On Yesterday's Feast of Saint Joseph, Brother Angelus Maria Francisco made his perpetual vows and was consecrated as a diocesan hermit under c 603 in the Diocese of Cubao, Philippines. Brother's consecration was celebrated at Santo Nino Parish, Bago Bantay, by Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco D.D. in whose hands he made his profession.
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| Prostration During the Litany of the Saints |
Brother Angelus is active in his parish, occasionally doing retreats and reflections for the youth and others in the parish. He also lives an interesting form of hospitality in line with that of the Desert Abbas and Ammas. While he is available to parishioners who wish to speak with him after Mass, for example, he also delivers any extra bread given to him to those who are even poorer than he is himself. He travels outside the hermitage to make these deliveries once or twice a month, as contributions to him make possible. When I learned of this, I was reminded of a saying by Abba Anthony (sometimes called the first of the desert Fathers), which necessarily balances the solitude of the hermit with the demands of charity,
"Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, then we have gained God; but if we scandalize our brother, then we have sinned against Christ."
One of the central elements of c 603 is the fact that this vocation is lived for the sake of others. Hermits, who are, after all, usually not recluses, may do limited ministry as part of this essential element. Brother Angelus lives a much stricter poverty and solitude than many diocesan hermits I know, and he also recognizes the importance of truly being charitable to those outside the hermitage. In a recent (and rare) conversation we had, he noted that to do otherwise would make the eremitical life an un-Christian lie.
Brother Angelus calls himself a "Pilgrim Hermit" --- a description appropriate for any hermit journeying humbly through this life, on the way to ultimate Union with God. What I especially like about Brother Angelus' insignia (cf image to the left) is the way a life of prayer centered on the Eucharist and God becoming Emmanuel (God With Us) is represented as the essence of eremitical life. This Theocentric and Christ-centered life is at once solitary and profoundly communal, and it is exactly the life c 603 describes. Again, congratulations and all good wishes to Brother Angelus, the Church of Cubao, Philippines, and the Universal church as well, who are blessed in this vocation.
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