"1Do not grant newcomers to the monastic life an easy entry, 2but, as the Apostle says, Test the spirits to see if they are from God (1 John 4:1).
3Therefore, if someone comes and keeps knocking at the door, and if at the end of four or five days he has shown himself patient in bearing his harsh treatment and difficulty of entry, and has persisted in his request, 4then he should be allowed to enter and stay in the guest quarters for a few days.
5After that, he should live in the novitiate, where the novices study, eat and sleep. 6A senior chosen for his skill in winning souls should be appointed to look after them with careful attention. 7The concern must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials.
8The novice should be clearly told all the hardships and difficulties that will lead him to God. 9If he promises perseverance in his stability, then after two months have elapsed let this rule be read straight through to him, 10and let him be told: "This is the law under which you are choosing to serve. If you can keep it, come in. If not, feel free to leave."
11If he still stands firm, he is to be taken back to the novitiate, and again thoroughly tested in all patience. 12After six months have passed, the rule is to be read to him, so that he may know what he is entering.
13If once more he stands firm, let four months go by, and then read this rule to him again. 14If after due reflection he promises to observe everything and to obey every command given him, let him then be received into the community.
15But he must be well aware that, as the law of the rule establishes, from this day he is no longer free to leave the monastery, 16nor to shake from his neck the yoke of the rule which, in the course of so prolonged a period of reflection, he was free either to reject or to accept."
3Therefore, if someone comes and keeps knocking at the door, and if at the end of four or five days he has shown himself patient in bearing his harsh treatment and difficulty of entry, and has persisted in his request, 4then he should be allowed to enter and stay in the guest quarters for a few days.
5After that, he should live in the novitiate, where the novices study, eat and sleep. 6A senior chosen for his skill in winning souls should be appointed to look after them with careful attention. 7The concern must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials.
8The novice should be clearly told all the hardships and difficulties that will lead him to God. 9If he promises perseverance in his stability, then after two months have elapsed let this rule be read straight through to him, 10and let him be told: "This is the law under which you are choosing to serve. If you can keep it, come in. If not, feel free to leave."
11If he still stands firm, he is to be taken back to the novitiate, and again thoroughly tested in all patience. 12After six months have passed, the rule is to be read to him, so that he may know what he is entering.
13If once more he stands firm, let four months go by, and then read this rule to him again. 14If after due reflection he promises to observe everything and to obey every command given him, let him then be received into the community.
15But he must be well aware that, as the law of the rule establishes, from this day he is no longer free to leave the monastery, 16nor to shake from his neck the yoke of the rule which, in the course of so prolonged a period of reflection, he was free either to reject or to accept."
The principle of not giving newcomers an easy entrance into monastic life is a very good principle. This tests the man who wants to come to the monastic life.
The way of making that entrance difficult may change from age to age and from monastery to monastery and from culture to culture. The principle is the same: don't let someone into the monastic life too easily.
On the other hand, today most vocations have to be encouraged and not discouraged. Men in our time and in the western cultures tend to be much more fragile in lots of ways than before.
But it is clear that the monks appointed in charge of vocations must be skilled at winning souls. In the past, in many monasteries, there was very little effort to win souls.
Vocations were numerous and it was very simple to weed out anyone who did not cooperate with the life or with the personnel. This situation often brought about rejecting candidates who required more attention and more work.
Today, with the enormous decline in vocations in most "developed" countries, there can be a too easy acceptance of vocations. On the other hand, communities must learn to draw vocations, to work with them and really to form them.
We no longer have the cultural structures that in the past kept monks in monasteries even when they probably should not have been there.
The great challenge is formation: helping a man truly become a monk. Helping a man put all of the energies of his life into being a monk.
There is so little commitment today that even after solemn vows a monk can feel quite free to leave monastic life if it no longer pleases him. This same phenomenon happens in marriages today, so we should not be surprised.
Again, the challenge is formation in commitment, formation in suffering, formation in an authentic spirituality.
May the Lord help our community attract vocations, help us to form them with grace and in nature, and help them and us persevere until death!
Dom Marcus and Dom Anton renewed their Vows last Thursday of this week. The renewal took place in our Chapter Room. They will be completing another year (and the last year), from the day they renewed their Temporary Vows, before they take their Perpetual Vows next year sometime in May. The sisters of our neighboring community of Benedictine Monastery of our Lady of the Desert were all invited to witness the event. To Dom Marcus and Dom Anton, we wish them all the best for their last year of living up on their Temporary Vows! 
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