The day begins with morning prayer at 5:45. Many of the monks then spend 30 minutes in private contemplative prayer, typical of Benedictine spirituality.
Daily Mass follows which includes Gregorian chants. It is attended by members of the school community and laypeople from the town of Portsmouth. After Mass, the monks have breakfast and begin their work day.
All the monks who do not have other duties gather again for Mid-Day prayer. Lunch is served in the refectory and is eaten in silence as we listen to the reader. (Currently, we are listening to Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow.) After lunch, there is more work in the school and time for private reading and study.
We gather again in church for Vespers at 5:30, ending with the song of Mary, the Magnificat. Dinner follows again in silence, while the reader reads a different book, always with an edifying Christian theme. (We are currently listening to The Lord’s Prayer, by Gerald Collins, SJ.)
After dinner, the monks gather for coffee and conversation. Then intercessory prayers begin for the wider Portsmouth community, people who have asked for our prayers, along with prayers for the world and new vocations. Typically in the evening, Mass is said in one or more of the dormitories.
The day concludes with night prayer, or Compline, followed by the Greater Silence throughout the monastery which continues until daily Mass the next morning.