How to Become a Catholic Hermit, Pt. 6 (Reprise)

~ Some Considerations, Conclusion

• There is no mention of the hermit having a "Superior" in either The Catechism of the Catholic Church or in Canon Law 603.  The latter does state that the hermit who publicly professes the three evangelical counsels into the hands of the diocesan bishop, is to live his or her proper program of living under the diocesan bishop's direction. Thus, the hermit's director is by [church] law to be his or her bishop.

• The three evangelical counsels include the avowal of obedience.  It is presumed that all Catholic hermits would be obedient to their spiritual directors, their bishops, their religious order superiors (of hermits belonging to a religious community or order), the pope, Scripture, and God.  Traditionally and in prudence, one is not to indiscriminately obey--such as errant spiritual direction.

• No reference is made either in the institutes of the Consecrated Life of the Church: The Eremitic Life, nor in canon law as to a hermit adopting the title of  "Sister" or "Brother."  A publicly professed hermit's bishop may approve such for his hermit.  The consecrated Catholic hermit may have been given that title if currently affiliated with a religious order.  If a person has been in a religious community that is no longer existing or has not been approved by the Holy See, it may be questionable to retain their usage.  

• If a consecrated Catholic hermit who has publicly professed the evangelical counsels into the hands of the diocese bishop and is recognized by [church] law [per CL603] commits a crime such as slander, libel, doxxing, cyberstalking, sexual or other offense punishable by the criminal justice system or involves litigation, is the bishop and the diocese liable as well as the individual hermit?  It is unknown if there are current cases being litigated. 

• What action or resolution occurs in the case of a Catholic hermit who professes the evangelical counsels publicly into the hands of the diocesan bishop  and whose proper plan of life is directed by the diocesan bishop, does not fulfill the proper plan of life as directed by the bishop?  If the hermit does not remediate, is the consecrated hermit stripped of his or her consecration, and is this then made a matter of public record?  What if a succeeding diocese bishop has no interest in dealing with or does not know there is a CL603 hermit, approved by a previous bishop, in his diocese?  

• A consecrated Catholic hermit who professes the evangelical counsels and lives the eremitic life in accordance with the institutes of the Catholic Church (but not with the proviso of CL603) commits  a crime such as slander, libel, internet, sexual or other offense punishable by the criminal justice system or involves litigation, he or she would be solely liable.

• What action or resolution occurs in the case of a consecrated Catholic hermit who professes the evangelical counsels and lives the eremitic life in accordance with the institutes of the Catholic Church (but not with the proviso of CL603) does not fulfill the hermit life as set forth in the institutes?  Does the hermit's spiritual director, superior, or bishop intervene?  Most likely, since vows are privately professed hermit are between the hermit and God, it remains a private matter between hermit and God, hermit's spiritual director, and those spiritually close to hermit to encourage a return to stricter adherence to vocation.

• What was the reason for the addition and inclusion of CL603 into the canons of the Catholic Church in the 20th century?   Perhaps there was a concern for those consecrated Catholic hermits who may not have lived their eremitic life in a proper or conscientiously responsible manner (and who also were not be in an approved religious community or order).  It would conceivably be more difficult for bishops to monitor or reprove such hermits--either on their own, with spiritual director, or even in a religious community or order. 

• While there have been in recent past, interpretation and initiation of various facets other than in the church's writings as to what constitutes a proper plan of eremitic life, in the late 20th c. some facets derived from a guidebook for hermits, written in the 1990's by a religious sister employed by a diocese in the United States.  Many of these suggestions came from rules and historical writings and traditions extant from the early desert abbas and ammas, as well as from hermits and anchorites of the Middle Ages.  These practices and traditions, as well as what was written in that particular diocese's guidebook are not mandated nor required by the universal Catholic Church.  [In fact, a phone conversation in 1999 with the vocations director of that diocese verified that the religious sister was no longer in their employ, and the diocese had withdrawn the guidebook indefinitely until further investigation into the content.  The diocese was no longer publishing nor taking responsibility for its contents.]

• Married hermits:  Both parties need to agree to their marital rights being dissolved and with the choice to enter consecrated life and to choose celibacy.  This may occur if they are older and the high calling and purpose of the married state of life is fulfilled so that the required Evangelical Counsels (poverty, obedience, celibacy) of the consecrated state of life could be met.  [St. Nicholas of Flue is an example of a married man who became a hermit.  Briefly:  His wife agreed to his call to hermit life, regardless the recent birth of their tenth child. Although some family and neighbors criticized the decision, he left the family home to live the eremitic life in a hut in the Swiss Alps.  He became prominent as a contemplative and also prophetically was helpful to Switzerland; he is now a patron saint of that country.]

• Not all bishops agree to receive the vows of hermits for a variety of reasons.  At this time, Catholics professing vows and entering the consecrated life of the Church as hermits yet not by the CL603 proviso, are not restricted by bishop approval or disapproval; but also they are not recognized by church law as a diocese hermit.  Of course, it is a good idea for consecrated Catholic hermits under any form of valid profession, to communicate with his or her bishop as to his or her eremitic profession and life.]

• Age of hermits:  Nothing is written the institutes of the Church or additionally in CL603, regarding the age in which a Catholic could profess the evangelical counsels and be consecrated in the eremitic life.  The traditional and historical precedents (as well as for obvious, practical reasons) are that hermits ought to have lived long enough to have suffered much, be advanced in prayer, and have enough life experience and past relationships to fully engage in and endure the rigors of solitary life as a consecrated Catholic eremite. 

• Rule of Life:  Again, adopting an individual rule of life is not stipulated per se in the institutes of the Catholic Church or CL603 per the consecrated eremitic life. However, history and tradition of eremites who successfully and heroically lived a holy hermit life, as well as prudence and wisdom, suggest that determining and being true to a rule of life is a positive inclusion.

• Profession of  Hermit Vows:  This in actuality could be clarified as "Profess the Evangelical Counsels" (poverty, celibacy, obedience).  There is no mention in the church's institutes of Consecrated Life, sp. the Eremitic Life, of "vows" as distinctive of or from avowing to live the three evangelical counsels.  However, the traditional, privately professed hermits may make a vow to God re. his or her intentions, acceptance of vocational call, and promise to remain true to the eremitic consecrated life of the Church.  In CL603, there is the stipulation that the professing of the evangelical counsels is to be confirmed by vow or other sacred bond.  It is assumed that "vow" means by definition:  a promise, a solemn commitment, etc.  "Sacred bond" is not specified but probably extends from the vows and rites of the anchoritic traditions, rule of life, and avowal ceremony of the Middle Ages.  In such instances, the hermit or anchorite would take as a tangible sign of their professing the evangelical counsels and avowing--promising--to live the eremitic life, such items as a crucifix, a tunic, a Bible, and/or ring.  In Middle Ages typically women wore a veil, or for men to have hair tonsured and for women to have hair shorn. (Today, wearing a tunic or similar "habit" and/or shorn or tonsured hair would draw attention and belie as The Catechism states for hermits to live "hidden from the eyes of men".)

