Interview with the Hiking Hermit
Reflections by Fr. Johannes Maria Schwarz
In early December we wrote about the surprise YouTube hit documentary by Kirsten Dirksen featuring Fr. Johannes Maria Schwarz that now has over 1.1 million views online.
We wrote to Fr. Johannes directly with a request to interview him, and he very kindly responded immediately with amazing reflections. But thanks to the overzealous efforts of Gmail’s spam filter, unfortunately, we did not see his answer until today!
Without further delay, therefore, here are Fr. Johannes Maria Schwarz’s responses to our questions:
SOS: Thanks to YouTube and social media, you are known for your lengthy pilgrimages and now for your life as a "homestead hermit." What would you recommend for people who are attracted by the silence and peace of being in nature or working with their hands but are not able to escape their busy lives. Is there a "pilgrim/hermit" aspect of life they can tap into from wherever they are?
Fr. Schwarz: The pilgrim aspect is probably the easiest to tap into, simply because it describes a basic Christian truth, namely that we are all pilgrims. The word pilgrim comes from the latin peregrinus which has its root meaning in “the stranger”, “the one from over the field". In Roman times it was often used for those that were not citizens of the empire.
And so, understanding yourself to be a pilgrim means nothing but the realisation that we are in the world but not of the world, that we are strangers to these lands, guests, passing through on our way to our true home. From that we can take the lesson to travel light and not burden ourselves with an excessive amount of possessions which we cannot take with us.
Even a piece of land, a garden and a beautiful hut in the mountains are not in fact "paradise" as YouTube titles may have it. These things are given to us for a time to learn lessons in stewardship and cultivate virtues as much as plants.
And this is where I see the benefit of manual labor for any man - especially beneficial also to those who lead or pursue an intellectual life. While hardship that accompanies manual labor might be a consequence of the fall, it is not vengeance but remedial in character and thus ordered to the restoration of man.
This is probably one of the reasons why even the most contemplative of religious, such as the Carthusians, tend a garden and do not shun to work with their hands. Dirt keeps us humble because it reminds us more often than Ash Wednesday that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
So to those who have a desire to work with their hands and be out in nature, I would say: God bless you. Do it. Find a way. And to those that have the desire but no possibility I would say: Working with your hands requires ... well, just ... hands, really. You may choose to place yourself in the service of your neighbor in some charitable work - "lending a hand" as they say. Or you come to realize that many menial tasks are right in front of you, such as cleaning your own home.
I realize that we frequently tend to outsource such things to "free ourselves" for "more important" tasks. In some cases this is surely unavoidable but in other circumstances we may be poorer for it. We are in the end as men embodied souls. Let our body have a share in working for the glory we seek.
SOS: Watching your hike across the Alps and the amount of shrines you encountered really drives home the fact that Europe used to be so thoroughly Catholic. Do you see any signs of renewal of that faith in your media work or in your engagement with people on your travels?
Fr. Schwarz: I guess, humanly speaking, the picture I would paint is rather bleak. Most would say that the Catholic Church is experiencing a crisis. The truth is that the word "crisis" etymologically refers to the "turning point of a disease". And this, in my estimation, we have not reached. We are not turning a corner. We are not slowly picking things up and returning to health. We are getting sicker by the day. Look at the Church in Germany that feverishly dreams of apostasy. Look at Rome. Or better don't.
Ideologies still-born many decades ago are raging ghosts mistaken by shepherds for the "Spirit of God". We will yet witness much destruction ere the dust settles and a much smaller flock remains that carries on the faith it has received. Or so it would seem to me.
And I guess I'm not too far off Pope Benedict XVI's own predictions on that matter. But then there is God. Things might turn out completely different. The ways of God are beyond the musings of mere men. But should it indeed come to pass as described above, even then we know that whatever happens is within divine providence. God is in charge. There is no reason for fear or despair. His will be done. If he permits suffering and sends chastisements it is for our sanctification and our good.
Some readers might think this "defeatist" but it is not meant to be. For any and all of us there is labor without end. Wild boars may be ravishing God's vineyard, but that should give us not less but more urgency in tending to the fruits and picking what the Creator of all lets grow.
And I do indeed see some people doing this. They are not heralds of a new spring, from what I can tell, but their work of storing and re-storing might get us through the coming winter.
SOS: If Europe doesn't re-Christianize, what will happen to the built environment of Catholic Europe? Are you seeing any efforts to ensure these shrines/churches are being maintained or restored? Is there any way for our readers to help out with that?
Fr. Schwarz: It is a truth - not of the faith - but of historical certainty that St. Peter's in Rome with all its glory one day will crumble, as did the Constantinian basilica it replaced. Christ promised the endurance of His Church not its buildings, properties, patrimony, land or historical expressions.
After all not only we as individuals are pilgrims, but so is the ecclesia militans [Church Militant] as a whole. Any loss will be painful, to be sure - as painful as when walking through the ruins of English monasteries, looking into the vaulted dome of the Hagia Sophia, entering a church converted into a super market in Amsterdam or visiting the land in which St. Augustine once was bishop.
Europe, if things do not turn around by an act of God, will likely lose many of its religious treasures. But an infinitely greater loss is that of a single soul. If we do not save the faith, return to preach it with humility, clarity and one voice, all those beautiful buildings giving glory to God will become empty relics of a past civilization as did the pyramids and temples in Asia and South America.
Does this mean that we should just let them go? No, I don't think so. They might not be alive, but they are not mute. They still tell without words the story of God becoming man.
In fact I think that the shrines of the Alps may be particularly worth saving. For the people who go into the mountains to seek beauty, silence and an encounter with the majesty of creation may be the most open to also encounter the Creator.
I think in particular the shrine on Mont Thabor, the highest in France at over 10.000 ft, would be a genuine invitation to the traveller if it was restored. Even now that it is a ruin, hardly any hiker passes without stopping and looking inside.
Imagine if there he would encounter in vivid colors the history of salvation, Christ's birth, his preaching, his saving death on the cross; maybe a crucifix that leaves an imprint not just on the eyes but on the heart. That is why these places are important even when nobody is there to speak.
A beautiful church lifts up the soul and thus takes its visitor to the threshold of prayer. Beauty might not save the world, as Dostoevsky had it, but it may be one more knock against the door of a heart, that then will open.
So I would say that your readers may surely help, at home in their parish, in supporting monasteries that have a sound liturgical life and thus will carry the light when many shall walk in darkness.
Or if anyone is so inclined why not contribute to the restoration of the chapel on Mount Thabor so it may begin again to witness in silence in the centuries to come.
How to do that? I guess for many the easiest and maybe most rewarding way will be by renting or buying the film “Via Alpina Sacra” and adding a donation at checkout, if they like.
The proceeds of this film are forwarded to the parish that has begun the task of renovation. The chapel on Mont Thabor appears in the first minutes of the film – in icy fog, maybe clouding the very vision of what is yet to come.
SOS: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
Fr. Schwarz: Though things may seem dire at times, be of joyful heart. God is not absent in any of this. Or if that seems hard to remember throughout the day, consider at least that a barrel of vinegar is certainly less attractive to a bee than a drop of honey, as St. Francis of Sales used to say.
END OF INTERVIEW
We thank Fr. Schwarz for his time and generosity in responding to our questions. We encourage you to check out the trailer for Fr. Schwarz’s film Via Alpina Sacra on YouTube and then please consider purchasing the full film here for $5 (and perhaps adding a donation at checkout). As he mentioned, proceeds from sales of the film go to the restoration of the shrine on Mont Thabor, the highest chapel in France.
Please also consider sharing our Save Our Shrines newsletter. We will also donate any paid subscriptions resulting from this post to Fr. Schwarz for the restoration of the Mont Thabor chapel.