Hermits have long been an important part of the Catholic tradition. Historically, they have been the source of most Catholic mystic experience. Sure, I could be as cynical about this phenomenon as I am about Tom Cruise's "religion." But I won't. True mysticism is an important part of healthy religious activity.
The vocation of the hermit began as a natural outgrowth of the early church. Christians anticipated the immediate and imminent arrival of the Second Coming. All believers worked hard to prepare their souls for this eventuality. Hermits went the extra mile while preparing for the return of the Kingdom of Heaven. They completely renounced an earthly life and cut off most of their association with worldly ways and devoted their lives to the contemplation of God.
Hermits had something of a revival in the Middle Ages, and many medieval saints had a period of solitude.
Now, it seems, there is a revival of this particular method of giving glory to God.
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This lifestyle has appealed to me ever since I was a kid and read "My Side of the Mountain". Maybe I should change my holy name(username) to something of a hermit genre. The holy name has to use catholic verbage, so that Catholic encyclopedia will come in handy. I live near a swamp. How about Hermit the frog? That sounds masculine, though. Friendly Hermit? Ostentatious Hermit? Something diabolically opposed would be funny. I'll have to think on it a while. I'm kind of attached to my old name, but it seems to be attracting the wrong attention to my blog(ie...people who think excessive use of expletives is funny and dramatic). A hermit reference is perfect because I kind of live a shut in life as a mother, and I eat meager rations of ramen noodles to stay within our one income lifestyle. I'm not a hermit to the true sense of the catholic meaning, but I was never a head nun either and my children were not conceived immaculately. I know of a cow who conceived immaculately twice, though. The calves were lovingly named Jesus, and Jesus II.
sigh.
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