- Feb 5, 2002
- 166,633
- 56,266
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
After lying dormant for decades, the seed of a calling to monastic life has sprung to life in the soul of Sevillian painter José María Méndez after hearing a line in the film “Libres” (“Free”) on monasticism. Méndez will become a Trappist monk at the end of February.
“All this glitter of our society is capable of distracting — and sometimes, for a person’s entire life. It doesn’t fulfill your life; it distracts it,” said one of the monks in the documentary film about the contemplative life that became an international success.
The line struck Méndez, and he responded by saying yes to the monastic life; however, he explained that “the thought of doing it, the restlessness was latent, abandoned, or eradicated so as not to get frustrated by not being able to attend to it” due most of all to his family obligations.
The 53-year-old painter from Seville explained how the documentary impacted him to the point of clearly hearing that call: “‘You’ve already had everything, you leave it and come with me.’ That’s how I understood it at that moment, and there has been no going back. Simply a search for how to go through with it,” Méndez told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, in a phone conversation.
Continued below.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
“All this glitter of our society is capable of distracting — and sometimes, for a person’s entire life. It doesn’t fulfill your life; it distracts it,” said one of the monks in the documentary film about the contemplative life that became an international success.
The line struck Méndez, and he responded by saying yes to the monastic life; however, he explained that “the thought of doing it, the restlessness was latent, abandoned, or eradicated so as not to get frustrated by not being able to attend to it” due most of all to his family obligations.
The 53-year-old painter from Seville explained how the documentary impacted him to the point of clearly hearing that call: “‘You’ve already had everything, you leave it and come with me.’ That’s how I understood it at that moment, and there has been no going back. Simply a search for how to go through with it,” Méndez told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, in a phone conversation.
Continued below.
Spanish painter to become Trappist monk after seeing film
After lying dormant for decades, the seed of a calling to monastic life has sprung to life in the soul of Sevillian painter José María Méndez.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