• What is the future of Consecrated Catholic Hermits?  It remains to be seen in what ways the proviso of Canon Law 603, over time, will shape or shift the historical and traditional path of hermits in the Church.  CL603 contains a notable addition to the stipulations for consecrated Catholic hermits as stated in the institutes of the Church per the Consecrated Life: Eremitics.  CL603 states that the hermit is "recognized by [Church] law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond and observes a proper program of living under his direction."  It would seem, a hermit who is recognized by church law, ipso facto bears a certain status, or credibility, that the traditional and historical hermits may not have in the minds of others.  In today's Church, this is no small matter, and it seems that some bishops and some hermits will desire this proviso.  Who knows if  in future centuries, it may become the norm for consecrated Catholic hermits?  Would, then, the privately professed hermits of history and tradition, need to be "grandfathered in"--in order to not negate their avowed professions and lived eremitic lives as having been validly consecrated Catholic hermits in the Consecrated Life of the Church?  Would hermits such as St. Antony of the desert and hosts of others over the centuries and today, then be considered not valid in the Church?  Such considerations will be dealt with, no doubt, as time passes, legitimate and/or illegitimate precedents set, and possible, additional church laws are created (as laws, also, tend to be created in increasing numbers, in the secular world as well as the Church).

(Note: In these blog posts which attempt to clarify the truth and facts of what is officially church-documented as to the contemporary, consecrated Catholic hermit profession and life, if this consecrated Catholic hermit has slipped at times in referring to the professing of the evangelical counsels as professing "vows," please accept my apology. 

(Per CL603, as is specifically stated, as well as in the institutes of the Church per stated, the avowal refers to the three evangelical counsels. However, the stipulations of the consecrated eremitic state of life in the Catholic Church as well as the additional stipulations of CL603, do not include detailed specifics or definitions, thus the tendency for what can become interpretations, inventions, inclusions, variations, and eventually precedents.  

(Precedents set may over time be welcome and positive; or they may negatively impact or alter the basic truths and facts of the eremitic consecrated life. Thus it seems critically important to know the truth and facts of whatever Church documents, but particularly for hermits to know the state of Consecrated Life in the Catholic Church.)

Now to attempt a summation of this and the previous five blog posts.  For those discerning a call to the eremitic life in the Catholic Church or who have already professed the evangelical counsels as a consecrated Catholic hermit and are striving to live the life as Church documents stipulate--what seems advisable is to prayerfully and carefully read and ponder each stipulation, path, and provision.  If already a consecrated Catholic hermit, renew in the heart the professions no matter the form of avowed profession.  

Be clear on the three evangelical counsels and the specific stipulations in The Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Consecrated Life: The Eremitic Life.  If one has been approved by the diocesan bishop to take the Canon Law 603 option, be clear on the additional stipulations.

Reflect upon one's progress and short-comings in living out the life of stricter separation from the world, in the praise, prayer, and penance of the hermit vocation.  Learn by reading the writings and lives of Catholic hermits from early centuries onward.  Follow some form of a daily horarium [term meaning "the hours" used nearly exclusively by the Catholic Church for the daily schedule of those in the consecrated life] that is filled with Lectio Divina (Divine reading) and prayer. Be obedient to one's "superior": spiritual director, priest, abbot/abbess, Bishop, Christ.

Above all, love, support, pray for, and respect other consecrated hermits who strive daily to fulfill their profession of the evangelical counsels and eremitic plan of life, for the hermit life is considered as one of the most challenging of the states of consecrated life in the Catholic Church.  

Remain faithful to Christ and His Church in all matters, as well as to one's consecrated profession. Take seriously the eremitic vocation and what it entails.  To be a consecrated Catholic hermit, whether by private or public profession, is a serious matter, a challenging spiritual path, a humble life, but also a great honor.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another, for God Is Love!  Remain in His Love!  

How to Become a Catholic Hermit, Pt. 5 (Reprise)

Some Considerations ~

The previous four blog posts have cited current Catholic Church documentation of and for the procedures and requirements regarding the consecrated state of Catholic hermits/eremites.  Stipulations on professing the three evangelical counsels as well as what the Church requires in the daily life of consecrated eremites are clearly set forth.

Consecrated Catholic hermits or those who are discerning a call to consecrated eremitic life in the Catholic Church should take time periodically to read what is actually written by the Church relative to the consecrated eremitic life.  

The result can be renewed fervor and encouragement for hermits who have professed the evangelical counsels and strive to live the eremitic life as specified in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (920-921 in particular), and also if have professed according to the optional, additional stipulations of CL603.  

Read carefully, thoughtfully, using critical thinking skills. Take time to ponder what each states, specifically and accurately.  

There ought be no motive or intent other than seeking and finding truth in making clear for ourselves the now two options and pathways by which a Catholic may credibly and legitimately profess vows as a Catholic hermit.  The outcome must be to assist us in discerning, and if God's will, to actually live  the eremitic life responsibly, sincerely, truthfully, and lovingly, as part of the Consecrated Life of the Church.

However, in any aspect of life, and perhaps especially so in the hermit vocation with its often-times enigmatic tradition and history, there are conceptions and misconceptions of what is a hermit and what constitutes the hermit vocation. Most people, even Catholics, do not generally think about the hermit vocation, perhaps because relatively few are called to this state of consecrated life.  Those who are aware of the eremitic vocation, often have varied perceptions and conceptions about hermits historically, traditionally, and currently.

What is a Catholic hermit?  Who are they?  How do they live their lives?  What must one "do" to become a Catholic hermit? What is the process, what vows, what requirements? What is an acceptable plan of hermit life, as specified and by the Catholic Church?  

The answers to these questions can be found, as mentioned above, by reading the pertinent documents of the Church, specifically on the institutes of the Church regarding the Eremitic [hermit] life as found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and also in the canons [church laws], specifically CL603. 

Yet even so, as in all aspects of life in which something is not the norm and wafts an air of mystery, there arise varying interpretations, conceptions, inventions, and theories which then may or may not begin to set precedents rather than keeping to the actual truth and foundations.  In such matters, there is truth as well as intent.  

Tradition and lived history also play a role in developing and ascertaining what is accuracy and truth, such as in this topic:  the Catholic eremitic, or hermit, life.  Precedents may be set, over time.  They may or may not be in keeping with the truth specified in Church documents, or also may not accurately reflect Church tradition.

The following offer a few examples of some interpretations, inventions, and opinions that beset the statistically few (and generally misunderstood) hermits who comprise the Catholic Church's eremitic state of Consecrated Life.  Hopefully and prayerfully, may the following observations, thoughts, and facts help dispel some confusions, clarify some truth, and stimulate the reader's own considerations of this marvelous life of the consecrated Catholic hermit. Enjoy what is offered for your consideration:  Quidditas!

