Category Archives: Eremitic Life

Eremitic Life, Women's Communities

An Emerging Franciscan Community in the Beguine Tradition

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By Sr. Courney Haase, CoC

The Companions of Clare is an emerging religious community located in Skowhegan, Maine.  As the name implies we follow a modified Franciscan rule of Clare of Assisi.  The Companions are revitalizing the beguine tradition in America following the format and structure.

Let us begin with Beguines?

Without burdening you with too much historical data, I invite you to do a Google search of the beguines in history. They were strong, independent women who loved God but did not wish to enter monasteries, the only available option.  They were autonomous in concept and lifestyle. Many women saints and founders started as beguines.  Numbers among beguines were St. Colette of Corbie, St. Angela Merici, and many others.  They were women who wanted to spend their lives with community support and in prayer. The beguine tradition is currently being studied and there is a revival of their spirit, especially in the lowlands of Europe where they originated. There are some YouTube videos at the end of the Companions website as well as a small list of books that are interesting and pertinent. I hope this cursory overview ignites your curiosity.

Religious life as we know it is changing as is the Church.  Beguines were on the cutting edge of a different style of religious women. The Companions of Clare are following suit.  The new is meeting the old! Both the Church and a new version of the beguines are breathing the Spirit of new life. All of us are looking ahead and occasionally we necessarily review the old. There is value in both and in new birth. Sometimes it is painful but always rewarding.

More about the Companions 

And so enters the Companions of Clare.  The mission of the community is adoration and thanksgiving and is geared to mature women who wish to spend their days with like-minded people. Many times maturity develops an insight or “second sight” to the soul. The community feeds on the liturgy and is dedicated to an intense contemplative prayer lifestyle. It is meant to fill a need for women who wish to reenter religious, life if they have previously left (but is not restricted to that end), or for women who wish to spend the remainder of life in prayer.

Social work is not our goal.  The five priorities of the Franciscan order consist of prayer, formation, evangelization, community and ministry.  The Companions pray without ceasing, are formed in Franciscan ideals and virtues, evangelize by our dress, work to live and grow in a community of spiritual women and encourage silence in our noisy world. The beguineage is considered a sacred space to all who visit. Living here demands mindfulness.  It is not always a piece of cake as you can imagine. But the rewards are by far sweeter.

The physical work of the Companions is basically maintaining the household and doing handiwork.  There are 3 alpacas which supply the community with fleece for spinning and weaving.  The end result of the work is not judged for selling but rather is used as gifts for benefactors and to enhance the contemplative spirit of the beguinage. The housekeeping, garden and outdoor work as well as handiwork help to free the heart for prayer. If your talent is writing, you may be asked to supply literature for publication. During the formative years some personal funds are reserved, after room and board is paid, as backup for formation members. All things are held in common after profession of vows.

The Prayer Life of the Community

The Divine Office is prayed in full and in common.  The rosary and any other private prayer are at the discretion of the sisters.  Time is set aside for Lectio Divina and, of course, classes for formation are scheduled.  Mass is attended and a Holy Hour for adoration is included in the day.  The Companions have been blessed with the sponsorship of the Franciscan Friars. Those who have asked us to remember their intentions sit with the communion of saints and sisters in the chapel as we pray.

In our prayer we focus on seeking and adoring the Face of God.  Our seeking and eventual spiritual vision is worth any amount of discipline.  Speaking of which, the Companions work hard to maintain a peaceful environment during the trouble times the world is facing.  This is the main source of our discipline.  Living as a group in peace and harmony is an intense discipline. Artificial discipline is not a goal.

The Beguinage (Convent)

The beguinage has room for 7 sisters.  It sits on 7 acres and has a hermitage in the woods for visitors.  Anyone who is interested in coming, even for a “Come and See,”* is required to submit to some screening and vetting.  This is for safety.

As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin so beautifully reminds us: “Above all, trust in the slow work of God.  We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.  We should like to skip the intermediate stages.  We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.  And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you, your ideas mature gradually- let them grow, let them shape themselves without undo haste”…

*During this period of pandemic requests for “Come and See” visits are on hold.  This is regrettable but allows you more time for discernment, personal prayer and a sense of personal solitude.  Definitely, this time for some is a blessing in disguise. Information is still supplied and telephone inquiries are still accepted.

Further information and pictures of the Convent of Peace and Good can be viewed on the website www.companionsofclare.org.  Any other questions? Do not hesitate to call me.

Sr. Courtney Haase, CoC, Guardian
Convent of Peace and Good
627 Middle Rd.
Skowhegan, ME 04976
207-431-2664

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cloistered life, Eremitic Life

Pro Orantibus Resources Now Available Online

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On November 21 (the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple), the Church will celebrate World Day of Cloistered Life, an ecclesial event for all Catholics worldwide to commemorate the hidden lives of contemplative religious in cloisters and monasteries. On this day, the faithful are encouraged to reach out to the cloistered religious in their diocese, through prayer, encouragement, and material support.

