For most men in early discernment, the question isn’t only “am I called?” It’s also “how does this actually work?”
The process of entering monastic life can feel opaque from the outside — something that happens to other people in other centuries, not a concrete series of steps a man in his thirties could realistically begin next month. That opacity is one of the things that keeps genuinely called men from taking even a first step.
So here is the process plainly, stage by stage: what happens, in what order, and what each stage is actually designed to do. No stage requires certainty before you begin it. The entire process is built for men who are still figuring it out — because that’s what discernment means. If you haven’t yet read: The Difference Between Spiritual Hunger and a Monastic Vocation, now is the time to do that.
Before the Process Begins — First Contact
The process doesn’t start with an application. It starts with a conversation.
The right first move is simply reaching out to Brother Benedict van Ginkel, O.S.B., our Sub Prior, by email or phone. There’s no formal requirement at this stage — no documents, no references, nothing to prepare. Men contact us from very different places in their discernment: some have been thinking seriously about monastic life for years, others are still in the earliest stages of wondering whether the thought is worth pursuing. Both are welcome.
If you don’t yet have a spiritual director, this is a good time to find one — through your parish priest or diocese. A spiritual director can help you examine your motivations honestly as you begin exploring, and the abbey will strongly encourage having one as the process develops. But it’s not a prerequisite for picking up the phone.
Step One: The Live-In Experience
The first formal step is the Live-In — approximately two weeks of living inside the monastery enclosure alongside the monks.
It’s worth being clear about what a Live-In is and isn’t. It isn’t an audition. There’s no formal evaluation, no performance expected, no sense that you’re being assessed against a standard. It’s an experience — an opportunity to live the actual daily rhythm of St. Peter’s Abbey rather than imagining it from a distance.
During the Live-In, you participate in the full horarium: Lauds at 6:20 AM, Mass at 7:00, the work periods, the coffee breaks, Vespers at 5:35 PM, supper, recreation, Vigils at 7:30. You share meals with the monks, work alongside them, pray the Divine Office with them. If you want to know what those two weeks look like hour by hour, the full daily schedule is laid out in Lauds to Vigils – A Day in the Life at St. Peter’s Abbey.
Most men find that two weeks of direct experience provides more genuine clarity about whether this life is theirs than any amount of reading or reflection could. That clarity runs in both directions — some men leave more certain they’re called, others leave more certain they’re not. Both outcomes are valuable, and neither is a failure.
No commitment is made or implied by completing a Live-In. It is, in the spirit of John 1:39, simply a chance to “come and see.”
Step Two: Candidacy
If both the man and the community feel ready to move forward after the Live-In, the next stage is Candidacy — a six-month period of actually living the monastic life with greater depth and intention.
The candidate moves into the monastery and follows the full daily schedule. He works alongside the monks in whatever the community needs — farming, maintenance, administration, cleaning, study — and is paired with an experienced monk who serves as his mentor. Prayer and work provide the daily context for discernment. The question the candidate is living with isn’t abstract anymore; it’s being tested against concrete daily reality.
Before Candidacy formally begins, the abbey requires several documents:
- Certificates of Baptism and Confirmation
- Letters of recommendation, with at least one from a priest or spiritual director
- An RCMP criminal record check
These requirements aren’t bureaucratic obstacles. They’re the abbey’s way of ensuring that both the candidate and the community are entering the next stage with clear eyes and mutual honesty.
Step Three: The Novitiate
After Candidacy, if both the man and the community discern that the path forward is clear, he enters the Novitiate — a year of intense formation that is the deepest immersion into Benedictine life before any vows are made.
The Novice is formally received into the community and begins wearing the habit. Formation during the Novitiate focuses on prayer, study of the Rule of St. Benedict, and the deeper rhythms of monastic life. A Novice Master guides the novice throughout this year, accompanying his formation and helping him understand what he’s entering.
