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| These craggy gates mark the entrance to the trail up Mt. Alvernia aka Como Hill to Hermitage monastery. |
Attracted as always to eyrie perches, visiting Bahamas Cat Island’s Hermitage monastery was a must-do. After all, it’s sited on the highest point in all the Bahamas. This time, Wayne was more than willing to scale it with me… all the way to its tip-top whopping 206 foot elevation. Only the heat made the short hike a sweaty one.
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| Como Hill’s as high as it gets – the Bahamas are flatfoot heaven. |
The Bahamas is a veritable flatfoot heaven.
After last year’s cruising, climbing volcanic peaks, Wayne, who’s far less enamored with inclines, was pretty happy with the “rigors” of Bahamas “high altitude” hikes.
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| One of several quaint, colorful tiles at Hermitage monastery. Can you improve on this translation? “If so, by my Lord, praised the role of the moon is from the stars.” |
More intriguing than the viewpoint is the almost Lilliputian scale the great architect and beloved Father Jerome, née John Cyril Hawes built as his final resting place. Wayne needed to duck to get through the passages of what appeared to be a far larger building from a distance. Though beautiful, the monastery is also humble, an apt spot for the Reverend Monsignor, a tall man who wandered the world to build churches, lead congregations and even work as a laborer and a railway teamster to ponder modest thoughts before entering eternity.
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| Translation: Chapel of the Holy Spirit. |
Location Location
Recent retrospective from April 17, 2014, New Bight, Cat Island, BAHAMAS (N24.17.234 W775.25.145). We’re temporarily landbound in Jacksonville, FL. We’re in the throes of planning our next big cruising adventure, to the South Pacific, where this Galley Wench will do her best to once again wheedle Wayne into scaling steeper volcanic peaks, to enjoy the view up top.
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| For scale… Wayne is sitting down, yet the base roofline is not many feet above his head. |
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| Great view of Hermitage monastery as seen on our descent. |
Readers – Some Questions
- Do you like churches?
- What are your favorites?
- What makes a church or other place of worship intrigue you?
- Would you like more blog posts of the other churches we’ve visited, such as the prettier of the two Father Jerome built on Long Island?
