Spring 2019

As winter approaches, nights are longer and days are shorter, colder, and darker. In late October the leaves begin to fall. In the perennial border, leaves and stems begin to die back. The grass turns yellowish green before going brown and dead. Annual plants die completely. Winter is a stripped down time for trees and…

RCIA is the reason why I am a contemplative nun. When one is baptised as an adult, one cannot help but come to the realisation that one’s life has been very uneventful, and also of many previous unruly and false conceptions. Letting the Saviour into my life made for a complete turnover and drastic changes,…

Recent events in the Middle East, especially in Egypt and elsewhere, have inspired and exhilarated the entire world. What an amazing and transformative outpouring of courage, tenacity and hope we have all witnessed on our TV, computer and cell phone screens! What an example of heroism, persistence, and patience. What a remarkable and incredibly peaceful…

Recently we hosted a weekend preached retreat here at the Hermitage. In setting up times for lectures and discussions with Sr. Donald Corcoran, our presenter, it happened that we left long blocks of free time for people. There were long stretches of free time early Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, again in the evening, and also…

FAITH…OR FEAR? From time to time each one of us can confront a dilemma: do we step out and act from a perspective of faith? Or do we instead act out of a senseof fear? Occasionally the fear is telling us something important. Occasionally it is warning us that we’re about to lose our way,…

BEING LOST “I just feel so lost. I thought this was the right place for me, but it clearly is not. I don’t know what to do.” The spiritual journey is a path that leads us by unfamiliar and at times fearful ways. It’s a journey that we can’t control, and we don’t always know…