CHRISTIAN

SPIRITUALITY
From
till the

the

Time of our

Lord

T)aw?i of the Middle ^Ages

By

P, Superieur du Qrand Seminaire de Lyon

the
Translated by
S.

"REV.

POURRAT
and

W. H.
P.

MITCHELL JACQUES

LONDON

BURNS GATES AND

WASHBOURNE
M
C

LTD.

X X

I I

^AN

7 1950

PREFACE
that part of theology which deals SPIRITUALITY with Christian perfection and the ways that lead to
is
it.

and Mystical Theology. The former treats of the exercises required of aspirants to Ordinarily the soul rises to perfection by passingperfection. through three stages. First of all, it gets free from sin by penance and mortification then it forms inner virtues by prayer and the imitation of Christ and, lastly, it advances in the love of God till it reaches habitual union with Him. It is for us to enter the path of perfection and to traverse its stages more or less quickly. God calls us to do this, and gives us the graces needed for corresponding with His call. It is otherwise with the extraordinary states dealt with in mystical theology states such as mystical union with its concomitant manifestations i.e., ecstasy, visions, and revelations. The mark of these states is their independence of those who experience them. They are the privilege of the few to whom God unites Himself ineflFably by flooding them with light and love. No one can eflfect these mystical phenomena within himself by any efforts or merits of his own. The soul of the ascetic with the help of grace makes an effort to rise towards God but the soul of the mystic is suddenly and impetuously visited by God without exerting any activity beyond that of receiving and enjoying the Divine gift. ^
; ;

both, Spiritual Theology. This, again, is divided into Ascetic Theology

Dogmatic Theology teaches what we should believe, Moral Theology what we should do or not do to avoid sin, mortal or venial, and above them thoug^h based upon them both, comes Spirituality or

Here I have merely sought to summarize the ascetic and mystical spirituality of the early Church from the days of her birth to the beginning of the tenth century. The riches of Christian antiquity are too ample to attempt any detailed account of them. My aim is rather to make the early authors known, to set forth their teaching in their own words at sufficient length to give a definite idea of it, and to group
Some writers make no absolute distinction between asceticism and mysticism. They say that any Christian who is in earnest in striving after perfection is called to mystical union apart from its accessory manifestations (ecstasies, visions). Early Christian writers certainly did not distinguish asceticism from mysticism, and the word mysticism is not usually employed by them as defined in the text above. But they knew well that extraordinary states were the privilege of a few only. Men of letters and philosophers use the word " mystical " in a totally different sense from that of the theologians i.e., for " very religious."
'

vi

preface
in

and describe the various ascetic and mystical doctrines each of the periods under review. Following- the chronological order, I have synthesized the spiritual teaching of the New Testament, the divine code of asceticism, that of the Apostolic Fathers, and then that of Next come the the monks of the fourth and fifth centuries. Pelagian controversies, which had a considerable influence upon asceticism, and gave rise to some extent to the admirable spirituality of St. Augustine, the most living expression of his At the close of the Patristic Era the monachism of the soul. West makes extraordinary strides, and St. Benedict of Nursia and numbers of monastic legislators compress their ascetic
tog-ether

taught

In the East, at the dawn of the teaching into their Rules. Middle Ages, monastic institutions acquire their final form according to the Rule of St. Basil, and bring forth a swarm of hagiographers and spiritual writers, many of whom are
still

celebrated.

Christian piety gains incalculably by contact with these venerable writers, who began by applying to themselves the ascetic principles which they afterwards imparted to others in their books. The exposition of their teaching is interspersed with numerous quotations. These throw light upon the thought
of the writers,

and

which is always weakened by summarizing it, book thus becomes a sort of Enchiridion Spirituale But for those who are unable to refer to the originals. summary and quotations together cannot give the same
this

May this work as the originals themselves. kindle in many a desire to read them and to cull from the early authors a far higher spirituality than is to be found in
impression

most modern

treatises

This volume will be followed (D.V.) by two others Christian Spirituality from St. Bernard to St. Francis de Sales, and Christian Spirituality from St. Francis de Sales
:

till

To-day.

Preface

-------v
CHAPTER
I

CONTENTS

PAOK

THE ASCETIC TEACHING OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES

I,

II.

The Synoptic Gospels The Renunciation of Things follow Jesus only The Gospel of John Union of the Christian
:

all
i

to

St.

with Christ and the Divine Persons III. The Teaching of St. Paul (i) The Flesh and the Old Man The Christian Combat. (2) The Spirit, Their Relationship to the Holy the New Man Spirit and to Jesus Christ. (3) Ascetic and Mystical Consequences of this Relationship

lo

16

CHAPTER

II

CHRISTIAN ASCETICISM IN THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES

I.

II.

III.

The Position of Ascetics Communities Observances of the Early The Spiritual Teaching
-

in
-

the Early Christian

-

"36
40 48

Centuries

Ascetics of the Union with Christ -

First
-

Three
-

CHAPTER

III

ECCENTRICITIES OF EARLY CHRISTIAN ASCETICISM

I.

11.

III.

Encratism and Montanism Alexandria's Heterodox Asceticism and Neoplatonism The Ascetic Theology of Clement of
:

60
63

Gnosticism
-

Alexandria
-

and Origen

68

CHAPTER

IV

MONACHISM IN THE EAST IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES

I.

11.

III.

The Begmnmgs of Eastern Monachism The Chief Representatives of Eastern Monachism Egypt Hilarion Antony and Pachomius Palestine The Monks of Syria and Mesopotamia The Monks of Asia Minor Basil Eastern Monasticism The Rules of Pachomius
:

74

in

in

80
88

St.

and

St. Basil

viii

Contents

CHAPTER V

THE ASCETIC TEACHING OF THE EASTERN MONKS OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES

III.

The Excellence of the Monastic Life Monk and Priest Monastic Perfection _The Monk's Temptations Degrees of PerfecConditions IV. Prayer Extraordinary and Supernatural Forms of Prayer V. The Struggle with Evil Spirits Temptations
I. -

PAGE

105
10.7

II.

Its

tion

-----Its
-

iii

123 129

CHAPTER

VI

MONASTICISM IN THE WEST IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES

I.

The

West
and
II.

Revelation of Eastern Monasticism to the The Ascetical Apostolate of St. Jerome

III.

The Reaction of "Christian Epicureanism" Helvidius, Jovinian, and Vigilantius Monasticism Gaul Martin of Tours, Honoratus, Cassian Africa Augustine IV. Tfie Monastic Work of
-

St.

Ambrose

136
147

in

St.

St.
-

St.

in

156 164

CHAPTER

VII

INFLUENCE OF PELAGIANISM ON SPIRITUALITY AUGUSTINIANISM AND PELAGIUS AND ST. AUGUSTINE

I.

II.

The Pelagian Heresy Augustinian Anthropology

169 174

CHAPTER VIII THE SPIRITUAL TEACHING OF

ST.
I.

AUGUSTINETEMPTATION AND PRAYER

St.
:

III.

Augustine and Christian Perfection Charity Centre How to become Perfect The Degrees of Perfection The Gradual Psalms Augustine and Temptation IV. Augustine on the Efficacy of Prayer V.
Its
-

in

II.

St.

185 190 196 199

St.

206

Contents

CHAPTER

IX

CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES ST. AUGUSTINE AND DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE TAGS
I.

II.

The

Contemplation according to

St.

Augustine

209

Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite -

"2 17

THE CHRIST IN CHRISTOLOGICAL CONTROVERSIES OF THE FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES

THE EUCHARISTTHE CULTUS OF THE VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

CHAPTER X SPIRITUALITY DURING

III.

Christ's Relationship with Christians The Christ's Mystical Body Church The Duties of the Faithful towards Christ to Love and to Imitate Him The Sanctifying Effects of the Eucharist IV. Devotion to Mary, the Mother of God
I.

is

224
231

II.

234 236

CHAPTER

XI

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MONASTIC LIFE IN THE WEST AFTER THE FIFTH CENTURY THE MONASTIC RULES OF ITALY, GAUL, AND SPAINTHE HAGIOGRAPHERS AND LATIN ASCETICAL AUTHORS OF THIS
PERIOD
I.

II.

The Legislators of Monastic Life Benedict of Nursia and Cassiodorus Monastic Legislation Gaul The Rules
in
-

Italy

St.
-

242

in

III.

IV.

V.

Archbishop of Aries, and Columbanus, Abbot of Luxeuil Other Rules derived from these The Common Life of Clerks St. Chrodegang of Metz The Spanish Monastic Rules: the Rules of the Archbishops of Seville, St. Leander, and St. Isidore the Rule of St. Fructuosus of Braga The Monastic Work of St. Benedict of Aniane in . . . . the Ninth Century The Western Hagiographers of the Sixth Century St. Ennodius of Pavia Eugippius St. Gregory of Tours and Fortunatus
Caesarius,

of St. of St.

252

259 260

264

*
, -_

Contents

VI.

The

PAGE

Ascetical Writers after the Fifth Century Boethius, St. Martin of Braga, St. _ . Gregory the Great _ .
:

Latin

266

CHAPTER

XII

THE

DEVELOPMENT OF

EASTERN

MON-

ASTICISM AFTER THE FIFTH CENTURY:

SPIRITUAL

MONASTERIES AND LAURAS GREEK WRITERS OF THE SIXTH TO THE TENTH CENTURIES: HAGIOGRAPHERS, ASCETICAL WRITERS AND MYSTICS, THE PANEGYRISTS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
Monasticism after the Fifth Century in the Peninsula of Sinai, in Constantinople, and in Palestine The Hagiographers or Authors of the Monastic Memoirs and Lives of the Saints Cyril of Scythopolis, St. John Moschus, St. Sophronius, Leontius of Neapolis, St. Simeon Metaphrastes Ascetical Theology St. John Climacus, Antiochus, St. Dorotheus, St. Theodore of Studium Mystical Theology St. Maximus the Confessor The Panegyrists of the Blessed Virgin Sergius, Andrew of Crete, St. Germanus of Constan:

I.

Eastern

271

II.

III.

IV. V.

278
284 297

tinople, St.

Conclusion
Index

--*--.-..--John Damascene
-

299
304

307

CHAPTER THE ASCETIC TEACHING OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES

I

this synthetic study to give any complete exposition Testament is out of the spiritual teaching- of the It is impossible to cram into the of the question. compass of a few pages those divine teachings upon the riches of which souls eager for perfection have fed Here it will in the past and will feed until the end of time. suffice to set forth the fundamental principles of the spiritu-

IN

New

bequeathed to us by Jesus and the Apostles, running through in order the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of St. John and the Epistles, especially the Epistles of St. Paul.
ality

I. THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

Our Saviour did not put forward His ascetic teaching in didactic form He addressed it to His hearers, as He did the The Evanrest of His Gospel, as circumstances required. Indeed, they gelists made no attempt to gather it together. sometimes even set the counsels of perfection, given by Jesus, side by side with the precepts dealing with the Christian's But Catholic tradition has definitely distinessential duties. guished between those words of the Master which deal with asceticism, with Christian perfection, and those which have to do with evangelical morality.
;

The whole
up
in

of the ascetic doctrine of the Gospel these words of Jesus Christ

:

is

summed
'

"If any man will come after Me {i.e., will be My disciple), let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow ^le. ^ The Christian life and, a fortiori, the perfect life consist in two fundamental and correlative dispositions, each of which calls for the other, unable to exist without each other, which
'

should inspire all our acts (i) the renunciation of self; (2) the firm determination to follow or imitate Christ. To become
:

which

more and more detached from ever}thing within or around us is contrary to the good, and to follow Jesus as closely

as possible, such is the rule of perfection. belong to Jesus so far as we renounce ourselves, and the more detached we are from ourselves the more we are His. The necessity for renunciation expressed by the powerful image " to bear one's cross " finds its justification in the fact
that since the
1

We

fall

man

has had to fight against the unruly

Cf. Matt, xvi, 34;

Luke

ix, 23.

Mark

viii, 34.

Cbrlsttan Spirttualitp

propensities of his corrupt nature. But it is not only within himself that man discovers foes. Outwardly he finds himself at war with the suggestions of the world and the devil/ and to these he must offer an energetic opposition, in which vigilance and prayer will furnish his best weapons.^ Jesus Christ's attitude with regard to temptations,^ which He indeed had no reason to dread, shows the faithful how they must behave on dangerous occasions if they are to emerge from the struggle as victors. Christian renunciation has different degrees. In all it should go far enough to turn one away from that disorderly love of creatures which constitutes grievous sin. But we shall see how very far it is pushed by those whom God calls to evangelical perfection. can easily understand that he who would be perfect must renounce things that are lawful, and not only those that are forbidden. To abstain solely from that which is condemned by the law of Christ, under pain of grave sin, is to show regard for the precepts of evangelical morality, and to make sure of the minimum of Christian life which is absolutely necessary for salvation, but it is not a pursuit of perfection. Jesus Himself made clear the distinction between the essential renunciation which is binding upon all and that which is required of followers after perfection. One day a rich young man met and accosted Him thus " Good Master, what shall I do that I may receive life everlasting? And Jesus answered him If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He said unto Him Which? And Jesus said Thou shall do no murder. Thou shall not commil adullery. Thou shall nol steal. Thou shall not bear Honour thy father and thy tnolher. And false witness. Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith to Him All these have I kept from my youth. What is yet wanting to me? And Jesus, looking on him, loved him and said to him If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come follow Me."^ The possession of worldly goods, when kept within the bounds of justice, is lawful. Nevertheless he who, like the young man in the Gospel story, feels higher aspirations and hears the divine call is invited to renounce them. Nor is worldly wealth the only thing that must be left Evangelical perfection further demands detachment behind. from one's family, one's self, and one's own life also the cross has to be taken up and the footsteps of Jesus must be followed

We

'
*

2 Mark xiv, 38. Matt, xviii, 7. Cf. Luke viii, 12. Mark i, 12, 13; Luke iv, 1-13. Cf. Matt, iv, i-ii The passages quoted will be found in Matt, xix, 16-21 Mark x,
; ;
;

17-31

Luke

xviii, 18-30.

even to the death,

Hscetic Ueacbino of ^esus an^ tbc Hpostles 3 Thus if need be, whithtr He Himself went.

the renunciation of thing's permitted is to be universal, an all-round renunciation. " And there went great multitudes with Him. And turning". He said to them If any man come to Me, and hate not (Matt. X. 37 gives He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me) his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."^ He who would follow the Saviour in the path of perfection without such a degree of renunciation as this would be like the comparisons are those of Jesus Himself a man who proposed to build a tower without calculating whether his means sufEced to finish it, or a king who rashly declared war without first comparing his forces with those of his enemy. ^ " So likewise," says the Master, " every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be My disciple."^ Such detachment as this is seen to involve the practice of perfect chastity. To abstain from matrimony for the sake of living a life of continence is a sacrifice to be accepted by those who would follow out to the full the counsels of perfection of Jesus Christ.* They thus put themselves upon a higher and more holy plane of life, as was laid down by the Council of Trent, ^ and can walk in the footsteps of our Lord without let or hindrance. But this counsel only concerns a small minority of Christians, those who have received the gift of perfect For says Jesus All men take not this word, but chastity. they to whom it is given. Lastly, this universal renunciation to which Jesus invites His specially beloved must be de facto. To attain to the highest degree of evangelical perfection it is not enough to be detached in heart from the things of this world they must be abandoned in fact. Such is indeed the sense of the passages above quoted.^ This absolute detachment is what was practised by From the Crib to Calvary He lived in an Jesus Himself. unceasing renunciation of all that is earthly " The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests," He says, " but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." On the cross He carried renunciation to the utmost limit of perfection. Of His Apostles Jesus demanded a like detachment.
:

*
' 5
''

Luke

xiv, 25-27 ; Matt, x, 37, 38. /d., 33. Sess. XXIV, Can. 10.
St.

Luke

xiv, 28-32.
11, 12. 11.

Matt, xix, Matt, xix,

14
:

Jerome,

/>.

CXXX,

ad Demetriadeni,

" The height of the

apostolate

and the zenith of perfection is to sell all and give to the poor, and then free from all ties to rise heavenwards to Christ." Cf. St. Ambrose, De officiis minist., I, c. xi. Luke ix, 58 Cf. Matt, viii, 20.

4
"

CbristianlSptrituaUt^

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men," He says to Peter and Andrew as they were casting their nets into the sea. And they immediately left their nets and followed Him. In the same way He called James and John as they were mendingtheir nets in a boat with their father Zebedee, and " they forthwith left their nets and father and followed Him."^ The publican Levi was seated at the receipt of custom when Jesus saw him and called him to follow Him, " and leaving all things, he rose up and followed Him."^ Our divine Master does not want men to hesitate about leaving all to become His disciples. Hesitation is a mark of
inaptitude for evangelical perfection. "Follow Me," says Jesus to a man whom He once met. And the man answered " Lord, suffer me first to go and to bury my father. And Jesus said to him Let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another said I will follow Thee, Lord but let me first take my leave of them that are at my house. Jesus said to him No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."^ It was this prompt and absolute detachment, demanded of the Apostles and those who wanted to follow Jesus to the end, that made St. Peter say to his Master with a kind of pride " Behold we have left all things and have followed Thee what therefore shall we have?"'* And the Saviour replied by pointing to the reward reserved for the Apostles and those who had followed their example in quitting everything for the love of Him " Amen, I say to you, that you, who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of His majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting."^ Many a saint in his desire truly to imitate his divine Master has given practical effect to such an all-round renunciation, St. Antony the Great, after hearing the words spoken by Jesus to the rich young man read in church, sold all that he had, gave what it fetched to the poor, and withdrew into the How many Christians have done the same The desert.^ Poverello of Assisi pushed detachment as far as it is possible for a human being to push it, and realized to the letter the whole scheme of evangelical perfection. Lastly, the renuncia: : : :

Matt,

iv, 18-22.

to poverty
3

27; Matt, ix, 9; Mark ii, 13. See also the instructions as to the Apostles and disciples on their being sent cut in Matt, x, 9, 10; Luke x, 4, 5.
2

Luke

V,

given

Luke

St.

* Matt, xix, 27. 5 /^. 28, 29. ix, 59-62. Athanasius, Vifa S. Anionii, 2 (P.G. XXVI, 841).

Hscctic ZTeacbino ot Jesus an& tbe Hpostles

tion counselled in the Gospel has found its traditional expression, officially approved by the Church, in the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which constitute the very

essence of the religious state which is embraced by so many of the faithful who have been called to the closest following- of may leave to unbelieving expositors their desperate Jesus. attempts to discover some naturalistic explanation of the ascetic teaching of the Gospel. They cannot understand why Jesus came to counsel so absolute a detachment. Very much " The to the point is the familiar passage from St. Paul sensual man (i.e., he who has not the light of faith) perceiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God, for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand it."^ But as for ourselves, we need not be the least surprised that evangelical perfection should be so high rather should we be astonished at the contrary. By His example and His teaching Jesus set before the world a supreme ideal of perfection, an ideal which is fully attained by the few only, an ideal which will be surpassed by none.

We

In closing this brief sketch of the doctrine of evangelical renunciation, a reply must be given to a question which naturally comes to mind. Evangelical perfection appears to be within the reach of a very small number of persons. Christians living in the world and these form the vast majority cannot renounce all that they possess in fact. What would become of society if all men followed the counsels of the Gospel to the letter? Must we conclude that Jesus excluded the mass of Christians from perfection to make it the privilege of only a few? Spiritual writers, on the other hand, and particularly St. Francis of Sales, teach that wherever we may be and whatever our " we can and ought to aspire to the life of calling, "2 perfection. answer that evangelical perfection, in its highest degree, so far as it implies a renunciation that is universal and de facto, is surely the privilege of but a small number of people. Jesus lets this be clearly understood on many occasions, especially with regard to perfect chastity. But a lower degree of perfection which docs not demand the actual renunciation of worldly goods is within the reach of all and no one is excluded from it. This perfection, which may be called common, is satisfied with an inward renunciation of one's family and of this world's goods. It means that one must have the "juill to put the love of Jesus before every lawful earthly affection, and to leave one's possessions, relations, and all things, if such a total renunciation be demanded of us by

We

Cor.

ii,

14.

Introduction d la Vie Divote,

\^^ part., ch. iii.

Cbristfan Spidtualit)?

says Bossuet, "in affection, In invincible determination to become attached to nothing", to seek no support except in God alone. Happy are they who are able to carry out this desire to the end, to carry it out in practice ... to a final, actual, and perfect renunciation. But all Christians are bound to carry it out to the end, at least in heart, really, as under the eyes of God to possess as though not possessing-, to be married as thoug'h unmarried, to use this world as though using it not, as though not of it, as though not in it."^ In the Sermon on the Mount our Saviour declares, indeed, that those are blessed who are poor in spirit.- This spirit of poverty, this inward detachment from all that is not God, is compatible with the actual possession of worldly goods but it may nevertheless carry the soul very far along the ways of sanctity. This renunciation in spirit of the things of earth united with a constantly increasing fervour of charity constitutes the Christian perfection to which everyone is called. This is the renunciation which St. Francis of Sales lays down for those living in the world who " aspire to the devout life."^

God.

"We
. . .

must quit
;

all,"

desire, in resolution

mean by an
. .

Renunciation alone could not be the whole of perfection its indispensable correlative is union with Jesus by love and by imitating His virtues. only renounce all in order to follow our Saviour. The Apostles left all solely to become attached to their Master. Christian doctrine, by contrast with that of the Stoics, does not make of renunciation an end in itself; it makes it a condition of the love of God. The latter makes progress in the soul in direct proportion to its detachment. The more complete the ahneget seipsum, the more perfect will be the sequatur me. The true disciple follows his Master closer than the ordinary Christian for he is within the circle of His intimate friends, and takes a larger share in His trials and persecutions. " Blessed are ye when they shall revile you and persecute you and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven."* Perfection implies above all a more rigorous imitation of the love of Jesus for the heavenly Father and for one's neighbour. All the law and also all perfection depend upon the two commandments to love God and to love one's neighbour. " Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" asked a doctor of the law; and " Jesus said to him Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and
;

We

Miditation sur VEvangile, La Cene, ire part., 836 jour. Matt. V, 3. 3 cf. Vie Divote, 3* part., ch. xiv to xvi.
Matt.
V, II, 12.

Cj.

Luke

vi, 22, 23.

7 Hscetic XTcacbluG of 3csu3 an& tbc Hpostlcs with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and first commandThou shah love thy ment. And the second is hke to this neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth
:

the whole law and the prophets."^ St. Francis of Sales, following- St. Thomas, ^ teaches that charity, ardent and fervent charity, is of the very essence of The Bishop of Geneva does but re-echo the perfection.^ teaching of the Gospel. The love of God in the Christian finds expression in praise, in adoration, and in the desire to glorify his heavenly Father " Our Father hallowed be Thy Name, Thy in all things ."* Again, it is shown in an entire conkingdom come. formity with the divine will, not only when it issues in commandments, but when it orders the happenings of life. In the fullest and the widest sense we must repeat Christ's words of submission in His agony in the garden of Gethsemani " Father Thy will be done !"^ And this resignation arising from love blossoms out into a most filial confidence in the goodness of our heavenly Father, who careth far more for His children than for the birds of the air or the flowers of the " I say to you," says Jesus, " be not solicitous for your field.
: .

life,

what you
Is

shall eat,
life

nor for your body, what you shall put

the

on.

not the

more than

meat and the body more

:

than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither and your sow, nor do they reap nor gather into barns heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more And for raiment why are you value than they? solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his g^lory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe how much more you, O ye of little faith? Be not solicitous therefore, saying". What shall we eat or, What shall we drink or. Wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not
.

for the morrow will be therefore solicitous for to-morrow solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof."* A prayer full of confidence rises up from the heart of the Christian who feels himself to be a child of the heavenly Father as truly as this. The Saviour promises that such prayer as this will be surely answered if it be persevered in. " I say unto you Ask, and it shall be given you seek, and you shall find knock, and it shall be opened to you. For
: : : :

Sum. Luke

Matt, xxii, 36-40. C/. Mark xii, 28-34. * Vie Devote, i** part., ch. i. Theol. 2. 2, qu. clxxxiv, art. i. xi, 2. ^ Matt, xxvi, 42. Cf. Matt, vi, 10. Matt, vi, 25-34.

CbriBtfan Spirituality
;

and he that seeketh findeth be opened. And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask Him?"^ Prayer as perfect as this, to which Jesus bids us, puts the devout soul into the closest communion with God. It is like the prayer so often addressed by the Saviour to His Father when He withdrew into the solitude at night to pray.^ And, in the case of the saints, it becomes transformed into those extraordinary states of prayer and divine love which are
every one that asketh receiveth
to

and

him that knocketh

it

shall

subjects for study in mystical theology.

Love of our neighbour makes us look upon all men as our brothers. " One is your Master," says Jesus, " and all you are brethren."' This love in its perfection demands of us humble devotion to the service of others after the pattern of Christ, who came " not to be ministered unto, but to minister."^ shall also come to the help of our neighbour when in need, and do our best to render service to him in his necessities. Jesus tells us that on the Day of Judgment He will count as done to Himself whatever we have done for the least of our brethren.^ The charitable, following this Gospel teaching, like to see in the sick whom, they visit and in the poor whom they help suffering members of the Saviour. To how sublime a height has not love for one's neighbour The object of this virtue is truly divine; it thus been raised is Christ who in some sort identifies Himself with our neighIn loving others, it is Jesus in them whom we love. bour. The love of God and love of our neighbour form in a manner but one and the same theological virtue, and St. Thomas goes so far as to say " The love wherewith we love God is of the same kind as that wherewith we love our neighbour !"* Jesus brought the law to perfection^ by introducing into it Moreover, the position taken by thfe love of one's neighbour. His disciples with regard to one's neighbour was far higher

We

Luke Luke

xi, 9-13.
vi, 12;

Cf.

Luke
i
;

xviii,

"

We

ought always
'

to pray,

and

not to faint."
Matt, xxiii, 8. 13. Matt, xxv, 35-45. Matt. XX, 28. Sum. Theol. 2. 2, qu. xxv, art. Idem specie actus est quo i diligitur Deus et quo diligitur froximus, et frofter hoc habitus Charitatis non solum se extendit ad dilectionem Dei, sed etiam ad dilectionem froximi. " He that loveth his ' C/. Matt. V, See Rom. xiii, 8-10 17-1Q. The love of our neigbbouT neighbour hath fulfilled the law. worketh no evil. Love therefore is fulfilling the law."
iii,
:

Matt, i,

Mark

H5cct(c TTcacbtno of ^esus an& tbe apostles

than that of the Jews of old.

are to forgive fully and untiring-ly^ the wrongs committed by our brethren against us if we wish our heavenly Father to forgive us our trespasses against Him.' And in order to avoid all appearance of vengeance we are to practise patience and endurance to a " You have heard that it hath been said An heroic degree. eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you not to resist evil but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other and if a man will contend with thee in justice and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him. And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two.^ Give to him that asketh of thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away."* But it is not enough to forgive wrongs and to bear with ill-usage. The true disciple of Jesus Christ, following his Master's example, will love even his enemies, will pray for them, will render them every kind of service, and come to their assistance in need, thus imitating our heavenly Father, the great pattern of perfection, who maketh His sun to shine and His rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust. " You have heard that it hath been said Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy enemy. But I say to you Love your enemies do good to them that hate you and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans this? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? Do not also the heathens this? Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect."* This love of one's neighbour, pushed to its farthest limits, will be accompanied by other Christian virtues which follow in gentleness, meekness, mercifulness, virtues declared its train blessed by our Saviour in the Sermon on the Mount. ^ Jesus insists mainly upon humility, which, by preventing us from placing ourselves above others 'makes our intercourse with them easy and pleasant. It brings down upon us the goodwill of God and makes us avoid ostentation in fulfilling the duties of prayer and fasting and almsgiving.'
:

We

Malt, xviii, 21, 22. Matt, vi, 14, 15. C/. V, 23, 24. 8 An allusion to the compulsory duties laid by the Romans upon the Jews by forcing them to lend their horses to the state carriers. * Matt. V, 38-42. These counsels are not so much to be taken literally as to be understood of a spiritual disposition to bear with everything from one's neighbour. 8 Matt. V, 43-48. Matt. v, 3-10. ' Matt, xxiii, 2-13; Luke xiv, 7-41. 8 luke xviii, 9-14. Matt, vi, 3-18.
1

lo

Cbristlan Spirituality
II.THE

GOSPEL OF

ST.

JOHN

The " following- of Jesus " that is to say, being- His disciple, belonging to Him, gains a fresh precision of definition in the Fourth Gospel. St. John the Apostle was led by his mystical
leanings to set forth more fully than the other Evangelists the teaching of our Saviour as to the mysteries of the divine life within us. His Gospel may be termed in a certain sense the Gospel of the interior life. Therein the life-giving connections that bind the Christian soul with Jesus are described with remarkable sympathy. may say that the conception of the life communicated by Christ to men holds the chief place in the Gospel of St. John. ^

We

Faith^ and baptismal regeneration^ are the indispensable principles of the quickening action of Christ in the soul. It requires a close union with Jesus. Man has two kinds of birth a carnal birth which has the flesh as its principle and gives life to the body, and a spiritual birth which has the water and the Spirit as its principle and gives supernatural life.* The faithful who believe in Christ and are regenerated by Baptism are very closely united with Jesus and incorporated in Him. They receive from Christ the divine life, as the branch receives the sap from the vine in which it abides. " I am the vine," says Jesus, " you are the branches."^ The branch cannot live and bear fruit if it is cut off from the vine in which it grows. So likewise is the Christian absolutely and vitally dependent upon " As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it Christ abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and shall wither and they shall gather him up and cast him into
:
:

the

fire

and he burneth."^

St. Paul expresses the same idea by using another image, that of the human body. The union of the believer with Christ is like the organic and quickening union between the head and

" In Him was life " (John i, 4). " I am the resurrection and the ' " I am the way, the truth, and the life " (xiv, 6). life" (xi, 21). Cf. Lebreton, Les origines du dogme de la Triniti, p. 400. Lepin, La valeur historique du quatrieme Evangile, II, p. 191. " He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting; 2 John iii, 36 but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life." Cf. vi, 43-47. " Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy 3 John iii, 5 Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Cf. Mark xvi, 16.
: :

* 5

John John XV, John XV,

iii,

3-6.
5.

4-6.

Hscctlc Tleacbino of 3esus an& tbe Hpostlcs n the body of man.^ The divine life flows down from Christ into the faithful, the members of His mystical body, in the same way as the life flows from the head to be diffused throughout the body, and as the sap comes from the vine and permeates Throug'h the branches to make them g-row and bear fruit.
Christ the believer also divine life. ^

becomes a "participator"

in

the

It is to bear fruit and to do meritorious acts that the Christian receives supernatural life from Jesus. The divine Husbandman, the heavenly Father, would cut off from the mystical vine the branch that bears no fruit. But the fruitful branch is trimmed with the pruning--knife of tribulation that it

yield more fruit. ^ the Christian is in the most entire dependence upon Jesus Christ with regard to all that concerns the economy of the spiritual life. He is thus under the happy necessity of having to apply unceasingly to Him by constant prayer. If he gets severed from Jesus he no longer receives the life of grace, and death ensues. The more he desires to live a supernatural life, the more closely must he unite with the Saviour through feeling his own fundamental indigence.

may

Thus

This quickening union of Christ with the faithful, begun in and the grace of Baptism, finds its consummation in the Eucharist. The flesh of Jesus is food, and His blood is drink. The Eucharist is the spiritual food of the Christian it produces in the soul effects analogous to those which material food produces in the body. The latter food becomes assimilated with the body and feeds it. By Holy Communion the Saviour is closely united wnth the faithful He dwells in the believer and the believer dwells in Him. A sort of sacramental " circuminsession "* is set up between Jesus and the communicant. And in this altogether extraordinary and mysterious union the supernatural life, which the manhood of Christ received ftom the Father, inundates the soul of the fervent believer. Thus the Eucharist is the supremely efficacious means by which the Christian is closely united with Jesus to receive life in abundance from it v.'hile waiting to participate " He that eateth in the resurrection in glory on the last day.
faith
;
:

Cor. xii, 27 Eph. v, 30, etc. Peter i, 4. St. August. In Joann. Ixxx, i Unius qui-ppe naturae sunt vitis et falmites: -propter quod cum esset (Verbum) Deus, cujus naturae non sumus, factus est homo, ut in illo esset vitis humana natura, cujus et nos homines palmites esse fossemus. 3 John XV, I, 2. * Circuminsession is a theological term which marks the fact that the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, on account of their divine nature, " I am in the Father, and the Father in Me," indwell in one another says Jesus (John xiv, 10). An analogous phenomenon results from the intercommunion of Christ and the Christian.
1
I
;

Cf. 2

Cbrfstian Spttitualtt^ and drinketh My blood hath everlasting life and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him. As the livingFather hath sent Me and I live by the Father so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me."^ It is thus that Jesus the good shepherd feedeth His sheep. Early Christian tradition rightly saw a link between the Eucharist and the Johannine allegory of the good shepherd. The pictures in the catacombs like to represent Jesus as a shepherd carrying a pail of milk, a symbol of the Eucharist. Christ came into the world not only to give His life for the sheep, and to gather them all together into one fold, the Church, but also in order to feed them with His flesh and blood and to give them life in abundance.^

12

My

flesh

The union

of the faithful with Jesus by the grace of

and the Eucharist conceals also other mysteries.

Baptism These were

revealed in the wonderful discourse addressed by the Saviour to His Apostles after the Last Supper. A part of it applies exclusively to the Apostles and the Church which it was their mission to found the rest refers to the personal relations of the soul of the Christian with God. These relations are so perfect that they ensure a permanent presence in the soul of the divine person of Jesus and of the two other Persons of the Blessed Trinity. The sacramental union of the communicant with Jesus is transitory, whereas the union effected by divine love, by grace, " I will not is lasting. Jesus dwells within the Christian. leave you orphans I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world seeth Me no more. But you see Me because I live, and you shall live. In that day you shall know that I am in
;
: :

My Me

Father: and you and I in you."^

in

Me, and

in

you.^

Abide

in

These intimate relations of mutual love are compared by Jesus with those which rule between the Father and Himself. " As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love. " Here is to be understood not only a moral union 1 John vi, 54-58. founded upon a communion of feelings, but a real physical union, implying a blending of two lives, or rather a participation in the very life by the Christian " (Lebreton, Les origines du dogme de la Trinity, p. 403. Lepin, I.e.). 8 John X, 10, II "I am come that they [i.e., My sheep) may have life and may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep." " We must admit, I think, that here Jesus Christ 3 John xiv, 18-20. in foretelling His coming does not intend to speak of His glorious appearances nor of His farousia on the last day; what He promises to His disciples is to be present within them with a quickening presence which the world knoweth not " (Lebreton, id. p. 425).
of Christ
:

John XV,

4.

in

My

ascetic XTeacbina of ^esua ant) tbe apostles 13 love as I also have kept My Father's commandments
:

in His love."^ the believer also is united with the Father, for the Father comes with Jesus to abide in the soul of the just who " He that hath My keeps God's commandments by love. commandments and keepcth them he it is that loveth Me. And he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father and I will If anyone love him and will manifest Myself to him. ... love Me, he will keep My word. And My Father will love him and will come to him and will make Our abode

and do abide

By Jesus

We

with him."A kind of mystical association is set up between the soul of the Christian and the Father and the Son, a truly divine consortium, by which the believer is in intimate communion with the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.' For the Holy Spirit, too, comes to dwell in the soul of the faithful keeper of
" If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever

Christ's commandments.'*

the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him. But you shall know Him,

because

He

shall abide

with you and shall be

in

you."^

soul of the Christian, now a temple of the Holy Trinity, is in a manner made divine. It does acts which are truly meritorious for life eternal. God the Father regards Christians as His children. He confers upon them the love which He has for His Son,^ and answers the prayers made in His name. ' The glory of Jesus Christ is reflected upon them, and a day

The

will

come when they

will will

on earth the world

be in heaven with Him. Meanwhile persecute them as it has persecuted

Jesus Himself.^" Who could recount the mystical impulses arising in souls captured by divine love through meditation upon these teachings of Jesus Christ? And how readily do we understand as we read these sublime passages the singular attraction of the Gospel of St. John for those who are devoted to the interior
* John xiv, 21, 23. Cf. I John iv, i6. " That you may also have fellowship with us, and 3 our fellowship may be with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." Evangile selon S. Jean, 1904, pp. 390-400. Calmes, * The keeping of the commandments for the love of Jesus is the condition required for all the wonders wrought in the soul of the just man (John xiv, 15; XV, 14; xiv, 24). Cf. \ John v, 3: "For this is the charity of God that ve keep His commandments." ' John xiv, 15-17. " that you may be partakers of the divine nature." 2 Pet. i, 4 ' John xvii, 26; xvi, 27. " Behold what manner Cf. i John iii, i of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
1

/d. XV, 9-10.

I

C/.

John

i,

and should be the sons * John xvi, 23-27.

1

of

God."

John

xvii, 34.

Id., XV, 18-26

xvi, 1-4; 19-ao.

14
life
!

Cbristian Spirituality?

These inspired teaching's give us a lofty idea of the dignity of the Christian, and make us realize how holy his life
should be.

disciple of Christ,
is

who

is

" the light of the world, "^ the

believer

a "child of light."-

He

will

walk no more

in the

darkness of error and evil, but in the light of truth and virtue. He will not go back to his former low levels by living in a
of his condition, which would mean flying from the light. " For every one that doth evil hateth the light and Cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved. But he that doth truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest because they are done in God."^

manner unworthy

With the love of God the disciple of Christ will unite the love of his neighbour. The commandment to love one another, " the new commandment," was g^iven by Jesus the night before He left His Apostles, and He puts it in the front rank. He reverts to it on many occasions. " A new commandment I give unto you That you love one another, as I have loved By this shall all men you, that you also love one another. know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.""* " The love of one's neighbour, as Jesus understands it, differs from that of the Jews not only in its breadth and intensity, but also in its nature it is quite a different affection from any till then known by the world, a love arising from a supernatural principle, a mystical bond by which the souls of men are to be joined together to make one spiritual family in a word, it is Christian charity. To love our neighbour in Christ and for Christ, such is the commandment of the New Law, such is the object of the new commandment.' Furthermore, charity is to be the characteristic and distinctive mark of the disciple of Jesus Christ."^ And it is the infinitely close union existing between the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity that is given by Jesus as the pattern and the bond of union between Christians " Father that they may be also are one. "^ one, as
:

'

We

The teaching- of Jesus as to the love of God and one's neighbour is admirably commented on by St. John himself, the Apostle of divine love, in his first Epistle. He teaches that we ought to love God because He first loved us, and testified His love by giving up His Son to die for our salvation. This is the great motive for charity towards God.
John vii, 12; i, 4-9; ix, 5; xii, 46. Cf. Lepin, id., II, p. 185. 3 /^^ iij^ 20, 21. Id., xii, 35, 36. * John xiii, 34, 35. Cf. xv, 12, 17. 5 Calmes, UEvangile selon S. Jean, p. 384. John xvii, 22.
1 2

Hscetlc TTcacbino of 3c3us an& tbc Bpostles 15 God is charity. By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him. In this is charity not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us,
"
;

and sent His Son

to be a propitiation for

our sins."^

The
in

fruits of divine love are first of all the indwelling of

God

our souls,- and next confidence, the most perfect of its kind, a child's confidence that excludes all servile fear. " In this is the charity of God perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement. Fear is not in charity but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear hath pain. And he that feareth is not perfected in charity. Let us therefore love God because God hath first loved us. "^ The sign whereby we may know whether we love God, if we have charity within us, is the keeping of His commandments, particularly the commandment to believe in Jesus and to love our brethren. " My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And this is His commandment That we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He hath given .* I love God, If any man say commandment unto us. and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?"^ The practice of brotherly charity is even a mark of predestination, a sure pledge that the life of grace is within us. " We know that we have passed from death to life, because we
. . . :
: . .

He that loveth not abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. And you know that .^ He no murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself. that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is no scandal in him. But he that hateth his brother is in "'^ darkness. No more beautiful pages have been written on the love of God and of our neighbour than those that came from the pen of St. John. The beloved Apostle profited more than the other disciples through His di\ine Master's love for him. Moreover, he shows greater acuteness in noting the loving sayings which form part of the Gospel message, and he reports them more
love the brethren.
. . :

fully. These words of love inspired his own life in an eminent degree, and he strongly urges the first Christians to live in
1
1

John

iv, 9, 10. iv, 16.

Cf.

John

iii,

i6

"

God

so loved the world, as to

give Ilis only begotten Son."

*
I I I
I

'
* *

John John John John

John John

iv, 17-19.
iii,

Cf. iv, 12, 13. Cf. iii, 19-24.

18-23.

^A

^^> 4"^'

iv, 20.

Cf. 2

John 6

"

And

this is charity

That we walk

according to His commandments."

*
'
I
I

iii,
ii,

14, 15. 10, II.

'6

Cbrfstlan Splritualtti?

their spirit, as his Epistles testify. St. John is the personification of charity, and we can well understand how in his extreme old age he was never tired of repeating to the faithful " of Ephesus little children, love one another. This is the Lord's commandment if you keep it, that is enough. "^
:

My

III.THE

TEACHING OF

ST.

PAUL

St. Paul, in accordance with the teaching of Jesus, enforces the two great laws of the spiritual life the mortification of
:

abneget seipsum, and a life in constant union with Jesus Christ, who is to be the rule of our thoughts, feelings, and actions, et sequatur me.
St. John's Gospel declares the necessity of spiritual regeneration in Baptism in order to participate in the divine life with Jesus Christ, for " that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. "^ St. Paul draws forth this teaching of Christ, and from it deduces his entire notion of Christian life, in which the spirit is likewise opposed
:

evil propensities, the

to the flesh.

Baptism regenerates man, transforms him, creates a new being within him, and incorporates him into Christ.^ It makes him participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and grafts him into Christ, who died and rose again. " Know you not that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in His death? For we are buried together with Him by baptism into death that, as Christ is risen from the dead by
:

the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer."^

The baptismal waters

is
1

in

completely immersed^
St.

in

which the newly converted believer order to cleanse him from all
iii
,

Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians,

>

XXVI,
*

6 (P
\
.

L
.

433)iii, 6.

3 to the spirit and the flesh, the teaching of St. Paul differs from that of St. John by laying more stress upon concupiscence, the tendency to evil, whereas in St. John, as in the Old Testament, the flesh appears rather as an infirmity and as nothingness" (Lebreton, id., p. 410 note 2. See Lepin, id., II, p. 177). * 2 Cor. V, 17; Eph. ii, 10, 15, 22; Gal. vi, Rom. vi, 3-6. 15. In the days of St. Paul and in the early ages of the Church, Baptism was usually administered by immersion. The candidate for Baptism was plunged entirely in the water by him who administered the sacrament. It is the baptismal ceremony that suggests to St. Paul bis teaching as to the Christian life.

John " As

Hscetic xreacbtno ot

Seme

an& tbe Hpostles

17

defilement symbolize the death of Christ and the tomb in which He was buried. The neophyte emerging from the baptismal laver in which he has gathered a new life which he is never to lose, represents Christ coming forth froni the The baptismal [grave, alive with a new and immortal life. rite, efTecting what it signifies, thus works in us a death unto sin, the crucifixion and destruction of the old man buried in the water as Christ was in the grave it also works a ne\y life, the new man regenerated in the likeness of the risen Christ. Unlike the death of the body, death unto sin and incorporaFor in the tion into Christ may be more or less complete. Christian there are two component and opposed parts, the
I

flesh and the spirit in him are, as it were, two men who fight one another as enemies, the old man and the new. With the help of grace the Christian has to make the spirit triumph over the flesh, the new man over the old. Salvation depends upon winning this victory. Christian life, and the degree of perfection attained by ever)'one, are measured by the increase of the spirit with regard to the flesh, of the new man as compared with the old. Hence, to set forth the spiritual teaching of St. Paul is
; :

describe his conception of the flesh, the old man, and to show its opposition to the spirit, the new man; (2) to explain what constitutes the spirit, the new man (3) to point out the ascetic and mystical consequences of the connections between the spirit, the new man, and the Holy Spirit and Jesus.
(i) to
;

I.

The Flesh and the Old

Man The

Christian Combat.

The flesh, so far as we are here concerned,^ " is (human) nature as it actually exists, vitiated by sin, infected by concupiscence."^ It means man in the state wherein he was left by original sin. The tainted flesh, or concupiscence, becomes in turn the source of personal sins. It is also a principle of death, in constant rebellion against the spirit, and the will by itself without grace is powerless to hold it in check. Listen to the groanings of St. Paul in regard thereto " For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which For to will is present with me but to accomplish is good. For the good which I will, I that which is good, I find not. do not but the evil which I will not, that I do. Now if I do
: : :

1 See the different senses of the word " flesh " given by Prat, La th^ologie de S. Paul, II, pp. 105-108. " If spirit stands for every man as he is restored ^ Prat, id., p. 107. by grace, flesh signifies every man as he is impaired by sin " (Prat, id., p. 100). The words "body" (o-cD.aa), "flesh" (ffap^), sense-soul (\i'i;x^). in the writings of St. Paul generally have a derogatory sense. They denote man's nature corrupted by sin. They are opposed to the word " spirit " [vvevfjia), which usually denotes man regenerated by grace.

Cbristian Spirituality it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I have a will to do good, evil is present with me. For I am delighted with the
that which
I

will not,

of this death ?"^ The " works of the flesh " are sin, and finally death eternal " the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy of God. For it is not subject to the law of God neither can it be."^ The " fruits of the Spirit," on the contrary, are "life and peace. "^ The Christian, regenerated in Christ by Baptism, ought not to live
:

law of God, according to the inward man but I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind and captivating me in the law of sin that is in my members. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
:

any more according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, otherwise he will not inherit the kingdom of God. " Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.""* " They that are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences. If we live in the Spirit, let us also
:

walk

in the Spirit."^

of the Christian consists in the constant mortification of the flesh in order to give life to the spirit, in stripping himself more and more completely of the old man which was "crucified" with Christ in Baptism in order to put on the new man. You have been taught, writes St. Paul to the Ephesians, " to put off, according to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth. ""^ The evil tendencies of our fallen nature, although destroyed indeed in principle in Baptism, are incessantly springing up afresh. St. Paul on every page of his Epistles recommends Christians to check them and to make it impossible for them to do any harm.'^ He says of himself " I chastise my body and bring it into subjection lest perhaps, .when I have preached to others, I myself should become a
:

The work

castaway."

The flesh is opposed to the spirit, the old man to the new and the Christian has to secure the victory of the spirit over
the flesh, of the new man over the old. Thus the state of the disciple of Jesus Christ is that of a fighter. And indeed to St. Paul the Christian life is a combat. " I
""

* 3

6
'

2 Rom. viii, 7. vii, 18-24. Cf. Gal. v, 17. * Rom. viii, 12, 13. Gal. V, 21 ; Rom. viii, 6. 6 Eph. iv, 22-24. Gal. V, 24, 25. Cf. Col. iii, Rom. viii, 13; Gal. v, 24; Col. iii, 5; 2 Cor. iv, 10.
I

Rom.

9, 10.

Cor. ix, 27.

Hscettc Ueacblna of Jesus auD tbe Hpostles

have fought a good fight,"
fight
*

19

he said at the end of his

life.

He

exhorts his friend Timothy to fight in the same way " the good '" Our lay hold on eternal life."^ of faith," and to Saviour Himself declares that the kingdom of heaven must be taken with violence, and that " the violent " bear it away.^ In his first Epistle to the Corinthians St. Paul compares the Christian to an athlete in the public games,'' to the wrestler, so popular with the Greeks, who strives for a " corruptible crown," and does not shrink from submitting to strict training to give his body the necessary strength and suppleness. who strive for an "incorruptible crown " must therefore not fear to be hard upon our bodies to make sure of victory. Nor have we to strive against ourselves only, but also against the devil, the great tempter who continues to seduce men^ as he seduced Eve by his cunning.* St. Paul puts Christians on their guard against Satan and his tools, and taking a suggestion from the equipment of the Roman soldier, gives a striking image to describe the spiritual arms which must be used in the fight. " Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of justice and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God)."^ Another enemy conspires along with the devil against the Christian, and this is the world, or the mass of men whose spirit is opposed to the Spirit of God, which is inspired with a spirit of disobedience and lives according to the lusts of the flesh. ^ The Apostle St. John, too, declares that " all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world. " ^ Upon this passage is based the

We

2
I

Tim.

iv, 7.

Tim.

vi,

12.

Matt, xi,

12.

* *

*
'

Cor. ix, 25. 1 Thess. iii, 5. 2 Cor. xi, 3.

Cf. Prat, II, p. iii

St.

ff.

Peter gave similar advice to the faithful " Be sober and watch because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith " (i Pet. v, 8).

Eph.

vi,

11-J7.
:

8 '

Cor.

ii, ii,

12.
1-3.

CI. Prat, II, p. 158

10
I

ff.

Eph.

John

ii,

16.

20

Cbristtan Spirttualitp

doctrine of the threefold concupiscence, which holds such a fundamental place in spirituality. Therefore the Christian must " not love the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him."^ The Christian's motto must be that of St. Paul " The world is crucified to me, and "^ I to the world. In his desperate and perpetual struggle with the enemies of He will his salvation the Christian must possess confidence. meet with no temptation " above that which he is able "^ to St. Paul bear when his strength is sustained by grace. reminds the Corinthians of this to encourage them in the fight, and to urge them to put up a victorious resistance against the seductions of evil. " God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able but will make also "^ with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it. This quotation from St. Paul sheds a ray of consolation upon the mystery of temptation. However great may be his fury against us, the tempter can only touch us so far as God "^ allows. And if we are faithful in " prayer without ceasing
:
:

we

shall

be strong enough to repel

all

assaults.

The fight with the devil and the world and the mortification of the ffesh will be carried all the farther the more intense the Christian life and the greater the desire for perfection. There is the mortification that is strictly necessary to avoid sins which prevent our " obtaining the kingdom of God."^ There is also the mortification which is able to renounce what is lawful, a mortification put into practice by those who are enamoured of an ideal of sanctity above the common. To such " Now, concerning as these St. Paul commends virginity. but I give virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord counsel, as having obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good for the present necessity that it is good for a man so to be.'"' Marriage is good and lawful nevertheless virginity is It enables one to belong to God without division and better. " He that is without a to give oneself to lengthened prayer. wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord how he may please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world how he may please his wife. And And the unmarried woman and the virgin he is divided. thinkcth on the things of the Lord that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the ^ things of the world how she may please her husband." St. Paul gives a definite interpretation of the mind of Jesus
:

Id.,
I

ii,

15.
17.

2 6

Thess. V,

Gal. vi, 14. Gal. v, 21.

'
'

Cor. x, 13. Cor. vii, 25, 26.

* ^

Id. j^., 32-34.

Hscetic ZTcacbtno of 3csu5 an& tbc Bpostlcs

21

Christ as to virg-'inity, and throws into strong relief the excellence of that state. The author of the Apocalypse, too, virginity. He sees the Lamb of God in heaven surt \alts rounded by virgins who follow Him wherever He goes; and tlure he also hears the new canticle which none but virgins can sing.^ This apostolic teaching on the subject of virginity wins immense favour in all the ages that come after, and determines a great number of Christians to embrace the state of celibacy, in which the victory of the spirit over the flesh is
singularly striking.

2.

The

Spirit, the

New Man Their

and

relationship to the

Holy

Spirit

to Jesus Christ.

The spirit which rises in the Christian out of the ruins of the flesh and the old man, is, according to St. Paul, man regenerated and restored by the grace of Baptism. " The old man and the new are two consecutive states of the same person, first given over to the influences of sin of which Adam is the origin, and then to the state of grace of which Jesus The new man is the same in Christ is the dispenser. meaning as the spirit, and the old man corresponds with the The spirit and the flesh, in the moral sense flesh. ^ which is characteristic of the theology of St. Paul, comprise the whole man from different points of view the spirit stands for man under the influence of the Holy Spirit; the flesh stands for man without the Holy Spirit."^ This idea of the spirit, the new man, according to St. Paul, will be further defined by a study of the relations which unite the Christian regenerated in Baptism to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus Christ. It is here that we shall discover all the wealth and beauty of the spiritual doctrine of the great Apostle.
. . . .

member

Baptism is incorporated into Christ he becomes a Now, of His mystical body, which is the Church. the Holy Spirit, according to St. Paul, is to the Church what He is present in her, quickens the soul is to man's body.* her, and makes her bring forth supernatural fruits. The Holy He dwells in us and Spirit is likewise the soul of our souls. sanctifies us, and makes us act in a supernatural manner with a view to eternal life. St. John teaches us that the Holy vSpirit abides in the souls St. Paul of the just along with the Father and the Son.
in
;

Man

Apoc. xiv,

no man could say the

women

they sunfj as it were a new canticle and canticle but those who were not defiled with for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever lie
1.5
:
.

"

And

goeth." ' Prat,

La

thiologie de S. Paul, II, p. 102.

*
I

' Id., p.

104.

Cor. xii,

13.

22

Cbristlan Spfritualit^

similarly declares that the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that therefore the Christian must keep himself in the greatest purity, " Know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, whom you have from God :

and you are not your own? Fly fornication."^ The Holy Spirit takes possession of our souls, He moves them, He guides them and helps them to overcome the
temptations of the flesh. He it is, too, who bears witness to us of our sonship by adoption, and makes us call God our Father with confidence " For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons whereby we cry Abba (Father). For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God."^ Again, it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray. " For we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings."^ And these prayers, being always in conformity with what it behoves us to ask, are accepted by God. Thus the divine Guest within us is not inactive. He constantly prompts us to do good and to the practice of Christian " His action includes all Christians and all manifesvirtues. tations of the supernatural life, from baptismal regeneration to eternal happiness. To obey the promptings of grace is commonly called walking according to the Spirit, being led
: :

'

by the Spirit';^ the sum-total of virtue is the fruit of the Spirit ';5 all that raises us above our carnal nature ... all
'

that surrounds us with a divine atmosphere, all that transforms us into spiritual beings, according to a favourite expression of St. Paul, receives the general name of spirit,'* thus alluding to the source from which it springs."'^ are called upon not to resist the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and not to " grieve " Him. ^
' '
'

We

If the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, Jesus Christ is the Church's head. The quickening activity of the head, according to St. Paul, is not inferior to that of the soul, and
1 " Know you not that you are the I Cor. vi, ig, i8. Cf. iii, i6 temple of Ciod, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" The three divine Persons dwell in the Christian (2 Cor. vi, 16 i Cor. iii, 17), but St. Paul attributes the work of our sanctification to the action of the Holy Spirit within us.
:

2 3 "
">

Rom. Rom.
I

viii, 13-16.
viii, 26.

Cf. viii, g-ii

*

Tim.

i,

14.
5

Rom.

viii, 4,

14.

Gal. v, 22.

Cor. xiv, 14-16; 2 Cor. iv, 13; Gal. vi, i, etc. Prat, id., II, p. 420. Epb. iv, 30 " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God."
:

ascetic XTcacbino of Jesus an& tbc Hpostlcs

23

Christ, just as the Holy Spirit docs, sanctifies the Church and cacli of her individual members. Baptism effects a very close union between Jesus and the Christian, a union compared by St. Paul to that between the head' and the members in man's body; compared also to the graft which inwardly mingles two lives, that of the stem with that of the branch grafted into it.^ St. John, too, likened

union to that of the vine with its branches. Thus are Christ and ourselves " animated with the same vital principle (o-i'/i^vTot)," and "subject to the same principle of action (a-vixfjLopffioi)." have "put on Christ,"^ we are "rooted and built up in Him,"' as St. Paul says, and we live with the same life as He dees.'' This common life assimilates the Christian to Jesus; it makes of him, in truth, another Christ. All that takes place in Jesus is reproduced in the believer, just as in the human body the head reacts upon the members, and as in the graft the closest solidarity exists between the branch and the stock into which it is grafted. This union that binds us to Jesus is such that the mysteries of our Saviour's life are spiritually reproduced in us, and especially the mysteries of His death and resurrection and ascension.
this

We

Baptism baptizes us into the death of Christ to make us die unto sin. Jesus took upon His mortal and innocent flesh all the sins of men. He put to death upon the cross that " flesh in the likeness of sinful flesh, "^ and buried it in the grave to destroy " The sinless flesh of our Saviour, in sin together with it.
the likeness of sinful flesh,
;

was

delivered into the hands of

tormentors to deal with at their will. They smote it, and their blows fell upon sin they crucified it, and sin was crucified; they took away its life, and sin was slain."' The risen Christ stripped Himself of His mortal flesh, the symbol of sin and of the old man, on which hung all the sins of mankind He put on a glorious body, and He lives with a new life. Thus it is that, according to St, Paul, the death of Jesus "was a death unto sin once but in that He liveth, He ^ liveth unto God." We, too, must look upon ourselves, like our Saviour, as "dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord."^ A mystical death, like the bloody death of the Crucified Jesus, is supernaturally wrought in us in the regeneration of Baptism. It has destroyed sin in us. Our sinful flesh, the
; :

Col.

i,

18; Eph.
7. 5

i,

22;
Prat,

/,

Rom.
Col.

vi, 5; xi, 17-24.

ii,

^ I,

15; v, 23; Col. ii, 10, 18; Gal. iii, 27; Eph. iv, 24;
p.

Cor. xii,
'

12.

Rom.

xiii, 14.

* 8

C/.

310.
1*

Rom.
vi,

vi, 2, 3.
I,

/,/^ yjii

Bossuet,

Sermon four

le

Samedi-Saint (Lebarcq,

p. 112).

Rom.

vi, 10.

Rom.

11.

