Posted in Uncategorized on December 26, 2013 by citydesert
Hungarian Hermit Caves (Remetebarlang), Mátraverebély
“These hermit caves were begun in 1756. Carved into the soft stone there are a total of a dozen caves that consist of two chapels, a kitchen, a pantry, bedrooms and what served as a toilet.
The hermits themselves lived in these caves during the 18th century, although it is said that there were dwellers here as late as the 1930′s. The sizes of the rooms vary; the largest are the two chapels and the kitchen which are between 1.9 and 2.6 metres high. The ceilings are flat with the exception of the chapel which has a three-centred arch.
The door and window frames have remained intact in several places and there are traces of bars at the windows. Altars were carved out of the soft limestone in both chapels and a cross jutting out of the sidewall in the right hand side chapel. The kitchen was the only heated room and here the visitors may still observe some remains of the fireplace, the chimney and the benches along the wall as well as the large square floor coverings.
In the sleeping chamber the ledges that once held the boards that served as the beds have also survived. The iron clamps that once held the chimney on the face of the rocks above the cave is still visible as are the nails that once held three large wooden crosses in place.”
Posted in Uncategorized on December 26, 2013 by citydesert
No one should be desirous of solitude in the desert. Only the perfect are to go, he that is purified of every passion, who in a community of cenobitic monks together with the others has boiled down and skimmed off his unrighteousness, and even then, not going off because of discouragement or out of zealous fervor, but only in order to attain divine vision, desiring the perfect and radiant vision of the Lord God; for this can be acquired by the perfect only in solitude. If a monk brings unhealed passions with him into the desert they will simply remain concealed within him but not be eradicated.
For the desert only knows the man who has corrected his ways and who is about to open the entrance to gladsome vision and fulfill the beholding of radiant spiritual mysteries. But those who have not corrected their ways will retain their evil in the desert. Not only this, but they will become deceitful and greatly multiply their evils. Such a monk will think he is keeping patience as long as no one comes and associates with him. But as soon as he allows an occasion for this, he immediately returns to his former ways. Then the hidden passions will break loose and like unbridled horses attened by prolonged idleness will whisk their rider off to catastrophe all the more quickly. If we reject the instruction and chastisement of our brothers, the wild shoots of evil will grow up inside us, unless they are cleared out. Also the wall patience which we maintain when we live in common with our brothers, partly due to their respect and partly to avoid shame and scandal, keeping ourselves thus free from sorrow, will vanish from around us because of negligence.
Any poisonous snake or beast of prey, when it conceals itself and hides in the caves and hiding places of the desert, is it not fierce and harmful? But it does not work any harm at that time and does not know its measure, whether it is innocent or vicious, because there is nothing present to prey on. This is not because of the good disposition of the viper, but because that deserted and uninhabited place does not allow him to work evil. But if he finds an occasion for working harm, he pours out his hidden venom and bitter viciousness. Likewise, for those seeking perfection in the desert, it is not enough simply not to get angry at men. We remember that when we lived in the desert that we became so bitterly angered with the reeds which were either too thick or thin for handiwork and with the hatchet which was dull and did not cut the branches quickly,and also with the flint when it did not give off fiery sparks when we were hurrying to the chanting in the congregation. Our thoughts were so stricken over this that we cursed not only dumb creation but even the demon himself.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 24, 2013 by citydesert
Christmas Greetings from the Desert of Australia to all my friends who follow the Western Calendar!
And an Australian Christmas carol sung by the Sydney Philharmonia Motet Choir.
Across the plains one Christmas night
Three drovers riding blithe and gay,
Looked up and saw a starry light
More radiant than the Milky Way;
And on their hearts such wonder fell,
They sang with joy. ‘Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!’.
The air was dry with summer heat,
And smoke was on the yellow moon;
But from the heavens, faint and sweet,
Came floating down a wond’rous turn;
And as they heard, they sang full well
Those drovers three. ‘Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!’
The black swans flew across the sky,
The wild dog called across the plain,
The starry lustre blazed on high,
Still echoed on the heavenly strain;
And still they sang, ‘Noel! Noel!’
Those drovers three. ‘Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!’
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
“Nothing Left Over : A Plain and Simple Life” by Toinette Lippe [Tarcher, 2004] http://www.toinettelippe.com/book_Nothing_Left_Over.html
“Toinette Lippe was born in London where she began a career in publishing at Andre Deutsch. In 1964, she came to New York City to work at Simon & Schuster. Lippe then spent 32 years at Alfred A. Knopf as reprint rights director and editor. In 1989, she established Bell Tower, a spiritual imprint that is now part of Harmony Books. Under her leadership, Bell Tower released 53 books.
Elders in indigenous societies reach a certain point in their lives when they want to pass on the wisdom they have accrued over the years. To do this, they travel down memory lane and share their experiences with others. Early on in this philosophical memoir, Lippe notes: “I have been mulling over the word content. I find it wonderful that it means both ‘that which is contained’ and also ‘being satisfied.’ Both meanings come from the past participle of the Latin verb continere. Contentment is a peaceful and unruffled state, but nowadays it is all too rare.”
Contentment is not widespread in this culture because so many people are caught up in consumerism. They can never get enough. They always desire something more, better, or different. Lippe believes “less is enough.” Of course, such an attitude in America is blasphemous. Equally scandalous in mainstream culture is her contention that attachment to our possessions is not a good thing. To clarify her positions, Lippe gives us her ideas, derived from her experiences, about living a life of simplicity.
