Inside of the hermitage & its courtyard

This icon is right in the corner as you enter the hermitage. It is called the 'Ave Maria'. Each time the monastic sister enters her cell she stops here to pray to the Theotokos first.

This is a view looking down into the Oratory, a little chapel in the hermitage.   It is on the ground floor right next to the workroom with the wood burning stove.  Upstairs is the bathroom, the bed, and a table for eating and studying.  There is a little balcony off to the side of the living area where you can look down at the Oratory.

This is a  back view of the hermitage.  It has 4 different entrances!!  The first door to the far left is the entrance into the Oratory.  The other 2 doors on the ground floor enter into the workroom.  And the door upstairs is to the living and study area.  There is no interior staircase!  In the far left corner(it's a little bit cut off) there is the little square box in the wall, the 'guichet'.  The monastic sister's meal is delivered and placed inside the 'guichet' from the cloister.  The sister then eats her meal in silence and solitude while reading. 

Here is the side door entrance into the 'Ave Maria' and the workroom and the outside staircase.

To the left you get a partial view of the door to the Oratory.  Sr. Donatienne showing a family around.

This is the road coming from the Main Gate.  You can see the cloister and some of the roofs of the  hermitages.

 Another view of the hermitages all in a row with the cloister that connects them and leads to the Chapel. 

Another view.

The first hermitage in the row where the Chaplain(a priest/monk) lived.

The Transfiguration

 This is a view of the Transfiguration from below the mountain.  You can see one of the trails that leads up to it.  This house is for the 'Ecole de Vie', the young sisters that have just entered the Order.   They wear the blue melotte over their secular clothing until they clothed in the habit. 

This is the inside of the Chapel they use that is right next to the main house in the photo above.  It is not very large and there are no stalls, just benches for the sisters to sit on.  (be sure to click on the photos for an enlarged and better view!)

Inside of the Chapel

Another view of the sisters in the Chapel.   In the top photo you can see the 'Ecole de Vie' in the foreground and the sisters praying before the services begin.  The photo above was taken during the services, probably Matins.  The sisters are venerating the icons while the services are taking place.  One sister is prostrating before the Cross.  It is a 'liturgical dance' of divine love with the Most Holy Trinity.

The Chapel

This the Chapel that is in the Enclosure.  The guests enter through here and are on the 2nd floor and can look down at the sisters.


La Chapelle



Soeur Marie(Sr. Mary)-- Foundress of the Sisters of Bethlehem. We are behind the guesthouse at the Monastero Madonna del Deserto-Monte Camporeggiano in Italy.

Here we are behind the guesthouse at Monastero Madonna del Deserto-Monte Camporeggiano, Italy. Soeur Marie is at the far right.