Br. Sixtus Roslevich with Sr. Constance Veit, L.S.P.

The story goes that a young boy went home after school on a day that the bishop visited and spoke to his class during preparation for their upcoming First Holy Communion. The boy’s mother asked him over dinner that night what the one piece of advice was that he remembered the bishop imparting. “Well,” said the boy, “His Excellency told us that bishops need more vacations.” It’s a good example of how one single misplaced vowel can change the meaning of a word. Having gotten to know a fair number of bishops over the years, I think most agree that they would, in fact, like more vacations, as well as more vo-cations. The thoughtful and personal “Church Talk” given to the gathered School earlier this month by a Form VI student here at Portsmouth, John Paul (JP) Devaney, which he has allowed us to share in this issue, appeals to the Latin root of the word vocation in speaking of his sense of his own calling. We are grateful to JP for his sincere and engaging discussion of his vocational journey, which has prompted us all to consider the meaning of vocation and of vocations to monastic life.

Meanwhile, with advisory grades about to be shared with our students at this midway point of the Fall Term, we have received from Br. Benedict Maria in Florida an update on his own final year of theology studies at the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. Brother Benedict has been journeying along the vocational path that continues for some through consecrated life to also include the priesthood. As an ordained deacon as of last May 3, the pace to priesthood has picked up for him, as he describes in his own words: “Coming back to the seminary after ordination has been a graceful time. I have been assigned to a local parish, Saint Vincent Ferrer, which is about 10 minutes from the seminary. I go there on weekends to preach and serve as a deacon at Mass. So far, I have done this once, and it has been a great experience. I will be returning this weekend to preach and serve as deacon at three Masses – one on Saturday and two on Sunday. This term, I am taking three courses at the seminary: Biomedical Ethics, Homiletics 4, and Pastoral Counseling. I am particularly intrigued by the course on Biomedical Ethics. It’s fascinating to see how technology is at the center of much of the new ethical structures the Church is reaching out to. I may be conducting research on a paper related to artificial intelligence and Biomedical Ethics. Overall, things have been exciting. Last week, we had our family weekend at the seminary, where seminarians invited many of their families. A couple of my local friends’ families came as well to celebrate with us. Many of my seminarian brothers were recently instituted as lectors and acolytes. My deacon brothers have always been very supportive, and I am keeping up with my monastic practices as I balance life at the seminary with preaching and serving at the parish on weekends.”
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, FloridaWe include Br. Benedict, and others who may be away, in our community prayers every single day when we conclude the Divine Office with:
Friends and visitors often ask us what they can do to help increase vocations to the priesthood or to the consecrated religious life. The number one answer is to simply pray. In addition to weekly Eucharistic Adoration held Fridays in the Abbey Church from 1:30 until 5:00 p.m., the devotion continues on First-Friday evenings from 7 until 10:00 p.m. specifically for the increase in vocations. Those evening hours are covered by the monks, guests in the house, students and worshipers from across Aquidneck Island. As the Director of Vocations, I am often invited to speak at schools and organizations throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Sometimes the topic at hand has to do with Benedictine Monasticism in general and how it differs from the charism of the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, etc. Sometimes the invitation comes as a sort of plug-in to a school’s semester on Medieval History. Regardless of the approach taken, the facts presented, or the age group of the listeners, I am always aware that it might be only one boy or girl, or a single young man or woman, who is hearing my words at the exact right time in their life. They may have already felt a call from the Holy Spirit, an urging which they might not yet have the maturity or the wisdom to understand, but the right phrasing of my words of encouragement could possibly give them the validation and the permission they need to pray about their vocation and take it to the next level.

Br. Benedict at Diaconate Ordination

I have felt this most deeply with college-age students, particularly in my experiences with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) at their annual conferences, such as the upcoming SEEK25 gathering scheduled for January 1-5 in Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C. By the time they have reached their late teens and early twenties, most have a better understanding that one’s life vocation can mean, besides a life as a religious, a married life as a husband or wife, as a parent, or as a single person. That doesn’t make the decision necessarily any easier. Most monks that I know, whether priests or brothers, most religious in fact and, yes, even bishops, are able to point back to a defining moment in their life when lightning struck and the resulting brilliant flash of clear light elucidated for them the path forward. Granted, it’s not always a St.-Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus moment, though sometimes it might come as a frozen-on-the-spot-in-your-pew kind of moment. Ask John Paul Devaney, if you meet him on a visit to campus, about how he was “frozen in time” by “the Lord of time and space.”

---

In addition to his work on The Current and as editor of The Newsletter of the English Benedictine Congregation and as the Director of Oblates for Portsmouth, Br. Sixtus Roslevich serves the monastery as Director of Vocations.