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Spirit, Mind and BodyOnly then do we return to the soul—and the body—with the light and energy of Spirit that brings both of those realms to their fullness and fruition.

Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam“Spirit, Soul, Body and the Spectrum of Consciousness”

Spirit, Soul, Body and the Spectrum of ConsciousnessCyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam

In this edition of the newsletter, we are exploring the Spirit, the Mind and the Body. In our times, the cross-fertilization of spirituality and psychology has proven to be a rich vein to mine, as we hope you will find in these articles.

Let’s start with the Greek word psukhē or psyche. It is variously translated as the human mind or soul or spirit. Following in the line of Bede Griffiths, I will define it as soul, more layered than the mind and more observable than spirit, which is beyond it both as its source and summit. With this understanding the art or discipline of psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy—at their best and most refined—are really soul doctoring.

Think of soul as a spectrum of consciousness that begins with senses and emotions, which are intrinsically bound to our physicality. Then, moving from the gross level to more subtle regions, there is the rational mind, what most people think of as simply “mind,” though Asian traditions have a broader understanding and use of that word. At a more subtle level there is the intuitive mind, both artistic and mystical intuition. And there are yet even more subtle realms beyond the intuition as well.

In the Hindu tradition, according to the Katha Upanishad, for instance, the first dawning of self-consciousness comes at the level known as the mahat. Deeper yet is the realm of the Unmanifest, the avyakta in Hinduism, similar to the alaya-vijnana of Buddhism, perhaps the collective unconsciousness and universal consciousness of depth psychology.

Each of these realms could be and has been explored at length, and this spectrum of consciousness could be divided into many other or different categories. But the points here are these. First, that beyond the soul, beyond these layers of consciousness, deeper than all that, both the source and the summit of all this,

In This Issue2 Spirit, Soul, Body and the Spectrum of Consciousness Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam 4 From Vienna to New Camaldoli: An Oblate’s Journey to Integral Spirituality David Hallowell, Oblate OSB Cam

5 Spirituality and Psychology Bede Healey, OSB Cam 8 Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina as a Way to God’s Wisdom Through the Body Michael Mullard, Oblate OSB Cam 10 Voices from the Community 13 Taste and See That the Lord is Good Vickie Conte

13 Preached Retreats Fall 2018

14 Activities and Visitors 15 Development

15 What the Monks Are Reading 16 In Remembrance of Robert and Gabriel

2 ~ New Camaldoli Hermitage

The painting on the cover is titled “Out ofthe Depths.” The artist is New Jersey native, Eugene Salandra. He received a BFA in Filmand Television at New York University, and studied figure drawing at the Art Students’ League of New York.

Except a brief Benedictine monastic sojourn, his life has been occupied with practicing the art of animation. He is an oblate of New Camaldoli Hermitage.

still using the vocabulary and anthropology of Fr. Bede, is the realm of spirit proper—our spirit, our openness to the Spirit of God. In this very specific understanding and use of the word “spirit” we are speaking here of a realm beyond name and form, deeper than all manifestations and phe-nomena, the source of all name and form, mani-festation and phenomena.

Second, the soul, the realm of the psyche, acts as a bridge between the realm of the physical and the spiritual. We want it to be a clear bridge, a conduit. In order for it to be that, the realm of the psyche may need some doctoring along the way. As a matter of fact, most spiritual practitioners discover that they do need some help at some point in the spiritual journey. Ioften think of my own psyche as a dark jungle: I may need someone to go in there with me, perhaps with a machete and a headlamp, and help me make my way through it. Just as we have perennially relied on philosophy as a sister discipline to theology, what we have come to understand, appreciate and articulate since the birth of the psychological sciences in the 20thcentury is that, at its best, psychology is the companion par excellence of spirituality,especially on the inner journey of contem-plative prayer and meditation.

Third, the way of meditation, in this understanding, is keen not to getcaught in any of these layersof consciousness but to godirectly to the spirit—our spirit—in hope of an encounter with the Spirit. Only then do we return to the soul—and the body— with the light and energy of Spirit that brings both of those realms to their fullness and fruition.

In these pages we pay homage to the holistic. Br. Bede Healey’swonderful essay on the integration

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of psychology and spirituality explores the nuances of both. He reflects on his experiences with practicing both psychotherapy and the monastic life and shares what he has come to understand and ideas of where integrating these two can lead—finding our truest selves while embracing, joyfully, the God within.

Michael Mullard, also a psychotherapist, explains the relationship between a type of psycho-spiritual process and the Benedictine tradition of Lectio Divina. Michael shares how this approach is inclu-sive of body and mind healing with a heavy dose of sacred scripture to mend the Spirit as well.We reached out to our community of monks and oblates by asking a few questions related to this topic. The answers we received are heartfelt and thoughtful.

David Hallowell takes us on a journey throughthe lives of Viktor Frankl and Bernard Lonergan and their deep and rich impact on his own spiritual path

to becoming Catholic and an oblate. Andrea Seitz thought-fully explains the impact that spiritual direction has had in her life and the importance

of this companionship on her spiritual journey.

We hope that the wisdom found in

these articles and essays inspires you

to be ever mindful of your

holistic self, to nurture and nourish each aspect lovingly and to let

each be a reminder of God’s image in whom you are created.

person was, and the phrase Ebenbild Gottes is reverberating off the aged yellow paper with the resonance of a ringing prayer gong. This clue is BIG.

Two thousand years ago in a Palestinian Roman outpost, a Jewish carpenter posed one of history’s most important questions: “Who do you say I am?” All of history (and the future!) pivots on that Christ-seed understanding, and even we among Jesus’ own followers continue to struggle to unpack its full profound significance. As I pondered the horrors of the Nazi murder machine, I wondered about the related question of who we are, as human persons. I tried to consider these questions separately, but everywhere I turned I could only find a weak sentimental preference for our own species. I wanted deeper answers that matched the depth of tragedy and loss carved into Europe under the Nazi ruin.

Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, Poland

Frankl had a strong instinct for the importance ofanthropological questions, even in his pre-war writings. He summarizes his anthropological axioms in ten theses, which the 1950 interview discusses. The tenth thesis asserts: “In the end, the person is only comprehensible in the context of transcendence. The human person is onlyto be understood as an image-bearer of God [my besteffort at translating Ebenbild Gottes], only to be inter-preted via the Supra-Personality. And he or she is only able to become what one should be by the grace of the Supra-Personality. The human person is discovered in the imitation of God.” Frankl’s approach here is rational rather than strictly empirical. He triangulates his training in philosophy, theology, psychology, and neurology (he was a medical doctor at the cutting edge of neurological medi-cine in his day) to arrive at this understanding. For him, the empirical justification comes in living out one’s worldview. Rather than our asking what the meaning of life is, life is always asking us what meaning we will give it. My Fulbright year is spent contemplating these notions, and I abandon psychology for philosophy on my journey.

December 2008. Father Flanagan sits at my right, a twin-kling gleam of higher country in his 82-year-old eyes. He recounts the first time he retrieved famed philosopher


From Vienna to New Camaldoli: An Oblate’s Journey to Integral SpiritualityDavid Hallowell, Oblate OSB Cam

Europe, 1939. Imagine your family is targeted by the government because of your ancestry. You begin to have to identify yourself publicly based on a politically motivated construction of who your relatives were. Your rights begin to erode. With time, neighbors begin to disappear, their belongings plundered by unscrupulous neighbors and government officials. You lose your unborn child to a state-mandated abortion. Finally, your family is deported. Your parents and brother perish, you do not know whathappened to your spouse. Four years later, emergingfrom one of the concentration camps of Eastern Europe, you learn your spouse fell victim to a gas chamber inAuschwitz. Millions perished. You did not. Now, live therest of your life.

Exhibit of children who perished during the Holocaust at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Jerusalem

Viennese psychiatrist Viktor Frankl had to live out such a test for five decades. In hindsight, he passed admirably. The U.S. Library of Congress crowned his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, one of the top-ten important books of the twentieth century. He remarried an exceptional Catholic woman, Elly Frankl, and their marriage produced a child, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Frankl rescued many thousands of patients and readers from the brink of suicide. His books remain in print, continuing to demonstrate both intellectually and historically that life is worth living even in the face of the most extreme forms of loss.

Spring 2005. I’m standing in Viktor Frankl’s personal library in his apartment in Vienna. Elly and Professor Alexander Batthyany have been showing me around Frankl’s private archives for months now, turning my Fulbright year into a dream opportunity. I notice I am experiencing a state of thrill as I hold a 1950 Austrian newspaper article in my hand. Dr. Alex and I have been working out the details and nuances of what Frankl’s anthropological notion of the


Bernard Lonergan from the airport to begin his tenure at Boston College. Lonergan tells Flanagan he’s been reading Viktor Frankl on the flight out. Lonergan goes on to refer-ence Frankl in his second masterwork, Method in Theology. Lonergan reflects, “Finally, and most significant from a ba-sic viewpoint, there is the existential approach that thinks of the dream, not as the twilight of life, but as its dawn, the beginning of the transition from impersonal existence to presence in the world, to constitution of one’s self in one’s world.”

Easter 2010. Lonergan’s critical realist understanding of history and philosophy has given me the framework I was searching for in Vienna. Lonergan builds a metaphysics that is faithful to the Church’s sacramental understanding of the universe but is built on an anthropological under-standing of understanding. To be a knower in a universeof other knowers invites one into self-reflection and self-appropriation. As one becomes reflective on one’s own acts of knowing, a universe of being unfolds before the knower. It is with this framework that I enter the Roman Catholic Church at the Mission Basilica in San Juan Capist-rano, embarking on a sacramental experience of being in the world that will eventually lead me to New Camaldoli.

July 2017. After three years of postulancy, I profess my vow to become an oblate at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur. Flowing out of the monastic life of the Hermitage, there is a mandalic rhythm of form and freedom along one dimension (St. Benedict), and solitude and community along another (St. Romuald). At the intersection of these dimensions subsists a potent ground for contemplation and integration. As we approach our daily moments with the One, we find our hearts joining in praise with the community, seeing the face of God in ourselves and in ourneighbors so that all is His andnothing else remains:

Praise the Cre\a-tor’s Wisdomthe image of God’s / glorythe Word that was \ made in-carnateby the power of the Ho\ly Spirit.

David Hallowell is a nature-loving Roman Catholic husbandand father, and an oblate of New Camaldoli Hermitage. He is a philosopher, an educator by training, recently earning his PhD, and a UX researcher at Google by trade. His joy is in makingbeautiful things inspired by the Maker’s love.

Spirituality and PsychologyBr. Bede Healey, OSB Cam

For the past 45 years, which is to say most of my adult and monastic life, I have been intrigued with exploring the relationship, the interconnection between psychology and spirituality. This journey has taken me through decades of study, my own personal psychotherapy and psychoanalysis and spiritual direction, and my clinical and spiritual work with others. I have taught, presented, discussed, and written about various aspects of this area. I still do—in a way this consumes me. Why?

Perhaps because I pursued this not as an intellectual exercise, but as a way to know myself, and God, ever more deeply, ever more fully. From this came the desire to work with and for others, so that they too could be ever more real, free, and alive. I have come to deeply know and believe in my heart that the bringing together of these dimensions of human experience enriches us far beyond what either offers on its own. In both the psychological and spiritual dimensions of our lives there is an energy, an urging toward something beyond, something that is simultaneously drawing us more deeply inward and impels us to extend ourselves further outward.

