Mount Angel Abbey Opening

Step 1: Attend at least one three-day retreat at Mount Angel Abbey to pray on whether monastic life there is your calling. This is called a discernment retreat. Use the opportunity to talk with monks at the monastery about their experience.

Step 2: Apply to enter the monastery.

Step 3: Live at the monastery as a postulant for three to six months. During this time, you'll wear the black monastic tunic, attend formation classes and follow the monks' schedule.

Step 4: If you're still interested, stick around and become a novice. You get to wear a scapular during this year, which you'll spend studying scripture and the history of monastic life. The scapular looks like a table runner with a hole for the head, creating a cape and apron in one. After a year at the monastery, you can petition to become a junior monk.

Step 5: Make a vow for three years, which upgrades you to junior monk. You will receive a new name at this time. (You pick your top choices and the abbot will approve one.) Live as a monk at the monastery for three years, during which time you'll be mentored by one of the fully-committed monks. You get to wear the full monk ensemble, called a habit, during these years.

Step 6: If you're sure you want to spend the rest of your life at the monastery, take solemn vows. You'll get a choir robe, called a cuculla. Congratulations!