Mutual Service in Manual Labor

  1. Monastic Work
  2. Work and the Spirit

Shared Liturgical Prayer

  1. The Liturgy
  2. On the Practice of Liturgical Prayer

Meditational Scripture

  1. Mona: One, Alone
  2. Lectio Divina: Theory
  3. Lectio Divina: Practice
  4. Reading
  5. Meditation
  6. Prayer
  7. Contemplation
  8. Prayer in the Heart

Prayer in the Heart

  1. The Words of the Prayer
  2. Saying the Prayer
  3. Praying in the Heart

As an Associate you have come to New Melleray to participate in the life of the monks. The preceding lines have suggested some of the inner meaning of the manual labor and liturgical prayer of the monk. But every monk engages in the "works of the cell" when they are not at labor or prayer with their fellow monks. Now we must try to gain a basic and practical understanding of how you can engage in the "works of the cell" while you are with us an Associate or in the world.

The word monk (Latin: MONACHUS) is derived from the name of the dwelling of the early desert hermits. In the Greek writings of that period the solitary's cell was called a MONA. The Greek word Monos means ONE, ALONE. If you are to really share in our life as monks, you too must be "one-alone." You too must seek God in the solitude of your cell. Unlike the practice of manual labor and community liturgy, the "works of the cell" must be engaged in privately. In the two following sections, we will attempt to give you a basic guide for your own quest for God in your cell. Lectio Divina and Prayer in the Heart are the two essential solitary activities of the monk...and of the Associates who share our life.

When you leave the Abbey, you will not be able to continue working and praying with us in church. But if you learn to practice Lectio Divina and Prayer in the Heart, you can continue these sacred and sanctifying activities for the rest of your life.