Please pray for Amy, entering May 20!

On this Great Feast of the Ascension, we joyfully announce the upcoming entrance of Amy MacInnis into our monastic community on May 20! Amy is our first international member, and her entrance is a long-awaited fruit of patience and immigration work! Please keep her in your prayers as she begins her time in the monastery as a dokimos ("one who is proved by testing"), continuing to discern her call here in a deeper way. She will enter fully into our life, as well as participate in the classes, studies and other types of formation given to those in their initial years in the monastery.

Amy MacInnis

Whitby, Ontario, Canada

39 years old

Parish: Protection of the Mother of God Slovak Byzantine Catholic Parish, Oshawa, Ontario

Degrees: MTS (Master in Theological Studies) from Regis College, BA in Philosophy from Tyndale University College, Certificate of Christian Humanities from Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy

From her application: Q: In your own words, what is the purpose of monastic life? A: "The purpose of monastic life is to provide those called by the Triune God to the monastery with the environment best suited for them to deepen their relationship with Him. The monastery is a sacred space set apart from the world, yet embedded in its heart (cf. Jn 17:13-18). Monastics embrace the mystery of a “life...hid in Christ with God” (Col 3:3), since the monastery is like leaven hidden in the dough of the world that secretly grows the Kingdom of God (Mt 13:33). Those called to the monastery carry the sinful and suffering world with them; they are drawn out of the world not due to disdain for it, but because they love the LORD and desire to give everything—themselves and the whole world—back to Him. The environment of the monastery, which fosters the giving and receiving of love, is one of poverty, chastity and obedience, aloneness and community, silence and praise, suffering and joy; its soil is humility, the death to self. Those called to the monastery prize God who is Love (1 Jn 4:8) above all else, and prioritize their prayer—their relationship with Him—in this life, as a foretaste of heaven. Their receptivity to Him in the present moment flows into the world for the sake of the Kingdom."