Solemn Profession

My son: after you have pronounced your vows this morning you shall lie prostrate on the floor of the chapel and be covered with the funeral pall. The death knell shall sound on our largest bell. Thus, these sacred rites shall bespeak your death to the world, the death of the old man (who in truth is not that old at all).
     Some would regard you as foolish. Why should a well-educated young man with many gifts seemingly throw them all away to live a life of renunciation and penance in the cloister?
     Some, indeed, may even regard our monastery as foolish. Who in their right mind would seek to restore these conventual buildings to their purposed use? Is it not a folly even to hope so to do?
  And yet, as we have been privileged to experience in the past month, there is goodness, beauty and truth to be found in restoring this chapel to the worship of Almighty God after more than two hundred years. There is a rightness about the return of the refectory to monastic recollection.
     So too, in the life of the cloister. Goodness, truth and beauty – Almighty God Himself – are to be found there, as you have experienced day in and day out in the three years since pronouncing your monastic vows. You have encountered that pax inter spinas in the reality of our daily monastic life. This morning you state publicly before the Church – all of the faithful, present, absent, living and dead – that you desire nothing else and you solemnly commit yourself to that quest for as long as you shall live.
     You do so before the relics of many monastic saints and beati who themselves have made their solemn profession as you are to do today. Indeed, most probably, some of them have even knelt in prayer within these very walls. They, too, were young and foolish in the eyes of the world, and through their supposed foolishness they have done great things for God. Their perseverance has won them the crown of eternal life and glory.
     You may rely on their prayers to assist you in your perseverance, as you may rely on those of your brethren. And you may be sure that Almighty God shall reward your self-oblation today with that particular grace that comes with monastic profession and which enables us to persevere and find that peace amongst the thorns of this life in the sure hope of unending peace in the next.
     Shortly before Holy Communion the deacon of the Mass will instruct you with the words: “Get up, he who sleeps, and arise from death, and Christ enlighten thee.” You will arise to a new life of consummated dedication to Christ alone according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the Constitutions and customs of our monastery.
     Dearest Dom Ildephonse, it is our fervent prayer this morning that the next time the funeral pall shall cover your mortal body – and may it be many years, full of humility and good works, into the future - you may be found already rejoicing having received the crown of unending life together with the saints who have preceded us. Stay faithful to the vows you pronounce today, my son, and all this and more shall be yours.

Cher fils, les rites qui accompagneront votre profession dans quelques instants proclameront votre mort au monde. Qu’un jeune homme comme vous, qui a tout pour réussir, dédie sa vie à la prière et la pénitence, est une folie aux yeux du monde.
     La vie monastique n’a pour le monde aucun sens, tout comme la fondation d’un monastère. Pourtant, nous avons vécu, ces dernières semaines, la joie de rendre cette chapelle, abandonnée depuis deux cent ans , au culte de la Divine majesté.
      En vérité, la vie monastique est remplie de cette joie, vraie et pure, comme vous avez pu le vivre pendant les trois années écoulées depuis vos vœux simples. Vous avez vu combien la vie monastique apporte chaque jour la paix au milieu des épines.
      Aujourd’hui, vous proclamez devant toute l’Eglise du Ciel et de la Terre que vous consacrerez votre vie à chercher cette paix. Vous le faites devant les reliques de tant de saints moines qui ont eux-mêmes fait ce vœu avant vous. Peut-être que certains ont prié ici même. Eux aussi étaient fous aux yeux du monde ; mais leur persévérance leur a remporté la couronne de la vie éternelle. Soyez assuré de leurs prières, de la prière de vos frères, et de l’assistance de la grâce divine.
      Peu avant la Sainte Communion, le diacre vous admonestera : « Lève-toi, toi qui dort, relève-toi des morts, et le Christ t’illuminera ». Vous vous lèverez alors pour une vie nouvelle, dédiée au Christ et à lui seul, selon la Règle de Saint Benoît.
      Cher Dom Illdephonse, la prochaine fois que ce voile funéraire recouvrira votre corps  - espérons, après de longues années d’humilité et de bonnes œuvres – puissiez-vous déjà avoir reçu la couronne d’immortalité et de gloire, avec tous les saints qui nous ont précédé. Soyez fidèle à ces vœux cher fils: alors, tout cela sera vôtre, et bien plus encore.