What Should I Do Next? On Becoming a Diocesan Hermit

[[Dear Sister,
I went to my diocese this week to see about becoming a canon 603 hermit. They told me to "go away and live in solitude". They said that I don't need to be professed or consecrated (their word) to be a hermit. But I want to be a canonical hermit and I think God is calling me to be this. What do I do now? Can I move to another diocese that would accept me?]]

Hi there! I have written about this topic a fair bit here, so please check the labels below and to the right. See under formation of a lay hermit, time frames for becoming a diocesan hermit, ecclesial vocations, diocese-shopping, and similar topics. I will not repeat everything I have said in those posts, but perhaps I can summarize briefly.

If you have not ever lived as a hermit (which is not the same as simply living alone, even a generally pious life merely alone), then living as a lay hermit for some time is necessary before a diocese will even consider you a serious candidate for profession and consecration under canon 603. While this is not the only reason dioceses tell people to go off and live in solitude, it is a major one, for often people who have never lived in solitude approach chancery personnel with the expectation that the chancery will turn one into a hermit. Hermits are made in solitude; more importantly, solitude (which, again, is not simply being alone) must, as Thomas Merton put the matter, open the door herself to the would-be hermit. To find out if this will ever happen one must live in physical solitude and more specifically, in and towards what canon 603 calls "the silence of solitude" for some time before 1) one can discern whether one is called to eremitical life as a life commitment, and 2) whether this is to be lay or consecrated eremitical life. In other words, "just living in (physical) solitude" is a necessary (and minimum) element of discerning a vocation and the church must know that you have done this and in fact have reason to believe that it is your own personal way to human wholeness and holiness or they really mayn't profess you.

Secondly, canon 603 eremitical life represents an ecclesial vocation which means in practical terms that one CANNOT discern such a vocation alone. The Church herself must also discern the truth of the matter and call you forth from her midst. She must agree to publicly profess and consecrate you in a way which extends both rights and obligations which are not yours otherwise; she must, in fact, participate in the mediation of God's own call to you herself, or that call is not real (yet) in your life. You may seriously desire this, and you may be correct that God is calling you to some form of eremitical life, but in other words, until the Church agrees and mediates this vocation to you through her own actions and liturgy one has NOT been called to be a diocesan hermit. You MAY live as a lay hermit as a result of your Baptism. You have every right to do that (and actually, you are obliged to do that if you discern it is what God is calling you to for the time being) but on your own you cannot assume you are called to diocesan eremitical life.

So, what do you do? There are a number of things which are either necessary or prudent. 1) You must embrace an eremitical life (I am assuming you are not married, do not have children, or other obligations or encumbrances which prevent this) and live it to the best of your ability; part of this process will be getting used to thinking of yourself as a hermit and acting to structure your life and relationships as a hermit would. 2) You must be working with a spiritual director and continue doing so for the remainder of your life as a hermit of whatever type. This is non-negotiable. 3) It would certainly be advisable to check with the person you spoke with at the chancery and see if they are open to the vocation at all (some dioceses are not), and also whether they are open to meeting with you again in a year's time and then again in another year, etc, IF you continue to feel you are called to diocesan eremitical life. Much will depend on the answer they give to these questions and I am assuming at this point that they will be answered positively. 4) read all you can on eremitical life, on canon 603, on the vows, etc --- and especially read contemporary sources, commentary, the documents of Vatican II on religious life, etc. 5) Consider all the forms of eremitical life we have today, religious (communal), lay, and solitary (diocesan) as potential contexts for your life and see which one calls most to you and why. As I hope you can see, these are mainly things which will help you whether you are called to an ecclesial vocation under canon 603 or not.

Regarding moving to another diocese, my recommendation at this point in time is that you not even consider that so long as your diocese is open to the vocation generally and will meet with you again in the future. In such a case doing so can demonstrate impatience, a lack of commitment to monastic/eremitical stability, perhaps represent an unwillingness to be obedient in the best sense of that term, indicate you are more enamored with an image of the life than the life itself, and so, on a purely practical level, will generally result in "shooting oneself in the foot" with the diocesan personnel and Bishops of the dioceses involved.

Do keep in touch regarding your journey. Meanwhile I hope this is helpful.

The Silence of Solitude and the Redemption of Isolation (#7)

[[ Sr. Laurel, Could you please say something more about the distinction between "validating one's isolation" and redeeming it? I don't really get the first part of that at all even if I see where the change from isolation to solitude is a positive thing.]]

Yes, sorry, I should have explained that better. What I mean is that many of us (and many who are called to the eremitical "silence of solitude") begin with situations which marginalize and even isolate us. Chronic illness is the most common situation I know of and it is the one I am personally familiar with. Chronic illness, as I have written here before isolates and causes various forms of dislocation. The rhythm and tempo of one's life is simply different than that of most people, and depending on the illness involved one may be unable to drive or even use public transportation easily in ways which allow one to be more independent. Ordinarily poverty accompanies serious illness or disability, due to the inability to work, study (perhaps), etc. One is dependent upon others' assistance more than usual and the relationships may be unequal and not those of peers. In terms of the Church those with serious illness may be ministered to but are rarely seen as a source of ministry themselves. Certainly they cannot usually become religious if they feel such a call, and as lay persons, their lives are also often undervalued. One finds that with every scale we ordinarily use, except that of the Gospel, the chronically ill are invalided and invalidated.

Canon 603, the Canon which governs the solitary eremitical vocation in the Church can seem like a way of validating this isolation. Here I mean that it may seem that this is a context for making this isolated life valid or worth something again. (Think of a parking lot ticket as an analogy for the sense in which I am using "validate" here. It can be validated during a visit to a nearby store or doctor's office, for instance. Unless it is stamped, approved, "validated" it is seen as being without value. Once this occurs it become worth something it was not worth before.) When I first began considering the place of Canon 603 and the nature of the life it outlined I sensed that perhaps this would be a perfect context which allowed all the elements of my own life to make sense: my gifts, talents, education, yearning for God and commitment to a vowed life, as well as my deficiencies, weaknesses, and brokenness. This is actually not a bad reason to begin discerning whether one is called to eremitical life, but it is a far cry from actually doing so, and even further from living such a life! Here one's solitariness is more a form of isolation and alienation. Even if one were prematurely allowed to make vows according to this canon, one would not YET have discerned a true eremitical vocation nor become a hermit as the Canon itself defines her. Something else must take place first.

That "event", that thing which must happen first is the redemption of one's isolation and the transformation of it into genuine solitude. It is this that allows a person to look around at what once was an apart-ment in both the usual and literal senses and say, "this is a hermitage and I am a hermit living in, from, and for communion with God!" It is this that makes of illness a subtext in one's life rather than its theme song! It is this transformation that makes of what was --- in worldly terms --- an absurd, merely tragic, or even meaningless life instead something of inestimable worth (not simply because every person has such dignity in the eyes of God) but because now this life, this way of being limited and marginalized, with all its weakness, brokenness, inability, etc is actually an effective and significant gift of the Holy Spirit to both Church and World. The accomplishment of this transformation is something only the grace of God can do. Thus, my other blog articles on "Lemons and Lemonade" or (a la Merton) the door to solitude ONLY being opened from within (by solitude itself), and thus too a part of the reason for my insistence that a candidate for diocesan eremitical life who wishes to make profession of vows in order to accept the public rights and responsibilities of this life must be, in some essential way, a hermit already.

What one must do is move from a life dominated by external silence and aloneness which are defined in terms of absence, alienation, and isolation, to a life where these serve and reflect the deeper and graced reality of "the silence OF solitude." Isolation must be redeemed or transformed into authentic (dialogical or relational) solitude, and this only occurs by the grace (i.e., the powerful presence and action) of God. One must, in some way move (and be moved) from the silence of voicelessness or the inarticulateness of a scream to the freedom and articulateness of what the New Testament calls parrhesia, an empowered and empowering speech --- even if this voice is rarely heard by the world at large. Further, those in the Church whose job it is to discern and profess those truly called to Canon 603 vocations must be clear on this distinction and affirm that the transition and transformation has been negotiated before temporary profession --- even if it still needs consolidation and internalization in more profound and extensive ways.

