Novitiate: A Monastic Year to Become a Man

Novitiate - Forging Men - Monastic Year

Men socialize and educate men! The novitiate in the Zen monastery lasts one year and is preparation for becoming a man. The men must leave their mothers and their homes, be symbolically swallowed up by chaos, and then be initiated into the religious traditions (Christianity). Once a man has completed this rite of passage, he is then a full member; he is a man. The novitiate rite for men, the Mountain Week, concludes every six months.

In a society without initiation rites for men, men remain dependent on their mothers and are eaten and castrated by the death mother.

Modules - Not selectable!

The following modules are not selectable during the monastic year: day hike (in all weather conditions), work, housework, cooking, meditation, gardening, etc. The daily schedule may vary.

(You can pursue your own work, job or work from home during the day! Contact us for further questions.)

Holy Mass - Catholic Church

Services in the Catholic Church in Reichenburg and the Peace Chapel: Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening, Thursday morning, Sunday morning

A man prays differently than a child. His prayer also becomes more conscious, deeper, like the conversation of an adult with God. This is also because faith also becomes more conscious, deeper, and mature. How often does it happen, however, that this very part is the most backward, undeveloped, the most important part of a person, especially a man. (Men in Prayer)

Postulate - Entry into the Monastery - First Test (3 days)

We believe that the journey to truth must begin with one's own decision and be achieved through one's own efforts. Therefore, a new disciple should be pushed back rather than invited. Like an ox that voluntarily comes to the riverbank to drink after being kept away from it, it is better that it drinks the water of its own accord than that it be forcibly drawn.
The head monk refuses to admit the disciple into the monastery. Sometimes the new disciple is thrown out of the gate, which is then closed behind them. However difficult this test may be, the new disciple must pass it. For three days, they must assume a prostrate posture before the entrance step of the entrance hall.

After remaining in prostration for a full day, the new disciple is allowed to spend the night in a small guest room in the monastery. For the new disciple, this first night in the monastery is extremely memorable. No lamps are allowed to be lit after dark. The student must meditate facing the wall until nine o'clock in the evening before going to bed. He is given only a wide mattress, which he folds up, lying on the lower half and pulling the upper half over himself.

The next day, after breakfast, he must return to the monastery gate and remain bowing at the entrance all day.

Postulancy - Entry into the Monastery - Second Test (4 days)

After three days of probation, the new student is led to the small guest room, where he must meditate for four days. This is obviously a much tougher discipline than the first step outside the gate. Since this small room is secluded, its surroundings are never bustling with activity.

For a new student who has spent his youth enjoying himself and conversing with his friends, being alone in silence is a difficult experience. His mind fills with beautiful images of his past life. The walls around him seem to be watched by a thousand eyes of the older monks. If he is lazy, he will be expelled from the monastery and must start all over again.

On each of these four days, the novice must visit the quarters of the head monk after breakfast to greet him and thank him for his hospitality. In this way, the head monk gets to know the new student, who, however, is not yet allowed to become a brother of the monastery.