Difference between revisions of "Hermit"

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(Included how the Coptic church distinguishes between the terms, "anchorite," and "hermit")
 
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A '''hermit''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] erēmos, signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller") is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society.
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A '''hermit''' (from the Greek erēmos, signifying "desert," "uninhabited," hence "desert-dweller") is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society.
  
Originally the term was applied to a Christian who lives the ''eremitic life'' out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e. the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart).
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The term commonly applies to a Christian who lives the ''eremitic life'' out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the [[Old Testament]], i.e., the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart.
  
Often – both in religious and secular literature – the term is used loosely for anyone living a solitary life-style – including the misanthropist – and in religious contexts is sometimes assumed to be interchangeable with ''anchorite''/''anchoress'' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the country outside the circumvallated city"), [[recluse]] and ''solitary''. However, it is important to retain a clear distinction.  
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Often, both in religious and secular literature, the term is used loosely for anyone living a solitary life-style—including the misanthropist—and in religious contexts is sometimes assumed to be interchangeable with '''anchorite'''/anchoress (from the Greek anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw," "to depart into the country outside the circumvallated city"), '''recluse''' and ''solitary''. However, it is important to retain a clear distinction.  
  
Christian hermits in the past have most often lived in [[cave]]s, [[forest]]s, or [[desert]]s, but some of them preferred an isolated cell in a [[monastery]] or even a city. From what we know from their contribution to our Christian heritage, male hermits were more common than female. As regards the anchorites, one that has left a lasting impression on Christian spirituality is the [[England|English]] anchoress [[Julian of Norwich]].
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Christian hermits in the past have most often lived in caves, forests, or deserts, but some of them preferred an isolated cell in a [[monastery]] or even a city. From what we know from their contribution to our Christian heritage, male hermits were more common than female.
  
==Hermits in religion==
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The solitary life is a form of [[asceticism]], wherein the hermit renounces wordly concerns and pleasures in order to come closer to the God. In ascetic hermitism, the hermit seeks solitude for meditation, contemplation, and prayer without the distractions of contact with human society, sex, or the need to maintain socially acceptable standards of cleanliness or dress. The ascetic discipline can also include a simplified diet and/or manual labor as a means of support; for example, the early Christian Desert Fathers often wove baskets to exchange for bread.
[[Image:Kerkzomerpiep.jpg|thumb|right|Hermitage "Our Lady the Garden Enclosed" in [[Warfhuizen]], [[the Netherlands]].]]
 
  
From a [[religion|religious]] point of view, the solitary life is a form of [[asceticism]], wherein the hermit renounces wordly concerns and pleasures in order to come closer to the [[deity|deity or deities]] they worship or revere. This practice appears in [[Christianity]], [[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], and [[Buddhism]]. In ascetic hermitism, the hermit seeks solitude for [[meditation]], [[contemplation]], and [[prayer]] without the distractions of contact with human society, [[sex]], or the need to maintain socially acceptable standards of [[cleanliness]] or [[dress]]. The ascetic [[discipline]] can also include a simplified [[diet (nutrition)|diet]] and/or [[manual labor]] as a means of support; for example, the early Christian [[Desert Father]]s often wove baskets to exchange for bread.
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Ironically, hermits are often sought out for spiritual advice and counsel and may eventually acquire so many disciples that they have no solitude at all. Examples include St. [[Anthony the Great]], who attracted such a large body of followers in the Egyptian desert that he is considered by both Catholics and the Orthodox to be the "Founder of Monasticism." Other religious hermits include St. [[Mary of Egypt]], St. [[Symeon the Stylite|Simeon Stylites]], St. [[Herman of Alaska]], Thomas Merton, St. [[Sergius of Radonezh]], St. [[Seraphim of Sarov]], and Charles de Foucauld.
  
Ironically, religious hermits are often sought out for spiritual advice and counsel and may eventually acquire so many [[disciple]]s that they have no solitude at all.  Examples include [[Anthony the Great]], who attracted such a large body of followers in the [[Egypt]]ian desert that he is considered by both Catholics and the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] to be the "Founder of [[Monasticism]]", and [[Gautama Buddha]], who, having abandoned his family for a solitary quest for spiritual enlightenment, ended up as the founder of Buddhism.
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The Coptic Church distinguishes between a hermit and an anchorite, yet the two words might be interchangeable in the Eastern Orthodox churches. An anchorite according to the Coptic Church is a person with a great spiritual stature receiving the gifts of bilocation (being at two places at the same time), agility (teleportation to great distances instantaneously), levitation, and illumination (emitting light), beyond the gift of prophecy and healing that "regular" saints are endowed with. Anchorites need not be hermits, hence. A recent-history modern-day married anchorite was Fawziyya Ishaq who would go into trances and see heaven and talk with saints while her body was paralyzed in bed on earth. Initially a hieromonk, Father Abd-AlMaseeh al-Maqari Al-Manahry, left the monastery of St. Makarius and went to the village of Manahra and had all the gift of the anchorites. Newly canonized Coptic Pope Kyrillos VI was also an anchorite during his hermitage and solitude but had to leave the hermitage to become Patriarch. His two disciples, Tamav (Mother) Irenee Mercurious (d 2006) and recently departed Father Falta'ose (Philotheus) ElSoriany where also anchorites. Except for Pope Kyrillos, the aforementioned saints where where anchorites but not hermits.
 
