Every Christian should feel committed to giving a vocationally colored response to his or her baptism, according to God's will sought through prayer, spiritual discernment and a look of faith at all those signs that God does not fail to give. The monastic vocation is a particular call to seek God, within the space of a monastery, in a community of brothers, under the guidance of an abbot, in a constant commitment to conversion. After the Word of God, Rule of Rules, it is the Rule of St. Benedict that is the text that guides and characterizes our life. For the past few years, the community has been experiencing a certain vocational revival, and the presence of young monks gives impetus to the spiritual vitality of our Benedictine witness, enabling a more incisive monastic presence in the local church.

The traditional pattern of the Benedictine motto "ora et labora" rhythms our daily living, characterizes its timetable and connotes the logistical spaces of the community (choir, workplaces, refectory, chapter hall, recreation room for moments of fraternal communion). Our day reserves five times of community prayer (Opus Dei and Conventual Mass) in Italian and with some space reserved for Gregorian chant. The effort to qualify our Liturgy of the Hours better and better continues: it is truly "an art," because learning to pray is learning to live! In the Psalms and biblical or patristic readings we discover the preciousness of life and the true meaning of various realities. We find God, feel his fatherly embrace and filter the message he wants to address to us. This continues in personal prayer and lectio divina. Work finds its concretization, according to the age and ability of each monk, in different forms: manual, intellectual and pastoral service.

"Master where do you dwell? Come and see" (Jn. 1:38-39)

Our Benedictine family draws its life and vitality from an ever-present call from the Lord. For those who, generously accepting the gift of the monastic vocation, wish to become part of it, a progressive and adequate formation is necessary, accompanied by a process of discernment and growth.

Assuming that different itineraries for discovering the monastic vocation can be, after a few meetings with the superior, the formation master and following community experiences, one begins with the postulancy, a period ranging from six months to a year, aimed at verifying the genuineness of the vocation. This is followed by the novitiate, a strong time of formation of monastic life with a view to total self-giving to God with the practice of the evangelical counsels, according to the spirit and traditions of the Benedictine Congregation of St. Mary of Mount Olivet.

With monastic profession, the novice, already consecrated to God by baptism, reaps more copious fruits. In addition to the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, monastic profession also entails stability in the monastery and congregation. Fundamental monastic formation continues for a number of years and culminates in perpetual monastic profession, which sanctions the monk's final consecration to God and places him fully in the communion of the brothers.

Would you like to know more about our life? Do you feel like learning about the Olivetan charism? Are you serious about trying monastic life? Write an email: info@abbaziarodengo.it