Waiting upon the first far drums of Christ the conqueror, planted like sentinels upon the world's frontier. For the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, that concept of medieval monasticism is balanced with a semi-active life of pastoral care and education. The world-wide order of St. Benedict is the oldest monastic order in the Roman Catholic Church, and life as a Benedictine monk remains today very much as it was 1,500 years ago with only minor exceptions. It is a life primarily of seeking God and responding to him in prayer . A further distinctiveness of Benedictines which separates them from most other groups of religious men and women is that they do not have a central government since each monastery is autonomous.
Monks dedicate themselves to a specific monastic community and remain with that community for life.
The communal aspect of life is the most outstanding characteristic along with the stabilizing influence of a life-long commitment to the abbey. Almost 1,500 years ago, a young man decided to break with the values of society in the then-declining Roman Empire by leaving his studies and beginning life as a hermit in a cave in the hill country south of Rome. Through his daily encounter with the Word of God in Holy Scripture, Benedict of Nursia came to penetrate the depth of life with Christ. His strong desire for God led him to understand the elements needed by a Christian seeking union with God. Eventually discovered by the people of the area, he was soon sought after as a guide for other Christians who desired to seek God.