A Monk's Profession

Let’s say you were considering monastic life: After an inquiry visit, aspirancy visit, and 6-month tenure as a postulant, you could apply to be a novice if everyone considers it a good fit. This novitiate period entails living in the community while not holding any formal commitment; it is a time of further discernment and formation. Consider this the dating period of a relationship. 

After two years of being a novice -and if the community consents- you can make your first profession. This profession of vows binds you to the monastic order for 1 year. This would be the equivalent of getting engaged.

After the year, you renew for another year. You could repeat this for up to 5 years total, or you could make your life profession (the only ceremony more important than the initial profession). The life profession is the equivalent of marriage.

Saturday morning, after living as a novice for two years, Brother Roger made his first monastic profession.

Br. Daniel (the prior), Br. John (the novice master), and Br. Roger

The ceremony itself was a full-fledged Eucharist with the profession following the sermon (much like a baptism, confirmation, wedding, etc). Br. John presented Br. Roger, at which time Roger made his official profession and signed it on the altar. 

“In the Name of God, Amen. I, Roger Stewart, desiring to consecrate myself fully and entirely to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, make to Almighty God, before the whole company of heaven, and in the presence of you, my brothers, the threefold vow of Stability, Conversion of my ways to the monastic way of life, and Obedience in the Order of the Holy Cross, steadfastly intending to keep and observe the same for the period of one year, the Lord being my helper. And I pray for the grace and heavenly assistance of the Holy Spirit, for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of our holy Father Benedict, of James our Founder and of all the saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”

It was a privilege to witness.
Unbeknownst to me, the congregation had a speaking role in the service: We were asked “Will all you who witness this vow, uphold and pray for this our brother Roger in the days to come?” It was the first profession I had been to, but my Episcopal reflexes kicked in: “We will, with God’s help!”

The peace, after the profession

A monastic commitment involves a threefold vow of obedience, stability, and conversion to the Monastic way of life.

Obedience: You will obey God, and respect the God-given authority of the Prior, the Superior, and the community.

Stability: You are committed to the community. No jumping ship.

Conversion to the monastic way of life (conversatio morum): You adopt the monastic lifestyle. Among other things, this includes celibacy and communal ownership.

The entire service had the feel of an engagement celebration.

Our post-ceremony reception included refreshments, conversations, and smiling children.

 

As mentioned above, the initial profession is the 2nd most important event in a monk’s public formation, surpassed only by a life profession (the 1-year renewals before life profession are done in private, and take only a few minutes; Br. Josias renewed his vows a few weeks ago and neither Stephen nor myself realized it until later). With no other novices currently at the monastery, this may be the last profession for a few years. Again, it was a privilege to witness :)

I hope you enjoyed this insight into monastic life, and that you have a wonderful week!!!

In Christ,
-Cameron S

The week

Dear friends,

A lot of my week was spent focusing on events outside South Africa -especially those making the headlines in US news. For those of you in the US of A: your South African expats are thinking of you, and we’re glad the tension of the week is dissolving.

Our school week was fairly uneventful, with the only real excitement being a trip to the local fire department. I’ll leave you with these pictures, and ask you remember those affected by the events of Boston, West, and those across the globe which are not making headlines.

Have a restful weekend. I look forward to continuing sharing this journey with you :)

Back to School -also, I'm spoiled

Greetings, everyone!

After a 2 week break, Holy Cross School has entered the 2nd term (aka 2nd quarter). I will most likely leave SA during the 3rd term, making this current stretch the last significant time with students; it is surreal to think about. Better make it worth it!

Here’s what’s happened this week:

Grade 1 focused heavily on addition, subtraction, and counting. By Friday morning, these students were all-stars.

side note: I’m experimenting with picture grids -feedback welcome!

In general, it takes more words to say something in xhosa than in English (common joke: “That’s why church takes so long!”). Counting is no exception; watch this video and see if you follow along.

ikhulu elinamashumi amabini ananye (121)

ikhulu elinamashumi amabini anesibini (122)

ikhulu elinamashumi amabini anesithathu (123)

ikhulu elinamashumi amabini anesine (124)

ikhulu elinamashumi amabini anesihlanu (125)

Believe it or not, these kids reached 300!

Friday’s laptop class involved a basic typing test; afterwards, each student got to play with the music-making program ‘tamtam minijam’.

 

Clicking each picture makes a sound. You can also play a continuous beat in the background. No videos this time, but I assure you there was dancing.

