Journey to Manhood: Facing the monastic Year

The monastic year: The path of Nigredo Monastery is a year of testing. It is aimed at men who feel that the present has left them scattered, soft, and directionless – and who have the courage to examine themselves. The monastic year is not an escape, but an initiation into becoming a man: a year of work, silence, and spiritual formation. The goal is not obedience for its own sake, but a return to composure, clarity, and devotion.

I. Nigredo – The Blackness

Duration: Three months

Entry into the monastic year begins with the blackness: the conscious confrontation with one's own disorder. The novice renounces possessions, habits, and distractions. Days are characterized by physical work, silence, and simple prayer.

Goal:

Detachment from the old self
Recognition of one's own shadow sides
Acceptance of discipline and structure

II. Albedo – The Purification

Duration: Three months

After the blackness comes the purification. The novice learns order in thought and moderation in action. He studies texts from wisdom traditions, trains body and mind, and begins to take responsibility.

Contents:

Introduction to symbolism, archetypes, and spiritual studies
Rituals of stillness and silence
Practice in chastity, mindfulness, and moderation
Craftsmanship as a spiritual exercise

Goal:
Purification of the gaze, strengthening of posture, and awareness of the rhythm of life.

III. Citrinitas – Enlightenment

Duration: Three months

Work becomes service. The novice takes on tasks for others – workshop, kitchen, teaching, nursing. He learns to understand strength as responsibility.

Contents:

Leading without domination
Service as an expression of the spirit
Dealing with conflict, criticism, and excessive demands
Renewal of the vow

Goal:
Integration of mind, soul, and body; steadfastness under pressure; clear, calm presence.

IV. Rubedo – The Completion

Duration: Three months

The novice is tested. He lives what he has learned with full personal responsibility, under the guidance of a mentor. During this time, he carries the order outwardly: through attitude, service, and example.

Content:

Practical leadership in everyday life
Meditation on responsibility and love
Silent retreats
Final ritual as a symbolic rebirth

Goal:
Embodiment of the virtues of piety, chastity, temperance, courage, and devotion.

V. The Test of Obedience

Questions for the novice of the Ordo Nigredo. Obedience is not a compulsion, but a reflection of inner measure. The test of obedience begins in the fourth month of the monastic year.
The novice approaches the abbot, joins his hands, and asks the questions aloud—for his own purification. He asks not to answer, but to understand. Each question tests the depth of his faith, his clarity, and his willingness to serve the work.

1. Faith and Origin

Do you respect the Trinity or not?
Are you seeking a master or not?
Is your mind awakened or not?
Are you surrendering yourself in trust in God or not?
Are you firmly anchored, without wavering, or not?
Are your body and mind at rest or not?
Is your clarity purer than heaven or not?

2. Perception and Knowledge

Do you see your mind when you observe the things around you or not?
Do you recognize your own nature when you hear sounds around you or not?
Are you steadfast like the saints or not?
Has your restless heart found peace or not?

3. Practice, Discipline, and Silence

Are you fully engaged in your practice, without being distracted by your neighbors?
Are you charging forward like a lion or not?
Do you show kindness and compassion, or not?
Do you uphold the teaching while forgetting your body, or not?
Do you always like to practice silence, or not?

4. Mindfulness and Speech

Is even the smallest of your actions guided by mindfulness, or not?
Do you examine your words carefully, or not?
Does what you say agree with what you think, or not?
Do you remain silent about the sins of others, or not?
Do you face difficult tasks without hesitation, or not?

5. Moderation, Possessions, and Contentment

Do you not take from what belongs to everyone, or do you?
Do you not accumulate savings, or do you?
Do you understand that you will have peace if you stop fighting, or not?
Do you truly grasp that you always get enough, or not?
Do you exercise moderation in eating and drinking, or not?

6. Humility and Self-Examination

Do you never tire of sacrificing yourself, or do you?
Don't you demand that others sacrifice themselves for you, or do you?
Don't you want to be respected and loved by others, or do you?
Don't you envy those who are better and wiser than you, or do you?
Aren't you jealous when you see the success of others, or do you?

7. Compassion and Responsibility

Do you care for the sick, or not?
Do you feed the hungry and clothe the cold, or not?
Do you grieve over the war in the distance, or not?

Do you not distinguish between the good and the bad, or do you?
Do you have respect for old age and love for the young, or not?

8. Gratitude and Awareness

Do you reciprocate the love and care with which your father and mother raised you?
Are you grateful for the lessons your teachers gave you, or not?
Do you appreciate the offerings of the community, or not?
Do you remember how much you owe to the help of your friends, or not?
Are you grateful for the divine help that protects you, or not?

9. Conclusion – The Heart of Liberation

Do you review your practice during the 24 hours of each day, or not?
Is the one thing of your life resolved, or not?
Have you found the great liberation, or not?
Have you witnessed yourself, or not?

Closing Formula

The novice doesn't ask the questions to answer them, but to see where he is not yet free. For obedience means facing the truth, not bowing down before it. And whoever asks daily becomes purer daily.

VI. The Spirit of the Monastic Year

The monastic year is not a retreat into asceticism, but a return to the depths. The body is tempered because the spirit needs rest. The will is trained because freedom requires discipline. People learn to control themselves so they can serve.

The martial spirit of the Order means poise: the willingness to stand firm, to bear, to lead. This is how the strength that does not destroy but protects is created.

VII. Conclusion – Initium Lucis

At the end, there is not rank, but maturity. The brother recognizes: Piety is clarity of heart. Chastity is the concentration of strength and love. Work is prayer. Service is freedom.

Whoever completes the year carries the spirit of Nigredo into the world: quiet, strong, unobtrusive – a man formed to support and connect.

Initium Lucis – In the Darkness, the Light is Born

After the year of the monastic journey, the brother finds himself at a crossroads. He can, if his heart is ready, return to the world – to live out what he has learned there, in family, profession, or work. Or he chooses to belong entirely to the monastery – in silence, prayer, and work, as a guardian of the fire.

Both are considered equally valuable. For whoever has walked the path of Nigredo
carries order within him – and wherever he goes, there the light will begin.