September 5, 2025

Benedictine novice professes temporary vows at Saint Meinrad

Benedictine Novice Owen MeredithBenedictine Novice Owen Meredith professed temporary vows of obedience, fidelity to the monastic way of life and stability as a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad on Aug. 6 during a Vespers liturgy in the monastery’s Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einseideln.

As is the custom at Saint Meinrad during the profession of temporary vows, Novice Owen took on a religious name. He is now Brother George.

Brother George, 35, is a native of Forest City, Ill., and was previously a member of Immaculate Conception Parish in Manito, Ill.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in 2014 in theater technology at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Ill., where he also minored in music and religious studies.

Prior to joining the monastery, Brother George served as a handyman for the Hermits of St. Mary of Carmel in Houston, Minn. He was also previously a seminarian for the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., receiving priestly formation at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis.

Temporary vows at Saint Meinrad are ordinarily professed for a three-year period in which the monk and the monastic community continue to discern whether or not he is truly called to monastic life as a monk of Saint Meinrad. †

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