On Hermits Adopting a Specific Spirituality

[[Dear Sister, I pray that you are happy and well amidst this corona crisis. I guess we’ve all adopted some aspects of the hermit life during the lockdown. I know for myself that the Liturgy of the Hours has taken on an even greater importance in my spiritual life during this period of isolation and parish shutdowns. 

I do have a question though; my question involves the adoption of a “spirituality” for a hermit. I know there are many hermits who draw inspiration from the great charisms of the Church (i.e. Carmelite, Franciscan, Benedictine etc). If I’m not mistaken, you are a hermit in the Camaldolese Benedictine tradition. 

I’m wondering though how a hermit incorporates a specific charism or spirituality into his/her life of solitude. Surely, the baseline spirituality/disciplines of the eremitic life forms it’s own unique type of spirituality (i.e. contemplative prayer, divine office, silence, solitude, Lectio Divina etc). I suppose what I’m trying to figure out is how a hermit does those things in a specifically “Benedictine”, “Franciscan” or “Carmelite” et al. manner? How would a hermit adopt a particular spirituality if they have not been formed in a community based on one of those charisms? Is it even advisable that a hermit adopt a spirituality apart from the one that flows from being a hermit? ]]

Good to hear from you again. Yes, all is well here. Thanks for your prayer.  I think in some ways you have the cart before the horse in the idea of "adopting" a spirituality. Your last line, however, gives a clue to the dynamics that should be at play, namely, one's spirituality should flow from one's eremitical life and the way God is present to the person in that life. Assuming one is not formed in a particular spirituality, one is apt to find that embracing a particular spirituality is a natural outgrowth of their life in solitude. Even when one is formed in a particular spirituality one may not find it resonates as well with one's eremitical life as other spiritualities do. Let me give you an example.

As you noted, yes, though professed as a diocesan hermit, I am Camaldolese Benedictine. I embraced that spirituality because it has a strong eremitical component, but also finds community and evangelization (or witness) important. In fact, it is built on these three pillars. Thus Camaldolese life resonates powerfully with diocesan eremitical life lived in a parish and diocesan context. It resonates especially well for someone who does theology and loves to teach Scripture and believes the entirety of eremitical life should be about proclaiming the Good News. I embraced this because the shape of my life was already clear from the character of my eremitical life and what I believed about the communal (ecclesial, etc.) nature of eremitical solitude. 

Camaldolese life and spirituality is a long-lived, well-tried form of eremitical and cenobitical life which is demonstrably healthy and capable of inspiring all the dimensions of my life, whether that means life alone in my hermitage, my participation in my parish and diocese, or my doing theology generally and writing about eremitical life specifically. In other words, it was a natural fit which "spoke to me" and encouraged me to allow nothing to be lost from my eremitical life in a way which narrowed either myself as person or (therefore) eremitical life itself. I did not adopt this spirituality so much as I embraced it as something that was already in some ways "my own". I suppose I could say I became aware of it wanting to embrace me. It was important to me that I be able to add the gift of my own life to this spirituality (a strand of the eremitical life in the Church) and also that it provided ways I could grow via the mentoring of other Camaldolese monks, nuns, and oblates.

At the same time my initial formation was as a Franciscan and while Francis provided a Rule for hermits and lived some of his life as a hermit, I never felt within myself a call to adopt his vision of eremitical life. (The tenderness, community, and love central to his vision is something that resonates with me, however.)  Yet, I have the crucified Christ at the heart of my life and spirituality, and I do embrace the Franciscan value of poverty (i.e., being who one is before God) and I resonate with the characteristic Franciscan dimension of Joy. Even so, I don't think I have to be specifically Franciscan for these dimensions of my life to be central or to fit within the Camaldolese framework and spirit. In other words, the aspects of Franciscanism I carry strongly within me fit well within Camaldolese spirituality; they have to or I would not have been able to embrace such a spirituality. Someone else would be able to live eremitical life in a specifically Franciscan context and by embracing a Franciscan spirituality. Franciscanism could certainly work for that --- and could probably do so for me if Camaldolese spirituality did not speak to me in the way it does. In this, again, it matters what resonates most strongly with the individual hermit's spirituality.