The author shares stories about practicing attention as an antidote to distraction, traveling light, being present, saying no, not allowing supply to exceed demand, letting go of what is unnecessary, and being industrious and generous. We were especially impressed with her habit of surrendering her New York apartment to a friend whenever she leaves town. Serving others can be a pleasure and is an essential ingredient of contentment.” http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=4237
“Originally from London, Lippe came to New York in 1964 to work in publishing for a year. She ended up staying for 40 years, and after a brief marriage (her husband turned out to be gay), managed to live in Manhattan and put her son through private school. Now semiretired (she still works at home, editing books for Bell Tower, the Harmony imprint she started in 1989), she offers her ruminations on “how to live so that supply does not exceed demand or consumption.” Although she provides sound advice for living without the unnecessary and suggestions for traveling light, spring cleaning, and shopping and eating mindfully, Lippe’s real focus is “not so much about what needs to take place at the physical level… as about what goes on in the mind.” A one-time philosophy student and a devoted meditator and yoga practitioner, she calls on Buddhism and other Eastern religions, Judaism and the Bible to teach lessons in nonattachment to ownership or expectations, trust in the universe, present-moment living, openness and acceptance of what is. She also shares thought-provoking personal anecdotes about procrastination, honesty with self and others, single-minded focus and balance. That she lives alone clearly affects her ability to maintain space in her apartment, her mind and her life, and this creates the book’s single flaw: many will find that the presence of family members in their homes and lives complicates things considerably. Nonetheless, Lippe offers readers (primarily women) an unusually authentic perspective. Professing “I don’t like agony,” her voice is refreshingly unsentimental for this genre, self-aware and down-to-earth.” http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-58542-160-2
Toinette Lippe is also the author of “Caught in the Act: Reflections on Being, Knowing, and Doing” [Tarcher, 2004; Monkfish, 2014].
“In this paperback, Toinette Lippe reflects on the changes in her life with elegant meditations on being, knowing, and doing. Here is an excerpt on the spiritual practice of openness.
“In the last few months I have had the sensation of floating. It is hard to tell whether this is because I am not facing any maxi or mini crisis at present. There are definitely times when I am content to sit and wait to see what turns up. I am no longer striving so hard. The spirit of inquiry perches on one of my branches, its head cocked on one side, alert and waiting. The other image that comes to mind is of the sea and its tides. The waves beat upon the shore and, day after day, odd fragments are cast up on the beach, each with its own history. Hardly anything arrives whole, and it is often a mystery as to what the original creatures and objects were and how they functioned. Yet the time they have spent in the ocean and the drubbing they have endured has stripped them of all that was superfluous, and often just the skeletons or shells remain.
“When our gaze falls on such artifacts from our lives, vague memories stir within us, and if we are patient, the significance of each one may reveal itself. If not, there is always another tide twelve hours later that will discharge more flotsam and jetsam from the storehouse within.
“My life appears to be ‘thinning out.’ Fewer and fewer demands are being put on me, and I am spending a great deal of time at home by myself. This is okay, as long as I accept being alone as much as being with others. I guess the crunch will come when there is ‘nothing’ to do. Will I be comfortable and content with nothing? The truth is that each time activity appears to have died down, something new arrives on my doorstep. The key is satisfaction — being willing to live with whatever happens but also with what doesn’t happen.
“One of the things that is being engendered in me is a fuller trust in the universe that whatever I need will arrive. I may not always appreciate it if it is wearing a grim mask, but it is clear that whatever comes my way should be welcomed.”” http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/excerpts.php?id=14476
“”Caught in the Act” is about surrender on several levels: surrendering what’s unnecessary in life, surrendering attitudes that keep you from pure enjoyment, surrendering yourself to the moment—letting it take you where it wants to go rather than where you wish to be taken. The book is unconventional in form and manner, and is told in a brisk, conversational style that’s immediate and engaging. It has a mystery and beauty all its own.”
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
Jean-Yves Leloup “Being Still. Reflections on an Ancient Mystical Tradition” [Paulist Press, NY, 2003]
“ For more than fifteen hundred years Christianity has cultivated a rich and varied teaching on the practice of stillness and inner calm. Here we can find answers to the contemporary psychological struggle for inner peace.
In a fresh and engaging reading of this ancient contemplative spirituality, Jean-Yves Leloup explores the writings of many spiritual masters from across the centuries. In particular he focuses on the Desert Fathers, the fourth-century monk Evagrius, St. John Cassian, and the anonymous 19th-century author of The Way of the Pilgrim. Drawn from the experience of the monasteries of Sinai and Mount Athos, here is a clear and practical presentation of the spiritual art of arts: stillness in the face of interior pain and confusion.”
Contents:
Introduction
1 The Way of Hesychastic Prayer According to Father Seraphim
2 Arsenius, or the Beginning of Hesychasm
3 The Purification of Thoughts according to Evagrius Ponticus
4 A Hesychast in the West: St. John Cassian
5 Apophasis and Fatherhood in Early Christianity and in Hesychasm
Jean-Yves Leloup, an Orthodox theologian, is well known in Europe, North and South America as a popular author on spirituality and psychology. He is the founder of the Institute of Other Civilization Studies and the International College of Therapists. He has written more than fifty books and has also translated and commented the gospels of Thomas, Miriam of Magdala, Philip and John.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
desertliturgy: a new blog: http://desertliturgy.wordpress.com/
This blog is intended to encourage and facilitate the study and appreciation of the Christian Liturgies of the Desert, specifically those of Egypt and the Middle East. It has (literally) just been set up, so content is, as yet, lacking.
The blog seeks to provide:
Notices and reviews of publications (both new and old) in the field;
References to on-line resources;
References to and commentaries on liturgical and ritual texts;
Unpublished or out-of-copyright scholarly material;
Notices of conferences, seminars and other opportunities for scholarly discussion;
Photographs relating to liturgy (especially old and otherwise unpublished material);
References to audio and video recordings of liturgies and liturgical music;
Discussion of liturgical questions and topics.
The blog is not published with the approval or under the authority of any ecclesial jurisdiction, but is maintained by a small group of scholars with an interest the liturgies of the Desert.
