a quarterly newsletter
Camaldolese Monks, OSB
New Camaldoli Hermitage
Winter 2015 • Vol. 21, Issue 1
62475 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920 • 831-667-2456 • www.contemplation.com
Celebrate Year of Consecrated Life
Pope Francis proclaimed 2015 a Year
of Consecrated Life. It formally began on the
First Sunday of Advent and will end on February 2, 2016, the World Day of Consecrated
Life. Here are some excerpts from the Holy
Father’s Message at the opening of the year
that we thought particularly salient for monks
and oblates.
(I.2) This Year calls us to live the present with passion. Grateful remembrance of the
past leads us, as we listen attentively to what
the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today,
to implement ever more fully the essential aspects of our consecrated life.
From the beginnings of monasticism to
the “new communities” of our own time, every form of consecrated life has been born of
the Spirit’s call to follow Jesus as the Gospel
teaches (cf. Perfectae Caritatis, 2). For the
various founders and foundresses, the Gospel
was the absolute rule, whereas every other
rule was meant merely to be an expression of
the Gospel and a means of living the Gospel
to the full. For them, the ideal was Christ;
they sought to be interiorly united to him and
thus to be able to say with Saint Paul:
“For to me to live is Christ” (Phil
1:21). Their vows were intended as a
concrete expression of this passionate
love. The question we have to ask ourselves during this Year is if and how
we too are open to being challenged
by the Gospel; whether the Gospel is
truly the “manual” for our daily living and the decisions we are called
to make. The Gospel is demanding: The Gospel is demanding: it demands to be
it demands to be lived radically and lived radically and sincerely. It is not enough
sincerely. It is not enough to read it to read it (even though the reading and study
(even though the reading and study
of Scripture is essential), nor is it enough to
of Scripture is essential), nor is it
enough to meditate on it (which we meditate on it (which we do joyfully each
do joyfully each day). Jesus asks us day). Jesus asks us to practice it, to put his
to practice it, to put his words into ef- words into effect in our lives.
fect in our lives.
– Pope Francis
(II. 5) I expect that each form of
consecrated life will question what
it is that God and people today are asking of the same charismatic reality. I urge you, as lathem. Monasteries and groups which are pri- ity, to live this Year for Consecrated Life as a
marily contemplative could meet or otherwise grace which can make you more aware of the
engage in an exchange of experiences on the gift you yourselves have received. Celebrate
life of prayer, on ways of deepening it with your entire “family”, so that you can
communion with the entire Church, grow and respond together to the promptings
on supporting persecuted Chris- of the Spirit in society today. (III:4) Nor can we forget that the phenomtians, and welcoming and assisting enon
of monasticism and of other expressions
those seeking a deeper spiritual life
of
religious
fraternity is present in all the great
or requiring moral or material supreligions. There
are instances, some longport.
standing,
of
inter-monastic
dialogue involving
(III.1) I wish to speak not only
the
Catholic
Church
and
certain
of the great
to consecrated persons, but also to
religious
traditions. I
trust
that
the Year of
the laity, who share with them the
Consecrated
Life
will
be
an
opportunity
to resame ideals, spirit and mission.
view
the
progress
made,
to
make
consecrated
Some Religious Institutes have a
long tradition in this regard, while persons aware of this dialogue, and to consider
the experience of others is more re- what further steps can be taken towards greatcent. Indeed, around each religious er mutual understanding and greater cooperafamily, every Society of Apostolic tion in the many common areas of service to
Life and every Secular Institute, human life. Journeying together always brings
there is a larger family, a “charis- enrichment, and can open new paths to relamatic family”, which includes a tionships between peoples and cultures, which
Fr. Cyprian surrounded by the international students at
number of Institutes which identify nowadays appear so difficult.
San Gregorio in Rome in front of the Colosseum: Elia
with the same charism, and espefrom China, Prabhu and Doratick from Shantivanam,
and Giuseppe, also from China. See page 4 for more
cially lay faithful who feel called,
photos of the Assemblea Generale.
precisely as lay persons, to share in
2 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage
Basil & Gregory
Prior Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam.
