Silence is an indespensable quality of monastic life and an essential means to seek God. At Assumption Abbey we strive to let it circumscribe our whole way of life. To achieve this ideal we arrange for silence in specific places and times so as to enhance our spirit of recollection and foster prayer and union with God.

Most monks can tell you silence is not easy. It is not easy to find, probably because it is not easy to keep. In silence we face ourselves and the many “voices” in our heads. In silence we sit down and face our Maker, who waits for us. In silence we sit prayerfully with the Scriptures, and let them examine us.

A good Christian practice, a good Benedictine practice is to be discerning about the place of sound and the place of silence in our lives. How much day-time silence do we have? Are we silence-starved, living in a noisy world? How can we cultivate some oases of silence in
our homes, in our schedules, for our well-being and that of our loved ones?

Indeed, so important is silence that permission to speak should seldom be granted even to mature disciples, no mater how good or holy or constructive their talk. Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 6.