A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
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 that was meant to bring about a change of heart).
In the Christian tradition the eremitic lifeMarina Miladinov, Margins of Solitude: Eremitism in Central Europe between East and West (Zaghreb: Leykam International, 2008) is an early form of monastic living that preceded the monastic life in the cenobium. In chapter 1, the Rule of St Benedict 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 diocesan hermits under the direction of their bishop as members of the consecrated life. The same is true in the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches, as well as many parts of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, although in the canon law of the Episcopal Church they are referred to as "solitaries" rather than "hermits". Certain monastic institutes, such as the Sisters of the Holy Spirit at Alsike Convent, allow Christians to commit a certain period of time (such as the summer period) to living as a hermit in a hermitage.
Often, both in religious and secular literature, the term "hermit" is used loosely for any Christian living a secluded prayer-focused life, and sometimes interchangeably with anchorite/anchoress, recluse, and "solitary". Other religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam (Sufism), and Taoism, afford examples of hermits in the form of adherents living an ascetic way of life.
In modern colloquial usage, "hermit" denotes anyone living apart from the rest of society, or having entirely or in part withdrawn from society, for any reason.
Etymology The word hermit comes from the Latin ĕrēmīta,eremita, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus project the latinisation of the Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmitēs), "of the desert",ἐρημίτης, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus project which in turn comes from ἔρημος (erēmos),ἔρημος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus project signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller"; adjective: "eremitic".
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". Antony of Egypt (fl. 4th century), often referred to as "Antony the Great", is perhaps the most renowned of all the early Christian hermits owing to the biography by 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.
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. People sometimes sought them out for spiritual advice and counsel. Some eventually acquired so many disciples that they no longer enjoyed physical solitude. Some 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 gate keepers or ferrymen. In the 10th century, a rule for hermits living in a monastic community was written by Grimlaicus. 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.Tom Licence, Hermits and Recluses in English Society 950–1200, (Oxford, 2011), p. 36. From the Middle Ages and down to modern times, eremitic monasticism has also been practiced within the context of religious institutes in the Christian West.
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 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. There have also been many hermits who chose that vocation as an alternative to other forms of monastic life.
Anchorites
The term "anchorite" (from the Greek 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.Oxford English Dictionary. "A person who has withdrawn or secluded themself from the world; usually one who has done so for religious reasons, a recluse, a hermit." Yet the anchoritic life, while similar to the eremitic life, can also be distinct from it. Anchorites lived the religious life in the solitude of an "anchorhold" (or "anchorage"), usually a small hut or "cell", typically built against a church.McAvoy, LA., Anchoritic Traditions of Medieval Europe, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2010, p. 2. The door of an anchorage 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 looked out into the street or cemetery, enabling charitable neighbors to deliver food and other necessities. Clients seeking the anchorite's advice might also use this window to consult them.Dyas, E., Edden, V. and Ellis, R., Approaching Medieval English Anchoritic and Mystical Texts, DS Brewer, 2005, pp. 10–12.
Contemporary Christian life
Catholicism
Catholics who wish to live in eremitic monasticism may live that vocation as a hermit: in an eremitic order, for example Carthusian or Camaldolese (in the latter one affiliate oblates may also live as hermits) as a diocesan hermit under the canonical direction of their bishop (canon 603, see below)
There are also lay people who informally follow an eremitic lifestyle and live mostly as solitaries.Dubay, T., And You Are Christ's: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life, Ignatius Press, 1987, Ch. 9. 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 as a Poustinik, an Eastern Catholic expression of eremitic living that is finding adherents also in the West.
Eremitic members of religious institutes In the Catholic Church, 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 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.
The Carthusian and Camaldolese orders of monks and nuns preserve their original way of life as essentially eremitic 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.
Other orders that are essentially cenobitical, notably the Trappists, maintain a tradition under which individual monks or nuns who have reached a certain level of maturity within the community may pursue a hermit lifestyle on monastery grounds under the supervision of the abbot or abbess. Thomas Merton was among the Trappists who undertook this way of life.
Diocesan hermits
The earliest form of Christian eremitic or anchoritic living preceded that of being a member of a religious institute, since monastic communities and religious institutes are later developments of the monastic life. Bearing in mind that the meaning of the eremitic vocation is the Desert Theology of the Old Testament, 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 vocation 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 1983 Code of Canon Law legislates in the Section on Consecrated Life (canon 603) as follows:
Canon 603 §2 lays down the requirements for diocesan hermits.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church of 11 October 1992 (§§918–921), comments on the eremitic life as follows:
Catholic Church norms for the consecrated eremitic and anchoritic life 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 their own circumstances permit, when faced with a specific need for corporal works of mercy. Hermits 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 that 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 United States; see also lavra, skete).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.
Lutheranism The Lutheran Churches have had a tradition of hermits. In the United States, the Lutheran hermit Arthur Carl Kreinheder, was lauded for his efforts for ecumenism.
Anglicanism Many of the recognised religious communities and orders in the Anglican Communion make provision for certain members to live as hermits, more commonly referred to as solitaries. One Church of England community, the Society of St. John the Evangelist, now has only solitaries in its British congregation. Anglicanism also makes provision for men and women who seek to live a single consecrated life, after taking vows before their local bishop; many who do so live as solitaries. The Handbook of Religious Life, published by the Advisory Council of Relations between Bishops and Religious Communities, contains an appendix governing the selection, consecration, and management of solitaries living outside recognised religious communities.