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Volume 34, Number 3 |
Richardton, ND 58652 |
July 2006 |
DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
Br. Michael Taffe, O.S.B.
We monks get asked a lot of questions by visitors and tourists. Through their questions we come to realize how little people know about us and our life. I thought I would use this space to answer some of those frequently asked questions.
What is a monk?
Very simply, a monk is a single, Roman Catholic male who follows the Rule of St. Benedict, professing the vows of Obedience, Stability and Conversion of Life. He lives in a monastery (unless the needs of the Church call him to service as a pastor, teacher, chaplain, etc.) where his life is centered on communal and private prayer, lectio divina (spiritual reading), work and fellowship. These qualities make him different from a Franciscan, Jesuit, or Dominican, members of other religious Orders in the Catholic church.
What’s the difference between a Monk, a Priest and a Brother?
Again very simply, everyone who lives in a men’s monastery (an Abbey) is a monk. Some monks are priests; they have received the sacrament of Holy Orders. They are ordained by a bishop and thus celebrate Mass and the sacraments. A priest monk attends a seminary for training in theology prior to ordination to the priesthood. One would address a priest monk as “Father.” A Brother monk does not receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. He may also receive schooling in theology, but does not feel called by God to ordained service as a priest, so he does not celebrate Mass or the sacraments. He is normally addressed as “Brother.” At Assumption Abbey slighty over half the monks are priests.
How is a monk priest different from a diocesan priest?
A monk priest professes vows of Obedience, Stability and Conversion of Life: the Benedictine vows. By these vows it is understood that he will not own anything personally, will live simplicity, will not get married or enter into sexual relationships and will be attached to a specific monastery and group of monks till death. So a monk priest is associated with and ideally lives in a monastery with other monks, he owns nothing, is obedient to his Abbot and the Rule of St. Benedict; everything he needs comes from the community of monks, including car, clothing, finances. His salary goes to the monastery.
A diocesan priest promises celibacy and obedience to his bishop, lives in a rectory (usually by himself), receives a salary and benefits. He would use his salary for his car, clothing, leisure activities and anything else he needs. He can accumulate wealth and possessions. Should the Catholic Church ever change its celibacy requirement a diocesan priest could be free to marry.
Why do you wear black?
A monk wears a black habit. At the time of St. Benedict the common clothing for people included a tunic, apron and hood. Most people were poor and wore fabrics in the natural fibers available to them: black, brown or grey. Wealthy people could afford fabric dyed various colors or bleached white. So a monk would wear the black, brown or grey clothing of the poor which was the tunic, apron (scapular) and hood. Benedictines have traditionally worn black while other religious Orders like the Franciscans wear brown or grey. We wear the habit for our communal prayer, meals, meetings and anytime we leave the monastic grounds to represent the community. We do not wear the habit for work or while sleeping.
Do you pray all day?
We gather together in church for prayer four times each day: 6:20 and 11:40 a.m. and 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. There is a slight variation in the schedule on the weekends. We also have a half hour after breakfast and in the evening for private prayer and spiritual reading. So about 3 hours each day is spent in prayer. Of course, everything we do should be an offering to God and done with reverence and recollection. Prayer is the skeleton of our day, everything else flows out of it and around it. All of our communal prayer in church is open to the public.
Each monastery strives to be self-
St. Benedict advises his monks to lead a life of balance so we have periods of leisure or recreation as well. These periods follow lunch until 1:00 pm and in the evening from 6:00 till 7:00.
