Eremitical Life: Ecclesiality vs Individualistic Devotional Acts

[[Dear Sister Laurel, in your post on reservation of Eucharist you used the term "ecclesial" with regard to an "ecclesial vocation" differently than I have heard you do in the past. You therefore also seemed to me to be saying that the reservation of Eucharist functioned ecclesially for canonical hermits and CV's and anti-ecclesially for anyone taking Eucharist home as part of an individualistic devotional act. Can you say more about these two aspects of your post? Thank you.]]

Really excellent points and question! I think you must be referring first of all to my comment that the Eucharist must never become detached or separated off from the communal event which gives it meaning and that CV's and canonical hermits are generally sufficiently cognizant of the "ecclesiality" of their vocation to be aware of this danger. Please see Reservation of Eucharist by Hermits. (In the rest of this post I will speak only of canonical hermits, not CV's.) I think you are correct that I have not spoken of "ecclesial vocations" in quite this sense before although I believe it has been implicit in what I have said in the past. It has also been more explicitly approached in posts on the increased institutionalization of the eremitical vocation, the theology of Peter Damian and the nature of the hermit as "ecclesiola", and so forth. It is probably St Peter Damian's theology that most influences me here. As I wrote before while quoting him:

[[. . . Hermits know him best for a few of his letters, but especially #28, "Dominus Vobiscum". Written to Leo of Sitria, letter #28 explores the relation of the hermit to the whole church and speaks of a solitary as an ecclesiola, or little church. Damian had been asked if it was proper to recite lines like "The Lord Be With you" when the hermit was the only one present at liturgy. The result was this letter which explains how the church is wholly present in all of her members, both together and individually. He writes:

The Church of Christ is united in all her parts by the bond of love, so that she is both one in many members and mystically whole in each member. And so we see that the entire universal Church is correctly called the one and only bride of Christ, while each chosen soul, by virtue of the sacramental mysteries, is considered fully the Church. . . .From all the aforementioned it is clear that, because the whole Church can be found in one individual person and the Church itself is called a virgin, Holy Church is both one in all its members and complete in each of them. It is truly simple among many through the unity of faith and multiple in each individual through the bond of love and various charismatic gifts, because all are from one and all are one.

 . . . Because of this unity Damian notes that he sees no harm in a hermit alone in cell saying things which are said by the gathered Church. In this reflection Damian establishes the communal nature of the solitary vocation and forever condemns the notion that hermits are isolated persons.. . .]]

What this leads to is the notion that the hermit's hermitage or cell is an extension of the gathered Church and that whatever the hermit does there is meant to be this as well whether that is prayer or penance or work or even recreation. Mealtimes are meant to be reminders of Eucharist and are eaten prayerfully and with God and all those grounded in God. Everything that one does is meant to be prayed and that means it is meant to be empowered by God and undertaken mindfully in God's presence and for God's purposes.

It is a very challenging vocation in this sense and this is one of the reasons I wrote that mediocrity is the greatest danger to the hermit. In this context mediocrity means more specifically compartmentalizing one's life so that SOME things are prayed and other things are not; some things are specifically ecclesial (extensions of the reality of the gathered church) and other things are not and sometimes are, regrettably, even meant to be a respite from ecclesiality.  When I think about my vocation in this sense, a sense that corresponds to "praying always" or "being God's own prayer" I am also aware of how short of this goal and call I routinely fall. When I wrote that mediocrity is the greatest danger to the hermit or spoke of that in the podcast I did for A Nun's Life I was approaching this idea but hadn't really arrived yet. What I knew deep down was there was an all or nothing quality about eremitical life and for that reason mediocrity or "half-heartedness" (and here I mean the giving of only part of myself and praying only parts of my life) was an ever-present danger.


 In any case I also wrote here once that Abp Vigneron commented during the homily for my perpetual eremitical profession that I was "giving my home over to" this call and that it was only later that I realized how exactly right that was. The hermitage is literally an extension of my parish and diocesan (and universal!) church, as Peter Damian would have put it, an ecclesiola or "little church." It is not a place to be individualistic (though it IS a place to be truly individual with and in God) and when individualism creeps into things both the hermitage and my life ceases to be what it is meant to be. For this reason the reservation of the Eucharist here is undertaken  as a commissioned and ecclesial act and it is one that symbolizes (and challenges me to realize in every action and moment) the difference between a private home and a hermitage. It calls for a constant meditation on what it means to live in the Eucharistic presence but especially NOT as an instance of privatistic or individualistic devotion.  For this reason also you are exactly right when you say that reservation of Eucharist here is an ecclesial act rather than an anti-ecclesial act where one takes Eucharist home with them without being commissioned or even permitted to do so.

