A monk is a man who dedicates his life to seek union with God through work and prayer in a monastic community. The monks at Saint Andrew’s Abbey live in imitation of the early Christian communities: “they devoted themselves… to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

In a monastic community, all the members are monks. A priest is a monk who is also ordained to celebrate the sacraments. A brother is a monk who is not ordinated.

Our primary work is prayer, but we engage in a variety of other work and ministries. Some of us work outside the Abbey assisting at local parishes and chaplaincies or teaching at universities. Here at the Abbey, we offer retreats and spiritual direction. Some of us serve in managerial roles or focus on manual labor. We also run a ceramics gift shop as a way to support ourselves.

Every monastery has an “horarium” or daily schedule that the monks follow. At Saint Andrew’s Abbey, we gather as a community five times a day in our chapel where we pray the Liturgy of the Hours and celebrate Mass. We also spend time during the morning and evening doing lectio divina, a slow contemplative reading of the Scriptures that draws the monk into the presence of God. Our common and private prayer is intertwined with manual labor and study, so that the entire day can take on the character of Divine Praise.

Yes we do. Family and friends can also visit us at the monastery.

We take vows of obedience, stability and “conversatio morum” (conversion of life). We do not take a vow of silence, but we do observe silence for twelve hours every day. Our vows and life is based on the Rule of Saint Benedict.

No. Our life of celibacy allows us to give our love exclusively to Christ and His Church. “The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a ‘more intimate’ consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ’s faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 916).

It typically takes at least five years. For a more detailed overview of the process, visit our page about the stages of formation.