Column by Jonathan Nagy
A few days ago, I had a rare “free” Sunday afternoon. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I made a list of things to accomplish around the house. It was a beautiful fall day, and the outdoors were calling. In a rare and rather stunning move, I turned off all electronics and communications, including putting my phone on airplane mode. The only exception was the Hallow app and my earbuds.
I proceeded to enjoy a glorious afternoon working my way through The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz while cutting back flower beds, running the weed trimmer, blowing pine needles off the driveway, and putting away some of the last remnants of summer. Afterward, I went inside, made a big pot of soup, and continued to enjoy some quiet time.
It was not until about five hours had passed that I realized I was still completely disconnected from the world. Although I wanted to remain unreachable, I eventually decided to reconnect. Almost immediately, messages began pouring in, and I found myself longing for the peace I had experienced just a few hours earlier.
I have prayed about the need to find a healthy balance between remaining connected to the world and withdrawing into a place of quiet, where I can simply be alone with God. In doing so, I remembered the story of Saint Meinrad.
Meinrad was a Benedictine monk who spent much of his life as a hermit, devoted to prayer and work. Despite his desire for solitude, he was known for his wisdom and holiness, and many people sought him out for advice and prayer. Although he cherished the peace and quiet of his hermitage, he welcomed his visitors and attended to their needs without complaint. He prayed with them, prepared meals for them, and willingly gave away what little he possessed to help those in need.
For approximately 26 years, Meinrad lived this life of prayer, work, hospitality, and detachment from worldly possessions in the wilderness of ninth-century Germany. According to his traditional story, he even befriended two ravens that regularly visited him.
Meinrad reportedly received a vision that two robbers would murder him. Not long afterward, two men arrived at his hermitage. Having just celebrated what he understood would be his final Mass, he welcomed the men, offering them food and a place to rest. When they realized he possessed nothing of value, they beat him to death and fled.
But the story did not end there. The two ravens followed the murderers through the forest, cawing and attacking them along the way. Their commotion attracted attention when the men reached a nearby settlement, and the murderers were eventually apprehended.
Saint Meinrad has come to be known as the “Martyr of Hospitality.”
That title gives us reason to pause and reflect. Here was a man who desired little more than prayer and solitude, yet he continually set aside his own pursuits to attend to the needs of others. His hospitality ultimately cost him his life, but even in his final moments, he remained faithful to the spirit of Christian charity.
In reflecting on my own desire to disconnect from the world while still remaining available to help others, I began researching the lessons we can learn from Saint Meinrad. His life offers us several powerful principles for living our faith more intentionally, along with practical ways to put those principles into action.
Seek God First
God must be at the center of everything we do. Our relationship with Him cannot simply be another item on an already crowded to-do list. It must be the foundation upon which everything else rests.
Prayer takes many forms, and the Church offers us a helpful way to remember several of them through the acronym ACTS: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. We praise and honor God, ask forgiveness for our sins, thank Him for His many blessings, and bring our needs and concerns before Him.
Prayer does not always require a great deal of time. Sometimes it is a quiet moment of gratitude, a brief plea for guidance, or a simple acknowledgment of God’s presence in our lives. There is always time for a quick prayer, but we must also make room for deeper, more intentional encounters with Him.
Begin and end each day with prayer. Incorporate prayer into ordinary activities, and make a conscious effort to set aside time for more extended periods of reflection. Above all, do not allow the demands of the world to crowd God out of your life.
Practice Hospitality
People need to feel valued, respected, and welcomed. Saint Meinrad understood this. He was willing to put aside his own activities to attend to the needs of those who came to him. Through his generosity, he demonstrated Christian charity by making each visitor feel as though that person mattered deeply.
We can learn a great deal from this example. Too often, we are physically present with others but mentally somewhere else. We look at our phones, glance at notifications, or allow our attention to wander toward whatever might be happening around us. We may hear what someone is saying without truly listening.
Christian hospitality calls us to do better. It asks us to recognize the dignity of the person standing before us and to treat that encounter as an opportunity to serve Christ.
Make eye contact. Put down your phone. Listen carefully. Resist the temptation to rush someone along simply because you have other things to do. We may not always be able to give someone all the time they want, but we can offer the time we have with genuine attention and compassion.
