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brrex
Member
| Joined: | Tue May 20th, 2008 |
| Location: | Maine USA |
| Posts: | 3 |
| First Name: | Friar Rex | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Presbyterian, then Methodist, then Anglican, now Catholic (Finally!) |
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 11:11 pm |
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Thanks for the warm welcome to the Forum. Below is a copy of an article I wrote for the diocesan newspaper a number of years ago. Be warned: I am no writer; so for those of you who are sticklers for proper grammar and sentence structure -- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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I usually get funny looks when I tell someone of my vocation as a Solitary.
"A what?" they say.
"A hermit" I explain. "One who feels called to live alone for religious reasons." This is as good an explanation as I have found to describe my live vocation.
The look of bewilderment deepens when I tell them my hermitage is not atop a remote mountain peak or in a cave. Nor do I reside in a hut in the forest. (Do you have any idea how much that sort of prime real estate goes for these days? Way more than a hermit vowed to a life of evangelical poverty can afford.) Actually, my hermitage is located in the heart of a neighborhood filled with kids and a little crime, smack dab in the middle of a small working-class town.
As a Franciscan it is appropriate for me to live my solitary vocation in the middle of town. To be sure, mountaintops and caves and forests have all been dwelling places for my Franciscan ancestors, not the least of whom was St. Francis of Assisi himself. On the other hand, Franciscans have also lived among the common people in towns and cities and villages around the world. So why not a hermitage in the heart of the city?
A bishop once told me that the hermit lives tucked away in the heart of the Church. From there the hermit prays his or her life away for the good of the Church and the salvation of the world. I like that image.
As I have continued to grow in my understanding of my vocation I have also come to believe it is important that I live tucked away in the heart of society—hidden in plain sight. Through prayer and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy I hope to be an instrument of peace in the lives of those who are forced by a multitude of circumstances to live in what Little Brother of Jesus Carlos Caretto called “the desert of the city.”
How sad it would be if all Solitaries chose the solitude and silence of the countryside and failed to witness to the presence of God in silence and solitude, prayer and penance amidst the hustle and bustle of the city.
Peace and All Good!
~Friar Rex
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Pani Rose
Member
| Joined: | Fri Oct 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Irondale, Alabama USA |
| Posts: | 606 |
| First Name: | Rose | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Ruthenian Byzantine in a Melkite Greek Catholic Parish, raised ... |
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 11:46 pm |
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Prayer covers a multitude of sin. Your hidden presence in plain sight, brings peace to a hurting world, in ways one can never comprehend. Angels surround you!
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Didi
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 3rd, 2008 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 212 |
| First Name: | Didi | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic; almost left; Now an On-Fire Catholic! |
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Posted: Wed May 21st, 2008 06:42 am |
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brrex wrote: As I have continued to grow in my understanding of my vocation I have also come to believe it is important that I live tucked away in the heart of society—hidden in plain sight.
Just like Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!
Thank you for obeying your call to this important vocation and thank you for all your prayers!
And welcome to the forums! 
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tedjenczewski
Member
| Joined: | Thu May 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Richmond, Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 306 |
| First Name: | Ted | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Presbyterian, revert Catholic |
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Posted: Thu May 22nd, 2008 01:11 am |
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| God hears the prayers of a rightous man.
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"...the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth." 1Tim 3, 15
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1479 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri May 23rd, 2008 02:25 am |
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| There are many of us here on the forum who are trying to discern a vocation involving prayer and meditation, but we are not able to move to a mountaintop either! Having you here will give us inspiration and practical advice about living in the world but not of the world. Welcome Friar Rex!
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