Diocesan Hermits and Full-time Work

[[Dear Sister Laurel, in writing about the former Hermit Intercessors of the Lamb you gave an example of a woman who was professed as a diocesan hermit who works full-time and uses Saturdays for quiet and contemplative prayer. You said she was admirable as a woman and Sister but was not a hermit. Yet diocesan hermits have to support themselves so what happens to someone who must work full time? Do dioceses ordinarily profess such persons? Should they?]]

This is an important and very neuralgic complex of questions for diocesan hermits, not only because the question of self-support in the contemporary world introduces a lot of tension into each life that desires full-time solitude, but because we don't all agree on the answer. It is one of the general areas of question that comes up most often in the contributions from readers: What forms of work are allowed a hermit? What is too much? What happens if a person has to work more than their Bishop will allow in order to still profess them? Do they have an eremitical vocation or not? How about the related question, if a person really desires a life of solitude but must work full time to support themselves, especially outside the hermitage, should they be professed as a diocesan hermit? This last question echoes your own so I want to focus on this in particular. The next couple of paragraphs explains the background of my conclusion on whether such people should be professed as diocesan hermits or not.


There is no doubt there is an inescapable tension between an eremitical contemplative life lived in "the silence of solitude," and the requirement that hermits support themselves. My own sense is that some resolutions of this tension are legitimate and some are not. Some are consistent with the vocation itself and some simply are not. Some will even mean more persons are professed, but perhaps live and model less authentic eremitical lives as a result, while other solutions will mean just the opposite, namely, fewer professions and more authentic eremitical lives generally. These last two assertions are true because all of these solutions have implications for the solitary eremitical vocation itself and especially will either reflect respect for the general good and credibility of the vocation or fail to do so.

I have written in the past about the flexibility of this vocation. At the same time I have written about versions of "eremitical" life which I do not think are valid and which empty certain central or essential elements of meaning. For instance, I believe the vocation requires an openness to the possibility that God is calling (or might well call) one to complete reclusion. "The silence of solitude" allows for this and may demand it. For this reason among others I have rejected the idea of married hermits, especially professed under Canon 603. Even if the person is never called to reclusion they ARE called to the silence of solitude and union with God which is the heart of this element and of the solitary vocation itself. They cultivate this relationship primarily. Marriage simply seems incompatible with this essential element of the canon (and of course, with a vow of chastity or celibate love).

I have also written critically about the notion of part time "hermits" --- people who build in a bit of solitude on the weekend, for instance, but engage in full-time active ministry or work the rest of their week, and concluded this was not eremitical life and made a mockery of hermits living full-time eremitism with all that means in terms of struggles, growth in solitude, etc, just as it did for those persons who are caught up in the unnatural solitudes of this world and cannot escape their chronic illness, bereavement, prison cells, age, etc for even a weekend here and there. Theirs are not eremitical lives, but it is only full-time eremitical lives which will speak to them about the redemption of their isolation and the ability to live with very little except God. It is authentic eremitical lives which will give hope where "part-time" and pseudo-eremitical lives or the lives of those who are simply dilettantes will not.

Remember that Canon 603 defines a full-time eremitical LIFE which is lived for the praise of God and the salvation of the world. It it is therefore a gift to and from God to his world only insofar as it is lived with integrity and fidelity. The canon spells out the essential or foundational elements of the life. They are not negotiable, not suggestions regarding things which should be included to this degree or that. They are the defining elements of the whole of one's existence, meaning that when one hears a person is a diocesan hermit they should see a life characterized by these foundational elements, namely, the silence of solitude, assiduous prayer and penance, stricter separation from the world, the evangelical counsels, and one's OWN Rule of life lived under the supervision of one's Bishop and those he delegates to assist in this.

Most dioceses recognize that Canon 603, flexible though it is, is not infinitely so. Certain practices empty the canon of meaning including those I mentioned above (part time "eremitical life", married "eremitical" life) and the need to work (whether outside or inside the hermitage) on a full-time basis to support oneself. While those who work inside the hermitage (art, writing, spiritual direction, writing icons, etc, etc) may be able to sustain more work than someone working outside the hermitage, the vocation is still a contemplative one lived in the silence of solitude and it seems to me that full time work is simply incompatible with this. For instance, my own schedule allows for several hours each afternoon which can be used for work or errands, the occasional nap, or any combination of these. I can also use about an hour and a half some evenings for clients if that is really necessary, but the simple fact is the normal activities of an eremitical life do not allow for a full-time work schedule: liturgical prayer (Office, Mass, etc), personal prayer (Silent prayer or meditation, etc), Lectio Divina, study, and writing (personal) take up the majority of the day --- and so they should!

To answer your questions more directly, most dioceses I know of do not allow the profession of persons needing to work full-time in order to support themselves. They recognize that the two things are wholly incompatible. Canon 603 is not about people who desire silence or solitude but either cannot or do not live it --- whatever the reasons for this inability or failure. It is about those who actually feel called to AND embrace a LIFE of the silence of solitude. Some dioceses refuse to profess people who must work at all outside the hermitage and wait until this situation has changed. While I think these cases should be reviewed and perhaps very cautiously allowed on a case by case basis, I also think the Bishops involved in them have a better sense of the meaning of Canon 603 than those who profess persons who must work full-time. They also show a genuine concern for the vocation itself, its integrity and meaning, and they seek to preserve that as the gift it is. It is this concern with the vocation itself even if this should mean fewer actual professions which should be taken seriously by every diocese and Bishop.

There are reasons the solitary eremitical vocation is rare and the fact that most people need to work full time to live is simply one of them. I sincerely believe we really do need to accept the fact that eremitical life is a full-time enterprise and that those persons who must work full-time to support themselves simply are not called to it -- at least not at this point in time in their lives. Again, this is my opinion and not all diocesan hermits agree. However, I think if we take seriously the gift which the eremitical life is to the Church and world, a gift or charism which is specifically defined, I would argue, in terms of the silence of solitude, then it makes it much easier to see why full-time work (and especially that undertaken outside the hermitage) is simply incompatible with Canon 603 life and profession.

"Different, Not Better"?

[[Sister, it sounds like you believe vocations to the consecrated life are better than those which are not. I know you say "different, not better" but if the rights and responsibilities are greater then doesn't that indicate the vocation is better too? I am trying to understand how distinguishing between initiation into the consecrated state is not better than remaining in the lay state. I am also trying to see how what you say is not a subtle demeaning of the lay state.]]

It is really a shame that the language of superiority and inferiority has had to take such a hold in regard to these discussions --- something that has happened throughout the history of the Church. We are still suffering from its effects. It is possible to find religious men and women and priests who affirm that the consecrated or ordained states are better or higher than the lay state because of Aquinas' analysis of the objective superiority of such vocations), but this is not what I hold nor, I think, is it what Thomas held. (My own impression when I hear this reference to "better" is that they have completely misunderstood the import of the Thomistic language here.) In any case I think that Thomas' language is almost impossible to accurately adopt today given the strongly ingrained impulse we have towards egalitarianism and our allergy to the language of superiority/inferiority -- no matter how it is nuanced -- so I prefer to speak of "different, not better" and I mean this sincerely.

The Dignity of Baptismal Consecration and the Universal Call to Holiness

When we speak of God calling some people to the lay state, some to the ordained state, others to the consecrated state, do we really want to say that he calls some to a better or "higher" vocation than others? I don't think so. Because someone is given and accepts a different set of rights and responsibilities than another do we want to suggest those rights and responsibilities are better than those of another person? I definitely don't think so. It is possible to esteem people and the vocations they have been called to without buying into the superiority/inferiority game (which again I don't think Thomas was doing himself.) It is also, therefore, possible to differentiate vocations with regard to rights, responsibilities or state without demeaning other vocations. In what I have written I have sincerely tried to do this, and in fact, my objections to "half-way" or middle states was rooted in the recognition that speaking or thinking this way fails in precisely this regard.

