The Hermitage

The Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage in Jerusalem, Ohio

The hermitage should be like a dwelling from another world. The allurements of the secular city should be totally absent in this city of God. Yet the hermitage should be a place of true artistic beauty and environmental balance, reflecting as a mirror on the earth the heavenly beauty of the divine Artist. The hermitage should be a place of keen environmental beauty and sensitivity, where the delicate and fragile dimensions of all creation are fully experienced, appreciated, and savored, so as to lead the solitary community of monks to constant praise of God. Let the hermitage be a place of silence, so that both the small and the great dynamic reality of the Living Word of God will always be sensitively received. Yes, let the hermitage be like a dwelling place from another world, and it will increase sensitivity to the created beauty of all the world and so help lead all creation to God.

Hermitage
It's Heritage & Challenge for the Future
by
JOHN MICHAEL TALBOT

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