Spending a Couple of Days at New Camaldoli Hermitage

I was able to spend a couple of days at New Camaldoli this week in Big Sur. It was wonderful and, though I have been an oblate with the Camaldolese (associated with Transfiguration Monastery in Windsor, NY) for almost sixteen years, I had never been to New Camaldoli before this week!! I had not really known what to expect. Benedictine hospitality is a value the Camaldolese of course practice, but while reading the comments on the place or I heard from others comments like, "the accommodations are basic", "clean sheets, but not sure how often they wash the blankets", "the food's not the greatest but better than at Vina (the Trappist place in No CA)", and "we were able to stay in one of the newly refurbished spaces. The older guesthouse is not (refurbished)!" From these and others I was a bit apprehensive and brought a few extra things with me (a couple of cans of chunky soup, a comforter, some packages of Easy Mac (Mac 'n Cheese) --- just in case).

I needn't have been concerned. The food was terrific, plentiful, and diverse. Pickup meals (breakfast and supper) were more than sufficient unless one had their heart set on eggs Benedict or something, and dinner (the noon or main meal of the day) was simply excellent. The guesthouse kitchen was open 24 hours a day and had cereals, yogurt, breads, peanut butter, jellies, honey, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milk, eggs, fruit, etc., always available in case of attacks of the munchies at odd hours. (I know because I was up in the middle of the night getting a peanut butter and banana sandwich and cold glass of milk). Some folks brought their own food from the trip before coming up the mountain and kept it in the refrigerator. Hand sanitizer and masks were provided in the entryway to any common area for those who were unvaccinated.

The rooms were more than basic --- though I suppose not if one is used to luxury. Each of these was clean and minimalist by design. Still, each had everything anyone might want in order to spend comfortable time in silence and solitude. (Unlike some hermit saints, I cannot pray well, and I especially can't journal, if I am cold -- hence the concern with having my own comforter.) There was a large desk in my room in front of a large set of windows with a straight-on view of a private patio area and a direct and awesome view of the ocean, which it overlooked. The patio area had a chair where one could sit in the sun and birdwatch, read, pray, or just check out the ocean; throughout the day this patio area (gravel with flower beds on either side) hosted any number of birds and small critters. (I wished I was more knowledgeable about the birds of the area!! I did see quail, and some kind of dove that nestled down in the gravel for a time.) A cupboard on the right-hand side of the desk held a slide-out surface with a tray holding a set of dishes for one, along with silverware, juice glass and coffee cup. A smaller cupboard on the left held a pitcher, a hotpot, an individual coffee holder with coffee filters for making drip coffee in one's own cup. (I was especially grateful for the hot pot. To be able to make tea or coffee in my own space without running even a short distance to the kitchen was a blessing.) In the desk drawer was a Bible and brief history of the Camaldolese (thanks to Thomas Matus, OSB Cam). 

There was no closet but there was a shelf with a set of pegs below for hanging clothes (perfect for my cowl, cap and veil, and jacket). The small dresser had three deep drawers for anything else. It also held a lamp and alarm clock (though the bells for office and Mass as well as preparatory bells for each of these are rung throughout the day). Next to the dresser was a combination glider-rocking chair. The bed had three drawers underneath it with extra blankets, a down comforter, extra pillow and pillowcase. The heater was powerful and above the heater was a shelf with a flashlight, umbrella and above that, though not used, a hatch for delivering food to the room most familiar to fans of the Carthusians and Camaldolese. (A friend had been to NCH when the monks delivered food to each guest room in this way. No longer!) Some, carrying food to their cells further away from the guest house, had tiffins --- the stacked steel containers also associated with the Carthusians and Camaldolese --- in fashion centuries before bento boxes!!! 

