Catholic Hermit: Hermits in Consecrated Life of the Church

Once again, and this for final time other than now and then no doubt need to repeat what the Church states, Catholic hermits are either privately professed or publicly professed, and both are in the consecrated life of the Church.

Refer to §920, §921 in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  (I have also written about this in the past,  so please either look in past blog posts or simply Google the pertinent sections of the CCC.)  It seems to me the issue has become long since dealt with, but one hermit who is publicly professed compared to my private profession (we each have professed individual vows, as well) has continued to purport contrary information.  

To be clear, my spiritual director did by no means imply or state that somehow myself or all the hermits (saints, mystics, and unknown-to-us but Catholic hermits of the past two millennia) are not Catholic hermits in the consecrated life of the Church.   I am; we are.  Thus was another reason why he told me I have absolutely no need for adding on the more recent option of being a diocesan hermit, or "publicly professed."

This reality has been stated to me for the many years I've been a consecrated Catholic hermit--nearly 20 years, not including 15 months of discernment along with formation.  Until the Church changes the facts of both privately and publicly professed, the publicly professed may also be considered as in the Consecrated Life of the Church but must be under supervision by his or her Bishop or his designee (usually the designated supervisor/director is a priest in most dioceses).  The privately professed Catholic hermits for centuries are, of course, also in the Consecrated Life of the Church.  Catholic hermits, both privately and publicly professed, profess the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Also, there is no such term in the institutes of the Catholic church nor in canon law, as a fairly recent created one, namely that of lay hermit.  Perhaps the term was introduced by someone desiring to elevate or distinguish in form of exclusivity or status to the 1983 CL603 addition of hermits who must remain in their specific dioceses, and profess the three evangelical counsels "into the hands of their bishop".  Whatever or whomever was the relatively recent genesis of the term "lay hermit," while it may over time be repeated, it is not in Church description or nomenclature of the eremitic life. 

(In addition to "lay hermit", the label "dedicated hermit" and other similar terms seem only to be found in writings of but one Catholic hermit in one particular diocese, who has expressed fears of "fraud" and "counterfeit" hermits reducing to ruination the eremitic vocation that has been lived for centuries in the Catholic Church and could ostensibly include, if we persist in such unrealistic fear, to that of religious eremites and solitaries going back in history, such as with Christ's ancestors, or some of the prophets who lived as eremites, or as could include solitaries from the Jewish Essenes and possibly also the Therapeutae.  Eremitic life may be traced back centuries prior to the birth of Christ. There seems no extant data on who if any were fraud or "counterfeit" hermits, and obviously none have destroyed the Catholic Church's eremitic vocation of privately, and now including publicly, professed hermits in the consecrated life of the Church.) 

So yes, I am a consecrated Catholic hermit, privately professed, as is the diocese hermit, publicly professed, a consecrated Catholic hermit.  Another  publicly professed per CL603, diocese hermit, who has been a hermit not as long as I have but longer than most other diocese hermits, also has written of both publicly and privately professed Catholic hermits being all in the Consecrated Life of the Church.

Do just read §920, 921 of The Catechism. You will find it under The Consecrated Life of the Church, under the subsections on The Eremitic Life.  The words do not lie.  It's a shame that the nitpicking continues.  It is of this in particular to which my parish priest who used the word "rubbish" and the hermit-priest who used the terms "heavy baggage," plus "negative," and "the devil involved" were referring.  I had asked each to clarify, due to a diocesan hermit who has libeled, doxxed and detracted me for over 11 years on other issues, even personal attacks, as well. But for awhile now, the person's omphalos is that only publicly professed, diocese hermits be the only hermits included in the Consecrated Life of the Church.   Thus I had asked again recently, the confessor and the hermit-priest, as I want to be clear and correct; and personally I always want to be right with the Church.

But the wording is quite clear; and the holy reality is more so that the Church is not about to insist that all Her hermits belong to a certain diocese, and be publicly professed.  Nor, are they about to negate twenty centuries of privately professed, Catholic hermits as they all were and are yet very much in the Consecrated Life of the Church.  CL603 in 1983 provided for an additional option for those who choose or feel they need, desire, or are called by God to choose public profession of the evangelical counsels, requiring supervision by a diocese bishop or his designee, and provides a canon law sense of security. Perhaps in centuries to come, diocese hermits, publicly professed, may be the only form of hermits. The Church has not yet become exclusively litigious. Until then, both privately and the more recently publicly professed Catholic hermits are welcome in the long-standing Church's eremitic vocation, along with the various other vocations detailed in The Catechism, and under "Consecrated Life of the Church!  

Thus, all the Catholic hermits all these centuries, including those of us today, while "not always publicly professed," very much have been and are, and will be: in the Consecrated Life of the Church.  Also, per the more recently added provision of CL603 designation of publicly professed hermits who are in specific dioceses if Bishops desire to approve them--they, too, are included in the Consecrated Life of the Church.

