I’ll be away from home for a few days, in a secular setting…with
some good Catholics, but in a secular setting nonetheless – no chapel, no
solitude. I’m a bit apprehensive about it because I haven’t done a trip like
this in years.
Still, the “hermitage of my heart” should be with me always,
and I hope to be able to retreat into it at times. Sometimes I think I am too
dependent on my physical surroundings when it comes to my prayer times.
On the other hand, writing in praise of the life of solitude[1], the
Carthusian monk Guigo, Fifth Prior of
the Grande Chartreuse said
…in the Old Testament, and
still more so in the New, almost all of God's secrets of major importance and
hidden meaning were revealed to His servants, not in the turbulence of the
crowd but in the silence of solitude; and you know, too, that these same
servants of God, when they wished to penetrate more profoundly some spiritual
truth, or to pray with greater freedom, or to become a stranger to things
earthly in an ardent elevation of the soul, nearly always fled the hindrance of
the multitude for the benefits of solitude.
Thus — to illustrate by some
examples — when seeking a place for meditation, Isaac went out to a field alone
(Genesis 24:63); and this, one may assume, was his normal practice, and not an
isolated incident. Likewise, it was when Jacob was alone, having dispatched his
retinue ahead of him, that he saw God face to face (Genesis 32:24-30), and was
thus favored with a blessing and a new and better name, thus receiving more in
one moment of solitude than in a whole lifetime of social contact.
Scripture also tells us how
Moses, Elijah and Elisha esteemed solitude, and how conducive they found it to
an even deeper penetration of the divine secrets; and note, too, what perils
constantly surrounded them when among men, and how God visited them when alone.
So those of us who seek solitude are in good company!
Sometimes, my station in life demands that I join in with
the comings and goings of the world, even if I don’t really want to. I do not
enjoy any kind of party, even the rather tame, benign ones I’m required to
attend a couple of times a year. I try to accept the inconvenience with grace,
as the reasons for attending involve taking care of my family, essentially. I
approach the coming trip with mixed feelings; part of me is happy to go, while
the “hermitess” part is anxious about departing from a way of life that becomes
more stable with each passing month and year.
Well, there will be lessons to learn, I am sure, and I know
my soul will seek God no matter where I am. At least I know that there is
nothing wrong with seeking and preferring solitude. Guido concluded his
thoughts on solitude with this:
And now, dear reader, ponder
and reflect on the great spiritual benefits derived from solitude by the holy
and venerable Fathers — Paul, Antony, Hilarion, Benedict, and others without
number — and you will readily agree that for the spiritual savor of psalmody;
for penetrating the message of the written page; for kindling the fire of
fervent prayer; for engaging in profound meditation; for losing oneself in
mystic contemplation; for obtaining the heavenly dew of purifying tears, —
nothing is more helpful than solitude.
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