New Camaldoli HermitageSUMMER 2016

62475 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920 • 831 667 2456 • www.contemplation.com

SEEDS OF THE WORDPrior Cyprian and oblate Lisa Benner on inclusivity and openness to wisdom in the thought of Justin Martyr and Bede Griffiths. pages 2-4

IN THIS ISSUE2 “Justin Martyr and Seeds of the Word”4 “The Fire of Bede Griffiths’ Legacy” 5 Lectio Divina6 “A Journey to the Mountain of Love”7 Solemnity of St. Romuald8 Development 9 Vita Monastica10 Oblate Column11 Monastery of the Risen Christ12 Activities and Visitors

JUSTIN MARTYR AND SEEDS OF THE WORDPrior Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam

There is a pithy and important little phrase that has come to mean a great deal to me in my work in interreligious dialogue: “seeds of the Word.”

It comes from the second century saint Justin Martyr whose feast we celebrate June 2. Justin was a philosopher; there were two sides to his conversion. On the one hand, as he said of himself as he was led to his death before the Emperor Rusticus, he had tried to learn every system before he came to believe that Christianity was the true philosophy. On the other hand, even though he had come to regard Christianity as the true philosophy, he didn’t dismiss the other philosophies out of hand. He regarded Plato’s and others’ philosophies as not only pre-Christian but (as the late Jesuit scholar Jacques Dupuis put it) pro-Christian. So it is from Justin that we get the Christian use of the phrase spermatikos logos in Greek (semina verbi in Latin)—“seed of the Word,” which was already a concept among Stoic philosophers.

According to Greek thought, this word—logos was the genera-tive principle of the universe, the germ from which all else devel-ops. It is this same Word —logos that John says in the prologue to his gospel was with God, and was God, and became flesh in Jesus. And Justin thought that all those “who live in accordance with reason [logos] are Christians, even though they are godless.”

Here is a Christian proclaiming that the Word can be detected outside the visible boundaries of Christianity, predating by about 1700 years a famous phrase of the 20th century theologian, Karl Rahner: “anonymous Christian.”

There are both narrow and broad interpretations of this conceptof “seed of the Word”. Some say that Justin was only referring to Greek philosophers and not to so-called “pagan religions,” so that this seminal power would not apply to other religions. But it certainly seems as if Vatican II had a broader interpretation: Semina verbi appears in both Lumen Gentium 17 and Ad Gentes 11. Those documents apply it broadly, teaching that “seeds of the Word” were implanted in all human beings, and it is those seeds which allow

all people some ability to see spiritual realities. Therefore whatever is “true and holy” in other traditions can be upheld.

Fr. Bede Griffiths, in a well-known article about the Jesus Prayer entitled “How I Pray,” explains his understanding of Jesus as Word and expands the concept even further.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRIOR

Summer seems to be a perfect season to ex-plore “Seeds of the Word,” when all of spring-time’s hidden seeds have germinated and are made manifest in stem and leaf and fruit.

Fr. Thomas says about our old monastery in Florence, Santa Maria degli Angeli, that the monks lived like hermits there but “the doors opened inward.” There was always lively conversation with great thinkers of the time, philosophers and scholars, which made the place the center of Christian Humanism during the Renaissance.

We Camaldolese have quite a legacy of open conversation with folks outside of the visible fold of the Church. Our Ambrogio Traversari convened the Council of Ferrara to try to reunite the Eastern and Western churches in the 15th century. Our monastery San Gregorio in Rome, from which St. Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize Britain, is a center for Anglican-Roman en-counters, a matter dear to the heart also of our Fr. Robert.

Our Don Innocenzo Gargono is one of the Church’s experts on Eastern Christianity and hosted Rumanian monks at San Gregorio as well.

Then there is the astounding legacy of Fr. Bede Griffiths, a pioneer and prophet of interreligious dialogue, who brought himself and the monks of our ashram Shantivanam in South India into our congregation, and whose work several of us, especially Fr. Thomas and I, have continued extensively. (See the article in this issue on the Bede Griffiths Trust.)