24

Cbri6ttan SpirftuaUt^

old man, has vanished in the waters of Baptism in which they are "buried with Christ."^ If sin, as well as the old man, which is the cause of sin in us, is crucified and destroyed with the mortal flesh of Jesus, we then must be dead unto sin. Therefore we are no longer " slaves of sin " ; by our spiritual death in Christ we are " free " from sin.^ According to the teaching of St. Paul, true conversion is a death. It is a participation in the death of Jesus by the destruction of our old man and of our passions which are kept under. Bossuet eloquently interprets these thoughts in his Easter Sermons on the Christian Life. ' When the Apostle declares that our old man and our flesh with its lusts have been "crucified," he does not mean to use a mere metaphor. He intends his words to express realities our sinful flesh has been really put to death in us in Baptism by our incorporation in Christ crucified. This participation in the death of Jesus, begun in Baptism, The Christian who partakes of is continued in the Eucharist. the eucharistic bread and drinks the cup of the new covenant communicates in the sacrifice of the cross, for the celebration of the Eucharist is a mystical "sacramental " reiteration of the immolation of Jesus on Calvary. * The communion of the body and blood of Christ is also the great means of participating in His redeeming death and of putting to death our evil tendencies. But this death to our corrupt inclinations is not solely the effect of the grace of the sacraments, it is also, as we know, the result of our own efforts. St. Paul constantly exhorts us to bear in our bodies the likeness of Jesus crucified, and to " mortify our members which are upon the earth." The old man is destroyed in principle, in right, by our incorporation It remains for us to destroy it in fact. into Christ crucified. Hence come Christian mortification and the austerities of penance and the strictness of asceticism, which find in the spirituality of St. Paul their full justification.
:

" Buried with Christ in Baptism," in it, too, we " are risen again with Him by the faith of the operation of God who hath raised Him up from the dead."' Baptism effects, indeed, in our spiritual nature a mystical resurrection, which is a participation in the resurrection of Jesus. The old man destroyed in the waters of Baptism is followed, and the correlation is The Christian is inevitable, by the regenerated new man. thus " a new creature,"^ living " a new life " in the likeness

of the risen Christ.

1

Col.

ii,

12.

Rom.

vi,

7.

pp. 104, 494. ^ 2 Cor. iv, 10; Col. iii, r Cor. X, 14-21.; xi, 24-26. 5. * Col. ii, 12. * Rom. vi, 4. ' Gal. vi, 15; 2 Cor. v, 17.
I,

Lebarcq, CEuvres oratoires de Bossuet,

Hscettc Tlcacbtno of 3eeu0 an& tbc Bpostlcs 25 The believer spiritually and mystically risen with Jesus must try to make his life conform with the life of the risen
Saviour. But Christ once risen dieth no more; and the Christian born to the life of g^race must no more do evil. To die to the divine life by relapsing- into sin after being incorporated into the risen and immortal Jesus is to fall into a Moreover, it is to compel the state contrary to one's nature. Saviour, who is Himself living-, to support dead members in His mystical body " If we be dead with Christ, wc believe Knowing that that we shall live also tog-ether with Christ. Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more. Death shall no more have dominion over Him. For in that He died to sin, He died once but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. So do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, Let not sin but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof."* This theme of moral exhortation constantly recurs in the writings of the Apostle' in order to forewarn the faithful against backsliding. Far from relapsing into evil, the Christian must try to "put on" more and more entirely " the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth, "^ so as to be like the risen
:
:

Christ.

can see the effect of this beautiful doctrine upon the of the Christian. The obligation to continue in welldoing is laid strictly upon him who has received the life of grace in Baptism, or who has recovered it by means of
life

We

penance. Risen with Jesus, the Christian is also caught up to heaven with Him. After His resurrection Christ ascended into heaven we who are " grafted " into Him, " rooted " in Him, If are therefore spiritually with Him in the heavenly home. we listen to St. Paul, we are already in heaven seated by the " But God (who is rich in mercy) for His side of Jesus. exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose grace you are saved), and hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus. That He might show in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace, in His bounty towards us in Christ Jesus." * If the Christian is in heaven in mind and heart with Christ,
;

Rom.

vi, 8-12.
: :

" The charity of Christ presseth u.<! 2 Cor. V, 14, i^ judging this, that if one died for all, then ail were dead. And Christ died for all that they also who live may not now live to themselves, but unto who died for them and rose again." ' Eph. iv, 24; Col. iii, lo. Eph. ii, 4-7,

Him

26

Cbristian Spirttualitp

his life will be entirely celestial. He will try to set his affections " on the thing^s that are above, and not on those that are on the earth," and "to seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting- at the right hand of God."^ For the believer is dead to the thing^s of this world. His real life is

heaven, "hidden with Christ in God." A day will come " Our converthis life will appear in heavenly g^lory. ^ sation is in heaven."^ Let us then live as citizens of the heavenly city, as "children of light" who have altogether left behind "the works of darkness,"* as the Apostle says, following in the steps of St. John. " For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and
in

when

justice

and truth."

Christians " conformable to the image of His be the firstborn among many brethren."* faithful are incorporated into Christ they are in a way identified with Him God loves them with the same love as that with which He loves His Son, and makes them partake of His glorious destiny. He sees in them the " brethren " of His Son and "joint heirs" who are to be "glorified with Him."^ In a word, Christians are " children of God " ^ made like unto Jesus. The mysterious bond which unites the Christian so closely with Christ uplifts the confidence of St. Paul. It leads the Apostle to reckon as of small account " the sufferings of this time " as compared " with the glory to come," ^ which is laid up for the friends of our Saviour. It gives him the assurance " that to them that love God all things work together unto good."^" Lastly, it affords him the firm conviction that nothing whatever can separate the faithful from the love that Christ and God bear towards them. Listen to the following cry of enthusiasm that breaks forth from the soul of St. Paul " then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or persecution? Or the sword? For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus

God makes
:

Son The

that

He might

Who

our Lord.""
1

Col.

iii,

I, 2.

]fi.^

iii,

3, 4.

3 Phil, iii, 20.

5

Rom.

xiii, 12.

Cf. I Thess. v, 5; Rom. xiii, 12. This comparison of conversion to light led to Baptism being called " illumination " in the early Church, and the baptized were called ilUnninati.
V, 8, 9.
*
8

Eph.

Rom.

viii, 29.

jj _^

viii, 17.

Id., viii, 16. Id., viii, 28.

Id., viii, 18. jd., viii, 35, 38, 39.

Hscetlc Ucacbino of 3c9U3 an^ tbc Bpostlcs

27

3.

The Ascetic and Mystical Consequences between the New Man atid the Holy
the Imitation of Christ; St. Christ "' Christian I'irtues.

of the Rehitionship Spirit and Christ:

Paul

an "Imitator of

have tried to sum up in what is, unfortunately, a very imperfert sketch, St. Paul's wonderful teaching as to the new man within us. have surveyed with admiration the marvels of our incorporation into Christ and our supernatural It is above all the " ontoquickening- by the Holy Spirit. logical " side of our sanctification, God's part in the work But the of our salvation, which has been brought out. Apostle also strongly insists upon and we have often noted the '' psychological " aspect of holiness; that is to say, on it the efforts we must make to realize it within us. Christian life is the result of a twofold co-operation that of God, who makes us conformable to the image of His Son and our own, whereby we reproduce that image within us. Regarded from our own side, as to the part which is left to our personal efforts, the work of our sanctification St. Paul constantly reminds us of it comes back to the imitation of If the Christian is incorporated into the Saviour by Jesus. divine grace, it is his duty to make his life conform with Christ's and to imitate Him. The members who make up the mystical body of Christ would be unfaithful to their calling if they did not reproduce the likeness of their Head as perfectly as possible within themselves. Let us then dwell upon this teaching of St. Paul, since it is only the corollary of his conception of the Christian life. The believer will labour above all to appropriate to himself the inward dispositions of Jesus, following the advice of the Apostle " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."- Outward actions are but the outward translation and manifestation of the dispositions of the soul. If we think as Jesus thought, we shall act as He acted. Therefore it is essential for us to make our thoughts and inmost feelings conform with those of Christ, especially with the feelings of humility which led Him, " though He was in the form of God," to "take the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men," and with the obedient mind which made Him " become obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross." ^ The Christian will study Christ in the various circumstances of His life, to find out the dispositions with which He was animated and to appropriate them. His thoughts and acts

We

We

Cor. xi,

iv,

lo.
8

phil.

ii,

5.

Phil,

ii, 6-8.

28
will

Cbrlstfan Spirftualfti?

thus become like Christ's, who will truly be his " life " as the Apostle desires. ^ The doctrine of the interior life put forward in the seventeenth century by the Congregation of the Oratory of Cardinal de Berulle followed on in direct line with the spirituality of
St. Paul.

efforts to be in conformity with Christ and to imitate tend, as the Apostle says, to make us " put on " Christ and to " form " Him within us.^ This fashioning of Christ within us takes place by degrees in so far as we co-operate with the work of grace. Its various steps constitute, according to St. Paul, the very degrees of perfection, and correspond with the different ages of Christ. Jesus is once more a child in the newly converted one who is a beginner. Then He grows up in proportion to the believer's growth in virtue. He who is perfect has attained to being " a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ."^ But the life of Jesus within us may go on increasing indefinitely, and just as our Saviour never tires of infusing His grace into us, so ought we to continue unceasingly " doing the truth in charity, (that) we may in all things grow up in Him who is the head, even Christ."^ Our supreme desire, the goal of all our efforts, is indeed to become morally identified with Jesus.

Our

Him

Very completely was the great Apostle identified with when he said: "To me, to live is Christ."^ These words are inscribed upon St. Paul's tomb in Rome as the epitome of his whole life and the true expression of his soul. Christ and St. Paul were really only one it was no more Paul who lived, but Christ who was living in him.^ St. Paul's thoughts were those of Jesus, his feelings were those of His divine Master; he spoke and acted as Christ did, and he could write in all truth to the Corinthians " Be followers of me, as
Jesus
:

also

am

of Christ."^

St.

The strong and almost astonishing expressions used by Paul to signify his union with Jesus call to mind the

mystical union with which

:

many

of the saints were favoured.

:

" Christ, your life." Eph. iii, 17 1 Col. iii, 4 dwell by faith in your hearts." " My little children, of whom I 2 Gal. iv, 19 until Christ be formed in you."
:

" That Christ

may

am

in labour again,

Eph.

iv, 13.

Eph.

iv,

it;.

up

The physical Ego, the Apostle's personality, had not disappeared. Whatever heights of sanctity may be attained by the Christian, he always remains a human personality. ' I Cor. xi, 1. Cf. iv, 16.

Gal. n, 20. in Christ.

It

was the moral Ego

s Cf. v, i, 2. phn. j^ 21. of St. Paul that was swallowed

Paul

Hscctlc Zlcacblno of 3cb\xq an& tbc Hpostlcs 29 is, in fact, a great mystic, to use the word in the
it

classical signification attached to

by

St.

Teresa, St. John

In his Epistles he

of the Cross,

and Catholic theologians.

gives us, as

it were, a mystical autobiography, which has been compared with the chapters dealing with the Prayer of Union in the Autobiography of St. Teresa.

union, that supernatural of ourselves, despite all is to experience the feeling of the presence of God in the soul. These states are intermittent, and they alternate with periods of interior desolation and darkness. From time to time God floods the soul of the mystic in a
characteristic

The

of

mystical

state " which our efforts,"^

we cannot bring about

and makes His presence felt by inundating with happiness " Sometimes in the midst of a reading," writes St. Teresa, " I was suddenly gripped with a sense of the presence of God. It was absolutely impossible for me to be in any doubt but that He was within me and that I was .^ I thought that I felt the presence of God, lost in Him. and this was true and I tried to keep myself in a recollected
sensible manner,
it
: .
.

state in
St.

living nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself forme."* " With Christ nailed to the cross " ; Paul is thus not merely in the manner of ordinary' Christians who are united with the crucified Christ by curbing their passions and by the acceptance of suffering. He is so far more by a close communion with the Passion of Christ after the manner of St. Francis of " God forbid that I should glory," he says, " save in Assisi the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."* St. Paul pre-eminently belongs to that group of saints which has a special " devoWhen he thinks of Him tion " to the Passion of Christ. who "died for all" the love of the Apostle is fired, and he becomes eager to live entirely and to die " for Him who died and rose again " for us.' St. Paul's love for Christ became so perfect, ardent, and strong that it expressed itself in an intense desire to die and go to the Saviour to enjoy Him in heaven. " I have a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ," he wrote to the
: : : :

Him."^ Paul must have plainly felt the Christ present and " With Christ I am in his own soul when he cried out

Teresa, Chemin de la ferfection, ch. xxxiii. Vie icrite far elle-meme, ch. x. Cf. A. Poulain, Des grdces ' Vie icrite far elle-meme, ch. xxii. d'oraison, ch. v, vi. * Gal. ii, 19, 20. For St. Paul's sufferings see 2 Cor. xi, 23-33. ' Id., vi, 14. In verse 17 St. Paul alludes to the " marks" of the Lord Jesus " in my body." But he is not speaking of such stigmata as St. Frcincis of Assisi bore, but of the scars which he had received for
*

St.

Christ's sake. * 2 Cor. V, 14, 15.

Cf.

Rom.

xiv, 8.

30

Cbristlan Spirituality

Philippians .' Nothing but the need of souls for him could mitigate the bitter separation. Nowhere shall we find more burning words in the writings of the greatest of the mystics who are to be met with in the history of spirituality. ^ And to complete St. Paul's likeness to the mystics there are the extraordinary gifts, visions, In raptures, and ecstasies with which he was favoured. addition to the miraculous manifestation of Jesus on the road to Damascus,^ there were in the Apostle's life other supernatural phenomena. Of these we should be entirely ignorant had not St. Paul been constrained to reveal them in order to defend himself from attacks upon his reputation at Corinth by judaizing Christians. It is only with excuses and in spite " If I must of himself that he sets forth his claims to glory glory (it is not expedient indeed) but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not, or out God knoweth), such a one caught of the body, I know not up to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in God knoweth) the body, or out of the body, I know not that he was caught up into paradise and heard secret words which it is not granted to a man to utter."*
:

St. Paul's Epistles nearly always end in exhortations to Indeed, commentators the practice of Christian virtues. dogmatic and divide almost all of them into two parts In the moral portion we find what are brief tracts moral. on Christian virtues, true storehouses for spiritual writers, and here it will be enough to give a few extracts from
:

them.
St. Paul's moral exhortations are derived from his fundamental doctrine of the incorporation of the believer in Christ. Those who have put on Christ must live like Him, " stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds, and putting on the put ye on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and new beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, bearing with one another and forgiving one patience ^ I another, if any have a complaint against another. beseech you to walk worthy of the vocation in which you are
. . . : .

called."*^
1

Phil,

i,

23.

For a description of extraordinary graces and gifts of mystics, see A. Poulain, Des grdces d^oraison, ch. xvii, xx to xxiii. These gifts fairly frequently accompany mystical union, but they are phenomena entirely distinct from it, and many saints who were raised to a state of mystical union never had them.
2

3
* ^

Acts ix, 1-19. 2 Cor. xii, 1-4. do not know what these visions were. Col. iii, 9, 10, 12, 13. Cf. I Thess. iv, i-ii; Gal. v, 23.

We

Eph.

iv, 1.

ascetic Xleacbirio of Jesus an^ tbe Bpostles

31

the newly converted who are obliged to live in the midst of pag-anism the Apostle urgently commends purity of life.' To all he preaches humility, ^ obedience to superiors,^ submission to the civil authorities,* prudence,' the duty of almsgiving,' the practice of domestic virtues, and the necessity of prayer. In the pastoral Epistles' the Apostle gives pastors of souls a real code of sacerdotal holiness.

To

But, above all, fraternal charity and reciprocal honour and help are recommended with the greatest frequency by St. Paul. One may say that he reverts to it in one way or

another

in all his Epistles.

members of one body of which Jesus is the close solidarity knits them to one another, however different their circumstances may be, just as in the human body in which members with different functions depend upon one another.'* The inference is that we should love and help
Christians are

Head.

one another.
1

mo\ing words does the Apostle invite us thus to Let love be without dissimulation loving one another with the charity of brotherhood with honour preventing one another. Communicating to the necessities of the saints. Pursuing hospitality. Bless them that persecute you bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice weep with them that weep. Being of one mind one towards another. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved but give place unto wrath, for it is written Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be .^ hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge this rather, that you put not a stumbling-block or a scandal .^ in your brother's way. Let every one of you please his .'' neighbour unto good, to edification. Bear ye one another's burdens and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ. "'^ St. Paul attaches such importance to the precept of fraternal charity that he regards it as the summing up of the whole law of God, the commandment which replaces all the
In these
"
act.
. . . :

Rom.
Phil,

xiii,
ii, 3-1

11-14;
1
;

Eph.
iv, 2;

iv,

17-30;

v,

3-5;

Phil,

iii,

18-19;
:

Gal. V, 16-25.
C/. St. Peter " Do you all insinuate humility one to another for God resisteth the froud, but to the humble He giveth grace. Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God " (i Pet. v, 5, 6). 3 I Thess. V, 12, 13. Cf. Heb. xiii, 17; 1 Pet. i, 22. * Rom. xii, 1-7; Titus iii, i. * Col. iv, 5, 6. 2 Cor. viii, i to ix. 15. ' The Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
:

Eph.

Rom.

xii, 16; Gal. vi, 3-5.

*
"

'"

Rom. xii, Rom. xii, Rom. xiv,

Gal. vi,
2.

4, 5
13.

10-20.

Cor. xii, 12-27. Cf. i Thess. iv, 9-12.

"

n Rom.

xv, 2.

Cf.

Thess.

v, 14-22.

Ctbdstian Spirituality and ensures the perfect keeping of them. " Owe no man anything, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law. For Thou shall not commit
rest
:

32

adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal: not bear false witness: Thou shall not covet. And

Thou
if
:

shall

there be

any other commandment, it is comprised in this word Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the
Iaw."i

What

St.

Paul wrote on the subject of fraternal charity

of the finest portions of his Epistles. It springs from a large heart, affectionate by nature and transformed by grace. The heart of St. Paul was " enlarged "^ to take in the faithful of all the churches ingratitude and persecution could do nothing to contract it. St. Paul's heart was indeed the heart of Christ, as St. John Chrysostom remarks.^ " Although loving you more, I be loved less," says he. " I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls."* And this fair virtue of charity which he practised to such perfection he not only preached, but celebrated its excellence " If I speak with the tongues in the following lyrical strain of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. Charity is patient, is kind charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away. And now there remain faith,'' hope, and charity, these three but the greatest of these is charity."^
;
:

constitutes

some

Mortification

to

the

point of

thoroughly even lawful things,

:

renouncing more or less following Jesus under the

All the law is fulfilled in one thyself."
:

" 1 Rom. xii, 8-10. Cf. Gal. v, 14 word Tfiou shalt love thy neighbour as
:

ye Corinthians our heart is enlarged. You are not straitened in us but in your own bowels are you straitened. But having the same recompense (I speak as to my children), be you also enlarged." 3 In Ef. ad Romanos, Homil. xxxii, 3 (P.G. LX, 680). 2 Cor. xii, 15. Cf i Thess. ii, i-io; 2 Cor. vi, i-io. 6 See St. Paul on Faith Rom. x, 17; Gal. v, 6; 2 Cor. v, 7, etc. Cf. Heb. xi James ii. i Cor. xiii, 1-8, 13.
vi,

2 Cor.

II,

12

"

t,iiidance of the
ot

Hscetlc zreacblfto of Jesus anO tbe Hpostlcs 33 Holy Spirit, union with Him by love, making

llim live within us and the imitation of Him by the practice Christian virtue in such wise as to copy Him faithfully therein this is the ascetic teaching- of the Scriptures, this is its conception of Christian perfection. Now we shall see how Christians have carried out this divine doctrine in their lives.
:

CHAPTER II CHRISTIAN ASCETICISM IN THE

FIRST

THREE CENTURIES

the Church there have been always those who have followed the rules of perfection and practised the evanThe Catholic Church has the distingelical counsels. guishing mark of holiness/ which is one of her essential She must always contain within her fold qualities. believers in whom shines forth the brightness of exalted From the earliest virtues, even to the degree of heroism. days of her existence are to be found those in communities who were later on termed " ascetics, "^ not satisfied with obligatory observances, but taking upon themselves such as were supererogatory and more austere. have already seen how St. Paul counselled perfect continence to those Corinthians w lO desired to serv^e God And the Apostle had himself with greater perfection. followed this counsel before giving it to others.^ History has handed down to us the memory of certain The Acts of illustrious virgins belonging to Apostolic times. the Apostles make mention of the four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, virgins and prophetesses who lived in their father's house at Caesarea.* According to Clement of Alexandria,^ one of the first deacons, Nicholas, with whose name the heresy of the Nicolaitans has been connected, had daughters who remained know that St. John virgins until the day of their death. was unmarried when Jesus called him to be a follower, and so he remained until the end. Ecclesiastical writers have found in this a reason for the special love of our Saviour for him. Others, too, belonging to this period were distinguished Hegesippus,^ in the fifth book of for their austerity of life. his Memoirs, relates that in the last third of the first century

IN

We

We

I believe in the Holy Catholic Church." "Ascetic" comes from the Greek dffK>?T?7s, one who -practises Origen was one of the first to use the word to denote (virtue). Christians who practised continence and devoted themselves to
1

"

See St. Hippolytus austerities (In Jeremiam, xix, 7 [P.O. XIII, 517]). of Rome, In Proverbia (P.G. X, 625), etc. ; Clement of Alexandria,

Paedag.
3
I

i.

Cor. vii, 7. Cf. ix, 5. Some, including Clement of Alexandria (Strom, iii, 6) and the Pseudo-Ignatius (Ad Philadelph. iv, 3), have wrongly supposed that St. Paul was married. They refer to an obscure passage in the Philippians (iv, 3) which cannot invalidate the definite testimony of the first letter to the Corinthians. 4 Acts xxi, 8, 9. C/. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. Ill, 31.
ii, 118. ecclesiastical writer of the second century. only known to us through a few extracts given by
"

Strom,

An

His writings are

Eusebius in his

Ecclesiastical History.

34

Cbristian Hscetictsm 35 the Bishop of Jtru.salcin, Janus ihe relation of Jesus, lived " He drank neither wine nor strony the life ol an ascitic. drink, ate no living- creature; his hair was always unshorn; he never anointed himself with oil and abstained from bathing. He went into the temple by himself, and there he was to be found upon his knees praying- for the forgiveness of the people. His pre-eminence in justice, moreover, iwon him the name of 'the Just,' '" The first Christian community in Jerusalem gave a beautiful example in renunciation of the goods of this world. The faithful " sold their possessions and their goods and divided them to all, according as every one had need."^
. . .

At the close of apostolic times Christian asceticism was extremely flourishing. Records of the second and third centuries both in East and West bear witness to the existence in the churches of numerous ascetics. The history of the spirituality of this period is the history of the early ascetics. This I shall set forth by indicating the position of the ascetics in the Christian communities by detailing their observances and by giving a brief account of the exhortations addressed to them by ecclesiastical rulers, wherein we find the spiritual

jteaching of the
*

first

three centuries.

.E. II, 23. Eusebius, Acts ii, 45; V, 4. Ihe Epistle to the Colossians (ii, 16, 21-23) has been taken to allude to the ascetic practices of some of the Churches of Asia Minor, which abstained from certain foods and drinks. But these customs are little known and are called by St. Paul, " traditions of men." They probably arose from a Jewish-pagan syncreti.<;m. Cf. Prat, La thiologie de S. Paul, I, 391-394. Chief Historic Sources. (a) The writings of the Apostolic Fathers (Funk's edition, Palres afostolici, 2 vols., Tubingae, 1901). {b) Some treatises by Tertullian amongst which De virginibus velandis and the Exhortatio castitatis are to be noted. (c) St. Cyprian's De habitu virginum. \d) The two Efistles to Virgins, falsely attributed to St. Clement of Rome. They were written in the third century and addressed to persons of both sexes belonging to an Eastern church to correct certain abuses (Funk, Patres afostolici, ii). (e) The Feast of the Ten Virgins, by St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympia, in Lycia, who was martyred about 311. This work is a copy 'of Plato's Banquet. But the subject of the table talk is Virginity instead of Love, as in Plato's Symposium, each of the ten young guests uttering a panegyric on Virginity. The text is given in Miene. P.O. ^ ;XVIII.9-4oS. (!) Origen's Homilies. See F. Martinez, Vasciticisme chriiien pendant les trois premiere \siicles de r^glise. Paris, 1913.
"
I 1

36

Cbristlan Spirituality?

I. THE POSITION

OF ASCETICS IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

The form of asceticism most widely observed was the practice of continence freely chosen by a certain number of Christians of both sexes. The continent lived in the world. They remained in their families and shared in the common life of Christian society. It was only later, towards the close of the third century and the beg-inning of the fourth, that they began to withdraw into the solitude of the desert or to live in community. In the churches they were known as those who were more austere than others and as making a profession of virginity. They formed in a measure a group apart, which was treated with respect in Christian assemblies. At Smyrna, about no, the band of virgins was important and remarkable; it became like the " order " of widows. St. Ignatius of Antioch makes special mention of it in his letter to that church.^ St. Polycarp, writing to the Philippians a few years later, is far from forgetting the virgins whose
conscience must be without reproach and whose life most pure. 2 Hermas refers, too, to the virgins of the Church of Rome, and Origen tells Celsus of those who follow perfect virginity {da-Kova-t tt/v iravTeXrj Trapdiviav) for the sake of prayer.'

Virgins were the glory of Christian communities. fail to understand fully the pride of the heads of the churches in the possession of virgins whose altogether heavenly purity
stood out in contrast with all the pagan corruption around them. In exalting the holiness of Christian conduct the apologists of the second century do not fail to point out those who practised virginity for the admiration of the heathen. " Many men and women," says St. Justin in his first Apologia for Christianity, " from sixty to seventy years of age, brought up from childhood in the law of Christ, have kept pure {a^Oopoi)', I can show you them in all classes of society."* Tatian^ and Athenagoras,^ authors of admirable apologies on behalf of the Christian religion, contrast with the lewdness of pagan Greece the wisdom and purity of Christians who

We

have waxed old

in celibacy.

''

The
1

fearful

calumnies

spread

Christian conduct are well

*

known
3.

by the heathen about accusations of incest and

3

48 (P.G. XI, 1492). Emperors and the Roman Senate. He wrote it at Rome about 150. I Afol. XV, 6. St. Justia addresses this first Apologia to the * Tatiani oratio ad Graecos, Legatio fro christicnis, 33. Tatinn and Atbenagoras wrote
vii,

Smyrn., xiii, Contra Cels..

i.

Phil, v,

Sim.

ix, 10, 11.

about

i7o<

Cbristlan Hsccticism
similar crimes.

ST

Christian apolo^'ists triumphantly rebutted them by citing^ the teaching of Jesus with regard to chastity, and telling of the existence of virgins in the Church. The disgraceful things of which we are accused, said Tcrtullian to the governors of the Roman provinces, are to be found amongst the heathen. As for Christians, they are preserved from such things by the strict obligation that binds them to And further, he adds, there are a the practice of chastity.

certain number to be found amongst us, who have avoided every assault of such deceits with the aid of continence, old Minutius Felix a few in age with the innocence of a child. ^ years earlier had made use of the same argument " The lust of incest," we read in his Octavius, " is so far from the hearts of Christians that some of them are ashamed even of lawful unions, and many of them find all their happiness in keeping their bodies pure and inviolate."^ The same reasoning is to be found next century in Origen's refutation of the calumnies of Celsus against the Christians.^ 1 Celibates made a living and triumphant apology for Christianity. \ Their virtues imparted its full significance to the beautiful description of the life of the Christians of the second century given by the author of the Epistle to Diognetus to a
:

pagan " Christians do not difTer from other men in country or language or peculiarity of life. For there are no towns set apart for them, nor language spoken by them alone, and there
:

They no eccentricity in their manner of living. inhabit the towns of the Greeks or the Barbarians, as their lot may be, and while following the customs of the country in which they are, whether in the matter of clothing or food or other habits, they lead an admirable sort of life which in the eyes of all men is taken to be a prodigy. Each one of them dwells in his own countrj-, but as a stranger; they share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as if they did not belong to the country. All foreign lands are their fatherland, and every fatherland is to them a foreign land. They are in the flesh, but they live not after the flesh. They They obey dwell on earth, but their city is in the heavens. the law, but by their manner of life they are above the law.
is
. .
. . .

They love everyone, and everyone persecutes them. are overlooked and they are condemned and put to death, and They are poor and they yet there are always Christians. they lack everything, and yet good things enrich others People curse them, and they bless they come to them.
They
; .
.

1 Quidam (christiani ) mullo securiores totam vim Afologet. 9 hujus erroris virgine conlinentia defellunt, series fueri. * Octavius, 31 abest incesti cupido, Tantum (P.L III, 3^7) Plerique inviola/i ut rtonnullis rubori sit etiam fudica conjunctio corporis virginitnte perpetua /ruurttur. Cf. Athenagoras, Legatio, 33. 3 Contra Cels. 1, 26 (P.G. XI, 709, 712).
: : . . . . . .

38

Cbristian Spiritualitp
;

are insulted, and they still show respect to others. When they do good, they are punished as criminals and when they are put to death, they rejoice, for in death they find life. In short, what the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. The soul pervades every member of the body, and Christians are in every town in the world. The soul dwells in the body, but it does not come from the body so do Christians dwell in the world, but they are not of the world. "^
.
.

Defenders of Christian manners against outside enemies, the continent were also excellent helpers of the heads of the churches in overcoming difficulties from within. Their austerity of life was a perpetual call to detachment from the pleasures and delights of the pagan world. Many Christians found some difficulty in cutting themselves off from them, so impregnated was the society of those days with paganism. Bishops liked to direct the admiration of their flocks, constantly exposed to defilement by contact with the world, to the example of the virgins. Thus they sustained the weak and kept them in the path of duty.^ And then, in those days of periodical persecution Christians were frequently in danger and had to be in readiness to confess the faith under torture. They had to be on their guard against an easy mode of life and slackness, which relax moral energy and disarm the soul in the hour of battle. It was because such precautions were neglected that in the Decian persecution of 250 so many Christians apostatized in Africa. But the presence of the followers of chastity in the churches was peculiarly adapted to increase virility of character and to put the soul on its mettle to face the final conflict. "For," as St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympia, declares, " those vowed to chastity are pledged to undergo a sort of perpetual martyrdom. Indeed, not only for a few brief moments do they put up with the burden of the body, but their whole life long. They fear not to endure the truceless and truly Olympian struggle of chastity, and to resist the cruel transports of the passions."^
1 Ef. ad Diognetufii cap. 5-6. This beautiful passage treats of ordinary Christians, not of ascetics. ~ Ef. dementis ad Virgines, i, 3 Sunt enim utriusque sexus virgines fulchrum quoddam exemflar (frofositum et -praesentibus ) fidelibus et its qui (dei)icefs) fuiuri sunt fideles. 3 Feast of the Ten Virgins, vii, Cf. Ef. 3 (P.G. XVIII, 128, 129). Virgo igitur esse cufis? Clem., i, 5 Vince corpus, vince carnis libidines, vince mundum in sfiritu Dei; vince vanas isias fraeseniis vince draconem, vince leonem, vitice serfentem, vince saeculi res;. satanam fer Jesum Christum, qui te roboraturus est auditione vetborum suorum et divina eucharisiia. Tolle crucem iuam et sequere eum qui te mundavit Jesum Christum quicunique enitn ambulat ferfectus in fide nee timet, is revera accifit coronam virginitatis, quae ut res est magni laborit, ita tt magnam quoque habet mercedem.
, : :

Cbrtstian Hscctictsm
Thus
in

39

the Christian communities virgins were a leaven of Their intense religious life and of generous enthusiasm. influence made itself felt even amongst the clergy, who at last were morally compelled by public opinion to imitate them .md to live in continence. This was in part, at any rate, the
origin of ecclesiastical celibacy.

Now we can understand the feelings of admiration with which the heads of the churches spoke of the continent and
i)f

virginity.

Of
to

all

classes of the faithful that of the virgins

is

dearest

Church.^ To St. Cyprian the band of virgins at Carthage is the most honourable part of Christ's flock, the bright flower of the Church's garden, the most glorious
the

manifestation of the fruitfulness of Christ's bride, the glory

of heavenly grace.
It is with what almost amounts to an apology that the Bishop of Carthage addresses them with exhortation and advice.^ The faithful, for their part, treated the virgins with great They loaded them with honours and kind consideration. In gatherings for worship they certainly placed attentions. them immediately next to the clergy.^ In the East, according to Origen, the virgins came close after the martyrs, and along with the widows they were entrusted with certain

functions in the Church.'* Those who practised chastity constantly gained in importIn the third century they constituted in each church a ance. "'' which had to be reckoned with. Fresort of " aristocracy (juently the extravagant praises bestowed upon them were a species of rhetorical precaution intended to pave the way for The writer of the (-ensures that were sometimes severe. Epistolae dementis gravely addressed his two letters " to the brethren and sisters who have entered into the state of
Feast oj the Ten Virgins, id. " Nunc nobis ad virgines sermo est, quorum 3 quo sublimor gloria est major et cura est. Flos est ille ecclesiastici germinis, decus atque ornamentum gratiae spiritahs, laeta indoles, laudis et honoris ofus integrum atque incorruptum, Dei imago respondens ad sanctimoniam Domini, illustrior portio gregis Christi, gaudet per illas atque in illis largiter floret Ecclesiae matris gloriosa fecunditas, quantoque plus copiosa virginitas numero suo addit, gaudium matris augescit. Ad has loquimur has adhortamur affectu ." Cf. Ep. Clem, ix, fotiusquam potestate. Origen, Hom. Ill 3, 4. in Gen. 6 (P.O. XII, 181).
'

De habitu virginum,

'

Tertullian,
St.

De

vel. virg. 14.

In Ep. ad Rom. q (P.O. XIV, 1205).

Methodius
vii,
3

calls the

band
129).

of virgins the

" Order

of

Virgins."

Feast,

the fourth century onwards ascetics were often called " Confessors," and the more famous among them after death attained to the cultus before then confined to martyrs.

(P.G.

XVIII,

From

40
virginity."*

Cbrfettan Sptrltualftp

it is needful to win their sympathy to be accommodating- to them before pointing out to them wherein their behaviour wants mending.

He

feels that

and

The extraordinary honour paid to virgins was not, indeed, without its drawbacks. It stimulated their amour propre, and might lead them on to be insubordinate with regard to their ecclesiastical superiors. St. Ignatius of Antioch, in the early times in which he lived, already counselled the continent to be " subject to the bishop who is the head of the community." These difficulties reappear later on.

To the order of virgins must be added that of the widows who after the death of their husbands pledged themselves to
the practice of continence. It was amongst these that the deaconesses were chosen. They lived ascetic lives. They were treated with great consideration,^ and, like the virgins, they were the subjects of episcopal solicitude. St. Polycarp recommended the widows of the church of Philippi " to have a wise and prudent faith, to pray without ceasing for all men, to shun calumny, evil-speaking, false witness, covetousness, in a word, all that is bad to remember that they are the altar of God, that all their offerings are closely inspected by the Lord, and that no single one of their thoughts, intentions, and secrets is hidden from Him."'
;

II.OBSERVANCES

OF THE EARLY ASCETICS

the

The

essential

observance,

one that ostensibly put a

Christian
virginity.

amongst the ascetics, was, then, the practice of * Without it there was no hope of pursuing
'^

Christian perfection. To pledge oneself to celibacy

was a matter of free choice. Such an undertaking was known to the faithful and sancIn tioned, at any rate tacitly, by ecclesiastical authority.^
Ep. Clem, ad Virg. i, i [Frairibus'] virginibus beatis qui dederunt servandae virginitaii -profter regnum caeloruvi, et \sororibus'\ virginibus sacris. 2 The band of widows is called " the council of widows " (-ytpovala Tuv xvp^") in the Feast of the Ten Virgins, v, 8 (P.G. XVIII, 112). 3 Ad Philiff. iv, 3. On the widows and the counsels given them see Didascalia xiv, xv. Canons of Hiffolytus, 59, 157, 183, in Duchesne's Origine du Culte chritien, 1Q08, pp. 508, 514, 516. * Feast, Virginity is the fairest of viii, i (P.G. XVIII, 137) virtues, surpassing all the rest, a good unrivalled. " Virginity is perfection," to r/Xeiov Feast, i, 4 (P.O. XVIII, 44)
i_
:

se

irapdivia,

8 In the fourth century the consecration of those pledged to virginity was always performed with solemn ceremonies and presided over by the bishop.

Cbrtsttan Hscettcism

principle it was final/ and the bishop's consent was necessary before the celibate who had imprudently pledged himself to such an exalted state was allowed to resume his freedom

without scandalizing anyone. ^ The Christian who was vowed to chastity " was consecrated to God," and contracted a kind of spiritual marriage with The will of the heavenly Christ, whose yoke he accepted. Bridegroom became his inviolable rule of life.^ Violation of one's "oath to Christ"* always caused great scandal in a It was looked upon as the committal Christian community. of a sort of " act of adultery against the Saviour,"' and ecclesiastical authority had to intervene to determine the conditions on which reparation was to be made.'

can understand how the authorities had to watch over the behaviour of those pledged to virginity with care in order Little by little they were led to lay down to check scandal. certain rules of life, and the sum total of these constituted the discipline which the followers of chastity were called to obey. In a still pagan society celibates living in the world had to observe the greatest reserve. There were some who were at times unable to keep within its limits. Some of them imagined that in joining the band of celibates they need not live with any greater austerity than other The Christians nor put any check upon their conduct.' regard in which they were held by the faithful was also a The society of those pledged to virsource of difBculties. The leading members of the ginity was sought after. churches took pleasure in offering them hospitality.^ These house-to-house visits were not without their disadvantages and gave rise to gossip. Lastly, amongst the young women dedicated to God were those who appeared not to be sorry to attract attention in Christian gatherings nor to shrink from wearing worldly apparel. It became necessary to put an end to such abuses, for they
(Virgines) quae cum Cyprian, Epist. iv, i (Hartel, III, 473) statum 'uum continenter et firmiter tenere decreverint. Cf. Tertullian, Adv. Marcion. i, 29. ' Cf. Cyprian, id.: Si autem ferseverare nolunt vel non fossunt Certe (virgines ) melius nubanl quam in ignem delictis suis cadant. nullum jratribus aut sororibus scandalum jaciant. Cf. Feast, iii, 14. Tertullian, De oratione, 22 Aliqua (virgo) se Deo vovit. Nupsisti enim Christo, illi carnem tuam tradidisti. Age pro mariti tui disciplina. Cf. Cyprian, De hahitu virg. 4 (Hartel, I, 189, 190). " I am the Origen, Horn. XI in Lev. (P.O. XII, 529). Feast, vi, 5 spouse of the Word," Ni/^^i'o^a/ ri^ Alytf), says a virgin. St. ex fide Christo iv, {Virgines) se Cyprian, Epist. 2:
^

We

St.

semel

iftcaverunt.
'

St.

Cyprian,
est.

De

habitu

Virginum,
4.

20;

Epist.

iv,

4:

Christi

adultera

'

Cf. St. Cyprian, Epist. iv, Epist. Clem, ad Virg. i, 3.

Tertullian,

De

Virg. vel.

14.

42

Cbristian Spfrftuallt^

threatened to spread, principally in Africa. Tertullian took upon himself to do this. In his treatise De Virginibus velandis he advises young- women dedicated to God, with his usual ardour, to show^ more restraint in their behaviour and more modesty in their dress. Particularly does he reveal impatience at their appearance in Christian meeting^s without any veils. The veil, says he, is to the virg-in a helmet and shield to ward off temptation and the risk of incurring- scandal or suspicion of the ill-disposed. * A few years later St. Cypriaii, a man of rule and discipline,^ felt constrained to recall and particularize the rules of prudence to certain of the virg-ins of Carthag-e who had forg-otten them. On this occasion he wrote one of the finest books that have come down to us from antiquity on the subject of virginity De habitu Virginum. After praising virginity enthusiastically he indicates the fine precautions that must be taken to avoid any injury to a virtue so delicate. Like Tertullian, and quite rightly, the Bishop of Carthage attaches great importance to the outward demeanour of virgins. Chastity is not, indeed, an entirely inward virtue. It must shine outwardly in modest behaviour and suitable clothing. It is not enough to be a virgin in bodily purity, but one must be so in one's whole personality. What would be said of a virgin who adorned herself as if she were a married woman or in search of a husband?^ It is such right notions as these, which prompted ascetic writers of later date, that underlie the directions given by Virgins ought to dress with modesty; they St. Cyprian. should not paint or rouge themselves or wear ornaments or jewellery.* They are forbidden to go to wedding-feasts^ or public baths where, according to pagan practice, men and women then used to mingle.
:

1 De Virginibus Virg. vel. 15 con fn git ad velatnen capitis quasi ad galeam, quasi ad clyfeum qui bontim suuin frotegat adversus ictus tentationum, adversus jacula scandalorum , adversus suspiciones
:

custos spei retinaculum fidei, dux itineris salutaris, fames ac nutrimentum bonae indolis, magistra virtutis, facit in Christo manere semper ac jugiter Deo vivere, ad promissa caelestia et divina praemia pervenire {De habitu Virginum, i [Hartel, I, 187]). 3 Id., 5 Continentia vera et pudicitia nan in sola carnis integritate consistit sed eiiam in cultus et ornatus honore pariter ac pudore. Virgo non esse tantum sed et intelligi debet et credi : nemo cum virginem viderit, dubitet an virgo sit. Parem se integritas in omnibus praestet nee bonum corporis cultus injamet. Quid ornata, quid compta procedit, quasi maritutn aut habeat aut quaerat? (Hartel, I, 191). * De habitu Virginum, g. Cf. Feast, v, 6; viii, 2. 8 Id., 18. The Feast, v, 4, forbids virgins to go to wedding-feasts or
,
: .

et susurros. 2 Disciplina

dances.

De

habitu

demned by

Virginum iq. On this pagan practice, severely conthe Church, see the Didascalia, Nau's translation, pp. 13, 18.
,

Clement of Alexandria, Paedag.

iii, 5.

Cbrtstian Hscctici^iu
Another
rather stranj^^e irregularity

43

arose in a few churches .It the beginning- of the third century and claimed the attention This was the experiment of followers of of the bishops. \'irgins chastity belonging to both sexes to live together. living apart from their families chose as their guardians one or more ascetics of the opposite sex, and sometimes, taking piety as a pretext, they travelled alone with them or even dwelt in the same house.' They were called siibintroductae. However right their intentions may have been, this way of acting was most unseemly and altogether risky. Rigour was St. Cyprian, consulted by one required for its suppression. of his African colleagues on a case of this sort, decides that the siibintroductae must at once quit their guardians and do penance for their misbehaviour. In case of relapse they are This to be temporarily excluded from Christian meetings. exclusion is to be perpetual if they obstinately refuse to leave Any virgin who has given rise to public their guardians. ^ scandal is to be rigorously subjected to public penance. The writer of the Epistolae dementis ad FiVg^ine^ addresses to his correspondents most energetic protests against the same abuse. He tells them of the care with which all intercourse with persons of the opposite sex is avoided by those vowed to chastity in his own church.' He strongly exhorts In later times those to whom he is writing to do the same. the bishops again had to take in hand the question of the
subititroductac.*

live in the

These disorders were inevitable when celibates began to world and enjoy the use of liberty enough. To put
it,

a stop to

in

the fourth century

:

it

became necessary
.

to

de imfudenlibus Jiomini1 Ep. Clem, ad Vtrg i, lo Loquimur bus qui sub praetextu fietatis cum virginibus (in eadem domo) habicujusmodi agendi aut soli cum illis deambulant fer viam tant viros religiosos frorsus dedecet. Cf. Hermas, Sim. ix, ii. ratio St. Cyprian, Ep. iv, 4. Nos igitur, Deo nos adjuvante, nosmet ita gerimus ; cum virginibus non habitamus vihilque nobis in communi est cum ipsis : cum virginibus neque edimus neque bibimus, et ubi dormit virgo, ibi non dormimus nos. Neque lavant pedes nostras muUeres neque unguunt nos, et omnino non dormimus ibi ubi somnum capit puella innupta aut Deo sacrata; et ne pernoctamus quidem ibidem, si haec sit sola {quanquam) Apud nos autem tunc ibi esse non potest femina in alio aliquo loco. quaepiam, sive adolescentula sit sive maritata; neque vetula neque sacrata Deo, neque ancilla Christiana neque ethnica; verum solum modo viri cum viris esse possunt (Ep. Clem, ad Virgines). * Similar counsels are to found in the rseudo-Athanasius On VirThe Council of Anryra in 314. canon xix, ginitv and Asceticism. positively forbids celibates of both sexes to dwell under the same roof. St. John Chrysostom in two Pastoral Letters censures those of the clergy who had in their houses virgins vowed to God (P.G. XLVII, 405-514) and deaconesses who dwelt with men {id., 513-532). C/. St. Jerome, Ep. CXXV, ad Rusticum monachum, n. 6.
,

44
institute

Cbdstian Spidtualit^

communities of women in which virgins vowed to God lived together under a superior. But most of those vowed to chastity faithfully kept the

rules of life laid down for them. The ecclesiastical authorities too, how to call them to do this by fervent exhortation, firing them with courage and wonderfully enhancing the

knew,

excellence of their vocation the finest passages of early the praise of virginity. " O are already that which we

And, in fact, in their own eyes. ascetic literature have to do with virgins," cries St. Cyprian, " you Even in this shall be hereafter. life you possess in some measure the glory of the resurrection ; you pass through this world and are yet unsullied by it. By your chastity and virginity you are like God's own

angels."^

"The womb of a blessed Virgin," writes the author of the Letters of Clement, " bore our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It was from a holy Virgin that our Lord took the body with which He fulfilled His mission. And our Lord, after taking His manhood from a Virgin, Himself lived on earth in a state of virginity. Learn thereby the excellence and beauty of virginity John the Forerunner, who went before the coming of our Lord, was greater than any born of women this holy herald of our Lord was a celibate. The other John who lay upon our Lord's bosom, and whom He loved much, he too was undefiled, for not without reason, did our Lord love him. Let us mention also Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy, and others whose names are written in the book of life, who all loved chastity with an exceeding love and ran their course on earth with spotless lives. "^ With indescribable enthusiasm, and in words that the most skilful translation can only mar, St. Methodius chants the praises of virginity, a virtue supremely great, wonderful, and glorious. Its origin is divine; it is a plant borne from the heights of heaven, a perfume such as earth cannot exhale. Virginity has her feet upon the earth, but her head is lifted up into heaven itself. She is the fountain-head and the firstfruits of incorruptibility.' Virginity makes those who embrace it like God. * Those who would endeavour to imitate Christ must try to practise The Word made flesh Himit, for it is the likeness of God. self alone could teach it to the earth, for He is the Chief of virgins as He is the Chief of priests, the Chief of prophets, the Chief of pastors, and the Chief of angels."
! . . .

I De habitu Virginum, 22 (Hartel, I, 203) (Virgines) quod futuri sumus, jam vos esse coefistis. Vos resurrectionis gloriam in isto saeculo Jan. tenetis, -per saeculum sine saeculi contagione transitis : cum castae perseveratis et virgines, angelis Dei estis aequales. * Clement, Ep. ad Virgines, i, 6. Cf. Feast, xi, 2.
:

Feast,

i,

1.

Id., viii,

i.

Feast,

i,

4,

5.

Cbristtaii Hsceticlsm 45 most excellent and worthy of offering's that By it paradise has been restored to can be made to God. earth. It transmutes mortality into incorruptibility; it recon^ ciles men with God. But this priceless treasure of chastity is borne in fleshly
Virg-inity is the
'

Its followers must not forget this and therefore vessels. they are bidden to defend it with care, protecting it with the twofold rampart of mortification and prayer.
:

Those vowed to chastity gave themselves up, indeed, to the In the earliest days Christians fasted austerities of penance. But celibates twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays.^ extended the practice and added to it strict times of

"We meet with Christians," says Origen, "who might marry and thus spare themselves the aggravation of They prefer the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. to refrain from exercising their right, but to lay upon themselves hard penances, to keep under their bodies by fasting, to bring them under obedience by abstinence from certain foods, and thus in every way to mortify by the spirit the
works of the flesh."* Those who wage this warfare with the weapons of mortification must be of an energetic disposition. For, as Methodius says, " virginity requires a strong and generous nature, which soars with a vigorous beat of wing above the tide of pleasure and makes for loftiest heights of heaven, a steadfast nature which never goes back upon its resolution to keep its virginity, until it has passed beyond the borders of this world
and reached heaven to contemplate in all its brightness Purity in itself as it proceeds from the stainless soul of the Almighty."' But the efforts of those vowed to chastity would be in vain " Let not him who is if they were not sustained by grace. pure in body glorify himself, knowing that he who grants the gift of continence {<yxpiTeiav)^ is another than himself." This admonition addressed by Clement of Rome to the continent of the church of Corinth was a call to prayer. " Perfect
/d.. V, I. /d., iv, 2. f/omtltes.
1

abstinence. often

'

Similar considerations are to be met with in Origen's

viii,
i
;

Doctrina Afostolorum,
jejunio, 14
;

Hermas, Sim.

v,

Tertullian,

De
*

Ad

uxor,

ii,

De

In Jeremiam Horn. XIX, Cf. Clement of 517). Alexandria, Paedag. i, 7 (P.G. VIII, 317). St. Hippolytus of Rome alio speaks of the austere life of the ascetics. In Genesim (P.G. X, 601). Ep. Clementis ad Virgines, i, 12 Jejuniis vestris tt frecationibus ac continuis vigilix: of era carnis morttficate per virtuttm Sfiritus Sancti. Feast, i, 1 (P.G. XVIII, 37). ' 1 Clem, xxxviii, 3.
:

oratione ig. 7 (P.G. XIII,

46

Cbristian Spiritualtts

chastity," says Orig"en, " is an extraordinary gift; God grants it to those who desire it with all their hearts and ask Him for

with faith by unceasing prayer."^ Virgins and ascetics engaged in repeated prayers. They evidently participated in the celebration of the Eucharist and A vigil, in the common prayer of public worship, or vigils. beginning with the first century, used to take place every week on the night between Saturday and Sunday. It was made up of readings, homilies, hymns, and chanted Psalms and prayers. ^ The service held on a vigil gave rise later on to the office of Matins.^ Fervent believers, in the front rank of whom were the virgins and ascetics, made other prayers in their own homes. They regarded it as a duty to pray, according to the Jewish custom,* morning, noon, and evening. The Teaching of the Apostles advises the saying of the Pater Noster three times a day." Many passages in the Bible'^ mention as hours specially given to prayer the third, the sixth, and ninth hours; that is to say, nine o'clock in the morning, noon, and three o'clock These were just the hours when Christ was in the afternoon.
it

condemned

to death, ^ crucified, and died.

They became the

Tertullian also mentions hours of prayer for the faithful. prayer before meals. In short, a fervent Christian ought to pray " at all times and in all places." ^ The faithful prayed kneeling down, except on the feasts of Easter and Whitsunday, when they remained standing in token of rejoicing. In Africa they lifted up their hands to a certain extent towards heaven, and, like the Publican in the Gospel, looked downwards uttering the words of their form of prayer in an undertone.*" Origen thinks it is best to pray with uplifted hands and eyes ;*^ this is the attitude of the suppliant so often pictured in the Roman catacombs, and no doubt it was that adopted by the Christians of Alexandria. The spirit of prayer in the faithful and ascetics was carein Matt, xiv, 25 (P.G. XIII, 1252). De orafione, 28. 3- Cf. Duchesne, Origine du culte chrStien, 1898, p. 219. The vigil was not long before it was celebrated also on the anniversaries of martyrs and on days of solemn prayer or fasting. See Batiffol, Histoire du Breviaire romain, Paris, 191 1, pp. 1-15. * Psalm liv, 18 Daniel vi, lo. ['^ Tertullian, De oratione, 23, 25. 8 Teaching of the Afostles, viii, 3. 7 Acts iii, I X, 9 ; Numbers xxviii, 4 ff.
1
-

Comment,

Tertullian,

'^
1

Clement

of

Alexandria, Strom,

vii, 7.

Tertullian, De oratione, 25 ; De jejunio, 10 ; St. Cyprian, De dominica oratione, 34, 35. These private prayers made at different hours of the day became the Hours of the canonical Ofi&ce. 1" Tertullian, De oratione, 17, 23, 25; St. Cyprian, De dominica oratione, 4, 6. 11 Origen, De oratione, 31 (P.G. XI, 549-552).
*

fully

Cbristlan Hsccttcism 47 maintained by eloquent homilies of the heads of the

;

churches.

Prayer wins victories with God, says TertuUian it alone It masters the elements and full power over Him.^ forces of nature, as we learn from the records of the Old Testament. But in the supernatural order it is still more
possesses
It is profitable to the souls of the departed, it streng-thens the weak, it cancels sin, it repels temptation, it raises up those who fall, it confirms those who stand. Prayer is the rampart of our faith, the weapon and sword with which we beat down the enemy who prowls around us.

powerful.

Let us never go forward without this weapon.^ But the condition upon which our prayer will be answered is obedience to our Saviour's commands, particularly to His command to forg^ive wrongs. Our prayer will be all the better heard the purer our life and the more it is in harmony with God's ordinances.^ When good works, and especially alms, sustain our prayers, they will be acceptable all the more readily to God.* Barren prayers, unaccompanied with acts of goodness, are, on the contrary, vain and unavailing with God. ^ Holiness of life is the best pledge of the powerfulness
of prayer.

Real prayer also requires attention of mind and heart. The bishop begins eucharistic prayer by calling upon the faithful to lift up their hearts; that is to say, to think only of the Lord and to forget all else. should be wanting in respect for the divine majesty if we spoke to God without thinking of Him or of what we were saying. How can we ask God to hear us if we do not ourselves listen to what we are saying?^ Frequent prayers, participation in the Eucharist, and practices of mortification such were the " religious exercises " of the virgins and ascetics.

We

These acts of piety were not enough to fill up their time. In addition, from the earliest times those vowed to chastity were
De oratione, 29 Sola est oratio quae Deum vincit. Id.: Oratio murus est fidei, arma et tela nostra adversus hominem qui nos undique observat. Itaque nunquam inermes incedamus. ' TertuUian, De oratione, 10, 11, 12. Cf. Origen, De oratione, 31. * St. Cyprian, De opere et eleetnosynis, 5 (Hartel, I, 377). * St. Cjprian, De dominica oratione, t,}, Cito orationes ad Deum ascendunt quas ad Deum merita nostri operis imponunt 32 Inefficax fetitio est, cum precatur Deum sterilis oratio sermo non habens fructum fromereri Deum non potest, quia nulla oferatione fecundus
1
;

'

est.
* Id.,

31

Sacerdos ante orationem praefatione praemissa parat

:

fra-

/rum mentes dicendo : Sursum corda, ul dum respondet plebs Habemus ad Dominum, admoneatur nihil aliud se quam Dominum cogitare debere quomodo audiri te a Deo postulas, cum te ipse non audiast Vis esse Dominum memorem tui cum rogas, quando tui memor ipse non
.
.

its?

Cf. Origen,

De

oratione.

48 Cbdstian Spirituality charged with certain charitable services in Christian communities, such as visiting orphans, the poor, and the sick. ^ The social functions of the ascetics were not confined to prayer and to giving an example of the highest Christian virtues. They found their natural fulfilment in ministering to the needs of the suffering members of Christ. St. Cyprian wrote his treatise De opere et eleemosynis to stir up the faithful of Carthage to almsgiving and works of mercy. ^ The counsels he gives are addressed to all, but especially to those who by their profession were bound to a more strict observance of the law of Christ.

III.THE

SPIRITUAL TEACHING OF THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES CHRISTIAN VIRTUESUNION WITH CHRIST
:

In this early period we do not find any treatises on Spirituproperly so called. The works of this age, so far as they have come down to us, arose out of circumstances in view of the needs of the day. Ascetic considerations are usually intermingled with the rest of the teaching without taking the form of any methodical exposition. However, when the needs of the faithful demanded it, ecclesiastical writers dwelt especially upon some one Christian virtue or means of sanctification. know their works on Virginity and on Prayer. shall meet with others on Martyrdom, on Detachment from the life of this world, and on Patience.
ality,

We

We

Ecclesiastical writers insisted in the first place upon essential duties which were common to ascetics and ordinary Christians. Above all was it necessary to forewarn the faith-

against the evil and seductive influences of pagan life. of the Teaching of the Apostles and the second part of the Epistle of Barnabas afford a celebrated
ful

The beginning

1 Ef. Clem, ad Virg. (Duchesne, p. 514).

2

i,

12, 13

Feast, xi,

i ;

Canons

of Hi-pfolytus, 157
:

passage in praise of works of charity Praeclara et divina res, fratres carissimi, salutaris operatio, solacium grande credentium, securitatis nostrae salubre fraesidium, munimentum sfei, tutela fidei, medella feccati, res -posita in fotestate facientis, res et grandis et facilis, sine fericulo fersecutionis corona facis, verum Dei munus et maximum, infirmis necessarium, fortibus gloriosum, quo christianus adjutus -praefert gratiam sfiritalem, fromeretur Christum judicem, Deum comfutat debitorem (St. Cyprian, De opere et
fine

Note the following

tleemosynis, a6

[H artel,

I,

394]).

