Jesus asked two of his disciples, “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” (Mt 10:22). Will you respond as confidently as they did, saying, “We can”? Or even “I think I’d like to try it.”

If so, consider what you will find at Holy Trinity Abbey, Huntsville, Utah. We are a community of twenty-one Catholic monks, who have responded to Christs challenge and have pioneered a vital monastic organization in this fertile valley hidden in the mountains of northeastern Utah, land of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons).

The challenges facing pioneers, especially religious pioneers, are formidable. These are part of the cup that Jesus continues to hold out to us to drink. Renunciation, the narrow gate, living for others instead of for oneself, humility, and obedience, these are the contents of his cup.

Jesus himself found it hard to accept and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will” (Mt 26:39).

Experience shows that this cup, once generously accepted, becomes a “cup of salvation” (Ps 116:13), a cup of gladness, freedom, and inner peace. It is a pledge of fraternity and companionship, a call to communion with our brothers who partake of the same cup, a call to love. “[Practice] friendliness,” says the Cistercian Doctor of the Church, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, “so that you strive to be loved and to love, to show yourself gentle and friendly, to support the weaknesses of others not only patiently but gladly” (Sermon 11.6).

Cistercian monastic community is a school of love. Education in this school goes on for a lifetime, and our chief teacher is the divine Spirit of love himself. “The holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name will teach you everything” (Jn 14:21). The biographer of Saint Bernard, William of Saint-Thierry, says, “Although love has been implanted in the human soul by the Author of nature, in our present condition it must be taught” (The Nature and Dignity of Love, Prologue 2).

Monks, because of their frail human condition, are sometimes slow learners and fail in loving others. The virtue of mutual forgiveness goes hand in hand with that of fraternal charity, as all those in the monastery strive to walk the path along which Jesus leads us.

Cistercian monastic life is a life of following Jesus in ever greater conformity to him. Our love for Jesus in himself and in his members is modeled after the perfect union between Jesus and Mary, his blessed mother. As our Constitutions put it: “Only if the brothers prefer nothing whatever to Christ will they be happy to persevere in a life that is ordinary, obscure, and laborious” (Cst. 3.4). Over the years, the result of living by these ideals is a relatively complete transformation of self, the birth of a new self, another Christ, so that “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

For newcomers the transition from life in today’s fast-paced and stressful American society to the slowed-down, quiet way of life at Holy Trinity Abbey can be disorienting. Some call it liberating. Although we are not completely cut off from society, we deliberately withdraw from many features of city life, even good ones, for the sake of our religious practices. Monks do not pretend to live in the Middle Ages, free of modern technology and totally self-sufficient, but monks do filter and restrict their contacts with contemporary society.

After an initial discernment retreat, candidates to Holy Trinity Abbey are introduced gradually to the practices of monastic life during the observership (one month) and the postulancy (six months). The difficulty of separation from family and familiar surroundings is made easier because of the welcome given to the newcomer by the senior monks, some of whom helped found the monastery in 1947. The example of perseverance and the accumulated wisdom of these seniors inspire the newcomers to overcome obstacles that inevitably come up during the early years of monastic life. “Do not be daunted immediately by fear,” says Saint Benedict, “and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset” (RB Prol. 48).

After postulancy comes a two-year novitiate, during which the novice, clothed in white robe, scapular, and cloak, attends formation classes and deepens his understanding of the Cistercian monastic tradition. He participates to a certain extent in the work program, helping to keep the buildings clean or the snow shoveled, helping on the farm, the lawns, or at one of our small industries. He joins the rest of the monastic community for the chanting of the Divine Office (in English) seven times during the day and night. At the end of his novitiate, if the vote of the seniors is favorable, he may advance to temporary profession (at least three years) and then to solemn profession (perpetual).

The monastic calling at Holy Trinity Abbey is open to practicing Catholics between the ages of 21 and 40, who are single, free of financial obligations and family duties, in good mental and physical health, with written recommendations from designated acquaintances. The vocation director will assist the candidate in moving through the initial phases of vocational discernment.

e-mail: hta@xmission.com

fax: 801-745-6430

phone: 801-745-3784

Individual retreats for vocational discernment can be arranged at almost any time by contacting the Vocation Director at the address above. Group "come and see" retreats for vocational discernment are available in 2008 at no cost except the retreatant's own transportation to our abbey. Choose one of these retreats and contact the Vocation Director for a reservation:

June 11 – 15, 2008 August 6 – 10, 2008 October 1 – 5, 2008 FOR PHOTOS AND MORE INFO ABOUT VOCATIONS TO HTA, CLICK HERE!

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