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Home , Crystal Silence, Henry Miller, Monastic silence, New Camaldoli Hermitage

FALL 2016

LISTEN! If we’re to “listen” as Saint Benedict urges, we must seek silence. And we must distinguish silence that leads to wholeness from silence that does not. In this issue, poetry, images, and articles—by Prior Cyprian, Pico Iyer, and Matt Fisher—encourage us to hear God’s voice and share God’s silence. page 2-7

IN THIS ISSUE 2 The Art of Stillness 4 But What Kind of Silence Are We Keeping? 6 Beautiful Noise 8 Towards The Rebirth of Wisdom: A Christian Conversation 9 Development 10 Further Thoughts on Silence and Stillness 11 Oblate Peer Mentor Program 1 2 Vita Monastica 13 Monastery of the Risen Christ 14 Incarnation Monastery 15 Late Arrival: A Retreat at New Camaldoli 16 Activities and Visitors

62475 Highway 1, , CA 93920 • 831 667 2456 • www.contemplation.com MESSAGE FROM THE PRIOR

Three Monasteries, One Community

“Though we are many, we are one body” (Romans 12:5)

Though we live in different locations, we more and more think of ourselves as one community stretched up and down the coast of . Up north, our Frs. Andrew and Arthur along with our Italian brother Ivan have a thriving ministry with our oblates at Incarnation in Berkeley. Br. Bede has moved up to be with them this fall as well.

Down south in San Luis Obispo, Frs. Ray and Stephen are about to make their solemn transfer from the Olivetan Benedictine Congregation to ours this coming January; so the Monastery of the Risen Christ, with THE ART OF STILLNESS our Fr. Daniel at the helm, will be an official Pico Iyer monastery very soon.

And of course Fr. Michael Fish continues in hermit-preacher-wanderer mode based Longtime essayist, novelist and travel writer Pico Iyer writes about his in the hills above Santa Cruz. New Camaldoli introduction to New Camaldoli and its gift of “thrumming, crystal feels more and more like a mother house silence” in his book The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere or, as one of our friends likes to say, “the (: TEDBooks, Simon & Schuster, 2014). Mothership.” At some point all the horizontal trips in the world cannot compen- sate for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unex- pected. Movement makes richest sense when set within a frame of stillness.

So I got into my car and followed a road along the California coast from my mother’s house, and then drove up an even narrower path to a Benedictine retreat house a friend had told me about. When I got out of my worn and dust-streaked white Plymouth Horizon, it was to step into a thrumming, crystal silence. And when I walked into the little room where I was to spend three nights, I couldn’t begin to remember any of the arguments I’d been thrash- ing out in my head on the way up, the phone calls that had seemed so urgent when I left home. Instead I was nowhere but in this room, with long windows looking out upon the sea.

A fox alighted on the splintered fence outside, and I couldn’t stop watching, transfixed. A deer began grazing just outside my window, and it felt like a small miracle stepping into my life. Bells tolled far above, and I thought I was listening to the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

I’d have laughed at such sentiments even a day before…But what I discovered, almost instantly, was that as soon as I was in one place, undistracted, the world lit up and I was as happy as when I forgot “Very soon, stepping into stillness about myself. Heaven is the place where you think of nowhere else. became my sustaining luxury.” ~ Pico Iyer 2 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage contemplation.com ~ 3 to change my life a little more. The year after I discov- ered what a transformation it would be to sit still, I moved to Japan for good—to a doll’s house apartment in which my wife and I have no car, no bicycle, no bed- room or TV I can understand. I still have to support my family and keep up with the world as a travel writer and journalist, but the freedom from distraction and complication means that every day, when I wake up, looks like a clear meadow with nothing ahead of me, stretching toward the mountains.

This isn’t everyone’s notion of delight; maybe you have to taste quite a few alternatives to see the point in stillness. But when friends ask me for suggestions about where to go on vacation, I’ll sometimes ask if they want to try Nowhere, especially if they don’t want to have to deal with visas and injections and long lines at the airport. One of the beauties of Nowhere is that you never know where you’ll end up when you head in its direction, and though the horizon is unlimited, you may have very little sense of what you’ll see along the way. The deeper blessing—as had so movingly shown me, in his life as a monk—is that it can get you as wide-awake, exhilarated, and pumping- It was a little like being called back to somewhere I hearted as when you are in love. knew, though I’d never seen the place before. As the monks would have told me—though I never asked them—finding what feels like real life, that change- less and inarguable something behind all our shifting thoughts, is less a discovery than a recollection. I was so moved that, before I left, I made a reserva- tion to come back, and then again, for two whole weeks. Very soon, stepping into stillness became my sustaining luxury. I couldn’t stay in the hermitage forever—I wasn’t good at settling down, and I’m not part of any spiritual order—but I did feel that spend- ing time in silence gave everything else in my days fresh value and excitement. It felt as if I was slipping out of my life and ascending a small hill from which I could make out a wider landscape.

It was also pure joy, often, in part because I was so fully in the room in which I sat, reading the words of every book as though I’d written them. The people I met in the retreat house—bankers and teachers and real estate salespeople—were all there for much the same reason I was, and so seemed to be my kin, as fellow travelers elsewhere did not. When I drove back into my day-to-day existence, I felt the liberation of not needing to take my thoughts, my ambitions—my self—so seriously.

