Left: James Krueger, the founder of Mons Nubifer Sanctus, a new Christian community launching in the Catskills.
A new retreat center that aims to bring contemplative Christian tradition of monasteries to secular laymen in the Catskills is holding its first gathering tonight, the first day of Lent.
James Krueger, the former executive director of the Pine Hill Community Center who is now an ordained deacon at Saint James’ Episcopal Church in Lake Delaware, is founding a new Christian retreat center called Mons Nubifer Sanctus -- Latin for "Holy Cloud-Bearing Mountain." His hope is to bring contemplative formation -- long periods of silence, stillness, and prayer -- to "people who are out in the world, people who are married," he told the Watershed Post recently.
"I think that the Christian tradition has a very deep spiritual tradition, and I think that is lost in everyday American protestantism," Krueger said. "I would like do do my small part in bringing that tradition back to the fore. Christians are looking for that kind of deep prayer experience, and they're not finding it much."
Krueger knows a lot about silence and stillness. He has spent time at multiple monasteries of several religious traditions, including the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper and the Holy Cross Monastery in Kingston. He has spent seasons fasting and praying in solitude in caves, tipis, and rustic solitary cabins.
"Things happen when you take that time apart," he said. "You start running up against your walls; you start running up against a lot of stuff that's been buried down inside of you for a long time."
Krueger's plan is to offer workshops and day-long retreats at a yet-to-be-found Catskills headquarters, where attendees will practice silent prayer at sessions punctuated by traditional prayer services. He is in the process of selling his house and raising funds to buy a permanent home for the Mons Nubifer campus, where he and his wife also plan to live.
"We need a place to do this -- that's really what this is about," Krueger said. "I've been cooking up this idea for a long time. I had this vision of a communal center for taking care of elderly and dying people on a farm. That part of the vision has fallen away, but what remains is a hope to practice a common life, on a piece of land."
Until Krueger finds the right location for Mons Nubifer Sanctus, he will hold study groups at his home in Pine Hill and in other locations in and near the Catskills. The first of his study groups meets tonight at 6pm at St. James' Episcopal Church in Bovina, and again tomorrow night at his home in Pine Hill.
Early Christian Spirituality: A Study Group. Wednesday, March 5, 6-8 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church, 55 Lake Delaware Drive, Bovina. Also offered Thursday evenings, March 6 - April 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.,, in Pine Hill. Call 845-254-4872 or e-mail info@monsnubifer.org for further information.
