I didn’t know ‘hermit’ was a job description!
The hermit tradition goes back to the early days of Christianity, when St. Anthony of Egypt retreated to the desert to dedicate his life to prayer. The struggle to protect their solitude began for hermits around the same time. Many hermits were forced into monastic life, where devotion and prayer happened in a more controlled and organized fashion. In the ’50s and ’60s, the hermit lifestyle found more followers as a growing number of men and women sought to escape the fast pace of modern life.
What is a hermit job description? One must take a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience to a local diocese. A life of solitude in church provided housing might require that grounds are maintained, chapel cleaned, weddings and baptisms attended to. In addition, hermits talk to tourists, explaining historic details and dispensing lifestyle advice to strangers looking for tips on how to meet life challenges or deal with a broken heart. Maybe hermits were the first Holistic Lifestyle Coaches!
Right now, the Alpine town of Solothurn is looking for a resident hermit. The pay isn’t much, but the scenery is pretty fantastic. And there is solitude to be had between the official hermit social duties
-thanks to The Wall Street Journal