Father Fabian Rosette, a Miami native turned Odessa priest in the 1980s, Fr. Fabian was called to the monastic life and, following that call, he went into the desert, and though those early years were long and lean, he and his brother hermits have built, grown and maintained the Mount Carmel Hermitage, southwest of Christoval.
It hasn’t always been easy, in fact for many years it was quite difficult.
But thanks to God, and the support of a revolving number of Christians — both Catholic and Protestant — brothers, sisters, fathers, bishops, friends and supporters of the hermitage celebrated the 25th anniversary of its dedication, Saturday, July 2, 2016.
Fr. Fabian has cultivated holy land here. Work and prayer are the order of the day — everyday. The silence and spirituality of the hermitage are tangible.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize there was something authentic, something holy here,” said Very Rev. Joseph Chalmers, O. Carm., the former Prior General of the Carmelite Order who first received the hermits in 1991. Fr. Chalmers said that after visiting the rolling hills in southwest Tom Green County, and meeting Fr. Fabian, “I didn’t hesitate from that moment to push the idea that Fr. Fabian be accepted completely as a postulant.”
Most Rev. Fernando Millán Romeral, O. Carm., the current Prior General of the order, concelebrated the Mass after the long trip from Rome.
“When people here met Fr. Fabian for the first time, there were many Protestants,” Bishop Romeral said. “Many helped with donations of food and money. I come from a 90 percent Catholic country (Spain), so to me, that was impressive. That’s a very nice sign. We are all Christians and we are all people of a deep faith. These are the most important things we are united in.”
The hermitage was founded on July 1, 1991. Fr. Fabian followed Jesus’ call to give up everything and follow him in a life of silence, solitude and prayer. Fr. Fabian lived alone in a small cottage for several years and constructed a small chapel. He prayed regularly, maintaining a small herd of goats and a vegetable garden.
In 1994, two brothers joined him in order to pursue the same life in a community. Br. John David, an Odessa native, and one of the two founding brothers, still lives the monastic life today at the hermitage.
Fr. Martin Mary Hubbs, a longtime brother who left medical school in California for the monastic life, entered the priesthood in May 2012. Today, he is a vital part of the hermitage.
“I shake and tremble when I try to get my hands around the blessings, but also the burden,” he said during the celebration. “When Fr. Fabian started this 25 years ago, things were not so rosy. But the Lord does what he wants to do and he inspires who he wants to inspire, as with St. Benedict and St. John the Baptist.
“When Bishop (Michael) Pfeifer gave permission for this hermitage in 1991, it was a blessing. But for a vocation director who had been in the diocese for 10 years that might have seemed a little strange. Fr. Fabian is a person who came into the desert — literally.”
In those early days, Fr. Hubbs said, there were just three supporters — Fr. Fabian’s mother, Rosita Bernal, a Baptist minister who was the first person who brought Fr. Fabian his first cooked meal, and Lou Brown, a devout Catholic and area landowner.
“No matter what you say about Fr. Fabian, he lived here for three years by himself with blind faith,” Fr. Hubbs said. “He didn’t know where his next meal or the next donation would come from. By the grace of God, we continue to stand before him today trembling. I ask the Lord to give us the same courage he gave Fr. Fabian 25 years ago.”
The Most Rev. Michael J. Sis, sixth bishop of the Diocese of San Angelo, said the Mount Carmel Hermitage represents an “opportunity to recommit ourselves to God’s calling.”
Fr. Fabian was a priest in the diocese beginning in 1976. When he began looking to establish the hermitage, he said, “the Methodists welcomed me in and in gave me a glass of tea. I love the Methodists,” he said. “I didn’t have any money then, but I knew I would find it. St. Teresa of Avila said once you have the blessing of the bishop, you can get on with the rest of your life.
“If you give your life to God, he will take care of you every day. And we are filled with joy.”