Hello my name is Ben Glass and I am doing a pre seminary year in Bideford North Devon for the diocese of Plymouth.

I was 30 years old on Easter Saturday, and I am from a place up north called Middlesbrough which is roughly in between York and Newcastle,

Before I arrived in Bideford I was a chef in the Royal Navy. Going back before that I worked in the casino business all over the country as a croupier. I have also had stints as a nightclub bouncer in Leeds, and builder’s labourer in London, so it is fair to say I was truly testing the nature of God’s vocation for me by being so elusive and hard to pin down.

About two and a half years ago if some one had said to me that I would shortly be living a teetotal, quiet and reflective, prayerful and - it has to be said - chaste life then I would have thought that person was crazy!

My life was simply “one of the lads” and one of the navy lads at that.

I found my faith again having been born and brought up a Catholic. I took the route away from the Church that was so common then and even more so these days.

I simply took a step back from life and all its distractions in April 2003 after getting very drunk one night for about the tenth day running. I got back onboard my base and realised I had to change. I was a mess inside and out and I was distraught: for some reason every pain and sin I had done came to me and in those few minutes I felt guilt and sorrow and most of all I knew I had to change!

Eventually after some composure returned I needed sleep but I vowed to go to Mass in the morning as at this time I actually started going back to the church but not in the sacramental sense.

So needing sleep I turned on Classic FM to help me sleep as was the norm and the song that was playing was Ave Maria! Coincidence? I still don’t know.

So after six months of living the Christian life we are all called too I knew I had to take a step further, much to the humour and wit of my shipmates,

So I chatted to the Catholic Padre, himself an ex Benedictine from Buckfast . He advised me to take a week’s retreat at Quarr abbey on the Isle of Wight and to pray with the monks and to see if God was indeed calling me to some sort of religious life.

After leaving Quarr abbey I felt I wanted to be a monk. I think it was the fact that in the armed forces community life is the norm so after staying in a monastery I felt that was what I wanted to do. But after talking it through with my chaplain and after further thought and pray I decided to see the Bishop of Plymouth.

I was very nervous and was expecting him to ask me to quote bits from the Old Testament and ask me to confess every sin I had committed before he even considered me applying for his diocese, but he was OK and we chatted and he asked about me and what I felt inside. He then told me the vocations director of the diocese would be in touch.

The whole process of applying for the priesthood is quite long and very drawn out, I am told, but because I was serving in the armed forces and could be sent to sea at a week’s notice I think my particular application was quicker than normal. It took me six months from meeting the vocations director to knowing that I had been accepted for formation,

The application process involves a psychological assessment over a day, which is not the most pleasant experience I have had in my life, but I understand the reasons for it.  I also had a selection panel interview and a trip to Rome to stay at the Beda College for 10 days over last Easter.

Eventually I saw the Bishop again and he told me I was to spend a pre seminary year with Fr Jon here in Bideford and I was to undertake some study and have some spiritual development and take a full part in the parish life,

When I arrived I had no idea what to expect and neither did Fr Jon. I was of course nervous about moving to a new place where I knew no one at all.

God willing I will start seminary in September this year and then it’s around 6 years of study before I am ordained.