49 moral exhortation intended for all " There are two paths, one of life, the other of Christians litath. But there is a g^reat difference between these two paths."* To follow the path of life is to love one's Creator and Redeemer; to keep His commandments, to be humble and jijentle to respect human life and the innocence of childhood to avoid impurity, perjury, lying^, anger, sorcery, avarice and blasphemy to shun schism, to give alms, to

CbriBtlan Hscetlcism

example

of
:

such

provide a good education for one's children, to confess one's sins in Christian gatherings^ so as not to go and pray with a had conscience. The path of death is evil and full of curses, rhose who take to it give themselves over to the vices and

debauchery of paganism.
Similar subjects frequently recur in the exhortations of the early Church, ^ when the teaching of the principles of Christian morality to the converts from paganism was specially needed. Clement of Alexandria, after showing the falseness of heathen religions and the truth of Christianity in his Exhortation to the Gentiles, puts before the convert the essential rules of Christian life this is the subject-matter of his Schoolmaster. He does not handle the counsels of perThe fection until he comes to his third book, the Stromata. essential precepts of the Christian religion are also what are Nevertheless, usually taught by Origen in his Homilies. fairly often he rises to a higher level, and, speaking on Christian virtues and the imitation of Christ, attains to heights worthy of the greatest preachers of asceticism.
;

Indeed, the heads of the churches did not fail to use every opportunity to exhort the faithful to practise Christian virtue

had to write to the a sedition that had been fomented among them through jealousy of their presbyters. In his letter the Bishop of Rome reminds them of the " need of maintaining harmony by practising forgiveness of injuries, He also treats of charity, peace, and invariable equity." continence, chastity, and patience,"* "faith, penance and above all of humility and obedience.
St.

and perfection. About the year 90

Christians
of

Clement

Corinth

to

quell

1 Teaching of the AfostUs. i. Cf. the Efistle of Barnabas, xviii " There are two paths of teaching and action that of light and that At the head of darkness but there is a great difference between them. of the one are the angels of God, the bringers of light, at the head of the other are the angels of Satan" (Ilemmer, The Apostolic Fathers, I, p. g^). ' The Teaching of the Afostles, xiv, makes mention of this confession " Meet together of sins as made before the celebration of the Eucharist on the Lord's Day (Sunday), break bread and give thanks after con:
:

fessing your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure." Cf. St. Ambrose, In Lucam, II, a.

Clem.

Ixii, 2.

50

Cbristian Spititualtti? Humility begets peace and g-entleness. Where it prevails, there, too, will be found fair-mindedness, long-suffering-, and obedience.^ It is potent with God,^ and "Christ belongs to the humble, and not to those who exalt themselves above His ffock. The sceptre and majesty of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came not with a train of haughtiness and pride but with humility of mind, as the Holy Spirit foretold of Him. ... If the Lord thus abased Himself, what ought not we to do, we who come through Him under the yoke of His grace? Humility puts everyone in his place and inclines us to obey God. The ordered harmony of the world affords us a wonderful example of obedience and submission to the laws of the Creator " The heavens, set in motion by His command, obey Him in peace. Day and night fulfil the course He has laid down for them without interfering with one another. The sun, the moon, and the groups of stars follow according to His ordinance in harmony and without deviation the orbits He has prescribed for them. The fruitful earth in obedience to His will brings forth in due season an abundance of food
. .
.
"*

for man and brute, and for all the creatures that live thereon. The vast sea, confined within the bed which His creative hand has hollowed out, breaks not the bounds that He has set, but as He hath ordained, no farther doth it go. He hath said unto it Thus far shall thou go, and here shall thy waves he broken in thy bosom. The seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter peacefully succeed one another. The winds in their abodes fulfil their functions at the appointed times undisturbed the never-failing springs, made for man's refreshment and health, offer him an inexhaustible life-giving flow of life. The sovereign Creator and Master of the universe hath ordained that all these things
.

should abide
Christian

in

peace and concord."*

like
civil

society,

society,

has

its

hierarchy.

There can be no peace and concord in it unless " each man yields to his neighbour according to the gift wherewith he has been endued." In an army are to be found not only commanders, but soldiers too each one according to his rank
;

carries out the orders that are given. The different orders of society depend upon one another just as the members of our bodies " all concur to promote the health of the whole body by their unanimous subordination to one another."^ But obedience, concord, and peace are incapable of really existing without charity, without " the devout and holy practice of fraternal charity." Clement celebrates this virtue in moving words which are an echo of the well-known passage
2 i Clem, xxi, 8. Id., xiii to XV. xvi, 1-2, 17. Hemmer, Afostolic Fathers, II, 39-41. * Id., Hemmer, pp. 47-49. " i Clem, xxxvii.
1

3 Id.,

(Ibristian Hsceticism
:

51

" can of St. Paul which we have already quoted can express its explain the bond of divine charity? The height to which charity uplifts us is utter beauty? Charity binds us closely to God; charily covereth ineffable. the multitude of sins, it suffereth all things, beareth all things in charity there is nothing that is base, nothing that is lofty; charity leads not to schism, foments not sedition; charity doth all things in harmony charity consummates the without charity nothing perfection of all the elect of Ciod pleastth (iod. It is by charity that the Master hath raised us unto Himself; it was because of His charity towards us that

Who

Who

our Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the will of God and gave His blood for us. His ilcsh for our flesh, His soul for our souls. See, my beloved, how great and wonderful a thing is charity, how there are no words to express its perfection."' Clement and the Roman Christians excelled in the practice Immediately of this charity of which they spoke so well. after the Domitian persecution they prayed for the Roman emperors in their liturgical gatherings in these touching " Make us submissive to Thy most mighty and words excellent name, to our princes and governors in this world. For Thou, O Master, hast given them the power of reigning by Thy glorious and unspeakable might, in order that, knowing the glory and honour Thou hast assigned to them, we should obey them and not contradict Thy w ill. O Lord, grant unto them health, peace, concord, and stability, that they may wield without hindrance the sovereignty which Thou hast given them. For Thou, Master, and heavenly King of all the ages, givest unto the sons of men glory, honour and power Guide Thou, O Lord, their over the things of the earth. counsels according to that which is good, according to that which is pleasing in Thy sight, so that they may use with reverence in peace and mildness the power which Thou hast given them, and enjoy Thy favour."^ Moreover, it is charity, mainspring of the union which should rule between the faithful and their pastors, which St. Ignatius preaches along with integrity of faith to the churches of Asia Minor disturbed by heresy and attempts to create schism. " Faith and charity are the beginning and the end of life; faith is the beginning, charity is the completion; the two combined are God Himself; all the other virtues follow in their train in the path that leads to perfection
:

(tis

KaXoKayadiav)."^

But the practice of the Christian virtues is impossible We must not forget that here the without a struggle. Christian is in the circumstances of a fighter, as St. Paul
1

/d., xlix to
I

1,

I.

Clem.

Ix,

4 to
I,

Ixi, 2

Hemmer, II, pp. loi, loj. Hemmer, II, pp. 137,

ia8.

Ad Eph.

xiv,

52
says
:

Cbristian Spirituality

" Brethren, let us strive, knowing the fray is at hand, and that into fights for things perishable many a fighter rushes headlong, but only he is crowned who has done his

part therein and fought with glorj'. Let us so fight that we may be crowned. Let us run the straight road to the fight that is imperishable let us enter into the fray in large numbers, and let us give battle so that we may be crowned."^ The good soldier of Christ ought to be detached from this world's goods; he should look upon them as shackles that hamper the activity of the fighter and paralyze the dash of the intrepid runner. ^
;

the martyr who is above all a fighter; he must have a high degree those virtues that guarantee victory, courage, Christian energy, patience, and self-abnegation so far as to be ready to make a generous sacrifice of his life. The ecclesiastical writers of the first three centuries constantly preach these virtues to the many Christians who were wallowing in dungeons, waiting to be brought before the courts to hear their sentence of death. Tertullian, in his eloquent exhortation To Martyrs, encourages and gives consolation to the Christians of Carthage whom the governor of Africa has flung into prison about In a style that appears full of paradox, after the manner 197. of Silvio Pellico, he exhorts them to love their captivity. To the Christian is not this world a more unwholesome prison than the most frghtful dungeon? Therein the darkness that blinds the hearts of men is thicker, the chains that load their souls are heavier, the impurities that is to say, the passions
It is

in

of men, are more revolting, the number of the guilty is larger. And it is no proconsul, it is God Himself who will judge the world. Only he who longs for the goods of this world could become downhearted in his prison, where he is screened from scandals and temptations and evil memories. " A prison provides the Christian with the same advantages as a desert gives to a prophet."^ Be not then downhearted, ye blessed martyrs, who are imprisoned for

Christ's sake

the suflferings endured in gaols are an The soldier trains for war by excellent training for torture. privations, living a hard life, and by painful exercises. " Blessed martyrs, look upon every hardship you have to endure as fitted to develope in you virtues of soul and body.

Furthermore,

2a Clem, vii, 1-3. Hemmer, II, 145, 147. " We think it is better to hate the 2a Clem. V, 5, 6. C/. vi, 6 perishable goods of this world, because they are second-rate, transitory and corruptible, in order to love those others which are incorruptible "
1

(Hemmer,
*

145).

Ad

fdartyr., 2.

Cbrfsttatt

asceticism
. .
.

53

are about to take up the good fipht in which the living Christ Jesus, who has will award the prize. anointed you with the Holy Spirit, has willed before the day of battle to take away your freedom and to deal with you Athletes, as we know, in stoutly to toughen your strength. order to harden themselves, withdraw from their fellows to undergo a regime of greater severity. They abstain from all indulgence, all dainty fare, and all too pleasant drink. They

Vou God

do themselves violence, undergo pain, tire themselves out, being surer of winning the more thoroughly they are trained.

And

this is, as the Apostle says (i Cor. ix. 25) that receive a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible otie. Let us then regard the prison as the place where we are trained to suffer, that we may be broken in to it when we are For a hard life increases virtue, led forth to the tribunal. softness on the contrary destroys it."' St. Cyprian, too, had to prepare the Christians of Carthage During the short persecution of the to fight for the faith.

yet

all

they

may

Exhortation to Martyrs, master Tertullian. But especially use of the reward austere. He makes is not so he promised to the martyr to try to detach men's souls from this If it is a glorious thing for a soldier to return in world. triumph to his fatherland after defeating the enemy, how much greater and more to be envied must be the glory of him who enters heaven in triumph after casting down the devil, who offers to the Lord the well-pleasing gift of an unstained faith, who becomes a co-heir with Christ and an equal of the angels, who shares in the happiness of heaven with the Can any persecution patriarchs. Apostles, and prophets triumph over such hopes as these?' It is this greatness of the reward also, due to the martyr, that Origen accentuates when he is encouraging his friends, Ambrose and Proctetus, who were " severely tried " in the

emperor Callus (252) he published in which he develops the ideas of

his

his

persecution of Maximinian of Thrace (235-237).

^

He

speaks

de exhort, ad martyr., 13 (Hartel, I, 346). St. Cluduntur in persecutiones terrae, sed fatet Cyprian adds finely coehim: minatur antichrislus, sed Christus tuetur : mors infertur, sed

Ad Martyr., 3. Ad Fortunatum,

immortalitas sequitur : occiso mundus eripilur, sed restitute faradisus exhibetur : vita temporalis extinguitur, sed aeternitas repraesentatur. Quanta est dignitas et quanta securitas exire hinc laetum, exire inter fressuras et angustias gloriosum, cludere in momenta oculos, quibus homines videhantur et mundus, aferire eosdem statim, ut Deus videatur Tarn {elicit er migrandi quanta velocitas! Terris repent et Christus. Haec oportet mente subtraheris. ut in regnis coelestibus reponaris. et cogitatione comflecti, haec die ac nocte meditari. Si talem persecutio invenerit Dei militem, vinci non poterit virtus ad proelium prompta. Vel si arcessitio ante praevenerit, sine praemio non erit fides quae erat ad martyrium praeparata: sine damno temporis merces Deo judit* redditur : in fersecutione militia, in face conscientia coronatur.

54

Cbri0tian Spirltualiti?
:

to the martyr of the joy of suffering for Christ with a " I want you throughout your fight as delirious enthusiasm martyrs to keep in mind the great reward that awaits in heaven those who endure persecution and insults for the sake

of justice and the Son of Man (Matt. v. ii, 12); and rejoice, exult, and leap for joy, even as the Apostles rejoiced that they

were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the Jesus (Acts V. 41)."^

name

of

Constant persecutions, or at any rate perpetual threats of persecution, made life ver\' hard for the Christians of the Like St. Paul (i Cor. xv. 31), they had to first centuries. " die daily." Hence they had to exercise that form of courage that is called patience. Patience, in the etymological sense of the word {patiens, potior), is the virtue whereby we can endure the evils and sufferings of life with constancy and resignation. And it was this that Tertullian, the least patient of men, took such pains to make clear to the martyrs in a beautiful
treatise.

Patience, says he, wins the approbation of everybody and The pagans, who disagreed with one has no opponents. another about everything else, united in their praises of this Theirs, indeed, was a false patience prompted by virtue. vainglory.^ God Himself gives us an example of patience; He puts up with us in spite of our faults. During His mortal life Christ was patient with His Apostles, and especially with his persecutors.^ The benefits of patience are supremely to be desired it tries faith, it teaches us to despise the goods It mitigates the grief of this world and to endure wrongs. we feel on the death of our relations, it stifles the desire for It is a never-failing spring of strength and revenge.* courage, the mother of all other virtues.^ Patience is " so indispensable for all that unites us with God that he who has it not is unable to keep a single divine commandment and to do any work that pleases the Lord.^ ... In short, every sin must in some way or other be attributed to im:

patience."^

Such remarks as these would appear to be altogether exaggerated, if we forget that Tertullian means by patience the courageous endurance of whatever is against the grain in St. Cyprian, following his master's any act of virtue. example, dwells at great length upon the Benefits of Patience Being patient thus becomes an indispensable in this sense.
1

Exhort, ad Martyr., 4 (P.G. XI, 568).

De

-patiertia,

i.

3 Id., 2, 3. 4 Id., 6-10.

5

Id., 13, 14. Id., I.

'

Id., 5.

Cbrtstian Hscettclsm

55

condition not only of Christian perfection, but also for the fulfilment of the essential duties of a Christian.* Of this streng-th-producing- patience the people of Carthage stood in sore need during- the plague that decimated them in the summer of 252. To raise their courage Cyprian wrote his fine treatise De Mortalitate for those who were bereaved to read and meditate upon. In it are to be found most beautiful

thoughts on detachment from this world and longing for " The heaven kingdom of God, my beloved brethren, draweth nigh. Already heaven is taking the place of earth, that which is great comes after that which was little, the eternal follows upon the transitory. Why should we be anxious or disturbed? Who could be depressed and downcast, unless he had neither faith nor hope? He alone is afraid of death who does not want to go to Christ. And he alone does not want to go to Christ who will not reign with Christ."^ And then with much eloquence St. Cyprian sets forth the reasons why we should not cling- to earth, but yearn to reach heaven. On this earth there are daily conflicts with devils and our own passions the soul is in constant danger of offending God. Here there are nothings but sorrows and In heaven we are protected from the snares of tribulations. " When those dear to us hell sin is no long^er to be dreaded. leave this world we should rather rejoice than grieve.^ They are delivered from life as it now is.""* It is through death that we cross to immortality. Here our end is a crossing.^ We are visitors and strangers upon earth. Let us hold on to the day that shall determine the final abode Heaven is our fatherland where our of each one of us.* relations and friends are expecting us, full of anxiety as to our salvation. How can we fail to desire soon to go and
: . .

1 Patientia est quae nos Deo commendat et servat : ipsa est quae iram temferat, quae linguam jrenat, quae mentem gubernat, facem custodit, disciplinam regit, libidinis imfetum frangit, tumoris violentiam com. frimit, incendium simullatis extinguit, coercet fotentiam divitum, inopiam pauperum refovet, tuetur in virginibus beatam integritatem, in viduis laboriosam castitatem, conjunctis et maritatis individuam carttotem. Facit humiles in prosperis, in adversis fortes, contra injurias et contumelias mites. Docet delinquentibus cito ignoscere, si ipse delinquas, diu et multum rogare. Tentationes expugnat, persecutiones tolerat, passiones et martyria consummat. Ipsa est quae fidei nostrae fundamenta firmiter munit. Ipsa est quae incrementa spei sublimiter provehit. I psa actum din git, ut tenere possimus viam Christi, dum per ejus toUranttam gradimur. Ipsa efficit ut perseveremus filii Dei, dum patientiam Patris imitamur ( De bono patient. 20). Tunc enim demum sermo et ratio salutaris efficaciter discitur, si patienter quod dicitur audiatur (id.. 1). In his On Jealousy and Envv, St. Cyprian similarly shows that these two vices are the source of almost all sins

(Hartel, I, 420-432), De mortal., 3. Cf.

De

Imit. Ckristi.

i,

fd.. 7.

Id., 15.

23. Id., 22.

Id., 26.

56

rejoin

Cbrfstian Spirituality Moreover, were it not wanting" in submissiveness to God to die regretful and resisting the ordering of Providence? " How improper and inconsistent were it on our part, if we ask first that God's will may be done, and then, when He calls us to leave this world, hesitate to obey His orders We resist and argue, and, like rebellious servants, with gloom and grief go into the presence of God. We leave this world under compulsion and not moved thereto by a spontaneous impulse of the heart. We desire, too, to get honours and rewards from Him to whom we go with
them?^
!

reg-ret.

"-

should have but a very incomplete idea of the spirituperiod if we did not note the altogether preponderating position which the person of Christ holds in it. The strong- relief into which the Lord is thrown by St. Paul and the other Apostles in their epistles is also to be seen in the wTitings of their immediate successors. Jesus is constantly set before the faithful as a pattern for the Christian and as the ideal of sanctity. Whenever a Christian virtue is spoken of, it is pointed out in Jesus Christ. The faithful must study this divine model without ceasing, and endeavour to reproduce in themselves a true likeness of it.^ They must "take their marching orders under the leadership" of Christ,* sure in following such a captain of winning a victory over their own selfishness. The Jesus was to the first Christians no abstract ideal. very definite feeling of His presence in the Church and in the The outhearts of the faithful was everywhere displayed. ward and striking return of Christ not being realized, as so many expected,^ more especial attention was given to His spiritual and mysterious presence in the soul. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch contain a most energetic affirmation of this supernatural presence of Jesus within us.
ality of this
1 De mortalitate, 26 Patriam nos nostram faradisum comfutamus, parentes -patriarchas habere jam coe-pimus : quid non fro-peramus et patriam nostram videre, ut parentes salutare possimus? currimus, ut Magnus illic nos carorum numerus expectat, parentum, fratrum, filiorum frequens nos et copiosa turba desiderat jam de sua incolumi'ate secura, adhuc de nostra salute sollicita. Ad horum conspectum et complexum venire quanta et illis et nobis in commune laetitia est, qualis illic caelestium regnorum voluptas sine timore moriendi et cum aeterniAd hos, fratres tate vivendi, quam suntma et perpetua felicitas! ... dilectissimi, avida cupiditate properemus, ut dum his cite esse, ut cito ad Christum venire contingat optemus.
:

We

Id., 18.
I

Polycarp, Ad Philipp. viii. Clem, xxxvii. i. 5 This \va? the belief in the parousia, fairly common in the first and at the beginning of the second century, which looked for Jesus soon to come in triumph back to the earth to judge the world.
'
*

Cbdstian Bscetldsm
^ It is

57

through our union with Jesus Christ that we shall get This union is effected mainly by the Eucharist, true life.* which makes the Christian incorruptible in the world, and immortal in spite of all the deadly influences with which he is surrounded. The eucharistic flesh of Christ is in fact " a medicine of immortality, an antidote to death, to make us
live for

ever in Jesus."* Similar teaching is to be found in St. Ircnaeus a century later. The Word became incarnate on purpose to impart immortality and incorruptibility to human nature. In uniting with our nature the Word "summed up" all of us in HimThrough the simple self, and united with each one of us.^ fact of the incarnation close and intimate ties bind the Christian to Christ. The close union between Christ and Christians and His presence in them give them the strength to persevere in humility and in complete purity and perfect temperance of body and soul.'* With the help of Jesus they will triumphantly repel all the assaults of the prince of this world and finally rejoice in God.' Christ, who is present in the faithful and in their ecclesiastical chiefs, gives unity to the Church, for " wherever Christ is, there is the Church universal."*

This feeling, I might say strong sense, of the presence of Jesus in the faithful appears in an extraordinary way in the case of the martyrs. Those who gave their lives for the sake of Christ were raised to the grace of mystical union, sometimes accompanied with ecstasy. Relations of close intimacy with Christ in His sufferings were the stay of the martyrs who partook of His passion under torture. ' In the hour of torment they were conscious that the " Saviour was by their side and held communion with them." This supernatural favour made them almost insensible to pain. Blandina, the heroine of Lyons in the persecution of 177, in the midst of the frightful tortures inflicted upon her " no longer felt what was taking place through her hope and expectation of what Christ had promised and through her intercourse with Him."' Martyrs sometimes had the sweet and comforting impres>

Ad Efh.
Ignatius,

xi.

I.

2 Id.,

XX,

2.

'

Adv. Her.

di'o/tf<^aXaitjTtt

i. On the Irenaean doctrine of (summation) see Tixeront, Hisloire des dogmes, I, 256 ^.

iii,

16,

6; 18,
X.

i,

7; 19,

/4rf
i.

"^A.

Cf.

Ad Magn.
i,

xii.

'

Ad Magn. Ad Sntyrn.
Martyrdom
Id.,
ii,

viii.

of St.
:

Poly carp,

49.
.

The martyrs " let all men see that in their torments they had somehow left their bodies, or rather that the Lord was near them and communing with them." Letter oj the Churches of Vienne and Lyons, Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., V.
2
. .

Cf. p. 22.

58

CbrlBttan Sptrltualiti?

sion that Christ suffered in them, and in some measure in their stead. St. Felicitas, martyred at Carthage at the beginning of the third century, told her gaolers while she was in prison that when she was under torture Jesus would be in her and would suffer for her.^ Sanctus, deacon of Lyons, endured his torments with such courage because " Christ suffered in him."^ These supernatural graces, which God bestowed upon His martyrs, were a foretaste of the beatific union in heaven. To be united with Christ in the heavenly country was the supreme desire of the faithful confessors of the faith and the unfaltering mainstay of their courage. Like Paul, they wished to leave this world to be with Christ. This wonderful spirit in the martyrs was expressed in stirring and enthusiastic terms by Ignatius of Antioch in his famous Epistle to the Romans. The open-hearted martyr begs the faithful of the city of Rome, where he was going to be given over to the wild beasts, to do nothing to save him from death
. .
. :

beseech you, show no unseasonable kindness towards me. Let me be the food of the wild beasts by which I can attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and I am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts to become the most pure bread of Christ. Rather fondle the wild beasts for them to be my grave and leave nothing over of my body, so that it may cost no one anything to bury me. I shall be a true disciple of Christ when the world cannot even see my body any more. Pray to Christ to grant that by the teeth of the wild beasts He may make me a victim unto God. Ah, when shall I get to the wild beasts which are awaiting me? If I must, I May they fling themselves upon me at once will fondle them to get them to devour me immediately, and not to do as in the case of some whom they did not dare to touch. And if they will not touch me, I will compel them. Be indulgent to me, I know what is best for me. Now it is that I am beginning to be a disciple of Christ. Let no creature visible or invisible try in jealousy to snatch me from Jesus Come fire and cross, fighting tooth and claw with Christ. wild beasts, let me be cut to pieces alive, dismembered and disjointed, and my whole body ground to powder, and the cruellest tortures of the devil inflicted upon me, provided that I gain Christ in the end
I
.
. .

" Brethren,

1 Alius erit in me qui fatietur pro me, quia et ego -pro illo passura sum. Acta primorum Martyrum (Ruinart, p. 93, Paris, 1689). " The poor body 2 Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons, p. 16 (of Sanctus) bore witness to what he had endured for it was nothing but wounds and bruises, shrunken, and outwardly it had lost all human shape. But Christ, who suffered in him, wrought great wonders, disarming the enemy, and, as an example to others, showing that there is nothing to fear if one loves the Father, nothing to suffer when Christ's glory is at stake." Cf. St. Cyprian, Ep. ad martyres et confessores.
:

"

the I die for Christ Jesus than to reign to the end of the world. seek for Him who died for us, I desire Him who has risen again for us. The hour in which I am to be born is near. Let Spare me, brethren, prevent me not from living.
. .
.

Cbristian asceticism 59 The whole world would be of no use to me, nor would kingdoms of the earth. It is more profitable for me to

me reach the light that is pure man indeed. Keep me not from (iod. If any man has this Clod
;

there it is that I shall be a imitating the passion of my within him, let him underto

stand what

desire,

and

let

him show compassion

. . .

me,

the longing which urges me on. " My love for this world has been crucified, and I have no spark remaining within me of the fire for material things but a living water murmurs within me and says in my innermost being Come unto the Father. No longer do I take any pleasure in corruptible food nor in the attractions of this life. I want the bread of God which is the flesh of Jesus Christ of the family of David, I want for drink His blood which is I want no longer to live the life of incorruptible love. ,"* men.

knowing

Ignatius,

Ad Kom.

iv to viii.

CHAPTER III ECCENTRICITIES OF EARLY CHRISTIAN ASCETICISM ENCRATISM AND MONTANISM ALEXANDRIA'S HETERODOX ASCETICISM: GNOSTICISM AND NEOPLATONISM THE ASCETICISM OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA AND OF ORIGEN.
I. ENCRATISM

AND MONTANISM

FROM

the end of the first century Encratism, a rigorist tendency compounded of evil ingredients, almost brought Christian asceticism into discredit

its progress. Encratites (iyKpareis),^ continent or abstainers, claimed to bind all Christians to renounce marriage, to abstain from meat and particularly from wine, as being indispensable conditions of salvation.^ These regulations were more or less consciously connected with suspected notions as to the origin of matter. Without at all admitting the metaphysics of Gnosticism, which regarded material things as the work of an essentially evil principle, Encratism came to the same practical conclusion that the flesh should be destroyed by the renunciation of marriage, and by giving it up as far as possible by means of the strictest abstinence. The spirit of Encratism spread in the Christian communities of the second century thanks to the writings, tainted with heresy, which swarmed at this time, such as the Acta Apostolorum apocrypha.^ In many of these pious disquisitions of a romantic type we find ascribed to Jesus and His Apostles words quite definitely condemnatory of marriage as * wfell as of the use of meat and wine. The success attained by this exaggerated asceticism can largely be explained by the ascendancy won by Gnosticism over a great many minds. The austerity of the adherents of some Gnostic sects aroused the admiration of the people, and On the other they ran the risk of being perverted by it.

and hampered

The

Cf.

St.

Irenaeus, Adv.
I,

Haer.

I,

28

(P.G.

VII, 690).

Tixeront,

Hist aire des Dogmes,

208.

2 St. Irenaeus, id. Clement of Alexandria, Strom, iii, 13, 14 (P.G. VIII, 1 192). Philosofhoumena viii, 16, 20. 8 Lipsius and Bonnet's edition, 1891-1898. * Cf. Acta Pauli et Theclae, 5, 6, 12, 25. Martyrium B. Petri 1-4. Acta Joannis, 63. Acta Thomae, Ed. Bonnet, p. 73.

60

Eccentricities ot Earlv Gbristian Hsccticism

6i

hand, could ortliodox Christians allow themselves to be outdistanced in asceticism by heretics? If they were less austere than the latter, would they not be discredited? Lastly, the energetic reaction of Christianity against pagan conduct agreed very well with the excesses of Encratism. Was not the best way to keep pure, to avoid and, if need be, to condemn all carnal intercourse, and all that had any appearance even of defilement? If we examine the character of the Christians of the second century, we understand the popularity of certain encratic practices and the sympathy with which they were regarded by some of the ecclesiastical writers

an enemy of all extremes. If she seen, of asceticism within reasonable limits when freely undertaken, she condemns all indiscreet endeavours to lay it upon all men. Nor will she permit the ascetic to pronounce to be evil that of which he deprives himself by supererogatory abstinence. Already had St. Paul warned his disciple Timothy against "speakers of lies in hypocrisy" who " forbid to marrj', and to use meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful."* Nor did the authorized teachers of the Church hold any other language. may attain salvation either by the common way of the faithful who are satisfied with keeping the Gospel precepts, or by the less beaten path of the counsels. The ascetic who desires to follow the latter will bind himself to continence and embrace the state of virginity, but he will not condemn marriage on that account. Marriage is a good thing and according to God's will, and it is for the majority. " When the Word of God," says Methodius, " introduced virginity into the world, He did not at all intend to do away with matrimony. The command in Genesis Increase and multiply, was not abolished. ... In marriage God associates man with His own creative work."^ According to the happy dictum of the Apostolical Constitutions, ascetics make vows of virginity " not to condemn matrimony, but to have more leisure for
is

of that time.' But the Church

approves, as

we have

We

prayer."* This doctrine was the rule of conduct of orthodox Christians. The bishops who deviated from it were reproved. Eusebius' tells us that at Cnossa in Crete there was a bishop named Pinytos, who tried to impose celibacy upon all the faithful without distinction. He was severely censured.
* For instance, Tertullian, De exhort, casiit. 9. Clement and Origan did not always speak rightly of Encratism. * Tim. iv, 2-3. " The Feast of Virgins, ii, 1, a (P.G. XVIII, 48, 49). * viii, 24 (Ed. Funk, I, 528).
I

of

Alexandria

Hist. Eccl

IV, 23.

62

Cbrtstian Spiritualttg

Likewise complete and obligtitory abstinence from certain Everyone was free to live soberly and food's was rebuked. not to partake of certain viands and the monks made large In the persecution of 177, Alcibiades, a use of this rig-ht. martyr of Lyons, persuaded, at any rate by example, his companions to abstain from certain foods. " He led an altogether austere life, at first making no change in it, and being But ... it was revealed satisfied with bread and water. that Alcibiades did not do well in not making use of God's creatures, and in giving an occasion of scandal to others. Alcibiades complied, and made use of everything indifferently, thanking God. For the martyrs were not bereft of the grace of God, but the Holy Spirit was their counsellor."^ Thus from the beginning Encratism was regarded with suspicion by the heads of the Church. Again and again it met with formal disapproval, and finally, at the commencement of the third century, it was put on the list of heresies. ^
;

Again we meet with these rigorist tendencies in Montanism, a heterodox religious movement which arose in Phrygia in the second century.^ Montanus, its founder, united with an exaggerated asceticism a false mysticism. The Montanist heresy takes after illuminism. Furthermore, it is what false mysticism is at all times a revolt of private enlightenment against ecclesiastical authority. Montanus and his two helpers, the prophetess Priscilla and Maximilla, claimed to be endued with the gift of prophecy which was possessed by many Christians in Apostolic times. This pretended gift showed itself in strange ways. The new prophets only uttered their oracles in ecstasies and delirious transports which deprived them of reason. The ecstasy of the prophet appeared to destroy his or her personality. A divine inspirer, the Paraclete, they said, did violence to them and spoke through their lips. After Tertullian had become a Montanist, he knew of no other kind of ecstasy than that He likens it to madness. * According to him, of Montanus. it is an impetuous irruption into the prophet of the Holy Spirit, and an essential condition for the exercise of the gift Tertullian no doubt set forth these characterof prophecy.^ istics of Montanist ecstasy in his lost treatise De Ecstasi. These extraordinary and extravagant characteristics of

Eusebius, Nisi. Eccl. V, 3

The writer of the Philoso-phoumena (viii, 20), who wrote about 230, condemns Encratism on the same ground as the other heresies of which he gives a list and a refutation. C/. St. Epiphanius, Haereses, 46,
2

(J.

Pourrat, p.

23).

47, 61.
3 From Phrygia Montanism spread to other regions, specially to Africa, where it won Tertullian. It also gained adherents at Lyons. * Ecstasim dicimtis excessum sensus et amentiae instar (De An. 45). * Exstasis Sancti Spiritus vis, o.peratrix frophedae (id., 11),
.
. .

63 jcccuti-tcitlC3 ot jearlp Cbiistiau Hscctictsm Montanist ecstasy remind one of demoniacal possession and ol the convulsions that occurred in the eighteenth century at the grave of the Jansenist deacon Paris. By such extravagances and by the austerity of his sect, Montanus succeeded in imposing upon the multitude. He thus pretended that he was inaugurating the reign of the Paraclete, who was revealing'- Himself to mankind according The end of the to the predictions of the Gospel of St. John. The heavenly world and the coming of Christ were nigh. Jerusalem would soon be seen descending upon earth. The preaching of the false prophets worked up the Christians of Phrygia and Asia to a state of extreme exaltation. The churches were profoundly unsettled by it, and the To the illuminism of the new bishops had to intervene. prophets they opposed the traditional idea of prophecy. The prophets of the Old and New Testaments were not in a state They retained the sense and of ecstasv when they spoke.
use of their personality when they prophesied. They showed nothing like the fits of delirium of the Montanist leaders.^ ["urthermore, in the prophetic visions or revelations with which the Catholic martyrs were blessed, as in the case of St. Perpetua at Carthage- and of the martyrs of Lyons, there was nothing like the convulsions of the Montanists. The
followers of Montanus were finally excommunicated, and at the beginning of the third century Montanus had to break with the Church to become a Montanist. In anathematizing Montanism, the Church rebuked false mysticism just as in condemning Encratism she rejected exaggerated asceticism. And this is invariably her attitude towards all movements of asceticism or mysticism which are in excess, unruly, or out of harmony with the traditional guidance of her hierarchy. She treats them as a counterfeit
;

of real spirituality.

IT. ALEXANDRIA'S

HETERODOX ASCETICISM: GNOSTICISM AND NEOPLATONISM

These tendencies running counter to the traditional teaching of the Church prove that in the second century Christian asceticism was already strongly attracting general attention. The meeting of Hellenic philosophy with Christianity was about to raise it in the eyes of ecclesiastical writers to a level of much higher importance. About a century before the birth of the Christian era idealist and moral tendencies had revealed themselves in the Greco-Roman world, especially at Alexandria. Philosophy
1

>

See Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. IV, 27; V, t6, Acta S. Perpeluae. 4 ff Ruinart, p. 87.
.

ig.

64

Cbrfstian Spirituality had failed in its attempts to explain the universe what was asked of it henceforth was to lay down rules of conduct. A
;

very great number of people, it is true, discouraged at the outset and despairing of finding among the philosophers the guidance they required, lulled themselves into a luring scepticism, or else followed the easy morality of Epicurus. But many of them had a far higher ideal. Convinced eclectics, in the most unlike philosophical systems they tried to find the elements for a fresh synthesis, suited to their aspirations. This syncretism of a clearly moral and practical tendency, was very much in vogue until the middle of the third century. Platonism and Stoicism furnished it with its principal ingredients. Dualism, or a belief in an irreducible opposition between spirit and matter, was the fundamental dogma of the new philosophy. It is the duty of man to despise material things and to free himself from the senses by the practice of asceticism. A moral role of great potency was attributed to knowledge or science. Asceticism and knowledge will deliver the philosopher from the servitude of the body and bring him to calmness (aTra^eia), the perfect serenity of the soul that makes him like unto God, and which had been so eloquently commended by the philosopher Seneca (t 65).^ Mysticism, a mysticism based upon pantheism, is also one of the features of this philosophical movement. Men tried to find means of entering into direct communion with God whether He were transcendent or immanent, according to the various schools of divinity and believed they had found them in the new philosophy. If God transcends the universe, man's soul, which comes down from Him by a descending emanation, will return to Him by an ascending retrogression to become one with Him once more. If, on the contrary, God is one with the world, the spirit of man is a part of the divine Soul of the universe which animates all things, mens agitat moletn; it will be enough to be alive to be in the divine.

These rather incoherent and confused theories prevailed pretty generally, but mainly in Alexandria, at that time the most famous centre of intellectual activity. They could not help coming into contact with Christianity. The Christian religion, too, implies a kind of antagonism
1 De vitd beatd, iv Quid enim frohibet nos beatam vitam dicere liberum animum et erectum et interritum et stabilem, extra metum, Non fotest extra cufiditatem fositum? De constantia safietttis, viii ergo quisquam aut nocere safienti, aut frodesse ; quemadmodum divina nee juvari desiderant, nee laedi fossunt ; safiens autem vicinus froxtmusque diis consistit, excepta mortalitate , similis Deo. Cf. De tranquillitate animi, 14. Martinez, p. 119.
:

JEcccutitctttcs ot nearly Cbristian Hscettci^m 65 bttwccn soul and body. In the Christian there arc two opposing^ principles, which St. Paul calls " the law of the incmbers " and " the law of the mind."* The one is strongly inclined to evil, the other incessantly seeks after the good. " The tlesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against
:

the flesh. "-

the spirit,"'' to free oneself from the senses it is necessary to mortify the flesh and to practise, at any rate to some extent, asceticism. Christianity finds in the doctrine of the fall of man an explanation of this anomalous state of human nature. In the first man, as he came from the hands of his Creator, there
to

To " walk in go to Ciod,

was an entire harmony between body and soul. This harmony was destroyed by sin. The soul has ceased to be mistress of the body, and it is only by the laborious practice of mortification that she can keep or bring it back to the path of duty. This explanation furnished by the Christian faith could not .satisfy many minds in the second century who had faith in nothing beyond philosophy. The metaphysical principles of gnostic asceticism must be looked for in the Alexandrian Judaism of which Philo' is the great representative. Philo endeavoured to reconcile Judaism with Hellenism. God is infinite and eternal. Contrasted with Him is matter, co-eternal with Himself, on which He acts by means of

divine intermediaries which remind one of the ideas of Plato. The Word is the chief of these mediators. Men's souls are some of these divine beings imprisoned in animated bodies. Man, according to the Greek trichotomy, is compounded of body (crw/xa), animating principle (i/i'xv/) and a spiritual and divine principle (-vevfia). From the fundamental opposition between this divine principle and the body arises the conflict in man between the spirit and the flesh. The chief means of triumphing over the tyranny under which the body rules the soul is asceticism combined with knowledge. The soul thus purified will return to God after diath. In this life she may attain to Him in a transient manner in ecstasy. Gnosticism accentuates the Phi Ionian dualism by introducing it into the divine, and by putting the God of the Old Testament in opposition to the God of the New. Here we need not set forth its fanciful theodicy with its interminable ,s;( nealogies of aeons and divine beings. Only its anthro[)ology and doctrine as to salvation concern us now. The Gnostics divide men into three essentially different categories, which are more or less perfect according to the creative principle from which each of them proceeds The
:

Rom.

vii, 23.

Gal. v, 17.
b.c.

a /d., v,

16.

philosopher of Alexandria, born about 20

66
:

Cbristian Spiritualiti?

in whom spiritual substance is infused these are the higher class of men, who are irrevocably predestined to be saved, whatever they may do on earth. Then come the psychic men, animated by a soul, an immaterial principle they cannot be saved except by God's help. Lastly, the hylici (vXikoc), entirely and exclusively material men, who are inevitably destined to annihilation like the matter of which they are made. In the spiritual and in the psychic men there are therefore immaterial principles of the divine lost in matter, and these are redeemable. Christ came into the world to set them free. This deliverance is wrought by gnosis, or higher religious knowledge, and by enfranchising asceticism. The Gnostic philosophy recognizes in human nature no The latter is a moral solidarity between soul and body. prison the doors of which must be broken open, and it is the object of asceticism to endeavour to annihilate the flesh. This But rigorist tendency is found in many of the Gnostic^ sects. other Gnostic theorists, celebrated for their immorality,^ came to a different conclusion. This moral independence of the spirit with regard to the body justified all kinds of

spiritual or pneumatici,

failings.

Error somehow rarely

fails to lead to libertinage.

Nevertheless, on parallel lines with Gnosticism, which was a hybrid mixture of Judaism, Hellenism, and Christianity, the purely philosophic movement persisted and grew. Those who led it had not been in any way in touch with the Jewish and Christian religions. The Manual of Epictetus^ and the Medibooks sometimes quoted tations of Marcus Aurelius (t i8o)

by the Christian ascetics of the future

this inquir}'.

are

the results of

The various

into a philosophico-religious system

The
.

doctrines then taught ended by being gathered known as Neoplatonism. Neoplatonic school which undertook this synthesis was
at Alexandria by Ammonius Saccas (1242), and afterled with distinction by the famous Plotinus (205-270).

founded

wards

A man

of austere life who practised what he preached, Plotinus esteemed ideas alone as of any importance, and had a profound disdain for literature. His lectures were gathered together and published under the title of Enneades by one
of his disciples,

Porphyry (233-305).

There we

find

Neo-

platonism reduced to form.

his
1

The Neoplatonist asceticism sets before the philosopher as end union with God that is to say, with the first cause of
;

The sects of Saturninus, Cerdo, and Marcion. Amongst others the Alexandrian Gnostics Basilides,
^

Carpocrates.

Valentinus, and Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher of the first century.

Eccentricities ot Earlg Cbristian Hsceticism

:

67

the world. This union is effected by a lengthy process, of which the following^ gives the various stages There are three divine principles flowing from one another Being-in-itself, indeterminate, unknowable, universal, the All Intelligence or Mind (I'oiis), which can be known by man's reason and the Soul (\^i'x/), which animates the world and from which proceed sensible creatures. Particular souls are emanations from this universal Soul. They are united with the bodies with which they are in perpetual strife. This is the origin of all the evil that there is in the world. Every soul has to revert to perfection, to the Being-initself from which it springs, by an ascending retrogression. Asceticism enables it to set itself free from the fetters of the senses. He who desires to be perfect must subdue his body, restrain his passions, and abstain from sensual pleasures. Thus will his soul be purified and delivered from the sway of matter. Reflection on one's self, meditation on abstract realities, and, in a word, the study of philosophy, will raise the soul to the region of Mind (voi's). The philosopher is urgently invited to abandon the phenomenal world and to maintain himself in the spiritual world. Philosophic meditation thus carries on the work of asceticism. Being-in-itself, the highest perfection, can only be attained by ecstasy. Ecstatic contemplation alone can unite one with God. By contemplation the soul is illuminated, and becomes light and God Himself. Neoplatonism is a sort of mystical syncretism of Greek philosophies and has nothing Christian about it. It stands for a powerful attempt of Hellenism to transform itself into a religion. It was never a serious danger, as Gnosticism was, to the Church or to Christian asceticism. It was regarded as an exclusively philosophical movement, quite apart from Christianity. But later on it exercised a certain amount of influence over the mind of St. Augustine and of Dionysius the Areopagite, who borrowed some expressions from it and used some of its theories, after having carefully purged and Christianized them, to set forth their mystical theology.
:

This philosophico-religious syncretism has a greatness of own. It is a remarkable expression of the endeavours of man's soul to attain to divinity, but to the " unknown " God, so much was He veiled in pantheism. Certain sides of its asceticism are also worthy of admiration. Its recommendations with regard to the restraint of the passions and the bearing of suffering may call to mind some of the counsels of Christian spirituality, although they
its

are strikingly inferior.

68
But, as

Cbtfstian Spirituality

asceticism depends upon the that it holds ; when the dogmas are erroneous, the asceticism by this very fact is vitiated. The dualistic anthropology of the Alexandrian philosophers could not fail to lead to practical results that were fatal. is If man's body radically incapable of being saved, if it is destined, like matter, to annihilation, if the soul has no link of solidarity with it, no doubt one may try to set oneself free from it by asceticism, but one may quite as well abandon it to its
shall often see,

we

dogmas

depraved

instincts.

Christianity, on the other hand, regards the body as the soul's companion, a rebellious companion, that has to be mastered and subdued by mortification to transform it into an instrument of merit and salvation. After death it will rise again to share with the soul in the reward or the penalty which it has merited along with her.

III. THE

ASCETIC THEOLOGY OF CLEMENT OF

ALEXANDRIA AND ORIGEN

Gnosticism and the various philosophic teachings prevalent in Alexandria had to be countered with Christian instruction which was both brilliant and sound. This was the task undertaken by the Christian School of Alexandria, in which Clement and Origen were the most famous masters.

Clement of Alexandria (150-217)

platonism was
in

lived

just

when Neo-

great admirer of the Greek philosophies, Clement was so imbued with them that in his writings we find most of the theories of Plato and the Stoics which were used by Plotinus in the construction of his system. His asceticism, too, is not quite sound, and sometimes it accords ill with the traditional teaching of the

process of formation.

Church.
It must not be supposed, however, that Clement accepts philosophic theories just as they came from the minds of their He Christianizes them more or less happily, but originators. always in a spirit of thorough submission to the authority of what he believes to be the ecclesiastical tradition. In the name of this tradition he rejects the pantheism and the dualism that fundamentally underlie the Greek philosophy. And this, failing all else, would be enough to prove that Clement is not, as some assert, a philosopher with no Christianity about him. Christian perfection, according to Clement, consists in " the gnosis or knowledge of the good, and in This is the very definition which Plato being like God." gives of happiness.^
1

Strom,

ii,

aa (P.G. VIII, loSo).

Eccentricities ot ]Earl\? Cbristian Hscettclsm

69

Accordirifj to Platonic philosophy, as we have seen, it is knowledge that largely constitutes man's moral worth. attain to perfection in proportion to the extent of our knowClement introduces this erroneous ledge of the good. The more the Christian principle into his ascetic theology. knows of divine truths, the better will he be in virtue of his

We

Hence it is in the first place by this high knowledge of the truths of the faith, by gnosis, that the head of the School of Alexandria educates his hearers in the perfect life of the Christian. Gnosis, as Clement understands it, is the consummation of faith. The latter makes us accept divine truths but does not Gnosis, however, gives us substantial reveal their content. proof, and a sort of intuition, of thcm.^ It raises the soul to the contemplation of heavenly realities, merges it in God and makes it like Him. Thus it is that gnosis purifies and rapidly perfects those who have been " chosen " to receive it.^ For all Christians are not called thereto. For many of them the common faith must suffice, and they must be satisGnosis is the privilege of those who have the fied therewith. necessary capacities for attaining it. According to the head of the School of Alexandria, faith and gnosis correspond with the two degrees of Christian life that of ordinary Christians, and that of the perfect.^ Gnosis, or the highest knowledge of the truths of the faith, enables the Christian to reach divine contemplation, of which Clement outlines a theon.- worthy of note. According to Neoplatonist principles, God is incompreand our knowledge of hensible and inaccessible to reason know rather what He is Him can only be negative. " not than what He is." The nearer we get to Him, the more do we perceive that He is above all our thoughts. Hence, in order to contemplate Him and see Him we must, like Moses, enter into the darkness of the cloud that is to say, we must get rid of all the thoughts we have of Him as unworthy of Him, and regard with the eyes of faith the supreme Being who infinitely surpasses all our conceptions of Him.* St. .Augustine and Dionysius the Areopagite later on reproduced these ideas about contemplation and corrected them, and drew from them the first beginnings of Christian mysticism. Perfection also consists, according to Clement, in likeness with God. This likeness, begun by gnosis, is gained by the of which the one, altogether practice of the two virtues Stoical, was insensibility {dirddeia) the other. Christian, was
knowledge.
:

We

vii, lo (P.G. IX, 477). /d., vi, 10 (P.G. IX, 301). C/. Martinez, pp. 119, 120. ' /d., vi, 9, 10. Cf. Tixeront, Histoire des Dogmes, I, 273. * Strom. V, ii, 11 (P.G. IX, 109; VIII, 936, 937).

Strom,

u;

70
charity.

Cbristtan Spirituality The Gnostic will imitate God as far

as possible by

becoming- completely master of the motions of his soul and by doing good on all sides. ^ By nature God is impassible, and nothing can disturb Him. The Gnostic has to reach a similar impassibility, ^ striving to
attain
to

the

limits

of possibility.

The

likeness

to

God

preached by Clement is not exactly that which the Gospel proposes to the faithful;^ the Gnostic educated in the School of Alexandria owes almost as much to Zeno as to Christ. The true Gnostic, indeed, is not only freed from the lusts of the flesh, and is not only the master of his passions, but, further, he suffers nothing of the senses in himself. " The only impressions he consents to experience are those that are necessary for the preservation of life, such as hunger and thirst."* Pain and even death will find him indifferent. He will suppress all emotions that are at all perturbing or agitating, such as joy, grief, impatience, anger. He will live in an imperturbable inward calm. He will rise above
creatures, and become quite indifferent to what men think or say. In short, he will keep his soul in perfect serenity.^ Yet this insensibility is not a lazy carelessness, nor torpor. It is not at all like the Nirvana of the Buddhist. On the contrary, it is in harmony one does not always see how with the interior operation of the soul which is constantly endeavouring to advance in goodness.^ And it is by the practices of asceticism that the Christian will be helped to attain to this entire insensibility,^ as well as to ward off temptation and to train himself to bear the inevitable sufferings of this world. ^ The Stoics counselled temperance to those who desire to attain to apatheia (dTrddeia). The master of the School of Alexandria makes his appeal to their teaching as much as to that of Christ and His Apostles when he exhorts men to Christian mortification. The Gnostic will treat the body with hardness. Without being bad in itself, the body is nevertheless the enemy of the soul, a hindrance which it must overcome and the main source of disturbing emotions. To the bodv must be given only just what suffices to keep it from dying. ^ Thus the Christian has to mortify his senses and to strip them of all that is pleasing to them. He must contemn riches and luxurv'. He must abstain, above all, from wine and flesh food so as not to stimulate the passions of the body.^

ii, 19 (P.G. VIII. 1040) ; vi, 9 (P.G. IX, 294) /d., vii, 3 (P.G. IX, 293). 3 cf. Matt, v, 4V48. Sirom. vi, 9 (P.G. IX, 292). 6 Id., vii, II (P.G., IX, 6 /,/.^ vii, 484, 485). 3 (P.G. IX, 42O. ^ ' /d., vi, 9 (P.G. IX, 293) ii, 20 (P.G. VIII, 1048); 8 /d., vii, 7 (P.G. IX, 465); Paedag. iii, 8 (P.G. VIII, 612). " Id., vi, 10 Id., vii, 6 (P.G. IX, 9 (P.G. IX, 296). 448). Cf. ii, ao. 1

Sirom.

2
4

Eccentricities of JEarl? Cbristiau Hsceticism

71

surprised not to find along with all this austerity Clement urgent exhortation to the practice of virginity. appears to think little of this kind of life. He plainly recognizes' the superiority of the state of virginity over that of married life, but for reasons which are poorly known to us, he is bent upon exalting the excellence and dignity of marriage.^ This attitude, though legitimate in itself, does not, however, square very well with the principles of apatheia. Indeed, the spirituality of Clement is sometimes rather incoherent. And how could it be otherwise when it is a Stoical heterogeneous mixture of inconsistent elements? Moreover, it insensibility, apatheia, is not a Christian virtue. is impossible, for, do what one will and whatever austerities one may practise, our passions will never be so far destroyed as not to disturb us.^ Christianity binds us to mortification But its ideal is far as a necessary means of avoiding evil. from being a state of soul incapable of emotion. Still less does it contemn suffering, the sanctifying and redemptive value of which, when well borne, it recognizes. Hence the ascetic theology of Clement is far from perfect. Its best point is its exhortation to the practice of charity. Here the master of the School of Alexandria is in line with He who loves his neighbour the pure evangelical tradition. and does good to him, even when his neighbour is an enemy,
is

One

15 like his

Father

in

heaven,

who makes His sun

to rise

upon

Clement would have the Gnostic do the evil and the good. good to all his brethren, and labour for their salvation by prayer, by example, and also in word. ^ Prayer is especially commended to him first of all the common prayer of tierce, and then private prayer, which should be sext, and none without ceasing.* The Gnostic, too, will love to pray without use of words, lifting up his soul inwardly and silently to God that which later on was called mental prayer."
:

Origen, like his master Clement, considers that the quality He of the Christian's life is measured by his knowledge. who has only simple faith (i/^tAi/ niari^) is an ordinary Christian; the perfect Christian, the Gnostic, has a reasoned and scientific knowledge of our dogmas.' Nevertheless, perStrom, iii, i, i6 vii, 12. Greek spiritual writers subsequently make u'e of the word afatheia to denote the state attained by a Christian who is fully mortified. They
1
;

use it to express a Renerally just idea of Christian mortification. Pelagians, on the contrary, gave a Stoic sense to afatheia, meaning by it a state of perfection free from passion and also from sin. Therefore, we must not confuse Christian afatheia. so often used by Greek ascetic writers, with Pelagian afatheia. 3 Strom, ii, 17 (P.G. VIII, 1040) vii, 3, 7 (P.G. IX, 417, 449). * Id., vii, 7. C/. Martinez, pp. 143, 144. I Id., vii, 7 (P.G. IX, 460, 461). Contra Celsum. i, 13 (P.G. XI, 680).
;

72

Cbrtstian Spirituality

fection does not consist in knowledge but in likeness to God, according- to the teaching of those philosophers who found this doctrine in Genesis (Gen. i. 26, 27).^ It could not be the result of study nor the outcome of knowledge. It may grow along with knowledge, but it belongs to the moral order and is acquired by personal effort with God's help. Only our good works can effect the divine likeness within us. Thus is the ascetic teaching of Clement corrected and freed from the philosophical theories that disfigured it. Although he was quite as fond as his master of the philosophers, and believed, as Clement did, that the sound parts of their works were borrowed from Holy Scripture, Origen was more on his guard in dealing with their systems. He shows a certain reserve in his use of philosophy, especially when he has to do with spiritual theology in which elaborate speculations seem to him to be not to the point. Indeed, we may say that he undertook less to propound a theory of asceticism than to draw a portrait of the ascetic a sketch that he meant to realize in his own life while he was drawing it in his works. Origen is an ascetic, and almost a forerunner of the monks who afterwards peopled the deserts of Egypt.
:

in the first place be one of the continent. the practice of perfect chastity and virginity, Origen praises virgins in terms as enthusiastic as those of St. Cyprian and St. Methodius. So much does he accentuate the superiority of virginity over that of marriage that the latter almost seems to suffer depreciation on that account.^ He condemns second marriage.^ Called at eighteen years of age to teach in the famous School of Alexandria amongst mixed audiences, he was apprehensive about his virtue and reputation. He mutilated himself to protect himself from calumny and suspicion :* a culpable act which may be excused on account of his honesty of purpose and love of purity. Origen's strictness of life and contempt of worldly goods What his were in harmony with evangelical perfection. biographers tell us about him is worthy of the life of an anchorite. He only partook of such food as was indispensable He fasted often, slept for his body, and drank no wine. naked on the ground, and voluntarily exposed himself to the inclemency of the seasons. He tried to reach the ideal of evangelical poverty by stripping himself of his possessions, even his books, and by keeping as his own nothing but the garments that he wore. * Moreover, with what eloquence did

The Gnostic must

To encourage

De

Cf. In

6 (P.G. XI, 333). vi, 7 (P.G. XIV, 1069 ff.). Horn. XVII in Lucam (P.G. XIII, 1846, 1847). Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. VI, 8.
Princifiis,
iii,

Ep. ad Rom.

Id., VI, 3.

Eccentricities of JEarlp Cbristiau Bsccticism 73 he interpret the words of Jesus on renunciation of this world's How goods, on fasting-, and on the need of mortification much one realizes, in reading his homilies with their wealth of spiritual teaching, that he was himself practising what he preached to others He knows how long and hard is the struggle with one's passions. But he earnestly encourages the Christian to undertake it. " \'ou must know," he says, "that the mortiit is a work that is fication of the flesh requires patience The resistance of the achieved not all at once but slowly. flesh begins to grow weaker in those who enter upon the
!
!

increase in fervour and receive do they lose their Lastly, they are finally energy, but they begin to die out. stifled in the perfect, in whom no longer appears any sign of sin, either in their acts or words or thoughts."^ The ascetic under Origen's training must pray a great deal and give himself up to contemplation. The Church is made the ascetic will be up of contemplatives and workers among the former. He is raised above the material and the Let him also withdraw as much as possible from terrestrial. worldly business, and create an inward solitude in which he directs his mind to God and contemplates Him, speaks to

Christian

life.

In those

who

more abundantly

of the

Holy

Spirit not only

Him, hearkens
night.
^

to

Him, and meditates upon His law day and

to which the ascetic is invited, the devout study of the word of God It was the contemplation of the combined with prayer.^ anchorite, and it was that of Origen. For this extraordinary man with his astonishing literary activity, the master of the most famous Christian school in the world, who journeyed to Rome, and travelled in Greece and Palestine and Arabia, was a contemplative. He envied the lot of Martha's sister Mary, who sat at the feet of our Saviour to hear His word, and that of John the Baptist, who dwelt in the wilderness, " where the air was purer, the sky more open, and God nearer."* There is no doubt that the ascetic teaching of Origen, his example, and his mighty influence over his disciples, contributed to the origination of monachism in Egypt.

