Hermitage (religious retreat)

Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.

Western Christian tradition

Hermitage "Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden" in Warfhuizen, the Netherlands

A hermitage is a type of monastery. Typically it has a room, or at least a dedicated space, for religious devotion, very basic sleeping quarters and a domestic cooking range, suitable for the ascetic way of living of the inhabitant. Depending on the work of the hermit, premises such as a studio, workshop or chapel may be attached or sited in proximity.

Traditionally, hermitages have been located in caves and huts, often in the desert or woods, sometimes abutting monastery buildings of a cenobitic community when there was an exchange of labour and provisions. In medieval times, they may have been endowed by the lord or lady of a manor in return for prayers for their family, or in city dwellings, e.g., inside the city gate as remuneration for services rendered as a gatekeeper. In modern times they are to be found even in large cities and high-rise blocks of flats, depending on the hermit's means.

Examples of hermitages in Western Christian tradition:

The Grande Chartreuse in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, France, motherhouse of the Carthusian Order.
New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California, United States
Camaldolese Hermitage in Bielany, Kraków, Poland

Other traditions

Poustinia

Main article: Poustinia

A poustinia is a small, sparsely furnished cabin or room where one goes to pray and fast alone in the presence of God. The word poustinia has its origin in the Russian word for desert.

Ashram

Main article: Ashram

In Hinduism, a hermitage is called an ashram. Traditionally, an ashram in ancient India was a place where sages lived in peace and tranquility amidst nature.^[1]

Sources

Source: The History of Religious Seclusion, A.S. Brown, 1963

References

↑ Glossary of Garoi Ashram

External links

Look up hermitage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer ISBN 0-921440-54-5 (The current 3rd edition)

Consecrated life in the Catholic Church

Types	Secular clergy Consecrated virgin Hermit Religious institute Orders Monastic Cenobitic Enclosed Canons Regular Mendicants Second Orders Clerks Regular Congregations Secular institute Society of apostolic life

Vows	Evangelical counsels Poverty Chastity Obedience Profession Solemn vow Vow of silence Vow of enclosure

Monastery	Abbey Cloister Convent Hermitage Priory Refectory List

Prayer	Contemplation Liturgy of the Hours Mass Meditation Mysticism Rosary

Habit	Clerical clothing Coif Cornette Scapular Vestment

Members	Abbot Abbess Brother Master of novices Monk Novice Nun Oblate Postulant Provincial superior Prior Superior general

Other	Asceticism Tonsure Vocational discernment

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, October 04, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.