Franciscan Formation – Inspirations (Part 22) 

“It is fitting that in each Province and Custody, or in collaboration between several Provinces or Custodies, there be a hermitage or a house of prayer. There, friars who request it may, with the consent of the Minister or Custos, devote themselves more intensely to prayer for a given period of time, in the spirit of the Rule of Life for Hermitages”[1].

Many years ago, we talked in community about the idea of creating a hermitage. Well, it turned out that a friendly family wanted to give us some land for this purpose on a secluded hill in a forest, with a beautiful view of our friary. At that time we were not in a position to set up a new community that could follow the life prescribed by St. Francis in his Rule for Hermitages. We proposed creating a place where friars could come for a while in order to get away from their activities and problems and devote themselves to prayer. We shared this idea with the Minister Provincial and the friars of the Province. Our website was set up so we could exchange views. To our surprise, it turned out that the friars were not enthusiastic about supporting this work. Many considered the idea not only unnecessary, but even toxic. They pointed out that it was unclear what a friar was supposed to do in such a hermitage, who would serve him when it came to shopping and preparing meals, who would organize the program of the day and who would supervise its implementation. Some shared the fear that those who would use such a place would become prideful and consider themselves superior religious, while others felt that the idea of a hermitage was a useless fantasy: it would encourage laziness and distract friars from the need to commit themselves even more to their daily pastoral ministry.

Years later, the hermitage came into being as a small isolated house for those wishing to go on retreat. Today, the idea no longer arouses the controversy it once did. Nor were there large crowds trying to use it, although it always attracted a small group of people who sought an encounter with God through an experience of silence, austerity and living without daily comforts.

Dedicating a friary to serve as a hermitage was an idea St. Francis left us in his Rule for Hermitages. From time to time, Provinces revive this idea and put it into practice. However, in the midst of carrying out our vocation and mission, the idea of stepping away from our daily activities, entering into silence and devoting ourselves mainly to prayer, may seem like an escape from our daily commitments and duties. After all, friaries have their own chapels and their own days of reflection and spiritual retreats as well. The question then arises: “Do we really need to have friaries that are converted into houses of prayer?” Indeed, our charism stresses that we should work as a community when we carry out the mission to which the Church calls us. What does St. Francis of Assisi suggest regarding this issue?

Following the thoughts of our founding Father, each friar has his own cell to which he can retreat. Wherever he goes, and whatever he does, he should remember that he has the spirit of a hermit, ready to contemplate God and to pray to Him at all times, through silence and recollection, wherever he may find himself.[2] Seeking a quiet place, free from one’s daily pastoral problems and concerns, can be a form of escape. Francis makes a distinction between the vocation to live in a hermitage and the temptation to live in solitude or to seek so-called holy peace. Let’s look at his response to the minister who wanted to use the hermitage as a hiding place from the difficulties he was having with his brothers: “And love them in this…and let this be more than a hermitage for you.”[3] However, Frances himself periodically distanced himself from people.[4] He needed silence and solitude because that was the setting in which he experienced Christ’s presence, learned to listen to Him, and allowed himself to be changed by Him in order to have the strength to “leave the world” according to His will.

For Francis and his friars, the hermitage was a blessed place. It was a school of life where each friar learned to entrust himself, his confreres, and different human events, to the Lord in prayer. They were helped in this by a simple and poor life, by fasting, and by their community. A community that lives in God’s presence is eagerly visited by people needing advice, service, support, and all manner of good things that come from men of God. Therefore, over time, a division of roles in the community has since arisen. There is a group of friars who provide security; they shield the other friars from visitors to the gatehouse. However, more than that, they serve as a mother to the friars who have devoted themselves to prayer. They take care of their daily needs, they are a barrier against the world’s barrage of daily commitments, news and hustle and bustle.[5] The friars who periodically perform the role of Mary [as opposed to her sister, Martha] are guaranteed time for recollection and contemplation. The friars who perform the role of Martha learn about serving others and the members of their community.[6]

Ever since the Franciscan movement began, the friars have often been attracted to isolated places for their beauty, silence and the experience they offer for an intimate relationship with the Lord. However, Francis together with the early friars, recognized the temptation of what we might call the rocking chair, slippers and warm fireplace scenario. It is easy to get stuck in what attracts us, to focus solely on ourselves and to forget the question we should be asking the Lord: What must I do?[7] In definitively discerning the charism of the Friars Minor, we arrive at a pendulum model of life: contemplation in the hermitage followed by evangelization among the people.[8] The friars return from a solitary place to preach the Gospel to the people. Moreover, after doing pastoral ministry, they go back to the hermitage to devote themselves to contemplation. In our daily pastoral settings, we see such a life being led by friars who return to their friaries after carrying out some pastoral commitment.

St. Francis treated his stays in the hermitage as a vocation and a gift from God. His retreats were often mentioned as a time of filling himself with God. This may be a too figurative or somewhat inappropriate way to describe the spiritual dynamic of the hermitage. However, the fact remains that ever since Francis’ conversion, he would experience the presence of the Crucified in isolated places. His relationship with the Lord developed until he became intimately close with Him. It was in the hermitage setting that the Most High impressed the stigmata on Francis’ body. Afterwards, Francis’ heart, purified by suffering, let him return to the people and bring them the Praises of God.[9]

When we look at the history of the renewal of our Order, it seems that it often happened in the solitude of the hermitage. [10] Why? Because it is there that many Franciscan saints have found a renewal of their spiritual lives.

Following this line of thinking, I believe that spending time in a hermitage can bring about inner healing for friars, helping to alleviate the anxieties and frustrations that constantly pour into their hearts. As a result, the hermit friar may become more disposed to bless and praise the Lord, and to serve Him with renewed vigor. Surely the people we serve each day need this from us. They want to receive the Good News from those who are filled with it. Pastoral ministry often consumes us, leaving us drained of the motivation and strength we need to maintain our daily Conventual hermitage. Sometimes, even reflection days and short spiritual retreats are not enough to bring us peace and composure. Therefore, isn’t the revival of these houses of prayer in various parts of the Order something we ought to consider?

Friar Piotr STANISŁAWCZYK
General Delegate for Formation

[1] Friars Minor Conventual, Constitutions Rome 2019, art. 46 §3.
[2] Cf. CAss 108.
[3] A Letter to a Minister 7-8. FF 234-235.
[4] Cf. Tadeusz STARZEC, OFM Cap., Św. Franciszek z Asyżu i jego reguła życia w pustelni, Cracow 2011, p. 164.
[5] Cf. A Rule for Hermitages 8 FF 137.
[6] Cf. Wiesław BLOCK, OFM Cap., Wszystkim chrześcijanom. Duchowość Franciszka z Asyżu w świetle jego pism, vol. IV: Ja, brat, Cracow 2029, pp. 161-164.
[7] Cf. 2Cel II, 7.
[8] Cf. 1Cel XIV; Major Legend II, 5 FF 1044; Actus 15.
[9] Cf. Marino Bernardo BARFUCCI, OFM, Alwernia, in: Leksykon duchowości franciszkańskiej, edited by E. KUMKA, OFM Conv., Cracow-Warsaw 2016, pp. 10-22.
[10] Cf. Chiara Elisabetta BLUNDETTO, OSC, Eremityzm, in: Leksykon duchowości franciszkańskiej, edited by E. KUMKA, OFM Conv., Cracow-Warsaw 2016, pp. 350-378.