Guest Book

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There are 188 guestbook entries in 19 pages and you are on page number 5

Comments by Jeff on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 15:58	IP Logged
How do monks communicate with family and friends? Do they have telephone access? How about e-mail? p.s. Thank you for this very informative website! Monks may call their relatives, and write to them using e-mail. But normally, these phone calls and messages are infrequent, unless there is a special need.
Canada

Comments by Raymond R. Fodrie on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 17:25	IP Logged
Dear Father, Does the Church have a clear position on the issue of tithing? I know that stewardship is sometimes discussed in the context of giving of ones time, but frankly that's the easy way out. Another issue is this: when we go to communion we are not to have any unforgiven mortal sins on our conscience. If I were to use the Lord's name in vain from the time I've last gone to confession until I go to communion, would that be wrong or could I just ask for our Lord's forgiveness before going forward? I ask this question with sincerity. Ray Tithing is the practice of giving a tenth of one's income for the support of the clergy and the parish. The Church does not require tithing, but all the faithful are obliged by a precept of the Church to provide for the material needs of the Church according to one's abilities. It is wrong to go to communion in the state of mortal sin, unless it is impossible to go confession first. Then one may make an act of contrition and go to communion, intending to go to confess as soon as one can.
United States

Comments by Declan on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 17:59	IP Logged
In your "Meet the Brothers" section, I noticed Brother Jonah Wharff. I remember him from our time at Brighton, MA and Hubertus, WI. Please pray for me as I discern my Cistercian vocation. I am looking at 2 communities at present. Br. Jonah will be ordained to the ministerial priesthood on Dec. 20th to serve the community. It will be a happy day for all of us. May the Lord guide you and bless you in your vocational discernment.
United States

Comments by Bill Stahl on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 15:41	IP Logged
I am impressed with your daily schedule. You obviously use your time efficiently. But I note you spend only 2 hours at work in the morning and another 2 in the afternoon. Apparently, that's enough to support yourselves, but isn't it difficult to complete projects with such short intervals? How can you farm with no more than 2 hours morning and afternoon? Farming does require more than four hours a day. We have two employees who do a full day's work on the farm, assisted by the monks at planting and harvesting.
United States

Comments by Joe Burnes on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 22:56	IP Logged
Will the Tridentine Mass ever be said again in your monastery, or Gregorian chant in Latin as all Trappists did up to 1969? The Tridentine Mass is offered daily in a private chapel at New Melleray, but not at our concelbrated Eucharists in the church. A few Gregorian chants in Latin are sung during the Liturgy of the Hours and at Mass, but not frequently. The use of English continues to be the choice of the monks of New Melleray for much the same reason that people prefer to read the Bible in English rather than in Latin.
None Given

Comments by Frank Hurley on Sunday, July 27, 2008 at 09:27	IP Logged
How does one become an oblate in your community? The process for becoming an oblate, one who lives as a monk inside the community but without making vows, is the same process and formation that is required to become a professed member. It begins with visits to the monastery for interviews, followed by a six week observership within the monastery, and then postulancy and novitiate.
United States

Comments by Frank on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 12:19	IP Logged
Is it possible to be a lay brother attached to your community? What is expected of a lay brother? And are there any communities of lay associates of your monastery located in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) area? Thanks... Yes, our community continues to have lay brothers, although now all are called monks. These brothers have more manual labor and less time spent in common prayer in Church. They live in the monastery and take the same vows. We also have lay associates who come to the abbey on the second Saturday of every month to deepen their spiritual life according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Lay associates live in their own homes in Iowa and the bordering states.
United States

Comments by Hank on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 10:35	IP Logged
Thanks for your response. I think that it is truly a wonderful thing to have the monasteries around intended for a community directed singularily towared a school of love. Absolutely beautiful..... I feel that it really depends on the person and where they are at in their spiritual journey when considering the thought of entering a monastery if they feel called. For some it takes longer, much longer to take that initial step. God Bless all the monasteries and their work for and towards eternal salvation. The Holy Spirit is doing wonderful things for you guys in preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven. It's good to see some of the most happy people on earth located in the monastery. That is a lot to be said. The monasteries are the spiritual powerhouses of the world. A witness to God's work. Well said, thank you!
United States

Comments by Jonathon on Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 15:56	IP Logged
how does visiting our families work? can we go home and visit? can they come and visit us? mine is very important to me in my discernment. Monks and nuns visit with their families at the monastery. In our Order we make home visits for serious reasons, such as illness or death of a close relative. Exceptions for other home visits are made when circumstances and Christian charity require it. Otherwise, monastic life seeks to protect members from the dangers encountered in worldly settings, and provide for as little interruption of the life of prayer as possible
United States

Comments by Hank on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 14:54	IP Logged
What are the drawbacks for a person entering a monastery in their early 20's? Can one build character and humanity in a monastery, or is that something recommended to discover outside the monastery? On the other hand, what are the advantages for someone entering in at such an early age? The monastery is a school of love, a place where we try to form the most important virtues of character and humanity: faith, hope and charity; temperance, prudence, justice and fortitude; humility, obedience, truthfulness, chastity, forgivness, honesty, patience, watchfulness, respect, silence, stability, conversion. These are the qualities needed to persevere as a Christian, as a spouse, as a friend. What better place to learn them than in a monastery? It is a beautiful thing to give oneself to God from one's youth. Final commitment comes later, after many years of formation and growth in Christian maturity.
United States

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