145 Practical Spiritual Advice from a Former Hermit

The Art of Catholic with Matthew Leonard

Matthew Leonard

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 831 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2025

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Matthew Leonard is joined by Father Wayne Sattler, who lived the contemplative life as a hermit for years and has great wisdom to share on the spiritual life.

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If I say "hermit", what's the first thing that comes to mind?

An ancient Desert Father wearing a burlap sack, nappy beard, living a life of self-denial in a remote cave?

Or maybe a medieval nun, enclosed in a cell attached to a church wall, only receiving food through a small window?

What would one look like in the 21st century?

They're kind of hard to picture because that's pretty much all we have of hermits these days - pictures.

Not anymore. I've got one for you on the Art of Catholic podcast...and he's got some spiritual pearls to share with you.

After all, there's a deep knowledge and inexpressible sweetness in a life lived solely for God - and a deep wisdom that comes from being immersed in the Divine, all day every day.

But instead of having to go into the desert or monastery to hear their wisdom, you just have listen to this episode.

My guest on the Art of Catholic, Father Wayne Sattler, lived as a diocesan hermit for several years in a secluded one-room cabin in North Dakota. While there, his relationship with God deepened dramatically - and his insights into God's profound love for all of us are breathtakingly beautiful.

Tune in to our conversation as we discuss: - How to distinguish the beginnings of contemplation from other forms of prayer

What is the "suspension of the senses" in prayer (and how to distinguish it from sleep:)
The role of silence and self-denial in developing a deeper relationship with God
Why we shouldn't fear what St. John of the Cross calls the Dark Night
How understanding the body-soul connection can enhance our spiritual life
And much more!

Now, if you're thinking to yourself, Wait a minute! If he's a hermit, how is he being interviewed on a podcast... ...that's a great question - and as you'll discover from our conversation, after calling him to spend years as a hermit, God has a new mission for Father Sattler now - and it's one that you'll definitely want to hear about.

God bless!

Matthew

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Art of Catholic.
0:13.9	Welcome to the Art of Catholic, I'm Matthew Leonard.
0:16.9	And today I've got an interview with someone that if he'd had it his own way, it would
0:20.5	never have been available for this conversation.
0:23.4	And I say that because he was a hermit who had taken vows to remain one permanently. But as you'll hear, the Lord had
0:29.6	other plans and now this former hermit, Father Wayne Sattler, is the spiritual director for
0:34.6	an entire diocese. So we're going to hear about what it was like to be a hermit and
0:39.1	get a number of insights from him on prayer and the spiritual life, which as you can imagine, is his specialty.
0:45.6	Now before we jump to that, don't forget that I'm streaming the Science of
0:49.0	Sainthood video series Introduction to Real Prayer, totally for free during
0:53.6	Lent. Thousands and thousands of people are watching it. I'm getting emails from
0:57.3	all over the place from people including, you know, priests and religious
1:00.2	sisters and regular laypeople. I mean, they're love it. They love it and they're finding it very helpful.
1:05.2	And you can too.
1:06.2	Just go to scienceofsainthood.com.
1:08.3	There's a link down below.
1:10.3	And you can sign right up.
1:11.6	And the sign of pages or the sign of form is right at the top of the page.
1:16.1	If you're listening to this on an audio podcast and don't see a link in the player, just
1:20.7	text the word pray to the number 66866.
1:26.0	Now, again, that only works in the United States, okay?
1:29.0	But you can text the word pray to the number 66866
	...

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