Men and women who join other orders in the church are looking for a life of service, perhaps of corporal works of mercy, or of teaching, of health care, of defending the faith, or of spreading the faith. There are many different forms of service.

Not so the Monk. A man or a woman called to the monastic life is seeking God. That is all that the Rule of Benedict asks. The monk does this through worship, through study and Lectio Divina, and through work which supports the life community. The monk also discovers the self, wrestling with the inner self and learning to face one's own self more intimately than most people are willing to experience.

This also makes the monastic a person who doesn't meet the expectations of the society in which he or she lives. Monks live under a rule and an abbot, sharing all in a "community of goods." And even monks who do work outside of the monastery, be it as pastors, teachers, chaplains, or as students, do so without the normal accouterments deemed necessary in our modern world.

In these pages you will discover some of the ways monks of Assumption Abbey serve the church and the local community.