My name is Brother Chris. I am currently a novice living at our novitiate headquarters for the US/Toronto region in Napa, California.How did I end up here? PROVIDENCE. Providence is a core of our Lasallian spirituality, something our founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle relied on during the beginnings of the Institute. However, I guess providence as an answer doesn't give you much insight.
I am originally from Los Angeles, CA where all of my family currently lives. I am of Hispanic background and grew up in the Mexican-American Catholic faith.
High School
I attended Catholic school from 1st grade through high school. It was at Cathedral High School in L.A. that I first discovered that there was something beyond the priesthood and nuns. Having a desire to teach from an early age, discovering the Brothers was pretty cool. They were men, I was male; they taught, I wanted to teach; they seemed happy, I wanted to be happy; they seemed down-to-earth, I wanted to enjoy life; and they were inviting and I felt like going along! Little by little, I began to discover their life more and more. I talked to them often outside of the classroom. I worked with them being part of school clubs. I joined them for prayer and dinner. I liked what I was witnessing. That could be me!
Of course, a lot is going on during high school and as much as I could see myself being a Brother, was it really for me?
College
For bizarre reasons, I ended up deciding to attend the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Go Wildcats! In some ways, I figured that as a college student the whole Brother thing would disappear. Wrong! As soon as I moved to Tucson, I discover that the Brothers are preparing to open a high school there. I knew automatically I wanted to be involved. Little by little my desire to get involved turned into moving in with the Brothers, working at the high school (San Miguel), which in itself was life and vocation transforming, and realizing that God was making it clear more and more that I was being called to be a Brother. The details of all this part of the journey could be read at my personal blog (see below).
Today
So here I am a novice. A novice is the last official stage of discernment before taking first vows as a Brother.
It is a year away from one central piece of our vocation: apostolic ministry, teaching! A year to focus on the spiritual foundation of being a Brother before returning to apostolic ministry, working with youth. Since this blog is about giving you an inside view into our lives as Brothers, what does a novice do? Well, let me tell you about a typical day.
We begin each day with prayer at 6:45 AM. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays our morning prayer is followed by mass at 7:15 AM. We have time for breakfast in the morning before attending classes at 8:30 AM. The classes/seminars are held here at the Novitiate residence. Our classes deal with scripture, religious life topics, Lasallian history, the liturgy, and more. Typically, we have two classes for an hour each with a break in between. This means we are done by 11 AM.
From 11 AM until 5 PM it is basically YOU time. Time to discern by reading, writing, studying class material, exercising, and the list goes on. It is also time for one to do "human" things: write to friends, email, check sports scores, EAT, and so forth. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays there is also some volunteer work. On Fridays there is housing cleaning. So, the point is there's no need to worry too much about boredom. At 5 PM each day we are responsible for some spiritual reading to be done on our own in a place of our choice (our room, outside, in the chapel, etc...). At 5:30 PM we have evening prayer, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when we have mass. This takes us to dinner at 6 PM. We each have a cooking night and so take turns preparing dinner for the community.
We enjoy our time together at the table. After dinner, we clean up and head to night prayer, typically around 7:15 PM. After night prayer, it is considered quiet/study time until 9:00 PM. They "formal" day officially ends at 9:00 PM. There is no "lights out" time in the community, basically be at morning prayer the next morning. For myself, I typically head to the gym on the property for some "work out" time. Then, get ready for bed, maybe do a little reading, writing, or email. I try to be in bed by 10:30 PM, since I am an early riser and like to be up by 5:15 AM.
Plenty goes on during novitiate year both in terms of growth and discovery (spiritual and personal), challenges (i.e. community life) and time for the Brothers to have a little fun. For example, during the weekend we may choose to go out for a movie, a nice dinner, sightseeing, or whatever else we might be able to entertain ourselves with. Sundays for me is a day where I attend an early mass, usually in Spanish, and do the house grocery shopping (one of my duties in the community). Life stays active in many ways.
Some pictures? Yes, take a look at my web photo album @ http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.patino
I also keep a personal blog at http://www.brchris.blogspot.com/
We begin each day with prayer at 6:45 AM. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays our morning prayer is followed by mass at 7:15 AM. We have time for breakfast in the morning before attending classes at 8:30 AM. The classes/seminars are held here at the Novitiate residence. Our classes deal with scripture, religious life topics, Lasallian history, the liturgy, and more. Typically, we have two classes for an hour each with a break in between. This means we are done by 11 AM.
From 11 AM until 5 PM it is basically YOU time. Time to discern by reading, writing, studying class material, exercising, and the list goes on. It is also time for one to do "human" things: write to friends, email, check sports scores, EAT, and so forth. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays there is also some volunteer work. On Fridays there is housing cleaning. So, the point is there's no need to worry too much about boredom. At 5 PM each day we are responsible for some spiritual reading to be done on our own in a place of our choice (our room, outside, in the chapel, etc...). At 5:30 PM we have evening prayer, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when we have mass. This takes us to dinner at 6 PM. We each have a cooking night and so take turns preparing dinner for the community.
We enjoy our time together at the table. After dinner, we clean up and head to night prayer, typically around 7:15 PM. After night prayer, it is considered quiet/study time until 9:00 PM. They "formal" day officially ends at 9:00 PM. There is no "lights out" time in the community, basically be at morning prayer the next morning. For myself, I typically head to the gym on the property for some "work out" time. Then, get ready for bed, maybe do a little reading, writing, or email. I try to be in bed by 10:30 PM, since I am an early riser and like to be up by 5:15 AM.
Plenty goes on during novitiate year both in terms of growth and discovery (spiritual and personal), challenges (i.e. community life) and time for the Brothers to have a little fun. For example, during the weekend we may choose to go out for a movie, a nice dinner, sightseeing, or whatever else we might be able to entertain ourselves with. Sundays for me is a day where I attend an early mass, usually in Spanish, and do the house grocery shopping (one of my duties in the community). Life stays active in many ways.
Some pictures? Yes, take a look at my web photo album @ http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.patino
I also keep a personal blog at http://www.brchris.blogspot.com/
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