Posted on by Kurt Bodling

ascetic silence

“Exterior silence is an ascetic exercise of self-mastery in the use of speech. …

“Asceticism is a means that helps us to remove from our life anything that weighs it down, in other words, whatever hampers our spiritual life and, therefore, is an obstacle to prayer. Yes, it is indeed in prayer that God communicates his Life to us and manifests his presence in our soul by irrigating it with the streams of his trinitarian love. And prayer is essentially silence. Chattering, the tendency to externalize all the treasures of the soul by expressing them, is supremely harmful to the spiritual life. Carried away toward the exterior by his need to say everything, the chatterer cannot help being far from God, superficial, and incapable of any profound activity.”

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. With an Afterword by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Translated by Michael J. Miller. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017), pages 141-142.

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holy anticipation

“Silence and solitude are a small anticipation of eternity, when we will be in God’s presence permanently, irradiated by him, the great Silent One, because he is the great lover.”

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. With an Afterword by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Translated by Michael J. Miller. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017), page 70.

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angels protecting us

“If God looks upon you, all angels, saints, and all creatures will fix their eyes upon you. And if you remain in that faith, all of them will uphold you with their hands. And when your soul leaves your body, they will be on hand to receive it, and you cannot perish.”

Luther, Martin. “A Sermon on Preparing to Die” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), page 112.

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anchorite, anchoress … what were they?


“Anchorite, anchoress, a person dedicated to a life of strict solitude and penance. Because they are not allowed to leave their dwellings, anchorites often have their cells attached to the church sanctuary so they may receive the Eucharist through a window; their meals are passed through a different window. In addition to a life of prescribed prayer and fasting, these solitaries study, write books, sew clothing for the poor, and offer spiritual advice to visitors through a veiled window. Prophetic witness and compassion characterize this canonical form of consecrated life.”

McBrien, Richard P., ed. The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. “Anchorite, Anchoress.” (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995) page 44.

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hermits in the world

“So how does semi-eremitism apply to you? In more ways than you might think.


“On a weekly basis you might go to church only on Sundays and holy days. At the very most you might have one other day or evening dedicated to the work of the church. But all through the rest of the week you choose to find your own rhythm between solitude and communion in the family and the work place. You learn this from studying, praying, and practicing. You cultivate the hermit within. You meditate. You cultivate awareness of your relationship to God and all creation. You trust that you cannot wrong. Your inner voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit.”


Talbot, John Michael. The World is My Cloister: Living From the Hermit Within. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010), pages 57-58.

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The Little Brothers of Jesus

“The followers of Charles de Foucauld have no special pastoral task allotted to them. They do not argue with people, try to convince them, try to convert them, try to make them amend their lives. They seek only to be with them, to share their lives, their poverty, their sufferings, their problems, their ideals: but to be with them in a special way. As members of Christ, they are Christ. And where they are present, Christ is present. Where He is present, He acts. Their being, their presence, is then active, dynamic. It is the leaven hidden in the measure of meal. This of course is a strictly contemplative view of the Christian life, and unless it implies a complete sacrifice of oneself, of all one’s ambitions and worldly desires, it cannot be effective. But once it is properly understood, it is utterly simple. So much so, that it is terrible in its simplicity. It is the simplicity of the Gospel itself.”

The Vatican has announced that Charles de Foucauld will be canonized.


Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. (NY: HarperOne, 2003), page 144. [this text written in 1959]

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unity within plurality

Ambrose Traversari, 15th cent Camaldolese Humanist and Prior General


“Reformer and papal legate on behalf of ecumenical work with the Eastern Church, Traversari* promoted unity within plurality–a concept he saw expressed concretely within the Camaldolese tradition by the union of the active and contemplative dimensions. He promoted dialogue on the ecclesiastical front by his participation in Church unity negotiations, as well as on the home front by forming humanist discussion groups….”

*Ambrose Traversari was a 15th century Camaldolese Humanist and Prior General.


Belisle, Peter-Damian. “Overview of Camaldolese History and Spirituality” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002), page 24.

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listen for truth

“Let the man of study then be perpetually listening for truth. When he bends over his work, the Spirit breathes in him, reveals Himself perhaps from outside, sends His prophets — men, things, books, happenings; the attentive soul must neglect nothing of it all; for this spirit of truth, like grace, often passes by and does not come back. Is it not indeed itself a grace?”


Sertillanges, Antonin G., O.P. The Intellectual Life: its Spirit, Conditions, Methods. (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1987), page 124.