PRAYING
Perhaps most of us learned as children to pray by way of the Our Father or Hail Mary or the Rosary, or the Divine Mercy chaplet. We were taught that this was how to pray. Perhaps we never were taught, never learned, anything beyond that—yet now that is not enough.
TRAUMA I’m sure that everyone reading this has heard of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. One of the immediate effects is fear. For those closely affected, fear of another random, irrational happening may linger for a long time, perhaps even for life. Grief is another aftereffect: we grieve for those we lost, for the…
Forgetfulness seems to be a regular part of my life these days. I’ve simply forgotten that deeper, more important reality in the midst of the daily work and responsibilities. Mindfulness, or remembering, is a major understanding in the Benedictine tradition, and in early Christianity, as well as in Buddhism and other religions. Fall 2022 Newsletter…
SILENCE: Resistance and Refuge We are always aware of noise around us, sometimes even in a place like the Hermitage. But when we do silence those cell phones, turn off the gadgets, and unplug ourselves—at least temporarily—from the noise and commotion, what do we find? Fall 2019 Newsletter in PDF format (1MB)
THE VIRUS OF FEAR In this time of pandemic, most of us take great precautions to avoid catching Covid-19. Yet we can’t help but worry. So how do we combat this virus of fear, or how do we at least seek to cope with it? Summer 2020 Newsletter in PDF format (1.1MB)
CHANGE “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” runs an old folk wisdom saying. This saying has never seemed so profoundly true as today. So many things change today: a new president in the White House, the seasons, the death of Pope Francis, and the new pope, Leo XIV. Is there anything…
The past few months have been a time of challenges for us at the Hermitage, as well as challenges for our country and for the world at large. Challenges are everywhere. How do we respond? Or do we perhaps just react? Spring 2022 Newsletter in PDF
