Carthusian monastery

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Hi, I honestly dont know if this is the right forum to start this thread and If its not Please move my thread Moderators.

Im interested in gathering information about the Carthusian Order.
Ive searched the web without getting good info on the matter.
Some pages contained a lot of information it seemed, but it was written in Italian a Language I unfortunatley do not speak:(

Im looking into various orders and find myself facinated by the Carthusians due to their stricked lifes.

So if anyone could give me some good information on them I would love it.
Links to English online pages would be a dream.
How to get in touch With them and so on.

God Bless!
 
May God be with you on your faith journey. Praying for your future.
 
HeadingBackHome said:
Hi, I honestly dont know if this is the right forum to start this thread and If its not Please move my thread Moderators.

Im interested in gathering information about the Carthusian Order.
Ive searched the web without getting good info on the matter.
Some pages contained a lot of information it seemed, but it was written in Italian a Language I unfortunatley do not speak:(

Im looking into various orders and find myself facinated by the Carthusians due to their stricked lifes.

So if anyone could give me some good information on them I would love it.
Links to English online pages would be a dream.
How to get in touch With them and so on.

God Bless!
Click to expand...
I too am a lover of Carthusians, you might want to read “An Infinity of Little Hours” “halfway to Heaven” and They speak of silence. I don’t know really if they would respond, I have written them about having a mass offered for a family member who died. They responded we a generic slip, still made me so happy! My suggestion is to contact the Charterhouse you want to talk to, like St. Hugh’s in Parkminister or the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration. Send them and email or a fax.

The books tell so much about the Carthusians, the first one I mentioned actually follows five novices in the order and they detail the life’s down to the minute.

Hope this is helpful
 
Watch “Into Great Silence.” “Into Great Silence is a documentary film directed by Philip Gröning that was first released in 2005. It is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps.”

Netflix has it.

“Into Great Silence” ranks second on my list of best films ever made. 😉

Blessings of Christ’s love for your journey to dwell with God.
 
Barzillai said:
Watch “Into Great Silence.” “Into Great Silence is a documentary film directed by Philip Gröning that was first released in 2005. It is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps.”

Netflix has it.

“Into Great Silence” ranks second on my list of best films ever made. 😉

Blessings of Christ’s love for your journey to dwell with God.
Click to expand...
A very good movie. Inspiring !
 
Cistercian Publications has a nine-volume series of Carthusian Novice Conferences.

I would also encourage you to join the International Fellowship of St Bruno:
groups.yahoo.com/group/ifsb/

There is also the Monastic Family of Bethlehem & the Assumption of the Virgin & St Bruno.
They are in Europe.

‘Sounds of Silence’ was written by former Carthusian, Joseph Benedict Kossman.

There are two diocesan hermits I know of who follow Carthusian spirituality. One belongs to these forums, but I haven’t seen her post in a while. The other is in Florida and has a website called Immaculate Heart of Mary Hermitage. The former is the one who told me about the series from Cistercian publications. The latter did have the statutes on his site. The International Carthusian site has the statutes, and I would recommend reading them.

There had been a new community with the words ‘Little’ and ‘Exodus’ in their name. I am wanting to say they had been founded in France.

Our emerging Stella Maris Contemplatives have an eremitical branch which is based on the Carthusians. Here’s our website: cloisters.tripod.com/cloisterites/

Blessings,
Cloisters
 
Thanks for all kind and inspiring Words it mean a lot to me:)
God Bless all of you.

Thanks for books and Movie recomandations I will most definitly look into them:)
I am going to send the ones in UK an mail that for sure:)

Thank you all for helping me out With this, May God Bless you all and send his angels to protect everyone of you:)

God Bless!
 
Hey HeadingBackHome. It’s so great to find out about someone else discerning a Carthusian vocation! I have been discerning a vocation with them or the Trappists for a few years now. All of the suggestions so far are great. There are two other websites that I would suggest that are fairly informative and are in English:

transfiguration.chartreux.org/ - the website for the Charterhouse in Vermont

and vocatiochartreux.org/THE%20JOY%20OF%20BEING%20A%20CARTHUSIAN%20MONK.html - a sort of question & answer interview page.

I hope that these are helpful. Please don’t hesitate to see if I could be of any other help. Please keep me in your prayers and know that you are in mine. Take care and God bless.
 
Barzillai said:
Watch “Into Great Silence.” “Into Great Silence is a documentary film directed by Philip Gröning that was first released in 2005. It is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps.”

