Hermit, Christian, Catholic, etc.: St. Vincent Ferrer and Other Thoughts

A spiritual friend has sent information on this St. Vincent Ferrer, while the person humbly and courageously lives with mental illness, takes meds no one would want to take, doing great mystical good with suffering, along with the heroic compassion and fidelity of spouse and adult son--inspirational Christians and Catholics.The person's brother Tom remains battling COVID-19 for breath and life with blessing of ventilator, in ICU in major hospital.  We keep praying for him and for everyone the world over!

I've had many thoughts and a phone conversation, a couple emails from spiritual friends, who have given me input on my lamentation.  One reminded me of something I don't even recall having sent in the past: Treasure of Humility.  From that gift long forgotten, was sent to me this morning a quote.   "The lower you descend, the higher you ascend."  This is helpful.  Another spiritual friend emailed the reminder that we are all sinners. 

Someone called to apologize if had ever added to or encouraged me by being receptive to what I find in myself so reprehensible.  How humble of that person!  Has not encouraged in my sin; I do well on my own in that!  Was reminded that Jesus loves us all and forgives us.  This is true, of course, but I did explain that last night I let the Lord know that it does not even matter to me if He forgives me.  I know He does, for He loves me and puts up with me no matter what awful of my ugliness and sin.  I don't even want to add that on of what He must do for me.  HE DIED FOR ME--an act that is for all eternity.

But of course, I understand all the theological aspects, so please, readers, do not think ill of me all the more for not understanding what I'm trying to express.  I did ask the one spiritual friend to not think I was "beating up on myself."  The person knew instinctively, grace of God and wisdom the person possesses in great measure and so loves the Holy Spirit.  Realized that my lamentation is necessary, very real, very rightful--even more rightful, needful, than what I myself realize.

I will share some of what the person who has such great suffering of mental illness wrote in regard to St. Vincent Ferrer.  Of course, we are aware of daily saints, can read stuff ourselves.  But I am so taken and inspired by this person, writing out the saint of the day and adding poignant thoughts.  All is very regulated from the mind extremely intelligent, but moderated as such medications effectuate.  How I cherish what this person writes!  Really is miraculous, the spiritual immensity of that soul.

I appreciate, also, the person's pointing out to me that even saints were sinners, the Church has had times of such sinful foolishness.  Even pointed out that there are 36 Doctors of the Church, four of them women.  There is but one Virgin Mary, but who on earth of any gender  embodied more grace, perfection, or more power, prestige, position--not that she wanted any of these last three?  She was content with her gender, with her mission and purpose, God's will.  Who was more humble, more nurturing, more influential and necessary to the maternal birthing and the earthly life of Jesus Christ, God-Man, who more respected of humans and for the ages?  So in that regard, there are women who look to Mary, who do not envy, nor try to imitate, or wish they were men.  Why would they in what matters in God and eternally?  (And I'm not disregarding the good and holy need of economic, educational, societal, and various other temporal rights of women as much as these being rights for all people.)

"St. Vincent Ferrer...presbyter, religious, missionary (c. 1350-1419).  Vincent Ferrer was a Spanish Dominican priest, born in the city of Valencia.  He was one of the greatest preachers of his time.  With singleminded determination he made preaching journeys through Spain, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, drawing large crowds.

"Unfortunately, Vincent was also know for his attacks against the Jewish people and for trying to convert Jews to Christianity against their will.

"There are other saints guilty of this terrible sin, just as there are saints who supported slavery and saints who treated women badly. Saints re human beings and therefore are sinners.  In the gospels, Jesus reminds us that He came for sinners, and that even the angels rejoice whenever a sinner repents.

"If you read his [Vincent Ferrer's] bio, he was alive when there were squabbles about who was the true pope.  Vincent continued to preach, working until just before he died at the age of 70."

All very good aspects to remember.  I've had various thoughts come to me in the silence today, and even with bits of news on in background off and on, as I like to keep up some with what is affecting the peoples of the earth--and now some animals, such as those in Brooklyn Zoo or such.  Heard something of one or more getting COVID-19.

I'll try to write of the thoughts on subsequent posts.  Going to now watch Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Our parish live-streams daily on FB and on youtube, but I'm not on FB and laptop has warning when I try to open youtube site.  Parish closed, so St. Patrick's will be my adopted one.