Pueblo Peak, New Mexico

Raised Catholic and taught by Dominican sisters, I was imbued not just with the Church teachings and devotional practices of those days just prior to and during the begin-ning of the Second Vatican Council. Rather I came to know these skilled teachers as persons, and, as I maintained contact with a number of them for many years after my time in school, I saw them in their own process of growth and change. They, and others, helped me to come to know that Catholicism was not just a set of required beliefs, but a living and vital way of being, of being connected to God and others. This was followed by over 35 years of monastic living, most of it as a Camaldolese monk. The depth and richness of the life, with its many trials as well, has only confirmed for me that the Christian spiritual life is above all relational, as well as being an ongoing process.


It makes sense that we start this process with the question— Who am I? Indeed, this question has perennial value, as we grow and change. But there is more. We must consider—Whose are we? With whom are we connected, whom do we love, whom are we a part of in an essential way, with whom have we cast our lot? And also, who are we for? For whom do we pour ourselves out, sacrifice for, support, and encourage? For whom do we choose to live lives of compassionate action?

These questions apply to our human relations, certainly, but also to our spiritual relations—to our relationship with God, who manifests in so many ways. Bringing these areas together helps us focus on the present, not just on some far-off possibility of reward or punishment. Consider these words:

Once the next life - the better life, the fuller life - has to be in this one, we have a considerable task on our hands. Now someone is asking us not only to survive but to flourish, not simply or solely to be good but to make the most of our lives. It is a quite different kind of demand.

– Adam Phillips, Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life

And then these:

The glory of the Lord is the human person, fully alive.

–Saint Irenaeus

Almost 20 centuries separate these writers. Yet we cansee essential similarity in their points of view. Our life, now,here, is the one we are to live, fully and freely.

How then, can psychology support our becoming fully alive? Returning to Winnicott, he identified six capacities that he thought were central to full human development. Since the developmental process is uneven for each person, depending on temperament, character, and early experiences, as well as the later ongoing experiences of living, some of these capacities will inevitably be more or less developed. I list them here with a brief explanation of each.

Pursuing graduate and postgraduate studies in psychology led me to anchor myself in the psychoanalytic tradition, with its attention to drives, to both conscious and uncon-scious processes, and to the way our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are influenced by our earliest experiences. I was particularly drawn to the British Object Relations school of thought. Having its beginning in the middle of the last century, and continuing to flourish today, this ap-proach places its emphasis on the crucial importance of our earliest relationships, and the unfolding of our capacity to relate with others. Indeed, it is the need for relationship that is central to human growth and development, rather than managing our sexual and aggressive drives. This was a significant departure from Freud’s original ideas, and this approach has continued to develop in this direction.

Donald Winnicott, one of the early theorists in this area, has been especially formative in my understanding and work. He worked extensively with mothers and infants and applied psychoanalytic concepts to normal development. Widely recognized as a pioneer both in his lifetime and after, his ideas continue to stimulate current analyticthinkers, particularly with his emphasis on creativity and aliveness. For him, this is our due, our birthright. Thisapproach’s emphasis on relationships, its deep respectfor the inner processes of the human person, and its strong developmental arc towards wholeness make itespecially congenial to the living Christian spiritual tradition which is above all relational.

Spirituality is a way of being and living; psychological process can inhibit or nurture this. As just one example of this, consid-er these words from a contemporary psychoanalytic theorist:

We are too much for ourselves—in our hungers and our desires, in our griefs and our commit-ments, in our loves and our hates—because we are unable to include so much of what we feel in the picture we have of ourselves.The whole idea of our-selves as excessive exposes how determined we are to have the wrong picture of what we are like, of how fanatically ignorant we are about ourselves.

–Adam Phillips

Phillips highlights an issue common to all of us. In effect, he is saying that we are so much more than we know, and in so many ways, and for any number of reasons, we fear knowing more about ourselves. Our working through of this crucial psychological issue will help us accept and relate to God, who sees all of us, the whole picture, and loves us unconditionally. Then our sense of our self can expand and become richer.

So then, it appears that we, all of us, are engaged in the process of “coming to know…” Coming to know what?Ultimately, we are coming to know ourselves, others, and God, and the intricate inter-relationships among these people, and the thoughts, feelings and experiencesassociated with them.

Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France


The capacity to be alone. To be alone in the presence of others. It is the overcoming of loneliness and the experi-encing of solitude without fleeing into false relationships. Indeed, a well-developed capacity to be alone allows para-doxically for the rich development of deep relationships.

The capacity for [human] object usage. The ability to discover others for who they are, allowing others to define themselves rather than our defining them to meet our needs. We come to know them by interacting with them.

The capacity to play. In our context, we can think of this as entering into an intermediate area of experiences, the space between oneself and another. This intermediate area is called the potential or transitional space - it is a psychic space, neither controlled by one individual or the other. It is a place of engagement, authentic play, and creativity, and especially from our perspective, it is where we encounter God.

The capacity to believe. The ability to be trusting and loving, to be able to engage the world confidently with one’s complete being: body, mind and spirit.

The capacity to imagine. The ability to address realities that are neither purely subjective nor purely objective, but transitional or changeable. Imagining allows the explora-tion of a different level of reality or perhaps we should say potential reality. This is essential for health and creativity.

Finally, the capacity for concern. The ability to integrate our constructive and destructive potentials, the resolution of which allows for deep caring and understanding, as well as accepting true responsibility without excessive concern, or the opposite, disdain for others.

