Sr. Elizabeth Wagner lives a contemplative life of prayer and solitude at Transfiguration Hermitage, a semi-eremitical community she founded that follows the Rule of St. Benedict. Sr. Wagner is a hermit, writer, spiritual director and retreat leader. She also serves as formation director, gardener, and groundskeeper of the hermitage.
Raised on a farm in Connecticut, Sr. Wagner graduated with a degree in humanities from Shimer College in Illinois. She was attending Andover Newton Theological School when she found her Catholic faith and her love of contemplative prayer. She then entered a Carmelite monastery, but left in search of more solitude. Sr. Wagner also served as adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Bangor Theological Seminary.
She regularly writes for the quarterly newsletter of the Hermitage and has written book reviews and essays for a number of religious and literary publications. Sr. Wagner was awarded Willow Review’s 2011 award for nonfiction. She is a member of the American Benedictine Academy, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
She lives in Windsor, Maine.
