Monastic life in the Episcopal Church has existed since the 19th century, when the Oxford Movement led men and women to reclaim this ancient tradition. The Order of the Holy Cross, founded by the Rev. James Otis Sargent Huntington in 1884, has seen a noticeable growth in vocations, both at its American house in West Park, New York, and at its South African house in Volmoed on the Western Cape.
Since January 2023 at the American house, one man has made a life profession of vows, another has made a first profession of vows, and three became new novices. Two men men have made first vows at the South African house, which has welcomed also three new novices.
Br. Josép Martínez-Cubero, the order’s vocations director, attributes this success to the internet. He was appointed vocations director shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his plans to visit seminaries and parishes fell through. “I felt kind of trapped,” he said.
He began to film vocations profiles of the brothers for the order’s YouTube channel. He asked brothers about their vocations and their lives as monks. “It was like showing people who we are,” he said. “We don’t live in the sixth century. We’re not going to get people knocking on the door asking to try their vocation.”
The order also has a presence on Facebook and Instagram, and a weekly post on Blogspot by Br. Bernard Delcourt, director of associates. All of this allows a man who might be discerning his calling to learn what it’s like to be a monk, even if he can’t visit in person. The videos show the brothers as normal men who are intensely devoted to God.
“A desire to give one’s heart fully to God — that’s what we all have in common,” said Martínez-Cubero. The brothers come from a variety of ethnic, educational, and initial denominational backgrounds, but in their shared love of Christ they live a life together.
He receives eight to 15 inquiries a year, and he finds about six of them are serious candidates. The initial discernment takes between six months to a year, including monthly meetings with Martínez-Cubero to discuss the man’s faith, spiritual journey, and potential calling to OHC. Then an aspirant visits the monastery for two weeks to live the life of a monk for a short time. If the aspirant and the community believe he will be a good fit, he is invited to apply for postulancy.
Br. Luc Thuku, assistant vocations director for South Africa, said his strength is “to give full time attention to inquirers.” Thuku, who is from Kenya, recalled initially discerning a call at a Roman Catholic monastery in South Africa. The vocations director at this monastery was very responsive, which shapes his work to this day. “I felt like a person who was wanted,” he said, and this is the energy he tries to bring to OHC.
The Order of the Holy Cross was invited to South Africa in 1998 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The order was previously located in Grahamstown on the Eastern Cape, and now shares space at the Volmoed Retreat and Conference Center. The order has a problem that many monasteries would like to have: inadequate space for all the men who would like to enter. Thuku hopes the order can expand and grow more.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has a long history with religious life, with brothers from the Society of St. John the Evangelist and the Community of the Resurrection playing an early role in the life of the church. Thuku credits this heritage for driving the current growth in OHC’s vocations. “Religious life is more encouraged in South Africa, and they talk about it at confirmation,” he said.
While the men in formation grew up Anglican, some of their inquirers grew up Roman Catholic. Many of the brothers in New York are also former Roman Catholics, both laymen and former monks. Martínez-Cubero said the Order of the Holy Cross and the Episcopal Church are appealing because he believes they are less punitive than many Roman Catholic orders.
OHC is, however, on good terms with Roman Catholic religious houses. It has a long-standing friendship with New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California. Holy Cross participates in shared formation events in the Hudson Valley with both men’s and women’s congregations. “It’s a wonderful formation supplement,” Martínez-Cubero said. He and a brother of the Community of the Resurrection recently spent three months at a Roman Catholic monastic formation program in Italy.
Holy Cross is also on good terms with the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the other large Episcopal men’s monastery, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “They’re our buddies,” Martínez-Cubero said. “I’ve referred men to them, and vice versa.”
OHC welcomes men ages 25 to 50 who are members of churches in the Anglican Communion and have no dependents. “I am very attentive to what someone’s aim seems to be. Some brothers are more wired for contemplation, others for active ministry,” Martínez-Cubero said. Men who are not ordained but feel called to the priesthood are invited to further discernment after their profession of vows.
“People are hungry for that connection with Christ,” Martínez-Cubero said. This is what spurred the initial flourishing of religious life in the Episcopal Church in the 19th century, and is what will let it bloom in the 21st.
