What is Monastic Profession?
…let her then be received into the community…
(RULE OF BENEDICT, 58:14)
The Benedictine woman, having once committed herself to Christ in response to the baptismal call to holiness, strengthens her commitment to discipleship by embracing the vowed life in a public act of monastic consecration. Monastic profession according to the Rule of Benedict gives a distinctive form to the Christian life. Followers of the Rule seek God in a community of persons who profess stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life, and obedience. This three-fold expression of a single commitment brings into being a monastic style of Gospel living which frees the members to listen to the Spirit in their personal and communal search for God. (CALL TO LIFE)
Stability is a promise to be faithful to one’s sisters in this monastic community as a way of faithfulness to God. We establish the lifelong human bonds necessary for healing growth. We agree to search for God together, making our journey as honest, as loving, as human as possible.
Fidelity to the monastic way of life is a dedication to the change, growth and ongoing conversion to which life in community calls us. Our lives are a continuous process of listening to the voice of God in the Rule, in the prioress, and in one another. We open our hearts to the Word and respond in creative fidelity and generous love.
Obedience is a promise to be a faithful listener. With the ear of the heart we listen to the voice of the Spirit in the Scriptures, in the prioress and in one another, in the call of the Church, and the cry of the poor. Then we work to respond with generosity and courage.