Catholic Hermit: More on St. Theophan the Recluse

The following is an excerpt from introduction written by the Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of book [cited below] about St. Theophan the Recluse.

"St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) was born George Govorov in central Russia, near Orlov. His father was a parish priest, and his father sent him to seminary to be trained to be a priest as well. He attended the Kiev Theological Academy, receiving the best theological education available. He took monastic vows, and after the vows and tonsuring, he met the staretz (holy elder, spiritual guide) Parthenii at the Kiev Caves Lavra (monastery), and later wrote about this meeting,"

"The staretz said to us, "You learned monks, ... you are going to work and learn and write, but you must remember above all that the most necessary thing on earth is to pray to God, to pray unceasingly with your whole heart and your whole mind. This must be the goal you will search for without interruption." A monk must start by speaking the prayer aloud, then without uttering any sound until it springs silently from him day and night.

When the holy staretz said this, I discovered that this was what I had always wanted since my early childhood, and that very day I prayed from the depth of my heart to the Lord that nobody would hinder me from remaining constantly with God. " [From The Heart of Salvation, pp. 12-13]

Additional research details that St. Theophan spent the first part of his religious life as a priest, monk, and then bishop.  He entered into reclusion for the last 28 years of his life (as far as I can initially find), living simply in two rooms of a monastery.  He increased in prayer, devotion, and holiness; he spent his time also corresponding with those seeking spiritual guidance and also in writing books and translating the Russian Philokalia.

However, my main interest right now is what the staretz said to the new monks, about their lives and the most necessary thing on earth being to pray to God:  unceasingly, with whole heart, whole mind--the goal to be sought without interruption.  Speak the prayer [Jesus Prayer] aloud, then soundlessly until it becomes one within, day and night.

St. Theraphan recognized that he had wanted since childhood to be one with the Lord, not hindered from remaining constantly with God.  

This is and has been, also, my heart's desire, although my life has far too many distractions even now.  The renovation can be a distraction when my mind and heart and soul are not in prayer.  And they have not been so much, not nearly as much as would place the Lord in primary position.  Temporal aspects have fought for primacy, and these always leave me in a quagmire spiritually and thus also physically, emotionally, and mentally.  When the soul is hindered from God, all other aspects are disheveled.  

Parish life--parishioners and parish priests--no matter how well-intentioned they may be or what their words recite, have not done well with this mystic.  Even when considering my consecrated Catholic hermit vocation, there is so much judging that occurs from and by others; it is distraction!  Distraction hinders one from remaining constantly with God!

Yes, I would love to have weekly communion; even monthly, but my request has been ignored, forgotten.  Strange it is indeed, but I no longer think in terms of "strange" but in: Thy will be done.  For whatever reasons, of which I am increasingly getting clearer glimpses, the Lord is not choosing the tangible Sacrament to be given me; I must rely on Him to feed me spiritually and mystically with His Body and Blood.

I must above all else trust in Him deeply, for He has never let me down even if the trials and sufferings have seemed unthinkable to me and most difficult to endure.

So today I will begin anew breathing in and out, the constant prayer that places me humbly before Jesus Christ.  I will cleave to Him and wait in Him for whatever is next in this Order of the Present Moment.

Now, to rise and drink the fruits and vegetables blended into the drink I call Green Glory.  I will take the vitamins and supplements that help my physical body combat even in small degrees the massive pain the body bears (not always at all approaching heroic suffering).  I will then begin some tasks of manual labor without letting the temptation to flee the hardships of this place overtake me.

We will see what else, if anything, St. Theophan the recluse may have to encourage and teach me.  Yes, I am merging more into the life as a recluse of which the term itself is so misunderstood in our times and in the Western Church, that I would be wise if ever there is anyone I would speak about it--should remain using the term "hermit."  I find it fascinating, though, that in past centuries, women hermits were called "recluses", and "hermit" was the term used for male religious solitaries.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Thank you, Lord, for St. Theophan the Recluse, fairly close in time period to the present, comparatively so....  At least and most, he is a marvelous lead and has much to teach and for me to ponder in my intention, desire for union with God, and prayer life.

Catholic Hermit and Recluse St. Theophan

Yesterday while in much physical suffering (which also entails emotional and mental suffering), I pivoted from scanning online news for which I pray for people and situations, and looked up some information on Christian mystics and also recluses v hermits.

