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Christ: the Ideal of the Monk

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CHRIST THE IDEAL OF THE : H3/S hU6- PREFACE. Chnst Jesus is the sublime Ideal of all holiness, the Divine Model -presented by God Himself to the imitation His elect NIHIL of OBSTAT: Christian holiness consists in the complete and sincere acceptation 3rugis, n a Februarii 1926 of Lhnslby faith, and in the expansion of this Ald. Boone, S. J. faith by hope and chanty; it implies the stable and total hold exercised by Chnst upon our activity through the supernatural influence His of. Spirit. Christ Jesus, the Alpha and Omega of all our works, becomes by the communication of His own life, the very hfe of our souls: Mini vivere Christus est. This is what wc have tried to show, in the light of the Gospels and the writings of St. Paul and St. in IMPRIMATUR John, a first series of conferences Brugis, n a Februarii entitled Christ the Life 1926 of the Soul. A s a logical consequence, H. van den Berche, Vic. Gen. these uv&nuirc truths required the concrete showing forth of the very existence of the Incarnate Word. This existence is mani- fested to us by the states and mysteries, the actions and words of the Sacred Humanity of Jesus. Christ's works, during His terrestrial life are at once models to be imitated and sources of holiness: from them ever goes out a powerful and efficacious virtue to heal, enlighten and sanctify those who by faith come in contact with the mysteries of Jesus with the sincere desire of walking in His footsteps. We have studied, under this aspect, the Incarnate Word, in a second volume: Christ in His Mysteries. But besides the precepts laid down by Christ to His disciples as condition of salvation and essential holiness, there are to be found in the Gospels some counsels that Christ proposes to those who zvish to make the ascension of the sublime heights of perfection: Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia quae habes, et veni, sequere me. These are only counsels, " " undoubtedly: If thou wilt, Si vis, said the Master. But the magnificent promises made by Him to those who follow them show the value that He Himself attaches >IAHL IN CHI AT IIRJTAIN AT Till! fllMAN PIir?S, UATII ! VIII IK observance has for its aim amor,, et secutl te. to their observance: this — sumus That is the whole substance of the complete and more perfect imitation of the Saviour. Here again, practice of the counsels, the secret of perfection. He is the Way and the Model: religious perfection is but the It will be seen that this plan closely follows the one adopted full acquisition and the entire taking possession of the soul by in Christ the Life of the Soul. This is not to be wondered at, the teaching and example of the Word Incarnate : Veni, sequere since religious perfection is so essentially akin to Christian me... Perfectus omnis discipulus erit si sit sicut Magister holiness. ejus. May these'pages serve to make a great number of souls better These are the thoughts that we have endeavoured to comment understand the nature of this 'perfection to which God so widely tlie present the upon in volume. We have constantly placed invites Christians; to increase in some of these the esteem of Divine Figure of Christ before the eyes of privileged souls called the religious vocation sometimes misunderstood by our age; to in to walk the path of the counsels : nothing is so efficacious help some chosen ones to realise in themselves the call' of grace as this contemplation to touch and draw souls, and to obtain or to triumph over the obstacles that natural affections or the from them the necessary efforts in view of remaining faithful to spirit of the world oppose to Us call... May they above all so high a vocation and one so rich in eternal promises. quicken the first fervour of such consecrated souls whose perseve- these Many of pages explain Ike religious life such as St. Be- rance perhaps is wcari-ed by the length of the way; obtain nedict understands it; but,. as we shall fully see in the sequal, for those who are faithful to their vows the resolution of applying in the eyes the Patriarch monks, of of the religious state, taken themselves without relaxing to attain the summit of the in what is essential, does not constitute a particular form of virtues; finally, stimulate among them the best of ambitions, existence on the bordef.s or at the side of Christianity : it is this ever unsatisfied, that of holiness same Christianity lived in its fulness in the pure light of the • Confident that the Heavenly Father will recognise in our Gospel: Per ducatum Evangelii pergamus itinera Christi. 