Our ongoing psychological development, our inner work if you will, is the addressing of our arrests and limits associated with these capacities. It is not difficult to see the spiritual implications for these psychological constructs. Just two examples: The capacity for concern leads to our increased empathic connection with others and fosters the develop-ment of compassion. To have the capacity to believe allows for “what if” experiences and the consideration of what might be possible, and leads to the ability to be open to encounters about which we know little, but seem to draw

us beyond ourselves, and can lead to a greater understand-ing of the meaning inherent in our lives and in the world at large. It is the antidote to the malaise that author Robert Coles describes as the problem of today - that people no longer believe in anyone or anything for any length of time.

During the international gathering of formation directors for the Benedictine Camaldolese congregation that took place in the late 1990s, Bruno Barnhart, the first American Prior and longtime formation director of New Camaldoli Hermitage, gave a presentation on new approaches to formation. Although written for a monastic audience, they have broad applicability to the spiritual life in general, and I have adapted his thoughts to the area of spiritual growth in general.

v Instead of looking at assisting others in their spiritual growth primarily through the imparting of knowledge, the focus needs to be increasing deep consciousness, initiating individuals into the experience of spiritual living.

v Instead of being knowledge-based it should be wisdom-based.

v Rather than imagining that those who are instructing are the only ones full of wisdom, acknowledge that everyone has their own wisdom as well as ignorance and encourage the mutual experiencing and sharing of both.v Acknowledging tradition and antiquity, there needs

to be an additional emphasis on newness and prophetic experience for today.

v While acknowledging fullness, there should be a simultaneous emphasis on emptiness.

v Finally, although logical foundation is important, Christian spiritual initiation must rest on experience, especially contemplative experience.

Here Bruno highlights a new vision for addressing spiritual growth, a movement from an intellectual, content-based approach to one of a shared, living, experiential approach. The bringing together of these two strands is my current work.

Where will this all lead? There is no certainty, only infer-ences, possibilities, potentialities. Perhaps the manifesting of the mutual intertwining of the strands of spirituality and psychology can be seen as resulting in:

v a life wherein we have progressed and continue to progress in our capacity to be fully open to God and others; v where we search for and continue to find the richness that is our truest self, joyfully embracing it as the vital center of God within us; v where we use our ability to attend to our inner and outer worlds; and perhaps most importantly, where we grow in our capacity to enter that transitional space that is both everywhere and nowhere, where we can playfully engage with God in the re-creation of who we are and ultimately, who we will become.

Mount Sinai, Egypt


Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina as a Way to God’s Wisdom Through the BodyMichael Mullard, Oblate OSB Cam

Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina is a wholly new construct that uses a body-oriented way of knowing to enter more intimately into the scriptural text. It combines Focusing, a psychotherapy process first described by Eugene Gendlin in 1978, and Lectio Divina, a defining component of Benedictine spirituality, which began with the Egyptian Desert Mothers and Fathers of the 4th Century.

Through clinical research in the 1950s, Gendlin, who was researching the process of “change” in psychotherapy along with Carl Rogers, discovered the “felt-sensing”phenomenon. The felt-sense expresses a body-awareness of “meaning-filled body connections.” Felt-sensing was seen to be a precursor to effective change and growth in psychotherapy. Patients who were able to articulate a felt-sense of their own internal physiological metaphors were seen to be more likely to have a positive therapeutic outcome. For example, if a patient was able to articulate the emotion of anger, then by staying with that felt-sense of anger in their body, this felt-sense might reveal something deeper, like: “Oh, it’s not anger, it’s feeling trapped and helpless.”

Gendlin’s Focusing process was expanded into the transpersonal realm by Ed McMahon and Peter Campbell, two Jesuit priests, who recognized the potential of theprocess to deepen one’s interior awareness of God’s presence and to lead to deeper conversion. They renamed the process BioSpiritual Focusing.

The Four Steps of BioSpiritual Focusing in Lectio Divina

Lectio Phase: The reader first enters into the silence of God’s loving presence by moving their awareness to the center of their body for a few minutes, noticing how they are feeling. Then the reader begins the slow, gentle read-ing process of Lectio while looking for a word or phrase that stands out for them. It is important to clarify here that the word or phrase stands out for a specific reason: there is something in our unconscious that wants our attention! God is perhaps asking us to pay attention to this word or phrase because there is deeper meaning to be found therein.

Meditatio Phase: When the reader finds a word or phrase that is asking for attention, then he or she begins the Meditatio phase by asking where and how in the body they feel the impact of it. Once having noted a place, the reader begins to ponder the word or phrase, while remaining co-focused on the body sensation, allowing the necessary silence to enter deeply within the experience and integrate the body felt-sense with the phrase.

After some minutes of interaction, a deeper meaning will usually arise. It is often a memory, an image, an intuition,another word, or perhaps another body sensation. Without trying to change or fix anything, the reader takes time to stay with the new meaning, and looks at it with loving eyes of compassion if the experience becomes difficult.

It is important to stay with the body sensation, image, memory, or other phenomenon for some time while continuing to chew on the word or phrase to see if any new meanings, associations, images, or memories arise. If new links arise, the reader can follow these as the Holy Spirit leads them. Sometimes the links will take us far away from the meaning of the Scripture passage, especially if something from our history arises. But it is important to stay with the body felt-sense for some time to allow the meanings to unfold.

While normally in Lectio Divina, the scripture passage be-comes the focus point, with the addition of the felt-sense, a new and deeper dimension of awareness is revealed through the body’s own wisdom, thus balancing body-mind awareness, and integrating them.

Long Ridge Open Space Preserve


Oratio Phase: After exploring all of the body felt-senses that arose from the word or phrase, one can take whatever is on one’s heart to God in prayer. Often with the addition of the BioSpiritual Focusing process, spontaneous prayers seem to rise like fountains from the unconscious depths because new and deeper levels of awareness have been reached. One offers these spontaneous prayers to God until one empties one’s heart fully.

