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Mary Zimmerer, Maryland hermit

An article titled “A Modern-Day Hermit” profiles Mary Zimmerer, now Sister Maria Veronica, described as

a bubbly widow who discerned a call to the contemplative life after her husband passed away five years ago. Having made a public profession of vows last fall, she is now one of only two canonical (or diocesan) hermits in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The interviewer touches directly on what it means to be a canonical Catholic hermit: how she discerned her calling, what her typical day consists of, how she deals with existing family, and what she thinks of the charge that hermits live only for themselves.

URL: http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/a-modern-day-hermit.html

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Idaho hermit-nuns

The Boise Weekly-funded project, “Searching for Quartzburg, which describes its purpose as “investigating the identities of dreamers, visionaries, eccentrics, hermits” of Idaho, offers a 6+ minute audio podcast titled “Hermit Nun.” The profile features Sister Rebecca and Sister Beverly, who live in the Mesa, Idaho Marymount Hermitage.

URLs:
“Hermit Nun” page of Searching for Quartzburg: http://searchingforquartzburg.com/2011/03/16/hermit-nun/
Marymount Hermitage website: http://www.marymount-hermitage.org

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Charles Brandt, Canada hermit-priest

Short piece from the Vancouver, BC media site North Island Midweek, about Charles Brandt, a Catholic “hermit-priest.” Fr. Brandt is an 88-year old book conservator and photographer who lives in a hermitage off the Oyster River in a Vancouver wilderness. He was originally a Trappist.

Writer Stephen Hume, who features Brandt in a chapter of a book as “A Hermit of the Rivers,” writes of him:

“Brandt represents an ancient tradition of wise men and women withdrawing from the world, the better to reflect upon how best to serve God.”

URL: http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_north/northislandmidweek/news/118466114.html

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Russian hermit expelled from India

From <i>Russia & India Report</i> comes this item about a Russian living in India for 15 year as a hermit and now expelled by the government of India based on the hermit’s illegal status and his new desire to return to Russia.

Kirill Pomerantsev has spent 15 years in India living in the forest, studying Hinduism, and receiving food from locals.

“There are no issues in the wilderness. The local people are extremely kind; they helped me in every way possible, sharing their potatoes, beans and flour with me”, notes the Russian.

Pomerantsev explains that in addition to the food he was given by local people, he also ate greens that he picked in the woods. He used the flour to make chapattis.

“I would get up at five in the morning, have a wash, meditate, drink some tea, clean the house, perform puja and study literature. I can read Hindi, a language that I have taught myself”, explains the former hermit.

URL: http://indrus.in/articles/2011/02/27/russian_hermit_to_be_expelled_after_15_years_in_india_12207.html