This small taste of silence was so radical and so un- like most of what I normally felt that I decided to try

contemplation.com ~ 3 BUT WHAT KIND OF SILENCE ARE WE on silence. What relationship do they have to the KEEPING? Camaldolese charism—the “triple good”—of commu- nity, solitude, and mission? Matt Fisher, Oblate OSB Cam To all of us reading this newsletter, the quote from St. Matt, a member of the chemistry faculty at Saint Vincent Isaac of Syria mirrors our experience of time spent at College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, has been a Camaldolese the Hermitage. The silence we encounter there is oblate since 1998. He and his wife Bettie (also a chemistry welcoming, nurturing, and illuminating. That rich professor at Saint Vincent) live in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, silence allows us to take a step back from the busy- where they read and garden and cook when not grading ness of our lives, see things in a new way, and regain papers. For over 30 years Matt has studied and taught that sense of “God with and within us” (to use some the Japanese art of aikido, in which he holds the rank of of Fr. Raniero’s favorite words). 5th degree black belt. But that experience of silence in the midst of “golden “If you love truth, be a lover of silence. Silence, solitude” (as The Life of the Five Brothers puts it) is not like the sunlight, will illuminate you in God.” the only form of silence that many people encounter. ~ St Isaac of Syria There is another kind of silence that James Orbinski describes: one that kills. It is a life-denying silence that comes in many forms. Elsewhere in this newsletter, Fr. Cyprian describes other types of silence: passive-aggressive, fearful, lonely and despairing, not speaking in the face of evil.

Given the work of Doctors Without Borders, I am pretty sure that Orbinski was primarily thinking of silence in the face of evil, the silence about (for instance) “Silence has long been confused with neutrality, poverty, war, national security, neglected diseases and has been presented as a necessary condition among the global poor, refugees, acts of genocide. As for humanitarian action…We are not sure that I started working on this essay, I found myself thinking words can always save lives, but we know that about the mass shooting in Orlando and acts of silence can certainly kill.” terrorism in Istanbul and Nice. The death of Elie Wiesel in July reminded me of how challenging it can be to ~ Dr. James Orbinski, president of Medecins Sans speak in opposition to this deadly kind of silence. Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders, on accept- ing the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Over time, I’ve grown to appreciate that Orbinski’s organization. words are applicable beyond what he probably had in mind when he spoke them. Many of the forms of The above quotations offer two opposing perspectives silence described by Fr. Cyprian or Paul Goodman

4 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage

have the same outcome: something dies. “...There is the great and quiet water It is not necessarily a human life that ends: silence Reaching to Asia, and in an hour or so can also kill relationships and community. Fr. Robert The still stars will show over it but I am quieter wrote in one of his contributions to The Privilege Inside than even the ocean the stars.” of Love that “it all begins with love, and thus with koinonia, that is, with Christian community and ~ , from “Tamar” communion (the wonderful New Testament Greek term koinonia indicates all that). And it is this same love/communion that, when fulfilled, will be the heart of the kingdom. So koinonia and love are not two values alongside others. Understood in their depth, they converge, and are the ‘one thing neces- sary’ that enables all the rest for our Camaldolese, Benedictine, Christian, and human existence.”

When silence is toxic and life denying, it undermines and destroys that love.

I remember words spoken by Fr. Cyprian as part of his keynote talk at the 2014 Assembly where the focus was “the new evangelization” proposed by Pope John Paul II in 1990 as a way of “building a civilization of love.” In the course of his address, Fr. Cyprian explored the question of what monastics, particularly Camaldolese, bring to Christian mission. I go among trees and sit still. He pointed out that historically Camaldolese often All my stirring becomes quiet chose to go to the harshest lands. He suggested around me like circles on water. that we all—monks, oblates and friends—might be My tasks lie in their places called to “the places where nobody else wants to where I left them, asleep like cattle. go and to those to whom no one else knows how to speak.” ~ Wendell Berry, from “I Go Among Trees”

He also suggested that our contribution to mis- sion might be something that is rooted much more in silent presence than in words. “Sometimes it is more important for us to be Christ—in dialogue or in silence—than for us to preach Christ. Then like a contemplative community on a mountain or in the heart of the city, we become an evangelizing word, like yeast in the dough, like salt in the earth, like a seed that falls into the ground and dies and yet yields a rich harvest.”

I am left with a growing conviction that the more we can root ourselves in the life-giving silence of the Hermitage and the quiet places and times of our daily lives, the more we will be able to stand in the presence of toxic or life-denying silence and respond in a way—be it word or action—that is consonant with the primacy of love.

contemplation.com ~ 5 Silence is that Emptiness from which sound emerges as sound… The place of the pneuma, the spirit, is silence, not as a repressed or suffocated logos… Silence is empty, it has nothing to say— and when there is something to say out of silence the word is born.

