How to Become a Catholic Hermit

Someone again has inquired within the past day as to how to become a Catholic hermit.  I have written about this process previously, but the basics may be found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the institutes of the Church.

I am posting the requirements which are also, for those in the United States, on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Of course, the first and foremost way to become a Catholic hermit is to receive the vocational call from God.  

Of course, the first and foremost way to become a Catholic hermit is to receive the vocational call from God.  This call can be discerned with the help of one's spiritual director/father, one's priest, one's bishop--but mostly through much prayer and in daily trial practice in living out gradually the aspects of living the eremitic vocation as outlined in the sections 920 and 921 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

I also want to emphasize that contrary to but one online blogger creating terminology and labels that simply are not at all mentioned in any Church documentation nor authorized by the Vatican or any archbishop, bishop, or other Catholic Church official, there are no such designations as "lay hermit" or "dedicated hermit" in the Catholic Church.  

As anyone can read from the Church documents yourselves, all Catholic hermits are consecrated Catholic hermits whether or not privately or publicly professed (the latter under CL603, a fairly recently added proviso to the eremitic vocational tradition).   

A main requirement for all desiring to become a Catholic hermit remains professing the three evangelical counsels and striving to live the eremitic vocation as set forth in sections 920 and 921 of The Catechism.  All Catholic hermits, having either professed their vows privately or publicly, must include the three evangelical counsels.  Hermits are but one of several vocations designated as being consecrated--specifically listed in Church documents as being part of the Consecrated Life of the [Catholic] Church.

Hope this re-posted blog from March 2015 helps the inquirer with the factual Church parameters of how to become a Catholic hermit.  You may wish to search my blog for the proceeding and preceding posts written in that month and year, for I set out the facts, citing the various documents of the Church including some more arcane texts that took a bit of research but are out there. I do think that as Scripture tells us, we ought not get too caught up in semantics nor in hair-splitting.  

Especially for those of us with vocations in the Consecrated Life of the Church or in Holy Orders, we are to progress from living under the law; Jesus and the Apostles call us time and again to live by the Spirit.  Yet, for those who feel more secure or yet need the parameters of laws, we do honor and value the laws of the Church for the obvious reasons that we have secular laws, as well.

 Above all, when considering becoming a Catholic hermit, do know that the Lord gives the call for any vocation.  Pray and listen, discern with your priest or spiritual director (religious priest, bishop, etc.), and practice living the eremitic life as part of the discernment process. Go easy; avoid extremism.  Yes, the eremitic vocation is a process to be lived and discerned over our lifetime.

Now, for the post taken from this blog site, written in March 2015:

"Every now and then, the nothing Catholic hermit reviews the below-cited institutes of the Church.  This reference helps to reflect more seriously, to live more conscientiously, and to accept the great responsibility of what the Catholic Church requires and expects of those called to and in the Consecrated Life of the Church.  

"The consecrated life of the eremitic is of direct consequence, obviously, to all Catholic hermits--each of whom profess vows including the three evangelical counsels (celibacy, poverty, obedience) even though not always are the evangelical counsels professed publicly. 

"All Catholic hermits must profess the three evangelical counsels according to the institutes of the Church in The Catechism of the Catholic Church [cited below].    

From The Catechism of the Catholic Church: 

III. THE CONSECRATED LIFE

914 "The state of life which is constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure of the Church, belongs undeniably to her life and holiness."⁴⁵³

Evangelical counsels, consecrated life

915 Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. The perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God.⁴⁵⁴

916 The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God.⁴⁵⁵ In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.⁴⁵⁶

One great tree, with many branches

917 "From the God-given seed of the counsels a wonderful and wide-spreading tree has grown up in the field of the Lord, branching out into various forms of the religious life lived in solitude or in community. Different religious families have come into existence in which spiritual resources are multiplied for the progress in holiness of their members and for the good of the entire Body of Christ."⁴⁵⁷

918 From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels. They led lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became hermits or founded religious families. These the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved.⁴⁵⁸

919 Bishops will always strive to discern new gifts of consecrated life granted to the Church by the Holy Spirit; the approval of new forms of consecrated life is reserved to the Apostolic See.⁴⁵⁹

The eremitic life

920 Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly, hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance."⁴⁶⁰

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.

[Emphases added for reflection and consideration.]

"Thus, the consecrated life of the eremitic is of direct consequence, obviously, to all Catholic hermits--each of whom profess vows including the three evangelical counsels (celibacy, poverty, obedience) even though not always are the evangelical counsels professed publicly. 

