Hermit

For other uses, see Hermit (disambiguation).
St. Jerome, who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem, depicted in his study being visited by two angels (Cavarozzi, early 17th century).

A hermit (adjectival form: eremitic or hermitic) is a person who lives in seclusion from society.[1]

Description

In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e., the 40 years wandering in the desert[2] that was meant to bring about a change of heart).

In the Christian tradition the eremitic life[3] is an early form of monastic living that preceded the monastic life in the cenobium. The Rule of St Benedict (ch. 1) lists hermits among four kinds of monks. In the Roman Catholic Church, in addition to hermits who are members of religious institutes, the Canon law (canon 603) recognizes also consecrated hermits under the direction of their diocesan bishop as members of the consecrated life. The same is true in many parts of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the US, although in the canon law of the Episcopal Church they are referred to as "solitaries" rather than "hermits".

Often, both in religious and secular literature, the term "hermit" is also used loosely for any Christian living a secluded prayer-focused life, and sometimes interchangeably with anchorite/anchoress, recluse and "solitary". Other religions, for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam (Sufism), and Taoism, also have hermits in the sense of individuals living an ascetic form of life.

In modern colloquial usage, "hermit" denotes anyone living apart from the rest of society, or simply participating in fewer social events, for any reason.

Etymology

The word hermit comes from the Latin ĕrēmīta,[4] the latinisation of the Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmitēs), "of the desert",[5] which in turn comes from ἔρημος (erēmos),[6] signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller"; adjective: "eremitic".

Christianity

Because the life of the Christian hermit, both in ancient and in modern times, is rooted in the Desert Theology of the Old Testament, it is a life entirely given to the praise of God and the love and, through the hermit's penance and prayers, also the service of all humanity. The latter is crucial to the correct understanding of the eremitic vocation, since both Jewish and Christian tradition holds that God created man (i.e., the individual human being) relational,[7] which means that solitude can never be the purpose of any Christian vocation but only a conducive environment for striving after a particular spiritual purpose that forms part of our common human vocation.

History

Tradition

In the common Christian tradition the first known Christian hermit in Egypt was Paul of Thebes (fl. 3rd century), hence also called "St. Paul the first hermit". His disciple Antony of Egypt (fl. 4th century), often referred to as "Antony the Great", is perhaps the most renowned of all the very early Christian hermits owing to the biography by his friend Athanasius of Alexandria. An antecedent for Egyptian eremiticism may have been the Syrian solitary or "son of the covenant" (Aramaic bar qəyāmā) who undertook special disciplines as a Christian.[8] In the Middle Ages some Carmelite hermits claimed to trace their origin to Jewish hermits organized by Elijah.

Christian hermits in the past have often lived in isolated cells or hermitages, whether a natural cave or a constructed dwelling, situated in the desert or the forest. They tended to be sought out for spiritual advice and counsel. Some eventually acquired so many disciples that they had no physical solitude at all.

The early Christian Desert Fathers wove baskets to exchange for bread. In medieval times hermits were also found within or near cities where they might earn a living as a gate keeper or ferryman.

From the Middle Ages and down to modern times eremitical monasticism has also been practiced within the context of religious institutes in the Christian West. For example, in the Catholic Church the Carthusians and Camaldolese arrange their monasteries as clusters of hermitages where the monks live most of their day and most of their lives in solitary prayer and work, gathering only relatively briefly for communal prayer and only occasionally for community meals and recreation. The Cistercian, Trappist and Carmelite orders, which are essentially communal in nature, allow members who feel a calling to the eremitic life, after years living in the cenobium or community of the monastery, to move to a cell suitable as a hermitage on monastery grounds. This applies to both their monks and their nuns. There have also been many hermits who chose that vocation as an alternative to other forms of monastic life. In the 11th century, the life of the hermit gained recognition as a legitimate independent pathway to salvation. Many hermits in that century and the next came to be regarded as saints.[9]

