Solitude in the Life of the Priest
Solitude in the Life of the Priest
Everyone who is in any rank of priesthood must take for himself periods of solitude. Not only the forty-day period with which he begins his service immediately after his ordination, just as the Lord Christ began His service by spending forty days fasting in solitude on the mountain.
Rather, the principle of solitude should be fixed in his life, from time to time.
It can be a day in the week—if possible—that he spends in solitude.
And I do not mean solitude from the work of pastoral care while his wife is at home sitting to tell him many things, as well as his children… Rather, he withdraws even from his family. He sits alone in solitude with God.
He sits in solitude with himself, and with God who dwells in himself.
So that he may examine himself and know what he ought to do.
And if he cannot have a weekly solitude, then at least he should seize opportunities to spend periods in a place of solitude such as a monastery, for example…
He takes a spiritual charge as an aspect of spiritual and mental renewal…
A period of fullness… of self-review… of calm, and distancing from noise, and distancing from problems, preoccupations, and crowds… distancing from the whirlwinds of service, and from the honor offered to him by people.
And in solitude also he finds a reason for humility.
For the father priest may sometimes think that he cannot be dispensed with for a single day!! As if the world would be confused if he were absent! And that values would be lost and the church would be shaken!! Then he finds that he was absent in his solitude for a few days, and the church is still as it is without him, so he becomes humble…
And solitude is also beneficial for him concerning the care of his eternity.
For he may become preoccupied with people only and forget himself. He forgets working for the sake of his eternity. But in solitude he reviews his thoughts and reviews his dealings with people. He reviews his relationship with God. He holds himself accountable. He sets for himself a spiritual plan which he does not deviate from. He examines his shortcomings and his mistakes…
And if he thinks about the service, let it be merely for organization or planning, which he does in calm.
And he must think about who will take his place during his absence.
And this matter can be one in which the father priests cooperate together, so that their solitudes are in rotation, each one taking the place of the other. Or that in some churches there are two priests cooperating together. Or that the bishop is the one who organizes the matter of solitude for the sake of the spiritualities of his priests.
I say this because many father priests become exhausted from continuous work.
So they become physically or nervously or spiritually tired. And all of this has an effect on their service or on their dealings with people, or brings them some distress. While in solitude there is calm that comforts them and comforts the people who deal with them as a kind of Relax.
The Lord Christ Himself had periods of solitude.
Not only in the forty days after the baptism. But on many occasions… He used to retreat on the mountain, or in the Garden of Gethsemane, or in the wilderness, or on the Mount of Olives. And one of the most beautiful verses in this is the saying of the Scripture: “And everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” (John 8:1). And He would spend the time in prayer, in converse with the Father, in matters higher than I can speak about.
It is also possible that some priests go into solitude together.
On the condition that they do not mix with one another except at the time they pray together. Or they take a subject for meditation and meditate on it together… and the rest of the time each one of them is in solitude…
But the father priest should not go to solitude and someone says to him, “Take me with you, my father!” and wastes his solitude for him in conversations or confessions or in discussing special or general problems.
I wish this matter of solitude would be discussed in some seminars of the father priests.
Or in some of their monthly meetings held in the dioceses. And they discuss how to implement it practically, or where the solitude should be and when…
And it would be desirable if these places of solitude were organized, and it were possible to provide all means of comfort for them in terms of the quietness of the place, and the means of service in it, and providing what is necessary of food and drink and the like. And also in terms of organization and avoiding reasons that hinder solitude.
And the father priest can set a rule for himself.
And this rule includes a program for prayer and meditation, and for reading, and for calm thinking. And also for the spiritual exercises he sets for himself from the reality of his service and his dealings. And he can allocate time for memorization: memorizing verses and prayers and psalms, and some parts of the liturgy that spare him from opening the Khulagi.
And how beautiful it is for him to return to his people after a period of solitude, and its effects have appeared in his life and his spiritualities.
And everyone feels that their father has returned with a spiritual light that appears in his manner with them, and appears even in his sermons, and in his guidance to his children in confession, as it appears in his dealings…
And in solitude the priest is able to set for himself a plan for organizing his appointments: in terms of service, and the needs of his family, and his personal life.
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