This

contemplation,

consists,

above

all,

in

In Ep. ad Rom. vi, 14 (P.G. XIV, 1102. Cf. 1086, 1087, 1092). Horn. VI in Levit. (P.G. XII, 466) Ideo omni virtute niiendum est ut ab occufationibus saeculi et a mundanis actibus liberi et ifsas, si fieri fotest, suferfluas sodalium fabulas relinquentes, verba Dei oferam demus et in les;e ejus meditemur die ac node. Cf. Horn. XII in Exod. 2 (P.G. XII, 38:1). 3 Horn. VI in F.evit. 6 (P.G. XII. 475). * Horn. XI in Lucam, (P.G. XIII, abiit in Joannes 1827) deserta ubi furior aer erat et caelum afertius et fatniliarior Deus.
1

CHAPTER

IV

MONACHISM IN THE EAST IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH

ITS

CENTURIES SOURCES AND CHIEF REPRESENTATIVES THE RULES OF SAINT PACHOMIUS AND SAINT BASIL/
OF EASTERN MONACHISM

I. THE BEGINNINGS

to live as ascetics and felt and more, at the to at beginning- of the fourth century, the need of withdrawing from the world. As long as Christianity was the persecuted and proscribed religion, the fraternity of the faithful was sufficiently protected from temptation from without. On account of the state of hostility between them, Christendom and paganism ran few risks from their contact with one another, and the heads of the churches easily managed to guard ascetics and virgins from pagan influences. But when Constantine's edict gave the franchise to the religion of Christ, when the emperor himself became a
1 The Principal Authorities. A. Egyptian Monachism : (i) Viia Pachomit Vi^a Antonii, by St. Athanasius (P.G. XXVI, 837 f.). Viia (P.L. LXXIII, 227 ff.); Acta Sanctorum, 14 May, Paris, 1S66. Schnoudi (see Amelineau's not unbiassed Memoires de la viission archeologique du Caire, i. IV, i). (ii) The Rule of St. Pachomius in (iii) The Lausiac History of Palladius, St. Jerome (P.L. XXIII, 61). the narrative of a solitary who spent eleven 3'ears in Egypt (388-399), and became a bishop. Palladius relates what he =aw while visiting the The monks and any edifying features he heard told about them. genuine text of the Lausiac History has been published by Dom Butler [The Lausiac History of Palladius, Vol. V^I of the Cambridge Texts

who desired CHRISTIANS more aim perfection

and Studies 1898-1904). (iv) The Historia monachorum, an account of the visits of seven persons of the Mount of Olives to the solitaries of the Thebaid and of Lower Egypt during the winter of 394-395. A Latin translation, by RufEnus of Aquileia, of the Historia monachorum combined with the Lausiac History is given in Migne (P.L. LXXIII). (v) The Institutes and Conferences of Cassian, who founded the monasteries of Marseilles. Cassian dwelt in Egypt at the same time as Palladius. About 420-428 he published his recollections of the Egyptian monks, (vi) Afofhthegmata Patrum or Talks and Tales of the Monks. There are three collections of them one in Greek (Migne, P.G. LXV, the two others in Latin, known as the Vitae Patrum of Ros72 ft.) Sequel to the weyde, books v, vi, and vii (Migne, P.L. LXXIV). Vitae Patrum (P.L. LXXIV). (i) Life of St. Hilarion, founder of B. Pai.estixi \n Mo.nachism monasticism in Palestine, by St. Jerome (P.L. XXIII, 29 ff.). (ii)
:

74

/Eionacblsm lit tbc East 75 were converted in masses, the relaxapag-ans and Christian It was to tion of manners set in strong:ly in Church circles.^ be feared that when the world became Christian, many Christians would become worldly. ^ At any rate, the rnajority were no lonj^er very much in earnest about living- consistently according to the Christian ideal. The ascetics and virgins, who were bound to live a holy and pure life, found themselves
in fresh

conditions of the greatest difficulty.

At the beginning of the fourth century, to guard ascetics and virgins from the dangers that threatened them, many churches bound them to a stricter rule than that of earlier days, and to a style of life which in some respects resembled To submit to it was a that of the monks of later times.
condition required for perseverance.'

This rule is set forth, above all, in the treatise On Virginity, wrongly attributed to St. Athanasius, in the writings of St. Ambrose for virgins, and in many Letters of
Jerome. Virgins might go on living in their own homes, but they had to avoid running out unnecessarily, to pray at stated times, to fast and to give alms.* The set prayers consisted in the recitation of the Psalms at the traditional hours of Tierce, Sext, and None, in honour of In the our Lord's condemnation, crucifixion, and death. ^ night, at the hour of Christ's resurrection, they had to get up to chant Psalms. These various hours were kept in common,
St.
of Etheria, a pilgrim of the time of Theodosius who Geyer, Itinera hierovisited the monks, especially those of Palestine. (iii) On the monks of Syria, Theodoret's solymitana Vienna, 1898. Historia religiosa (P.G. LXXXII, 12S3 ^.). Cj. St. John Chrysostom, Afologia for the Life and Calling; of Monks {P.O. XLVII). Horn. XIV in I Tim. 4; In Matt. Horn. VIII, 4. See the ascetical works of St. Basil. C. MoNACHisM IN Asia Minor The collected Works (' kaKrjTiKa) of St. Basil is not entirely authentic; but the two Rules of the Monastic Life appear to be indeed by St. Basil The first or longer Rule, Regulae fusius tractatae, (P.G. XXXI). comprises fifty-five rules as to the principles of the monastic life. The second or shorter Rule, Regulae brevius tractatae, includes three hundred and thirteen answers to various questions regarding the

The Peregrinatio
,

monastic life. 1 St. Jerome, Vita S. Malchi monachi. i (P.L. XXIII, 5:^) Et fastquam ad christianos frincipes venerit (Ecclesia), fotentia quidem et divitiis major, sed virtutibus minor facta sit. * Cf. Govau, Saint e !\f^lanie, p. 150, Paris, i()o8. 3 " Happy the virgin who is under rule. She shall be as a fruitful Unhappy the virgin who has no rule; she vine in a garden. Pseudo-Athanasius, De viris even as a ship without a rudder."
:
.

gimitate, 14 (P.G. XXVIII, 268). * De virginitate, 12. Cf. St. John Chrysostom, De Sacerdotio, iii, 17. Id. ad Demetriadem, n;. Aphraates Cf. St. Jerome, Ef. the Syrian, Demonstratio XVIII, De virginitate (Graffin, Patrologia

CXXX,

syriaca. Vol.

I,

815

ff.).

76

Cbrfstian Spirituality

'

as far as possible, by numbers of virgins who gathered together. 1 In Jerusalem, the continent of both sexes {aputacticae) met in the church of the Anastasis at the same hours of the day and night to recite the Psalms along with the clergy. 2 In Rome, in the middle of the fourth century, two eminent matrons, Asella and Marcella, assembled in their house on the Aventine virgins and widows to chant Psalms and to study the Holy Scriptures. To these regular and to some extent obligatory prayers virgins were invited to add others on their own account. Indeed, a virgin ought to pray unceasingly when she " stands or sits or works or eats or lies down to sleep or goes out." She should study the Holy Scriptures, especially the Psalter, " a book which the sunrise ought always to find in a virgin's hands. "^
^

garments should be black. She should wear a colour, and with this she should be solemnly invested by the bishop in the ceremony of her consecration to God. They were to have their arms covered as far as the fingers of each hand, and to keep their hair cut close to the
virgin's
veil of the

same

head. Fasting,
strict.
It

when not mitigated

lasted a

for reasons of health,

was

Only one meal was taken after None, and it consisted of bread and vegetables served in oil. This meal, with grace said before and after it, was
often taken in common with other virgins.^ As for alms, the virgin provided them by sharing her meal with poor women. ^ She was also counselled to visit the sick and to give them such assistance as they required. see that the religious exercises of the ascetics were done in common as far as possible. That is because the keeping of a rule is much easier under the stimulus of a common life than when one is left to one's ov/n initiative. When the time came for the virgins of any locality to dwell under the same roof and to live the same life, their perseverance would be far more assured. Moreover, before long efforts in this direction were made, and history records the existence of com.munities of virgins in the last third of the third century. St. Antony, when he inaugurated the hermit life after the death of his parents about 270, placed his young

whole year.

We

1 Pseudo-Athanasius, De virginitate, 20. At the end of each Psalm they genuflected and said a prayer. 2 Peregrinatio, 24, 39 (Geyer, Itinera hieros. pp. 71, 91). 3 De virginitate, 16, 12. Cf. St. Ambrose, De virginibus, iii,

18, 20. *
*

De De

De
Ef.

virginitate, 11 (P.G. XXVIII, 264). virginitate, 16, 12. Id., 8, 12, 13. Cf. Peregrinatio, 28 (Gever, p. 80).
lib. ii, iii

Cf. St.
'

Ambrose,

virginibus.

CXXX. ad

and Demetriadtm.
;

St.

Jerome, Ef. ' XXII, ad Eustochium

'
.

/iDonacbtsm In tbc East

sister in

a convent

(ei's

TrapOei-una).^

In the
fairly

fourth

77 century
in

such communities seem to have been towns, and above all in deserts.^

numerous

the

But the foundint,'- of such communities and the rules laid upon the continent living- in the world appeared to many to be far from sulhcitnt means of protection. Those who desired to make sure of their salvation at all costs and to reduce
chance of being- lost as far as possible felt the need of putting between the seductions of the world and themselves an impenetrable barrier. On the other hand, if they remained with their families, it was hardly possible for them to practise evangelical renunciation thoroughly and to live a truly ascetic Hence they planned to strip themselves of all their life. possessions, to leave their relations and country to withdraw into solitude, where, in entire poverty and protected from the dangers of the world, they would give up all their thoughts to
their

anchorites lived near the outskirts of towns and Antony began his life as a hermit by dwelling for some time near Coma, his native village.' But this was too near to the society of men. Many visitors came to disturb the solitaries. Their relations frequently came to see them, and did not forg-et to accuse them of indiflference with regard to themselves, and of allowing them, perhaps, to go short of bare necessities. In the world it would have been possible, and even easy, to win great wealth and to make a name for themselves Lastly, the attraction of pagan pleasures, too close not to be noticed, subjected the virtue of the young hermits to formidIn the desert, far away from the habitable able dangers.^ world, these hindrances disappeared. Hence, thither they fled. Moreover, the monks had been anticipated by famous forerunners. The prophet Elias, St. John the Baptist, to mention only the most noteworthy, had dwelt in the desert, and there had risen by prayer and self-discipline to the highest sanctity. The monks would try to imitate them. Lastly, in the desert there was small risk of persecution. How dreadful a trial was torture How many Christians had apostatized in the Decian persecution of 250 Was it not
villages.
St.
! !

God and to The first

their eternal salvation.^

sister

Athanasius, Vila Antonii, 3 (P.G. XXVI, 844). St. Antony's in virginity, and ruled a community of virgins (Vita Antonii, 54). Lausiac History, i, 4 (Butler). Peregrinatio, 23 (Geyer, p. 6g). Vita S. Packomii, 28 (P.L. LXXIII, 248). ' Cf. Vita Antonii, 2, 3.

St.

grew old

/d;

3.

Vita Antonii, 5, 6. See the famous temptation of the Saint while living as a hermit close to his native village. Vita Antonii, 7; Vita S. Onufhrii, 4 (P.L. LXXIII, 213).

78

(Tbristian Splrftualiti?

wiser, when one could do it without shirking- any dlity, to fly into the desert so as to avoid the risk of denying- the faith ?^ Thus does the historian discern some of the reasons that drove so many Christians of the fourth century into the wilderness. Monachism was a transformation of the old asceticism, a transformation due to the circumstances of the day, and it owes nothing, as some critics tell us, to institutions unconnected with Christianity.

From the middle of the first century, indeed, there has been much discussion as to the origin of Christian monachism, and many have done their best to strip the Christian religion of the merit of having suggested this form of asceticism. Some
discover the forerunners of the

monks

in

the priests

and recluses of the temples of Serapis, the famous Egyptian divinity. These solitaries are said to have been shut up in A hole in the wall was the means of cells within the temples. supplying them with food. The ideal to which they aspired

was

the death of the senses, the apatheia of the Stoics. Others think that we owe our Western monachism to the They say that there is a influence of Buddhist anchorites. striking resemblance between the asceticism of the Buddhists and that of the Christian monks. Others, again, tell us that our monks imitated the Essenians or Jewish monks who inhabited the wilderness of Engaddi, near the Red Sea, about Or they may have derived their ideas from the 150 B.C. Therapeutae- or Jewish ascetics dwelling near Alexandria or on the borders of Lake Mareotis. It has even been alleged that the ascetic ideal of the religion of Mithra, a complete expression of which is to be found in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, written by Philostratus in the second century, was reproduced by the Christian monks. Lastly, historians think that they can show that monachism springs from Alexandrian To attain to the contemplation of things Neoplatonism. divine by means of asceticism was, as we know, the end of that philosophy. And, in fact, some Neoplatonists withdrew into a life of solitude in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, and Thus monachism arose out of Jewish or lived as ascetics. It philosophical influences. It owed nothing to the Gospel. represented an aspect of the radical transformation of Christianity effected in the fourth century. And they say that while Hellenic thought entered into and adulterated Christian

dogma, foreign

influences

also

modified the

principles

of

1 St. Paul of Thebes, the first hermit, fled into the desert during the Decian persecution. St. Jerome, Viia Pauli (P.L. XXIII, 10). Cf. Some Christians may have fled Vita S. Charitonis (P.G. CXV, Q09).

into the wilderness to avoid military service. 2 Philo mentions them in his On thi Contemplative Life, really his.

if

it

be

iTDonacbi^m In tbc East

79

Christian asceticism. There was between monachism and the kind ol relif^ious life set forth in the (jospel a difTerence analoy;ous to that which existed, as they allirni, between
ecclesiastical

do^nia and evang'elical doctrine.

corruption
of

Monachism
of

was an
teaching^.

entire

the

asceticism

Christ's

This is not the place to refute at length these more or less ridiculous theories. They are made in Germany, and the unfair criticism of their inventors tries to set at variance the teaching- of Christ and that of tradition, the Gospel and the Church, the asceticism of apostolic times and that of the fourth century. Doubtless before the Christian monks and even before the days of Christianity there were some who lived a life of solitude and practised austerities. Is it not natural, if one desires to move God or to attain at all costs to what one believes to be man's end, to withdraw into solitude and recollection, and even to take upon oneself hard privations? In all times and in all places are to be found those who have tried to purify their souls by means of asceticism. But whatever importance history may ascribe to the recluses of Serapis, the Buddhist ascetics, the Essenians, the Therapeutae, and the Neoplatonist solitaries, one has no The right to identify them with the monks of Christendom. external resemblances that may be discovered between their manner of life and that of Christian ascetics arise from religious instincts common to all men. There are manifestations of religious feeling, such as fasting, prayer, the life of the solitary, which make their appeal to the devout because they are themselves a part of the nature of things. A deeper knowledge of man's nature enabled many pagan philosophers to formulate rules for morality which may be compared closely with the law of Christ. St. Ambrose wrote his treatise De officiis, taking- some of his ideas from Cicero's work of the same name. St. Nilus, Abbot of Mount Sinai in the fourth century-, made use of the famous Manual of Epictetus in the
spiritual writings intended for his

monks.

Vet

who would

venture to say that St. Ambrose's moral teaching was the same as Cicero's, and the asceticism of Nilus was that of Epictetus? \\'hat essentially difTerentiatcs the Christian ascetics from all others is the spirit that animates them and the ideas with which they are inspired. Only read the records of the history of monachism and you will prove the whole of this chapter demonstrates it that the Christian monks aimed at following the counsels of evangelical perfection to the letter, at imitating Christ and the holy men of the Old Testament, at saving their souls at all costs, at keeping themselves from the

8o

Cbdstlaii Spirituality

seductions of the world and mortifying- their bodies, since the passions of the body are so great an obstacle to salvation. It was not Greek dualism that led them to practise corporal austerities, nor Neoplatonist mysticism that made them pray. The most that can be said is that the vag^ue teaching- of the School of Alexandria as to apatheia impelled some, as we shall see, to exagg-erations in asceticism and to aims which one would have to be an angel to realize. In fact, monastic asceticism was a new manifestation, but not differing in essence from the asceticism of the Gospel. It is always a renunciation of oneself and of the things of this world to go to Christ and to God. Between the primitive asceticism and that of the monks there is the same continuity as between the doctrine of the Apostles and the dogma defined at Nice or Ephesus.

II. THE

CHIEF REPRESENTATIVES OF EASTERN MONACHISM: ANTONY AND PACHOMIUS IN EGYPT HILARION IN PALESTINE THE MONKS OF SYRIA AND MESOPOTAMIATHE MONKS OF ASIA MINORBASIL^
different

Eastern monachism developed under two

;

forms

the life of the anchorite^ or hermit and the life of the coenobite or monk, strictly so called. St. Antony was the founder of the life of the anchorite. The life of the coenobite

by St. Pachomius, who instituted the first monastic Rule. A little later on St. Basil the Great drew up another Rule which was adopted throughout the East and supplanted the Rule of St. Pachomius.

was begun

The anchorite
(t

life

began

about 340), and above

After living for fifteen

Egypt^ with St. Paul of Thebes with St. Antony. years as a hermit close to his native
in
all

1 Tillemont gives a detailed history of Eastern monks in his Mimoires four servir a VHistoire Ecclesiastique des six fremiere sikcles. Arnauld wrote his popular work, Les vies des saints Peres des

diserts et de quelques saintes, Paris, 1688, for the edification of the faithful. Cf. Duchesne. Hisioire ancienne de I'&glise, II, xiv ; III, ix. 2 The anchorite [avaxdop^oi to withdraw into solitude) or hermit desert) was the monk who lived alone in the desert. {i(tr\tJ.o%, The coenobite {kolvS^lov, life in common) is he who lives in community, in Use has given the word monastery a sense opposed to that a monastery. of the Greek from which it is derived. Movacrripiov means a place where one lives alone. 2 Starting from th^; Nile delta and ascending towards its source,
,

Egypt comprised Lower Egypt, where was Alexandria; Middle Egypt, with the city of Hierapolis, near which St. Antony was born and Upper Egypt, with the desert of the Thebaid, which was inhabited by so many of the monks.
:

/Donacbism

in tbc

ast

8i

villag^e, in 285 Antony buried himself in the desert, taking- up There he his abode in an extremely wild place called Pispir. lived in great austerity. His food consisted entirely of bread, the supply of which was renewed every six months. He also had to undergo very violent temptations.* About 305, when the Diocletian persecution wias at its height, the fame of the virtues and miracles of St. Antony spread abroad. From all sides disciples flocked in to him, and soon the solitude of Pispir and the surrounding hills

swarmed with monks. ^

passed their time
in

in separate cells and Psalms^ and prayingf and spiritual reading-, and in working for their own needs and for those of others. Their fasts were strict. Perfect charity ruled amidst these solitaries. * Antony g-athered them together from time to time and delivered addresses to them, of which St. Athanasius has left us a summary.* The vast number of visitors who came to Pispir ended by vexing St. Antony. He withdrew into the Thebaid in Upper Egypt,* to the spot where to-day one may still find the monastery of St. Antony, and a little farther on the monastery There he died in 356 at the age of 105. of St. Paul. This great hermit, so eager for complete retirement, was nevertheless no stranger to the affairs of the Church. During the Maximinian persecution he went down to Alexandria to encourage the martyrs, hoping- himself to die with them.' He betook himself to Alexandria a second time in 338 to see Athanasius, his friend and former disciple, who was returningfrom his first exile. Antony was a great opponent of Arianism and a powerful supporter of Athanasius. ^

They dwelt

chanting

In

the

life

of

peopled with monks.

the desert,
is

Antony the whole of Egypt began to be South of Alexandria, some distance in

the dreadful valley of Nitria, so named because There it was that St, Ammon came to settle in Married in spite of himself, Ammon kept up his state 325. of virginity in his married life. Then he withdrew with his wife to the valley of Nitria.^ His wife gathered virgins .^mmon, too, made a very large number of around her.
of
its nitre.

disciples;

Palladius,

who

visited

the

solitaries

of

Nitria,
in

counted

five

thousand of them.*''

In the valley of Nitria, as at Pispir, the

1

monks dwelt

Vifa Antonii, 12.

ff.

Cf. Tillemont, Ilistoire eccUsiasiique, Paris, 1700,

Vol. VII, p. 105

'

Vita Antonii, 44.

of every Psalm the monks prostrated themselvea, and said a short prayer (Cassian [P.L. XLIX, 87, 92, 93]). * Vita Antonii, id.

At the end

* '

Id., 15-43. Id., 46.

'

Palladius, Lausiac History,

8.

Id., 49. ld..(,iff. Id., 7.

82

Cbrfstian Spirituality
;

separate cells. There was no common rule each monk ordered his doing-s as he thoug^ht best. On Saturday and Sunday, all the monks met in church. This was built in the middle of the valley, for the sake of the Eucharist and of hearing- the word of God.-* Very impressive must have been the sight of all the cells in tiers upon the sides of the valley and the sound of the chanting- of Psalms proceeding- from them morning- and night. One might think that one had been granted a vision of paradise, says Palladius.^ Athanasius speaks, too, of the enthusiasm of those who visited the hills of Pispir, when they saw the long lines of cells " full of heavenly choirs singing the divine praises. The prophet's cry of astonishment (Num. xxiv, 5, 6) broke from their lips How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel! As woody valleys: as watered gardens near the rivers: as tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched: as cedars by the waterside.^ In ascending the valley of Nitria, one reaches a still more fearful desert, the desert of the Cells. There lived the famous Macarius of Alexandria (t 394), who desired to outdo everyone in mortification.'* The writer Evagrius of Pontus settled there in 352, and lived there until the day of his death in For among the solitaries men of letters were to be 399.^ Many of them had the works of Clement of Alexfound. andria and of Origen.*" Beyond the Cells again stretched the great wilderness of Scete, a waste of sand, the remotest of the deserts. Macarius of Egypt established himself there, and there he lived for sixty years with a few disciples. He was a priest, and had "the grace of healing and prophecy." Such prodigies and marvels were recounted of him that Palladius shrinks from telling them for fear of not being believed.
:

''

The life of the monks was, indeed, quite an extraordinary one, and that much more on account of its austerities than because of its marvels. There was much talk in the deserts of many astounding ascetics who did penance by eating next to nothing and by not sleeping. One of them, Dorotheus by name, during the day beneath the blazing sun carried stones to build cells for monks who had none. In the night he plaited palm-leaves to earn food. "God is my witness," says Palladius, who lived near him,
1 Lausiac History, 7. The withdrawal of the monks from Communion was censured [Lausiac History, 25-27). Near the sohtaries there was always a church with priests to which they had to go on Saturdays and Sundays. Cases of entire isolation, such as that of St. Antony in his first years at Pispir, are rare and not to be imitated.

2 3 *

Id. Vita Antonii, 44.

Lausiac History,
Id.. II, 60.

18.

Cf. Chrysostom, In Matt. Horn. VIII, 4. 6 /^_^ ^S. 7 Id., 17.

/IDonacblsm in tbc East

"
I

83

never
.

knew
.

bed.

rest his legs or sKcp on a rush mat or b'rom his youth up he lived thus, never sleeping
liini

it were that while he was busy or eating he eame to close his eyes when overcome with sleep. "^ Thus he lived lor sixty years. Macarius of Alexandria ate nothing cooked with fire for seven years, and to overcome sleepiness stayed outside his cell for twenty days, burnt with the heat by day and benumbed with the cold by night. To punish himself for an act of impatience, tor six months he exposed himself close to the marshes of Scete to the bites of mosquitoes, which in that district are as bad as wasps. Soon his body was covered One year he stood upright without bending with wounds. his knees during the whole of Lent, and his food consisted of a few cabbage-leaves. Others were famous for their fearfully rigorous seclusion. A recluse, named Alexandria, shut herself up in a tomb and Food was conveyed to her through lived in it for ten years. ^ a small opening left for the purpose. On a mountain near Lycopolis in the Thebaid lived an ascetic, John, who spent more than thirty years walled up in a He took in his food through a grotto of three chambers. He enjoyed the gift of prophecy. Palladius small window. relates how he foretold to Theodosius his victories over Maximus and Eugenius. He also predicted the episcopate

intentionally, unless

of Palladius to himself.*

of Nitria

While the hermit life was growing at Pispir, in the valley and in many other parts of Lower' and Middle Eg\pt another form of monastic life was founded in the
:

Thebaid

coenobitism.

The

initiator of the coenobitic life,

Pachomius, was born of

No sooner had he been converted and a pagan family. baptized than he vowed himself to asceticism, and conceived the idea, after having a vision, of living his life in common Such was the origin of the first with other ascetics.
Pachomian monastery, founded about 320 at Tabennesi in the Thebaid. His sister set up monasteries for women, which
she governed." Unlike the anchorites who lived in their cells without a common rule or superior, the monks of Pachomius were
1

Lausiac History,

2 (A.

Lucot, p. 41).

3 Id., 5.

Palladius, who stayed in Egypt from counted two thousand monks near Alexandria alone. Acta Sanctorum, 14 May, p. 296 ff., Paris, 1866. Vita S. Pachomii, Lausiac History, 32. On Pachomius, a, II, 28 (P.L. LXXIII, 2J2 ff.). see Ladeuze, Etudes sur le cinobitisme PakhSmien pendant le IV* siicle tl la fremiirt moitii du V', 1898.

Id., 18. Id., 35. 388 to 399,

84 Cbrlstian Spiritualiti? bound by a common rule of life and obeyed a single head. They devoted themselves to manual work and to the study of Holy Scripture. Their fasts, prescribed by the Rule, were not excessive, as were those of the hermits. The prayers to which they were bound were few in number, so that all might be able " to say the regular office without being distressed. As for the perfect, they need no rule for living alone in their cells, they are well known to devote the whole of their lives to the contemplation of God."^ This Rule, which will be set forth later on, is full of wisdom and discretion. It was held to have been given to Pachomius as it stood by an angel. Pachomius, indeed, had many visions and other extraordinary gifts which brought him great prestige.^ Moreover, Pachomian coenobitism grew rapidly. Monks flocked in large numbers to the monastery of Tabennesi. Other monasteries soon arose and made, along with the mother-house with which they were connected, what was afterwards called a religious order. At one time Pachomius presided over eight monasteries of which he was the
;

abbot. 3 After the death of Pachomius in 348 various groups of One of the most famous coenobitic monasteries grew up. was that of the White House at Atripe, near Panopolis, in the Thebaid. The head of this monastery and its offshoots was the celebrated St. Schnoudi (339-451). A man of strict discipline, he governed his numerous monks with severity and, when he deemed it advantageous for the keeping of the Rule, with strokes of the whip and blows of the stick. Soon all the country round fell under his influence, much to the annoyance of the evil-doers who dwelt in it.

Egypt was not the only district in the East which possessed monks. Hilarion, a disciple of St. Antony, inaugurated the
hermit life in Palestine about 306. He established himself to the south of Gaza and soon had thousands of followers.* It in Palestine that we meet with the arrangement of is hermitages or lauras. The lauras (Xavpai)^ were colonies of hermits gathered into villages, and formed of cells found in a Life in a laura was in a way intermediate defined area. between that of solitaries totally independent of one another
Lausiac History, 32 (A. Lucot, p. 219). Acta Sanctorum, 14 May, p. 313. 3 Acta Sanctorum, 14 May, pp. 310, 316. The word abbot comes from the Syriac abba, meaning father (Mark xiv, 36; Rom. viii, 18; For many centuries this name was given to all monks of Gal. V, 5). It more especially signified the head of a monastery or eminence.
1

Id., 32.

group
4 St.
6

of houses.

Jerome' Vita S. Hilarionis, 3, 14 (P.L. XXIII, 30, 34). 67. Genier, Vie de S. Euthyme le Grand (377-473), p. 6 ff.

and that of
while

/fjonacbfsm in tbc lEast coenobites living in community. Monks

85
in lauras,

living- apart in their cells, were nevertheless gathered round their heads. In the neighbourhood of Jerusalem there were several famous lauras. Hilarion's contemporary, Epiphanius of Eleutheropolis, afterwards Hishop of Salamis (t 403), who was also formerly an Egyptian hermit, introduced Pachomian anchoritism into

Palestine.

Mount Sinai and other biblical sites attracted monks, who St. Nilus, a established themselves there in large numbers. prolific ascetical writer, lived as a hermit on Mount Sinai. Jerusalem possessed a singular attraction. Around its walls were to be seen quantities of anchorites who were visited by On the Mount of Olives the priest the pilgrim Etheria.^ Rufinus of Aquileia, the friend and after\vards the opponent From 386 to of St. Jerome, lived many a year in solitude. 420 Jerome ruled a monastery of monks at Bethlehem, where his spiritual daughters Paula and Eustochium also directed a convent of women. For the renown of the Eastern monks attracted a vast number of Western pilgrims who came, despite the immense difTiculties in the way of travelling across the deserts,^ to be edified by the most famous ascetics, and

Roman settle for a season near their cells. matrons, such as the two Melanias,^ did not hesitate to strip themselves of their wealth to come and learn from the solitaries of the East to set their minds entirely on the things of heaven. Palestinian monachism, too, produced its wonders in At Jerusalem Palladius met the monk Adulius, asceticism. who " practised asceticism beyond the powers of humanity. For on account of his excessive abstinence and vigils he was suspected of being a ghost. During Lent, indeed, he ate once in five days, and at all other times once every other From the evening (until the monks met to pray), dav. on the Mount of Olives, on the hill-top where the Ascension of Jesus took place, he remained standing singing and praying all the time. And whether it snowed or rained, there he stood and never moved."*
sometimes to
. . .

In northern Syria and in Mesopotamia asceticism was even Thcodoret of Cyr"^ has given us a history of startling. the monks round Antioch, Beroea, Chalcis, and Edessa. Among them were to be found some who had no food-

more

often mentions monks living in Palestine. Besse, Les moines d^Orient aniirieurs au Concile Chalcidoiiie, pp. 455-471. ' Cf. Georges Goyau, Sainte Milanie, Paris, 1908. * Lausiac History, 43 (A. Lucot, pp. 205-297). Historic religiosa (P.G. LXXXII, 1283-1496).
1

The Peregrinatio
Cf.

Dom

d^

86

Cbristian Spfrltualltp

supplies. They fed upon green herbs and what the ground naturally produced. St. James of Nisibis/ before he became the bishop of the villag-e where he was born, lived as a hermit. He dwelt on

the highest mountain peaks deep in the woods in summer. In the winter he betook himself to a cave, a poor shelter from the cold. He ate the fruit of wild trees and the herbs that grew in the fields, and had no cooked food. He wore no woollen clothes, but a rough coat of goat's-hair. Thus he starved his body while giving his soul an abundance of spiritual food. And he distinguished himself by his heroic conduct when the Persians under Sapor laid siege to Nisibis in 338 and 350. At the Council of Nice he appeared as an energetic defender of orthodoxy. He died in 361.

Before settling at Bethlehem St. Jerome lived for many years in the solitude of Chalcis " in the scorching heat of the sun," and where " to partake of cooked food was regarded as an exhibition of intemperance."^ Even St. John Chr}-sostom, w-hose vocation to the active life, the /^t'o? TrpaKTiKoi, is so evident, partook in his youth of the general enthusiasm for the contemplative life, the ^Stos Pcoyprj-LKos. Nevertheless, he deferred the execution of his plan to live as a hermit until his mother's death, as she could not resign herself to her son's leaving his father's roof. John spent six years in solitude in the neighbourhood of Antioch, leading the life of monk and hermit in turns, abandoning himself to indiscreet austerities that affected his health and compelled him to return home. * In his withdrawal to the desert he wrote several works dealing with the monastic life. ^
in northern Syria that asceticism made its appeara form that was altogether astounding that of the stylites (cm'Aos, coluvin) or monks who lived upon pillars. The most celebrated sty lite was St. Simeon, born at Antioch, who died about 459. Simeon lived as an ascetic near his native town. He passed the whole of Lent almost without drinking or eating, standing for weeks at a time. He
It

was
in

ance

1 Historia religiosa, i (P.G. LXXXII, 1293). Note St. Aphraates or Afrahat, " the PersiaJi Sage," abbot of a Persian monastery, then bishop, and St. Ephraem, deacon of Edessa, who lived near that town They left ascetical writings in Syriac. a5 an anchorite. 2 St. Jerome, Ef. XXII, r.d Eustochium^ j. 3 See an account of this touching and famous episode in the treatise On the Priesthood, i, 4-6. * Palladius, Dial, de vita S. Joan. Chrys. 5 (P.G. XLVII. 18). 5 The two Exhortations to Theodore, the future Bishop of Mopsuestia, who had given up the monastic life. The two books On Comfunction. The three books Against the Opponents of Monasticism, in which the greatness and the sanctity of the monastic life are brought out. The work King and Monk Compared. Consolation at Stagira, and On Virginity. All these are to be found in the Patrologia Graeca, XLVII.

87 /I>onacblsm in tbc Bast had himself fastened to the rock by an iron chain. This rigour brought upon him the interference of the ecclesiastical Then authorities, who compelled Simeon to forgo his chain. it was that he conceived the idea of billeting himself on a He pillar, first ten feet high, and afterwards thirty feet. wrought a real mission by his miracles and by the prestige he gained from his holy austerity. He converted great numbers of Syrians, Persians, Armenians, and people of various disHis renown tricts who came to gaze at him on his pillar.^ spread as far as Gaul, where St. Genevieve spoke of him. Simeon had imitators. Daniel the Stylite, who lived near Constantinople at the close of the fifth centurj-, was one of the best known. The monks of Syria and Mesopotamia for a long time lived apart from one another. Each lived in his own way without This was what permitted the astounding rule or superior. This unchecked freedom of the austerities above related. monks had other drawbacks, particularly that of removing them from the control of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Moreover, ver\- often wandering monks, and even those who had
a fixed abode, caused real difficulties for their ecclesiastical superiors.^
In Asia Minor, under the influence of St. Basil, Eastern

monachism completed
shape.

its

development and took

its

final

became Bishop

started in Asia Minor by Eustathius, who This man's asceticism was Sebaste.' apparently of dubious quality. It was thought to be tainted with Encratism. However that may be, it was with Eustathius that Basil went through his apprenticeship for the

Monastic

life

was
of

monastic life. But before devoting himself to asceticism Basil traversed He Eg)pt, Syria, and Mesopotamia during 357 and 358. watched the monks' way of life, he wondered at " their abstinence in eating, their courage in toil, their constano.- in nightly prayer, the high and unconquerable spirit that made them despise hunger, thirst, and cold, as if they were unconnected with their bodies, true wayfarers in the world, and already citizens of heaven."* On returning to Asia Minor, Basil withdrew into a desert of Pontus near Xeocaesarea, and there lived as a monk until he was raised to the episcopate in 370. His only clothes were
Theodoret, Hist. Relig. 26. See Cassian's Collatio. xviii, 7, 9, and St. Jerome. Ef. XXII, 34, for the Sarabaites and other sorts of monks who needed more or less The Council of Chalcedon had to put monks under watching.

episcopal surveillance. Tillemont, Hist. Ecd. IX. p. 70, Paris, 1703. St. Basil, Ef. CCXXIII, 2. C'f. P. Allard, Saint BasiU. p. 27.

88

Cbristlan Spirituality one garment and one cloak, his only bed a board or a rug laid upon the ground, his food bread and salt and a few He herbs, and his drink pure water from the mountain.^ lived in community with a few ascetics whom he gathered round him.^ The Rule that he followed^ is the first outline of the Rules he drew up later on. It was during this time of retreat that Basil took advantage of his own experience and of those who were his forerunners to write his first draft of rules, Regulae fusius tractatae. His other draft, Regulae brevius tractatae, belongs to the time of his episcopate and was undoubtedly drawn up at Caesarea. The Rule of St. Basil takes the form of questions and answers unmethodically gathered together. It clearly favours Pachomian coenobitism, which is made still more strict than before. Nor was it long before it was followed in all the monasteries Even to-day it is the Rule of all the Grecoof the East.
Slavonic religious houses.

III. EASTERN MONASTICISMTHE RULES ST. PACHOMIUS AND ST. BASIL*

I.

OF

The Admission and Probation of Novices.

TIME of probation had to precede a man's profession as a

monk.

The probation of those who wished to live as anchorites in the isolation of the desert was simple enough. They went to some well-known recluse in whom they had confidence. They settled near him and were inspired by his counsels and did Sooner or later if the novice their best to follow them. adapted himself to his new way of life he learned to fly with He withdrew to a distance, built himself a his own wings. cell in a lonely place, and lived as a hermit in his own way.^ St. Antony had distinguished followers who were thus trained by him for a hermit's life, among whom was St. Athanasius.
nearly as easy were the admission and probation of in a Pachomian or Basilian monastery. Before finally enrolling a religious in a community it is absolutely necessary to make sure not only of his steadfastness and disinterestedness in taking such a step, but still more of his

Not

novices

fitness for living in

1 2

community.

If

he was

likely to

be a

St.
It

St. Basil,
II.

Gregory Nazianzcn, Oratio XLIII, 6i. Ep. CCXXIII, 3. is described by St. Basil in a letter to

St.

Gregory Nazianzen,

Ef.

* In order to avoid tedious repetition, I shall set forth the two Rules simultaneously, contrasting their differences. 6 Cf. Lausiac History, 2, 17, etc. Vita Sancti Pachomii, 6, 7.

/H^onacbtsm in tbe Bast

89

source of disturbance and disorder, and even of wrecking the * community, it would be better to lock the g-ates against him. Pachomian himself at a When a postulant presented monastery he was left "for a few days outside the door."* The famous Macarius of Alexandria, disguised as a working man to avoid recognition, one day came to Tabennesi and asked to join the renowned community. He desired to give the religious, some of whom thought they were very advanced The superior Pachomius, thinking in asceticism, a lesson. he had to do with an ordinary postulant, waited seven days before opening the doors of his house for him.^ During these days of waiting the postulant begged the religious who were going in and out of the monastery to admit him. He flung himself at their feet and implored them Sometimes he was to look favourably upon his request. They wanted to test the sincerity of his rudely rebuffed. desire for the monastic life, and to train him in humility and
patience.
*

The Rule of St. Basil was more moderate and prescribed nothing like this. If the postulant persevered in his resolution, on the order of the abbot the porters brought him into He was taught the Lord's Prayer, the house for outsiders.
as

many Psalms as possible, and certain other portions of Holv Scripture. In the meantime they ascertained particulars as to his birth, as to whether he was a freeman or a slave, as to his conduct while in the world, and as to his willingness to quit his family and possessions.* The Rule of St. Basil treats at length of testing the inward dispositions of the postulant.* The future of a monastery depends, indeed, on its getting fresh members, and St. Basil

To secure an well how to plan his houses to last. impartial test, the Rule advises the refusal of gifts that may be offered by the relations of the postulant.^ The poor are to be taken in the same way as the rich.^ Unemancipated slaves they must be sent back to their are not to be received masters, as St. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon."
knows
;

C/.

St.

Basil,

Regulae fusius tractatae.

lo

(P.G.

XXXI,

944).

Cassian,
2

De Ccenobiorum

Manebit

Institutis, iv, 3 (P.L. faucis diebus foris ante januam

XLIX,

155).

[Regula Pachomii, 49

(Pynufhius) coeno30 diutissime fro foribus ferseverans, cunctorum fratrum genibus frovolutus, ut susciferetur Cumque multo desfectu tandem fuissel summis frecibus ambivit. admissus.
iv.
:

[P.L. XXIII, 70]). ' Lausiac History, 18. Cassian, De Coenobiorum Institutis,

bium Tabennensiotarum

expetiit

ubi

'

Regula Pachomii, 49. Regulae fusius tractatae, 10. Regulae brevius tractatae, 304.
Regulae fusius tractatae,
11.

Id., 89.

Cbristtau Spirituality

not to be admitted unless their wives consent, and such consent is to be given in the presence of witnesses.^ St. Basil, like St. Pachomius, admitted children among- those who were novices.^ The postulant became acquainted with the Rule of the monastery, and if he said he was ready to follow it, on a favourable vote of the religious^ he was led to the assembly of the brethren and clothed with the monastic habit.* Then his real religious probation began. In the Basilian monasteries this probation consisted in training the novice in humility and in utter indifference in accepting the lowliest work. He had to accept it without the least hesitation. The Rule of St. Basil prescribes obedience thus an order agreeable to the law of God, when given by a superior, must be carried out at the cost of life If an order were contrary to the law of God, even if itself. it were given by an angel or an Apostle, it must not be obeyed, even if our resistance thereto would result in death. ^ Cassian informs us that the probation of a novice in a Pachomian monastery was extremely hard. It was intended to make him attain the greatest height of perfection.'^ The monk who had to train the novice in the religious life began by trying to destroy self-will in the subject. For this
are
:

Married

men

end he always of set purpose bade him do what he knew to

be against the grain. ^ For this renunciation of one's own will was considered by the heads of monasteries to be the foundation-stone of the coenobitic life, ^ and the virtue to be preferred to all others. Experience has proved that a religious who clings to his own way of thinking is unable to conquer his carnal passions, or bad temper, or depression. He cannot keep in peace and concord with his brethren, and he ends by leaving the monastery. ^^
1 R2

gulae fusius tractatae,

12.

Regula Pachomii, 116. They only took a vow of chastity at a given age and of their own free choice. St. Basil, E-p. CXLIX, ad AmfJiilochium, 18. ^ Lausiac History, 18; Re gulae brevius tractatae, 112. * Regula Pachomii, 49. On the dress of the Eastern monks, see Dom Besse, Les moines d'' Orient antirieurs an Concile de Chalcidoine,
Id., 15;
p. 299 n.
5

Regulae fusius tractatae, 10. Regulae brevius tractatae,

.

303.
.

Cf.

Regulae

fusius

tractatae,

41, 47, 48.

7 Junior introductus ascendere etiam culmina ferfectionis summa fraevaleat {De Coenobiorum Institutis, iv, 8). ^ Cassian, id. : Haec illi semfer imferare de industria frocurabit
.

quae senserit animo ejus esse contraria.

Finis quidem cenobitae est omnes suas mortificare et crucifigere volvntates (Cassian, Collatio, xix, 8. Cf. St. Jerome, Ef. XXII, ad

Eustochium,
^^

35).

Cassian,

De Coenobioru^n

Institutis, vi, 8,

/Douacbisni in tbc Bast There were two chief means used for breaking
the
;

9'
the will of

entire confidence and open-heartedness with novices regard to their superior, even to the point of revealing to him their most secret thoughts/ and a most perfect and strict

obedience. In the matter of obedience novices were bound to go to the utmost limit. They had to obey with the strictest promptiAs soon as the signal for any exercise was given, tude. everyone immediately left his cell and went with such haste to the place assigned that those who were working as copyists left off in the middle of any letter they were writing.' Further, they required an obedience that was absolute and A superior's orders were to be carried out as if they blind. came from God Himself. In their execution neither discussion nor hesitation was tolerated. Obedience there must be, at any rate an endeavour to obey, even if the performance of a command seemed impossible.^ Delightful examples of obedience in the above sense are related of the monasteries of the East. John of Lycopolis lived in his youth in monastic communiThe old ties before becoming an anchorite on Mount Lyco.* monk who was training him desired to test his obedience. He planted a dry and withered stick in the ground and ordered the young man to water it twice a day as if it were likelv to take root. John went a long way to fetch the water and watered the stick for a whole year through all weathers until the old man told him to stop. Another time John was ordered to remove a great mass of rock which several men could not have stirred. He tried to do this, and with such energy that his limbs were covered with perspiration and the rock ran with it.* Obedience was,
"*

1 Cassian, De Coenobiorum Institutis, iv, 7-9. Collatio, ii, 10. St. Basil also regards this practice, a kind of spiritual direction, as necestractatae, 26). sary for the moral progress of the religious( Regnlae fusius 2 De Coenobiorum Institutis, iv, 12 Cum sonitum fulsaniis ostium audierint, orationem eos scilicet ad ac diversorum cellulas fercutientis sen ad opus aliquod invilantis, certatim e cubilibus suis unusquisque frorumfit, ita ui is qui opus scriptoris exercet, quam repertus fuerit inchoasse litteram finire non audeat sed in eodem puncto quo ad aures ejus sonitus pulsantis advenerit , summa velocitate prosiliens, ne iantum quidem morae interponat quantum coepti apicis consummet effigiem, sed imperfectas Utterae linens derelinquens non tarn operis compendia lucrave sectetur quam obedientiae virtutem exsequi toto studio atque aemulatione festinet. Cf. Vitae Patrum, V, xiv, 5 (P.L. LXXIII, 048). ' Id., iv, 10 Universa complere quaecumque fuerint ab eo ( praefosito) praecepta, tanquam si a Deo sint coelitus data, sine uUa discussions ,'estinant ; ut nonnunquam etiam impossibilia sibimet imperata ea fide ac devotione suscipiant , ut tota virtute ac sine ulla cordis haesitatione perficere ea fiut consummare nitantur. Lausiac History, ^1;. 5 De Coenobiorum Institutis, iv, 24. Cf. Vitae Patrum, V, xiv, 3.
: ,

'

Id., iv, 26.

92

Cbrfstian Spfrltualit^

indeed, the virtue esteemed beyond all others, and the price paid for it could not be too high.^ Amidst edifying- instances are to be found some in which the proof of obedience outstripped the limits of discretion and even of prudence.^ St. Basil in his moderation would never have approved of some of the notions ascribed to the old monks on the matter of obedience.^ Pachomian novices also had to devote themselves to manual work and to study. All were bound to learn to read if they were uneducated. They had to learn by heart a large portion of Holy Scripture, especially of the Psalter. When his probation was over the novice became a real monk. After his " profession," if he left the monastery to go back into the world he was regarded as a sort of perjurer. His position resembled that of a modern religious who goes back to secular life without obtaining a dispensation from his vows.

2.

The Exercises

of the

Monastic Life

The Rule.
directed

To understand the inner life of a Pachomian monastery, one must get to know its organization. The abbot governed a confederation of monasteries under
his
jurisdiction.
St.

Pachomius

himself

eight

monasteries,*

Every monastery had a superior called Father or Head of the monastery (pater, princeps monasterii), to whom all were The superior had one or more substitutes, deputies subject. (secundi), who helped him and took his place when he was
away.
^

The monastery itself was divided into several houses or families (do7nus, familiae), kinds of phalansteries of thirty or Three or four forty persons according to its importance. houses linked together made what was called a tribe. ^ Each house contained about forty religious who lived by threes in
"^

their cells.
1

De Coenobiorum

Institutis, iv, 12

Quam

(obedientiam) non solum,

oferi manuum, seu lectioni, vel silentio et quieii celiac, verum etiam cunctis virtutibus ita fraeferunt ut huic judicent omnia fost-ponenda et universa disfendia subire confenti sint, dummodo hoc bo7ium in nulla violasse videanlur. 2 Cf. id., iv, 27; Vitae Patrum, V, xiv, 18. 3 Vitae Patrum, ibid., 12 Dicebant senes: quia qiiis habct in aliquo fidem, et tradit se ei ad subjectionem, non debet attendere mandatis Dei, sed fatri suo s-pirititali omnem voluntatem suam cotnmittere; quia illi fer omnia obediens non incurrat -peccatum afud Deum.
:

Acta Sanctorum, 14 May, pp. 310, 316. Regttla Pachomii, 24, 25, etc. ; Orcisius,
if.).

De

institutione
32.

mona-

chorum (P.G. XL, 895

8

Regula Pachomii,

16.

'

Lausiac History,

/Conacbism

tii

tbc

East

93

The families or houses were disling^uishid from one another by their different occupations. One had charge of the cooking", another of the infirmary, another of the entrance and of outside visitors, others of the cultivation of the land and of crafts required for the life of the monastery.^ At the head of each house was a rector (praepositus domus), who ruled his family of monks under the superior of He transmitted the orders of the latter to the monastery. the religious, and taught them the customs of the monastic He was to make no innovations, but to follow the rules life. He was chosen from among the elder of the monastery.^ ones, for, according to the maxims of the Egyptian monks, apprenticeship in commanding is learnt by long years of obedience.^ Besides the special occupations of each house, the common This was done services of the monastery had to be assured.
by the heads of houses with their religious, who undertook it by turns for a week at a time, and these were called hebdomadaries (hebdomadarii). Very different was the Basilian idea of a monastery. Instead of this government in two stages by a superior and the heads of houses, St. Basil has only one superior
(TT/joeo-Tojs),

who
it

is

himself the centre of

all

authority,

and

who

immediately over all the members of the community. A deputy replaces him when he is away. The Pachomian monastery retained something of the organization of the Egyptian hermitages, where the monks lived apart in St. their cells under a modified dependence upon their head. Basil did away with the last vestiges of the eremitical life, He likes to enumerate its which he esteemed but little. disadvantages, the chief of which is the lack of any superior.* When living in the desert he had noted the vagabond hermits, impatient of all authority, who could not settle down anywhere, to their own great loss and to the great injury of Moreover, he intended his monks to live strictly in society. community and the authority of their superior to be very And that the superior might devote all his care powerful. aiid activity to the government of his house, he was forbidden to rule over several monasteries according to the system of Pachomius. The Basilian monastery included but a relatively small
exercises

number
1

of

monks.

Thus

it

was

all

the

more
:

easily ruled,

and

Sanctorum, 14 May, pp. 310, 316. * Cassian, De Coenobiorum Institutis, ii, 3 Nullus congregationi fratrum praefttturus eligitur, priusquam idem, qui fraeficiendus est, quid obtemferaturis oporteat imperari obediendo didicerit. Cf. Regula Pachomii, 159. 3 Regulae jusius tractatae, 45. Id., 7. As to the purpose of St. Basil in the organization of monasteries, see St. Gregory Nazianzeo, Oratio XLIII, 62.
Lausiac History, 32;

Ada

94

Cbristian SpirituaUts

the superior could g-ather the whole of his community together to attend the offices at which he presided. The Pachomian system, on the contrary, enabled a very large number of monks to be admitted to the same monastery. According to Palladius, there were thirteen hundred in the convent of Tabennesi.^ One consequence was that the religious could not fulfil all their offices together. Hence arose difficulties and disorders which the severity of the rules could not prevent. Such different conceptions of the monastery lead one to anticipate notable dissimilarities between the two Rules.

The religions exercises of the Pachomian monks comprised the Office, spiritual discourses, and partaking of the Eucharist. The regular Office [Kai'wvY consisted, as far as one can ascertain, in saying twelve prayers (Troteti' ex'^as 8o)8eKa) in common daily. do not know if they were distributed according to the hours of the day at Tierce and Sext. At None three prayers were said. Twelve other prayers were recited at the time of lighting the lamps that is to say, in the evening, probably in two shifts six at Vespers, and six at bedtime. ^ On vigils twelve more prayers were said about midnight. Lastly, a Psalm was sung before each meal

We

(^aA/xov).*

Most

of the prayers

were said

in

full

assembly by the

whole community.

Some were

especially the prayers (orationes matntinae).'^ Religious who were lawfully hindered from assisting at these prayers of the Rule, or who were travelling, had to recite them privately at the proper time.^ St. Basil adopted the traditional hours of prayer for his monasteries dawn, Tierce, Sext, None, nightfall, bedtime, and the vigil at midnight. All the religious assisted at the Hours in the same place. In the daytime they broke off work to come to prayers at the proper time. Those who were
:

recited in each house, and prescribed by the Rule at dawn

Lausiac History, 32. This became the ruin of the Pachomian monasteries. St. Pachomius was under the impression in his own lifetime that his monks were not persevering in their primitive fervour. Vita S. Pachomii, 45 (Pachomius) obsecrabat Dominum, Cf. quatenus declararet staium monachorum qui futurus esset, vel quid fast ejus obitum in tanta congregatione contingeret. Cumque frecaretur visionevi cernit quae eum flenius edoceret. Nam monasteria sua vehementius dilaiando, nonnullosque fie victuros et continenter agnovit, neglecturos etiam -plurimos didicit, suamque salutem fenitus esse -perdituros. 2 Lausiac History, 32.
1.
: . . . .

Id

Regula Pachomii,
155.

24, 126, 186.

6
/^j?.^

4
6

Id., 32.

Regula Pachomii,

j^a.

lawfully
of

95 /Donacbism (n tbc East The hours were hindered prayed by themselves. kept by the recitation of prayers {irpoa-ivxa-t) and the chanting
Psalms
(i^aA/i(o8ta),

prayers, and chants, changed as often

as possible to avoid tedium and to stimulate attention.^ In the Pachomian monasteries the head of the house twice or thrice a week gave the religious spiritual talks, a kind The superior of the of catechesis on the monastic life.^ monastery spoke to all the monks gathered together as often as he thought fit.^ After the talks, each monk withdrew to The head of each his cell to meditate on what he had heard. house questioned his religious as to what he remembered. Moreover, meditation on the teaching given or on certain passages of Holy Scripture, whether in going to and fro from place to place, or at work, or in the solitude of the cell, * is very frequently recommended by the Pachomian Rule. On Saturdays and Sundays all met in church to assist at the eucharistic mysteries and to receive Holy Communion. The Rule of St. Basil provides also for exhortations and the preaching of the Gospel to the religious.* It recommends,
"*

too, the practice of confession.^ Monks who had committed faults were to acknowledge them to the brethren who were This private adminispriests to obtain forgiveness of them. tration of the sacrament of Penance, apart from all outward

solemnity,

was not long

in

becoming general

in the

monas-

teries of the East.

Manual work and study were prescribed by the Pachomian

St. Jerome is right in saying that in the Egyptian monasteries the monk is bound to work, not only to supply his needs, but to assure his salvation.^ Besides the various crafts required by the monastery, the commonest employment to which almost everyone devoted

Rule.

Every was the making of mats and baskets.* morning the superior gave his orders for the day to the hebdomadaries, and these with the heads of the various
himself

houses superintended the carrying out of the work.* The product of the monks' labour was sold at Alexandria, whence the provisions required for the monastery were brought

home."
1

Regulae fusius tractatae, 37. Regula Pachomii, 2022, 156. Ada Sanctorum, 14 May, p. 310 If. Regula Pachomii, 2, 28, 36, 37, 59, 60, Lausiac History, 32. Regulae brevius tractatae, 184, 185.
Id., 288.

122.

"

Ef.

CXXV, ad

Rusticum monachum. No.

11

Aegyftiorum

rrtona-

steria hunc morem tenenl, ut nullum absque oferis labore suscipiant, tarn -profler victus necessitatem quam frofter animae salutem.

10 1*

non

Lausiac History, 32 Regula Pachomii, Regula Pachomii, 12, 25-27. Lausiac History, 32.
;

5.

96

Cbrfstfan {Spirituality

Reading- was recommended to the religious. At the beginning- of every week the heads of houses received the books required by their subjects, and handed them back on the Saturday. Among the monks were to be found great
of scribes and caligraphers.^ Basil lays it down that his religious should give a preference to the study of Holy Scripture. To enable them to understand it more readily, he gives the rules of interpretation to be followed.^ Most of the articles of the Little Rules comprise explanations for the use of the monks of the rather difficult passages of the Bible, and make a kind of
St.

numbers

sacred hermeneutics. Manual work is prescribed as strictly by St. Basil as by

St.

Pachomius.

He

insists

upon

its

necessity,

and vehemently

reproaches those religious who look down upon manual work on the ground that they are praying or chanting Psalms. must work to obey God's command and to help the brethren in their need as well as the poor. Among the various kindsi of work, St. Basil shows his preference for agriculture. The products of the monks' work were exchanged for the various products of the work of other monasteries.^ The monastic discipline of the Pachomian Rule ordered fasting on every Wednesday and Friday. On fast-days there was only one meal after None that is to say, after three o'clock in the afternoon. In Lent all the days were fast-days. There was no fasting in Paschal-time. When there was no fast, two meals were allowed, one at midday and one in the evening-. The Rule left the religfious free to lay upon himself harder privations. There were monks, particularly in Lent, who in their desire to copy the anchorites ate only every other day, and others ate only once in five days.^ St. Basil did not allow his monks to practise such extraordinary mortifications. The authorization of a superior was required for the undertaking of more rigorous vigils and fasts than those prescribed by the Rule. For undue austerities are often suggested by vainglory.^ The liberty allowed in this matter in the Pachomian monasteries gave rise to abuses, and led, in fact, to temptations of vanity. The various classes of those who fasted and the large numbers of the monks compelled the Pachomian monasteries to have several relays of meals, because all ate in the same The first course was at midday, and there were refectory. others at one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, and until

We

Id.
Cf.

2
3

* 6

Regula Pachoviii, 25. Regulae brevius tractatae, 251, 252, 279, Regulae fusius tractatae, 37-39, 42. Lausiac History, iS, 32. Regulae brevius tractatae, 138. Lausiac History, i8.
;

etc.

/Donacbism
late

in tbe JEast

97

evening. Each monk tot)k his lood at the hour fixed lor his house, and accordiny^ to the last to which he

on

in the

bound himself.* St. Basil would never have tolerated a usajje so Iruitful ol All his religious had to eat at the same time, and disorder. if one of them was late through his own fault, he had to go
without his meal.^

Meat and wine were forbidden, except to the sick and the aged. ^ Outside of meal-times nothing was to be eaten, not even a piece of fallen fruit found in the garden.* The heads of houses had to teach their religious how to behave at table. The monks ate with their cowls or hoods over their heads, so as not to see their neighbours eating, and that each might be able to conceal his mortifications from the Also one was forbidden to look at one's neighbour rest.* while he was praying or working." Silence at table was most strictly kept. To talk or laugh at meal-time was to incur an open rebuke there and then and
Only the heads of houses were liability to a public penance.'' allowed to ask by signs for what they wanted. Silence was so perfectly kept in the refectory that, despite the large numbers of monks who were taking their meal, not a sound was to be heard, says Cassian.^ There was no reading in the refectory in Pachomian monasteries.

The religious had also to refrain from talking in going from the refectory to their cells, during the OilEice and while at
St. Basil, too, lastly at night during bedtime.^ prescribes strict silence during these times, and explains its *" educational and sanctifying value to the novices. In the matter of sleep, the Pachomian Rule orders monks not to sleep at full length lying down, but reclining on seats with a sloping back, covered with mats. They were to sleep fullv clothed, and cells were to remain open at night." Visitors were not allowed to mix with a Pachomian communitv, nor to have their meals in the refectory, for fear that they riiight be scandalized by the shortcomings of the novices or the children.*' Visiting clergy and monks who sought hospitality were received with honour by the porters, who

work, and

>

Lausiac History, 32. Regulae brevius tractatce, 136. Lausiac History, 32 Regula Pachomii, Regula Pachomii, 35, 67-69; Cassian,
; ;

45, 54.

De Coenobioruni
17.

Institutis,

iv, 18
5

V, 20.

'

Lausiac History, 32. Cassian, id., iv, Regula Pachomii, 7. Lausiac History, 32; Regula Pachomii,

31.

De Coenobiorum

W " "

Regula Regulae fusius tractatae, 13. Lausiac History, 32 Regula Pachomii, 107. Regula Pachomii, 50 ; Vita S. Pachomii, 33.
;

Institutis, iv, 17. Pachomii, 34, 87, 94, 121.

98

washed

their feet.

permission to Seculars and even house.^

Cbristian Spirituality The superior of the monastery gave them visit the house and to assist at the Office.

women were

entertained in the guest-

St. Basil sets forth the rules of

good

hospitality at length.

admits strange monks to the table of the monks of the monastery. As for seculars, they are to be served apart, and their regime, while sufficient, is to be strict so that they may be edified.^ The Pachomian monks were allowed to go out to see their sick relatives or for any other lawful cause, but they had to be accompanied by one of the brethren chosen by the superior and the head of the house. Outside they were not to talk about what went on within the monastery.^ St. Basil orders superiors of monasteries to interrogate those who have been out, upon coming back, as to what they did and how they behaved while out, and as to their keeping of the rules governing their time on leave.*

He

The Pachomian
utmost reserve

discipline counselled

monks

to

show the

with one another. They were not to hold hands, but whether standing or sitting or walking they were always to keep an elbow's length apart. ^ Familiarity with children was severely restrained.*^ St. Basil also requires the children who are receiv'ed into the monastery as novices He lays down exact rules to be kept apart from the monks. as to the way in which they are to be educated.''
in their relations

Lastly, St,

Pachomius and

St.

