|
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 (when a priest is available)
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. (when a priest is available).
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 7 p.m.
to 8 p.m. You are welcome to attend.
FIRST
FRIDAYS
The first Friday of each month during the summer, 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. The chapel - Our
Father’s House - 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 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.
Back to Top
|