Again, this is one of the places where the distinction between "silence and solitude" and "the silence OF solitude" is crucially important. I suspect that this particular defining element of Canon 603 is NOT well enough understood --- not by chanceries, not by candidates or aspirants for profession, and not even by some diocesan hermits! (I say this because I myself wrote a Rule of Life which substituted "silence and solitude" for the accurate canonical phrase, "the silence of solitude" and that was only 5 or 6 years ago! I say it also because I think every diocesan hermit I have spoken to in the past several years has done the same thing at one time or another -- sometimes consistently -- despite the fact that available commentary on the Canon is clear about the special significance of this term!)

Validating one's isolation in the negative sense I am using the term involves applying a term to it which makes it seem more acceptable. It falls short of really giving meaning to something in a way which truly transforms it and makes it of great worth. We can call a loner or a chronically il;l person, for instance, a hermit and "validate" (try to make "valid" or meaningful) their isolation. Those who are isolated in some sense may seek to use Canon 603 in this way. This, of itself, does not change their isolation though it does appear to make it less worthless, tragic, or absurd. Of course, in the process it also effectively makes eremitical life itself essentially about isolation and alienation rather than authentic solitude --- only now we have sugar coated this with a bit of a lie (in the form of a stereotype or caricature) so the real bitterness is easier for everyone to swallow. Well-meaning as this might be it is a practice which empties the term ("eremitical") of real meaning and makes the life (both generally and specifically) incredible or unable to be believed or appreciated in the process. This will be true not only for the Church (meaning the whole People of God) and world who will recognize the fraud being perpetrated here at least enough to ridicule it or consider it unworthy of affirmation, but by the putative hermit as well --- who will know her "eremitical life" is a lie even (and perhaps especially) if she really is called to such a vocation.

(Thus it may be tempting for dioceses, in a misguided attempt to be pastoral, to profess anyone under Canon 603 who is chronically ill (or whatever the source of their isolation) and requests this, but it would be wrongheaded and destructive --- not only for the vocation to eremitical life itself, but for the individual professed in this way without an authentic vocation. Canon 603 is not a refuge for those without legitimate religious vocations or other access to public profession/consecration, or who are seeking to make isolation or simply being a loner legitimate or valid ways of living. Instead it is the way for the solitary hermit to assume the public rights and responsibilities of diocesan eremitical life; it is the way to profess one whose isolation and voicelessness has been redeemed and transformed by God into the solitary prophetic word of one dwelling consciously and responsibly in the heart of reality.)

Redeeming one's isolation, then, is a very different matter than merely validating (or trying to validate) one's isolation. Here the message of one's life is vastly different than it once was, for such a life attests to the power of God to bring meaning out of absurdity, life out of death, hope out of hopelessness, power and authority out of powerlessness and futility. Isolation is no longer that although superficially things may look similar. What replaces isolation is communion and community which is lived out as "inner" rather than merely external solitude, first of all with God and with oneself as one comes to accept one's whole self, and then with all others who are grounded in and linked to one through God. Illness (or whatever the situation that isolates one) may not change substantially but it is no longer the dominant reality in one's life. If one is in intractable and chronic pain, then the main message of one's life is what God does in spite of that --- and that is a joyful thing; it is evangelion or gospel in the truest sense. Will one struggle with illness and pain, in whatever forms they occur? Of course. But one does not struggle alone, nor is the struggle worthless to the broader Church and world. Still, it is not the struggle per se that is the first word the hermit articulates with her life, but the victory God has achieved in transforming isolation into the silence ,and so, into the song of solitude!

As always, I hope this helps but if it raises more questions or is unclear in some way, please get back to me. (I know, after today at least, that you don't need to be told that really, but the statement is for others as well!) All good wishes!

More on The Silence of Solitude (#3)

[[Sister, what is the difference between "silence and solitude" and the "silence of solitude"? You don't say diocesan hermits are called to silence and solitude, but "the silence of solitude." Is there really a difference here or are you just splitting imaginary theological hairs and playing intellectual games?]]

Thanks for your question. There are two other posts on this topic, so please check the labels at the bottom of this post for those. Some of my answer here may repeat parts of what those include, though I will try not to.

Yes, there is a very great difference between "silence and solitude" and "the silence of solitude", I think. The main thing to notice is that "silence and solitude" treats these realities as separate and mainly physical (or external), and therefore as things which may be included in greater or lesser degrees in any life either together or apart from one another. Thus, someone wanting to be a hermit might think that the goal of his or her life is to exclude noise, and to be merely alone. S/he might go about entering into this life mainly by building in more and more time to be alone, and by excluding anything that makes noise. If noise creeps in s/he might think she has failed with regard to silence but not with regard to solitude, for instance. If people need to come see her/him or call with an emergency she may feel that she has failed in both silence and solitude. If she needs to go out of the hermitage she may refuse to talk to people or only speak about "spiritual topics" and feel that in this way she lessens any fault against either silence or solitude.

And so her life goes on: a little tinkering with silence here, a little fiddling with alone time there, a little addition of prayer or other "hermit things" here, a little allowance of time outside the "hermitage" (or "worldly things") there. When these two realities are treated as something separate, the temptation is to search for just the right combination or just the right "amount" which, when combined then makes one a hermit. In this way of thinking or approaching the life, a little less of either and one becomes a semi-eremite or no eremite at all! But this approach is wrong-headed. Even if one lived alone in complete silence this would not make one a hermit, nor would it mean one was achieving the goal of Canon 603 or that one was living the essential element "the silence of solitude" with fidelity or integrity. In fact, one might not be living it at all. Instead one might be a misanthrope merely seeking to validate her isolation and her anti-social bent and lack of capacity to love others. There is lots of silence and (physical) solitude in the misanthrope's life (or in death of any sort), for instance (or in that of the artist, writer, composer, etc --- just to demonstrate there are positive ways of living these things which are not eremitical), but this is not what the Canon is talking about. (By the way, one need not be a misanthrope to use Canon 603 in an attempt to validate one's isolation. Valid vocations may BEGIN this way for those who are chronically ill, etc, but for there to be an authentic call to eremitical life there must be not only validation but actual redemption of one's isolation. In this too the term "the silence of solitude" is important and different than just silence and solitariness.)

But compare this approach to that outlined by Fr Jean Beyer in his commentary on Canon 603: [[ "It [the silence of solitude] unites these values. . . referring not merely to the external [physical] silence of the desert but to a profound inner solitude found in communion with God, who is the fullness of life and of love. It implies a lifetime striving towards union with God, a state which causes the one who becomes silent in this divine solitude to be alone with God alone. Such silence of solitude requires other silences --- of place, of surroundings, of action --- all that furthers the solitude and distances one from anything which could disturb it, from all which does not enhance the solitary mode of life." (Beyer, The Law of Consecrated Life: Commentary on the Canons 573-606)

In this paragraph "the silence of solitude" is integrally linked to communion with God. Yes, this will entail some preliminary (or subsequent!) clearing of the decks so the one seeking God can do so with minimal distraction, that is, one will certainly begin (and follow up) by building in some external silence and alone time, but the essential element of the Canon goes much further than this. It actually refers to the silence of one's communion with God. The silence and solitude (a communal or dialogical term) which result from one's prayer and life with God, from one's fundamental "custody of the cell" is what Canon 603 is referring to when it speaks of "the silence of solitude." In this phrase then, one is not merely alone and physical solitude which is about being separated from others is not primarily in view (though it will be included). Instead solitude refers to a state of communion in which one is alone WITH God and in God. This solitude approaches what psychologists refer to in the term individuation, or what we might call holiness or the life of authentic humanity --- only lived with God alone. Readers familiar with Eastern Christian contemplative thought will recognize in this term the hesychia or quiet and stillness of hesychasm. Thus, while "the silence of solitude" is identified as a Carthusian term, Carthusians writing about solitude note that it is a synonym for hesychia and hesychasm.

