The Clothing of a New Novice

Today we had the privilege and joy of clothing a new novice, Brother Jerome. Please pray for his perseverance.

From the exhortation of Father Prior:

"Quite why you, Brother, came to visit the monastery was never completely clear... But it is clear that you did not arrive as a vocational candidate in ‘full discernment mode,’ with lists of questions and criteria with which to assess us so as to calculate our suitability for your vocation—as, unfortunately, do all too many.

No. You came to pray and to work for a while. That you did. And in giving yourself generously and cheerfully each day to our straightforward and sometimes demanding life of prayer and work, and in sharing in the joys and frustrations and limitations and achievements of our little monastic family, Almighty God uttered the first words of His call to leave the lures of the world and to give yourself to Him and to the building up of this small but powerful implantation of His Kingdom on earth.

A vocation is a call—it is a call to become that person whom Almighty God from all eternity has wished us to be, for purposes which He knows and which we often only discover gradually, if we are faithful, throughout the decades of our life. That call involves physically leaving the world and all its attractions—both good and evil—for something that is ‘more good’ as it were, for God’s good for me, if we may put it like that.

And a vocation is often a surprise—it is often something that I never thought I would be doing. It is probably all the more genuine for being so, for then I can at least be assured that it is not a construction or a calculation of my own will, even as, eventually, if I am to be faithful to God, I must yield all and conform my will to His. For in this lies my salvation and, in His Providence, the renewal of the Church and the salvation of others whom presently we may not even know.

Hence, we are here this morning preparing to give you the habit of Our Holy Father, Saint Benedict. It is a happy surprise to us all, as it were, for whilst the old man surely has baggage that still must be left behind, the habit of the new man “created according to God, in justice and holiness of life” brings with it particular graces.

The habit is a sacramental: that is, its own sacredness calls us to respond appropriately to the graces Almighty God offers us through what it signifies. Monks and nuns do not wear the habit because they are holy. We wear it in the hope of growing in holiness! The monastic habit is not usually, in this life, a sign that someone is a saint, but rather the sign that someone has the humility to recognise that he or she is a sinner and needs the discipline of the monastic Rule which the habit signifies so as to advance in the conversion of their life and to grow in holiness.

Thus, Brother, as you receive the habit of a Benedictine novice this morning, take courage. It brings with it a certain discipline, yes, but also much grace: grace which will help you move forward to that terminus ad quem which Almighty God had in view when first you visited. It brings with it the grace of enabling you—if you wear it each day with humility and compunction—to become that new man Almighty God wishes you to become.

In recent weeks much work has been done preparing soil in the garden for winter planting, clearing overgrowth, removing weeds and rocks, fertilising poor soil and turning it over so that it shall, in due time, bring forth a good harvest. A noviciate requires much the same. There is much to remove, there is much to improve—and all of this requires determination, effort and perseverance. But its end is clear: that the novice may become that “good soil” of which the Parable of the Sower speaks (cf. Mt 13) and may bear an abundant harvest; a harvest that shall bear fruit for eternity.

Brother: by God’s grace and design, and perhaps somewhat to your own surprise, you kneel here now preparing to receive the habit of Saint Benedict. Take courage: you, by yourself, are unequal to this vocation, as are we all. But with God’s grace, which He gives you freely in calling you, you can become that new man He calls you to be. With the grace won by the intercession of so many Benedictine saints who have gone before us and who have generously and successfully responded to that same call—each of whom knew the different emotions that arose of the day on which they became a novice—you, also, can persevere in humble fidelity to God’s call. In this perseverance you know that you can count on the love and prayers and support of your brethren also, and of our extended monastic family.

Some winters may be very cold and the summers quite hot, but with the grace of God and the merit of the saints…the true courage that humble, daily perseverance requires will be yours. For that grace in you and in each of us we fervently pray!"