Prayer

We PRAY!  MONKS PRAY! That's our primary work!!! When people ask us what we primarily do each day, we simply tell them we pray! We are men who have been called by God to live a radical ascetical life committed to prayer-- personal and communal. Whereas an average person might wake up each day, eat, go to work, see family, enjoy recreation, and then intersperse their day with prayer... we monks are completely the opposite!  Our whole day is structured FIRST around prayer and only THEN do we intersperse IT with work or eating or recreation. Notice the perspective difference! For us monks, our perspective or orientation is one that is "eschatological"... always aiming for God, praise of Him through prayer, and seeking the Lord as we await Christ's return.

This is why monastics are called "contemplative" because of our ongoing orientation to contemplate the mysteries of God. Even the use of our black habit reminds us that our monastic life is one where we die to our own selfish pursuits and orient ourselves solely to and for God. For that reason, we gather to pray communally five times a day in choir as we seek to join our meager voices to those of the angels giving praise to God. This is known as our "Opus Dei" for "Work of God." St. Benedict reminded us that we are to prefer NOTHING to this Opus Dei. This is primarily the praying of the biblical psalms, recitation of scripture, and often uses Gregorian chant for which we are known. We also spend time in personal prayer using Lectio Divina, our distinctive biblical form of monastic prayer from the early Church, as well as biblical studies throughout the day. Some monks might also undertake other devotionals such as a Holy Hour, the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, or sacred reading of other devotional texts.

Thus, our Benedictine monastic life is a contemplative life of communal and private prayer, Lectio Divina, biblical study, and manual labor. Feel free to explore here a bit more of how we pray, when you can come to pray with us, or allow us to pray for you and your needs.