Please continue on this Palm Sunday:  #PrayforEasterMiracle; we pray for miracles through this global coronavirus pandemic.  Whatever God wills, however many, for any and all miracles.  Let us recognize them daily!

God bless His Real Presence in us!

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.

Catholic Hermit: Heights of Sanctity

This morning I awoke after having slept six hours (a good night!) and in time to drive to morning Mass.  In the past few days I've been striving to build stamina by sitting some, on the counter-height wood chair at counter-height dining table where I've written some thank you notes as well as Mary, Mother of God and Epiphany notes.

This was a first Mass since before spine surgery, and then was difficult due to the increasing pain from the severe stenosis.  While I'm in bed upon return, it is a major victory and blessing to have been able to manage to sit on the upholstered and padded--but firmer than most padding--pews. I'm in the nausea phase of the resultant pain, but I so appreciated being in secure seclusion of the darkened day chapel with remote TV broadcasting the Mass in the large apse and sanctuary of adjoining, immense, structural worship space.

The ecstasy was lighter than most but per usual, deepened with intensity with the Consecration.  The priest's sermon was his usual excellent in spiritual substance and instructive value for the faithful present.  Within the mystical ecstasy during Mass, the body is suspended, but the mind, heart, and spirit are as if deeply immersed in the present moment--beyond description or anything of the temporal world.

I am blessed the Lord grants me this sip of passing over, when my temporal body is able to be at Mass.  And thankfully, this priest has accommodated my mystical experience by having me safely unnoticed in the small day chapel which is otherwise unused, unneeded as overflow seating in the lesser attended weekday Masses.  I am able to come and go unnoticed--save for the church's exterior door "greeter" of whom all those volunteering for these positions are always cheerful and welcoming to all in the Body of Christ who enter for worship.

While Dec. 29th was the 19th anniversary of my hermit profession and vows, I plan to renew my vows as I have done every year except during the 5 1/2 years when living in construction and renovation of Te Deum Hermitage and the deepest aspects of severe physical or temporal stripping the Lord has provided in my life.  

I hope in God to renew my eremitic profession and vows tomorrow while before the altar in the day chapel, if solus Deus allows it to be thus.  Most years a priest would be in attendance--various different priests; but I have come to appreciate Jesus as High Priest in attendance of my soul and my hermit vocation.

Increasingly, perhaps aided in this by the increasing suffering in my life here on earth, my view and inspiration, my goal or striving in this eremitic vocation as a life vehicle by which my temporal and spiritual life can meld in the living out day by day and night by night--has become a heartfelt desire of holiness and virtue rather than externals of living the vocation, or what contemporaries think it out be.  

I have learned over the years and in lived experience, that even priests and bishops have extensive and varying ideas and perceptions in mind of what is a Catholic hermit.  It would be impossible to try to meet with the notions or perceptions of hermit vocation and even purpose, of others in our times.

Rather, I consider the best guides and examples to be Christ, of course, and John the Baptist, various of the Old Testament prophets who were essentially also hermits, and the saintly and holy hermits of the past, whose lives live on along with either their own writings or the writings of others describing their lives and wisdoms learned and passed along to others.  

Essentially, I desire to familiarize all the more and strive in hermit holiness of soul and spirit, in thought and feeling, and in action (and in my case mostly inaction other than the activity of pain), more than words.  The One I seek to please is His Real Presence:  God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  I want to also be pleasing to the Holy Mother of God, Mary, also given the honor of Mother of Hermits.  I want to be pleasing to the angels--my guardian angel and the Archangels, and all the choirs of angels.

The encouraging spark has been recently re-ignited within me, and in thinking of the various hermit saints of whom I've read and have been introduced to in little ways and reminders of those I've met in past years, has been augmented by a section I read not long ago, from The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  While the suggestion may seem slight in emphasis, the point is firm regarding how ordinary people can desire and strive and hope in God for sanctity despite being imperfect sinners.  There is always promise and hope in God's mercy and redemption.

"58  The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel.  The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles:  Abel the just, the  king-priest Melchizedek--a figure of Christ--and the upright 'Noah, Daniel, and Job.'  Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to 'gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.'"