Closer to home, there is the Four Winds Coun-cil, of which we have been a part for almost a quarter of a century, gathering with the Esalen Institute, the Esselen Tribe, and the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center four times a year.

I often recall the image Abhishiktananda (the French monk who was one of the founders of Shantivanam) uses of the magi in the Gospel of Matthew: the visitors come to Jesus not just to adore, but they also come bearing gifts —which Jesus received! May our doors, especially the doors of our hearts, always remain open to recognizing, encouraging and promoting the seeds of the Word wherever they sprout; may we receive as gift the wisdom of other paths.

Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam

This Word, this playful Sophia, embraces heaven and earth, and Fr. Bede wrote that the Word is revealed “in different ways and under different names and forms to all humanity.” This is the Word that Nostra Aetate (the Vatican II Declaration on Non-Christian Religions) says, quoting the Prologue of John, “enlightens everyone coming into the world.” And “though they may not recognize it,” Bede says, “it is present to everyhuman being in the depths of their soul. Beyond word and thought,beyond all signs and symbols, this Word is being secretly spoken inevery heart in every place and at every time. People may be utterlyignorant of it or may choose to ignore it” but still, as Bede continues...

...whenever and wherever anyone responds to truth or love or kindness, whenever and wherever anyone responds to the demand for justice, concern for others, care of those in need, they are responding to the voice of the Word. So also when anyone seeks truth or beauty in science, philosophy, poetry or art, they are responding to the invitation of the Word. What counts is not so much the name and the form as the response in the heart to the hidden mystery, which is present to each one of us in one way or another and awaits our response in faith and hope and love.

So this is not just about being in dialogue with other religions: it means wherever Beauty, Truth or Goodness are mani-fested—be that in a string quartet or a scientific experiment, in acts of justice or self-giving love—wherever there is beauty, truth or goodness being manifested, there is the

Word, the fullness of which we believe was made flesh in Jesus. This is why a visit to an art museum can feel like a pilgrimage, studying good poetry can be like lectio divina, why we can stand in awe at a view from a telescope or in admiration at the sublime economy of a mathematical equation or a feat of engineering.

Hence it should come as no surprise that Pope Francis talks about being in partnership with non-believers who are people of good will too. As Jesus says in Matthew and Luke, Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds (or by her children—Mt 11:19; Lk 7:35). We are exhorted by the Church, especially in that “language event” that was Vatican II, to be in dialogue and collaboration with people of good will, not only the followers of other religions, but noble hearted scientists and artists too; and with those who work for justice and those who care for the planet. What a great witness it is to our faith and life when and if we “recognize, preserve and promote”—the three verbs that Nostra Aetate uses—good things, especially the “spiritual and moral socio-cultural values,” wherever we find them, in the name of Jesus, not only claiming themfor Christ, but claiming them as Christ, as Christic, as a manifestationof the Word that has come into the world and enlightens everyone.

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This verse by Rumi, the 13th c. Persian poet, Sufi mystic and Islamic scholar is carved in stone over the door of a Christian church in Shiraz, Iran:

Where Jesus lives, the great- hearted gather. We are a door that’s never locked.If you are suffering any kind of pain,Stay near this door. Open it.

From The Essential Rumi: translations by Coleman Barks and John Moyne (Harper San Francisco 1995) p. 201

Father Bede Griffiths (1907-1993), a British-born Benedictine monk, was an early pioneer of inter-religious dialogue (specifi-cally Hindu-Christian) and enculturation of Christian worship and liturgy. He was introduced to East-ern thought and the practice of yoga in 1940 and went to India in 1955.

Drawn to the Camaldolese vision of contempla-tive solitude within community, he brought the Indian ashram community Shantivanam within the Camaldolese order in 1983.

Camaldolese oblate Lisa Benner has been helping Father Cyprian with the Bede Griffiths Trust archives, now housed at the GTU Library in Berkeley. She and Steve Schlicht, an IT friend of New Camaldoli, have also revitalized the website, a storehouse of rich resources online: www.bedegriffiths.com.

