If you have debts, don’t let those get in the way of your discernment. Feel free to approach us.  

A man must, however, be free of all personal and credit card debts by the time he enters as a candidate to the monastery. We will accept educational debts up to $20,000. 

When men approach us and they let us know they have BOTH credit card debt and educational debt, we work with them to find a solution. We do this by reminding the men to pay ONLY the minimum on the educational debts, but work to put every available dollar to paying off the credit card debt. We will even provide a member of our staff who is trained in accounting to help establish a budget. Tackle the credit cards first! 

Once the man has that credit card and personal debt paid, he can then begin looking at applying to our community. With the Abbot's approval, we will consider allowing a man to apply who has "educational" debts requiring repayment of education grants and loans. If these are excessive and beyond $20,000, then we will ask a man to first repay a substantial portion of the educational debts before we allow him to apply. If it is below $20,000, then we will allow him to apply. If he is accepted, when he does arrive we would assume the minimum monthly payments while the man is in formation. If he leaves formation, then he also takes the remaining debts with him. 

As for men who have automobile debts, you can still apply but you will need to sell your car upon entering the community so that the car loan is paid off. This is common with most all of our applicants. 

To reiterate, if you have debts, then don't let that hinder you in your discernment. Contact us, visit us, and don't let the burden of debt overwhelm your vocational call. 

You must be a single, Catholic man between the ages of 20-45. If you are between 18 and 20, then you can come for a vocation visit, but you must be 20 by the time you apply. We prefer a man to have either worked for a few years or completed some college before entering the monastery after high school. Likewise, those who are older often find it more difficult to modify and change their way of living, which is why the age of 45 is the ceiling. We occasionally make exceptions for the upper age ONLY if a person has 1-already completed training for the priesthood, or 2-has lived here before, i.e. he is an alumnus of the Academy, or 3-has been living in another religious community and is already accustomed to religious life.

There is a five-step process for applying to the Abbey that is almost identical to applying for diocesan priesthood. This process, however, presumes that you have already visited the Abbey several times prior to applying and that you fulfill the prerequisites outlined in our FAQ's. You should have also visited at least one other religious community and one other monastic community to ensure Subiaco is the right fit for you. 

First, you must be interviewed by the five monks on the vocation/formation team. This can be accomplished in a regular visit to our monastery. 

Second, having completed those interviews and receiving the Abbot's approval, you would then fill out an application form that asks basic questions relating to your life, education, experience, etc. 

Third, you would be asked to provide sacramental records and educational transcripts from high school and college. 

Fourth, you would be asked to provide at least six letters of character references from people who know you. These can be family members, work colleagues, parish leaders, priests and deacons, or seminary and college professors. The letter from the Pastor is THE most important one so please be sure you have spoken with him about your discenring monastic life. These four steps help us determine if we can be of service to God in your exploration of monastic life at Subiaco. 

Fifth and finally, once you arrive, we would ask you to complete a psychological assessment that we will pay for, as well as medical, eye, and dental examinations. If you have already completed most of this for another diocese or religious community, then we will accept those results. 

Most men find that if they are committed and dedicated, they can complete the entire written application process of the first four steps in one month. 

Men come for a candidacy of six months. During that time, they live in the monastery and obtain more experience in our way of life before becoming a novice. They will attend classes, live, work, and pray with the other monks. After that, a person begins the novitiate, which lasts a year and a day. A novice is an individual who is a member of the community and is in the process of formation in becoming a monk. At the end of that year, the novice becomes a junior monk by making temporary vows for three years. Although a person may extend the time of temporary vows, a junior monk will often make solemn vows at the end of three years and so become full-fledged monks of the monastery. So, the minimum time before solemn profession is about four and a half years.

We accept men on two dates each year: February 2nd and September 8th. This means that the application process MUST be completed at least one month before the entrance date so we can notify the man of acceptance or rejection.

We have 32 solemnly professed monks. 

Absolutely! Depending on the availability of rooms at our Retreat Center, the family members of a monk can come visit anytime they want. Some of our monks have family that already live in the immediate area, so they try to visit their family once or twice a week.

Yes; two of our present monks were previously diocesan priests. As they will tell you, the process is not easy and requires careful planning because Bishops are not always as open to the Church's clear preference for diocesan priests to enter monastic life.

First, if you feel you have a monastic calling then you need to just come here for a private retreat to get to know our Abbey. If it becomes clear in your retreat that this is not your calling, then you have lost nothing. To be candid (and so as not to sugar-coat this), virtually all diocesan priests taking this initial step determine that monastic life is simply too hard, too much of a sacrifice, and not for them. 

