At profession, the novice makes formal vows binding himself to the monastic life of the community for
a limited period of time of three years.
The three year period of temporary vows gives the young monk the time and environment he needs to put
into practice what he has heard and learned as a novice.
Stability
Through his vow of Stability he allows the stamp of the community to be impressed onto him. He takes on
the character of a Farnborough monk and all that the Farnborough community aims to be. One might say he
takes on ‘the family likeness’. He learns the primacy of the liturgy and the honoured place it holds in
our life, that gentle order and courteous decorum at which we aim, and through his attention to the tasks
assigned to him, he grows in responsibility as a monk and begins to find his niche in the community and
monastery which becomes his home.
Conversion of Life
Although we do not profess the evangelical counsels of poverty and chastity explicitly, they are, nonetheless, an
intrinsic part of our self-giving to God in the vow of Conversatio Morum and in our Constitutions.
Through the training of his heart and the marshalling of his thoughts in the experience of monastic
living, the young monk learns how to focus on Christ and how to turn and constantly return his heart to
God.
Obedience
It is, as Saint Benedict tells us, through the strong weapon of obedience that we counter the sloth of
disobedience that leads us from God. Giving up our own will runs directly in the face of the culture of
our day. The modern mind finds obedience and tyranny to be closely related. For the monk obedience brings
lightness of step and freedom of heart.
rofession
