Our mission: building men, building culture
At Saint Benedicts workshop, our goal is to build faithful Christian men who are virtuous citizens,
intellectually formed, and capable of building up the universal Church.
Our guiding philosophy
The Word became flesh and picked up a hammer. To imitate Christ, we must do the same: integrate the intellectual and the spiritual life with the physical work of man. The union of the head, the heart, and the hands is fundamental to the gospel. Christ, who reveals humanity to itself, shows that the humble worker is not merely respectable but is the very archetype of humanity.
The head, the hands and the heart.
When a man feels called by God to the priesthood, he goes to the seminary. There he learns how to live out his vocation; he learns theology and philosophy, how to minister to his congregation, how to celebrate the sacraments and how to lead the Church.
When a man feels called by God to the lay vocation, where does he receive his training? How does he learn to be a faithful Catholic man, working in a world that contradicts his beliefs? Where does he learn the practical hands on skills to be able to provide for his family? Where does he develop a deep interior prayer life, that will hold him firm in times of great challenge?
In times gone by, growing up in a good Catholic family might have been enough to ensure that a young man learnt all the things needed to become a man of Christ. But society has changed, and even growing up in a good Catholic family is not always enough. As soon as a young man moves out of home, or into the workforce, they are under fire.
Man is good, and created in the image and likeness of God, and the culture we live in wants to destroy that. Our culture looks with disdain on words like obedience, strength, piety, humility, honour, prowess, duty and responsibility. Instead it worships pride, diversity and tolerance. If men are to grow into humble servants of Christ, and live in the world, but not of the world, then further training is needed. The good foundations built by families needs to be reinforced by intentional and focused formation.
Inside the corrupt Roman Empire, monasteries grew up around Saint Benedict that trained men in devoting their lives to God. Saint Benedict saw the need for Christians to come together, to be formed. They did this through work and prayer.
The goal of Saint Benedict's Workshop is to do exactly this; To be a place where students can embrace their lay vocation, learn how to practically provide for their family, grow in discipline, deepen their prayer life, understand their faith more and become a holy man of God.
Virtue is strength. The foundations of society are built by strong workers. The mission of St. Benedict's Workshop is to serve the Church and to serve our country through providing our society with such workers.
Interested in learning about the motivating spirit behind
Saint Benedicts Workshop?
Beyond ordinary craftsmanship
We achieve our mission by offering a one year course that forms the head, heart and hands of students. They receive formal qualifications for the next stage in their life, but more importantly, they spend the year building the foundation of their faith, as they journey into adulthood.
“Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading.”
The Rule of Saint Benedict