Diary Of A Hermit: Intimacy With GOD

FINAL EVALUATION

13 Sep 2016 3:36:39 PM GMT+8

13 Jul 2016 4:49:11 PM GMT+8

PLACE:
D'Sanctum Hermitage is located at Bucana, Lasang, Davao del Norte, boundary of Davao city and Panabo City. It is a bushy place as it was intended to be, woody and full of banana plants in the whole area. It is fully infested with mosquitoes and other form of insects that sucks the blood, causing a lot of skin irritations and little wounds on my skin. But I got used to them, they have destroyed my skin, but not my spirit.

Though the place is very rural, it is also closer to the road, so you hear mostly tricycles passing all the time, few cars and people chatting on the way. My hut is closer to the road, and sometimes, I was really disturbed of the noise. Yet again, it did not discouraged me, but helped me to find my own rhythm and silence.

When it rains, it pours, and when it pours, the place becomes so wet, muddy and most parts of the kitchen leaks, the same with the small huts. When it is wet, the more mosquitoes and insects around. The huts are poor, very much austere and broken. The water is being pumped every morning from a deep well, so it smells muddy and rusty, probably of the area, which is closer to the sea. I have learned how to save water, take a bath with a few pitchers. Water is very precious inside. In this way, I have found the real meaning of austerity, poverty and simple lifestyle.

It did not discouraged me. I was given a hut which was a bit bigger, but very old and poor. It is like a small house, but not used for a time. It was abandoned by the caretaker of the owner of the land. The land has been lent only to D'Sanctum. It has a very very old mattress and blanket. I had to wash them every other day because of the smell. At least it has a toilet inside, though it is not so good. In fact, I was expecting poorer than that. I was expecting more solitary than it is now. But as I have said, it did not matter; and as the days passed, I had my own rhythm in living my solitary life. God is truly gracious in all His ways.

D'Sanctum has another branch in Lupon, Davao Oriental. It is called MARYUMA, Mary Uma. The field of Mary. It is the ancestral land of the family of Fr. Gene. Part of the land, including the house and the ruins of the grand father's has been donated to D'Sanctum. It is the mother who is taking care of the place. She lives there alone like a hermitine. It has been transformed into a hermitage, and now, it has four cottages and a chapel. It is also an austere place, more mosquitos that side. Still, it is very descent and conducive for solitude. I was brought there by Fr. Gene to visit for a day. Since, I was so used to the life in D'Sanctum, I decided just to finish the period there.

COMMUNITY:
The D'Sanctum hermitines live as a community. It is a mixed community. At the moment, they don't have yet any canonical permission, so that they are still considered as lay people. There are only two Hermitines and two stewards, the scholars of D'Sanctum. They live like religious hermits, observing silence, hora et labora and personal contemplation. For me, there is still so much to do. There is no formation yet and formator living with them. There is already some kind of discipline, but more is still needed to be done as hermits. They need a Religious to guide them and to give them lessons, workshops and many other aspects of formation.

We have common meals, common prayer and social. We talk and laugh on the table, make jokes and tease each other like a family. Here, I always have meaningful conversations with the hermitines and stewards, all are broken people as to their family backgrounds, yet found God in silence. They have very meaningful lives, as God turned them into men and women of prayer.

I guess the Lord has a purpose in bringing me here, though temporarily. I became their spiritual father for a short time. It is amazing how they joyfully accepted me, and how my joyful disposition radiated joy in their faces too.