Peace be with you and welcome to The Companions of St. Luke, OSB website. Perhaps, you are where most of us were at some point in our lives, feeling that there must be more to the spiritual life than what you are currently experiencing. Going to services on Sunday, taking part in parish life, having an active prayer life and trying to be a good person are all important and satisfying. Yet, you might wonder: is there something more? Are you yearning for a deeper closeness to God and a more intentional way of Christian living? If you are experiencing some of these thoughts, then we invite you to walk with us for a while and explore the Benedictine community that is The Companions of St. Luke, OSB (CSL).
CSL, a Christian community of men and women formed under the Canons of The Episcopal Church and a society in communion with the See of Canterbury, includes about fifty members: 70% are professed members and 30% are oblates. Some of us are married, some partnered, some single; some are young, some older. Each brings with us the wisdom we have acquired from our varied life experiences, our relationships with families and friends, worshipping in our home churches, working at our jobs, and enjoying our special interests and hobbies. As a dispersed community, Companions may be found from coast to coast and from North to South America. Though separated by distance, we are joined together in the monastery without walls that we carry in our hearts. We are centered by Christ, united through the Holy Spirit, and guided, in part, by open hearts and listening to one another.
Certain things bind us together despite our varied life experiences. First and foremost, in the words of St. Benedict, we are called to “Prefer nothing whatever to Christ”. In practice, this means we are called to reorder our priorities radically and to live our very lives away from many of the things that modern life tells us are so important. In doing so, we seek to hear more clearly what God is saying to us and to follow more intentionally the path to the salvation that He promises us. For us in The Companions of St. Luke, that means we take vows of obedience, stability and fidelity to monastic life. We humbly submit ourselves to God and the Community and undertake years of monastic formation to learn how to live into our professed vows or oblate promises, learning how to serve God and our neighbors. We follow the Rule that St. Benedict set out for us 1500 years ago, but we do it in a manner reflective of the 21st Century. We are called to be Contemplative of God and our relationship with God and to be intentional in all that we undertake in life. We pray—a lot—a minimum of four Daily Offices a day for professed members and two for oblates, because we know there is nothing more rewarding or more important than communion with our Savior, Christ Jesus. We seek to be a new expression of monasticism, helping each other in our spiritual journeys and serving as examples to the wider church and world.
Today’s church is changing as are traditional monastic orders – in part because of changing demographics and cultural priorities and changes catalyzed by technology, the Covid pandemic, and global issues. CSL is positioned well, because of its dispersed nature and expression of new monasticsm, to build partnerships with local churches who are trying to become more responsive to seekers of God who are looking for an approach to life and spirituality in harmony with contemporary forms of the Benedictine Rule that are life-affirming and foster a spiritually-supportive way of life.
St. Benedict said “Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.” He also told us “to listen with the ear of our heart.” We invite you to listen with the ear of your heart, and not to be daunted by fear. Consider walking with us, The Companions of St. Luke, OSB, as we seek to navigate together that narrow path that leads to salvation.
PAX,
The Companions of St. Luke, OSB