Hermits around the web – Hermitary – Page 10 – news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude

June 22, 2023August 22, 2023

Mystery of hermit Frere Robert

The French-language online news site Corse Matin offers the article “Du Sartenais au Valinco, sur les traces mystérieuses de l’ermite frère Robert,” which translates as ” From Sartenais to Valinco, in the mysterious footsteps of the hermit Brother Robert.”

Brother Robert (1898-1943) was born in Belgium and lived in the French canton of Sartenais-Valinco . He became a surveyor but soon visited the local bishop requesting to become a monk. The bishop sent him to Corsica where at first Robert lived in a cabin, but soon moved into a cave. He corresponded with the bishop, trying to convince him to accept the monk as a religious hermit. The bishop obtained the pope’s permission and assigned Robert to a parish chapel. Robert complied but took up dwelling in another cave, walking the two hours daily to the church.

In 1941, Corsica was occupied by the Italian army and Robert went to live in the hermitage of San Michele di l’Ortolu. It was his last known dwelling-place. Brother Robert disappeared in 1943. Only recently have informal groups with historical interests retraced the hermit’s life, the caves, the documents associated with the church, and the grounds and paths he hiked. But the story of Frere Robert’s last days remains a mystery.

URL: https://www.corsematin.com/articles/du-sartenais-au-valinco-sur-les-traces-mysterieuses-de-lermite-frere-robert-142679

June 12, 2023August 14, 2023

Medieval British hermitages

UK online magazine The Past offers a colorful feature titled “Seeking seclusion: medieval hermitages in Britain and Ireland.” The feature is based in part on the recent book An Archaeological History of Hermitages and Eremitic Communities in Medieval Britain and Beyond, by scholar Simon Roffey.Extensive and well-illustrated.

URL: https://the-past.com/feature/seeking-seclusion-medieval-hermitages-in-britain-and-ireland/

May 20, 2023

Women hermits

Insightful essay for Aeon by Rhianb Sessen on the history of women hermits: “She Wants to Be Alone.” The essay isstructured around important women hermits, from Mary of Egypt, Ji Xian, Sarah Bishop,to AnneLaBastille … and the throwaway line of actress Greta Garbo: “I want to be alone,” which turns out to have actually been “I want to be left alone.”

From the article:

“So why aren’t there more women really alone, women hermits? A hermit, of course, is not just single, not just alone, but alone in a particular way: free from the dizzying pressures and possibilities of public life. The hermit is truly free from acting as lord or master, proprietor or minister, soldier or citizen, serf or king. The hermit is free even from the simple expectations of being a neighbour.

“For women, for most of history, it’s been mother or maiden, daughter or wife. The roles shuffle, their names and details changing, but all share one feature: which man does she care for, which man does she take care of? Woman as defined by man; woman as seen by man. How unappealing. With so few choices, it’s clear why we know of so few women hermits, and why solitude is viewed as male. For women, for most of history, it’s been mother or maiden, daughter or wife. The roles shuffle, their names and details changing, but all share one feature: which man does she care for, which man does she take care of? Woman as defined by man; woman as seen by man. How unappealing. With so few choices, it’s clear why we know of so few women hermits, and why solitude is viewed as male.”

URL: https://aeon.co/essays/is-becoming-a-hermit-the-ultimate-feminist-statement

May 3, 2023May 19, 2023

Jean-François Holthof – naturalist-hermit

The French Cistercian (Trappist) monk Jean-François Holthof (b. 1948) moved into his Ardèche hermitage in 1994, dubbed the Saint-Eugène de Chassagnes hermitage, on the edge of the Païolive forest. As a hermit he became a strong defender of the forest, eventually becoming secretary general of the Associaiton paiolive, which champions preservation of the nearly sixteen square kilometers of biologically diverse woodland. In 2010, Holthof contributed to a collection of essays titled Ce que nous dit nature (“What does nature tell us,”) , accompanying a Buddhist, a NativeAmerican, and a secular writer on the convergence of religious and sectarian thought in the defense of nature.

URL: https://www.ledauphine.com/environnement/2023/04/19/ardeche-l-ermite-jean-francois-holthof-nous-raconte-son-bois-de-paiolive (includes 2-minute video).

April 26, 2023May 17, 2023

Hermitage of La Cordelle, France

Brief article (in French) from RCF Radio highlighting the 12th century hermitage of La Cordelle in Vézelay, France. The Franciscan hermitage today consists of three hermits; the guardian or chief caretaker is Eric Moisdon. The friars embrace the rule of St. Francis, which mingles eremitic practice with social contact (the hermits receive pilgrims and visitors). The hermits maintain extensive gardens.

URL: https://www.rcf.fr/articles/vie-spirituelle/questce-quun-ermitage