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Abbey blessed by profession of three new monks
by Dan Madden
It has been two decades since Conception Abbey welcomed more than two
new monks into the community in a year. Abbot Gregory Polan ended that
streak in a single ceremony Aug. 15, when he received the first
profession of Juan Martinez, Daniel Fister and Cody McDowell.
During the Mass of the Assumption of Mary, the three men vowed
"stability, obedience and fidelity to the monastic way of life." They
will live under "simple vows" for the next three years, after which they
may ask the monastic community's permission to profess "solemn vows," a
permanent commitment to Conception Abbey.
"(During this last year) you have experienced moments of genuine joy
and trying challenge," the Abbot said. "You have come to see that
monastic life is not perfect and bears its share of personal trials. And
yet you have persevered, believing that God is calling you to search for
his face with this community of monks."
The three newest monks are part of a recent surge in monastic
vocations at Conception. Over the past two years, five men have made
simple vows, and another one, Novice Andrew Broom was due to be
professed Oct. 16 (after Tower Topics had gone to press). In
addition, two young men were accepted to the novitiate Aug. 14. There
are currently 10 men in monastic formation, eight of whom are in their
20s.
To mark a novice's conversion to a "new life in Christ," during the
Rite of Profession he trades in the short scapular (a garment worn over
the tunic) for the longer version worn by professed monks, and in a
traditional moment of suspense, the Abbot gives him a new name.
Brothers Ansgar (left to right), Alban and Macario lower their hoods
after receiving new scapulars.
Noting Novice Juan's longing for the "lofty virtue of purity of
heart," a common theme of the early monks of the Egyptian desert, the
Abbot placed him under the patronage of St. Macarius of the Desert, who
wrote, "Purity of heart consists in seeing those who are sinful and
weak, and in seeing them, showing them compassion and mercy." With a nod
to his new confrere's Hispanic roots, Abbot Gregory named him Brother
Macario.
Novice Daniel, a former seminarian who brought a timely sense of
humor to his novitiate formation, found inspiration in the Benedictine
monks of the English Congregation who faced persecution, exile and
martyrdom during the Reformation. Abbot Gregory placed Novice Daniel
under the patronage of St. Alban Roe, "the joyful martyr," who history
records as a missionary even in his prison cell. "When the time of his
martyrdom approached, he faced it with courage, reducing his fellow
prisoners to laughter and his executioners to rage with his humor," the
Abbot said. "From his prison cell he preached that the only two forces
more powerful than anger and jealousy are love and joy in Christ."
 Perseverance marked the novitiate of Novice Cody, who is of Norwegian
descent. Thus Abbot Gregory placed him under the patronage of a 9th
century Benedictine saint who demonstrated heroic perseverance in his
efforts to spread Christianity to Scandinavia. Named Bishop of Hamburg,
St. Ansgar led failed missions to Sweden and Denmark and eventually
returned to Hamburg. When Hamburg was destroyed by a pagan people, he
set out again for Scandinavia. A masterful preacher and a miracle
worker, Ansgar has been named patron saint of the North.
* * *
Following their son's profession, tears flowed freely for the family of
Brother Macario. Finally, he says, they understood.
Brother Macario admits he'd never heard of Benedictine monks before
enrolling in Conception Seminary College's pre-theology program.
"I started investigating the Rule of
St. Benedict and I went to daily Office," he recalls. "It was a very
centering experience." But he remained cautious. "I didn't want to jump
into anything. I thought this might be something I'm feeling right now,
something I was romanticizing." By the start of his last semester in the
seminary, he decided to enter the Abbey's postulancy, news which was
received coolly at home.
"It was very tough for my parents," Macario says. "They couldn't
understand what I was doing. They thought this life was weird."
Brother Macario's prayers for a change of heart were answered through
tears moments after his profession.
"I think they needed to see that to understand how serious I was," he
said. "After the Mass they knew this was something I wanted to do. As
tough as it was for them, they knew they could not interfere with a
vocation like this."
* * *
Brother Alban's parents were also on hand for his profession, as was his
best friend from high school. "It was exciting to see their reaction to
the liturgy, to see it though their eyes. It was a beautiful day," he
said.
Although his family had met many of the monks on visits to Conception
when Alban was a seminarian, this time was special.
"This time, more than ever, they got to know how at home I feel here,"
he said, "and they were able to experience the other monks as my
brothers."
If one had told Daniel Fister, freshman seminarian, that he would
someday utter the above words, he would have scoffed.
Frankly, he thought the Benedictine life was preposterous. The young man
who had traveled to the streets of Los Angeles to work among the poor,
had volunteered in AIDS hospices, and had worked in soup kitchens asked
his friends, "What sort of
person would want to lock himself away in a monastery for 50 years?"
"I guess now I'm a living punch line," he jokes.
What drew Brother Alban to monastic life was silence.
"The days of recollection became an important part of my life," he says.
"I was drawn to the more contemplative aspects of seminary life."
John Schinstock, left, and Tracy Wilding, right, pictured here with
Abbot Gregory Polan and their novice master Brother Bernard Montgomery,
entered the novitiate Aug. 17.
By the beginning of his junior year, he was openly considering religious
life. He looked at several communities and nearly joined the Norbertines
but chose Conception because of its contemplative spirit.
And as for his dreams of being a
missionary, they are being fulfilled each day.
"I've come to see the poor in my brothers," he explains. "Every day I
see a face that needs a joke or a
person who needs a hug. As Christ said, we are to minister constantly.
The corporal works of mercy can be found in the cloister."
* * *
Although he'd never heard of the Liturgy of the Hours or the Rule of St.
Benedict, Brother Ansgar says he was always drawn to the idea of
religious life. That idea was tossed aside when his diocesan vocation
director invited him to study for the priesthood. But Abbot Marcel
Rooney's class on
the Liturgy of the Hours, and early morning prayer with the monks
brought it all back.
"I fell in love with it," he recalls.
Even so, he still wasn't considering himself monk material. But his
classmates were.
"Other students started saying I was going to be a monk," he remembers.
With that childhood notion rekindled, he approached his vocation
director, Father Carl Gallinger, a Conception Seminary College alumnus,
at the end of his freshman year to discuss entering the monastery.
"He warned me about romanticizing monastic life," Brother Ansgar
recalls. "He told me to talk to the monks and to priests from his
diocese."
Surprisingly, the man responsible for recruiting new monks, Father
Albert Bruecken, said no to his request, and urged him to continue in
the seminary. Six months later, at Christmas, Father Albert and Father
Gallinger were satisfied that he was ready to "make the jump."
Upon finally reaching his profession, he described a feeling of "strong
joy."
"One thing that has struck me about this community," he says, "is that
with all the different personalities it doesn't seem like this group
should be together. But we are and it works because we are after the
same thing."
We welcome your comments:
communications@conception.edu
www.conceptionabbey.org
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