00 am Solemn High Mass (Abbey church)
10:30 am Conference: “Monastic Prayer and Spirituality”
中午 Midday Prayer (Abbey church)
12:15 pm 晚餐
1:30 pm Conference: “洞察力 and Making a Decision”
2:30 pm 离开

洞察力 of a Monastic Vocation

洞察力 to 本尼迪克特ine monastic life is best done from a pure heart and well-formed reason. It is undertaken with the help of the Holy Spirit, wise counsel from faithful people, and utilizes one’s own God-given capacity to discern. The three signs of a true vocation are desire, ability, and call.

欲望

The Scripture puts it this way, “One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4).

洞察力  to a vocation to the 本尼迪克特ine monastery of Mount Angel is not so much about “What do I want to do?” as “What does God desire for me?” The Lord wants us to know joy in this life and the fullness of joy in the life to come. Doing the will of the Father as Jesus did is what will bring us this joy. No amount of “the good things” in life or “getting what I want” will satisfy.

能力

本尼迪克特ine monastic life at Mount Angel is not for everybody. There are Church requirements and personal qualities that are needed. To become a monk of Mount Angel Abbey, one must be a single male, a high school graduate, 21 to 45 years of age, and in good physical, 精神, and spiritual health. He must be a Catholic Christian, 受洗, 确认, and practicing his faith through regular reception of the sacraments, 每天祈祷, and involvement in his parish community. He must be a resident of the United States of America, employable, and in good financial standing.

除了, the man must be able to “fit in” with the monastic community and be willing to adapt to the monastic ways of a common life in humility and simplicity and be comfortable with limitations on “世俗的方式.”

呼叫

本尼迪克特ine monastic life at Mount Angel is rigorous. Prayer and work (让我们一起努力吧!) in community define the days, months, and years in the monastery. Yet, it is a happy and fulfilling life lived among brothers who love you.

As 本尼迪克特ines, we follow the Rule of St. 本尼迪克特, which has proven to be a sure way to holiness for 1,500 years. St. 本尼迪克特 advises us, Do not grant newcomers to the monastic life an easy entry, ‘but test the spirits to see if they are from God'” (1 John 4:1). The concern must be whether the newcomer truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God (i.e., prayer), and for 服从 and trials. He should be clearly told the hardships and trials that will lead him to God(RB第58章).1-2, 7-8). At the beginning of his Rule, St. 本尼迪克特 writes, This message of mine is for you, 然后, if you are ready to give up your own will, and once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of 服从 to do battle for the true King, 主基督.”

To test your call to the monastic life, please contact the Abbey’s Director of 职业 and arrange a visit to Mount Angel Abbey.

“As we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments,
our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.”
— The Holy Rule of St. 本尼迪克特

The Basics about 本尼迪克特ine Monastic Life

What Is a 修道院?

If you have never heard of a monastery, here is the simplest answer: “A monastery is the place where monks live, 工作和祈祷.” Sometimes you hear it called an Abbey. 本尼迪克特ines call themselves “monks” and live in a monastery.

谁是和尚?

Certain men in religious orders refer to themselves as “monks.” For the 本尼迪克特ine monks of Mount Angel Abbey, 或修道院, all the members are monks but only some are ordained priests. A religious brother-monk is addressed as “Brother” and a priest-monk is addressed as “Father.” All of us are monks.

Who Is Saint 本尼迪克特?

St. 本尼迪克特 was a monk who lived from 480 to 543. He was from a town in Italy called Norcia. When he was young he went to school in Rome but decided to become a monk. First he lived alone in a cave called Subiaco. Later he became the head of a monastery at Montecassino in Italy. He was 然后 known as an abbot. While he was there he wrote a little book called The Rule. It became the rule of life for monks in other monasteries, too. Since they followed The Rule of St. 本尼迪克特, they became known as 本尼迪克特ine monks and lived in 本尼迪克特ine monasteries or abbeys.

How to Become a Monk

洞察力 –  A candidate to become a 本尼迪克特ine monk of Mount Angel is encouraged to attend at least one 3-day discernment retreat. He stays in our guesthouse, but eats and prays with the monks. He may extend his stay upon approval of the monastic vocation council and live inside the cloister for a week, joining the monks in prayer, work and recreation. This is also the period where one seeks approval to apply to enter the monastery.

Postulancy – A candidate is received to live inside the cloister at Mount Angel Abbey. He receives a tunic and follows the daily monastic horarium (schedule, and is assigned housework while he seriously discerns his monastic vocation in our 本尼迪克特ine monastic community.

见习 – As the novice continues his quest to know God’s will for him, he is provided with an in-depth focus on the customs, 历史, and traditions of monasticism at Mount Angel. He also studies Scripture, the Psalms, and the Rule of St. 本尼迪克特. The novice receives a scapular and will be presented to the monastic Chapter after one year to petition to make simple vows.

Juniorate – A junior monk at the 本尼迪克特ine monastery of Mount Angel Abbey makes simple vows for three years and commits to live out his monastic vows with fidelity and fervor. He receives a full habit and a new name to mark his transformation to a life according to the way of the Gospel and the Rule of St. 本尼迪克特.

庄严的宣誓 – This final taking of solemn vows is for life. It is a lifelong commitment to live the commands of the Gospel through fidelity to the 本尼迪克特ine monastic vows of 服从, 稳定, and ongoing 转换 of life. The monk may aspire to respond to the call of Holy Orders as a fruit of his monastic gift.

Somehow a monastery evokes something and people are curious:
“What is a monk and what do they do?”

清规戒律

我们的 服从 is to Christ and his Church. We live this 服从 under a Rule and an abbot, who rules the 本尼迪克特ine monks of Mount Angel Abbey’s monastery more by example than by legislation. The purpose of the Holy Rule of St. 本尼迪克特 is to provide assistance and guidance in following the Holy Gospel.

稳定 has been described as the vow that stops us from running from the Cross. Community life lived in charity is a great deal of hard work, but God always supplies us sufficient grace and love to resolve human difficulties, and in the process, our transformation is ensured.

The vow of “conversatio” is a promise to daily follow the 本尼迪克特ine monastic way of life, which is very much about 转换. If the Holy Rule presumes anything, it is that by God’s grace – and our cooperation with it – change is possible. Over the years, even entrenched vices can be transformed into virtues.

An Introduction to the Divine Office

方丈杰里米 Driscoll, O.S.B., explains the Liturgy of the 小时, also called the Divine Office, as it is prayed daily by the 本尼迪克特ine monks of Mount Angel. Composed of psalms, 咏, antiphons and prayers, the Liturgy of the 小时 finds its historical roots in the ancient and venerable prayer of the synagogue.

View more on our YouTube频道.