~ Raimon Panikkar, The Rhythm of Being BEAUTIFUL NOISE Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam

People often say to us monks about our life here at There is a silence of ache, of loneliness, of grief, the Hermitage, “It must be nice to live with so much despair, abjection. The silence when there is nothing silence!” I usually respond by saying, “It takes about more to be said, when there are no more tears. As six months to get used to the silence, and then the Khaled Hosseini describes the character Sohrab in the real noise starts up—in your head.” marvelous The Kite Runner, there is “the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place, curled up Actually I’ve discovered that many people simply all the edges and tucked them under.” This is a kind of cannot bear the outward silence for more than a silence but not a silence that is full of God. few hours; they find it intimidating, deafening. They are (we all are) accustomed—we can even become wrote about another silence too, addicted—to a constant barrage of aural stimula- how silence, even especially monastic silence, can be tion. There is the ever-present din of every day life, complicit: a silence that does not speak in the face of the constant prattle of conversation and trivia, the evil. That is not a godly silence, but full of what John radio and TV, talk news shows, music, cell phones, Cassian calls a pernicious peace. So it is not enough podcasts… just to refrain from speaking.

So a very healthy but difficult first step is to stop all On the other hand, there is a kind of “noise” that is the aural stimulation, to clear ourselves out and not offensive to silence. One of my mentors, the allow us to think, to focus. composer and liturgist Lucien Deiss, used to say that “the quality of the music we make must be better But then what is the quality of our silence? There is than the quality of the silence we break.” One of my a silence which is passive-aggressive, isn’t there? The favorite album titles years ago was Neil Diamond’s silence of ignoring someone we are angry with, the Beautiful Noise. There is “beautiful noise,” sounds that silence of not wanting to face an uncomfortable are manifestations of the silence, sounds that are situation or relationship. That is not a holy silence; natural outgrowths of Divine Love having some incar- that is a silence full of bitterness or envy and even a national effect in our lives and in our world. kind of violence. That’s the absence of some noise, but it is not true silence. This of course is what the best music is—as when our friend Br. David Steindl-Rast calls Gregorian chant There is a silence of fear, of not wanting to interact “the music of silence,” for example. with the world. What I’ve learned from Indian music is to listen first,

6 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage heard there as “noise.” To me that was the sound of the people of God, and the sound of a commu- nity that had offered me hospitality, friendship and a comfortable place to come home to. That kind of loving sound fed my interior silence, like the crack- ling of a fire in the fireplace. In our Camaldolese congregation in Rome there was a recluse nun, Sister Nazarena of Jesus (1907-1990) whom I thought of often when I was in my room at the church. She lived on the second floor of the monastery right off a bustling Roman street, and never, they say, never once complained about the noise.

Silence is not simply the absence of noise. True silence is stillness of a soul filled with the fullness of God.

Contemplative wisdom tells us that the way to rid ourselves of unhealthy desires, sinful tendencies, disordered passions and compulsions, sins and sicknesses, is to fill ourselves with God. A mantra or a simple prayer word in is like that, a before one plays or sings, to what is called the anaha- token of our loving longing for God and of God’s ta nada, the “unstruck sound,” the sound of the Om, loving longing for us. We don’t simply empty our- the sound of the Word manifesting as the Universe, selves; we are filled as well. and let that be the shruti, the drone note that under- lies the music we make. When we empty ourselves of all that is not godly, we let ourselves be filled with God, like pouring clean Robert Jonas, the shakuhachi flute player, told me rainwater into a stagnant barrel. Eventually our nama japa once about a certain type of Zen music which has prayer word, our mantra, or the holy that notes but no real melody. The notes merely point to we use to lead us to pure prayer is like that rain the silence between the notes; it’s music that leads to water, rinsing out all that is not God—but at the and grows from the silence. And even the sounds same time filling us with the living water of the Spirit. in the room during those quiet periods in the middle of the performance are considered to be part of the Two of my favorite descriptions of Jesus are from kenosis piece. It’s like the sounds of nature: crickets and birds St Paul. The hymn in the letter to the Philip- and frogs are not breaking the silence any more than pians (2:5-7) describes Jesus’ self-emptying—but jasmine is offending the air by filling it with sweetness. then, Paul tells us in the letter to the Colossians (Would that our speech were like that!) (1:19), because of that emptiness the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Jesus. And, by the way, we have come to fullness in him Sometimes when I am in the right space spiritually . And John says too in his with grace and and emotionally even the beautiful noise of the city gospel (1: 14-16) that Jesus was filled truth, and from that fullness we have all received, grace can become like a shruti underlying my prayer and upon grace meditation. . This is our hope too: that in our silence we would be filled by the Godhead. When I lived at the rectory of Holy Cross Parish my first months in Santa Cruz, my bedroom at the Ruth Burrows wrote that “our nature is to be all church looked right out over the area next to the aspiration, a leaping upwards toward a fullness of church. There was almost always at least a little bit life in God; it is to be a purity able to reflect the of people-traffic there during the day, maintenance beauty of God, an emptiness to receive plenitude.” people, musicians sometimes, school kids going by, I believe this describes our silence too—it is an homeless folks using the public restrooms. Someone aspiration, a leap toward the fullness of life in God, once said to me sympathetically, “It must be so noisy a purity able to resound with the beautiful noise of in your room!” But I couldn’t consider the sounds I God’s Word, an emptiness to receive plenitude.

