Hear Our Silence

Some ten years ago, I met the Carthusians. These are a unique Order of hermit monks whose way of life and spirituality go back 900 years. They are noted for the simply austerity of their daily routine which consists in a balance between silent prayer and solitude framed by their daily duties of running the monastery.

There is only one Charterhouse (as a Carthusian house is called) in England and this is situated at Partridge Green some ten miles inland from Brighton. The Prior kindly allowed me to spend just two weeks joining in the community life of prayer and work; and afterwards I wrote a book about my experience entitled Hear our Silence.

This precious fortnight proved very powerful to me. I learned a deep appreciation of silence, not as a deprivation but as a positive way of becoming more aware - aware of self, aware of others, most of all aware of the Silence within. I also woke up to prayer in all its deepening mystery.

Prayer, I have come to experience, is not a human activity, but a relationship with my Maker. Moreover, far from it being something I do, to pray is to listen, to attend above all to wait.

Silent Prayer

Each month I mail out four readings to a group of some fifty friends together with a short covering letter commenting on a particular theme.