The silence which stems from this involves (and calls for) external silence, but it is also more primarily about the absence of inner distractions, superfluities, the inner voices we carry within us that are part of that theater of inner life (sometimes referred to by the term "object relations") which indicate division from ourselves and thus deflect from (or summon us to) our authentic humanity. The "silence of solitude" is the full and singing silence of the whole person, made one in and by the Word of God. It is the song of the "pure in heart," and is both something the hermit practices daily and a goal she strives for.

One part of the "silence of solitude" I have written about before is the corresponding distancing that occurs on some levels from other people, activities, etc. Thus I suggested that Jesus lived the silence of solitude because of his communion with God, and that that caused SOME distancing from others and perhaps an inability to share with them on some levels. Note that I do not mean Jesus was estranged from them, but he WAS marginalized even while he was deeply united in other ways. Canon 603 describes a solitary life which is similarly marginalized, not from essential estrangement or alienation but because of communion with God which both separates and unites on deeper levels or in differing ways than is normal in society generally. Because of this "the silence of solitude" is a bittersweet reality in some ways. What is most profoundly true for the hermit often cannot be shared directly with others. (Though thank God for the good spiritual director, or friend whose prayer life and/or vowed commitments allows her to understand!!) The reason one lives physical silence and solitariness cannot really be easily explained, and even less so can the deeper reality of "the silence of solitude." The true hermit accepts this marginalization as part of her commitment to, and living out of, communion with God, just as she accepts her call to love others as part of it. For more on this bittersweet quality, please see the other posts!

I hope this helps. It seems to me the difference between the realities you asked about is profound and I hope I have clarified some of the distinctions and overlaps here. If not though, please let me know!

Questions on Becoming a Diocesan Hermit

Hi Sister Laurel! I am . . .from the Philippines. I am a reader of your blog, and I am just amazed with your life. . . . So, my questions are, 1. how does one start the process of becoming a diocesan hermit, let say after living a eremitic life after some years. How does he approach the bishop? And what if the bishop is not supportive, should he give up his vocation. 2. I understand that there are hermits who live in the urban area. What could be the best explanation if someone asks why he's not in the desert or in the forest? 3.How does one support himself? Is he allowed to work? What kinds of work? . . .]]

Hi there!
Assuming one has lived an eremitical life for some time (a few years as you say and under the direction of a competent spiritual director), one would contact the chancery and ask to speak to the Vicar for Religious or the Vicar for Consecrated Life. Sometimes the Vocation Director will be the person one will first speak to. In my experience one does not speak to the Bishop immediately. This can differ from diocese to diocese, but in my own diocese it is only once the Vicar(s) are prepared to recommend a person for profession that the Bishop actually enters the picture. At that point discernment continues and the Bishop will meet with the person several times usually, read their Rule and anything else that is pertinent, and make a decision.

At this point a person may be admitted to temporary profession or not. Further, the decision can take some time (including time working with Vicars, etc). Several years is not unusual. Even once the Bishop has received the recommendation the process may take a couple to several years more. If the Bishop is not supportive one should not give up "on his vocation." If one is clear that one is called to live an eremitical life then one can continue to do so as a lay hermit, for instance. The Church badly needs the witness of lay men and women who live authentic solitude in a world that militates against it in every possible way. In time the Bishop's position may change, sometimes because the Church's experience of diocesan hermits is increasing and because other Bishops have found the vocation significant in their own dioceses, sometimes because the lay hermit's persistence is edifying and helps clarify doubts or concerns. In time too, the aspirant's experience may lead him away from solitude. What is important is that one follow one's heart (and that means the call of God to be yourself) as well as one is able.

Bearing in mind that there have been urban hermits ("urbani" (etc) as well as anchorites who lived in the midst of towns) at a number of points in Church history, my own explanation for living in an urban area is that this is what Thomas Merton might have called an unnatural solitude which needs hermits to witness to the redemption that is possible there when isolation is transformed into genuine solitude by the grace of God. However, my own answer is not your answer and only you can explain why you have CHOSEN to live where you do. Only you can explain why it is possible to live an authentic eremitical life in an urban setting --- if indeed you believe it is. Like all other things this is a conclusion you come to with experience, study, reflection and prayer. Thus, how you answer the question is something which is truth, but it is your truth and, if you become a hermit, it will be one of the ways you become responsible for the living tradition of eremitical life.

Regarding support of oneself, one must usually work to do that, and ordinarily Bishops look for hermits who can support themselves in ways completely consonant with a contemplative life. It is generally solitary work whether done in or out of the hermitage and there are many possibilities here: writing, art, spiritual direction, cleaning (some clean buildings at night or after hours, for instance), beekeeping, writing icons, editing copy, woodworking, pottery, medical billing, etc, etc. The ways of doing this are only limited by one's imagination (and location --- though with the internet even that has changed somewhat). You would need to work this out over time and eventually (if admitted to a process of discernment for profession as a diocesan hermit) with your Bishop, delegate, etc to determine what works best and most contributes to your eremitical life.

I hope this helps. As always, if it raises more questions or requires clarification, please get back to me.

Do Dioceses Support Diocesan Hermits?

[[Sister Laurel, does the diocese of the Canon 603 hermit support them in any way? What do you think about this? How about other diocesan hermits?]]

Really great questions, and ones which lots of people wonder about. I may have answered something similar before so please look for that as well; also some of what I say here will echo what I wrote about in regard to mediocrity as a danger to authentic eremitical life. The simple answer is no, diocesan hermits generally receive nothing from their dioceses in terms of stipends, transportation, living expenses or accommodations (place to set up a hermitage, etc), medical or other insurance, educational expenses, money for yearly or bi-yearly retreat, religious goods, books, etc. Remember that while diocesan clergy receive stipends for their service to the diocese, religious women and men usually do not unless they are contracted and work for the diocese itself. They support themselves and their congregations --- particularly their retired members and those in formation. (The idea that religious support their communities, and not vice versa is not well enough understood today.) Diocesan hermits differ from, but fall into this latter category. In fact, diocesan hermits ordinarily sign a waiver of liability (or claim) at their perpetual profession which says the diocese is not responsible for them in material or financial ways.

So, how do I feel about this? I think it is a wise policy for a number of reasons. Diocesan eremitical life does not have the kind of built in safeguards (for discernment or supervision of the motives behind and the quality of living) that life in community has. Discernment of an eremitical vocation takes time and the solitary (diocesan) eremitical vocation may require even more time. Because individuals embrace solitude for all kinds of reasons it often takes a number of years to clarify why they seek to make profession as a diocesan hermit. Unfortunately, it must be crystal clear that among these motivations the need to be cared for is not present. The tendency to run from responsibility and from the ordinary demands of life in society also must not be present. Eremitical life is a responsible life and one embraces it to give oneself in devotion and service to God, his Church, and world. Further, because the eremitical vocation is so independent, the individual and the diocese need to see signs that the hermit candidate is acting and living independently: providing for and securing education, caring for the normal needs of a deep spiritual life, independent work, taking initiative for education, etc -- all are a significant part of the eremitical life. It is simply right that a diocese expects hermits to care for these him/herself.

However, I have heard some hermits suggest that the church does not esteem the vocation highly enough and contributing in basic ways to the upkeep of the hermit would help do this. Additionally, because of the failure to provide in this way it happens that some persons who might have genuine calls to diocesan eremitical life, but who cannot find a way to support themselves which is consistent with a contemplative life, and who certainly cannot quit working their usual jobs, simply cannot be accepted for consecration under Canon 603. Also, because of this policy, hermits who have been consecrated for some time but who can no longer work, who have increasing health problems, and must provide for future burial expenses, etc, find themselves in difficulty and a dilemma. They have faithfully lived eremitical life and vowed poverty independently for years and maintained themselves in this way, but now the situation is changing. They must find a way to continue living eremitical silence, solitude, etc, because they are vowed to this (one does not simply retire from such a commitment or life), but they also may need more health care, assisted living, etc. These situations are more complex than I can discuss at this point, but they are important and give some import to the comment about the church's need to esteem this vocation in concrete and material ways.

