Community

Community of Hermits
The founding Fathers of our Order were followers of a light from the east, namely, the example of the first solitaries who had been completely dedicated to silence and poverty of spirit. But the particular grace of our first Fathers was to introduce into this form of life a daily liturgy and – especially on Sundays and solemnities – an element of fraternal, community life. This balance between solitude and life in common enabled our Order to maintain the ideal of the eremitical life throughout the centuries.

Sundays and Solemnities
On Sundays and solemnities the community aspect of our life is more in evidence. At the conventual mass priests may concelebrate and terce, sext and none are sung together in church. After sext we take the noon meal together in the refectory, eating in silence while someone reads aloud some spiritual reading. After none we gather in chapter, after which the fathers have common recreation until vespers; the brothers have the same opportunity twice a month, otherwise keeping to cell during this time.

Walk
Once a week the cloister monks have a long walk outside the monastic walls, during which we walk in alternating pairs so that everyone may speak with each other. The brothers take such a walk monthly, if they wish to. Other than such walks and certain necessary reasons (e.g. doctor’s visits) we never leave the monastery. Relatives and parents, however, may visit us each year for two consecutive days or twice a year for one day.