Alliance native 'Brother Mark' Floreanini finds his calling, purpose as a monk

ALLIANCE − Brother Mark L. Floreanini says his high school friends would tell you that he's the last person they'd pick to become a college professor.

But none of them, he said, would be overly surprised that he became a monk.

This year, the 1974 graduate of West Branch High School in Beloit is celebrating 25 years as a Benedictine monk.

Floreanini has been member of the St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, since 1998. He's also a professor of fine arts at St. Vincent College. The campus also is home to St. Vincent Seminary and St. Vincent Catholic Church.

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During a recent to visit home to see family, Floreanini shared his life's journey. One of five children born to the late Bruno and Betty Floreanini, he attended St. Joseph Catholic elementary school. The family belonged to St. Joseph's parish.

Floreanini arrived late to his religious calling. He was 40 when he joined the Benedictines.

"Monasteries usually take guys between 20 to 30, although lately they've had to take older people because not many young people seem to have a vocation or want to commit," he said. "I kind of wish I had joined earlier, but in another way, I feel I needed the life experience."

Instead of attending college after high school, Floreanini worked a variety of jobs, including being a gardner and working at a dog-food plant.

The one thing that remained steadfast was his love for art.

"I moved to Dayton and got a job at a couple of stained-glass studios," he said. "I picked up the hobby of stained glass when I was about 20. I've always like art. During my senior year of high school, I won the Senior Art Award."

He later completed an associate degree in fine art from Sinclair Community College in Dayton.

In 1986, Floreanini and a friend opened a successful stained glass studio just seven miles from Latrobe.

"It was called Duet Stained & Beveled Glass, and it went on for almost eight years," he said. "God put me there, in my opinion. God put me in this stained-glass studio seven miles away from the largest, oldest monastery in the United States."

After selling the business, he took off a year to discern what he felt was a call from God to become a monk, though he hadn't been to Mass in years. He sought advice from a Catholic spiritual director.

"A spiritual director is someone who is solid in their spirituality," Floreanini explained. "They're almost like a counselor; they talk to you and listen to you and help you with your discerning. He kind of guided me and suggested I read some books, and he also suggested that I don't jump into it. I was 39. He said 'Give it two years, and if you still want to go, then do it.'"

During those two years, Floreanini tried to live like a monk. He also returned to Mass, first weekly, then daily and became actively involved with a parish in Derry, Pennsylvania, near Latrobe.

"It was like a snowball," he said. "I wanted to do more and more."

He entered St. Vincent Archabbey as a novice in 1997, and made his "simple profession" of vows on July 11, 1998. Meanwhile he earned a bachelor's degree in studio art from St. Vincent College in 2001, and made his "solemn (final) profession" of vows on July 11, 2001.

Novices have up to four years to take their final vows.

Floreanini went on to earn master of arts degrees from St. Vincent Seminary in 2003, and in 2005 from the Savannah College of Arts and Design. He was appointed in 2005 to the St. Vincent College faculty, where he continues to teach art.

"I don't like being in crowds of people and talking to a bunch of people," he said. "Even now, people say 'How can you teach in the college?' Well, showing someone how to do something is totally different than standing up and talking."

Floreanini noted that when he was in school, students were encouraged to consider the priesthood, but no one ever proposed becoming a monk.

Priests are ordained, empowered to celebrate Mass, hear confession and perform such sacraments as Last Rites and weddings. Monks, Floreanini said, are the male equivalents of nuns; people who are consecrated to do other types of ministry.

Their numbers are dwindling. His order has 150 members, down from 220 when he joined.

"We get novices every year, but this year we had like five or six guys who died, so we're still losing," he said. "When I entered, it fit me like a glove. I felt God has so blessed me with finding St. Vincent and becoming a member of the community. There's a lot of great guys there."

Debbie Scott, Floreanini's older sister, said that, like his friends, the family wasn't totally surprised by her brother's choice, adding that she's enjoyed the visits she's made to the monastery.

"Initially, our first reaction, he was going in for the food," she said with a laugh. "It seemed like he would end up that way. We knew he would end up doing something like that."

She noted that Floreanini's choice influenced some members of their family to return to church.

Scott said the biggest misconception is that monks live a very restricted life. In contrast to the common stereotype of the silent, cloistered monk, the Benedictines maintain both their devotion and contact with the wider world.

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Floreanini said his days usually start at 3 a.m., with exercise and reading, followed by morning prayer at 6:15 a.m.; breakfast at 7:30 a.m.; office work and preparing for classes; midday prayer at 11:30 a.m.; lunch; classes; evening prayer at 5 p.m., dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by night prayer. Grand Silence begins at 9 p.m.

In addition to teaching, he has served in a variety of posts, including assistant guestmaster, a manager, gift shop consultant; and an assistant director in the Archabbey Vocations Office.

He also started Archabbey Stained Glass and creates stained-glass windows, paints, and creates other forms of art, including pottery mugs, yarn bowls, spinning wool and crocheting.

He's also a member of the Loyalhannon Spinning Guild.

"We have a lot of non-Catholics who visit us just for spiritual retreats," he said.

Floreanini said joining the Benedictines helped him discover his gift for teaching, and it's given him opportunities he probably wouldn't have enjoyed had he remained in Alliance. He's visited China and Taiwan, gone on a retreat in Rome, and studied art in Paris for a semester.

"I like to tell people that we're just people," Floreanini said. "Giving yourself to God is the best thing you can do. If you're a young person, consider it. If you give yourself to God, he's going to give all back."

Floreanini said he welcomes emails from old friends, or people who may be interested in pursuing religious life. He can be reached at [email protected]. To learn more about St. Vincent Archabbey, check out saintvincentarchabbey.org

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP