By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
September 2, 2004

For a number of years Michael Vinson thought about becoming a priest, but upon his initial impressions didn't really think life as a monk would be for him.

"I never figured I was a strong-enough character for monastic life," acknowledged Vinson. That was the conclusion he had drawn after doing an internship at the school in Conception, Mo. and even after a year of studies at Saint Meinrad.

After graduating college from Northwest Missouri State, which was located only about 12 miles from Conception Abbey, he planned to pursue a vocation as a diocesan priest. He was sent to Saint Meinrad in Indiana for seminary studies. This gave him an opportunity to get a closer look at monastic life.

Once fearing he didn't have the strength for monastic life, the Benedictine monk at Saint Meinrad Archabbey, who is now known as Brother Anthony Vinson, realizes it is monastic life that gives him strength.

"Eventually the rhythm and stability of the life became the attraction. There is something to the bells ringing, calling us to prayer and having the same schedule," he said. "It keeps me in check with what I am doing today."

This native of Fort Dodge, the son of Gary and Cindy Vinson, pointed out that the beauty of monastic life is its focus on "living in the now - the present. Our world today encourages us and almost forces our hand to live in the tomorrow."

Brother Anthony explained that if you can live in the now - not worrying about yesterday or being anxious about tomorrow - "you do get to see people, including yourself, suffer in the passions, see death and resurrection. You get to see the Paschal Mystery happen over and over again."

He professed his solemn vows as a Benedictine monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Ind., on Aug. 15. In addition to his parents, his three sisters - Katie Vinson, Angela Vinson and Sarah Pritchard as well as her husband, Brent, were on hand for the ceremony.

"You come as a novice for a year and I always equate that to dating the monastery in a sense and then you make temporary vows, which are a minimal three years. That's being engaged to the monastery. Then you are free to leave or you can petition to make solemn vows," he explained. "If you make solemn vows, that is a lifetime commitment."

Brother Anthony, 28, is one of 116 monks at Saint Meinrad. The youngest is 21 and oldest is 103. The elder monk, Father Theodore Heck, is a native of Chariton, Iowa. He is the oldest Benedictine monk living in the world.

Some of these monks are called to be ordained. Brother Anthony has been called. He will be ordained to the transitional diaconate next month, on Oct. 23, and ordained to the presbyterate on June 5, 2005.

He recalled that his first thoughts about becoming a priest came in the third grade when his teacher at Corpus Christi Grade School asked the class to draw a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up. He drew a picture of himself as a priest.

"The person next to me saw what I had drawn and made fun of me," said Brother Anthony. "She said either, 'that's dumb' or 'that's not cool.' What I felt was rejection. I never talked about it again. Through grade school, junior high and high school I always thought about being a priest, but never would have vocalized it."

After graduating from St. Edmond High School in 1994, he attended college at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville. There, he became involved with the Newman Center and a priest who worked at the center asked him if he ever thought about the priesthood.

"No," said Vinson.

The priest simply said, "You should."

Brother Anthony appreciated the fact that the priest's response provided gentle encouragement rather than providing a lot of fluff about all of the positives of priesthood with no mention of the challenges - as sometimes happens when people are trying to promote vocations. This gave Vinson freedom to explore the possibility.

As it happened, his college was located just 12 miles from Conception Abbey. The priest from the Newman Center was from this very abbey, so Vinson was able to go there.

"I had no idea what a monk was, so when I would go out to Conception to walk around and pray in the church, as soon as I heard the bells I would leave because I didn't know that when the monks prayed it was public prayer," he noted. "So I never experienced monastic prayer until three years later when I was a senior in college."

After he graduated from college, his seminary studies for the diocese took him to St. Meinrad. The stability "of the daily sameness" became the attraction to the monastery.

He also likes the outdoors as well as the space to work and pray in one place.

At Saint Meinrad, the monastery is located on a hill in southern Indiana. Brother Vinson explained that Benedictine monasteries are usually located on a hill, while the Trappists build in the valleys. This year, the archabbey celebrates 150 years of monastic life in St. Meinrad.

Daily, they commit their lives to a balance of prayer and work, faithfully following the vows of obedience, stability of place and conversion of life. The Benedictine monks at Saint Meinrad gather in community four times a day for morning prayer, noon prayer, evening prayer and Mass. In addition, they spend private time reading spiritual and religious materials.

The archabbey consists of 1,000 acres of forest, 1,000 acres of farmland and 250 acres of common space.

Among their main works are Saint Meinrad School of Theology that offers initial and ongoing formation of priests, permanent deacons, and lay ministers; Abbey Press, an international company that produces and markets religious, spiritual and inspirational cards, books and gifts; and the newest venture is Abbey Caskets, established in 1999. The archabbey also has a Guest House that hosts retreats year round.

Due to its diversity in offerings and the massive amount of acres, the tasks assigned to the monks vary. Many of their assignments include a mixture of physical work and then a spiritual or intellectual component. Some of the monks help staff area parishes and others are assigned in various dioceses as requests are made from bishops.

"The abbot assigns us jobs and no monk should presume that the job he is in today is his job tomorrow - it's all where the need is," said Brother Anthony.

Presently, he is a student in the School of Theology, preparing for the priesthood. He is the abbey's beekeeper and is also involved with collegiate and adult spirituality - giving retreats, offering spiritual direction and helping young adults discern religious vocations.

One of his smaller assignments is to light the fireplace. This small chore gives him great pleasure when later in the day he watches other monks watch the flame dance across the logs. That is one of his gifts to the community.

He manages a project that the monks have been running since the 1960s - collecting, splitting, stacking and delivering firewood for the poor within a 40-mile radius of the monastery. Sixty seminarians and about 300 lay people from the area help on the project.

"I like to teach and like meeting people, but I very much rely on the cloister and my choir stall," he said. If it were not for the space and time he has in the monastic life, Brother Anthony doesn't believe he would be as effective as a minister.

He has evolved into a great listener and confidant to many. As a hobby, he writes a letter a day because he knows that people like to receive something in their mailboxes.

The monks will elect a new abbot on Dec. 31. When this happens many jobs may change.

"I don't know what the future holds for me and there is a comfort because I have faith that the people in charge of me will discern what my gifts are and place me where I can be of service to the community and the church," said Brother Anthony.