What is a semi-eremitical hermit?
Within the Church, there are various forms of the eremitical life. Often, when someone hears the word "hermit," they assume it means the hermit lives in silence and rarely leaves their hermitage except for Mass and doctor's appointments. This is true for a recluse hermit, but it is not the case for a semi-eremitical hermit.
A semi-eremitical hermit is a hermit
"The hermit's life is devoted to the praise of God and salvation of the world, achieved through stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance. It is a particular call to "find in the desert, in the thick of the spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One." (Catechism of the Catholic Church #921)
A semi-eremitical hermit lives a combination of solitude, communal life, and participation in a small, limited ministry.
Hermits are not financially supported by the diocese in which they live. Hermits rely on God's providence to provide for their needs.
Laura of Hermits
The word laura in Greek means "narrow way". “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" Matthew 7:13-14
A laura of hermits is not a formal religious community. It is a form of eremitical life that started in the 4th-6th centuries and is still around today. A laura of hermits is a middle ground between total solitude and full communal life. A laura of hermits live a rule of life, have periods of solitude and periods of communal life. Each hermit lives in their own individual hermitage.
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The Hermitage
The hermitage is the training ground where the hermit learns to orient his/her whole life toward rendering fitting service to the Lord.
In the hermitage, one comes to see their insufficiency quickly, yet in the act of resignation of their personal insufficiency, Christ comes ALIVE in their heart. The desert reveals our weaknesses, yet the desert also reveals the power of Christ!
Communal Life
The hermits gather at different times throughout the day for communal life. Mass, prayer, recreation, meal preparation, etc. At other times, one is engaged in the intimacy of silence and solitude with their Beloved through a duty or in their hermitage.
Service
Not all who are called to the Handmaid's will be or need to be a trained spiritual director, retreat director, or Catholic therapist. It takes many hands. . .artists, seamstresses, nurses, doctors, gardeners, musicians, cooks. . .you name it! Most importantly, it is that a woman is attracted to the way of life and the charism.
