Brother Hugh Goossens, O.S.B., Makes Solemn Profession

Brother Hugh Goossens, O.S.B. professed his Solemn Vows on Jan. 24 in the Abbey Church. The ceremony was a culmination of many years of spiritual searching and discernment to find his place in monastic life at Saint Louis Abbey.

“From an early stage I thought that God was calling me to something,” he says.

Brother Hugh’s spiritual journey began as a child, when his family worshiped in an evangelical Christian church in Washington, Illinois. After graduating from Washington Community High School, Brother Hugh attended Illinois Central College and Eureka College, where he graduated with a B.A. in English. He also converted to Lutheranism in college, applied and was accepted into a Lutheran seminary.

Upon graduating, Brother Hugh decided to teach English in Incheon, South Korea, and worked a variety of jobs in Chicago and Peoria, Illinois. During this time, he questioned Lutheran teachings and began reading the Introduction to Christianity by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. He also listened to audio recordings by Alvin Plantinga, a philosopher and professor at the University of Notre Dame. Both were influential in his conversion to Catholicism and a calling to religious life.

“What drew me to the Catholic faith was looking to the Church Fathers, for I could identify the character of the early church from them,” he says.

After converting to Catholicism, Brother Hugh volunteered with the youth group at a Catholic parish in Peoria. While attending Mass and volunteering, he shared that he still felt the call to religious life. The monastic life appealed to him, especially the Benedictine monks.

“The spirituality of Benedictine monasticism is thoroughly biblical and patristic, which also drew to me to becoming Catholic,” he says. “In addition, Benedictine piety is somewhat austere. The focus is on encountering God through the liturgy, the Word, and the common life of the monastery. As to why I chose this particular monastery, the opportunities of learning and teaching have great appeal.”

Since entering the monastery in June 2013 and taking his Simple Vows in 2014, Brother Hugh has studied philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and Biblical Greek at Covenant Theological Seminary. In 2014, he went to a novice conference in England and had the opportunity to visit Ampleforth Abbey.

While having tea at that time with Abbot Patrick Barry, the retired Abbot of Ampleforth who spent many years in St. Louis, Brother Hugh asked him, “How do I know if this is the right thing for me?”

Abbot Patrick replied, “It is very simple. You have to pray.”

Through prayer, Brother Hugh realized that it is very easy to be trapped in your own thinking and trying to figure it all out. Abbot Patrick’s advice illustrated the importance of prayer and was a pivotal moment for Brother Hugh as a young novice.

“Prayer is really the crucial thing for anyone considering a vocation. You have to pray about it, and you may have to pray about it for a long time, and there may not be an easy or immediate answer.”

In addition to his studies in philosophy and Greek, Brother Hugh completed his M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois in December of last year. On the occasion of his Solemn Vows, Brother Hugh felt a sense of joy and excitement on his special day when many family and friends celebrated with him. After taking his Solemn Vows, he said, “I also felt a huge sense of relief. I can just live the monastic life, which seems pretty good to me.”