Contemplatio Phase: Here, one simply rests in the new awarenesses that have arisen from the fruits of both the Meditatio and Oratio phases and remains aware of God’s presence in whatever way God speaks.

Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina has been utilized in four different group settings with approximately 50 people. It was used during a Camaldolese Oblate Retreat Day, twice with the author’s on-going spiritual growth group and with members of a spiritual direction supervision group. The responses from participants provided interesting results.

Deeper Understanding of ScriptureAll of the participants stated that the Lectio Divina process was significantly enhanced by the addition of BioSpiritual Focusing. They reported new and deeper understandings of the scriptural passage and how it related to their lives. One male participant stated that it was “groundbreaking and revolutionary.” All members reported that the process was able to bring more of their own unconscious material to bear on the reading.

Deepening of Relationships with God, Self, and OthersOne male participant stated that the process led him to a deeper understanding of his interpersonal relationships and how to live those out in more intimate ways. He felt that the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel passage, was tell-ing him to not “turn his back” on some people in his life. This notion was related to a specific phrase in the Gospel that drew his attention. When turning inward toward his body, and focusing on his own back, which seemed to ask for his attention, the participant reported that he had an insight about how inappropriately he was treating other people in his life. His body felt-sense led him to a deeper awareness of his own need for conversion.

Increased Healing through Accessing Unprocessed Body MemoriesA female participant from the spiritual direction supervision group was drawn to the word “death” in the Gospelpassage. When she paid attention to this word and allowed the wisdom of her body to speak to her, she realized that it was bringing up feelings of loss over her husband who had passed away about ten years before.

This participant thought that she had grieved the loss of her husband, and was surprised when these feelings came up. She reported that the BioSpiritual Focusing process and Lectio Divina provided the necessary container to help her feel safe in processing the feelings. She was able to take these feelings to prayer during the Oratio phase, thus further containing her feelings and allowing herself to pour out her sadness to God, furthering her movement toward healing and wholeness in light of her husband’s death. During the Contemplatio phase, she sat in grateful silence for a wonderful marriage and felt these feelings of gratitude in her body in a very real way.

The Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina process appears to deepen the relationship with the God image that dwells at the core of the psyche, with different parts of the self that are more or less integrated, and ultimately with others, as the personality becomes purified, matured, and healed. Through an initial deepening of interiority, the spiritual seeker comes into contact both with the God image and parts of themselves that may not be fully conscious. The Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina process seems to allow the scriptural text to touch the participant both somatically and spiritually at a deep level, and perhaps accelerates the spiritual growth process by allowing the Wisdom of the Body to be heard. Thus Focusing-Oriented Lectio Divina becomes a holistic way to pray. Perhaps you can spend some time with the process to see if it works for you.

Michael Mullard is a licensed psychotherapist living and working in Orange County, CA. He has been hanging out with Benedictines since 1980 and found his way to New Camaldoli for the first time in 1999. He knew that he had found his home. He professed final Oblation in November 2004.

La cripta dell’abate Epifanio, San Vincenzo al Volturno, Italy

Long Ridge Open Space Preserve


How do you find balance in your appropriation of the Rule?

I grew up Episcopalian, and Anglicanism from itsmedieval “Benedictine centuries” has always beeninclined to the middle way, that is the via mediabetween excess and minimization. (See Esther de Waal’s splendid Seeking God: the Way of St. Benedict.) So I believe that I was early on appropriated by the Rule in this regard. And becoming a Camaldolese Benedictine has certainly strengthened and affirmed these values, as would, we hope, Camaldolese Benedictine oblation. Prayer, but also work, according to one’s own calling, in a balance so that prayer deepens and spiritualizes work and one’s work renders concrete and expresses one’s prayer. Then we are all invited to balance by the Camaldolese “threefold good” of community, solitude, and outreach beyond one’s own community and solitude. We see this same threefold good in Jesus’ life, with his community formation in his holy family, and then creating his adult community of apostles and disciples, but with his regular retirement into solitude and prayer. Then we see his outreach, to centurions, Samaritans, and also to Pharisees, etc. Our seeking balance always wants to be Christ-centered.

Fr. Robert Hale, OSB, Cam

What are the biggest mistakes people make when first setting out on an integral spiritual journey?

I’m not certain this is the “biggest mistake” but it is certainly an illusion we discover interiorly as we move through the contemplative spiritual journey. This misunderstanding, mistake, which I believe is very common to human ego development has to do with how we view this contemplative journey. As on any journey, we must embark; we must do something. Our ego development tells us “we can do it!” This is the first “mistake.” It is not “us” that does it, it is God doing it within us, interiorly. After all, it is the Divine nudging us to the contemplative path, not our ego. In our Brief Rule, Saint Romuald states it well, “Sit in your cell... put the whole world behind you... realize that you are in God’s presence... empty yourself completely... content with God’s gift... sit waiting...” Re-read these words. Ponder them. Romuald is correct. Sit, empty, wait. We can do nothing special but make ourselves available for God’s grace to create interiorly. Mid-twentieth century’s spiritual giant, Thomas Merton, says it perfectly, “...we should not look for a ‘method’ or ‘system,’ but cultivate an ‘attitude,’ an ‘outlook:’ faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy” (The Climate Of Monastic Prayer, 1969, p. 49). By placing our body in the proper quiet space and our mind focused on our heart, our spirit will rest and wait to hear the Divine within.

Duncan Macaulay, Oblate OSB Cam

What are my top three sapiential principles or practices that help me develop in a holistic, integral fashion?

