THE CONTEMPLATIVES OF SAINT JOSEPH MONASTIC ORDER

The Contemplatives of Saint Joseph Monastic Order (COSJ) is a Public Clerical Association of the Christian Faithful in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA, in 2012. It consists of three branches: the Priests and Brothers, the Sisters, and the Laity. Each member, according to his or her state in life, seeks to live a life of deep contemplative prayer and then to share the fruits of that prayer with the wider Church community. We ‘breathe with both lungs,’ that is to say, we draw from the Christian traditions of both East and West, and have a special appreciation for the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the Jesus Prayer, and the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, which we celebrate each Sunday. Our monastic life is deeply liturgical. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which we celebrate in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms, is the source and summit of our lives. We adore Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, together as a community, and in private. We pray the Divine Office in the Extraordinary Form, some Hours of which we pray in private, while most are chanted in common. Silence and solitude enfold our days. We seek to maintain a quiet monastery and to be judicious with our speech. A significant portion of our day is reserved for solitude, private prayer, lectio divina, and study. We are devoted in a filial way to Our Blessed Mother Mary, and to St. Joseph her spouse, our patron.