We’ve put together some free, downloadable resources to help your community celebrate this event:

Some concrete ways to support cloistered communities are: participating in a novena and offering up Masses, writing notes of appreciation to contemplative communities, visiting them, and making a special point to teach families, religious education classes, youth groups, etc., about the tremendous value of the contemplative life.

Pope Francis has said, “It is a good opportunity to thank the Lord for the gift of so many people who, in monasteries and hermitages, dedicate themselves to God in prayer and silent work.”

Eremitic Life

Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Vocation to the Eremitical Life

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The Vocation to the Eremitical Life      

By Sister Janet of Beit Mery Hermitage

Soon after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and his legalization of Christianity in the Edict of Milan in the year 314 CE., Some Christians began to feel that the spiritual fervor that was present during the Age of Martyrdom was being lost because of the ease of life after the Edict of Milan.

Men and women began to go into the deserts of Egypt and Palestine to enter into solitude and silence, fasting and prayer under the direction of an Abba or Amma who had lived the life longer that the neophyte and could help them live a life sacrificed to Jesus Christ. Many in the Church at the time considered this to be a type of “white” martyrdom, meaning that although these hermits were not physically martyred that they were in a certain way “dead” to the world.

The Hermit Life is the oldest form of consecrated life in the Church. In our Christian literature one of the first biographies of a hermit is by St. Athanasius in his Life of Antony, there is also the codex of the writings the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and the life of St. Mary of the Hermit.

In the Eastern Church, Hermits have been present throughout Christian history, principally on Mount Athos but all over the Eastern Church. In the West there has been a flourishing and then an almost extinguishing of the eremitical life over the history of the Church. The flourishing in the 4th century almost died out in the 7th century and then by the 11th century two great orders of hermits arose that are still present in our Modern Church, the Camaldolese Benedictines and the Carthusians. There were others, like the Premonstratensians who were hermits at the beginning but changed rapidly into canons regular. Today they are known as Norbertines.

In the 20th century, because of the writings of Thomas Merton, there has been renewed interest in the eremitical life both within and without of religious communities. In 1983 with the promulgation of the New Code of Canon Law in the Roman Church there was a new code within the codes on Consecrated life.

Canon 603 provided for individuals who are called by God to the eremitical life to make public vows under the local bishop as Diocesan Hermits.

I was call to Contemplative life on the Feast of Saint Clare (August 11) at 6:03 am in 1972. I never, ever wanted to be a nun. I had grown up in the Middle East and seen too many missionaries promote Western values under the guise of Christianity without honoring the values and history of the people who lived there. I wanted to get a degree in Middle Eastern Studies and go back there to live.

So, at 6:03 that morning in the chapel of the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters in Austin, TX I heard God say to me, “This is the life I want for you, a contemplative life.” I was stunned. God had never spoken to me so directly. I have never been able to deny the experience. My response could only be “yes”.

By November of 1972 it was clear through another revelation, that God wad calling me also to the eremitic life.

It took thirteen years of disappointments, challenges, struggles, and continual discernment to confirm the call. In the meantime, I got a BSN in Nursing, so I could make a living. I was able to get a Master’s Degree in Christian Spirituality because over the years I had met people who wanted to be hermit or who claim to be hermits because they did not want any accountability.

I always felt that my vocation came out of the praying community and for the community and because of that, there needed to be accountability both on my part and on the community’s part. The only way that could happen was if I became a Diocesan Hermit with Public Vows of Obedience, Chastity and Simplicity of Life according the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, at the end of much discernment and confirmation, I wrote to Bishop John Cummins of the Diocese of Oakland for permission to make perpetual vows as a Diocesan Hermit. He said yes and I made my profession in 1985.

I lived as a hermit for 14 years in the Oakland Diocese as an urban hermit. In 1996 I began to seek a quieter place for my hermitage on the West Coast. I ended up in the Yakima Diocese since I knew the bishop there. I celebrated my transfer of vows on March 25, 1998 at St. Joseph Church in Yakima, Washington.

The hermit life has been a great grace for me. That being said, it is not a life for those who are not called to it. For those who are not called to it, it can be a descent into hell, a descent to madness—both spiritually and psychologically. At its best it is a life of sacrifice for others.

My mission is to pray for all those who message their peace by their distance from violence. It matters not to me whether that violence is interior (those things people tell themselves that demean themselves) or exterior violence such as the violence in the Middle East or anywhere else—trafficking or gangs. If we don’t heal the inner violence it will erupt in exterior violence at some point. If we are to have PEACE IN THE WORLD WE MUST BE PEACE FOR OTHERS.