Father Bede Griffiths left England for India in 1955, a momentous journey that would change many lives. He lived first in Kurisumala, where he dove deep into the study of Hindu theology and tradition. His inter-est in the similarities (and his careful honoring of the differences) between Christianity and Hinduism blos-somed during this time. He began his writing career, publishing the first of many books. Baptized into the colorful world of India and its sacred spirituality, he lovingly presided over the marriage of East and West.

At the Benedictine monastery Shantivanam (“forest of peace”) in South India, Father Bede cultivated a way to live with intention, simplicity and integrity, remaining mindful of his surroundings and creating a space to see the Glory dwelling in all. He nurtured a safe space for Christians and Hindus to worship together, recognizing that the Ground of Truth belongs to everyone. Bede said “God has graced every tradition with insight into the divine mystery, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated—each has a gift to bring to the world.”

In 1968 he arrived at Shantivanam’s Saccidananda Ashram. This humble ashram, now a Camaldolese Benedictine house, was founded by the French Bene-dictine monk Fr. Henry Le Saux (Abishiktananda: “Bliss of Christ”) and the French priest Fr. Jules Monchanin (Parma Arupi Anananda, “Supreme Joy of the Spirit”). Upon Bede’s arrival he began to turn this ashram into a contemplative house of prayer. Having studied with the likes of Raimundo Panikkar, Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis, Father Bede deliberately created, in the forest of peace, a place for interiority and interfaith dialog.

Prior to his death in 1993, he founded a Trust to oversee and care for his many manuscripts, articles and books and to further promote his spiritual vision for fostering contemplative life and interfaith conversation.

Sr. Pascaline Coff OSB, who lived in India alongside Bede for a year, was instrumental in carrying the torch and keeping the home fires burning after Bede’s death. She, among others, managed the Trust and protected Bede’s works and ongoing vision. Recently she stepped down from this position and passed the torch to Cyprian Consiglio at New Camaldoli Hermitage.

The Bede Griffiths Trust has now been revitalized. Over the last several months many boxes have been unpacked and organized. Some cherished articles and items were taken to the archives at Berkeley; most were filed away for safe keeping. The website has been revamped and updated—please check it out at www.bedegriffiths.com. The wonderful newsletter “The Golden String” is now in blog format and can be found on the website as well. It includes entries from various groups around the world honoring Bede.

The Holy Spirit hassplendidly and graciously kept alive the fire of this legacy. With continuedguidance who knows where flames will touch flame? As our friendPascaline (left with Fr. Bede) likes to say, “Fr. Bede, intercede”!

THE FIRE OF BEDE GRIFFITHS’ LEGACYLisa Benner, Oblate OSB Cam

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LECTIO DIVINA Br. Bede Healey, OSB Cam

Starting at the end of June and continuing through-out the summer, the Sunday readings are from the great middle section of Luke’s Gospel, which primarily records Jesus’ teaching.

Jesus addresses three different groups of people: his disciples, toward whom the great teach-ing of this section is primarily directed; the crowd, whom Jesus calls to conversion and to whom he offers warnings; and finally to those who oppose him, typically Pharisees and scribes.

In the different times and seasons of our lives, we may find that we are the disciples, the crowds, and even those who disdain the word of God.

It is as if Jesus had us, and our broken scattered hearts, in mind.

When we enter into the experience of lectio divina we need to bring all of who we really are to the process. The way to know the Lord includes coming to know ourselves. Even Christ’s sometimes harsh rebukes to the Pharisees and the crowds reveal his compassionate longing to bring all of us to him— as his disciples and friends, as his sisters and brothers, as his sons and daughters. It is only in facing our dividedness, in realizing that we have drifted away from the vital reality of God’s word that we can return to the fullness of life.

The Camaldolese monastic tradition, based on the Rule of Benedict and its daily rounds of lectio, prayer and work of so many different kinds, along with opportunities for solitude, allows us—indeed calls us—to face ourselves: to find and to re- center ourselves.

All those with monastic hearts seek one thing: union with God. In our prayer and solitude and in our life in general, we are never alone. We are with the Lord and with each other. By the grace of God and with the help of others, we can discover our true selves.

On June 22 five of us took an overnight Recreation Day at the Vajrapani Institute, a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center in Boulder Creek, hosted by our friend Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi (far left).

