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Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com www.TheCatoctinBanner.com The Catoctin Banner Newspaper December 2017 Page 17

An Unexpected Journey Fulfilled

James Rada, Jr.

Courtesy Photo
Nearly a decade ago, Brother department his final can use me as a vessel in the lives of
Pascale O’Brien of Divine Mercy with vows in the other people.”
should have been dead four times Daughters Immaculate His days are now spent
over. of Charity. Conception performing spiritual exercises,
“I had the Last Rites given to me He had no Chapel studying the Bible, and praying for
four times, and my younger brother children, at Mount the church and families who are in
was told to have me prepare a living and he has St. Mary’s need.
will,” O’Brien said. never been University Although some hermits live on
He had blood clots in his system married. on October their own in hermitages, O’Brien
that the doctors thought would He 1, 2017. lives on his own and conducts
kill him. O’Brien’s health remained applied to O’Brien his exercises in the privacy of his
precarious. When he finally be a hermit said that apartment. He wears a brother’s
recovered, his doctor told him that through the the Mass collar, habit, and ring to show that
his survival had been nothing less Archdiocese was a he is celibate.
than miraculous. of “bigger “I am no better than anyone else,
“I started thinking what I could Baltimore. event” than but I am striving to become better
do to repay the Lord for saving my The process he thought and more holy,” O’Brien said.
life,” O’Brien said. not only it would As he works toward this goal,
He decided to take the vows of a included be. his life is quiet unless he is listening
hermit. interviews, “My to spiritual music or watching
While you might imagine a but also a life is now a church sermon. He does not
hermit as a bearded old man living psychological dedicated interact much with the world unless
in seclusion in the woods, cut off evaluation. to the it is needed. His time and attention
from society, Catholic hermits are The Lord,” are instead focused on growing
men, and sometimes women, who evaluation O’Brien closer to his God.
have dedicated their lives to the took years, said. “My “I feel blessed,” O’Brien said. “I
Lord. O’Brien, who turned seventy but he Brother Pascale O’Brien is shown on the day he took his final life is about feel fulfilled, and I feel like I have a
this year, is retired from the dietary finally took vows to become a hermit on October 1, 2017. how God purpose in life.”