Solitude...

What do you do in the monastery the day one of the monks tells you they want to go in to solitude ?
Do you grant the request or refuse it ?
It is a delicate question and the desire must be tested to see if it is from God .
But in the end if it is a good desire for the monk you have to let them do it .

What do the any of us do the day someone we love and care for tells us they desire this vocation ?
You eventually just have to let go and give your blessing.
The true love is never what we hold on to but what we let go off and give away .
For some solitude is natural progression of the life of love of God and neighbor .

It is not just a question of an individual preferring the prayer to other aspects of monastery life ;
It is something much deeper and profound than that .
No one chooses this path for them-self .
It is chosen by the God who said " I have chosen you to go and bear fruit that will last forever ."

How does anyone know they are called to the solitude life ?
They know when they become a prisoner of the vocation .
When the Lord calls and calls , and keeps pulling them deeper they are called.
When a wound opens up inside them when they are away from the cell they are called .

It is the wound of love.
When a soul desires life with God so much it becomes and endless aching need to be alone with Him.
Is the wound that is only healed by Gods kiss of peace to it in the seclusion .
When a person experiences this and a restlessness outside the cell they are being called .

Silence becomes the language of such a solitude .
To many words can become empty and without meaning .
A single moment of silence in solitude can speak more than a life time of words .
One hour of prayer in the solitude can be more beneficial to humanity than a life time of pastoral works .

In that single hour of prayer all humanity can be drawn in to Gods presence .
But do not be fooled either .
Solitude is not the easy option or escape route from self .
Before facing God the soul will face itself and all that it contains.

First we must learn to live with ourselves before we live with God .
The first night in the empty cell is the reality of the journey ahead .
Words will seem to vanish .
There is the vastness of the journey ahead stretching out in to forever and forever .

The cell is the tomb we enter in to with Jesus .
In this tomb we will come to the reality of Holy Saturday where a great silence fills the earth .
We will learn what it means to be dead with the God who is dead in order to rise with the Lord of life .
Jesus will gather the brokenness of our life together and through that the brokenness of humanity .

This is Strong medicine indeed.
Perhaps sometimes a few week people need this strong medicine for the salvation of their souls .
We should however not be afraid to seek this life if we feel the Lords invitation .
We must hear the words of Christ " Do not be afraid ."

When a monks starts asking for this life there is another question we must face ;
Why can he not be like the other monks and live like them ?
In the end my friend you must understand for some their Priesthood takes them down these hidden paths .
It is not enougth to offer sacrifice to God .

The Hermit becomes the sacrifice and offering on the altar to God.
Gradually they must in the seclusion be consumed in to God until there is no more of them left in this world .
It is a life of witness to the life of the world to come .
A life that however becomes a living out of a mystery .

The mystery however is ultimately Gods secret .
The solitude life is the life that becomes hidden with Christ in God .
The one who desires this life is only seeking one thing :
To hide themselves in the face of God .

Father Lazarus