I came across St. Theophan the Recluse, while listening to a YouTube video in which the Orthodox Bishop Kallistos Ware discusses The Philokalia.  He had edited the volumes from the Greek and suggested where readers should begin--not simply with volume 1.  He said to start in the fourth volume by reading some of the writings by St. Theophan the Recluse.

That led me on a search to learn more about this Orthodox saint.  I may write more specifically about him in a separate post.  For now I want to share that I also listened to an explanation by this saintly recluse on his advice on how to pray.  For me it was a good reminder, such as to set the intentions before beginning prayer.  

Yet, in my current phase as a hermit who also is a mystic, it seems my prayer life is more that of interpersonal flow of thoughts with His Real Presence and not as programmed or "set".  I still appreciate reviewing the prayer advice nonetheless, as phases come and go.  Solid prayer advice is always pertinent whether for verbal, mental, contemplative or unitive, mystical prayer.

St. Theophan the Recluse was born in the 19th c., in Russia, the son of a priest.  He became a recluse for many years of his later life but then re-emerged.  (I will not comment further now as want to research and be accurate.)  But I wanted to comment on this man, as I found his photo to draw me in, and I have asked for him to befriend me from the other side and to help guide me.  

I am increasingly convinced that my hermit vocation is becoming antithetical, of sorts, to my being and existence as a Christian mystic.  And for that, in our time or perhaps any time, it does seem that hiddenness is important, not only with name but also with presence among others out in the world.  Thus the hermit vocation is ideal for me, and all the more I realize Wisdom's choice for me to live out my existence in the eremitic life of the Church.  It is not that hermits are not so accepted, but mystics continue to be a stumbling block for especially those in the Church.  There are reasons for this, but I also will not try to analyze why, now, either.

Perhaps St. Theophan became more reclusive for some practical reasons, such as needing less distraction of critics and misjudgment, misunderstanding of his mystic being and also his role, for at least a period of time.  It does make sense that a mystic needs more solitude and silence in order to grow increasingly closer to the Most Holy Trinity, and to listen to what is divulged either for the mystic soul's growth and sometimes also to be shared mostly in writing, with and for other souls' benefits.

And it is this aspect that has been lacking in my own mystic hermit life.  Too many distractions, particularly from attempting to be a part of a parish.  The problems arose even prior to a more visible mystical sign; the way in which I was shown aspects of some priests, others, and situations and given assignments of sorts that involved word and action, caused various reactions, mostly not so positive.  Even those who were positive could tend to be too much so.  The current assessment became that of needing to withdraw so as to still and silence the reactions that became distractions and also became occasions of sin for others and even somewhat for myself.

Anyway, we will see what becomes of my asking St. Theophan the Recluse to befriend and help guide me if there are aspects of his life in reclusion and of spiritual matters that I would do well to learn.  I especially appreciate the quote imposed on his photo below--the aspect of cleaving to Christ with all one's soul, thus being changed into His image by the power of Christ's resurrection.

And, I have been adding the Jesus prayer off and on and will today as I get up from a day of back pain rest on mattress and pray for courage to begin the various manual labor tasks that can easily overwhelm me.  Breathe in, breathe out; become the prayer beyond words.  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.  

Sharing Excellent Article on Medieval Hermits, Recluses

I found this article to be of particular interest as I ponder this phase in my life as not so much a consecrated Catholic hermit but also as a mystic, and primarily as a mystic whose life is being lived out in the eremtic vocation.  I left out some sections from the article as posted on the blog cited at the conclusion of this post.

The mention of reclusion as a more ascetic form or hermit typology I find fascinating, especially considering the seeming lessening of current-day hermit life and various hermits who exemplify in daily lives a wide range of degrees of solitude.Sections within these sections that I find of particular interest to my evolvement I will emphasize with italics.

Women Hermits and Recluses in Medieval Europe and Italy

In the European Middle Ages, women were not allowed to live alone. For women with a religious or spiritual inclination, convents were the only practical option for several centuries. But nuns were forbidden a life in reclusion or complete or significant solitude. Reclusion was condemned as late as 1130 by no less than St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote to a nun desiring reclusion that 

[T]he desert offers abundant opportunities [for evil], ... the woods solitude ... silence. Where there are no accusers to fear, the tempter can draw near in security, and an evil act can be committed more freely.

Bernard speaks of solitary places and a life of solitude as the "the serpent's venom, the trickery of the deceiver, the cleverness of the werewolf."