I have only just begun to explore this sense of ecclesiality in a conscious way, but I can see that it defines my sense of ecclesial vocation in ways I had not even imagined.  I have written a lot here in the past about ecclesial vocations partly because my first experience of appreciation for that concept changed everything for me. It was one of those earth-shaking insights I finally "got". When I write about canonical rights and obligations, canonical standing, or the relationships which obtain from these, I am trying (and not entirely succeeding myself) to go beyond what some perceive as legalism and point to this deeper reality of "ecclesiality". This is so because canon law points to this deeper ecclesial reality and is meant to protect and nurture it. Probably this is also a piece of why I get so irritated when some lay hermits disparage the place of canonical standing or law as one of merely "formal approval," "technicalities",  or even outright "legalism". They seem not to have a clue how it is canons (which are related to the Latin regula or Rule and serve as norms or measures of actions) actually function here or the way canon law serves to foster ecclesiality. Given the tension between individuality and individualism in eremitical life today (and in society as a whole!) I am freshly convinced of the providential nature of canon 603 and the role of Bp Remi De Roo in intervening at Vatican II as he did.

I do hope that this response is sort of helpful. I suspect (not least because of all the tangents I have been tempted to pursue in answering your question) that I will be writing about this topic in one way and another for a long time to come.

On the Reservation of Eucharist by Hermits

[[Dear Sister Laurel, I saw a "privately professed and consecrated" hermit's video on YouTube. Is it true that non-canonical hermits can have tabernacles and reserve the Eucharist in their own places and that Bishops have allowed it? . . . Can I get permission as a lay hermit or can I move where it is allowed? ]] (Redacted: often-asked questions were omitted)

I would be VERY surprised to hear that ANY Bishop(s) has or have allowed non-canonical hermits to do this; to be perfectly frank, I think this person may have some (or all) of her facts wrong or even be simply making something up to justify (or obscure) what the Church would consider a seriously illicit matter. It is unusual in the extreme to allow any individual to reserve Eucharist in his/her own home; when this happens it is done as an extension of canon 934  for canonical hermits and consecrated virgins ONLY because of the nature of their vocations and standing in law.

Even so, it is not done automatically. One's own Bishop MUST give permission according to the requirements of canon law and with appropriate supervision. In the situations you refer to I think one would have to ask why a Bishop would allow this for a lay person if he is also unwilling to admit them to profession as a canon 603 hermit where they assume the necessary legal and moral rights and obligations associated with such permission. (By the way, if the person has freely chosen not to become a canonical hermit, then they have also chosen to forego the rights and obligations or responsibilities associated with this standing in law, and this will include the possibility of reservation of Eucharist in their own hermitage.) Once again we are faced with the reality that canonical standing under canon 603 is associated with rights AND obligations which hermits and Bishops honor. In light of this I have to say that this lay hermit's assertions simply do not compute for me.

Further, in such practice there is tension between the Church's theology of the reserved Eucharist and the necessary connection with the ACT of consecration which must be adequately preserved or honored. What I mean by this is that we are aware of Christ becoming present in the proclaimed Word, in the praying assembly (who also give themselves to God and are in turn consecrated by God to be freely broken and poured out for others) and in the presiding priest, as well as in the consecration of bread and wine during Mass. The Presence of Christ is always a living, dynamic reality realized in relationship and in the community's celebration of the Gospel. With the disciples on the road to Emmaus we recognize Christ in the breaking of the bread because he becomes truly present in the breaking of the bread and all that implies. Reservation of Eucharist (which is primarily meant to nourish the sick and isolated who cannot attend physically with the fruits of communal worship and belonging) is never to become detached from an integral connection with this communal event; there is some danger that it will, especially when individuals are allowed to have tabernacles in their own places. (Actually this is a significant danger wherever the reserved Eucharist is seen as somehow separated from the Eucharistic celebration.) Canonical hermits and consecrated Virgins are usually aware of this danger and are generally significantly attuned to the ecclesiality of their vocations. However it becomes especially acute and may cross the line into actual sacrilege particularly when the reservation is undertaken without permission or oversight as an individualistic or privatistic act.