To this day we do not know how many diocesan hermits there are in the US much less in the world because the bishops have never taken a count of Diocesan Hermits in this country or the world. In the state of Washington, I know there are at least 4 hermits but there may be more.

Know that I pray for all the readers of Religious Life magazine. Please pray for me to God that I may persevere in the gift of my vocation to the end.

Eremitic Life

Mother Rosemary Therese of the Trinity RIP

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In late 2017, the Institute of Religious Life lost a very dear friend when  Mother Rosemary Thérèse of the Trinity (Rosemary Therese Quinn) went home to God after a long illness endured with great fortitude. Mother was the foundress of the Hermits of St. Mary of Carmel in the Diocese of Winona.

At her birth in New Jersey 1946, her mother described her as “A Rose for Mary.” Rosemary embarked upon a very successful career being named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the Top 5% of Working Women in America. One day after Mass, a priest said: “If your name is Rosemary, I have a message for you from God!  You haven’t been to confession in 6 years.” The priest said that God wanted an unconditional “yes,” and nothing less, then He would do the rest. It was the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Mother’s unseen companion on her vocational journey. That momentous day, Mother experienced “being loved in the depths of her being.”

She eventually joined a small Carmelite Hermit community in Amery, Wisconsin, which, seeking a quieter location, moved to Minnesota in 1987.  Mother oversaw the building of the hermitage complex where members follow the Primitive Carmelite Rule. The chapel was built on a hill, and the Blessed Sacrament can be seen in the window by the hermitages down below, a beautiful sight.

On December 16th, 2017, Mother renewed her vows and the sisters prayed the Oblation to Merciful Love of St. Thérèse around her bedside, which is offered at their Solemn Profession. That evening, Mother died peacefully and quietly and entered the ocean of God’s love.

We love you, Mother. May you rest in peace.

 

Eremitic Life

A Modern Pillar-Hermit

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Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

pillar monk

This is a photo of a stylite’s hermitage atop a great stone pillar. A stylite is a person who lives atop a pillar, enduring the solitude and natural elements for love of God. The most famous of them was St. Simeon Stylites who lived in what is now Syria in the 5th C. He lived atop a pillar for over 35 years!

st simeon

This is an image of the pillar-hermit St. Simeon Stylite from a 10th C manuscript. Apparently, his pillar reached the height of 50 feet. He died in 459.

pillar

St. Simeon’s pillar became encased in the center of an octagonal courtyard and complex of buildings. St. Simeon’s pillar can still be seen in the center of the courtyard, although it is now less than 7 feet high. St. Simeon’s relics were mainly taken to Antioch. Pray that the current civil war does not destroy this ancient memorial.

 

maxime climbers

The hermitage in the above photos, located in the country of Georgia, is a 30-foot rock outcrop called Katskhi that was used by Christians until the 15th century. In the 1940’s climbers discovered the bones of the last  inhabitant and and the remains of a chapel.

maxime

Looking at the pillar too was Maxime Qavtaradze, a “bad boy” who sold drugs and ended up in jail. “I used to drink with friends in the hills around here and look up at this place, where land met sky. We knew the monks had lived up there before and I felt great respect for them.” In 1993 Maxime professed monastic vows and began his new life atop the pillar. A little community has formed around him, including priests and troubled people seeking guidance.

maxime base camp

You can order the documentary, Upon this Rock, about Maxim’s life and hermitage.  Proceeds will support the restoration. The Huffington Post also has a great story on Maxime and stunning photos.

Eremitic Life

The Rise of Hermits

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I saw on the internet a list of the Top 10 Hermits in Church history. One might come to the conclusion that this way of life is part of ancient history.

But Canon 603 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law says:

Besides institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the life of hermits or anchorites, in which Christ’s faithful withdraw further from the world and devote their lives to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through the silence of solitude and through constant prayer and penance. Hermits are recognized by law as dedicated to God in consecrated life if, in the hands of the diocesan Bishop, they publicly profess, by a vow or some other sacred bond, the three evangelical counsels, and then lead their particular form of life under the guidance of the diocesan Bishop.

There are several hermits that are members of the IRL. There is also a community of Carmelite Hermits in Houston, MN. The live in separate hermitages and come together for sunday/holy day meals, one hour of daily prayer and the mass. “Our life is a vocation to prayer,” says Sister Miriam, one of the hermits. “This total union with God is how we are called to serve the Church.”

There is also a IRL men’s Affiliate Community that are hermits. They are the Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. They live a life of silence, solitude, prayer and penance for the good of the Church and the salvation of the world. The picture to the right is of Bro. Martin Mary who was ordained to the priesthood in May of 2012.

By the way, the top 10 hermits of all time are: St. Simon Stylites, St. Jerome, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Antony the Great, St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Macarius of Egypt, St. Isaac the Syrian, St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Meinrad and St. Paul the Hermit. (Note to self: Need to read up on some of these hermits!)