Work & Apostolate
“Then are they truly monks,
when they live by the labour of their hands,
as did our fathers and the Apostles.
Yet let all be done with moderation,
on account of the fainthearted.”
– Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 48
Safe Environment
How does the abbey foster a safe environment?
Seminary of Christ the King
What is the relationship between the abbey and the seminary?
Guesthouse
How do monks receive guests?
Other
How do monks live
by the labour of their hands?
Work & Apostolate
The Crossroads of Faith and Life
The Rule sets down no particular apostolate other than to seek God, to be fervent in the work of God, in humiliations and obedience. Coupled with this is the Rule’s great adaptability to cultures and locale. But perhaps, above all, it is the special ecclesial character of the monastic community that is significant−monastic communities in general, and Benedictine communities in particular, are places where all the essential and non-essential preoccupations of civilization and the Church intersect:
- the community and the individual learn the interior and exterior worship of God and its indispensable value;
- people of different cultures meet in a natural and a supernatural environment of a faith community; the intellectual life is pursued in the context of other communal responsibilities and manual labour; ascetical and spiritual discipline and teaching is a priority;
- the practical arts are perfected; love of the land and the preservation of its beauty is a special concern;
- a vast range of human relationships are established within the community and without;
- economical concerns are important, since life is lived frugally and simply;
- ordinary tasks of daily life are faithfully accomplished;
- living the Gospel is a daily preoccupation;
- continuity of ecclesial, cultural and national memories are preserved;
- missionary undertakings are engaged in.
Thus a very specific kind of synthesis of life takes place in a monastery, which seldom happens elsewhere with the same intensity and exactitude.
Besides our monastic life, our monastery does have a work we have freely taken up for the Church. It is the running of High School and College Seminary. The College Seminary is the Archdiocesan Seminary for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
