LifeSiteNews received an update from the Benedictines, who have two monasteries—one for the monks, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the other, St. Joseph Monastery, for the sisters.
Unsurprisingly for the youthful, traditional community, both monasteries are attracting new vocations and have waiting lists.
“Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery now has 40 members in our community, including 6 priests and 6 studying for the priesthood, who will be ordained in the upcoming years,” wrote Brother Bernard, Obl.S.B. “There are 22 [men] solemnly professed, several postulants, plus a waiting list to join as the monks themselves construct more rooms for all the incoming vocations.”
“St. Joseph Monastery for our Sisters, founded in 2018, already has 13 [nuns] at the convent, with also several new postulants, and a waiting list, as new rooms are being finished on the third floor of their monastery,” he added.
September 15, 2024, was a special day for St. Joseph Monastery, as it witnessed its first Consecration of Virgins ceremony, with Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of St. Pius X, celebrating the Mass and chanting the ancient rite. The first Consecrated Virgin, Mother Mary Agnes, was then installed as the convent’s Mother Superior.
The Benedictine sisters are cloistered nuns who, like the monks, live by the work of their hands.
“Of course, we could never support our two communities without the great expansion of our Abbey Roast Coffee and, in particular, our Cafe4Life Pro-Life Coffee, which helps to fund all the great pro-life work at LifeSiteNews and other pro-life organizations,” Brother Bernard declared.
But even this endeavor comes second to the great work in which Benedictines have been engaged for almost 1500 years: the Opus Dei (work of God), living their lives as a ceaseless prayer, returning again and again to the Psalms in the Liturgy of Hours. And this is, perhaps, more important than ever in times that are chaotic, not only in the world, but sadly in the Catholic Church as well.
“… What we do most importantly as Benedictine Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, in our religious life, is to be faithful to our holy Rule of St. Benedict which is, perhaps, the greatest source of hope and peace for the world, and in particular for our Holy Church in crisis and our country on the verge of World War III,” wrote Brother Bernard.
“Pax, or Peace, is the Benedictine motto, and Ora et Labora, Prayer and Work, are the Monks’ program to bring this wonderful peace of Christ the King, about to be born anew, liturgically, in Bethlehem, at midnight, in the piercing cold!”
On the behalf of his community, both brothers and sisters, Brother Bernard wished “a most blessed Advent to all of our beloved friends at LifeSiteNews and to all of our faithful supporters, in preparation for all the joys of Christmas!”
Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery was founded in the mountains of New Mexico in 1991. There the monks have followed the Rule of St. Benedict and prayed the traditional Office—seven times during the day and once at night. Also, as is directed by the Rule of St. Benedict, the monks also run a farm and workshops in which they perform different kinds of manual labor, including baking, blacksmithing, carpentry, leather craft, and letterpress printing, in addition to their artisanal coffee roasting.
Last year Brother Bernard informed LifeSite that the Benedictines’ new “top-of-the-line” and “made in the USA” roasting equipment produced between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds of Abbey Roast beans every day.
The Monastery of St. Joseph was founded by Bishop Fellay in 2018. The five founding novices received their habit in October that year. The fraternal relationship between Benedictine monks and sisters dates back to St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica, the foundress of the Benedictine nuns.