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This very old vocation [of a solitary or hermit] in the church has interested me over the years and, as it is a growing phenomenon today, particularly among women, I thought some further enlightenment on the subject might be of interest.
The Book of Occasional Services contains a rite (p. 228) entitled "Setting Apart for a Special Vocation." One of the rubrics states: "Individual Christians, in response to God's call, may wish to commit themselves to the religious life under vows made directly to the bishop of the diocese."
It is pursuant to this rite, which is based in canon, that in the last few years at least four other women in the Episcopal Church have made such vows and have been dedicated to the solitary life -- two as anchoresses, one as a hermitess and one as a solitary without further definition. Each has a unique rule worked out in consultation with her bishop, spiritual director and, where the solitary ministry is tied to a church, its rector.
One rector, whose church in consultation with its bishop entered into such a relationship with one of its parishioners, in announcing to his parish this very old, but now very new vocation of anchoress, said, "For most of us, the term is new and the vocation alien. We are conditioned to invest our time and energy in 'doing' things, as if a person's life can be summed up in what he/she accomplishes or has accomplished. The anchoress witnesses to a counter-cultural view -- that life is measured not by doing but by being; that the 'work' of prayer demands a discipline comparable to any other 'work'; that this 'work' of prayer is not one of life's extracurricular activities, done in spare time, but the very foundation of any other work the Christian may undertake; that prayer is action."
Martin Thornton, writing in his English Spirituality, finds the first "glorious flowering" of English spirituality arising out of the solitary life and spiritual direction in the 14th century. He went on to ask whether there is the possibility of some modern adaptation of this vocation.
Evelyn Underhill, in her classic, Mysticism, tells us that, primarily through this solitary life, mystical activity rose "to its highest point in the 14th century."
Perhaps Martin Thornton's vision of a new phase in English spirituality is coming into fruition in the wane of the 20th century through the same source that gave the impetus in the 14th century, the individual solitary and his or her spiritual guide, working it out together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Who knows? -- out of this may even come, in Evelyn Underhill's words, a new "wave of mystical activity" in the 21st century.
Our guest columnist is the Rev. Milo Coerper, a non-parochial priest who resides in Chevy Chase, Md.
Reprinted with permission from:
The Living Church
An independent weekly record of the news of the church and the views of Episcopalians since 1878
P. O. Box 92936
Milwaukee, WI 53202
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