A translation of the essay “Solitary Practice” by Zhongfeng Mingben (1262-1323) is available on the Web site of Chan Magazine at http://www.chancenter.org/ddp/chanmag/sum2003.html#solitarypractice.
Canonical hermit
The Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia (USA) gave canonical status to a hermit in 2001. Details at: http://www.mailutilities.com/news/archive/85/1551.html. The article mentions his life in a rundown urban area, his daily routine, and his minimal livelihood. A photo of hermit Richard Withers is on the Images of Eremiticism: Hermits page of Hermitary.
Ermitage
A personalized site for readers of French is “Ermitage” at http://rmitte.free.fr/comunaute/ermitage.htm, which has a religious perspective on the subject of solitude and the eremitical life. Brought to our attention by a USA friend of Hermitary.
Jeanne-Marguerite de Montmorency
The contents of the book, Jeanne-Marguerite de Montmorency by Joseph Sigward, in the original French, are offered on this Web site. Jeanne-Marguerite de Montmorency (1646-1700), niece of the Prince of Condé, was destined for the life of King Louis XIV’s court, but she ran away, still a girl, giving up her family, her means of sustenance, her possessions, all to follow an eremitical life. Eventually she settled in a hermitage, where the passion of Jesus became the focus of her mysticism. The author drew on the subject’s correspondence with her spiritual director. The Web site is: http://www.chez.com/jeannemarguerite/. Brought to our attention by a U.S. friend of Hermitary.
Wisconsin hermits
The National Park Service (U.S.) has a couple of pages on historical hermits who lived on the remote Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, near Lake Superior. One was historically identified as William Wilson (http://www.nps.gov/apis/hermit.htm); the other was a Norwegian immigrant, John Nelson (http://www.nps.gov/apis/nelson.htm).