The monastic alternative, at least in the West, has become so deeply unfashionable that most people no longer consider the possibility, but there is, at least to me, something deeply appealing about ...

Of course, the monastic life presupposes belief in God, or a particular idea of God, which is a large part of why it has become so unpopular. But it is worth remembering that many non-Christian ...

When Judith Valente, a Benedictine oblate, leads contemplative retreats both online and in monasteries around the country, she has been noticing that laypeople — whether Catholic or ...

Bordering the 288 freeway as it crosses over the James River there is a Benedictine Abbey. In it live 15 men who have vowed their entire lives to a way of life called monastic. These men follow an ...

In Washington last week, Archbishop Patrick A. O’Boyle of Washington solemnly carried out one of the rarer ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church: the formal blessing of a new abbot. He gave his ...

During his general audience on June 11, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about St. Columban (543-615), one of the many Irish monks who contributed to the re-evangelization of Europe in the early Middle Ages.

It’s “a vision so old it looks new,” writes Wilson-Hartgrove, a 20-something North Carolina pastor who is part of New Monasticism.New Monastics, he says, are a loosely confederated group of Christians ...