Hermitage of the Heart: 40 Days to Peace, Prayer, and the Presence of God

By John Michael Talbot

Catholic convert, award-winning Christian musician and monastic founder John Michael Talbot shares the wise guidance and practical help he gained from the one-thousand-year-old Rule and life of St. Romuald.

This forty-day journey will show you that no matter what kind of life you lead, peace, prayer, and the presence of God are always available—and closer than you think.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098395858

John Michael Talbot

John Michael Talbot is the founder and spiritual father of the Catholic-based community the Brothers and Sisters of Charity. He leads an active ministry from Little Portion Hermitage and Monastery in Arkansas and St. Clare Monastery in Texas. He is also a Grammy– and Dove–award-winning, multiplatinum-selling Contemporary Christian Music pioneer, and a bestselling author of more than thirty books.

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© 2021 John Michael Talbot

Copyright © 2021 John Michael Talbot. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Published by

Troubadour For the Lord Publishing

350 County Road 248

Berryville, AR 72616

877-504-9865

www.troubadourforthelord.net

All scripture from the NRSVCE Catholic Edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted. Copyright 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN: 978-1-09839-584-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-09839-585-8

Endorsements

In this book, John Michael Talbot, from his own experience of community and solitude, presents us with the richness of the spirituality of St. Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese order, not in theoretical speculations, but translated into concrete instructions for everyday life, a help to experience seclusion in a positive way even in times of Covid-19.

Abbot Primate Emeritus Notker Wolf, OSB

Archabbey of St. Ottilien, Germany

We are grateful for John Michael Talbot’s insightful and practical introduction to our little known but highly influential founder, Saint Romuald of Ravenna. Every serious spiritual seeker needs to discover the hermitage of the heart by way of the interior journey, away from all that pulls us out of ourselves. And there is no better guide than Romuald’s Brief Rule, which is laid out succinctly in this new book.

Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam. Prior

New Camaldoli Hermitage, Big Sur, California

John Michael Talbot ranks high among the most prudent and authoritative interpreters of the Christian ascetical tradition. In this book he leads readers to a little-known spiritual master — for a ‘retreat’ that can be life-changing. Take up and read!

Mike Aquilina, author, The Fathers of the Church

A Hermitage of the Heart offers an insightful guide into the time-tested spirituality of St. Romuald and the Camaldolese monasticism. John Michael Talbot brings this beautiful tradition to life for ordinary persons trying to navigate difficult times and a confusing culture. The daily reflections in this book provide a practical way to benefit from the wisdom and grace of this beautiful monastic tradition.

Abbot Lawrence Stasyszen, OSB

St. Gregory’s Abbey, Shawnee, Oklahoma

St. Romuald has had an enduring influence in the life of the Church since the eleventh century, but he remains a shadowy figure to most of us. John Michael Talbot brings his life and teaching into our own life and time in this series of forty daily reflections. St. Romuald still has much to teach us, for no matter how much cultures change, the spiritual truths and the daily struggles remain the same.

Fr. Jerome Kodell, OSB, Abbot Emertus

Subiaco Abbey, Arkansas

Hermitage of the Heart is a handbook for the believer who wants to live a deeper life of prayer and devotion. Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is within. This 40-day retreat points the way, and gives us guard rails as well, to keep us on the journey to that glorious kingdom.

Tom Booth, Composer, Director of Retreats/Missions

Associate Director of A&R/OCP.org

John Michael Talbot lifts up a 10th century mystic and sheds light on the path he gave us to a joyful, loving spiritual life. While religious communities will benefit most from these profound and practical guidelines, I found them exceptionally helpful to my own spiritual journey, and so will others on the spiritual path. Brother John has given us another road map to finding God on the spot where we are standing. I thank him for it."

Michael Leach, Author of Soul Seeing

Publisher Emeritus, Orbis Books

Acknowledgements

To Jamie Wolfe for her remarkable editing skills. She took a long manuscript and edited it down to a 40 day retreat without compromising the integrity of the material.

To the monks at Immaculate Heart Hermitage at New Camaldoli in Big Sur, CA, for their friendship and support through the years.

To the Brothers and Sisters of Charity for their support of me writing about one of our patron saints.

To my Benedictine monastic friends who supported this manuscript with their kind words.

Special thanks to Deacon George Butterfield, BSCD, for initial editing and manuscript preparation.

To Mike Zabrocki who lovingly managed the project production from my office.

Little Portion Hermitage Portiuncula Photo - Kirk Jordan

Image of St. Romuald Used with Permission from the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Project Coordination and Jacket Design - Michael Zabrocki

Contents

Introduction

Day 1. Morning: 7 Parts of Romuald’s Rule

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Calling and Family

Sit in Your Cell as in Paradise

Day 2. Morning: Sit

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Off to a Rough Start

Day 3. Morning: In Your Cell

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: A Teachable Spirit

Day 4. Morning: Paradise?

