6th Summons: Stay-At-Home Monastery

Stay-At-Home Monastery

“A monastery is not so much a place set apart for monks and nuns as it is a place set apart, period.”

The family isn’t just the “domestic church”—it can also be a domestic monastery. My wife and I first heard this idea in Fr. Ronald Rolheiser’s book Domestic Monastery, and it intrigued us.

For parents of four kids under 8, the notion that our home could become a sanctuary of quiet, peace, obedience, and work sounded… ambitious. But Rolheiser’s idea goes deeper than having perfect order and silence. Through reading, discussion, and prayer, my wife and I discovered new potential for our life at home with young children—and how God is drawing us to Him through our vocation.