Living at the heart of the mystery of the hidden life of Jesus at Nazareth, a Camaldolese hermit here sings the praises of the silent life in the desert of those men and women whom Christ calls. These few and very simple conferences were given to some brother hermits. They endeavor to express the meaning of their "disappearance", which in our difficult and grandiose period of history has about it a savor of modernity. A subsequent reflection of the author on St. Romuald’s monastic experience has been translated from the Italian and added to this edition as an appendix.
"A son of St. Romuald, you have sensed the call to disappear, as do all lovers. Hermits themselves are, in fact, lovers who have chosen the shade, a life hidden with Jesus in God . . . . It ought to be enough for us to be known by God."
Father Louis-Albert Lassus, O.P. (1916 – 2002), who prepared this anonymous work for publication in its original French edition and wrote the introduction, was a longtime friend of the Camaldolese Hermits. His writings include Livre de vie des ermites et des reclus du bienheureux Paul Giustiniani; Pierre Damien, l’homme des deserts de Dieu; and Nazarena, une recluse au Coeur de Rome. An Italian translation of the present work was published in 2003.
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Reviewer: Bishop David Ricken
In Praise of Hiddeness: The Spirituality of the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona brings to light this time period. It saw hermits, solitaries and anchoresses dotting the landscape of Italy, France, England, Scandinavia and the Low countries, and monastic centers drawing the best and brightest of the youth of Europe into the cloister.
The book speaks of the paradox of the life of solitude, so hidden and yet so fruitful for the life of the Church and the whole human community, the life of intimacy with God which is its meaning and its heart, and the expectation of Eternal Life.
Hermits are not monks, in the usual sense: They do not live in community, but in total solitude; there is no cloister to speak of, but only the cells of the individual hermits. The heart of the cell is the solitary altar where the hermit celebrates Mass and has communion with his maker.
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