"All Catholic hermits must profess the three evangelical counsels according to the institutes of the Church in The Catechism of the Catholic Church [cited below].    

"Some Catholic hermits profess the three evangelical counsels under the added proviso of CL603. However, it seems that the semantic of "publicly" may be confusing due to the word "publicly" used per the added proviso of Canon Law 603. Perhaps the current coinage of the term "public profession" is due to CL603 stating that the evangelical counsels be professed publicly in the hands of the diocesan bishop." [See Canon Law 603, cited for review and consideration in the in my series of blog posts on this topic, posted in March 2015.] 

I close with this additional thought for the reader who wanted to know how to become a Catholic hermit.  The private and public professions of vows of consecrated Catholic hermits are simply two prongs, now, of the eremitic vocation.  

Catholic Hermit Answers Question on Hermit Term

I've explained and commented on this previously, but a reader has inquired about a term seen online: "lay hermit".  While the purpose and function of what I write and share is not to be a "Dear Hermit" column, I do want to clarify if someone has a genuine question.

The term "lay hermit" is one that has been created or fabricated by someone online, since that is where the person has seen it written.  There is no such category as  "lay hermit," nor does there need to be.  Why?  Hermits are to be simple, for one thing, and adding terms and conditions and categories leads in the wrong direction.

Rest assured that in the Institutes of the Catholic Church as well as in Canon Law, and in any books written of the hermit life by hermits or about hermits of the past many centuries to present, there is no such valid or utilized term as a "lay hermit".

Hermits are hermits.  Catholic hermits have always been Catholic hermits.  In recent years, in addition to the traditional and historical vocation know as hermit or eremitic vocation, the Church has kept what few guidelines and parameters for this vocation quite simple.  We can trust that Holy Church knows what is best in this case.

In the past three decades, bishops of dioceses have created a delineation of an additional type of "profession" other than the norm which is private profession of vows for a hermit.  Now there is also an option to be more involved at a diocesan level and seek formal approval and have direct supervision by a diocesan bishop.  This category of hermit is one who makes public profession of vows, with daily plan of life approved and overseen by the hermit's bishop.  Some bishops have added some additional requirements per his own diocese, and others have adopted some of them. 

Any Catholic hermit who has professed the three evangelical counsels either privately or publicly and is living his or her hermit life according to the institutes of the Catholic Church as precisely and simply stated in The Catechism of the Catholic Church is living the eremitic vocation (hermit) within the Consecrated Life of the Church.

It's as simple as that, as far as terminology goes.  You may look up "Eremitic Vocation" in the index of The Catechism and read the two passages pertaining to hermit vocational requirements.  If you want to publicly profess your vows, you may read Canon Law 603 and contact your diocesan vocations department and/or your diocesan bishop for further information on being a publicly professed hermit.  Otherwise, you may live your hermit vocation as a privately professed hermit.

There is no such thing as a "lay hermit"--not that it matters.  We hermits need to be seeking harmony with His Real Presence and with the Body of Christ of which we Christians all belong and not be concerned with creating new terms, labels, classifications, and ad hoc requirements.  Involving oneself with such activities, creative and perhaps well-intentioned, can take a hermit way off course from a life of prayer, praise of God, penance, stricter separation from the world in the silence of solitude while remaining hidden from the eyes of men.  

There is no need for more classifications or distinctions in the hermit vocation other than now the two:  privately professed and publicly professed.  To do so counters simplicity as well as the Catholic Church's precisely and brilliantly written institutes on the various vocations within the Consecrated Life of the Church. One can question anyone who invents a hermit label.  Why?  Is it to try to diminish or elevate Catholic hermits one over another?  Jesus Christ warns against lording it over others; be wary of anyone trying to create unnecessary, nonsensical, false labels. 

Obviously, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has seen no need to create additional labels for the eremitic vocation.  If at some point in future, the Vatican or the bishops of the world find it necessary to create other labels and to dissect into further categories the hermit vocation, they will vote on it; and if agreed upon will add it as Canon Law and/or rewrite the pertinent section of the Institutes of the Church.  Then we will hear about it and read about it from and in published Church documents.  Ten different categories or labels--or even one hundred--will not alter the substance and quality of living the hermit vocation in a way pleasing to His Real Presence.

Hope this more than answers your question!

God bless His Real Presence in us!