Is there a satisfactory solution? Not at present. One possibility is that dioceses of aging hermits might provide some assistance after these hermits have lived perpetual profession for a number of years (say ten to fifteen or so (depending upon when the hermit is perpetually professed, or if extraordinary circumstances intervene otherwise). Such hermits might be included on diocesan insurance (we hear of this occasionally), be allowed to live on diocesan property without (or with nominal) rent, or be included on diocesan burial policies. However, whatever the solution for hermits in later life or which minimizes the risk that some few vocations are missed because of an inability to meet diocesan requirements, the policy dioceses have generally adopted is mainly a good one and I agree with it. Hermits themselves need to know that they are seeking profession without any ulterior motives, and they must be confident that they are able to live independently and responsibly without being cared for by the diocese before they are professed. Similarly dioceses need to know that those approaching them with petitions for admittance to profession are mature, responsible, self-sufficient, generous, and independent. They need to know these persons are not looking for a sinecure. It is simply part of discerning (and living!) an authentic eremitical vocation.

Hope this helps. As always, if it does not answer your questions, is unclear, or raises more questions, please get back to me.

Question on the Education of a Diocesan Hermit

I have written that diocesan hermits are expected by dioceses to acquire a certain degree of education and formation if they are ever to be professed as a Canon 603 hermit, and that most of this will be expected to happen before a candidate approaches a diocese with their petition. This is a position I agree with. The Diocese of La Crosse has a rather clear list of expectations in this area which includes (but is not limited to) the nature and content of the vows, the nature and history of eremitical life, theology, Vatican II, spirituality, etc. The idea that dioceses expect hermits to have much of this formation/education under their belts before they petition for admission to profession (which usually means before they approach the diocese in re to C 603 at all) raises questions for some. I received the following recently:

[[Dear Sister O'Neal, How would you compare [what you say about hermits educating themselves as part of preparation for profession] to a person entering a monastery? For example, one feels a call...visits a few places....then finds one that is "home." And then visits a few more times before entering. But, they don't enter with full knowledge of theology and monastic history, for example. For a much better term, they learn "on the job." So, just wondering your explanation on the difference.]]

As I have noted before, it is important to remember that dioceses do not form diocesan hermits. They discern the nature and quality of vocations that stand before them, and also evaluate the readiness of the person involved to take on the rights and responsibilities of public profession and consecration. There is no FORMAL entrance, novitiate, juniorate or scholasticate as part of Canon 603 even though one will move through various stages of discernment and formation before making a formal commitment of any kind, and, if candidates are admitted to vows at all, they will generally make temporary profession for three years prior to perpetual profession. Because of this the individual needs to take responsibility for a lot of the education and formation which would be part and parcel of communal formation and education. No one else will do it for a hermit candidate (though the diocese MAY point to some resources one may avail oneself of on their own once one is recognized as a strong candidate) and the Church (rightfully I suggest) expects it of those who would be professed as Canon 603 hermits.

Beyond this, there are many reasons solitude may call to one. The rarest and most radical involves a call to a life of eremitical solitude, but every Christian life and vocation involves some requirement for solitude. Unless an individual takes the time to understand themselves, the vocation to eremitical life, the nature of monastic and vowed or consecrated life more generally, and uses that time to experiment with eremitical life and explore the various ways solitude may and does call one and why, one may make a serious mistake in concluding one has a call to hermit life. For instance, one may be comfortable or "at home" with solitude at various points of one's life and not actually have a call to a life vocation as a hermit. These points in one's life may be transitional, the result of grief or loss, or even represent less legitimate desires for disengagement with others and one's ordinary world. They may stem from health or unhealth and it is only through time and serious learning, reflection, and discernment that one can come to clarity on these things. This is one of the reasons dioceses expect C 603 candidates to live for several years as a lay hermit before approaching a diocese re profession. Only in this way can one determine that eremitical solitude (not any other form or either legitimate or illegitimate need for solitude or withdrawal) is really the essential call one has experienced.

Education in the areas mentioned earlier can assist one in understanding and discerning the nature of her own call as she comes to appreciate the variations, challenges, responsibilities, and nature of eremitical life. If one spends time living as a lay hermit and educating oneself in theology, spirituality, church history, Vatican II and its challenges to the contemporary church and the modern world, as well as the nature and history of monastic and eremitical life (etc), one will learn much of the theology one needs to 1) write a Rule of Life, 2) understand the nature, content, significance, and challenge of the vows within a post-Vatican II church, 3) embody the eremitical life (lay or consecrated) in a way which speaks clearly to the contemporary church while it is consonant with the history of monastic and eremitical life through history, 4) engage in the limited ministry one MAY be called to do as either a lay or diocesan hermit, and (if called to consecrated eremitical life) 5) prepare for a future representing as fully as possible a rare and wonderful ecclesial vocation. Alternately, if they determine they are NOT called to life as either a lay or diocesan hermit they will still be better-prepared for ecclesial life in active ministry whether as lay persons or as religious.

There is a certain amount of learning "on the job" in every vocation, and eremitical life is no different. This learning never ceases and one never has a "full knowledge" as you put it; but unless one enters religious life to accomplish the basic education and initial formation required --- as well as undertake in a supervised and disciplined way the discernment they require --- then one has to provide for all this for oneself. There are no shortcuts, no alternatives with Canon 603 for those who do not come to it through monastic or religious life. Consider that all of this independent learning is a kind of variation on the old saying, "dwell in the cell and the cell will teach you everything." The eremitical life will involve independent study, lectio, solitary liturgical prayer, quiet or contemplative prayer every single day year in and year out, and in all these things it will also involve an initiative and capacity for independent work and direction. In some ways this is all part of the ongoing formation of a hermit; (this is the reason I suggest it is a variation on the more central meaning of the desert saying about dwelling in the cell). Dioceses rightfully expect to see that a person has developed such a capacity and has the initiative and independence which are so characteristic of diocesan hermits before they seriously consider admitting that person to profession.

Followup, On Lemons and Lemonade

[[Dear Sister, I wrote [the following question], {{Dear Sister O'Neal, is your idea of the eremitical life a case of taking the lemons life gives us and making lemonade out of them? So the Church actually professes and consecrates people whose claim to have a vocation is that they have managed to find a way to make lemonade out of lemons? This seems like a pretty negative or undignified way of receiving an actual vocation from God!}}

(The email continues:) Thank you for your response, but maybe I wasn't clear about what I found objectionable in your description of the eremitical vocation. I was brought up to believe that we were born with a particular Vocation. I was taught that that was a great dignity and part of who we really were. No one said anything about the "exigencies of life" or "life breaking us" and then discovering a call coming out of those things. God knew from the beginning that he wanted me to be a wife or a nun, for example. He wasn't playing catch up, or trying to repair what life had done to us. The Vocation was eternal, and could be missed, rejected, and/or lost altogether. Your view of the vocation to eremitical life sounds pretty different than all this and lacks nobility. It is a kind of solution to what life throws at us, and therefore it lacks the dignity of an eternal vocation. Do you see what I mean?]]

Well, there is no doubt that in some ways our visions of vocations and how they are mediated to us, are heard, or are responded to, differ from one another's. I maintain elements of a theology of vocation which are identical to yours, but I also modify others to allow for the way real life works most often. You see, the view of vocation you grew up with does do a wonderful job of conveying the dignity and the urgency of a call from God, but on the other hand, it can lead people to despair that indeed they have missed their vocation, have settled for a second class life instead, and even that God no longer is calling them to anything substantive. What I try to do when I write about vocations generally is to combine the eternal element, the "noble" element you refer to with its characteristic urgency, but also allow for all the twists and turns of life we experience while we are discerning our vocations, and even while we are living them out. Especially I have to allow for the fact that God's call never goes away, that it is a dynamic and ever-renewed reality which is constantly proferred but is able to allow for the "exigencies of life" at the same time. I don't know there is anything ignoble in any of this.

