Brother Lazarus Gordy ‘Comes Forth’ to New Life as a Benedictine Monk

Brother Lazarus (Phillip) Gordy’s OSB lifelong quest to answer God’s calling for his life led him to the altar at St. Joseph Abbey Church near Covington. There he “died to self” and found a deep joy and freedom through his life as a Benedictine monk.

Brother Lazarus and Brother Maximilian (Ian) Kenny professed their final vows before Abbot Gregory Boquet OSB on July 11, the Feast of St. Benedict. Brother Lazarus is a native of St. Francisville and grew up in Our Lady of Mt. Camel Church in St. Francisville.  

The formation years for Brother Lazarus were filled with assigned readings, one-on-one meetings with his formator and living the monastic routine of prayer and work.

“The environment of a monastery and the community of brothers form us, and living in a community gives everyone plenty of opportunity for patience and growth,” said Brother Lazarus. “We learn to love by being attentive to each other’s needs. At certain times ‘the formation group’ works together, and I always enjoyed that time, especially when we’d go swim in the river after cutting grass. 

"I also loved giving tours of the Abbey to groups, using paintings that grace the walls as a jumping off point to speak about our life and Christ who is the center.”

During his years at the Abbey, Brother Lazarus collaborated with others in “creating something beautiful.” He led a project in which he designed a gate for the entrances to the cloister. He and one of the other brothers built it, and Brother Lazarus and the seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary College landscaped around it and installed a fountain to complement it.

The monk also wrote a poem, “I Come Forth,” based on the Song of Songs. He worked with people in and out of the monastery to develop the poem into a multipart piece of music. The piece was performed at the wedding of his sister, Donna Katherine Gordy Menezes.

Top right photo: Brother Lazarus (Phillip) Gordy OSB, (left) and Brother Maximilian (Ian) Kenny OSB are all smiles as they exit St. Joseph Abbey Church after making their final vows. Pictured behind them is Abbot Gregory Boquet OSB. Photos by Emily Rowell | St. Joseph Abbey
Above photo: Brother Lazarus holds up the document he signed which outlines the promises he made to made to the community and to God. "The text remains for me an expression of my monastic journey of seeking God, who gives me life through my relationship with him … I consider it ‘The Canticle of Lazarus,’ what God has done for me,” said Brother Lazarus. 

He said even the struggles of formation strengthened his faith.

“Sometimes people think that if they are where God wants them to be, they shouldn't have to struggle. But it is not true,” said Brother Lazarus. “He uses times of suffering to strengthen and purify us.

“For me one of the most difficult times was last year when, after much discussion back and forth, and waiting on pins and needles, I was asked to extend my temporary vows for a year rather than to make solemn vows at that time. The waiting, confusion, and disappointment gave me another opportunity to ask, ‘God is this really the life you are calling me to?’ and to choose to see Him working in every circumstance, even the ones I don't understand, saying with St. John of the Cross, ‘Men do not do these things; but God, who knows what is suitable for us and arranges things for our good.’
n a moving part of the Mass, Brother Lazarus and Brother Kenny lie under burial palls as they undergo a mystical burial to symbolize dying to self and rising to new life. 
Brother Lazarus found the solemn vows Mass exceptionally meaningful.

“Having my family there as Matthew 19:29 was being read was one of the most moving parts,” said Brother Lazarus.  “And just knowing everything in my life thus far has been leading here and everything after will be shaped by this moment of choosing God above all and dying and rising with Him.”

In the scripture passage, Jesus promised that those who leave behind earthly possessions and relationships for the sake of following him will receive a hundredfold in return and inherit eternal life. 

In a deeply profound moment Brother Lazarus laid under a burial pall to symbolize his dying to the world.

“The whole time I was under the funeral pall for the mystical burial I was shaking with the intensity of offering everything in union with the gifts on the altar for salvation,” said Brother Lazarus.

He was also moved by the hundreds of people who came to witness the celebration of vows with him. 

Brother Lazarus gives a fraternal hug to Abbot Boquet.

“I was overwhelmed by having all these hundreds of people from so many different chapters of my life-story all there in the Abbey Church with me, joining in the offering of my life to God,” said Brother Lazarus. “I don't deserve such love, but I invoke the merits of their prayers and pray that God may use them along with the grace of my vows for all those in need of grace. I could not have gotten here without the prayers and love of so many people.”

Even in the afterglow of making his final vows, Brother Lazarus is working in the vineyard. For the past 1 ½ years, he’s managed Abbey Bread which is home to the Pennies for Bread and the Abbey Program. Brother Lazarus is involved in the renovations and expansion of the former milkshed to enable it to triple its pre-renovation weekly output of 800 loaves of bread.

“It’s has been a privilege to be a part of renewing and expanding the Abbey's outreach to those in need of food assistance,” Brother Lazarus said. “There is an incredible need, and we want to be able to serve more people. We are back in the freshly renovated building and are beginning to increase our output even as we wait for some of the equipment to come in and put finishing touches on many parts of the project. I am grateful to everyone who has supported Pennies for Bread through the process and hope many more will join with us to help fund this vital ministry in its season of growth.” 

Bishop Emeritus Robert W. Muench (pictured left) and several priests from the Diocese of Baton Rouge came to witness Brother Lazus’ final vows. Photo provided by Donna Gordy

More information about the bakery can be found at saintjosephabbey.com/breaddonate.

Brother Lazarus emphasized God is always seeking us and calling us to search for Him and with Him to run to the Father.

“Sometimes as I run, He seems so far away, and I run in search of Him; at other times He is more near. Not until the end, when He will crown us with victory, will we possess Him completely. He is the journey and the destination,” he said.

I Come Forth
A night filled with weeping.
It drowns out my dreams
Of love bringing brightness 
Of love that redeems
 
Dare I even to cry out?
 In anguish, I moan
 
I lie still and listen
In silence of night
For something to signal
The advent of light
 
Was I again sleeping?
My heart was awake
 
And says to me, “Listen!
 Is it songs that I hear?”
Wait… there! Faint is echoed
“Arise and come near.”
 
No time must be wasted
“Dawn, startle! Awake!”
 
“Leap Mountains before me;
Run Rivers to source
With prancing and dancing
Delight in my course.”
 
Cast off is my cover
Behold me in flight
 
I go to embrace Him
“O Brightness of Day,
My lover” now running
And pleading, I say,
 
“Let not the past bind me!"
With joy I come forth

– Br. Lazarus Gordy