Lay Cistercian Promises

Yesterday I made my simple promises as a Lay Cistercian, along with six of my friends. Three others, who already were junior Lay Cistercians renewed their promises. The promises are for one year, and need to be repeated annually for at least three years before lifetime promises can be made.

It was a lovely ceremony. We met in the monastery chapter room and, standing before the Abbot and the spiritual director of the Lay Cistercians, read our promises aloud, then signed three copies: one for ourselves, one for the Lay Cistercian archives, and one for the Monastery archives.

Here’s a picture of me signing my promises. The spiritual director, Fr. Anthony Delisi, and the abbot, Fr. Francis Michael, are sitting to the left.

After the ceremony we lingered in the cloister garden to chat with friends, including Fr. James Behrens. Here’s a picture of me, Rhiannon, and Fr. James.

Sorry no pictures of Fran — she was behind the camera!