Hermits

[Era Might]

I was talking to someone about monasticism, and while he respects monasticism, he thinks that hermits (i.e., those who enter complete solitude) are missing the Incarnational dimension of Christianity which leads us to friendship with other people and leads us to serve others out of love. In a monastery, monks have each other, so they are still able to have human relationships with one another and serve one another. But the hermit withdraws from all human relationships. I'm just curious what your thoughts are on the hermit's complete solitude.

[Nihil Obstat]

Do you think it could be validly argued that one is united in the truly important ways through the public prayers of the Church, and that the rest is secondary?

By that I mean, if a hermit were to reach a great spiritual maturity through the Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, and his own private prayer, he has united himself with our Church community through his public prayers, and in theory reached the overall point of human relationships, albeit by a slightly different path.

[zunshynn]

Well, in the first place, before a person would be allowed to undertake an eremitical lifestyle, they must live community life and demonstrate that they practice charity in that setting first to guard from someone undertaking life in solitude, even without fully realizing it, to escape from being with other people.

But for someone that is given the grace to live that life, they are given the grace to live it in a wholesome, healthy manner, without being caught up in themselves. It is most definitely a grace. But the person called to that is given the grace to still act in the self-giving manner that every Christian is called to. Even if he is physically alone, he is still serving others.

Just like in a monastery the members of the community are not cut off from those outside of it, hermits are united in the same way to the rest of the Church.

[zunshynn]

I would add too that it really depends on how you cooperate with God's grace to live the life, too.. a person in a religious community, for example, could be self-centered and not really be living fraternal life at all, despite participating externally in community activities.

A hermit, on the other hand, could be very fraternally minded and offer their solitude wholeheartedly for the good of others.

It just depends on what God calls a person to do, and how they cooperate with the graces he gives to do it.

[Nihil Obstat]

In my post I assumed that the hermit is a priest. Is that a correct assumption? Still has obligation to attend Mass, after all.

[kafka]

There is a mystical/spiritual dimension in his relationship to the Church & the world. The fruit of his prayers and self-denial are not his own, rather they belong to Christ and are freely dispensed by Christ to the rest of the mystical body. Plus the hermit does not withdraw from human relationships as an end in itself. If he is genuine and has true love, he loves neighbor, prays for him, and might eventually leave the hermitage to help him, e.g. Saint Celestine left to become pope.

Sometimes the hermit is called to enter relationships according to God's will. People sought out Saint Anthony of the Desert for counsel. Saint Anthony was sent to the hermit Saint Paul. Saint Athanasius met Saint Anthony and write an edifying life about him. Also the hermits write and share there wisdom for future generations.

[Nihil Obstat]

The "Coptic Pope", Shenouda III, was a hermit in Egypt for six years of his life. He lived in a cave. Probably a very harsh way to live.

[kafka]

Saint Paul was led to a hidden Egyptian ruin cut out in the side of a cliff. It had a clear spring and the ceiling opened up to the sky. It sounded pretty nice to me in the account I read

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='kafka' date='20 November 2009 - 01:12 PM' timestamp='1258744332' post='2006306']
Saint Paul was led to a hidden Egyptian ruin cut out in the side of a cliff. It had a clear spring and the ceiling opened up to the sky. It sounded pretty nice to me in the account I read
[/quote]
Oh those Egyptians and their secret ruins.

[kafka]

"At length he found a rocky mountain, at the foot of which, closed by a stone, was a cave of no great size. He removed the stone (so eager are men to learn what is hidden), made eager search, and saw within a large hall, open to the sky, but shaded by the wide-spread branches of an ancient palm. The tree, however, did not conceal a fountain of transparent clearness, the waters whereof no sooner gushed forth than the stream was swallowed up in a small opening of the same ground which gave it birth. There were besides in the mountain, which was full of cavities, many habitable places, in which were seen, now rough with rust, anvils and hammers for stamping money. The place, Egyptian writers relate, was a secret mint at the time of Antony’s union with Cleopatra."

~ from The Life of Paulus the First Hermit by Saint Jerome

[Nihil Obstat]

That sounds like a wonderful little place, if one had food.
So he stayed there?

[kafka]

over 80 years I think. A crow brought him a loaf each day, however it is likely he also grew his own food.

[Starets]

Here at Christ in the Desert, we have a hermit. He is not a priest, but, I have known a priest who was also a hermit. Sometimes I wonder if people confuse hermits wiht anchorites, which is a more specific kind of hermit. Our hermit, Br. Xavier, has his own little hermitage on our property. He attends Mass wioth us and sometimes other liturgical functions. He has a Chapter vote, so will sometimmes come to Chapter meetings if there is something that requires a discussion and vote of the solemnly professed. He had been a monk for almost 3 decades before becoming a hermit. Sometimes he teaches English to a couple of our brothers whose English skills aren't too good. He picks up leftovers from our kitchen and takes them to his hermitage to prepare on his own. Sometimes he will eat with us. Once in a while he will come to recreation with us as well. If there is a major event, like a Simple or Solemn Profession, he will be around for the festivities.

[Nihil Obstat]

So are most hermits priests who celebrate Mass by themselves, or is it more common for them to live near a monastic community or something, and attend Mass there?

[kavalamyself]

I think you can be a woman and a hermit.