Father Dave Glockner, (center, top row) poses with several of the novices and prenovices, as well as other formation directors, during the Glenmary Congress in August 2005.

A year devoted to study, prayer and reflection might seem like a luxury, but it is a crucial part of religious formation and an integral part of the formation of Glenmary priests and brothers.

The Glenmary novitiate is a two-year experience: after a first year of prayer and spiritual reflection, the novice spends a second year in a supervised ministry program. Glenmary’s novitiate in Maple Mount, Ky., is led by novice director Father Dave Glockner and Father Tom Kirkendoll.

The novitiate is a time of mutual discernment by the Glenmary community and by the novices, according to Father Dave. It is also a time for the novices to further explore and confirm their call to the Glenmary way of life.

“The first year is not for formal academics,” Father Dave says. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to step back from everyday life and concentrate on your spiritual life. It’s a year to slow down and spend more time in prayer.”

Father Dave has developed Glenmary’s structured novitiate program, which he calls a “work in progress.” Each day starts with Mass. Since the novitiate house is located on 750 acres in Western Kentucky owned by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph, the novices are able to worship with the sisters at their motherhouse three days a week. On other days, Mass is celebrated in the chapel at the novitiate.

After breakfast and morning prayer, the novices, led by Father Dave, spend time exploring such things as the history of religious life, spirituality, journaling, centering prayer, and the Liturgy of the Hours. Some of the sessions are more practical in nature, such as cooking classes taught by one of the Ursuline sisters. The novices then take part in an hour of quiet reflection, before another hour of class.

After lunch with the sisters, the novices are free until 4:30 p.m., when they gather to discuss the lectionary readings for the following day’s Mass. They eat supper together, which they take turns preparing, and then share evening prayer and some reading about the life of Glenmary’s founder, Father William Howard Bishop. They then pass the rest of the evening in silence.

In addition to leading the reflection sessions, Father Dave meets weekly with each of the novices guiding them to build community spirit by living and praying together.

At the beginning of the first year of novitiate, the men participate in a six-day silent retreat, directed by Father Dave, that helps them explore where they are on their spiritual journey. At the end of the first year each makes a 30-day Ignatian Retreat, an experience designed to help the retreatant come to a deeper knowledge of God’s love for them and a deeper commitment that they are making to God.

Describing himself as “old generation,” Father Dave says he first learned about Glenmary in the early 1950s when he was a teenager and Glenmary was a fairly new society (founded in 1939).

Father Dave says the influence of “good priests in my parish in Portsmouth, Ohio,” got him thinking about the priesthood when he was in third grade. But by fifth grade, he became attracted to a more “glamorous” vocation: that of police officer or firefighter. All the while he continued as a member of the parish choir and as an altar boy.

But between his sophomore and junior years in high school his thoughts returned to pursuing a church vocation. He attended Christian Living Camp, a program to interest young men in missionary priesthood and brotherhood held at the nearby family farm of Glenmary Father Ray Orlett. After that, Father Dave decided to become a Glenmary brother. He was accepted into Glenmary before he graduated from high school.

During his senior year at Portmouth’s Notre Dame High School, Father Dave’s pastor and his principal suggested that he investigate priesthood—a path he ultimately chose. And the rest, as they say, is history. After his ordination in 1966, Father Dave served missions in Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma. He became director of the novitiate in 2005.

Father Dave is now preparing to welcome a new class of novices on July 1: Crispine Adongo, Craig Digmann, Daniel Gikuma, Chris Gutierrez, and Aaron Wessman.

At the end of June, however, Father Dave took time out to celebrate as the 2005-06 graduates from the novitiate. Austine Duru and Dennis Makokha, took their First Oath on June 30. Both Austine and Dennis are pursuing missionary priesthood.

“This program is solid,” Father Dave says. “I think it’s been—and will continue to be—a very enriching experience for all involved.”

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