Accepted As Diocesan Hermit

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I am truly very happy for you. I, too, hope to be able to wear the habit - Benedictine. I shall include you in my rosary intentions every night.
 
JMJ
Does anyone know of any hermit laura already up & running or any newly forming ones?
 
HOLYHEARTS said:
JMJ
Does anyone know of any hermit laura already up & running or any newly forming ones?
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hermitageofstjoseph.org/ – they plan to be Teresian.

As for the genuine c603 ‘mixed charism’ laura, I haven’t heard of one.

Hermits of Bethlehem-- Fr Romano’s group.

The OCarm hermits in TX may accept women as well.

Hermits of St Mary of Carmel in MN.

Blessings,
Cloisters
 
anonymous_in_fl said:
I cannot contain my great joy!
This is a process that has been approx 7-8 yrs in the making.
My bishop has accepted me as a candidate for diocesan hermit and I will be making my temporay profession of vows later in the fall.

Thanks be to God!
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I am new to this forum. I too live in Fl. and have been discerning this call with my SD. I have spent several years as private hermit with a ROL. May I ask which diocese?
 
i hope the floridians will consider a c603 laura.

anyone else, for that matter. the world needs one.

blessings,
cloisters
 
Praiseofglory said:
I am new to this forum. I too live in Fl. and have been discerning this call with my SD. I have spent several years as private hermit with a ROL. May I ask which diocese?
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I prefer not to mention which particular diocese.
 
Cloisters said:
i hope the floridians will consider a c603 laura.

anyone else, for that matter. the world needs one.

blessings,
cloisters
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I have no inclination towards forming a laura. Maybe others will feel the desire to do so.
 
Cloisters said:
Another purpose of c603 was to permit priests to remain in their religious communities and become recluses without having to leave, which had been happening. Now, under c603, order priests can become hermits and remain part of their community. I think we have a Fathers of Mercy hermit in our diocese.

The lay hermit can, indeed, adapt some kind of distinctive garb, as long as it doesn’t resemble a religious habit. Modest clothing for one’s state in life, and some form of headcover does not usually betray one’s eremitical leanings.

The lay hermit writes a Personal Prayer Rule, and after having lived it for several years, can make petition to the local ordinary for recognition as a “Lay Contemplative.”

Lay eremites can be considered “catechetical hermits” because the catechism covers them, whereas c.603 does not.

Eremitical communities utilizing c603 exist. Some have been “in-diaspora” (living in their own homes).

I am thankful for c603 being put into the code. St. Basil the Great is the one who said cenobitism was better than eremitism, but I think communities like the Camaldolese are showing that both can live together in harmony.

Blessings,
cloisters
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Catechetical hermits?? Sorry, Cloisters, this is nonsense. First of all canon law does describe the central elements characterizing both lay and diocesan hermits in c 603.1. It is canon 603.2 which refers strictly to diocesan or canonical hermits by adding the requirements which are proper to them. Canonical means that one has standing in law and is professed according to canon law. A canonical hermit is more than mentioned in canon law. She is governed by canon law and so are the elements and relationships which structure her life. The catechism governs no one and certainly no lay hermit.

Also nonsensical is the idea that c 603 was meant to allow religious priests the ability to remain in their communities. In fact the history of canon 603 presupposed people who had to LEAVE their religious communities because eremitical life was not included in the congregation’s proper law. It came to be BECAUSE of the situation resulting when these persons had to be dispensed from their vows and secularized. Today one MUST LEAVE a congregation BEFORE one can be professed under canon 603. (Often it is arranged that one is dispensed from other vows at the moment canon 603 vows are made, but the requirement remains.) It is also true that congregations may be required to care for priests who leave to become diocesan hermits but they do not remain part of the congregation. Canon 603 describes a SOLITARY eremitical vocation whose legitimate superior is the Bishop. One cannot be subject to both religious superiors and the Bishop. One’s vow of obedience is made in the hands of one or the other, not both.

Similarly while diocesan hermits can come together in lauras under individual Rules, etc these cannot rise to the level of actual communities. (Cf Jean Beyer’s commentary on canon 603 in The Code of Canon Law, A Text and Commentary) I don’t know where you get the idea of a Bishop recognizing someone as a lay contemplative. By virtue of their Baptism any lay person can embrace eremitical or contemplative life. If it is what they feel called to, then they are actually obliged to embrace it to the best of their ability. There is no special recognition involved nor is there anything in Canon law providing for it.