Anchorites and anchoresses

Main article: Anchorite

The term "anchorite" (from the Greek ἀναχωρέω anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the country outside the circumvallate city") is often used as a synonym for hermit, not only in the earliest written sources but throughout the centuries.[10] Yet the anchoritic life, while similar to the eremitic life, can also be distinct from it. Anchorites and anchoresses lived the religious life in the solitude of an "anchorhold" (or "anchorage"), usually a small hut or "cell", typically built against a church.[11] The door of anchorages tended to be bricked up in a special ceremony conducted by the local bishop after the anchorite had moved in. Medieval churches survive that have a tiny window ("squint") built into the shared wall near the sanctuary to allow the anchorite to participate in the liturgy by listening to the service and to receive Holy communion. Another window led out into the street or cemetery, enabling charitable neighbours to deliver food and other necessities. Clients seeking the anchorite's advice might also use this window to consult him or her.[12]

Contemporary life

Catholicism

Today's Catholics feeling interested in eremitic monasticism may live that vocation

There are also lay people who informally follow an eremitic lifestyle and live mostly as solitaries.[13]

Eremitic members of religious institutes
Church of the hermitage "Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden" in Warfhuizen, Netherlands

In the Catholic Church today the institutes of consecrated life have their own regulations concerning those of their members who feel called by God to move from the life in community to the eremitic life, and have the permission of their religious superior to do so. The Code of Canon Law (1983) contains no special provisions for them. They technically remain a member of their institute of consecrated life and thus under obedience to their religious superior.

As mentioned above, the Carthusian and Camaldolese orders of monks and nuns preserve their original way of life as essentially eremitical within a cenobitical context, that is, the monasteries of these orders are in fact clusters of individual hermitages where monks and nuns spend their days alone with relatively short periods of prayer in common daily and weekly.

Also, as mentioned above, other orders which are essentially cenobitical, most notably the Trappists, maintain a tradition that allows individual monks or nuns, when they have reached a certain level of maturity within the community, to pursue the life of the hermit on monastery grounds under the supervision of the abbot or abbess. Thomas Merton was among those Trappists who undertook this way of life.

Diocesan hermits (canon 603)

The earliest form of Christian eremitic or anchoritic living preceded that as a member of a religious institute, since monastic communities and religious institutes are later developments of the monastic life. Today an increasing number of Christian faithful feel again a vocation to live the eremitic life, whether in the remote countryside or in a city in stricter separation from the world, without having passed through life in a monastic community first. Bearing in mind that the meaning of the eremitic vocation is the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e., the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart), it may be said that the desert of the urban hermit is that of their heart, purged through kenosis to be the dwelling place of God alone.

So as to provide for men and women who feel a calling to the eremitic or anchoritic life without being or becoming a member of an institute of consecrated life, but desire its recognition by the Roman Catholic Church as a form of consecrated life nonetheless, the Code of Canon Law 1983 legislates in the Section on Consecrated Life (canon 603) as follows:

§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 by law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, and observes a proper program of living under his direction.

Canon 603 §2 therefore lays down certain requirements for those who feel a vocation to the kind of eremitic life that is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as one of the "other forms of consecrated life". They usually are referred to as "diocesan hermits".

The norms of canon 603 do not apply to the many other Catholic faithful who live alone and devote themselves to fervent prayer for the love of God without however feeling called by God to seek recognition of their prayerful solitary life from the Roman Catholic Church by entering the consecrated life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church of 11 October 1992 (§§918-921) comments on the eremitic life as follows:

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.
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. (Footnote: Cf. CIC, can. 605).
The Eremitic Life
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". (Footnote: CIC, can. 603 §1)
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.

The norms of the Catholic Church for the consecrated eremitic and anchoritic life (cf. canon 603) do not include corporal works of mercy. Nevertheless, every hermit, like every Christian, is bound by the law of charity and therefore ought to respond generously, as his or her own circumstances permit, when faced with a specific need for corporal works of mercy. Hermits, like every Christian, are also bound by the law of work. If they are not financially independent, they may engage in cottage industries or be employed part-time in jobs which respect the call for them to live in solitude and silence with extremely limited or no contact with other persons. Such outside jobs may not keep them from observing their obligations of the eremitic vocation of stricter separation from the world and the silence of solitude in accordance with canon 603, under which they have made their vow.

Although canon 603 makes no provision for associations of hermits, these do exist (for example the "Hermits of Bethlehem" in Chester NJ and the "Hermits of Saint Bruno" in the US; see also lavra, skete).[14]

Non-consecrated eremitic living

Not all the Catholic lay members that feel that it is their vocation to dedicate themselves to God in a prayerful solitary life perceive it as a vocation to some form of consecrated life. An example of this is life in a Poustinia, an Eastern Catholic expression of eremitic religious living that is finding adherents also in the West.

