Hermitage closed
Making God Alive – An Advent Quiet Day Retreat
Annalena Tonelli, a woman who served the desert nomads of northern Kenya dying of tuberculosis penned the following words:
The poor are waiting for us. The ways of service are infinite and left to the imagination. Let us not wait to be instructed in how to serve. We invent and we live the new heavens and the new earth each day of our lives.…We are the visible sign of [God’s] presence and we make [God] alive in this infernal world where it seems that [God] is not. We make [God] alive each time we stop next to a wounded person.
from Rachel Pieh Jones – Stronger than Death: How Annalena Tonelli Defied Terror and Tuberculosis in the Horn of Africa.
We are facing all kinds of cultural transitions we feel unready to embrace. We are afraid. We are uncertain. We are wounded. We are grieving. We want to know that God is alive and at work among us. We need to make God alive by our presence in the world.
Join us for an Advent Quiet Day retreat on December 4 from 9-3:30. We will be reflecting on this theme of “Making God Alive.”
Leader: Naomi Wenger
Suggested Donation: $75, includes lunch. Payable the day of the retreat by cash, check or credit card in Hermitage office.
Register by: December 1
Register
Hermitage closed
Happy Thanksgiving
Witness – Grief, Trauma, and Transition: Quiet day of reflection
Recently, I heard the phrase, “grief is in season.”I believe it captures the essence of these days. We have all been experiencing loss in some way. For some, the loss is of relationships or wellness, or even the life of a loved one. For others it is the uncovering of hidden trauma, held in the body, perhaps for generations. And all of us are going through transition due to the social upheaval of pandemic. What kind of people are we? What kind of person am I becoming? These questions have moved out of our private musings and into our everyday conversations.
On Saturday, September 11, 2021, Naomi Wenger will be facilitating a Quiet Day from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm to bear witness together to our griefs, acknowledge our trauma and support one another in our transitions.
Join her at The Hermitage Community in Three Rivers, Michigan for a quiet day of witness and reflection. There will be ample personal reflection time and communal rituals as we share the day together.
Lunch is included in the retreat; please mention any dietary restrictions at the time of registration.
Suggested Donation: $50-75; we gratefully receive whatever you are able to give for this Quiet Day.
This retreat is offered in collaboration with the Sister Barbara Anne Hallman, OSF, Memorial Fund
This retreat is currently full. Feel free to use the form to be put on a waiting list.
Register for event: use form or email contact@hermitagecommunity.org
Feast of the Transfiguration – Celebrating the Ministry of David and Naomi Wenger
Join us as we honor David and Naomi Wenger as they conclude their 20 years of ministry at The Hermitage. Bring a story, a poem, a memory to thank them for their faithful service.
We will be walking the Hermitage land during the day and walking shoes are advised. We will be enjoying the traditional mid-day potluck feast—please bring food to share.
Schedule
9 am–Morning Prayer
9:30—Blessing the Land
10:45—Retreat: Calling
11:30—Silent Reflection
12:30 pm– Midday Meal
1:30—Honoring, Recommissioning David and Naomi Wenger
3:00—Eucharist; Waykeepers Committing
3:30—Closing Blessing
Questions, suggestions? Email June at June@hermitagecommunity.org
Muddy Monday’s and Saturday’s in May
10 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for
5 May Mondays and Saturdays… Only requirement:
2 good arms…. We are plastering and will teach you how!
What: mixing and applying natural clay plaster – wear your mud clothes
9am-3pm
How to get involved:….
Email Kevin Driedger, Co-director at kevin@hermitagecommunity.org
Hermitage Board Meeting
Please keep the board in your prayers.
CANCELED Ora et Labora – Prayer and Work retreat
Ora et Labora retreat
Explore a week of attentive prayer and work.
The retreat will be an immersive experience of the Benedictine practices of work and prayer. Each day will include times of gathered prayer, common work, reading, and reflection. What happens to us and to our awareness of God when we enter into the rhythms and practices of these days? How might this experience influence the way we shape our days?
We will look to the Rule of Benedict and the writings of Brother Lawrence, and each other to help guide our thoughts about these practices of work and prayer.
Each guest will have a private room or cabin and all meals will be provided for from Monday lunch through Friday lunch. The work will mostly be light to medium manual labor with flexibility to meet people’s needs and abilities.
We will begin at 10am on Monday and close at 3pm on Friday. Arrangements will need to be made if you want to arrive earlier or stay later. The recommended amount for this retreat is $300. The number of participants will be capped at four.
Email Kevin with any questions.
Anticipated Daily Schedule
8 am morning prayer
9 am Input and setting out the day
9:30-11:45 am Work
12 noon Mid-day prayer
12:30 pm Mid-day meal
1-2:30 pm free time/reading
2:30-4 pm work (no work on Wednesday pm)
4:15 pm Discussion
5 pm Vespers
5:30 pm evening meal
Evening free
(Participants are expected to pray an early morning and/or evening liturgy on their own. Liturgies available if needed.)
Coffee and Conversation with Kevin and June
Join us Saturday, March 13 at 9am in our first Zoom chat with Hermitage co-directors Kevin and June. Similar to our in-person gathered times after morning prayer, we’ll meet online for an informal time of conversation, we’ll provide Hermitage updates, and maybe some pictures or video. We anticipate doing this monthly on the 2nd Saturday.
Meeting ID: 821 8033 8300
Passcode: 450718