On January 2nd we celebrated the feast of Saints Basil the Great and
Gregory Nazianzen. They are usually known as bishops and doctors,
two of the three great 4th century Cappadocian fathers along with the
mystical theologian Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s brother. But what makes
them interesting to us is that both Basil and Gregory were first of all
hermits, monastics, before they were priests and bishops. Basil led an
eremitical life before he was made bishop of Caesarea, and he wrote a
monastic rule that was very widely followed and still is. Gregory too
joined his friend Basil in the eremitical life before he was ordained
priest and bishop. And they were part of quite a lineage: Basil was also
the teacher of Evagrius of Pontus and ordained him lector. And after
Basil died, at the relatively young age of 50, Evagrius then went to
Constantinople and served as a deacon under Gregory Nazianzen. So
we in the monastic tradition owe a great deal to these two men.
There is one quote from each of these two saints that I remember
the most, and I want to comment on. The quote from Basil is, “O
hermit, whose feet will you wash?” He is known as a notorious critic of
the eremitical life, but that is actually only part of the story. Basil toured
the hermit colonies of Palestine and Egypt, and lived as a solitary
recluse himself. After that experience he concluded that the ascetical
life followed in community was better than the life of the anchorite,
because community would be based on the social nature of the human
person, but especially because that was the only way of fulfilling the
commandment to love one’s neighbor. “Charity seeks not her own,” he
wrote, “but the solitary life removed from all others has only one aim,
that of serving the ends of the individual concerned.”The problem with
the solitary life as he saw it was that it didn’t give any opportunity to
practice humility and patience, nor to perform the practical works of
mercy. “We have been called in one hope of our calling,” he said, “we
are one body and members one of another.” That’s where that pithy
saying comes from: “If you live alone, whose feet will you wash?” And
I think what is also tied to his predilection for community over solitude
is Basil’s understanding of the importance of obedience. The monk
renounces his will and obeys, in spirit as well as in act, on the model
of Christ who was obedient unto death. Basil had no patience with
individualism and no time for spectacular feats of asceticism like those
of the Egyptian monks. The only kinds of ascetical practices allowed
were those that the superior authorized. It was only in this way that the
fanatic could be saved against pride. At the same time, Gregory tells us
in his Oratio that Basil had both hermitages and monasteries, and that
he “reconciled and united the two in the most excellent way... brought
them together, yet kept them distinct, so that the life of contemplation
might not be divorced from community life or the active life from
contemplation. …” And I think that that’s the important point: that
the life of contemplation ever be divorced from community life nor
the active life never be divorced from contemplation. So Basil did not
completely reject the vocation of the hermit; he recognized that those
who sought freedom in the desert to be alone with the Alone were
fulfilling the first and greatest commandments––to love God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… ; but he
regarded the solely eremitical life as a less perfect fulfillment of the
Gospel than the life of the monk in community unless it was somehow
tied to the second––to love your neighbor as yourself.
Of course if any of this sounds vaguely familiar to us it’s because
Basil was so influential on Saint Benedict. It’s said that Benedict
purified and simplified the Egyptian tradition that he inherited from
the Rule of the Master, but then he filled it out by blending it with the
tradition of Basil and Augustine. As a matter of fact, outside of John
Cassian, Basil is the only other source specifically mentioned in the
Rule; on the same level as the Conferences, Institutes and Lives of
the Fathers, Benedict says, there is also the rule of our holy father
Basil. And then of course I go one step further and trace the line from
Basil to Benedict to Romuald, and the genius of our own Camaldolese
tradition, and the interplay between hermitage and cenobium, between
solitude and community, between the first and second commandment.
Remember Romuald’s own insistence on obedience, for example in his
interaction with the hermit Venerius. When Romuald asked to whom
he was obedient in his state of life, Venerius said he was free of all
authority and did what seemed best to him, and Romuald promptly
told him that “If you are carrying the cross of Christ, you cannot forget
the obedience of Christ,” and so made him go back and get his abbot’s
permission before continuing his life of reclusion.
