Vocation

We are always happy to talk with Catholics, men and women, young and old, who sense that they have a vocation to priesthood, married, single or the religious life.

With regard to those who may have a vocation to the Benedictine life in Ealing Abbey, experience has shown that after one’s mid to late thirties, it is difficult to adapt to monastic life, to submit to the process by which one yields to the demands of life “under a Rule and an Abbot” (Rule of Saint Benedict 1:13).

The following are the steps young men are asked to take in the process of applying to join us.
Aspirants are those who are actively making enquiries about our life.
Postulants are those who have made a definite request to join us, and have been
accepted to live with us for up to six months of “living alongside”.
Novices have been accepted by the abbot and the monastic council and have received
the monastic habit.
Temporary profession includes those who have made promises for three years

If a man brings with him a cheerful, flexible disposition and the ability to adapt to changes in routine and in life, he will do well with us. A rigid, legalistic attitude, bound up in personal patterns of piety, unable to adapt to the necessities of a new life, will prevent the aspirant from thriving with us.

This page is in development

© James Leachman, O.S.B., copyright 23 August 2012