C
Catholic_Kenpo
Guest
I spent this past weekend at Belmont Abbey here in NC. Like many people, I’d never even met a monk before, so I honestly had no idea what I was in for. It was going to be a couple of months before I could get time off in order to take a real visit, so I decided to take a weekend and just go meet the monks and see the abbey.
I arrived Saturday morning, just before their daily Mass. I spoke to the Abbot, and he invited me to sit in the choir section. After Mass was over, I was introduced to the guestmaster, who took me to my cell. We sat down to talk and went over my background and experiences that brought me to my current visit. Initially, the conversation was a bit awkward for me, as I hadn’t ever had what would be considered a “real conversation” with a religious. After 30-45 minutes or so we got off subject and started talking about various hobbies and interests. That certainly broke the ice and we quickly found a great deal of common ground. The discussion ended up running much longer than expected, and we had to hurry to make it to Vespers. After Vespers, we went to dinner, and it amazed me (although it probably shouldn’t have) how easy it was to relate to the rest of the monks. Even the older monks (some were in their 80’s) we a pleasure to talk to. After dinner, we went and watched a movie in the tv room.
I wasn’t quite used to sleeping on a twin bed, so I kept feeling like I was going to fall off one side of the bed or the other. I finally had enough and got up early to shower and dress for morning prayer. After prayer, we had a silent breakfast. I went from breakfast to a meeting with the Abbot. He commented that typically people are somewhat intimidated by their first visit to the abbey, but that I seemed to have been at home since I first arrived. He was quite correct. I was really at ease the entire weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
In short, it went much better than I had hoped. I believe that the monks felt the same way based on the conversations I had as I was leaving. Suffice it to say, I will be going back at some point in the (near) future. The Abbot wants me to come back for a full week, but if my work schedule prevents that from happening fairly soon I may take another weekend visit (or two) before I get my full week. The monks are praying for me while I consider everything I learned over the weekend. I hope you will join them in their prayers for my vocation. Thanks.
-CK
I arrived Saturday morning, just before their daily Mass. I spoke to the Abbot, and he invited me to sit in the choir section. After Mass was over, I was introduced to the guestmaster, who took me to my cell. We sat down to talk and went over my background and experiences that brought me to my current visit. Initially, the conversation was a bit awkward for me, as I hadn’t ever had what would be considered a “real conversation” with a religious. After 30-45 minutes or so we got off subject and started talking about various hobbies and interests. That certainly broke the ice and we quickly found a great deal of common ground. The discussion ended up running much longer than expected, and we had to hurry to make it to Vespers. After Vespers, we went to dinner, and it amazed me (although it probably shouldn’t have) how easy it was to relate to the rest of the monks. Even the older monks (some were in their 80’s) we a pleasure to talk to. After dinner, we went and watched a movie in the tv room.
I wasn’t quite used to sleeping on a twin bed, so I kept feeling like I was going to fall off one side of the bed or the other. I finally had enough and got up early to shower and dress for morning prayer. After prayer, we had a silent breakfast. I went from breakfast to a meeting with the Abbot. He commented that typically people are somewhat intimidated by their first visit to the abbey, but that I seemed to have been at home since I first arrived. He was quite correct. I was really at ease the entire weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
In short, it went much better than I had hoped. I believe that the monks felt the same way based on the conversations I had as I was leaving. Suffice it to say, I will be going back at some point in the (near) future. The Abbot wants me to come back for a full week, but if my work schedule prevents that from happening fairly soon I may take another weekend visit (or two) before I get my full week. The monks are praying for me while I consider everything I learned over the weekend. I hope you will join them in their prayers for my vocation. Thanks.
-CK