• "Lay hermit":  There is no such term or category as "lay hermit" in Church Law, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Church Tradition, or Church History.  Hermits [eremitics] are specified under the category of "The Consecrated Life," specifically 920-921, in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  In the 20th century, they are also specified in Canon Law 603.  (The hermit vocation, by virtue of the required inclusion and profession of the three Evangelical Counsels [celibacy, poverty, obedience] and by specified program of life, preclude a hermit from being a lay person.  A Catholic with single or married vocation should not make avow to celibacy and poverty. A family living in society has additional, viable, material needs that a hermit, consecrated virgin or widow, and religious brother and sister, do not.

• "Stability" (remaining in one locale):  This is not required but may be what the hermit's earthly superior requests of the hermit.  Some religious orders, whose members live as hermits, include "stability" in their professed three evangelical counsels.

• "Dedication":  There is no such term used to describe a Catholic hermit's profession of the three evangelical counsels [poverty, celibacy, obedience] and one who lives in accordance with the stipulations per Consecrated Life of the Church:  The Eremitic Life, in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  [The term "dedication" is often used currently by Protestant Evangelicals and those of other denominations who do not practice infant Baptism; such as:  make a "dedication" of their children to God or to live a godly life.]

• Both current forms of profession of the evangelical counsels by Catholic hermits are valid, licit, and credible. The hermit may publicly professes the three evangelical counsels into the hands of the hermit's diocesan bishop and per CL603.  Or the hermit may profess the three evangelical counsels according to the precepts stipulated for all Catholic hermits in The Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Consecrated Life of the Church, Eremitic Life, 920-921.  [A key divergence between the two types of Catholic hermit profession of the three evangelical counsels resides in the one being recognized by canon law and professed publicly into the hands of the hermit's diocesan bishop, and ipso facto public church record.] Regardless format of hermit profession, the specifications in the institutes of the Church per hermit life are to be lived daily.  Neither type of profession is better than the other in legitimacy, validity, or credibility, nor should hermits who profess by way of one or the other consider themselves entitled to esteem or certain rights.

• Being a Catholic hermit who professes vows via the 1983 CL603 format is not to be confused with being effectively part of the Hierarchy, nor with privileges to write or speak "in the name of the Church." This right is reserved to acting Bishops relative to their office and diocese, and for the universal Church, to the Holy Father.

• There is no specific rite established by the Church (such as a Mass) for the diocesan bishop to receive a hermit's profession.  The hermit may use a format similar to what a religious institution uses for a profession of vows.

• Any Catholic hermit, regardless of the format in which the counsels are professed, write and speak merely as a Catholic consecrated eremite.  The hermit's words carry no Church authority nor represent anything other than their thoughts and opinions as sincere, truthful Christians who happen to be by their professions living in accordance with the institutes of the Consecrated Life of Church, as eremites--with or without the additional stipulations set forth by CL603.  They are at most and least:  just simple, humble, striving, consecrated Catholic hermits.

• Whatever guidelines or practices enacted by Catholic hermits (regardless their mode of profession) or by a priest, religious order superior, or even a bishop, ought be for use privately by the hermit, or for the hermit as requested by a priest (presumably acting as the hermit's spiritual director), the hermit's religious superior, or the hermit's bishop and in that bishop's diocese.  In other words, to date there have been no changes relating to the state of consecrated life for hermits--not in The Catechism of the Catholic Church nor in Canon Law, not by pontifical decree nor by collective agreement among the universal Church's bishops.

(To be continued....)

How to Become a Catholic Hermit, Pt. 4 (Reprise)

Semantics of "Publicly" Professed ~

Now to attempt to explain the semantics of what could be a confusion regarding the use of "publicly" in reference to hermit profession of the evangelical counsels. Canon Law 603 effects the word "publicly" in regard to consecrated Catholic hermits who profess the evangelical counsels, as cited: "publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop."     

For consecrated Catholic hermits who do not discern nor request of their bishop the CL603 option, their profession of the three evangelical counsels can be made public or kept private in the normative, contemporary, semantic meaning of "public"  and "private".  

While vowing to live a life of poverty, celibacy and obedience is a required inclusion in all consecrated Catholic hermits' vows, the public or private nature of these three avowed counsels are not one and the same as hermit who, per CL603, "publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop."      

[CL603: "...publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond and observes a proper program of living under his direction."]

It is this stipulation in Canon law (CL603) that makes such profession to be termed "public, " as in being recognized by [canon] law.  The hermit's diocesan bishop is also, as a stipulation of CL603, to direct the hermit's "proper program of living".  

Catholic hermits whose professed vows [recently and ostensibly coined "private profession"] include the three Evangelical Counsels, may profess these to a priest, abbot, abbess, spiritual director, spiritual friend, family member, or God alone.  (It is conceivable but highly unlikely in practice, that a Catholic hermit could profess vows to a bishop, although this would not be recognized by Church law as it would be when professing via CL603.)  

The Catholic hermits who profess their vows to another (or others) who is not the diocesan bishop acting in accord with the proviso of CL603 are in practice, but are not bound by church law, under the direction of their abbot, abbess, priest, or spiritual director and who oversees their proper, eremitic program of living.  

To recapitulate, the distinguishing difference in the unofficially coined terms "private profession" and "public profession" of vows is as follows.  The former profession of vows are not required by Church law to be professed in the hands of the hermit's local ordinary, or bishop, while the latter profession of vows is thus required, and thus becomes a public record per church law.  

Any Catholic hermit may have his or her vows personally reviewed and approved by his or her or other bishop, but this does not relegate the hermit or the bishop to the stipulations of CL603.   Of course, all Catholics are, by nature of the Sacrament of Confirmation, to be in obedience to his or her bishop who acts as our hierarchical, local ordinary of the Catholic Church.

Thus, a Catholic hermit who professes vows  (which must  include the three Evangelical Counsels) per the stated conditions of the Church for eremitic consecrated life, but who do not profess the vows by the proviso of CL603, could conceivably make the vows "public" in the quintessential, populous meaning of  "to make public".  

However, to do so would obfuscate the reason most Catholic hermits have for centuries--historically and traditionally--professed their vows without publicity.  They tend t0 avoid revealing their given name identities, location, or making "public" such as in parishes or community, their hermit vocations in order to strive to live a more hidden life:  a stricter separation from the world. 

For hermits who profess their vows per CL603, the desire may be to live their hermit vocations more anonymously. Retaining anonymity as a hermit is in such cases not so possible in the onset of profession in accord with CL603. There may be a Mass to which friends, family, or sometimes the parish are invited.  There may be an article in the diocese newspaper by which the diocesan bishop recognizes the hermit whose vows he has received.  