IN MEMORIAM

Dr. Pat Mitchell unexpectedly finished his earthly pilgrimage on May 23. He spent his long career in service to the People of God in so many diverse ways. Pat was a student of Raimon Panikkar at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Panikkar directed his

doctoral thesis on the writings of Joseph Marechal.

Pat had an extraordinarily long tenure as professorof theology at St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, where he mentored scores of future priests. He also had strong interest in the ministry of spiritual direction and was a graduate of the Shalem Institute. Spiritual direction took up much of his free time, both in seeing direct-ees and in serving as formator in several training programs In addition Pat was heavily involved in the World Community of Christian Meditation, led medi-tation groups, and organized workshops to enhance the spirituality of meditators. He also was involved in diaconate formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and was a founding member and served on the Archdiocesan Spirituality Commission. But Pat’s focus for all of this was his Benedictine spirituality. He was an oblate of St. Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo, for many years before transferring his oblation to New Camaldoli Hermitage, which benefitted from hiswisdom and expertise in recent days. But most of all Pat was the kindest of human beings and made friends with all whom he encountered.

of humor. I took a morn-ing walk gazing out at the sleepy blue Pacific that seemed to change with the wind of the Spirit at a moment’s no-tice. Hiking off-trail in the wilderness made me feel connected with some-thing bigger and awe-inspiring. The chapel bell tolled and broke the

silence. It was time for prayer with the monks. I was in heaven and remember thinking that the experience was like being introduced to someone you hope will become a lasting friend. So it was all meant to be. When I left the Hermitage, I took with me a profound-ly meaningful experience that marked my soul. What did I find on the mountain with the monks? I really didn’t know. But I knew I’d be back.

So fast-forwarding into the 2000’s…I was making two visits a year now, usually in April and October, in silent retreat with the monks, but as is my personality, keeping a shy distance. A one-way relationship, if you will. But then I met Camaldolese oblates and began to learn something about deepening this relationship through friendship and prayer. Through study and discernment, I realized it was time to change this one-way relationship and to share more deeply in the Camaldolese charism by becoming an oblate postulant. After 42 years, it was time. I’ve learned that what we have to offer is enough because God supplies what we ourselves cannot. And so I’ve made the journey from being an initial visitor and retreatant to a more mutual relationship based on the Oblate Rule. So many times in contemplative prayer I visual-ize myself in prayer with the monks—the immense cone above the rotunda pulling Divine energy onto the altar. It seems an apex of mystical energy. The place where Love is found on a mountaintop.

Fr. Michael Fish has given me this poem of Wendell Berry, entitled “A Spiritual Journey.”

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.

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A JOURNEY TO THE MOUNTAIN OF LOVEBy Bill Osuna

Bill Osuna first came to the Hermitage more than forty years ago and is now in the oblate formation program.

My journey began in spring 1973 when I made my first visit on retreat to New Camaldoli. I already felt an inner, even somewhat mystical, connection to the area since it held many happy adventurous memories for me. To this day, Big Sur remains my favorite destination in the world.

I called the Hermitage to get information about spending a few days on retreat. Wow. It was perched in the mountains near a little place called Lucia. Sounded like taking a road-trip to Tuscany: Lucia and Camaldoli. I asked about the fee. The monk on the phone said: “Oh, no fee. Just a free-will donation if you can. Or you could bring a 50 lb. bag of potatoes and a 25 lb. of oranges. We could really use them.” So I picked up the big bags of potatoes and oranges, packed up my red VW bug, and set out for Lucia.

I traveled Highway 1 and past Lucia came to a weath-ered white cross that read “Immaculate Heart Hermit-age.” I turned onto the dusty gravel road and began my slow ascent, stopping along the way to take in the breathtaking views that we’ve all grown to appreciate so much.

The friendly monk who checked me in at the book-store assigned my room and explained the schedule of Lauds, Vespers, and Eucharist as well as carefully explaining the importance of silence and solitude. Silence and solitude were new concepts for me, but I soon found myself taking to them readily. Even on that first night, after Vespers and the evening meal, I was already used to my humble cell, reading and writing happily. In those days, meals were passed through the two-way cabinet door. And, sure enough, there were potatoes and wedges of orange on my plate! By this time I had a deep feeling that I was in a special place that was spiritually nourishing. I journaled my innermost feelings of conflict and peace and found solace in the silence.

