MANCHESTER, N.H. — Brother Francis Ryan McCarty, O.S.B., has professed solemn vows as a monk of Saint Anselm Abbey. On February 2, 2020, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Consecrated Life, Abbot Mark Cooper, O.S.B. clothed Brother Francis in the monastic cuculla, a pleated choir robe, which is the symbol of solemn profession.
Standing before his confreres, Brother Francis took the three vows of the Order of St. Benedict: stability, obedience and conversatio morum to permanently join the community. These vows solidify his place in the monastic community of Saint Anselm Abbey. As a solemnly professed monk, he becomes a member of the monastery’s chapter as well as a member of the Saint Anselm College and Woodside Priory school corporations.
Brother Francis, also known as Ryan McCarty from North Smithfield, Rhode Island, graduated from Saint Anselm College in 2010 with a degree in history and a certificate in Catholic Studies. Prior to joining the monastic community, he was a theology and technology education teacher at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He is the son of Philip McCarty and Rita Turcotte and was a parishioner of Saint James Church in Manville, Rhode Island.
Speaking at a reception for family and friends after the ceremony, Brother Francis said, “Mark Twain once said, ‘The two most important days in a person’s life are the day they are born and the day they found out why.’ I have found the reason why. It is to be a monk of Saint Anselm Abbey, to serve this community which is so dear to me. I am grateful to God for the gift of this vocation and so very grateful to all those who have supported me thus far.”
Brother Francis is currently a seminarian at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, and hopes to be ordained to the priesthood in the near future.