 Early synods had reiterated the prohibition of reclusion for women, and the Second Lateran Council of 1139 expressly forbad reclusion to women. So it was characteristic of the era that the Archbishop of York preferred that the mystic Christine of Markyate (1100-1155) be a nun rather than a recluse.

The mix of religious with social and cultural thinking on the part of ecclesiastical authorities points to a specific conception of women as the traditional "weaker" sex for whom contemplation in solitude was not possible and even dangerous to their "weaker" minds. Nevertheless, as will be seen, the same ecclesiastical authorities would pronouce their disfavor of eremitism in general -- of men or women -- until the eremitical movement of the central Middle Ages declined and the hermits of Europe virtually disappeared after the 13th century.

[Section removed; see original for full article.]

Documentation about central Italy especially suggests the prevalence of non-institutional recluses living in and outside of urban centers, on  or under bridges, city gates, roadsides, churches, mountains, and forests. The documents point to networks of alms or pecuniary distribution to hermits and recluses -- not by indifferent bishops but chiefly by laity. The situation contrasts to that of institutionalized anchorites (especially in England) and to the declining eremitical orders.

The number of hermits clearly declined in cental Italy in the 14th century. In 1290 Perugia, 56 women and 12 men are classified as recluses; in 1302 Pisa, 28 are women and 3 men, and in 1367 Fabriano there are just 12 women and 3 men. In Rome in 1320, it is recorded that 470 nuns resided, with 260 women recluses, the latter certainly an overstatement.

During the 12th and 13th century, a new vocabulary emerges. The locations of the recluses are varied: portiuncula (little place), casula (cottage) and domincula (little cabin). Even the roles of the recluses are refined in central Italy: reclusi becomes a generic terms that includes carcerati (enclosed) or incarcerati (literally incarcerated), hermitae (living outside of formal buildings) and frates et sorores (brothers and sisters, in lay roles). Still another term was pauperes monialis recluse or poor enclosed nuns. Not included as eremitic are the bizzoca or penetentials, specifically of third order laity.

In contrast to the old monastic orders, the emphasis of the new eremitical movement of this era was simplicity, poverty, asceticism and solitude. These values specifically nourished feminine qualities of spiritual expression.

[Section removed; see full article if you wish.]

These women, having experienced the typical social stages of average women of their day, nevertheless achieved a level of spirituality that St. Bernard's exhortation (quoted above) cannot comprehend. Theirs was a state of not so much abstinence or self-discipline but non-temptation. They were nol tempted by lust, gluttony, or power, some suffering acedia, doubt, and visions. 

Conclusion

The religious expression of women in the central and later Middle Ages was increasingly marked by mysticism and an increasingly sophisticated view of how spiritual values intersect with society and personal service. Intrinsic to their spirituality was the notion that, as Casagrande puts it:

The seach for the solitary life has its deepest roots in the ideal of separation and detachment from the world ... which is not necessarily effective, but rather moral and affective.

In this form of expression, women recluses differed from their male hermit counterparts in their expression of eremitism to every degree as fervent.

But the historical momentum of the era was not stoppable. The decline of eremitism beginning in the 13th century was due to several factors:

1. the Church's intense pressure to regularize hermits and recluses into established monastic or other orders;
2. the increasing wariness of eremitism among diverse authorities as Thomas Aquinas (who describes the eremitical life as "dangerous") to Jordan of Pisa (who describes hermits and recluses as "mad men and women"), and
3. the growth of third order and lay religious organizations.

[It may be interesting to note that now, the Western Church has, as recently as1983, developed a means to regularize hermits (the term recluse has dropped from Church use) by creating CL603.  Thus, hermits who wish to receive bishop approval and be publicly professed under that bishop's direction within their given diocese, may do so. At this time, the canon regulization is not at all pressure upon hermits who may still prefer private profession of vows within the Consecrated Life of the Church.  Some bishops may prefer to not have hermits in their dioceses nor to deal with the regulized aspect of CL603, either; but I know of no statistics current on this point.]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Among specific sources for this period are Edith Pasztor: "Ideals of the Women's Hermitage Movement in Europe during the 12th-15th Centuries" p. 51-79, and Giovanna Casagrande: "Forms of Solitary Religious Life for Women in Central Italy,"  p. 80-117, in Franciscan Solitude, St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute, 1995.

URL of this page: http://www.hermitary.com/eremitism_medieval_europe.html
© 2011, the hermitary and Meng-hu