One thing I particularly can't agree with is the idea of a missed vocation precisely, but I readily admit that throughout one's life various paths to the fulfillment of one's vocation will open or close, be followed or missed, thus requiring one discern the best paths remaining to one (or needing to be forged BY one with the grace of God!). You were taught we had a single vocation, and that was seen as a vocation to religious, priestly, married, or single life, for instance. I understand, on the other hand, that we each have a single vocation, namely authentic humanity in and of God in Christ, but the paths to the achievement or realization of that vocation are potentially many and varied and include what you identified as Vocations with a capital V, so to speak: religious, priestly, married, or single life, etc. Missing a Vocation in your schema means to get married when God is calling one to be a religious (or vice versa, though one rarely hears this situation characterized thusly!). Missing a vocation in my schema means falling short of the greatness and authenticity (that is, the holiness) God means and empowers us to achieve with his grace. In that sense, we almost all "miss our vocations" to some extent, but it is a far less hopeless situation than the term means in your schema on vocation.

This is not to say that falling short is not a serious business, but in the theology of vocation I am working with, whatever path one chooses --- even if one chooses badly --- is still a means of growth in one's fundamental or foundational Vocation. Down the line other paths may open up to one: another marriage, religious life, eremitical life, etc (along with all the little "side paths" that each of these can involve: teaching, nursing, homemaking, ministry of all kinds, etc), but they will serve the larger or more foundational vocation to authentic humanity. Such a view certainly allows for a single path as the main way towards fulfilling one's foundational vocation should a person pursue marriage or a religious vocation right out of high school or college, for instance, but if these do not work out in some way one need not conclude they have "missed their vocations" or believe that God had one plan for them which they (whether culpably or through the circumstances of life) have now blown.

Further, this notion of vocation does greater justice to God's ability to call life out of any situation, to redeem any situation, to call to discipleship out of any set of circumstances, etc. It does greater justice to the ongoing and faithful nature of God's call which is always creative, and never JUST a message he communicates to us (a message like, "You should be married" or You should be a nun!" or even "Come, be this or that," for instance.) Vocation is a call to something, yes, but it also summons forth life and meaning and hope from within a person, and it continues to do so so long as the person lives. It is not so much a message as it is a name, "Laurel! [with the subtext:] I call you to yourself and to myself!" What I am saying, badly perhaps, is that a vocation is not something one hears once upon a time, but a Word of God that one allows to work within oneself over the whole of her life and her life is shaped in response. Vocation is something God does within us, and something he will continue to do until we make our final responses in death. OF COURSE it is something which accommodates the exigencies of life. Of course it must be heard in light of these! Of course they will alter its shape and timbre even while the essential theme remains the same.

Finally then, I think this notion of Vocation (with a capital V) does greater justice to the reasons for changing vocations (with a small v) over the span of one's life. With regard to the eremitical life which is very poorly known and less well understood and which is more usually associated with the second half of one's life anyway, it is not at all unusual for a person to enter religious life or marry only to discover many years later that life and the grace of God has opened the door to eremitical solitude to them. Active religious discover a call to contemplative life, contemplative and cloistered religious discover a call to even greater solitude, married people are bereaved and after some healing and time has passed, discover the call to the desert, those who are chronically ill and could not enter a community (or remain within one) find that God continues to call them but in a new direction which esteems their weakness and allows it to be the soil in which his own power is perfected. These are just a few of the scenarios possible here. VERY FEW people consider an eremitical vocation early on. Even fewer are called to it. And yet, these vocations growing out of the exigencies of life AND the grace of God are completely authentic, miraculous calls in fact.

I hope this clarifies where I am coming from in this matter of vocations. While it is wonderful when a person discovers early on the vocational path that will serve them all their lives, focusing on this one way of things happening creates serious pastoral and theological problems for many. It can prevent them from seeing the dignity and nobility of all vocational paths, or of even guessing that they exist. It can lead to despair over missed opportunities, and the failure to attend to new ones every bit as important and "noble" as the early missed opportunities. More, it can distract us from the primary focus and unceasing challenge of our lives, the eternal call to authentic human existence in and of the grace of God --- no matter what vocational path one takes to realize that.

I wish you peace, and a wonderful Holy Week.

On Lemons and Lemonade

[[Dear Sister O'Neal, is your idea of the eremitical life a case of taking the lemons life gives us and making lemonade out of them? So, the Church actually professes and consecrates people whose claim to have a vocation is that they have managed to find a way to make lemonade out of lemons? Seems like a pretty negative or undignified way of receiving an actual vocation from God!]]


LOL! Well, let me apologize if the idea that life creates solitary persons and the grace of God creates hermits sounds a bit like a negative or undignified idea of vocation. Honestly, to me it sounds like the story of sin and redemption, the healing and transformation of the broken and unworthy into something reflecting and revealing the power and presence of God --- hardly a negative dynamic as I understand it. But let me enlarge on and perhaps extend your metaphor in order to try and be clear about what I am saying about the nature of and way a person generally becomes a hermit, and in particular, a diocesan hermit.

First, the general truth of your metaphor: Yes, I have said that life tends to break us, and that it is only the grace of God which can bring wholeness out of that. Sometimes, rarely, this grace is received as a call to eremitical solitude for the whole of one's life. (For some it may be an eremitical vocation for a shorter period of time, a period of transition, for instance -- thus the place of lay eremitism in some instances, or temporary vows which are not renewed or do not lead to perpetual profession. Note here that I believe all vows are made with the sense that they are for life, even "temporary" vows, but sometimes it simply does not work out that way.) I personally think that the notion that there may be a call for the whole of a person's life (meaning as something more than a transitional period) is especially true in the case persons with chronic illness, and also for some who are older and single and/or bereaved, but obviously it can happen to anyone, and in such cases it may be a call to either lay or consecrated eremitical life.

Please realize I am not simply saying that eremitical solitude is the reasonable expedient in such a case, the avenue a merely clever person could seize on without a genuine call. It might serve in that way in the short term (especially the very short term), but I (and those who really live solitude full time) honestly believe that a person must find they are truly called to solitude by God or their lives will not be fruitful, they will really be frustrated and reflect the lack of life, the resentment, hopelessness, and so forth that is always associated with a life which is crippled and unable to reach its true and full purpose. More bluntly, as I put the matter earlier, solitude will chew them up and spit them out, or as Merton described it,either it will invite them in or it will drive them nuts.

But vocations come to us in the midst of life's realities. God speaks to and calls us forth in ways which transform and transfigure them, and in ways which allow them to take on a genuinely sacramental character. The realities themselves may seem unworthy, and --- as in yesterday's readings with regard either to the serpents, the serpent on a staff, or the manna in the desert --- even be disgusting or repugnant in themselves; still, it is the nature of God's grace to render them sacramental. God's call is always to life --- life in the midst of death, wholeness out of and in the midst of brokenness, righteousness out of and in the midst of sin, etc. The experience of being called is not usually dramatic and extraordinary. Instead it comes over time with moments of quiet with increasing joy, greater clarity and meaning, fuller life, greater capacity for loving oneself and others, etc. It is a fact that vocations are the path by which a life that would be relatively meaningless otherwise, comes to make an almost infinite sense, not only for oneself alone, but for the world one inhabits as well. There is no lack of dignity in such a call.

But as I just suggested, diocesan hermits go one step further than the lemons/lemonade metaphor you supplied. It is not enough for them to take the lemons life hands them and find ways to make lemonade out of them. God must do this, of course, for we alone are unable. But even more, the diocesan hermit is also deeply convinced that the world is desperately thirsty for this very lemonade; she becomes a hermit not ONLY because this solitude is a way of transforming the lemons life gave her, but because God, the church, and the world needs her to do this in THIS SPECIFIC way. And in this way she will allow the grace of God to transform her life as well as empower her to pour it out for others in a way few others will be able to do. I think all these components must be present in an authentic eremitical vocation, and I don't find anything in this essentially negative or lacking in dignity. As I understand it, it is really something quite awesome --- that God could (and WOULD!) take the brokenness of my life and fashion it into a drink for a thirsting world is pretty amazing, and the essence of Catholic Sacramental and vocational theology.

Life and the Grace of God: The Making of the Hermit

[[Dear Sister Laurel, why do you say that life and the grace of God creates hermits? Can't life alone make hermits? How about the grace of God alone? Thanks.]]

