Dioceses and c 603 Vocations: Minimizing Uncertainty and Risk in the Process of Discernment and Formation

In The Long Journey, I wrote about the journey to Union with God and something of the universality of that call. With c 603, it has sometimes been difficult for dioceses to adequately discern and assist in the formation of diocesan hermits. This prompted the following questions, which I promised I would return to: [[It seems to me that either a diocese has to be really patient and willing to take a risk with someone, or the person has to have made a long journey before contacting their diocese to request profession and consecration. The first problem with this is, what diocese has the patience to wait as long as needed to discern a solitary eremitical vocation with someone?]]

In my initial post, I quoted you, [[It seems to me that either a diocese has to be really patient and willing to take a risk with someone, or the person has to have made a long journey before contacting their diocese to request profession and consecration.]] and I responded: [[I believe both things are true. The person must have made a relatively long journey before contacting a diocese with the request to be professed under c 603 AND the diocese must be patient in a process of mutual discernment and formation that assists the person making their petition to truly know the way God is calling them, and to prepare for the necessary stages of commitment if they (both) find the person is called to c 603 eremitical life.]] Let me point out further that dioceses always take risks with vocations. No one comes in with a certified letter from God saying, "Consecrate her. She is called to be a c 603 hermit"! When I was consecrated, my diocese supplied a "Bishop's Decree of Approval of (my) Rule of Life". That decree expressed thanks to God for the gift of this vocation. At the same time, it included the following sentence. "I pray that this Rule of Life proves advantageous in living the eremitical life." So yes, there is always risk because vocations come from the Mystery we know as God, and discerning vocations is, as Sister Susan Blomstad, OSF, once noted, difficult and something of an art.

The risk that dioceses take in admitting someone to the profession and then to consecration as a diocesan hermit, however, can be minimized in ways that make the process less onerous for the diocese or its staff. In this blog, I have referenced a process of discernment and formation that focuses on the requirement that the hermit write a Rule of Life. This requirement, as I have explained a number of times, can be used to guide the formators and other diocesan staff in discerning the nature and quality of the vocation in front of them. Writing a Rule of Life is itself a formative process. To write about all of the elements of c 603, to describe a healthy eremitical life that embodies these elements and the whole spirit of c 603 in a contemporary setting, requires significant experience and reflection on that experience. Dioceses can schedule conversations at different points throughout this process, both to hear how God is working in this candidate's life and to determine if there are resources the hermit candidate could benefit from in her process of formation. 

At the same time, through this process, though no vow of obedience is involved, the candidate learns to work with diocesan personnel in ways that will help develop her sense of what such a vow might entail and what it may not. It can assist the candidate to develop a deeper sense of the ecclesial nature of this vocation. Contacts may be made with those special individuals who may accompany her in her vocation for many years to come. And of course, both the hermit and the diocese in question will come to understand c 603 much more fully and fruitfully, not simply as a law allowing the profession and consecration of solitary hermits, but as a rich, fertile template of solitary eremitical life, a source of guidance and inspiration for personal exploration in the hermit's lifelong journey** to union with God. The underlying focus in all of this work is the idea of this specific journey and the assurance that the hermit/candidate is committed to (or clearly moving toward) this above all things. (In the beginning years of a hermit's eremitical life, this commitment exists, but it may not yet be articulable in terms like "union with God".) None of this takes away all risk in professing and consecrating a diocesan hermit, but all of it can minimize risk and, down the line, allow for similar work and better discernment and formation with other candidates for c 603 profession and consecration.

The process referred to here can take some time, yes. There are different reasons for this. Sometimes candidates don't have sufficient experience of living in solitude, some are not contemplatives, some may find reflecting on c 603 and the way God calls them to embody it in their lives an extremely challenging task, while others may simply find writing this out in a Rule of Life very difficult. All of this takes time, and dioceses must understand that writing a Rule of Life is formative, challenging, and critical to the discernment of such a vocation. It is not the easiest, most concrete element of c 603, and therefore easily dispensed with via the instructions, "Now, all you need to do is go write a Rule of Life!" The diocese must allow the writing of a truly liveable Rule to take the time necessary for each candidate; they must also allow the task of writing the Rule to assist them (Diocesan personnel) with conversations regarding the discernment, formation, and writing processes at periodic points along the way. 