Certain cautions are taken by the church to be sure this does not happen when the extensions (to CV's and Canonical hermits) mentioned above are made: 1) Mass is ordinarily said at least occasionally at the place of reservation (Canon law prefers twice monthly), or 2) when this is not possible (and it is often not) reserved hosts are regularly refreshed after a Eucharistic celebration with the parish community so that the integral connection to Mass itself and the local community of faith is clearly maintained. (We speak of the Real Presence remaining so long as the elements retain the "sensible qualities" of bread and wine and are unadulterated; in a similar way perhaps (just a thought) we have to think of the Real Presence remaining only so long as there is a living or vital connection with the celebration of Mass itself); this practice also helps maintain the hermit's connection with the specific commission given at the end of Mass, 3) only those who are answerable in law to ecclesiastical superiors (those who have responded to the call to ecclesial vocations) are allowed to reserve the Eucharist and must to do so according to the requirements of canon law (cc 934-941). Otherwise, it is simply too easy for people to slip into superstitious, individualistic devotional, or otherwise irreverent practices, not to mention bad or distorted theologies of the Eucharist and Eucharistic spirituality.

Personally, I would discourage you from even thinking about looking for a Bishop who allows such things as a lay hermit reserving Eucharist in her own home --- not least because I honestly doubt they exist any more than Bishops exist who allow lay persons generally to take Eucharist home with them for reservation no matter how personally reverent or pious these persons are. (Remember that even for EEMs bringing Eucharist to those who are sick, guidelines generally prohibit or strongly discourage stops between the Mass and the home being visited as well as they tend to prohibit taking the Eucharist home with one. Unless one is doing so for a sick family member this would ordinarily be a violation of the trust placed in one when one was commissioned as a minister to the sick and could itself rise to the level of sacrilege. Such actions tend to break or trivialize the integral connection with the communal celebration of the Eucharist and the commission to go forth which concludes the Mass.)

Moving to another diocese seems an even worse idea to me and is certainly something I would discourage. You would do far better developing a strong and sound Eucharistic spirituality within the limits which apply to you in the Church. Remember too that lay hermits generally are self-described and there is nothing preventing any person living alone from calling themselves a lay hermit. While I do not necessarily mean that you fall into that category, you must realize that there is nothing at all that assures the Church of the nature and quality of what is purported to be an eremitical life, the silence of solitude which is characteristic of such a life, the soundness of the spirituality, theology, prayer life, etc of a privately dedicated self-described hermit.

This might well be problematical sometimes even with diocesan hermits but at least with canonical hermits there is a Rule of Life they are legally as well as morally responsible for honoring and that necessarily entails regular meetings with directors and delegates as well as their Bishop. The canonical hermit is publicly responsible for living out her canonical commitments and the tensions between physical solitude and community which are part of the life; her canonical commitments reflect, specify, and nurture her ecclesiality. While no one can see into the hermitage (that is, Religious in community are more aware of the lives of those living with them than friends and neighbors of hermits), regular contact with those helping supervise her life serves to help ensure she is responsive or obedient to these commitments with a care which is edifying to the whole church. More importantly, unless one has in some way been publicly commissioned by the Church in a way which makes (or seeks to make) reservation of the Eucharist in one's own hermitage a true extension of the Church's worship one will, by definition, be abusing matters and betraying the very nature of Eucharist. The bottom line is that Eucharist, including Eucharist reserved in tabernacles, is not an individualistic devotional but always and everywhere a communal reality --- even (or especially!) in the solitude of a hermit's cell where is constantly reminds her of the ecclesial nature of her vocation. Canon Law and various guidelines are meant to ensure this is maintained and honored.

More Questions: On Hermits, Consecrated Virgins, and Eucharistic Spirituality

[[Dear Sister Laurel, do you think [the version] of Eucharistic spirituality [you have written about] works for non-hermits? What do you do with the Canon that requires you to attend Mass daily --- just ignore it? Some consecrated virgins argue that daily Mass attendance is something which should be required of them as consecrated women. How would you respond to them?]]

I do think this version of Eucharistic spirituality works for non-hermits. First of all I believe that everyone is called to let Eucharist work in their lives in a way which allows all of reality to be regarded as sacramental and to bring everything to a fullness of expression of the Word of God. Further, I think that every person is called to participate in the dynamics of self-emptying and resurrection (fullness) which are at the heart of the Eucharist. This is true no matter how often a person actually participates in the celebration of the Eucharist (so long as their participation per se is serious and allowed to serve as leaven for the whole of their lives). Some people are also called to share in the specifically eremitical dynamic of the redemption of isolation and its transformation into solitude. Often these persons cannot attend Mass with any regularity, but they can still live an essentially Eucharistic spirituality which is nourished and inspired by the Eucharist nonetheless.