Episcopal Church

In the Canon Law of the Episcopal Church, those who make application to their diocesan bishop and who persevere in whatever preparatory program the bishop requires, take vows that include lifelong celibacy. They are referred to as "solitaries" rather than "hermits". Each selects a bishop other than their diocesan as an additional spiritual resource and, if necessary, an intermediary.

St. Seraphim of Sarov sharing his meal with a bear

Eastern Christianity

In the Orthodox Church and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, hermits live a life not only of prayer but also of service to their community in the traditional Eastern Christian manner of the poustinik. The poustinik is a hermit available to all in need and at all times.

In the Eastern Christian churches one traditional variation of the Christian eremitic life is the semi-eremitic life in a lavra or skete, exemplified historically in Scetes, a place in the Egyptian desert, and continued in various sketes today including several regions on Mount Athos.

Notable Christian hermits

Early and Medieval Church

Modern times

Roman Catholic church
Orthodox church
Protestant church

Other religions

Two Sadhus, Hindu hermits

From a religious point of view, the solitary life is a form of asceticism, wherein the hermit renounces worldly concerns and pleasures. This can be done for many reasons, including: to come closer to the deity or deities they worship or revere, to devote one's energies to self-liberation from saṃsāra, etc. This practice appears also in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sufism. Taoism also has a long history of ascetic and eremetical figures. In the ascetic eremitic life, the hermit seeks solitude for meditation, contemplation, and prayer without the distractions of contact with human society, sex, or the need to maintain socially acceptable standards of cleanliness or dress. The ascetic discipline can also include a simplified diet and/or manual labor as a means of support.

Notable hermits in other religions

Hsu Yun, a renowned Chan Buddhist hermit

In Popular Culture

In Orlando Furioso, Angelica meets with a hermit

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ New York Times
  2. ↑ Numbers 13:3, Numbers 13:26
  3. ↑ Marina Miladinov, Margins of Solitude: Eremitism in Central Europe between East and West (Zaghreb: Leykam International, 2008)
  4. ↑ eremita, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus project
  5. ↑ ἐρημίτης, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus project
  6. ↑ ἔρημος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus project
  7. ↑ cf. e.g. Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), "In the Beginning", Edinburgh 1995, pp. 47, 72, ISBN 0-567-29296-7.
  8. ↑ Re: the Syrian "son of the covenant"
  9. ↑ Tom Licence, Hermits and Recluses in English Society 950-1200, (Oxford, 2011),p.36.
  10. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary. "A person who has withdrawn or secluded himself from the world; usually one who has done so for religious reasons, a recluse, a hermit."
  11. ↑ McAvoy, LA., Anchoritic Traditions of Medieval Europe, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2010, p. 2.
  12. ↑ Dyas, E., Edden, V. and Ellis, R., Approaching Medieval English Anchoritic and Mystical Texts, DS Brewer, 2005, p. 10-12.
  13. ↑ Dubay, T., And You Are Christ's: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life, Ignatius Press, 1987, Ch. 9.
  14. ↑ See for instance Bamberg Anne, Ermite reconnu par l’Église. Le c. 603 du code de droit canonique et la haute responsabilité de l’évêque diocésain, in Vie consacrée, 74, 2002, p. 104-118 and Entre théologie et droit canonique : l’ermite catholique face à l’obéissance, in Nouvelle revue théologique, 125, 2003, p. 429-439 or Eremiten und geweihtes Leben. Zur kanonischen Typologie, in Geist und Leben, 78, 2005, p. 313-318.
  15. ↑ Fong, Grace S. (2008). Herself an author: gender, agency, and writing in late Imperial China. University of Hawaii Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8248-3186-8.
  16. ↑ Penelope Reed Doob, The Idea of the Labyrinth: from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages, p 179-81, ISBN 0-8014-8000-0
  17. ↑ Lewis, C. S., Spenser's Images of Life, p 87, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1967
  18. ↑ Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur 16.3
  19. ↑ Campbell, G., The Hermit in the Garden: From Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome, Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 1.
  20. ↑ Ringing Church Bells to ward off Thunderstorms, 2009. 978-0956204608

Sources

External links

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