The Monks

Brother Francis Hein

Two of Brother Francis's great loves are serving Jesus in other people and spending quiet time with Him. The abbey, with its two people-intensive apostolates and regulated times for liturgical and personal prayer, offers him a good balance of each.

Brother Francis encounters Jesus in others on three levels: in his brothers, whom he cherishes because he only had sisters growing up; in the parishioners and extended abbey family, with whom he feels especially called to connect; and in his students, to whom he is very dedicated. At any given moment one can likely find Brother Francis attending to one of these groups, if he isn't in his room praying for them.

As for quiet time with God, he has an abundance of it in the community's prayer life, but he also spends extra time each morning, afternoon, and evening in meditation and study. He notes that the result of living the religious life has been a marked development in his prayer life already. He also takes after his three uncles who became priests in his love of Scriptural study.

Prior to his arrival at the abbey, he spent a number of years as a human service professional, first as a consultant and civil servant in Japan for 10 years and later in the hospitality industry in Saint Louis for 8 years.