 
One interesting variation of the eremitic life is the [[Carthusian]] order of [[Roman Catholic]] [[monk]]s and [[nun]]s.  Carthusians live in what are essentially "[[Community|communities]] of hermits", each monastic having their own cell (with sleeping chamber, study, and workshop) where they spend most of their time alone, except when they meet in [[church]] for [[worship]], and on other occasions.
 
 
 
Other religious hermits include [[Simeon Stylites]], [[Herman of Alaska]], [[Thomas Merton]], [[Sergius of Radonezh]], [[Seraphim of Sarov]], and Charles de Foucauld.
 
 
 
==Non-religious hermits==
 
It is also possible for people to forsake human society for reasons other than religious. For example, [[Henry David Thoreau]] spent two years living an essentially solitary life near [[Walden Pond]] in pursuit of a simple, [[environmentalism|environmentally-friendly]] life.  In a more notorious case, [[Theodore Kaczynski]], known as the "Unabomber", lived in a remote cabin in [[Montana]] which gave him both refuge from what he viewed as a society corrupted by [[technology]] and privacy to build [[mailbomb]]s.
 
 
 
==Hermits in philosophy==
 
[[Friedrich Nietzsche]], in his influential work [[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]], created the character of the hermit [[Zarathustra (fictional philosopher)|Zarathustra]] (named after the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] [[prophet]] [[Zoroaster|Zarathushtra]]), who emerges from seclusion to extol his philosophy to the rest of humanity.
 
 
 
[[Diogenes the Cynic]], an [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[philosopher]], led an ascetic life in a barrel. According to [[legend]], when [[Alexander the Great]] came to him one day and offered to grant him a wish, Diogenes asked Alexander to step out of his sunlight.
 
 
 
{{1913}}
 
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
 
*[[Monasticism]]
 
*[[Monasticism]]
*[[Solitude]]
 
*[[Silence]]
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
*[http://www.hermitary.com/ Hermitary: the hermit, hermits, recluses, eremiticism, solitude]
 
*[http://www.hermitary.com/ Hermitary: the hermit, hermits, recluses, eremiticism, solitude]
  
[[de:Eremit]]
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[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[fr:Ermite]]
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[[Category:Hesychasm]]
[[nl:Heremiet]]
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[[ro:Eremit]]
[[pl:Eremita]]
 
[[pt:Eremita]]
 
[[sv:Eremit]]
 

Latest revision as of 05:43, October 10, 2022

A hermit (from the Greek erēmos, signifying "desert," "uninhabited," hence "desert-dweller") is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society.

The term commonly applies to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament, i.e., the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart.

Often, both in religious and secular literature, the term is used loosely for anyone living a solitary life-style—including the misanthropist—and in religious contexts is sometimes assumed to be interchangeable with anchorite/anchoress (from the Greek anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw," "to depart into the country outside the circumvallated city"), recluse and solitary. However, it is important to retain a clear distinction.

Christian hermits in the past have most often lived in caves, forests, or deserts, but some of them preferred an isolated cell in a monastery or even a city. From what we know from their contribution to our Christian heritage, male hermits were more common than female.

The solitary life is a form of asceticism, wherein the hermit renounces wordly concerns and pleasures in order to come closer to the God. In ascetic hermitism, the hermit seeks solitude for meditation, contemplation, and prayer without the distractions of contact with human society, sex, or the need to maintain socially acceptable standards of cleanliness or dress. The ascetic discipline can also include a simplified diet and/or manual labor as a means of support; for example, the early Christian Desert Fathers often wove baskets to exchange for bread.

Ironically, hermits are often sought out for spiritual advice and counsel and may eventually acquire so many disciples that they have no solitude at all. Examples include St. Anthony the Great, who attracted such a large body of followers in the Egyptian desert that he is considered by both Catholics and the Orthodox to be the "Founder of Monasticism." Other religious hermits include St. Mary of Egypt, St. Simeon Stylites, St. Herman of Alaska, Thomas Merton, St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Seraphim of Sarov, and Charles de Foucauld.

The Coptic Church distinguishes between a hermit and an anchorite, yet the two words might be interchangeable in the Eastern Orthodox churches. An anchorite according to the Coptic Church is a person with a great spiritual stature receiving the gifts of bilocation (being at two places at the same time), agility (teleportation to great distances instantaneously), levitation, and illumination (emitting light), beyond the gift of prophecy and healing that "regular" saints are endowed with. Anchorites need not be hermits, hence. A recent-history modern-day married anchorite was Fawziyya Ishaq who would go into trances and see heaven and talk with saints while her body was paralyzed in bed on earth. Initially a hieromonk, Father Abd-AlMaseeh al-Maqari Al-Manahry, left the monastery of St. Makarius and went to the village of Manahra and had all the gift of the anchorites. Newly canonized Coptic Pope Kyrillos VI was also an anchorite during his hermitage and solitude but had to leave the hermitage to become Patriarch. His two disciples, Tamav (Mother) Irenee Mercurious (d 2006) and recently departed Father Falta'ose (Philotheus) ElSoriany where also anchorites. Except for Pope Kyrillos, the aforementioned saints where where anchorites but not hermits.

See also

External links