HeartSong Hermitage

Abraham was alone when he received the three messengers and realized that he had encountered God.

In the solitude of the desert, your servant Moses stood barefoot before the burning bush as God revealed His

holy name.

Elijah detached himself from the other prophets to make his lonely journey into the desert and to experience

God's Providence.

As the dawn of salvation drew nigh, John the Baptist lived as a stranger to the ways of his people.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, anointed with the power of the Spirit, was driven into the wilderness of Judea to meet

his adversary.

The Anchorite follows in the footsteps of those whom, in times past, God called into the desert in spiritual warfare. Living in silence and solitude, aspiring to that interior quiet in which wisdom is born. 

 Commitment of  Heartsong Hermitage

Our commitment is a vision that we share and promote no matter where we are or how many diverse ministries we might be engaged,serving God in all things and all things in God as we breathe with both lungs, from east to west.

To be the charism of peace. PAX, In our ministry of word, prayer, sacrament and service. 

The professed and ordained hermit-priest along with the hermits of Heartsong Hermitage live God's grace in answering the call to hermitic life. The contemplative hermitage provides a place of stability, a place to live, grow and learn, in the balance envisaged in The Rule of Saint. Benedict.  

The Hermitage is an expression of the mystery of the Church, where nothing is preferred to the Father's glory. Every effort is made to ensure that life is formed in the Gospel, which is the supreme law. By fidelity to the monastic way of  life which has a hidden apostolic fruitfulness though which we serve God and His people.

The Benedictine Hermitage was established January 1, 1996 in south central Virginia by Tracey Christopher+ H., has expanded to a include an urban and seaside hermitage as an independent school of the Lord's service where Christ is formed in our hearts through prayer, spiritual direction, contemplation, scripture, and work. Through God's word we are trained in discipline of heart and action to be responsive to the Holy Spirit in continual mindfulness of God's presence.

Poverty + Chastity + Obedience + Stability + Conversion