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. There is no one type of personality that is attracted to the monastery. But all of them are in the monastery to seek God. The work of the monks of St. Procopius is primarily education. They operate Benet Academy, a college preparatory high school, and Benedictine University, both in Lisle.