To Be a Monk
An Essay on the Cistercian Vocation

  1. To Be a Man
  2. To Be A Christian
  3. Experience of the Divine
  4. Community Life
  5. Solitude
  6. The Word of God
  7. Fraternal Love
  8. Compassion and Humility
  9. To Be A Monk In Practice
  10. Signs of a Call to be a Monk
  11. The Monks of New Melleray
  12. Daily Monastic Schedule
  13. Entering New Melleray
  14. Entrance Procedure

In the history of Western man, to be a monk is first of all to be a Christian. What does that mean? It means that the Christian monk receives Jesus Christ as God Incarnate and the unique source of all grace, salvation and holiness. For the Christian monk, Jesus is the Origin, medium and End of monastic life, indeed, of all life.

Perfection in love and divine union are seen by the monk as effects Christ the Savior accomplishes in him. More deeply, complete mystical union with Jesus is the direct object of monastic life: because this union is consummate union with God. Becoming one body-person with the Lord Jesus, the Christian monk is gathered into the eternal generation of the Son from the Father. Likewise, In Jesus the Son the monk returns to the Father in the Spirit of Love which eternally unites the Father and the Son. That Spirit has become the life principle of the risen body of Christ, including all his members. A monk has a specific life-style. But at levels deeper than lifestyle the Christian monk is simply a Christian: a man in Christ, a man being deified by participation in the divine Jesus.