On Unity and Diversity in the Church's Approach to Eremitic Life

[[Sister Laurel, I heard something about needing to be concerned with unity in the Church in terms of c 603. I am a lay hermit and up 'til now I haven't really felt any urgency to petition my diocese for admission to profession and consecration under c 603. (Frankly, the whole process kind of scares me and I need to screw up my own courage about this, I guess.) Should I be concerned to be sure I am in unity with c 603 since it is now the way to be a hermit in the Catholic Church? Am I somehow dissenting because I am a lay hermit? I sure don't mean to do that or be out of sync with the Church.]]

Thanks for writing. I am not sure where the idea of being dissenting in some way, or not being in sync with the Church because you are not professed under c 603 comes from. Unity in the Church is always a unity in great diversity, and eremitical life is an example of this. There is no single way to live eremitical life in the Church today. There are three or four basic ways: 1) solitary canonical eremitical life, 2) coenobitical life allowing hermits within the community according to particular law, 3) semi-eremitical life (hermit life with other hermits within a canonical community),  and 4) hermit life lived in light of one's baptismal consecration alone. (This is what I would call lay or non-canonical eremitical life. The first three forms are canonical, meaning they are governed and bound by canons beyond those that apply by virtue of baptism alone.)

Within these four basic ways of living eremitical life, individual hermits will evince differences as well. So, as I have written here a number of times, my own eremitic life looks quite different from that of others professed under c 603, even though we each live the fundamental elements of c 603!!! Unity is not uniformity!!! This is a critical lesson in the Catholic Church, and it is similarly true of eremitical life. At the same time, c 603.1 outlines the central essential elements that are normative of the hermit life in the Church. I tend to believe that every hermit, whether non-canonical or canonical, needs to be living these essential elements. What they do not need to be living are the elements associated with legal (canonical) standing in the Church. (Some of these elements can be helpful, of course. Writing a liveable Rule of life can be incredibly formative, and working with a spiritual director regularly is almost essential to living an eremitic life well.

Please don't worry about contacting your diocese. Pray about this, of course. See if you feel called in this direction, and if you do feel this, talk it over with your director and then act on what you sense to be the truth. The process is not scary, though it can take some time, especially if your diocese has never professed or consecrated a c 603 hermit, or has not done so in some time. You merely have to be yourself, be able to speak about what you live and why, and listen carefully to diocesan concerns and questions. If your diocese says they are unwilling to profess you at this point in time, make sure to ask if you can petition again after some years of experience. Often, a person's petition is merely premature, either in terms of her own formation or in terms of the local church's readiness to have diocesan hermits. If the diocese is not ready, see if there is someone in the chancery you may continue to check in with each year, for instance. (The same might be helpful if the diocese finds that you are not yet ready for admission to profession.)

If your diocese simply says no to everything at this time, you are still entirely free to live eremitic life as a baptized Catholic. This vocation is also important to the life of the Church, and in some ways, may speak more vividly to other lay persons looking to live lives of prayer and putting the Gospel at the heart of their lives. Good luck to you. Please don't worry about c 603 or being a "dissenter". Based on what you have said, that doesn't seem to be true at all.