Wanna be a Monk?

Apparently, monasteries are no longer the draw that they were in the 11th century and modern abbots (and bishops) are realizing this. But in the spirit of "try before you buy," some Anglican and Roman Catholic monasteries and nunneries in England are now offering "taster" weekends. Go to the monastery, stay there for a couple of nights, pretend you're a monk, and see how you like the whole thing. I wonder if they mention those whole eternal celibacy and eternal silence thingies during that weekend...

Anyway, the article from The Observer also points to Worth Abbey's (a Benedictine house with quite a slick website) "Compass Project." This project, unlike the other "taster" weekends, is aimed at a younger crowd -- roughly 20-35 years old -- and is a program spread over a number of weekends. And, of course,

if all else fails, there is one more option open to convents: importing nuns. Some Irish nunneries have been propping up their numbers with Polish women.

Man, we've come a long way from child oblation.