As for the Canon you refer to, I am assuming you mean C 719, sec 2. Please note that this reads [[The celebration of the Eucharist, daily if possible, is to be the source and strength of the whole of their [members of religious institutes] consecrated life.]] All I can note is that this refers to the celebration of the Eucharist within the community itself --- something that is often not always practical today because of the shortage of priests. It also says, "if possible." I believe, therefore, that this canon recognizes that the Eucharist may and should well be the source and strength of one's life even if daily participation in it is not possible. In fact this is the focus of the text. Thus, while I don't ignore this canon, and while I believe it applies in a general way to diocesan hermits as well as to members of religious institutes, I also recognize that it is not meant to directly address solitary eremitical life, and is not as absolute in some ways as some people seem to believe. (For instance, it does not say, "Religious MUST attend daily Mass except when prevented by illness or other serious reason.") The focus of the Canon is on allowing Eucharist to be the source and strength of the whole of one's consecrated life, not on mandatory frequency of attendance per se.

Regarding consecrated virgins, I really don't see creating a general requirement for all CV's. Consecrated virgins are a diverse group. Despite being women "living in the world" some are more contemplative than others, some more involved in ministry, some live their consecration in challenging ways amidst the professional and business communities, and others mainly within a parish community with ministry to these people, etc. Certainly they must embrace a serious Eucharistic spirituality, but that does not necessarily mean daily Mass any more than it means that for religious women or diocesan hermits. My own preference here is to be more discerning regarding those women who are consecrated as virgins living in the world (i.e., make sure they have mature prayer lives and spiritualities) and allow them to do as they personally discern they are called to in conjunction with their directors, Bishops, etc. In other words, require that they do as they discern is essential in their own case. Some will surely find that daily Mass is both possible and important; others will find it less possible, but both will find that the spirituality to which it summons them is indispensable and non-negotiable. It depends on the individual, those to whom she ministers, etc, as to what she discerns is critical for her own life and praxis at any given point or time.

I am not particularly up on the conversations of the CV's who argue that daily Mass should be made a general requirement, but I wonder if it might not reflect a need to make the vocation approximate that of women Religious and to separate CV's (or establish themselves as clearly or visibly separated) from the laity. Since consecrated virginity itself is not understood readily as a distinct or significant vocation, it may also represent, at least for some, a piece of feeling a need to have the Church spell out additional requirements which seem to validate the vocation. In some ways it has always seemed to me that reprising this calling has created a "vocation in search of a job description." It is hard for people to understand this vocation because the CV's are not religious and are also something other (though not more!) than devoted lay persons. IF the vocation has validity (and I genuinely assume it does) then it does not have this as a pseudo or quasi Religious vocation. CV's will need to establish themselves and an understanding of the nature and significance of their vocation, but this, it seems to me, will never be done if the obligations attached to their consecration and the canon which governs the life are treated as inadequate and additional requirements added after the fact. Either this vocation is genuine and has its own significant nature and charism within the church, or it does not. Multiplying required external observances does not take the place of a (perhaps!) missing charism and essential justification. Instead, to me anyway, such multiplication looks a bit defensive --- as though CV's are not comfortable with the inner justification of the vocation per se.

While it is undeniably true that vocations and especially an understanding of their implications for the life of the Church develop over time, it HAS to be noted that the Church did NOT establish attendance at daily Mass as a requirement when it published Canon 604 and it might easily have done so in 1983 understanding that this was essential to the vocation. The same is true with other things like Liturgy of the Hours, Rule of Life, distinctive garb (veil, etc), a commitment to religious obedience, etc. Was the Church naive in establishing the vocation? Did it fail to regard and legislate what was essential to it? Someone would need to seriously demonstrate this, I think, if they were to claim that certain practices were essential to the vocation itself despite not being part of canon 604.