One week in, our 2nd term is going well. Students blew the roof off with their newly-learned math skills, and showed little-to-no rust on the computers. I have a suspicion plenty of success will occur in the future, and I look forward to sharing it with you :)

Two other updates on life in SA:
-Winter is coming. The weather is turning cold, and the days are getting shorter. In addition to calling forth long pants and long sleeves, the seasonal change also serves a reminder of my (eventual) departure; I arrived in the middle of winter last year, and it’s getting close to full circle!

-I’ve become a head teacher for Sr. High Sunday School. Every other week, I meet with 4-6 teenagers after the service to discuss the sermon and scripture readings. Several youth often stay behind to talk with me and the monks, where they present their own ‘God questions’ to discuss (ex: one time, a person was curious about speaking in tongues). This has been a great chance for sincere conversations, and to simply enjoy each other’s company.

Now for the “I’m spoiled” part of this post:
This morning, I received a package from my grandmother. I opened it up and saw a homemade quilt; already, I was touched. I then saw the finer details of the quilt -including, oh, the entire other side-, and just about became speechless.

To the wonderful grandmother: THANK YOU NANA!!!!!!

Also many thanks to my aunt/godmother Shannon for providing the African fabrics. In addition to being aunt/godmother extraordinaire, Shannon is also a gifted artist. Check out her website!

Lots of love to you both. I’m a pretty blessed kid :)

To everyone reading this: Thank you for following along, and I hope you enjoy your weekend!
In Christ,
-Cameron

Holy Week

Hello everyone!

During Holy Week last year, I distinctly remember fellow church-goer and past-YASCer Travis Shields telling me how amazing this experience is at the Monastery. It remained one of the weeks I was most looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. What follows is an overview of the 8-day spiritual marathon celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

Palm Sunday kicked off with a procession from our refectory (dining hall) patio into the chapel. Once in the chapel, we partook in the Passion Narrative.

Assigning parts before the service

Chapel, immediately after the service

After Sunday, we had the typical daily services right up to Thursday evening.

Triduum (Thursday-Saturday):

Water and basin, pre-service

Our Maundy Thursday service was marked by the lively bell ringing usually reserved for morning Eucharist. Perhaps I’ve been overly conditioned, but hearing the familiar medley at nighttime was slightly jarring for me. The somber mood further added to the contrast.
 
Once inside, the service began with foot washing by Br. Daniel. We progressed to the narrative of Jesus’ death, communion, and the stripping of the altar; a process which included clearing the altar itself, covering all pictures on the wall, covering the statue of Mary, removing the holy water at the chapel entrance, and removing all candles; all the while Br. Josias read Psalm 22 ("They divide my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing...")

Thursday to Sunday entailed the following:

-An all-night vigil on Thursday night. I took the 11pm-1am shift. This silent vigil entailed ‘keeping watch’ in our bell tower, where you could pray, meditate, reflect, or however else the spirit moved you. A small altar was set up for the occasion.

-Instead of bell-ringing, a handheld woodblock was used to call the community to the prayer services.

-Good Friday was both a fast day and a day of silence. Traditional noonday prayer was replaced with spoken prayers, readings, and the veneration of the cross.

-It rained all weekend. While in the chapel, the normally-picturesque view outside was almost completely clouded by rain and fog. It added to the solemnity.

-Most services were shorter than usual. Many parts changed from singing to speaking, and there was no communion.

-Did I mention it was raining?

-Saturday’s lunch was followed by a rehearsal and preparation for the Easter day vigil; a vigil which would begin in the newly-rearranged refectory.

Ready for Easter

Sunday Morning:
Our 5am Vigil was right out of the 3rd century.

Marking the Paschal Candle

This service included a lighting of the fire, 8 readings of scripture, renewal of baptismal vows, liturgy of the saints, procession into the chapel, and a full-fledged Eucharist (where we heard the melodic church bells once again). The entire process lasted just over 2 hours. Coffee and refreshments followed, as did nap time. 

Later that day, the brothers and myself went back to the refectory to prepare for Easter lunch. The food and the camaraderie were heavenly.

Refectory, transformed yet again

Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The following Monday was a day of rest, complete with extra sleep and delicious leftovers :)

Lots to be thankful for this Eastertide.  

I hope you had a meaningful week as well, and you find lots of ways to celebrate the risen Lord. Until next time, uXolo Thixo (Peace of the Lord)!!!

Servant of Christ,
-Cameron