Basil are

full

of care

and

kindness for sick monks, who are to be looked after in every way that they need.^ The sanctions provided by the Pachomian Rule are rigorous. Whoever talked or laughed during the Office or at the refectory, or was late at any service, had to undergo a public penance. It consisted in the defaulter lying prostrate before all the brethren in the church or refectory as long as the abbot wished. The more noteworthy faults, such as disobedience, theft, bad temper, were publicly punished with the whip, by restriction to bread and water, and finally by exclusion. ^ The sanctions of the Basilian Rule consisted for
1

2 3
"J

Regiila Pachomii, 51 ; Vita S. Pachomii, 33. Regiilae fusius tractatae, 20.

5 e '

Regula Pachomii, 54-56, Regulae fusius tractatae, Regula Pachomii, 94.

Id., 166.

86.

44.

Regulae fusius tractatae, 15. Vita S. Pachomii, 25 Regula Pachomii, 40-46 ; Regulae fusius tractatae, 55; Regulae brevius tractatae, 155. 3 Regula Pachomii, 8-10, 121-125; Cassian, De Coenohiorum Insti^
;

tutis, iv, 16.

10

ficgula Pachomii, 149, 151, 173;

16.

Cassian,

De Coenohiorum

Insti-

tutis., iv,

/IDonacbism in tbc East

99

the most part in a borl ul nionai.lic excommunication, which prevented the guilty Ironi associating with their brethren for a week or a fortnight.*
St. Pachomius, as is shown by the study of his Rule, was the originator of genius who initiated the coenobitic life. St. Basil, however, was the organizer who set the monastic He corrected what was unworklife on a lasting foundation. able in the Pachomian conception of the monastery, whatever might become, and in fact actually did become, a source of irregularity and relaxation. The play left to the initiative and free choice of the monks is cut down as far as possible for the

sake of making their common life very strict and complete. The Rule of St. Basil, just because it strengthens the Hfe of the community, is of greater moderation than that ol Pachomius. As the exercises prescribed by it were strictly the same for all the dwellers in the monastery, they could not tax anyone beyond average endurance, so as to be within the powers of everyone. St. Basil shows, too, great care as to the way in which authority is exercised by the superior and submitted to by the monks. The fate of a community depends upon the way The Rule of St. Basil, in which obedience is secured in it. which gives an almost absolute authority to the superior, demands that he shall exercise his authority with gentleness, humility, and patience. He must reprimand his subordinates, when necessary, under pain of incurring dread responsibilities, but he is to do it without bitterness, and he is to deal with each monk according to his character and disposition. He will be able to resist the proud and to bear with the Thus the superior must not only be infirmities of the weak. an excellent religious himself, but also be a man in the fullest sense of the word. And if he were to fulfil the duties of his office badly, he must be corrected with prudence by the elder monks of the monastery.^ The religious, for their part, are to receive the orders of
their superior in a docile

and yielding

spirit.

They

are to

obey through persuasion and not by force. St. Basil never orders the use of the whip to punish transgressions against the Rule. Moreover, he tries to train the soul of the monk and to perfect his interior dispositions. He dwells at length on the importance of inward renunciation, the foundation of the monastic life.' And when he draws up his Rule, he does not word his ordinances dryly, like St. Pachomius, but always gives his reason for them, taking it generally from Holy Scripture. In studying his Rule the religious thus
^

Poenae in monachos delinquenles, 2, Regulae Justus traclatae, 25, 27, 43.

3, 4, etc.

(P.O.

XXXI,

J05

ff.).

Id.. 8.

loo

Cbristian Spirituality

acquires the monastic spirit and feels himself led, as a true servant of Christ, doing from the heart^ whatever he ought
to do.

After the founding- of the monasteries there were two kinds The latter, of monks the coenobites and the hermits. despite the opinion of St. Basil, were fairly generally regarded as of a higher perfection than those who lived in community. At the beginning of the fifth century many monkish writers, particularly St. Jerome^ and Cassian,^ advised those who desired to live as anchorites to begin with a novitiate in a monastery. The solitude of the desert was too severe a trial for the hermit who had not gone through his apprenticeship
:

to the monastic life in a community. But the best of institutions suffer a falling away. Besides the coenobites and hermits, a third sort of monks soon appeared, the sarabaites,^ or religious who dwelt together in twos and threes without any rule, and their reputation was Lastly, there were the gyrovagi^ or vaganot a good one. bonds, who made a fourth class of monks. They were thus named because they could not settle down in any place. Essentially vacillating, tired of everything, seeking everywhere for religious fervour and unable to find it, the gyrovagi took advantage of the opportunities of their time and went from monastery to monastery, from town to town, at everybody's cost and at their own as well. They were a disgrace to the monastic life. This fourfold division of monks is famous in the history of St. Benedict of Nursia mentions it at the monachism. beginning of his Rule. Eph. vi, 6. Ep. CXXV, ad Rusticum monachum, 9, 15, 16. 3 Collatio, xviii, 5, 6. The same teaching occurs later on until the coenobitic life had entirely supplanted the hermit life. * St. Jerome, Ef. XXII ad Eustochium, 34. Cassian, Collatio, xviii, 4.
1

Cassian, Collatio, xviii,

8,

THE OF THE EASTERN MONKS OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH

CENTURIES'
really ascetical writings have come down to us from the earliest of the Eastern monks. They were no writers. Many of them could not write. Their devout discourse was religiously collected by their disciples, and traditionally repeated in the desert cells until some scholarly monk committed it to writing. In his Life of St. Antotiy St. Athanasius gives a summary of

CHAPTER V ASCETIC TEACHING

No

Palladius that saint's exhortations to the monks of Pispir. interspersed the narratives of his Lausiac History with many sayings of the solitaries he had seen, or of whom he had heard. The author of the Vitae Patrum did the same. The monastic Rules of St. Pachomius and St. Basil are full of the same oral ascetic teaching. The Monastic Institutions and Conferences of Cassian also abound in it. But after the beginning of the fourth century we find a number of learned monks, some of whom have left us true
treatises of monastic asceticism.

Orsicius (t about 380), who followed St. Pachomius next but one at Tabennesi, has left us a treatise on the monastic life^ which is praised by Gennadius.^

The famous Macarius of Egypt (t 390) wrote fifty homilies, Under his name are called pneumaticac on the spiritual life. to be found several ascetical works of doubtful authenticity.' The spirituality of the works attributed to Macarius is founded on the need of interior perfection for attaining Fasting and giving one's goods to the poor do not holiness. sanctify unless one is first of all purified within. Evagrius of Pontus, so named because he was born there, was a monk who left behind him a reputation for learning
,

and

influence.

He was

ordained
at

Nazianzus,
1

and

was present

the

deacon by Gregory of second Oecumenical

spirituality of this period is, above all, monastic. in their homilies addressed to the faithful, while teaching as a rule the common evangelical morality, from time to " All the time urge upon all Christians a call to imitate the monks commands of the law belong to us as well as the monks," says St. John Chrysostom, " except one, the precept of celibacy." In Mall. Horn. VII. * Doclrina de inslilutione monachorum (P.G. XL, 869-894). De viris illuslribus, 8. * De custodia cordis; De ferfeclione in sfiritu ; De oratione ; De falientia et discretione : De elevatione mentis; De charitate ; De libcTtate metitis (P.G. XXXIY). lOl

The Oriental

However, the bishops,

I02

Cbilstiaii Spintualitg
in
in his

381 at Constantinople. An adventure death in the great city drove him into the desert of the Cells, where he died about 399, aged fifty-four. Several collections of his sayings on the monastic life have come dcwn to us.^ In these, says the historian Sozomen,^ he excels in pointing out those of our thoughts and aspirations which respectively lead to virtue or wickedness. He shows how we should improve the former and drive away the latter. Evagrius resolutely inculcates the Stoic apathein, and makes it a fundamental element of his

Council of Chalccdon

which nearly resulted

spirituality.^ St. Jerome charges Evagrius with Origenism, and marks him as a forerunner of Pelagius.'^ In the monastic circles frequented by John Moschus in the sixth century Evagrius was looked upon as a very dangerous heretic.^ And St. John Climacus,*^ while borrowing from the works of Evagrius, is far from accepting- the opinions of the monk of Pontus without reservation.

The monk
wilderness
of

Isaias,

living
is

in

the

Scete,
^

regarded

fourth century in the as the writer of many

ascetical works.

Many writings on spirituality have come down to us under the name of Mark the Hermit,* who is said to have been a
of St. John Chrysostom but their authorship is uncertain. Two discourses on asceticism^ are generally attributed to Arsenius, an Egyptian solitary who died about 449, and a treatise on Spiritual Perjection^^ is usually ascribed to Diadochus. The famous exegete, St. Isidore of Pelusium, in his numerous letters*^ has also left us interesting views on asceticism. But the most important spiritual writer of this period is This celebrity first of all held a most honourable St. Nilus. post at court in Byzantium, then gave up the world and withdrew into the solitude of Mount Sinai with Theodulus, one of
disciple
;

Capita

Cafitiila

XXXII

fractica ad Anatolium ; Rerum vionacharum Sententiae ; De octo vitiosis cogiiationibus

;

rationes;

ad Anato-

lium (P.G. XL, 1220-1286). } Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. vi, cap. 30. Cj. Capita fractica ad Anatolium, 35-42 (P.G. XL, 1232). Ef. CXXXIII, ad Ctesiphonem, 3.
'

5 " ^

Spiritual Meadow, ch. 177. Scala Paradisi, gradus 14. Migne, P.G. XL, 1105-1212. Id., P.G. LXV, qoc;-ii4o. Doctrina et exhortatio ; Ad

Nomicum

tentatorcm

(P.G.

LXVI,

1617-1626).

Capitula centum de perjectione spiritual!. See Migne's Latin P.G. LXV, 1167-1212. All works will be quoted under the names of
'"

the writers to
^1

they are attributed, to save trouble. Isidore was a priest and the 177-1646. abbot of a monaster}' near Pelusium. lie died in 440.

whom

Migne, P.G. LXXVIII,

ascetic Zlcacblno of tbc JEastciii /iDoiihs

his sons.

103

His rtpiiUition for

siirutily aiul kamiiij^ .sprc.id far

and wide. lie was nuich souj^^ht after for advice, as is shown by his voluminous correspondence. His place of refuj^e was disturbed by an invasion of Saracens who made a raid upon Mount Sinai, slew many of the monks, and carried olT a number of prisoners, amonj^ whom was Theotlulus. Nihis was spared. He started in search of his son, whom he ended by finding at Elusa. The bishop of that place ordained him priest as well as Theodulus.* St. Nilus died on Mount Sinai
about 430. His writings deal with the monastic
written for those teaching set forth
treatise
livingin
is

On

Prayer

life,^ except one or two All contain rich the world. ^ The a pleasing and imaginative style. specially remarkable and has often been

in

quoted.
Lastly, let us mention two Syriac writers Bishop Aphraates or Afrahat, and St. Ephraem, the famous deacon of Edessa. Aphraates lived in Persia in the middle of the fourth century. He has left us homilies or letters addressed to a friend on the principal questions of faith, morals, and asceticism.* He tells us that in Persia those vowed to continence were called "children of the pact," because they
:

The had publicly pledged themselves to keep chastity. "children of the pact" usually dwelt in their own families; some, however, constituting^ monastic communities, and others becoming anchorites. Ephraem the Syrian lived as a hermit from his youth near When Nisibis, in the time of the bishop James (t 361).
Nisibis fell into the power of the Persians, Ephraem withdrew to a mountain near Edessa, but he often came to preach in the town. He was in relation with St. Basil, who is said to have ordained him a deacon. His numerous writings consist of Biblical commentaries, discourses, and hymns, in which He is best known by his ascetical considerations abound. hymns in honour of Christ and of the Virgin Mary. These won for him the cognomen of The Harp of the Holy Ghost. The monastic spirituality of the East regards the Christian It trains for the fray the soul life above all as a combat.
Narrationes de caede monaNilus himself relates these facts in monte Sinai, i to vii (P.G. LXXIX, 589-693). * De monastica cxercitatione ; De monachorum fraestantia; De voluntaria faufertate; Oratio ad Albianum; Tractatus ad Eulogium monachum; De octo sfiritibus malitiae ; De oratione (P.G. LXXIX). ' Peristeria seu tractatus de virtutibus excolendis et vitiis fugiendis De diversis malignis cogitationibus (P.G. LXXIX). * GraflBn, Patrologia syriaca, I. Cf. J. M. Chavanis, Les Lettres d' Afrahat !e Sage de la Perse, 1908. ' The Syriac liturgy contains many hymns by St. Ephraem. Joseph Simon Assemani published the works of St. Ephraem at Rome in 17^2incomplete. His edition is 1746.
1

St.

chorum

I04

Cbrfstfan SpirituaUti?

desirous of virtue. It makes virtue consist in the extirpation " Whoever wishes to acquire a of the vices opposed to it. virtue," said a monk to his brethren, "will never win it unless he begins by detesting the vice which is its exact opposite. ... If then thou desirest humility, ever detest If thou pride. If thou wouldst be sober, hate gluttony. wouldst be chaste, loathe impurity."^ St. Francis of Sales takes a different point of view when he writes of obedience " Do all for love, and nothing under compulsion obedience is more to be loved than disobedience to be feared."^ The perfect Christian is he who has entirely destroyed his passions. Total mortification, " holy apatheia/'^ in a Christian sense, is the ascetical ideal to be constantly pursued. Furthermore, the Eastern spiritual writers describe the vices to fight against at much greater length than the virtues to be exercised. The larger part of the monastic asceticism can be reduced, as we shall see, to an enumeration of the vices into which a religious may fall, and an exposition of the means to be used for their correction or prevention. Hesychius (t 433), a contemporary of Nilus, and a monk and priest of Jerusalem, expressed the characteristic of this spirituality even in the title he gave to his ascetical work,'* On Striving and Praying. He set himself to show how to get rid of evil thoughts which give rise to temptations and hinder prayer. And he almost always insists upon the evil to be striven against and crushed, and hardly ever describes the attractions and beauties of the virtues to be practised. Apparently these austere monks would have regarded it as a lack of mortification to dwell too much upon the consoling and attractive aspect of devotion in the way with which St. Francis of Sales so well succeeded. The important position given in their writings to the struggle with evil spirits is a result of the same tendency. In short, their spirituality offers to our view the hard, arduous, and rigorous side of sanctity, as the Fathers of the desert who were so strict with themselves loved to think of it and to approach it. I shall summarize their spirituality by gathering it together under these various headings The excellence of the monastic Monastic perfection The monk's temptations Prayer life The struggle with evil spirits.
:

John Moschus, Spiritual Meadow,

ch.

187 (P.G.

LXXXVII,

3064,

3065)-

CEuvres de S. Francois de Sales, Annecy-Lyon, XII, p. 359. 3 St. Nilus, De malignis cogitatiotiibus, cap. iii. * De temferantia et virtute (P.G. XCIII, 1480-1544). This Latin title very imperfectly expresses the subject of the work. It is composed of two chapters called centuries, because each is divided into a hundred parts. Such divisions were then very common.
2

Hscctic TLcacbUxQ of tbc Eastern /lOonfts

105

I. THF

KXCELLKNCE OF THE MONASTIC LIFE-

MONK AND

PRIEST

Thk monastic calling is as far above the state of the ordinary Christian as the contemplative life is above the active. Our Lord in His reply to Martha (Luke x. 41, 42) declared that the love of contemplation is a j^ood to be put before all things. All other virtues, though good and necessary, nevertheless are in the second rank, and are intended to lead on to contem[)lation. When Martha spent herself in waiting upon our Lord she was certainly doing a useful and laudable work. Nevertheless Marj-, sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His words, had chosen the better part. But the end of the monastic life, the goal of the monk's endeavour, is exactly that of first destroying his faults and then of attaining to constant contemplation of God and the things of God.^ Such considerations as to the dignity of the monastic life were put before the religious to show them the ideal they were to aim at. And they were often inspired by apologetic reasons. Indeed, the monastic life, in spite of its successes, or rather on account of them, soon had to encounter detractors. What was the social good of monks who despised the goods of this world and fled from the companionship of their fellows? Is salvation impossible without living in poverty and deprivation ? Is not married life as perfect as virginity ?^ Monasticism wanted to be a living criticism of the world. The world took its revenge by turning it into ridicule, by discrediting
it,

and even by persecuting

it.'

Ecclesiastical writers undertook the defence of the monastic vocation, of the "true philosophy" as it was then called,* and showed the excellence of the life of perfection. The world only esteems the riches, the honours, and the pleasures of this life. Its eyes are all for princes and kings surrounded with pomp, and magnificence, and luxury. It is grossly mistaken. The monk is richer than kings, for he possesses spiritual goods in abundance. He is also more mighty, for he holds the mastery over all his passions, whereas the king is but the slave of his desires. He does more good, for his prayers influence souls and deliver them from the tyranny of evil spirits. As for the king, he does
1

Cassian, CoUatio,
Cf. St.
i,

St. Jerome, Ef. XXII, ad Eustochium, 24. i, 8. John Chrysostom, Adversus opfugnatores vilae monasticae,

lib.
'

2.

Under Valens the monks were driven out

St.

of
i,

some
3.

of the portions
Si.

of the empire.
*

John

Chrysostom,
i

De

sacerdotio,
720).

Nilus,

De

viouastica vita,

(P.G.

LXXIX,

io6

Cbii^ttan Spirttuallt\?

g"Ood to the body only. After death, in fine, the monk's salvation is surer and his heavenly reward greater.^ By the practice of virginity his state is higher than that of the married, and he is much happier.^ He is entirely devoted to prayer; his heart is an altar whence, as an incense of sweet savour, perpetually arise the purest of prayers to the Most High.-"* Therefore the dignity of the monastic state is very exalted. Happy are they whom the Saviour calls thereto The call of God to the monastic life is shown in the main in three ways, either by a direct call when God touches the heart by some inspiration and arouses in it the desire of truly following Christ, or by means of the example of the saints or the exhortations of preachers or, lastly, by dint of sufferings, such as those caused by the loss of our possessions or by the death of those dear to us.*
! ;

position

Alone higher than the monk stands the priest, whose noble and powers surpass all that there is in this world. St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome, who so highly exalted the monastic calling, praised the priesthood to an even greater
degree.
;

The functions of the priest are entirely heavenly this may be said with assurance. Indeed, might one not think oneself taken up into heaven, when one beholds " the Lord immolated
and lying upon the altar, the priest celebrating the sacrifice and praying, and the faithful with their lips reddened with the precious blood of Christ?^ While he is ministering
.
.

Eucharistic sacrifice the priest is surrounded with angels and the choir of heavenly powers is singing the praises of the divine Victim. ... A holy old man, who often had visions, one day at the moment of the sacrifice saw a host of angels in splendid attire standing round the altar with bowed heads, like soldiers before the emperor."" The priest is powerful, for he brings down from heaven divine grace upon the sacrifice by invoking the Holy Spirit by baptismal regeneration he remits sins and cleanses souls and by his prayers he makes God propitious not only to the living, but also to the dead.''
in

the

'1

St.

XLVII,

John Chrysostom, Comfaratio regis et vionachi, Adversus of fu gnat ores vitae mottasticae 387 ff.")
;

1-4
ii,

(P.G.
5,
6.

Cf. St. Nilus,

De monasticae vitae, 2 ^. 2 See the De virginitate by St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nyssa (P.G. XLIV, 317-416), wherein marriage may be too much
8

HpnrccicitGci
St. Nilus, Efistol. lib. iii, 32

(P.G.

LXXIX,
iii,

388).

*
8

Cassian, Collatio,
St. St.

iii, 4,

5.

John Chrysostom, De Sacerdotio, John Chrysostom, De Sacerdotio, XIV, ad Heliodorum, 8.

6
'

4.
4.

vi,

Cf.

St.

Jerome,
to

E-p.

Id.,

iii,

4; vi,
St.

and ambition

To preserve his monks from temptations 4. Pachomius forbade them to be priests.

pride

my HtX'ctic ZTcacbiiiti ot the flai?tcni /IDoul;^ The lunctions of thr priest mx- more uii|)ort;ml ;iiul iiriliMUis than those of the monk. He who unckrtaUes them must be eloquent and able to conduct a controversy and he has to labour much over his sermons, not for vainj^lory, but to please Ciod and to help the faithful.* At death he must render a fearful account to Ciod, for the liability even of his people's sins will rest upon him. Further, the fulfilment of the duties of a priest is a j^^reat proof of love for Christ and of charity
;

for Christians." Lastly, the sanctity of the priest is far more perfect than " The soul of the priest should be that of the monastic life. I'ure must be the hands that touch purer than sunlij^^ht. I'ure must be the tonj^ue that utters the words of the Lord And nevertheless he is exposed to greater the sacrifice !"^
. .

risks than the monk in his isolation, and he has fewer means Therefore his virtue must be surer and he of preservation. has to take greater precautions, especially in his ministrations He must excel in disinterestedness'^ and all to women.* the virtues which St. Paul requires of a bishop in his Pastoral Epistles.^

H. MONASTIC PERFECTION
AscKTicAL writers have attempted to define that perfection which should be greater in the priest than in the monk. vSome ascetics were rather formal in their conception of it and inclined to regard it as consisting in external acts of penance.^ But " fasts and vigils, meditation on the Scriptures and deprivation of all the goods of this world are not perfec1 Cf. St. Jerome, p. LII, ad Nefotianum, 8; Docente te in ecclesia, non clamor fopuli, sed gemitus suscitetur. Lacrymae auditorum laudes tuae sinl. Sermo -presbyteri Scrifturartim lectione condiius sit. Nolo te declamatorem esse et rabulam garrulumque sine ratione, sed mysleriorum feritum et sacramentorum Dei tui eruditissimum.

De De

Sacerdotio,
Sacerdotio,
5
:

iv, 3, 4

vi,

ii,

i.

3
*

Id., vi, 4.
iii, 17 vi, 8, 9. Cf. St. Jerome, Ef. LII, ad NefoHosfitiolum tuum aut raro aut nunquam mulierum fedes
;

tianum,
terant.

aequaliter dilige.

fuellas et virgines Ckristi, aut aequaliter ignora, aut Ne sub eodem tec to man sites, nee in fraeteritacastitate confidas. Nee David sanctior, nee Salomone fotes esse safientior. Memento semfer quod faradisi colonum de fossessione sua mulier Si frofter officium clericatus, aut vidua a te ejecerit (Gen. iii). ... visitatur, aut virgo, nunquam domum solus introeas. Solus cum sola, secreto et absque arbitro vel teste ne sedeas. Caveto omnes . susficiones, et quidquid frobabiliter fingi potest ne fingatur ante devita. 6 De Sacerdotio, vi, 8. Obsecro te St. Jerome, id., 5 ne lucra saeculi in Christi quaeras militia, ne plus habeas quam quando clericus esse coepisti Negotiatorem clericum et ex inope divitem, ex ignobili gloriosum quasi quamdam pestem fuge. ' De Sacerdotio, vi, 5. Cf. St. Jerome, Ep. XIV, ad Heliodorum, 9.
.

Omnes

Lausiac History, Prologue.

Cbrfstian Spirituality means for attaining it."^ Does not St. Paul say that without charity giving- away one's possessions availeth nothing? For "neither is eating really anything, nor is abstinence anything, but faith that results in works through
tion but the

io8

charity.

"2

Nevertheless, if voluntary surrender of earthly possessions does not make monastic perfection, it is an indispensable " The highest point of apostleship and the condition of it. crown of perfection," says St. Jerome, " is to sell all that one has and give it to the poor, so as to rise unweighted and free from all ties towards Christ."^ He who would be perfect, like Abraham, must therefore leave his country and his kin. If he have possessions, he must strip himself of them if he has none, so much the better, he is free from a heavy burden poor himself, he can follow Jesus who is poor.* But if we consider perfection in itself, it is inward, for " the first thing of all for us to purify," says Arsenius the hermit, " is the inward man."^ It consists in charity, which is nothing but the purity of a heart stripped of its passions, adorned with virtue and united with God. Such is the mind of St. Paul in his description of the character of charity. For " not to envy, not to be proud, not to be unkind, not to be self-seeking, not to rejoice in iniquity, what is all this but to offer perpetually to God a perfect heart, a heart most pure and carefully guarded from all assaults of the passions and whatever else may disturb it?"* Hence to be perfect is before all " to be purified from all sin and freed from every disorderly affection."^ It means through ascetical practices to have reached a passionless state, in which the soul enjoys perfect tranquillity in the closest union with God by charity.^ To be perfect, then, necessarily implies a complete exercise
;

1 Cassian, Collatio, i, 7. Cf. Macarius of Egypt, Liber de custodia cordis, 12 Voluntary poverty, psalmody, fasting and prayer are good things, but they are of little avail to those who have not established within themselves the foundation of humility whereof Christ is the example. Cj. St. Jerome, Ef. CXLVIII, 22.
:

Lausiac History, Prologue. St. Jerome, E-p. CXXX, ad Demetriadem, 14. *.Id., Ef. CXXV, ad Rusticum monachum, sequi Jesum. 8 Doctrina et exhortatio, i (P.G. LXVI, 1617).
2 3

20:

Nudus nudum

Cassian, Collatio, i, 6. Macarius the Egyptian, Homil. viii, i (P.G. XXXIV, 508). 8 Afatheia, in its most Christian sense, is regarded by Eastern writers as an element of perfection. See Macarius the Egyptian, id.; Liber de elevatione mentis, 20 (P.G. XXXIV, 905) Liber de libertate mentis, 4-6 (P.G. XXXIV, 938 if-)St. Nilus, De malignis cogitationibus, iii. Cassian takes the same view Callatio, i. 6, 7 ix, 2. In the sixth century St. John Climacus, summing up Greek spirituality, attaches much importance to Christian afatheia. Cf. Scala Paradisi, gradus 29.

; : ;

the virtues passions the soul

of
all

109 Hscetlc Tlcacbtno of tbc JEastcrn ^onhs Hy risiny^ tiitirely above the in coriilation. makes all good habits rule within it. This

is inevitable, for if only one of its powers were released from goodness there would be no perfection. To fast and give way to anger, to meditate on Holy Scripture, and to despise one's "Better is the layman who brethren, is not to be perfect.' helps his neighbour than the anchorite who shows no kindness to his brother," rightly remarks Evagrius of Pontus.' Hence the monk who aspires to be perfect must try to acquire all virtues by the complete mortification of his unruly desires. And the collections of monastic directions give particular

counsels to lead on the religious by degrees to the purity of heart and all-round practice of the virtues that make up
perfection.^ Thus defined, perfection implies preservation from all sin, however venial it may be. It also assumes the total destruction of the passions, to such a degree as never again to be Such perfection as this is ideal; it is disturbed by them.

unattainable in this world. For however holy a Christian may be, he cannot escape venial sins of fragility; and however great hisausterities, he will never in this life so far succeed in the mortification of his passions as not to feel temptation. The ascetical writers of the East were indeed convinced that such perfection was not of this world. Macarius the Egyptian declared that he had never met with a monk who was truly perfect. He had seen those who were perfect in some respects, but not one of them in all, " for sin always lurks in .some recess of man's soul."* St. Augustine is still more definite in teaching that man cannot hope to attain to absolute perfection here below. His duty is ever to tend towards it. Hence for the Christian perfection means a constant striving towards the better. This, indeed, is the conclusion to which the monks were led draw nearer and nearer to perfection, by experience. says Slacarius the Egyptian we go towards it by degrees, just as the child is gradually formed in its mother's womb, and as the grain of barley or wheat rises and grows imper-

We

ceptibly.''

any

ascetical authors of this period do not appear to give teaching as to the number of stages to be Some of them reckon that traversed to attain perfection.
definite
St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Virginitate, 17, 18. Sentences (P.G. XL, 1280). 3 C/. St. Athanasius, Syntagma ad Monachos (P.G. XXVIII, 835). Vitae Patrum, lib. V, libell. i. 22. Diadochus, CapituLa centum dt ferfectione sfirituali (P.G. LXV, 1167 ff.). Homil. VIII, 5; XV, 7. ' Homil. XV, 40 Liber d: custodia cordis, 11.
1

The

no

Cbrfsttan Spirituality

there are twelve.^ However, according to the teaching fairly generally attributed to St. Basil, ^ in the struggle with evil for the winning of virtue the Christian passes in order through the three steps of fear, hope, and love. At the beginning of his conversion the fear of hell is what turns him away from evil he behaves as a slave who obeys from fear of punishment. Is not fear the foundation of piety? "Just as no poison," says Pachomius, "can withstand fire, so are all temptations of impurity, ambition, discouragement, envy and avarice destroyed by the fear of God."^ If the beginner perseveres, fear is followed by hope of the reward This, too, is an of heaven and by the desire to win it. interested motive it is that of the mercenary who works for what he can get. Lastly, the Christian ends by being led by the love of Christ and of goodness. He then reaches the state of God's children who are disinterested.*
;

Besides this theological conception of perfection, spiritual writers also showed what the practice of perfection implied in the case of each kind of monk, what should be done in the different sorts of monastic life each had to lead in order to avoid all evil and practise goodness in its integrity. In their addresses on the eremitic and coenobitic life superiors took pains to explain what was most perfect in the For the hermit, case of the anchorite and the coenobite. lacking everything in the desert, perfection consists in keeping himself entirely detached in spirit from worldly goods, and in living in union with Christ as far as the weakness of human nature allows. For the coenobite, living in community under a superior, perfection means the total mortification and crucifixion of self-will, and in having no care for the morrow, as the Gospel directs (Matt. vi. 34).^

The monastic heads knew from experience how few realize such rules of perfection, and that all the religious cannot be regarded as models.^ But at least they set before them the obligation they are under of trying to attain the standard of Is it not to the perfection that God demanded of them. No man putiing his spiritual sluggard that the Lord says
:

Macarius of Egypt, Ilotnil. VIII, 4. Cf. Dorotheus (-)- about 630), Doctrina, xiv, 7 (P.O.
Acta Sanctorum, 14

LXXXVIII,

1785)3

May,

p. 319.
;

Cf. St. Jerome,

Adversus Pela-

gianos, 5. * Cassian, Collatio, xi, 6 ;^. Cf. Diadochu.s, cap. 93. 43. Cassian, Collatio, xix, 8 ;
''

De Coenobiorum

Instittiiis, iv, 25, 39,

De Coenobiorum

Institutis, v.

40.

Cf.

Jerome, Ef. XXII, ad Eustochium, 35; In Hieremiam, Thren., iii, 27. Cassian, De Coenobiorum Institutis, v, 4; Collatio, i, i.
St.

ad

Bsccttc TTcacbtno ot tbc EaBtcin /IDoiihs to the plougk and lookitig back is fit for the kingdom dod'y^ Thus the monk who ncgleclb his own pcrlectioii
hand
licking
in

m
of
is

a g^ravc duty.^

III. THE

MONK'S TEMPTATIONS

attain to perfection the first and the most difficult thing to to overcome one's besetting sins. They reckoned that there were eight capital sins which summed up all the evil committed in this world greediness, or rather gluttony, impurity, avarice, anger, melancholy, disrelish of the spiritual life, vainglory and pride. ^ Such is the list given by almost all the ascetical writers of those days, who dwell sometimes inordinately upon the consideration of the vices and the way to combat them.* They carefully explained the nature of these sins, the way in which they assault and take possession of the soul, and the weapons to be used in repelling them. Before joining battle, must we not get to know the character and the tactics of our

To
do

is

adversary?
are usually ignorant of our sins and passions. God to us, and the teaching of the ancients, founded on experience, must be our instructors. Further, it is essential for young monks, above all, to try to reveal their defects to their elders to obtain their advice, if they desire self-reformation. Among these sins, some have their seat in the body, such as gluttony and impurity these are carnal sins rooted in concupiscence, and they feed upon the disorderly pleasures of Others dwell in the souls that they disturb, the senses. excite and cast down, such as anger and melancholy, which are called spiritual sins.* The carnal sins must be attacked by keeping from the senses all that stimulates them, by banishing any sensuous

We

must make them known

De Coenobiorum

Inslitutis, iv, 36.

St. Jerome, Ef. XIV, esse nolle, delinquere est.

2 ^
:

ad Heliodorum,

Perjectum [monachum)

Cassian, Coilatio, v, 2 Octo sunl frincifalia vitia quae humanxim injestant genus, id est, frimum gastrimargia, quod sonat veniris ingluvies ; secundum fornicatio ; tertium f hilar gyria, id est, avaritia sive amor pecuniae; quartum ira; quintum tristitia; sextum acedia, id est anxietas sive taedium cordis; septimum cenodoxia, id est jactantia seu vana gloria; octavum suferbia. * Evagrius of Pontus, De octo vitiosis cogitationibus, 1 ; St. Nilus, De octo spiritibus malitiae (P.G. LXXIX, 1145-1164); Hesychius, De tcmpcrar.Ha et virtute, Centuria ii, 75. Cassian treats of these sins at length De Coenobiorum Inst., v to xii. See also the Vitae Patrum, V and vii (P.L. LXXIII, S51-992, 1025-1066). ^ Cassian, De Coenobiorum Inst., v, 2; vii, 12. Id., Coilatio, V, 3, 4. Cf. St. Basil, Regulae fusius tractatae, 16. Diadocbus, Capita de perjectione spirituali, cap. 99 (P.G. LXV, 1210).
:

"2

Cbristlan Spirituality

representation from the mind, and by undertaking corporal mortifications. Energy of will can overcome spiritual sins. But we must not forget that without God's help we cannot of ourselves destroy our sinful propensities. Thus the monk must stir up within himself deep feelings of humility, and be thoroughly convinced of his inability to conquer all the enemies of his salvation in his own strength.^ He must resort to prayer. He who would refine gold must maintain the fire with ceaseless ardour; and thus the religious who desires to destroy the worldly and sinful affections of his heart must continually sustain the fire of prayer in it with the " recollection of God and the Lord Jesus Christ."^ The vices make a sort of conspiracy. They help one another to take possession of the soul of the religious. Therefore all of them must be attacked for safety's sake. It is dwelling in illusion to think a vice can be successfully resisted without simultaneously fighting against all the rest, just as it is impossible to advance in one virtue without trying to practise all of them.^ In addressing his followers St. Antony makes use of the thought of the Last Things as eminently fitted to stir up the courage of the monks in their struggle with evil. On rising in the morning, they must say to themselves that they will not perhaps live until the evening and in taking their rest at Hence night, that perhaps they may never see the morning. the Christian must never be anxious about this world's goods, which are so suddenly left behind, but seek such as will gain heaven for him. Besides, eternal life is cheap to buy. For a few years of toil in the service of God an eternal reward may be won. Hence heavenly gains are unlike those of this world, which can only be had at a price equivalent to their worth. Therefore we must never tire of doing good and of practising
;

virtue.*

Antony also taught his disciples how to overcome their and to grow in virtue by a method that became famous. He who would truly be virtuous and who desires to attain the heights of perfection, said he, will watch his brethren and endeavour to imitate the virtue in which each excels. One is
St.

faults

remarkable for his gentleness, another for his love of prayer, a third for his chastity. Like the bee, the monk will pilfer to some extent in all directions to make spiritual honey for the improvement and sustenance of his soul.'
1

Cassian, Collatio, v,

15.

2 3

Diadochus, Ca-pita de -perfectione spirituali, cap. 97. Cassian, De Coenobiorum St. Basil, Regulae fusius tractatae, 16.
I.
i,

Inst., V,
*

Vita Antonii, 16. Hesychius, De tem-perantia etvirtute, Centuria, (P.G. XCIII, 1483). 6 St. Athanasius, Vita Antonii, 4 (P.G. XXVI, 845); Cassian,

17

De

Coenobiorum

Inst., v, 4.

Hsccttc ZTcacbiuo ot tbe lEastcin /lDonh5

I<'r.'C|ucnt

113
ot

examination

ol the

motions of one's heart and

the dispositions ot one's soul is also necessary tor the correction of one's faults. The exercise which was afterwards known as the examination of conscience is recommended by the masters of the monastic life as an excellent means of planning"- a campaig-n against one's passions.^ Lastly, it is important to observe that a fairly considerable time is required for the amendment of defects and the acquisition of virtues. Long and patient efTort, one may be sure, is

vice that has been got rid of. Generally backsliding is preceded by some evil thought, by a lustful look, or by continuous neglect of self-examination. \'irtue weakens little by little, vice creeps into the heart insensibly, and works sad ruin in it.^ To these general principles, as we shall see, more special counsels with regard to each fault in particular were added to equip the monks fully for the fight against the enemies of
their souls.

demanded of him who desires sanctification Nor does a soul suddenly fall back into the
!

Gluttony is put at the head of the list of vices against which the monk must be on his guard. How can we help being surprised that monks who fasted and were accustomed to coarse fare were bidden in the first place to resist temptations to insobriety? But it was just because of their fasting that they ran the risk in their one meal of eating more than was necessary and of falling into the sin of what was called For even though gluttony (gastrifyiargia, yaiTrpifMapyia). fasting and only partaking of rough fare, one may eat too much. Now, it is not only the quality but also the quantity There is a very close of foods that endangers chastity. connection between impurity and fulness of stomach, even though the provisions be poor.^ Moreover, St. Pachomius and St. Basil, while liberally permitting- necessaries to the monks, counsel them not to eat to the limit of satiety. The quantity of food anyone may take without failing in temperance varies according to age and temperament and health. Each one must discover what is good for him.* On the other
*

2 3

Cassian, Collatio, v, 14. Cassian, Collatio, v, 17

St.
:

De Coertobiorum
18.

Ep. LIV, ad appetentium in medio ilinere corruunt, dum solam abstinentiam carnium curant et leguminibus onerant stomachum quae moderate parceque sumpta innoxia sunt. Ad Jovinianum, ii, 12 Etiam ex vilissimis cibis vitanda est satietas nihil enim ita obruit animum ut plenus venter et exaesluans. St. Nilus, De octo spiritibus malitiae, 4 Gluttony is the mother of intemperance
Basil, Regulae fusius tractatae, Fttriam , 10 Nonnulli vilam fudicam
:
:

Inst., ix, 6. St. Jerome,

(P.G.
*

LXXIX,
Basil,

148).

Regulae fusius traitatae, i6, 18-20. Cassian, De CoenoCt. Vitae Patrum, VII, i To eat much and stop before satiety is more meritorious than eating a little and beSt.

biorum

Inst., v, 5, 8, q.

coming

sated.

114

Cbvistlan Spirituality
in
;

an opposite direction, such as subjecting oneself to indiscreet privations, must be avoided it would lead to depression and inability to pray and work. ^ Hermits and monks in their fervour greatly dreaded gluttony. In their struggle against it many of them abstained from necessary food, fasted terribly and even to excess. "From my youth up," said Serapion the monk, "I have been tempted to avarice and gluttony (yao-rpt/xapyia) and sensualism. I have got rid of two, avarice and sensualism they no longer trouble me. I cannot get rid of my propensity to gluttony. It is four days since I have eaten anything, and my stomach continues to trouble me, and to call for the customary food without which I cannot live."^

hand, excess

Impurity even

[Tropvda)

was

the

vice

monks, and the one which sometimes

in the solitude of the desert.

most dreaded by the violently tempted them Many of them had led a

taking to the monastic life, and, the desert of Chalcis,^ they found it hard Others had a to banish the recollection of worldly pleasures. dreamy disposition unsuited to a life of solitude, and this Lastly " the spirit of impurity proved troublesome. always torments most severely those who live a life of continence."* Hence the religious required to know definitely how to behave in order to guard their virtue in the " war to the death " ^ they had to wage with impurity. Chastity consists " in a total renunciation of all that conduces to sensualism and forbidden pleasures."^ Many go astray in this matter. " They keep corporal virginity, and sin in spirit " through evil desires and guilty thoughts.'' Besides, there can be no purity of act without that of the heart, which must come first, and this demands the prompt refusal of every thought and imagination and recollection that may disturb the soul.^
less wild life before
in

more or
like St.

Jerome

Cassian, id., v, 9. Lausiac History, 37.

:

" How often in the wide wilderness, y Ef. XXII, ad Eustochium, 7 burning in the heat of the sun, I imagined myself amidst the pleasures I who through fear of hell had condemned myself to of Rome this prison infested with scorpions and wild beasts, saw myself in imagination carried away into dances with the young women of Rome. I remember how often I spent the night and day in crying out and I even dreaded my cell, as if it were the smiting my breast. ... accomplice of my thoughts." Cf. E-p. CXXV, ad Rusticum mona!

chiim., 12.
^
''

^
'

Largent, Saint Jerome, pp. 11-13, Paris, 1898. Evagrius, De octo vitiosis cogitationibus, 3. Cj. Vita Hilarionis, " Immane bellutn,^'' Caspian, De Coenobiorutn Inst., vi, i. St. l^asil, Regular fusins tractatae, ig.
St.

5.

Vitae Patrimi, lib. V, libell. v, 2. Basil, Regulae jusius tractatae,

5.

Cassian,

De Coenobiorum

Inst., vi, 12, 13.

115 ascetic ZTcacbiiHl ot tbc Eastern (K^onlis mind. Hence the evil of impurity affects both body and The body inclines us to evil, says St. Antony, by its very nature, which inflames us with passion, by the food we give The mind it, and by the snares which the devil sets for it. tempts us to sin by evil thoughts and memories.* These two enemies must be .'ittacked by a twofold warfare. By fasting and temperance the body must be cut off from what sustains
Kvil thoughts must be stilled in the beginning by meditation on Holy Scripture, by work, by vigilance, by fleeing from the world and dangerous occasions, by strictness For the protection of purity, in one's relations with women. ^ it must go along with many other virtues as its guardians and helpers, especially with humility, distrust of self, a peniLastly, tential spirit, and the fear of eternal punishment.^ much prayer is needed for our Lord bids us fast and pray to

the passions.

drive

the East are recounted at length by their historians because they held a prominent place in their lives, and were a real nightmare to many of them. Anti-religious critics have made use of this to defame the Fathers of the desert, regarding them as truly guilty of the Nothing could be more acts to which they were tempted.' No doubt there were bad monks who followed their unfair. evil propensities. Historians related their falls quite frankly.^ How could these inevitable exceptions tarnish the goodness of the rest? Far from being guilty, the Fathers of the desert rather exaggerated the strictness of their obligations. So great was their dread of all kinds of impurity that they sometimes pushed their love of modesty to the extreme of eccentricity,'' and shunned women to the point of being un-

away the spirit of impurity.* The temptations of the monks of

bending towards their sisters and even to their own mothers.^ They even regarded as culpable physiological phenomena that are entirely involuntary," and many of thein thought that true and perfect chastity implied such a condition of the senses as prevented their recurrence even in sleep.*" But however
1

Vtttje

Pa/rum.

lib.

V,

libell. v, i.

C/. Lausiac History, 23.

Cassian,

Collatio, xii, 8. St. Nilus, De malignis, cogitationibus, i, 2, etc. * Cf. St. Nilus, De octo sfiritibus malitiae, 4. 8 De Coenobicrum Inst., v, 10, St. Basil, Regulae fusius tractatae,
33.
* *
7

Vita Sancti Pachomii, 16. Cassian, De Coenobiorum Inst., vi, i, 2; Collatio, v, 4. Cf. Ladeuze, ttude sur le chiobitisme fachomien, pp. 332-366. Lausiac History, 36, 47. Id., 8, 37, 39. Cf. Cassian, Collatio, vii, 26. Vita Vitae Patrum, lib. Ill, 33, 34; lib. V, libell. iv, 61, 68.
11, 23, 37.
:

Pachomii, 28. * Cf. Lausiac History,

^"

Cassian, De Coenobiorum Inst., vi, 10 Cujus puritutis ( ferfectae hoc erit eviJens indicium ac flena frobatio, si vel nulla imago decipiens quiesceutibus nobis rt in soporem laxatis occurrat, vel certe inter, pellens nullos concupiscentiae motus valleat excitare. Cf. vi, 20, 2i
Collatio, xii, 7.

perfect

Cbristian Spiritualitg man's virtue may be, it will not totally banish temptation and the rebellion of the flesh. Does not St. Paul, despite all his sanctity, speak of the body of death from which
a

"6

he longed to be delivered?^
led some ascetics to make mistakes on this matter their conviction that mortification would enable them to rise so far above their passions as to become in a way

What

was

impassible, and thus beyond the reach of evil. Some monks thought their virtue was imperfect so long as they fell short of such total insensibility, as if virtue consisted in insensibility and not in the ceaseless conquest of the senses by the will.

Avarice or the love of money {(f>tXapyvpLa) is usually due in first instance to an imperfect training in detachment from temporal possessions at the beginning of the religious life. The monk who has failed to acquire the spirit of poverty ends by surmising that putting aside a little money to supplement the scantiness of the food and clothing provided by the monastery is a measure of prudence. If he happens to fall ill he will be glad to, have a few comforts in addition to those accorded by the Rule. Lastly, his slackness makes him feel it to be a hardship to be always living in the same monastery, and if he is penniless he will not be able to undertake the expense of travelling from one monastery to another. Hence he is tempted to obtain money, even by rather dishonest means. ^ Avarice may also taint all a monk's virtues and finally ruin his vocation.^ It is easy in such matters to fall into illusions. One day St. Basil said to a great man, a senator who had become a monk and kept part of his possessions so as not to have to work and not to suffer from monastic poverty " You have given up being a senator, but you don't make a monk."* The way to avoid avarice is to have nothing at all of one's own and tear the desire to possess ruthlessly out of one's The monastic traditions strictly forbade the religious heart. to keep any money, however small the amount. Superiors did not shrink from inflicting exemplary penalties upon those
the
:

who broke this " A monk of

rule.

the desert of Nitria,

much more from

thrift

than from avarice, left at his death a hundred small golden coins which he had earned in weaving flax. The monks of the district there were about five thousand of them living in separate cells took counsel as to what was to be done with the money. It should be given to the poor, said some give it

Rom.

vii, 24.

' *

Cassian, De Coenobiorum Inst., vii, i, 7. Evagrius, 4. Cassian, id., vii, 8. St. Nilus, De octo sfiritibus, 7. Cassian, id., vii, 9. Vitat Patrum, lib. V, libell. vi, lo.

to the

n? Hacctic Zlcacblno of tbc a9tcni /TDonha Church, thought others; and some held that it should

be sent to the

Pambo,
by
its

But Macarius, relations of the deceased. Isidore, and others who were called Fathers, inspired the Holy (ihost, decided to bury the money along with
:

And

Thy money perish with thee (Acts viii. 20). think them not merciless, for this example filled all of Egypt with such terror, that it was considered a crime to leave a single piece of gold behind one."' Such, indeed, was the opinion of fervent monks who pushed their contempt for this world's goods to its extreme limits, as we are told bv those who were edified by beholding it.^ Melania the \'ounger and her husband I'inianus'' went to " They came see the monks in the outskirts of Alexandria. to the cell of a holy man, the Abbot Hephestion, and begged him to accept their offering of a little gold. As he sternly said he would do nothing of the sort, Blessed Melania searched through the saint's cell, looking for utensils. She found he had nothing in the world except a mat, a basket with a few drv- biscuits in it, and a small salt-cellar; and being deeply moved by the holy man's inexpressible and heavenly riches, she hid the gold in the salt and hurried out, She and fearing the old man might discover her stratagem. Pinianus begged his blessing, and took care to hasten away. But their evasion failed. When they had crossed the river, the man of God overtook them and cried out as he held the What can I do with this?' Blessed Melania answered gold 'You can give it to the poor.' But he protested that he would not keep the money nor give it away, for he lived in a He insisted desert, and none of the poor came that way. upon refusing, but could not persuade them to take the money back. Then the holy man threw it into the river. Many were the holy anchorites, many the most venerable virgins who refused all gifts. The Blessed Melania used pious devices to hide money in their cells, so much did she regard it as a spiritual gain, an immense advantage to the soul, to help the saints."*
owner, saying
'
:

against one

a feeling of indignation or irritation injured or who is supposed to have Even while we are It fills the soul with wrath. injured us. praying it fills our agitated mind with thought of the person who has offended us." It blinds the mind, upsets one's
{ira,
is

Anger

opy^)

who has

1 St. C/. Cassian, De Jerome, Ep. XXII, ad Eustochium, 33. Nee minuto quidetn nummo conscientia Coenobiorum Inst., vii, 21 monachi folluafur. * CI. Vilae Patrum. lib. V, libell. vi. ' As to these, see next Chapter. * Gerontius, Vita Melaniae (G. Goyau, Sainte Milanie, p. 152).
:

Evagrius,
.

De

octo vitiosis cogitaiionibus,

6.

St.

Niliis,

De

ocfo

sfiritibus

9.

"8 (Thrlstlan Spiritualit^i judgment, and makes us incapable of deciding upon any course with wisdom.^ Any monk who strives after perfection and fights the good fight must know how to keep from such a vice. The only anger that is lawful is the wrath he must turn upon himself
and against
his

own

temptations.^

He

is

forbidden to cherish,

even for a moment, any anger against his brethren, for he has to be constant in prayer, and before praying our Saviour bids everyone to be reconciled with his brother

we must never think we have a reason for being angry with anyone, and constantly remind ourselves that we cannot pray if we bear hatred in our hearts.* Lastly, we must practise humility, without which it is impossible to conquer anger and be patient. Why, indeed, do we take offence, unless it is because we are not humble enough? Further, it is by practising humility that we come to be patient, and not by fleeing from association with our fellows.^ Utterly mistaken were the misanthropic badtempered monks, of whom Cassian tells, ^ who could not put up with petty vexations such as are inevitable in community life, and left their monasteries to go and live in the desert. The great majority of monks, on the contrary, practised patience to perfection under contradiction and in affliction. Under calumny^ they remained calm. They were happy in enduring sickness and infirmity. hear of an old man who was almost always ill spending a whole year in exceptional freedom from suffering. This filled him with grief, and he wept and said " God has forsaken me this year He has left me to myself." "If bodily ailments bind thee," another monk was fond of saying, " be not pusillanimous. For if God wills thee to be weak in body, who art thou to be angry about it? Bear it with patience, and pray God to give thee what thou needest, that is to say, that His will be

(Matt. V. 23, 24).^ To guard against anger,

We

done."

who

There are two kinds of sadness one " according to God," " worketh penance unto salvation " (2 Cor. vii. 10), the other of the devil and working death. It is with the latter that we have to do here. Sadness or dejection (tristitia, XvTrrj) often arises from deprivation of the pleasures of the world in which the monk
:

2 3
4

Cassian, De Coenobiorutn Inst., viii, i. Cassian, id, viii, 5, 8. Cassian, id., vii, 12. Cf. St. Nilus, De oraiione,
(Cassian, id., 21. Collatio, xviii, 13, 16. De Coenobiorum Inst., viii, 15. Cassian, Collatio, xviii, 15.

13, 21.

6 ^ 8

Vitae Patrum, lib. V,

libell.

vii, 41, 45.

has to
life

119 Bncctic ZTcacbtno of tbc Eaj3tcni /IDonhs live. The memory of his home and family and former

fills

his

relations

him with regret and melancholy. Sometimes even bej;him to leave the monastery, and this

culminates in utterly ruining'- his peace of mind.' Dejection may also be a result of annoyance from which he has to suffer. Somitimes, too, it invades us for no apparent reason.^ It casts down the soul and hinders it from devotini^itself to prayer and the contemplation of the thinj^'-s of Ciod. It makes one impatient and irritable. It eats into the heart as moth eats into clothing-, and as worms cat into wood.'' The monk will find a cure for dejection in the company ol his brethren, and in the joy he ought to find in the thought of the eternal gains he hopes to win hereafter.'

The vice called acedia (iiK/8('a) is a sort of downheartcdness, slackness, distaste and boredom akin to dejection.'' Itwas termed " the demon of the midday," dacniutiium mcridianuui (Ps. xc. 6), because it was an evil that beset the mf)nk about the fourth hour (ten o'clock in the morning) and tormented him until the eighth hour (two o'clock in the afternoon). The monk feels the length of the day, that the sun is movingslowly, or even as if it did not move at all, and as if there were fifty hours in the day. He gets tired ; he looks out of his cell-window furthermore, he leaves his cell, scrutinizes the sun and reckons how long it is to none, when it will no doubt be time for a meal. Everything is a burden to him ;iiul bores him; the place, the work, and even the life he has to live. The smallest friction arouses his irritation against others. He repines at having nothing to do and because he feels a void within and cannot enjoy anything. He plans to change his monastery so as to be better off, and even comes to regret that he has given up the world. His uneasiness of mind may make him quit his monastery. Then he becomes a
;

on

vagabond {gyrovagus) monk, who goes m search of fervour all sides and never finds it.** The vice of acedia wrought destruction in monastic com-

In the prologue to his Lausiac History Palladlus munities. pives us to understand that many monks failed in their vows " through clinging to life, and through despondency (a/cj/^ta) and love of pleasure." Work is an excellent cure for despondency and chagrin. And it was rigorously ordered in monasteries. To persevere in the silence of the cell is also an effective way of overcoming1

Evagrius,
Cassian,
Id., ix,

De

octo vitiosis cogitationibus,

ix, 4, 13.
13.

5.

St.

Nilus,

De

octo

spiritibus, 11.
2
'

De Coenobiorum hut.,
*

1, 3.

Id., ix,

7,

/,{_

X,

I.

De

Evagrius, 7. Cf. Cassian, octo s fir Hi bus, 13, 14.

De Coenobiorum

Inst., x, 2.

St. Nilus,

120

Cbdstian Spirituality
for
it

life of retirement attractive. to thy cell, and it will grow sweet to thee," says the writer of the Imitation of Christ. ^ If the cell be not kept, if the monk tries to get rid of his depression by going with his brethren, the confinement g'rows unbearable and all desire for perfection dies away.^ Lastly, discouragement must be dealt with by frontal attack. It is not by shirking duties, which it makes repugnant, that one can counter it, but on the contrary by endeavouring to fulfil them with all one's energy day

boredom,
"

ends by making' a

Keep

by day.^

Vainglory (jactantia seu vana gloria, Kvo8o^ia) is a very subtle vice that easily wins its way into the hearts of the good and subjects them to illusions. It makes one wish others to know one's conflicts with the devil as well as the extent of one's austerities.* All may g'ive rise to vainglory in the soldier of Christ; his demeanour, his expression, his gait, his voice, his work, his vigils, his fasts, his prayers, his learning, his silence, his obedience, his humility and patience. Nothing will ward it off, neither solitude, nor the desert, nor old age." Temptations to vainglory were fairly common with the monks. Macarius of Alexandria only had to hear of some new form of austerity to take it up. " When he heard some people say that the monks of Tabennesi throughout Lent ate uncooked food, he determined to partake of no cooked food As a matter of fact, the monks of for seven years."* Tabennesi had a very strict regime during- Lent. Macarius wished to surpass them. He went to live amongst them, and stood throughout the whole of Lent and ate next to nothing. " I am Pachomius said to him in bidding him farewell grateful to you for having made my little children feel the weight of your fist. It will keep them from becoming puiTed up by their ascetic exercises."' In the prologue to his Lausiac History Palladius mentions monks who took upon themselves to eat hardly anything through "an unreasonable presumption, to please men," or else " through a spirit of rivalry and vanity." But, he adds, to partake of food and even of wine to a reasonable extent is better than fasting and drinking water with pride. The monks, even those who were the most discreet and
:

1 I, XX, 5 generat. 2 Cassian,

Cella

continuata dulcescit,
Inst, x, 5, 12.

et

male custodita taediiim

De Coenobiorum

3
*

Id., X, 25.

De
5
*5

Evagrius, 8; Cassian, octo spiritibus, 15.

De Coenobiorum

Inst, xi,

i,

2.

St.

Nilus,

'

Cassian, Id., xi, 3, 4, 6, 8. Lausiac History, 18 (A. Lucot, p. 119). Id. (A. Lucot, p. 131). Cf. Vitae Patrum,

lib.

V,

libell. viii.

H^cctic Hcacbino of tbc jeaincrn /IDouhs

humble, were tempted to vanity.
so fitted to

121

ihey

led .such a

hard hie,

and sometimes even in the West. Was not St. Antony tempted to glory in his prolonged sojourn in the desert, when he learnt that Paul of Thebes had surpassed him in this respect?' The desire to escape such temptations and not to run the risk of losing the merits of their penances through vainglory induced these holy men to bury themselves deeper and deeper in solitude, to withdraw themselves from the admiration of those who came to see them and besiege them in their cells. ^ They

make them famous throughout

the East,

also used ingenious devices to defeat the subtle plots of the spirit of vanity. *' If I felt," said Melania the Younger, who had been very wealthy and had embraced voluntary poverty, " that the Enemy was taking advantage of my privations to sow the Is it such a seed of pride in my mind, I would answer him great matter to fast for a week while others go for forty days together without food and to take no oil, when others And if the Enemy were abstain even from plain water?' tempting me to be puffed up for the sake of my poverty, then, confiding in the power of God, I would reply to his unspeakHow many have been taken captive by the able wickedness How many have incurred barbarians and stripped of liberty the disfavour of kings and lost their property and lives
' :

'

How
!

have become poor through their relations' faults Others have gone under through the audacity of .sycophants or robbers, and from being rich have become suddenly poor. Have we, then, done something great, when we despise the goods of this world for the sake of those that arc indestructible and everlasting?' And when I saw the Evil One returning to the attack and suggesting to me thoughts of vainglory because instead of linen and all sorts of silks was wearing hair-cloth, then I ruthlessly humbled myself by thinking of those who are naked in public squares, or lying bare and shivering on plain mats. And thus it was that God drove the devil away from me. "^

many,

too,

Superiors of monasteries, as an excellent means of avoiding temptations to vainglorv', recommended the monks to do nothing that made them seem singular in the eyes of their brethren. Each one was to follow the common rule, and if he

wanted any sort of distinction, let it ari.sc from the perfection of his inward dispositions which no one can see.*
Pride {superbia,r7r{pi]<fiai'in) is given the last place in the of vices to combat. But, as Cassian remarks, it holds the
Jerome, Vita .9. Pauli eremitae, 7 (P.L. XXIII, 22). Vita Antonii 49. Vita Hilariottis, -^o. Gerontius. Vita Melaniae (G. Gr.yau, Sainte Milanie, p. Cassian, De Coenobiorum Inst, xi, 18.
St.

list

'
*

Cf.