The content will be moderated only insofar as an appropriate scholarly standard will be maintained. Personal attacks will, of course, not be published, and claims made without appropriate citations will generally be excluded. This is not a blog for the promotion of dogmatic claims or devotional commentaries on liturgy, however appropriate they may be in other places.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
“The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael” by Walter Horn, Grellan D. Rourke, Jenny W. Marshall, and Paddy O’Leary [University of California Press, 1990]
This book is a dramatically told and visually stunning account of a ninth-century hermitage discovered on the South Peak of Skellig Michael, an island off the west coast of Ireland. It is the story, pieced together from fragmentary remains, study, and conjecture, of a man’s attempt to live on a tiny ledge some 700 feet above the Atlantic on the outer edge of the European land mass, alone, as close to God as possible, in what is perhaps the ne plus ultra of ecstatic monastic solitude. Richly illustrated with maps, plans, and photographs that capture both the astonishing beauty and isolation of the hermitage, the text also includes reconstruction drawings of the site that combine a surveyor’s accuracy with an artist’s imaginative response to the hermit who found spiritual refuge on a pinnacle.
“On Skellig Michael, an island at the western edge of the European land mass—at the time the monastery was founded, the western edge of the Christian world—was a hermitage even more awesome than Meteora seven hundred feet above the sea, clinging to the narrow ledges of an austere pinnacle, the Skellig Michael hermitage is a visual wonder and a marvelous feat of construction. The island of Skellig Michael lies 11.6 kilometers off Bolus Head, the westernmost tip of the Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland. The mass of rock from which the island was formed in the Devonian period some four hundred million years ago consists of hard compressed sheets of sandstone mixed with silt and gravel. During the great Armorican upheaval that created the mountains of Kerry two hundred million years later, Skellig Michael, which is connected to these mountains, rose above the sea. This mountain building was accompanied by the mass movement and translocation of rocks called jointing and faulting by geologists. Subsequent faulting and erosion over millions of years created a U-shaped depression, today named Christ’s Valley or Christ’s Saddle, 130 meters above sea level in the middle of the island. On either side of this small valley a peak rises, one to the northeast 185 meters high and one to the west-southwest 218 meters high
Between the sixth and eighth centuries the island became a place of refuge from the world for a small settlement of ascetic monks. The broad summit on the northeastern side of the valley became the site of their monastery, comprising six beehive cells and two oratories. Probably no more than twelve monks and an abbot ever lived here at one time Legend ascribes the founding of the monastery to St. Fionan, who lived in the sixth century. The earliest documentary reference to the monastery is an entry in The Martyrology of Tallaght , written near the end of the eighth century by Máel-ruain (d. 792) in his monastery near present-day Dublin. It commemorates the death of a monk of Skellig called Suibni (Suibni in Scelig ). To be acknowledged in this manner in the festology of one of the most celebrated monasteries of Ireland, located at the opposite side of the country, Skellig Michael must have been a well-established and widely known monastic settlement. The monastery there may well have been founded as early as the sixth or seventh century, but in the absence of documentation more precise dating is not possible.
The monastery is referred to simply as Skellig in the eighth- and ninth-century entries in monastic festologies and annals (The Martyrology of Tallaght , the Annals of Ulster , and the Annals of Inisfallen ). Sometime after the tenth century the monastery became known as Skellig Michael. It is likely that in the late tenth or early eleventh century the monastery was dedicated to St. Michael. This is suggested by two references to the monastery in the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters . The first reads “Age of Christ, 950. Blathmhac of Sgeillic died”; the second, which reads “The Age of Christ, 1044. Aedh of Sgelic-Mhichil,” is the first reliable mention of the name Michael in the annals. On this basis we assume that the dedication to Michael took place between 950 and 1044. It was customary in a monastery to build a new church to celebrate a dedication, and the oldest part of the church now known as St. Michael’s fits architecturally into this time period. With its mortared straight walls and large stones, the church is unlike the dry-stone corbeled oratories and beehive cells built earlier at the monastery.
The church of St. Michael was mentioned in The History and Topography of Ireland , by Giraldus Cambrensis, who was in Ireland with the Normans in the late twelfth century (1183 and 1185). His account of the miraculous supply of communal wine for daily mass in St. Michael’s church implies that the monastery of Skellig Michael was in constant occupancy at that time.
In the thirteenth century, living conditions on the Atlantic islands of Ireland degenerated to such a degree that year-round occupancy of the island probably became impossible. A general climatic deterioration, linked to a southern shift of the circumpolar vortex, began around 1200, and as a result the polar ice cap expanded. Colder weather and the increasing frequency and severity of sea storms appear to have forced the monks to withdraw to a site on the mainland on Ballinskelligs Bay, near Waterville, County Kerry.
Historical as well as climatic reasons explain why in later centuries the monastery of Skellig Michael never again came into full-time use. Many Irish monks, imitating the withdrawal of St. Anthony into the desert, sought a desert in the sea and founded monasteries on hundreds of islands—the Orkneys, the Shetlands, the Faeroes—eventually reaching from the coast of Great Britain as far as Iceland. The monastic ideal of going into exile for the love of God, peregrinatio pro Dei amore , flourished in the Irish church, which was dominated by the monasteries. By the late eleventh century, however, the Irish church had begun to shift from a monastic to a diocesan structure typical of the Christian church elsewhere. At the same time, European orders of monks with no tradition of island monasticism, like the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, had established themselves in Ireland. The importance of these European monastic orders increased with the Norman conquest of Ireland in the late twelfth century. The great age of Irish eremitic island colonies, typified by Skellig Michael, was coming to an end.
The monks of Ballinskelligs monastery on Ballinskelligs Bay certainly continued to maintain and use Skellig Michael. They were proud of their association with its venerable history; in fact, in later centuries the prior of Ballinskelligs was still addressed in papal letters as “Augustinian prior of St. Michael’s, Roche (de Rupe ).” ….
We discovered that a hermitage had been constructed on this peak during the known full-time occupancy of the island, that is, between the eighth and thirteenth centuries. One monk left the motherhouse to live as a hermit on the heights of the island’s other peak.”
