Life in a Monastery: July 2008 Archives

A month ago I arrived at The Abbey of Saint Mary to begin a time of prayer and reflection asking the question if this is the place for me to live a God-given vocation. That is, am I called to be a monk? Is there substance to the call that includes the Catholic priesthood? Do I fit into the community life as it is lived in this place, at this time in history? Mom and Dad dropped me off in June and a new life begins.

The Abbey of Saint Mary was founded in Newark, New Jersey in 1857 as a conventual priory; the Holy See raised Saint Mary's to an Abbey in1884, electing Father James Zilliox as the first abbot. On July 23, 1956 the abbey was transferred to Morristown, New Jersey, in the Diocese of Paterson. The "Saint Mary" in the title of the monastery is the "Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception."

Today, the Abbey of 47 monks is led by Abbot Giles P. Hayes, OSB; he's the tenth abbot, elected on March 8, 2006.

Monks do a wide range of things. Their first obligation is the monastic life as it is laid down by the Rule of Saint Benedict, the Constitutions of the American-Cassinese Congregation and the various customs of the house. So, the life is situated around prayer, personal and communal. The personal side of a monk's prayer life is determined individually (hence the use of "personal") and typically includes lectio divina, the rosary, Eucharistic adoration and spiritual reading. While it is not true that all of the monks do all of these pious acts all of the time, many are faithful to many of the practices on a daily basis. Lectio divina is clearly the most important prayer that a monk has to be faithful to or else his monastic life suffers.

Communally, the monks of the abbey gather in the abbey church 4 times a day for the Divine Office and the Sacrifice of the Mass. The work of the monk is not the school or any other activity. The work of the monk is the opus Dei, the Office and Mass -the source and summit of one's relationship with God lived out in the Church. The hours are for the better part of the year as a follows (the order changes in the summer and holidays):

Lauds at 6:30 am

Sext at 11:45 am

Vespers and Mass at 5:15 pm

Vigils at 7:15 pm

Compline is prayed in private

More later on the abbey and the life of the monks.