Vocation
If you believe that God
may be calling you to monastic life, we suggest you first get to
know the community and see for yourself how we live. A small
community does not have all the human and material resources
available to a larger one, but against that, small communities do
have opportunities not so readily available to larger or longer
established groups.Some important considerations
It is important to keep praying, and to embrace the demands and opportunities of the life you are currently living. God cannot speak easily to a closed mind, still less to a closed heart! At some stage, it would be wise to ask to stay for two or three weeks inside the enclosure of the monastery, to experience at first hand something of the joys and difficulties of community life. Only then can a mature decision be made about whether to seek admission. In general, we urge candidates to take a sabbatical from work if they can, so that they are able to take up their career again if they find that monastic life is not for them. It is necessary to be Roman Catholic and free of marriage ties or dependent children. Reasonable health is also required as our kind of life is definitely not a soft option.
Becoming a nun
It takes a minimum of five and a half years' training or "formation" before one can make final or lifelong vows as a nun. There are three distinct stages, all of which are meant to lead to a deeper appreciation of what monastic life is, the demands it makes, and whether an individual is called to it or not. First comes postulancy, which lasts at least six months, during which the postulant lives with the community and follows the monastic timetable but without all the obligations of the Rule. Next comes novitiate which usually lasts two years. The novice receives the monastic habit at her Clothing and follows a more intense course of formation. All being well, she then makes vows for three years of juniorate; only after that can she make vows for life.
Throughout the whole period both candidate and community will work together to try to discern what God is asking. The novice mistress is instructed by St Benedict to tell the candidate about all the difficulties through which we make our way to God, but the joy of serving Him outweighs everything else. At Hendred we certainly believe that monastic life should be lived joyfully and with gratitude. For more information, or to arrange a visit, please or write. (It is difficult to deal with enquiries over the telephone as community diaries have to be co-ordinated, etc.) Our FAQ page may also give you some further insights. If there is a question you would like to see answered there, please let us know.
A Message from the Pope (Vatican Information Service)
MONASTERIES: OASES OF ASCETIC LIFE
VATICAN CITY, 20 NOV 2008 (VIS) - The Pope today received participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year. The assembly was held from 18 to 20 November.
Having recalled the theme of the meeting - "Monastic life and its significance in the Church and the world today" - the Holy Father indicated that "consecrated persons are a special part of the People of God. Supporting and protecting their faithfulness to the divine call is the fundamental role you play", he told the members of the dicastery.
Benedict XVI expressed the view that the work of these days, "which focused particularly on female monastic life, may provide useful guidance to monks and nuns who 'seek God", practising their vocation for the good of the whole Church". In this context he recalled how during his address last September to the world of culture in Paris, France, he had "highlighted the exemplary nature of monastic life in history, and underlined how its aim is both simple and essential: 'quaerere Deum', seeking God and seeking Him through Jesus Christ Who revealed Him, seeking Him by fixing one's gaze on the invisible truths that are eternal, in the expectation of the glorious manifestation of the Saviour".
"When consecrated people live the Gospel radically, when people dedicated to an entirely contemplative life profoundly cultivate the nuptial bond with Christ, ... then monasticism can, for all forms of religious and consecrated life, become a reminder of what is of essential and primary importance for all the baptised: seeking Christ and placing nothing before His love.
"The way indicated by God for this search and this love is His own Word", the Pope added, "abundantly present in the books of Sacred Scripture for mankind to reflect upon".
The recent Synod on the Word of God "renewed its appeal to all Christians to root their lives in listening to the Word of God as contained in Sacred Scripture, and invited religious communities in particular, and all consecrated men and women, to make the Word of God their daily sustenance, especially through the practice of 'lectio divina'".
The Holy Father concluded by expressing the hope that "monasteries may increasingly become oases of ascetic life, where the allure of the nuptial union with Christ is felt, and where the choice of the Absolute ... is immersed in a climate of constant silence and contemplation".
AC/MONASTIC LIFE/...VIS 081120 (420)