The next time someone approaches you, give that person your undivided attention. Listen before offering advice, show genuine interest, and look for ways to help. Make the person in front of you more important than whatever is happening on the periphery.
Overcome Evil With Good
I imagine there were times when Saint Meinrad’s generosity was taken for granted or abused. Even setting aside the circumstances of his death, he likely encountered people who sought to take advantage of his kindness. Yet his response was to continue living a life of goodness, prayer, and love.
This does not mean that Christians must ignore wrongdoing or allow others to continue harming them. Rather, it means that we must not allow the evil we encounter to determine the kind of people we become. We can establish boundaries, confront injustice, and protect those who are vulnerable without surrendering our commitment to charity.
As I mentioned in last month’s article, I am a fan of The Lord of the Rings and shared several meaningful quotations. Another memorable line comes from Samwise Gamgee, who reminds Frodo, “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”
That sentiment captures an important truth. There is still good in this world, and it is worth defending. We must resist the temptation to respond to hatred with hatred, cruelty with cruelty, or selfishness with selfishness.
As Christians, we know that evil will not have the final word. Christ has conquered sin and death, and our hope rests in His victory. We are called to participate in that victory by bringing goodness, truth, mercy, and love into the world around us.
When you encounter negativity, resist the urge to respond in kind. Choose patience over anger, forgiveness over resentment, and constructive action over retaliation. Stand firmly against wrongdoing, but never lose sight of the goodness you are called to embody.
Embrace Humility
In Matthew 18:2–4, Jesus calls a child forward and teaches His disciples:
“Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Humility is something nearly all of us struggle with at one time or another. We enjoy receiving credit for our accomplishments. We appreciate recognition, praise, and affirmation from others. There is nothing inherently wrong with being grateful for encouragement, but problems arise when recognition becomes the reason we do what we do.
Saint Meinrad lived without seeking worldly possessions or personal acclaim. His life reminds us that the true treasures of our faith are not found in what we own, the titles we hold, or the praise we receive. They are found in our relationship with God and in the love we show others.
Humility also requires us to recognize that our gifts and abilities are ultimately gifts from God. We should use them gratefully, not as a means of elevating ourselves above others.
At the end of the day, the most important judgment is not the opinion of the world, but the judgment of God.
When you accomplish something worthwhile, give thanks to God for the opportunity and abilities He has given you. Celebrate the successes of others, admit your mistakes, and resist the temptation to make every good deed known. Seek to do what is right, even when no one is watching.
Cultivate Silence
There is far too much noise in our lives!
I want to return to that quiet Sunday afternoon because the peace I experienced was both striking and refreshing. More and more, I find myself turning off the television, sitting in silence, or spending time reading books. I have come to appreciate how much these simple practices can restore a sense of calm and perspective.
Silence is more than the absence of noise. It creates space for reflection, prayer, and a deeper awareness of God’s presence. When our minds are constantly occupied by notifications, conversations, entertainment, and the demands of daily life, it becomes difficult to hear the quiet voice of God.
Scripture reminds us of this in the story of Elijah. In 1 Kings 19, the Lord was not revealed to him in the powerful wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in a gentle whisper.
We, too, must learn to make room for that whisper.
God does not promise us a life free from every challenge or distraction. However, He invites us into a relationship with Him, and that relationship requires us to make time for prayer and reflection. We cannot expect to grow closer to someone with whom we never spend time.
Even our ordinary chores can become opportunities for spiritual growth. Washing dishes, folding laundry, preparing a meal, or working in the yard can become moments of prayer when we approach them with the right disposition. We do not need to fill every quiet moment with music, television, or a podcast. Sometimes, the most fruitful thing we can do is simply be still.
Set aside a portion of each day for silence. Turn off the television, put your phone away, and resist the urge to fill every moment with noise. Consider praying a Rosary, reading Scripture, or simply sitting quietly in God’s presence. Even a few minutes of intentional silence can help you regain your peace and refocus your heart on what matters most.
Serve Without Recognition
This principle goes hand in hand with humility. True leadership is rooted in service, not in the desire to receive a plaque, an award, or a public acknowledgment.
Saint Meinrad served God faithfully without seeking recognition. His life reminds us that the value of our service does not depend on whether anyone notices it.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Carmelite nun who never served as a missionary in the traditional sense, is honored as the patroness of missionaries. Through her Little Way, she taught that even the smallest acts of love, performed faithfully and with great devotion, can have extraordinary spiritual significance.