I want to mention the other quote now, from Gregory, who wrote
eloquently about his friendship with Basil, that they “seemed to be two
bodies with a single spirit.” Gregory had lived with Basil as a hermit
but where they really bonded was in their love of learning and the life
of virtue: “Our single object and ambition was virtue, and a life of
hope… we spurred each other on to virtue…” And I just speculate,
what did Basil learn about and take into the monastic life from this
friendship with Gregory? Is it because of this relationship that he was
convinced that community was an essential element in the monastic
journey, and why he was so hesitant about absolute solitude? And this
one other thing from Gregory’s writings––“Our rivalry consisted not in
seeking the first place for oneself but in yielding it to the other, for each
looked on the other’s success as his own”––sounds a lot like Benedict’s
Chapter 71 on mutual obedience. One of the tensions that our former
Prior General Emanuele wrote about concerning our own charism is
Romuald’s fierce dedication to solitude and yet his intense friendships
with and among his disciples. Think of the gang he travels with in the
early days from Venice to Cuxa­­—Peter Orseolo, Guarinus, Marino and
John Gradenigo­­, or Bruno Boniface’s friendship with the martyred
brothers John and Benedict. When he was trying to convince Benedict
to join him on a mission to evangelize the Slavs, Bruno describes him
as “the other half of my soul” and that they were “like two who should
be one person.” “I, who used to hear him call me ‘my brother’” he says,
“in the privilege of love during the pauses of our recited hours…” We
could follow that stream back to Benedict and then back to Basil and
Gregory.
So this again is the genius of the monastic tradition and our own
Camaldolese tradition, to be able to have both/and, both the privilege
of being Alone with the alone, as well as the check and balance of
relationship, of community, and of obedience, so that the life of
contemplation never be divorced from community life nor the active
life from contemplation, so that, as Evagrius would say, apatheia never
be removed from agape. But this is somehow the whole dynamic of
the gospel, isn’t it? More than anything Basil and Greogry wanted
to incarnate the Christian life, the gospel, in how they lived: “Our
great pursuit,” Gregory wrote, “the great name we wanted was to
be Christians, to be called Christians.” This is the real basis of the
Christian monastic life, to love the Lord our God with all our heart,
mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourself, like breathing in and
breathing out, to be Christians, to be called Christians.
www.contemplation.com 3
from the pages of…
Vita Monastica
In this article from 1959 entitled “Spirito Camaldolese”
(“Camaldolese Spirit”), don Anselmo Giabbani explains the beautiful interplay of the communal or ‘cenobitic’ life and the solitary ‘eremitic’ life in the Camaldolese tradition, which in some way is also the
interplay between the Benedictine institution and the Camaldolese
energy. Don Anselmo quotes at length from the writings of Blessed
Paolo Giustiniani. Ironically it was the same Giustiniani who, with
the encouragement of his papal friend, the Medici pope Leo X, got
permission in 1520 to try a new rule for an exclusively eremitical
congregation called “The Company of Hermits of Saint Romuald.”
It seems thatthey didn’t want to separate from Camaldoli completely
at first––the new experiment was even encouraged and supported by
Camaldoli––but they did so by 1526, eventually coming to be called
the Congregation of Hermits of Monte Corona after their beautiful
location in Umbria. They (our Coronese brethren) spread throughout
Italy and Poland, and also have a house also in Ohio.
Camaldolese spirit and life take place within the ambience of
the Rule of Saint Benedict and the Benedictine monastic institution.
When we encounter contrasts and polemics in history that seem to be
antithetical to the discretion of the Benedictine rule, it is necessary to
try to understand the reasons and the circumstances for them, the environment, the abuses and the excessive accommodations of various
historical periods. In itself the Benedictine Rule has always been venerated as holy and held as the regula mater1 for all the spiritual and
juridical manifestations of the Order. That which the Camaldolese
Order2 particularly has is the eremitic life in the given form devised
by St. Romuald and practiced uninterruptedly by now over the course
of a thousand years. So then there are two fathers of the Camaldolese
Order: St. Benedict and St. Romuald, both of them venerated and
invoked by all the children of Camaldoli. St. Benedict remains the
Father of the cenobitic life, St. Romuald of the eremitic life. But not
separate: there is some of the cenobitic in the Camaldolese hermitage,
and still more of the eremitic in the Camaldolese cenobium, for which
there is no reason to think of separations or contrasts of this sort.