116).

122
first

Cbdstiait Spirituality

place origine et tempore. In fact, it is from this that all the other vices originate.* The Eastern monks distinguished pride of two kinds. There is spiritual pride that troubles those who are already advanced in virtue this is the diabolical pride of Lucifer. The other is that which attacks beginners, those who are still carnal.^ Spiritual pride is, according to Evagrius,^ a sort of " Pelagianism " which makes a soul fail to see the need of grace for the practice of virtue, and attribute to herself all the merit of whatever good she does. The proud man is vexed with his brethren when they do not admit that he can
;

do without God.
This temptation specially assaults the perfect, those who are about to attain the heights of virtue. This is why it comes at the end of the list. It is a poison that is apt to destroy all the virtues. Every other vice besets one particular virtue, that which is its opposite but pride brings all of them " Like some cruel tyrant, when it has taken to naught, possession of the topmost citadel of the virtues, it overturns it utterly from the foundations upwards."* For since it would rob God of His glory, it dries up the fountain of grace without which no virtue exists. God giveth His grace to the humble, but resisteth the proud (i Pet. v. 5). The Lord has declared Himself to be the enemy of pride. ^ The monks who allowed themselves to be carried away by this " diabolical " pride were afterwards among those who supported the errors of Pelagius. These corresponded so well with their state of mind. Possibly, too, the proud to whom reference is here made were already avowed Pelagians.^ Cassian bids them remember that of his own strength and without the help of grace man cannot advance in virtue nor But the abbot of Marseilles, attain to eternal happiness.'' imbued with semi-pelagianism, grants that man has the power to begin to act supernaturally. Of his own resources and without God's help each of us may make an effort to be good, but his efforts will be in vain if they be not brought to fulfilment by divine assistance.^ .The Catholic doctrine goes farther in support of humility
;

Cassian,

xii, i, 6.

C/. St. Nilus,

De
100,

De temfore
2
*

et virtute,

Centuria

ii,

octo spiritibus, 17. Hcsychius, mentions selfishness {<p{\a.\)r'i.a)

as the principle of the other vices.

Cassian,

De Coenobiorum
De Coenobiorum

Inst, xii, 9. Inst, xii, 3.

De

octo vitiosis cogit, g.

Cassian,

5 8

Id., xii, 5. See also Chapter VII.

When

Cassian wrote, the Pelagians were

already numerous.
^

De Coenobiorum Inst, xii, 9, 10. Id., xii, 13, 14, 16, 17; Collatio, xiii, 11

ff.

BiKCtic ITcacbino of tbc JEat^tcni /IDouIjs

and
iiltirly

123

conlouiids priilc. In the ortli-r of salvation, without yrace we arc not only incapable of fully tonipletin^ virtuous acts, but we cannot begin to do them or even to will them. For it is God who workclli in you, both to will and to accomplish (I'hil. ii. 13). Witliout Me you can do nothing. says Jesus (John xv. 5). And the Church has her anathema for him who atlirms that " without any previous inspiration of the Holy Spirit and without His aid man can believe, hope, love, or repent as he ought, in order that the j^race of justification may be conferred upon him."^ Where then is there any room for pride? IVIiat hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dust thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (i Cor. iv. 7). Carnal pride {superbia carnalis) is the failing- of the lukewarm religious who has not fully accepted the renunciation of the monastic life and desires to evade the cross and mortification. He is disobedient, moody, and disag^recable with his brethren. He is filled with a bad spirit which makes him critical as to everything-. His fixed views make him offhanded in keeping the religious exercises. He is headstrong^ Admoniin his opinions and will not accept any other view. He is tions he takes ill, and they only increase his guilt. ^ Lastly, beinginsolent in answering- back to his superiors. puffed u[) with pride, he aims at securing^ a position of authority in which from being- a bad subject he becomes a worse master.^ The practice of humility js the antidote to this fatal fault. The humble man esteems himself inferior to others in merit He is ready to bear everything from them, and capacity. following^ the example of Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross Meditation on the Last Thing-s will also help one (Phil. ii. 8). to overcome pride, as well as to conquer all our other vices.*

IV. PRAYER ITS CONDITIONS ITS DEGREES OF

PERFECTION EXTRAORDINARY AND SUPERNATURAL FORMS OF PRAYER

There
is a very close connection between the extirpation of Purity of heart and the practice of the the vices and prayer. other virtues assist prayer; but prayer obtains g-racc, and thus secures soundness in the virtues. Hence the monk must
1 Council of Trent, Sess. VI, can. 3. Semi-Pelagianism was very prevalent at the beginning of the fifth century in south-western Gaul, where Cassian lived. As to the Pelagian and semi-Pelagian controversies, see Tixcront, Ilistoire des Dogmes, Vols. II. and III. 2 Cf. Lausiac History, 25, 26. 3 Cassian, De Coenobiorum Inst, xii, 25, 27, 29.

Id., xii, 32, 33.

124

Cbdstian Spirituality

be trained to pray and generously make all the sacrifices required for entire success in it.^ Prayer, to take it in its widest sense, is the uplifting of the soul to God,^ an intimate and familiar intercourse with Him.^ In its colloquies with God the soul pays to its Creator its dues of adoration, thanksgiving, and propitiation. And prayer demands preparation that the soul which desires to converse with the Lord may be able thus to rise heavenwards. To make this ascent to God readily the soul must be buoyant, free from all that might weigh it down, and in a manner like the angels.* Therefore the first condition for prayer will be the mortifi-

The vices and disorders of the cation of all the passions. flesh, the agitations of concupiscence, so far as they are neither mortified nor destroyed, fetter the soul and make it incapable of ascending to God. A feather easily flies upwards if it is not wet but as soon as it has a little water on it, it becomes heavy and remains on the ground. This is why fasting and all that mortifies the passions prepares the soul " The prayer of one who fasts," says St. Nilus, for prayer. " is like a young eagle which flies on high, that of the glutton "^ He who is the is heavy and cannot rise above the earth. slave of pleasure, who has fallen into the mire of sensualism, cannot raise his eyes to God nor have feelings worthy of Him. Just as a man cannot see his face reflected in ruffled water, so the soul which is not fully purified cannot contemplate God in prayer. The ascetical writers pile up their similes to indicate the extent of the purification required to prepare the soul for intercourse with God. St. Nilus declares that perfect mortification, a passionless state, ^ is the true disposition for prayer. The soul is then entirely calm and tranquil. She has built up within the tower of virtue which reaches up to heaven, and by it she can ascend to the Lord and contemplate Him in the most perfect serenity without any interruption. In addition to this regular preparation, immediately before
;

Cassian, Collatio, ix, 2, 7. St. Nilus, De oratione, 35 '^poavxh ia-riv dvdSa.ffis vov irpbs 6e6v Oratio est ascensus mentis ad Deum. 3 Id., 3 iari vov Trpos Oebv Oratio est colloquium 'H irpo(Tvxv 6/itXia intellectus cum Deo. Aphraates, Demonst. iv, 18 In oratione cum Deo
1 2
: : : :

coHoquimur.
* 5 6
7 8

Cassian, Collatio, ix, 6. Id., ix, 4. Cf. St. Nilus,

De
i

oratione, 18, ig, 51.

De
1-4.

octo sfiritibus ^nalitiae,

lib.

(P.G.
i,

LXXIX,

1145).

Vitae Patrum,
"Efij ciTotf^y,

VI,

libell.
c,\.

8,

13.

De

oratione,

Cf.

Macarius the Egyptian, Homil.

VT,
*

Cassian, Collatio, ix, 3. Cf. Macarius, Liber de oratione, 4, 5, These dispositions are necessary for perfect prayer but the sinner, whatever be his state, can always pray for his conversion.
;

piiiyin^
all

125 Hscctlc Zrcacbina ot tbc Eastern /ll>onl;6 tlif .soul .should bfcomf rtcolkctid and dri\i' away cares and all thoughl.s that mij^^ht ag;itatc it or turn it away

from God. For whatever occupies the niintl before prayinj.;^ is apt to return by way of distraction, unless one j^^ets rid of it as soon as one desires to enter into communion with the Lord.' Prayer thus prepared for will be pleasing to (iod. It will also be etTicacious. For if our prayers are to be answered they must come from a pure heart full of confidence, perseverance and compunction. They must also be accompanied with alms and the practice of fraternal charity.'

The duty of prayer was fulfilled with j,'^reat zeal by the monks. In their pious conversations they told one another of what seemed to them to be the best methods of putting their Especially did they inquire souls in communion with God.
it was possible to pray continuously according- to the Lord's command (Luke xviii. i) and the exhortations of St. Paul (i Thess. v. 17). The answers to these questions were not always in accord. Some of the relif^ious, influenced by the errors of the Massalians,^ were of opinion, contrary to the monastic traditions, that work should be done away with in order to They were called Euchiies (ei'X'/> pray without ceasing. They were severely blamed for prayer) or Men of Prayer. giving- an erroneous interpretation to the words of Christ and From the top of Mount Sinai St. Nilus* fulminated St. Paul.-* against these monks who refused to work and thus perverted the true notion of the monastic life and offended against

how

charity.

Others supposed one must be almost perfect in order to be When a soul is so far united able to pray without ceasing. to God by charity that all its desires and thoughts and words are of God and for God, its life is one continual prayer. It is always attached to God and such is continual prayer, how
in

relation with
to

Him.*

But

if

is it

become

possible for the

majority of Christians? And so it was generally held that work is prayer. Any occupation undertaken through obedience, offered to God and accompanied with short invocations frequently renewed is in Only by thus sanctifying all one's daily itself a prayer.
Hesychius, De temferantia et Cassian, Collatio, ix, 3. Cassian, id. Cf. Aphraates, Demonst. iv, De oratione. ' A religious sect which arose in Me>u^potaniia and was often condemned by the bishops. It made all religion entirely consist in absolute detachment from the goods of this world and continual prayer. It condemned work and private property. * Vitae Patrum. lib. V, libel), xii, q. * Pe faupertale. 21 (PC.. I. XXIX. 997). * Cassian, CoUaho, x, 7
1

St.

Nilus,

De

oratione, 9, 70, 117.

i,

virtute, Centuria,
*

3,

5,

6.

126

Cbristiau Spirituality
;

actions can one pray without ceasing. For it is impossible even for a monk to say prayers uninterruptedly he must leave off at any rate when he is eating- or sleeping. And yet all, even the ordinary faithful, can pray without wearying by addressing short and frequent prayers to God while they are
at work.*^

These brief and silent supplications, which according to Augustine were called ejaculatory prayers, were held in high honour amongst the monks. Their brevity did not weary the mind and gave no opportunity for distractions to diminish their value. ^ They are the best and only possible form of
St.

continual prayer.

Cassian enumerates four degrees of perfection in ordinary which he very arbitrarily connects with a text (i Tim. ii. i) in which St. Paul exhorts that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all
prayer,

men.^

The supplications, which stand for the lowest degree, are the prayers with which God is asked to pardon our sins. This kind of prayer especially befits beginners in the spiritual life who are still swayed by their passions. Those who are making progress in the Christian life and in the practice of virtue address prayers to God to obtain the grace of serving Him in truth and with generosity. Intercessions are petitions made to God for the salvation of our neighbours. Very fervent Christians who are animated by a great charity are in the habit of praying much for their brethren to assist them in the way of salvation.* Lastly, thanksgivings constitute the prayer of the perfect. Souls of great purity and fervour, who have entirely crucified their passions, give thanks to God with transports of unutterable love for the innumerable benefits they have been granted in the past and which are prepared for them in the future.^ They belong altogether to God. There is nothing at all in their thoughts or words or desires which does not come from God. Being very closely united to
^ Viiae Patrum, lib. V, libell xii, g. Cj. Aphraates, Demonst. : Cum Dei' voluntatem efficit homo, hoc i-psum orationem esse, rectum esse existimo. 2 St. Augustine, Ef. CXXX, 20 Dicuntur fratres in JEgypto crebras quidem habere orationes, sed eas tamen brevissimas et raptini quodammodo jaculatas, ne ilia vigilanter erecta, quae oranti flurimum necessaria est, -per froductiores moras evanescat atque hebetetur intentio. Cj. Cassian, Collatio, ix, 35, 36. 3 Collatio, ix, 9. Aphraates, Demonst. iv, 17, distinguishes three kinds of prayer Defrecalio or prayer for the forgiveness of sins Conjessio or the giving of thanks Laus or praise offered to God in order to celebrate His works. * Cassian, Collatio, ix, 11, 12, 13.
:
:

Id., 14, 15.

Hsccttc TTcacbtno of tbc Eastern /IDoiihs

127

the Lord by a ch.irity that notliing can impair, they have God always in their minds and pray without ceasing.* The Christian rises by slow degrees to such excellence as this. Meditation on divine truths and prayer, the constituent elements ot what the sixteenth century called mental prayer, are the means of attaining this consummation of charity.^ This kind of prayer, burning like a llame {if^nita ora/io),'' is so perfect that it must be assigned a place on the verge between the ordinary prayer, which is for all men, and the supernatural mystical states which God grants exceptionally to a

few privileged souls.

Sublime and extraordinary prayer, such as the prayer-states of St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross, and their supernatural manifestations, such as raptures and ecstasies, are frequently to be met with in the lives of the Fathers of the desert. This indescribable and transcendent prayer, which is the experience of only a few, takes place apart from the senses, without vocal utterance, without the use of tongue or speech. It rises out of the depths of the soul which is rapt in God, insensible to the external world and inundated with the light of heaven. This kind of prayer leaps up directly and ineffably
to the Lord.
In its rapture the soul addresses God in prayers unutterable, which the Holy Spirit calls forth in it unconsciously with unspeakable groanings.* With regard to this, St. Antony said that prayer was not perfect in which the monk was conscious of its meaning and of what he was saying to God.^ In this state the soul expresses to its Creator .so many things in so short a time that on coming to itself it could not recount them all to itself in thought and speech. One of the characteristics of this extraordinary state is a
1

A/., X,
x),

7.

The

soul in this stage, like

Mary
and

(Luke

contemplates
;

God

continually

the

at the feet of Jesus things of God.

Collafio, 1, 8. 2 Collatio, ix, i6 x, 14. ' Id., ix, 15. * Collatio, Quae (oratio) omnem transcendens hiimanum ix, 25 sensum, nulla nan dicam sono vocis, nee linguae motu, tiec ulla verborum fronuntiatione distinguitur , sed quam mens infusione caeleslis illius luminis illustrata, nan humanis atque angustis designa! eloquiis,
:

sed conglobalis sensibus velut de fonte quodam cofiosissimo effundit ubertim, atque ineffabiliter eructat ad Dominum, tanta fromens in illo brevissimo temforis functo, quanta nee eloqui facile, nee mens fereurrere in semetipsam rcversa fraevaleat. Cf. ix, 15 Mens quae in ilium verum furi talis proficit affectum, atque in eo jamcoeperil radicart, solet haec omnia simul fariterque eoneifiens, atque in modum cujusdam incomprehensibilis ae rapaeissimae flammae euneta pervolilans inquas ipse effabiles ad Deum preces purissimi vigoris effundere, spirilus intcrpellans gemitibus inenarrabilibus, ignorantibus nobis,
:

emittit ad Deum. ' Collatio. ix, 31.

128

Cbristian Spirituality

which rapidly imparts to the soul a very extensive knowledge of the things of God. Hesychius tries to describe this increasing spiritual illumination, which is proportioned to the soul's detachment from the senses and the closeness of its union with God in prayer. At the beginning of its sanctification the light given to the soul may be compared to that of a lamp which guides it in the ways of goodness and leads it safely through all dangers. Then the light grows greater and brighter. The soul is as completely environed with it as if it were that of the moon at full. Lastly, Jesus Himself, like a radiant sun, appears to the soul in His wonderful perfections inundating it
spiritual illumination

with His heavenly

light.

Then comes an

ineffable

contem-

this height of prayer usually experienced other accessory^ phenomena of a supernatural

plation of divine truths. ^ Monks who attained to

character, the most striking of which was ecstasy. The religious engaged in prayer was suddenly rapt in God and, lost in Him, became insensible to all his surroundings. His body remained immovable in the position it occupied at the beginning of the ecstasy. " One day a monk of the name of Zachary went to find his abbot and discovered him in ecstasy with his hands outstretched to heaven. Seeing him thus, he closed the door of the cell and went away. He returned at the sixth, and then at the ninth hour, and found him in the same attitude. About the tenth hour he again knocked at the cell door and went in What has happened to and found the abbot lying down. you to-day. Father?' he asked. ... 'I will not leave you until you tell me what you have seen.' The old man replied I was caught up to heaven and beheld the glory of God, and there I stayed until just now, and I have just been sent back "^ to this world.' Blessed Antony was often in ecstasy during the long prayers he made at night. At sunrise they used to hear him dost thou disturb me, cry out with his soul all on fire " dost thou appear so soon to take me away from Sun ? the brightness of the true light?"* And there appeared other phenomena which differed from that of ecstasy. Sometimes there were an unspeakable joy and so intense a spiritual felicity that the monk who was favoured with them could not endure them and uttered cries that were heard in
' : * :

Why

O
.

Why

Hesychius,

De temferantia

et virtute,

Centuria
.

ii,

64 (P.G. XCIII,
.

532)-

2 Such phenomena as these do not constitute prayer or mystical contemplation. They are but its outward manifestations. 3 Vitae Patrum, lib. V, libell. i, i. Cf. Lausiac History, i, 43. * Cassian, Collatio, ix, 21.

ascetic ticacbino of tbe Eastern /IDonhs

129

the adjoininjj^ cells. Sometimes, on the contrary, the soul was suddenly caug-ht by the divine beauty and so paralyzed as to be unable to utter a single cry. It entered into itself and expressed what it owed to God in inaudible groanings. Lastly, at times the heart was filled with such deep feelings of compunction and grief that it was forced to shed tears in floods to abate their violence. This grief and these tears were aroused in the monks by the recollection of their own sins, or by their desire for eternal blessings, or by the fear of hell, or lastly by thinking of the impenitent and hardened multitudes.^ All these various kinds of extraordinary prayer had one characteristic in common, that of suddenness. During the chanting of a psalm, or a spiritual conference, on the death of some dear one, or while reflecting^ upon his own lukewarmness or negligence, the monk felt his soul burst into flame, he

was inundated with heavenly

light, he was filled with compunction, and his prayers, like darts of fire, shot up to God. Meanwhile he sometimes wept copiously.' Thus did God sensibly invade his soul.

v.THE STRUGGLE WITH EVIL SPIRITSTEMPTATIONS

Evil spirits are full of hatred and hostility towards Christians, especially towards the monks and virgins of Jesus Christ.^ Their rag^e was mainly directed against the first anchorites and coenobites who were the founders of the monastic life. They would have been glad to nip in the bud that form of asceticism which was to become so powerful and fruitful in its influence upon Christendom after the peace of Constantine. And many are the stories of demoniacal visitations in the early monastic biographies. In these we find long descriptions of the behaviour of the evil spirits, and of their various ways of leading the saints into temptation and vexingthem, and lastly of the weapons with which they were to be
resisted.
St, Antony used to tell his disciples that the demons were not created by God as they are now. They were originally ang^els. They sinned and were driven out of heaven. were created to take their place in paradise, and it is envy and

We

* Cassian, Collatio, ix, 17-19. Macarius the Egyptian describes similar phenomena, Homil. i, 3 (P.G. XXXIV, 518-529). Collatio, ix, 26. These mystical phenomena are indeed the same as those described by mystical theologians after the days of St. Teresa. But they were then described much more vaguely. Vitae Patrum, lib. I, Vita Antomi, ic (P.L. LXXIII, 137). C/. St. Athanasius, Vita Antonii, ij,. St. Nilus, Ef. lib. Ill, 153 (P.G. LXXIX, 456). Diadocbus, Cafita centum dt ferf. spirit, caf. 96 f. (P.G. LXV, 1208 ^.).

130

Cbristian Spirituality

jealousy that incite them to tempt us in order to prevent us from fulfilling- our destiny.^ Theirs is a hierarchy in wickedness, some being worse than
others.

And amongst them each has his own special office and endeavours to propagate some particular vice.^ But they rage peculiarly against those who are holiest and who have the most influence; they know that if they can bring about their downfall, many will be led to follow in their steps.^ They do not attack those whom they have captured and who
**

are already in their power. Evil spirits cannot tempt or molest us without divine permission, as we learn from the Book of Job. And sometimes God gives an evil spirit power over us, either to try us for His own glory or else to make us expiate our sins.^

begin by attacking minds with bad thoughts. If these evil suggestions meet with no success, they change their tactics and try to terrify them by appearing to them in the shapes of women, wild beasts, serpents, monsters or bands

According to

St.

Antony,

evil

spirits

monks through

trying to

fill

their

If these means fail, they turn into angels of of soldiers. light and imitate Christ's saints in order to dupe the monks. If they are beaten in this too, their last resource is to summon the help of their chief, the prince of all evil.

Ordinary temptations, obsession and illusion such were the principal kinds of assault which the Fathers of the desert had to endure.
;

and makes the soul desire to put them

In ordinary temptations, the devil suggests evil thoughts The into practice. tempter's suggestions are usually adapted to our habits of thinking and the vice that most strongly besets us. In fact, evil spirits know our dispositions and use them as valuable
allies.
'^

Nevertheless, all the inducements to evil that assail the Christian do not necessarily proceed from the tempter; they often arise, especially those that are concerned with impurity,
1
'

Viia

Antonii,
iii, 7-10.

15.

St.

Athanasius,

Vita

Antonii,

22.

Cassian,

Collaiio, V,
2

Cassian, Collatio, 17-19. St. Vitae Patrum, i, Vita Antonii, 15. Jerome, In Ef. ad E-ph. cap. vi. 3 Vita S. Pachomii, Acta SS. 14 May, p. 300. * Aphraates, Demonstratio, vi, 2 (Graffin, I, 254). 5 Vitae Patrum, i, Vita Antonii, 17. Cassian, Cc/Za/J^, vii, 22, 27, 29. Macarius, Liher de libertate mentis, 13 (P.O. XXXIV, 945). Arsenis Eremita, Ad nomicu7n tentatorem (P.G. LXVI, 1621). 6 .'ita Athanasius, Vita St. Antonii, 15 (P.L. LXXIII, 137). Antonii, 23. ' Cassian, Collatio, vii, 15. Cf. Vita PacJiomii, 16; Vita Antonii, De malignis cogitaSt. Nilus, De voluntaria -pau-pertate, 59 4, 5.
;

tionibus,

1,

2.

Hscctic XTcacIMiio of tbc lEastcru /IDouks 131 from the depraved impulses of fallen humanity. Many monks wrongly supposed that all temptations were due to the wiles of the devil, even if they were simple reactions of the passions or the revival of old and only half-uprooted habits of sensualism. The unclean spirits had not a great deal to do, to take one example, to make an old robber chief who had
turned monk, Moses the Ethiopian, feel himself strongly inflamed with the fire of lust, even though his body was subdued by fasting and privation.^ "The war with impurity is threefold," rightly remarks a solitary of the desert of
in

Sometimes, indeed, the flesh assails us, when it is sometimes the passions working on the imagination; sometimes the devil himself through jealousy."' St. Nilus clearly sets forth the various phases of ordinary temptations. A dangerous impression is stamped upon the outward senses, for instance, on the sight a lascivious thought ensues, then an evil delight in the depraved part of the soul, and lastly the consent of the will which makes it a If one would avoid falling, one must crush the temptasin. tion in its source by turning one's senses away from what is disturbing,^ and driving out of one's mind and memory all bad or dangerous thoughts. The devil also strives to hinder monks from prayer by filling their minds with distractions and thoughts that are ungodly and wicked.* In his Directions for Christian Warfare Hesychius recommends those who desire to overcome evil thoughts to restrain their imagination. It is through it that Satan tempts us, and without it he could not suggest bad thoughts to us. Hesychius also bids us keep our souls profoundly recollected within, which will " close the door against evil or merely dangerous thoughts." The thought of death should also be a familiar one, and above all should we pray to Jesus Christ often and in all humility.* To fly to Christ is a sovereign remedv, as Hesychius is never weary of telling us. He who invokes Christ and flies to Him in the hour of temptation is like a stag which is hunted and surrounded with a pack of hounds,
Scete.

"

good health

but has taken refuge in a fortress." When we are tempted, us smite our enemy with the weapon of the name of Jesus. The invocation of that powerful name should be our very breath of life.^
let
^

Lausiac History,
id., 23.

ig.

De
*

St. Nilus, De monachomm fraestantia. 3 (P.G. LXXIX, 1064); malitiosis cogitationibus, i, 2. Cf. Cassian, Collatio, xix, 16. St. Nilus, De oratione, 46, 47, 50. Vitae Patrum, lib. V, libell.

xii, 2.
'

Hesychius,
Id., 8.

De temperantia

et virtute,
7

Cent,

i,

14-20 (P

G XCIII
ii,

1485 )

Id.. Cent,

i,

99; Cent,

So.

132
Evil spirits

Cbristian Spfdtualiti?

make the most desperate endeavours to discourage monks at the outset of their profession. St. Antony
vi^ent

throug-h this spiritual crisis which is experienced by He often thought of the all the younger religious. goods he had owned while in the world he sometimes believed that his sister needed him and that he ought to return to his family to take care of her. In his father's house he would again find the comforts of life, amass great wealth, and make a name for himself. And while filling his mind with such thoughts as these, the devil tried to inspire him with a What difficulties distaste for the new life he had embraced. What sufferings to be there are in the practice of virtue And would his health be good faced a whole life long enough for the endurance of so many toils ?^ Thus for St. Antony the temptation to abandon his solitude was hard enough. He overcame it by prayer. But the experience he had won enabled him to warn those who were novices against the dreadful assaults of the devil which few escape.

almost

When
monks,
senses.
desert.

evil

thoughts failed to shake the constancy of the

devil

the

worked physically upon their outward Here we meet with the phenomenon of obsession
in

which was so common

the lives of the Fathers of the

Antony, Hilarion, Pachomius and other holy men were long obsessed by lascivious mental images^ and even by voluptuous impressions violently affecting their senses.^ Also the devil tried to terrorize them with startling visions and deafening uproar; he tormented them in thousands of ways, going so far as to smite them heavily in the hope of making them abandon the monastic life.

"How often," said St. Antony to his disciples, "the demons, as threatening as armed soldiers, used to surround me with scorpions and horses and wild beasts and all sorts of And I used to answer serpents, and to invade my dwelling. them by singing Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God And at once by the mercy of God they were put (Ps. xix. 8). Another time they came to me surrounded with to flight. dazzling light, saying, Antony, we have come to give you
:

'

closing my eyes in disdain of the devil's our light, began to pray, and immediately the light of the ungodly was put out. A few months later the demons sung before me and discoursed with one another about the Holy
light.'

And

I,

Athanasius, Vita Antonii, 4. St. Athanasius, FjVa ^4 /(?, 5. Vitae Patrum,!. Vita Antonii, e,. Cf. Vita Hilarionii, 7; Vita Pachomii, 17, 49; Acta SS. 14 May, p. 300, 8 Vita Antonii, 4; Lausiac History, 23; Vita Hilarionii, 5.
1

St.

Hscetic Ucacbtno of tbc jeastcrn /t>onh3

133

Scriptures, and as for me, /, as a deaf vian, heard not (Ps. xxxvii. 14). One day they shook my dwelling-, and I, Often without being disturbed, went on praying to God. they made a tumult about me, and danced and whistled, and I used to sing, and their noise turned to tearful plaints. " When I was fasting, the devil appeared to me in the form of a monk. He offered me bread and begged me to eat You, too, are a man,' and to take pity upon my poor body. he said, 'and are encompassed with man's fragility; leave
. .

'

off

work for a while so as not to fall ill.' There and then I saw a yellowish serpent, and took refuge, according to my

wont, behind Christ as

my

rampart.

He

disappeared

like

Often in the desert puff of smoke flying out of the window. the devil would tempt me with the snare of gold, offering it to me either to capture me with the lust of the eyes or to I have often been beaten by I affirm that defile my hands. evil spirits."^ The wounds received by St. Antony in his fights with the devil were so serious and painful that he would have died of them, he said, unless God, whose providence never leaves
those

who have

confidence in

it,

had saved

his life.^

Demons

also smote St. Pachomius and so battered him that his body long bore the traces of their blows.^ Moses the Ethiopian The latter, driven wild at baffled all the wiles of the devil. his inability to overcome him, laid in wait for him on the edge He of a well to which the monk had to come to draw water. dealt Moses a blow on the small of the back with a club and left him for dead.* The demons also tormented the monks by shaking their dwellings so much as to destroy them from top to bottom.^ Cassian tells us that in some of the monasteries of the East in the early beginnings of monasticism the assaults of evil spirits were so frequent and their fury so great that the They religious dared not all go to sleep at the same time. kept watch in turns, reciting psalms and prayers in order to

drive away maleficent spirits." Ecclesiastical authority has never guaranteed the authenticity of all these diabolical happenings, and we are not forbidden to think that they may have been exaggerated by But it would be temerarious and presumptheir reporters.

tuous to reject them all in their entirety. Almost in our own days the Blessed Vianney had to endure obsessions that were
1

St. Athanasius, 39, 40. Vita Antonii, 20 (Vitae Patrum, lib. I). Vita Antonii, 7 (Vitae Patrum, lib. I). Acta SS. p. 300. Vita Pachomii, 17 (Vitae Patrum, lib. I).

St.

Lausiac History, 19. Vita Pachomii, 17. St. Nilus suffered as Antony and St. Pachomius, Efist. lib. Ill,
CoUatio,
vii, 33.

much from demons

98, 99 (P.G.

as

LXXIX,

429-432).

134

Cbdstfan Spirituality

incontestably demoniacal, such as no serious mind can fail to recognize. By these vexations the devil showed that he wanted to drive the holy Cur^ away from his parish of Ars, where he was exercising so fruitful a ministry.^ Is it then surprising that he should have striven in every possible way to hinder men like St. Antony, St. Hilarion and St. Pachomius from originating the monastic life which was to save such a great number of souls from the world ?^
Illusions were even more to be dreaded than demoniacal assaults, because of the skill with which they were suggested. Sometimes the devil made the monks think that, so far as outward penances were concerned they need not keep to established rule and custom, but, out of devotion, undertake supererogatory and indiscreet austerities. Thus he hoped to wear them down by excessive vigils and fasts, and to give them a distaste for the monastic life.^ Sometimes he appeared to the specially famous monks as an angel and, in order to tempt them to pride, praised them

for their fervour, wondered attheirperseverance, and promised them a high place in heaven.* Or else he simulated Christ to make them worship him.^ One day St. Antony saw the devil disguised as a great man of stout and powerful build, who represented himself as being the Power and Providence of God and as having come to offer him his aid.^ The chief means of defeating the wiles of the devil and of dispelling suspicious apparitions is to make the sign of the " When demons appear to you in the disguise of cross. angels of God," said St. Antony to his followers, "provide yourselves and protect your houses with the sign of the cross,

Indeed they dread this will disappear immediately. trophy of the Saviour's victory, and He has despoiled the powers of the air and made them a spectacle for the world to laugh at."'' Moreover, one can tell at once whether an apparition is divine or diabolical. When Christ or the angels appear, the first thrill of fear is immediately followed by joy, calmness, and the desire for eternal goods. Diabolical manifestations

and they

Vianney, le Bienheureux Curi d^Ars, p. 59 ff. Paris, 1906. Cassian observes [Collatio, vii, 23) that in his times there was no longer any talk as in the early days of monasticism, of the religious being molested by the devil.
1

/.

Vita Antonii, 16 {Vitae Patrum, I); Cassian, Collatio, i, 21. Vita Antonii, 18 {Vitae Patrum, I); Vita Pachomii, 17. s Lausiac History, 25; Vita Antonii, 20; Vita Pachomii, 48. A similar event is related in Sulpicius Severus's Life of St. Martin of Tours, Vita S. Martini, 24 (P.L. XX, 174). 6 Vita Antonii, 20 {Vitae Patrum, I). Vita 7 Vita Vita Antonii, 35; Athanasius, St. Antonii, 18, Pachomii, 48; Cassian, Collatio, vii, 18, 23.
3
*

ascetic Zlcacbtno ot tbe jEastcrn /Conhs

disturb the .soul, on the contrary, and btir of ag^itating- thoug-hts.^
it

135
sorts

up with

all

The sign of the cross Is not the only way of overcoming the devil. Prayer, meditation,' fasting, and fervent piety and the practice of the Christian virtues are also invariably victorious weapons against him. " My dearly beloved," said St. Antony to his disciples, "a clean life and lively faith are weapons dreaded by the demons. Believe me, for I know it by experience, Satan fears in those who lead good lives vigils, prayers, fasts, gentleness, voluntary poverty, contempt for vainglory, humility, mercy, control of one's temper, and above all a heart filled with the love of Christ."^
Hence Christians must take care not to give place to evil by being slothful in goodness. For our enemies treat

spirits

If they find us slack in virtue, us according to our deserts. they take advantage of it, and by their molestation they become a chastisement for our sins. If on the contrary we are fervent in the Lord's service, and if we fly to Christ for protection, they will never dare to assault us.* The demons, St. Antony loved to say, have no power over our bodies so long- as they do not possess our souls, and before they can capture our souls they must rob them of their good dispositions and drive the spirit of prayer away from them. In fact, they are subdued by holiness.'
1 Vita Pachomii, 48; Vita Antonii, 20 (\'itae Patrum, I); St. Athanasius, 43. * Vitae Patrum, VI, libell. i, 40 One day a monk saw a religious meditating in his cell. A demon came and watched at the door. While the religious was meditating, he could not enter but as soon as the meditation was over, he went in. Vita Antonii, x"] {Vitae Patrum, I). St. Athanasius, Vita Antonii, y^. Vita Antonii, 20 (Vitae Patrum, I). St. Nilus strongly advises those who are tempted by the devil to fly to Christ our Saviour. Ep. lib. III. 100 (P.G. LX'XIX, 432). Cf. Diadochus, Capita de perfectione spirituali, cap. 97 (P.G. LXV, i2og). * Cassian, Collatio, viii, 19; vii, 24. Aphraates, Demonst. vi, 2.
:

CHAPTER VI MONASTICISM IN THE WEST IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES^

I. THE

REVELATION OF EASTERN MONASTICISM TO THE WESTTHE ASCETICAL APOSTOLATB OF ST. JEROME AND ST. AMBROSE.
tation

monastic life in the West was not an imporfrom the East. Long- before they had any knowledg-e of the austerities practised in Egypt and Syria there were, particularly in Rome,^ unmarried communities of a sort. The institution of these devout associations was altogether spontaneous. For on taking- the veil it had occurred to many of the young-er Roman women that perseverance would be an easier matter if they united in living together under the protection of a rule instead of remaining with their families. Nevertheless, the revelation of the monasticism of the East effected an important revival of asceticism in the West. St. Athanasius, the historian of St. Antony, was one of the first to make this revelation. Exiled to Treves, about 335, on account of his vigorous opposition to the Arian heresy, he stayed some time in Rome and was brought into contact with the body of disting-uished Christian women who were soon to enter upon the ascetic life on the Aventine. They were Asella, Marcella, Laeta and Paula, whose names were afterwards immortalized by the letters of St. Jerome. According to Athanasius, these devout Christian women received other persons of eminence from the East, among whom were Paulinus of Antioch and Epiphanius of Salamis, who told them of the marvels of asceticism which they had
witnessed.
1 The Principal Authorities. St. Jerome's Letters (P.L. XXII); the Treatises Against Helvidius, Against Jovinian, and Against Vigilantius (P.L. XXIII). St. Paulinus of Nola, Lrtters (P.L. LXI). For Gaiil: Sulpicius Severus, Vita Sancti Martini, Efistolae Dialogi (P.L. XX, 159 if.). St. Hilary of Aries, Sermo de vita Sancti Honorati (P.L. L, 1249 ff.). St. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons, De laude eremi (P.L. L, 701). Cassian, Collatio xi, fraejatio; De Coenobiorum Instituiis (P.L. XLIX). Sidonius Apollinarius, Epistolae (P.L. LVIII). For Africa: St. Augustine, Confessions, VIII, IX (P.L. XXXII, 747 ff."). This work gives information as to the monastic life in Milan and Gaul. Ef. CCXI (P.L. XXIII, 958-965). Sermons, CCCLV, CCCLVI (P.L. XXXVIII, 1568 if.). De o-pere Monachorum (P.L.
'

THE

XL,
*

547

ff-)-

Ledos'

Cf. Grisar, History of Rome and the Fofes in the Middle Ages, translation, Paris, II, St. Augustine, De 114, p. 1905. moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae, I, xxxiii, n. 70.

136

137 /Donastlclsm In tbc XUcst These revelations of the startHng- austerities practised in the enchanting- East made an extraordinary impression upon Rome and the whole of the West, and sometimes led to
astonishing conversions. "One day," writes St. Augustine in his Confessions,^ " we, that is to say, Alypius and myself, received a visit from one of our Afria\n compatriots named Pontilian, a soldier of He high repute at the court and a true Christian. began to tell us of Antony, the Egyptian monk, whose name, O God, was then quite famous amongst Thy servants while to us it was so far altogether unknown. were dumbfounded on hearing all the marvels recounted by so many witnesses, marvels which Thou hadst only lately wrought almost in our own days in the midst of the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church. were greatly astonished at the scale of these wonders, nor was Pontilian the less so at our not having heard of them. Then he spoke of the great number of the monasteries, of their purity of life, which is as a sweet odour unto Thee, O Lord, and of the supernatural fertility of the deserts, of all of which we were ignorant. Pontilian went on with his narrative and kept talking, and we listened attentively without saying a word."
. . . . .

We

We

Short accounts of the most famous monks of the Thebald and Palestine were soon current amongst those in communion with Rome. Such were the Latin translation of the Life of St. Antony by St. Athanasius, and the Lives of Paul of Thebes, Hilarion, and Malchus by St. Jerome. The reading of these edifying works inclined many Christians towards
asceticism. Pontitian also told the young Augustine how two emissaries of the Emperor Theodosius found a number of hermits in the neighbourhood of Treves who had the Life of
St. "

Antony.

One of them began to read it. Immediately he is struck with wonder and his heart begins to burn within him, and as he reads he resolves to give up the world to devote himself to Thy service, O God. Then, being suddenly filled with the love of God and a wholesome confusion, and enraged with himself, he looks at his friend and addresses him thus Tell me, I pray, what do we claim to achieve by our work? What do we propose to do? What is our aim in serving the prince? VVhat other ambition can we have at court than to become the friends of the Emperor? And is not that, too, a perishable thing? Is it not full of danger? And how many are the risks we must incur to attain to a still greater peril? If, on the other hand, I wish to be a friend of God, I become one at once.' "^
. . .

'

Book VIII,

6.

>

St.

Augustine, Confessions. VIII,

6.

138

Cbristfan Spidtualttp Immediately their decision was taken. They did not go back to court, but g-ave up everything and joined the hermits and dwelt with them in the same hut.
These tales of Pontinian strongly stirred the soul of Augustine which had already been deeply touched by grace. " Then carried away in heart and look, I ask Alypius and cry out What are we waiting for? What is this? Hearest thou not? The ignorant awaken in the joy of heaven and we with all our learning are so heartless as to wallow in flesh and blood Are we afraid to follow after them because they have gone before us when we ought to be ashamed of not having the courage to tread in their footsteps?' I am saying I know not what, and my great agitation bore me far away from him, whilst he was struck with astonishment and looked at me without saying anything."^ Thus began the famous episode which ended in the con. . . ' : !

1 *

version of Augustine.

After the peace of Constantine, the many pilgrims who to see the holy places of Palestine did not fail to traverse Egypt and Syria to see the celebrities of the monasteries. Many of them settled in the East and lived there as monks. One of the most famous was the priest Rufinus of Aquileia (t 410), the translator of the very popular History of the Monks and the unfortunate defender of the writings of Origen. Rufinus went into retirement on the Mount of Olives, where he had a monastery built which before long gave shelter to a considerable number of monks. His gentle piety won him the confidence of St. Melania the Elder, a distinguished Roman lady who had stripped herself of her property, given up her family, and gone to the East to embrace the monastic life. A few years later her granddaughter, St. Melania the Younger, also left Rome with her husband, Pinian, after distributing their vast wealth to the poor, and both of them lived in poverty amidst the monks of Egypt, Constantinople, and Jerusalem.^ At Bethlehem the Roman lady, Paula, and her daughter distinguished Eustochium founded a convent under the direction of St. Jerome, the great apostle of asceticism of the time. The son of wealthy Christians, born about 342 on the borders of Dalmatia and Pannonia among the somewhat barbarous peoples whose rudeness of manners clung to him,

went

Augustine, Confessions, VIII, 8. also threw its fascination over Gaul, whence holy persons set forth for the deserts of Egypt. A bishop of Lyons, St. Just, in the fourth century, after a disappointment left his episcopal see and went to Egypt, where he lived as a monk until the
1

St.

The monastic East

day

of his death.

/IDonasttctsm In the lUcst 139 Jerome reached Rome at about eighteen years of age in order to complete his studies. There he became acquainted with the temptations of the world and fell a victim to them. Of this dissolute society, in which so many of the virtues of the

young

suffered shipwreck, he carried away bitter recollections which found expression in terms of violence and anger and biting satire, whenever he had to speak of the corruption of Rome. After his baptism, which took place in Rome in 366, Jerome gave up everything to follow Christ. He betook himself to the East, and lived as a monk in the desert of

Chalcis.

Returning to Rome after 381, at the request of Pope Damasus, he began the work on the Scriptures which made him famous and brought under his inllucnce those devout Roman women who were eager to know the Holy Scriptures more thoroughly and to practise the renunciation of the Gospel. Some of them followed him when Jerome withdrew

where he

after the death of Damasus into the solitude of Bethlehem, lived to the end of his life. As soon as he had become a monk Jerome wanted all his friends to take the same step. From the depths of the desert of Chalcis, as aftenvards from his cavern at Bethlehem, he flung harsh reproaches upon those who hesitated to make an immediate response to his appeals. " Unmanly soldier, what are you doing in your father's house?" he wrote to one of them, named Hcliodorus. . . are you a Christian with such a timorous heart? Look at the Apostle Peter quitting his nets; look at the Publican leaving his office for the receipt of custom to become a missionary on the spot. The Son of Man had not where to lay His head, and will you be making use of great doorways and spacious dwellings? If you look for your inheritance in You this world, you cannot be the co-heir of Christ. have promised lo be a thorough Christian. But a thorough Christian has nothing but Christ, or if he has anything else he is not perfect. What are you, my brother, doing in the world, you who are greater than the Do you dread the poverty of the desert? But world? Are you afraid of Christ says that the poor are blessed. work? But no athlete wins a prize without toiling hard. Are you thinking of the food you will get here? But if your faith is strong you will not fear being hungry. Are you afraid of bruising your limbs on the bare ground after they
.

Why

have been emaciated by fasting? But the Lord lies down with you on the ground. Do you dread wearing your hair unkempt on your unwashed head? But Christ is your head. Do you shrink from the infinite spaces of the desert? But in your thoughts you will tread the heavens and whenever you are borne thither in mind you will be no more in the
;

HO
desert.
'
.
. .

Cbristian Spirttualiti? The day will surely come when

flesh will

this corruptible

and mortal
Blessed
is

put on incorruption and immortality. that servant whom, when his lord shall come, he

shall find watching ' (Luke xii. 43). that day when the trumpet shall sound, the nations of the earth shall be smitten with fear, and then you will rejoice !"^

On

These diatribes made a considerable impression upon the Romans and created gaps in patrician families. Jerome also wrote letters to the young- maidens and widows of the higher circles of Rome, sometimes in angry mood bidding them to take leave of the suitors introduced to them by their relations, and to live in perfect chastity and conse" You must boldly make use of crate themselves to Christ. your free will," he writes to one of them, "If you are so much afraid when you are in peace, what would you do if you had to face martyrdom? If you cannot endure the looks of your own people, how could you bear up before the
young-

Enough of all these tribunals of the persecutors? tarryings. 'Perfect love casteth out fear' (i John iv. 18). Take the shield of faith, the armour of justice, the helmet of salvation and onward to the fray. Moreover, the preservation are you afraid of chastity has a martyrdom of its own. do you fear your mother? It of your grandmother? may be that they will approve of your desire when they
.
. .

Why

Why

know

it."^

did not always give in to the wishes of its Often it met them with violent opposition, because it desired to ensure the succession of a noble name or the continuance of a great inheritance. Thus freedom of choice was hindered, as had happened in the case of St. John Chrysostom, by feelings of filial affection, but still more by Did not the the interests of families and even of society. State find a strong support in the permanence and solidity of the patrician houses of Rome?^ With his usual impetuosity St. Jerome constituted himself It the defender of God's absolute supremacy over the soul. was not only the right but the duty of children to obey the divine call in spite of their parents, whatever the consequence Let them be firm to of their decision to family or society. the point of ruthlessness so far as the family was concerned,
children.
if
'*

The family

that was required for the following of their vocation. Remember," he wrote to a young man who was being held
his

back by

family,

" the

day of your profession of the

1 Ep. XIV, ad Heliodorum, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11. Cf. Ep. CXXII ad Rusticum. Ef. LXVI, ad Pammachium, etc. ' Ef. CXXX, ad Demetriadem, De servanda virginitate, 5. Cf. Ep. LIV, ad Furiam, 3, 4; Ef. LXXIX, ad Salvinam; Ef. CVII, ad Laetam; Ep. CXXVII, ad Principiam. 3 Cf. G. Goyau, Sainte MHanie, ch. ii, iii.

baptism and promised on recei\iny^ the sacrament that you would spare neither your mother nor your father if the name of Christ recjuired it. See how the enemy is tn,ing- to kill the Christ in your heart See how the other side is grieved at your reception of the gift of Christ which you were to use in the fight Even if your grandnephcw were clinging to your neck and your mother with her scanty hair and garments rent asunder were to bare the breasts that you had sucked to make you give way, even if your father were to fling himself down upon the threshold to bar your way, trample him beneath your feet, and onward without a tear towards the standard of
Christian faith,
in
!

/IDonastlcism in tbc XOcst when you were buried with Christ

i4

the cross !"^

"
I,

too,

nor have I a heart of stone. I am not sprung from the rocks, nor am I a fierce tigress's cub. I have had to face the same searchings of heart. "^ shall see to what an extent such exhortations as these aggravated the society of Rome.

am

not a

know man of

well the
iron,

impediments that hamper you.

We

St. Jerome was not satisfied with urging on his correspondents to embrace the monastic life. He also laid down for them the rule they were to follow, when they proposed to themselves, as did Paulinus of Nola and also St. Augustine

after his conversion, to live the lives of

monks

in their

own

homes.

He who wished to give himself up entirely to Christ, he says, must wear coarse clothing; for this betokens purity of heart. To dress in cheap raiment is to shov/ one's contempt for the world. It is well to abstain from baths that preserve that heat of the body which should be lessened by fasting. Fasts should be in moderation for fear of weakening the digestion and necessitating better fare to the detriment of one's virtue. Food in sober measure is beneficial both to
body and
soul.'
in

where he may meet with strangers

his visits to his family, to him who may endanger his afTcctions. He should imitate St. John the Baptist who lived in the wilderness though he had saints for his relations. His eyes sought for Christ only and would look upon nothing else {Vivcbat in eremo, et oculis desiderantibiis Christum nihil
:

The monk should be sparing

^ Ep. XIV, ad Heliodorum, 2 Licet sfarso crine et scissis vestibus, ubera quibus te nutrierat, mater ostendat, licet in limine fater jaceat, per calcatum ferge falrem, siccis oculis ad vexillum crucis evola. Solum fietatis genus est, in hac re esse crudelem. ' '

Id.. 3.
St.

Jerome,

Ef.

CXXV,
monk

ad

Rusticum

monachum,

7.

See

a
I,

similar portrait of the P- 254 It)-

in Aphraates, Demonstratio, vi (Graffin,

142

Cbrlstian Spirituality?

aliud dignahatur aspicere).^ He must also avoid the crowd that throng-s the towns. "To me," said St. Jerome, "the town is a prison and the sohtude a paradise." {Mihi oppidum career et solitudo paradisus).^ The relig-ious will always have a book in his hands and his eyes fixed upon it. He will learn the Psalter by heart, for that is the book of monastic prayer par excellence. He will pray without ceasing- and keep strict watch over his senses lest vain thoughts should invade his mind. He must love the knowledge of the Scriptures and hate the vices of the flesh. Jerome wants the monks under his direction to get a scientific knowledge of the Bible. ^ At Bethlehem he had instructed Paula and Eustochium in his works on the Scriptures, and kindled in them a great love of the commentaries on the

sacred text.

The monk must also be on his guard against day-dreamingr, which is liable to lead to lamentable falls. He must also be always at work, so that the devil may find him ever busy (^Facito aliqiiid operis ut te semper diabolus inveniat occupatuni). In harmony with the monastic traditions of the East, St. Jerome recommends manual labour.^ He also urges beg^inners in the monastic life to dwell together in community. Like St. Basil, he understood how dangerous to novices solitude might be. The solitary runs the risk of following- his own whims, since he has no superior. Solitude also encourag^es vainglory by fostering the illusion of one's being the only person in the world to fast and do penance. The coenobite, on the other hand, is guided and taught by his superiors and edified by the example of his brethren.^ Moreover, superiors must be respected and loved as fathers, and their behests obeyed without criticism.
St. Jerome wished to make the most difficult of ascetical conquests, such as getting married Christians to live a life of continence. A rich Spaniard named Licinius had formed this holy purpose in concert with his wife. " I beg: you," wrote St. Jerome in order to confirm him in his plan, "I conjure you with all the love of a father, you who have left Sodom behind you to flee into the mountains ; look not back. Take not your hand from the plough nor from the hem of Christ's garment,
1 St. 8

Jerome,

id.

a;.^ 8.

married woman of the world who wished to live a devout life is advised by St. Jerome to be assiduous in reading the Bible. Ep. CXLVIII, ad Celantiam matronam, 14. * Ef. CXXV, II.
Id., g, 15, i6. Id., 15 Prae-positum monasterii tut timeas ut domitium, diligas ut pair em. Credos iibi saluiare quidquid ille fraeceferit ; nee de
'
:

majorum sententia judices, cujus jussa sunt.

officii est

obedire

et im-plere ea

quae

/IDonastictem in tbc XClcst 143 nor from the luc ks ol his hair wet with the dew of night, once ha\ ing touched them. Go not down from the summits of virtue to fetch your discarded clothing. Return not from the fields to your home to get anything. \'ou now have your wife with you, who was formerly your companion according to the llesh, but henceforth a companion according to the spirit. From now onwards to you she is a sister. Liitely she was your inferior, to-day she is your equal and under the same yoke as yourself she hastens on to reach the kingdom of heaven."* "Our patterns and our masters," St. Jerome used to say, "are a Paul, an Antony ... a Hilarion, a Macarius."' Christians who are truly worthy of the name should imitate them. And did not circumstances endow the exhortations of St. Jerome with an unexpected effectiveness? At the very time when he was preaching asceticism the barbarians were hurling themselves upon the Roman empire. What was the use of founding a family when the old world was about to perish? Gaul was already entirely overrun by countless hordes of unheard-of ferocity, and its towns lay devastated. Spain was shuddering. The barrier of the Danube had been broken through, and battles were raging right in the heart of the Roman empire. Rome herself though it could scarcely be believed was no longer fighting for glory but for her own
. .

safety

Alaric

was

at the door.

And

if

Rome

perished,

who

could be saved ?^ " Is it in such

times as these that you desire to get married?" wrote Jerome to a young widow whom he was trving to induce not to marry again. " What sort of husband will you choose? Tell me. A man who will have to flee before the foe or to fight against him? Vou can imagine the consequences. For your wedding hymn you will have the trumpet of the enemy ringing in your ears, and your marriage festivities will turn to lamentations. What means will you have when you have lost the rent of all your properties and see your children dying of sickness and starvation in the hands of your enemies?"* Melania the Elder offered the same considerations to her granddaughter Melania and her husband Pinian to induce them to take vows of poverty and continence. " My grandchildren, four hundred years ago it was written The last day is at hand, countless ills are about to befall us. Why, then, find pleasure in cleaving to the vanity of this life? Fear you
:

1 E-p. LXXI, ad Lucinium, i, 3. Cf. Ef. LIV, ad Furiam, Ef. CVII, ad Laetam, 13. Ef. LVIII, ad Paulinum, 5. ' St. Jerome, Ep. CXXIII, ad Ageruchiam, 16, 17.

i,

2;

Id.. 18.

144 not
lest

Cbdstian Spirituality
the day of Anti-Christ overtake you and prevent from enjoying your riches and the possessions of your
"^

you

ancestors?"

With

less

passion

than

St,

Jerome, but with no

less

urg-ency, St. Ambrose encourages the maidens of Milan to take vows of virginity, and he energetically demanded on their behalf freedom to obey the divine call. At the beginning of his episcopate he addressed his people on the excellence and sanctity of the virgin state in homilies of such captivating eloquence that mothers jealously kept their daughters at home during the time of the sermon for fear they should go to hear the preacher. Writing from Rome, where she had taken the veil at the hands of Pope Liberius,^ Marcellina, St. Ambrose's sister, asked her brother to publish the discourses upon virginity of which everyone was talking, so that those who had been unable to hear them might at any rate have the pleasure of reading them. Such was the origin of the treatise De Virginibus,

which very soon was widely read and was snatched by the parents from the hands of their daughters to keep them from
taking the
his
veil.

like St. Jerome in his letters on Virginity, draws inspiration from the writings formerly addressed by St. Cyprian to the virgins of Carthage. In charming style does he praise virginity, " which has heaven for its motherland and the spotless Son of God for its founder."^ He lays down for them and at Milan they were still living in their families and not in monasteries* their rule of life. He advises them to be sparing in their visits, to love silence and modesty,^ to be temperate in eating and drinking, and to pray unceasingly.^ Then for their imitation he puts before them the examples of famous virgins such as St, Agnes, St, Thecla,^ and above all the Blessed Virgin Mary, who in the writings of St. Ambrose is given the place she was afterwards to hold in the extension of asceticism. " Virgins, let your perfect pattern of virginity be the life

Ambrose,

'^

Lausiac History,

54.

gives the prayers recited, no doubt this period, at the " Consecration of Virgins " and the taking of the veil (P.L. LXXIV, 1152-1156). ' De virginibus, I, 20, 21. C/. I, 10 to 13. See St. Cyprian, De
2

The Gelasian Sacramentary,

during

habiiu virgirium,
*
6

3.
I,

St.

Ambrose, De virginibus,
I,

32.

St. Id., Ill, 9-14. his treatise, De Officiis, guardian of chastity." 8 Id., Ill, 5, 18-20.
7

Ambrose has a
xviii to xx.

He

fine description of modesty in calls it " the companion and

St. Ambrose gives similar advice to young widows whom he wouli persuade not to marry again. De viduis, 7-12.

Id.. I, 5-9.

Id., II, 19-21,

/IDonasticism In'tbc XClcst

.

145
. .

of Mary, wherein as in a mirror shine likeness of chastity and the ideal of jjoodncss. Her you must take as your model. " The desire for instruction springs in the first place from the fame of the master. But what can be more exalted than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she who was chosen by the divine glor)'? What more pure than she whose body conceived without corruption? And of her other virtues

what am I to say? She was a virgin not only in body, but in soul, for never was her love impaired in its purity by any taint of evil. She was humble of heart, grave in speech, prudent in decision, reserved in conversation, devoted to the
study of the Holy Scriptures.
"
. . .

as to be of itself a rule of How many and striking are this conduct for all. Virgin's virtues How great will be the company of virgins whom she will go to meet on the threshold of their How many will be those whom she will heavenly home embrace and lead to the Lord, saying Lo here are they who by their spotless chastity have kept immaculate the virgin
life
. .
.

So perfect was Mary's

!
.

bed of

my Son

their

Spouse
far

!"*

from fruitless. From Piacenza, Bologna, and even from Mauretania there came virgins to Milan to give themselves to God.' Many young maidens of Milan begged to take the veil, but most of them met with lively opposition in their own homes, and many of them ran the risk of being disinherited if they persisted in their desires. The Bishop of Milan advises them not to let themselves be shaken by these trials. Often the resistance of the parents and they will always use the same tactics is only a They hope to discourage their children from stratagem. following their vocation by making them wait for their consent. But when they find that their opposition is useless they end by giving way. In such a case, to be able to overcome one's family is to win a victory over the world. As to an inheritance, there should be no regret at losing it. The riches which the heavenly Bridegroom will hereafter share with virgins will afford a superabundant compensation.^ Then Ambrose addresses the parents and tells them of the honours and gains a virgin obtains for her family. " The merits of virgins," says he, " redeem the sins of their parents. The virgin is a gift from God. She is also a present offered For her mother the virgin by her father to the Lord. is a victim whose daily sacrifice appeases the divine justice." Are not such blessings better than the sacrifices, even than that of being deprived of descendants, which a virgin lays upon her family?* Besides, those who dare to hinder entirely

The exhortations were

De

virginibus, II,
I, 58,

6, 7, 15, 16.

60, 6i. ld..\, 63-65.

Id.,

Id.