The hermit--and the diocesan bishop who has in accordance with Canon Law 603 recognized as [church] law, the hermit's professed vows--effectuates the hermit's profession as a matter of public Church record.  After the initial mention or recognition in such cases as CL603 stipulates, most of these hermits, hopefully in practice, strive to live their program of life in a hidden manner.

How to Become a Catholic Hermit, Pt. 3 (Reprise)

Some Clarifications~

To iterate , the eremitic life is of direct consequence and concern, obviously, to all Catholic Church hermits--all of whom have professed their vows which must include (or could simply state) the three Evangelical Counsels which are celibacy, poverty, and obedience.  

The two previous posts cited the appropriate institutes and law as to licit and credible options for Catholic hermits whose adherence to the requirements of the Church, and for some, also CL603, are thus living in the state of the consecrated life of the Church.  [See The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 3, Parts 914-921; and Can. 603, §1 and §2.]  

Also note that the Church is comprised of three categories: Hierarchy, Laity, and Consecrated Life.  [See The Catechism of the Catholic Church: Article 9, Paragraph 4. Christ's Faithful - Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life, 871-873.]  Of these, those in the Consecrated Life may derive from either the hierarchy or the laity.  

Thus, those in Holy Orders, or Hierarchy, such as priests and bishops, may be called to consecrated life, as in priest hermits or priest religious brothers.  In fact, there are and have been bishops, cardinals, and Popes in the Consecrated Life of the Church as hermits and/or religious brothers (monks).  To do so, of course, requires for a bishop to no longer actively, publicly as recognized by Church law, fulfill his episcopal office.  Even so, such priest or bishop hermits derive from the Hierarchy.  And, those in the Consecrated Life of the Church (hermits, consecrated virgins, widows, religious brothers and sisters) may also derive from the Laity of the Church.  

In practice, those of the Hierarchy (priests, bishops, cardinals or even a Pope) who enter/s the Consecrated Life of the Church are not referred to or do not to refer to themselves as hierarchy hermits, hierarchy brothers or hierarchy monks--even though they are derived from the Hierarchy.  Neither are or do those of the Laity who enter the Consecrated Life of the Church referred to as or refer to themselves as laity hermit, laity virgin, laity widow, laity brother/monk, or laity sister/nun--even though they are derived from the Laity.  (This is true for hermits whether or not their vows include the proviso of CL603.)

Thus, Catholic hermits who by their vows and life in accordance to the institutes of the Church have entered into the Consecrated Life of the Church are Church.  By professing the required three evangelical counsels (celibacy, poverty, obedience) and fulfill the conditions of hermit life as delineated in The Catechism in pertinent section cited, they are no longer married or single laity.  For example, marriage vows do not include celibacy and poverty; obedience is to be husband to wife and wife to husband.  

Of course, all Catholic Christians (whether of the Hierarchy, Consecrated Life, or Laity) are to be obedient to God, to the Church, to the Word of God, to Hierarchy, to Superiors--all according to one's state in life.  (As Christian children, we are to be obedience to our parents; as Jews and Christians, obedient to the Ten Commandments, etc.)

What is cited in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the proviso of CL603, and by virtue and fact of the specific vows required of each state of life in the Church, should suffice to explain why consecrated Catholic hermits (and also the consecrated virgins and widows) are part of the Consecrated Life of the Church--although they have derived from the Hierarchy or the Laity.  

Likewise, consecrated Catholic hermits (virgins, widows, religious brothers and sisters) are not the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, as in Holy Orders of priests and bishops.

The options for Catholics to enter into the Consecrated Life of the Church as a hermit are either for those in the Hierarchy or for those in the Laity to discern, receive, and accept a call from God to the eremitic life.   

The Catholic priest or bishop, or lay person (including priest, brother, or lay person, who is currently a religious brother or sister in a Catholic Church-condoned religious order or community), may aspire to the consecrated state of life as an eremite.  He or she then must fulfill the requirements in profession of vows and manifest the eremitic life in accordance with the cited specifics in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, of the institutes of the Consecrated Life of the Church.  And, if the aspiring hermit requests and a bishop agrees, then he or she must fulfill the additional provisions in Canon Law 603. 

How to Become a Catholic Hermit, Pt. 2 (Reprise)

Via CL 603

The following is the added proviso to what are the institutes of Consecrated Life in the Catholic Church, per the eremitic life.  Canon Law 603 [cited below] provides an option for a consecrated Catholic hermit.  

Canon Law 603

Can. 603 §1.  In addition to the institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through a stricter withdrawal from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance.

§2.  A hermit is recognized by [Church] law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond and observes a proper program of living under his direction.

[Emphases added.]

CL603 has some additional requirements beyond what all consecrated Catholic hermits must live per the institutes of the Catholic Church.  [See previous post for Consecrated Life in the Church, and specifically The Eremitic Life, 920, 921.] CL 603 requires the Catholic hermit to publicly profess the three evangelical counsels [celibacy, poverty, and obedience] in the hands of his or her diocesan bishop.  

Note that the hermit under CL603 proviso must live what is ostensibly determined to be a proper program under the diocese bishop's direction.  

Research reveals that in current practice (de facto), many diocesan bishops delegate their direction of said hermit to a priest, deacon, or other designee. 

(In these cases, it is presumed that the diocese bishop who received the hermit's professed counsels and who recognized by [Church] law, the hermit's profession, is yet ultimately responsible by church law (de jure, if term technically applicable to church law) for the direction of said hermit.  It is also assumed per church law re. the office of bishop, that when a diocesan bishop of legal record is replaced by another bishop, the hermit must then live the determined proper program under the incoming bishop's direction.)  

Canon Law 603, while more recent, is a viable, additional provision to the institutes of the Church per consecrated, eremitic life, for the Catholic man or woman discerning and/or called by God to the consecrated life of the Church as an eremitic.  For some bishops and hermits, it may be a preferred provision for various reasons, not mentioned here.

Catholic Hermit, from the Depths of Suffering

Even now, as I briefly consider in the middle of the night, what I have written of my hermit phases, the description of the current one is not much accurate any more than the writer of an article I read in which two different hermits were interviewed and described.  The reader receives but a crumb from a loaf of many loaves of bread of human life.

So in the depths of a current pain siege, awake and having reached for the flashlight by this too-soft yet newer mattress on the floor in here, I tapped out some ground Excedrin into my hand and swallowed it with sips from the water bottle, both at hand and on the floor by the mattress.  Then to break off a couple of bites of banana, also on floor by the mattress--for that will help coat the stomach since I consume a fair amount of anti-inflammatory aides.

And where are the thoughts, the disposition of mind and heart and even the soul?

