had a call to prayer. but it wasn't until i had a back injury when i was 18 years old, i was playing football, and that back injury took away all of my athletic talents. and so i had to search -- or i forced to kind of move inside and find god. >> and if we could borrow on this st. ignatius period. that's where the 30 days came from. >> he also was injured and had to -- and that was when he also came to search for god. so that time was very significant. i remember at the time, i became very depressed and thought this was terrible, because i'd lost everything that i thought was so important for my life, which was athletic talent. but it, of course, changed the whole direction of my life so i began to really search for god. >> and from that despair, you found more. >> so much more. it led to the priesthood which is the greatest gift. >> and how old were you then? >> i was 42. >> and what had you done before that? were you leading a prayer for life and all of that? >> yeah. i came out here 30 years ago. i went to the graduate union and then i started working in the church as a lay person. i did 13 years as a lay person in a church, teaching. >> volunteering and things. >> no, full time work. but this deepening of prayer kept happening all along. it was in 1985 that i first started hearing about monasteries. and so i started to go to them. komoto lisa is the first one i went to. >> that's in big sur? >> yes, in big sur. and from then on i wanted to go there because those were the places where i felt spiritual masters were, where they were living the spiritual life, spiritual exercises and so i would go there and try and learn from them. so that was going on while i was working in the church. >> and you had a pretty strong prayer life. you had a regiment every day and said the rosary and those kind of things. >> yes. i learned about adoration, about lexi devina. and it was there since i was 6 years old but it kind of got hidden. >> we're talking with father veto perown who has founded the con templatives of st. joseph and nower the only one. but you are trying to draw more people. you have a monastery that was a former convent and you sled was a lot of holiness left there and the sister of st. joseph of peace and it's a place for you to be. and you rival the crew here, they come into work, you were up at 2:00 just like them. >> it's a great time for prayer. >> and when i see you, you've always been a joyful guy, but there is like a new -- you found something here. there is something new in you. >> yeah. yeah, it's like everything about myself has found direction now. everything i've longed for, which has been a life of prayer, but also having a dimen shun -- dimension of service so that we monday through friday live like monks and on the weekend we go out and have active ministry. although during the week people in the afternoons occasionally come over for spiritual direction. primarily priests, deacons, those discerning religious life. >> so we're going to sneak away and we're going to have an opportunity to look at holiness for you and others at con templatetive st. joseph but we'll let people in on the nuts and bolts of forming a religious order in the church. it's not without its paperwork. we'll be back. fort worth. today on mosaic we have a new son shining and it is father veto coreown, founder of a new religious founder. and it's good to talk about it because we don't have the opportunity to open the book on how this type of thing is-- it done. it is not something you go off and do. there are a lot of steps. so can you tell us how it happened in. >> yeah, tom. well first of all, you have to have a call. and then discern if it's really a true call, from god, and that happens, that knowing if it's from god, comes from the church. >> you do it in -- with other people, kind of a discernment thing? >> yeah. >> you do with it the knowledge, the archbishop has the knowledge of how you do it. >> i could give you a quick history. >> quickly of course. we're not in god's time. >> of course. i went to the st. angels oratory and there in prayer heard a word in my soul and heart to start something new. and so i came back to discern what that may mean and did about a year of prayer and approached archbishop neederhauher about starting a new order in the archbishop. and he asked me to prayer for another year about it. >> but he supported you in that. >> yes. he said go pray and come back again. and then he said okay start writing up documents for me about what this new order would be about. we went through another year process. >> how many pages did you write- up? >> well there were about four documents that we worked on. patrick lobo and i, we finally came up with the statutes which we delivered to the archbishop on may -- or on january 6th, 2009. >> and i'm sorry we are pressed with time, but when you come up with statues, what might they be? >> that's the rules of life. the carism, the contemplative life is a vocation. >> it's means you live away from the world. it's an oyster kind of thing? >> we live deeply in the world, but via prayer monday through friday. so