146
penalties.^

Cbrxstian Spirituality

the vocation of their children incur the danger of celestial

These objurgatory appeals to fathers and mothers gave rise and the teaching of Ambrose was criticized.^ It is an outrage, they said, to keep so many young girls from marrying, as if marriage were an evil thing Do you want to extinguish the human race? Young people now no longer dare to ask any girl to marry them for fear of being rejected. Such exhortations as these do harm, and they are also a new thing in the Church. In any case, it is an abuse of the inexperience of the young girls to get them to take the veil while they are still so young. ^ The Bishop of Milan felt that it was his duty to justify himself against such charges in two homilies On Virginity, which he published in 377, a year after his treatise On Virgins. The reply was all the more needed because the attacks came for the most part from ignorant or ill-intentioned hearers of St. Ambrose.* " Many reproach me for my exhortations upon chastity because they find them irksome and disconcerting. They unmask themselves by their
to lively dissatisfaction,
!

complaints."^

What
young

right have they to reproach

girls to consecrate their virginity to

Ambrose God?

for inviting " Are they

who

are free to choose a spouse to be forbidden to show their preference for God?"^ Never has he condemned marriage, as some heretics have done. On the contrary, he has always maintained its lawfulness. But he claims the right of declaring openly that virginity is something higher and more honourable and Also, he desired "to stop young girls who meritorious.'' were thinking of marrying and to make them exchange the wedding veil for that of the virgins !"* And let it not be said that the increase in the number of virgins in the world will harm the spread and growth of the For experience shows that " in those places human race where there are but few virgins vowed to God the population decreases, and that on the contrary it progresses wherever Thus the veneration of virginity is held in honour. it virginity is not without its advantages for the world " gives the world a lesson in chastity. " Indeed, it is not the fear of man's punishments that guards chastity, but con! .
.

2 3

virginitate, 24-26, 38, 39. De virginibus, I, 34. Accusaii enim sumus, et nisi jailor, accusatores nostri plerique de Horum ergo affectus redarguere tnalo quam -personas vobis sunt. prodere. De virginitate, 24.
*

De De De

virginibus, I, 32, 33. virginibus, II, 66, 67.

Cf.

De

virginitate, 38-41.

'

Ibid. De virginibus, I, 24-39. De virginitate, 25.

De

virginitate, 25, 26.

147 /IDouasticlsm In tbc XUlcst what gives it the mastery and faith it is that keeps it."^ What, then, is the oftence of preaching virginity? Here, then, arc truths which were truly astounding to the society of Rome so recently converted and still thoroughly
science
is

impregnated with paganism. Nor were these exhortations to virginity any new thing in the Church. Christ was the first, and after Him the Apostles, to praise the state of those who had received from heaven the gift of perpetual and perfect chastity.^ Lastly, Ambrose is not unaware that prudence is required
before virgins who are still young are allowed to take the veil. But investigation less concerns their age than their inward dispositions and force of character. For Christ loves childhood, and would not have children forbidden to come to him.^ Hence Ambrose strongly maintained his freedom to exhort to the practice of virginity young girls who felt that they were called to it. But he knew well that such a vocation The Bishop of Milan explained in his is given to a few only. treatise De Ojficiis tninistrorutn that all Christians are not meant to live a life of perfect chastity or of voluntary' poverty. The duties of Christians, he observes, may be divided into two classes those that are common and constitute morality, and those that belong to such as desire to be perfect. This distinction is based upon the answer of Jesus to the young man who was rich.' The Dc Ojficiis treats of the former set In it St. Ambrose is much more of a moralist than of duties. His aim is to teach priests in the first a spiritual writer. place, and then the faithful, how to become just in order to be able to attain perfection.'
:

II. THE REACTION OF "CHRISTIAN EPICUREANISM" HELVIDIUS, JOVINIAN, AND

VIGILANTIUS
The
St.

treatises of St.

Jerome had deeply

aroused
increased followed.
1

much when

the Letters of the society of Rome and discontent. The dissatisfaction was only a number of new and striking conversions
stirred

Ambrose on Virginity and

* I<i., 28, 29. ' Id., 3941. In writing this work St. Ambrose followed on Officii s, I, xi. the lines of Cicero's De Officiis. * In the first book St. Ambrose lays down what Christian uprightness requires the duties of the young (I, xvii), of the clergy (I, xx to xxiii), instructions on prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance (I, xxiv ff.).

De De

virginitate, 35-37.

The second book deals with what is good for a Christian, particularly of almsgiving (II, xv ff.). The third describes Christian wisdom which never seeks its own good at the expense of the good of others.

148

Cbdstian Spirltualitp

strictures were made upon Melania, who belonged to the highest nobility of Rome and, becoming a widow in 372, left her family to visit the monks of Egypt and Palestine, and had settled on the Mount of Olives, living there along Paula, with other nuns a life of prayer and mortification.

Many

another distinguished widow, lived at Rome apart from the She world, spending her time in prayer and self-discipline. too was soon with her daughter Eustochium off to Palestine, where she dwelt at Bethlehem near St. Jerome, in order to lead a monastic life and devote herself to the study of the Scriptures. On the Aventine a band of matrons, Asella, Marcella, and Laeta, along with other virgins or widows, despite worldly custom and the strictures of the noble families, gave themselves up to prayer, the practice of asceticism, and the study of Holy Writ. These, it is true, were all women. The perverse or simply ill-natured thought to take ample revenge upon them by calling them mad and saying that they urgently needed being put under care.^ They made fun of their religious habit, with which, in their desire to become as fools for Christ's sake, they had replaced their sumptuous matrons' dresses.^ The joke was sometimes carried to fearful and detestable lengths, as when they went so far as to set traps to destroy the virtue of the young Roman girls who had renounced the world to give themselves to God.^ But men, too, came to be won over to asceticism. What a scandal there was when a patrician, a senator and former consul, Paulinus, along with his wife Theresa, resolved to live a life of continence and give up everything, wealth, family, and a brilliant position, to retire to Nola, an obscure " When the place, and there to live the life of a monk. asked mischievously they say?" what will this, hear of nobles St. Ambrose,* to whom the event afforded a striking retort
to his detractors.

About the same time news came to Rome that in Gaul a friend of Paulinus, Sulpicius Severus, who had a delightful position in the world, was giving himself entirely to God About despite the opposition of his father and his friends. 357 Sulpicius wrote the Life of St. Martin, the apostle of Gaul
and a famous ascetic. His book was widely read throughout Italy and even in Egypt, and inspired many of the faithful to
the evangelical vows. have been the exasperation of the " crowd of patricians," as St. Jerome called them, which had "barked" so loudly at Paulinus' when it saw right in the city of Rome

make

What must

1 St. 2 St.

3 *

Jerome, Ef. CVIII, ad Eustochium, 18. Jerome, Ef. XXIII, ad Marcellam, 2, 3. Id., Ef. CVII, ad Laetem, 5. Paulinus of Nola, Ef. St. Ambrose, Ef. LVIII, 3.

I,

a.

/IDonastictsm In tbc XClcst

149

the senator Pammachius, Paula's son-in-law, defying all strictures and scorninj,'- popular comment, exchanging the In the senatorial purple for the coarse habit of the monk? hospital built by Fabiola, another illustrious convert to asceticism, famous for her penance and charity,^ Pammachius devoted himself lo the sick and ministered to their humblest needs, going barefoot and eating coarse food.' Along with him, giving themselves up to the care of the sick, there were matrons who had been most dainty, and " who could not endure the filth of the streets, who only went out in litters carried by eunuchs, and even the least inequalities in the ground were far more than they could bear. A silk gown was too heavy for them and the sun's heat was a furnace to them,' and yet to-day they are dressed in rough clothes soiled with work, and have become strong, trim lamps, light fires, sweep rooms, prepare vegetables and make them into little bundles to put into boiling pots, lay tables, carry in dishes and put the food in them, and finally give themselves up to any kind of work that may be required."* A wild and implacable hatred soon broke out against the instigators of this monastic proselytism. Jerome, the intrepid apostle of asceticism, became its special object while he was at Rome, particularly after the death of his protector Pope had they mocked, and that with much illDamasus. nature, at the letters he had written to some of the young Roman girls, in which, in order to exhort them not to marry, he had depicted for them in far too outspoken terms the disadvantages and miseries of marriage.' Now the nobles of Rome "thundered" against him and spoke of him as a

How

magician and seducer who deserved to be deported." They hurled the most outrageous calumnies against him, going so far as to incriminate him as to his relations with the devout women whom he had entrapped by satanic wiles, they said, by dragging them off to the cloister.^ This hatred included monasticism itself, which was made In finally responsible for all such defections from the world. particular was it blamed for the death of one of Paula's daughters, Blesilla, a poor matron who had allowed herself People to be enticed by the monks and killed by fasting!^ asked in anger why they were waiting " to drive the hated race of monks out of the town? Why were they not stoned
1

St.

Jerome, Ep.

LXIV and LXXVIII,

13.

ad Fabiolam.
of the worldly

Id.,
St.
St.

Ef. LXVI, ad Pammachium,

'

Ambrose speaks

in a similar
I, 21, 29,

manner

women

of

Milan.
* 5

De

virginibus,

54, 55.

St.

Jerome, ibid. Jerome, Ef.

CXXX, ad

Demetriadem, 19; Ef. LIT, ad Nefo.

tianurn, 17.

1 Id.. Ef. U., Ef. LIV. ad Furiam, 2. St. Jerome, Ef. XXXIX, ad Paulam, 5.

XLV, ad

Asellam,

i,

2.

150

Cbdsttan Spirituality

to death? were they not drowned in the Tiber?"* On all sides imprecations broke forth against " the men of darkness, foul beings " who were the death of society, men whom the pagan poet Rutilius Namatianus was soon to lament at having to meet even in the isles of the Mediterranean.^ In this chorus of invective was to be heard the voice of many a bad Christian, the enemies of the cross of Christ " I shall (Phil. iii. i8) and resolute adversaries of asceticism. give up my religion," said one of them, " if these retirements into the desert go on increasing !"^

Why

It is better to remain a Apostasy is too grave a step. Christian, and be free to strip one's religion of all asceticism. Cannot Christ be kept without the cross and cannot one get Many tried to convince themto heaven without penance? selves that they could and therefore lived like Ausonius the poet of Bordeaux. God has given us food for our use, they He, too, is the said, why should we fast and go without it? author of marriage hence the state of the married cannot be inferior to that of the virgin. Such were the opinions expressed and discussed in the Let a false prophet arise social gatherings of the period. and focus them and make a gospel of them, and his success
;

is

sure.

About 384 a layman of Milan, named Helvidius, made the St. Ambrose had put forward the incomparable attempt. virginity of Mary for the imitation of virgins, and the charm of this perfect pattern had drawn many of the faithful to the The perpetual and entirely heavenly practice of chastity. virginity of Mary was an invincible rampart for the protection
of asceticism, just as in the controversies concerning the person of Christ her divine maternity was to become the impregnable citadel of orthodoxy. The opponents of Christian renunciation appreciated this.* And thus Helvidius, with the intention of exalting marriage over virginity and of discrediting asceticism and the monastic life, by making a wrong use of a few passages in the Gospels, undertook to prove that Mary, after the virgin-birth of Jesus, had had

children by Joseph.''

Jerome then happened

1

to be at

Rome, where
5.

his

enjoyment

St.

Jerome, Ep.

XXXIX,

ad Paulam,

Rutilius Namatianus, De reditu, lines 439 f. Puech, Un rejormateiir de la societi chritienne au S. Jean Chrysostome et les 7>weurs de son temfs, p. 252.
2

IV slide; G. Goyau,

Sainte Milanie,
*

p. 51-

Ambrose, De institutione virginis et sanctae Mariae virginitate Cum omnes ad cultum virginitaiis sanctae Mariae ferfetua, 35 advocentur exemplo, fuerunt qui earn negarent virginem ferseverasse. 5 St. Ambrose, id. St. Augustine, De haeresibus, 84.
St.
:

/IDonastlclsm in tbc XGXcst

151

of the confidence of Pope Damasus kept him. He was asked to reply to Helvidius. He huny^ back; for Helvidius was an illiterate person who did not deserve the honour of a refutation. But the scandal grew, and the defamer of Mary displayed quite a mania in spreading and upholding" his errors. Hence Jerome seized the pen and in a fury of indignation dashed off his book Against Helvidius, On the Perpetual Virginity of Holy Mary. In it he demolished one after the other the impious allegations of the innovator and the scriptural proofs upon which he claimed to establish them.

A few years later the opponents of asceticism discovered another and a much more powerful champion of their case in
monk Jovinian. man had tried the monastic life but had never caught the spirit of it. He soon threw away the habit to clothe himself in fine linen and silk. He became thoroughly worldly in his ways. He frequented the baths and even the taverns. He and his friends made up for their past penances by
the

This

spending the day in feasting and giving themselves up, people said, to debauchery.^ Jovinian greatly pleased the society of Rome by living as they did. For the use of these classes he started a religion which Going farther than accorded with its ways and opinions. Helvidius, Jovinian dared to strip Mary's child-bearing of its virgin halo,- and thus he was able to depreciate virginity still more thoroughly. For the fundamental principle of Jovinian's
religion was that the state of the virgin and the widow was not more meritorious than that of the married. The other articles of his Credo were calculated to give special satisfaction to those who, though they said nothing about asceticism, still thought the common and ordinary obligations of Christian precepts too heavy a burden. Those of the faithful who have been baptized in good dispositions, said Jovinian, cannot be beaten by the devil and are sure of Also, in heaven there will be no difference in their salvation. reward all who have kept their baptismal grace will win the same crown. The man who fasts is no more perfect than the man who eats freely and gives thanks to God.^ Thus an Antonv after long years of mortification in the desert would get no greater reward at death than the Christian who led an easy life on the banks of the Tiber Jovinian founded a religion of pleasure and set the flesh
;

St. St.

Ambrose, Ep. XLII, ad Syriacum,

,

9.

St.

Jerome, Adversus

J ovinianum
*

I, 40.

taught

St. Augustine, De hneresibus, 82. Jovinian virginem Jesu matrem non in concifiendo quidem, sed in fariendo fuisse corruftam. ' St. Jerome, Adversus f ovinianum, I, 3. St. Augustine, id.

Ambrose,
that

id., 4.

Deifaram

152

free

Cbristtan Sptritualit^ from the restrictions which Christ had laid upon it, "^ St. Jerome quite rig-htly called him "the Christian Epicurus who thought he had discovered the secret of remaining a
disciple of Jesus while following the inclinations of nature. This comfortable kind of preaching met with an enthusiastic

reception amongst the Roman worldlings, who could now live as pagans without any fear of eternal punishment. Indeed, Jovinian's influence continued to increase and made inroads even in the ranks of the fervent. St. Augustine tells us of many Roman virgins, now no longer young, and who had so far spent a life above reproach in the cloister, who got married. A large number of the faithful went so far as to look upon celibacy with contempt.^ To put a stop to the evil became urgently necessary. Pammachius and other zealous Roman Christians called upon Pope Siricius to condemn "the abominable writings" of Jovinian. The Pope excommunicated Jovinian and his followers and compelled them to leave Rome. At the request of Siricius, St. Ambrose, along with the bishops of his province assembled in synod, anathematized them about 389.^ Ambrose had been the saddened spectator of this mental agitation and spiritual effervescence on the question of He had kept silence, and would have wished to asceticism. go on keeping it and not to speak at all of these " fearful But the erroneous teaching was making a blasphemies." great deal of noise and resulting in defections. Two monks of Milan, Sarmatio and Barbatian, had become apostates in order to follow Jovinian.* And even a bishop, Bonosus of Sardica, had allowed himself to be enticed and no longer believed in the perpetual virginity of the Mother of Jesus. At the taking of the veil St. Ambrose preached a homily, which he published in 392, to brand those who dared to touch with sacrilegious hand the virgin crown which adorned Mary's brow.' Not only did the Mother of Christ remain a virgin after bringing forth her divine Son into the world, as the universal tradition of the Church and the unanimous faith of believers vie with one another in demonstrating, but her immaculate virginity suffered no taint in her child-bearing. The Infant-God came forth from His mother's womb in a miraculous way, just as afterwards the risen Christ came forth from the tomb that was still sealed and entered into the Cenacle with the doors still shut to show Himself to the
Adversus Jovinianum, I, i Epicurus christianorum ii, De haeresibus, 82. St. 22 St. Augustine, Retractationum Augustine wrote hia treatise De bono conjugali to refute Jovinian's
1
:

errors
4 *

8 St.

to show the superiority of virginity to marriage. Ambrose, Ef. XLII, ad Syriacum. Id., Ef. LXIV, ad Vercell. Eccl., 7-9. De institutione virginis et sanctae Mariae virginitate

and

fer-petua,

35

ff-

/IDonasttcism In tbe IClcst

153

Apostles. Mark's womb is the " shut j^atc " of which says the prophet Ezechiel :' This gate shall be shut. It shall not be opened and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord God of Israel hath entered iti by it.' In the meantime St. Jerome, warned by his friend Pammachius of what was taking phice, also made himself heard by crjing out from the depths of his cave in Bethlehem. No one knew better than he that Jovinian's success depended less upon the value of what he wrote than upon the evil inclinations of the society of Rome. And in order to hasten on the overthrow of the innovator's notions he blended with his theolog^ical proofs satire at the expense of the manners of Rome. How sarcastically does he speak of the Romans and their semi-pagan ways who had enrolled themselves as the followers of an unfrocked monk because he had known how
to flatter their unwholesome longings " Your army is strong in the number of its reserves," he said to Jovinian fine stout fellows, well groomed and
!

..."
hail
fist

you with acclamation and are ready to The nobles make way for and foot you in the street, and the rich fondle and take you to their If you had never been born, the hearts. Just think of it! drinkers and the gluttons would never find their way into Take heart paradise. Be bold in evil You have among your supporters even bare-necked Amazons who incite to sin all who come near them."'
resplendent,
fight for

who

you with

This reaction against asceticism, with Jovinian for its hero, had as a result, about 405, an eflfort to rebel against the celibacy of the clergy. Quite early celibacy had become obligatory for ecclesiastics of the higher orders of the diaconate, the priesthood, and the episcopate, owing to the moral pressure of the ascetics of both sexes. The state of continence was the highest, and many ordinary Christians chose it, and hence it was fitting that it should be the state of the ministers of the Church. Moreover, the latter were often taken from amongst the continent. However, celibacy was not obligatory- during the first three centuries. There was a fairly common custom for the clergy who had once taken the higher orders not to marry afterwards, but they were allowed to live a married life, if they had been married prior to their ordination.*
^

Ezechiel, xliv.
St.

2.

De

institutione virj^irribus, 52.

Jerome, Adversus Jovinianum, II, 77. St. Jerome arpued so forcibly against Jovinian that we may think that he disparaged matrimony. He had to write to Pammachius (Ef. XT>VTII) to clear up
'

his position on the matter. * St. Ambrose makes inention of this custom,

De

Officiis,

I,

cap.

i,

No. 257.

154

Cbrfstian Spirituality At the beginning- of the fourth century the rule came to be more established. In the East the old custom was retained,

except that celibacy became obligatory in the case of bishops. In the West, on tJhe contrary, it was not only imposed upon bishops, but even upon priests and deacons, and later on even upon subdeacons. Those who had married prior to their ordination had to leave their wives upon taking orders. This discipline was begun in Spain by the Council of Elvira about 300, but it gradually became general after the most persistent
efforts.

And Spain is just where Vigilantius, a priest of Barcelona, undertook his campaign against the celibacy of the clergy. He made it his mission to attack the worship and discipline of the Church on various points. Especially did he find fault with the veneration of the martyrs' relics, the keeping of
vigils,

the

making

of collections,

fasts,

voluntary poverty,

and the monastic

life.^

With regard to celibacy, contrary to the customs which were gaining ground, he wanted the clergy never to be taken from among the continent, and even to compel those who were unmarried to have wives. According to him, and in this he was like the libertines of all the ages who measure men by their own rule and believed that chastity was
impossible, celibacy was but a cloak to conceal all sorts of disgracefulness. And he went so far as to brand the doctrine that counselled continence a heresy, for if all were to follow it Lastly, Vigilantius the world would come to an end. impeached monachism, the great inculcator of continence and mortification, as the cause of all the evil. In the guise of a good missionary, he condemned it for decreasing the number If all men were to withdraw to of the Church's ministers. the desert, who would rule the churches and convert sinners? Moreover, to flee into the desert is a piece of cowardice it is an attempt to escape from the struggle with temptation. Does it not show more courage to stand firm and to resist it face to face?^ Vigilantius m.ade converts, and many parishes adjoining Even bishops took up his his house were depraved by him. views and refused to ordain unmarried deacons.^ He was denounced to Jerome, the solitary of Bethlehem, who in one night with a single effort dashed off a virulent refutation of the innovator's theories. Vigilantius, by finding fault with celibacy, sets himself in opposition to the churches of the East, of Egypt and of Rome, for they choose their clergy from among the continent and exhort the married clergy to be perfectly chaste. Nothing
;

St.

Jerome, Against Vigilantius,

I,

i.

Id..

2,

15.

Id., 3,

/IDonastlcism in tbc TUcst

155

but the love of licentiousness leads him on.* He also mainMonks do tains that monks are useless, but he is mistaken. It is their mission to penance for themselves and others. weep and not to teach they weep for themselves and for the world, ^ Hence their social position, few as are the Christians who understand it, is of the highest importance. In his book against \'igilantius St. Jerome also took the opportunity of formulating- the great rule to follow in order It is by fleeing that to overcome temptations against purity. one can vanquish concupiscence. To venture to meet this vice by means of frontal attack is to lose half the battle from And great is the rashness of Vigilantius, who the start. wants us deliberately to incur the risks of this sort of warfare rather than to flee the occasions for fighting-, even though one were to withdraw into the desert to do it.'
;

God was about to lend visible assistance to the defenders of asceticism and to co-operate with their exhortations with striking lessons of actual occurrences. On the twentieth of August, 4m, Rome was taken by Alaric and utterly laid waste. The senators were massacred by the Goths and the matrons violated. All their possessions, to which" they clung so strongly as to persecute those who voluntarily renounced them, were reduced to nothing. plain was then the vanity of the things of this world, and how fully was Jerome justified as against his detractors !

How

Now everyone is forced to renounce the world, and all men In this time of are ruthlessly compelled to accept poverty misery, when the sword smites everywhere, one is well oflf if one is not short of bread, and powerful enough if one is not subjected to slavery.* So great were the world's calamities that it had ceased to be dangerous, and that there was no fear of anyone loving it. So crushed was it by all its disasters "that it had not even the ghost of its seductions left," as
!

St.

Augustine
not

said.*^

were

families and religious communities of Rome Marcella and her young companion spared. Principia only escaped the violence of the barbarians by taking refuge in the basilica of St. Paul," a building which was treated with respect by the barbarians along with the Only those were really saved who had basilica of St. Peter. carried their asceticism to the point of flying from Rome into the desert in order to live there as monks.''

The Christian

St. Jerome, > Id., 15.

Against Vigilantius,

2.
'

Id.. 16.

St.

Jerome, Ef.

CXXV,

ad Rusticum monachum,
13.

20.

'

Ep. CXXII, I (P.L. XXXIII, 483)St. Jerome, Ef. CXXVII. ad Princifiam. Palladius, Lausiac History, 54.

156

Cbristian Spirituality

III.MONASTICISM IN

GAUL

In spite of all its efforts, "Christian Epicureanism" had not checked the growth of the monastic life in Italy. Nor was it more successful in other parts of the West, where monks soon became very numerous. Nevertheless, their manner of life did not exhibit the same The life of characteristics as in the countries of the East. the anchorite, in the strict sense, did not spread much in this part of the world. Neither the climate nor the political conditions were very favourable for this type of asceticism.^ Most of the monks lived in monasteries. Often they gathered together in small bands, as St. Augustine and his friends at Tagaste, in private houses the owner of which had embraced Lastly, asceticism, collecting a few followers around him. there were those who lived as if they were monks in their
families. From St. Jerome's correspondence we learn that there were many vocations of this kind, not only in Italy, but also in Gaul and Spain. At Milan, thanks to the eloquent preaching of St. Ambrose, the monastic life was in a flourishing condition. Beyond the walls of the town was a monastery of men which was governed by a priest.^ Marcellina, St. Ambrose's sister, left Rome to settle at Milan in order to direct a community of virgins. Eusebius, Bishop of Vercellae (t 370), one of the great opponents of Arianism, gathered together all his clergy in his own house in order to live a common life of prayer and Thus did he inaugurate the fasting along with them. monastic life of the parish clergy, a practice which made its way in Gaul and in Africa. At Nola in Campania Paulinus collected a few friends about him. They chanted the sacred hymns together at the various hours of the day and night, and fasted and gave themselves up to mortifications. Paulinus, a wealthy senator, had finally found happiness in stripping himself voluntarily of his pos" Nothing that I owned when I was called a sessions. senator," said he, " can be compared with the goods I enjoy since I have been called a beggar."^

own

In Gaul the beginnings of monachism are connected with Martin, Bishop of Tours, but St. Athanasius had something
1

St.
*

Hermits were to be found in the isles of the Mediterranean. Cf, Jerome, Ep. Ill, ad Rufinum, 4. De moribus Ecclesiae Augustine, Confessions, VIII, 6. St.
Carmina, XXI, 458,
459.

Catholicae, xxxiii, 70.

3

/Donaetlclsm
to

do with

it.

In tbc XUcst About 3^0, while he was in exile

157
at Treves,

Patriarch of Alexandria made the monks of the East No doubt he often to the Gallo-Roman churches. conversed with Hilar\- of Poitiers, who was also j^oinj,'^ to be exiled for his opposition to Arianism. He may perhaps have seen St. Martin himself. In his intercourse with these holy men tliere must have been talk of the monastic life of the East and of the help it had rendered to the cause of
the

known

orthodoxy. When he was twelve St. Martin had the monastic spirit. years old, says his biographer Sulpicius Severus,'^ and still a simple catechumen, he already cherished the idea of with-

drawing into solitude to live the life of a hermit. Compelled by his father, a veteran of the imperial army, to serve as a soldier, he fulfilled his military duties under the Emperor Constantius and under Julian. He aided the unfortunate, fed the poor, gave clothes to those who needed them, and spent all that he possessed without keeping back anything for the morrow.^ It was at this time that at Amiens he divided his soldier's cloak to give half of it to a poor fellow shivering with cold.^ In 339, when he was twenty-two, Martin was baptized, and at the end of his time of military service he renounced the profession of arms and betook himself to St. Hilary, who ordained him an exorcist. Desiring to make his parents abandon paganism, Martin set out for Pannonia, his native land, and had the happiness He returned to Gaul of winning over his mother to Christ. on hearing of Hilary's exile. He stopped at Milan and lived there in solitude until he was driven out by the Arian bishop Maxentius, when he withdrew to an island of the Mediterranean inhabited by recluses.* As soon as Hilary returned from exile Martin repaired to him, and founded the first monastery to arise in Gaul, at Ligugd about five miles from Poitiers. Its organization was very simple. The monks lived in huts or separate cells, each one having his own. They met together for religious exercises Martin in the oratory, which was built in the midst of them. was their ruler, but much more owing to example than to commandment. It was to this monastery that they came to

him in order to promote him to the episcopal throne of Tours.* After becoming a bishop Martin did not cease to be a monk. In his missionary journeys through Gaul, where he banished the last vestiges of paganism, he kept to his strict manner of life. He wore rough clothing, rode on a donkey,
find
1

Vita Sancti Martini. 2 (P.L.

XX,

161).

Id., 2. fd., 4-6.

/d., 3. /d.. 7-9.

158
slept

Cbrtstian Spirituality

on the hard ground and denied himself even a bed of straw. ^ He was rigorous in abstinence and fasting, and his vigils were many he restricted himself to what bare necessity required in the way of food and sleep. He was continually in prayer, for even while he was at work his mind was unceasingly occupied with things divine.^ Wishing to live as a monk as far as possible, St. Martin founded within two miles of Tours the famous monastery of Marmoutier (Majus monasterium), where he passed the time he could spare from the fulfilment of his episcopal duties. Marmoutier, says Sulpicius Severus, " was so solitary and It was a isolated a spot that it was no better than a desert. plain shut in on one side by the rocky escarpment of a high mountain and on the other by the windings of the Loire. It was unapproachable except by a single very narrow footpath."^ The monks, to the number of eighty, dwelt like those of Ligug^ in separate huts. This arrangement resembled in some respects that of the hermits of the wilderness of Nitria. But they lived in community all the religious were under the same rule, which was taken from that of the monasteries of Egypt and yet was not a servile imitation of it. " No one had anything belonging to himself," relates Sulpicius Severus, " but all that the religious possessed was held in common. They were forbidden to buy or sell anything whatever, contrary to the custom of many monasteries (of the East). No art was tolerated, except that of the scribe, which was allotted to the younger monks, while the older ones devoted their time to prayer. The monks rarely left their cells unless They took their meals together it were to go to the oratory. after the hour of the fast. No one took wine unless compelled Most of them had garments made of to do so by sickness. camel's hair. To wear soft raiment would have been regarded as a serious fault. And this was all the more praiseworthy because many of the monks were of noble families and had been brought up to an entirely different kind of life."^ Many of them became bishops subsequently, for it was even more common in the West than in the East to choose From Marclergy and bishops from among the monks. moutier came Corentine, the Bishop of Cornwall, Brice, who succeeded St. Martin in the see of Tours, Maurillius, the Bishop of Angers, Victorius, the Bishop of Mans, and another Most of the missionaries who Martin, Bishop of Lyons. completed the evangelization of Gaul had been trained in the monasteries of the Bishop of Tours.
; ;

Cf. Sulpicius Severus,

Id., 10. Id.. 10.

Ef.

I,

ad Eusebium.

2 3 *

Vita Sancti Martini, 26.

159 /IDonasticism in tbe "CClest monasticism of homes were also Liguge and .Marniouticr which overnowcd and gave birth to numerous monastic foundations.^ For the monasticism of Gaul lived to a great extent upon the traditions of St. Martin until the rule of

Benedict came in. Martin worked many miracles, either in his monasteries Nor was he or in the places he visited and evangelized. spared molestation by the devil but lie overcame it wath the In its extraordinary and sign of the cross and by prayer.^ wonderful happenings his life resembles that of the most famous monks of the East. Moreover, his influence over the peoples of Gaul surpassed all one can say about it. Everyone knows the most touching and edifying account St. Martin lay of his death given by Sulpicius Severus.' upon his death-bed reclining on the ashes and hair-cloth with his hands and eyes raised heavenwards, praying in spirit without ceasing. His followers were weeping and begging him not to leave them, and he, checking his keen desire to go and be with Christ, said to God " Lord, if I am still indispensable to Thy people, I refuse not the work. Thy will be How incomparable a man is he, fearing neither done !" death nor toil, as ready to die as to go on living in this world a life of self-sacrificing service The monastic work of St, Martin seems to have been much more that of an originator than of an organizer. An apostle of consuming zeal, an extraordinary wonder-worker, an ascetic worthy to rank with Antony and Pachomius, it was the vocation of the Bishop of Tours to convert Gaul finally to the Christian faith and to stir up enthusiasm for the monastic
St. St.
; :

of his name, and the universality of his cultus He are a proof of the greatness of his success. was the most popular saint of Gaul. But St. Martin gave to the monasteries which he founded What he wanted was a but an imperfect organization. Admission was made too easy for the monks. St. Basil. Many postulants who had led a somewhat stormy life were received after a rather superficial conversion and an inadequate probation.* Martin in his extreme kindness of heart' always leaned to the side of mercy, either in the case of
life.

The fame

in the

West

1 St. Romanus, abbot of Blaye, and St. Maximus, abbot of Ile-barbe, near Lyons, were among St. Martin's disciples. Many bands of monks were to be found in the neighbourhood of Vienne in Gaul and in the

Jura. * Vita
mille

Frequenter autem diabolus, dum Sancti Martini, 6, 22 nocendi artibus sanctum virum conabatur illudere, visibilem adversus quern semper interse ei formis diversissimis ingerebat ritus, signo se crucis et orationis auxilio frotegebat. 3 Ef. Ill, ad Bassulam. * Cf. Vita Sancti Martini, 22.
: .
.

Id., 27.

i6o

Cbristfan Spttftualits

admission or of the retention of a member of a monastery who was below the standard. And he had the pain of seeingrebellions in his houses, such as that of the monk Britius, who ended by turning out well, but might have ruined the monastery to which this temporarily erratic religious belonged.^ Sulpicius Severus often in his writing^s blames the behaviour of monks who had but too little of the monastic
spirit.

This imperfection in the organization of the monasteries of Martin was one of the causes of the relaxation that followed in after times and prevailed until the Benedictine
St.

reformation.

At the beg^inning of the fifth century in the south-east of Gaul we find two celebrated monasteries with the foundation of which St. Martin appears to have had nothing- to do, the monasteries of Lerins and of St. Victor of Marseilles. The founder of the first was St. Honoratus, who, as Archbishop of Aries, died in 429. Honoratus could reckon consuls among his ancestors.^ Following^ the example of Sulpicius Severus and Paulinus, he gave up his wealth and left his
family to devote himself entirely to Christ. With his brother Venantius and a friend he started on a journey in the East which he had to break off.^ On returning to Gaul he settled on the coast of Provence to the south of Cannes and to the west of Antibes in the isle of Lerins, since called the isle of St. Honoratus. It was a fearful solitude infested with snakes, and was soon transformed into a holy retreat to which flocked numbers of the faithful from all quarters in their desire to embrace the monastic life.*
of Lerins, like those of St. Martin, approxiin its organization. The religious dwelt in separate cells while following- the same exercises.*' The East was for Gaul, as for Italy, the model of the monastic The rule of St. Pachomius was held in especial esteem. life. A deacon named Vigilius drew up a r6sum6 of it for the use of the monks of the West, and later on Benedict of Nursia took ideas from it. Lerins became a nursery for the episcopate. Three archbishops of Aries issued from it St. Honoratus, the founder St. Loup, of the monastery, St. Hilary, and St. Caesarius.

The monaster}'
to the

mated

Egyptian type

Sulpicius Severus, Dialogue, III, 15.

St.

Hilary of Aries, Sermo de vita Sancti Honor ati, 4 (P.L. L,

<

1251). 8 Id., 12 1f. 5 St. Eucherius,

Id.,

15-17.

ApoUiuarius,

laude eremi, 42 (P.L. L, 711). Efistolarum, lib. ix, 3 (P.L. LVIII, 618).
ill.,

De

Sidonius Cassian,
ff.).

Collatio, xi, -praejatio. Gennadius, De viris

51.

See the rule in Migne (P.L. L, 373

the Bishop of Riez, a town in the south-east of Gaul, St. Eucherius, the Bishop of Lyons,' all had been monks of Lerins. There, too, lived the famous author of the Admonitions to heretics, St. Vincent of Lerins.

i6i /IDonasticlsm in tbe XClcst Troves, Maximus and Faustus, the Bishops of

John Cassian, the founder of the famous abbey of St. Victor was born in Latin Scythia" in the middle of the fourth century. We do not know what concurrence of circumstances led him while still quite young- to the monastery of Bethlehem in which he was brought up. About 390 he visited the monks of Eg^pt and lived for several years in a monastery of the wilderness of Scete. He carefully noted down what he saw of the progress of the Eastern monasteries and made a collection of the pious conversations he had with the holiest monks. Later on he made use of his notes in the composition of his works of monastic spirituality. In 403 Cassian betook himself to Constantinople to St. John Chrysostom, who ordained him a deacon and enrolled him among the clergy of his diocese. When the
of Marseilles,

Patriarch of Constantinople was driven into exile Cassian went to Rome bearing with him letters in justification of the In 414 we find Cassian at Marseilles, proscribed patriarch. where he was ordained priest and founded and ruled the monaster^' of St. Victor. are already acquainted with the spiritual teaching of It draws its inspiration from the maxims of the Cassian. monks of the East, and is to be found in his Monastic Institutions and Conferences. The Monastic Institutions, dedicated to Castor, Bishop of Apt in Gaul, explain the rules of the monasteries of the East Rather often it is as adapted to the use of those of Gaul. difficult to unravel what is peculiar to the monastic life of the East from what particularly belongs to the monks of Provence. But for the W'esterns of those days, as Cassian observes, the ideal would be to follow as far as possible the rules of the East. The only changes that were made in them were such as were necessitated by the roughness of the climate, the differences of manners or the weakness of temperament which could not endure some of the austerities

We

self

Eucherius came of a senatorial family of Gaul and was himHe retired with his two sons, Salonius and Vcranus, a senator. Then, in order to obtain greater solitude, he to the isle of Lerins. settled in the neighbouring island, now called the isle of St. Marbishop guerite. of Lyons about 450. He died We have his two treatises De laude eremi and De contemftu mundi, in which he splendidly celebrates the monastic life. Note also his beautiful Homilies, specially those on the Lyons martyrs, Blandina, Epipodes, and Alexander (P.L. L, 859 if.). Gennadius, De viris ill., rap. Ixii. Some think that Cassian came originally from Provence.
*

St.

62

Cbristlan Sptritualitp

of the Eg-yptian or Syrian^ ascetics. These changes varied from monastery to monastery. Moreover, at this time no entirely uniform monastic rule is to be found in the West. In his Institutions Cassian speals:s of the habits worn by the monks, ^ of the order of the prayers by day and night, where the diversity of use is proved by the number of Psalms that were sung and by the manner of chanting them. In Gaul each Psalm was ended with the Gloria Patri, etc., which was not done in the East.^ Cassian then sets forth the rules of the Egyptian monasteries with regard to the admission and training of novices ;* and afterwards he gives many and detailed instructions on the eight principal vices the monk must avoid. ^ The teaching of the Conferences is more elevated. It treats of the various spiritual subjects on which the Eastern monks had conversed with Cassian. They are divided into three
series.

The first, dedicated to the two Bishops Leontius of Frejus and Helladius, comprises six conferences given by the monks of Scete on the end of the monastic life and on other questions
related thereto.^ The conferences of the second series are addressed to Honoratus, Archbishop of Aries, the founder of the monastery of Lerins, and to Eucherius, afterwards Bishop of Lyons. There are seven of them, and they were held in Egypt.'' The last seven conferences are intended for four very holy monks who lived in the islands of Hyferes, off the They were also held in Egypt near the coast of Provence.

mouth
1 "

of the Nile.^ In several of his conferences Cassian falls into errors as to

Cassian,
lib.

De Coenobiorum
I.

Instituiis, -praejafio.

See p. 88 ff. above. XII. See p. iii ff. above. ^ The ten subjects dealt with are: the end of the monastic life; discretion the threefold renunciation of worldly goods, of ourselves, and of all things for the sake of contemplating God only the fight between the flesh and the spirit; the eight principal vices; the death of anchorites slain by the Saracens in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria Jerome, Ef. CXXVI, ad Marcellimim, 2); the mobility of the _(cf. principalities and diabolical soul and of the demons who tempt us prayer and the dispositions demanded by it ; habitual powers union with God. ' They deal with perfection; perfect chastity; God's protection and help; the knowledge of things spiritual and of Holy Scripture; divine charismata or extraordinary gifts of healing the sick or driving out demons; friendship; the importance of not making promises
lib.

Id., Id., 3 Id., 5 Id.,

lib. II, III.

IV.

lib.

to

lightly.
8

They

treat

of

different

classes

of

monks

(cenobites,

anchorites,

gyrovagi); the end of the cenobitic and eremitic life; penance; the mitigations of penance in Paschal time; nocturnal illusions; St. Paul's The good which I will, I do not: but the evil which I will saying not, that I do; mortification.
:

/IDotmsticism In tbe "CClcst

163

the necessity of divine assistance for thi- l)cginning of supernatural works and as to the g-ratuitousness of grace.' Moreover, most of the monasteries in the south-east of CJaul, including that of Lerins, were semi-pelagian and opposed to the teaching of St. Augustine as to the impotence of human nature with regard to goodness.
In the fifth century Gaul produced, further, two ascetical writers worthy of remark, Julian Pomerius and Salvian, a priest of Marseilles. Julian Pomerius was born in Mauretania and settled at Aries. He became a monk, was raised to the priesthood, and for some time had the honour of beings the master of the future archbishop, St. Caesarius. Julian wrote an interesting treatise On the Contctnplative Although the true contemplative life is that of the Life.' blessed in heaven, one may nevertheless enjoy somewhat of it on earth by meditating- on Holy Scripture and exercising virtue. In this sense the contemplative life is fitted for all, for bishops and pastors with a cure of souls as well as monks. Julian often in his book takes occasion to teach the clergy of that time and to note their defects. Salvian is a Christian of the stamp of Paulinus of Nola. A highly cultured Gallo-Roman, he began by aiming at a good position in the world. A convert to asceticism, he lived with his wife as if she were a sister, and then, about 430, dwelt in the monastery of Lerins, and finally became a priest of the church of Marseilles.^

He wrote a book entitled On Divine Government, De In this he faithfully reproduces the Gubernatione Dei.* impressions made upon his contemporaries by the invasion of In his City of God St. Augustine had the barbarians. endeavoured to justify Providence for permitting the Roman Empire to be convulsed. Salvian undertook the same task. The devastations of the barbarians had so unsettled even those who were Christians that many had lost their faith and so far forgot themselves as to say that God has no care for the Others affirmed that the action of things of this world. Providence will only be manifested on the day of judgement
Salvian, too, teaches for the restoration of violated right. that all the miseries heaped upon the Roman world are but Providence the just punishment of its corruption and crime. intervenes with its justice to make men expiate all the sins

they have committed. also possess a treatise by Salvian Against Avarice,^ in

We

Specially see Collatio xiii.

P.L. LIX, 415-520.

'

Gennadius, De viris
P.L. LIII, 25-158. Salvian entitled it

ill.,

67.

Ad

Ecclesiam (P.L. LIII, 173-238).

i64 Cbrfstian Sptritualitg which he exhorts Christians to present their goods to God by g-iving them to the Church, the mother of the poor.
In Spain asceticism was somewhat compromised in the fourth century by the exaggerations of the Priscillianists, who condemned marriage and the use of meat. Among them

were to be found especially monasteries of women. It was to one of these in Galicia that the virgin Etheria belonged. In the fourth century she visited the East and the holy places, and she has left us an account of her pilgrimage in her
Peregrinatio.^ Spain also produced the poet Prudentius, who died soon Prudentius, warned after the beginning of the fifth century. of his end by his grey hair, renounced earthly honours to live in retreat and prayer. He is regarded as the greatest Latin poet of Christian antiquity. He celebrated the martyrs,^ and composed sacred odes^ for the various hours of the Christian day, and long did the devotion of the faithful love to recite

them.

IV.THE MONASTIC
IN
It

WORK OF
AFRICA

ST.

AUGUSTINE

Augustine who began the cenobitic life for men himself exercised its virtues from the time of his conversion till the day of his death. We may remember how the history of St. Antony and the story of the monastic profession of two officers of Theodosius at Treves ended by making Augustine decide to abandon his His conversion was irregular life to give himself to God. most thorough. Augustine not only proposed to live the life He at once gave up of a Christian, but the life of a monk. his professorship of rhetoric, renounced matrimony, and, after paying a visit to the monasteries of Milan, withdrew into the countr}' to Cassiacum near the town, with his mother Monica, his son Adeodatus, and several of his friends or for so might it be called followers.* The little community divided its time between prayer, reading Holy Scripture and lectures on philosophy, a r6sum6 of which was to become the

was

St.

in Africa.

He

The reading of the of the works of the great doctor. Psalms made a deep impression upon Augustine. Wonder, waves of enthusiasm and joy, awe and contrition at the recollection of his sins, confidence in the mercy of God, these
first
1

Geyer, Itinera hierosolymitana, Vienne, 1898. The Peristefhanon (P.L. LX, 277-594).

Cathemerinon (P.L. LIX, 776-914). Conjcssions, IX, 4, 5. Possidius, Vita Sancti Augustini,

2.

/II>ona5tici5m in tbc

lUcst

165

flooded his soul one alter another as he meditated on the inspired singers' words. ^ After his baptism and the death of his mother, Aug^ustine betook himself to Rome, where he was edified by the examples of devotion and mortification to be found in the monasteries of men and women which flourished there. ^ As soon as he had returned to Africa he ordered his father's house at Tagaste on the lines of a convent, where he prayed, fasted, and studied the vScriptures and the things of God along with Alypius, Erodius, and other friends. Augustine sold all that remained of his possessions, and distributed the proceeds to the poor according to the evangelical counsel.' When he had been ordained priest at Hippo, about 391, his first care was to found there a monastery of men which he directed himself.* From Hippo the monastic life soon spread, and monastic foundations sprang up in many of the churches of Africa. Lastly, becoming a bishop in 396, Augustine made his clergy, priests, deacons, and sub-deacons live in community with himself. In two sermons addressed to the faithful he has himself described the kind of life led by this community which dwelt in his episcopal residence. As under the pious communism of the early Christians of Jerusalem, a communism which wholly inspired the Augustinian conception of the monastery, none of the clergy of the

Bishop of Hippo was allowed to possess anything of his own. EvePkthing was held in common, even the clothes they wore. Thus they had to practise strict poverty, and any failure of
the clergy in respect of this evangelical virtue

was

specially

grievous to the heart of Augustine.

At

table,

larly prescribed.

no woman

temperance and charity of speech were particuTo do away with all ill-natured suspicions, dwelt with the community, not even Augustine's

own

sister.^

of the household of the Bishop of Hippo were soon celebrated for their regularity and fervour, and several of them were chosen to be bishops of neighbouring churches.

The monks

According to St. Augustine, the monastic life essentially consists in the practice of poverty, obedience, and perfect Whoever becomes a monk undertakes and makes chastity. a vow to renounce matrimony and to submit to a superior and To break this pledge is to commit to live in poverty.^ Such is the basis of the religious life. perjury.
^

Confessions, ix,

4, 5.
I,

2 3 s '

De moribus
Possidius,

Eccl. Cath.,
St.

cap. xxxiii, 70.

< Possidius, 39. Possidius, 22, 26.

3.

Augustine, Ef. CLVII,

5.

Sermo CCCLV, CCCLVI. C/. Sermo CXXXII, 3; De sancta

virginitate, 8, 11.

Cbrfstian Spirituality But there may be a certain amount of variety in the ways in which oblig-ations are undertaken in different monasteries. In Africa, just as in Italy and Gaul, monasteries did not, indeed, follow the same rule, and custom varied from house to house. This want of uniformity sometimes gave rise to unfortunate disputes, as that which broke out about the year 400 between the relig-ious of the monasteries of Carthage on the subject of manual labour. Some devoted themselves to work and thus earned what they needed to live on. Others, on the contrary, maintained that monks, because they are continually praying, chanting Psalms, and meditating on the word of God, ought to depend solely upon the charity of the faithful for their living. Had not God promised to give what was needful to His servants, as He gives it to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field ?^

^^^

Who could decide the controversy with greater authority than Augustine, the founder of the first monasteries for men in Africa? At the request of the Bishop of Carthage he composed a treatise On the Work of the Monks, in which he censures those mistaken religious, of whom there were too many in the East, who refuse work in order to wander about, gossip, and abuse the charity of the faithful. Augustine's authority in monastic legislation further increased when somewhat later in 423 he was called upon to pacify a community of nuns in Hippo who had risen against their superior. In a letter of severe rebuke which he wrote to them he laid down the orders they were to follow, and from which in after ages was to be drawn the famous Rule of St. Augustine.^ The monastery in question was governed by a superior,
herself subject to a priest, who was responsible for the interests of the community and reinforced, when necessary, the authority of the superior. Augustine orders the nuns all to live in the same house in community and in perfect concord. They were to possess nothing of their own, but each was to get food and clothing from the superior according to her needs. Those who had
all

who was

might not keep them, but gave them up But the nuns who came from poor families and had brought nothing into the community received what was necessary just the same as the rest. If they were thus raised to a higher condition than they had had in the world, they were not to be proud of it. Nor should those who had endowed the monastery with their possessions presume on that account. What would be the use of becoming poor if one were puflfed up with vanity?
eflfects

any personal

to the monastery.

St. Augustine, De opere monachorum, i, 2, 20. 2 Jd^ 25 -ff. 3 Ef. CCXI. The Rule of St. Augustine, as used in many modern communities, was of course drawn up much later on.
^

167 /IDonasticlsm in tbe TWlCBt The nuns were bound to pray at regular hours. Their oratory was to be set apart entirely for prayer, so that those

who wanted
officially

to resort to

it

to pray at other times than those

drawn up might not be hindered. In prayer and in the recitation of the I'salms and hymns, the mind should think of what the lips utter. In the biVice some parts are to be sung ami some not what is ordered must be observed. The flesh is to be kept under by fasting and abstinence as far as health permits. Those nuns who cannot fast are not
;

to eat anything except at meals, unless they are ill. At table, the readings are to be listened to in silence, for not only the mouth is to take food, but the ears, too, are to receive the of God. Sisters of a delicate constitution are to have a modified T^g'ime those in good health must not be scandalized thereby on the contrary, they should be glad to need less because of their greater strength. The sisters' dress is to be simple and not to be in any way Their hair is to be entirely such as to attract attention. hidden by a veil. Let there be no lack of modesty in their Let gait, attitudes, or manners, or in their movements. their eyes not be fastened upon anyone, and let them not wish for anyone to look at themselves. A bad look is enough Augustine insists upon prohibiting all to injure chastity. ogling, a danger which was particularly to be guarded against in the voluptuous society of Africa. Any nun who indulged in it was to be admonished by her companions and denounced to her superior if she did not mend her ways, and lastly, if she persisted in her ill-behaviour, she was to be expelled from the monastery. In each house there was to be only one robing-room and one storeroom. No nun should make any dress for herself, but all should work for the community, and the dresses were to be apportioned according to need.
; ;

word

Augustine is less strict than St. Jerome in permitting baths once a month, and oftener if health require. There must be no disputes between the sisters, or if any arise, they must end quickly, lest anyone should go from anger to hatred, which fills the soul with the spirit of the murderer (i John iii. 15). Whoever offended a sister was to ask for her forgiveness, and the person who was offended should at once forgive. Whoever refused to forgive must not expect her prayers to be heard. If in giving orders any more anger than is necessary is shown against the guilt\-, their pardon is not to be asked Tor, since that would weaken authority, but one should humble oneself in the presence of God. The affection sisters should have towards one another must never partake in any way of the carnal. The nuns are all to obey their superior as if she were their

i68 Cbiistian Spirituality? mother, giving her the honour that is her due. The priest who has the charge of looking after their interests has a right to even greater obedience and honour. The superior must not give orders in a dominating spirit, but as if she were fulfilling an ofhce of charity. She should be an example to all her sisters. Let her correct the guilty, console the afflicted, encourage the weak and let her be Let her rather try to be loved than patient towards all. Let her think of the account she will have to give to feared. God for every one of her nuns. And let the religious obey their mother in their own interest, and in hers too, for the higher the dignity of the position of the superior, the greater is her danger.
;

CHAPTER

VII

INFLUENCE OF PELAGIANISM AND AUGUSTINIANISM ON SPIRITUALITY PELAGIUS AND ST. AUGUSTINE

the monastic life was increasing- and of the faithful on all sides were bravely contending- with the help of ascetical practices against their lower nature, great controversies arose as to the power of the will when left to its own strength, the need of grace, concupiscence, and the It is not to be condition of mankind since Adam's fall.

WHILE
many

wondered at that monks, accustomed to making moral effort, were among the first to inquire what were the respective parts of man and God in the victories of the human will over evil. The doctrinal definitions of the Church, which resulted from these disputes, threw a clearer light upon the dogmatic foundations of Christian asceticism, and thus effected a considerable acceleration in the growth of spirituality.

Two

conflicting conceptions of the religious constitution of

:

man divided, though unequally, the learned Christians of the West at the beginning of the fifth century Pelagianism, which exalted man and attributed to him exaggerated power
good; and Augustinianism, which set power and moral worth of human nature when unaided by grace. ^ One can anticipate the effects these two conflicting systems were likely to have upon asceticism, and how different would be the spiritual doctrine of Pelagius from
in the pursuit of the

limits to the

that of St. Augustine.

I. THE PELAGIAN

HERESY

The Pelagian

The heresy owes a good deal to Stoicism. austere philosophy of Zeno, and particularly his conception of human nature, had penetrated into certain quarters of Alexandria. According to Clement, as we know, the perfection of the Gnostic consists in the first place in a stoical
1 This is not the place to set forth fully the dogmas of original sin and grace, nor all the disputes between Pelagius and St. Augustine which arose from them. They will be only referred to so far as the It study of the spirituality of Pelagius and Augustine requires. must be borne in mind that spirituality depends upon dogma, and can onlv be fully grasped by those whose theological equipment is

thorough.
169

I70

Cbrtstlan Spirituality

insensibility. Led astray by such teaching, some of the Eastern ascetics maintained that they could so far destroy the very roots of passion as to be unmoved by it. Among them were characters of such extraordinary energy as to be dead to pain, and they thought that in their asceticism they could do anything. The spiritual writers of the fourth and fifth centuries, in speaking of pride, tell us of some monks who claimed to be independent of divine assistance, and that they could do all things involving moral effort by the sole

strength of their own wills. ^ These tendencies sort the stepping-stones of Pelagianism.

were

in

some

Pelagius was a monk who was born in the island of Britain. In his }'outh he travelled, probably in the East, and then, about 400, settled in Rome, where he was taken to be a man of great virtue. He opened up intercourse with the

most earnest Christians in the town.^ to Africa, and then again to the East.

From Rome he went

Everywhere, in pious phraseology with a traditional accent, he scattered his errors. From Palestine, about 414, he wrote to the Roman virgin Demetrias, who had fled with her family to Africa on account of the invasion of Rome by the Goths, the famous letter in which he set forth his view of asceticism. 3 It was in Palestine, too, that he met Pinlan and Melania the Younger, who were very closely connected with St. Augustine. In an endeavour to disarm the opposition which he was beginning to encounter, Pelagius attempted to win them over to his side, and through them to placate the Bishop of Hippo. But Augustine, seeing through the move of Pelagius, sent his friends his two books On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin, in order to show them that under the deceptive appearance of his words lurked the most dangerous of heresies. Moreover, the case had already been decided; Pope Zosimus had just condemned Pelagius in 418. The aged solitary of Bethlehem, St. Jerome, also wrote against Pelagius. He was the last heretic to be combated by the saint. Jerome had suffered and struggled so hard for the victory of asceticism over the prejudice of the world, and now fought for the last time to defend the true idea of it against the perversions of the Pelagians. And thereupon the ardent
apostle of asceticism departed this life in 420. Pelagius did not want for followers. The most celebrated were the monk Celestius, who made it his particular business
1
2

Cf.
St.

Vitae

Patrum,

I,

Vita

Antonii,

15.

St.

Nilus,
ic-

Peristeria,

Sec. xii, cap. 4 (P.G.

LXXIX,

945).

Augustine,

D: feccatorum

meritis,

III,

Retractationes,

P.L. XXX, 15, or XXXIII, 1099. This letter was written on the occasion of the taking of the veil by Demetrias. St. Jerome also wrote to her for the same event. E-p. CXXX.
3

171 pclaciinnlsm an^ Hiuinsttnianlsm sin, ami Julian, the HislKjp of Fclanum in Apulia, a vigorous dialectician, who was the most powerful defender of the new heresy.
to

deny

orij^Miial

A man
Pclag"ius
streng^th.

of

robust

constitution

and

jjreat

austerity,

was by temperament

strcng^ly conscious of

man's

maintained^ that since man is free it is within his power to do good without God's help. To be good, it is enough to will it and take trouble to be it. Our will is allpowerful for good. To appeal to the grace of God in aid of our assumed impotence is an act of cowardice. If goodness depends entirely on our free will, merit and reward must also be altogether our own work. God has nothing to do with it in rewarding our works He does not at all reward His own gifts, but our works alone and our own work. This doctrine, as we see, is inconsistent wMth the dogma of original sin. Indeed, Pelagius did not admit the transmission of sin as a fault of nature. Nor did he admit a corruption of man's nature. Adam was created by God in the state in which we are born ourselves, with the same concupiscence,
;

He

subject to sickness and

all

the miseries of

life,

Hence our

will

was never weakened by a

sin

and to death. committed in

the origin of man.

The
If

inevitable
will
is

spirituality full of rigorism

consequence of such and pride.

all-powerful for
to

teaching

was a

avoid

good it must be able to keep God's commands without fail. Hence man can live without sinningf, without even lesser sins. Of course, he is not impeccable in the same wav as God, but he has the power, even unaided by grace, to avoid all sin in fact.^ Since God commands men not to sin, and He
all

man's

evil

and

could not command what is impossible, it follows that man has the power never to transgress God's laws. Moreover, many of the leading characters of the Old Testament never
^

St.

Authorities. Quotations from the works of Pelagius made by Augustine in his refutations of Pelagianism, in Vol. XLIV of the

Patrologia Latina of Micne. Libellus fidei ad Demetrias.

The

celebrated

letter

of

Pelagius to

Innocentium
;

fafam

(P.L.,

XLV

or

XLVIII). A commentary on St. Paul's Epistles (P.L. XXX). St. Jerome, Ef. CXXXIII, ad Ctesifhonem Dialogus adversus Pelagianos (P.L. XXIII, 495 ff.). Marius Mercator, Commonitorium Liber subnoiationum in verba Juliani (P.L. XLVIII). See Tixeront's account of the Pelagian heresy in his Histoire des Dogmes, II. Portali^, on St. Augustine in the Diet, de Thiol. Catholique, p. 4^6 ff.
I.

2380

ff.

Ego

dtco

Augustine,

De

fosse esse hominem sine feccato, said Pelnpius. gestis Pelagii. 16; St. Jerome, Ef. CXXXIII, 3.

St.

