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Throughout the next few weeks our monks will be like both Martha, busy about many things, and Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet to hear his teaching. This is the case all year round but the tension between the two is particularly felt during July when the summer discernment program takes place as there is a lot of work to be done in the monastery and we have to cater to our largest discernment group yet. Our summer program has always been an opportunity for young men to sit at the feet of the Lord and hear his teaching, his speaking to the heart, and by his grace it has allowed many young men to discover their true call (a good number of which discovered that God called them to the monastic life in Norcia). We run our summer program starting out with the knowledge that not all men are necessarily meant to be monks and that there are different ways to follow the call of God, to that end we believe that discerning God’s will needs a place away from the clamor of the world such as our monastery; where we can provide enough calm and prayerful silence for God’s call to be heard.
By living our daily life, praying the office, sharing in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass and working alongside the monks in their duties these young men can come to see the monastic vocation from the inside, we also discuss the different vocational paths of marriage and the diocesan priesthood in weekly seminars, and we give each discerner spiritual direction to help them along the way. It is hoped that by having all these tools at their disposal they may truly hear how and where God is calling them.
We ask for your prayers that these young men and all of our monks may, like Mary, choose the better part that will never be taken away.