Why is it as soon as people feel called to an intensification of their baptismal commitment they almost automatically think in terms of requiring consecration, vows, special dress, titles, etc which supposedly do not make them lay any longer? Why not instead undertake reflection on the baptismal commitment and vows themselves and find ways to specify them in every day life? (I would note that liturgically we try to do this with the sprinkling rite where we renew our baptismal vows or with the commissioning of ministers, but the question is why isn't this truly effective?) Why is it reflection on the lay vocation is even yet generally done by priests and religious? Why is it the insistence of Vatican II on the place of the laity in the universal call to holiness has not taken hold as fully or effectively as it might have or was desired by the Council Fathers? I think in all of these ways and others we see the effect of a Church that has indeed treated the lay vocation as second or third class. The sense of needing to be called to consecrated or ordained life to really "give oneself" to God in a full and meaningful way is a left-over bit of this ecclesiastical world-view which is symptomatic of a deep-seated sense of inferiority on the part of laity generally.

Combating the Sense of Lay Inferiority: Religious Lay Aside the Habit

One of the most important reasons many religious men and women gave up the habit was to encourage the laity (and here I mean laity in the vocational sense of those in the lay state) to assume the dignity of these vocations. Religious women especially saw themselves as part of the laity (in the hierarchical rather than vocational sense of that term) and let go of dress which distinguished them in ways which contributed to the superiority/inferiority divide which was assumed so strongly before and immediately after Vatican II. The intention was not to demean or deny their own sense of belonging to the consecrated state or the dignity of that (though they are accused of this today, sometimes by the very laity meant to benefit from the act of relinquishing the habit), but to enhance the laity's sense of being called to the same kind of vocational dignity. The accent here was on affirming the universal call to holiness and encouraging those in the lay state to see themselves in terms of this very great dignity and call. Thus, religious sacrificed the signs of vocational distinction for the greater solidarity of baptismal or hierarchical equality.

I believe in some ways this was effective and broke down barriers to ministry, etc. Certainly it assisted people in valuing lay life and imagining or actually seeing themselves as genuinely called by God both to holiness and to ministry in ways similar to those called to consecrated life. In many ways the visual and emotional divide which not only distinguished but alienated and exacerbated the destructive "special vs ordinary" or "superior vs inferior" dichotomies was minimized. In other ways though it was ineffective or even counterproductive. The Church as a whole lost the sense of the presence of the vocation to the consecrated state and the divide between religious and lay was transferred over time to become (to mention one way only) the divide between "true religious" vs "quasi religious", for instance. It lost the sense that "lay" has two senses in the church and left us with the hierarchical sense alone. It also may have contributed to the sense that initiation into the consecrated state comes merely with dedication of oneself via vows of any sort beyond baptism, and obscured the distinction (not inequality!) between ecclesial and non-ecclesial vocations.

The point is that religious women generally have been at the forefront of insisting on the universal call to holiness and the very great dignity of ALL vocations and vocational states. I am not automatically placing myself in this company, but I do agree with the theology that both informs these efforts and motivated the Council Fathers at Vatican II. What all these people have seen and do see today is that Baptism and what happens there is of tremendous import and dignity. To become adopted Daughters and Sons of God when we were not these before is an almost unimaginable gift worthy of immeasurable esteem. To live and minister in the name of Christ is of similar import. To be consecrated in the Sacrament of initiation and made a part of the very Body of Christ should not be minimized or treated as a 2nd or 3rd class vocation. It is not!

I personally wear a habit, and I do so for a number of reasons which I believe are well-founded. However, there are also several reasons which would lead me to drop its use in short order. This issue of esteeming the lay state and minimizing the superior/inferior and special/ordinary divides is one of them. If I really thought the wearing of the habit at this point in time was contributing significantly to the inability of lay people to take the vocation to the lay state seriously or to believe they had to enter the consecrated state to really give themselves to God, I would likely need in conscious to let go of it. One reason I do not is because I have seen its relinquishment also create a kind of gap or lacunae in understanding the difference between consecration and dedication, or between ecclesial and non-ecclesial vocations. The sacrifice women religious made in order to bring home the Vatican II message of a universal call to holiness was a significant one but at the same time it was not completely helpful.

Different, Not Better: The Body of Christ has Many Members with Many Functions

Even so, the bottom line here is that we are told, and asked to believe, that the Body of Christ has many parts with different functions. An eye should not wish (or try) to be a hand, a hand should not wish (or try) to be a foot, etc. Nor, of course, should the eye be treated as "better" than the hand, etc. They are distinct realities and have different functions, different gifts, but each is important to the functioning of the whole and none is better than the other. The rights and responsibilities of the eye are different than those of the hand, but different here does not mean better. The pastor of my parish has different rights and responsibilities than I do, but this certainly does not mean his vocation is better than mine. Similarly the mother across the street from the church has different rights and responsibilities than I do, but this does not mean that either of our vocations is better than the other's. A lay hermit has different rights and responsibilities than I do, but again, that does not mean either vocation is better than the other. I think you see what I am trying to say with all this!

Concern with Canon Law: Just Overly Conservative, Legalistic, Limited, or Something far More?

[[Dear Sister, is your concern with canonical standing coming from something more than a conservative and legalistic tendency? What is wrong with something not being recognized in Canon Law? It seems to me that the Holy Spirit will work wherever he wills.]]


Thanks very much for the question. Sometimes we speak about Canon Law as a necessary evil, and we give the impression that those who regard canonical standing (standing in law) must merely be taken with superficialities, legalisms, or simply be rigid personalities or inflexible in their approach to reality, etc. Because of the apparent opposition between Law and Gospel in much of the NT the idea of law can be degraded even further. But, Canon Law is essential in many ways and in regard to the questions we have been discussing, namely admission to the consecrated state and the nature of ecclesial vocations, law is really critical. This is because it protects the very vocations we are concerned with and makes sure they are nurtured and appropriately discerned, mediated, realized, and governed.

With regard to the question of admission to the consecrated state, since this admission involves the direct action of the Church herself in a way which affects the way she is constituted, Canon law clarifies how and when this is (currently) done in the Church and implies therefore, how it is not. This is absolutely not meant to limit the Holy Spirit re the way she works in the Church, but it does set clear requirements regarding what we are SURE of in regard to ecclesial vocations. Ecclesial vocations are those vocations which, by definition, cannot be discerned by the person alone. More importantly God's own call is, at least in part, mediated by the institutional Church and this only occurs in given situations and circumstances. Ecclesial vocations are not simply individual vocations but rather are part of the patrimony of the Church with public rights and responsibilities to act in the name of the Church. I wrote earlier about the necessary expectations people are allowed to have of those with public vows/consecration. We must take that dimension of these vocations very seriously, and we must be careful in encouraging or even allowing people to have similar expectations with regard to those who have not actually been initiated (professed/consecrated) into the state of life which allows or even demands these.

What is critical to understand in the posts I have put up is that consecration (entrance into the consecrated state) is not something one does with oneself; it is not a way of disposing of or gifting oneself with regard to God or the Church even though it will contain this element as well. Despite the common and misleading use of the term in sentences like, "I consecrate my whole life to the Sacred Heart", the term "consecrate" refers to God's' own action, often mediated through the authoritative agency of members of the Church, but even so to God's own "being God" and doing what only God can do in this particular instance. As mentioned in earlier posts, the appropriate term for something human beings do here with their own lives is dedicare, to dedicate, and there are various similar terms which refer to this particular dimension of the complete action of public profession and consecration. As I have said before, in and of themselves these acts of dedication (private vows, promises, etc) indicate a significant gift, but they do NOT indicate that God working through his Church has initiated the person into a new way or state of being even if it is assumed this gift of self has been accepted.

