September 4-6, 2026 - Come and See Weekend

Each year, the community hosts a group of men who are interested in taking a closer look at monastic life as it is lived here at Gethsemani. They are invited to spend the Labor Day weekend with us and participate in some of our activities.

This year, nine young men joined us, from all walks of life and from various places. While they were here, they sang the psalms with us in choir, sat with the community for our daily mass, and met with various brothers.

The novices especially look forward to Saturday afternoon when we all walk out to the hermitage where Thomas Merton lived and worked. We gather in a circle on the porch, indulge in some snacks, and share a little about our lives, who we are, where we are from, and what brought us here to this place on this weekend. We learn about our visitors, and they learn a bit about us. It is a privilege to share our stories with one another.

We hope that each one of the participants in this year’s Come and See weekend have gone home with some small piece of Gethsemani in their hearts. We pray that God will continue to lead them to the vocation that will give them the greatest joy.