✙ vocation and daily schedule
Christian vocations in general
All Christians are called to follow Christ as much as we can. We do this through fighting our old fallen-self and this old fallen-world, trying to become a better and more Christlike version of ourselves. How? Through prayer, self-observation, introspection, study, lots of practice, and with constant failures along the way.
Against that background the best division I can make between the different paths (vocations) of a Christian in general (married or unmarried), a priest, a monk or nun, and a hermit, is this: a married or unmarried Christian in general is called to live a life fully immersed in worldly affairs, a priest is called to live his life in between his flock, monks and nuns are called to live in between their other brothers or sisters, and a hermit is called to live as much as possible outside society in a deliberate seclusion, silence, and solitude. As an old Desert Father (hermit Nistero the Great) phrased it: “Not all works people do are the same. Scripture tells us that Abraham was given to charity, and God was with him; Elijah sought silence and God was with him; David was humbled, and God was with him."
None of these paths is easy. In fact: they all have their own battles, difficulties, and advantages. And God (+) calls us to the best suitable path for our own personal development.
my path in particular
For me in particular, I’ve discussed and foreseen with my spiritual director (a priest) from the very beginning - and written down in my Ratio Vivendi (*) - the possibility of not fully being a hermit but instead running the risk of falling into the category of ‘fools for God’. And truth be told: I’ve resisted that potential part of my calling from the very beginning until the current day. However…, despite all my resistance my life seems to be falling more and more into this sub-category. However, for the time being I will continue putting the hermit aspect first, because - as you can read on this wikipedia page - the distinction between being a hermit and/or a fool is often not so easy to draw.
As stated above, the hermit’s path is to live his or her life in deliberate seclusion, silence, and solitude in order to prioritise praying and introspection above all else at the expense of his (or her) worldly income, social status, and security. Of these, inner-silence (stillness) is therefore the most important. The other two (seclusion and solitude) are helpful to accomplish that stillness, especially for beginning and intermediate hermits who cannot yet maintain inner-silence while being among others and/or when outside of their hermitage.
To paraphrase and extend on how the hermit Abba Moses (one of the Desert Fathers) saw this: silence, seclusion, and solitude - just like fasts and vigils, the study of Scripture, renouncing possessions and everything worldly - are not in themselves perfection. They are tools. For perfection is not to be found in them, but it is acquired through them.
This is why a hermit’s life is traditionally described as 'a life of watchful stillness’, and as 'the path of spiritual knowledge’.
(* a hermit’s Ratio Vivendi is an official written document stating the hermit's life plan. It contains i.a. the hermit’s past, his (or her) calling, the discernment process that followed, and the hermit’s proposed new way of life)
my daily schedule
In line with the well-established hermit tradition, my daily schedule normally stays within the standard averages for a (traditional) hermit’s life shown below:
- prayer: traditionally a hermit’s prayer life consists mainly of contemplative, meditative, and intercessory prayer. If you add to those type of prayers the daily psalms and other standard vocal prayers, then a hermit devotes between 5 and 8 hours per day on prayer. As one of the Desert Fathers phrased it to another hermit: “(…) from one dawn till the next, always give precedence to prayer. (…) [for] pure prayer cleanses and restores to health all the soul’s powers and energies, moral and noetic"
- studying theology both in practice and theory: between 3 and 4 hours per day
- shower, cook, eat, and other daily household chores: between 1 and 2 hours per day
- sleeping: the necessary hours - about 7 to 8 hours per day
- working (or instead when explicitly asked: helping others in their (prayer) life): the remaining 3 to 4 hours
- leisure: only when needed, plus the Sunday's
As a contemporary Maronite hermit phrased his own experiences living this type of life:
"The hermit should be occupied all day with prayer and spiritual reading. According to the Rule of St. Antony he is allowed only small breaks. Every day is difficult. It is the same for all hermits. As you get closer to God your enemy attacks you more. At first [hermits] feel lonely and depressed. But after that there is the indescribable joy of feeling the presence of the Lord.”
(shortened citation taken from William Dalrymple’s travelbook ‘From the Holy Mountain – a Journey in the Shadows of Byzantium’ - entry for ‘Bsharre, 5 October’).
so… why live like this?
The honest and most simple answer to that question is: God's calling.
And I think a more theoretical and theological comprehensive answer might be this:
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states in par. 405: “Baptism, (…) erases original sin and turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.”
So… what does that actually mean? It means that even though baptism erases original sin, it cannot and will not restore in us the grace of original holiness that Adam and Eve lost as a consequence of their original sin and subsequent fall from paradise (see CCC par. 399 - 404). Therefore, while we are here on earth, we are after baptism still facing an inevitable spiritual battle that we can try to tackle head-on, or run away from. Unfortunately, lacking clear and experienced real-life guidance most of us end up doing a little bit of both.
"This means that even though baptism can erase original sin, it cannot and will not restore in us the grace of original holiness that Adam and Eve lost as a consequence of their original sin and subsequent fall from paradise. Therefore, while we are here on earth, we are facing an inevitable spiritual battle that we can try to tackle head-on, or run away from. Lacking clear and experienced real-life guidance, most of us end up doing a little bit of both"
However, according to (i.a.) the Desert Father’s experiences and writings the outcome of this spiritual battle, when fought deliberately, focused, and well-guided, can in some cases effect God to restore through His (+) grace the original God-centred innocent obedience to God’s will from before the Fall. This battled for (but eventually only God-given) grace of restored original holiness is often referred to as theosis, which is a somewhat exalted word for the very real, direct, and God-given grace of getting to know God (+) through one or more direct personal experiences.
Against this backdrop - and very much like all other Christian vocations - a hermit’s calling is for the one being called to the hermit life apparently the best individual way to fight this remaining spiritual battle while we are here on earth. At its best this spiritual - and very real - battle will eventually lead to a stable state of dispassion. And then - who knows - towards a stable state of theosis already during this lifetime.
Unfortunately, this is not a one way street. For there are many ups and downs along this spiritual path. So, when we find ourselves placed before such a supernatural battle and goal, we should not ignore 2000 years of history and in all humbleness conclude that this spiritual battle is very uneven and very asymmetric when seen from our current individual human perspective.
But are this battle and its stated goal attainable? Yes, they are.
How? By maintaining a dynamic balance between doing our own very best within our life (through the various types of prayer with a focus on pure and mental prayer, through unflinching self-observation, honest introspection, study, lots of practice, and constant failures along the way), while at the same time entrusting ourselves fully to God’s (+) divine will and providence.
Or as apostle Paul phrased it more succinctly: by fighting the good fight while aiming to finish the race and keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).
Nothing more. Nothing less.