… as a punishment for criminals

In antiquity as well as in the Middle Ages there was an awareness of this longing for solitude and a respect for what it means; whereas in the constant sociality of our day we shrink from solitude to the point (what a capital epigram!) that no use for it is known other than as a punishment for criminals. But since it is a crime in our day to have spirit, it is indeed quite in order to classify such people, lovers of solitude, with criminals.

Sickness Unto Death

All for Jesus

Whatever the rhythm of prayer may be, by day and by night, solitaries must never lose sight of the fact of Jesus as Saviour; it is he, and only he, who draws us to the Father and who has promised us the ministry of the Spirit. We must never lose sight of the Incarnation and all that flows from it; that is the uniqueness and completeness of the Christian way.

Solitude and Communion: Papers on the Hermit Life, 108

hermits!

What profession do you admire most and why?

Not a profession (as in “job”) but religious – the hermits who live complete off-the-grid.

The commitment to an ideal – in this case a person – is what I admire. These hermits turn their backs on all things that this world looks for and simple turn to Jesus. “Deny yourself and follow me.”

Faith! To follow Jesus unconditionally in hiddenness and “fear of the Lord” (accountability). To be forgotten by the world and only seen by Jesus.

whole in each

The Church of Christ is united in all her parts by the bond of love, so that she is both one in many members and mystically whole in each member. … If those who believe in Christ are one, then wherever an individual member is present, the whole body is also there through the mystery of the sacrament.

Peter Damian, Letter 28 Dominus Vobiscum.