For me though, one thing that was wonderful was the opportunity to pray Office and celebrate Eucharist with the monks. I use the Camaldolese Office book ordinarily, so while there were a few chants I did not know (different versions of the Our Father, etc) most was already familiar. I still find the tempo and rhythm of praying with Camaldolese monks difficult (space is created in everything they do including liturgy); it takes a while to feel this much slower and spaced rhythm/tempo internally, but it serves both to slow one down and to quiet one's expression. As a woman I find singing with the guys is difficult because of pitch too. To sing right at their pitch is difficult and often too low to hit the note solidly, while singing up an octave makes one stand out and is often too high anyway --- more uncertainty of pitch!! Hesitancy and chant are not a good combination in any instance!! Still, since I do these chants alone at Stillsong, the chance to sing in choir with others was wonderful.

Silence was maintained throughout the place and the guests honored this as well (a real difference from other retreats I have been on). I had conversations with a couple of monks --- one who came after Lauds to introduce himself and meet me. (See corresponding picture, center front. That's the guy, er, monk!!) Our relatively brief conversation was delightful; he had a wonderful sense of humor! We spoke of chant ("why? (is it hard to sing with us) --- because we're so good??) --- said with a clear and ironic twinkle in his eyes, habits (he is the community tailor and checked out my cowl, felt the fabric, asked about the maker, etc.), bishops (what do I think of the Bishop of Oakland and the bishops who preceded him?), and oblature (you've been an oblate for sixteen years? And you've never been here before (not a question) -- why that's almost a sin!). Another sought me in the guesthouse with concerns that everything was okay and that I had what I needed. (He was actually looking for someone else who had had some problems with her car, but he still was entirely gracious to me once we figured out I was not the person he had sought.) These brief, spontaneous, and lovely kinds of encounters didn't intrude on the silence; they grew out of it and led back to it.

St Romuald receiving gift of tears

Simply spending time at a Camaldolese House was a powerful experience for me. I came away with a clearer sense of myself, especially my identity (as Camaldolese and a hermit); there were some shifting senses of my own gifts, strengths, and weaknesses (unconscious things were brought to consciousness and could be viewed in this new light), and a strengthened sense of the nature of certain relationships whose bonds are very deep and sustaining for me. I wrote in my journal at one point that sometimes we don't know how really close to another person we are until we go away. What I was thinking of here was that I had experienced a felt sense of these persons' presence, prayer, and love --- distant as we were geographically. I felt their presence even more clearly not only because they are part of my life ordinarily, but because of the depth of the bonds we share with one another. (These bonds are what allows one of these persons to say, "You came into my awareness," rather than, "I thought of you" the other day, for instance.) I had gone to NC Hermitage with the desire to experience the quality of the silence and solitude there. I was not disappointed. It is a living, breathing reality, grounded in and shot through with Presence --- of God, certainly, but of the monks and guests who have come here through the years as well. 

As I worked and prayed in my own cell I recognized how like being at home in Stillsong it was and how living in this space required no real transition for me. While that was not really surprising, it was still affirming. What I experienced is, I think, what happens when a solitary hermit and Camaldolese oblate comes to a house of Camaldolese hermit monks for the first time (or any time). I was at home and felt the gift of this place and all who also call this home even as I was aware that I brought the gift of my own eremitical life and Camaldolese self to this place as well. This is what real hospitality can bring and be. It is certainly what Camaldolese hospitality is about for both monks and guests.

Postscript: For those who wondered if I practice any asceticism at all and asked what I was doing up in the middle of the night raiding the kitchen (yes, I received snarky questions about this!), I was up getting something with potassium, calcium, and magnesium, to help balance and increase certain electrolytes. Enough said!!

Introduction to New Camaldoli Hermitage

The video here is an introduction to New Camaldoli Hermitage, the main house in the United States of the congregation with which I am affiliated as an oblate. While I am associated with a different house, I am, of course welcome at all Camaldolese Houses ands especially at New Camaldoli. In this video you will hear references to the "threefold good" or the "triplex bonum" just as you will hear Dom Cyprian Consiglio (prior) refer to the unique blend of solitude and community which is characteristic of the Camaldolese charism. Of course readers of this blog will recognize the former term from posts I have put up here, not least: Notes From Stillsong Hermitage: Camaldolese Triplex Bonum. Enjoy this brief portrait of New Camaldoli.

