Hermits
The
Eremitical Life
Also known hermits, these
men and women are called by God to this vocation to live in
solitude, embracing the evangelical counsels of poverty,
chastity, and obedience. In the Apostolic Exhortation, Vita
Consecrata, Pope John Paul II describes this form of
Consecrated Life in this way:
Men and women hermits, belonging to ancient
Orders or new Institutions, or being directly dependent on the
bishop, bear witness to the passing nature of the present age by
their inward and outward separation from the world. By fasting
and penance, they show that man does not live by bread alone but
by the Word of God (cf. Mt. 4:4). Such a life “in the desert”
is an invitation to their contemporaries and to the ecclesial
community itself never to lose sight of the supreme vocation,
which is to be always with the Lord. (VC 7)
Canon 603 from the Revised
Code of Canon Law 1983 addresses the eremitical life:
§1. Besides institutes
of Consecrated Life, the Church recognizes the eremitic or
anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful 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.
§2. A hermit is
recognized in the law as one dedicated to God in a Consecrated
Life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical
counsels, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, in the hands
of the diocesan bishop and observes his or her own plan of life
under his direction.
About the Eremitic Life:
"Treasures in
Earthen Vessels: The Vows," by Joyce Rinere (NY, Alba House,
1984)
"The Hermitage
Within: Spirituality of the Desert," by A Monk (trans. by Alan
Neame; Cisterian Abbey, Sparta, Wisconsin ) |
