I was a curate (parochial vicar) in the Church of England in the late 80s when an older priest introduced me to the Isle of Wight. The island is a beautiful, little known corner of England that is delightfully behind the times. Opposite the port of Portsmouth, just off the Southern coast of the English mainland, [...]
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 a trip to Italy.
The hermits of Camaldoli were founded by St Romuald--a Benedictine monk-- in the mountains of central Italy in 1012. It is the home base of the Camaldolese Monastic order. I visited Camaldoli in the summer of 1987 during my hitch hiking pilgrimage from England to the Holy Land. It was a long hike up the mountain before [...]
The ancient Romanesque church is situated in a beautiful secluded valley in Tuscany. I visited here last summer while on a private pilgrimage to Italy. Ever since I had seen this church and been inspired by it to build our new church of Our Lady of the Rosary it had been a dream of mine to make [...]
The Holy Mountain - Mount Athos is the premier monastery--or collection of monasteries in the Eastern Orthodox faith. Located on a peninsula in Northeastern Greece... Mount Athos has been inhabited since the ancient times and is known for its nearly 1,800-year continuous Christian presence and its long historical monastic traditions, which date back to at least 800 A.D. and [...]
Quarr Abbey If you came this way, Taking any route, starting from anywhere, At any time or at any season, It would always be the same: you would have to put off Sense and notion. You are not here to verify, Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity Or carry report. You are here to kneel [...]
https://youtu.be/LUGZhV9sdZo
Learn about Fontgombault Abbey here.
The Monastery of Sacra di San Michele in the Italian Alps Learn about this beautiful historic monastery here.
Monks in Chapter Everything will be done at the proper time. -- Rule of St Benedict Idleness is the enemy of the soul, and so monks should be occupied at some times with manual labor, and at certain times with holy reading. -- Rule of St Benedict The monk renounces a life of agitation [...]