Choices

"A person is a being who possesses himself,
who does not simply exist but who
actively achieves his being
and has the power to choose freely."
- Dietrich Von Hildebrand

One of the most profound qualities of being created in the Imago Dei is that we can make Choices that really matter - either for good or for ill. Benedict recognized the importance of choice in his chapter on the admission of new brothers (58). "Admission to the religious life should not be made easy for newcomers", he says. The petitioner should knock on the gate "and if he shows patience and persists in his petition for several days despite harsh treatment and reluctance to admit him, he shall be permitted lodging in a guest room. After a few days he shall move into the novitiate..."
The novice is then taken in hand by a senior monk and "told of the difficulties and austerities ahead of him on the pathway to God". The Rule is read to him at the end of two months, and he is told, "Behold the law under which you wish to fight. If you can observe it, enter upon the life: if not, you are free to leave." If he chooses to stay, he undergoes six months of testing and hears the Rule read to him again "so he may know what he's getting into." Another four months must pass before he may then be received into the community. At that point, "He must know that he is now under the law of the Rule, that he cannot leave the monastery nor live without the Rule, for he has had time to decide one way or the other." Full admission is accomplished when the novice goes on to take the vows of Stability, Obedience, and Conversatio, writing out his profession and giving up all his worldly possessions.
This is a BIG DEAL and not to be taken lightly. Benedict wants to make absolutely sure that his monks are entering the monastery to serve the Lord single-mindedly and are not enamored of some glamorous ideal of holiness, nor running away from something unresolved on the outside. Probably the closest that most of us get to this type of commitment is marriage, or perhaps applying to a demanding education or military assignment. It's important that we know exactly what we are getting ourselves into. Unfortunately, about half the folks who get married today, don't settle this in the beginning and end up divorced.