They--all of me--are with the Lord.  Even though I briefly checked a national news story for which I've been praying along with many in this country and perhaps around the world, of a deranged shooter who killed more than he wounded while they worshipped in a church on Sunday morning.  My soul has been speaking with the Lord in the silence of the night, broken some by off-and-on slight rattling of the wall heat pump.

I read the Living Word of which I can access from a bookmarked site on my little laptop--the window to the world I have that is convenient in the darkness of this night.  The books are packed away in the pole barn, other than my Breviary and a handful of others which are packed in a space inside the hermitage; the John of the Cross writings I read off and on are downloaded onto an iPad.

Well, it is in this current phase I live in the ongoing construction zone of the hermitage.  Seems quite reasonable to utilize the simplest and most practical means of reading and writing and of receiving correspondence.  And again, it is all a certain, present phase for this consecrated Catholic hermit.

While it may seem perhaps more so to myself than the glimpse I describe to others.  I yet feel I am driveling away from how a proper hermit ought to exist.  I no longer can be that good of a judge of the hours of silence of solitude or of the form and substance and breadth of prayer and praise of God.

So much simply comes from the depths of suffering, the depths of a soul yearning for union with the Beloved, with the Lord Jesus, in waiting for the consummation of the marriage of the soul with God.  Yet I must remain in this temporal realm, doing the temporal tasks, living a temporal life with pain and work, and somehow also far from this world in the heart of Christ, remaining in His Love.

There are several points of the Living Word which impart sustenance and love here in the darkness and relative silence.  Even though physical pain screams for attention, the rest of me--the mind, heart, and soul--considers the truth of Christ's Word.

You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

This is helpful, as in the depths of suffering--this present phase of a major pain siege.  I sometimes wonder how I can continue on, and I can easily think that I am failing the Lord in some way or other, or many ways.  Am I delighting in the love of God or meditating on His law (of love) day and night?  Seems to me, not so much.  God is well aware of every thought as well as every comment from the depths of suffering.

The Lord knows how weary is the body from the constancy of pain, and of the various modes of temporal distraction for which I am so thankful.  All is His gift!  Yet He knows also the hours and hours and days and days of great silence--drowning the outer noise distractions; and in this silence and the incomprehensible number of moments, the soul is attuned to Christ.  Surely the innermost being remains in His Love even when the outer crusts of the mind think it is not so much.

I mostly just hang with the Lord in here. 

That is perhaps the best description of this hermit's phase of these past four-plus years.  I hang mostly stripped down, rather beaten, somewhat abandoned of sorts at least in direct human interaction.  Yet it does not seem at all so, for the mind and heart and soul reflect upon many persons living on earth and living not on earth.  All is prayer--the reflections, the bringing forth of souls to the subconscious as well as conscious, from and by the Holy Spirit.

While sanding primed doors, while preparing some coffee, while trying to get up from the mattress or trying to get comfortable on the mattress (not possible really, this latter): the mind, heart, and soul are turned to the Lord even when the outer self can think not, surely not.

That is the deception, though.  And even if I can think that I am rebelling of sorts, or being a very flagrant and despicable Catholic hermit, is that the reality?  No, for reality at some phase of spiritual progression is no longer a possession by a soul but is in the purview of God, an assessment for His Real Presence to determine.

Thus, when I read the Living Word in the following, it all makes sense once again, and any crumb of description of whatever phase of hermit life and hermit soul I might attempt to describe, is of no concern.  As John of the Cross puts it, there are those who pass through in the active "night", and those who are brought through "passively."

My soul is being brought through in the passive "night."

For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things.
To God be glory forever. Amen. 
                              ~ Romans 11:36

Catholic Hermit: Hermit Phases

It has not always been so, in the nearly 17 years since private profession of eremitic vows, or in the time prior of discernment and evolving into the hermit vocation.  It has not always or even ever, been this way of this present time.

There have been phases within the vocation as this consecrated Catholic hermit has tried and tested various horariums (hourly daily schedule) and of the daily life formation involved in living "hidden from the eyes of men in the silence of solitude."

For me, the co-aligned vocation of suffering has provided disruption to what otherwise might have been a quite stabilized and disciplined schedule.  And there have been times in which I did pray the Divine Office in all the hours, even rising in the middle of the night to read from the Breviary.  Yet the reality of the circumstances in which pain or other temporal responsibilities intervened.

There have been times when this hermit would attend daily Mass and often more than one Mass per day, when I lived across the street from a parish and another time beside a parish.  Of course, during pain sieges which can last a few days to weeks, there would be no Mass and little to no spiritual reading, and no set hourly schedule.

As the years have passed, and especially in this current living situation, the vocational externals have evolved into a less time-ordered schedule to a more present-moment unfolding.  Of course, the good of such evolvement is up to judgment, and that by Christ.  Yet it is difficult for me to not judge myself and to wonder if I am doing as God wills, or living my vocation as He desires, as it is so easy to consider the externals for it is more difficult to view with clarity, the interior.

Again, Christ knows the interior, as One in Three Persons.  Thus the Trinity knows and judges and hopefully informs what changes and shifts I must attempt in order to be living and praying and praising. For God desires most of me.

The increase in years of life have brought an increase in suffering, and the circumstances of my life have unfolded in ways I'd never have thought possible.  Such is the effect, in a great degree, of some mystical experiences along the way as well as some very concrete temporal events that helped shape and form the external responsibilities and conditions of my life as a consecrated Catholic hermit.

For better or worse, what is of crucial value is the mind's, heart's, and soul's intentions.  Doing all for love of God, making decisions as best one can through prayer and then attempting to listen to answers, and in consideration of charity of those in one's life--these elements ensure that one at least is seeking to do all for God, in His will.

In these past four years-plus, the temporal circumstances could have been met with an early-on decision to simply bail out of this hermitage that was purchased with all good intentions and high hopes.  The dwelling is set in a lovely spot for quiet prayerfulness and a rather ideal location for a consecrated hermit.  Yet, the living conditions soon revealed themselves to be unsafe and unhealthy, with the place needing to be gutted.  Enough surface demolition had been done that to try to sell "as is" would not have been all that honest nor prudent.  One major consideration: a hermit must be able to sustain him- or herself financially.  To bail out would have meant great financial losses without a set means to replenish the funds.

Thus, a phase unfolded of more external emphasis on manual labor and also of learning construction skills of all types with new tools to learn. Then there were the interactions with workers for awhile, and learning that people can be dishonest and also not that capable in the skills they espouse they possess.  Then there were the interactions with purchasing supplies from stores, and some of those products being defective involving the mind and energy of body to be in effort of righting wrongs.

And in all this, there was great suffering.  Suffering includes physical pain from added hardships of cold living conditions, of rat urine and feces and dead rats and birds in the walls, crawlspaces, ceilings, and attic, as well as suffering from the chronic pain from back and neck injury of years past.  There was the painful suffering of having been deceived by those involved in the sale of this property and others selling their services and wares, so to speak.  Yet there have been the great and heroic, holy people who have helped and offered instruction and support as well as marvelous material deals on supplies needed.

