September 27, 2013

Novice joins Benedictine community at Saint Meinrad Archabbey

Dane DeDeckerDane DeDecker was clothed in the Benedictine habit at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad on Aug. 5. He now begins a year of monastic formation, including study of the Rule of St. Benedict and monastic history.

Novice Dane, 36, is from Geneseo, Ill. He studied for a year at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona. He was a member of St. Anthony Parish in Atkinson, Ill.

For the past 12 years, he worked as an over-the-road truck driver.

As a novice, he will take a year off from formal studies and trades. The novitiate is a time of prayer and learning intended to help a novice discern his vocation as a monk.

At the end of this year, a novice may be permitted to profess temporary vows of obedience and fidelity to the monastic way of life and stability in the community of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. †

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