However, if after that initial visit you do think that this is where God is calling you, then you will need to speak with your Bishop or Religious Superior. They must grant you permission to undertake a deeper exploration of this life by allowing you to make a more extensive vocation discernment stay of a week or so over a period of two or three stays. If you still feel that this is your calling, then you will have to apply to your Bishop or Superior for permission to apply to our monastery. If you are accepted for candidacy, then your Bishop or Superior will have to grant you a leave of absence to begin formation. You will still be incardinated in your own diocese or religious community until you make solemn profession as a monk in our Abbey.

For most men, the time from that initial visit to entrance into candidacy is about two years. Once you begin formation as a monk, you will no longer function as a priest until the completion of your novitiate. You may concelebrate at masses, but all other priestly work will cease as you first get formed as a monk. Fr. Elijah from our Abbey would be happy to speak with you further since he has most recently trodden this path from diocesan to monastic life. 

Yes, but some steps must first be completed. You can only apply to our monastery only after you have received a declaration of nullity from the Church for your previous marriage. Please speak with your parish priest about this process. Likewise, you must have fulfilled all obligations for any children resulting from the prior marriage and this includes alimony and child support payments. Once this has occurred, then we would be honored to consider your application. Fr. Patrick from our Abbey would be happy to speak with you further since he has most recently trodden this path.  

It depends on why you left or were asked to leave.
 
If you left because you discerned that you were not called to the sometimes solitary diocesan life and wanted a life lived in community instead, then you really should consider monastic life. If you left because you did not feel called to use your skills solely within parish life but wanted other ministry options, then you really should consider monastic life. If you left because you are an introvert and did not like the constant “on-demand” life of a parish priest, then you really should consider monastic with its balance of introverts and extroverts. If you left because you wanted more of a balance in prayer and work in your life, then you really should consider monastic life. 

All of these reasons are not points of failure from the seminary, but rather points of discernment that you were simply not called by God to diocesan life. It's important to understand that we don't have lower standards than diocesan life (you will note that both our brothers and priests usually have more extensive advanced degrees than diocesan brothers or are professional artisans at their crafts or trades). We simply have different standards that more closely align with monastic life.

If you were asked to leave for psychological or sexual reasons, then community life in probably not for you. This may seem strange, but monastic life does not help you escape from those issues. In fact, those issues become even more intense with monastic life because of the particular nature of our lifestyle. Instead, we would encourage you to begin to professionally address those issues in your life.

Yes, but you will have to stop tobacco use and vaping by the time you enter the formation program.

Heavens, yes! Some monks watch movies every week in our movie room from movies we have been given or by streaming. Some monks also go regularly to neighboring towns or cities to watch new movies in the large movie theaters. 

Absolutely! Each man who enters the monastery has a phone in his cell. He will be assigned a phone pass code which he uses to make phone calls. He can call out whenever he wants, and he is given that common phone number to receive calls. In fact, most of our men use skype or facetime or other platforms to converse with their families regularly. A number of the monks also have cell phones.

Absolutely! Our monks listen to Classical, Country-Western, Bluegrass, Rap, Classic Rock, Indie music, EDM, Eastern and Western Chant, Jazz, the Blues, Metal, etc. Most of our monks use the free Spotify or Pandora for listening to their music. 

A few of the monks play video games. What is important in monastic life is reordering of priorities and not allowing pastimes to interfere with our prayer, work, or community life.  

Yes, but in one sense a monk never really takes a vacation from monastic life. Just as a married couple does not take a vacation from marital life, neither does a monk from monastic life. Every monk, once he has made at least temporary profession, has two weeks per year that he can spend away from the monastery, visiting friends and relatives. Obviously, he still attends to all the obligations of the Office even while spending time away from the monastery.

No. Once you are accepted into our candidacy program, you will have medical, dental, and eye insurance provided just like the other monks.

Not immediately. Your first step is to approach your Priest and discuss with him how to begin the RCIA process at your local parish. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is known as RCIA. Once you have become Catholic or come into full communion with the Church, you should then begin involving yourself in parish life. In these first two years after becoming Catholic, the Church refers to you as a neophyte... a new Catholic! During these two years, visit our Abbey and become involved here to learn if God is truly calling you to the monastic life. At the end of those two years, you would be free to apply for entrance to our monastery.

Yes, but just not at our Abbey. We are a Benedictine Abbey in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. There are a few Protestant Abbeys of men and women that you can research by clicking HERE or HERE or HERE or HERE. 

No. We are not accepting international applicants at this time. You might prayerful consider three other options:

1-One Benedictine monastery in the USA that is adept at considering foreign applicants is the Abbey of Christ in the Desert. You can find their contact information by clicking HERE.

2-If you are from the continents of Africa or Asia, then you might want to consider contacting the St. Ottilien Congregation of Missionary Benedictines which maintains houses around the world.  You can find their contact information by clicking HERE.

3-Ideally, you should explore monasteries within your country or region and not simply in the USA. You can find a full list of Benedictine monasteries at our Benedictine Confederation atlas by clicking HERE.