Finally while I believe a Rule of Life written by the individual herself is always a good idea, some lay hermits never do so. They live simply, usually with spiritual direction. The Rule is required of diocesan hermits because they are obligated in law to live the life and the Rule is a quasi public document which makes this possible. The Bishop approves it with a written declaration (Bishop’s Declaration of Approval) on the day of the hermit’s profession.

As a matter of information I wrote the wickpedia article noted above so if there are questions about it, I would be the person to ask.
 
anonymous_in_fl said:
I prefer not to mention which particular diocese.
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However, once you are professed you will have embraced a public vocation with public rights and obligations as well as public expectations; folks will have a right to know what diocese has professed you as a representative of this ecclesial vocation. Just something to consider. Certainly your diocese will make the matter public because it is something which affects the life of the Church and the contemporary eremitical tradition. Besides you have decided to wear a habit if your Bishop allows it (some do not); this too is a public sign of the acceptance of public and ecclesial rights and obligations. If you accept the right you must know it comes with commensurate obligations.

All my best on your candidacy.
 
lay contemplative with a letter from the bishop is what i was told by two different persons in two different dioceses who were investigating that route for themselves.

personal prayer rule has always been encouraged in lay monastic/eremitic circles.

must have misread regarding religious and canon 603.

blessings,
cloisters
 
Cloisters said:
lay contemplative with a letter from the bishop is what i was told by two different persons in two different dioceses who were investigating that route for themselves.

personal prayer rule has always been encouraged in lay monastic/eremitic circles.

must have misread regarding religious and canon 603.

blessings,
cloisters
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Cloisters, perhaps you have been misled then. I guess if someone believes s/he “needs” a letter telling people s/he is a lay person and a contemplative s/he might find someone to do this, but I honestly doubt it would be a Bishop and, except for its ego-soothing capacity, it seems meaningless. WHY otherwise would anyone want or need such a thing? What would it mean? Remember these persons have no additional standing in law, have embraced no rights or obligations beyond those associated with Baptism as is the case for EVERY lay Christian. Who would need to see such a letter and why? What makes these people different from the gift which is any other lay contemplative in the diocese of in the Church as a whole? It truly makes no sense.

Again, documents indicating standing in law linked to profession or ordination, for instance, are given because the person involved has embraced* legal* rights and obligations beyond those that come with Baptism alone. The Church needs to know this. Otherwise the only documentation needed is the Baptismal certificate; this proclaims the person has embraced all of the rights and obligations of a lay person in the Church.

I agree that possibly you have misunderstood the history of canon 603 which came into being to accommodate religous who HAD to leave their communities if they discerned a vocation to eremitical life because their congregations had no allowance for this in their proper law. Bishop De Roo became Bishop protector of a group of these former monks and begged the Fathers at VII to make eremitical life a state of perfection recognized in law. Only in 1983 with the Revised Code did this come to fruition. Canon 603 professions are not made by persons who are ALSO professed in communities. Even those with commitments as secular Franciscans or Third Order Carmelites, etc need to leave these vommitments to make profession under Canon 603. Again, one can only be bound to God in the hands of ONE legitimate superior.

As I have also told you before, Canon 603 cannot be used as a stopgap by those on their way to forming a community either. It is for solitary eremitical vocations. Lauras are allowed for those who are already diocesan hermits but these are not to rise to the level of a community with a single Rule, community purse, required directors, limited jobs, etc since the individual hermits must be able to continue living their own Rules if the laura dissolves for any reason.

Consider how different the two situations are: If a community dissolves, the member’s vows are dispensed (or simply cease to be) because of a material change in the context or conditions of those vows; nor does the money and property of the community simply go to former members. If they are covered under a group insurance policy then they will need to find and pay for an alternative. If a laura dissolves individual hermits are still vowed under canon 603; the laura is not essential to their profession as a community is is for someone professed under the canons regulating life in religious community. Also they must continue to support themselves, supply their own lodging, upkeep, ongoing formation, spiritual director, insurance, etc just as they did when they were in the laura and continue to relate to the diocesan Bishop as their legitimate superior. All of these things are covered in the individual’s own Rule which she writes herself under canon 603.

best,
Sister Laurel, Er Dio
Stillsong Hermitage
Diocese of Oakland
 
i havent the foggiest as to why a letter would be issued to a lay contemplative. as i said before, two others who didnt know each other both told me of this.

i am not using canon 603 as a stopgap.

blessings,
cloisters
 
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