Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops

Today's Mass Readings

The Monastic Habit

“So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…” (2 Tm 1:8a)

I admit, I have hesitated to share my faith in Christ—with strangers, family, friends, and now my classmates. Yet now that I am a monk and wear the monastic habit, it’s harder to hide my faith.

But what is the monastic habit? What is it that I’m wearing and what does it mean? I get asked this more and more now that I have been attending a local public university. With prayerful consideration, I decided to wear my monastic garb to class and around campus whenever it is appropriate (and not a hazard in my art courses).

Practically speaking, the monastic habit varies slightly from place to place, but ours at Conception is all black and comprised of a tunic, a belt, and a scapular with a hood. We wear a heavy pleated cloak called a cuculla for solemn liturgies, for the most appropriate place to where the habit is during the liturgy.

But what does it mean spiritually? Over the ages, the meaning has developed and become sacramentalized. At first, the scapular was a functional work apron, but it has acquired the meaning of the yoke of the cross. The hood was for warmth and defense from the weather. Now it is a sign of religious consecration to God—at least in church circles. And the belt just held everything together around the body, but it soon came to mean the symbol of chastity, self-control, and courage.

“I am a Benedictine monk,” I say with a smile. Not many people have met a monk or seen one walking around. Understandably so. They are usually in monasteries in remote places. Some people do not even know what a Benedictine monk is, so I briefly explain. Our secular society does not know them outside of movies and popular stereotypes. I guess I am trying to change that.

For Today: We often express who we are by what we wear and how we look. The doctor, the soldier, the mom, the homeless person. Consider what you wear and how you present yourself. How could you express yourself as a Christian? “…[B]ear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God” (2 Tm 1:8b).

Reflection by Br. Luke Kral, OSB