Mentors (other c 603 hermits with appropriate backgrounds) can assist the diocese and work with the diocesan team and candidate with the Rule and c 603, or, if there are insufficient diocesan staff to follow a candidate in the way that is needed, she may work with the candidate on the diocese's behalf. (In such cases, the mentor will report to diocesan personnel occasionally regarding how the process is proceeding.) What I am describing here is not onerous for either candidate or diocese, but it is critically important in discerning and forming such vocations. While such discerning and appropriately forming (or ensuring the formation of) such vocations takes time, I am not suggesting this process can or should be stretched out interminably. In my experience, it tends to become clear within two or three years (sometimes, though rarely, fewer) whether  or not one is working with someone with an authentic eremitical vocation. In other cases, uncertainty will be cleared up as the person engages or fails to engage with the process of formation. (This requires a significant degree of initiative and self-knowledge; it will be evident to formators.)

Often, the question of time is arbitrarily determined by reference to canon laws that fit religious living in community rather than solitude. Sometimes the addition of such time frames is meant to supplement what are perceived as deficiencies of c 603. Personally, I believe this is a significant mistake, especially in its misperception of the depth and breadth of c 603, but also in its complete failure to understand the uniqueness and flexibility of solitary eremitical life. The composition of a liveable Rule of Life truly rooted in the candidate's lived experience will take time. Of course it will!! The diocesan conversations accompanying such a process and contributing to its fruitfulness will allow discernment to take place without arbitrary time limits or time frames. Dioceses need to trust this! 

At the same time, should a candidate fail to adequately engage in the process, a diocese might well decide to suspend it for the time being. If the candidate had been doing well, the diocesan staff will want to understand what has happened. Depending on the circumstances, dioceses may or may not be open to restarting the process once the hermit candidate is in a better position to truly engage the discernment/formation process. Yes, all of this takes patience, skill, wisdom, prayer, and courage. It does not, however, ask for anything diocesan formation, vocation, or similar personnel should not have in abundance, particularly when dealing with such a significant and individual vocation!!

**Sister Rachel Denton, Er Dio, prefers the term pilgrimage here, and I understand her preference, not only because of her own specific experience with pilgrimage, but especially in light of Vatican II and its reflection on the People of God as a pilgrim people. I am just not yet personally comfortable enough with the term to use it easily myself, so, for the time being, I will continue to use the less specific "journey" here as I read about and reflect more on "pilgrimage" and all it implies. Readers, of course, should feel free to change the language and think of the c 603 vocation in terms of lifelong pilgrimage if that is more helpful!!

Should Dioceses Supply Guidelines for the c 603 Hermit?

One of the questions that comes up in regard to Dioceses and the Hermit's Rule of Life is whether it is appropriate for the Bishop to write the hermit's Rule and simply require she live accordingly. In the past I have argued that it is inappropriate, and I have put forth reflections on c 603 vocations and the importance for both discernment and formation that the hermit write her own Rule. Also, of course, this respects the unique way the Holy Spirit works in each hermit's life and assists her to be truly attentive to that. But the idea of the diocese supplying guidelines on living eremitical life in this diocese that one lives prior to writing a truly liveable Rule, and that will also be subsequently embodied in some way in that Rule is a really good one and one I have written about only a couple of times perhaps a decade ago or so. It's time to pull that topic up once again, partly because it belongs to my larger project on the discernment and formation of diocesan hermits, and partly because both hermits and dioceses need to understand the appropriateness, nature, and place of such guidelines as they move forward with processes of discernment and formation.

Quite often I hear stories about dioceses that tend to expect a hermit to go off and write a liveable Rule in a few weeks. They may leave this single concrete requirement of the canon to the last on a "to do" list while considering it the easiest part of the canon to fulfill. They will sometimes do this saying something like, [[There, now all we need is your Rule of Life!! Just go off and write that and we will be all set!]] But such an approach misunderstands the nature of a Rule and the difficulty of writing one, especially a liveable one or one that belongs integrally to the diocese's own discernment and formation processes with a c 603 hermit-to-be! Other times, dioceses go the opposite direction and write the hermit's Rule for her, although my sense is this is a much rarer problem. I addressed all of this in 2012, Should a Bishop Write the Hermit's Rule?