Contemplation.com ~ 7 TOWARDS THE REBIRTH OF WISDOM: A CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION

After the final no there comes a yes, Chris and Nanette prefaced each session with a And on that yes the future of the world depends. personal reflection on Bruno’s thought about that ~ Wallace Stevens, “The Well Dressed Man particular movement and with their own riveting with a Beard” video-interview with Bruno on the subject. And then what followed were two different forms of response Theologians, philosophers, and contemplatives to Bruno’s thought at each “turn.” On one hand, one gathered at the Hermitage last July 4th weekend to (or sometimes two) of the presenters delivered a explore and develop dimensions of a new wisdom formal academic paper drawing out further pos- Christianity in the light of the work of Fr. Bruno sibilities, raising questions, taking stock, challeng- Barnhart. The conference was originally scheduled ing, affirming, and always looking forward, too. But for Union Theological Seminary in in addition there were “wisdom sharings” in which additional information about the open house will presenters responded personally and artistically to appear in the winter issue anticipating Bruno’s active themes implicit in each “turn.” This was particularly participation, and it was inspired primarily by Bruno’s appropriate because as Nanette and Chris point out, last publication, The Future of Wisdom: Toward a “For Bruno, wisdom is more than academic.” Rebirth of Sapiential Christianity (which is soon to be back in print). However, as Bruno’s health declined, The symposium was filmed, and plans are afoot to New Camaldoli generously brought the conference make both the filmed conference and the presented back to the Hermitage itself, and then when Bruno papers available on the Hermitage website in the passed last November, the conference proceeded at future. The weekend was rich with “next step” consid- the Hermitage in Bruno’s honor. erations. It marked both an end and a beginning. On one hand, Bruno’s passing felt like the end of an era Oblates Chris Morris and Nanette Walsh, both of to participants, and yet, as Bruno appreciated more whom knew Bruno very well and worked with him keenly than most, “as seeds fall into the ground” new closely, organized the symposium. Their love and life springs forth. Bruno so often emphasized that the appreciation for Bruno and for the ongoing impor- Christ event is “the birth of newness into the world.” tance of Bruno’s work shone throughout the week- His genius was to stay close to this “Big Bang” and to end. Chris and Nanette invited six main presenters: reveal it to us as a profound gift. And so the sympo- Dr. Christopher Pramuk, Dr. Joseph Prabhu, Dr. Julia sium felt like yet another beginning of wisdom—with Prinz, Bishop Marc Andrus, Dr. Richard Tarnas, and much more to follow. Dr. Roger Haight. Together with other invited participants, the conference comprised a gathering of twenty-five individuals dynamically engaged in this question of “the rebirth of wisdom.”

The conference was organized around the four movements that Bruno suggests himself in The Future of Wisdom…

1. “The Sapiential Awakening” (the recovery of the ba- sic perspective that Christian wisdom is participative).

2. “The Eastern Turn” (a re-centering of spirituality and theology in terms of unity or non-duality).

3. “The Western (Modern) Turn” (an integration of the dynamic and creative elements of Christianity).

4. “The Global (Postmodern) Turn” (our active participation in the movement towards one world: a united humanity aware of its communion with earth and cosmos).

8 ~ contemplation.com FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE The Hermitage opened its doors to evacuees, including myself, anddisplaced tourists who were not able to ac- Jill Gisselere cess the highway or their original destintion due to the many road closures. Much has happened here since our summer newsletter. We are saddened to learn of the loss of our friends’ homes due to the fire and have included them in our The Annual Assembly and Retreat in San Juan daily prayers. Bautista July 18-21, attended by more than 40 oblates and friends of the Hermitage, was well Thank you to everyone who reached out to the monks received. The keynote speaker. Sr. Donald Corcoran, and the Hermitage to inquire about the fires and lend OSB presented on “Sacred Humanitas.” The next support during this difficult time. annual Assembly and Retreat will again be at St. Francis Retreat in San Juan Bautista August 18-20, The “Monks Inside Out” October 19 at the 2017 so mark your calendars and stay tuned for Memorial Library was a wonderful success. A portion additional details. of the proceeds to this event have been donated to the fire relief efforts in Big Sur. Just a few days after the Assembly, our community was devastated by the news of the which was started on July 21 in the Soberanes water- shed near Palo Colorado Canyon (approximately 30 miles north of the Hermitage) by an unattended campfire. Within 24 hours, residents of the canyon and surrounding areas were evacuated as the fire spread at a rapid pace, destroying nearly 60 homes and currently 132,000 acres of beautiful forest.

The community hosted their 2nd Annual Fall Open House at the Hermitage on Sunday, November 6, 2016 which featured a wine and cheese reception with the monks and a musical performance by Fr. Cyprian. Over 80 people attended. Additional information about the open house will appear in the winter issue.

Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the annual summer Wish List. To date we Over 5000 firefighters from other counties and states have raised over $30,000 which will directly fund the as well as the National Guard moved into the local following three very important areas of need: staff state parks to set up camp and fight the fire which housing, Fr. Bruno’s Memorial Fund, and the continues to burn (although at the time I write this Hermitage Scholarship Fund. the fire has now reached 96% containment). The Governor of California declared the area a state of The community greatly appreciates your continued emergency soon after the fire started, providing support and generosity. If you would like information much needed support to residents and evacuees. about any of our upcoming events or about how you can support the Hermitage, please contact me at Although the fire has stayed a safe distance from [email protected], or 831-667-2456 x114. the Hermitage, it has had a powerful effect on our community.