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Holy Stability

Cast All Memory of the World Behind You

Day 5. Morning: What is worldliness?

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Spiritual Warfare

Day 6. Morning: Renunciation and Freedom

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Room for One More

Day 7. Morning: Possessions

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Wants and Needs

Day 8. Morning: Family

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Negativity and Dysfunction

Day 9. Morning: Self

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Taking Our Eyes Off Self

Put the World Behind You and Forget

Day 10. Morning: Forgetting

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: A Second Chance

Day 11. Morning: Remembering

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Failure and Forgetfulness

Day 12. Morning: Watchfulness

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Two Analogies

Day 13. Morning: Fruitfulness

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Pruning and Prudence

Day 14. Morning: Eight Thoughts

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Alone in Battle

Day 15. Morning: Eight Remedies

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Learning from the Masters

Day 16. Morning: Patience

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: No Rush

In the Psalms There is One Way. Do not Abandon It.

Day 17. Morning: Praying by Heart

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: A Gift of Tears

Day 18. Morning: Two Traditions of the Psalter

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Making the Prayer of the Church Your Own

Day 19. Morning: The Hours

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Sanctifying Time

Day 20. Morning: Quality over Quantity

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours

"If You Who Have Come with the Fervor of a Novice Cannot Understand Everything, Strive to Recite with Understanding of Spirit and Mind,

Now Here, Now There, and When You Begin to Wander While Reading,

Do Not Stop, but Hasten to Correct Yourself by Concentrating"

Day 21. Morning: The Wandering Mind

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: His Words on Your Lips

Day 22. Morning: Easing into Solitude

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Dealing with Distractions

Above All, Place Yourself in the Presence of God with Fear and Trembling, Like Someone Who Stands in the Sight of the Emperor

Day 23. Morning: Seeking God’s Face

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Answering God’s Invitation

Day 24. Morning: Knowing God

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Who We Are and Aren’t

Day 25. Morning: Always Present

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Always Smiling

Day 26. Morning: A Crowded Church

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: The Saints

Destroy Yourself Completely

Day 27. Morning: The Old Self and the New

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Leaving the Old Behind

Day 28. Morning: Once We Die

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: A False Accusation

Day 29. Morning: Spirit, Soul, and Body

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Choosing Meekness

And Sit Like a Chick, Content with the Grace of God, For Unless Its Mother Gives it Something, It Tastes Nothing and Has Nothing to Eat

Day 30. Morning: A School for the Lord’s Service

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: A Freelance Hermit

Day 31. Morning: Obedience

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Three Kinds of Obedience

Day 32. Morning: Poverty

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Helping Burglars

Day 33. Morning: Consideration for Weaknesses

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Moderation and Discretion

Day 34. Morning: Grace

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Golden Age and Persecution

Day 35. Morning: Contentment

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Where God Places Us

Day 36. Morning: Peace

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Attempted Assassination…Again

Day 37. Morning: A Will and Desire

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Asking for Guidance

Wrapping It Up

Day 38. Morning: Humility & False Piety

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Patience and Love

Day 39. Morning: Solitude and Community

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours: Sobriety

Day 40. Morning: Primacy of Hermitage

Evening: Romuald’s Life and Ours:

Make All the World a Hermitage

Epilogue: The End of St. Romuald’s Life

Conclusion

Prayer Tips and Exercises

Notes

About the Author

I

ntroduction

It is said that every serious Christian has a little monk within. Some have called it the "hermitage within."¹ Drawing on a monastic tradition that was centuries old at the time, St. Francis of Assisi said, the world is my cloister, my body is my cell, and my soul is the hermit within.² In that sense, we are all called to some kind of hermitage, to a hermitage of the heart.

As you read the word hermitage, you may be thinking that in order to have real peace, authentic prayer, and a deep experience of the presence of God, your only choice is to pack up a very few things and leave all the people, activity, cares, and distractions of the world behind. Throughout the history of the Church, some have done exactly that. But God meets each one of us where he has placed us. It is possible to cultivate a deeply spiritual life and build a hermitage of the heart wherever you are.

Building a hermitage into our lives is an art. I say that because while our world is noisy, our hearts may be even noisier. While our outward life and external surroundings may be full of distractions, we may well discover that our interior life has even more to divert us from the path. We know that the peace we crave cannot be found in the world. But even in silence, we struggle to find it. In fact, living in a monastery doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to pray. Yet, once we learn how to build a hermitage of the heart, it offers us a place to meet God. It offers us the solitude and space we need to grow in