On the Solemnity of Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, our Brother Christopher Cheney professed his Solemn Vows as a monk at the Abbey of New Clairvaux. Brother Christopher is clothed in the white cowl as a sign of his call to the Cistercian monastic life. The cowl is distinctively shaped in the form of the cross. And it is a cross that the Cisterician monk joyfully carries to be in closer union to Christ for the glory of God.
From the Rule of Benedict, Chapter 58
"When he is to be received, he comes before the whole community in the oratory and promises stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience. This is done in the presence of God and his saints to impress on the novice that if he ever acts otherwise, he will surely be condemned by the one he mocks. He states his promise in a document drawn up in the name of the saints whose relics are there, and of the abbot, who is present."
From the Rule of Benedict, Chapter 58
"When he is to be received, he comes before the whole community in the oratory and promises stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience. This is done in the presence of God and his saints to impress on the novice that if he ever acts otherwise, he will surely be condemned by the one he mocks. He states his promise in a document drawn up in the name of the saints whose relics are there, and of the abbot, who is present."