Father Cyprian Consiglio: New Prior for New Camaldoli

For the second time in less than two years New Camaldoli has a new Prior. It is with joy that the community announces the election of Father Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam to this ministry. He succeeds Fathers Robert Hale, Raniero Hoffman, and Bruno Barnhardt in this role. Most know Father Cyprian from his music. Some will recognize the name from his writing and blogging or from the workshops he does on prayer. From whatever direction your knowledge of Cyprian comes you will recognize him as an immensely spiritual and gifted individual and an amazing ambassador of the Camaldolese charism.


For those of you unfamiliar with his work as a musician (he is an amazing guitarist and composer) perhaps the following will give you a very small taste. Meanwhile, I highly recommend the book imaged to the right, Prayer in the Cave of the Heart, the Universal Call to Contemplation. In both his writing and music (and, of course, in his prayer) Cyprian draws from both Eastern and Western contemplative and mystical traditions; readers will find it both nourishing and challenging I think.


Dom Robert Hale decided to resign the position of Prior due to limitations associated with his age (76). He is happy to be "just a simple monk" again and notes that while some things may be more difficult these days he is able to pray more, and more easily. With Camaldolese monks, nuns, and oblates everywhere I offer him my own thanks for his service and generosity and extend my very best wishes and congratulations to Father Cyprian. New Camaldoli is entering a period of change marked by renewed and more extensive collaboration between Oblates and Monks; it will be challenging and I am sure Cyprian will find his gifts in serious demand.

Father Cyprian's installation as Prior will be held during the 11:00 a.m. Eucharist this Saturday, the 20th of July, followed by a simple festive lunch. All Oblates and friends of the community are invited.

Hermits, Blogs, Publicity, and the Dynamic of the Camaldolese "Triplex Bonum"

[[Dear Sister, it still seems to me to be a conflict for a hermit to have a blog. I appreciate that you have reconciled this in your own mind and I understand your diocese is comfortable with it, but isn't this 21st C development out of sync with the history of eremitical life in the Church? Now you are featured in an article in the Saturday Evening Post and it is clear from that article that others have the same questions I do. Not all of them are asking these because they are victims of [believing] stereotypes, are they?]]

Many thanks for these questions. They are significant and point directly at the tension or dynamic that is at the heart of my own life, the life of Camaldolese monks, nuns, and oblates, and I suspect, the life of any truly healthy hermit with a strong sense of the Gospel and their own place in the heart of the Church. I am going to answer all of your questions by referring to the Camaldolese charism and also to the history of Camaldolese life in the Church with special reference to both SS Romuald and Peter Damian. My own sense, and something I have written here and spoken about before on A Nun's Life (In Good Faith podcast), is that this specific charism is profoundly ancient and equally contemporary. It reprises the dynamic which is present for anyone exploring the nature of  --- much less justifying --- a life of "the silence of solitude," and which I personally find especially appropriate and empowering for the life of the diocesan hermit.

First, is this dynamic of an eremitical solitude which also reaches out to others to proclaim the Gospel of God in Christ and the redemptive nature of solitude (because that is what I am concerned with in this blog) out of sync with the history of eremitical life? My answer is no. I can point to three significant historical instances or paradigms of eremitical life here to justify that response: 1) the desert Fathers and Mothers, 2) the anchorites and especially the "urbani" of the medieval period, and 3) the Camaldolese (in particular the Benedictine Camaldolese) and their founders, especially SS Romuald, Peter Damian, and Paul Giustiniani (a Saint at least to the "Order"!). Each of these had a significant degree of interaction with the world around them and for each of them the notion of witness (sometimes called evangelization or martyrdom) was central.

Sister Donald Corcoran, OSB and Dom Robert Hale, OSB Cam

The desert Fathers and Mothers left a too-worldly expression of Church to live Gospel lives in nearby deserts. They were committed to a form of witness now called "white martyrdom" to replace the red martyrdom associated with the persecutions of early Christians. They lived lives of solitude rooted in Gospel values but did so on the margins of society. They modeled agrarian practices for their neighbors, bought and sold (mainly sold!) goods in local markets and are famous for the hospitality they embraced as a central value.  Anyone showing up on their doorstep was welcomed as Christ. They were fed, questions were answered, what we would today call spiritual direction was given, so that in example, word, and deed the Gospel was thus proclaimed and Church was lived out. Did they also live a significant solitude? Of course, but at the heart of their lives was their own negotiation of the very dynamic or tension my own life, for instance, attempts to negotiate and embody.


