Br. Simeon, OSB, professes solemn vows

On Monday, August 15, 2022, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Br. Simeon Johnson, OSB, professed solemn vows as a monk of Conception Abbey in the presence of his family, friends, seminarians, and monastic confreres.

In the ceremony, Br. Simeon made the perpetual commitment to live as a monk of Conception’s monastery, vowing obedience, stability, and conversion of life. 

After the proclamation of the Gospel, Rev. Xavier Nacke, OSB, brought Br. Simeon to the altar with hands joined. Right Rev. Benedict Neenan, OSB, abbot of Conception Abbey, began the rite by calling forth the young monk in the name of the whole community. The abbot sang, “Come, my son, hear me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Br. Simeon began his intention to profess vows before the Abbot, the community, and before Almighty God. 

 After the Abbot’s admonition, the young monk came forward to profess vows by reading aloud his profession document and signing it on the Book of the Gospels on the altar.

Br. Simeon then signed his profession document, stood before the altar, and prayed, “Suscipe me, Domine, secundum eloquium tuum et vivam, et non confundas me ab expectatione mea” (Psalm 119:116—Receive me, Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; do not disappoint me in my hope). He sang this prayer three times, and each time it was repeated by the solemnly professed members of the monastic community, who then added the doxology. It is a prayer of total surrender and trust in the Lord. 

Then the newly professed monk lay prostrate on the floor as he was covered with the black funeral pall and the funeral bell tolled, which is symbolic of his death to self and his former way of life. The entire assembly then prayed together for Br. Simeon.

Following the Prayer of Consecration, the funeral pall was removed, as Br. Simeon received new life in Christ. He stood before the Abbot to receive the cuculla, the pleated robe worn by solemnly professed members. The Abbot and the solemnly professed monks congratulated him with the Kiss of Peace, which seals his permanent fraternity in the community of Conception Abbey. 

Br. Simeon Johnson, OSB, came to Conception Seminary College as a seminarian of the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, in 2015. Following his seminary graduation in 2018, he entered the monastery and professed simple vows on August 15, 2019. Since then, he has spent time working with music and liturgy in the monastery and the seminary, as well as serving as the monastery’s House Manager. This fall, Br. Simeon will begin pursuing a Master’s Degree in Liturgical Music at St. John’s School of Theology in Minnesota.

For more information about the process of becoming a monk, visit https://www.conceptionabbey.org/monastery/becoming-a-monk/.

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