Br. Randall Horton, hermit

Br. Randall Horton is a hermit.  That means that he is a Benedictine Monk under direct vows held by a Bishop--in this case, the Episcopal Bishop of New York.  He became an Episcopalian at the age of nineteen years and was a member for many years of St. Luke's Parish in Los Gatos, California.  

Br. Randy, as he is known, is fifty-three years old and, at the moment, nineteen years sober.  Before becoming a monk at the age of thirty, he successfully negotiated the rigors of two different professions.  First, after his education was complete, he became a touring concert pipe organist, playing concerts in Europe, Canada and the United States, for a total of five years. Br. Randy studied pipe organ performance with Drs. Phillip Simpson, John Walker, and David Hurd, as well as choral conducting with Dr. Charlene Archibeque.  While serving as music director at Holy Cross Monastery, Br. Randy studied Gregorian Chant and 16th century choral polyphony, earning a reputation for adaptation of monodic ecclesial song for use with the English language liturgy.  The following adaptation of the Phos hilaron is a sample of his work.

Then, Br. Randy was re-educated in computer technology and became a customer service specialist with a firm then known as Tymshare, Inc. in Silicon Valley. Br. Randy had the privilege of working in the team of Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart, the man who holds the patent on the original Mouse and the inventor of much of the technology now standard with such systems as Apple and Windows.  With Dr. Engelbart and his team, Br. Randy worked with a system then known as Augment, a computer environment which contributed many features that were later incorporated into both Macintosh and Windows systems.   Br. Randy is the webmaster for this website. 

At the age of thirty, Br. Randy entered an Episcopal Benedictine community called the Order of the Holy Cross at West Park, New York.  He stayed there for his formation as a member of the novitiate and, later, as a monastic oblate in charge of the monastic choir of men.  In addition to his work at West Park, Br. Randy identified his problem with alcohol.  He went to the Addiction Research Foundation (also known as ARF) in Toronto, Canada, and began the greatest journey of his life--the journey into recovery.  He has been sober ever since.

After six years of life in formation at the Monastery, Br. Randy left and established a hermitage called the Hermitage of St. Antony of the Desert.  He moved his hermitage to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut, to a small cabin in the country about a ten minute walk from the Great Falls on the Housatonic River.  Br. Randy made his annual vows at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, but continued to live in Connecticut.  There he lived and prayed with his pet cocker-poo Fred while serving as the part-time spiritual director for Mountainside Treatment Center. Br. Randy was life professed as a Solitary (or hermit) by The Rt. Rev. Richard F. Grein, Bishop of New York, on October 3, 1998.  His Rule of Life is here presented for those who are interested in such things, along with his Spiritual Autobiography.

In March of 2002 the time came for Br. Randy to move back to the city and bring with him the fruits of his own interior work in the hermitage as well as the fruits of his professional work at Mountainside.  The position at Fessenden House materialized, and the deal was struck.  Br. Randy has been here ever since.

Br. Randy is the author of The Miracle of Peace, a workbook in the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.  Click on the link above to see the full text of The Miracle of Peace.  Additionally, you may click on the links to the left to see individual chapters.  He is also author of The St. Gregory Antiphoner and Monastic Hymnary, a 2,000 page plus, modern inclusive language adaptation of the Benedictine Office Chants for use with the Book of Common Prayer Office.  His hobbies include all things medieval as well as playing his harpsichord, cooking, and doing calligraphic projects.  His interests include Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, gnostic studies, biblical criticism, and the evolution of languages, in addition to his extensive work in translating/transcribing Gregorian Chant for Anglican liturgical use.  He is a member of St. Ignatius Episcopal Church in Manhattan.