Thus, in such vocations the Church typically demands significant discernment and periods of formation, not merely to see if the person is serious about all this or is capable of undertaking it, but additionally to see if this is the way God is working in her life AND IN THE LIFE OF HIS CHURCH more generally through this vocation itself. It also is meant to see if indeed the one requesting admission to vows and consecration shows a pattern of consistent fidelity to that action of God over a period of time, and allows them the time and experience to build such a pattern. And so, for instance, in a public testimony for a diocesan hermit, the diocese may publish a statement regarding the fact of public profession of perpetual vows which says: [[This testifies to the fact that our sister ___________, Hermit of the Diocese of ________, having demonstrated persistent fidelity to the presence of God in her life and to the directives of church leadership, made her perpetual profession as a canonical hermit according to the prescriptions of Canon 603. . .]] The notion of persistent faithfulness (to both God and Church leadership) is also important because during perpetual profession what is mediated to the hermit in a new and irrevocable way is God's own and eternal (ongoing) call-as-ecclesial reality in all its dimensions. The Church as a whole has a right to expect this kind of fidelity in one making perpetual public profession.



The reference to canonical standing, and the prescriptions of law (C 603 in this case) mark a new situation of something more than personal dedication. This is not merely the conclusion of a long period of personal discernment and formation or preparation; it is the beginning of something new, something more complete or definitive than the hermit has known heretofore --- even with temporary profession which is marked by new rights and responsibilities in law. Hence the use of the prostration and the Litany of the Saints calling upon the whole Church, living and dead to witness and participate in what God does through her this day. No one, not candidate, church, or world remains the same in light of this act on the part of God, his Church, and the individual whose gift of self he accepts, and whom he publicly claims and gifts with himself in a new way in return.

To summarize then, the Church discerns when, where, and how this tremendous change in the state of things happens because this is an ecclesial vocation. She legislates the matter to protect all the elements which seem fundamental to the mediation of God's own call and his consecration of the individual in a way which creates the right to necessary expectations on the part of the whole Church and world. She legislates the matter to indicate the gravity of what happens, and the very public nature of it all. She legislates it so that it becomes normative and paradigmatic of the way God has been found to act with regard to the consecrated state in his Church and to invite others to aspire to hearing his call, dedicating their lives similarly, living for others in a way which clearly says one's life is not really one's own any longer --- not only in terms of God, but in terms of the Church and even the larger world. The Church is open to new forms of consecrated life and encourages her Bishops to be aware of potential instances in this regard. So, significant as the recognized ways of entering the consecrated state are, the Church is not using Canon Law to indicate rigidity or inflexibility --- even of the legalistic variety. Instead Canon Law here is used to signal not only the person's gift of self, but God's gift to the Church --- namely, the gift of call and consecration, of vocation and state of life.

I have written in the past about vocations to solitude and, as Thomas Merton puts the matter, how it is that solitude "herself" must open the door to the person wishing to be a hermit. Unless this happens, no matter what the person does, how s/he gives him/herself over to the silence and solitude in his/her life, there will be a difference between this life and that of the one who has walked through the door which solitude herself opened to him/her. (Again, not better nor worse, but different.) The situation with the consecrated state is similar. God calls each of us to dedicate ourselves to him. Even so, he does not open the door to the consecrated state to everyone any more than he opens the door to any other state of life to everyone. In the case of ecclesial vocations, however, the definitive opening of this door happens through the effective mediation of the Church when legitimate authorities act in the Name of the Church rather than through an individual's dedication of self alone.

So, in this case Canon Law is an important way of preserving elements of the theology of consecrated life we might otherwise fail to recognize, neglect, or even forget. Attention to it is a way of honoring one specific way God is at work in his church and world --- hallowing and consecrating parts of it as the fulfillment of the Incarnation is realized in space and time. My own appreciation of this theology is rooted in the fact that it does not focus on the person's own dedication of self exclusively or even primarily --- not even when appropriately seen as response to Grace, but on God's own action of empowerment, reception, and consecration which is authoritatively mediated through God's Church. While this does not mean that God is constrained to work in this way ONLY, it does indicate a long-recognized (that is, long-discerned) dimension which is foundational to the theology of consecrated life and does greater justice to it and the God it seeks to glorify than those which omit this.

Dedicare vs Consecrare, Half-way States, and Related Questions

Dear Sr. Laurel, I want to commend you, first of all, for your most erudite and intelligent posts, esp. regarding the "Intercessors of the Lamb" and all that has gone on. Fabulous! However. I have become very heavy of heart in reading your commentary on the status of "Public Associations of the Faithful". I have a copy of Fr. Gambari's book stating that those in Public Associations of the Faithful, while not belonging to an Institute of Consecrated Life, do indeed live a consecrated life, within the framework of a Public Association; they are considered to be consecrated "theologically" while not "canonically", as members of an Institute of Consecrated Life, acknowledged by the Church.

For those of us who have made vows, under the diocesan bishop, in an Association of the Faithful, Public, there is a "midway" point; it is not considered to be 'public' in the same way as a diocesan institute, a diocesan hermit, nor in the case of a consecrated virgin consecrated by a bishop (realizing that this is not a "vowed" state, but a consecrated state); Fr. Gambari makes it clear that those in this situation are considered "consecrated persons" but not those in an institute of consecrated life.

I think you may be too rigid in your definition of what consecrated life entails. From my understanding, a man or woman may make consecration to the evangelical counsels under a bishop without belonging to an institute of consecrated life, while not belonging to either the order of hermits nor of consecrated virgins. There is a "half-way"...of diocesan oblates....those men or women who would make consecration to the evangelical counsels at the service of a Diocese under a bishop who would not belong to an institute of consecrated life nor any of the ancient orders. I'm just bringing this to your attention. You are doing great work in making these matters known. Please do not take this as a criticism of what you have said. I am just offering this to you as further information. ]]

Dear Father,
I can understand your concerns and the depth of your feelings here. I actually know them first hand from both sides of the dedicare/consecrare distinction. The theological dimension of any significant form of dedication or commitment should be recognized and esteemed. Again, as I have said before, there is nothing insignificant about lay life, nor about private or non-canonical vows. (And by private vows I mean any vows the Church herself does not regard as public and which do not bind in LAW or create necessary expectations on the part of the whole Church as public vows do. The latter is also true of non-canonical vows made by members of non-canonical communities.) There is no doubt that there is a serious moral and theological dimension to EVERY vow, resolution, act of personal dedication, etc. Fr Gambari's work MAY be attempting to do justice to that dimension, as well as looking at the diverse ways the Spirit moves in the Church. I don't know (the book is out of print and I have not read it).

But I do know that Vatican II worked mightily to reverse elitist trends and get the laity to embrace their part in the universal call to holiness. If, beyond the vows and promises associated with the sacraments of initiation, laity feel called and wish to make commitments which specify their baptismal consecration, and if they truly require these to live their baptismal commitments fully (the reasons here would need to be substantial for additional vows or promises), then those commitments should be regarded. However, this does not mean these commitments are synonymous with initiation into the consecrated state of life any more than it means Baptism per se signifies entry into this particular state. Nor should it mean this. Were this to happen we simply would continue to foster the sense that lay life is not a significant calling to holiness, that is, it is not, in and of itself, special or capable of representing an exhaustive form of discipleship. I am afraid all this talk of "middle" or "half-way" states makes me feel that the realization of the mandate of Vatican II in regard to the laity is still very far away --- and I say this as a theologian, not as a canonist, for I am emphatically NOT the latter.

Let me respond to one of the specific examples you gave, and also note that in doing so I have consulted with a canonist on some of what I am saying here. I will start with the issue of diocesan oblates. I have never heard of such a thing so it sounds like a local practice. It is unclear from your description whether these are individuals or a group of people. At this point, let me assume it refers to individuals who may be akin to what is sometimes called a "diocesan sister". In such a case we would be speaking about a potentially new form of consecrated life not yet recognized in Canon Law, similar to the male equivalent to consecrated virgins perhaps -- which some would like to see recognized as a new form of consecrated life. While a Bishop may (and in fact is encouraged to) discern "new forms of Consecrated Life" these forms must, according to Canon Law (c 605) be ratified by the Apostolic See before being considered new forms of consecrated life. (The authority to do this is specifically reserved to the Holy See who amends Canon Law with a Motu Proprio. Bishops may not do so on their own. On the other hand, Institutes of Consecrated Life MAY be erected by a Bishop when the Apostolic See is consulted but this requires a formal Bishop's decree.)