Saint Finnian of Clonard (‘Cluain Eraird’) – also Finian, Fionán or Fionnán in Irish; or Vennianus and Vinniaus in its Latinised form (470–549) – was one of the early Irish monastic saints, who founded Clonard Abbey in modern-day County Meath. The Twelve Apostles of Ireland studied under him. Saint Finnian of Clonard (along with Saint Enda of Aran) is considered one of the fathers of Irish monasticism. See further http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnian_of_Clonard and http://stfinnian.webs.com/biographyofstfinnian.htm
“Skellig Michael rises to 714 feet at its highest point, the monastic site at the NE pinnacle of the island is at a height of 600 feet above sea-level. The monastery developed between the sixth and eighth c. It is located on a terraced shelf on the E and SE sides of the NE peak. The monastic site contains six beehive cells, clocháin , and two oratories as well as a number of stone crosses and slabs, a number of leacht -like structures (the largest of which is known as the Monks’ Graveyard) and two cisterns. It also contains a later medieval church as mentioned. It has been estimated that no more than twelve monks and an abbot lived here at any one time, a number which has its own significance.
The monks built a series of steps or stairways at three points from landing points at the N, E and S of the island, these too are an extraordinary achievement. Higher still on the S peak of the island at 700 feet above sea-level is found a hermitage which clings to the ledges of the rock. Recent surveying and study has led to the conclusion that what had been seen as the site of an oratory is in fact what has been described as “one of the most daring architectural expressions of early Irish monasticism : a hermitage built virtually in the air on the treacherous ledges of an Atlantic rock rising straight up from the ocean to an altitude of 218 metres” (see W.Horn, J. White Marshall, G.D. Rourke, The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael , Berkeley, 1990, 23). There were no level surfaces on which to build, these had to be created by erecting walls at the edge of natural, sharply slanting ledges,a remarkable feat….. “these walls could have been built only by men who believed that every stone theylaid brought them one step closer to God. By building a hermitage at the top of the island, they reached the ultimate goal of eremetic seclusion – a place as near to God as the physical environment would permit” (ibid. ).
In the third century Christians from Egypt withdrew to the desert to live lives of prayer, fasting and meditation. This began as a withdrawal into solitude but in the early fourth century groups of these ascetics began to live in common. The ideal of withdrawal from the world remained however. In the province of Thessaly in Greece in a place where bare rock was eroded into isolated columns, hermits established themselves from the fourteenth century onwards on these columns. A network of hermitages and monasteries evolved, accessible only by ropes and nets. This group is called Meteora, “suspended from the air”. The hermitage on Skellig Michael is at least five hundred years older and the main monastery is older again. The hermitage consists of three separate terraces, the recent study has called them the ‘oratory terrace’, the ‘garden terrace’ and the ‘outer terrace’.
It is believed that it was constructed in phases sometime in the ninth century and that it served as a place of retreat, a hermitage for the island community. Although only fragmentary remains were found and despite the dangers involved in surveying and studying such an exposed site the following remains were found: the N wall and much of an entrance wall of an oratory, two interconnecting water basins (indicating that the site was probably inhabited), flagstones which seem to indicate a paved terrace, a rectangular leacht , a cross-inscribed stone, slabs which may have formed part of a slab-shrine and the fragments of retaining walls. One interesting feature is the design of the interconnecting basins or cisterns. When the water reached a certain height in the first basin it then flowed into the second basin. This process allowed for the cleaning of one basin while water was retained in the other basin – a process of filtration. A depression in the first basin also assisted this process, its function was to gather silt. This feature, just one aspect of the meticulous work that went into the construction of the hermitage, dealt with providing a source of fresh-water, one of the most basic needs on the island.
We know little about the founding of the monastery itself, it is attributed to Fionán whose cult is still strong in the South Kerry area. The earliest reference we have is found in the Martyrology of Tallaght, which was compiled towards the end of the eighth century . This refers in an entry for April 28th to the death of a monk of Skellig called Suibni. This record – of a monk from a monastery far away from Tallaght – must surely point to the fame and importance of Skellig even in the eighth century. In the Annals of Ulster and The Annals of Inisfallen there is record of a Viking attack in 823 in which Etgal, the Abbot of Skellig, was carried off and left starve to death: Scelec do orgain do gentib 7 Etgal dobrith i mbrait co n-erbailt gorta leo / ” Scelec was plundered by the heathens and Etgal was carried off into captivity, and he died of hunger at their hands” (Annals of Inisfallen, ed./transl. by Seán Mac Airt, 1951/1977, 124-5). The text, War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill , also records mention of Viking raids, one which tells of Etgal’s end and the other which is dated 850 and states: Tanic longes o Luimniuch i ndescert nhErend cor inriset Sceleg Michil, ocus Inis Fathlind, ocus Disirt Donnain, ocus Cluian mor…. / “There came a fleet from Luimnech in the south of Erinn, they plundered Skellig Michael, and Inisfallen and Disert Donnain and Cluain Mor…..” (ed. Todd, 1867, 228-9).
Other Viking attacks are recorded at different times during the ninth century. The contact between Vikings and Skellig was not all one way or destructive however. Legend has it that a hermit from Skellig baptised the famous Olav Trygvasson in 993, he was to become King of Norway and was the father of Olav II who became the patron saint of Norway.
Life on the Skellig must have been difficult at the best of times. It has been suggested by some that the site was not inhabited in the winter but we can’t be sure about this. Access to the island must have presented a problem and the community could have been isolated for long stretches even during the summer. They would have had fish, eggs and seabirds to sustain them and the monastic garden they cultivated is a marvel in itself, experiments have shown that they achieved a micro-climate in this sheltered and carefully cultivated place which allowed vegetables to grow at twice the speed of mainland sites. A carefully engineered system for collecting and purifying water was also developed. Despite its isolation the monastic site is quite sophisticated and shows how this community managed to deal with the often hostile environment.
