religious life
BROTHER LUKE
is greeted by
Father Michael
Santa. Each
member
of the
community
offered an
embrace of
acceptance
and welcome
to the new
novices.
Taking on new habits
In a long-established ritual, three men from different walks of life enter
a monastery to live for a year among the monks and see if it is right for
them and for the community.
Ou THREE MEN, Jeffrey, Cameron,
and Branson, come to monastic life
in great freedom and clear decision.
You come to join us to gain a deep and last-
ing sense of being a child of God through
the solidarity you come to know and to
foster with a particular group of men who
commit themselves to one another and to
the church as it is experienced in our work
and our prayer.
PHOTOS
BY CHRIS
BRONSONy
Chris Bronson is a recent grad-
uate of the University of Kansas
with a degree in photo media.
With these words Abbot Barnabas sene-
cal, o.s.B. of st. Benedict’s Abbey in
Atchison, Kansas welcomed three men
as novices and invited them to a year of
further study, prayer, and work in the
community. Each had visited the ab-
bey in the previous months during the
period known as “postulancy.”
“you make no vows today, and you
hope to do just that in a year from now,”
Abbot Barnabas said. “At any time, after
due reflection, you decide the monk’s
life is not for you, you may leave. We
also say to you, that if we find it would
be best for you to choose another way of
life, we will tell you that.” =
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