In such cases the titles, etc which are associated with the consecrated state MAY be extended to individuals or groups while the Church discerns the nature of the vocation at hand but unless and until the Church mediates God's own call to enter the consecrated state of life to the person through public profession, the individuals themselves still remain in the lay state. Their dedication of themselves to God is a significant specification of their baptismal vows nonetheless. Legitimate and valuable speculation about "theological consecration," (or what I have heard referred to as "passive consecration" as opposed to "active consecration") and reflection on the moral dimension of personal dedication to God may occur among theologians and canonists, but this cannot and ought not be confused with what is identified by the Church at this point in time as entrance into the consecrated state of life. In terms of Canon Law there is indeed an anomaly with regard to secular institutes (which have semi-public vows), but here members remain lay (or ordained). They do not enter the consecrated state of life.

Once again, the rule (exceptions mentioned below are cc 603-604) is that the consecrated state is entered by public vows (which means more than that these vows are made in public even if witnessed by the Bishop). Public vows are RECEIVED (not simply witnessed by someone) in the Name of the Church and are canonical vows which bind legally in ways private vows do not. (So, for instance, as part of the vow formula of public profession and consecration, and with the person's hands in the Bishop's own, a sentence like the following will be included: "I ask you, Bishop_______, as Bishop of the Diocese of_______*** to accept my vows in the name of the Church and to grant me your blessing. May the Word of God which I touch with my hand today be my life and my inspiration, this I pray.") Except for the anomaly already mentioned all other vows, no matter the venue in which they are made or who is present, are private.

*** (N.B This part of the formula may refer to the legitimate superior with authority to act in the name of the Church who may not be (and usually is not) the Bishop. However, the person MUST have the authority and the intention of receiving public vows in the name of the Church.)

Theological and Canonical speculation and reflection may lead eventually to changes in Universal Law and to the Church publicly affirming new forms and expressions of consecrated life. However, as it stands now the distinction between entering the consecrated state through profession AND the mediation of God's own consecration of the person, and remaining in the lay state with significant dedication of one's life to God even through the use of private vows, is linked to public vows except in two cases. These are, consecrated virgins (no vows at all) and those relatively unusual diocesan hermits making their public commitment through sacred bonds other than vows. These stable forms of life are both specifically recognized and provided for in Canon Law and their associated rites of profession or consecration are public in the canonical or ecclesial sense of that word. At this point in time there are no other exceptions, no other new and stable forms of consecrated life recognized by the Church. As the CCC affirms after noting that every person is called to live the evangelical counsels (par 915): [[It is the profession of these counsels within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God.]]

Given the confusion and even concern caused by the (sometimes indiscriminate and injudicious) use of habits by the HIOL and triggered by their suppression, not to mention the thousands of cases of people calling themselves "consecrated" while adding "though privately," mistaking private vows for public ones because they are witnessed by a priest during Mass despite the fact that these do not bind in Law in the same way public vows do, adopting religious garb on their own initiative, etc, and especially given the very clear and assiduously maintained distinction between dedicare and consecrare in the documents of Vatican II, I believe the CCC and Canon Law leave no wiggle room for half-way states in this specific regard. I strongly believe we should use the second Vatican Council's language here and respect the distinction it clearly maintained, just as we should work harder on assisting everyone to truly and seriously regard the place of the lay state in the universal call to holiness and as a gift of the Holy Spirit to Church and world.

While the proliferation of associations and institutes which desire to be institutes of consecrated life MAY represent the work of the Holy Spirit with regard to potential and diverse expressions of consecrated life, they may also (or instead) be a piece of the Church's heritage of failure to esteem lay life adequately and its propensity to make the lay state a kind of second or third-class reality in the Church. Only through mutual discernment will this be determined and groups either remain lay or be publicly recognized as part of and their members be initiated into the consecrated state; until and unless this discernment occurs the positing of half-way or middle states (which supposedly represent neither the lay nor the consecrated state) seems detrimental to the challenge of adequately regarding lay life. It is theologically problematical, canonically unjustified, and, it seems to me, does an injustice to both the lay and consecrated states. I do promise to read more about this (especially if I can find a copy of Gambari's book) and consult further with the canonist I mentioned. In the meantime, many thanks for your email.

Which of You Would Not? The Parable of the Woman and the Lost Coin

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Today's Gospel is one of those which causes ambivalence for me on several levels. In Luke 15:1-10 Jesus is faced by Pharisees who grumble because Jesus eats with sinners and tax collectors. They have a point. How, they ask, are we to maintain the purity or integrity of the People of God if we allow the unclean or active sinners to join in our table fellowship? The Pharisees have their eyes on one version of "the big picture" and their approach to reality is a defensive one. Preserve the larger reality even if it means that individuals are treated as expendable or less precious. This is classic pragmatism, the greatest good for the greatest number!

Luke's own community is facing some of the same issues. Persecutions have led to defections and the nascent Church needs to determine how they will treat these people who, after all, are members of their own families and friends. How will Luke's communities be Church in such a situation? How should they feel about and act towards those who have betrayed them and Christ? In some ways we tend to face the same questions even today. Consider Eucharist. We wish to prevent defilement of the Eucharist and have it witness to unity, both completely appropriate concerns, and so, we do not allow certain people to receive the Sacrament even if they desire it, even if they wish to participate as fully as possible in our table fellowship. If Paul's language from the first reading was applied here, this whole approach to reality, this way of seeing the "big picture" would be called "the flesh". In monastic life it is called "worldly." In everyday parlance we call it "common sense" or being practical or reasonable.

Answering Jesus' Question: The Old Big Picture

It is into this situation that Jesus tells several parables about the lost. Each is effectively prefaced or bracketed by the rhetorical question "Which of you would not?" We know what the answer SHOULD be, the answer Jesus believes is natural, the answer which makes Jesus' question rhetorical. This answer commits us to extravagant and even apparently imprudent actions on behalf of the lost. But how often do we really answer the question honestly (if of course we pause to truly answer it at all)? Consider the situation: if Jesus said, There are 100 sheep in the desert, all in danger of wandering off, dying of thirst, starving or being set upon by predators without their shepherd. One wanders away. Which of you would NOT go after it for as long as it takes and at whatever cost?" How many of us would enthusiastically wave our hands in affirmation that indeed we would act just that way? I suspect if we were to lose such a sheep we would be more inclined to write it off as expendable, part of the acceptable risk of doing business in a dangerous world, a sad but sustainable loss.

And if Jesus were to say to us, "A woman lost one of ten similar and ordinary coins. She was frantic to find it it was so precious to her. She swept the whole house, lit all the lights, turned over the furniture, and when she found it she threw a huge party for family and friends. Which of you would not do similarly?" How many of us could really say we would naturally feel or act as she did? Granted, we might look as hard as we could for a while, but throwing a huge and expensive party when it is found? How likely would THAT be? How foolish would THAT look? So, when Jesus says, "which of you would not?" it is more likely most of us would have to raise our hands to say, "Not me!" than would nod in happy agreement with him. Most of the time we live in a world of different values than this, the world of common sense, expendable goods, and sustainable loss. Our hearts and minds are not really geared in the same way Jesus' are. We don't see or evaluate things in quite the same way usually. Again, as Paul puts it, ours is ordinarily the perspective of the flesh not of the spirit.

So Jesus, consummate psychologist that he is, tells us these parables to disorient us and shake us loose enough from our usual way of seeing, thinking and feeling to allow us to choose another way. He seeks to inspire a change in our minds and hearts, to convince us that this is the way GOD approaches the smallest bit of reality, and certainly, he seeks to help us feel the urgency and pathos the loss of a single person to sin is to God. He wants us to know a God who searches for us with great urgency because we are never expendable to him, never a "sustainable loss." But something is missing for contemporary readers in these parables because they really do not compel in the the way they compelled Jesus' hearers. (Here is another source of my ambivalence.) And I think the parable of the woman with the lost coin is the key to renewed hearing.