That first night I was woken by an animal scratching or thumping on the wall. Was it a wild boar or a mountain lion? I was petrified. The next morning, though, I found an old water heater chugging and wheezing against the wall. I thought: God has a sense

Barban OSB Cam, Prior General of the Camaldolese Congregation OSB, in his letter to participants in the 2013 Camaldolese Assembly.)

JUNE 20 (EVENING)

This remains the core of the Camaldolese charism: the privilege of love. Solitude is never an end in and of itself: it is a response to love and must re-solve itself in love, the love that nurtures our privi-leged solitary time with the Beloved in the cell; the love that draws us to be and binds us as a com-munity under the Rule with a common goal and mutual up-building; and the love that wells up from out of us like a stream of life-giving water in all that we are called to do and be for the greater Body of Christ, the Church and the world that God loves so much. (Fr. Cyprian Consiglio OSB Cam, Prior of New Camaldoli, in his article “Solitude Within the Tensions of the Camaldolese Charism” published in the American Benedictine Review in 2015).

Excerpts from the week…

JUNE 19

For the Solemnity of St. Romuald, which we postponed by a day this year… “The Camaldolese identity, now more than ever, is clearly a dynam-ic balance among vari-ous spiritual and struc-tural elements united in fruitful tension; it is the awareness of the value of our own expe-rience, linked with the cordial acceptance of others’ experience; it is a search for an inner

disposition and an outward style that joins together men and women in an exceptional charism uniting solitude and communion, rootedness and univer-sality, historical memory and openness to the present and the future, an essential spirit with a rich embodiment.” (Don Emanuele Bargellini OSB Cam, former Prior General of the Camaldolese Congregation) JUNE 20 (MORNING)

You all know about the pluralistic charism that we inherited from St. Romuald: the cenobium where we learn to grow together as a school for the service of God and neighbor; the hermitage, which enables us to live on a deeper level the processes of authentic human growth and the spiritual search; the mission, which gives us the opportunity to share our life of faith with the women and men of our time and to enter into an open dialogue with cultures and spiritual traditions different from our own. In our opening to dialogue and shared experience with all people, we find the basis for the discovery of a God who dwells in every hu-man being and is made manifest in myriad faces and forms, while remaining “One.” (Fr. Alessandro

SOLEMNITY OF THE CAMALDOLESE FOUNDER ST. ROMUALD

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SAVE THE DATE: “MONKS INSIDE OUT” Wednesday August 24, 2016 at 7:30 pm Henry Miller Memorial Library

An evening with photographer Kayleigh Meyers and the monks of New Camaldoli featuring her stunning intimate photo portraits of the monks of New Camaldoli.

“Over time, I had the chance to photograph each monk, and hear his story.

“Creating this essay has had a deep effect on me—far deeper than I would have expected. I hope I will be able to de-velop my relationship with the community, and document their life with my photog-raphy.”

Our annual summer Wish List should be arriving in your mailbox soon. Gifts made in response to these particular needs allow the Hermitage to make annual upgrades to the property, including the renovation of the monks’ cells, retreatant accommodations and the Chapel, providing both guests and monks a safe and comfortable environment. We hope that you will consider making a gift to our Wish List this year.

We will be hosting our 2nd Annual Fall Open House at the Hermitage on Sunday, November 6, 2016. It will be held in the Cloister: a wine and cheese reception and a musical performance by Fr. Cyprian. There is no charge for this event; it is a wonderful opportunity to meet the monks and staff members.

We invite you to stop by the Hermitage if you are in the area and enjoy the daily services in the Chapel. A complete schedule in posted on our website at www.contemplation.com. If you have not made your summer or fall plans to visit the Hermitage please check availability on our website, or contact reservations@contemplation.com.

If you would like additional information on any of the upcoming events we are hosting, or how you cansupport the Hermitage please let me know.