In this and other matters it would be especially pertinent and interesting to hear what discussions were held about this canon before it was promulgated. How did other drafts read? (Canon 603 had numerous drafts; I assume the same is true of Canon 604.) How did Bishops understand the nature and significance of the vocation? Why were vows not required? Why no Rule of Life? Why no distinguishing garb? Why was the relationship with the Bishop described as unique but not in terms of his being a legitimate superior and with no provision made for a promise of obedience, for instance? It seems very significant to me, and probably illustrative of how the Bishops envisioned the vocation, that these things were NOT required given how natural doing so would have been. (We know that these things CAN be spelled out because some of them at least are spelled out for diocesan hermits in C 603. It also seems that the institutional Church generally desires external signs and explicit requirements and commitments like promises of obedience. But in this case they did not go this way. Why not?) What was the role of the CV in the early Church? How did what came to be religious life differ and why? Answers to these questions would help me to answer your question a bit more intelligently, and it seems to me that they are questions anyone arguing the need for more general requirements should be very conversant with.

In any case, to get back to your question about Eucharistic spirituality and daily Mass attendance, it seems to me that consecrated virgins are certainly called to develop and model an intense and encompassing Eucharistic spirituality, but it must be done according to each virgin's own discernment, vision, and sphere of ministry. Some virgins will model this especially for those who cannot get to daily Mass; others will model it for those who can. Some will do it for those who are more contemplative, and some will do it for those with very active lives in business and the professions, for instance. However, all (one sincerely hopes and trusts) will do so with devotion and personal integrity.

Followup Questions: On Hermits and Eucharistic Spirituality

[[Dear Sister, your answer to my question divorces Eucharistic spirituality from actual participation at Holy Mass. It also makes solitude more important than Mass, which the Church teaches is the highest form of intimacy with God. We are never closer to God than we are at Holy Mass. If union with God is so important to the hermit then they should be at Mass every day. Eucharistic spirituality is about allowing Mass to be at the center of one's life and I don't think a hermit can do this if he misses it just because it is inconvenient to his solitude.]]

Thanks for following up. I feel at a bit of a loss in responding here because it seems to me that you didn't really read what I wrote about the place of solitude in the life of the hermit. Let me reiterate, hopefully more clearly, then: solitude is not merely an environment which makes prayer more possible, or which merely frees from other apostolates, etc; it is both the means and, when rightly understood, the goal of eremitical life. While Mass is surely critically important in the life of the solitary Catholic hermit, it is meant to assist her in developing a truly Eucharistic spirituality in and for eremitical solitude, where solitude is understood not simply as being alone (and certainly not as isolation!), but as being alone with/in God for others. Only if the hermit is faithful to the praxis and goal of solitude can she develop an eremitical spirituality of Eucharist which is open to others who MUST also miss Mass --- sometimes for very extended periods indeed. It is not that daily Mass is inconvenient to one's solitude --- as though solitude was simply something a hermit prefers to celebrating with the community, like sleeping in might be; it is the fact that solitude is the primary way in which the hermit grows in union with God, and the silence of solitude grows only in extended periods of solitary existence.

Thus, Eucharist is ordinarily (but not always!) present to the diocesan hermit in her hermitage precisely so she can 1) continue in solitary prayer, 2) understand and allow her prayer and her solitude itself to be communal or ecclesial, and 3) allow her life to be transformed in this solitude into bread broken and wine poured out for others --- and her hermitage to become a tabernacle of Christ's living presence within her diocese and parish. Notes from Stillsong Hermitage: On the Reservation of Eucharist by Hermits She will, of course, attend Mass regularly (though oftentimes not daily nor necessarily even weekly), and her life in the hermitage will be an expression of Eucharistic spirituality, but it will look differently at some points than it will for most faithful Catholics. In all of this it is really critical to understand that solitude is a genuine and privileged way to union with God for SOME. It requires we truly believe that God calls SOME to this (solitary) way of achieving human wholeness and sanctity (intimacy with/participation in God).

Having said that I need to disagree with some of what you have asserted. First, the Church does not teach that Mass is "the highest form of intimacy with God." As I noted on the Catholic Hermits list, while it is true that objectively Christ is present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, this may not and certainly does not automatically translate into subjective intimacy with God. Would that intimacy with God merely involved participation at Mass! But it does not any more than being present at a family gathering at Christmas and partaking of their meal automatically translates into subjective intimacy with family members. It is one thing to identify Eucharist as the source and summit of spiritual life, and another to call it the highest form of intimacy. For many, this actually occurs in quiet prayer, or in their time with lectio where the Word is grappled with and allowed to address them in profound ways. So, while I agree that ideally Eucharist should be a time of great intimacy with God in Christ, your own statement goes beyond what the Church teaches here.


