Thursday, October 28, 2010

Catholic Hermit Life

Here is Catholic hermit life, straight from the Church's mouth.

Code of Canon Law 1983: Can. 603 §1 Besides institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the life of hermits or anchorites, in which Christ's faithful withdraw further from the world and devote their lives to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through the silence of solitude and through constant prayer and penance.

§2 Hermits are recognized by law as dedicated to God in consecrated life if, in the hands of the diocesan Bishop, they publicly profess, by a vow or some other sacred bond, the three evangelical counsels, and then lead their particular form of life under the guidance of the diocesan Bishop.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, [920 is merely repeat of first CL item] 921: “They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because He is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You have said that you are not a hermit yourself, so why do you feel the need to tell others how to live the hermit life?