A monastery is a school of the heart, a school of the Lord’s service, a school of fraternal charity and peace. At Mount Saviour we strive to respond to God’s call through a simple life of Gospel values as laid out in the Rule of St. Benedict.

Briefly, the worship of God, in union with Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, is one of the central pillars upon which Mount Saviour stands. Our day revolves around what St. Benedict calls The Work of God, or the Divine Office. Seven times a day we gather in our church to offer this service through the singing of psalms, canticles, and hymns. Additionally, we gather daily to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Hours sanctify the day, serve as a reminder of our duty to pray always, and provide a framework around which a life of sustained prayerfulness is built.

Augmenting and flowing from our communal prayer is each monk’s personal prayer. This consists in prolonged periods of lectio divina, a reflective reading of the Holy Scriptures and/or the Patristic Fathers and Mothers, and meditation.

A second pillar of Benedictine life found here at Mount Saviour is manual labor. St. Benedict says that “they are truly monks when they live by the labor of their hands.” To this end the monks engage in a variety of tasks, which for the most part are quite ordinary, for example, work on the farm, in the orchard and garden, business office, guest house, kitchen and laundry. We also have brothers involved in various arts and crafts such as music, candle making, tying rosaries, leather sandals, painting, pottery and wood carving.