Well, first, yes, the grace of God alone can certainly create hermits. However, I have to say I am not sure I know anyone that falls into that category. I recently read about a Camaldolese monk or two, and know several others that make me think they might be hermits of this sort, but I really don't know enough about their situations to say much more than yes, it is possible. In the history of eremitical life, I can point to a number of hermits whose stories seem to be wholly the stories of the grace of God without the negativities of life being significant formative factors as well, so again, yes, it is possible, but I think it is especially rare today (and was likely always so despite the way hagiographies were written). My concern in these recent posts is with discerning eremitical vocations in those with more "mixed" or complicated vocations, and especially stressing that diocesan eremitical vocations are generally not formed by dioceses, etc.

However, as to the case of life alone creating hermits, I would have to say no, never, not as I am using the word hermit anyway. We have lots of examples of "hermits" in other senses however. The socially inept misanthrope, or wounded and embittered recluse are the more common versions of this notion of the term "hermit." Ted Kasczynski is one I mentioned a few weeks ago. All of us know people who are maladapted, unable to cope with the real world, unhappy loners who hate themselves and everyone else. Life has made them loners, solitary persons, incomplete, broken, and unfulfilled, and this is true of many living with families as well, by the way. Loners, etc, are not hermits in the true sense of the word. Some people who have been buffeted by life are not nearly so broken as this, but the circum-stances of life have isolated them, shifted the rhythms of their lives so they no longer match that of most others, and so forth: chronic illness, bereavement, other forms of loss or trauma, have caused this kind of dislocation. Of itself life tends to break us. It is the grace of God that brings wholeness out of such brokenness, authentic life out of death, meaning out of senselessness, and the like. Hemmingway once wrote that "The World breaks all of us, then some become strong in the broken places." What he probably should have said is, "The World breaks all of us, and the grace of God makes us strong in the broken places." For some, a relatively very few in fact, this grace may be the call to become a hermit whether lay or consecrated. For most it will not.

Above all then, the life of the hermit is the life of the grace of God, a life of essential and clearly recognizable wholeness. Brokenness may be an important subtext (as it is in all Christian life!), but it cannot be the primary message. Paul's more theologically nuanced version of Hemmingway's quotation is this: "God's power is perfected in weakness." As I have noted before it is a theological and christological statement first of all for Paul, but it is also autobiographical, and it is biographical of many (other) hermits as well. Many hermits find that they were prepared for this vocation to some extent by situations in life that wounded and even broke them -- leaving them profoundly hungry and thirsty and their lives relatively barren in one way and another.

However, it is without question the grace of God that allows eremitical life to grow even out of THIS desert. It is only the grace of the eternal and living God that can transfigure such isolation into genuine solitude and cause the dislocations of life to become the points of deeper connection and community. And, as we must always remind ourselves, the grace of God, "especially" when given as a call to eremitical life, is always a gift. The reason I quoted Merton's comment on the door to Solitude only opening from the inside was to underscore this whole dynamic. This is also the reason in the last several posts on becoming a diocesan hermit, especially on the time frame involved, I distinguished between being a solitary person and becoming/being a hermit in some essential way. Life creates solitary persons. Only life AND the grace of God creates HERMITS!

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back to me if it does not, or if it raises more questions.

More followup Questions on Becoming a Diocesan Hermit

[[Dear Sister, if one wants to become a diocesan hermit then you are saying the diocese will not make one a hermit. I get that I think. Are you saying that a diocese just rubber stamps what is already the case? Why should one want that?? Also, what if someone wants to become a hermit, but is not one? What then? Oh, and what if ones does everything as you suggest and the church still refuses to let the person be a diocesan hermit? What then? Seems this could waste an awful lot of a person's time!]] (redacted from original)


First, let me respond to the question about "rubber stamping." It is a bit bluntly put, but a good question. No, a diocese does not simply rubber stamp what is already there, and I apologize if that is the impression I gave. A diocese really and truly engages in a process of discernment and also, if one is admitted to profession and consecration as a diocesan hermit, the church herself mediates God's own call to the person. The vocation is an ecclesial one and while one may think one is called to this, until the church herself agrees, admits to profession, calls the person forth from the assembly, receives their vows and prays the prayer of consecration over them, the call itself is AT BEST incompletely given or received. Once these things occur the hermit will more and more grow into THIS SPECIFIC vocation, not just a hermit, but a diocesan hermit, not just vowed privately, but publicly so, not just responsible to live a life of  the silence of solitude, prayer and penance, but to do so in the church's own name. A whole new set of rights, obligations, and responsibilities come with this profession and consecration, and while some things will change little, some things will change a great deal and everything will be seen in a new way.

So, no the church does not merely rubber stamp something that already exists, but she does work with something that is extant, even if that is not yet well-developed. She recognizes a vocation that is there essentially, the vocation to be a hermit, and she then discerns whether there is also a call to public profession and the consecrated state of life, or whether the person should, at this point in time at least, remain a lay hermit. It is true that in this process of discernment the church therefore rightly considers the quality of the vocation, whether the person is really suited for it, whether it is healthy, whether the reasons for the solitude are valid, and so forth, but it remains true that she is still working with something that is already there in one way or another. Remember, of course, that the church also recognizes the existence of lay hermits and esteems the lay vocation. Remember too that the majority of hermits will always be lay hermits, not diocesan or religious hermits. A vocation to lay eremitical life is a significant vocation --- and also a relatively rare one. Still, it is the case that when the discernment concludes someone is called to diocesan eremitical life the church must, to some extent, be working with a person who has already essentially become a genuine hermit some years before she is admitted to profession and consecration.

Your last questions about being refused by the diocese, etc are good ones too and given the rarity of genuine eremitical vocations, there is no doubt that the church says "no" more often than she says yes to petitions regarding Canon 603 (though my impression is there are relatively few petitions regarding Canon 603 in any case). However, one of the reasons I personally insist that the diocese is not about forming hermits but instead about discerning the vocation before them is not only because that really is what happens, but precisely so the person already knows who s/he is in terms of eremitical life in some form before s/he petitions. S/he MUST do this to succeed in her petition, not least because the eremitical vocation is little understood generally, and the negative stereotypes and bad reasons for embracing solitude or petitioning for canonical status are unfortunately quite prevalent. As I have noted, eremitical life draws nutcases, and Canon 603 is apparently general and simple enough to make it seem an easy berth to accommodate simple (or not-so-simple) solitary eccentricity which does not constitute eremitical life. If a lay hermit really knows who s/he is before approaching the diocese, it will be easier to make it clear immediately that her reasons for embracing solitude are sound ones, and s/he is a serious candidate for Canon 603 consideration. By the way, I think s/he also MUST do this if s/he is to continue living the life should the diocese refuse to profess and consecrate her. More about that below.

As I have already said, it takes time and the grace of God to make a hermit, and again, as Thomas Merton reminds us: "the door to solitude only opens from the inside." (Disputed Questions, "Notes for a Philosophy of Solitude") One cannot succeed in solitude by sheer acts of will. Solitude will chew one up and spit one out unless one is truly called, unless Solitude herself opens the door to the person. Neither is there a college, seminary, or graduate school which teaches one how to be a hermit. But if one has been lead by life and the grace of God to become a hermit, and the diocese then refuses to profess her under Canon 603, the person has lost nothing of her essential vocation. She is still called to solitude, still is a hermit, etc. The time spent in the diocesan discernment process will not be wasted, and she will grow in her vocation, especially perhaps, in the perception of the place and importance of the lay vocation to eremitical life. I firmly believe this is true even if the diocese errs in their decision or makes it for inadequate reasons (for instance, because the diocese has decided not to profess ANYONE under canon 603 --- something that is still the case today in some places.)

