The Hermit

The Priest Who Saved a Soul, a Marriage, and a Family

By: Kevin Wells

Narrated by: Scott Russell

In his raw and tender memoir, biographer Kevin Wells pulls listeners into the unforgettable story of a parish priest turned hermit, Father Martin Flum, who orchestrated the slow resurrection of his wife, Krista, from the nightmare of her deep wounds and addiction.

In gripping fashion, Kevin tells the story of his family’s own long suffering, which culminated in the dark spring of 2020, as a strange fear pressed down upon the world and his wife spent most nights drinking away long-held shame. When a near-universal chorus of politicians, medical professionals, and Catholic clergy megaphoned the command to “isolate,” Kevin couldn’t imagine a more dooming word for his family, his marriage, and the life of his wife.

Yet God had other plans. Wells’ honest tale of inner crisis and hope-filled resurrection takes listeners on a spiritual rollercoaster, offering a penetrating exploration of the sacramental grace of marriage and the mysterious movement of God in dry, lonely places.

In the journey from darkness to light, three lives—Krista, Kevin, and Father Flum—became forever entwined. It is a deeper kind of love story. The chapters on the fits and starts of renewal unfold like the piecemeal opening of a tomb. The Hermit is a true account of marital survival, a holy priest, redemption, and even the miraculous, where imprisoned shame and sin are transformed into the joy of freedom.

©2024 Ignatius Press (P)2024 Ignatius Press

Love

Great story well written hard hitting tough but as Christ taught us how to love. the love of a husband and the love of a great priest was able to heal the wounds that cut deep

Thank you, Mr. Wells, for telling this story.

I loved this tender, humble and vulnerable look into the beautiful relationship between husband and wife and their faithful priest. I am inspired and challenged.

amazing bravery and humility

listening to Kevin go into detail about his family and what it took to survive the ordeal and come out on the other side is an inspiration

Hopeful but repeatable?

Beautifully written. Much love, much work, much prayer, and ultimately surrender in order to win the battle for Kevin’s wife and marriage and family. Many spiritual resources were available to them that most couples do not have. A roadmap nonetheless.

No wonder!

The story was very disappointing. It should have been about the wife's struggle to mentally spiritually, and physically overcome her addiction, instead it was all about how the author, (his every thought, prayer, word and deed in amazingly redundant and boring detail), due to his saintly (tongue in cheek) and persistant efforts (in which he ever so humbly occasionally remembered to mention God) that she finally began to improve. Both my husband and I had the same reaction which we shared half way through the story...NO WONDER she chose to drink. Living with him would have been unbearable!!