There have been times of attending Mass; but the mystical state, known as a mystical ecstasy, that occurs during Mass, has been problematic for priests and parishioners to the point that along with the difficulty in sitting for any length of time due to the increasing back troubles, it became best to remain in the hermitage.  Only within the past year did a couple from the parish begin bringing Communion on Sunday mornings.  God bless them.

And it has evolved that even trying to do spiritual reading other than when mentally freed enough to absorb, is not often these days and nights.  Always, though, first thing in the morning I read the Living Word, the daily Mass Scriptures.  

In previous phases, what had been a mainstay of my hermit life with hours spent in lectio divina and various genre of spiritual reading, and even of daily writing of spiritual matters and reflective of Scripture and the writings of spiritual masters--are not the current phase.  The mind has currently needed to be sharpened to operating power saws and nail guns, of figuring framing and plumbing and even some electrical efforts.  Often enough, the body has been simply weary and seeks simple distractions, visual, auditory, more mindless in content.  Easy.

Yet what has risen to the top of each present moment, has been the closeness to the Lord Jesus Christ which is evolving as the highlight of this current phase of a few years.  The praying has not been with memorized prayers as much as I used to pray these, or the devotions of which I wholeheartedly loved and repeated and celebrated.  Even though I knew and know how vibrant and desired are the prayers and devotions--many came by the private revelations of saints as received from Christ, the Virgin Mary,discerned and documented in their veracity--I am not in that phase of zeal or discipline.  

Instead, the praying now has been in whatever thoughts have come while working.  Whatever holy insights or instructions of spiritual benefit come in the periphery of the mind and heart and soul with body at work or in physical suffering, even while distracting with news or peaceful voices and scenery in video form.  Yet the daily miracles occur in that the Lord has allowed me to attempt to make "all things new"--and to use skills newly learned and to successfully accomplish amazing tasks by His grace and with His assistance, often through the instruction or help by others.

So my perspective on my own phases as a hermit, has broadened and deepened.  I no longer consider anything a set condition or how a hermit's daily life or prayer routine ought be.  There is more understanding of St. Paul's "praying always".  Within that "always" set forth by God are the ways and forms and words and wordlessness that prayer can become when we let go of what we think prayer ought be.

In the next months (if the Lord gives me days or months or longer here on earth) this current phase may turn to a more set discipline in an horarium-type hermit.  There may be a return to schedule of religious life, of set times of verbal and mental prayer, of praising God, of attending formal, liturgical worship, of receiving weekly the Eucharist in tangible Host or in spiritual communion.  

I do not know what is ahead, other than the Lord will guide and structure this hermit's existence and consecrated vocation in whatever ways and means He desires.  He certainly surprised me with these past four-plus years and the honing of hermit existence in ways I'd never have accomplished without being here, enduring this, struggling along, learning a blind faith never imagined.

My role and place must be in the Lord's heart, remaining in His Love.  I must try not doubting His Real Presence and the power and truth in even the smallest and most distracted prayer of love in His Love, and love of others as God loves.

Pray, listen, praise, and offer the sufferings.  This phase, as all phases, shall pass.  The Lord will reveal whatever next phase and phases.  God bless His Real Presence in us!

Catholic Hermit on Perceptions of Hermits

Sometimes I do a search of hermits online, and I find some excellent sites such as one that provides a broad spectrum of articles on hermit life that reaches around the world with various religions and centuries.  One article wrote of two hermits and of the writer's disillusionment in outcome of his visits and interviews.

Both hermits reside or resided in the US.  One hermit ended up being an alcoholic and what I guess could be categorized as a secular hermit--a man living alone for years, quite simply, in a desert area.  The other the author was assured by a priest would be "the real deal".  This other hermit, the author discovered, had some personality idiosyncrasies or disorders, that the author found disillusioning or as a "deal breaker" for that hermit to be inspiring or to fulfill a preconception of what or who a hermit ought to be.

(The religious hermit--vouched for by a priest--when interviewed talked incessantly and admitted he had done so prior to becoming a hermit.  Other externals seemed to tick the list of what the interviewer felt a hermit would be--quite organized, in a tidy little hermit hut, with rare trips to stock up on provisions, and subsidized by benefactors.  But the other externals of the hermit's talking disappointed the author, thus the article concluded with a negative if not ridiculing outcome of two brief hermit "case" studies, as I guess they could be loosely termed.)

From this article, I wondered what kind of impression my hermit life would leave should someone come and observe, interview, or meet me whether superficially or not. What impressions do my often-rambling writings in the various escapades and phases of progression, impart?  Yes, I consider how my hermit life would be perceived in the various phases of it, as it unfolds over time and in varying circumstances, when I most likely cannot accurately perceive it myself.

For example, currently I suppose my hermit life would result in criticism of my daily life being skewed to quite a bit of manual labor here.  Then there is the use of distractions to help counter the increased physical pain from certain types of manual labor as well as weather pressure shifts.

Plus, if observed from the viewpoint of being a consecrated Catholic hermit, I probably would seem quite the disappointment in various external aspects, such as remaining hermitage-bound other than when needing some construction supplies, and no set daily schedule nor time-balance in spiritual reading or set prayers and traditional devotions.

Today, for example, I view and listen to some news on the internet, while remaining in a pain siege on the mattress on the floor.  While I read--again with the ease of laptop--the daily Mass Scriptures, my mind is too tired to focus and meditate for long on the message of the readings.  At best in such circumstance, a line or thought impresses and helps the soul in the present moment, but there is no lengthy meditation of which I'm aware. 

My distractions and flannel pj's utilized to help cope with the cold and with higher level bodily pain would counter what might be the expectations of just about anyone, including other hermits who wear habits borrowed in style from religious orders, or who read the Divine Office at the various hours throughout the day and sometimes rising in the night to do so.  Or my remaining in the hermitage, away from a parish, surely is proof of losing the faith to those who attend daily or Sunday Mass--for this hermit here has not been physically to Mass for over a year.  Perhaps it seems more so to me, who otherwise marvels at how peaceful the arrangement--other than when judging myself or considering how others would critically view the situation.

The couple who has been bringing the consecrated Host has been gone a few weeks.  And a week ago they sent a text message saying they are praying for me, and that they are sure I am missing their bringing communion, but they will be back before long.  I conversed with the Lord about this communication, and I am not sure that I am as the couple thinks.  It seems the Lord is with me here, not missed at all.  I in Him, He in me.

