A New Novice

"What do you seek?"
"The mercy of God and of the Order."

With these simple words Charles asked Robert -- or in more formal terms, a Postulant who had been approved formally and publicly petitioned the Superior of the Order -- to be admitted as a Novice.

It's a pretty impressive service. We approved it for use many years ago, but I had not seen it before. The elements are the request and response, reading of portions of the Rules, asking then if he is ready to enter the monastic life, asking those assembled if they will uphold him, the blessing of the habit, a hymn while he and the Novice Master (me) go to the sacristy and put it on him, then a blessing. There is a moment of drama at the end -- the new novice comes back into the Church with his hood up, walking in through the guest court. At the blessing the NM lowers his hood. Then the NM leads him to each of the brethren in turn and the Peace is exchanged. Br. Randy took some wonderful pictures that you can find here.

There's a lot tied up in such a moment, but chiefly Charles's own life leading to that point and the hopes of the Community for him. Charles is a deeply serious person with a clear commitment to give this a good strong try. The Community wants him to succeed.

Each one of us in OHC, indeed, every monk at some point, has gone through this rite, with the essentials the same even if the words are a little different. When I was clothed, in March of 1974, I believe at least 3 of the original class of 10 had dropped out, so there were 7 of us. We weren't formally Benedictine at that point, though we were talking about it even then. The habit was different -- a white tunic with a black girdle knotted on the side and hanging to about eight inches from the floor, a hoodless scapular and a pellice -- a strange garment, a sort of short cape with no opening at the front that came not quite to the waist, a triangular point in the back, and the hood. The Benedictine habit is much simpler. I really don't remember what went through my mind at that point. For me the big moment was becoming a postulant six months before, on Sept. 5, 1973, and that is the day I count as my entrance into monastic life, even if it is not the official date, because it is the day I started to live the monastic life.

I was moved by the readings from the Rules. From Benedict, the beginning of the Prologue (Bede read) and the next to last chapter, 72, The Good Zeal of Monks, which is an almost lyrical prose meditation on community (Ronald). From Fr. Huntington, excerpts on Obedience (Scott), Poverty (which I read), and Study (Randy). For each of them Charles faced the reader and it was clear that we were inviting him to join the monastic project, but only if he understood well enough what he was getting into. I was struck by these moments, left wondering at the solemnity of these declarations and of Charles's eagerness to join us.

I sometimes think there aren't many people who want to join the monastic project, who want to undertake obedience, poverty, study, to join themselves to a sort of monastic militia, the image Benedict uses in the Prologue. But they do keep coming. We have an aspirant coming for a two week visit on Monday.

What sort of men became Holy Cross Benedictines? Well, there are the obvious qualifications: male, between 25 and 50 more or less, in good physical and psychological health, free of family and other relational obligations, out of debt, a practicing Anglican or in communion with us, finished with your education to your satisfaction (i.e., if you want to go to seminary and get ordained, it would be better to do that first!). Those are the objective qualifiers. The subjective ones are more nebulous. The three most important are: wanting to be united with God through Jesus Christ; wanting to be a monk in some realistic way (do you love prayer, silence, the Scriptures, praying the Daily Office, good honest and sometimes hard work, obeying someone else when you don't especially want to, etc?); and able to live constructively in community with others, which has a LOT of subheadings.

OHC wants new members. We are thrilled when a likely type shows up (nowadays usually after finding out about us on the internet) and begins to form a relationship with the community, which is the usual way vocations proceed. But we have been blessed with a lot of shared experience as a community. We've seen a lot of men come and go, and some of them have stayed, but not all, and that's ok. What we know is that God is leading every one of us in ways we don't always understand, so every journey is a worthwhile journey, even if it does not lead to the monastery.

But I certainly hope and pray that some journeys do lead here. Being a monk is not for everyone, but it is for some people, and perhaps for more people than realize it now. It is a good thing to be, a good thing to do with your life. I am so glad for Charles. And I know that the Holy Spirit is working on some others, perhaps not a few, working in their hearts, planting the spark that can burst into flame when the moment is right.

Seeking the mercy of God is a good place to start.