More importantly, I don't think I have divorced Eucharistic spirituality from actual participation at Mass. What I have tried to do is look at Eucharistic spirituality with or from a broader perspective so that while I continue to see Mass as central to such a spirituality this spirituality is not associated merely with going to Mass, with Eucharistic adoration, or even with the actual presence of reserved Eucharist, but instead is a much more demanding and extensive reality which involves the transformation of all of one's world into an essentially sacramental reality. Thus my emphasis on the notion that all meals, for instance, be seen as holy --- and even as extensions of Mass --- or that one's very living space be seen as a tabernacle of Christ's presence, or that every bit of ordinary life be approached as at least potentially revealing the presence of God in the unexpected place, and so forth. (This should be true in every Christian home even though the Eucharist is not reserved there, I would argue.) It is Eucharistic spirituality which recognizes all of this and finds that one's own weakness and brokenness can become the vehicle or medium for God's own revelation of himself in the power of love. When lives are stamped with the impress of the cross and God brings new life out of that so that one lives a new joy, gratitude, and peace the world cannot give, THAT is Eucharistic spirituality; it is the realization of everything the Mass is meant to achieve, everything the risen Christ makes possible in our world.

I am not sure what else I can say. I do believe that it is ideal to be able to combine Mass and solitude. Some solitary hermits can do so either because they are priests or because they have priests on the property of their laura (some diocesan hermits have formed these), and because Mass in these cases usually involves a good deal more silence, and separation from guests, etc, than is present during Masses in parishes. (This is absolutely not a criticism of parish Masses which build community in significant -- but less silent or contemplative -- ways.) There are undoubtedly times when, for me as a diocesan hermit, the demands and challenges of solitude suffer or are significantly blunted or attenuated from attending daily Mass, but equally there are times when solitude itself demands I celebrate Mass with my faith community. At these latter times attendance at Mass sharpens the demands and challenges of solitude. I try to be sensitive to what is necessary and willed by God at any given time, but whatever I choose, it is NEVER a matter of mere convenience or inconvenience! Instead, what I decide is inevitably at the service of the broader sense of Eucharistic spirituality I have outlined here and in the earlier post.

Please do feel free to followup if you feel I have misheard, misunderstood, or simply failed to be clear. I appreciate specific questions which seek clarification, for instance, but whatever you feel will actually foster further fruitful discussion would be welcome.

Hermits and Eucharistic Spirituality, Pointed Questions

[[Dear Sister Laurel,
How is it that hermits reflect the centrality of Eucharist in their spiritual lives if they do not attend Mass daily? I heard you remark in another context that you didn't attend Mass if solitude required otherwise. My understanding is that religious are required canonically to attend Mass daily if that is possible, and you yourself say on this blog that Eucharist is the center of everything that happens at your hermitage. So, how is it you can skip Mass just because it is more convenient to remain in solitude and still claim the title Sister and assert how central Eucharist is in your life? My other question is how do you receive Communion if there is no one there but yourself? Isn't self-communication forbidden to Catholics?]]

These topics, as you apparently are aware, came up on the Catholic Hermits list. One person there argued that hermits, like anyone else, should get to Mass as often as possible (daily!), and should not miss simply because it was "inconvenient" to one's solitude. Since, they argued, religious are required to participate at Mass in this way it makes sense that diocesan hermits are also so required. Others have argued that in today's world of easy transportation and numerous parishes people should be able to get to Mass daily one way or another and that hermits certainly should do so. Some know hermits who attend the parish Mass each day, or at least most every day and argue on that basis. My own argument was that fidelity to solitude sometimes meant not getting to daily Mass. I believe it is possible to develop a strong Eucharistic spirituality in solitude even without getting to Mass daily and that is what I want to look at in this post.

On the Place of Solitude in the Hermit's Life

However, before I say more in response to your question I need to clarify one critical point. Your comments include a misconstrual of what I said, and a misunderstanding regarding the nature of eremitical solitude. Namely, hermits do not skip Mass merely because it is inconvenient to their solitude; they do so because solitude is their full-time calling and the actual occasion, environment, and resulting quality of whatever union with God is achieved in their life. Solitude is not just a means for the hermit, but a goal as well. In this perspective, solitude (or what Canon 603 refers to as the "silence of solitude") is not a self-indulgent luxury which just happens to provide an environment for other things in the hermit's life (though external silence and physical solitude will certainly serve in this way). It is instead the reality which is achieved together with God when a hermit is faithful to (among other things) long term external silence and solitude. Thus, it is important that the hermit  maintain her faithfulness to this long term external silence and solitude. Solitude is, again, both the means to and the goal of the hermit's existence because eremitical solitude itself is a form of communal or ecclesial existence and an expression of union with God and all that is precious to God.

