Enjoy a time of rest in an exceptional setting
In this article
Away from the world's tumult, certain brilliant minds have felt the vital need for silence, to withdraw, not to escape reality, but to see it better, understand it, or transform it. In the Christian tradition, or at its borders, major figures of the 20th century chose spiritual retreat as a path of inner discipline. Here are five personalities for whom silence, solitude and simplicity were sources of creation, truth and sometimes grace.
Thomas Merton (1915–1968): The monk of inner dialogue
Writer, intellectual and American Trappist monk, Thomas Merton lived most of his life at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. As a cloistered monk, he adopted a rigorous way of life: silence, prayer, manual work. But he was also an engaged thinker, writing dozens of books on contemplation, non-violence, justice and interfaith dialogue. His hermitage, where he spent his final years, became the center of his quest: a place of total simplicity, where Christian solitude and openness to the world met. His spiritual retreat, far from being a withdrawal from reality, was an anchor point for thinking about peace, the sacred and freedom.
To experience a retreat in Merton's monastic spirit, Notre-Dame d'Aiguebelle Abbey offers simple and silent hospitality, rooted in the Benedictine tradition.
Simone Weil (1909–1943): Radical asceticism
Philosopher, mystic and resistance fighter, Simone Weil always placed spiritual experience at the heart of her intellectual search. Inspired by Christianity, though never baptized, she adopted an austere and solitary life. She made several retreats in abbeys, notably with the Benedictines, living through periods of silence, prayer and fasting. She saw in voluntary poverty and self-effacement a way to access a higher truth. For her, retreat was not a comfort, but a spiritual requirement, an ascetic practice to become worthy of reality. Her writings, of rare intensity, testify to a spirit straining toward the absolute.
For those who wish to experience a similar Benedictine experience, Bouzy-la-Forêt Abbey, in the heart of Loiret, welcomes retreatants in a spirit of silence, prayer and simplicity inspired by the monastic tradition lived by Simone Weil.
Christian Bobin (1951–2022): The poet of the invisible
Poet and French writer, Christian Bobin is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary literature. He led a quiet and withdrawn life in Saint-Étienne, but regularly visited abbeys, such as Tamié, to experience periods of silence and contemplation. Without being a monk, he shared their taste for simplicity, silence and humble light. In his texts, often short and luminous, he sought to name the invisible, the intimate, the discreet presence of the divine in ordinary things. His retreat was as much interior as geographic, made of slowness, observation and extreme attentiveness.
And if you too dream of a simple, silent and inspiring place, know that Notre-Dame des Refuges chalet, just 55 minutes from Tamié Abbey, offers an ideal setting for a solitary or silent retreat, in the Savoie mountains.
Pierre Soulages (1919–2022): The painter of the sacred without dogma
A major figure in abstract art, Pierre Soulages is internationally recognized for his work with light-black, which he called "outrenoir" ("beyond black"). A declared agnostic, he nonetheless maintained a deep connection with the sacred. In the 1980s, he spent long periods at the abbey church of Conques, where he designed and created the contemporary stained-glass windows. There he conducted a form of artistic and spiritual retreat, marked by silence, slowness and light. Even without religious faith, he recognized in the monastic space a contemplative power he found nowhere else. His approach was that of a man seeking spirituality through matter and light, in a unique alliance between art and silence.
If you too wish to experience a similar journey of silence and beauty in this unique landscape, you can make a retreat at Bonneval Abbey, located near Conques, in the heart of Aveyron.
And for a Thoreau-style experience: silence and deep nature
Henry David Thoreau, the 19th-century American philosopher, withdrew to a cabin by Walden Pond to live two years in solitude, in nature. It was not a religious retreat, but a quest for truth, slowness and deliberate living. This withdrawal gave rise to his work Walden, or Life in the Woods, now known worldwide. Today, certain places allow one to relive this form of radical simplicity.
Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-Qui-Vire Abbey, nestled in the forests of Morvan, offers retreats in an isolated natural setting, conducive to walking, meditation and writing. A beautiful way to reconnect with the spirit of Walden.
Conclusion: silence as a source
Monks, poets, philosophers or artists, each of them chose, in their own way, temporary or prolonged withdrawal to monastic or isolated places. Their common thread: the need for a stripped-down space, far from noise, to confront themselves, God or the invisible. Their work, shaped by this experience of silence, testifies to a simple but essential truth: it is sometimes by withdrawing from the world that one can better grasp its depth.
What if the next person to experience this were you? You simply need to choose a place, take the first step, and click here to discover an abbey that will welcome you.
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