In his homily on Sunday, our parish priest reminded us of the power of lives steeped in prayer. He mentioned the Carthusians of Parkminster in Sussex, who live eremitical lives within a community, each monk being allotted a small two-storey cell, with bed/workshop/study/oratory areas, as well as a small garden. Outside the liturgy they only meet fraternally once a week.
People outside the Church find it hard to grasp such radical love. I use this phrase as I have just been reading – or rather looking at – a book with this same title: a photographic narrative of the first seven years of a young American woman, Lauren, who chose to become a nun within an enclosed community in New Jersey.