Besides that, Blessed Paul Giustiniani teaches that “if one wants
to consider the origin and development of the cenobitic life, one
will easily find that they show themselves as two sisters united by
a great resemblance… Examining their respective institutions with
diligence, one understands how they are united between themselves
with a relationship so intimate and by such a tight bond that the cenobitic life cannot exist without participating in a certain measure in
the eremitic life; nor can [the eremitic] be perfect without some
assistance from the cenobitic
life. Therefore the Camaldolese
hermits and cenobites commit
themselves “to serve God in the
hermitage and in the monastery.”
More than two lives, the cenobium and the hermitage are two
moments of the same monastic
life and therefore maintain unity
in the spiritual process of the
monk. “In fact, even though the
monk, if one reflects on the exact meaning of the word,3 is none
other than a solitary, nonetheless one can just as well call both the
cenobites, who live in community in the same monastery with others, ‘monks’ as well as the hermits who, obeying their own vocation,
live in solitude. And the practice of calling the common dwelling of
many a ‘monastery’ prevailed with good reason. And the one and the
other––hermit and cenobite––are both held to be solitaries if they
flee the exterior and interior multitude, as much as human fragility
allows; or furthermore if, in their exterior life, they separate themselves from the common life with people who have another way of
life, and if, by interior discipline and incessant practice of virtue,
they urge themselves to eliminate the passions from their spirit and
all other movements that introduce themselves there, in order to allow only the love of Divinity to reign there. Of course one can therefore very truly call a ‘monk’ not those who do not want any companion in their life, but those who, even though living with others, avoid
the multitude, and likewise attend more perfectly to God with the
body and with the spirit, whether one shares this aim with others in
a monastery or in a hermitage.”
To be true monks, in the spiritual sense explained here, this is
what counts. And since both the cenobium and the hermitage serve
that end, both are embraced and coordinated to the same goal.
1. The “mother rule.”
2. At the time this was written the Camaldolese were considered a
separate “order.” After being grafted into the Benedictine Confederation we are now properly a “congregation” within the greater order.
3. “Monk” comes from the Greek monos, meaning single or one.
DATES FOR PREACHED RETREATS 2015
February 20-22: Fr. Robert Hale and Suzanne Guthrie, Obl. OSB,
Cam.: “Cathedral and Cloud: Imagination and Unknowing.” Approaches to the Divine through metaphor and analogy, form and formlessness,
imaging and un-imaging, touching on the use of medieval monastic
memory palaces, as well as the Cloud of Unknowing and John of the
Cross.
March 27-29: Br. Bede Healey and Mike Mullard: “Benedictine
Spirituality for Mental Health Professionals.”
April 17-19: Fr. Stephen Coffey, OSB, “I Have Come to Cast Fire
on the Earth”: Praying with Teilhard de Chardin. This retreat will be
based on selected portions of Mass on the World by Jesuit mystic and
scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. It will consider connections be-
tween Teilhard’s spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Incarnation, and Eucharistic themes.
May 15-17: Br. Bede Healey: “Spirituality and Personhood.”
June 19-21: Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, Fr. Raniero Hoffman, Br. Bede
Healey, “Vocations Retreat: Come and See!” This retreat is for those
18-30 years old, an exploration of your life path through talks, group
discussions and individual conversations with the monks. This is an
opportunity to spend time considering your future vocation (the animating spirit calling out to you), whether it is a vocation of religious
life, marriage, priesthood. Scholarships are available.
Continued on page 8
4 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage
Assemblea Generale at Camaldoli
Don Alessandro Barban, our Prior General. Fr. Giuseppe Cicchi, vice-prior of the monastery at
Camaldoli, Fr. Joseph Wong, and don Alessandro
Barban, our Prior General, in the Sala Ladino conference room at Camaldoli.
Fr. Andreas with young Daniel, a new
recruit from Tanzania beginning a period
at Camaldoli.
Frs. Joseph and Giuseppe flank Br. Alberto, vice-prior of the Sacro Eremo.
The closing Eucharist at the Sacro Eremo with
Frs. Andrew, Giuseppe, Alessandro, Joseph, and
George, former prior at Shantivanam, now viceprior of San Gregorio in Rome.
Fr. Matteo, novice master at Camaldoli,
also worked the coffee bar downstairs
for us in the breaks between meetings.
Br. Cristiano and Br. Bruno Bonifacio of
the Mosteiro da Transfiguracao, Mogi das
Cruzes, Brazil.
Fr. Raniero with the Italian translator, Marinella.