we do a lot of intercesary prayer. the world is in our hearts and we bring god to our hearts through our prayer and sacrifice. >> now when you came up, because you said there is 90 pages, what is in those 90 pages? >> it would be the carism, how we accept novices, what their process would be to enter into temporary vows, what is the life of the person who sakes solemn vows. how an advisory council helps us out. >> do you have to have a business plan? >> yes. a whole business plan which we had a lot of help with. especially with tim connelly. >> that's pretty -- it's so interesting because we think they kind of rise up out of the air. we think god is going paperless. >> no. there is a tremendous amount of planning that has to go into it and work. >> and you are in a series of steps toward the ultimate time, right? so tell us about the steps. >> it is six steps. >> and you've taken how many? >> we've taken four. so there is two more to go and the next two are the big ones. the next one is the biggest, which means you become a public association, a public religious association. and so that takes some time to reach that point but i believe within a couple of years we should be able to. >> and then how long -- there is a long period before you actually ... >> then it's 15 years after that, before you become full religious institute of consecrated life. >> and then you're up there with dominic and francis and clare and all of those? >> that's where we're hoping to be. >> are you already a 503-c. >> yes. >> isn't it funning, mixing -- mixing all of this talk with the talk of the eternal. how did you split the two? >> at first it was kind of hard but now it's part of what you have to do. just do it and the prayer that comes with it. >> vito, it's wonderful having you here. we're coming back on mosaic. father vito moreown is praying for us own. welcome back to mosaic today. today we are speaking with father veto core own, the church's new religious order. are there a network of people like yourself, people everywhere in the catholic church trying to do what you are doing? >> not so many. i have a friend close in new jersey father gene romano who started the bethel of bethlehem. he's in chester, so middle new jersey. >> i'm from wildwood, down the shore. >> beautiful area. so i'm in contact with him a lot about what he went through in the early stages and different challenges. >> and are his bumps in the road similar to yours? >> yeah, i think they're all pretty much the same. >> but he's lasting for 30 years. >> well it's interesting, with him is that it took actually 25 years before it started to blossom. and now volks are coming -- vocations are coming there. >> and does he have or danes and not ordained? >> yes. they live a full life, closeters and part of contemplative prayer. where ours is prayer and the active ministry. >> and do they have any type of cottage industries. how they support themselves through different things, sometimes even people have things that are brought to them. like some religious orders have people talented enough to read x-rays and do all kinds of different things? >> we'll have to wait for the brothers to join and see what gifts they have and then we'll find that sort of avenue for income. but right now, we're able to generate revenue through retreats that we do, missions and active ministry and the generosity of so many people. >> because you are not planting and growing there in the parking lot. >> no. no farming going on there. >> and let's for a moment look at wonderful example we have here from the karmite sisters in menlo park, and you have visited with them? >> oh, yeah. >> and see the things they do. they make bread for the alter. >> sister mary sump tsa ta, we're very good friends and they've made bread and they have ways of helping sustain themselves. we'll eventually find that. but we want to make sure that it's going to really work and not spin our wheels. >> i have an opportunity, i do some -- i do some scenes for the carmelite sisters in santa clara. and i love them and i know what their life is and when i meet them and see them, i've never met happier people. >> absolutely. that's the unit of jesus christ. >> they are so happy. and every time i see them, it's like -- it's like, i want to be with them all of the time. >> the work of the contemporary life in the church is vital to sustaining the church. the tradition of our spirituality has the spirit of life in the highest place. that's the heart of the church, the coming out to the nuns and priests and monks who are praying and lay people who are praying is tremendous for all of us. >> and then talking about that too, talking about there is a discipline to it and a life you have to become part of. you get up at 2:00. >> but you long for it. >> you do? >> i can't wait to get up at 2:00, most mornings. but that's really true. i cannot wait to get down into that chapel and begin the adoration because it is the best part of the day. >> do we have a website for you? >> yeah. it's www.contemplativesofst joseph.org. and people can donate or find out about you. >> find out