Daily practice to sustain integral spirituality following sapiential principles can be a challenge while living in a world with schedules, demands, and due dates. How-ever, over time, I have learned how to include a mind-ful, contemplative practice to remain Christocentric and present in God. When I am neglecting my body, mind, and soul or lose track because the external world has pulled me into the rabbit hole, I become stressed, ill, or sometimes suffer a mild physical injury, exacerbated by an aging body. During these setbacks, I feel called to reflect in deep meditation and prayer. Here I am invited to experience the mystery of God in daily life. In so doing, I sense a transcendence from the very concrete to the non-duality of my senses. When I am in this unitive state, I hear the ocean, birds, and even the breeze through the leaves. There is unity with God.

Elbina Rafizadeh, Oblate OSB Cam

Voices from the Community


What does “living an integrated life” look like in a monastic context?

There is a great deal of an integrated life already built into the daily round and common task of the monastic day: prayer, work, study, community/relationships. I find we always need to be conscious and intentional though about the elements that are not usually thought of as part of our spirituality, but ought to be, in a more evolved way of thinking. For instance, I think of care of the body through the discipline of a healthy diet and exercise is absolutely essential for a holistic approach to spirituality. We sometimes refer to this as the “new asceticism.” As well there is cultivation of soul through the arts and learning, and regular spiritual direction and perhaps even some kind of therapy for psycho-sexual emotional development. Another additionalelement, really brought to the fore by our present pope, is examining and being intentional about our relationship with creation, Sister Earth our Mother. Ina truly integral model there is almost nothing that isnot or could be not seen as part and parcel of ourspiritual practice.

Prior Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam

What are the biggest mistakes people make when first setting out on an integral spiritual journey?

I think one of the mistakes people beginning a contem-plative journey can make is what is sometimes called “spiritual bypassing.” My own entry into contemplative practice was through Zen Buddhist meditation.Because Zen so strongly emphasizes letting go of the intellect, imagination, memory, and emotions during spiritual practice, or at least detaching from and ob-serving them, I developed the habit of preferring this detachment over pursuing growth and creative expres-sion through these vital aspects of my inner life. Since returning to Christian faith, I have learned, especially through the practice of Lectio Divina, to re-integrate the intellect, imagination, memory, and emotions intocontemplative practice in an organic way. Still, since popular practices like Centering Prayer and Christian mantra meditation operate on the same principle of detachment as Zen, Christians who are drawn to these practices can be vulnerable to bypassing the mind and psyche in pursuit of spiritual development.

Julian Washio-Collette, Oblate OSB Cam

When you notice you are becoming undisciplined in your attempts to walk the integral pathway, what do you do to get back on track?

Returning from a silent retreat I was touched in a very deep and special way.

I wasn’t to know or understand what had happened. But I knew the Holy Spirit had been planted deep inside of me. I had been given these new words, a new mantra: “be the breath I breathe.”

I retired from my church ministry and in doing so, my need to return to the Hermitage as often as I had for spiritual direction, quiet, prayer, and community lessened. I was beginning to slip away from the rock. I tried to go to Mass as often as I could, and pray my morning and evening prayers. But these were slip-ping away. With my move to Texas, leaving California and my Hermitage on the hill, I stopped my praying, stopped seeking.

Then at some point I found that a deep longing was coming forth in me. As Andre Louf said, “it was as if the rock had been struck and water poured forth.” I haven’t fully returned to my prayer life, but I continue to use my mantra. That deep longing which was planted so long ago was awakening. There may be a new community, but “be the breath I breathe” never left me. All these years later I am beginning to understand.

The Hermitage will always be part of my life, my rock.

Marydith Chase, Oblate OSB Cam

Voices from the Community

Contemplation: The Body and the Natural WorldHelena Chan, Oblate OSB Cam

Full chapel, heat wave, cool air – from Incarnation, New Camaldoli, and Monastery of the Risen Christ, monks, friends, and oblates traveled to St. Francis Retreat Center for spiritually refreshing renewal and fellowship.

This year’s theme was Contemplation: The Body and the Natural World. Vocalist Gitanjali Lori Rivera and pianist Art Alm soulfully moved us with their original music, like this powerful, mysterious chant from St. Romuald’s brief rule:

Empty yourself of yourselfSit and waitContent with the grace of GodEmpty yourself of yourself

Fr. Michael Fish taught us that the Celts had a sense of two scriptures: the first of the mountains, seas, creation, birds, and bees, and the second of the Bible. Our human nature—body, imagination, and emotion—are part of this first scripture. We were challenged to try Lectio Divina with nature by listening to the body, just as we would do Lectio Divina in ruminating on the word in the Bible.

Rev. Deborah Streeter sparked in us the wonder of discovery by connecting science and faith in blue theology—the ocean teaching us about God. Ocean spirituality is prayer andpilgrimage, walking with Jesus by the sea, and ocean stewardship is action to take care of God’s creation. We sang blue theology with these words:

Ocean is a call to worship every morning evening,In its rising falling hear the Spirit breathing.

Paula Huston and Michael Mullard revealed the fruit of oblate writers, “Living by the Rules: A Guide to Camaldolese Oblate Life” as a resource for current oblates and postulants. Prior Cyprian expressed his desire that these retreats be a time of yearly formation for oblates and friends.

We hope to see you the weekend after July 4th next year at St. Francis!


An Appreciation of Spiritual DirectionAndrea Seitz, Oblate OSB Cam

My first experience with spiritual direction occurred about 18 years ago at New Camaldoli Hermitage. I had heard the term before but knew little about it other than that monks and other vowed religious people often utilized spiritual directors. When I registered for my stay I was surprised when Fr. Isaiah asked if I would like to receive spiritual direction. I immediately answered “Yes,” and my appoint-ment was set for the following day.

