Suburban Hermit
“In Every Man There is a Monk and an Explorer” Ben Stauffer
Monte Oliveto
The great monastery of Monte Oliveto--nestled in the hills of Tuscany just South of the city of Siena. I visited there on my 1987 hitch hiking pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and re-visited last summer on [...]
Solitude and the Pilgrimage
In the summer of 1987 I did something which changed my life forever. I hitch hiked from England to Jerusalem staying in monasteries all along the route. As I walked I prayed and as [...]
The Call of the Wild
I said it again today: "Everybody is crazy but me and you, and I have my doubts about you..." Seriously, what I said to my wife was, "Can't we just pull out, leave, check [...]
Sink Deep Roots
I was blessed last week to have a few days at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. Belmont is the Abbey where I am an oblate, but for various reasons I have not been there [...]
San Antimo
Last year this time I was in Italy. We visited the monastery of San Antimo and I was able to say Mass there on the morning of my birthday with the sun streaming through [...]
Learning Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina, or Holy Reading, is a wonderful, monastic contribution to spirituality. It combines two aspects of the threefold Benedictine life of Work, Prayer and Reading. When we participate in Lectio Divina we pray and [...]