In saying this I mean that the hermit's life is to give witness to the union with God which is achieved in solitude as well as the "silence of solitude" which is an expression and sign of this union, and so, to the redemption of all forms of human isolation, alienation and estrangement achieved therein. They are called to come to wholeness and holiness in solitude and their witness is to the most foundational relationship present in the human being, the relationship with God who is creator and ground of all existence. In other words, although community is important to the hermit, it is primarily the koinonia (communion) of solitude that is their vocation. They are called by God through the agency of his Church to the very rare and paradoxical reality of eremitical solitude --- a form of union with God and others marked by and grounded in aloneness with the Alone. Unless we understand that solitude is not isolation, not alienation, nor a feeble excuse for the misanthrope, and certainly not a luxury for the hermit, we may believe that it conflicts with a truly Eucharistic spirituality. My argument is that it does not and that the way the hermit approaches attendance at Mass is dependent upon this way of seeing things.

Eucharistic Spirituality in General

When we speak of Eucharistic Spirituality what is it we are talking about then? And for the hermit who claims that the Eucharist is at the heart of everything that happens in the hermitage, what is she really talking about --- especially if the Mass is not (or is rarely) celebrated at the hermitage? Of course it means a spirituality focused on the Eucharist itself and the hermit will usually (not always) reserve Eucharist in her hermitage, pray in the presence of the Eucharist, celebrate Communion services (Liturgies of the Word with Communion), and so forth. But even more than this everything at the hermitage will be geared towards Christ's incarnation climaxed in his cross and resurrection. It seems to me that the focus involves two particular and interrelated processes: first, that, in a dynamic of kenosis or self-emptying, the Word is made flesh, and second, that, in a dynamic of conversion, reconciliation, and transfiguration, flesh (in the Pauline sense) is made Word. Everything that happens is meant to be an occasion of one or both of these and at the center of it all is the Presence of the Risen Christ in Word and Sacrament, reminding, summoning, challenging, nourishing, and consoling.

Eucharistic Spirituality, The Word Made Flesh

God has chosen to come to us as a human person. More than that he has chosen to be present in a power perfected in weakness (asthenia). He is present in the unexpected and even the unacceptable place. He enters into sin and death, the truly or definitvely godless realities and transforms them with his presence. In other words he makes what was literally godless into sacraments of his love, his being God for and with others. For me the Eucharist is a symbol of this specific process and presence (and I mean symbol in the most intensive sense as that reality which does not merely stand for something else (that would be a sign or metaphor) but rather as something that participates in the very reality it mediates). While Mass is the place where we literally re-member all of this, where bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, where the Word of God is proclaimed with power, Eucharistic Spirituality seems to me to be that spirituality where all this is worked out in everyday life so that every meal is holy, every reality is looked at with eyes that can see God's presence there, and where one is nourished, challenged, consoled, etc, with that presence in the unexpected place and way.

Eucharistic spirituality, is a spirituality which is open to God's presence in ordinariness, not only to his presence at Mass or the more exalted moments of prayer, etc, but in the humbleness of human life generally. And for the hermit this means in the solitariness of ordinary life --- for it is in solitude that we are generally weakest, and our brokenness is most clearly revealed. My own focus in the hermitage is the transformation of ordinariness into Sacrament. This is essentially Eucharistic. Everything should serve this. Everything within the hermitage serves the Word becoming flesh, the allowing of God to dwell within, to love, minister to, and to transform with his presence. Everything becomes a matter of dying to self and rising in God, to learning obedience (hearing and responding to the Word of God) in a way which leads to purity of heart. Yes, often (though not always) Eucharist is present in the hermitage, but whether or not it is present it remains the living symbol of what everything in the hermitage can and is meant to be if given over to the purposes of eremitical life. I sincerely believe that if the hermit practices Eucharistic spirituality she recognizes that her hermitage itself is meant to be a tabernacle situated in the midst of her community and that her own life is bread broken and wine poured out for others.

Eucharistic Spirituality, Flesh Made Word

The second and interrelated process which makes up a genuinely Eucharistic spirituality focuses on what happens to the hermit --- or really, to any Christian for whom Eucharist is central --- namely, that they become a Word Event which embodies and proclaims the Gospel of God in Christ. For the hermitage to become tabernacle, for the hermit to become bread broken and wine poured out for others, the hermit herself must, over time, be transformed and transfigured.