At that time in my life I was in a great deal of turmoil. I had left a well-paying professional job in complete burn-out and had been teaching part-time at Cal State Monterey. I had spent two years recovering from the stress and over-work and began seriously to consider what should come next. I wanted to make good choices and to discern God’s will for my life but the question kept me going in circles. When I met with my first spiritual director, Brother Bede, I immediately felt his warmth and regard for me as a person. Feeling immediately at ease I began a rushed recitation of what had happened to me over the past few years. My feelings of confusion and anxiety spilled out. During this session, Br. Bede asked challenging questions that provoked me to ponder the answers. As I answered I began to feel calmer and even sensed small stirrings of joy. A question was, “Is there something you have wanted to do that has been lingering in your mind for a long time?” In my excitement I said, “I’ve always wanted to be a psycho-therapist” and explained how I had diverged from the path of that plan.

Our session ended but Br. Bede’s questions stayed with me. I soon realized that in that one session the roadblock that had kept me stuck for over a year had been cleared. More importantly I had found a new perspective on God. Through continued prayer and spiritual direction my new sense, that I didn’t have to live in questioning confusion, was confirmed. I could let my soul soar knowing that God’s will was in my desires and that my delights were His as well.

I did go on to become a therapist and it has been a great joy as I expected. Now I feel God is leading me to become a spiritual director, and I’ve been in training for the past year. I’ve learned how to be with someone in intimate conversa-tion in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The greatest privilege of my new work of spiritual direction is helping people call forth fullness of life as they become more attentive to God’s great love and desire for their growth and freedom.

Jesus did not expect us to live our lives alone. In sending out the disciples two by two he implicitly affirmed the need for spiritual friends and yes, directors. When we avail ourselves of the skilled and loving ministry of a spiritual director, we demonstrate that we understand His desire to guide us and speak to us through our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Andrea Seitz is a Marriage and Family Therapist living in Aptos, California. She has been an Oblate for 13 years and is an Oblate Mentor. She is currently offering spiritual direction under super vision and is looking forward to expanding her experience.

OBLATES

Taste and See That the Lord Is GoodVickie Conte

Here at the Hermitage, we literally get to taste the sweet, pure honey that flows from the land and see it is truly liquid gold.

The Spring of 2015 witnessed the humble beginnings of our first apiary with three hives located in Therese’s Secret Garden filled with lavenders and rosemary. In 2016, our friend Scott Otterness funded six additional hives along with bee suits and necessary equipment.

Beekeeping is not a new thing for monas-tic communities; it is actually a part of the history of the found-ing monks of New Camaldoli. There’s an old archive photo that shows one of the original monks in a beekeeper role. Apparently, he kept Buckfast honeybees, a variety of honey-bee bred by Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England in 1919. The current Beekeeper

chose Italian honeybees to honor the Italian roots of New Camaldoli. Plus, these bees have a gentle nature and good foraging and honey storage abilities.

With each passing year of having hives on the property, we have seen an increase in fruit production from many of our aging fruit trees. We like to believe it is due to the increases in pollination by our beloved bees. This Beekeeper likes to believe it is because the bees are out kissing the flowers in this great love affair with Nature that science calls pollination.


Preached Retreats Fall 2018October 26–27Fr. Andrew Colnaghi, OSB Cam; Fr. Arthur Poulin, OSB Cam; and Antoinette Betschart, Oblate OSB Cam(Incarnation Monastery)

Transformation in a Polarized WorldIn our polarized, fragmented world, transformation of individuals, communities and nations would seem to be of critical importance. Do fragmentation and polarization inhibit or might they promote our evolving transformation into the image and likeness of God? This retreat will draw upon scripture, tradition and the experience of retreatants to enhance our awareness of the diverse and creative ways in which God brings about continuing transformation in humankind and all of Creation.

November 16–17Br. Bede Healey, OSB Cam, and Paula Huston, Oblate OSB Cam (New Camaldoli Hermitage)

Lectio Divina in Today’s Spiritual JourneySacred reading, holy reading, close reading – how do we bring together our understanding of the human capacity to read and understand with the mysterious spiritual core of ourselves? But the monastic practice of Lectio Divina, truly a charism of the church, continues to expand and utilize cultural changes and human knowledge to bring us closer to ourselves and to God.

November 30–December 1Br. Bede Healey, OSB Cam, and Dr. Andrew Mitchell, PhD(New Camaldoli Hermitage)

Can the Many Become One?The philosopher and psychologist William James described the human condition as one of “torn-to-pieces-hood,” his trenchant translation of the German Zerrissenheit. We so often experience ourselves and the world as fractured, di-vided, separate, unconnected, and alienating. During this retreat, we will draw from Christian monastic and contem-plative sources, Buddhist thought, psychoanalytic relational theory, neuroscience, and literature to explore a more unitive, real, and truly alive way of being, and what living this way can mean for ourselves, friends, family, society, and the world.

Br. Bede is a Camaldolese Benedictine monk and clinical psychologist. Dr. Mitchell, steeped in both Christian and Buddhist thought and traditions, is a clinical psychologist, clinical neuro-psychologist and also an author.

Visit www.contemplation.com for details about how to register.

Activities and Visitors JUNEFr. Raniero went to Rome (via Minneapolis and Baltimore) to participate in the diaconate ordination of Br. Ignatius at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls; we had our Financial Advisory Board meeting at Monastery of the Risen Christ; our weekend chef, Rachel Fann, along with our staff put on a magnificent banquet for the monastic community on the eve of St. Romuald’s Day, and we had a

wonderful celebration the next day as well with our brothers from up and down the coast and several guests in attendance, and Bishop Emeritus Sylvester Ryan presided at Eucharist; Jim Brady offered two conferences on John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body”; Fr. Zacchaeus visited with family in

Texas; Br. Timothy spent some time with his community in Santa Barbara; Fr. Cyprian held a fundraising concert at Holy Cross Church in Santa Cruz. Fr. Cyprian did an event with our good friend the writer Pico Iyer at the Henry Miller Library entitled “Lovers of the Place,” it was an afternoon of music, readings, and conversation.

