Merciful Heart Hermitage is the home of a consecrated diocesan hermit in the Carmelite tradition. The life of Carmel is one of unceasing communion with the indwelling Blessed Trinity, deepened through intimate relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This contemplative life is one of prayer in the silence of solitude, hidden with Jesus in the bosom of the Father (cf. Jn 1:18; Col. 3:5). The eremitic life of prayer and penance is ordered to the “praise of God and the salvation of the world” (cf. can. 603) and in that way is abundantly fruitful.
The vocation of the hermit is an ancient one, going back to the lives of the desert fathers of Egypt in the third century, and is at the origin of religious life in the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes this life beautifully:
[Hermits] manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One (CCC nos. 920-921).
Catholic priests serving in the Diocese of Phoenix are invited to pray alongside our consecrated hermit in a time of desert solitude at Merciful Heart Hermitage. Priests will know that there is a hermit praying for them who may be available to assist them should they encounter any difficulties along the inner journey to deeper union with Jesus.
