Hermits, anchorites, recluses...

In plain view.
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I sometimes think the renewed interest in eremetical life in our time began with the facinating story of Blessed Charles of Jesus (de Foucauld) whose memorial is kept on December 1.  Before his expedition into the desert, hermits in the Latin Church were more or less relegated to the Carthusians and Camoldolese.  Only in the Camaldolese was the medieval practice of reclusion still available, otherwise that particular way of life ceased to be observed in the West - though the Orthodox maintained a somewhat vigorous solitary eremetic life all along into our own day.

Since the Council, and after the revisions to Canon Law, the hermit life (Can. 603) was re-instituted in the Latin Church.  Interestingly enough, I have always had spiritual directors who discouraged the hermit life or felt it was a mistake to reintroduce it in Canon Law - ironically, one of these SD lives as a diocesan hermit today.  Nevertheless, I took their precautions very seriously and was always rather dubious when I heard stories of increasing numbers of spiritual people running off to a hermitage in a woods, or at home.  I've known men and women who left monasteries to start their own Carthusian style hermitage, as well as men and women who just went off to live a hermit life - some canonically, others doing their own thing.  I've always had mixed feelings about the 'trend'.  The upside of so many years of pondering the matter is that I have come to understand exactly what I was not called to, which includes none of the above BTW, though others might consider me to be something of a recluse. 

I've known of urban hermits for many years of course, and I was interested in Sr. Laurel of Stillsong Hermitage from the first moment I read about her consecration/profession a few years ago.  I was very skeptical at first - I had some stereotypical old fashioned ideas about what a contemporary hermit should be - although if they could measure up to my ideals they would be roaming the desert naked.  Instead, what I have learned from reading Sr. Laurel is that an urban hermit's external life may differ from the barren asceticism of the desert, nevertheless it is a real vocation and an authentic form of consecrated solitary life in the Church.
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Anyway - if you are interested in the subject, I suggest you visit her blog - she writes well about the vocation.  I would post some entries she's written but I'm unable to copy and paste from her blog.  Visit her at Notes From Stillsong Hermitage
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Coincidently, yesterday the Holy Father spoke of the famous medieval anchorite, Julian of Norwich: 
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"Inspired by divine love, Julian made a radical choice,” Pope Benedict stated. “Like an ancient anchoress, she chose to live in a cell located near the church of St. Julian in the city of Norwich.”

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He explained that “anchoresses,” or recluses, dedicated themselves to prayer, meditation and study within their cells.
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“In this way they came to acquire a very delicate human and religious sensibility which led to their being venerated by the people,” the Pope explained, adding that “and men and women of all ages and conditions, in need of counsel and comfort, devotedly sought them out.”
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Those who choose to live apart from the world and devote their lives to prayer, the Pope observed, are “friends of God.”
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“Women and men who chose to withdraw and live in the company of God acquire, precisely because of this choice, a great sense of compassion for the suffering and weakness of others,” he said."Thus I think with admiration and gratitude" that today's monasteries of cloistered men and women "are oases of peace and hope, a precious treasure for the entire Church."
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Recalling St. Julian's book, titled "Revelations of Divine Love,” Pope Benedict said the work contains “an optimistic message based on the certainty that we are loved by God and protected by His Providence.”
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She “compares divine love with maternal love,” he added. “This is one of the most characteristic messages of her mystical theology. The tenderness, solicitude and sweetness of God's goodness towards us are so great that to us, pilgrims on the earth, they seem as the love of a mother for her children.” - CNA
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Note:  While searching for a photo to illustrate this post I came upon an interesting order of nuns in Quebec called the Recluse Sisters - I've never heard of them before.
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Art:  Anchoress