What WOULD be a waste of time is if one spent a couple of years as a solitary person pretending (or simply trying) to be a hermit, approached a diocese expecting them to FORM him/her into a "real" hermit with "automatic" profession and consecration at the end of the process. Consider what would happen if five years down the line, and with no real formation being given by the diocese, the chancery officials simply say, "Sorry, it's not going to happen!" or "You don't have this vocation!" (I am assuming they would be more tactful, but the news would still feel this blunt.) Can they really mean one is not called to be a hermit in ANY substantial sense? Has one been living a lie for 5 and more years? What is one to do then? Continue living as one has and/or go off and do something else? How is she to reconcile herself to the judgment of the church in this matter --- because in some way, she must do this? If, on the other hand one is clear that the diocese is not about MAKING or FORMING one into a hermit, etc, the time spent in this process CAN be fruitful despite the disappointment of not being admitted to profession or called to be a diocesan hermit or chosen for the consecration it involves. The decision then is more apt to relate to profession and consecration and not to eremitical life per se. One can more easily continue living as one feels called, explore the meaning and consequences of the lay eremitical vocation, and grow from the experience while STILL reconciling themselves to the diocese's decision (or trying sincerely to do so).

Anyway, good questions. Thanks for sending them on. As always, if my responses raises other questions or didn't adequately answer something, please get back to me.

ADDITION:
Sorry, I was reminded I did not answer the questions about what if one is not a hermit already. My only response here is that if one is not already a hermit in some essential sense (not in a formal sense necessarily), that is, if life and the grace of God have not already done their essential or fundamental work in this regard, one ought not to try and approach a diocese with regard to Canon 603. Canon 603 works for some people, and some vocations but not for all. If one is not a hermit in some essential sense already but feels drawn to solitude then they should either: 1) enter a community which DOES form people into hermits (Carthusians, Camaldolese, some Cistercian communities allow for this, Carmelite, etc), or 2) live the life of a lay person drawn to significant silence, solitude and prayer and see what eventuates (it COULD be Canon 603). Again, Canon 603 is not the only route one can take to be a hermit and for someone who is really drawn to the life, especially if they are younger, etc, entering a community may be the very best option besides lay eremitism.

Followup Questions on the time frame for becoming a diocesan hermit

[[Dear Sister O'Neal, you said that dioceses discern vocations, but don't form them. If a person is interested in becoming a diocesan hermit under their Bishop's supervision, what should they do? Also, what is the difference between living as a solitary person and living as a hermit in a conscious way? Can you say more about what you meant?]]



Yes, I would be happy to since I occasionally have people contact me wanting to be consecrated hermits and expecting their dioceses to put them through or provide them with some sort of formation program; at the very least some expect their dioceses to supervise their own formation, and they expect the time they put in on this to "count towards" profession or be an official process granting status in some way like novitiate or juniorates in religious life. While there may be a lone diocese out there that does things this way (I am certainly not betting on it!), generally that is not how Canon 603 works on the diocesan level. Canon 603 allows for the profession and consecration of diocesan hermits. It says nothing about forming them, etc, although other canons do apply to the life, just as they apply to religious life.

What tends to be true is that diocesan personnel, whether Vocation Directors or Vicars of Religious, do not concern themselves with the actual formation of hermits. As already noted, they are there to discern the nature and quality of the vocation that presents itself at their door. They will evaluate the person, their Rule of Life, their background, their psychological, spiritual, and other qualifications, and determine 1) whether the person has what it takes to live a healthy eremitical life, and 2) whether they are ALSO called to public profession, and are either ready for profession or can be so within a reasonable period of time. They may certainly ask the person to get more formation in one way and another, and they can suggest ways as well as assist in arranging for opportunities if the resources exist in the diocese, but that is not ordinarily their responsibility.

Therefore one really has to make the transition to lay hermit mainly apart from the diocese. (I am only going to refer to lay hermits here since religious who become hermits complicate the issue a bit); one needs to do so with one's own resources, the aid of one's spiritual director, pastor, and whomever else one knows who might assist in this. I need to think about this a bit more before I write much about it here, but this may be a large part of the actual formation to solitude a diocesan hermit ordinarily undergoes, a variation on the notion that if you persevere in your cell, your cell will teach you everything. In this case, however, the hermit will need to seek out appropriate education, information on and links to monastic or other eremitical traditions and representatives, regular spiritual direction, and they will need to come to really be lay hermits to some significant degree before they walk in the door of the nearest chancery with a petition re Canon 603 profession and consecration.

By the way, I do happen to believe that there should be resources available to dioceses so that strong candidates can get mentoring, etc, just as there once was with the desert Fathers and Mothers, and for this reason some of us Canon 603 hermits are trying to develop something that will serve these official candidates and their dioceses more directly, but for the most part one should not expect one's chancery (much less one's Bishop!) to oversee one's formation as a hermit. Not only do most diocese's chanceries not have the expertise for this, but they do not have the time. One will be disappointed if one does expect it, and yet, at the same time, one will find that if she approaches a diocese without sufficient background, neither will she be likely to be taken seriously as a candidate for Canon 603 profession in any case. This is the point when one is likely to rightly hear: "Just go off and live in solitude; it is all you need." As wrong as this advice CAN be, there are times when it is exactly correct too.

Living a Solitary Life vs Living as a Hermit:

Regarding the difference between living as a solitary person and living as a hermit in a conscious way, well, I can try to explain what I mean. For many people life itself will lead to solitary existence. In fact, for every hermit life will have led them to solitary existence in one way and another. This can be the result of chronic illness, bereavement, or other significant factors often only associated with the second half of life though they can, of course, happen any time at all. However, simply living alone does not make one a hermit, though one may be intrigued with the idea of it, and it might seem a perfect way to make sense of an otherwise absurd (meaningless) situation. Evenso, one has to transition to being a hermit in a more formal way, and eventually, to thinking of oneself as a lay hermit and committing oneself to live and serve the church and world in this way consciously.

Only then will one's identity and life be defined in terms of this vocation, and not the other way around. Only then will chronic illness, bereavement, or whatever the circumstances of one's life that brought one to this place cease to be the defining realities of one's life. They do not go away, but they assume a new place in terms of God's grace. Only when, and to the extent that they allow one to love in new ways rather than isolating one from others has one ceased to be a solitary person and become a hermit per se. The key here is certainly the place of Christ in one's life, but what this really implies in concrete ways must be evident before one can honestly say to anyone, much less in a public profession and consecration, "I am a hermit!"

One must not merely be solitary and slightly (or even very) pious. Silence must be the basic environment for one's life. Solitude itself must be a lifegiving context without which one is not nearly so human or loving (and it must be a communal reality spilling over in the love of others). Prayer must become central and definitive of who one is, and whatever negative life circumstances that initially brought one to solitary existence will be relativized and transformed by these. Everything one is and does must be dictated by one's sense of and commitment to this identity and call, and it takes time for this kind of conscious claiming to occur. It takes time for this to become more than playacting, and to feel like more than mere pretence. It does not happen with a single step, or the putting on of a particular kind of dress. But at some point, possibly long before the church herself does anything official in one's regard, one will look around, recognize and affirm to both herself and her God, "This is a hermitage, not an apartment, and I am a hermit, not merely a solitary person brought here by circumstances."

But, as important as this moment of realization is, it is still a long way from being prepared for profession as a diocesan hermit --- if, in fact, one should discern this is even what one is called to. However, it is a step which is necessary before one approaches their diocese to petition for admission to such profession, before one writes a Rule of life which others might also live by or read and be inspired by in regard to eremitical life, and it is a critical step which can signal readiness or approaching readiness for these. One does not make vows (private OR public) because one WANTS to be a hermit, nor does one write a Rule of Life they think they can live and live by. They do these things to reflect who they are, what actually inspires their day to day living as a hermit, and with an awareness on some level that these things mark their gift quality to the church and world. That is, the Rule is written not only to mark they way they DO live, and the values, spirituality, and theology that informs that life, but as an expression of the gift their own vocation is to the church and world. While this may not actually happen (Rules are not always read by others outside the chancery, etc), it SHOULD be sufficient to inspire others in various ways to allow their own solitudes, especially the unnatural ones, to be transformed into lifegiving realities by God's grace. It should be the Rule of Life of a hermit, not someone playing at being one, not one merely hoping one day to be one, but the Rule of Life of one who knows who she really IS. The same is true of the vows, whether private or public; they must be expressions of identity, not merely signals of aspirations.