Frs. Cyprian and Raniero attended
the Assemblea Generale (General
Assembly) at the Camaldoli this
past September, which takes the
place of the triennial Consulta. Instead of elected delegates, the priors
and formators from our communities all over the world attended for
a week of conferences, reports and
discussions about monastic formation. It was a wonderful experience
to be with our brothers––and a few
sisters, too––from around the world.
For a small congregation we are
very international. We thought you
might enjoy meeting some of our
confreres.
contemplation.com ~ 5
Lectio Divina: Application in Daily Life
Br. Bede Healey, OSB Cam.
Just as the Bible contains the sacred stories of our faith community, which we encounter in the
liturgy and in our own prayerful reading, even so each of us has a personal canon of the sacred
stories in our lives. These are stories we tell ourselves about who we are, where we have come
from and what our journey means to us. These stories are the ways we explore the landscapes
of our lives. [M. Barrett, Crossing]
Fr. Bernardino Cozzarini of Camaldoli, Fr.
Gianni Giocomelli, prior of Fonte Avellana,
and Fr. Andreas Mbegeze of Mafinga, Tanzania, with Pope Saint John XXIII watching
over.
Fr. Andrew of Incarnation Monastery in
Berkeley with Fr. Marino, the new prior of
Monte Giove in Fano.
Psalm 138/139
LORD, you have probed me,
you know me:
you know when I sit and stand;
you understand my thoughts
from afar.
You sift through my travels
and my rest; with all my ways
you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
LORD, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me,
far too lofty for me to reach.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I flee?
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.
If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea,
Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast.
If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light”
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day.
Darkness and light are but one.
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
This psalm speaks to the intimate knowledge God has of us – our hopes, dreams, passions,
problems, joys and uncertainties. We are always in some state of “coming to know” – coming
to know God, coming to know ourselves. This process of discovery is the deepest fabric of our
spiritual journey, and our personal, familial and communal stories at once differentiate and
unite us. Our stories deepen our connection with all who have gone before us and prepare, in
some way, the road for those who come after us.
Enormous gratitude to all those who contributed to our
Annual Appeal this year. We raised (you donated!) over $100,000.
This will help us immensely especially in our ongoing work on the new guest hermitages
and of course help in our day-to-day operations as well.
We never forget how blessed we are by your friendship.
6 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage
News from
Monastery of the Risen Christ
Fr. Daniel Manger, OSB Cam.
Our monastic beginnings here this year have been good. We are
putting down roots and already showing new growth, even in this wintry season.
During Advent, on the feast of Saint Nicholas, we hosted an Oblate
Day, at which Father Bruno and Father Robert gave presentation on
the French Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin’s theology. We recorded these
presentations and posted them at Vimeo with the help of Adam Loveridge of the Inter-Varsity team at Cal-Poly University at San Luis
Obispo. You can listen to both presentations online at http://vimeo.
com/113873691.
We also hosted a workshop, “Catholics Confront Climate Change,”
presented by Friar Keith Warner, PhD, from Santa Clara University.
During Advent, Father Ray and Father Daniel ministered at Saturday Masses for healing at the monastic chapel. Father Stephen led
retreat at St. Andrew’s Abbey throughout November and December.
The monks attended a wonderful evening hosted by Father Ken
Brown for the local vicariate at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Arroyo
Grande and were also present at the consecration of our local parish
church, The Nativity of Our Lady, by Bishop Richard Garcia.
Our monastic community is deeply grateful for the spiritual, economic and practical support we have received from many friends.Our
small retreat accommodations have seen several guests who comment
favorably on the environment of silence offered. In addition to the retreat house, a trailer on the property, formerly guest quarters for oblates,
is being improved to be a hermitage for those seeking a greater measure
of solitude. This hermitage will contain a library, a full kitchen, laundry, and breathtaking view of the mountains and the meadow below.
In addition, further donations have made possible the enclosure
of the patio beside the present monastic chapel. This enclosure, made
of clear glass to match the rest of the chapel, will be a gathering space
for small group meetings and overflow from the liturgies. It will also
Ordinary Time at Incarnation
Fr. Andrew Colnaghi, OSB Cam.
