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Nazareth Retreat July 2007
Spring, 2007 - Volume 24, No. 1

Christmas, 2006 - Volume 23, No. 2
Summer, 2006 - Volume 23, No. 1
Nazareth Retreat July 2006
Winter, 2005 - Volume 22, No. 4
Autumn, 2005 - Volume 22, No. 3
Summer, 2005 - Volume 22, No. 2
April 2005 - Volume 22, No. 1
Christmas 2004 - Volume 21, No. 2
Summer 2004 - Volume 21, No. 1
Christmas 2003 - Volume 20, No. 2

Calendar of Events

Sister M. Beverly, HSM will be teaching the following classes:

General Information

WHAT IS A HERMIT?

“[Hermits] devote their lives to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through the silence of solitude and through constant prayer and penance.”
(Code of Canon Law #603 of the Catholic Church)

As Hermit Sisters of Mary, we live by a Rule of Life which gives us the structures to maintain a silent, solitary life of prayer and penance, adoration and praise of God. In order to have the necessary time for this intense life of “constant prayer,” we try to limit our contact with visitors even though we warmly welcome you to come and experience the peace of God.

VISITORS
We reserve the hours of 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. daily for unscheduled visiting. Unless you have an appointment to see one of the Hermit Sisters, we ask you to limit your visiting time with us to these hours. Wednesday is our Day of Great Silence; we do not receive visitors on this day until after evening Mass.

Upon your arrival, park by the chapel and ring the bell (in the tower). Please wait five minutes; if no one comes, then ring the bell a second time. In the event that we are gone while you are here, please leave a note in chapel. Packages also may be left in the foyer of chapel.

Thank you for summoning us only during the specified hours. We are not available by phone, but messages can be left at (208) 256-4354. A recorded message gives the time for Mass depending on the season.

COMMUNITY PRAYER
Whether in our residence or in the chapel, much of our prayer, like Jesus in the desert, is solitary. However, we do come together as a community several times a day for common prayer in chapel. Visitors are welcome to join us for these times of prayer:

NORMAL SCHEDULE
7:35 a.m. Angelus bell rings
7:40 a.m. Lauds in chapel
8:00 a.m. Holy Mass
12 noon Angelus bell rings
4:45 p.m. Angelus bell rings
5:00 p.m. Vespers
8:00 p.m. Great Silence begins

WEDNESDAYS
This is our Day of Great Silence for deeper solitude and more time for personal prayer, so the community does not gather until Vespers. On this day, Mass is offered at 5:30 p.m.

NIGHT VIGILS
The hermit community has a regularly scheduled hour of Eucharistic Adoration. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the night vigil is from 12 midnight to 1:00 A.M. The night vigil on Saturday night is from 7pm to 8pm. You are welcome to attend.

FIRST FRIDAYS
Every first Friday of each month during the summer months, we have a Holy Hour from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. which includes Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
An important aspect of living out the ideal of “the praise of God” and “the salvation of the world” is through time spent in loving prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
We offer you this opportunity here at Marymount Hermitage and encourage our visitors to spend time in adoration before the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the tabernacle. He is always waiting to receive the love, concerns and desires of our hearts. Our Father’s House (chapel) is “a house of prayer” for everyone -- those who share our Catholic faith and those who do not.

SILENCE
We are happy to have you and are very grateful when our visitors help us to foster the necessary “silence of solitude” throughout the entire Hermitage grounds. This enables us and you to be faithful in “the praise of God” and in praying for “the salvation of the world.”

For the sake of this sacred conversation between God and His beloved children, we ask your cooperation in maintaining a reverent silence especially in and around the chapel. In our tradition, evening silence is sacred for the sake of prayer. We appreciate your refraining from talking if you are here after Vespers or are here for the night vigil.

Thank you for coming as a pilgrim of faith to Marymount.

Wisdom of the Desert...
Abba John said, “We went to Syria one day to see Abba Poemen; we wanted to ask him about purity of heart. The old man began by saying, “The nature of water is soft, that of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung above the stone, allowing the water to fall drop by drop, it wears away the stone
.
So it is with the word of God; it is soft and our heart is hard, but the man who hears the word of God often, opens his heart to the love of God.”
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, #183

“ Let the Word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you.”
Col. 3:16

Marymount Hermitage...an oasis of peace and prayer, silence and solitude.