? about monks and priests

[MountainLaurel]

I'm not even Christian, so please excuse my ignorance here. . .

What are the official differences between monks and priests? I'm reading a dog-training book written by monks (of New Skete) and was wondering.

[Maeve]

1. Monks are members of a monastic community

They join together for prayer and communial life of worship and service. They are usually referred to as "brother". There are many orders (types) of monastic groups--Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans--all with their own mission for prayer/service. It's common, however, to reserve the term monk for the more contemplative, "stay at home praying" types.

Priests are the ones who say mass and are authorized to minister the other important rituals, the sacraments. They may belong to a religious order, like a monk, or not--most of the priests you'd meet in the US are diocesan, having been thru the local seminary and consecrated by the local bishop to serve the local people. (They are still priests anywhere they go, but work with the bishop of wherever they are sent.)

So, some monks are priests and some priests are monks, but most are either one or the other. Does that help?

[MountainLaurel]

2. Thanks!

That was the sort of info I was looking for.

I do have another question, however: Do monks have to go through the seminary as priests do? Is there a "certification" or official process they have to go through?

[hedgehog]

3. I think it varies from group to group

or "order" to "order". Each one has its own training path. Most have a trial period (novitiate) and a series of temporary vows before a life time commitment can be made.

[Maeve]

4. Not certification as such

Hedgehog is right--each order has its own requirements but all have a "training" period where the candidate tries the life, learns the way his/her monastery functions (female monks are monastic nuns) and must meet the approval of the order to remain and take final vows. The process lasts several years.