About Us FAQ

A monk is a Catholic man who has taken religious vows, living under specific spiritual regulations (a rule) that structure his life and under the guidance of an abbot.  Most monks live out the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience in communities.

A Benedictine Monk is a Catholic man living the spirituality of Saint Benedict of Nursia (Patriarch of Western Civilization and Western Monasticism).  He professes the vows of stability, conversion of life, and obedience as a special and particular way to live out the Gospel fully in response to God's call.   

The vocations to the priesthood and the monastic life are distinct, but not mutually exclusive.

A priest is called to stand in Persona Christi as he administers the Sacraments of the Church for the salvation of souls. In order to stand in the place of Christ, when the priest is ordained by the Bishop his soul is ontologically changed, that is, it is permanently marked and receives the power to dispense sanctifying grace through the sacraments.  Priest's can either work directly under a particular bishop in a particular diocese or in a religious order, such the Benedictines.

A monk has professed religious vows to live out the evangelical counsels in powerful way, but these vows do not have an ontological impact on his soul in the same way a priest's ordination does.  The monk does not administer the sacraments if he is not a priest.  Also, monks often live in community, whereas a diocesian priest most often lives at his parish

As expressed in the Code of Cannon Law, the Church sees these various states in the following order of hierarchical dignity:

1. Religious Priest
2. Priest
3. Religious       

Yes, canon law provides for this possible movement of the Holy Spirit in the life of the priest.

 Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation of Consecrated Life -  Vita Consecrata