The same principle applies to our daily lives. When we help someone in need, encourage a struggling friend, perform an unpleasant task, or quietly make life easier for another person, we are given an opportunity to serve God through our service to others.
Saint Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:17–18:
“Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
Our goal should not be to accumulate praise but to live in a way that pleases God. The good we do may never make headlines, earn an award, or even receive a simple thank-you. That does not diminish its value.
Perform random acts of kindness whenever the opportunity arises. Help someone without announcing it. Offer encouragement without expecting anything in return. Do your work faithfully, even when it goes unnoticed. Let your motivation be the love of God and neighbor rather than the desire for recognition.
Persevere in Faith
At first glance, the life of a hermit might seem peaceful and uncomplicated. Yet I imagine Saint Meinrad’s life was far from easy. Along with the challenges of living in solitude, he remained committed to prayer, work, and caring for those who sought his help.
His perseverance reminds us that a faithful life is not necessarily an easy life.
We may not be hermits, but we face our own struggles. Life can be difficult. Some days are exhausting. Good people suffer, plans fall apart, and circumstances arise that test even our strongest convictions.
In those moments, we must resist the temptation to give up on God or abandon the principles that guide our lives. Faith does not mean that we will never experience hardship. It means that we trust in God’s presence and goodness even when we cannot understand what is happening around us.
There is a familiar Christian saying: “Without Good Friday, there is no Easter Sunday.” The suffering of Good Friday was real, but it was not the end of the story. The Resurrection reminds us that suffering, sin, and death do not have the final word.
When we encounter our own Good Fridays, we must hold fast to Christ. We must continue to pray, seek His guidance, and trust that He remains with us, even when the path ahead is difficult to see.
Perseverance does not mean pretending that everything is fine or refusing to ask for help. Sometimes faithfulness means reaching out to a trusted friend, seeking wise counsel, or taking the time to rest and recover. God often works through the people He places in our lives.
When life becomes difficult, return to prayer and the foundations of your faith. Spend time with Scripture, seek the support of faithful friends, and remember how God has sustained you in the past. Take the next right step, even when you cannot see the entire path ahead. Trust that God is your loving Father and that you do not have to face your struggles alone.
Finding the Balance: Solitude and Service
Saint Meinrad’s life challenges us to hold two important truths together. We need time alone with God, and we are called to serve the people He places in our lives.
These two responsibilities are not in opposition to one another. In fact, they strengthen each other. Prayer helps us become more patient, generous, and attentive to others. Serving others, in turn, gives us opportunities to put the Gospel into practice.
However, we cannot continually pour ourselves out without taking time to be renewed. Even Jesus withdrew from the crowds to pray. Throughout the Gospels, we see Him seek solitude with the Father before returning to His mission.
If Christ made time for prayer amid the demands of His ministry, we should recognize our own need to do the same.
We live in a world that expects us to be constantly available. Messages, emails, notifications, and other demands can make us feel as though we must respond immediately to everything and everyone. Yet being constantly connected is not the same as being truly present. Sometimes, our greatest need is to step away from the noise so that we can return to our responsibilities with greater clarity, patience, and love.
Make room for God in your life. Welcome others with genuine charity. Remain faithful to Jesus when life becomes difficult. Strive to make a positive difference in the lives of those you encounter. And remember to make time for quiet prayer and reflection—often.
For those who know me, if you try to contact me and I do not respond for a while, please do not take it as a slight. I may simply be taking another “mini-retreat,” stepping away from the distractions of the world to rediscover my peace and refocus my heart through prayer and the guidance of Jesus Christ.
I encourage everyone to try it. Turn off the phone. Step away from the noise. Spend some time with God.
We cannot all be Saint Meinrad, nor are we necessarily called to live as hermits. But we can embrace the principles that defined his life: prayer, hospitality, humility, goodness, silence, service, and perseverance.
May we learn to withdraw from the world without withdrawing from our responsibilities to others. May our moments of solitude draw us closer to Christ, and may that closeness inspire us to love our neighbors more faithfully.
After all, the purpose of silence is not simply to escape the noise of the world. It is to hear God more clearly so that we can return to the world ready to serve Him.
Jonathan Nagy, M.Ed., is the principal of Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in Ebensburg and the music director at the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel in Loretto.
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