Hermits around the web – Hermitary – Page 23 – news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude

July 22, 2023August 26, 2023

Fr. Pablo, Spanish hermit

News site ABC de Sevilla (Spain) features a report about the hermit Pablo Gordillo titled “Pablo Gordillo, ermitaño: “El hombre ha sido creado para la vida eterna,:” translated as “Pable Gordillo , hermit: We have been created for eternal life.” The article profiles the hermit’s work and presents a brief interview.

Gordillo holds a law degree but soon after practicing he found himself more interested in the spiritual life. He serves in the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona in Andalusia, Spain, which is preparing the foundation of a second contemplative community in Andalusia. The original foundation is in the province of Burgos, where the Camaldolese hermitagei is composed of twelve small houses, one per hermit.

The rest of the article is a more personal interview of the hermit, asking him about his perception of the contemplative life, of good and evil, of society and the world.

URL: https://sevilla.abc.es/andalucia/cordoba/pablo-gordillo-ermitano-hombre-creado-vida-eterna-20230618084146-nts.html

July 10, 2023August 5, 2023

Ornamental hermits

Smithsonian Magazine recaps the histoy of the ornamental hermit in 18th-century Britain in an article titled “Ornamental Hermits Were 18th-Century England’s Must-Have Garden Accessory.” Includes the comments of Gordon Campbell and other historians.

URL: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ornamental-hermits-were-18th-century-englands-must-have-garden-accessory-180982469/

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, 2023October 17, 2025

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