Mercy, children!  Readers surely wonder why the one diocesan hermit takes such issue that such as myself and far many other anonymous, privately professed, consecrated Catholic hermits (who are and have been for centuries living marvelous eremitic vocations) are very much in the Consecrated Life of the Church.  It is such an obvious and provable fact.  One wonders if people other than the one hermit actually have ever questioned what is more of God than of man.  

I've long surmised, and others have suggested, that the publicly professed hermit is at root, bothered that another hermit, privately professed, is consistently writing, sharing thoughts on the spiritual journey and of the life of a Catholic hermit--yes, also very much within the Consecrated Life of the Church.  There's room enough on the world-wide web for everyone with a calling to write of the holy and good, of Christ, of the spiritual life.  This is also a good reminder of what we ought to be focusing.  Spiritual life over nitpicking; law of God over law of man.  Expansive, positive vision, seeking union with Christ and love of God and others--over myopic, exclusionary focus  which is more Pharisee than Christlike.  

Why not find it beneficial to whomever reads blog posts about the eremitic life by Catholic hermits living the vocation--to enjoy and appreciate both the privately professed, traditional, historical path as well as the publicly professed, diocesan, CL603, more recently included path.  But more so, to read reflections of spiritual growth, of the pitfalls and temptations in a hermit's daily life and spiritual progression--these aspects are not rubbish, not heavy baggage, not negative, not courting the devil's intrusion.

Seems like a win-win, to me!  I call out again in love and peace, to this other Catholic hermit, for a cease-fire.  I continue to pray for my fellow consecrated hermit, sincerely love the hermit's immortal soul.  Yet I am all the more focused into every aspect of my consecrated life as a Catholic hermit (privately professed).  I've been praising God that the devil's stirrings always inspire me, all the more, in my spiritual life.  All the more grows my love of the Holy Trinity and my desire to strive all the more for union with God through the gift of my eremitic vocation--of which I pray to live to the ideal as a Christian, Catholic eremite in the consecrated life of the Holy Catholic Church.  And, as we all should desire, to be above all else: ever consecrated in the Sacred Heart of Christ!

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


Postscript:  I have come to consider that this issue that has become a bugaboo for my hermit colleague, is one of restating facts and trying to then lift myself to a more spiritual level, at least in my own handling of the "rubbish."  I am striving to be obedient to my new spiritual director as well as my confessor, who advise to stay clear of this negative situation, as the devil is involved.  While this nasty distraction is an aspect to write about as far as the progression in the spiritual life of hermits, and honesty is of value, there is a positive point in that the Church's hermits--professed both privately and publicly--sharing in the responsibility of being in the Consecrated Life of the Catholic Church.  We are also all part of the Body of Christ even if hidden in our lives of praise and prayer and a silent witnessing of Christ and His Church.

Such a blessing and privilege--as we pray to absorb what a unified bonding of hermits in the consecrated life of the Church can mean, deeply within yet outspreading mystically in loving and positive ways unfathomable but to God.  The spiritual reality and richness supersedes what we consider ridiculous and demonic in unholy distraction, compared to what we consecrated Catholic hermits are to be for the Church and for the whole world.  

Our very beings are to be lived in praise of God, praying for salvation of world, for all souls on earth and beyond, to exist in stricter separation from the world, in the silence of solitude, hidden from eyes of others, to be as a silent preaching of Christ, a witness to the mystery of Christ and the Church...and so much more!  

Let us, dear hermits one and all, proceed in this light of Christ and His Church!  I'm under obedience to do so, not only from alter Christi but very much from the Holy Trinity to be in the Divine Will.  Be positive, recognize the great movement His Real Presence is having in our souls and lives!  Remain in Christ's Love!  Uplift one another in prayer and sincere kindness and love! 

"I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.... Is Christ divided?....For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning."  ~ 1 Corinthians 1:10, 17



[Postscript: I will not be writing of this again, unless my spiritual director wants me to back-track and hinder my own hermit vocation, my spiritual life, my soul. God wants to take me and all of us into Himself for His glory and for whatever help I (or you) may be for others.  I am certain my director nor my confessor wants me held back by such negativity of which the devil is involved--this hermit-priest who seemed more in heaven than earth and the confessor of whom I've never seen such holy dynamism and spiritual depth and energy.  The spiritual joy and wisdom in guiding me and pointing the way to what the Lord is opening up now and next--all the positive and good for my soul and for others' souls--that is to be my view, my grasp. I ask you dear readers to please pray for myself and this other hermit, for there to be a clarity of peace and love, and for each of us (and all of you!) to attain to the heights of Christian perfection and union with God.  And for me, pray for a strength in dropping this other, staying clear, and moving onward in Christ and His Church.  Thank you!] 