Wishing you and your loved ones an enjoyable summer.

Jill jill@contemplation.com831-667-2456 x114

FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Summer greetings from Big Sur.

We at the Hermitage were recently blessed by avisit from Br. Isaac’s niece Kayleigh Meyers, anaccomplished photographer and recent studio-arts graduate from the University of Redlands. While she was with us she took photographs of the monks,staff and Hermitage.

These outstanding photographs will be featured in an installation titled “Monks Inside Out” at the Henry Miller Memorial Library on Wednesday, August 24at a fundraiser benefitting the New CamaldoliHermitage.

Kayleigh wrote of her experience at the Hermitage:

“Every morning during my stay at New Camaldoli, I woke up to the sound of the chapel bell ringing and watched the sun rise over the ocean. The peace and silence are so deep that I could actually hear seals barking and waves crashing a thousand feet below at the foot of the cliffs. This photo essay depicts the communal and contemplative life of the Camaldolese Benedictine monks who live there, both in the choir robes they wear for services in the church and in their informal garb (‘unrobed’) outside the hours of prayer.

“As a woman in the midst of a men’s monastic community, I was worried that I would be denied access and that it would be difficult to connect with the monks. Though a few places in the enclosure remained closed to me (as to all guests), the monks graciously allowed me access to much of their lives, and even granted permission to photograph them in the sanctuary during the liturgy.

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Yet within any charism that has given rise to a com-munity there was an implicit protest against what was stable and perfect and magically linear. The process of changing and updating a religious order is the dynam-ic aspect of an original charism, which was an initiative of the Holy Spirit. A founder was animated by the Holy Spirit, but so are the founder’s offspring, who live the charism according to the signs of the times. Keep-ing faith with the founder’s charism does not mean repeating what he or she did in times past

We need to discover the signs of our times. There is an inner dynamic of a founder’s charism that took on visible forms in response to the realities of his or her own day. A new generation of religious needs to express the same dynamic in its special way. A religious order can raise a protest against itself; the Church has done the same, showing her courage in protesting against the wrong paths she has chosen down through history. This fact challenges our sense of security and shakes us up a bit.

Religious life cannot be imagined as if it were a boat drifting downstream between the grassy banks of a river protected by ancient levees. Today’s river of legal norms seems to have become turbulent: streams are flowing into it from every side, and these streams represent the charisms of our time and the religious who add their water to the river of religious life.

FROM THE PAGES OF VITA MONASTICABy Fr. Bonifacio Filippetti OSB Cam

Translation and introduction by Fr. Thomas Matus, OSB Cam

Father Bonifacio Filippetti is long resident at our mon-astery in Rome, San Gregorio al Celio. His articles in Vita Monastica began with the Second Vatican Council and the committee charged with rewriting our Camaldolese Constitutions in the light of the Council (our own Fr. Bruno was also a member of the committee). In an article written in 1970, Bonifacio reflected on some of the then-recent protest movements in France and Italy (which many see as a model for the “Occupy Wall Street” and similar protests in our days); he asks whether there is something in such movements that can resonate with monastics yesterday and today.

Charism and Protest“Charism” is a free gift, an initiative of the Holy Spirit within us, setting a new direction and planting a seed of something new in the Church and in our communities. Among religious there is a standing concern to seek and follow the “founder’s charism,” but less concern about the charism of individual religious. On the contrary, focusing on gifts of religious today raises the fear of contradicting the founder’s spirit.

phrases. One ‘personalizes’ the message, renders it “existential” with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Oratio: The deep meditation on the text leads one to pray to the loving and merciful God in words of thanksgiving, or petition, or maybe contrition, or intercession for others, or maybe all of these dimen-sions of prayer. One turns from the inspired text directly to God, in childlike trust and love.

Contemplatio: The meditation and subsequent prayer might well lead one, guided by the Holy Spirit, beyond words and images into a silent awareness of God’s presence, so that one is simply abiding in the ineffable, loving presence of God. Modernwriters on lectio divina add a fifth step, also decisive for a full encounter with the sacred text.

