Romanian Hermits and Anchorites: Humility, humility, and again humility!

The richness of our faith still astounds me sometimes! I came across this video at the Crescat blog and was so impressed. Who knew there were still people living these kinds of religious lives today. The monk (or hermit, or anchorite) in the video has some wonderful things to say about prayer. Here is a general definition of this kind of life:

Anchorite (male)/anchoress (female), (adj. anchoritic; from the Greek ἀναχωρέω anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the rural countryside"), denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic and, circumstances permitting, Eucharist-focused life. As a result, anchorites are usually considered to be a type of religious hermit,[1] although there are distinctions in their historical development and theology.

The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of Christian monastic living. Popularly it is perhaps best-known from the surviving archeological and literary evidence of its existence in medieval England.

In the Roman Catholic Church today it is one of the "Other Forms of Consecrated Life" and governed by the same norms as the consecrated eremitic life (The Code of Canon Law 1983, canon 603).

Thank God for these holy people lifting up the world in prayer! To learn more about hermits and their life click here.