Netflix has it.

“Into Great Silence” ranks second on my list of best films ever made. 😉

Blessings of Christ’s love for your journey to dwell with God.
Click to expand...
I’ve heard it said, and I’m not sure if this is just Catholic urban legend, but for someone who is seriously interested in joining the Carthusians, they should steer clear of “Into Great Silence,” as at least one Charter House believes it gives the discerner a romanticized view of their life.
 
Joshua_P said:
Hey HeadingBackHome. It’s so great to find out about someone else discerning a Carthusian vocation! I have been discerning a vocation with them or the Trappists for a few years now. All of the suggestions so far are great. There are two other websites that I would suggest that are fairly informative and are in English:

transfiguration.chartreux.org/ - the website for the Charterhouse in Vermont

and vocatiochartreux.org/THE%20JOY%20OF%20BEING%20A%20CARTHUSIAN%20MONK.html - a sort of question & answer interview page.

I hope that these are helpful. Please don’t hesitate to see if I could be of any other help. Please keep me in your prayers and know that you are in mine. Take care and God bless.
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Thank you Joshua.
God Bless you for your desire to lay down your entire life to serve Our Lord Jesus.
I am truly gratefull that Im able to speak to you about any of my vocation concerns.
I havent even converted yet as my priest insists that I have to wait until Easter to do so:(
I try to see it as a possibility to train my patience.
I have a strong feeling that my purpose is to spend as much as possible of my life in service of Our Lord thats why Im looking at different orders.
It is a minimum of 2 years from convertion until I can enter any monastry, so its still in the future and since I havent decided which order Im going to enter yet it may be good to have some time thinking of it.

I think the Carthusian Order is a beautiful order and I love their dicipline and their silence. So Im deffinitey thinking seriously about them, but on the other hand I also would like to help People who are poor and suffering. Therefor I am also thinking hard about the Franciscan order and I know its only possible to jump from one order to a stricter one so by beeing a Franciscan I would be able to jump to the Carthusian after a while if I felt that was the right path for my life.

It is indeed exciting:)

God Bless!
 
AdvanceAlways said:
I’ve heard it said, and I’m not sure if this is just Catholic urban legend, but for someone who is seriously interested in joining the Carthusians, they should steer clear of “Into Great Silence,” as at least one Charter House believes it gives the discerner a romanticized view of their life.
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I agree with that statement! Little do the people know that they are wearing hairshirts and scourge their legs as well as eat one meal and one small meal per day and only get about six hours of sleep that is broken up. Steer clear of the movie and read the books

An Infinity of Little Hours
Halfway to Heaven
Hear our Silence

These books tell you basically everything you need to know…including the hardships and the difficulties.
 
HeadingBackHome said:
Thank you Joshua.
God Bless you for your desire to lay down your entire life to serve Our Lord Jesus.
I am truly gratefull that Im able to speak to you about any of my vocation concerns.
I havent even converted yet as my priest insists that I have to wait until Easter to do so:(
I try to see it as a possibility to train my patience.
I have a strong feeling that my purpose is to spend as much as possible of my life in service of Our Lord thats why Im looking at different orders.
It is a minimum of 2 years from convertion until I can enter any monastry, so its still in the future and since I havent decided which order Im going to enter yet it may be good to have some time thinking of it.

I think the Carthusian Order is a beautiful order and I love their dicipline and their silence. So Im deffinitey thinking seriously about them, but on the other hand I also would like to help People who are poor and suffering. Therefor I am also thinking hard about the Franciscan order and I know its only possible to jump from one order to a stricter one so by beeing a Franciscan I would be able to jump to the Carthusian after a while if I felt that was the right path for my life.

It is indeed exciting:)

God Bless!
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Where did you get this idea about jumping orders? I think someone has misinformed you. While it isn’t disallowed to switch orders, it would require permission of one’s current superior and mutual discernment. Generally, one would hope that if you enter a religious order and take vows, that you wouldn’t be using the Franciscans as a launching pad to the Carthusians, that wouldn’t even make sense anyway considering the difference in ministries.

While the silence of the Carthusians may seem appealing, it is the most radically cloistered order in the entire Church. If you have an inkling to still serve the poor, I would take a guess that you and the Carthusians may not be a good fit. I’m not trying to dissuade you, but let you know that the process for discerning with the Carthusians is not just like picking up the phone and talking to a vocations director.

