Britain's growing band of religious hermits (original) (raw)

Rising numbers of lay people are choosing to live a solitary life of prayer and contemplation, according to Church of England sources.

At a time when church attendance is in decline, applications to live a contemplative life, in the style of the saints of the early church, have increased.

However, whereas the Syrian St Simeon Stylites prayed on top of a 60ft pillar for 36 years, modern ascetics rarely live a totally reclusive existence.

Dominic Walker, bishop of Reading, said: "There is a growing interest in the solitary life. It is not necessarily living as a recluse - although there are a few anchorites - it is more that people feel they are being called to a greater consecration of their lives to God. Most are living normal lives but, with people living in more loosely structured communities, it is much easier to be solitary."

The bishop, who acts as spiritual director for a number of contemplatives, added: "There is a solitary living in my own area who has a hermitage in her garden. Her husband seems to be quite sympathetic."

Strangely, while increasing numbers of Anglicans are attempting to follow the medieval rules of solitary living laid down by St Benedict, the Roman Catholic Church is reporting a decline in applications to join contemplative religious orders or tolive as solitaries. "We can only think of three [hermits] living in this country,"said Tom Horwood, spokesman for the Catholic Media Office.

Community work

Some religious orders combine a life of contemplation with community work. A group of American Franciscans - the Friars of Renewal - recently moved in to a dilapidated church hall in Canning Town, east London, to set up a small monastery ministering to people on a council estate.

Dressed in their grey habits and sandals and with long, bushy beards, the friars can even be seen ministering to the locals' spiritual needs by holding regular sessions in a pub.

Father Richard, the 31-year-old leader, said: "Everyone seems to be so angry here compared with New York. It's much worse in some ways. We have had rocks thrown at us but generally the welcome has been friendly enough. Kids look up at us in the street and say, 'Are you Jesus?' and our standard response is, 'No, we're just working for him'."

The number of societies for lay contemplatives is growing. There is the Fellowship of Solitaries, which has about 300 members, the Association of British Contemplatives, the Companions of Jesus Crucified, and even an organisation called the Order of Consecrated Virgins.

In the US there is an urban hermit movement, some of whose members retreat to their Manhattan apartments after a day behind their Wall Street computer screens for evenings of prayer, reading and quiet thought.

Eve Baker, newsletter editor of the Fellowship of Solitaries, who is married to a retired clergyman and lives in Brecon, Powys, said: "There is a dissatisfaction with institutional religion, which seems to dwindle these days. We speak very much of a vocation to solitude - just as there are vocations to the priesthood so there are vocations to an interior life of contemplation.

"We have people from all walks of life, including teachers, nurses - there seems to be a lot of solitude in nursing - even gravediggers. There is a certain wish to withdraw from the rush of everyday life."

The fellowship is ecumenical and has Catholics, Quakers and Pentecostalists as well as Anglicans. Its information leaflet states: "For the genuine solitary the perception of God is not likely to come through other people - none of us know where we may be led. It is rather like falling in love. It has the same element of adventure. Perhaps the genuine solitary falls in love with God."

Many are married and have families but interest is rising mostly among the elderly who perhaps have more time and a greater wish to withdraw from society.

Life of prayer

One is Olive Stephens, an 80-year-old spinster and former infants teacher in Chatham, Kent, who recently took vows to the consecrated single life at her local church after a year of study. Her vicar, Philip Hesketh says: "This sort of thing was common in the early church and now it seems to be happening in the 21st Century too. Olive lived an active life in our church but did not feel completely fulfilled. She follows a disciplined life of prayer. We think Olive is the first person since the Reformation in the Rochester diocese to consecrate her life in this way."

To an outsider, little in Miss Stephens' life would appear to have changed. She still lives in her council house, watches television - especially Dad's Army and The Good Life - goes shopping and attends church.

But now she also gets up at 4.30am to follow the rule of St Benedict and pray for two hours.

Her decision had much to do with previous frustrations and traumas in her life. She said: "I had a very strong maternal instinct but I never married. Now I feel I have been called to be a spiritual mother. I feel complete in a way I never did before. I realised I had to let go of all the children I never had. I asked Jesus if I could be his fiancee and he said yes. I have become a bride of Christ.

"I feel I have a fairly normal life. It is not a sacrifice to me, just that my interests have changed. I may be the first person in Rochester diocese to go through with this but it is happening all over the country, requests are coming in at one a month. It seems to be particularly women who are interested. Perhaps men are different."