Contemplation.com ~ 9 FOR OBLATES AND FRIENDS: THOUGHTS Scripture tells us of Elijah at the mouth of the cave, ON SILENCE AND STILLNESS awaiting God’s voice. “There was a great wind, split- ting mountains and breaking rocks…but the Lord Fr. Robert Hale, OSB Cam was not in the wind…” And then a fierce earthquake, then a fire, but the Lord was not in these. Where One of the things that unites was God speaking? “And after the fire, a sound of our oblates, friends, and sheer silence” (1 Kings 19:12f). After all the turbu- monks is a love of silence lence, God was in that silence, that stillness. Biblical and stillness, which offer a scholars note that this passage indicates a significant precious “clmate” and “place” deepening of Israel’s awareness of how God speaks into which one can withdraw with us—not just in dramatic natural or historical at times throughout the events or emphatic texts or speeches or feelings, but day. Finding such islands of also in deep stillness. silence can be difficult for people “out there” juggling And thus the contemplative dimension of Camal- the demands of family and work, etc. (On the other dolese monastic and oblate life. We want to seek in hand, someone “in the world” who lives alone might our lives space for living Christian love with others, enjoy more quiet, silence and solitude than we in worship and conversation and ministry. We can monks sometimes seem to have available!) and do meet God in all these, but also in quiet times apart, in the stillness of our hearts. There is a rich section on “Silence and Solitude” in our basic resource for oblates and friends, The Privilege This dynamic was mirrored in July at our annual of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. There are assembly for oblates and friends at the St. Francis also references throughout the book to the signifi- Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista. Everyone cance and practice of silence, for instance in the enjoyed the lovely setting and warm Franciscan chapters on the Camaldolese oblate program, on hospitality (the Hermitage hasn’t guest space for such liturgy, on the threefold good, on koinonia (see the a number). There was morning and evening prayer, index in the back under “silence”). Eucharist, much conversation—and also free time was offered for silence and stillness in God: a model And our oblate Rule has a fine section on “Silence for the prayerful rhythm of our daily lives. and Solitude” (p. 10). It notes that “silence and solitude have a privileged place in the Camaldolese Benedictine tradition. The encounter with God in “Not speaking and speaking are both human silence and solitude is distinctive of our tradition… ways of being in the world, and there are While this might remain hard to duplicate precisely, kinds and grades of each. There is the dumb oblates should nevertheless cherish such silence silence of slumber or apathy; the sober silence and solitude, seeking creative ways of finding them in that goes with a solemn animal face; the fer- their daily lives.” tile silence of awareness, pasturing the soul, whence emerge new thoughts; the alive si- Silence of course is not an end in itself or even lence of alert perception, ready to say, “This… intrinsically good. At times helpful and kind conversa- this…”; the musical silence that accompanies tion may be called for: if one remains mute in such absorbed activity; the silence of listening to moments, silence can be cruel. The Camaldolese key another speak, catching the drift and helping principle of “the primacy of love” wants to guide us him be clear; the noisy silence of resentment as we negotiate the daily opportunities of loving talk and self-recrimination, loud and subvocal with others and loving silence with God. speech but sullen to say it; baffled silence; the And in our living the first great commandmen that is silence of peaceful accord with other persons of love of God, we want to remember that God speaks or communion with the cosmos.” to us in many ways: through Scripture, through others, through events, through nature. But a particularly ~ Paul Goodman (1911-1972), American poet, profound way that God communes with us is in deep scholar, psychiatrist, from Speaking and Lan- stillness. There is the wonderful invitation in the guage: Defense of Poetry (Random House 1972) Psalms, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). 10 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage OBLATE PEER MENTOR PROGRAM be devoted to lectio divina, another could help explain liturgy, and a third might be focused on meditation Paula Huston, Oblate OSB Cam and prayer); (2) through creating the conditions for a trusting relationship with a peer who has been living Paula Huston is an oblate and a writer. Her most recent the oblate life for some time; and (3) through at times book is One Ordinary Sunday: a Meditation on the offering sessions specifically designed for those in Mystery of the Mass. oblate formation.