Holiness, to me, seems a worthwhile desire in that the Lord may be pleased and glorified in ways only the Lord may will and grace within our souls and throughout our existence through, with, and in His Real Presence.  

Thus, the distractions that might seem important or tempting as necessary facets of the hermit vocation, the various externals and opinions and notions, one realizes by the grace of the Holy Spirit and in reconnoitering in Scripture and the lives of holy hermits whose lives have been chronicled and proven over the years and centuries, that there is so much more depth and breadth in the spirit of soul than in the external subjectiveness of what even we might think necessary or correct.

I'm praying and praising God for whatever means and ways He may will for the living out of my soul's purpose now and in the unfolding present moments of life lived in this vocation as a Catholic hermit, within the consecrated life of the Church.  God's way, God's will, God's desire for my body, mind, heart, and soul must always be the way of this human being who is also His hermit child.

On a light and humorous ending to this post, someone I've known for nearly 50 years, our lives having woven in and out in unique and unexpected points of phases, sent an email capping off her calendar year.  The emails always include a quote from some famous person, often a literary figure.  This current email's quote struck my funny bone.  Humor:  usually, if not always, a good reminder not to take the temporal tendencies of our imperfect human egos too seriously.

The quote:

"If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell."  ~ Carl Sandburg


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

Catholic Hermit: Hermits Who Inspire

There aren't many hermits who expose their names and locations online, and there are fewer who write of their journeys.  Now and then I peruse the internet to learn of contemporary hermits, not only of the Roman Catholic vocation but of the Orthodox, as well.  We are one Body in Christ--two lungs as is said.

There is a hermit in the UK of whom I've kept up in the few media reports of her life and her website.  She to me is an inspiration!  A hermit, publicly professed (meaning according tot he provision of CL603), her profession, vows, rule of life approved by her bishop.  I think she is in her 17th year as a consecrated Catholic hermit.

A couple or three years ago she was stricken with some form of cancer; prior to that time she was able to function in bodily health, tending her small hermitage and gardens replete with chickens and a cat or two and I think a dog.  Being able to "sit", she has provided for herself financially through selling her mostly commissioned artworks of calligraphy.  (I so appreciate her artistic bent; In the past, I too loved and practiced calligraphy and watercolor.)

Of her website, I'm impressed by what writing she's shared:  some of her history of becoming a Catholic hermit having been a Carmelite novice before God called her to more solitude and the hermit vocation, as well as her coverage of topics such a rule of life, daily horarium, and her factually accurate, balanced presentation of how one becomes a Catholic hermit in the Church.

Through a series of personal essays written for and published by the Redemptorists, this humble Catholic hermit wrote of the challenges she has faced and is overcoming in the Lord, as a result of her illness and the reality of needing to change hermitage location for medically practical reasons.  From more rural and quiet to city and people all about, this inspirational hermit has found the silence of solitude within her scaled down hermitage, within her inner cell, within her very soul which had been and remains in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Her (must be elderly) parents live in the area, so she can charitably check in on them; she is quite close to a hospital, and she has bus line close by for running brief errands as she yet courageously and in great faith, faces her exhausting illness.

From her writing, I am inspired by an essence of her being, that of a lovely mind, heart, and soul quite humble and peaceable, settled in her vocation although quite genuine and honest in describing the trials she has faced, is facing, and is overcoming in ways the Lord knows intimately and surely is most pleased with his devoted hermit.

I've considered trying to be in contact, as she has a couple Facebook sites and a twitter feed.  But I no longer am on Facebook and do not use twitter other than I did look up her last few "tweets."  (She infrequently posts tweets.)  A main stay of her day, of course as is with all us striving hermits, is that of prayer and lectio divina; but her livelihood, her artistic work, is the calligraphy.  She can utilize the artistic rendering of a few words, rich in spiritual worth and soulful meaning to her and to whomever purchases or has commissioned the artwork.

So she and I have this, also, in common--being wordsmiths, of sort.  While I admire her brevity and her beautifully, rendered word-art, her work for the Lord, I have reflected today (in which I've been praying for and thinking of her a great deal) that my work for the Lord is in writing, in being a wordsmith, of writing my thoughts of this spiritual journey as a Catholic hermit, privately professed and avowed, if the mystic of me peaks through the words or content that is also my offering given.

