OUR_ANCHORHOLD ~
rom a one book-lined
room above Florence, without heat, on foot, but with a
computer, we sought to build an ideal monastery, an ideal
convent, one that never was, is or will be - yet always is.
Our Julian anchorhold. It is our prayer that we love God with
all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbour as
ourself, that Godfriends be without walls, for all, for the
good of our Creator's Creation. This CD, this website, can
become Teresa of Avila's 'Interior Castle', Paul Couturier's
'Invisible Monastery'. The Temple could become the Torah. And
this be our school for prayer. Your world as global hermitage
- and cloister.
Detail of Ideal Monastery Church and Cloister in a
St Gall Manuscript
The square section next to the
church building is the cloister, with
cells facing onto an enclosed
garden, a well at the centre, symbolizing
Paradise
.
Then our global hermitage changed. One room with too many books and no way to share them, on foot for four years, was claustrophobic. We placed this problem in God's hands. We now have a House of Prayer and a House of Study in the Swiss-owned historic ' English Cemetery ', an entire Piazzale in Florence filled with tombs, with a bottega , a workshop, for bookbinding, paper-marbling, picture-framing, tomb-restoring, embroidering, gardening, etc., in its Gatehouse, and a library, the Biblioteca e Bottega Fioretta Mazzei , and even a pair of bicycles. For Julian herself had her anchorhold in a graveyard. Our library includes the Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality publication series on contemplatives, such as the Friends of God, a CD of the Latin Church Fathers, Bibles in Greek and Hebrew, the volumes published by SISMEL, and much else. We suggest to each other books needing to be written, websites to be created. We pray the Hours of the Church, attend Mass daily, weekdays at the Santissima Annunziata, on Sundays the Messa dei Poveri of Giorgio La Pira and Fioretta Mazzei at the Badia, and at 6:00 on Thursday afternoons for two years we met together to read Dante and sing Vespers and share supper, at 5:00 on Sunday afternoons, again we meet together in the manner of Friends, of Quakers, as a cenacolo like St Catherine of Siena's, ours dedicated to Giuliana di Norwich, Julian of Norwich, for the reading of the Gospel, prayer, Vespers, and a shared supper. Godfriends include Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox, Jews and others. Thus we combine work, study, prayer, using our bodies, minds, souls, for God and neighbour.
One section of this Website shall be on
contemplative, and also active, Founders and their Charisms. For
as Christianity is built upon Christ, Franciscanism upon St
Francis, Brigittinism upon St Birgitta, all religion and
religious movements within the whole mirror
each other and God as in a kaleidoscope, refracting God as in a
prism, changing light into rainbows.
We thought long and hard about what to
call this website, monastery,
convent, cloister, communion, for it is all of these
and none of these. Perhaps best is the sense that it is the
Presence of God within the One Body of His Son, He in our midst,
in our flesh and blood. He is our One High Priest. In the end it
has become simply 'Godfriends'. Then 'Global Hermitage', next
'Our Anchorhold', were born. For Godfriends are ecumenical, are
on every Continent. We combine the very old with the very new.
Many Godfriends have gone on to enter cloisters, Dominican,
Carthusian, Carmelite, Benedictine, many already are monks and
nuns. My son had a van from which he fed thousands of homeless
in the streets of New York, Philadelphia and Washington, which
he called 'Everybody's Kitchen'. In Godfriends, similarly, there
are no boundaries between lay and religious, all being invited
to the Parables' Wedding Feast.
Below we give web essays on I. Father Founders, Mother Foundresses, II. Their
Rules, III. On Prayer, IV. Related Links.
I. Father Founders, Mother Foundresses:
St Benedict's Blessing: Website on Benedictine Monasticism in Relation to Julian of Norwich
The Earliest Life of St Gregory English and Latin
Alexandra Olsen Saint Pega, Saint Guthlac, Hermits English, Old English, Latin
Alexandra H. Olsen Eadburg, Lioba, Berhtgyth: Women Associated with Boniface English/Latin
Hildegard von Bingen: The Monastic Context
Benedictines Today Link
Carthusians
Today Link
Heloise
of
the
Holy
Paraclete Latin Link 
Père
Lachaise
Cemetery,
Paris
Also search for 'Biblioteca Augustana', http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/augustana.html, then 'Heloise' under Latin Authors
St Clare Privilege of Poverty I: Privilege, Testament and Blessing Latin
St Umiltà of the Vallombrosan Benedictines English
Richard Rolle English Link
Godfriends: The Continental Medieval Mystics English
St Birgitta of Sweden and Florence's Certosa Latin/English
St Birgitta of Sweden and the Order of the Most Holy Saviour and St Birgitta WebsiteEnglish/Latin
William
Flete, Remedies
Against Temptations
St Francesca Romana of the Order of Oblates
St Teresa of Avila of the Discalced Carmelites, Mother Agnes Mason, C.H.F.
Dom Augustine Baker, OSB. Link
An English Nun in Exile: 'Colections': Bibliothèque Mazarine 1202, I Scholar/Contemplative
An English Nun in Exile translates the Letters of Archbishop Fenelon to Madame Guyon, Bibliothèque Mazarine 1202, II Scholar/Contemplative
Dame Catherine Gascoigne, OSB, Father Augustine Baker's Way of Prayer: Bibliothèque Mazarine 1202, III Scholar/General/Contemplative
Norwich's Quaker Elizabeth Fry, 'What Owest Thou Thy God? Contemplative
Sister Anna Maria Reynolds, CP. Elizabeth Prout: A Woman Who Said 'Yes'
Mother Agnes Mason of the Community of the Holy Family English
Her Holmhurst English
Invisible Monastery of Paul Couturier English. Link
Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker English. Link
Mother Teresa of Calcutta English
Fioretta Mazzei and Florence English/italiano
Teaching Ourselves Monastic Study on the Web
Nechama Leibovitz A
Woman Scholar in Jerusalem on the Torah Link
Scroll down until you reach
the commentary, then her photograph and eulogy.
Jubilee/Giubileo English/italiano/Swedish, etc.
II. Their Rules. Ideally, these are the Gospels, Word made flesh and lived. We give here blueprints/rules founders and foundresses have written through time, remembering that medieval blueprints, as above, are redprints, drawn with sanguine, terra cotta clay, of the earth, like flesh and blood, like ourselves:
St Columba's Rule English
St Birgitta of Sweden Regula Salvatoris Latin
Richard Methley of Mount
Grace Charterhouse, To Hewe
Heremyte Middle English/ Latin Newest
St John of the Cross If You Would Be Perfect Spanish/English
Agnes Mason, CHF Rule for the Community of the Holy Family English
Gerontissa Gabrielia An Orthodox Woman Solitary
Padre Fr. Alberto E. Justo, OP Regla para Eremitas/Rule for Hermits Spanish/English
Hilda and Caedmon 'The Dream of the Rood' Contemplative
Guigo II The Ladder of Contemplation Contemplative
Thomas de Froidmont/'Bernard of Clairvaux' The Amherst Golden Epistle Contemplative
A Cell of Self Knowledge: The Pilgrimage Within: Christina of Markyate, Angela of Foligno, Umilta` of Faenza, Margaret Kirkeby (Margaret Heslyngton, Emma Stapleton), Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Francesca Romana, Elizabeth Barton General/ Contemplative/Scholar
St Birgitta Sermo Angelicus I Trans. and Read at Syon Abbey
St Birgitta Sermo Angelicus II Trans. and Read at Syon Abbey
St Birgitta Sermo Angelicus III Trans. and Read at Syon Abbey
Henry Suso Computer of Wisdom Contemplative
John Whiterig, OSB, Hermit of Farne Contemplating the Crucifix Contemplative
Julian of Norwich Showing of Love: Westminster Cathedral/Abbey Manuscript Contemplative
A Julian-Related Manuscript in Norwich Castle Contemplative
Julian at Prayer in a
Lambeth Manuscript Contemplative
Julian on Prayer
Contemplative
The Crucifix: Jerome, St Francis, Fra Angelico, Julian Contemplative
The Soul a City: Margery
and Julian Contemplative
Walter Hilton OSA, Augustine Baker and Serenus Cressy OSB, The Parable of a Pilgrim Newest
Dame Catherine Gascoigne OSB. On Dom Augustine Baker, OSB, Way of Prayer
Archbishop Fenelon's Letters to Madame Guyon in a Benedictine Nun's Manuscript
'Colections', An English Nun in Exile
Sacred Conversation: Contemplative Art Contemplative
Julian in Advent and Lent Contemplative
Four Prayers Contemplative
Heavenwindow: A Web of Prayer Contemplative
The Lord's Prayer, 'Our Father': Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Evelyn Underhill, Simone Weil, Edith Stein Contemplative
The Church's Liturgy This Website brings you Breviary and Missal. Bookmark it. Its Hours of Prayer with the Psalms and Readings, likewise the Collect, Lessons, and Gospel for Mass, are shared ecumenically. The Psalms reach back to those sung by David, by Christ, in Israel, in Palestine. This textual, and musical, community is as a 'Glass-Bead Game' played down living Millennia. May the Psalms continue being sung forever to God. Contemplative. Link
La Santa Messa: The Mass in Italian
Il Rosario
fiorentino/The Florentine Rosary italiano/English
Fr
Adrian Wee Howe Kong Springs
in the Desert A Word file of a book on the
Desert Fathers for modern contemplatives. New
Monk in Refectory beneath 'Last Supper'.
Courtesy, Catharina Lindgren,
Sweden
IV. Links to Classic Writings on Monastic Contemplation, of the Bible and the Church Fathers, and to Contemplative and Active Orders around the world.
Early Church Documents (Gnosis Library) Early Church Writings, Contemplative, Scholar Link
Coptic Spirituality: Anasimon, Queen of Anchoresses Link
Orthodox Spirituality (Balamand Monastery) Contemplative Link
Modern Anchoress Contemplative Quaker Link
Ravensbread: Hermits' Writings Contemplative Link
Carmina Gadelica, Celtic Prayers in Gaelic and English Contemplative Link
More Church Fathers Contemplative, Scholar Link
St Gall Manuscripts: CESG - Codices Electronici Sangallenses, http://www.cesg.unifr.ch Scholar Link §
Women's Orders (Matrix: Monasticon) Scholar Link
Meister Eckhardt Meister Eckhart Society Link
Brother Lawrence, O.Carm. The Practice of the Presence of God Link
Brother Lawrence, O.Carm. The Practice of the Presence of God Librivox
The Baltimore Carmel Contemplative Link
You can visit the Benedictine Nuns in England who, in exile, had preserved Julian's Showing Link
Order of Julian of Norwich Website Contemplative Link
http://www.iol.ie/~anchorhold/ Link
Modern Hermits http://www.hermitary.com/articles/karper.html Link
http://www.hermitary.com/articles/thudong.html
On Buddhist hermits
in forests and cemeteries. Link
Indices to Umiltà Website's Essays on
Julian:
Preface
Influences
on Julian
Her
Self
Her
Contemporaries
Her
Manuscript Texts ♫ with recorded readings of them
About Her
Manuscript Texts
After
Julian, Her Editors
Julian in
our Day
Publications related to Julian:
Saint Bride and Her Book: Birgitta of Sweden's Revelations Translated from Latin and Middle English with Introduction, Notes and Interpretative Essay. Focus Library of Medieval Women. Series Editor, Jane Chance. xv + 164 pp. Revised, republished, Boydell and Brewer, 1997. Republished, Boydell and Brewer, 2000. ISBN 0-941051-18-8
To see an example of a page inside with
parallel text in Middle English and Modern English, variants
and explanatory notes, click here. Index to this book at http://www.umilta.net/julsismelindex.html
Julian of
Norwich. Showing of Love: Extant Texts and Translation. Edited.
Sister Anna Maria Reynolds, C.P. and Julia Bolton Holloway.
Florence: SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo (Click
on British flag, enter 'Julian of Norwich' in search
box), 2001. Biblioteche e Archivi
8. XIV + 848 pp. ISBN 88-8450-095-8.
To see
inside this book, where God's words are in red, Julian's
in black, her editor's in grey, click here.
Julian of
Norwich. Showing of Love. Translated, Julia Bolton
Holloway. Collegeville:
Liturgical Press;
London; Darton, Longman and Todd, 2003. Amazon
ISBN 0-8146-5169-0/ ISBN 023252503X. xxxiv + 133 pp. Index.
To view sample copies, actual
size, click here.
'Colections'
by an English Nun in Exile: Bibliothèque Mazarine 1202.
Ed. Julia Bolton Holloway, Hermit of the Holy Family. Analecta
Cartusiana 119:26. Eds. James Hogg, Alain Girard, Daniel Le
Blévec. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Universität Salzburg, 2006.
Anchoress and Cardinal: Julian of
Norwich and Adam Easton OSB. Analecta Cartusiana 35:20 Spiritualität
Heute und Gestern. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und
Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2008. ISBN
978-3-902649-01-0. ix + 399 pp. Index. Plates.
Teresa Morris. Julian of Norwich: A
Comprehensive Bibliography and Handbook. Preface,
Julia Bolton Holloway. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.
x + 310 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-3678-7; ISBN-10:
0-7734-3678-2. Maps. Index.
Fr Brendan
Pelphrey. Lo, How I Love Thee: Divine Love in Julian
of Norwich. Ed. Julia Bolton Holloway. Amazon,
2013. ISBN 978-1470198299
Julian among
the Books: Julian of Norwich's Theological Library.
Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, 2016. xxi + 328 pp. VII Plates, 59
Figures. ISBN (10): 1-4438-8894-X, ISBN (13)
978-1-4438-8894-3.
Mary's Dowry; An Anthology of
Pilgrim and Contemplative Writings/ La Dote di
Maria:Antologie di
Testi di Pellegrine e Contemplativi.
Traduzione di Gabriella Del Lungo
Camiciotto. Testo a fronte, inglese/italiano. Analecta
Cartusiana 35:21 Spiritualität Heute und Gestern.
Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Universität Salzburg, 2017. ISBN 978-3-903185-07-4. ix
+ 484 pp.
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