Catholic Hermit: Married Hermits (and other Catholic hermit considerations)

There seems to be more invented information stated as if fact or church legality regarding who and what consecrated Catholic hermits may or may not be and do.  I receive inquiries when such opinions are written by others in ways to appear as if law, truth, or promulgated edict.

I remind readers that any of us hermits, professed and avowed privately or publicly and thereby as eremites in the Consecrated Life of the Catholic Church, are at most and least simply writing our thoughts and opinions on any aspects of hermit life beyond the written words found in Sections 920, 921, and the two additional sections of Canon Law 603.

When I have noticed inquiries as "Can hermits be married?"  or "Married hermits?",  usually it means someone has been creating opinions as if fact on such topics, although on rare occasion a reader has personal, incidental curiosity or sincere inquiry.  For these latter inquirers, my own personal recommendation is if you are discerning a hermit vocation, read the Church's statements on "Eremitic Life" in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, and then if you believe God has called you to be a diocesan hermit, public profession, also refer to CL 603.  

Then, (my personal recommendation) discuss your call from God and interest in the hermit vocation, with your priest or confessor, or if you already have--with your spiritual director, of which I always recommend a wise and holy Catholic priest with some years of lived experience, to be a good choice in guidance.  At some point in your discernment process, your director (if you feel God specifically calling you to be a diocesan hermit) might refer you to your diocese director of vocations--often a seasoned priest, or Vicar General in diocese.

We consecrated Catholic hermits who offer readers our thoughts are writing from hopefully our lived experiences, or from what we have read of saintly hermits in the Church's history, or of course, from our personal opinions on hermit matters.  Those few of us professed and avowed hermits who are called, also by God, to be writers, or in essence sharers through personal writing, ought be humbly explicit in that what we write is thought and opinion, and not present what we write on various topics or inquiries, as other than our personal thoughts, notions, suggestions, or present moment considerations on whatever topic related to hermit vocation and hermit life.

Today's first reading proclaimed at Mass, reminds us to not be deceived.  We must learn to use critical thinking skills including judgment, when we read what in hermit writer blogs amounts to opinion journalism and personal reflection--unless the brief statements on hermit vocation in Church documents are the only written material cited.

"Children, let no one deceive you." ~ First Letter of John 3:7a

Thus, when a hermit writer discusses topics such as married hermits or if a hermit can be married, readers should realize that there are no explicit "rules" or Church regulations regarding this topic.  What we do have are historical precedents or trends, and the common sense interpretation and application of what it means to live our lives in the "silence of solitude" and "hidden from the eyes of men [others]."  

Yet even "solitude" has been given leeway, such as a bishop who canonically approves two or more women to live together in a house, or a young woman to live in childhood home with her parents; or a bishop who approves of a hermit to live with other hermits or with the plan of creating a "religious order" of sorts, for hermits.  Obviously, there is not a strict definition of "solitude".  So we cannot always assume that would be a reason for married persons to not be allowed to be hermits.

In fact, we have historical fact and precedence of married persons having become hermits, and saint hermits, as it turns out after their lives have been lived and they have departed this temporal world for some time.  St. Nicholas of Flue is one such example of not only being married, but also a father of 8 or 9 children, who became a hermit with his wife and children's permission, who was not divorced, no annulment, and has been canonized and a patron saint of Switzerland for some centuries.

There have been other married hermits in the Church, although this is rare.  In contemporary times, I personally know of a hermit who is married.  He lives in Germany, and his wife is in agreement of his hermit vocation, and of obvious shift in their married vocation, as Catholic hermits are to profess the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  Chastity would suggest cessation of marital sexual acts.  This hermit, a man, is spiritually directed by a Franciscan monastic.  While he and his wife share a dwelling, their home, he spends his time as much in solitude as would the two women, canonically approved by a US bishop, who live together, shop together, in a home they share together.  Obviously, the German man did not, any more than did St. Nicholas of Flue, divorce his wife.

Granted, we can assume (this is a good word to keep in mind when we read the blogs or other writings of thoughts and opinions of consecrated Catholic hermits or those others who write about Catholic hermits) that married hermits have been in Church history and remain to be quite a rare situation for eremites.  We may disagree with it being attempted, or have strong opinions against it, or question whether or not it could be successful or "best" for the spiritual progression of and promote the various aspects or stated posits of the Church per "Eremitic Life".  