It’s official: our long-anticipated oblate peer mentor We want to emphasize that participation in this program is now up and running. Conceived as a way program is completely voluntary. In the spirit of to help the oblate chaplains of our three California Camaldoli, our remarkably diverse oblate community monasteries minister to would-be oblates during honors the individuality of each its members. We are their postulant year, the program offers experienced aware that many postulants will prefer to work on oblate mentors for both postulants and those who their own or to direct their questions to one of the have already made their oblature but would like oblate chaplains rather than a peer mentor. The good more formation with the help of a peer guide. The news is that those who feel the need for a guide who thirteen mentors selected by Fr. Cyprian, Fr. Robert, has personally lived the oblate life can now find one. and Br. Bede were chosen from different parts of the country in the hope that even those who live far from How do you initiate your request? Simply email one any of the monasteries might have a resource closer of the program co-directors (Mike Mullard at mike- to home. The mentor group will be meeting every [email protected] or myself, Paula Huston, at paula- six months at the Hermitage for ongoing formation [email protected]) or Fr. Robert at CHermitage@ regarding the Rule of St. Benedict, the Brief Rule of contemplation.com, and we will contact a mentor for St. Romuald of Ravenna, and Camaldolese history you, who will then get in touch. Once you have made and spirituality. the connection, the two of you are free to set up your own plan for the coming year. If you are already a Mentors from the Southern California area are Mike professed oblate but feel that a mentor could help Mullard, Helena Chan, and Valerie Sinkus. Represent- you go deeper into Camaldolese spirituality and ing the Bay area are Marty Badgett, Bill McLennon, practice, don’t hesitate to ask. We will do our best to Julian Washio-Collette, Lisa Washio-Collette, Jackie find you a peer guide. Chew, and Andrea Seitz. I’m based in the Central Coast region, while Lisa Benner from Arizona will help In addition, we are currently compiling a list of oblates out with postulants from the Southwest. Matt Fisher, who are professed spiritual directors. Since all oblates who lives near Pittsburgh, is available to people in the are urged to get direction, and it is often difficult to Midwest, and Hunter Lillis from Virginia will represent find someone who can help, we are hoping this list will the East Coast. Co-directors of the program are Mike aid in the search. That resource should be available Mullard and Paula Huston, and oblate chaplains are soon. Please let one of the co-directors or Fr. Robert Fr. Robert Hale (New Camaldoli), Fr. Andrew Conalghi know if you are interested. (Incarnation Monastery), and Fr. Steve Coffey (Monastery of the Risen Christ). Fr. Daniel Manger will continue Finally, we will keep you informed of any postulant to serve as long-distance chaplain for oblates from formation sessions beings offered at any of the three New Zealand and Australia. monasteries. Plans are already underway for a series that Fr. Steve Coffey and I will teach at the Monastery What do we hope to accomplish with this new pro- of the Risen Christ in San Luis Obispo on the second gram? We would like to provide resources above and Saturday of each month between January and April beyond the already rich online offerings and reading 2017. Details are forthcoming. lists in place for those who are new to Camaldolese spirituality and the long tradition it represents. We Questions? Please contact Fr. Robert, Mike Mullard, plan to do this in several different ways: (1) through or myself, Paula Huston, at the addresses above. creating theme-based study guides that can give both postulant and mentor a structure on which to build a formation year (for example, one guide might

contemplation.com ~ 11 FROM THE PAGES OF VITA MONASTICA concretely present, and I am present to it. This experimental knowing can come through the exter- Fr. Cipriano Vagaggini, OSB Cam nal senses; it can also come through the mind, by Translation and introduction by Fr. Thomas Matus, OSB Cam way of intellectual intuition. Both ways of knowing— sense experience and intuitive understanding— Fr. Cipriano Vagaggini, OSB Cam was one of the great converge as a vital function of our psyche, which theologians of the twentieth century. He served as perceives both with a feeling of global, vital perception. peritus (theological advisor) at all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. In the U.S. he was known for “Remember that, in reality, this knowing by experi- his writings on liturgy, which fed into the council ence also takes place on a spiritual level through the documents and into the Mass itself. He is the author intuitive function of the intellect. An intuition is not of the third Eucharistic Prayer. Yet he did not write only the same as an abstract concept, whether this comes about “liturgical theology” (which he preferred to call by simple apprehension or by a line of reasoning. “theological liturgy”): his ultimate focus was on the Imagine that you are trying to think abstractly about mystical life of believers. something or you are listening to someone who is speaking in abstract terms. While this is happening, Here and in future issues of our newsletter, you will be in the back of your mind, in a more or less hidden able to get a taste of his thoughts on this theme. part of your psyche, you are aware of your own spirit. You see it obliquely, like something seen out of the Connaturality and Christian Mystical Experience corner of the eye. This is an experience of your own self.” Everyone knows that the concept of , seen as a special kind of religious experience, has raised [to be continued next issue] questions. Maybe it would be worth the effort to take a new look at these questions by clarifying what we mean by ‘experience’ in general and what we mean by our religious experience as Christians.

What is experience? It is a specific way of knowing “Both ways of knowing—sense experience something. This way of knowing is a function of and intuitive understanding—converge as our body and mind. We can frame the question by a vital function of our psyche, which per- analyzing human life on different levels: our bodily ceives both with a feeling of global, vital functions, our appetites of senses and will, and our perception.” ways of knowing. Knowing is a function of senses and ~ Cipriano Vagaggini imagination on the one hand and of the intellect on the other. Our intellect knows in various ways. First, we grasp reality intuitively as a whole. Second, we have simple concepts, like that of a triangle, of a living creature, or of our own existence. Third, we reason about things and develop abstract concepts of them. How can we describe these different ways of knowing without mixing them up or totally separating them? They are part of our vital functions, but we need to understand how they work together and influence each other. Here is where we need to look in order to analyze our concept of experience or experimental knowing.…

“We know something by experience when it is present to our senses or to our mind, or to both at the same time. This is different from imagining a thing or reasoning about it. The thing is present to me, here and now, a single, concrete reality that is

12 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage MONASTERY OF THE RISEN CHRIST Father Ray continues to host his charismatic renewal prayer group on Wednesday evenings. Fr. Daniel Manger, OSB Cam