The Significance of the Lost Coin

Most commentators focus on the fact that the coin might have been a drachma or a denarius. In either case it would have equaled a day's wages or a bit more. Thus, its worth is established: large but not inestimable. But there is another way of reading this parable -- far more challenging and also more inspiring. Consider that when a woman was married she was ordinarily given a gift of a headdress into which was woven or sewn 10 coins. The headdress with the coins (usually a gift of her father) was to be worn in public at all times and was a symbol of the woman's faithfulness to her husband and marriage, to her people, and to the covenant and God Himself. Should a coin be lost, her husband had the right to conclude she had been unfaithful. Should she actually be unfaithful, her husband could remove a coin and send her out to public shame and disgrace. What was at stake here was not simply a day's wages, but the honor of Israel, the integrity of the covenant, and of course, the woman's very life itself! Consider her search for the coin then in this light! Can we feel the pathos? Are we convinced of the value of what has been lost? Does the urgency of what is at risk clutch at our stomachs and our hearts? Do we feel a compassion and desire to help her in her search, or, if the coin is found, to rejoice with her and help her throw a party the likes of which the neighborhood has not seen? If so, Jesus' parable has done the larger part of its job.

Moved to a New Answer? The New Big Picture

If so, we know a little of what God feels and wishes us to feel in regard to the meanest sinner. Not least, we know a fraction of what God feels in our own regard and for nothing we have done, created, achieved, etc. Simply because he is God and we are his own. If so, we have, at least briefly, felt and seen as the Spirit inspires us to see and feel. The worldly calculus of expendable goods and sustainable losses has been short circuited for the moment and we have adopted the world view of Christ. This single sinner, this meanest person is not just a coin, an expendable fraction of the whole, any longer. S/he is a symbol of God's completely gratuitous love and sovereignty, his unceasing faithfulness and stewardship, his very nature as God --- and s/he is a symbol of our share in all of that and how well we assume these things in our own lives.

Discipleship is about allowing God to BE God in time and space. It is about mediating God's own presence into those places of sin and death human beings choose to take into themselves where God cannot go by simple fiat. It is about making God present where he wills to be present. It is about protecting HIS INTEGRITY as it is experienced by others because he has entrusted a part in that to us. As Paul tells us in the first lection, we ARE the Circumcision; we ARE the covenant. What affects us affects God and vice versa. This means accepting a very different BIG picture than that of the Pharisees, or than which tempted Luke's community. It means accepting the non-commonsense view that we preserve the church, the very Body of Christ, by seeking out and treating as infinitely precious and God's own each individual life, not by focusing on the 99 who are relatively safe. So, let us consider how well God loves us; consider the woman with the lost coin and the urgency of her quest. Consider our own approach to table fellowship (i.e., to life) with the lost. How now do we answer Jesus' question, "Which of you would not. . .?"

Nadine Brown: Disobedient? Right to Personal Ministry?

[[Dear Sister, do you think Nadine Brown is being disobedient to the Archbishop of Omaha in continuing her ministry? Can she just continue to teach and minister, make visitations to groups of "Companions" and the like and not be disobedient]]

Thanks for the question. First, let me say I have no idea whether Nadine Brown is being or has been disobedient to Archbishop Lucas. As far as I can tell, she has done what she was asked and continues on with her own PERSONAL ministry. She has a right to do this even under Canon Law so long as she in no way uses the term Catholic to characterize it. While she is Catholic her MINISTRY IS NOT --- though this in no way necessarily indicates unorthodoxy! (Please check other posts which distinguish between Catholic hermits, Catholic Theologians, etc and hermits or theologians who are ALSO Catholic.) So long as Brown is clear on all these points, and especially that this is a personal ministry, not a Catholic one, that is, not one undertaken in the name of the Church, or one which is in any way approved by the hierarchy, she can proceed as she has already.

Further, so long as the "Companions" remain the Companions of IOL, INC, and not of the Public Association that was Hermit Intercessors of the Lamb, yes, she may work with such groups how ever she wishes. So long as all members are clear they are participating in Brown's personal ministry, and that it is not done under the auspices of the Church, they may continue as before. However, to the extent this activity detracts from parish involvement or sets up an alternative structure to parish ministry which can injure unity in the parish or diocese, there will be room for serious caution and criticisms. Similarly, to the extent people are participating in a personality cult (and I neither know nor suggest this is the case) there is room for serious caution and criticism. One sign of this is the insistence that no one else in the Church is doing what Nadine Brown is doing, for instance. As charismatic as Brown is, her ministry is not unique. Further, to the extent donations to IOL Inc detract from contributions to Church-sponsored ministry and life, there will be room for criticism. Finally, if Nadine Brown's writings or teaching generally are found to be unorthodox there may be room for serious caution and the Church has a right and responsibility to mark this.

Today's Gospel may well apply to the situation you ask about. Remember that in Luke's text for today the steward is removed from his position, but acts cunningly (actually, he acts dishonestly) to ensure he will have a place and the good will of the people he stewarded after he loses his position. The Gospel certainly distinguishes between acting as children of the light vs children of the dark, but it also advises acting in ways which are cunning or shrewd on behalf of the Gospel's proclamation. In some ways we are always surprised or even shocked by the praise the master gives the steward for the way he has behaved but this does not obviate the lesson regarding shrewdness in proclamation. If the world is cunning in its own ways, so too must the children of light be in its service to the GOSPEL. So long as we do not confuse the two "worlds" (or the two ways of acting), we will be okay. In many things this is certainly a slippery slope and the one acting must be VERY cautious not to overstep, but with regard to IOL, INC and Nadine Brown's personal ministry Canon Law allows what she is doing, and the Gospel may require it.

All this being said, I would certainly like to see Brown's IOL, INC contribute substantially to the upkeep of its former members. While no one has a right to expect the return of money or resources from a community, diocese, etc which they have freely given to these, the simple fact is that IOL, Inc appears to be well funded and economically secure. There is little doubt that former privately-vowed members, Associates, and Companions have contributed to that. "Te Laudamus Deum" on blogspot has listed the members of the lay board and all things considered a little less THIS-WORLDLY SHREWDNESS and a little more Gospel generosity and humility would be nice to see. Of course if this is already the case, it would be wonderful to hear the Archdiocese of Omaha announce it is so --- or IOL, Inc, for that matter.

Question on Consecration vs Dedication

[[Sister Laurel, you speak of consecration and being "initiated" into the consecrated state as though it means more than the person making vows or dedicating his life to God. You also refer to something "objective" happening besides what happens "subjectively." Doesn't this make of religious profession something kind of "magical"? . . .]](I will need to answer the rest at another time. My thanks for your patience.)


Yes, in recent posts on the former HIOL, and in others over the past three years I have spoken in this way. I would suggest you look at labels having to do with "dedicare vs consecrare" for instance for more detailed discussion of the topic than I will give right now. Let me summarize it this way: despite the common use of the term consecrate (for instance: "I consecrate myself to God. . .") the documents of Vatican II were very careful in distinguishing between this less accurate and the more proper usage. Therein, VII INVARIABLY used terms like dedicare or in mancipare for the HUMAN element in profession, and consecrare for the DIVINE element.

In the rite of perpetual profession there are correlative moments: 1) After the Word of God and Homily the person is called forth formally and replies "You have called me, Lord. Here I am." (or something similar), 2) she is examined on her readiness to answer/accept this call in all of it aspects with and for the whole of her life, 3) she prostrates while the entire Church in heaven and on earth are called upon to witness and participate in what is about to happen to her through the Church's mediation (the Litany of the Saints is sung here), 4) with her hands on the book of the Gospels she makes her profession of vows in the hands of a legitimate superior (for the hermit it is her Bishop), and the vow formula is placed and signed on the altar 5) the Bishop, with hands extended, prays a prayer of solemn consecration over her thus mediating God's own consecration of her, and 6) the insigniae of profession and consecration are given to her.

The entire rite is meant to mediate God's call to the person in an effective or performative way and to receive the person's vows (part of the mediation process and dynamic), but please note the central elements, ## 3,4 and 5. In the rite of profession for temporary vows there is no prostration and no prayer of consecration though there IS a prayer for God's grace in its stead. In the rite of perpetual profession this then is replaced by the "Solemn Blessing or Consecration of the Professed". (Note that consecration is only referred to here, not at the profession of vows per se.)

