Is There A Place For An "anchoress" In Contemporary Catholic L

[Catherine Therese]

Curious to know if any PMers are either Anchorites/Anchoresses? Does this version of a vocation even exist in today's world?

Oh - and I was wondering if the cenobitic life still exists, or was that merely an historic, transitional form of religious life prior to the advent of the monastery? (Whilst I've heard some say that a Benedictine is technically a cenobite, my understanding... perhaps over-simplified understanding at that... was that the cenobitic life was an evolution from the eremitic life that preceded the monastic life as we know it, and that the Benedictine life is really the quintessential form of monasticism... but what do I know? I'm but a poor former Dominican!)

Grateful for informed responses :)
(Not to disparage the ill-informed... for I too am ill-informed at this stage! But its the informed ones that I'm after!!)

Edited April 21, 2014 by Catherine Therese

[chrysostom]

Regarding Cenobites:  I'm not very well-informed, but I'll just quote the Rule of St. Benedict  :)

 

From chapter 1:

"It is plain that there are four kinds of monks. The first are the Cenobites, that is, those who live in a monastery, serving under a Rule and an Abbot.

...

...let us proceed with the help of the Lord to formulate a rule for the Cenobites, who are the most steadfast kind of monks. "

Edited April 21, 2014 by chrysostom

[marigold]

Yes, cenobitic simply means in community.

 

As to anchorites/esses, I think there will always be a small number of people who live that way, whatever happens publicly in the Church. In the West these days, you're unlikely to find someone walled up in a cell attached to a church - in many countries further East things aren't so strictly regulated legally and people still do live like that - but then again maybe not so far from that. I can think of a handful of people I know who live on/near church property, say their prayers, and live very quietly to the glory of God.

[Benedictus]

Diocesan Anchorites are allowed by Canon Law, under the same provision as Hermits.  But living as an anchorite would be very diffificult as it requires, in the traditional sense of

the life, a place connected to the church (or accessible for a priest and people to visit) and it requires the willingness of others to facilitate the life. It's difficult enough to live as a Diocesan Hermit, each needing to provide for their own finances and other requirements. The process, if seeking to take public vows, can take many years and some Bishops aren't even willing to take on the responsibility of receiving the vows.  This can close the door, unless an individual is willing to move to a receptive diocese and start the process there. I imagine that it would be easier, and maybe more likely, that a person living as a religious would find it easier to eventually live as either a Hermit or Anchorite. Some contemplative institutes, both Benedictine and Cistercian, allow community members to become Hermits, Recluses or Anchorites. But it's only accepted after a number of years training, supervision and agreement. This openness has been one of the positive changes after Vatican ll.

My understanding of the cenobitic life is that it was seen, and probably still is, as being a 'solitary' life in the sense that each person is called to be apart from the world. But it was always lived in community, even if transient ones, as marked by the apostles and the communities of the early church. There are examples of communities being eremitic and then changing, such as the Carmelites. But I think there were always people who desired to live in various ways; not necessarily a strictly linear development from one to the other. But St Benedict regulated the principles for much of the western world, and this took precedence in many places thereafter.

[Catherine Therese]

Thank you! It came up in a conversation with a friend yesterday and I just didn't have the answers to the questions she was asking.(yes, yes, I know... odd conversation :) )