Novice Joins Benedictine Community at Saint Meinrad

FROM LOCAL SOURCES 

ST. MEINRAD -- In a brief ceremony, Novice Simon Holden was clothed in the Benedictine habit at Saint Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, IN, on January 19, 2020. He now begins a year of monastic formation, including study of the Rule of St. Benedict and monastic history. 

Novice Simon, 23, is a native of Lexington, KY.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Louisville in 2019. As a student, he was also a music theory and music history tutor.

He is the son of Katrin and Roger Holden of Frankfort, KY, and attended Western Hills High School in Frankfort. Most recently, his home parish was St. Leo Parish in Versailles, KY, where he was a volunteer in the parish’s Alpha program.

As a novice, he takes a year off from formal studies and trades. The novitiate is a time of prayer and learning intended to help a novice discern his vocation as a monk. At the end of this year, a novice may be permitted to profess temporary vows of obedience, fidelity to the monastic way of life and stability in the community of Saint Meinrad.