“To those who live by faith, everything they see speaks of that future world; the very glories of nature, the sun, moon, and stars and the richness and the beauty of the earth, are as types and figures witnessing and teaching the invisible things of God. All we see is destined one day to burst forth into a heavenly bloom, and to be transfigured into immortal glory. Heaven at present is out of sight, but in due time, as snow melts and discovers what it lay upon, so will this visible creation fade away before those greater splendors which are behind it, and on which at present it depends.” ~Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman
O God, whose abundant grace prepared Saint Henry to be raised by you in a wonderful way from the cares of earthly rule to heavenly realms, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that amid the uncertainties of this world we may hasten towards you with minds made pure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the HolySpirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Stop the madness. Get thee to a confessional.
O God, who made the Abbot Saint Benedict an outstanding master in the school of divine service, grant, we pray, that, putting nothing before love of you, we may hasten with a loving heart in the way of your commands. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
“Because egoism nourishes mistrust, it is very important, if we want to be freed from this, to make a serious, sober commitment such as, “I do not want to be respected by certain people; I do not want to be admired. Lord, accept my commitment today. I do not want to worry about whether I get a bad deal; I do not want to be involved in myself. I want to trust that you will not let anything happen to me that would not be for my good. I always want to think the best of my brother and sister and not give way to any mistrustful thoughts again.…” Then we should go and seek ways to bring love and trust to those whom we have mistrusted. That will help us; for if we give others love, we will no longer center around ourselves.” ~Basilea Schlink, excerpt from Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People
OUR FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
Thanks be to God, we are steadily closing in on our initial fundraising goal of $50,000.
We’ve enlisted the services of a devout and hardworking Catholic realtor and have begun visiting properties that have the potential to serve as a hermitage and enough land to build a guest hermitage to provide a space for anyone in need of a brief respite from the demands of ministry
Because of your ongoing generosity we will continue to foster the eremitic vocation in the Catholic Church: a vocation devoted to prayer for the greater glory of God, the good of the Church and the salvation of souls.
If you would like to make a one-time or an ongoing donation to help our effort, look for the Donate button at the bottom of the page.
Thank you and may God bless you!
~The Friends of Little Portion Hermitage Board of Directors
Night is our diocese and silence is our ministry
Poverty our charity and helplessness our tongue-tied sermon.
Beyond the scope of sight or sound we dwell upon the air
Seeking the world’s gain in an unthinkable experience.
We are exiles in the far end of solitude, living as listeners
With hearts attending to the skies we cannot understand:
Waiting upon the first far drums of Christ the Conqueror,
Planted like sentinels upon the world’s frontier.
~Thomas Merton (1915-1968), “The Quickening of St. John the Baptist,” The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton (New Directions: 1977), 201.
“If your life is Christ, then your death will be only more of Christ, forever. If your life is only Christlessness, then your death will be only more Christlessness, forever. That’s not fundamentalism, that’s the law of non-contradiction.” ~Peter Kreeft, Jesus Shock