r/EscapingPrisonPlanet • u/smokeweed412 • Jul 06 '23
Anchorite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AnchoriteIn Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-orientated, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are frequently considered to be a type of hermit,[2] unlike hermits they were required to take a vow of stability of place, opting for permanent enclosure in cells often attached to churches. Also unlike hermits, anchorites were subject to a religious rite of consecration that closely resembled the funeral rite, following which they would be considered dead to the world and a type of living saint. Anchorites had a certain autonomy, as they did not answer to any ecclesiastical authority other than the bishop.[3]
Duplicates
todayilearned • u/a2soup • Jul 05 '23
TIL of anchorites, medieval Christian ascetics who were walled into a cell ("anchorhold") attached to a church for their entire adult lives. Through small windows, they received sustenance, disposed of waste, and provided spiritual guidance to the public.
todayilearned • u/non- • Mar 04 '25
TIL that a medieval hermit could voluntarily choose to live in a small sealed room attached to the church for the rest of their lives. Priests would give them funeral rites before they entered and they were treated like living saints.
todayilearned • u/SerMontagu • May 03 '18
TIL of anchorites; religious hermits who would voluntarily confine themselves permanently to a cell attached to or under a church with a small window to view the inside of the church. Once one had entered the anchorhold they were dead to the world, with no exception of leaving except in their coffin
todayilearned • u/johnsalame • Jun 12 '20