Is Your Life Monk-Shaped? Do you have a truth you’re willing to give your life to?

If we only let people see that we are living upon a truth, and loving it, they will soon catch the life.

– Richard Meux Benson (founder of SSJE)

Why We Came Why We Stayed Why Might You?

Monastic Life Today:
A Job or a Calling? Our monastery is in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and that’s not by accident. We are here, in this busy hub, because we want to be available to young people at the crucial moment of their education and formation. It can be tempting to settle for just looking for a job after graduation. What about a vocation – something that illuminates your heart, mind, and soul and demands your whole being?

We Brothers come from all kinds of backgrounds and previous careers, we are lay and ordained. Yet we are united by our one common purpose: to live for God and share God's love with others.

Our community was founded more than 150 years ago and draws on deep Christian monastic roots dating to the fourth century, yet SSJE is no dusty relic. We don’t live in the past. Nor is monastic life some form of retreat from reality. In fact, for those who are called, monastic life is our way of most deeply engaging our lives; it's a life that calls upon the whole of our selves, in which we can offer ourselves back to God and to God's mission. We hope that our way of life will bear witness to the world today, teaching people to pray their lives, and spreading Jesus' message of peace, justice, dignity, and love to a world hungry to hear it. Watch Video

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