But we can also make observations as to hermits who are canonically approved by a bishop or those privately professed, not living up to our "assumptions" or our interpretations of what the Church states, as there are always degrees by which these statements may be viewed and considered.  For example, what does "stricter" entail, when the Church states that hermits live in "stricter separation from the world"?  That is a moving-target type word, as it states "stricter", not "strict."  If the statement had been "strict separation from the world," then we'd be (hermits, our spiritual directors or bishop or his designee, or other persons observing the Catholic hermits) trying to establish some sort of limits or definition of what is "strict" and what is "not strict."  As it is, we humans--hermit or not--must develop an honest sense of what is "stricter separation", and strive to evolve in being malleable to increasing separation from the world, which depends much on our individual circumstances.

A year ago I yet did not have a hermitage, after having had to move from previous hermitage due to financial considerations.  At some point, I may have to live in a nursing facility, or might end up in hospice or hospital for final weeks or days of life.  The stricter separation from the world, in some instances unavoidable or humbly necessary, may seem to back-track in degree of "strict-er."

As to married hermits, yes there have been and are some or even one married hermit, allowed and approved in the Catholic Church, just as there are no doubt hermits with same sex attractions or who have never had dating experiences with opposite sex, or who seem to be balanced in relating with those of opposite sex such as with opposite sex spiritual director or bishop's designee, but there also may be some who seemingly surround and relate with mostly or exclusively same gender persons.  There is no "rule" or "defined regulation" in Church law or documents saying that a consecrated Catholic hermit cannot have same-sex orientation, or should have had dating and relationship experience, or having fallen in love with someone of opposite sex, earlier in life.

So, also, there is nothing specifically stated that a Catholic hermit must not be married, cannot be divorced, or if divorced must have or do not need to have, an annulment by the Church  There again, anyone who tries to create rules and regulations that are not written and promulgated by the Church, is simply taking his or her own opinions and thoughts on various topics, out of the factual and into personal (even if might have some reasonable points and suggestions) into realm of speculation.  It also can suggest the person has taken upon him- or herself, the mantle of being authority or of Church hierarchy, or is assuming a status to invent Church law and precedent.  Of that, hermit humility precludes.

A consecrated Catholic hermit's priestly spiritual director or bishop (although there is no Church regulation or statement that says a hermit must have a priest as spiritual director--so could have a child spiritual advisor, although common sense would lean otherwise) is best to guide discernment process or to over time, help the hermit fine-tune the progression of formation and growth of a hermit's vocation.  Of course, the hermit's progression ought be one of increasing dedication of life lived in praise of God and praying for the salvation of the world, as key elements; the more spiritual aspects of a hermit's vocation remain in addition to the more temporal or "housekeeping chores" of hermit vocation--such as the silence, the solitude, the stricter separation from the world aspects.

When some hermit states when or how often a previously married hermit's family would visit the hermitage, or if a hermit who was married must have an annulment, or if can or cannot watch a grandchild on occasion, or should not have money to lend family, it is part of a reader's discernment to consider especially if the opining hermit has absolutely no lived experience of such themselves.  The reader (may be other hermits or those discerning eremitic vocation) can make critical judgment in what is being stated, as to fact or not fact, as to experiential or not opinion or advice based on experiential lived experience--and for how long if person opining has experience, etc.  Most if not all hermit blog commentary is opinion and supposition, with or without lived practice, and that which a reader can discern for better or worse.

It is also truth, that hermits who are privately professed and not of the public, canonical, diocesan hermit path, may seek and receive advice, or even be spiritually director by their diocese bishop, or by an abbot, or even have a canon lawyer as their spiritual director.  There is nothing stated that privately professed hermits are not allowed to nor need to discuss or be directed or advised even if not continuously, by their bishops.  (I don't think this point has been stated by other hermit writers as fact, or to insinuate that only hermits who have sought to be diocese hermits have direction from their bishops even ongoing, but I want to emphasize that we hermit writers must guard against presenting our opinions and suppositions, our personal thoughts, as if fact and regulation.)

There are enough different viewpoints from various bishops in how they desire diocesan hermits to live--of which some might not approve a divorced hermit and another would, or annulment not needed or in another case is needed; or a spiritual director might insist on certain aspects to be in place, and another spiritual director, not at all.  That is why in reality and essence, some hermits might be married, and others not only never married but also required to be heterosexual in orientation, or of a certain age, or not allowed to be in jobs involving interacting with people.  Even a bishop's or spiritual director's views on hermits needing to remain in same location or not, or hermit should not travel with friends or vacation, or having close friendships or not, can vary.  

It is all right--even good and best--that the hermit situations and spiritual direction vary, for the hermit vocation allows for individual circumstances and also, very importantly, allows for and encourages progression.  It is a vocation of motility, and is affected by environment and personal circumstances and situations--always potentially growing and altering.  The goal is, always for the better and best, in praise of God, prayer for the world, in being a silent preaching of Christ, in love of God and others, in communion with all in the Body of Christ, the Church, in progression to eventual union in His Real Presence.