about us. a good way for those discerning religious life to find out a little bit about us, because right now we are open to our first volks. >> we only have this segment, but tell us about your helpers quickly. >> oh, yeah, there is tremendous house for the con tem commit st. joseph. we have patrick lobo and tim connelly and others who are part of forming it. and we have elizabeth and emily juneau who come and help us with cleaning and paulice asaint, and bennie mckunive. >> and you said too, someone was there for discernment and he was a good cook and had him cook. >> i had him cook a lot of extra food. >> we'll take a brake and be right back. it is father vito moreon. you want to know this guy. a great change is at hand and our task is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all. those who look only to the past or the present, are certain to miss the future. do not pray for easy lives. pray to be stronger men. ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country. welcome back to mosaic today. we are speaking with father vito core own, a new religious order in the roman catholic church. and marta would slap my hand if i did not ask you about the fact that you can celebrate in not only the roman rite, but in other rites. >> yes. >> so what other rites are they? >> well first of all marta sang at my first mass. >> he's wonderful. >> so thank you, marta. so i do the devine lit erathy at our lady of fatima on the first saturday of each month. >> and that's in richmond. >> yes. and then also i help out with father johned inel at our lady of lebanon. >> and we have a photo of you. and what is happening here? >> this is devine lit erathy when the monks of mt. taber came down to visit us. they come on retreat once a year. and so they were down. and we had wonderful devine lit erathy, father joseph was the main sell brandt -- celebrant and it was great. but it's a sign of our prayers rising up to god. >> it's a great thing. i love it. and of course when i was a kid, we used to have a solemn ceremonies team. so when i was 12, i think there was always painting. >> that still happens. >> and you wanted to be a priest since you were 6 years old. father peter perone. >> the day of my coronation the father laid his hands upon my head was the greatest day of my life. the greatest day of my life. and i'm so grateful to god. i still, tom, i still get very emotional that i'm a priest. because it could not have happened. and i thank god that i am a priest. >> what is the best thing? >> to offer the mass. to offer the mass and to hear confessions and to absolve people. it's not me to absolves people, but god through the priesthood that absolves people of their sins and sets them free. >> we have a few minutes left. what do you want for the contemplatives of st. joseph? what are the outcomes you want? >> we want good vocation, guys who become priests, who will serve within the archbishop of san francisco, will serve the people faithfully through profound life of contemplative prayer and an act of ministry that serves the archbishop but also an act of ministry that fits their particular talents and gifts. and that's primarily the thing we strive for. now one of the things that we eventually need to have is our own monastery, so we'll be searching for that within the next couple of years. >> and you'll be meeting people. now tell me, too, who is your favorite founder? who is your favorite saint of people who have coordinated groups like yours. >> one of my favorites is st. bruno. founder of the karthutions. and i like him because he was so dedicated to the contemplative life. he was an inspiration for me and the model and the contemplative life as a vocation. but also, let me say, quickly. >> go ahead. >> and the next inspiration for me is the diocese of priesthood. because this is our habit. this is a habit. we dress as priests and on the weekends we serve just like a diocese and priest, pouring ourselves out. so the other great model is st. john viani. a combination of those two great priests in bruno and st. john viani. >> and what have i forgotten to ask vito perown today. >> well i would like those who are watching this show to please pray for good vocations to the contemplatives of st. josephs, that these good vocations respond with courage to a call to live the contemplative life as a vocation but also to serve on the weekends just like a diocese priest would. >> we'll be keeping an eye on you, vito. i'll come out and visit. >> good, tom. >> and if all of those leftovers aren't gone, i'm going to be taking some of those. will you come back and be a guest again. because you have a lot of years ahead of you, but you're not afraid of that. you're looking forward to it. >> absolutely. >> look forward to the final formative years. >> these are the best years of my life, tom. >> and today, one of the best half hours of mine, veto. thank you so much. i'm so excited for you. we have the website www.contemplativesofst joseph.com or you can just google father veto -- vito perone. i know you love them, and i do. thank you for joining us on mosaic. >> you bet.