Have a monastic vocation? Consider Ireland

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Stephentlig

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Irish monasticism is dying yet there is a lovely monastery who is the only one on the island that has a waiting list as many from America, some Australia and the continent find their way here. The monastery is called Siliverstream Benedictine Priory.

Yet, there is a wonderful community of cistercian monks at Mellifont Abbey who really risk losing the monastery because nobody is showing up at their door. There’s plenty of room to fit 600 people in it yet only 6 monks remain. They have Latin Mass once a month and reverently say Mass every day.

I am scratching my head here as to how and why nobody from America, the continent or elswhere is considering them? Beside them lies the old ruins of the first monastery built in 11th century by the very first abbot and bishop of the area, St.Christian. It’s got so much history and yet faces closure.

If even 20 - 30 men would show up, they’d really save the place from going to the wind altogether. What would be some good ideas to get vocations to it? I just don’t think the monks are that interested in trying to get vocations and this explains the place going downhill.

Check out the website: www.mellifontabbey.ie
 
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Your posting here is a good start. Anyone here on social media needs to make it go viral.

They need to promote locally first. A local parish can do a lot if they form a Vocations Committee.

Also, make sure they are in the loop tourism-wise.

I will let my groups know about them.

I just took a look at the site, and it gets drowned out by the other sites dealing with the ruins. The monks really should consider a change of name, at least for the sake of the website.

http://mellifontabbey.ie/

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Mrs Cloisters OP
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Personally, I think that Silverstream and Papa Stronsay are attracting American vocations because of the use of the TLM on a daily basis. There are very few monasteries in the US that do the same.

On the other hand, there are quite a few US monasteries that use the Ordinary Form that are faithful and reverent, so men who are attracted to the OF just stay here.
 
I don’t understand though why men choose to stay in America. Ireland has now become mission territory where we need outsiders from countries with higher and population and vocations coming here such as America or countries like the Philippines.

I definitely think that it needs rescued simply because it’s part of our history and the monastery dates back to 1142.

You are right about it being drowned out by local tourist ruins, the website is way down that list. There are ways without changing the name that could bounce them back to the top of the list using googles system.

Sadly many of irish young cistercians want to be a part of the popular abbey’s further south of the country and this really irritates me that they choose themselves and what is popular over what is necessary which is saving a monastery from going back to ruins again.

The monks that are left there, particularly the abbot are a sort of crabby and cranky lot. They come across as depressed and self defeated and looks as if they’re just using the monastery as an old folks home where they’ll die in prayer. I’m willing to help but every time I go near the door for anything else I get the impression I’m seen as a nuisance rather than a help. They seemed to have just resolved to die. Their shop closed up because there’s not enough monks to man it and I said I’d volunteer to help keep it open and man the counter on my days off and look for ways to financially help but I got no answer back.

It’s really bad when you’ve got no monks joining but even worse when the remaining monks can’t be bothered to save the place.
 
I guess you’ve answered your own question.

The U.S. is suffering a dearth of vocations as well. We consider ourselves mission territory. If it weren’t for foreign priests, there would be a lot of dioceses in very dire straits. In my own diocese, the large majority of priests must take care of multiple parishes.
 
It’s vocations are higher than Ireland due to 70million Catholics in America vs 3 million catholic population in Ireland of which only a small minority are practicing which makes us even worse.

It would be great to have anyone from any country come especially the slavic areas like Poland etc etc where vocations are high to come over and give the place the lift it needs.
 
There may be more vocations in the US than in Ireland, but that doesn’t mean that there are enough vocations in the US. It makes more sense for those entering the priesthood and religious life to stay and help alleviate a precarious situation where they are, even if the situation is even more precarious somewhere else.

Praying for more vocations in Ireland! :pray:t3:
 
We get an ever increasing number of our priests from Africa and Asia. Many parts of the US are mission territory as well.

Ireland will simple have to look to other countries to help address its priest shortage.
 
I think the reason is probably due to the way they live the monastic life. Silverstream Priory follows the traditional monastic life. It seems to be such religious communities that are attracting vocations and thriving.
 
I don’t think it’s the traditionalism, I think that because America don’t have it on offer as one person said already, they’re forced to choose these places due to lack of monasteries with TLM. Therefore it’s understandable why it may appear to be thriving because if every monastery offered the TLM daily then there wouldn’t appear to be many vocations and we’d still have the situation we have today where vocations are small and sporadic around the country.

It may be a good then, for this monastery to go TLM to get people in but I’m not sure that would happen. I think that they’re really closer to the rule of St.Benedict and maybe the hardness of the order (and lets be honest the cistercian life is difficult) maybe turning people off it also. These monks are very traditional in the Ordinary form and reverent in their once a month TLM.

I’m going to give it a shot suggesting FB adverts and more of a social media internet presence because the first thing people do sometimes when considering monastic life is take to the internet in this modern age anyway.
 
I don’t know. If they truly have the attitude that you say they exhibit, I don’t think moving to the TLM would result in more vocations. There must be an authenticity and a love for the life, as well. The hardness of the order, though, may be an attraction to some. I know a young lady who wanted to be in the “Special Forces” of the Church, so to speak, and chose where she went accordingly. I think there are more of those special people than we realize but have complicated impediments.
 
Stephentlig said:
I don’t think it’s the traditionalism,
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It is!

You look at religious communities that have the full Divine Office and not four or five offices per day, both Office and Mass in the Extraordinary Form, Gregorian chant, who wear a habit, who maintain enclosure, etc. and you will find they are the ones that are attracting vocations.
 
Stephentlig said:
It would be great to have anyone from any country come especially the slavic areas like Poland
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Vocations have tanked in Poland, too, and there are too few to cover local needs. While religiosity remains high among the older generations, the younger generations are much, much less religious. The collapse that happened in Ireland and Spain will eventually happen in Poland, too.
 
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That doesn’t necessarily reflect the health of those monasteries. Nineteen that are just hanging on is worse than nine solid ones (not that I’m saying they are all solid – just making the point that Wiki doesn’t tell the whole story).
 
The whole purpose of monastic life is rarely understood in the U S now. I’m guessing it’s the same in Europe. There is no effort by parishes, by Dioceses, by Catholic education to explain what it is, and why.
 
Mellifont has the full Divine Office, Mass in the EF once a month, chant, wear a habit and maintain enclosure yet there’s only 6 of them left. It has nothing to do with traditionalism but everything to do with people choosing these places because there’s very few of them around the world so naturally on a whole just one monastery will gather many vocations for that reason. If there were 1 TLM monastery in Ireland (which there is) then it would have more vocations than the rest but not because it’s TLM as most of the vocations are coming from the small numbers globally that are interested in the TLM.

If you had 20 monasteries in Ireland (which we have and possibly more) that offered TLM and only one monastery that offered the Ordinary form the numbers would be the same. It’s a case of simple Math. Many of the anti-Pope Francis and sspx type like to make claims that their seminaries are thriving but that is only because their seminaries and groups are small in number and so people with a vocation will be attracted to that one place from around the world as is the case with Silverstream (who are not sspx) in Ireland. Maximize the amount of seminaries they have across the country and around the world and such numbers would reflect the poor number we have now.

I’m just trying to be realistic and I love the Latin Mass and the Ordinary form also.
 
May I remember you that vocation is a calling and saying a mass in latin isn’t going to attract just good vocations?
 
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