Who is Sister Mary?
A Biographical Sketch of Sister Mary of the Humble Heart of Jesus, Er. Dio.
My name is Sister Mary of the Humble Heart of Jesus, Er. Dio. and I am a diocesan hermitess (the feminine of hermit), who strives to live the double commandment of love in all its fullness. While most of my time is spent in solitude with God, I also have a teaching apostolate, named Holy Wisdom, by which I share the fruits of my contemplation with others.
I'll offer just a little bit of my story with you here. Before my conversion to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith, I was in a doctoral program for medieval and Renaissance English literature. I became disillusioned, however, when I realized that I was expected, with my new arsenal of modernist and postmodernist literary theories, to deconstruct the very beauty, order, truth and sacredness that I had come to love in medieval and Renaissance literature. In addition to the fact that the required methodologies were in contradiction with what I found most edifying in that literature, I also observed that the moral and intellectual subversiveness that is part of academic culture was profoundly unhealthy.
I had a dramatic conversion, and afterwards I discovered God's goodness—not only that God is good, but that He is Goodness itself (ipsa bonitas)—and that discovery was one of the greatest graces of my life. I discovered this goodness of God mostly through Saint Bruno, who founded the Hermitage of Chartreuse in 1084, which later became the Order of Carthusians. He was known for the cry of his heart: O Bonitas !, which means, O the Goodness of God.
While it was by the gift of wisdom that I had begun to contemplate God's goodness, I had not yet understood that wisdom is above all else (Prov 3: 5; Wis 10: 12) and that "God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom" (Wis 7: 28). After much study and prayer, I resolved to seek wisdom wholeheartedly, and to consecrate myself and all my works to Holy Wisdom. With Him, all good things came to me (Wis 7: 11), and so this apostolate is dedicated to sharing the treasury of all those good things with others.
"Seek to acquire the light and unction you need to inspire others with that love for Wisdom which will lead them to eternal life."
The strict papal enclosure of monastic communities does not apply to the hermit vocation of separation from the world. Monastic enclosure evolved in a different way under canon law, while the eremitical separation from the world is a different category of solitude with greater latitude for apostolic works.
Here is a list of some hermits throughout the history of the Church who combined some form of apostolic work with their life of solitude:
St. Jerome lived as a hermit in the 4th century in the Chalcis desert in Syria, where he devoted much of his time to study and to writing. He later lived in solitude in Bethlehem where he translated the Vulgate, wrote commentaries, some theological works, and gave spiritual guidance and assistance to a devout group of Roman women.
St. Bruno of Cologne was the founder of the Hermitage of Chartreuse in the 11th century, which later became the Order of Carthusians. He and six companions lived as a community of hermits in the Grande Chartreuse. After six years of deep solitude, Pope Urban II ordered St. Bruno to come to the Roman court to be one of his counselors. While fulfilling his duties in the midst a lot of activity and noise for several years, St. Bruno tried to continue his hermit life as best he could in the papal court. Pope Urban finally sent St. Bruno to Calabria, where he founded another small community of hermits.
The First Carmelite Hermits, 13th century. A group of Crusaders decided to abandon all warfare in order to live a life of prayer and solitude on Mount Carmel, following the example of Elijah the hermit and prophet. They had to leave Israel, and they moved to Sicily, England, Cyprus and France where they continued to live a solitary life, but also undertook apostolic works such as teaching and preaching.
The Order of Hermits of St. Augustine was the name of the community until 1968, when they were referred to only as Augustinians, Austin friars, or Friars Hermits. These hermits became a mendicant religious order in 1244 when several eremitical groups in Tuscany were brought together under the Rule of St. Augustine. The hermits increased rapidly in numbers, lived in urban areas and practiced apostolic works among the people.
Blessed Ramon Llull, a 13th–14th c. solitary and Franciscan Tertiary who worked tirelessly to convert Muslims and to encourage the study of Arabic for that purpose. He lived in solitude in the hermitage of the Holy Trinity in Mallorca but also accomplished many apostolic works and traveled throughout Europe to meet popes, kings and princes.
St. Francis of Paola, a 15th–16th century hermit who founded the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, later renamed as the Minims. He was canonized by Pope Leo X in 1519 and was praised in particular for his humility and discernment in combining the contemplative life with the active life.
St. Rose of Lima, a 16th–17th century Dominican tertiary. She retired into solitude by living in a hut on her family's property, but she also practiced many charitable, apostolic works like bringing the poor and sick into her hut and caring for them. In order to support herself, she made lace and brought the lace and also flowers to the market to sell them.
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, 18th–19th century. He lived as a hermit until the Hapsburg emperor abolished all hermitages. Later, he moved to Tivoli, Italy, where he became a hermit under the bishop there and also worked at a nearby shrine named Our Lady of Quintiliolo, assisting the pilgrims in whatever ways he could.
St. Charles de Foucauld, lived as a hermit in the 20th century in Tamanghasset in the Sahara desert of southern Algeria. He devoted a lot of time not just to learning the Tuareg language and writing a dictionary and grammar book for that language, but also to helping the Tuareg with manual labor and other works of charity.
Servant of God John Bradburne was a 20th century Franciscan Tertiary whose cause for beatification is underway. He went to Zimbabwe and lived as a solitary in a tin hut but also worked tirelessly as a missionary and served the lepers.