The Hermits of Big Sur

by Paula Huston, Paula Huston

Between World War II and Vatican II, as Italy struggled to rebuild after decades of Mussolini’s fascism, an eleventh-century order of contemplative monks in the Apennines were urged by Thomas Merton to found a daughter house on the rugged coast of California. A brilliant but world-weary ex-Jesuit, who had recently withdrawn from a high-intensity public life to go into reclusion at the ancient Sacro Eremo of Camaldoli, was tapped for the job.

Based on notes kept for over sixty years by an early American novice at New Camaldoli Hermitage, The Hermits of Big Sur tells the compelling story of what unfolds within this small and idealistic community when medievalism must finally come to terms with modernism. It traces the call toward fuga mundi in the young seekers who arrive to try their vocations, only to discover that the monastic life requires much more of them than a bare desire for solitude. And it describes the miraculous transformation that sometimes occurs in individual monks after decades of lectio divina , silent meditation, liturgical faithfulness, and the communal bonds they have formed through the practice of the “privilege of love.”   

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, History

248 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2021

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the community of Benedictine hermit-monks at New Calmaldoli, as told by one of their oblates. In some ways, an insider text - not as interesting for those who haven't met the main characters or aren't already familiar with the community. For me as an outsider, it was still intriguing to learn about this unique monastery - Huston spends a lot of time on one of its earliest founders, an Italian priest, and the complex (awful) relationship between the Vatican, Roman Catholic priests, and Mussolini's fascist state. Then also, the influence of Thomas Merton mixed with the counter culture of California, the ups and downs of how much the monastery would be a place for hermits and how much it would be a shared, cenobitic community, and how well Western and Eastern spirituality could mix in a Roman Catholic context. She touches on the lives of many of its personalities, even a lay woman who lived on the grounds for a time, and how, now, the community faces the threats of climate change in the form of wildfires and mudslides! Huston also tells the story of her own relationship with the monastery.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating historical narrative of the founding of New Camaldoli in Big Sur, CA in the late 1950s, on the precipice of global transformation in the Catholic Church. The story begins in the early/mid 20th century politics and fascism of Italy (where Old Camaldoli is), to the evolution of the order taking on an American foundation and adapting the charism to a new context.

This is both a political and personal account of the stories, the monks, and the papal documents that shaped their community. It is honest and touching, as well as informative about the Camaldolese three part charism of community, solitude, and outreach. Ultimately, it reveals this community's living and recent examples of what it means to be a monastic -- both hermit and cenobitic, monk and pilgrim.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was either the wrong person, or this was bad timing for my reading of this book. I knew very little about either New Camoldi or Camoldese order and found the first section, a very long account of the backstory of one of the founders of New Camoldi, and in particular, a boatload of information about Benito Mussolini and his interactions with the Vatican, to be way too much. I almost returned the book to the library 3/4 unread.

Later sections about various monks who stayed in the monastery for the long term (albeit with frequent excursions elsewhere) were more of what I was hoping for. I came away with respect for this community and this order, unique among the monastic orders of thecWestern Catholic Church.

[Laura Kisthardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book of history focused on New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur. The chapters were not very long and there were some black and white pictures too. The author has a vivid way of writing history. She also weaves in several different storylines of what was going on in the world leading up to and surrounding the founding of the hermitage. I read this book in preparation for my first visit to New Camaldoli next week, February 2022. I already feel a deep appreciation for the special place.

[Jeanne Cassell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written account of the founding and develoment of this monastery and its beautiful location. Shows the difficulties of the Catholic church under Mussolini, and the changes of the Catholic church in the last half century. Much of the history was written by a Pomona College alumni, Robert Hale, who was an early member and later Prior. Gives a clear view of the difficulties of change that hppened so rapidly in the last decades, and how people of faith adapted to them.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of the first American Camalodese monastery built in California. The book also gives the background of the Camaladoli in Italy and how they came to be in the US.

[Mary Camille Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, I’m biased because I love New Camaldoli and the hermits of Big Sur, but Paula Huston’s deeply researched and well written history is fascinating. There was so much I didn’t know about the tension at the community’s founding and how it connected to the postwar history of Italy and Vatican II, and I love her insights into the three-fold Camaldolese charism of solitude, community, and outreach. And don’t you love the beautiful cover? It’s a painting of Highway 1, the road to New Camaldoli, by Father Arthur Poulin called “Night Symphony.”

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew that I was intrigued by the wildness of the Big Sur region. And I knew that I am drawn towards the contemplative. But I never imagined that I would enjoy learning about the particular history of a group of monks from a place I’ve never visited. I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!