What does a monk do?

Ora et labora —pray and work—.
That is the formula that sums up the whole life of the monk. But behind those three words there is a world: a way of life centered on the search for God, in the silence of the monastery and in the peace of a routine that is offered as prayer.

A life centered on God

The monk lives to contemplate God. He does not flee from the world, but embraces it from the heart, interceding for the needs of all people.
Each day, his prayer invisibly sustains the Church.
His vocation is contemplative, but not useless: monks draw down grace upon the world with their silent fidelity.

The rhythm of the day: prayer, reading, and work

The monk’s day turns like a sacred clock around three axes:

Prayer – communal and personal.
Monks pray the Divine Office, the liturgical “hours” that mark the day:

Matins or Vigils, at dawn.
Lauds, to offer the day.
Terce, Sext, and None, in the midst of work.
Vespers, at dusk.
Compline, before resting.

And at the center of everything: the Eucharist, the living heart of the monastery.

Lectio divina – the prayerful reading of the Word.
It is not academic study, but listening to the Spirit. From there sprang the great Benedictine libraries that preserved Christian and Greco-Roman culture for centuries.
Work – manual or intellectual, always offered to God.
In an abbey, there may be bakers, cobblers, gardeners, bookbinders, musicians, librarians, or teachers.
Everything is done in obedience, in silence, and with love.

Ora et labora: a prayer made work

In the monastery there are no empty hours. Each thing—singing the psalms, repairing a shoe, or copying a book—is a form of prayer.
Work sustains the monastery and enables works of charity.
The balance between prayer, work, and study keeps the monk at peace, serene, and centered on God.

The great guardians of culture

From the loving attention to lectio divina, monks naturally moved on to study.
Therefore, the medieval abbeys were beacons of light in dark times:
they copied manuscripts, taught people to read, and sowed the foundation of European culture.

A communal, not solitary, life

Although “monk” comes from the Greek monos (alone), the monk does not live isolated, but in community.
Under the guidance of an abbot, all seek “to have one heart and one soul in God,” as Saint Augustine says.
The monastery is a family where each brother helps the other to reach heaven.

Not all religious are monks

Monks live according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, centered on contemplation.
Friars (Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites…) also consecrated, go out into the world to preach and serve.
And clerics regular (such as the Jesuits) dedicate their lives to apostolate and teaching.
Each path is different, but all seek the same thing: God in all things.

In the words of Saint Benedict

“Prefer nothing whatever to the love of Christ.”
— Rule of Saint Benedict, ch. 4