Brother Xavier (Francis) McGough, OSB, monk of Christ in the Desert but he had asked to belong permanently to our Monastery of Thien Tam, Kerens, Texas, who died peacefully in Baylor University Hospital in Texas, surrounded by the community of Thien Tam, at Midnight on November 15, 2011. He was in the 83rd year of his age and 57th year of his monastic profession.
Brother Xavier entered monastic life at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana and made both simple and solemn vows there. He was a true monk and because of that was often sent to help in foundations. He had been the last surviving founder of Prince of Peace Abbey in California; he served at the Priory of Huaraz in Peru for many years. He came to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in 1978 and eventually transferred his vows to our community.
He always had a calling to the hermit life and began to living that calling in the early 1980s. His hermit life was interrupted by being recalled to the community to be Novice Master for 5 years; then accountant for 2 years; and finally by being a member of Christ in the Desert's first foundation, La Soledad, in Mexico, for 5 years. He then returned to Christ in the Desert and had a heart by-pass surgery and finally was able to live the hermit life for 15 years.
Then the community of Thien Tam asked him to come and help them by teaching English. Brother Xavier replied, as he always did: I only want to do the will of God. So he went there earlier this year. Just last month he sent a formal request to remain permanently at Thien Tam. He will be greatly missed by all of the communities in which he lived out his monastic life. He will be buried at Thien Tam.
Brother Xavier entered monastic life at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana and made both simple and solemn vows there. He was a true monk and because of that was often sent to help in foundations. He had been the last surviving founder of Prince of Peace Abbey in California; he served at the Priory of Huaraz in Peru for many years. He came to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in 1978 and eventually transferred his vows to our community.
He always had a calling to the hermit life and began to living that calling in the early 1980s. His hermit life was interrupted by being recalled to the community to be Novice Master for 5 years; then accountant for 2 years; and finally by being a member of Christ in the Desert's first foundation, La Soledad, in Mexico, for 5 years. He then returned to Christ in the Desert and had a heart by-pass surgery and finally was able to live the hermit life for 15 years.
Then the community of Thien Tam asked him to come and help them by teaching English. Brother Xavier replied, as he always did: I only want to do the will of God. So he went there earlier this year. Just last month he sent a formal request to remain permanently at Thien Tam. He will be greatly missed by all of the communities in which he lived out his monastic life. He will be buried at Thien Tam.