In the Rite of Consecration of Virgins the distinction between dedication and consecration is even clearer. Here the virgin makes no vows at all. She is asked several questions regarding readiness to follow Christ and then she is asked if she is resolved to accept solemn consecration as a bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note the rite in no way suggests the person is consecrating herself to God. There is a prayer and statements of resolution to follow Christ in perfect chastity. Following this there is a long prayer of "Solemn Consecration" followed by the presentation of insigniae. For diocesan hermits who choose to dedicate themselves publicly without vows, but instead make a public resolution, oath, or some other form of sacred bond, this is also received by (made in the hands of) and followed by the formal or actual consecration by their Bishop.

I don't think there is anything magical here in the sense I believe you mean it. But mysterious and awesome? Yes. The Church has discerned this vocation with the person. In light of this she acts to mediate God's own call and "setting apart" of this person as a sacred person. Only God can make sacred. Only God may consecrate. Only God may hallow. These are the verbs which are proper to God himself. When the Church acts "in his name" she acts in the power of his person and allows God to act through her. This is fundamental Catholic theology and ecclesiology. Thus, similarly to what happens in baptism, the person is objectively changed by what occurs in public perpetual profession or the consecration of a virgin. (This is why religious profession has often been treated as a new baptism or as sacramental in character.) The point though, with regard to HIOL and private vows is that only the dedicare portion of the equation occurs there, not the consecrare aspect. This certainly means the dedications and professions of evangelical counsels by HIOL members was serious and sincere. But they were not ALSO consecrations in the sense that Vatican II and the Rite of Religious Profession uses the term.

Question on Whether the Truth is Demeaning

[[Dear Sister Laurel, pardon me but isn't it demeaning to the HIOL to insist they were lay rather than religious? Since they had made vows hadn't they accepted the same life as religious men and women?]]

Thanks for your questions. I suspect a lot of people are asking (or have definitely asked me already) something similar. Thus, though I think I have answered all of this at least indirectly let me give it an explicit but relatively brief shot. Regarding being demeaning my answer must be no. Is it demeaning to be a member of the lay state? Clearly not. Is it demeaning to live a life outlined in the Acts of the Apostles, for instance, with values which apply to every Christian? Again, of course not. Is it demeaning to be honest about where one has been called by God to this point in time? Emphatically not. Neither is it at all demeaning to affirm clearly that the discipleship of the former HIOL led them to make private vows as specifications of their baptism, or that is caused them to ASPIRE to existence as an institute of consecrated life and to enter into a long and risky period of mutual discernment with the Church while they ministered in unique and committed ways.

On the other hand, it would be demeaning to the Church as a whole to fail to be clear that the HIOL had not yet become an institute of consecrated life, nor had its members been admitted to the consecrated state or to all of the rights and obligations which attach to religious life and that state. It would be unjust to allow people to continue to believe that the use of habits and titles were not merely "on loan" against the day that would all happen. For that matter, it would be unjust to allow the Church at large to believe there are canonical religious congregations that are mixed (that is, are communities which, despite vows of consecrated celibacy, do not have distinct communities of men and women) or allow children to wear the garb of professed religious, or who perhaps undervalue the Sacrament of marriage in the process of esteeming religious life TOO highly.

Regarding your second question, the answer is again, "no". I would ask you to refer to the last post I put up on the use of the term "vowed" which I think outlines the very large difference between the life of the religious and that of the former HIOL. While it is true there are superficial similarities (and more than usual), and while it is also true that the HIOL were allowed to approximate the life of the religious until one does all the things religious women and men do in making public profession (and until God "does TO them" all the things God does during the rite of public profession in consecrating them) living as if one is a religious is still not the same as BEING a religious.

Of course it is wrenching to lose the sense of approaching what what yearns for and has a personal certainty that this is what God is calling one to. It is painful in the extreme to have to realize the gap which remained between what one was and what one meant to be. The HIOL were in something of an in-between position here: lay persons seriously discerning WITH THE LARGER CHURCH a vocation to consecrated life and given reason to hope and believe one day they would be admitted to this and their charism affirmed publicly. It is tremendously confusing and challenging to one's own sense of God's presence in one's life to have to begin afresh one's discernment regarding what specifically God is calling one to because a MUTUAL conclusion was not reached. But this is the risk of entering into discernment with regard to an ecclesial vocation. It is the same essential dynamic that occurs when an individual says to a diocese, "I have a call to ordained life and ministry" and the diocese discerns --- perhaps after years in seminary formation --- that the person is at the very least not called to embrace this life with them at this time. When all of this is accompanied by a failure of leadership and a split and internal conflict in the original group the pain is underscored and amplified. But, the truth remains the truth and it is not demeaning to clarify that.

On the Use of the term "Vowed"

[[Sister Laurel, Why is the term "vowed" usually reserved for those with public or canonical vows? Do you mean to say that these are better than private vows?]]

The simple reason is that in the Roman Catholic Church, except for the act of consecration of a consecrated virgin which is unaccompanied by vows, or the consecration of the relative minority of diocesan hermits who choose sacred bonds other than vows, only public vows received by the Church and accompanied by the prayer of consecration during the rite of religious profession initiate a person into the consecrated state, a new and stable state of life. (As noted diocesan or c 603 hermits provide an exception here in some cases because the Canon allows for "public profession confirmed by vow or other sacred bond," but again, this would be an exception to the rule while it still involves public profession and is accompanied by the prayer of consecration. In a general way it would be considered a vowed life even with other sacred bonds.)  Private vows do not do what public vows do, nor do they bind in law in the same way. Thus we refer to the vowed life, the vowed state, or, within true religious communities, the vowed members, and when we do so we normally mean the publicly or canonically vowed.

In drawing the distinctions I have I absolutely do NOT mean that public vows are better than private vows, but they are different in the rights and responsibilities attached and, as just outlined, the state of life they help initiate a person into. As I wrote recently on another matter, diocesan hermits are specifically professed under Canon 603 but this is not the only Canon which binds in law and in conscience once the hermit is professed. A lay hermit may privately vow poverty and chastity (and if they can do so reasonably with someone who will act as director or superior --- an unlikely proposition --- obedience), but in so doing she is not bound in law to either Canon 603 or any of the other appropriate Canons which bind the diocesan hermit. Private vows do not bind in law in the same way as public vows. So, not better but different.


In a similar way, people have the right to certain NECESSARY expectations of the publicly professed person as someone who has professed an ecclesial vocation which they actually do not have with privately professed persons. They have the right to expect, among other things, that the Church herself was really, officially, and formally part of discerning and mediating this vocation, that the person acts in the church's name in living it out, that she is competent to commit to doing so for the whole of her life, that she may be approached as someone who represents the vocation with integrity and transparency, and so forth. They have the right to expect that, in some substantial way they can call on in need, she lives her life for them as she would for her own family, for instance. Thus too the public rights/privilege to title and habit, post-nomial initials, etc which are meant to serve as signs of these rights and responsibilities, and which are symbols of the state of life itself.

This, as I have written before, emphatically does not mean the lay hermit who makes private vows (or no vows at all!), for instance, has a second class vocation, or that she does not live the eremitical life every bit as well as the diocesan hermit, but it does mean that people do NOT have the right to necessarily expect of her what they may necessarily expect from a diocesan hermit. This includes that hermit being bound by and meeting the obligations of ALL of the Canons --- and thus to all of the canonical relationships which apply to consecrated life for the WHOLE (length, breadth, and depth) of her life. What applies to this illustration with hermits is true with regard to public vs private profession more generally. Again, not better, but different.

