Modern monks in The Forest

A brief look at the lives of the brothers of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire
Imagine, if you will, a life of quiet contemplation, prayer and work in a beautiful, peaceful setting in the heart of England. It sounds lovely doesn’t it? And it is, especially for the monks of Mount St. Bernard Abbey in Coalville. But it’s not an easy life! By 9am, when most of us start work, the brothers of Mt. St. Bernard have been up for hours, in fact they rise at 3.15am every day and are kept busy until they go to bed at 8.00pm. The focal point of the day is prayer “The way we use our time reveals who we are. In the monk’s day prayer comes first. As the church tower is the focal point of the monastic buildings, so prayer – in common and alone – is the focal point of the monastic day” Mount St. Bernard Abbey Website An important part of the day is a practice known to the monastic tradition as Lectio Divina. The term is Latin for ‘divine reading’ and represents an early monastic technique of prayer which is a way of praying with scripture. This kind of prayer calls for one to contemplate, ponder, study and listen.
Historical Note
In the 12th century a Carthusian monk named Giugo described four stages which he saw as being essential to the practice of Lectio Divina. In his book ‘The ladder of four rungs’ which was originally entitled ‘Letter of Dom Guigo the Carthusian to Brother Gervase, about the Contemplative Life’, he called these stages; Lectio (reading), meditation (reflection), oratio (response) and contemplatio (rest). In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI stated, “This is the ladder by which the monks ascend from earth to heaven.”
For further reading on Lectio Divina and its history please see the links below
http://www.ocarm.org/lectio/lecteng1.htm	http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html
Work, particularly manual labour, also features highly in the day of a Cistercian monk. At Mt. St. Bernard Abbey the brothers are involved in the running of a 200 acre dairy farm, pottery production, bookbinding, building & maintenance, a vegetable garden and orchard, beekeeping and as if that wasn’t enough they also run a shop and guesthouse. In addition to which are the daily tasks of running the monastery itself - it’s no wonder that they’re ready to retire at 8.00pm!
One factor which has not yet been mentioned is the strong sense of community which is prevalent in monastic orders. Reading other accounts about the lives of monks you will commonly see that emphasis is placed on solitude and isolation, but a deeply felt sense of community is one of the defining aspects of a monk’s life and should be considered as equally important, “Prayer, reading, work – these are the elements which make up the life of a Cistercian monk. They are lived out in the context of a specific community to which he engages himself in a life-long commitment by his vow of ‘stability’. It is this community dimension which is the other characteristic element of our life. To be a monk is to be a brother among brothers in a living and human community where friendship, mutual help and support play a vital role”. Mount St. Bernard Abbey Website
These days the life of a monk is not as austere as it once was, but in looking at the abbey building itself we can see the intentions behind Pugin’s design to reflect the austerity and simplicity of monks’ lives in the 1800s. A relative newcomer, the abbey was founded in 1835 as a continuation of Garendon abbey after Henry VIII dissolved all of England’s 54 monasteries in the late 1530s. The abbey was the last to be built in England after the Reformation and is today the only remaining Cistercian monastery in England. With thanks to Fr. Joseph for his kind permission in allowing us to use images from the Mount Saint Bernard Abbey Website.
For more information about Monasteries and the Monastic life please visit http://www.ocso.org/
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Modern monks in The Forest

Historical Note