Seth

and confession around 2^nd grade. I went through what was called back then CCD which I was confirmed in 8^th grade. From 8^th grade to 12^th grade, my spiritual life was stagnant, it did not develop much. Back then I was more interested in video games and having a girlfriend. Once I graduated high school, and all my friends went off to university, this is where my spiritual life took a turn. It was at this point where I began to feel the call, ever so small, like a little spark inside my soul trying to ignite, but still stifled by the worries of the world. This went on for 2 or 3 years while I was in community college. I began to become disinterested in pursuing a secular job or vocation, and felt there was something more, something deeper that I was being called to. However, my soul would go through years and years of circular anguish and sin and purification before reaching the point I reached a year ago. From around 2016 to late 2024, was a long 8 year period of constant trial for me. Sometimes losing, sometimes winning. A better way to describe it might be, sometimes dead, sometimes alive. I would go through periods of months at a time being enveloped in mortal sin. I would eventually, by God’s Grace, come out of those bad habits, and be in a state of grace for months, but then slip back down into the pit. These cycles went on for almost 8 years. It wasn’t until late 2024, and really January of 2025, where one morning I woke up, and said I’m done. I’m done living this life of vice, knowing how much God loves me, and how I hurt him so by living this way. It was at this point where I really dove into learning more about the Catholic church, saints, faith, and sacraments on a level that I had not known before. I owe a lot of my immediate conversion to Saint Therese. I say this because I watched a movie about her called Therese, not knowing who this saint was. That movie really changed my life. I immediately wanted to know more about her and her little way. The movie showed how everyday simple acts of kindness towards our peers are beyond fruitful. I bought her autobiography, Story of a Soul, and read that so fast because it was like I discovered a river in the desert. My spiritual life had been dry the past 8 years, and God used Therese, to appeal to my sensitive heart and soul, to show me how could I begin growing in humility, in purity, in chastity. It was in love of neighbor. Love of neighbor purifies the heart. When you love your neighbor, you view them with dignity, with respect, with unconditional chasteness. Therese then led me to other saints, such as Teresa of the Andes and Teresa of Avila (you could say a trinity of Teresas helped saved my soul). This past year my prayer life has grown exponentially. I pray at minimum one rosary a day, if not usually two. I pray the St. Bridget prayers. I visit the Tabernacle at my local church every morning that I can during the work week. I go to a couple daily masses through the week in addition to Sunday. I volunteer for our family of parishes Junior High youth ministry. I read a Psalm every day along with a couple chapters of other books in the Bible. I read other spiritual writings, mostly writings of the saints. I have grown more in faith and wisdom in this past year than I did the first 28 years of my life. I owe all this to God’s Grace, his Saints, and without a doubt, the protection and guidance of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, who has been my Mother of Perpetual Help through all this.

Why do I want to become a monk? I suppose I could answer this question by naming the three theological virtues. Faith, hope, and love. I have been searching how to fill the void in me, or calling that I haven’t been able to answer yet. The ring-tone became much louder when I originally visited Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky. When I saw that these brothers and priests, these beautiful monks, were living with each other, all dedicated to Christ and his Church, I thought, this is it. Not that this specific place is it (Gethsemane), but that this, the religious life, is it. I highly admire the Trappists there, but that specific Order was not where my boat was to come ashore. I then visited Saint Meinrad, and seeing how full of joy all the monks were here, and their routine and charisms, were very much appealing to me. To answer the specific question of why a monk though, it is because being able to share faith, with a community of men who also love our Lord and our Lady, every day for the rest of my life on earth, is my dream. I have been yearning to discover a place where my entire day revolves around a wonderful combination of prayer and work, and a monk almost perfectly fulfills that combination. The beauty of the Divine Office, the daily Mass, the periods of work and recreation throughout the day, the lectio divina, all while living and doing these things within a community of men consisting of brothers and priests, is just amazing to me. This gives me hope, hope that there truly is a fulfillment of your vocation out there, if you pray to follow God’s will. Being a monk would give me hope on a personal level, that hope of Heaven, that hope of Eternal life, the hope I would pray I could share and give to others while serving the Church, my Order, my community, and the world through our prayers and work. Last but certainly not least, love. The love between the monks I saw was immense. It was pure joy, a joyful love. It made me think of what kind of love might have existed between the twelve apostles. A love of joy to spread the Gospel, to spread hope of salvation to each other, and to the ends of the earth.

My expectations of monastic life are: I expect to grow in charity, humility, and love by serving my Order, by being obedient to my superiors, by performing every action I do with great love, like Saint Therese did. I expect to grow and form a bond of true friendship and brotherhood with the other monks in the Order. I expect to fulfill God’s will, whatever it may be, in whatever capacity I am able to. I expect to constantly increase in faith, hope, and love throughout the years, always increasing in gentleness, peace, generosity, faithfulness, fortitude, understanding, and wisdom. I expect to serve our community, order, and our Lord and Lady in everything I do.

A key factor that influenced my decision to enter monastic life was meeting the monks at Saint Meinrad. When I initially came on the young adult retreat, one of the monks had this joy that emanated from him. You could tell he truly found his vocation and home where God wanted him. Upon meeting some of the other monks here, that joy could be felt and seen in them too. I am not naïve in thinking there is never the chance of tension between members of the community. With that said, all my visits there I have only perceived a joy in the monks. This says a lot about a community of so many monks living together, where they all flourish as themselves, while fulfilling the Lord’s will in their life, together, as Benedictines, in prayer and work.

Can you unlock a vocation like Seth’s?