It seems that living conditions along the Atlantic islands of Ireland became almost impossible due to changes in climate in the 13th c. It seems that there was a general climatic deterioration at this time with a southern shift of the circumpolar vortex (which began c. 1200) and resulted in the polar ice-cap expanding. Year-round occupancy of Skellig Michael became too difficult and the monks retreated to the mainland (we have record of this in the writings of Giraldus Cambrensis). Here, at the new Augustinian foundation at Ballinskelligs, the links with Skellig Michael were maintained. The arival of the Augustininas may also have had something to do with the decline in the full-time use of the rock (if this was in fact the case at this stage). The Continental orders had no tradition of island monasticism and would have had little of the charism of the earlier Irish monasteries with their spiritual links with the Desert Fathers.” http://www.dioceseofkerry.ie/page/heritage/holy-places/skellig/
“Skellig Michael is an outstanding, and in many respects unique, example of an early religious settlement deliberately sited on a pyramidal rock in the ocean, preserved because of a remarkable environment. It illustrates, as no other site can, the extremes of a Christian monasticism characterizing much of North Africa, the Near East and Europe.
The island of Skellig Michael lies 11.6 km off Bolus Head, the westernmost tip of the lveragh Peninsula of County Kerry. Faulting of Devonian sandstone and gravels has created a U-shaped depression, known today as ‘Christ’s Valley’ or ‘Christ’s Saddle’, 130 m above sea level in the centre of the island, and this is flanked by two peaks, that to the north-east rising to 185 m and that to the west-south-west 218 m. The rock is deeply eroded and weathered, owing to its exposed position, but is almost frost-free. Landing is possible at three points, depending on the state of the sea. These communicate by flights of steps with the principal monastic remains, which are situated on a sloping shelf on the ridge running north-south on the north-eastern side of the island; the hermitage is on the steeper South Peak.
The approach to the monastery from Christ’s Saddle leads to a long narrow terrace. A doorway in the rear wall gives access via a flight of Steps to a larger enclosure, which is in its turn terraced and subdivided; the lowest level contains the main monastic enclosure, comprised of a church, oratories, cells, a souterrain, and many crosses and cross-slabs. The white quartz paving between the buildings gives the ensemble an urban quality.
The Large Oratory has the usual inverted boat-shaped form, with a door in the west wall. It is built from coursed stone, rectangular at the base and becoming oval as it rises in height; the elongated dome terminates inside in a row of large slabs. The Small Oratory is more carefully constructed, and is considered to be later in date. Nearby are the unique remains of a beehive-shaped toilet cell. Cell A is the largest of the six cells and must have had a communal function. Several have cupboards and projecting stones for hanging purposes. They vary in plan – square, rectangular, and D-shaped; several retain their original flagged floors.
St Michael’s Church is rectangular in form, unlike the oratories, and would originally have had a timber roof. Two stages of construction can be identified: a small church in mortared stone was later expanded, using much larger sandstone blocks.
The date of the foundation of the monastery on this island is not known. There is a tradition that it was founded by St Fionan in the 6th century; however, the earliest written records come from the end of the 8th century. It was dedicated to St Michael somewhere between 950 and 1050. It was customary to build a new church to celebrate a dedication, and this date fits in well with the architectural style of the oldest part of the existing church, known as St Michael’s Church. It was occupied continuously until the later 12th century, when a general climatic deterioration led to increased storms in the seas around the island and forced the community to move to the mainland. However, a monastic presence was maintained as a dependence of Ballinskelligs Abbey. The church was enlarged in the 12th century and the older buildings were kept in repair. The prior of Ballinskelligs Abbey continued to be addressed in papal communications as ‘Augustinian Prior of St Michael’s, Roche ( = Skellig)’.” http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/757
This is the story of two of the world’s most stunning and unspoilt islands, Skellig Michael and Small Skellig, as seen, researched and photographed by Des. Lavelle, fisherman, diving instructor, author and passenger-boat captain who has taken thousands of visitors to Skellig, and has been personally fascinated by these islands over many years. The book describes the extraordinary isolation of this Early Christian monastic settlement. It tells of the history, legend, geology, plant life, seabirds, seals, the lighthouse and the underwater world. Originally published in 1976, the current (O’Brien Press, Dublin, 2010) edition is readily available.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
In Celebration of Simplicity: The Joy of Living Lightly
by Penelope Wilcock [Monarch, 2009]
“Three reasons why I love simplicity – for the beautiful, bountiful earth; for Jesus and St Francis, in the hope one day I might get to be a bit like them; and because it’s the only way I know to stay sane and keep it together without meds. I know of no difficult life situation that doesn’t improve with simplicity. As Toinette Lippe said: Problems arise where things accumulate. I find that to be true.” http://arochalivinglightly.org.uk/Articles/212060/Home/Articles_and_Eco/Guest_Articles/In_Celebration_of.aspx
“We live surrounded by garbage. I have just made a couple of trips to the municipal dump to get rid of some bags of plaster after we had a ceiling replaced. Municipal dumps are depressing. The one in Hastings is making valiant efforts to sort and recycle, but a distressingly huge pile of bags and boxes fills one end of the site. Everyone is in a hurry, in a bad temper, anxious to get shot of their crud and disappear.
The place is filled with broken consumer goods, the detritus of our throw-away society and the consequences of our incessant upgrades. Potted hell.
This is one part of what Pen Wilcock addresses in her short but luminous book. She says that simplicity, giving away (not throwing away) surplus possessions is a first step towards a life which is free to live, laugh, love and generally enjoy the earth. Simplicity should rule our use of time as well as our material resources; it should characterise our dealings with one another; it should be the starting point for our evaluation of a course of action. Simplicity is kind to the earth and kind to ourselves, but more importantly it is a spiritual path. Jesus never had a mortgage or a career progression. Simplicity renders us deaf to the seductive whispers of personal aggrandisement; it keeps us balanced and alert to what truly matters.
Lest anyone should think this is a finger-wagging document, nothing could be further from the truth. Pen Wilcock’s book is full of illuminating quotations and a nice sense of fun. Built around the metaphor of making bread, it quickly persuades the reader that he or she could turn their life around, and explains how to go about doing so – saving money, time, the earth and all our futures in the process.”
