Greetings

Thank you for visiting the website of the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph. We hope this visit provides you with information about us, the challenges of the contemplative life, our role in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and our vocation.

The COSJ was founded recently to serve in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The spiritual goals of the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph (COSJ) are to help those who enter our new religious order, and those they serve in our Active Ministry, to wake up to the rich contemplative spiritual treasures of the Catholic Church. We are guided in a special way by Pope John Paul II's Pastoral Letter Orientale Lumen or "Light of the East." The Contemplatives of Saint Joseph, by learning to breathe with both lungs of the Church – the Eastern and Western Church – as Pope John Paul called for us to do, believe that by our example and spiritual leadership, Catholics within the Archdiocese of San Francisco will slowly but surely be drawn into a rich contemplative life with God.

St. Thomas Aquinas said, "It is requisite for the good of the human community that there should be persons who devote themselves to contemplative prayer." The Contemplatives of Saint Joseph do this wholeheartedly; our motto is The Contemplative Life Is A Vocation. Since we are a men's semi-eremitical contemplative community, our first step towards service within our beloved Archdiocese of San Francisco is a radical conversion of our own lives, which culminates, after six years of formation, in the solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Those who aspire to the priesthood will proceed to seminary studies and the aspiring brothers will further their studies in areas that support the COSJ community. These individuals, called by God, will become experts in the spiritual life through a rhythm of life that includes many hours of daily prayer. "And rising up long before daybreak, He went out and departed to a desert place, and there He prayed" (Mk 1:35).

The atmosphere of our Monastery is conducive to the silence of solitude. "I will ... lead you into the desert and there I will speak to your heart" (Hos 2:16). Following Jesus, we daily pray in solitude; as He too went to "desert places to pray" (Lk 5:16) "to our Father in secret" (Mt 6:6).

In community, each day, we celebrate the Eucharist, Office of Readings, Lauds, Vespers, Compline, Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet and Eucharistic Adoration. Over time, each member of the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph will have acquired the grace to "have set my soul in silence and peace. As a child has rest in its mother's arms, even so my soul rests in you my God" (Ps 131:2). We have daily work periods (except for Sundays and desert days) with a portion of these hours set aside for personal study and preparation for conferences. Each of our very full days includes community meals, exercise and recreation. "From the rising to the setting of the sun is the Name of the Lord to be praised" (Ps 113:3).

During our own ongoing conversion process, we also minister within the Archdiocese of San Francisco by becoming men of fervent intercessory prayer. We hold dear to our hearts the bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians, religious and all the people of God within our home Archdiocese. In our Active Ministry, which takes place about seven days a month, we expect that our religious community will help attract vocations not only to its own contemplative life, but also to diocesan priesthood and other forms of religious life, which, at this point in time, will be of great benefit to the Archdiocese.

We also hope and pray that the Active Ministry of the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph will be a source of unity within our Church. Our goal is a Catholic contemplative spirituality which places an emphasis on entering into the Heart of Jesus: the silent, still, centered, peaceful, loving encounter with the Word of God: "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:11). Within the Heart of Jesus, our contemplative ministry will help bring reconciliation to people. By communion in Christ, we will all realize more fully that we are "one Body, one Spirit, in Christ" (Eucharist Prayer III).

In closing, we hope that you find this information about the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph helpful as you learn of our special contemplative vocation in the Church. We ask for your prayer support as well! For those who are seriously considering joining our new religious order, we give you the following quote by St. Francis de Sales to help you overcome some of the initial fears of entering religious life. Perhaps it will inspire you as well!