1 humble^labour the traditional teachings of His Saints , and The extraordinary supernatural fecundity of which the Rule has will vouchsafe to bless our efforts to prepare His field — Apollo given proof throughout so many centuries, is only to be explained rigavit — we earnestly beseech Him to throw therein the divine by this essentially Christian character imprinted by St. Benedict seed by handfuls and to bring it to maturity — Deus autem on all his teaching. incrementum dedit. A glance cast on the Index of the Conferences, at the begin- For this let us render Him even now our humble and filial ning of the volume, will show the simplicity of the plan adopted. thanksgiving! The first part gives, in broad outline, a general view of the D. C. M. monastic idea and institution, such as they appear to those who Maredsous Abbey, wish to cross the threshold of the cloister. The second par* Solemnity of St. Benedict. develops the programme to be filled by those desirous of adapting July, nth, 1922. themselves to this idea and of embracing this institution in such 1. Among Benedictine authors, we have chiefly quoted those who, by their a way as teaching life, particularly laid stress on the central idea expressed to assimilate all its, spirit. or have more This work presents a utilised by the title of this book ; this explains why wo have by preference two-fold aspect: The necessary Mochtilde and Blosius. detachment from created things the writings of St Gregory, St Bernard, St Gertude, St m order to cleave to Christ; the way of detachment, ihus embraced, leadtng to the- life of union: "Behold we have aU left things - to follow Thee, " Ecce nos reliquimus omnia, INDEX OF CONFERENCES GENERAL VIEW OF THE MONASTIC INSTITUTION I. " To seek God. " 1 II, The Following of Christ .... 19 III. The Abbot, Christ's Eepresentativo 40 IV. The Cenobitical Society . 63 II. STARTING POINT AND TWO-FOLD CHARACTER OF MONASTIC PERFECTION GENERAL VIEW V, Our Faith, . the Victory over the World 87 VI. Monastic Profession , 106 OF THE MONASTIC INSTITUTION *' " VII. The Instruments of Good Works. 121 THE WAY OP ABNEGATION (Religuimvi omnia) VIII. Compunction of heart 148 IX. Self-Benunciation . 172 X. Poverty ..... 191 XI, Humility .... 209 XII; Bomtm obedicntiae . 250 B. THE LIFE OF UNION WITH OHEIST („.et tecutitumutte) XIII. The Oput Dei, Divine Praise .291 XIV. The Oput Dei, Means of Union ,' with God ... ,310 XV. Monastic Prayer . Q07 XVI. The Spirit of Abandonment to God's Will T79 XVII. Good Zeal ... Jl XVIII. .' The Peace of Christ .'.'.[ ' \\ \ \\ \\ 428 I. — " TO SEEK GOD ". Summary. — Importance of the end in the human life. — I. '* To seek God ", the end of the Monastic Life. — II. To seek God in all things. — HI. To seek Him only. — IV. Precious fruits of this search. — V. How Christ Jesus is the perfect Model of this seeking after God. WHEN, we examine the Rule of St. Benedict, we see very clearly that he presents it only as an abridge- ment of Christianity, and a means of practising the Christian Life in its fulness and perfection. We find the great Patriarch declaring from the. first lines of the Prologue of his Rule, that he only addresses those who wish to return to God under' Christ's leadership. And in ending the monastic code he declares that he proposes the accomplishment of this rule to whomsoever, through the help of Christ, hasteneth to the heavenly country: Quisquis ergo ad patriam caelestem festinas, hanc... regirfam descriptam, adjuvante Christo., perfice K , To his mind, the Rule is but a simple and very safe guide for leading to God. In writing it, St. Benedict does not wish to institute anything beyond or beside the Christian life : he does not assign to his monks any special work as a " particular end to be pursued ; the. end is, as he says, to " 2 seek God : Si revera quaerit Deum . This is what he re- quires, before all, of those who come to knock at the door of the monastery to be there received as monks ; in this disposition he resumes all the others ; it gives, as it were, the key to all his teaching, and determines the mode of life he wishes to see led by his sons. This is the end that he proposes, and this is why we ought always to have this end before our eyes, to examine it frequently, and above all only to act in view of it. You know that every man, as a free and reasonable crea- ture, acts from some deliberate motive. Let us imagine ourselves in a great city like London. At certain hours of is like the day the streets are thronged with people ; it a moving army. It is the ebb and flow of a human sea.
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