Penelope Wilcock is the author of a number of novels, including “The Hawk and the Dove” trilogy (Crossway) and “The Clear Light of Day” (Monarch / David C Cook) and various other books including the classic “Spiritual Care of Dying and Bereaved People” (SPCK). She has many years of experience as a Methodist minister and has worked as a hospice, prison and school chaplain. She has five adult daughters and lives in Aylesbury, Bucks. She is a sister of the Servants With Jesus . The fellowship includes sisters of a variety of church denominations, and represents a considerable diversity in theological outlook: http://www.servantswithjesus.org.uk/page2.html
“The Servants with Jesus (SJW) emerged in public in 1972. Their underlying aims are to work and pray for love, unity and renewal among Christians of all branches of the church, to pray in agreement with Jesus that all His people will be one so that the world will believe that the Father sent Him (John 17:21), and to seek, by their example in all they say and do and in how they live their lives, to lift Jesus up to the world that He may draw all people to Himself (John 12:32). Their aspirational behaviour model is the Proverbs 31 wife. And, because she wore purple, the Servants also wear purple in their attire, together with the gold cross that is blessed and given to them on their anointing (see below). They are free to dress modestly in contemporary clothing but are asked to include some purple.
They are not nuns; and “Jerusalem,” The Coach House, is not a convent. The Servants live in their own homes off-site, some in other cities, and they may be single or married. Some hold down jobs, enjoy their families, and all aspire to live to the standards of the Proverbs 31 wife. They attend their own churches and are expected to participate in the life of their church.
The SJW charity objects state their main purpose as “to advance the Christian faith throughout all or any parts of the world” which is to be achieved by four subsidiary aims: 1) to promote and pray for the fellowship of all Christian people; 2) to establish centres for interdenominational worship and evangelism; 3) to train people of all ages in Christian discipleship and service; and 4) to distribute and publish Christian literature.” http://www.servantswithjesus.org.uk/index.html
Situated on land dedicated by a Christian Anglo-Saxon king more than 1,200 years ago “to serve the praise of God,” The Coach House is a wonderful Christian heritage site. The Coach House was built by the 8th Earl De La Warr in about 1891 to serve the Bexhill Manor and house his horse-drawn coaches on the ground floor in four garages. It included a cottage for a coachman at the eastern end and domestic servants’ quarters on the middle and top floors. What is now the Prayer Room on the top floor was originally a hay loft.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
“The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality”
Edited by Peter Tyler, Richard Woods [Bloomsbury Continuum, 2012]
Dr Peter Tyler is Senior Lecturer and Programme Director of Pastoral Theology at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, London. Previous publications include St John of the Cross — Outstanding Christian Thinker (Continuum 2010), Sources of Transformation: Revitalising Christian Spirituality (edited with Edward Howells) (Continuum 2010) and The Return to the Mystical: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Teresa of Avila and the Christian Mystical Tradition (Continuum 2011).
Richard Woods OP PhD STM is Professor of Theology and held the Lund-Gill Chair for 2010 at Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois. Recent books include Meister Eckhart: Master of Mystics (Continuum, 2010), Eckhart’s Way (Veritas Publications, 2009 ed.), and Wellness: Life, Health, and Spirituality (Veritas Publications, 2008).
See http://issuu.com/bloomsburypublishing/docs/christian_spirituality_issuu_sampler
“The Bloomsbury Guide of Christian Spirituality is a brilliant response to that view, sometimes to be found among theologians, which sees spirituality as something intellectually lightweight, at best. The very nature of the topic means that guides and dictionaries need constant updating. Personally I think part of the problem is the word itself, and some have tried to avoid it and use the term ‘Spiritual Theology’ instead.
What is spirituality? A good, pithy definition is given by Gerry O’Collins in an early chapter, ‘The Origins and Scope of Biblical Spirituality’: ‘A way to God and of living in relationship with God.’ That chapter is part of part I of the book, ‘Building blocks’ which give an excellent basis for the whole survey. The very first chapter by Margaret Barker shows the roots of our spiritual tradition in the Old Testament – the worship in the Temple, Jewish angelology and Wisdom literature. Also in this section is a very helpful resumé of the Desert tradition by the renowned Sister Benedicta Ward, and a brief overview of the whole of Christian mysticism by Bernard McGinn. The second part of the book looks at a wide selection of ‘schools of spirituality’, many centred on different religious orders in the western Church: it also encompasses traditions in Orthodoxy, together with the Anglican and Protestant communities; there is also a chapter on the ‘French School’. This section is invaluable for quick reference which gives information readily: a strength of the book is that the editors have carefully kept the chapters to very concise lengths. Part III looks at three ways in which the Christian spiritual tradition is being ‘lived out’ among contemporary Christians – Spirituality and politics, spiritual direction and the charismatic movement.
The remaining three parts of the book are perhaps the ‘newest’ in terms of the issues which they examine. Part IV gives fascinating insights about the relationship between Christian spirituality and other world faiths – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. Much of this will be unfamiliar with ordinary Christian readers, who can easily be misled into seeing other faiths as hostile. Even more unfamiliar to many will be the next fascinating section, ‘Christian and Indigenous Spiritualities’, which explores the growing awareness among Christians of points of contact with other ways of being aware of the transcendent – African traditional religion and African-led churches, Native American spirituality, the history and tradition of the mistreated Nasranis in south India, the very popular Celtic tradition and the indigenous spirituality of Australia and Oceania. For British readers the information and perspectives given about African, south Asian and Celtic traditions are particularly useful, as it is so important to be well-informed and objective. The final part looks at some contemporary issues – contrasting spiritualities for women and men, the relationship between Christian spirituality and both art and the environmental movement, and the place of spirituality in our reaction to contemporary atheism. Dr Tyler finishes the collection with a thought-provoking conclusion about the future.
