V O C A T I O N E R ' S   G U I D E

Life With The Servants Of Jesus - The Order of Saint Benedict

It is our hope to lead the potential vocationer to a better understanding of the spiritual journey he may be considering. It is a matter of converting one's life and of growing in spirit to serve God as a monk. Monastic life is not an easy life. But it is a life of love between the monk and God.

We learn to grow through the many pitfalls along the journey. And as with any other of life's journeys, we carry a great deal of excess baggage - baggage which must be discarded if roomm is to be made for God at the very center of one's life.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF
OUR BENEDICTINE FAMILY

The community had its beginnings in the early Eighties.

Christ Church, Lexington, KY, believed that the presence of "religious" would lead to a hoped-for growth in the spiritual life of the parish, and would help to implement their dream of service to the poor.

The initial planning for a religious community was done by Gene Paradise, a seminarian, and Kate Knapp. Donald Thibodeau, who had left a monastic order, feeling that he was also being called to Lexington with the hope of establishing a religious community, arrived in 1980.

After several more months, Paradise completed his seminary work and moved elsewhere. Kate Knapp gave up thoughts of the religious life and also left the area. Thibodeau remained and continued with the planning and organizational work for a religious order.

Later Fr. Fletcher who had also been in the same monastic order as Thibodeau, Paradise and Knapp, left that order and came to Lexington. Once Fr. Fletcher had arrived, Thibodeau arranged a meeting with Bishop Addison Hosea and after detailed discussions the Bishop gave his approval and consent for the formation of the order.

At a Solemn High Pontifical Mass on August 29, 1981 Bishop Hosea called for the Institution of The Community of the Servants of Jesus and then received Donald Thibodeau as the Order's Founder and first monk. Fr. Fletcher was also received as a monk. It was the beginning of a new life in the Church.

The Order fared well during those first few years, ministering to the hungry, the homeless, the poor, the needy - the street people of the area. During these years several men tested their vocations with the Order, but the demands of the monastic life and the shocking needs of the street people were more than most could deal with. It became clear that formation must be the first priority, and that only after a period of appropriate formation would the ministry work.

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