Fr. Cyprian in conversation withPico Iyer

JULYWe held our 6th Annual Camaldolese Retreat for Oblates and Friends at St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista; Fr. Thomas co-led a workshop on film at Esalen Institute; our beloved Bishop Richard Garcia passed away suddenly; Thomas with our postulants Bryan and Doug attended the San Francisco Symphony’s concert of the music of Star Wars simultaneous with the showing of the film; Ignatius returned home having finished three years of theological education at the Beda College in Rome, living with our brothers at San Gregorio; we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our founding with a dinner for our benefactors (again prepared by Rachel), followed by an open house and concert by the renowned violinist Michelle Makarski the next day, with 200 guests in attendance.


The community gathered for a festive meal on the eve of St. Romuald’s Day.

Holy Cross concert in Santa Cruz

Development Jill Gisselere

Friends of the Hermitage,

It’s been a summer full of joyful celebrations! At the end of July, we happily welcomed 200 guests to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Hermitage. We enjoyed meeting with friends from our local community as well as a few from overseas. It was a wonderful day as we shared Eucharist, lunch, and conversation with our beloved community. The event ended with a beautiful concert in the chapel by world-renowned violinist Michelle Makarski.

As we kick off our Capital Campaign it was especially nice to see so many people who have supported us over the years and continue to do so. A special thank you to all who helped make this event so special, including all of the Hermitage staff who helped make the event a success.

Another wonderful event—construction on Highway One is complete and it is now open from the south. Please come for a visit!

We also enjoyed a great turnout at our Annual Assembly and Retreat in San Juan Bautista in early July. A special thanks to the planning committee for their hard work in making this event a fantastic success. Next year’s retreat will take place July 5th–7th, so mark your calendars!

More news to celebrate, the vintage Ferrari donated by Garrick Davis finally sold after being on the market for several months. The timing was perfect to fund a much-needed new dump truck, which coincidently is Ferrari Red. Our maintenance department is extremely grateful for this gener-ous gift.

Please reach out to me anytime if you have any questions and thank you for your continued support and prayers.


The triannual newsletter is published by the Camaldolese Hermits of America for our friends, oblates, and sponsors.

Director: Father Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam Editor: Lisa Benner, Oblate OSB Cam Associate editors: David Hallowell, Oblate OSB Cam, andPhilip McManusDesign: Debi Lorenc Development: Jill Gisselere

Photo credits:Debi Lorenc: Pages 2–11, 14 left column, 15 (Aldo) Devin Kumar: Page 11 right column (Hermitage) Yvonne Rose: Page 12 and back cover (Fr. Robert)Vickie Conte: Page 13 left columnKayleigh Meyers: Page 13 (Br. Bede), back cover (Br. Gabriel)Jill Gisselere: Page 14 right columnKinson Ho: Page 14 right column (last two)Jordan Garrick: (truck)

If you have questions or comments, please [email protected].

New Camaldoli Hermitage62475 Highway 1Big Sur, CA 93920

Visit us at www.contemplation.com and “New Camaldoli Hermitage” on Facebook.

What the Monks Are ReadingBr. Bryan: The Ladder of Monks by Guigo II; Catechism of the Catholic Church by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Fr. Cyprian: Incarnation by Diarmuid O’Murchu

Br. Doug: The Imitation of Mary by Thomas Kempis; The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux

Fr. Isaiah: The Fellowship: Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Carol Zaleski and Philip Zaleski; The Abbey by James Martin

Fr. Robert: Joy Lasts: On the Spiritual in Art by Sister Wendy Beckett

Fr. Thomas: For the End of Time by Rebecca Rischin; The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes

Br. Timothy: Evolutionaries by Carter Phipps; Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser

Staff SubmissionsRich Veum: How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan; The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida

Vickie Conte: The Man who Planted Trees by Jean Giono; Spiritual Necessity: Selected Poems of Frank Samperi

Julian Washio-Collette: Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence by Terrence Rynne; Christianity and Science: Toward a Theology of Nature by John Haught

Meet Aldo, a giftto Fr. Cyprian on his 60th birthday.

Br. Gabriel OSB 1930 – 2018

Br. Gabriel Kirby was born in 1930, anative of Los Angeles. He professed monastic vows in 1965 and was involved in many and diverse jobs for the com-munity over his 53 years of monasticlife. Gabriel may be best known for his involvement in the Charismatic Renewal, in whose circles he was known as “the dancing monk.” He was also a talented artist and photographer, and a great lover of music. Gabriel was 88 years old when he passed away on July 18, 2018 after a long and courageous battle with cancer and congestive heart failure.

Fr. Robert Hale OSB1937 – 2018

Robert Hale was born in 1937 and entered New Camaldoli in April 1959. After solemn vows, he studied in Italy and was ordained at Camaldoli in 1966 before coming back to the US to complete graduate studies at St. John’s University (M.A.) and Fordham University (Ph.D.).

In 1975 along with Fr. Andrew Colnaghi, Robert founded Incarnation Priory in Berkeley, living in a dual community with the monks of the Episcopal Order of the Holy Cross. Fr. Robert taught in Italy and the US before being elected Prior of New Camaldoli in 1988; he served in that role through January 2000 and several years later became oblate chaplain. He briefly served a second term as Prior from January 2012 through June 2013.

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