Is this some delusion?  If so, the peace in that regard is an illusion.  But ever since the mystical ecstasy during any Mass, that union has been so vivid that I have not felt a loss otherwise.  Yet, I have not missed nor yearned for the mystical state during Mass, either.  Jesus told me that was how He was loving me, and that assurance remains.  The implant of His Real Presence and the reality of union so strong in the ecstasies even if I've not experienced in well over a year, assure me of the reminder of how it was in my death experience, three decades ago.  One never forgets such events, nor do I lose the effect of the quietly simple yet powerful ecstasies.  God does not make mistakes in what He wills and imparts in our lives.

I've considered all these aspects, and the thoughts have come back around to the times in my life--perhaps especially the over 17 years, including some formation time--of being a Catholic hermit.  I certainly have had my opinions and passed judgment on what is or who is living the eremitic vocation "properly" or "authentically."  And I've even written some of my critiques along the way.

I questioned if someone living with others or living with family could experience the solitude that teaches a hermit the dependency upon God in the silence of solitude as is a foundational component set forth by the Church's rather simple yet rich formulation of hermit vocation.  Yet then I discovered in some reading, the hermit St. Mariana of Quito, a recognized hermit of the Church who lived with her sibling and sibling's spouse.  In fact, she carried out quite extreme penances upon herself so that more current commentators of her life suggest she is to be admired but not emulated.

Then I consider St. Colette who was an anchoress--walled off in a two-room building constructed onto the side of an abbey church of which her godfather and benefactor (she was orphaned) was the abbot.  In the adjoining room lived a maid servant, but there was only a window between the two rooms, and from the saint's room also a window to the church from which she could observe Mass and be given the Host.  Also she had a window in her cell wall to the outside world through which she would counsel the increasing number of people who came seeking her advice or to see out of curiosity, the anchoress.  It became such a problem--the people coming and time usurped--that her godfather the abbot had to limit the time she was allowed to speak to others.

This regimen of her life as a hermit lasted not long--two or three years as I recall from reading the biography (not sure of the years but not many). God willed that she be returned to the world to assist a Franciscan priest who, with Colette, were to reform the already-declined and disrupted Franciscan Order.  Not even a century had passed since St. Francis' time, for his followers to muck up what were St. Francis' admonitions and example of simplicity and following Christ in the Gospel teachings.

It turned out that Colette resisted the Lord's will, much like Jonah resisted going to Ninevah.  So the Lord provided a miracle of a bright light (His Light?) that burst through the stone wall of her cell, crumbling it and with the Franciscan priest walking toward her; she had no valid decision to make other than to step forth and join in with the priest in the work of reforming the Franciscan order, the first of several reforms in the centuries since.

An observer of St. Colette might wonder, if not knowing the interior spiritual experiences or how it came about that she was forced from her enclosed room, how it could be that she was a hermit, for even in the two or three years of enclosure, she had someone just inches away living with her on the other side of a wall, serving her, running errands, preparing meals, and talking with her.   Also, Colette had total access to viewing and hearing what went on in the abbey church, and she had (until her guardian the Abbot put a stop to it), hours upon hours of conversations with visitors who came to her open window to the world.  And then it all ceased--that way of life for Colette.  That phase (or evolving phases) was over.

Yes, I have made my own observations of others, and thankfully I have also read and learned from volumes of writings about hermits over the centuries.  Ashamedly, I did not realize how odious can be my or others observations when  turned into criticisms or assessments of others in their vocations, whether religious (of various religions) or secular hermits.  For one consideration is that from moment to moment, hour to day to month or year, human souls go through phases, and these phases are played out in temporal time in temporal ways but often for spiritual purposes and reasons.  It is these spiritual purposes and reasons that we or others usually do not grasp while in a given phase.  Later we may know, ourselves, how the Lord willed and somewhat why, for what purpose, despite how odd or out-of-hermit-context the phase may have seemed.

Setting aside secular hermits, we can look upon the lives of religious hermits and even pare the segment down to Catholic hermits, and soon we hopefully will root out our tendency to have tight and tidy mindsets and opinions of Catholic hermits.  And that, also, includes doing so of ourselves if we happen to be a consecrated Catholic hermit. 

And that, dear readers, includes myself, for I have been judging my own life as a hermit, and the observation currently is quite condemning and negative, for I have not trusted in the Lord that He is unfolding even this time period of increased physical pain, or of temporal time line with temporal finances of temporal impending selling and going forth to who-knows-where-but-God and for whatever His purposes.  I have not trusted that there is a depth of spiritual growth going on, obscured to my conscious mind and observation of hermit self.

In some other phase, for all I know, He could desire me to be more out in the world than the distractions of online news, or the use of British scenery and voices to help the body fall asleep since pain medications are not easily available with the increasing attitude and condemnation of opioid epidemic.  (Rare it is to hear a politician insert the trials of those with legitimate chronic pain that does not respond to other means that have been tried for years.  And I rather like this, for the Lord provides in whatever practical, earthy ways, such as the soft and lulling cadence--at least it helps for now--of British voices, when otherwise I'd not be able to sleep due to pain.  

A person with higher levels of pain in the body is fatigued by pain, and pain increases without the body receiving rest.  These aspects would not be known or externally observable by someone or other should he or she see me, hidden away here in my fixer-upper, yet not completed but closer to the finish line even if am crawling toward it.  The Lord could have me collapse before crossing.

And then, who knows?  Perhaps this consecrated Catholic hermit would have to live with a family member for awhile or a long time, or might have to do so as life ebbs and various medical conditions could set in--will set in.  None of us escape the decline of material bodies, sooner or later.  So then would I be deemed a proper Catholic hermit--not living in the silence of solitude but rather living with family or with a friend?  Or what if I'd have to live in nursing home at some point, surrounded by many with television sets on at all hours and me not in that phase of noise distraction, and no place to gain a bit of privacy other than by going within, deep within, and shutting off to the surroundings?

So now I put hopefully a better perspective on the perceptions of hermit life--of the externals, at least.  And I ought also consider the internals, for those aspects are and will for the most part remain, hidden from the eyes of men.  Even if a hermit is a writer--such as this consecrated Catholic hermit's main temporal gift and mission is that of writing--a verbal description is prone to the critical perceptions of others. What is perceived, understood, or misunderstood, in whatever phase of many phases, of many unfoldings as souls metamorphose according to God's will?

Best not to critique other Catholic hermits, or myself--or anyone in any vocation, for that matter.

Best not to create nor allow set perceptions, nor to critique or judge, for as a consecrated Catholic hermit, I know not what the next hour will bring.  Perhaps the walls of this hermitage could fall in an earthquake or burn in a fire, or some person show up at the door and the voice of the Lord instruct me to leave this phase or even the hermit vocation, to help in some mission or other in the temporal world.  

(Of course, this would require a miracle of bodily release from constant pain, yet all things are possible even if that supposition highly unlikely from other messages the Lord has given to me, over the years.)

