"I have ascended to the highest in me, and look!
The Lord is towering above that.
In my curiosity I have descended to explore my lowest depths,
yet I found God even deeper.
If I looked outside myself,
I saw God stretching beyond the furthest I could see;
and if I looked within,
God was yet further within.
Then I knew the truth of what I had read,
’In God we live and move and have our being.’"
(Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian Author of the 12th Century)

Monastic life sets the seeker on a journey. We seek the One who seeks us. There is grace upon grace as we find and are found over and over again. In the context of prayer, silence, solitude, and community, this quest is nourished and shared.

If you are experiencing the stirrings of a call to monastic life, contact:

It is always helpful to hear a little about yourself and what is leading you to discern a vocation to this way of life.

To reach a true awareness of God as well as ourselves,
we have to renounce our selfish and limited self
and enter into a whole new kind of existence,
discovering an inner center of motivation and love
which makes us see ourselves and everything else in an entirely new light.
(Thomas Merton, Cistercian Author of 20th Century)