After a long Advent of patiently waiting, we had the joy of celebrating the Feast of the Incarnation in our newly completed chapel
now expanded to accommodate 50 people. We are all very pleased
with the fine results. Christmas Day Eucharist was followed by a
very festive potluck meal with many of our oblates, friends, and
guests. On the Feast of the Holy Family, we welcomed 2 new members into our Oblate family: Philippe Berthoud and Deborah Tabor.
We are grateful that the Spirit of God is blessing us abundantly
through these special events. This has also included well attended
retreats offered by Bede Healey, Arthur Poulin, Barbara Green, and
Cyprian Consiglio. Having just celebrated the Feast of Epiphany, we
look forward to more Quiet Days and Retreats guided by Ivan Nicolletto, Sandra Schneiders, Marty Badgett and Billy McLennan, Mary
McGann, Robert Hale, and Thomas Matus.
As we now journey into the gift of 2015, we wish all of you a
Happy and Healthy New Year!
contain a small library for the use
of retreatants and
oblates. Expected
to be completed
by the end of February 2015, this
new space will
grant us a greater
measure of pastoral outreach and
hospitality.
One last wonderful gift to our
community to record this year: we
received a replica
of the Celtic Cross
of Muiredach, an
ancient standing
stone cross from
Ireland, depicting
Biblical images Guests of the Monastery of the Risen Christ are
that illustrate the now welcomed by this stunning new Celtic Cross.
cosmic theology of
the Risen Christ.
This cross now stands in a meadow below the monastery, gracing the
so-called “Irish Valley” in which we are located, and reminding us of
the ways our own beginnings here in California are woven with the
early Celtic monastic movement—giving us special hope for small beginnings.
All of us here at the Monastery of the Risen Christ are grateful to
God and to the many people who are woven into the fabric of our own
life and witness.
The Reading List
Here’s what the brothers are reading these days.
Fr. Robert: God First Loved Us: The Challenge of Accepting Unconditional Love, Antony Campbell, S.J.; Il Senso Teologico della
Liturgia, Cipriano Vagaggini, OSB.
Fr. Bruno: Making Sense of Evolution: Darwin, God and the Drama
of Life; Christinaity and Science: Toward a Theology of Nature, John
Haught.
Fr. Isaiah: Brother Petroc’s Return, S. M. C.; Bought With A Price,
Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde.
Bro. Bede: California Impressionism, William Gerdts & Will South;
Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season, Gary Schmidt and Susann Felch.
Fr. Zacchaeus: The Healing Code, Alexander Loyd; Unbroken,
Laura Hillenbrand.
Bro. Michael: The Spiritual Combat, Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
Fr. Cyprian: The Days of Eternity, Ken Follet; Knowledge and the
Sacred, Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
Bro. Isaac: From Durrow to Kells: The Insular Gospel Books,
George Henderson; Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, Classics
of Western Spirituality.
contemplation.com ~ 7
For fifteen blessed years now, I have been making annual retreats at
New Camaldoli, usually staying in one of the trailers tucked into the
hillside below the Chapel. Before the fire-danger-abatement measures
required the cutting of the brush around the trailer hermitages, the one
named “Sophia” seemed to sail upon a tossing sea of pampas grass…a
sea full of hidden wonders.
Silver Seas
Deborah Smith Douglas, Oblate, OSB Cam.
A white-capped sea of pampas grass surrounds the tiny
hillside stronghold of Sophia, ending only a few yards before the
deck. On the rough short grass between Sophia and the edge of the tall
pampas, two deer grazed at dawn.
I watched them with delight, not moving—or so I thought. But
some small motion must have startled them, for they stepped delicately
into the pampas thicket, bowing their velvet necks, and vanished
without a sound. It was as swift and magical a now-you-see-it-nowyou-don’t as the ghostly baseball players disappearing into the high
corn in the movie “Field of Dreams.”
I have not seen the deer again, but I love thinking of them out there
in the green depths, unseen. Able to step in and out of their hiddenness
at will, as easily as Lucy stepped into Narnia through the back of the
wardrobe.
Beyond and below the green sea of the grass, at the foot of the
cliffs on the edge of the world, spreads the apparently endless Pacific,
reaching out to the far horizon under the vault of the infinite sky. An
unimaginable gleaming vastness. The view is seamless from this
height, unbroken by island or ship or indeed the sight of any created
thing.