Actio: By means of the above steps one comes to a realization of how one might and should put one’s lectio divina into practice. Maybe in a fuller commitment to prayer, a different way of relating to others, etc.

For those who wish to read further about lectio divina, these books can be helpful:

Lectio Matters by Mary Margaret Funk, OSB. Holy Reading: Lectio Divina by Innocenzo Gargano, OSB Cam.Lectio divina by M. Basil Pennington, OCSO.

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One of the spiritual practices set forth in the Oblate Rule is that of Spiritual Reading, often referred to by its traditional title of lectio divina. This powerful prac-tice can benefit the spiritual journeys of all Christians, indeed of all seekers of God, not just monastics and oblates.

Lectio is used primarily for an in-depth reading of Holy Scripture, but in an extended way it can be used for other profound books, or even for events in one’s life, or for God’s wondrous creation. It is a way of deeply engaging. The author of the “Cloud of Unknowing” and Thomas Merton would do a kind of lectio divina on magnificent trees!

Classically, as noted in the Oblate Rule, there are four basic steps to lectio divina:

Lectio: One reads the text carefully, perhaps rereads it, and explores footnotes in a good study Bible, or commentaries, to get a sense of what the original writer was intending to express in that particular time to the particular audience. And one is attentive to certain words or phrases that particularly seem to speak to the reader.

Meditatio: One then meditates on what the passage, especially the key words and phrases, mean to the reader today, in one’s own spiritual journey. How is God speaking to the reader through these words and

Oblates and Lectio DivinaBy Fr. Robert Hale, OSB Cam

CALLING ALL FRIENDS AND OBLATES

Have you had a time on retreat at New Camaldoli or Incarnation or the Monastery of the Risen Christ that changed something in you? An inward shift that was reflected in an outward way in your life or work?

If so, we’d love to hear from you.We hope to make a regular feature of short pieces like this. We are also hoping to run occasional short pieces by friends

and oblates who have brought young friends (chil-dren, grandchildren, Godchildren) to the Hermitage for a glimpse of monastic life.

Please contact Father Cyprian at prior@contemplation.com or Deborah Douglas as deborahsmithdouglas@gmail.com for more information.

MONASTERY OF THE RISEN CHRIST Fr. Daniel Manger, OSB Cam

On May 19, the monks of the Monastery of the Risen Christ welcomed our Prior General Alessandro Barban and our visitator Fr. Mario Zanotti from Italy, along with Prior Cyprian, for a tour of the facility and property here, followed by a festive meal. It was a wonderful visit; we received good encouragement for the work done for the transition of the monastery to a Camaldolese house. Don Alessandro remarked on the “sweet silence” that pervaded the atmosphere.

Our chapel, hospitality center, conference space, oblate resource center and bookstore were in readiness for that visit, as were the labyrinth, outdoor Stations of the Cross, the Celtic High Cross, and the two other meditation paths available for re-treat guests on the upper mount of Cerro Romauldo (sic. We are very grateful to God and to many who have worked and donated toward all these improve-ments over these past two and a half years.

In May we also hosted both the local Hospice Chaplains and the Catholic Woman’s Guild, who were all quite taken by the environment.

Students from Cal Poly University’s landscape and architectural department took our future hospitality center garden project and created some wonderful designs for monastic gardens for meditation. Fr. Daniel spoke on the spirituality of monastic gardens and their symbols in a historical overview. Then over the next few weeks the students developed plans that the monastic community will be able to implement to enhance our meditation gardens. There will be a file and a booklet assembled that will have all of the various plans contained within it for future reference.

In the resource library, the flat screen TV monitor with wifi capability and many book donations have been put in place for the enrichment of our oblates and the mentoring program. We are happy to house these additions to our library and hope that they will aid those who seek to learn more about our Camaldolese charism. We will soon have the cata-logue for books ready as well. We have developed a QR code for the monastery and have it on our signage so that visitors can access our completewebsite by cell phone or iPad.

Fr. Stephen has been busy ministering to various

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Benedictine women and men these past two months. Daniel gave retreats for all of the Catholic schools’ principals in the diocese of Fresno, and the Catholic Daughters of San Luis Obispo.

God has deeply blessed us and our monastic outreach.