At the end of the Novitiate, the novice and the community together discern whether to proceed to vows. It is not a unilateral decision — the community has a voice in whether a man is ready to make his first profession.
Temporary Vows and the Path to Full Profession
Following the Novitiate, the monk makes his first temporary profession — vows taken for a defined period before the permanent commitment of solemn vows.
The Benedictine vows are three: stability, obedience, and conversatio morum. Stability is a commitment to this specific community — not to Benedictine life in the abstract, but to St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster, Saskatchewan, as home for the rest of one’s life. Obedience is to the superior. Conversatio morum — conversion of life — is an ongoing commitment to growth in monastic virtues, a vow that has no finish line.
Temporary vows are renewable, allowing additional time for discernment before permanent commitment. Solemn profession is the lifelong vow — the permanent, irrevocable commitment that defines the monk’s identity before God and the Church.
The entire process from first contact to solemn vows typically spans several years. That pace is intentional. It gives the man and the community genuine time to know each other before either makes a permanent commitment. The deliberateness is not an obstacle — it’s a form of respect for the weight of what’s being decided.
Who This Process Is For
The abbey welcomes Catholic men between 21 and 50 years of age, with individual exceptions considered depending on circumstances. Men must be single or widowed. Beyond that, the range of backgrounds among those who have entered St. Peter’s is wider than most people expect — musicians, academics, healthcare workers, tradespeople, men who came with advanced degrees and men who didn’t.
The core qualifications aren’t credentials. They’re character: a sincere desire to seek God, a genuine capacity for community life, and an openness to formation — the willingness to be shaped by the life rather than arriving with all the answers.
Men who are uncertain whether they’re called are not disqualified by that uncertainty. The process exists precisely to help them find out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to leave my job before starting the process? No, you should keep your job. The live in period is short and does not require you to leave your job. If you become a candidate you should ask for a leave of absence or leave your job as the candidacy period is six months long.
Can I maintain contact with my family during formation? Monks maintain appropriate contact (using discretion) with their families throughout formation and after solemn profession. Monastic life involves leaving behind a previous way of life — it doesn’t mean severing family relationships. The abbey can provide guidance on how contact typically works at each stage.
What happens if I discern that monastic life isn’t right for me partway through the process? This happens, we recommend when it happens that you stop and take two weeks to discern more before you make any further decision.
Is financial support provided during Candidacy and the Novitiate? During your time at the abbey most things a person needs are provided: food, shelter, toiletries, etc. However if you would like snacks, or extra things you will have to provide these things for yourself.
Why is the entry process so long and difficult? The Rule of St. Benedict reads in Chapter 58 – The Procedure For Receiving Brothers: “1 Do not grant newcomers to the monastic life an easy entry, 2 but, as the Apostle says, Test the spirits to see if they are from God (1 John 4:1).” RB-1980
Does St. Peter’s Abbey accept men from outside Canada? No, you must be a Canadian Citizen.
What’s the difference between a monk and a friar? Monks live a stable life within a specific monastery community, bound by the vow of stability to that place. Friars — such as Franciscans or Dominicans — belong to an order rather than a specific house and typically engage in active ministry across different locations. Benedictine monks at St. Peter’s Abbey are committed to this community, in this place, for life.
The First Step Is the Smallest One
The process from first contact to solemn vows is longer than most men expect. It asks for patience, honesty, and a willingness to let clarity come gradually rather than forcing it.
But the first step — reaching out, starting a conversation — is the smallest one in the whole sequence. Everything else follows from there, one stage at a time, at a pace that gives both you and the community what you need to discern well.
If you’ve read this and found the path clearer than it was before, that’s enough to begin.
Contact Brother Benedict van Ginkel, O.S.B., Sub Prior Email: vanginkelb@stpeters.sk.ca Phone: 306-682-1781
Or visit our Vocations page to learn more about the Live-In experience and each stage of formation at St. Peter’s Abbey.
