It is remarkable how glancing through old photos can bring back an immense wave of happy memories. Life seems to stand still for but a moment as one reminisces the joy of past friendships.

The photo above is a picture of my one evening in Norcia, the birth place of holy father Benedict. I am with the men who were part of the Rome Experience program in 2012. Many of them are priests spanning parishes throughout the United States.

Looking back, I now have a greater appreciation of the impact of that one evening, standing at the birthplace of the saint who has become the center of my spiritual life today. And I am grateful.

On to the Rule …

Chapter 1.3-5

Second, there are the anchorites or hermits, who have come through the test of living in a monastery for a long time and have passed beyond the first fervor of monastic life. Thanks to the help and guidance of many, they are now trained to fight against the devil. They have built up strength and go from the battle line in the ranks of their brothers to the single combat of the desert. Self-reliant now, without the support of another, they are ready with God’s help to grapple single-handed with the vices of body and mind.

 Commentary 

During Christianity’s infancy, those who followed Christ were martyrs. After Christianity became the Roman Empire’s official religion, the faith spread far and wide across the globe. There was no need to shed your blood for Christ Jesus. Yet, to renew their fervor for following Christ, Christians left Christian society for the desert, where they encountered God as hermits. This is the context of Benedict. 

Not all of us are called to solitary life. At the same time, allowing yourself to retreat from the world annually is a healthy spiritual practice. We need time to be alone with God, to reset, refocus, and revise our walk with the Lord. This is genuine solitude. 

Susie Hayward, a fellow oblate, speaks on solitude. She says, “This kind of interior solitude is a place of regeneration, a place of simplicity where God alone is the centre of our existence and can be found in the ordinary and extraordinary elements of life. Solitude here is not physical aloneness but implies a deeper quality of silence that has the capacity to strip away the extraneous trappings of life, to reach the core of our being. We desire solely to be possessed by God and to possess God alone.” Amen.