Another Two Monastic Vestings
After our brother Benedict took the habit, two other vestings followed, that of Brother Placidus at Epiphany and that of Brother Gabriel on February 11, feast of the Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The Father Prior questions the postulant:
– What are you asking?
– The mercy of God and admission to your community.
– May our Lord grant you the society of his elect.
– Amen.
In his homily, our Father Prior reminded him of the demands of his new state: “aware of the hard and bitter things through which we come to God, as our Holy Patriarch reminds us, you want with all your soul to embrace the monastic life under the guide of the holy Rule and in obedience to a superior. This approach makes you a soldier who puts all his strength and zeal at the service of Christ the King and his reign.
In monastic life, all apply themselves to charity through humble mutual service where each puts himself at the feet of his brothers:
“Assist us Lord in the accomplishment of our service: and since you have deigned to wash the feet of your disciples, do not despise the gesture with your own hands which you have ordered us to imitate; As we are washed from our bodily defilements, cleanse our souls from their sins. Deign to grant us this grace, you who, being God, live and reign forever and ever. Amen. »(Monastic Rituale)
“The love of Christ has brought us together in unity. Let us be glad and rejoice in him. Let’s be full of fear and love for the living God. And love each other with a sincere heart. (Hymn: ” Ubi caritas et amor “)
The postulant is stripped of his civilian clothes, jacket and tie, symbols of the spirit of the world, to be clothed with « the new man created according to God in righteousness and the holiness of truth. »
« You have decided not only to leave behind the vanities of this world, but also all its beauties and grandeur; you abandon all that, but to possess Him from whom proceeds all beauty, all greatness and all good; it is not enough for you to drink from the river of grace; you want to drink directly from the source of all grace, in a heart to heart with Christ Jesus. » (Homily of the Father Prior)
(Brother Gabriel's vesting)
source of joy ...
