Medieval Anchorites: Choosing to Be Buried Alive for God

Imagine attending your own funeral, then being walled up alive in a tiny cell attached to a church with only a small window for communion and food. You'll never leave. You'll never see the outside world again. You are now "dead to the world" and will live in this tomb-sized room until you actually die - which might be 10, 20, or even 40 years away. This was the life medieval anchorites chose voluntarily, and hundreds of people did it.

Anchorites (male anchorites were called anchorites, females were anchoresses) underwent a literal funeral service before being sealed in. The Bishop would read last rites, sprinkle them with dirt as if burying a corpse, and then masons would brick up the door, leaving only small windows - one facing the church altar for communion,  ...