Father Daniel gave presentations to the Catholic Our small but active community has had an eventful Daughters of America in San Luis Obispo and gave summer. We welcomed guests and hosted several lectures at the Abbot David School of Spiritual small groups, including Prior General Alessandro Direction at the Mary & Joseph Retreat Center in Barban and Father Mario Zonate from Italy, who Palos Verdes. affirmed our work in establishing the Camaldolese charism here in San Luis Obispo. A statue of St. Kateri now graces the lower meadow of the monastic property near the Resurrection Walk One Sunday in August, the Boy Scouts from Labyrinth, Way of the Cross, and Celtic high cross. Bakersfield who were participating in the Ad Alta Dei The statue of this first indigenous saint will honor the religious program,joined us for Eucharist. Father many indigenous ancestors who once camped and Stephen gave them a presentation afterwards, and lived in the beautiful Irish Valley where the monas- they enjoyed a picnic on the property with their tery now stands. This completes the meditation area families and sponsors. project that the community began a year ago. We now look forward to a new project : landscaping this We also hosted a book-signing with our oblate Paula meditation area, hopefully by planting olive trees next Huston who spoke about her new book One Ordinary Spring. We thank Mike Houston and other friends for Sunday: a Meditation on the Mystery of the Mass and this work! Prior Cyprian who spoke about his book Spirit, Soul, Body: Toward an Integral Christian Spirituality. The We also thank Tyler Dersom who took the photo of event was very well attended. from the new trail on our property. While pursuing contemplative meditation here with the community Prior Cyprian also gave two presentations to our and helping out on the property, Tyler is also continu- oblates which were also well-received. Such ing his ministry to the homeless and to orphans. He sessions continue to inform and strengthen our was also able to open up yet a third walking path on oblate community. Complementing these sessions, the upper part of our property which has another we have completed the development of our oblate wonderful view for guests to enjoy. resource library and media area for oblates’ use. Some great book donations by Marc Dauphine and Valerie Sinkus will greatly enrich our oblates in their ongoing formation.

Father Stephen has been busy these past months leading retreats. He presented…

- at Mt. Angel in Oregon at Mt. Angel to the Benedictine sisters there on the theme of “Personified Wisdom in the Rule of St. Benedict”

- at Three Rivers Retreat on “Teresa of Avila’s Way of Perfection”

- at Mary and Joseph Retreat Center in Palos Verdes on “Woman Singing Mercy” based on reflections on the Year Of Mercy declared by Pope Francis; and… View of the monastery from our new trail. - at St. Andrew’s Abbey on the theme of Incarnational Spirituality.

contemplation.com ~ 13 INCARNATION MONASTERY Br. Ivan Nicoletto, OSB Cam The quarterly newsletter is published by the Camaldolese Hermits of America for our friends, As usual, the quiet stream of summer life in Berkeley oblates and sponsors. gradually intensifies and becomes an effervescent torrent as students pour into the city and the Director: Father Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam campus for the new academic year. Editor: Deborah Smith Douglas, Oblate, OSB Cam Associate Editor: Chris Lorenc, Oblate, OSB Cam No surprise that life at Incarnation is also affected Assistant Editors: Karen Cangialosi, Aaron Maniam, by this atmospheric change! and Christopher Chok Design: Debi Lorenc Since September 4 we have been enriched by the Development: Jill Gisselere presence of Br. Bede Healey, who will strengthen our community and presence here at Berkeley: we Photo credits: wish him a healthy, fecund, and blessed journey. Debi Lorenc (cover, p. 2-7, 10, 12, 16) Tyler Dersom (p. 13) A silent contemplative retreat on August 27 Kayleigh Meyers (p. 9) inaugurated what will be a full calendar for upcoming months. Please see our Incarnation website for our If you have questions or comments, please contact schedule of retreats and events. Jill Gisselere. http://incarnationmonastery.com [email protected] New Camaldoli Hermitage Each of us are offering ministry in different parts 62475 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920 of the Bay Area: Santa Sabina, School for Applied Theology, and others. Visit us at www.contemplation.com and “New Camaldoli Hermitage” on FaceBook. We are excited for the preparation of a meeting with oblates on November 5 to be held at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. It will be an opportunity to reflect together on the Camaldolese charism and on our mutual bond and commitment to one another. DID YOU KNOW? In these months we will be hosting five long-term guests in our guest-house, each in different ways New Camaldoli Hermitage also has a Facebook page engaged with studies. Our other three rooms remain where a variety of things are posted on a regular available for short-term guests. basis: links to Fr. Cyprian’s homilies, recent news from the community, short passages from a variety of Throughout the fall we will continue our prayer and spiritual works, reflections on the Sunday Gospel and solidarity with people who are suffering: for instance major feasts observed at the Hermitage. We invite with the numerous homeless in the Bay Area and you to explore what can be found there. You can find with those affected by impending drought and other the page in one of two ways: clicking on the Facebook difficulties. All of which are challenges that call us to icon found at the top of the New Camaldoli website change our own lifestyles. And we will continue or searching for “New Camaldoli Hermitage” on Face- praying for wisdom, for the coming political election, book and clicking on the page with the photo of the and for unity and inclusion. Hermitage sign.

14 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage LATE ARRIVAL: A RETREAT AT NEW I realized I was hungry but didn’t know where or if any CAMALDOLI food would be available. No one was in sight. I located my room at Scholastica and noticed that the notebook Monica Choi on the desk contained helpful information including the location of a container to transport food from the As first-time retreatant Monica Choi discovered, sometimes kitchen. But I had no idea where to find the kitchen. I even our first taste of a monastic retreat can be a gift that picked up a flashlight and started walking, passing the endures—a “gentle healing,” an abiding quietness of heart bookstore and chapel. Soon I found that will see us all the way home. myself in front of the guesthouse kitchen door where deliciously prepared food was waiting for me.

I had the sense that I was being guided and everything was happening as it should. Throughout my stay, every need I had was somehow gently addressed without any words spoken or requests made. I felt calm and cared for without any agenda or plans. Everything was quiet and peaceful. Occasionally I would pass some- one along the road or trail and exchange a smile. I had a peaceful sense of being watched over, feeling some- one was looking out for me.