The medieval anchorites, also called "urbani" because they lived eremitical lives in the midst of towns, villages, and cities, mirror the same dynamic in a different way. Anchorites practice a stricter physical stability because they remained in a single small dwelling and were sometimes even walled into or locked within an anchorhold. However, such anchorholds which were adjacent to a church generally had a window opening onto the altar, another opening onto the main square of the village or city, and a third entrance or window through which food and other necessities could be passed back and forth by those who served the anchorite. Townspeople often stopped to talk with the anchorite; it was the medieval equivalent of a counselling or spiritual direction center. There was danger of abuse and distortion of the life in this, of course, and some Camaldolese writers and others wrote scathing pieces on those who abused the practice of converse with others. Still, the dynamic and the tension were present as an integral part of the life.

Finally there is the Benedictine Camaldolese model of eremitical life and the example of its founders. The Camaldolese live the charism referred to as "triplex bonum" or "the triple good", namely, solitude, communion, and evangelization or martyrdom (witness!). Thus, their lives include each of these in a dynamic tension and they have both monasteries and hermitages as a result. Further, there is a strong component of hospitality involved here while monks will travel and sometimes live apart from the monastery/hermitage in order to accomplish a particular ministry. It is not only that some monks live in monasteries and some live in hermitages. Rather what is true in the Camaldolese life is that, again, each monk or nun lives the dynamic of a solitude rooted in community and issuing in ministry or witness in various ways. (The Monte Corona Camaldolese differ in that they only have hermitages, but I would suggest the same dynamic is present.)

Dom Robert Hale, OSB Cam, assuming role as Prior

Saint Romuald is known for his extensive travels in order to reform monasticism, extend the Rule of Benedict to free-lance hermits, and proclaim the Gospel. His own eremitical identity is sometimes questioned as a result, but the Church does NOT question it, nor do the centuries of monks, nuns, and hermits who followed him as Camaldolese. It is significant that the single piece of writing we have from him is his "Brief Rule" which is probably the most paradigmatic Rule ever written for the eremitical life. In it two elements are especially prevalent: 1) the need to sit silently and patiently in one's cell waiting only on the Lord, and 2) the place of Scripture, especially as source of and impetus for the assiduous prayer of the solitary life. Again, the combination is a form of witness to the Gospel because the life (and ANY Christian life) demands it.

St Peter Damian's life was also not stereotypically or even typically eremitical. He was engaged throughout his life with the reform of the Church and religious life. He was a Cardinal, papal legate, theologian, spiritual director, hermit, writer, etc. He carried on an extensive correspondence with many people to address the needs of his day and there is hardly a pressing topic he did not address with astuteness and flexibility. (His view of the laity, by the way, is also startlingly contemporary for he believed profoundly in the spiritual equality of all, eschewed notions of a spiritual elite, and would have rejoiced at Vatican II's proclamation of "the universal call to holiness" or the council's affirmation of the laity's right and even obligation to criticize the hierarchy [cf Letter 10 to Emperor Henry III].) He struggled with the question of vocation: "Should I be a hermit or a preacher?" His "starting point" regarding either vocation was the Scriptural imperative of extending Christ's salvation to others. Damian was particularly critical of a solitude focused only on saving oneself.

This led directly to the dynamic tension every Christian and certainly every Camaldolese and every diocesan hermit knows well: how do I honor my call to solitude and also carry out my Baptismal commission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ? As a symptom of this tension and much as Thomas Merton anguished nine centuries later, Peter Damian struggled with his vocation as a writer which, because it was so profoundly engaged with the Church and  World on so many issues and levels seemed to threaten his life as hermit-monk; he once said (in a letter to the current Pope), "I would rather weep than write," and he was well aware that his own hermit and monastic life was not the norm. Even so, in the end we regard Peter Damian profoundly and sincerely as a hermit-monk for whom all else was an extension of that call.