One of the reasons I am emphatic that people must be clear whether they are publicly or privately professed is that in the former case God's own call has been mediated to the person, and their response received (not merely witnessed) in a way which creates both moral and legal rights, responsibilities, and necessary expectations on the part of the whole Church. To summarize then, in general we use "vowed" to reference not just the obligations and responsibilities legally and morally assumed by the person professed, but to an entire constellation of rights and necessary expectations which people have a right to hold with regard to the one who is professed/consecrated and related to the People of God in this new and public way. Private vows neither bind nor obligate in the same way, nor allow for the same expectations. It is for this reason we ordinarily do not refer to these persons as "vowed." In other words, private vows are certainly personally binding, but not publicly so. It is a very large difference and for that reason we ordinarily reserve the term "vowed" for the latter.

cf also: Ecclesial vocations --- a matter of stable relationships for more on the stable relationships comprising the heart of canonical standing.

On the Question of Delegates for Public Associations of the Faithful

One of the questions raised by all the confusion, turmoil, and tragedy of the former HIOL situation is that of oversight, accountability, and how it is a Diocese remains completely informed about the condition of a Public Association of the Faithful, and also keep it completely informed. While my comments on support for the former HIOL may have seemed to lack compassion, they were rooted in a gut sense that something went wrong a while ago and is only now coming to the surface and while emergency assistance is important these original problems are the source of the current crisis.I am not unsympathetic to the current plight of the former HIOL, but (current legitimate emergency needs, important as they are, notwithstanding) I believe the tragedy could have been softened, attenuated, mitigated, or prevented altogether had adequate oversight and accountability been ensured right along. This is especially so with regard to the private vow of poverty which actually left former members destitute and without provision for what is a common eventuality in the life of many Associations of the Faithful.

That same sense was part of my response to the question regarding accusations of abandonment and a rush to judgment on the part of the Archdiocese when I noted that perhaps Archbishop Lucas has simply acted in a timely way after others either saw no need yet, or simply failed to do so for other reasons. At bottom I personally believe that the HIOL were not sufficiently aware of their own canonical standing as lay persons, were insufficiently cognizant of the risky status of Associations of the Faithful, and were perhaps not sufficiently clear to others regarding this category of standing in law (though I cannot verify this since their original website has been taken down). One sign, however, is that they did indeed make private vows of poverty without sufficient concern or provision for the very real possibility that the group would never become an institute of consecrated life and might even be dissolved or suppressed. How the lay board works into all this I can't say but the entire situation leaves the impression of inadequate oversight on the part of the diocese and canonists involved there as well as HIOL and IOL, Inc. Unfortunately, there seems to be lots of responsibility (not to say blame!) to apportion here, even if it is not apportioned equally. Because of this, it is my feeling that it is not necessarily the responsibility of the laity to bail people out here --- especially not in the long term! In any case, steps must be taken to ensure this never happens again, something which is key should the 56 former HIOL choose to re-form as an Association of the Faithful with an eye towards PERHAPS one day becoming an ICL with public vows.

One way of doing this is to appoint a delegate or delegates for such groups. For diocesan hermits who see their Bishops for a sit-down meeting once or twice a year usually, a delegate is either appointed by the diocese or chosen by the hermit to keep his/her finger on the pulse of things. S/he will also act as intermediary between hermit and diocese, and the Bishop will sometimes ask for his/her input on requests by the hermit for this or that permission (the use of post-nomial initials, for instance, or major changes in the hermit's Rule or praxis). Some have written here in the past that this is simply another layer of unnecessary institutionalization which detracts from the simplicity and humility of the eremitical vocation, but it really benefits the hermit and the Bishop who (along with the hermit herself) is usually only just now learning first hand about what it means to have (or be) a diocesan hermit in the diocese. (Since diocesan hermits are so rare or uncommon most Bishops do not have much experience with this. Neither do most Bishops, who are the hermit's legitimate superior, have the time to meet more frequently with hermits under their jurisdiction.) As I have noted before, the delegate thus serves as a quasi superior for the hermit and allows for genuine and adequate accountability, oversight, and information for everyone involved. Should something be questionable in the life of the hermit, or should the Bishop have concerns, the delegate serves to help mediate needed elements of clarification and resolution to both parties in a more complete and objective way. Further, the arrangement clearly cuts down on surprises and makes resolutions easier to manage -- before the situations they address have become established and more complex than originally.

All of this explains my own sense that the HIOL, a much more complex reality than a solitary diocesan hermit or hermitage after all, should certainly have had a delegate appointed by the Bishop who would be or have been responsible for communicating concerns to the Bishop in a timely fashion and working out (or calling for the appropriate people to work out) problems within the community in a similar manner. This is not meant to single out the former HIOL; it would be appropriate I think for any Lay Association of the Faithful whether private or public. It is my own sense that the delegate should probably be a perpetually professed religious with experience of the distinction between inner and outer forums in religious life, the appropriate way leadership and obedience works out in contemporary consecrated life, what happens when steps are taken prematurely or without sufficient prudence to really provide for former members or live a healthy poverty, the role and authority of the lay board, etc. Alternately, a canonist with similar experience and sensitivity, and who, for instance, has a real sense of the danger signs which must be looked out for in new groups, can clarify canonical matters for everyone, etc could well serve in such a position.

Unfortunately a lay board (which actually may be part of the problem and is certainly part of the organization requiring oversight and accountability) cannot do this, and while the moderator or general superior/director of the association will certainly assist in maintaining the mutual flow of communication, a delegate is not a member of the community (thus, s/he may be more objective) and is capable of functioning at least as a quasi superior for the whole community with their best interests AND those of the Church at heart. The fact that a delegate serves as quasi superior, though not binding members to obedience by vow or law, would also help bring to light any difficulties in the area of obedience or concerns with too-exclusive reliance on the leadership of one person, for instance. Additionally, such a delegate can help underscore for all the fact that this is a lay association in the process of discernment under the supervision of the diocese. At the very least, the impression given by the HIOL suppression has been that there was a vacuum in communication between HIOL leadership, lay board, and diocese, and perhaps therefore, in oversight and accountability as well. A diocesan delegate could well have helped overcome such a situation before it reached crisis proportions.

Were the Hermit Intercessors Religious?

[[Dearest Sr Laurel, The 56 didn't stay in a motel. They were in a Benedictine Retreat House. Now they were somewhere in Iowa [if i am not mistaken] and they'll be moving to Blair, NE, in a former campus dormitory. I feel that you're (sic) post lacks compassion for these former hermits. You seem to forget that they were in a religious community. You seem to attack even the obedient hermits {okay call them metaphorical hermits] by telling them they were never religious. This alone creates confusion. Some may even think they are deceiving people even from the start. Some may think they are fake brothers and sisters.

Now in your recent post, it seems that you discourage people to donate to the destitute former intercessors although you have clarified this at the end of your post. Yes they are part of the laity now, so they mustn't receive any support now? But they were in a religious community before, took vows of poverty and now they have nothing. Some of them are old now and have no family to return to. So, because they are laity they must be sent to charity homes for the aged? Some of them left their jobs because they entered "Religious life" so, they must be sent back to the world again because they are laity and we must not care for them now from now on? There's a great possibility that they'll be founding another community. Fr. Baxter has said that.]]

Thank you for the corrections regarding the motel, and the note on the dormitory. I have made the appropriate correction in the original post. I haven't seen where the former HIOL has published anything yet on this latter issue outside their request for money and their comment that it is difficult finding a place large enough for 50 plus people, so thank you for this information. I am sorry my last post seemed to lack compassion. There is no doubt the plea for longterm corporate assistance did not sit well with me. Because of that, and because they are pertinent, I should correct you on a couple of points. First, I do indeed discourage people from contributing to the support of the former HIOL as a group or "community", especially without demanding a good deal more transparency and clarity before doing so not only on the part of the former HIOL group of 56, but of the IOL, Inc. Secondly, and especially important, however, is the simple fact that the HIOL were never religious. I am not the source of confusion here, nor am I attacking anyone in clarifying their canonical status. Certainly there is nothing wrong with being a member of the laity (i.e., lay STATE in the vocational sense). Neither should it be seen to be an attack or somehow demeaning in pointing out that someone was a member of the lay state rather than the consecrated state.