Or perhaps it would be that instead the pain of this body currently in a horrific pain siege, should be able to rise and paint the trim on one side of two more doors.  Perhaps He wills me to continue on in very slow mode to finish the manual labor of this place and be able to sell before the finances totally run dry, with only four or five months remaining.  And then if He would grace some energy and focus, and fewer manual labor demands, to spend the bulk of time in spiritual reading and writing.  Or if I would then don a different "habit" of the Order of the Present Moment, as the clothing might alter when paint-splattered overalls and drywall-mudded tee-shirts no longer what blends this hermit into this current environment.

Best not to formulate a self-imposed perception or image, or that of what others perceive and impose, or that which others have done or lived out in the past as the benchmark for a consecrated Catholic hermit.  Let the Lord determine, and let me follow His present moment desires.  One can pray always no matter what temporal distractions are available such as to help keep the mind off sickening pain.  

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Catholic Hermit: Ever the Law Above All Others

This morning I read the second reading for Sunday Mass: Romans 13: 8-10.

The Living Word cuts to the core and makes very clear the daily and life-long direction in our lives.  We are to follow God's law, and again we are reminded that Love fulfills the law.

"Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill;
you shall not steal; you shall not covet,' and whatever other 
commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying,
[namely] 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
Love does no evil to the neighbor, hence, 
love is the fulfillment of the law..'"

As a human and as a consecrated Catholic hermit, I repeatedly appreciate the Scripture, the Living Word of God, focusing me on what is ultimate in fulfilling our earthly sojourns toward union with God.  It is love.

I also note the simple point made: Love does no evil to the neighbor.

There are all types of evil that we can do--beyond what might come to mind in ways that we can seek to excuse ourselves.  But negative thoughts of others, or detracting, or being disagreeable, or feeling resentment, or taking issue with others' thoughts and ideas--all that can be a type of evil for it harms in one way or another not only the other person, but it wastes one's own time and talent in busying about what others are or are not doing, saying, thinking, writing, or feeling.

A couple weeks ago I happened to learn what happened to a woman who was canonically approved to the hermit life by her bishop.  She seemed to have disappeared, and I had been concerned all along--although truly none of my business!  I had been concerned due to what a young priest mentioned, proudly enough, as the bishop's and the woman's take on hermit life.  It was quite austere and rigid; and the whole process occurred within a few months of the bishop's arrival, within his first year in the diocese.

As it has turned out, the woman ceased to be a hermit nearly four years ago.  Nothing was ever noted, which made me wonder if those who go through the public profession complete with videotaped Mass and ceremony, announcement in diocese paper, radio interview, proclamation by the bishop--well, what if the person ceases to be a hermit of the canonical (CL603) variety?  

In the meantime, the bishop has canonically approved some older women, and this time with some rather unusual living arrangements that diverge from the first woman's rather romanticized hermit life style (although that was not adhered to for long, much to my relief for I had been concerned with what was imposed or perhaps that she decided was hermit-like, of which not at all practical nor feasible for long in present moment existence, culturally, environmentally, developmentally, or otherwise).

Then I read something in the Living Word of God, in which St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and in part he admonished to not be involved in others' affairs.  And now today, I read the simple truth that loving one another is the fulfillment of the law. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.

So I don't need to be concerned about how or what goes on with other hermits, or be concerned when I perceive someone is attempting a vocation when too young or in too austere a manner, or conversely perhaps not in solitude that much, or approved by someone who does not know the person well nor know the hermit vocation well, either.  

Those are my perceptions, fact though they may be, from viewing that which is rather pointless to observe; and it really is not my business nor does it matter, for the situations all right themselves sooner or later.  No harm done, really, for it was a lot of initial publicity involving various clerics and parishioners and reporters--but yet also was sincerely undertaken; and I'm sure it was all done in love, regardless.

And that is all I need to take from any situation, as well as what I need to give to any situation: Love.

I used to get wrought up when there would be inconsistencies or wrongs covered over, particularly when church laws and decisions were not being upheld, or when civil laws were not being upheld such as involving priests committing sex crimes or in matters--church laws or bishop counsel decisions not adhered to or other issues--far less crucial as that. 

I suppose it was my not trusting in the omnipotence of God to handle matters of His Church; and I do think my reactions and upsets and speaking out or writing letters, or in whatever means I tried to right wrongs according to canon laws or otherwise--missed the key element for which Jesus was adamant: the law above all laws is God's law, and God's law is the law of love.

When I view all with love (and that means thinking nor doing any form of even the most subtlest of negative or detracting "evils"), I am united with Christ, remaining in His Love, and thus the concerns are no longer issues, as there is something far greater to consider: Love.  God Is Love.  And God has it all worked out for us and for His and our Church, as well as for our individual souls.

Frankly, the young woman spent a couple years or less trying to live out a rather romanticized, austere version of a hermit existence, yet living with her parents, had a little back yard hut in wooded area, filled with rather gory art and an immense and bloody crucifix.  She prayed there in solitude for hours as well as in parishes during the day.  She had and still has a true sincerity and genuine love of Jesus, obvious by what she's written--filled with a yearning for and delight in Jesus.  And while since she is exploring where other she fits into God's realm here on earth and desires lovingly to be of service to others--well, it all will be well and all shall be well!  (St. Julian of Norwich grasped this reality:  All is well and all shall be well....)

When we love one another, and love as in Christ's love, there is not the worry or concern that can easily verge into fretting or forming opinions one way or another, or of being distracted from our own living out the law of love.  For we are to, ourselves, grasp and live out the love in Christ as He loves; and in Christ, all are taken care of one way or another according to His purposes and will.

How far from other types of law is God's law of love, the fulfillment of all laws: to love God and to love one another!

It will remain a very good and necessary exercise for me to consider all aspects of even the most deceptive and subtle ways in which I can do evil to others--ways that I'd not considered as evil but truly are or can be!  That which is not resting within Christ's love be it thought, word, or deed, can become an evil in the smallest degree.

Now, I'm not going to become scrupulous in turning over every little thought, word, or deed to a consuming level. But it will be a good exercise to examine the same now and then, for a few days here, or at least some hours--and just see what's what, within.  

For one thing, if I get upset over what others do or say, or if I perceive a wrong course of action but am not the one making the decisions--well, then it is a cue that I am involving myself in others' affairs, thoughts, opinions or actions when I am to be involving myself in Christ, and in Christ am to remain in His love and to live the law that fulfills all laws: to love!

When I live the law of love, I must admit that weights and concerns and frustrations and temptation to get worked up over what others are doing, right or wrong--are lifted and dissolved like no more than the little soap bubbles that float and quickly pop out of sight.  Or like the many breaths that one breathes and then realizes did not even notice taking breaths (of which we rarely do take notice of our intake of breaths every moment or so, hour after hour, day after day, year after year).

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Am so thankful for the couple who brings me His Real Presence in the consecrated Host each Sunday morning!