So, to return more directly to your own questions, no I do not believe it is a conflict for me to also have a blog. I believe it reflects a well-established dynamic and imperative in the history of eremitical life, namely the dynamic of solitude-community-witness, and the imperative that one proclaims the Gospel so that others might be saved by God in Christ. I do try to make sure that I maintain what is called "custody of the cell" (where cell is both my hermitage, a life of essential solitude, and my own hermit heart). There would be no witness, indeed, no capacity for witness without this; further, it itself IS a witness to the Gospel!! But to be very honest, like Peter Damian, I believe that if eremitical life is not generally constituted or profoundly informed by this dynamic in some substantial way (and this is true even for the complete recluse!), it ceases to be Christian. Remember that before I  had read much about eremitical life, much less before I ever considered becoming a hermit, I thought that at best it was a selfish and wasteful way of life. I certainly could not regard it as truly Christian. It took some reading by hermits (not least, Thomas Merton) and of work on Camaldolese life to convince me otherwise. My reading (and living!!) has continued and I am more convinced than ever that authentic eremitical life involves the dynamic/tension mentioned above and embodied by the Camadolese as the charism or gift-quality defining their lives.

Congratulations to Father Robert Hale, OSB Camaldolese, new Prior

Congratulations are due Father Robert Hale. Dom Robert was elected to serve as the new Prior of the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur on January 20th. He will be installed on Wednesday, January 25th (Feast of the Conversion of St Paul). Dom Robert succeeds Father Raniero Hoffman in this role. He had also been Prior from 1988-1999 and was succeeded by Father Raniero in 2000. Fr Raniero chose not to stand for re-election at this time. Brother Bede Healey will serve as vice-prior. Unlike some congregations, the OSB Camaldolese do not have Abbots. For those oblates and friends of the hermitage who would like to attend the installation, you are welcome. Mass is at 11:00 am and there will be a simple lunch available afterwards.

Readers who would like an introduction to Dom Robert might take a look at his book, Love on a Mountain: The Chronicle Journal of a Camaldolese Monk. It provides a good look at the nature of this congregation and the way they live their lives. There is wisdom and wry humor, gentle criticism, astute insights on the roots of monastic life, and surprises all the way through for those whose notion of monks is rather stereotypical. However, what was most striking for me when I first read this book was how deeply rooted in Scripture is each day of these monks' lives, and how each life is one not merely of prayer, but is a kind of extended lectio. The lives of the Desert Fathers and Mothers is echoed throughout --- as well they should be! In an entry from this journal dated January 26th, Dom Robert cites Rilke. It is a passionate contemplative sentiment I (personally) believe he carries with him into Office:

Extinguish both my eyes: I see you still;
Slam about my ears: I can still hear you talking;
Without my mouth I can implore your will
And without feet towards you I keep walking.
Break off my arms: I shall still hold you tight;
My heart will yet embrace you all the same,
Suppress my heart: my brain knows no deterrent;
and if at last you set my brain aflame
I carry you still in my bloodstream's flow.

My gratitude to Father Raniero for his service over the past 12 years! Dom Raniero will spend some time travelling to various Camaldolese houses in India, Brazil, Tanzania, and Italy over the next six months. My own prayers are with Frs Robert, Raniero, Brother Bede and all of the Camaldolese family today and each day, but will especially accompany you on the 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul -- and my own feast day as well!

Big Sur Hermitage Safe and Monks return

Update, 27, October: The monks returned to New Camaldoli Hermitage on Saturday (October 25). At this time they expect that guests (even those just passing through and not staying overnight) will be allowed to come to the Hermitage next Friday (October 31, Halloween). Right now there is still a lot of heavy equipment on the Hermitage driveway that would make it difficult for guests to come in and for the firefighers to move the equipment around.

The Chalk Fire update posted on Inciweb this morning is apparently the last update that will be posted...that clearly means that the work is really limited to mopping up and catching a few small hotspots.