So again, the HIOL were members of a Public Association of the Faithful. They did not have canonical (public) vows, were not members of an institute of consecrated life, and their vows, though made in good faith and a serious personal commitment, could be simply dispensed at any time by their pastor or bishop, and without the canonical process of public vows. It is not simply that they are NOW lay persons; they have been lay persons right along (and not merely in the hierarchical sense of that term which applies to non-clerics, but in the vocational sense which distinguishes between lay, ordained, and consecrated faithful). As I noted earlier, they were allowed the use of habits and titles AS THEY DISCERNED with the Church whether or not they would ever become an institute of consecrated life and be admitted to the consecrated state of life, but that eventuality was NEVER assured.

None of this means people should not contribute to them if they choose but simply that they should be clear the HIOL were not religious. Neither does this necessarily point to deception or pretense (although I personally find continuing references to "vowed members" as opposed to other lay members somewhat and perhaps purposely unclear (or maybe just confused) since ANY lay person may make private vows at any time which have the same gravity as those of any HIOL; further, they may do so do so on their own initiative without mutual discernment, permission from anyone, or anyone actually receiving those vows. The term vowed is ordinarily reserved for those with PUBLIC or canonical vows because they are initiated into the consecrated state by their profession and have their entire lives PUBLICLY defined in these terms, something that private vows do not do. Again what all this means is not that HIOL vows were insignificant (they were quite significant) but instead that the members of the HIOL were not religious, and need to be VERY clear in the future about their identity and category of canonical standing especially when they request assistance. Perhaps it will help if I quote rather extensively here from a canonist who specializes in consecrated life to back up what I am saying.

[[Reasons Why Knowing the Canonical Status of a Community is Important

1. Only members of Diocesan-right or Pontifical-Right Religious Institutes are religious and enjoy the rights of religious and the obligations of religious. Vowed members of such Religious Institutes are in the consecrated state. The Intercessors of the Lamb, contrary to popular opinion, were NEVER a religious institute and its members were not in the consecrated state. “Consecrated” or vowed Members had some of the trappings of religious life: a habit, vows, chapel, statutes, etc., but they were not recognized in the Church as true religious. Why? Because they were in the more risky (to discerners) stage of being a Public Association of the Faithful.

While they had the intention and hope of eventually following some kind of consecrated lifestyle in a form approved by the Church, the Intercessors of the Lamb had the same status as any other Public Association of the Faithful (think Legion of Mary, Worldwide Marriage Encounter, etc.). A good percentage of Public Associations of the Faithful who wish to become a Religious Institute or evolve into a Secular Institute or a Society of Apostolic Life simply fold, fizzle out, are suppressed, or disintegrate for a variety of reasons. Oftentimes, it is because there are unhealthy practices within the community, shady financial practices, personality struggles, etc. The bottom line is that even people with vows in a Public Association of the Faithful remain lay (if non-ordained) because they are not in a Religious Institute.]] Therese Ivers, JCL, Diocese of Sioux Falls.

In fact, I believe that there has been some serious imprudence on the part of the lay board who was meant to govern the HIOL, and possibly on the part of the community's leadership as well. Any person who is discerning a vocation with an Association of the Faithful should realize that the position of the organization is tenuous as best. Even (and perhaps especially) in making private vows of poverty in such an organization there probably should be some sort of provision for members who must leave or who are left high and dry should the organization dissolve or be suppressed. I am not in the least suggesting the former HIOL were disobedient (nor, however, that obedience -- or cooperation with the Archbishop -- should be rewarded financially), but I think we must be clear on the nature of the group and ask some serious questions about the MORAL and possibly legal obligations of IOL, Inc, as well as the imprudence of being wholly unprepared to pick up the financial pieces in case of the group's failure --- especially if asking for assistance from the laity generally distracts from demanding IOL, Inc act responsibly and morally in their regard.

In saying this I am assuming that the HIOL were clear on the private nature of the vows they took, and clear on the risk attached to being part of a still-discerning Association of the Faithful. (If they were not the situation becomes even more serious and irregular.) And while I can understand they would ask for emergency assistance, I have been very surprised that they seriously appear to expect the laity to support them for an indefinite period, provide luxury items like cars, trucks, computers, printers, and the like, or that they have not considered that their current circumstances will seriously effect the way they have been able to live their lives --- just as it would when any Association of the Faithful fails for whatever reason. Thus, it is not that I don't want former HIOL's assisted financially per se --- especially as emergency assistance; what I want is the appropriate people doing that and in the most appropriate way (namely, individually not corporately) given the (now former) canonical status of the group.

Further, in pointing to what I consider a serious example of imprudence on the part of HIOL leadership or perhaps abdication of responsibility by the IOL,Inc (I don't know which is involved or if both are) I will refer to one warning sign put forth by another Canonist, Peter J Vere, JCL, MCL. It is taken from a list of warning signs used in evaluating new groups. Vere writes that discerners et al should be cautious regarding groups evidencing, [[5. [a premature] insistence on placing all goods in common: While the Church has a history of associations and religious orders in which members place all their goods in common, the decision to do so should come after a reasonable period of careful discernment. Placing one’s goods in common is not for everyone, and the consequences of such a decision are lifelong. Additionally, the potential for abuse by those who administer the common goods is great. Therefore, canonists frown upon any insistence by an association that its new or potential members place their goods in common.

Due to the fact that modern times see less stability in common life, with members sometimes opting to leave after a number of years, the most prudent handling of goods in common is to place them in trust until a member dies. That way, if the member leaves, the goods are available to meet his or her needs outside of the community.]] (Emphasis added)

The link to the rest of this article will be found on Therese Ivers' site, "Do I Have a Vocation?" (More than this this point may be applicable so people should definitely take a look at it!) Ivers is also planning a series on the HIOL/IOL, Inc and people really should stay tuned. Strictly canonical questions can be directed to her as well.

As far as forming another community goes, everyone needs to be clear that this will continue to be a (Lay) Association of the Faithful, and possibly a private association before it becomes a public association in the beginning. It will have no different standing in law than any other Association, and vows made by members will remain private vows unless and until the Archbishop erects the group as an Institute of Consecrated Life and admits members to public vows where they actually assume the RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CANONICAL VOWS. Remember that there are literally hundreds of such groups extant at this point. Most desire to be ICL's at some point and some are headed by persons who long to be "foundresses". Many have private vows but have not yet received permission to adopt the habit "on loan" against the day they are made ICL's -- nor will they ever.

Most dissolve or are told they cannot continue by their local ordinary because of all kinds of irregularities and eccentricities. Do they have a right to expect the laity of the Church to support them as groups (or even members individually) nonetheless? Do they have the right to expect the laity to support them while they start out? I don't think so. Emergency help (counseling, social workers, financial aid, etc) especially for those who are too elderly to work should be made available, but I do personally think that those who are elderly and/or incapable of working should apply for government assistance (just as those who ARE publicly (canonically) professed sometimes need and are expected to do when they age or become infirm --- for neither dioceses nor laity support these persons). Those who are capable of working should do so of course, just as any other lay person is expected to do --- even if they believe they are called to contemplative lives or even to lives of eremitical solitude --- again, just as those with canonical vows (including diocesan hermits) are required to do --- and absolutely as every other person in the Church with private vows must usually do when in need.

It is possible that the Church will need to rethink the wisdom and prudence of the custom (for it is only custom) of allowing Public Associations of the Faithful who wish to become Institutes of Consecrated Life (etc) to adopt habits and titles prematurely (say, before it is sure that a Bishop WILL erect the group as an ICL, etc), or make vows which give up all property or the right to such, etc, as a result of this situation. Habits and titles are properly associated with the assumption of public rights and responsibilities, and generally too, with initiation into the consecrated state (exceptions, for instance, include novices who are allowed to wear the habit of the institute as they prepare for profession because they do indeed have some rights within the congregation which candidates do not have. They signal this to the rest of the Church along with the fact that they are indeed immediately preparing for public profession by adopting modified religious garb (e.g., white veil, no ring or community emblem associated with final profession). The confusion that is being generated in this case amongst average church members, and in fact, which is being insisted on as truth (as in your own email to me) in order to justify assistance and so forth is significant and a matter for concern I think.