Abbot Lawrence Stasyszen and the monks of Saint Gregory’s Abbey invested Brother John Michael (Ford) Nguyen as a novice in the community on Sept. 13.
Brother Novice John Michael is from Saint Andrew Dung Lac Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. Following the ancient tradition established in Sacred Scripture, the abbot assigns the novice with a new name to signify the change in life that he is undertaking.
The names of saints are chosen to provide the novice with a role model and a spiritual companion for his life in the monastery. Br. Nov. John Michael is under the special patronage of two saints: Saint John of the Cross was a Carmelite Friar in Spain during the 16th century. He led a reform of the order, founding the Discalced Carmelite Order. He endured great suffering during his life as a result of physical illness and resistance to his reforms. He is a doctor of the Church, known for his mystical poetry and other writings that describe union with God.
Saint Michael Ho Dinh Ly lived in the 19th century, largely in Vietnam. He was a Catholic husband and father, and a successful silk merchant and high-ranking Mandarin. He used his wealth and influence to support the French Missionary Society, and to assist the poor and Vietnamese Catholics who were under persecution. He eventually was arrested during a violent persecution of the Catholic Church in Vietnam and was beheaded because of his promotion of the faith. He is known as the “Protector and Martyr of the Church” in Vietnam.
The novitiate of Saint Gregory’s Abbey is a one-year period in which novices live the monastic life intensely and are formed in monastic spirituality. It is not a period of vowed commitment, but rather a period of discernment that can lead to the profession of vows at the end of one year.
Photo: Br. John Michael (Ford) Nguyen was invested as a novice on Sept. 13. Photo Br. George Hubl, O.S.B.