Flesh, in the Pauline sense of the term, means the whole person, body and soul, under the sway of sin. It means being a person of divided heart, one who is enmeshed in processes and realities which are resistant to Christ. It means being less than fully human, and in terms of language, it means being distorted forms of language events which are less than a univocal hymn of praise and gratitude --- screams of pain and anguish, lies or hypocritical formulations and identity, utterances (of anger, prejudice, arrogance, indifference, selfishness, etc) which foster division, insecurity, and suffering for others, a noisy or insecure presence which cannot abide silence and is unable to listen or respond lovingly and with compassion --- all are the less than human forms of language event we are, at least at times. These are also examples of what Paul would have termed "flesh" (sarx).

In the power of the Spirit, these can be transformed, transfigured into articulate expressions of Gospel wholeness, joy, peace, hope, and challenge. That which is less than human can become authentically human; sinners are reconciled to become persons who are truly and wholly authored by God. As one steeps oneself in and seriously contends with the Word of God one is transformed into an expression of that Word. In silence and solitude flesh can become Word just as the Word becomes Flesh. All of this is genuinely Eucharistic spirituality I think, and it remains Eucharistic even if the hermit does not celebrate Eucharist with her parish community daily. For the hermit, those privileged celebrations lead back to silence while solitude and the silence of solitude prepare for the hermit's participation at Mass. But they are all part of a single spirituality in which Christ is received as guest and gift and ordinary reality is transformed into an expression of his presence. Such a spirituality is open to anyone who cannot actually get to Mass more than once a week, and sometimes less frequently.  It is inspired by the Eucharist and modeled on Eucharistic transformation, life, and hope. In fact, I suspect it may well be an instance of genuinely Eucharistic spirituality our world truly needs.

Hermits and Self-Communication

Your last question was also raised on the Catholic Hermits list. It is customary that people do not self-commu-nicate and there are very good theological reasons for this, but solitary hermits are an accepted exception. Canonists are apparently clear (according to a clarification offered on the Catholic Hermits list) that this is a unique situation which calls for such an exception to general custom and theological wisdom. It is also, it seems to me, a sign of how truly esteemed and unusual is the hermit vocation for such an exception to be made. The Church allows this exception precisely because of the importance of eremitical solitude lived in the heart of the church. I would argue that eremitical solitude, to whatever extent it is lived authentically, is essentially Eucharistic --- even when the hermit is unable to leave her hermitage to attend Mass --- and is therefore a very good reason for this singular exception to be made.

In any case, hermits should certainly be careful of their use of this permission. Their own communions must always be seen as extensions of the parish and/or diocesan liturgy, their hermitages must be understood as tabernacles of Christ's presence, and the silence of solitude must be embraced as a natural expression of communal life and love. While the hermit does not literally receive Eucharist from the hands of another during Communion services in the hermitage, she does receive this Sacrament as a gift of the parish community and so, from their hands. The communal nature of the eremitical life is constantly underscored by the presence of Eucharist in the hermitage, and the quality of being "alone with the Alone" FOR the salvation of the world is underscored in this way as well. Eremitical life is not selfish, not individualistic or privatistic, and emphatically not a matter of merely living alone -- much less doing so in whatever way one likes. The presence of Eucharist both symbolizes and so, reminds and calls us to realize this (make this real) more and more fully everyday. I should note that it is entirely reasonable to expect that should a hermit ever tend to take the Eucharist for granted or become arrogant or simply lax in her praxis and perspective, then, at least for a time, she should forego even the reservation of the Eucharist, and get to Mass more often, until she recovers her proper perspective and devotion.

Summing Things Up

For me the bottom line in all of this is that while the celebration of Eucharist is indeed the source and summit of ecclesial life --- and it certainly is that for the hermit as well --- a truly Eucharistic spirituality does NOT necessarily require that one go to Mass daily. The hermit's life will be imprinted with the cross, be emptied, broken and given to others precisely insofar as she is faithful to eremitical solitude lived in the heart of the Church. She will celebrate every day, and do so with her faith community, even when the demands of solitude mean she cannot be physically present with them at Mass. If this is not the case, then we are implicitly saying to many people who pray, suffer, and love at least as fully and well as do daily Mass  participants (or diocesan hermits!) --- but who cannot get to Mass regularly --- that they cannot be said to have or even be able to develop a truly Eucharistic spirituality. I am positive we do not want to do that, wouldn't you agree?

see also: Notes from Stillsong Hermitage: On the Reservation of Eucharist by Hermits