As for charism, as a diocesan hermit I locate the charism of my life in  the canon under which I am professed. For me that is what canon 603 calls, "the silence of solitude". Because I am not professed as a Camaldolese, but as a diocesan hermit under c 603, it seems appropriate to me that I find the charism of my life as I do. The Camaldolese triple good (three pillars) are very helpful to me as is their own charism which has to do with "the privilege of love" (Ego vobis, vos mihi)***. I love that the privilege of love is right at the heart of their lives (and mine as well); however, when I come to identify the charism of my life, what I find is that "the silence of solitude" is a very rich symbol which can combine all of the Camaldolese elements,  encapsulate my own story in unique and significant ways, and speak in a special way to the needs of our contemporary existence. (To speak briefly about this, let me just say that one of the reasons the COVID-19 crisis is helpful to folks is because it helps them discover themselves in a deeper way and to cultivate both silence and solitude (which can flower in that larger reality called "the silence of solitude"). COVID-19 puts people in touch with their own needs in this way and others.)

Doing things in a Benedictine (etc.) Way:

I don't think adopting a spirituality is first of all about saying Office, doing Lectio, or praying in a specific way. However, a person who finds herself resonating with a Benedictine spirituality is more apt to be one for whom the Divine Office is a central piece of her daily life, while one who prays in the spirit of St Francis may approach prayer more explicitly in terms of friendship with Christ and a stress on the relationship such prayer must involve. All of the things you mention are fundamental to every spirituality but these activities can be stamped with a Franciscan, Cistercian, or Carmelite character (among others). Ordinarily these have to do with the spirit underlying the way one approaches the activity. Occasionally a certain spirituality may contribute a specific way of doing something --- as Ignatian spirituality contributes a very specific way of entering into the Scriptural text using one's imagination and capacity for empathy. Camaldolese spirituality requires a call to both solitude and community (or community in solitude!) as well as a sense of the importance of the Gospel witness of one's life.

Perhaps the bottom line here is that in most cases spiritualities do not mean doing things in a certain way so much as they mean doing these with or because one has a particular spirit. Generally speaking, at least as I think about this, it is the person who is Franciscan, Carmelite, Camaldolese,  etc. Their spirituality will reflect that identity and spirit. (I realize, of course, that a spirituality is something in which persons are formed; I do not mean to deny this, but the greater truth is that we shape the tradition with the gift of ourselves just as we are shaped by it. When one is discerned to have a Franciscan or Camaldolese vocation, for instance, what is being recognized is that the whole person resonates with the Franciscan or other spirituality, not merely that they can or have simply "adopted" an abstract spirituality or collection of spiritual practices. The concern is whether or not these spiritual elements can/do come together in this person in a way which makes of them a living constellation of spiritual attributes we can identify as characteristically Benedictine or Camaldolese or Cistercian, for instance?)

When hermits, especially diocesan hermits who have written and live their own Rule and are, by definition, solitary hermits, adopt a particular spirituality it is because we desire to be part of a living tradition that transcends our own eremitical lives. In some ways we want our own vision of this life and the way we are called to live it subsumed under a larger and vital tradition which helps protect us from individualism and underscores the ecclesial nature of our lives and commitments. It is also the case that we need and may desire folks who walk a similar path to accompany us in our own journey --- whether that occurs in a direct way or more remotely.

When you ask about the advisability of adopting a spirituality that does not flow from being a hermit per se, my answer has to be I agree, this is inadvisable unless 1) one is solid in one's eremitical life, and 2) one feels a strong attraction to some aspect of a particular spirituality. What may be happening in such a case is the spirituality one is adopting speaks strongly in some ways but also has the capacity to call the hermit to or cultivate dimensions of her personality and spirituality which are yet in need of development. On the other hand, the hermit may need to be associated with a larger and vital tradition (and thus, those who also embrace it) so that she can grow in her eremitical life generally. It is never a good idea to adopt a spirituality willy nilly or for no real reason at all, but to the extent a specific spiritual tradition can allow one to grow fully into the hermit one is called to be, adopting it is a good idea.

Thanks again for writing; it is always good to hear from you.

*** Ego vobis, vos mihi: The Camaldolese motto (timely, given my recent post on mottoes) is  "I am yours, you are mine". This fundamental truth speaks clearly of the privilege of love that marks every Camaldolese life.