Failures by Diocese and Hermit:

Bearing that article in mind, what happens when either a diocese refuses to treat what they provide as true guidelines or the hermit decides s/he knows too much about eremitical life to accept such guidelines -- the two entirely antithetical possibilities? The basic answer to both questions is that strong and authentic ecclesial vocations will be lost, immature and slavish ones incapable of mature obedience will be established, and the Church's understanding of c 603 and its vocations will not grow as these need to -- meaning further solitary eremitical vocations will not be admitted to profession or even to mutual discernment processes. If the bishop or other diocesan personnel write the hermit's Rule for her, they are failing to discern this vocation. Likewise, they are failing to listen to the Holy Spirit and the way she is working in the contemporary church. If, on the other hand, the hermit acts as though she knows it all already and refuses to at least prayerfully consider the vision of the life the Diocese has provided as preparation for a meeting to discuss what works and what does not and why, she is simply demonstrating a lack of calling to an ecclesial vocation and possibly her unreadiness for vows of obedience or religious poverty.

A set of guidelines is important for the diocese to provide for all candidates. Not only will this assist the hermit in writing an adequate Rule of life based on lived experience, but every candidate will have the same starting point and the adaptation they each make will be able to be assessed more easily in terms of the Holy Spirit, contemporary eremitical life, and the healthiness of the individual hermit's spirituality. Still, it is critical the Diocese regards these as guidelines the hermit herself will flesh out (or prune as she truly feels called to) over time. The diocese might say, your Rule should cover religious poverty, but not spell out what that must look like in a particular hermit's life. At the same time, it is critical the hermit uses these guidelines in considering her Rule of Life, and that she tries to embody them in some real way in whatever Rule she eventually writes. (Thus, to continue the example, a hermit will take what is in the guidelines re religious poverty, and spell out the nature of that poverty and how she personally lives this out before profession and, after profession, how she will live it in law under c 603.)

What Should Such Guidelines Include?

So what should such guidelines include? It seems to me that these need to spell out the elements any liveable Rule must address. These include, 1) the requirement of a brief history and discussion of the place of eremitical life in the life of the Church. (Here, because of the way she recounts this story, is where the candidate begins to formulate the vision of eremitical life she intends to live in the 21st century as a piece of living history!) 2) The central elements of c 603 and the Evangelical Counsels; in dealing with this guideline, the candidate must be able to spell out how she understands each of these, why she understands them as she does, and how she lives them out in the present. 3) The importance of the public and especially the ecclesial nature of the vocation. Here the candidate will need to address her place in both the universal and the local Church, including her sacramental life, any limited ministry she needs to undertake, and the degree and nature of contact she will have with the parish community. 4) Relationships with the Bishop, delegate, and spiritual director. Here the candidate or hermit needs to spell out how she understands herself to be related to and participate in the Church's ministry of authority; she would include the role of a delegate (if she has one), frequency of meetings with the Bishop (once or twice a year is typical but not carved in stone), spiritual direction, and the way she regards both c 603 and her own Rule of Life.

Such guidelines will have subsections that spell out expectations and, for the hermit's part, the nuts and bolts of each larger section. For instance, in section #2, the hermit will discuss finances, living poverty, provision for health insurance, living space, work and how this meets her needs for stricter separation from the world, religious poverty, the silence of solitude, penitential life,  persevering prayer, and so forth. Also included, for example, will be use of social media, to what extent this is allowed and for what legitimate purposes, etc. This list is not exhaustive, but suggestive of some of what guidelines might list and what any good and liveable Rule must contain.

What if the Diocese and Hermit Cannot Agree?

If the diocese and the hermit find themselves far apart on this or on any element of the guidelines, these can be worked out in a series of conversations over time as both parties come to know the nature and quality of the vocation in front of them, and the hermit/candidate writes this or that draft or draft portion of a liveable Rule. The point is that the diocese provides guidelines of what she requires a hermit life to reflect along with what a sufficient Rule will include, and the hermit tries to accommodate all of these elements in a mature way as she explores the nature of an ecclesial vocation as she personally is called to live it!! As the process of discernment and formation moves forward, both parties will learn from the other, flexibility will increase, trust between the candidate and diocesan staff will grow, as will the sense either that this vocation is truly of the Holy Spirit, or it is not. 

Eventually, either the Hermit's Rule will be granted a Bishop's Decree of Approval and the guidelines will have done their job and be left behind for the more adequate and personal Rule of Life, or the candidate will be unable to write a liveable Rule that both meets the requirements of both the universal and the local Church and is true to the way God is calling her, and she will cease to be a candidate for c 603 profession and consecration -- at least for the time being!! So long as both parties have truly listened to one another and the Holy Spirit in this process and grown in their understanding of contemporary eremitical life under c 603, it can be considered successful.