On Sunday, August 17th, just before the beginning of the school year, God blessed the Abbey by giving us six new junior monks and by the renewal of Br. Barnabas Robertson’s vows. We can truly thank God with the Psalmist, saying, “You have crowned the year with your goodness” (Ps 65:11). Though they are discerning a common calling at Our Lady of Dallas, the young junior monks bring a diverse array of gifts and interests to the monastery.

Br. Barnabas Robertson has lived in Texas as well as Azerbaijan, Turkey, and India. He was pursuing a Ph.D. in physics at Texas A&M when he joined the Church and discerned a vocation to the monastery. After a few years spent teaching Form I Latin, he has begun teaching senior physics at the Prep School. Br. Barnabas enjoys coding and cooking. After becoming a monk, he started playing more board games and reading old Latin sermons. He hopes to take Solemn Vows in the next couple of years.

Br. Jerome Clark is from Los Angeles. He studied Electrical Engineering at UCLA and joined the Catholic Church while he was a student there. He first learned about the Abbey from a friend of his while with the Norbertines. This year, he is teaching Latin III to Form III. After hearing about it all last year and seeing the love the Fathers have for their charges, he is excited to take his own part in the monks’ apostolate. He is himself an assiduous student of ancient and modern languages—Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German.

Br. Elijah Potter grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago and is an avid cinephile. After studying English Literature at Hillsdale College, he taught at Great Hearts in San Antonio for two years before entering a diocesan seminary. Before joining the monastery, an especially impactful summer spent with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity gave Br. Elijah a love for and desire to serve the poor. The novitiate allowed him to enter more deeply into prayer and to build fraternal bonds with his novice brothers. As a junior monk, he will take theology classes at the University of Dallas, teach catechism at St. James in Oak Cliff, and work in the Abbey’s library.

Br. Anselm Hallers was born and raised in Houston. He joined the Church in 2020 and studied English Literature at the University of St. Thomas. He learned about the Abbey from a professor and mentor of his, Sr. Maria Frassati Jakupcak O.P. As a novice, Br. Anselm loved the introduction to theology he received in the novitiate classes and spent many evenings reading about Sacred Scripture. It was also a year marked by prayer and fraternal charity. He enjoys reading and writing poetry. As a junior monk, he will take classes at the University of Dallas and teach Confirmation classes at St. James in Oak Cliff.

Br. Gideon Connor is from Kansas City and attended the University of Dallas, where he triple-majored in History, Classics, and English. He became acquainted with the Abbey through the classes he had with the monks and their mentorship. He loves studying Greek, reading theology, and playing rugby. As a novice, he even organized an Our Lady of Dallas versus Holy Trinity Seminary rugby match, leading his brothers into a glorious victory. This year, he will take classes at UD, again, help with Cistercian Preparatory cross-country, and work as a groundskeeper around the monastery.

Br. Charbel Salhab began his relationship with the Abbey as a First Former in 2012 and graduated from our school in 2020. He discerned the monastic life while studying Chemistry at Texas A&M. He enjoys baking cookies for his brother monks. As a novice, he appreciated his chores—especially felling dead trees across the Stations Trail—and began assisting with the Cistercian soccer team, on which he played as a student. As a junior brother, Br. Charbel is taking classes at the University of Dallas and teaching Form I Religion.

Br. Michael Kattady was born in Thrissur, India and immigrated to the United States with his family only six months later. He joined the Cistercian Preparatory School Class of 2020 in Form IV. After graduating from Cistercian, he attended Columbia University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics-Philosophy. While at Columbia, Br. Michael discerned a vocation to the monastery, and after staying with the Cistercian monks on various retreats, receiving much wisdom from his Form Master Fr. Philip, and many long conversations with fellow 2020 alumnus Br. Charbel, he entered the monastery as the youngest novice in his class at the age of 22. As a Junior brother Br. Michael is teaching Form II Religion, taking classes at the University of Dallas, and teaching catechesis at St. James Parish in Oak Cliff.

Please pray for these seven junior brothers, along with the other monks of Our Lady of Dallas and the faithful in the wider Cistercian community. May we all be blessed with the gift of prayer and with a profound sense for our vocation. May we live our lives in daily conversation with God and so let every action be a response to his love.