I walked, I rested, I meditated, I read. I learned about For my 77th birthday this year, my daughter the monks and their Camaldolese founder, Saint surprised and delighted me by informing me while Romuald. I participated in the Eucharist and other I was visiting her in California that she had arranged services. a gift for me of a three-day retreat at New Camaldoli Hermitage. For many years I had wanted to stay in While talking with Father Zach in the bookstore, I Big Sur. Over the years—reading the work of Joseph timidly arranged for Reconciliation. He encouraged me Campbell, hearing about Esalen, remembering a by remarking it was good sometimes to go beyond our brief long ago day-trip to with a friend, and comfort level. He was right. It was a gentle and healing reading an essay about New Camaldoli by Pico Iyer— experience. I had hoped someday to make a visit. But how this was to happen I couldn’t foresee since I live in Father Zach helped me select a copy of one of Father Philadelphia and am responsible for my husband’s Arthur Poulin’s paintings, “A Morning Prayer,” which health care. now hangs in my entryway at home. One day in the bookstore I looked at the man waiting in line behind Many things converged to ready me for this experi- me and recognized from pictures I had seen that it ence: my Catholic roots, beginning with infant was Pico Iyer. I have long been a fan of his writing and Baptism and Confirmation in the Ukranian Church, felt honored to be in his presence and spend a few and a lifelong attraction to spiritual endeavors moments talking with him. Another totally unexpected ncluding Eastern spirituality, the practice of yoga, and memorable gift of my time there. meditation, vision quest, Al Anon meetings and most recently, centering prayer. I now believe that anyone who visits the Hermitage will do so in their own right time and in their own unique My daughter arranged for a car and driver to take way and will have their own memorable experiences. me to New Camaldoli. It was a rainy day. Just as we When I left I took with me the sense of being watched approached Big Sur, we passed through a wondrous over and knowing that all is well as I go about my life. full rainbow which was touching the ground. As we climbed the road leading to the Hermitage, the sun I am immensely grateful that I had time in such a was setting over the ocean; the evening sky was glorious place among the prayerful Camaldolese luminous. It was heavenly. monks who have made it their life work to provide a heavenly setting and the opportunity for personal I arrived late at the Hermitage; dusk was approaching. retreats and spiritual refreshment.

contemplation.com ~ 15 ACTIVITIES AND VISITORS OCTOBER Frs. Robert and Isaiah attended the diocesan AUGUST jubilarians’ celebration. Brs. Benedict and Michael The main event in August was the outbreak of the both made family visits to Philadelphia and New Soberanes Fire, which started July 22 and continued Jersey, respectively. Cyprian returned from his round- to burn through September, eventually consuming the-world trip on the October 10 and Isaac went to over 132,000 acres of Big Sur and the Los Padres spend time with his family. Br. Emmanuel turned 89 Forest. It forced the evacuation of some of our friends on the October 14. On that same day we were visited on the coast and destroyed the homes of 53 families, by students of the World Religions class of Mount including the home of our oblates Chris and Debi Madonna School. Isaac’s niece Kayleigh Meyers Lorenc (who also serve on the editorial team of this had an exhibition of her university graduation newsletter). Full containment didn’t happen until photography project, “Monks Inside Out,” at the October 12. Henry Miller Library in Big Sur with several monks attending. We held our second training weekend for our Oblate Peer Mentors October 21-3. And Br. Joshua had time with his family at the end of the month as well. THE READING LIST

What are the monks reading now? Fr. Robert Hale: Gregory Collins, OSB, Meeting Christ in His Mysteries: A Benedictine Vision of the Spiritual Life. Br. Timothy Jolley: Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing. Sarah Bakewell, How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in Soberanes Fire One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer. Also Fr. Raniero made a trip back to Baltimore for Fr. Cyprian Consiglio: Amitav Ghosh, River of Smoke. soft shell crabs… and to visit his family. Br. James Raimon Panikkar, The Rhythm of Being. returned to Southern California for a family wedding Fr. Isaiah Teichert: Francisco Palou, The Life and Apos- and then began theological studies at the Franciscan tolic Labors of the Venerable Junipero Serra. W. Somerset School of Theology in Oceanside. We welcomed Br. Maugham, The Painted Veil. Paula Huston, One Ordinary Bernard Marra, formerly of St. Anselm’s Abbey in Sunday: a Meditation on the Mystery of the Mass. Washington DC, to begin a probationary period as a claustral oblate. Br. Bede Healey: W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge. SEPTEMBER Fr. Cyprian began a mini-sabbatical/working vaca- tion, first to Rome for the Congress of Abbots, then on to New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia offering retreats for our oblates and the World Community for . Br. Bede transferred semi- permanently to Incarnation Monastery in Berkeley, and Br. Isaac went to spend some weeks living with our brothers at the Monastery of the Risen Christ in San Luis Obispo. Brs. Gabriel and Michael attended the Southern California Renewal Communities (SCRC) Conference in Anaheim. Fr. Zacchaeus joined a pilgrimage to Ireland led by our oblate Amber Sum- erall. Br. Ignatius headed back overseas to visit with his sister in England and then on to Rome to begin his second year of theology. The monks spent their recreation day at the Bargetto Winery in Capitola. 16 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage