Cuthbert's Devotion

I came across this account of Saint Cuthbert in a beautiful book that was lent to me:

While on Lindisfarne, Cuthbert used to pray day and night. Sometimes he prayed in solitude on Hobthrush Isle (also known as St. Cuthbert's Island -- my note). At other times he used to work with his hands so he could stay awake to pray. He also walked all around the island to see how everything was getting on. As he walked he sang psalms. He slept little, sometimes going all day without sleep. Even when he was sleeping if he was unexpectedly awakened he was never angry. He used to say, "No one who awakens me angers me. He who wakes me up makes me happy for driving away the heaviness of sleep and making me think of something useful." When Cuthbert celebrated Mass he could not do it without shedding tears. When he sang he sang from a full heart. The music often broken by the sound of his sighs. He was upright and holy in his personal life. He reproved wrongdoing in others but was most kind and gracious with the penitent. He was even known during confession to break into tears, thus by his example prompting greater penitence and more complete forgiveness.
As time went on Cuthbert had a greater desire to be alone with God. He withdrew more and more to spend time on Hobthrush Isle....

from p. 33 of Cuthbert and the Animals by John McManners

St. Cuthbert's Island

Today's reading in Celtic Daily Prayer (the devotional book I've been using for the past 2 & 1/2 years) is entitled "St. Cuthbert's Island." I thought I'd share it, for somewhat obvious reasons!

Aidan Readings: July 23
ST CUTHBERT'S ISLAND
St Cuthbert's Island adjoining the shore of Lindisfarne is a wonderful parable of quiet, for it is always in sight of the main island, and yet for hours and hours at a time it is completely cut off. It seems designed especially to experience a day of solitude, long enough to limit your freedom, but not as inaccessible as the life of the true hermit.
Here Cuthbert, and almost certainly Aidan before him, escaped from the pressures of community and of missions and turned their face towards God.

Thank you, Lord, that you have set aside places,
special trysting places where we can meet with You.
Alistair Eberst

How wonderful it is to talk with God
when cares sweep o'er my spirit like a flood;
how wonderful it is to hear His voice,
for when He speaks the desert lands rejoice.
Theodore H. Kitching

We've all got little cells in our hearts, little hermitages that God wants to fill. For some there's a physical place of silence. It's hard to be silent. It's hard to stop. To know God in the quiet is worth a lot -- it's there we'll get our vision and our peace to come through whatever hits us.

I like that...
Thank You, Lord, for the trysting places.

Catherine Doherty's Island

Years ago I read a wonderful and challenging book called The Gospel Without Compromise. Its author, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, was a Russian lady who emigrated to Canada. Her writings brought the orthodox practice of poustinia to light for many western readers. "Poustinia" is the Russian (and Bulgarian!) word for desert, but it also recalls the place where the Desert Fathers went to be alone with God, seeking Him in solitude, silence, and prayer. We can practice spending time with God in our own poustinias.

I ran across a quote today in which Catherine Doherty refers to her poustinia (her hermitage) as "my island." It just seemed to fit in with the theme of my blog too well not to share. I pray that it rings true with my island (and yours too!).

My island teaches me new truths, or deepens the truths I already know. Like life, the island is never the same. Who of us has not known those 'naked days' when we feel the world is against us, that its prying eyes strip us naked and leave us crucified: days when we feel we could give anything for a little privacy; days of sorrow and pain when we want to hide and have no place to hide?

But if one reads the Scriptures and comes across its lovely poetic words about 'a garden enclosed', a 'fountain sealed', and wonders about it all then my island will reveal the secret of those holy words, and it will lead gently to contemplation, which is the key to that garden. Someday, unseen and unheard, the Bridegroom will come to such a garden. Then one will understand what it is to be all His.

From I Live on an Island by Catherine de Hueck Doherty (emphasis mine)
I found the quote on p. 342 of Celtic Daily Prayer.

If you have a chance to read some of Mrs. Doherty's writings at the above website (the link on her name), I'm sure you won't regret it.

All Saints' (28) Catherine de Hueck Doherty

This is the last of a series of quotes from saints who have gone before us. I wanted to take the whole month to celebrate All Saints' Day, mostly as a reaction to the over-the-top emphasis on Halloween that completely overshadows this holiday.

I have enjoyed gathering and posting these quotes. It has been good to see how the same Spirit dwells in so many different holy people throughout the ages, inspiring them to a common love and devotion. It is also inspiring to know that He lives and works in me! So, here's the last quote. Glad to be a part of such a beautiful family.

"Deserts, silence, solitude.

For a soul that realizes the tremendous need of all three, opportunities present themselves in the midst of the congested trappings of all the world's immense cities. But how, really, can one achieve such solitude?

By standing still!

Stand still, and allow the strange, deadly restlessness of our tragic age to fall away like the worn-out, dusty cloak that it is--a cloak that was once considered beautiful. The restlessness was considered the magic carpet of tomorrow, but now in reality we see it for what it is: a running away from oneself, a turning from that journey inward that all men must undertake to meet God dwelling within the depths of their souls.

Stand still, and look deep into the motivations of life.

Stand still, and lifting your hearts and hands to God pray that the mighty wind of His holy Spirit may clear all the cobwebs of fears, selfishness, greed, narrow-heartedness away from the soul: that His tongues of flame may descend to give courage to begin again."