On Sunday, February 5, Brother Guillaume-Isaac received the novice habit in a ceremony held in the Holy Spirit Chapter room. Dom Francis Michael remarked that by entering Cistercian life Guillaume-Isaac was laying down his life in service to Christ, His Church, his brothers in the Holy Spirit Community and for all God's people. He also reflected on the fact that Guillaume-Isaac had come to Holy Spirit Monastery from far away -- the Philippines -- that for His own reasons God had brought Guillaume-Isaac to Holy Spirit, and that God's purpose in doing so would be lived out in Guillaume-Isaac's vocation.

Guillaume-Isaac (Guillaume is French for William) explains that he took his new name because Saints Guillaume and Isaac were giants in the development of Christian thought. Particularly, they advance a uniquely Cistercian perspective on the human person and the use of reflection -- that each one of us must see him or herself as a human being to love God to the fullest human potential. Also, both these saints wrote that of all God's works, only humans are the image and likeness of God. "This undeniable reality calls us to a sobriety of mind and action that will allow us to accept and act on this great grace. Cistercians aim to live according to this principle, and remind the world that to fail to do so is a great human tragedy."