Born:  February 20, 1975
Professed:  April 12, 2004
Hometown:  Capoocan, Leyte, Philippines
Monastery Work:  Infirmarian, Host at the St. Benedict’s Center, Organist

My Catholic upbringing has inculcated in me a deep desire for a life of prayer, and I believe this is where my monastic vocation stems from. 

The Benedictine motto “Ora et Labora” has captured my heart the moment I got into contact with the missionary monks in Digos, Philippines.  Another striking feature of monastic life that attracted me is the fact that it is not a clerical movement, that is, not all monks are priests.  This has indeed shaped my perception of what a life of prayer and service can be, that I can live in a community and be involved in the various apostolates that our congregation is engaged in.

My primary role in our community is to take care of our elderly and sick brothers, a task which I have carried out since I graduated from nursing school in the Philippines in 2008. Just as St. Benedict has particularly written in his Rule (RB 36) on the care of the sick, our community sees to it that our sick and elderly brothers are well taken care of, for to serve the sick and the weak in our midst is to serve Christ! As an infirmarian, I have encountered Christ in many ways.

Before coming to our small community here at Christ the King Priory in Schuyler, I worked as a full-time nurse/infirmarian at the Abbey of St. Felicity, Muensterschwarzach, Germany from 2019 to 2023.  Now that I don’t have much nursing work to do, I help as host at the St. Benedict’s Center from time to time and play the organ to accompany our celebration of the Divine Office.