Except, of course, for the whales.
I saw them the same morning I saw the deer, and just as magically.
Investigating through my binoculars a tiny ruffle on the smooth
blue surface of the middle-distance, I thought it might be a pod
of whales on their way up the coast, but decided I must have been
mistaken. Just then however—as though in merry answer to my
unspoken disappointment—two whales breached in unison, rolling
their muscular sides out of the depths in opposite directions, followed
by a high-spouting plume of exuberant exhalation.
Though I have kept my
binoculars beside me as I read
on the deck and gaze out to sea, I
have not seen the whales again.
But that one glimpse—
the second silent benediction of
now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t
magic—has blessed my whole
retreat, reminding me that what
appears to be a wall can be a door. What seems an endless emptiness
may in fact teem with hidden life.
As I keep my lazy vigil on
the deck, watching the changing
winter light turn the sea from
slate-blue to beaten silver in the
blink of a cloud, I think of Lucy
aboard the Dawntreader—how
she watched the Sea People in the
deep from the rail of the ship. I
think too of how the children on that voyage drank the sea water, no
longer salt, in that mysterious Last Sea beyond the world’s end. The
water was powerful—“stronger than wine and wetter than water”—
strengthening them as they drank it to bear the light of the sun. In fact,
as Reepicheep observed, the water was itself a kind “drinkable light.”
Sunday at Mass—a few hours after I had seen the deer and the
whales—I received the chalice in my hands from Father Isaiah at the
altar. As I lifted it to drink, the golden wine swirled and flashed in the
polished gold inside the cup—flashed like drinkable light. Suddenly in that moment I felt myself to be not only in the chapel
before the altar but on the deck of Sophia, and on the deck of the
Dawntreader.
I drank gratefully—giving thanks and praise for the deep healing
magic that lives unseen all around us, for leviathan joy beyond the
walls of the world, for the unspeakable gift of the Light no darkness
can quench.
Activities, Events and Visitors
•
Fr. Cyprian has done a series of Development evening events
in the past few months, in Santa Cruz in October, in Phoenix in November, in San Francisco in December, and in Santa Barbara in January.
•
December 6th Frs. Robert and Bruno teamed up to offer a
day of recollection on the thought of Teilhard de Chardin at the Monastery of the Risen Christ. They then repeated their presentations for the
brothers at subsequent Saturday chapter meetings.
•
As they do each year now, our good friends Kenny and Rosa
Harlan, managers of nearby Lucia Lodge, treated us to a marvelous
Christmas meal December 21st.
•
We have had several fine men come through our community
on the Ora et Labora program the past few months, Aaron from Seattle, Ian all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Joseph from
Oregon.
•
Bro. Bede took part in a program entitled “Generative Communities” at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, KS. January 6-8.
•
Fr. Scott Sinclair, professor at Dominican College in San Rafael, gave us our annual excellent Scripture conferences January 9-13
on the titles of Jesus in the New Testament. He is been offering us these
conferences spanning three decades now.
•
The Coordinating Committee for the Camaldolese Assembly
met here January 9-11, planning for our third annual gathering, July
17-19 at La Casa de Maria in Montecito. Mark your calendar, watch for
details and for more information write to [email protected].
•
January 27th Frs. Ray and Stephen of the Monastery of the
Risen Christ will be clothed in the Camaldolese habit, having finished
one year of the three year probationary period for transferring from the
Olivetan Congregation to ours.
•
Upcoming retreats: January 23-25, Fr. Michael Fish: “Camino III”; February 20-22, Fr. Robert with Oblate Suzanne Guthrie:
“Cathderal and Cloud: Imagination and Unknowing”; March 27-29,
Bro. Bede with Oblate Michael Mullard: “Benedictine Spirituality
for Mental Health Professionals”; April 17-19, Fr. Stephen Coffey: “I
Have Come to Cast Fire on the Earth.” Call for reservations: 831-6672456.
•
February 5-8 Fr. Cyprian will attend the Abbots’ and Priors’
Meeting at St. Bernard’s Monastery in Cullman AL.
•
February 14th we are happy to receive Doug Herbek into the
postulancy.
•
February 18th is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent; Easter
is April 5th.
