Br. Basil Piette in the sanctuary at the Conventual Mass

The Mass of the Third Sunday of Easter was the occasion of an important moment for the monastic community, the Simple Profession of Br. Basil Piette. The occasion marks the end of Brother Basil’s novitiate, and the commencement of his monastic life as a junior. Simple Profession entails the making of the three promises of stability, conversatio morum, and obedience for a period of three years. It is the next step in preparation for Solemn Vows, whereby one makes a lifelong commitment to the monastic community. Brother Basil made his profession at the 9:30 a.m. Mass before the entire School, a powerful witness of commitment for the School community to see. As a professed junior, Br. Basil received the monastic hood as part of his habit, witnessed in the rite of his clothing with the cowl during the Mass. The cowl had been blessed the previous evening, at a rite of examination held prior to vespers. 

Brother Basil is a native Rhode Islander, raised in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. His proximity to Portsmouth made him aware of the monastic community here, and enabled him to learn more about it. Abbot Michael recounted some of that journey in his remarks on Sunday: “For Brother Basil, it all began with one visit here, that led to another, that has led him to believe that God is calling him to give his life to us and to you. This is not a call to give up his life in a single moment of sacrifice, but to live his life, giving every moment, every day for, we hope, the rest of his life. He has been tested for the last year, and he has passed his year of testing, and there was testing for sure, with honors. Today he will promise to give his life to us and to you unreservedly, for the next three years.”  

 

 

The signing of the profession document

As directed in the Monastic Ritual, which outlines a variety of special rites for the English Benedictine Congregation, the Simple Profession had been anticipated in a preliminary rite on the evening prior, when the monastic community gathered for vespers. The novice, on the cusp of completing his novitiate and becoming a junior, is reminded then by the abbot that he has been accepted by the Chapter, and a public statement of intention is made before the community. The Abbot inquires: “Do you wish to make your profession among us, under the Rule of our holy father Benedict?” “I do,” responds the novice. “Tomorrow you will make your profession.” The cowl is then blessed and sprinkled with water. 

 

 

Preliminary Rite, with blessing of cowl

The profession then takes place at the Conventual Mass. The Monastic Ritual indicates that, “The Abbot who receives the profession presides at the Mass. The profession takes place at the altar.” Again, an initial inquiry is made: “My dear brother, what do you ask of God and of his holy Church? … I ask God’s merciful love and to share in the monastic way of life in your community.” Abbot Michael’s homily spoke both to the readings and to the profession Br. Basil was making, finding a particularly fruitful message in the Gospel of the day, in which Saint Peter professes his love for Christ, challenged by Christ’s threefold inquiry: “Do you love me?” The provocation and discernment with which Christ challenges Peter is mirrored in the challenges of the monastic vocation, indeed of all Christian life. “This Gospel has a deep message for us, and especially for you, Br. Basil. It asks each one of us, as an individual – you and me, the person sitting next to you, the person in front of you, the person across, and the one behind you…Do YOU love me?” Abbot Michael noted that this call to “love” extends beyond a credal statement of “belief”: it elicits action and affects the course of one’s life.  

 

 

Br. Basil receives his cowl

The homily is followed by an examination, in which the candidate is asked of his commitment to “undertake a life of stability, conversatio morum, and obedience,” and if he is “resolved to live in accordance with the Rule of our holy father Benedict and the Constitutions of our Congregation.” With Br. Basil’s affirmation of these queries saying, “I do promise,” he then joined the Abbot at the altar to publicly sign his profession document. A series of prayers follows this moment, including: “May he sincerely seek you; may he be zealous for the work of God, for obedience, and for the endurance of trials… Through constant monastic observance and the life of faith, may his heart expand, so that he may run along the way of your commandments in a sweetness of love that is beyond words…” Abbot Michael then clothed Brother Basil in his newly-blessed cowl, symbolic of his taking on the Benedictine life, and offered him the kiss of peace. Br. Basil, now a junior monk and professed member of the community, returned to his place in the monastic choir. The profession document remains on the altar then, for the duration of the Mass.

LINKS:

Video of the Mass.