This hermit in the United Kingdom, now in a different diocese and dealing with her health issues and the challenges and changes a transition like that can bring, is a hermit who inspires.  All the more in her health trials, I am in kinship with her over the thousands of miles, across an ocean, in different time zone and type of hermitage locale.  God bless you, hermit Rachel!  I admire you immensely and thank you for your holy hermit example.

This afternoon I watched (on my laptop on Amazon Prime) more of a documentary of Mount Athos.  I'd begun it last night, needing the sound-visual distraction as was having quite a pain struggle and difficulty falling asleep.  Backing up some from where I'd dozed off, I watched more, including an Orthodox hermit priest who lived alone in a hermitage high in elevation.  Yes, I admire him, as well.  He verbalized some of his hermit journey and reason for being there.  

He also expressed truisms and practical considerations as a hermit, and for hermits--such as the reality that a hermit cannot pray and read all the time; a hermit needs some work to do.  He said that hermits need to sustain themselves from work done from their hermitages.  His product by which he maintains a most simple life style is sculpting, carving small religious scenes and figures on squares of wood.

Another point this hermit made is that a hermit must learn to control his or her thoughts.  Depression which could come with so much solitude (and indeed he lived the silence of solitude more than others even on Mt. Athos, such as hermits who lived among one or more others).  His hermit life shifts with the seasons, as the winter months, he said, bring him to more reading and prayer and meditating, preparing for the joy and celebration of Christmas.  At Christmas he leaves his hermitage to visit other hermits, for as he states, "We are to celebrate Christ's birth with others."

This hermit of Mt. Athos upkeeps his hermitage of which he was given to live in upon arrival on the island religious "state". His first year involved rehabilitating the dwelling; but after his first year, the hermit said he "knew I liked it here."  The Orthodox hermit (if I catch his name with further viewing the documentary I'll insert it here) exuded peacefulness and tremendous humility.  He feels humility to be a deeply rooted essential for any hermit--and that true inner peace does not come until we pass from this earth.  Yet the life of a hermit is lived in Christ with the goal of attaining peace as we progress toward death.

I personally have gained much simply by peeking into these two hermits' lives.  They inspire me in my "work" of writing, as a hermit wordsmith chronicling quite a bit, actually, of the spiritual journey and life as a Catholic hermit in a personal, case-study type of way.  Given that the tremendous physical pain that the Lord has allowed me for 35 years has hindered activity, I am blessed that I have been able to up until this point, been able to garden and do manual labor somewhat and between pain sieges. 

My call and living out in the consecrated life of the Church as a hermit is now into it's 20th year--or a bit more with the preparatory year.  My hermit life has not been without many distractions; I cannot say it has been inspirational.  But these two hermits I've observed uplift and encourage to press onward and forward, to continue to let the Lord guide and lead according to His will, what is feasible and holy in both the tangible and the spiritual aspects of yet another of His hermit's life until passing.

God bless His Real Presence in us, and God bless His devoted and striving hermits the world over.

Catholic Hermit: How to Become a Catholic Hermit (Reposted)

My, this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit is still laughing and can hear my dearest spiritual Da laughing from heaven.  Who would have thought it?  Anyway, is an inside joke, of sorts, that has not been funny in many regards for several years, and might not have hilarious outcome for the person perpetrating the wrong doings, but what a turn of events late today.

We just never know, until truth be told.  When a diocese has never heard of a CL603 hermit in their midst and wants nothing to do with that person for various reasons, it degrades the hermit vocation for other canonically approved--and also for traditionally, privately professed hermits--alike.

Regardless, the most sought after information from readers of this blogsite is:  How to become a Catholic hermit.  I'm reposting this from August 2016, and was reposted from prior posting to that.  It bears repeating, especially since the hermit vocation has taken a gut-punch of sorts.

It is up to those of us who honestly strive to live our vows and are professed, with sincerity and humility, to live out genuinely this hermit vocation whether privately or publicly professed.  But for pity's sake, live it in truth, goodness, and according to the traditions of the Church.  Continuously strive to live out above all, as Christians and hermits, what the Church states is our consecrated life as eremites in the Catholic Church.

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 ofThe 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 of the eremitic vocation.