Russian Hermit Spirituality and The Power of Waiting

Monk Mindset for Living Well

Monk Mindset 1

Show Up and Receive the Light: Meditation and Prayer

Reflection on the Monk Mindset & Quote

There was a tradition we had in the monastery that helped me understand how to wait.

Walking into a diner recently, I was struck by how, already, we’ve jumped headlong into Christmas: Christmas music, red tinsel everywhere, decorations on every wall. Even the waiters had Christmas hats and shirts. 

But it’s not yet Christmas.

It made me pause and wonder—how much do we really savor waiting? What is the value of patience in a world of instant gratification?

Amid the hustle and bustle, Advent offers a quieter, more sublime invitation: to wait, reflect, pray, and prepare. 

In the monastery, one Advent tradition made this especially vivid.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, each of us would take a life-sized baby Jesus in the manger into our cell. With a single candle lit, we’d spend the day and night in silence and prayer—watching, waiting, and reflecting on the profound anticipation of Christ’s birth.

It was a reminder that true preparation isn’t about doing more, but about being present—making space in our hearts for what truly matters.

This Advent, as the world rushes ahead, consider creating your own space for stillness and reflection. Sometimes, in our world of instant gratification, the act of waiting can transform us in ways we can’t imagine. 

So let’s embrace the waiting. 

Whether it’s waiting for a new opportunity, a relationship, or simply clarity, Advent reminds us that the stillness can be transformative; that the quiet and the anticipation are gifts, themselves.

Catherine de Hueck Doherty, quoted above, found incredible power in poustinias, small single-person cabins or “hermitages” in the Russian Orthodox tradition where monks, nuns, or lay people could be still and be immersed in patient prayer and fasting. This encounter led her to bring this spirituality to the West in the mid-20th century where it’s still active today.

Put It Into Practice This Week

Sometime before Christmas, before reuniting with family and loved ones, commit to yourself that you’ll find your own poustinia - time away in quiet and fasting. 

Maybe it's an actual hermitage for a 2-day retreat, maybe it's just a Saturday morning in a chair hidden in the woods. 

However you can do it, find the time and make the space. In your emptiness, you will be filled. 

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