The Community of Monks
The main aim of the Montserrat Benedictine community is to insure that the mountain, the Monastery and the Sanctuary remain place of where people gather and workship.
The present community at Montserrat is made up of over seventy monks. As in all Benedictine monasteries, the Montserrat monks dedicate all their life to prayer, providings helter and work. Life in the monastery follows a set rhythm in which work and prayer both play a part, according to Saint Benedict’s motto, Ora et labora. The clock is a useful tool for the monk, as making the most of time is essential in Montserrat.
The present community at Montserrat is made up of over seventy monks. As in all Benedictine monasteries, the Montserrat monks dedicate all their life to prayer, providings helter and work. Life in the monastery follows a set rhythm in which work and prayer both play a part, according to Saint Benedict’s motto, Ora et labora. The clock is a useful tool for the monk, as making the most of time is essential in Montserrat.
The Monastic Life
In the spirit contained in the Rule of St. Benedict, monks seeking to live in praise and intercession adoring silence to better serve the men and women everywhere from the depth that gives the experience of things God and knowledge of the deepest yearnings of the human person.
Monasticism Benedictine Community is eminently well and becomes a monk brother among brothers who help in his progress as fraternal describes the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Monasticism Benedictine Community is eminently well and becomes a monk brother among brothers who help in his progress as fraternal describes the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Prayer
The monks have always tried to combine solitude with hospitality, two concepts which would appear to be mutually exclusive but which in fact are not. The tension between the two has been fruitful over the years for the monks themselves, the Church and for society. The secular history of the community of Montserrat is eloquent proof of this.
The monks come together five times a day to celebrate divine service on the Liturgy of the Hours. In addition to this, there is the celebration of the Eucharist, which is the central event in the day of the Monastery and Shrine. Many pilgrims take part in the monks’ liturgy, particularly in the Eucharist and the main hours of divine service.
Hospitality
The life of the monks in terms of humanity and faith is no different to the basic experience of all men and women because, when all is told, we all live with the same problems around us: problems regarding love, solitude, personal harmony, solidarity, work, use of material goods… and, sometimes, wearied or even weak faith.
The life of faith leads the monk to discover the presence of Christ in another, whoever he or she may be. This means the monk must welcome him or her in a sincere and friendly manner and must feel himself to be the brother of all people.
Work
This openness to solidarity and communion with all manifests itself a Montserrat through various pastoral activities: services at the Basilica, welcoming of groups, retreats and conferences, the provision of lodgings. In addition to this pastoral work, the monastic chores include the humble tasks required to ensure the good running of the Monastery and the Shrine and some craft work. There are also monks involved in scientific research in various fields including history, theology, translation, biblical studies, liturgy and philosophy.
The Monastery has a notable publications service, which publishes numerous books and magazines on science or for circulation on speciafically religious as well as cultural themes. The service also puts together records and audiovisual material. Indeed, Montserrat occupies an important position as one of the principal centres of Catalan culture.
A comunity of spirit
Montserrat, -mountain, sanctuary, monastery- is, through all these specific, material determinations, a community of spirit open to all horizons in its rallying-centre of fraternity and hope.