Dioceses do not Form Hermits:

As your question indicates perhaps, the main thing that is likely to be unclear to people approaching dioceses in regard to Canon 603 is the whole notion that dioceses do not make or form hermits, they DISCERN the presence of a vocation and the appropriateness of and readiness for public profession and admission to the consecrated state. Every other vocation has a formal preparation and formation program; Canon 603 however, does not, and I would argue, probably cannot. (In fact, despite experiencing the whole diocesan process re C 603, I hadn't actually considered it myself in these terms before receiving a question recently asking how someone was to become a hermit under her Bishop's supervision if the diocese told her to come back after finding resources for them about this very thing!) This does NOT mean there is not a need for serious formation however!! The truth of course, is that one does not become a diocesan hermit in the way she supposed; one lives out the vocation one has already discerned herself and claimed in a fundamental way as her own, but now (especially if one is to be admitted to profession, etc) in mutual discernment with and direct obedience to one's own Bishop and with the substantial added ecclesial dimensions, rights, and responsibilites of the consecrated, publicly vowed state.

There is a wisdom in this if it is done right, and doing it right is a tricky business. One could say that one is not ready for genuine obedience or an ecclesial eremitical vocation until one has made this journey "alone" in a way which enables both authentic independence and lifegiving dependence in the process of listening to one's heart. I guess it is another interesting (and difficult) paradox: this particular journey requires assistance (regular spiritual direction, parish community support, the more remote supervision and discernment of the chancery in the secondary and later stages, and accountability at every point), but mostly it is an instance of eremitical life, and so must be essentially negotiated with God's grace alone. As Thomas Merton once said, "the door to solitude only opens from the inside." That is, solitude herself must open the  door to the would-be hermit. As Merton also said though, "Difficult mothers make hermits," and again he is correct: life itself in one way and another creates hermits. What I am saying is that life (including one's attentive and prayerful responses to difficulties and obstacles) and the grace of God creates diocesan hermits; while the diocesan discernment process gives added time for this to occur, and for the person to come to greater clarity and articulateness on the nature of her vocation, what remains fundamentally true is that the church discerns and mediates God's own call to consecrated life once this essential creation is already achieved.

This may not have adequately answered your questions, but I hope it is a start. What I have not described much here is 1) the need for formation and 2) how it is one "gets" what one needs in this regard. Some of this is hard to describe, significant as it is, because it deals with foundational inner experiences. In any case, as always, please get back to me if this raises more questions or fails to assist you adequately. Additional questions are helpful to me and, I hope, to other readers.

Questions on the Time Frame for Becoming a Diocesan Hermit.

[[Sister, I would like to become a diocesan hermit, but everything I have heard says it takes up to 10 years to make solemn or perpetual vows. One website says it can take much longer even. Do you think that is reasonable? If not, why not?]]

This is a timely question (really, no pun intended!), not least because I have received three different inquiries this last week alone about becoming a diocesan hermit, and a couple of them seemed a bit dismayed by the time frames which might be involved. Somewhere here I may once have said one should wait a year or two before approaching a diocese with their petition, and I want to clarify that as well lest anyone take it as carved in stone (or canon law!). Further, my own journey to perpetual eremitical profession took a very long time (23 years) and I have had time to reflect on that and both the benefits and drawbacks of such an inordinately long process. So, let me say that I think 9-10 years to reach perpetual profession is completely reasonable and that I would not generally support a process of less than 9 years. Why do I say that, even after my own long wait to reach such a position?

First of all, when one approaches a diocese it is not really with a request to BECOME a hermit, it is with a request to be professed as a diocesan hermit and admitted to the consecrated state of life. Dioceses are involved in discerning the vocation but generally not in forming one, and this will be true even if they decide a serious candidate needs more formation and refer them to various resources. One really needs to BE a hermit (not just a solitary person living alone) to some significant extent before approaching a diocese. This is especially true because at the point one approaches a diocese with such a petition, or very shortly thereafter, one will need to submit a Rule or Plan of Life, and such a Rule can only be written on the basis of experience of the life. All of this makes me suggest that one should live as a lay hermit for at least 2-3 years because that is the minimum most dioceses I know of demand before they will take a candidate seriously; my own belief is that one should do so for 3-5 years. I say this because only after such a period would someone generally be able to write the required Rule of Life in a way which allows the diocese to approve it and use it to discern the nature of the vocation in front of them. Also, I would therefore add that one needs to do all of this in a conscious and committed way under the regular direction of a spiritual director who knows one well.

I also am strong on or insistent about this idea of doing things consciously and in a committed way. There is simply a vast difference between "sliding" into a solitary life because the circumstances of life led one that way, and consciously living one's whole life as a hermit, whether lay or consecrated. If life has led one to solitary existence, one does need to make the transition to embracing eremitical life in a conscious way. Nothing is the same once this occurs, and I cannot stress this enough. The church recognizes both lay and consecrated hermits, and most people will move to consecrated eremitical life only after a period as a lay hermit (or, after a period in religious life). If we live this consciously, perhaps with private vows, perhaps not, we will also be in a position to decide down the line whether we are actually called to continue living as a lay hermit (the majority of hermits will always be lay) or move on to diocesan status and the charism that is associated with Canon 603 eremitical life specifically. This, because of the unique charism AND public vows involved, is an added bit of discernment which the candidate for C 603 profession should be clear on.

Next then, come the initial contact with the diocese, and assuming one is not immediately turned away but seems a viable candidate, the writing of the Rule of Life, the assessment of this (canonically, spiritually, etc), and the process of discernment that follows this. Again, this is likely to take at least 2-3 years, at which point (presuming they see no need for further initial formation or other special steps) the Vicars for Religious or Vocations personnel will make a recommendation to the Bishop. If their recommendation is positive, he will read everything, meet with the candidate several times over the following year or so, consider the needs of the diocese, the practical needs and provisions required for such a profession and the precedents it sets, etc. Once he has done all these things and more, he will make a decision about admission to profession under Canon 603. If the decision is positive, then there are canonical and practical requirements to be met by the candidate prior to profession. This whole process, from the point of actual contact with the diocese then through the Bishop's decision (if the process gets this far) can easily take 4 or more years; often it takes a good deal longer.

Ordinarily the penultimate step is the profession of temporary vows, and these are normally made for a period of three years. Discernment and continuing formation obviously proceeds even during this period, and at the end of this time, the hermit may ask to be admitted to perpetual vows and consecration or not. Personally, I think she may also decide to rewrite portions of her Plan or Rule of Life at this point, because she will find there are things she never addressed, dimensions of the life she understands in ways she never did before, etc. It is a good time to do this rewriting, partly because such writing helps one to consolidate the gains or growth they have achieved and claim more fully the vocation to diocesan eremitism. Even at this point perpetual profession is not assured of course, though it would take serious reasons to refuse it, I think. Still, as in all consecrated life, temporary profession remains a period of discernment for all involved.

The process I have outlined here takes anywhere from 9-12 years without serious delays, and I do not see ways of changing that significantly. As I look back on the shifts and changes my own vocation involved, I think 9-10 years to reach perpetual profession, and 6 or so years to reach temporary eremitical profession is a completely reasonable period, especially for a lay person who begins to live as a hermit just a couple of years prior to contacting the diocese. No, nothing should be prolonged unduly, nor should a person be left without support, regular contact, a sense that things are proceeding as they ought under diocesan supervision and so forth; dioceses themselves should have some flexibility and leeway to deal with exceptional candidates or circumstances appropriately, but generally, eremitical vocations are a function of time as well as circumstance and one cannot change this arbitrarily. If the person has already been a religious, has been through initial formation and prepared for or lived temporary vows already, then absolutely, the time frame (and sometimes, the stages) can be modified to accommodate this, but ordinarily the stages themselves will remain as outlined: 1) lay or other specifically eremitical experience, 2) petition and discernment by diocese and Bishop, 3) temporary profession, and 4) perpetual profession.