This is an outstanding collection and deserves to be a standard reference work for many years. Of course, not everything can be covered: for example, although the chapter on John Calvin is written by a distinguished Methodist scholar and minister, Judith Rossall, there is nothing in the book about John or Charles Wesley; the Quakers would be another gap, but I think there are plans for a second volume. The academic rigour of the contributions to this book by distinguished scholars from all over the world, and the ways in which spirituality is at the heart of how we experience contemporary Christianity, should be enough to silence its critics.
Ashley Beck, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham” http://thepastoralreview.org/index.php/book-reviews/past-book-reviews/39-march-april-2013/133-the-bloomsbury-guide-to-christian-spirituality
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2013 by citydesert
Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert Paperback
by Rowan Williams [Lion Books, 2004]
“Archbishop Rowan Williams in 2001 [gave] four lectures to members of ‘The World Community for Christian Meditation’ on ‘the wisdom of the desert’. Williams gave the lectures, and the lectures and question/answer session were published in 2003 as “Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert”. There are many who find Williams writings and theological probes demanding and tough slogging, and there is some truth in this.
Williams does ask the reader to come with a mature and eager mind that is willing to work. “Silence and Honey Cakes”, though, is a much simpler and more accessible book. The turn to the desert is also a turn with a difference. The Desert Mothers and Fathers were primarily concerned with the relevance of theology to personal insight, wisdom and transformation. We all know those who have been well educated, in either a formal or informal way, in philosophy or theology, but all their knowledge and information does not translate into a more significant understanding, sensitivity or wisdom about themselves and others. The Desert Tradition was very much about creating a bridge between spirituality and theology, knowledge about God and a transformative life in God. Theology can be just another diversion and distraction if the truth gleaned about God does not pass through the portals of the soul into the depths of our expectant new being in God. How do we know the differences, in both subtle and crude ways, about our false self (old Adam/Eve -deceptions of the ego) and our true self (new Adam/Eve)? It was these sorts of transformative and discerning questions that preoccupied the Abbas and Ammas of the desert from the 3rd-5th centuries. It was a homecoming of sorts to read “Silence and Honey Cakes”.
“Silence and Honey Cakes” is, therefore, a historic and practical journey into the desert and a retrieval of the relevance of these sages for our time. Freeman wrote the ‘Introduction’ to the missive, and the book is divided into five sections: 1) Life, Death and Neighbours, 2) Silence and Honey Cakes, 3) Fleeing, 4) Staying and 5) Questions and Answers.
‘Life, Death and Neighbours’ make it abundantly clear that if our understanding of spirituality is not intimately connected with a love of neighbour, then our understanding of spirituality is a decoy duck. Williams has a tender ear that is held close to the aphoristic and poignant parables of the Desert Mothers and Fathers and why they linked life to neighbour.
The many tales Williams draws forth from the bounty of the Desert way (and how it renewed the church), and their insights for our day makes lecture 1 a real keeper. ‘Silence and Honey Cakes’ yet again draws forth more tales from the wisdom way of the Desert. There were those in the Desert that held high silence and solitude as the authentic way, but much hinges on what is meant by such ways and vocations. The deeper meaning of silence and solitude, as understood by the elders of the Desert, was more about an attitude of hearing the inner differences between that which is false and true within—this requires some distance from both the clatter and chatter of external and internal voices. There were other Desert leaders of a more affable and extrovert nature. They delighted in the company of those who were committed, in an imperfect way, to the quest, and the metaphorical and literal reality of honey cakes spoke of the nourishment and sweetness of being with others. There is always the temptation, when mistreatment or opposition, misunderstandings or caricatures, conflict or tensions arise within a community to flee from the fray.
‘Fleeing’ is examined and explored in a probing and surgical way in lecture #3. This is a must read chapter in the book that is replete with the best of Desert wisdom and analysis. Those who have learned to stare down and say No to the fleeing impulse must then discern what it means to stay within an imperfect and often frustrating community. I found ‘Staying’ the high point of the book. Many in our time flit like butterflies from one retreat, guru, church, conference or book to another, and there is no sense that staying in one place with one community might just be the means of facing ourselves at a deeper, more demanding and transformative level. The commitment to stability and staying is a needful corrective to those that use the language of spirituality to serve their ego rather than allowing the meaning of spiritualty to transform their ego into their new being (personhood) within community and both in God. The final chapter on ‘Questions and Answers’ has some pithy insights that is well worth the read.
Rowan Williams is, in many ways, carrying the torch of Thomas Merton, and just as Merton’s “The Wisdom of the Desert” (1960) did much to unearth the motherlode of a forgotten yet needful way of understanding the faith journey, “Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert” (2003) is a more mature reflection on the gold found in such a wisdom tradition. It is significant that Archbishop Rowan Williams has completed a book on Thomas Merton, and the union of two contemplative theologians now exists with much fruit on both trees. Indeed, the wisdom of the Fathers/Mothers of the Patristic era ever lives, and can still speak to those in the West who live lives that move at a pace that is neither human or humane. There is much ado about nothing these days, and the wisdom of Merton and Williams (gleaned from the Desert) can illuminate why this is so and what can be done about it. Do take the time to meditatively read through “Silence and Honey Cakes”—it is an excellent hiking companion for the journey.” http://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2011/06/rowan-williams-silence-and-honey-cakes-the-wisdom-of-the-desert-review-by-ron-dart-.html
For The World Community for Christian Meditation, see http://www.wccm.org/ The Community was founded in 1991 to foster the teachings of John Main OSB (1926-1982): see further http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Community_for_Christian_Meditation and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Main
“John Main effectively put the desert tradition of prayer to work in our own day. The roots of his distinctive spirituality lie deep in the fourth and fifth centuries, especially in the works of that great expositor of the desert world, John Cassian. The World Community for Christian Meditation which continues his mission is for me, as for many throughout the world, a taste of what a commitedly contemplative church might look and feel like.”