We are thriving —and grateful.

The quarterly newsletter is published by the Camaldolese Hermits of America for our friends, oblates and sponsors.

Director: Father Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam Editor: Deborah Smith Douglas, Oblate, OSB CamAssociate Editor: Chris Lorenc, Oblate, OSB Cam Design: Debi LorencDevelopment: Jill Gisselere

Photo credits: Devin Kumar (cover), Debi Lorenc (p. 3),Kayleigh Meyers (p.10)

If you have questions or comments, please contactJill Gisselere.

jill@contemplation.com New Camaldoli Hermitage62475 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920

Visit us at www.contemplation.com

12 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage

ACTIVITIES AND VISITORS

APRIL Fr. Robert celebrated 50 years of ordination to the priesthood on April 3.

We hosted the Four Winds Council for the spring meeting.

A group of students from Loyola Marymount made retreat here together, with our old friend Douglas Burton, who is on the faculty there.

Br. Bede spent six weeks with the brothers at Incarnation in Berkeley.

Professor Ron Dart from Vancouver, BC, was here and gave several talks on Bede Griffiths and C. S. Lewis

MAYWe had the first gathering of the Oblate Peer Mentors here at New Camaldoli. (More on that to come.)

Br. Michael went back to Michigan for his college re-union, and Robert went to Colorado for the funeral of his sister-in-law.

Fr. Cyprian did an evening event for students at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and led an oblate day at Monastery of the Risen Christ.

The monks had their annual eight day retreat. Our leader was Sr. Margaret Michaud, OSB, of St. Benedict’s Monastery in Minnesota, who offered six conferences on the Beatitudes.

We had a wonderful fraternal visit from Don Alessandro Barban, our Prior General, and Fr. Mario Zanotti, his assistant and our main visitator.

Brs. Gabriel and Michael attended the Charismatic Conference in Santa Clara, CA.

Cyprian offered a retreat for the monks of Assumption Abbey in North Dakota.

JUNE Bede spent a week with his family in Wisconsin and participated in the Contemplative Days with our friend Dan Riley, OFM and the friars at Mount Irenaeus in upstate New York. He then led the Benedictine Experi-ence with Sr. Donald Corcoran, OSB, at Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg, California.

Fr. Raniero went to Minnesota to celebrate the gradu-ation of Ben Chong, the son and nephew of our good friends and benefactors Alex and Veronica Chong.

We postponed St. Romuald’s Day to June 20 this year (since the June 19 was a Sunday) so that the brothers from San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz and Berkeley could

join us. We had an All-Camaldolese Chapter, a beautiful liturgy, and a festive lunch with many visitors.

For our Recreation Day several of us spent an overnight at the Vajrapani Institute, a Tibetan Buddhist center in Boulder Creek. We were hosted by our friend the Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi, who has visited here several times and offered a much appreciated confer-ence to the brothers.

We joyfully welcomed Br. Ignatius home at the end of the month, his first visit since going off to school in Rome. He will be with us until early October.

JULYSpeaking of “Seeds of the Word”: July 1-3 we hosted a symposium entitled “Towards the Rebirth of Wisdom: A Christian Conversation,” based on the thought and writings of our late beloved Fr. Bruno. The symposium was organized by our oblates Nanette Walsh and Chris Morris, and featured such eminent scholars as Fr. Roger Haight, SJ and Dr. Richard Tarnas. We’ll have more to report on that in the next issue.

THE READING LISTWhat the monks are reading these days.

Fr. Zacchaeus: Where God Hides, Liam Lawton.

Fr. Cyprian: Embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World, Michael Washburn; The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man, Raimundo Panikkar.Fr. Isaiah: Quo Vadis? Henry Sienkiewicz; Gospel of John Commentary, Frederick Bruner.

Br. Joshua: A Relational Human Development Perspective on Benedictine Spirituality.

Fr. Robert: The Prayer of Jesus, A Monk of the Eastern Church; Prayer of the Heart, George Maloney.

Fr. Thomas: The Singing Neanderthals, Steven Mithen.

Br. Michael: Spiritual Maxims, John Nicholas Group.