The Raison D'être of my blog

On August 21, 2008 (just before my 40th Birthday) I felt a strong renewed call to religious life. On that day I started searching the internet for information on Monastic Communities. The two orders that attracted my attention the most were Carthusians (founded in Chartreux, France in 1084 AD) and Cistercians (founded in Cîteaux, France in 1098 AD).

The call of the Carthusians, in my opinion, is largely that of a hermit. I feel called more to the cenobitic life of the Cistercians. There are two Cistercian communities that I am looking at with an eye to joining one of them.

The two are Our Lady of Spring Bank Abbey in Sparta, Wisconsin and Mount St. Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England. I pray for God's grace that I may be allowed to enter one of these communities this year.

I have begun this blog for a variety of reasons:

• To let my family and friends know where I am at in my process of disccernment
• To get other's opinions on my journey, especially from those who may be on a similar journey
  
• To establish a network of pray-ers praying for each other.