Hermits around the web – Hermitary
news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude
A summary article in History Today about historical hermits, with a refreshingly positive and “friendly” approach. Byline: “Medieval hermits were the agony aunts of their day.”
URL: https://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/friendly-recluse
The popular social media forum Reddit includes a category for the topic of hermits. The category was created in 2012 and has over 6,500 members. The site presents itself “for those who walk the path of solitudel,” duscussing personal solitude, friendship, loneliness, and lifestyle.
Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy) offers a report on painter-artist Gabriele, who was a “rising artist.” The article summarizes his artistic life:
“In 2006 Gabriele won the ManinFesto competition at the Villa Manin Contemporary Art Center. In 2008 he was among the seven winners of the Terna 01 award and in 2009 he qualified among the finalists of the second round. Thanks to this recognition he exhibited at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York. He has participated in art fairs in Bologna, Verona, Turin (Artissima), Karlsruhe, and the Pulse in Miami. A canvas of Gabriele appears in the Oscar-winning film La Grande Bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino. His works are part of important public and private collections .”
Then, one day, Gabriele gave it all up — and became a hermit. He became Friar Gabriele (Fra Gabriele) and moved to Romita di Cesi, in the province ofTerni in central Italy. Romita di Cesi was originally a medieval Franciscan hermitage, since long abandoned, only refurbished in 1991 by by its only resident, 83-year old Fra Bernardino. The hermitage today serves as a retreat house. Fra Gagriele lives an eremitic life there but regularlyvhelps Fra Bernardino with chores inthe garden and preparing firewood.
Aleteia notes that the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life announces a new document regulating canonical and other Catholic hermits. The document titled “Ponam in Deserto Viam” was issued in September 2021 but is announced now in February 2022.
The document is not so much regulation as guidelines. It emphasizes the psychological status of the hermit, assuming the hermit’s religious motives. It counsels an organization of daily life, recommends work, regularity to food (versus extremes), and cautions that a life of solitude should not be “too isolated” from others. The hermitage should provide subsistance, and approximation to medical and other resources. The life of the hermit represents a radical vision, states the document, but one that silently demonstrates to others “that it is beautiful to dwell in God alone.”
URL: https://fr.aleteia.org/2022/02/22/pour-la-premiere-fois-rome-donne-des-orientations-aux-ermites/
The title of a recent Psychology Today article addresses the topic:”Why Being Forced to Socialize Can Be So Miserable.”The main points converge around the choice to be alone or with others, with the lowest degree of hapiness or satisfaction occurring when one is not in the company of others by choice. Among the source studies forthis article is a recent studiy published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.