Brother Fernando Lanas, O.S.B.

I am Brother Fernando Lanas, O.S.B., from Ecuador, a country on the west coast of South-America. I am 32 years old and I lived my whole life in Ecuador until 2001, when I came to the US to be a monk. I decided to be a monk in a second, but my entire life was the preparation for that moment. I was considering my options for the future in terms of work, relationships, and my life in general, when I had an epiphany. It was a moment of clarity when I suddenly saw my life as a preparation to be a monk. I love silence and solitude, I have very clear opinions about morality and behavior, and all my life I had felt an authentic fascination about monastic themes: monasteries architecture, monastic life, work, prayer, the desert, consecration, vows, and, of course, monks.

I concluded this: I was a monk in my heart and in my life, and I had to find a monastery. Since there are not monasteries in Ecuador, I began a journey of several years to fulfill my vocation. I visited ten Benedictine communities in the U.S., and finally, impressed by the openness and warm reception of the monks of this house, I asked admission to SV Archabbey. The community accepted me as a novice in July of 2002 and since then, this has been my home.

I had to learn a new language (I am still dealing with it), since my maternal tongue is Spanish. The adaptations to a new culture and the local customs of the house have been a challenge. As every authentic evolutionary process, it has required conscious effort and work. Nevertheless, the life in SV has largely fulfilled my expectations and given me many opportunities to grow up spiritually.

Besides my academic duties (I am working now in my MA program in Monastic Studies at SV Seminary), I have the responsibility for preparing the daily offices and the monastic Mass at the Basilica. In the near future, and after obtaining a second MA in Latin-American Literature, I will be a Spanish teacher at SV College.

What is a monk? I have been dealing with this essential question for years, and I have realized that the most honest answer is not intellectual but experiential. I try to answer that question every day studying, working, praying and living in community. There is a special place for the monastic life inside the Church, and I am convinced that this monastery offers me the opportunity to answer an authentic call of God.

There are not many monks in the world. A vocation to be a monk is a unique gift in itself. My response to this gift will be the fulfillment of my monastic vocation as completely as I can, with the grace of God.