Update, 26 October: Sorry, no more recent new news about the Hermitage. However, in this case I am assuming no news is good news and that it means the projected reopening for this weekend came off without a hitch. I will be on retreat for this week (beginning this evening) and will be posting here on the blog, but I may not be in contact with others who can give me information. We'll see. Certainly if I hear anything contrary to the supposed good news I will post it here.



(23, October, 2008) More prayers are requested for the Big Sur Hermitage. The monks have evacuated but the latest news is the fire is closer to the hermitage than it has been in 50 years of fires, and is actually burning parts of the monks' property. The winds are uncertain and this adds to the danger. The fire had been almost completely contained (83%) but with the winds and change in humidity the story is different now.

A core group of monks remain at the monastery but it is uncertain how long that will be either. Others are at St Clare's retreat house in Soquel and several are at Incarnation Monastery in Berkeley. All are safe but concerned about the Hermitage.

Camaldolese Hermitage Evacuated: Chalk Fire

The following information on the evacuation of New Camaldoli Hermitage was posted on the Oblate list. The Chalk fire has been burning for some weeks, but the danger of evacuation became serious just recently. Please pray for the monks and the hermitage itself. Contributions would also be welcomed not only because the Hermitage was closed for part of the Summer due to another serious fire and evacuation and lost a great deal in ordinary and necessary revenue from retreatants, but because they will be closed to guests for another week or so now and again lose revenue.



[[New Camaldoli Hermitage was evacuated Friday 10/18 because of the threat posed by the increased activity of the Chalk Fire which has been burning south of the Hermitage since the end of September. While a week ago the fire seemed to almost entirely contained, on Thursday 10/16 the fire jumped some lines on the northern edge and hot spots were now detected in Limekiln State park located next to the Hermitage. Xasauan Today has the MODIS satellite image from Friday afternoon which anyone can view at http://xasauantoday.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/chalk10-17pm.jpg. The monks are staying at St. Clare’s Retreat House in Soquel, near Santa Cruz (where they stayed in July during the earlier evacuation).

The most recent message recorded by Fr. Isaiah, the guestmaster, indicates that the Hermitage will be closed to guests at least until the weekend of October 24-26, although he also said that it is quite possible the monks will still be evacuated at that time. He did state that the monks were optimistic that the structures at the Hermitage would be protected. Four monks have remained behind at the Hermitage to work with firefighters, as well as about a half dozen of the workers employed by the community. Gordon, who is at the Hermitage, sent the following to Big Sur Kate on Sunday morning (10/19) which she posted on her blog (bigsurkate.wordpress.com):

“There are four monks remaining and about six workers including my son who chose an interesting time to come visit from Seattle. We all have faith that the hermitage will remain intact. There is good dozer line protecting us. Depending on who you ask word is that they may do a backburn from the [?] but it is not clear at least to me if/when that will happen. From within the monastery grounds we can’t see the fire. It’s just over the E/NE edge of the bowl we live in.”

The Sunday evening update (8 pm PDT on 10/19) stated:

“The firing operation which started about noon today was successful. Crews started from the dozer line approximately 2 miles north of the New Camaldoli Hermitage and burned south along the dozer line. As of this afternoon the firing had almost reached the Hermitage. Crews will continue with the firing operation into this evening as long as there is still opportunity to burn. Crews supported by helicopters and air tankers worked to hold the ridge NW of Twin Peak parallel with the Carizzo Trail. In the Limekiln State Park area, the fire is backing down slowly.

Tonight crews will continue to hold and support the firing operations. Structure protection continues in Limeklin State Park and the Hermitage. Cool temperatures and good relative humidity with light winds should result in minimal perimeter growth. Along the coast, below 1,500 ft. the marine layer will continue to be temperatures cool and moist throughout the night.”

And Big Sur Kate (who lives on a ridge south of the Hermitage and has been providing amazing first hand information for the 24 days that the Chalk Fire has burned) wrote on her blog yesterday (Sunda 10/19)“I am no fire expert, by any means, but what I witnessed today, the burn-out operation north east of the Hermitage really looked good today.”]]