![]() ![]() When you get into a Carthusian monastery, it’s very still and quiet. That’s what Bruno and his companions started with: the fact that they really guard their solitude. But what distinguishes the Carthusians is, from the beginning, they have really modeled what was a more common form in the Eastern Church, where they live as hermits most of the time and come together occasionally. Monastic communities are prayerful communities and are contemplative. What is it about the Carthusians’ life that has this effect? After one such visit to a Carthusian monastery in Spain, you said you felt like someone had just doused you with a glass of ice water. You write in the book that you have been captivated by monastic life since reading Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain when you were in high school and shared that you have since visited monasteries around the world. I had no intention of publishing them until Father Joseph Fessio at Ignatius Press happened to come across the letters through a mutual friend. While I was going through the experience, once a week, I would send an email home to family and friends describing my impressions of their way of life. They do have internet in a room where they can check emails. The only two differences were: I did not attend their chapter meetings, and, because I was doing some writing while there, they allowed me to have an internet connection in my cell for my work. ![]() I basically lived their life, in terms of prayer, work, recreation and the weekly walk. I didn’t really use a cellphone when there. Bruno died, so they’re used to more contact than most.ĭid the monks set certain ground rules for your stay? Did you have to surrender your cellphone, for example? Most Carthusian monks are away from civilization, but the town grew up where the monastery had been years before and where St. The other thing I should note is they probably are a bit more hospitable and more comfortable with people because their monastery is in a town. So there were only five in the community, and I think they felt one more person would be kind of nice to have around. A couple of the monks had died, one had left, and one had been assigned as chaplain to a sisters’ monastery. That kind of planted a seed, and when I had an opportunity for some sabbatical time, I asked if it would be possible to come for a long-term stay with the community.Īt the time I contacted him, the community was very small. ![]() So I dropped the prior an email and said it must have been a wonderful experience. My next connection was that, during his last year as pope, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had visited that monastery, and, of course, in the world we live in now, you can go on YouTube and see a video of him visiting the monastery. But I wrote and said, “I know you don’t ordinarily allow outsiders.” He graciously wrote back and said, “If you’re coming all the way from the U.S., you can stay with us.” That was that. I didn’t know much about them, except they were Carthusians and St. ![]() To go back a bit, a good number of years ago, I was going to be in southern Italy around Holy Week, so I sent an email to the prior of the community. How is it you came by this opportunity to live with them? While you were with the Carthusians, you lived in one of the monastic cells, not in the guesthouse. I’ve done parish work as well, but for much of my life, I’ve done teaching in the seminary. I’m a diocesan priest here in the U.S., and most of my ministry has been in teaching. Without revealing your identity, can you provide a brief sketch of your priestly life and ministry? ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |