I am reading several books by Sister Benedicta Ward SLG. Her order, the Sisters of the Love of God, is the closest to the ideals of the Desert Christians within Anglicanism. In one of her books (well, actually the introduction), she makes the following point:

They were people who did without: not much sleep, no baths, poor food, little company, ragged clothes, hard work, no leisure, absolutely no sex, and even, in some places, no church either—a dramatic contrast of immediate interest to those who lived out the Gospel differently.

The Desert Of The Heart: Daily Readings with the Desert Fathers

The Desert Christians did without the church! There is, I think, a parallel between the Abraham of Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling – a person before religion – and the Christians of the desert – individuals before the institution. These desert dwellers lived (more or less) without the Eucharist – they had a eucharistic life rather than living the Eucharist. Something that strikes me as outside of the experience of modern-day monasticism.

The second point that Ward makes is:

Their name itself, anchorite, means rule-breaker, the one who does not fulfil his public duties.

The Desert Of The Heart: Daily Readings with the Desert Fathers.

A solitary is someone who steps outside the common norm, who does not live like everyone else, and who displays desires that are considered odd. Maybe it is about living outside of the norms in a society and culture where Jesus no longer has a place.

Food for thought. Anyway ….