Just as an aside, I have a friend who spent years in correspondence with the American Charter House. He finally received permission to visit for the purpose of discernment (and that took letters of reference, an interview and questionnaire), and after years of feeling like he may be drawn to that life, he lasted one night. It is that radical of a silence.
 
AdvanceAlways said:
Where did you get this idea about jumping orders? I think someone has misinformed you. While it isn’t disallowed to switch orders, it would require permission of one’s current superior and mutual discernment. Generally, one would hope that if you enter a religious order and take vows, that you wouldn’t be using the Franciscans as a launching pad to the Carthusians, that wouldn’t even make sense anyway considering the difference in ministries.

While the silence of the Carthusians may seem appealing, it is the most radically cloistered order in the entire Church. If you have an inkling to still serve the poor, I would take a guess that you and the Carthusians may not be a good fit. I’m not trying to dissuade you, but let you know that the process for discerning with the Carthusians is not just like picking up the phone and talking to a vocations director.
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I was told my a nun that one could only jump to stricter orders, she may have been wrong for all I know and as mentioned its in a early phase for me still so I am gathering information about the different orders so I would be able to make a thoughtful decision when the time comes.

I would never deliberately use one order as a launching pad to get to anathor one. I think it would be very disrespectful to the Franciscan to do so. and I’m sorry if it could be perceived that way. (English isnt my native Language so I may have expressed myself wrong)

Yes it is indeed a very radical order and thats what makes me curious about it. I dont know to much about it yet. Im just very interested in knowing more about them so I know what I am choose or not.

Yes, it may seem strange that I am looking at two so different orders at the same time, but for now I would like to recieve as much info as possible and when I have gotten enough info I can consentrate on listening to Gods voice and then I will maybe understand his will better.

Thanks for posting on my thread AdvanceAlways.
I know some People has a romantic view on the Carthusians and thats why I want to learn more about them so Im not having a unrealistic view on them.

God Bless!
 
AdvanceAlways said:
Just as an aside, I have a friend who spent years in correspondence with the American Charter House. He finally received permission to visit for the purpose of discernment (and that took letters of reference, an interview and questionnaire),** and after years of feeling like he may be drawn to that life, he lasted one night. It is that radical of a silence.**
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Yeah, I can see how its very tough to live in such a overwhelming silence.
This is why I want to know as much as possible about them, becouse I do not want to spend years thinking of a castle in the air.

Thanks for sharing:)

God Bless!
 
The Carthusians have a policy that the Jesuits can enter the Charterhouse without a novitiate. The Jesuit can leave at any time to return to active duty.

The Camaldolese Benedictines have an eremitical laura on the same property as the monastery. Becoming a hermit, for them, is the ‘next step up.’

There are some active orders with contemplative branches. In order to become a religious in these cloisters, one has to have active experience. However, such an arrangement is the exception and not the rule.

Take a look at the Charterhouses for women, and see which one attracts you. Write to that one. The Carthusians raise an eyebrow when someone writes and says they are contacting all of the Charterhouses. That usually doesn’t get a response.

And yes, you can go straight from the world to the Charterhouse. Interior silence will help you adjust to anything.

Blessings,
Cloisters
 
Hi, thanks again for all of your replies it has helped me a lot in the process of sorting out what kind of orders I shall be concidering.

I have read a lot about the Cathusians and the Trappists and seen “Die Grosse Stille” and I feel that even though I probably want to enter a contemplative order those orders are to stricked and for me I think I would be severely depressed if living that kind of lifestyle.

I totaly respect the way they live their life and the silence has to be tremendous.
God Bless them for their willingness to follow such a hard and difficult/ radical vocation.

Im continuing my vocational search and have been in contact With a nun who I am going to meet sometime before easter to talk about vocation and the best way of deserting it.

Thanks for the feedback Cloisters:) Im a male, just to clarify that:P

I am curious about the Carmelitts and are interested in gathering as much information about them as even possible.

Should location matter for me? I mean if the nearest monastry is 500 miles away from my country should that have anything to say when making my choise?

God Bless!
 
HeadingBackHome said:
I am curious about the Carmelitts and are interested in gathering as much information about them as even possible.

Should location matter for me? I mean if the nearest monastry is 500 miles away from my country should that have anything to say when making my choise?
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If u are interested in the Carmelites, I’d recommend looking into these 2:

carmelitehermits.org/history.htm

decorcarmeli.com/Vocations/Hermits.htm

If u have specifics that you’d like to know, I may be able to answer some of them, since I discerned at a Carmelite hermitage for a little while.

God bless! 🙂
 
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