A hermit's life, therefore, moves between two poles of reference: the church and the world. The Church is the maternal womb which generates the specific vocation. She is also the vital context in which the vocation flourishes and is realized with authenticity and fullness. The second pole is the world. Hermits separate themselves from the world by choosing to live in the margins of society. The church and the world are the contexts that preserve the hermit from individualism. This establishes them as sentinels of hope advancing "down the paths of time with eyes fixed on the future restoration of all things in Christ." (John Paul II, Post Synodal Ap. Es. Vita Consecrata (25 March 1996), 59) Thus, hermits are aware that the present and eternity no longer follow one upon the other but are intimately connected.
Ponam in Deserto Viam,
The Hermit's Way of Life in the Local Church
Guidelines #13
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