Rowan Williams at http://www.wccm.org/content/john-main-0
Rowan Williams is also the author of “Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another and Other Lessons from the Desert Fathers” [Shambhala Publications, 2005; New Seeds, 2007]
“The place “where God happens,” according to Rowan Williams’s striking new reading of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, is between each other. It’s a truth that we of the twenty-first century most urgently need to learn in order to heal the experience of alienation that has become endemic to our age, and these odd and appealing ancient figures, surprisingly, hold keys to this healing.
The fourth-century Christian hermits of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine understood the truth of Christian community profoundly, and their lives demonstrate it vividly—even though they often lived in solitude and isolation. The author breaks through our preconceived ideas of the Desert Fathers to reveal them in a new light: as true and worthy role models—even for us in our modern lives—who have much to teach us about dealing with the anxieties, uncertainties, and sense of isolation that have become hallmarks of modern life. They especially embody valuable insights about community, about how to live together in an intimate and meaningful way. Williams makes these radical figures, who clearly have a special place in his heart, come to life in a new way for everyone.
The book includes an appendix of selections from the teachings of the Desert Fathers.”
“This may seem a lofty title to assign to something that is essentially an introduction to and brief commentary on the so-called “desert fathers (and mothers)” who withdrew to monastic communities in the sands of Egypt starting about 1,600 years ago. Far from being a romantic paean to a calcified form of religious existence, however, Williams illustrates that what these pioneers of experiential spirituality discovered in the desert may just be the solution for our hyper-individualistic, success-driven, anxious, insecure, and fear-obsessed times. What exactly did they discover out there amongst the howling winds, thorny trees, and sun-baked rocks that was so valuable? Nothing less than the path toward a life-transforming experience of God.
Williams begins by looking at the strong connection the desert fathers made between the spiritual life and community. For them, spirituality and community were inseparable. Echoing the link Christ drew between the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37–39), Williams writes,
relation with eternal truth and love simply doesn’t happen without mending our relations with Tom, Dick and Harriet. The actual substance of our relationship with eternal truth and love is bound up with how we manage the proximity of these human neighbors.
This emphasis on community may sound strange coming from a group of people who withdrew from community to find God. But in actuality, the monks and nuns were not fleeing community itself, only what they perceived to be an unhealthy manifestation of Christian community in their day. As Williams says, “they wanted to find out what the church really was—which is another way of saying that they wanted to find out what humanity really was when it was in touch with God through Jesus Christ.”
Thus, even as the monks and nuns were fleeing one community, they were already forming another, one that would be less about controlling access to God and more about opening doors to healing and the fullness of life that Christ makes possible (John 10:10). In short, they believed that, “Insofar as you open such doors for another, you gain God, in the sense that you become a place where God happens for somebody else,” thus the title of this book.
Having rooted the quest for spiritual experience firmly in the dirt, sweat, tears, and joys of community life, Williams moves on to describe a little more about what the desert fathers and mothers actually meant by that term. For them, community was not “a place where egos are jostling for advantage, competing for much the same goods, held together by a reluctantly accepted set of rules that minimize the damage.” Nor was it a group of people “educated in complete conformity so all its members want what they are told to want and march in step.” It was a unity of persons—people who had heard the mysterious and unique echo of God’s Word in their inner depths and allowed that word to give birth to a particular vocation or path to holiness that God had reserved for them alone.
Williams goes to great lengths to emphasize the diversity and equality of vocations, noting that there is no standardized form of holiness or aestheticism. But he also notes that if there is one virtue almost universally recommended in the desert, it is silence. Silence, he writes,
somehow reaches to the root of our human problem….Words help to strengthen the illusions with which we surround, protect, and comfort ourselves; without silence, we will not get any closer to knowing who we are before God.
Now we can begin to understand the monks’ and nuns’ emphasis on meditation and contemplation as the ultimate path to holiness. Although this form of God-directed self-discovery was crucial to these desert dwellers, Williams also echoes their warning that one must be wary of letting it devolve into a self-centered search for justification.” http://www.explorefaith.org/books/wheregod.html
Rowan Douglas Williams was born in Swansea, south Wales on 14 June 1950, into a Welsh-speaking family, and was educated at Dynevor School in Swansea and Christ’s College Cambridge where he studied theology. He studied for his doctorate – in the theology of Vladimir Lossky, a leading figure in Russian twentieth-century religious thought – at Wadham College Oxford, taking his DPhil in 1975. After two years as a lecturer at the College of the Resurrection, near Leeds, he was ordained deacon in Ely Cathedral before returning to Cambridge.
From 1977, he spent nine years in academic and parish work in Cambridge: first at Westcott House, being ordained priest in 1978, and from 1980 as curate at St George’s, Chesterton. In 1983 he was appointed as a lecturer in Divinity in the university, and the following year became dean and chaplain of Clare College. 1986 saw a return to Oxford now as Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church; he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1989, and became a fellow of the British Academy in 1990. He is also an accomplished poet and translator.
In 1991 Professor Williams accepted election and consecration as bishop of Monmouth, a diocese on the Welsh borders, and in 1999 on the retirement of Archbishop Alwyn Rice Jones he was elected Archbishop of Wales, one of the 38 primates of the Anglican Communion. Thus it was that, in July 2002, with eleven years experience as a diocesan bishop and three as a leading primate in the Communion, Archbishop Williams was confirmed on 2 December 2002 as the 104th bishop of the See of Canterbury: the first Welsh successor to St Augustine of Canterbury and the first since the mid-thirteenth century to be appointed from beyond the English Church.
Dr Williams is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer, scholar and teacher. He has been involved in many theological, ecumenical and educational commissions. He has written extensively across a very wide range of related fields of professional study – philosophy, theology (especially early and patristic Christianity), spirituality and religious aesthetics – as evidenced by his bibliography. He has also written throughout his career on moral, ethical and social topics and, since becoming archbishop, has turned his attention increasingly on contemporary cultural and interfaith issues.
Citydesert 