"It's not enough to retire to a place like San Bruno in Calabria as a Carthusian - just as at the wedding, it is not enough to take the sacrament of marriage just once [...]. Monks need time, practice and patience. This is precisely the beauty of every vocation: to give God time to engage us as we grow with time according to the standard of Christ. In the eyes of the world, it sometimes seems impossible to stay too long a life in a monastery. But in reality, a human life is barely enough to get into the profound unity with God to enter, in this essential and profound reality that Jesus Christ. "
From the homily of Pope Benedict XVI. in front of the Carthusian monks in the monastery of Saint Bruno southern Italy
link here...
