Steps toward final vows

One man was invested as a novice and two men professed their temporary vows as Benedictine monks at Subiaco Abbey Feb. 1-2.

On Feb. 2 two men presented written and signed petitions to Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB, who then welcomed their public profession of monastic vows for three years. The abbot also assigned them new names. After three years, they will be eligible to make their final, perpetual vows.

John Canter, who is now known as Brother Francisco, is from Yellville, where he was living and working with his mother and stepfather. He previously worked as a field technician with a Florida environmental consulting firm.

Huy Do, now known as Brother Pio, was born in Vietnam but attended high school in Biloxi, Miss. He came to Subiaco from Dallas, where he lived with several family members while earning a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering and working as a telephone technician and network engineer for MCI and GTE.

On Feb. 1 Kenny Taylor of Fort Smith was invested as a novice. Taylor had passed through the first stage of preparation to become a monk and is a novice for one year. At the completion of that time, he will be eligible for his first vows as a monk of Subiaco Abbey.

He is a graduate of Trinity Junior High School and South Side High School in Fort Smith. He studied forestry and computer science at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He worked for some time in the Forestry Service and more than five years in charge of information technology at Trane in Fort Smith.