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Hermit feature film: “Pig”

An oddly-themed feature film about a hermit (Nicholas Cage), once a chef, who has abandoned the city and lives alone in the wilderness, foraging for truffles with a companionable pig. The hermit sells the mushrooms to a swank restauranteur. The restauranteur abducts the pig, leading to the plot of the film, the unraveling of the drama of the search, with elements of crime and conflict. However, a lot of inside jokes and shots of luxury plates suggest irony if not satire, which requires viewing for evaluation. Trailer: https://youtu.be/-4nRpdONaAA

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Anglo-Saxon king-hermit’s cave

Archaelogists have identified a cave church in Derbyshire, England, with the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon king Eardwulf of Northumbria. Eardwulf was dethroned and exiled, and lived the rest of his life reclusively, known as the hermit (or anchorite) Hardulph, who was to be canonized as a saint. For a time the cave was the presumed dwelling of an ornamental hermit on the expansive grounds of a wealthy eighteenth-century estate owner. Hardulph is thought to have attracted disciples by his eremitic example.

URL: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/anglo-saxon-cave-house-scli-intl-gbr/index.html?ofs=fbia

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Tove Jansson’s island

An article in The New European titled “The island life of Tove Jansson,” describes the post-Moomins life of Tove Jansson, creator of the popular children’s book series featuring the Moomins. She avidly pursued solitude on an island off the coast of FInland, living there intermitently the rest of her life. A Jansson quote: “If I could wish something good for someone, I would wish for them an island with no address.”

URL: https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/the-island-life-of-tove-jansson-8066592

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Historical Camadolese site today

Catholic news site Aleteia provides a summary article “A pilgrimage to the ‘small cells’ of St. Romuald,” including travelogue-style description and photos of the original Casentino, in the Tuscan Apennines. Though Romuald founded a monastery, he is better known for establishing a hermitage about two miles away, the classic form of desert hermit cells.

URL: https://aleteia.org/2021/06/09/a-pilgrimage-to-the-small-cells-of-st-romuald/

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From Socialite to Carmelite

BBC News presents an article, “The US socialite who gave it all up to become a Carmelite nun.” The article recounts the story of Sister Mary Joseph, a Carmelite nun who died recently at age 92. Her story is compelling, “far from traditional.” “Until she dedicated herself to a life of prayer she was known as Ann Russell Miller, a wealthy San Francisco socialite who hosted lavish parties, had season tickets to the opera and was the mother of ten children.”

After her husband’s death, Ann Miller joined the Carmelite order, dropping her hundreds of former friends and her family, her swirling social life and contacts with dozens of philanthropic interests. She lived in cloistered isolation for over thirty years until her recent death. The article details her life, including insights from one of her children.

URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57399288