8 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage
On a Wing and a Prayer- The Triumphant Return of the Condor
By Joe Burnett and Mark Readdie
The iconic California condor is once again gracing the skies of Big
Sur. This majestic species teetered dangerously close to the brink of
extinction in the late 80s when only 27 condors remained. Since then
conservation efforts have bolstered the population to over 400 birds
today, including those led by local non-profit, Ventana Wildlife Society
(VWS). Since 1997 VWS has been conducting releases of condors in
Big Sur as part of a concerted effort to establish a self sustaining population in central California. As a result, there are now 62 condors flying
in the wilds of Big Sur. The Big Sur flock has reached major milestones in recovery, including successfully finding natural food sources and producing their
own offspring. One of the first nests established by the Big Sur flock
was on the Big Creek Reserve, an 8,000 acre biological reserve and
scientific field station managed by the University of California, Santa
Cruz. In 2005, VWS partnered with Big Creek to establish a condor
feeding station on the Reserve.
Shortly after the feeding site was started, a pair of condors started
visiting the site regularly and by 2007 had claimed this portion of Big
Creek Reserve as their nesting territory. This pair has since raised two
chicks in the wild, one of which just left the nest last month. Although
condors are slow breeders, raising one chick in the wild every other
year on average, they are long-lived with life spans of 50-60 years in
the wild. In recent months Big Creek Reserve doubled in size to now include the beautiful habitat above the Hermitage. This area is further
south than the previous feeding site and boasts equally amazing nesting
and foraging potential for condors. VWS established a new feeding
site here in November and will begin baiting the site for the condors in
the coming months. We warmly welcome the Hermitage as our newest
collaborator in condor conservation on the coast. Once the new site is
located by the flock, condor sightings should become more frequent to
Hermitage residents and visitors. Condors can be identified by their large, dark wings and triangular
white wing patches on the underside of the wings. All condors currently have wing tag markers, which identify each individual. Each tag
is color-coded with a one or digit number. One of our VWS volunteers
designed a very handy web site, www.condorspotter.com, to aid in
identifying condors using their wing tags. To learn more about the work of the Ventana Wildlife Society, visit
www.ventanaws.org.
To learn more about the Big Creek Reserve, visit them at
bigcreek,ucnrs.org.
Joe Burnett is the Sr. Wildlife Biologist of Ventana Wildlife Society’s Big Sur Condor Project
Mark Readdie, Ph.D., is the Resident Director of Landels-Hill Big
Creek Reserve for University of California Santa Cruz
DATES FOR PREACHED RETREATS 2015
Continued from page 3
July 31-August 2: Fr. Thomas Matus: “Sacraments of Nature.”
August 21-23: Fr. Robert Hale, Mike Mullard and Patrick Mitchell:
“Praying and Living Contemplatively: Journeying with the Wisdom
of John Cassian.” Where are we going in our spiritual lives? Can
we identify an immediate goal that always keeps us on track securely
toward our final goal, and what would that final goal be? What does
John Cassian say about this in his First Conference? And why pray at
all? Isn’t it a waste of time? John Cassian, in his Tenth Conference,
sets out a framework for unceasing prayer that is still practical in our
modern era. Along with the framework, he teaches us how to deal with
problems in prayer and suggests the outcome, i.e. unity with God and
poverty of spirit.
September18-20: Br. Ivan Nicoletto: “How is the Spirit awakening us for a new creation? A journey through the cosmos, the arts and
faith.”
October 30-November 1: Fr. Andrew Colnaghi, OSB Cam, Fr. Arthur Poulin, OSB Cam, and Toni Betschart, Obl. OSB Cam: “Darkness: Fertile Ground for God’s Creativity.”
November20-22: Br. Bede Healey and Paula Huston: “Prayer – for
those who have been doing it for a while.”
The general schedule for these retreats is: first meeting Friday evening at 7 PM, two meetings on Saturday; last meeting on
Sunday before the 11 AM Eucharist. To make a reservation you
must contact Katee by calling 831-667-2456 ext. 100, or emailing
[email protected]. Reservations cannot be made
online. (Online it will appear that there is no availability, but that
might not necessarily be true.) A one night deposit is required
to confirm a reservation, and we have a two week cancellation
policy. There is an additional $60.00 fee for the Preached Retreat
itself. That fee is included in the nightly cost of the room.