172
sinned, and
in their

Cbrfstian Spirituality

many philosophers of,olden times were good men own strength.^ Could Christians have been below

them?
direction, of driving
If

Pelagius applied these principles to the faithful under his and showed severity towards sinners to the point

them

to despair.

powerful, it must be able to master the passions so far as to get rid of them. Hence the Christian and upon the cost of doing it depend his avoidance of sin and attainment of perfection must tear the passions by the root out of his heart and come to be utterly insensible, arrive at apatheia, which is free from all disturbance, and become as " insensible as a stone and as impassible as God Himself."^ St. Jerome tells us that Evagrius of Pontus wrote a book on the subject, Uepl aTra^etas W'hich was meant for monks and widely read in the East, and that it became known in the West through a Latin translation.^ Pelagianism increased man's obligations in proportion to the degree in which it extolled his worth. As soon as we think that we can avoid all sin, we must avoid it, for when perfection is within every man's reach he is bound to practise it. Following the stoics, who did not admit of any differences in good and evil, the Pelagians taught that there was no such thing as trifling sin. All sin was mortal, excluding man from heaven and even from the Church. When the lightest of precepts has been broken we cease to be heirs of eternal happiness we are no longer even members of the Church of
will is so

man's

Christ.*
distinction between the commandments and the was thus, as a matter of fact, done away with. In particular was the counsel given by Jesus to the rich to sell what they had and give to the poor regarded by the new

The

counsels

teachers as a strict command. The Pelagians taught openly that Christians who possessed riches and did not give them up altogether could not gain any merits and would be shut out from the kingdom of heaven.^ One could do nothing towards securing salvation by leaving one's wealth by will to the poor; one must give it away in one's lifetime.^ Did not Christ say that no one can be saved by living in wealth?
Pelagius, Ep. ad Demetriada, 3, 5-7. Celestius definitely taught Quoniam et ante adventum Domini fuerint homines imfeccabiles, id est, sine feccato. St. Augustine, De gestis Pelagii, c. 21. Marius Mercator, Comm. i.
1
:

thus

Jerome, ?). CXXXIII, 3. Cf. Dialog, adversus Pelag. Prologus. * St. Augustine, De gestis Pelagii, q, 10; Ef. CLXVII. 5 Celestius taught thus Divites ba-ptizatos, nisi omnibus renuntient, si quid boni visi fuerint facere, non refutari illis, neque regnum Dei posse eos habere. St. Augustine, De gestis Pelagii, 21. < St. Augustine, Ep. CLVII, 23.
2

St.

Id.

pelaoianlsm an& Huoustintantsm

173

(Mark x. J7). And since in the sphere ut our salvation we must reckon on our own streng^th alone, wealth is an absolute bar to our entering- into the kingdom of heaven.' The exegesis ot the heretic is the same through all the
only keeps hold of such passages of Scripture as If Jesus said that case, and lets go the rest. salvation is unattainable by those who are immersed in riches. He added that God, with whom all things are possible, can save by His grace those who make a wise use of their wealth. But one must not mention grace to a Pelagian
ages.
It

support

its

The rigorist spirituality of Pelagius, by exaggerating the duties of the Christian and claiming to do without God, not only fostered pride, but subverted the relations between the It soul and its Creator and ruined all religion and devotion. proclaimed, to use the words of Julian of Eclanum, man's entire emancipation so far as God is concerned. ^ It is hardly possible to think of having to fly to Christ as one's Redeemer, if there were no fall and if man can live Then there must be no more talk of without sinning. redemption or of expiation. Prayer is of no use if the Christian is self-sufficing. It is no more an act of humility inspired by the feeling of our dependence on God, nor an act of loving confidence elicited by the sense of need, nor an act of filial abandonment into the hands of our heavenly Father suggested to us by our It can be nothing- more experience of the divine goodness. than the proud prayer of the Pharisee displaying his merits before God, and making a cold and formal claim for his reward. Such, indeed, is the prayer that Pelagius recommends to the widow Juliana, the mother of Demetrias, the
form of which has been handed down to us by Jerome and Augustine. *' Thou knowest, O Lord, how holy, innocent and pure and
free from all dishonesty, injustice and evil are the hands I raise to Thee; how just and pure, and free from all falsehood are the lips with which I pray unto Thee, that Thou mayest

hearken favourably unto me."' By condemning Pelagianism the Church not only saved the truth of Christ as to original sin and the necessity of grace,
but also true spirituality as well.
>

Cf. St. Augustine,

St.

Ef. CLVII,

23-29.

Augustine, Contra Julian. St. Jerome, Dial. adv. Pelag.

Opus imferf.
iii,

i,

78.

14.

St.

Augustine,

De

Pelagii,

D. 16.

174

CbrlBttan Spirituality
II.AUGUSTINIAN

ANTHROPOLOGY

protagonist of the Church in the Pelagian controversies Augustine. No sooner had the Bishop of Hippo finished his disputes with the Donatists than he had to enter upon his contest with Pelagius and his followers about 414. During his stay at Carthage in 411 Celestius had spread abroad his errors and his doctrine, which upheld a spirituality that was austere and stimulated personal energy, highly pleased ascetics and won its way with souls. St. Augustine thought it necessary to

The

was

St.

refute it in his sermons^ and letters, ^ and above all in his theological treatises. Then, learning that Pelagius and Celestius had fled to the East and there got absolved from the reproach of heresy at the synod of Diospolis in 415, he summoned two councils in Africa in order to request Pope Innocent to revoke the sentence passed in the East. In 418 the great Council of Carthage, of which Augustine was the soul, condemned the errors of Pelagius, and this condemnation was definitely confirmed by Pope Zosimus.

Rome had spoken the cause was not entirely Disputes went on. Julian of Eclanum in particular was very vexatious with regard to St. Augustine, endeavouring to overthrow his arguments and to show up the fallacies in his reasoning. The holy Doctor let not a single objection of his redoubtable adversary pass unanswered, but wrote against him till death struck the pen from his hand in 430.^
Even
after
settled.

In opposition to Pelagius, according to whom human nature is all-powerful in the sphere of morals and has not been at all lessened in its natural goodness by Adam's fall, Augustine teaches that after the fall man is naught but infirmity, corruption,^ and misery. shall see what these

We

words mean.

is totally
1

Since the sin of our first parents, and on account of it, man incapable of shunning evil and doing good without

Sermo CLXX, CLXXIV, CLXXVI,

See Ef.
St.

etc.

2
3

CLXXVI.

Augustine was writiug a treatise Contra Julianum when death That is why the treatise was called Of us imferfedum. * This word w-ill be explained later. In his controversies with the Pelagians St. Augustine put forth with regard to certain aspects of original sin and grace exaggerated views which were not subsequently This does not at all detract from the holy followed by theologians. Doctor's merit in having struggled so hard for the triumph of the Catholic faith. See the full exposition of the Augustinian system with regard to original sin aad grace in Tixeront, II, 460 if.\ Portali^,
overtook him.
P-

2375

tf-

IpclaGiantsm an& Buoustinianism

175

the assistance ol j^race. He has lost tlic liberty of moral Hence he goodness.* Nevertheless, he retains free will. does not do wrong of necessity, and he can co-operate with the action of grace. For our justification is the work of grace and yet cannot be wrought without the help of our will Qui fecit te sine te, non te jiistificat sine te.^ But apart from grace, man's will has not the power to avoid evil in fact. Before the fall Adam had that power; he lost it by sinning. Hence actually man, if left to his own strength, cannot in fact help sinning.^ Pelagius is mistaken in maintaining that there were persons in the Old Testajnent who never sinned
:

against God.*

Augustine provides a qualification of this stripped of grace cannot help sinning, Differing it does not follow that his sins must be mortal. from Pelagius, who admitted of no degrees of evil, the Bishop of Hippo clearly lays down the distinction between mortal and venial sins. Man unassisted by grace often commits mortal sins, and venial sins still more frequently.
St.

However,

severity.

If

man when

Even with the help of grace, indeed, all men commit some faults, and not without reason do we ask God to forgive us our sins when we say the Lord's Prayer.'' Only Jesus and His Blessed Mother were totally free from sin.^ Luther and Jansen exaggerated the doctrine of Augustine and taught that fallen man has totally lost free will and is necessarily bound by evil. Hence the co-operation of man's salvation is will in the work of his salvation is impossible entirely the work of grace, and man has no practical part in it. This is a doctrine of despair that cheapens man's nature and paralyzes all moral effort.
lesser
:

Augustine calls liberty the power to do good, and free will the between good and evil. Fallen man, no longer being able to do good without grace, has not freedom in the sense in which but yet he keeps free will. Cf. Tixeront, St. Augustine uses the word
1

St.

power

of choice

p.
*

479; Portalie, 2404, 2405.

Sermo CLXX,

13.

Theology is not so strict. It teaches that fallen man can, inithout grace and by his own strength, avoid evil to some extent and do acts But that are morally good, though unable to bring us to salvation. without grace we are radically incapable of any supernatural act. with Pelagians the did not lead him controversies to Augustine's St. formulate this doctrine with precision. * St. Augustine, Contra duas efistolas Pelagii, i, 5; iii, 24; De nuptiis et concufiscentia, ii, 8; Contra Julianum, Ofus imferjectum,
'
i,

94
*

iii,

120, etc.
vii,

De symbolo ad Catechumenos,
,

15;
;

Enchiridion, Ixxi

E-p.

CT.XVII. * Contra duas efistolas Pelagii iv, 27 De feccatorum meritis et The Council of Trent (Sess. VI, remiss, ii, 7, 8, 34; Ef. CLVIl, 2. Can. 23) laid it down that the just man of himself cannot avoid all
venial sins.
^

De natura

et gratia, n. 43.

176

Cbdstian Spirituality
as
it

St. Aug-ustine's theology, strict

was, teaches nothing

of this kind. It does not do away with our confidence, for it helps us to find the grace without which we can do naught in prayer. He who wills to do the will of God obtains through prayer the grace with which he can do all things. For he has always the power to pray, and prayer wins for him the power to act. It is chiefly in having recourse to prayer to get grace that man's free will is exercised.^ To fly to God, such is the way to cure the congenital infirmity with which we suffer ever since the fall of Adam. Our condition of fallen and feeble humanity makes us see how we need God's help every moment and impels us to pray. St. Augustine says to God in his Confessions :^ " Thou commandest me, Lord, to be pure give me what Thou commandest, and then command me as Thou wilt." This prayer, though in perfect harmony with Augustinian If theology, shocked the proud presumption of Pelagius. God imposes chastity on man, said he, it is because man can keep it of his own strength, otherwise God would be commanding what is impossible. "God commands chastity," replies Augustine, " and He gives chastity. He commands it by His law, and He gives it by His grace He commands it by the letter and gives it by the Spirit. For the law apart from g"race multiplies sins, and the letter without the Spirit killeth ^(2 Cor. iii. 6). Hence God commands us so that, trying to fulfil His commandments and weary of our own weakness, we may learn to beg for the help of His grace. And if we do any good He wants us to know how to thank Him who hath And who dares to say that free will is done helped us. He of away with because he hath received assistance? L whom the Holy Scriptures (Sap. viii. 21) tell us, who knew that we cannot be pure without a gift that is from God, addressed the Lord to ask Him for this gift. It was, indeed, because he wanted it that he invoked the Lord and he would not have prayed for it had he not wanted it. But if he had not besought God's help, what strength of will would he

have had?"^ St. Augustine thus makes man absolutely dependent upon God salvation is the work of grace, and grace is won by We are beggars; we have to be constantly knocking pi'ayer. And our at the gates of heaven to ask for what we need. petitions must be addressed to God humbly, because it is humility combined with prayer that obtains divine assistance. The knowledge of the proud, the hearts of the presumptuous on the contrary prevent the work of God's goodness.* The feeling of our impotence for good compels us again to
:

1 8

Ep. CLVII, Ep. CLVII,

Id.,
5.

10.
9, 10.

X,

29.

C/.

De

spiritu el littcra, n. 22.

Ipclaolanlsm an^ Buoustiniani?m

fly

177

arc weak, and ^rcat arc our infirmities. Let us then seek our Saviour, Him who has come to heal us and, by healings us, has made us able to do what our weakness could not achieve.^ One can surmise the position assigned in the spirituality of Augustine to Christ, and to His mediato Christ. tion

Wc

and work of redemption and sanctification. own experience Augustine found a confirmation of his doctrine as to man's weakness and the necessity of God's help. He had lived long in sin, and he had been rescued from it by the hand of God, which worked uj^on him with a sort of overpowering strength. He had long groaned over the weakness and hesitation of will which prevented him from deciding to break the bonds that tied him to evil. ^ Hence he well knew that in order not to sin God must give the will and And what humility do we find in the power to avoid it. St. Augustine's soul, what confidence in prayer, and what deep gratitude for God's goodness and mercy "O Lord," he cries after his conversion, "I am Thy Thou hast broken servant and the son of Thy handmaid. my bonds. I will sacrifice to Thee the sacrifice of praise My heart and my tongue shall praise (Ps. cxv. 16, 17).
In his
!

Thee,

all

my

hones shall say: Lord,

who

is

like

to

Thee?

Thus

shall they say,

and answer Thou,

Lord, and say to

my

What was I soul: I am thy salvation (Ps. xxxiv. lo, 3). before my conversion, and what was my state? What was If not my deeds, then my there in me that was not evil? words; if not my words, then my will. But Thou, O Lord, in Thy goodness and mercy didst look upon the depths of death wherein I lay, and Thy right hand plucked out by the roots the corruption from my heart. And for me that meant not willing any longer what I used to will before, but to will as Thou wiliest. But where was my free will during all the time of my wantonness, and from what deeply hidden lurking
it suddenly come forth to make me bow my head under Thy gentle yoke and my shoulders to bear Thy light burden, O Christ Jesus, my Helper and my Redeemer? How soon did I take pleasure in losing the sweetness of vain enterWhat I so dreaded to miss I henceforth gave up tainments with joy."^

place did

set in a new light by the semi-pelagian controversy that followed upon the polemics against the Pelagians. The monks of the monastery of Hadrumetum in Africa,

Man's dependence upon God was

Augustine
in

St.

1 *

Ef.
Cf.

CXLV,
fiat.

3.

fiat,

11: Dicebam apud me intus : Ecce modo Et cum verbo jam iham in flacitum. Jam fene faciebam et Et item conabar, et faulo minus ibi eram et non faciebam nan ibi eram. nee altingebam, nee tenebam, haesitans mori morti

Confessions, VIII,
.

modo

Confessions, IX,

i.

12

178

Cbristian Spirituality

those of Lerins and Marseilles

in Provence, thought that the Bishop of Hippo exaggerated the impotence of the will in the work of salvation and fostered a sort of fatalism and indifference as to goodness. No doubt they believed, contrary to the teaching of Pelagius and in accordance with the definitions of the Church, that conversion and salvation are impossible apart from grace. But they thought that free will was to some extent the source of conversion, and that the first movement towards God, the desire to believe, should be referred to man. When we go towards God we take the first step, and thus we deserve that God should come towards us and help us to fulfil with His help the work we have begun of ourselves. Thus grace is given according to each man's merits, and it is the man who decides after all whether he will or will not be saved. They thought that the doctrine of salvation thus understood stimulated personal effort and increased strength of will. St. Augustine wrote several treatises to reply to his

opponents.^ In these he teaches, in accord with the Catholic Church, that all grace is absolutely gratuitous, not only the grace which makes us do good, but also that which makes us begin to do it. For the very first thought of conversion, the least fancy of returning to God, the slightest and earliest yearning to believe, are gratuitous graces that no man can merit. They must be given to him by God of Himself without waiting for man to make himself worthy of them. No doubt this doctrine is quite right. But it was connected with a too rigid theory of predestination, which the semipelagians misused by exaggerating it still further. Since the fall and because of it, says St. Augustine, the whole race of mankind is condemned to hell by the just judgement of God and as a punishment for original sin. It is a mass of sin (massa peccati), worthy of damnation (damnabilis), and under sentence of damnation (damnata). God in His pure mercy and by a gratuitous election cuts off from this mass of the condemned a few whom He predestinates and to whom He gives the grace of salvation without, however, entirely abandoning the rest.^ Hence it is God who predestines man to salvation
1 De gratia et libera arbitrio; De correftione et gratia; De fraedestinatione sanctorum; De dono ferseverantiae. These treatises were written from 426 to 428. 2 Enchiridion, cap. xxvii ; Sermo XXVI, n. 9; Contra duas ef. Pelagian, ii, n. 15; De correftione et gratia, n. 26; De fraedestinatione sanctorum, n. i6; Contra Julianum Ofus imperfectum, i, cap. 136. Tixeront, 498 ff. The Church has never approved this doctrine. Many interpreters of the mind of St. Augustine hold that he modified his teaching on predestination in his treatise De diversis quaest. ad am I Simflicianum (P.L. XL, 107-147). C/. Portalie, 2398 ftdescribing Augustinian teaching in the sense in which it appears to have been understood by his contemporaries.

pclaoianlsm an^ auonsttniantsm

;

179

is not man who preit gratuitously and purely in mercy destines himself, as the semi-pelagians maintained. No doubt man's will must co-operate with grace, and this grace is given The hardening of the sinner in evil is due to his bad to all. will, and if God abandons him, that is always consequently upon the prevision of his bad will and by a judgement that is But man's will can only co-operate in the work of his just.' salvation if it has been previously stirred up by a prevenient

grace of Clod.

The

initiative

cannot

in

any way proceed from

man's

will.

The Augustinian .system, perhaps imperfectly understood, appears to have disturbed a great many of his contemporaries. It even tended to introduce into a great many African monasteries a sort of quietism which was exceedingly dangerous to true piety. " Whether one live well or ill, one will be after all good if one is predestined, bad if just what God foresaw one is not predestined."- Thus was the doctrine of the Bishop of Hippo interpreted. Some of the monks made this fatalism a reason for neglecting their duties and for abandoning themselves to sloth and " Why do you preach to us about our duties and idleness. exhort us to fulfil them," they asked, " since it is not we who Let act, but God who worketh in us to will and to do? our superiors be satisfied with pointing out our duties to us and then with praying that we may have the grace to fulfil But let them not reprove us when we are at them. fault, since we are such as God has foreseen us to be, and His grace has not been given to us to do better."^ St. Augustine speaks of a monk of Hippo who spoke thus, and he soon left his monastery.* St. Augustine could only reply to the objections of the monks of Hadrumetum by reminding them of the duties of If the will is the will in the performance of what is right. not strong enough to do good, it must pray to obtain The power to pray, when made use of, acquires strength.
: . . .
. . .

the

their duties and are impatient of reproof, because they are lacking in grace. If they asked for it, they would get it; but if not, they must be asking amiss.'' It is but madness to make the inevitability

power to act. So they are without excuse who neglect

Quare autem non foterant 1 In Joaniiis Evang., tract. LIII, n. 6: credere (Judaei) si a me quaeratur, cito resfondeo: Quia nolebant Sic ettim exmalam quiffe eorum voluntatem -praevidil Deus
.

caecat,
*

Deus, deserendo non adjuvando ; quod judicio facere potest, iniquo non fotest (P.L. XXXV, 1776).
sic

obdurat

occulta

De dono fer sever antiae, 38. De correftione et gratia, 4-10. St. Augustine addressed this treatise to the monks of Hadrumetum to rebuke them for drawing
'

such conclusions as these from his teaching.

6

De dono -per sever antiae, 38. De correftione et gratia,

.j,

5;

De dono

fer sever antiae, 39.

i8o

Cbrlstiatt Splritualtt^

of the divine decrees of predestination or the reverse a reason for doing nothing-. P'or we know not God's designs in regard to ourselves a wholesome ignorance that keeps us fearful and humble. If we were not to make any efforts, then even the predestined would abandon themselves to evil !^ Those ascetical writers who follow the Bishop of Hippo insist more strongly upon our need of God, without failing to

acknowledge our dependence on personal

effort.

Others, on

the contrary, while giving sufficient play to grace in the work of sanctification and salvation, like to bring out the part belonging to the will in acts of virtue. These two tendencies, that which in the doing of good regards the action of God, and that which gives the first place to the action of man, will help us to characterize and classify many of the schools of spirituality in the days to come.

not only weakened man's nature, it also introduced a principle of corruption, concupiscence. St. This is not simply a consequence of original sin Augustine sees in it the material element of original sin.^ The disorderly desire for baser sensual pleasures and chiefly sexual passion, the unruly impulse to satisfy the flesh, this according to Augustinian ideas is what materially constitutes original sin. This rebellious and insubordinate inclination did not exist in our first parents before the fall, nor would it have arisen in us if the fall had not occurred. The generation of children would have taken place without being accompanied by concupiscence.^ The concupiscence of the parents transmits original sin to the child; it operates, indeed, in the act of generation, and thus produces concupiscence in the child and an inherited " He who begets fault at the same time as it generates life. us slays us," says Bossuet, whose notions of the transmission of original sin are the same as those of St. Augustine. receive at the same time and from the same source both The stock of which we are bodily life and spiritual death. formed, being infected at its source, poisons our soul by its fatal contagion.* Baptism does not destroy concupiscence, though it blots out original sin. How is this? Baptism, replies St. Augustine, allows the continuance of the act or the fact of concupiscence, but it entirely takes away its culpableness.
fall

The

into

it

We

De dono -per sever antiae, 40-42. The formal element is the moral imputation of this concupiscence Portalie, 2396. to the whole human race which sinned in Adam. 3 St. Augustine, De libera arbitrio, i, 34 De feccat. mer. et remis.,
1
2
;

36; Contra Julian. Opus imferfectuni, i, 47, etc. Sermon sur la conception de la Sainte Vierge, Leclercq, I, 231. The Augustinian theory as to the nature of original sin and its transmission is no longer now admitted by theologians.
i,

57;

ii,

pclaoianfsm an^ Hiuiu^tinianii^m

iRi

Concupiscence is no long^er imputed as sin in the case of the baptized, but the evil of concupiscence nevertheless subsists
in theni.^

man, even in the baptized, there is the evil would never have existed if Adam had not disobeyed God. Hence the Pelagians are wrong in saying that concupiscence is good and natural in man, and that it existed in Adam before the fall, and that it would exist in ourselves even if our first parents had not sinned. On the other hand, the Manicheans are in error when they
in fallen

Thus

of concupiscence, which

teach that concupiscence is an evil thing introduced into man by the principle of evil, and that thus is explained the antagonism between the flesh and the spirit. Fallen nature remains good, but the prevarication of Adam gave rise in it to a defect or vice (vitiutn) which is concupiscence.^

Thus human nature was considerably lowered.

tine
is

St.

Augus-

Concupiscence, he says, is a malady (morbus) of our nature, an infirmity (languor), a wovmd (vulniis), a virus or contagion, to use the expression it is a law of disgrace {lex foeda) and of Bossuet {tubes) miser}- {viisera).^ The saint had experienced in his youth the tyranny of the passions and the evils wrought in his soul by the ravages of concupiscence. He had painful memories of these things and conceived a rather pessimistic notion of
this.
;

deeply convinced of

St. Augustine may lead to a certain Later on an entire school of spirituality of Jansenist tendencies came to the conclusion that the sensible in man, since it is more or less connected with concupiscence, was to be condemned. It tended to disapprove in a rather vague manner all manifestations of the senses, and to hold as more or less culpable all pleasures that were not wholly

man's fallen nature.* These principles of

degree of rigorism.

spiritual."
*

De

nuptiis et concufiscentia,

i,

28,

29

Contra duas
:

epist.

Pelag.

i,

27.

* Contra Juhanum Ofus imfcrjectum, iii, 177 Dtctmus earn (concufiscentiam) esse vitium naturae bonae quod in nostram naturam per praevaricationem frimi hominis versum est. Cf. i, 71. ' Sermo CLI, 8. Bossuet in alluding to concupiscence compares the world to a '' great hospital of God's where all are ill." Meditation sur VEvangile, La Cine, 2' partie, 6y' jour. This Augustinian doctrine, strict as it is, differs essentially from that of Luther, who thought that human nature had been substattlially vitiated by the fall. Concupiscence, according to St. Augustine, is only an accidental disease of man's nature which remains radically good. * Many expositors of Augustinianism think that the saint modified
.
.
.

his ideas as to this at the end of his life. Cf. Retract. I, ix, 6. 6 Modern theologians teach that original sin consists in being deprived of sanctifying grace, which is the state in which, before his baptism, a child is found to be through the fall. Concupiscence is, in fact, a consequence of the fall. But in itself it is not an evil, but

i82

Cbrlstian Spirituality

all the exag-g-erations that may have arisen from the teaching- of Augustinianism. Nevertheless, it is unfortunately true that concupiscence, whatever idea one may have of it, is an unruly tendency which must be incessantly restrained if one wants to fulfil one's duty. The strugg-le with fleshly desire, says St. Augustine, must be carried on without truce or suspension. Not to fight is to be beaten, and any peace between the flesh and the spirit would be a wicked peace. The lives of the saints, too, have always been and could not be otherwise than an unceasing warfare.^ Impassibility, the apatheia of the Stoics, is a chimera.^

Let us leave aside

fall has done more than upset man's nature in has also aggravated the conditions of man's existence by bringing upon the world a flood of evils and miseries,

But the
it

itself;

which are the punishment of Adam's sin and are strikingly described by St. Augustine. "That the whole of the human race," he says, "was condemned from the start, this life, if we may call life what
is so full of dreadful ills, sufficiently bears witness. What other meaning, indeed, can be assigned to the deep and fearful ignorance, the source of all our errors, which enfolds in its darkness all the children of Adam from their birth, and from which man can only escape by hard work and suffering and feeling his way? What can account for the love of vanity and evil, whence arise sharp anxieties, passions, regrets, uneasinesses, mad joys, discords, law-suits, wars, treacheries, bad tempers, enmities, deceits, flatteries, frauds, thefts, rapine, perfidy, pride, ambition, envy, murder, parricide, cruelty, inhumanity, wickedness, sensualism and many other ills I cannot think of, and yet are met with in the Why are so many threats lives of those in this world. ? used to check our children's faults? Why have we tutors and teachers, why sticks and whips and canes unless it is to overcome our children's ignorance and bridle their passions, evils with which we came into the world? who could, I will Besides the troubles of the children not say utter in speech, but conceive in mind, all the miseries of the human race, miseries which are not the effect of the malice of the wicked, but which simply are due to man's
.

a danger it is natural to man made as he is of the flesh and spirit. Had not God raised man to the supernatural state, had He created him in a state of pure nature, as theologians say, He could have created him as he now is jninus original sin and with concupiscence. This theological teaching will enable us to avoid all rigorism in
;

spirituality.
1
2

St.

De

Augustine, Serm. XXX, 4 civitate Dei, XIV, 4. Cf.

iii, i.

De
St.

continentia, 7. Leo the Great, Sermo,

XLI, De

Quadragesima,

Ipclaoianlsm an^ Buciustinianism

183

condition here below? What anguish and grief arises from the death of kinsmen and days of mourning, from the losses we meet with and the condemnations, the impostures and deceits of men What shall we say of the countless accidents to which we are liable and which arise from outside causes heat, cold, storms, rain, floods, thunder and As for the lightning, hail, thunderbolts, earthquakes? ... diseases that may arise within us, so numerous are they that medical works do not contain all of them. And as for most, not to say all of them, the care bestowed and the remedies used for curing them are just so many torments, so that a man can only escape from one pain by flying to another.
!
. . . :

Lastly, even in sleep,

tell

which

is

rightly called rest,

who can

us how often he is disturbed by dreams and alarming imaginary terrors, which impress us so strongly that we cannot tell them from reality, and they fill our poor souls with fright?"^ How can the Pelagians think that such miseries are natural to man, that they belong to the conditions in which we were originally created, and that they would have existed in all They would their fulness, even if Adam had not sinned?^ have us bear the pains of life with stoicism. We, on the other hand, accept them as an expiation of sin. It is, indeed, only right that, since we were driven out of the delights of paradise through an inordinate love of pleasure, we should be restored by bearing our miseries with humility. Patience will recover for us all that sin has riven from us.^ Christian asceticism is thus perfected by accepting the pains of
life.

Augustinian

clearly determines the conditions of Christian life on tions earth. Man can do nothing without grace. Hence he is absolutely dependent upon God, to whom he must pray, and upon Christ
^ De civitale Dei, XXII, 22, 1-3. Cf. Contra Julianum Ofus imPascal was entirely of St. ferjectum, i, 50-54; iii, 44; vi, 5. " Apart from this most incompreAugustine's mind when he wrote hensible of all mysteries (original sin), we cannot understand ourselves. The crux of our condition assumes all its intricacies in that abyss; so that man is more inconceivable without this mystery than is the mystery itself apart from man " [Pensies, art. viii). Many theologians hold that we must not, with St. Augustine and Pa=;cal, put forward man's miseries as proving original sin. In fact these miseries are a result of the fall. But they are nevertheless natural to man, and if God had created man without raising him to the supernatural state, they would still have existed and would not have been the consequence of a sin. 2 Contra Julianum Opus imferfectum, vi, 26, 27. ' St. Augustine, De fatientia, xiv.
:

anthropology

apart

from

some exaggera-

84

(Xbristian Spirituality

his Saviour, in whom he must trust. Concupiscence sets him in a state of perpetual strife, from which he can only emerge victoriously through mortification. The pains of this life afford him occasions for suffering, expiating and acquiring merits.
St. Augustine follows St. Paul and explains him, and brings to light the firm foundations of ascetical theology. Such spiritual writers as attempt to build upon other foundations only erect fragile structures which cannot last.

CHAPTER VIII THE SPIRITUAL TEACHING OF

ST.

AUGUSTINE TEMPTATION AND PRAYER

these strict principles St. Aug-ustine constructed

in having given expression with inexorable rigour to the rights of divine justice, while at the same time he succeeds in describing in touching terms the delights of the love of God. In Christian iconography St. Augustine is represented as holding a heart, to remind us that he is the Doctor of charity. No man has spoken of that virtue better than he. All his In reading them, not writings are perfumed with charity. only are we filled with admiration for his powerful and penetrating mind, we are also charmed with his affectionate heart, and the loving expressions he pours forth when he speaks of God and His works. ^ The holy Doctor is both light and

ON

One a work all of love, a glorification of charity. of the strange contrasts of his richly-douereil
mind consists

warmth, thought and feeling; nor do we find in him an arid and chilly intellectualism. To study him makes us better, for nowhere else do we find knowledge so completely transformed
into love. This characteristic of St. Augustine's genius shows why his spiritual teaching is reduced in the last resort to charity. Perfection, as we shall see, consists in charity that has Progress toward it, which developed to its fullest extent. requires the mortification of our desires, the practice of and lastly, virtue and prayer, is wrought through charity the advance of the soul in perfection is proportionate to the advance of charity within it.
;

I. ST.

AUGUSTINE AND CHRISTIAN PERFECTION ITS CENTRE IN CHARITY

:

Christian perfection is perfect justice, and perfect justice is charitas perfecta, pcrfecta justiiia est.^ perfect charity Perfect justice consists in the keeping of God's commandments so strictly that all sin, even the least, is avoided. But If it is charity that makes us respect God's commandments. we love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, we
*

Cf. Portali^,

DicL de Thiol. CathoL,

185

art. sur S.

Augustin,

p. 2454.

De natura

et gratia. Ixx, n. 84.

i86

Cbrfstian Spirituality

live altog-ether in g-oodness,

since we love supremely what orders to the point of never transgressing- it.^ Hence absolute perfection consists in being so far advanced in charity as never to commit any sin. Can such a state be attained? The Pelagians, as we know, boldly taught that the Christian can and ought to reach this supreme perfection. Many monks of the East endeavoured to realize in themselves such perfection, and they thought that they had succeeded

God

St. Augustine was more cautious. declares that such a degree of perfection may no doubt be attained, if the question be considered theoretically but he dares not be too affirmative. As a matter of fact, however,

with God's help.

He

no one has ever reached it except Jesus and His Mother Mai-y. For to attain to perfection we should have to be cured
of our natural weakness, the source of our daily failures " But we shall never be completely healed until we are made perfect in charity and we shall only be perfected in charity when we shall see God as He is (i John iii. 2). Indeed, nothing can increase our charity when faith is lost in sight. "^ In fact, as long as we are on earth there is always room in us for an increase in charity. And undoubtedly if it be not more perfect in each one of us it is through our own fault, and that is why we so often fall into small sins which could be avoided.^ Here below, indeed, we must not hope to calm the flesh so completely as to get rid of all the small temptations to which we sometimes yield.*
: . .
.

perfection, therefore, to which a Christian can attain relative. It consists in tending unceasingly and without flagging or desistance towards absolute perfection. This, however, remains an ideal which must be the more indefatigably pursued inasmuch as it is not altogether to be fully attained.^ To strive constantly to realize within that full and perfect justice which excludes all sin, however slight, such is the vocation of the fervent Christian. He who develops charity within himself in such a way as habitually to avoid mortal sin and to reduce the number of lighter faults,
is

The

only

1 Cf. De -peccat. merit, et remiss., II, xiii, n. 18-20; De moribus Eccl. Caihol., I, xxv, n. 46; E-p. CLXVII, 11. St. Leo the Great calls charity the mother of all virtues [Sermo XXXVIII, 4). 2 De perfect, just, hominis, cap. iii Tunc ergo -plena erit justitia quando plena sanitas : tunc plena sanitas quando plena charitas tunc autem plena charitas quando videbimus eum sicuti est (i John
: . . .

iii,

2).

Neque enim
5,.

erit

quod addatur ad dilectionem cum pdes

pervenerit ad visionem.
3 *

Sermo CLXVII,

Retractat. I. 19; De spiritu et littera, n. 65. 5 De peccat. merit, et remiss., II, cap. xv, n. 22 De perjectione justit. hominis, cap. xx, xxi ; De natura et gratia, n. 82.
;

187 Spiritual XTcacbtno of St. Hnoustlne has entered the way of perfection' and may be called a perfect Christian.' He will not fully reach the end for which he strives, but let him none the less apply himself resolutely to
the pursuit of it. Relative perfection, therefore, in which state we oug^ht to desire to live, is a constant endeavour towards that which is best, towards that fulness of charity when sin is no longer committed it is a voyage, so to speak, in which we sail onwards towards our fatherland, which is heaven it is a forward march without a halt a race towards the most These Augustinian perfect, a mounting- upwards to God. expressions hereafter became classical in spirituality. If the perfecting of our spiritual life be nothing else than growth in justice and charity,^ then its essential law will be progress. St. Augustine strongly insists on this capital point of spirituality.
: :

necessary to continue advancing and never to stop. is to advance, and the more one loves the more one advances, for charity is active; it cannot remain idle Ipsa dilectio vacare non potest.* Moreover, to stop is to go back to slacken in order to survey the road already run is to lose ardour in the pursuit of that which is best; it is to cease to
It
is

To

love

love truly. ^ Always to do better, always to keep marching, always to advance, such will be the motto of perfection.* He who would insure this uninterrupted progress will do " Be ever disconwell never to rest content with himself. tented with thy state," recommends St. Augustine, " if thou
1 De Ingredi autem sine macula perfect, justit. homin., n. 20 non absurde etiam ille dicitur, non qui jam ferfectus est, sed qui ad ipsam ferfectionem irrefrehensibiliter currit, carens criminibus damnabilibus, atque ipsa feccata venialia non negligens mundare eleeIngressum quippe, hoc est, iter nostrum quo tendimus ad mosynis. sine macula noster ad ferjectionem munda mundat oratio perjectionem cursus habeatur. Cf. De Doctrina Christ., i, n. 10. * De natura et gratia, n. 15. Proficientium est enim via; quamvis bene proficientes dicantur ferfecti viatores. ' Enarr. in psalm. LXXXIII, n. 10 quanta ergo plus amaveris, tanto
: . . . :

plus ascendes.

Enarr.

in

psalm.,

XXXI,
the

5;

LXXXV,

6;

LXXXIII,

10;

CXXVI,
*

I, 2.

become proverbial as regards Letter of Pelagius to the virgin Demetrias, n. 27, a letter which for a long time was placed amongst those of St. Augustine (P.L. XXXIII, 1118): Tamdiu non relabimur retro, quamdiu ad prior a contendimus : at ubi coeperimus stare Si descendimus ; nostrumque non progredi, jam reverii est. volumus non redire, currendum est.
These
formulae
are

which

have

spirituality

drawn from

...

semper St. CLXIX, n. 18 Augustine, ambula, semper profice : noli in via remanere, noli retro redire, noli deviare. Remanet qui non proficit; retro redit qui ad ea revolvitur unde jam abscesserat. Cassian, Collaiio xvii, 5 ad pro fee turn spiritualium rerum, virtutemque tendentibus fericulosa ac noxia est et parva dilaiio.

Sermo

Semper adde,

88

Cbristian Spirituality
;

wouldst reach one more perfect for as soon as thou becomest inwardly complacent thou ceasest to advance. If thou shouldst say, It is enougfh, I have reached perfection,' all is lost. ^ For it is the function of perfection to make one know one's imperfection."^ The Christian who knows himself well is displeased with himself, humbles himself and despises himself. Moreover, this intimate self-knowledge is most useful in the progress towards perfection.^ Nothing hampers the march onwards so much as pride, and nothing helps it so much as humility.* This virtue, therefore, must be made the very groundwork of the spiritual building. If we desire to raise it up within ourselves we must begin by digging deeply within our souls the foundation of humility.^ He who heads towards perfection strives to unite himself to God with all possible speed. Now the two virtues by which the soul is brought nearest to God are humility and
' . . .

charity.^ The charity of which perfection consists places the soul in a well-defined attitude in the sight of God and His creatures. St. Augustine has analyzed this attitude with great force and has drawn up important principles concerning the use which a Christian ought to make of creatures. Charity, according to the holy Doctor, is an impulse of the soul towards God and our neighbour; towards God in order towards our neighbour in to enjoy Him for His own sake order to enjoy him because of God and in the measure allowed It is the contrary of covetousness, which is the by Him. impulse of the soul towards itself, its neighbour, and others, in order to possess them for their own sakes in an inordinate
;

manner.''^

This doctrine becomes more clear from the distinction which St. Augustine draws between the words enjoy (frui) and use (uti). Something is enjoyed, he says, when we love it in such a way as to be attached to it and delighted by it for its own sake and when we make it the goal of all happiness. It is used when it is made a means of attaining to that, the enjoyment of which is desired.^ We should enjoy God alone and only use creatures. We are like travellers journeying to our heavenly country, the only object of true enjoyment. During our pilgrimage here below creatures are given us to make use of, like the ship which carries us to
1 2

Sermo CLXIX,
Id.,

id.

CLXX,

n. 8.

Enarr. in -psalm.,

Cf. De sfiritu et littera, n. 64. XXXI, n. 13, 14; Sermo CXXXVII,

5
;

n. 4.

Cj.

De

Trinitate IV, n. i. * Enarr. in -psalm., LVIII, n.

5 6
' 8

CXXX,

n. 14.
2.

Sermo LXIX, Id., XXI, n. 2

n. 2.
:

De

Enarr. in psalm., LXXIV, n. doctrina Christiana, lib. Ill, n. 16.

I, n. 3,

Id., lib.

36, 37.

Spiritual XTcacbino of St. Huoustinc

189

other lands. What would be thought of the fot)li.sh mariner who forgot the port for which he was bound in his attachment to the means of transport?^ Let us therefore use Let us not seek creatures, but only in the measure needed. in them our final happiness; this we must find only in Ciod, for He alone is our end and sovereign blessedness.^ True charity, the love which is free and chaste, as St. Augustine calls it, forces us to love God for His own sake because He is essential goodness, and we stretch out to Him as the only real object of our joy. He who approaches God only to obtain temporal benefits would not love Him purely and chastely {pure et caste). His love would be that of self-interest, and it would not in reality be God that he loved. The only reward we ought to desire in loving God is God Himself Him " whom we shall see as He is " (i Joan. iii. 2).' According to St. Augustine, pure, unselfish love never It is love, purified as loses sight of the heavenly reward. much as possible from earthly desires, always hoping to Thus Bossuet was able to enjoy God some day in heaven. cite St. Augustine in opposition to the dreams of the quietists

concerning

pitre love.*

Not only does charity turn us away from unduly seeking

it assures us of the possession of God even here below. In fact, one cannot love God without possessing Him within.* Our happiness is the possession of God now by charity, and hereafter in the beatific vision in heaven. The more we love God the more perfect do we become and the happier we are. A bond is thus seen to be established between the moral This had been already perfection of man and his beatitude. St. Augustine, too, observed in the philosophy of Plato. teaches that that which renders a man good must needs make him happy. Inde necessc est ut fiat homo beattis uride fit

after creatures, but

De doctrina

Christiana, lib.
:

I,

n. 4.

Cf.

De

civitate Dei, lib.

XI,

cap. XXV.

fro jucunditate.

Uiimur enim fro necessitate, fruimur Sermo CLXXVII, n. 8 Ergo ista temforalia dedit Deus ad utendum, se

ad fruendum.
8 Enarr. in fsalm. LXXII, n. 32: Factum est cor castum; gratis jam amatur Deus, non ab illo fetitur aliud fraemium. Qui aliud fraemium fetit a Deo et frofterea vult servire Deo, carius facit quod Quid ergo? Nullum vult accifere quam ipsum a quo vult accifere. Fraemium Dei, ifse Deus fraemium Dei? Nullum fraeter if sum.

est.

Hoc amat, hoc diligil; si aliud dilexerit, non erit cast us amor. Cf. Enarr. in fsalm., LV, n. 17; Sermo CXXXVII, n. 10; De beata
in the
x. et

vita, n. iS.
* Summary of doctrine Maxims cf the Saints, viii,

book entitled, Explanation of the

habebitis

s Sermo XXXIV, n. 5: Deus clamat nobis: amate me me, quia nee folestis amare me nisi habueritis me.

90

Cbristian Spiritualfti?
In spite of the dicta of certain philosophers, neither
;

bonus. ^
riches,

nor honour, nor other worldly endowments can give us true happiness for when we have obtained them we are more tormented by the fear of losing- than we were by the desire of possessing them. Happiness cannot come from the possession of some good which may be torn from us in spite of ourselves.^ Besides, God has made us for Himself, and the heart remains unsatisfied and troubled as long as He dwells not therein.^ In loving God, the supreme goodness, we are made better.* The secret, therefore, of true happiness is an unceasing progress towards perfection by growing in
charity.

II.

HOW

TO BECOME PERFECT
is

The way

of perfection, then,

growth

in charity;

in that

single-minded seeking after God which produces true love and renders us happy. What ought we to do in order to make progress in this love, or, in other words, what work has the Christian to perform in order to be perfect? The faithful Christian is advised by St. Augustine to bring his efforts to bear chiefly on these three points to chastise the body and bring it into subjection in order to avoid sin and to obey more easily the divine law to practise the Christian
:

virtues,
in

more

which "holy love."^

especially brotherly love he includes all duties of piety

and lastly, to pray, and the exercising of

St. Augustine does not describe outward penances and bodily austerities at length. What above all he wishes us to understand is the need for interior mortification, for the struggle of the will, aided by grace, against the flesh. To mortify the flesh is to refuse consent to its suggestions for the least consent given to the promptings of evil is enough to cause sin and to increase the power of passion.^ To feel the incentive to pleasure and to resist it is mortification to feel it no more is already to have mortified it.' This resistance of the spirit to the flesh constitutes the Christian combat witnessed by God. As we make progress we. must perforce restrain ourselves more and more from inward concupiscence, and so reduce the number of our
; :

Ep.

CXXX,

3.

Cf.

De

civit.

Dei, X, cap.

iii

Ideo beati quia

illo
2

fine {Deo'\ ferjecti.

CXXX, I, cap. iii. Confessions, I, i Fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donee requiescat in te. * Enarr. in fsalm., CXLIV, 1 Bonum amando nos meliores efficimur. s De -perfect, justit. hominis, cap. viii, n. 18, 19. ' De continentia, cap. ii, iii. ' Sermo CLVI, q illam (delectationem) dum non consentis, moriificas ; quum coeperit omnino non delectari, mortificasti.
Ef.
3
:

Cf. VIII, cap. viii. 3; E-p. CLV, 5-10; De moribus Eccl. Cath.,

191 Spiritual Xlcacbino of St. auG5tinc For the more we advance in justice and perfection Au^'^ustine has drawn a the further wc recede from sin.^ vivid picture, in his treatise On the Christian Combat {De agone christiano),' of this battle, in which each one of us must be engag^ed against the flesh, the world, and the devil.
faults.

In this tight with concupiscence the r61e of charity preAs already stated, there is a complete contrast between charity and covetousness, which, being at enmity, for charity is the love of God tend to mutual destruction and neighbour, and covetousness is the love of the world and earthly things.^ From these two affections spring the two cities of which St. Augustine speaks in his immortal work On the City of God. The love of self pushed to the extent of despising God is the earthly city, and that of God to the extent of despising self the heavenly city."* The continuous and unchanging conflict between these two affections, existing since the fall of the angels and perpetually rekindled in the human breast, accounts for the constant struggle between good and evil from which we suffer here below. Man, being both heavenly and earthly, feels painfully within him the antagonism of these two affections the one will triumph over the ruin of the other, but one only must prevail."^ If his heart has not charity the passions will wield their tyranny therein, and in order to free himself from this servitude he must strive to love the supreme goodness. The reign of charity can only arise upon the ruins of concupis-

dominates.

cence.''
is

Charity increases in us in proportion as covetousness diminished, or the reverse.^ Bossuet,* commenting on St. Augustine, likens these two affections to the pans of a pair of scales, in which one is lowered in the same ratio as the other is raised the weight given to charity is withdrawn Divine love lifts us up to God and from covetousness. opposes the attraction of eternal joy to those evil inclinations my God," which draw us down.* " How shall I speak, cries St. Augustine in his Confessions, " how shall I speak of that weight of the passions which draws us down into the depths of the abyss, and of the power of Thy charity which uplifts us thence by Thy spirit? How shall I express sink and we swim our corrupt nature myself?
:

We

In Joan, tract. XLI, 12. perfect, justit. cap. xiii, n. 31 3 Enarr. tn fsalm., XXXI, 5. P.L. XL, 283-310. * De civitate Dei, XIV, 28 Fecerunt itaque civitates duas amores duo: terrenam scilicet amor sui usque ad contemftum Dei, coelestem vera amor Dei usque ad contemftum sui. De Genesi ad Cf. litteram, XI, cap. xiv. 5 Enarr. in fsalm., XVIII, n. 15. * De doctrina Christiana, III, 16, 17. Enchiridion, n. 31. ' Enchiridion, n. 32 minuitur autem cufiditas charitale crescente. * Sermon for Easter Day (161^4). Lebarcq, I, 507. Enarr. in fsalm., CXXII, i"; CXXVI, 1.
1
;

De

192

Cbristian Spirituality

plunges us into the depths by the love of vanity; and the holiness of Thy .spirit brings us to the surface through the love of peace, in order that we may raise up our hearts to Thee. " The tendency of a body is determined by its gravity. Fire rises, a stone falls. When water is poured upon oil the oil rises to the surface, and the water sinks below. My specific gravity is love it bears me whithersoever I am borne {Pondus nieum amor nieus: eo feror quocumque feror). are set on fire, O Lord, by Thy gift and are drawn upwards towards heaven we are consumed in Thy flames and we go on we make holy ascents in our hearts and as we rise we sing the gradual psalms. Thy fires, Thy most sweet fires, O Lord, enkindle us, and we advance because we go up towards the peace of Jerusalem."^ The heavenly peace towards which we ascend is the fruit of obedience as well as charity. It is the " tranquillity of order" (Pax omnium rerum tranquillitas ordinis^) when passion within us is made subject to reason, and this to God, order and peace are the result. Obedience of the flesh is the offspring of obedience to the spirit. If we desire to be obeyed by the flesh let us begin by obeying God. When the soul is fully submissive to God who is superior to it, it will merit
.

We

the power to rule the flesh which obtain order and merit peace. ^

is

inferior,

and thus

will

it

This obedience which engenders peace, and may be said to be the mother and guardian of all virtues,* is easy to him who knows how to love. Charity makes us love that which is lovable. Yet what is more lovable than the will of God made manifest in His commandments? Therefore, in order to act aright we must love God the divine precepts will be
;

the more perfectly fulfilled the more intense the love. ^ Does not love, moreover, render that which prompts it more sweet and agreeable? And ought we to find the divine precepts difficult when we love our Lord? When we love our work we do not tire, and if we do, the weariness itself is loved. ^ All is rendered easy and pleasant by love :^ indeed, it is the motive power of the soul, the hand with which she acts.^
1
'2

xiii. Cj. Enarr. in fsalm., LXXXIII,io. Enarr. in -psalm., CXLIII, 6; agnosce ordinem, quaere facem. Tu Deo, tibi caro. Quid justius? Quid fulchrius? Tu rnajori, minor tibi servi tu ei qui fecit te, ut tibi serviat quod factum est fro-pter te. 3

De

Confessions, XIII, 7, 9. civitate Dei, XIX, cap.

Cf.
*

xii. Cf. De bono conjugali, n. 30, 32. Enarr. in psalm., XXXI. 5; XXXII, 6; LXXIX, 13. De bono viduitatis, n. 26 in eo quod amatur out non laboratur aut et labor amatur. ''Sermo LXX, 3; De natura et gratia, n. 83: Omnia quippe fiunt
6
:

Sermo CXXVIII, n. 5. De civitate Dei, XIV, cap.

facilia charitati. 8 Enarr. in psalm., IX, 15.

Sptrltual XTcacbino of St. Huoustinc 193 But love docs not rest content with the observance of precepts; it delights to go beyond mere duty. In order to triumph more effectively over the unruliness of the flesh we must renounce even lawful pleasure. This degree of perfection is quite proper to those who experience in their advance an increasing- thirst for privation and sacrifice. To hear a beautiful voice, to inhale a sweet scent, to enjoy a fine and moral play are things lawful; to deprive ourselves of them is to follow the inspirations of charity and to put the encroachments of earthly desire more completely aside. ^ It is, above all, by the practice of continence and virginity that love brings about the greatest triumphs of the spirit over the flesh. ^ These two virtues satiate the charity of austere and unceasing renunciation. They also lift man above the senses and make him like the angels; they raise him to a state, so to speak, in which there is nothing carnal, and they will cause him to shine with special brightness in the world to come.^

The pursuit of perfection requires not only the mortification of the flesh, but also the practice of all Christian virtues, the chief of which are the three theological. The fervent Christian lives by faith, hope, and charity.* Faith and hope come first, for it is impossible to love God before believing and hoping in Him. But charity reacts upon them by vivifying and perfecting them. Faith and hope could not, indeed, lead to salvation if they were not "informed" by charity; and he who loves has the necessary assurance that he will

hope and believe.^ As to the remaining virtues, they are so engendered by charity that St. Augustine introduces the idea of it into his
Virtue, he says, consists in i.e., God, and our neighbour because of God. * To choose aright the object of our love, and to be watchful and cautious lest the wiles of the devil turn us aside from it, is to be prudent. Not to be drawn away from it by dilTiculty, trial, or adversity is to be strong; to place before it no earthly joy or pleasure is to be temperate never to abandon it to serve evil is to walk in the path of
definition of virtue in general.

loving that which

is

truly lovable

' De continentia, cap. iii. Virginalis aulem trite gr Has et -per fiam continentiam ab omni concubxtu immitniias angelica -portio est et in carne corruftibili incorruftionis ferpetuae meditatio. Habebunt magnum aliquid praeter caeteros in ilia communi immortalitate qui habent aliquid jam non carnis in carne. Observe the importance of humility in preserving virginity. Id., cap. xxxi to liii. * Scrmo CLXX, n. 8; Enchiridion, cap. cxvii, n. 31. * Id., XC, n. 8; Enchiridion, id.: Qui rede amat procul dubio recte credit et sperat. Cf. In Joan., tract. LXXXIII, n. 3. * Ep. CLV, 13 Virtus non est nisi diligere quod diligendum est.
1

Sermo CLIX, 2-4. De Sancta virginilaie,

cap. xiii.

194
justice.*

Cbrfstian Spliitualtti?
;

Charity, then, is the keystone of the arch in the spiritual building of the cardinal virtues it is that which holds tog-ether the different parts. Take away charity, and the whole crumbles to the ground. The efforts of the faithful Christian to cultivate virtue find try to imitate a lively stimulant in the loving of Christ. those whom we love. If we love Jesus we desire to be like Him, and He is the perfect model of every virtue.^ To imitate Him is to hasten onwards to perfection. It is unnecessary here to set forth the teaching of St. Augustine on each one of the Christian virtues, but we shall do well to ponder over his beautiful thoughts on charity

We

towards our neighbour. The love of our neighbour, moreover, is not essentially separable from the love of God, for in the end they are one and the same. We love our neighbour with the same love as We are all one body, the that with which we love God.^ mystical body of Christ. If we do not love our brethren we do not love the body of Christ; and not to love Christ's body is not to love Him who is the head; and not to love Christ is not to love the Father of Christ.* We cannot, therefore, love God without loving our neighbour also. The love of God and of our neighbour are one and the same gift of the Holy Spirit, through whom we are able to carry out the dual
precept. Nevertheless, the two objects of charity are according to sacred order first we love God for Himself and then our neighbour for the sake of God. It is even possible to come to love God through loving our neighbour.^ But both they are like the two feet with these loves are necessary which the Christian runs in the way of holiness. Fraternal charity shows itself in the forgiveness of injuries, the love of enemies, kindness, mutual help, and above all by assisting our neighbour in all his manifold needs, both material and spiritual.^ St. Augustine very highly practised this fraternal charity He would never allow the of which he speaks so eloquently. reputation of his neighbour to be injured in his presence. In the refectory of his community at Hippo, where he enter:

See Chapter X as to what St. Augustine says concerning the place Christ should occupy in our piety.

Ef. CLV,

13,

16;

De moribus
2.

Eccl. Cath.,

I,

cap. xxv.

Sermo CCCIV,

n.

' ilia

Sermo CCLXV, n. 9 Non alia Non ergo quae diligit Deum.

:

charitas diligit froximum quam Qua charitate alia charitas est.

froxi7num, ipsa charitate diligimus et Deum. 4 In Ef. Joan, ad Parihos, tract. X, n. 3.

5

Ibid.
:

Enarr. in fsalm. XXXIII, 10 Duos fedes habeio, noli esse claudus. Duo fraecefta dilectionis, Dei et froximi. Qui sunt duos fedes? Istis fedibus curre ad Deum. accede ad ilium. 1 Enarr. in fsalm. CXLIII, 7-9; in fsalm. XXXVI, 13; in fsalm.

XXXI.

5.

195 Spiritual Ucacbino of St. Huoustinc tained many guests, he had written up in large letters the following warning " He zvJio takes pleasure in traducing the absent must clearly understand that he has no place at this table.'" It was with untiring patience and most edifying gentleness and humility that he bore with the ardour and insults of his adversaries in the numerous controversies that he entered
:

Always anxious to be into in defence of the Catholic faith. of use to others, he often composed whole treatises, in spite of his overwhelming occupations, in order to reply to some His incredible literary question put to him in a letter. activity did not prevent him from being at the disposition of his people, to smooth over their differences and to relieve with
liberal

alms

all

the misery brought to his knowledge.

The way
and above His grace
holiness

of perfection
all

demands of us work, constant effort, much prayer; for it is God who will lead us by The road which leads to to the end desired.

is filled with obstacles, and the strength needed to overcome them can be obtained only by persevering prayer.* The higher we aspire to rise in virtue the more urgent the

need of prayer; for we are not able of ourselves to ascend to God it is His grace which must take hold of us and draw us. It is not, therefore, surprising to find St. Augustine constantly exhorting to prayer, for he who knows how to pray
:

will learn

how

to sanctify himself.^

But prayer addressed to God docs not consist only of petition, but should include also the duties which we owe to Him, of worship and praise. St. Augustine uses the word piety to signify the aggregate of religious duties which the devout Christian renders to God and these he refers back to Picias cultus Dei est, nee colitur ille nisi amando.* love Piety, which is that filial sentiment which makes the soul pray to God and perform other religious duties, consists, therefore, in loving God without looking for any other reward than that which He sends." To love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves for the sake of God, such is really divine worship and true religion, such is healthy Our heart is an piety and the sure way of serving God." altar upon which the fire of holy love should constantly be burning as a sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, and expiation.
; :

Possidius, Vita S.

A ugustini,

22

Quisquis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam, Hanc viensam indignant noverit esse sibi. De natura et gratia, n. 78, 82 Dc ferjectione justitiae, n. 20. ' The famous formula Vere novit recte vivere qui recte novit orare, is drawn from a doubtful sermon of St. Augustine, Sermo LV, i (P.L.
;
:

XXXVIII, 1S4C)). Ef. CLXVII,

n.

11; C/. Ep.

Sermo XCI,

n. 3.

CXL, n. 45. ' De civitatt

Dei. X, cap.

iii.

196

Cbrfstian Sptrttualtt^

place ourselves in our Lord's presence all aglow with love we send up to Him a perfume of sweet-smellingincense.^ True praise is that which comes from love, and he only who loves God is able to bless Him as he should.^ To cease to praise God we must cease to love Him.^

When we

HI.THE DEGREES OF PERFECTION THE

GRADUAL PSALMS
St. Augustine makes all spiritual doctrine depend on charity, it is not surprising to find him testing the advancement of the soul in perfection by its progress in love. are lifted up to God by charity, and the yearnings of the heart

As

We

are as the steps of the mystical ladder by which we ascend.* Has St. Augustine attempted to number the steps of this mystic ladder and to establish the phases through which we must pass to reach perfection? The celebrated extract from his treatise De natura et " When charity begins in the soul gratia^ is well known. when charity advances, so, too, justice begins there also does justice; when charity is great, justice also is great; and when charity is perfect justice has reached perfection." Elsewhere St. Augustine speaks again of the progress of charity, which is born in the Christian, nourished and strengthened within him, and finally becomes perfect by enabling him to be willing to die for the love of his neighbour." Ought we, then, to conclude according to St. Augustine, that in order to reach perfection charity must invariably pass its beginning, its early through four successive stages
;
:

Such development, its full force, and its perfectibility? appears to have been most probably in the mind of the Bishop of Hippo in describing these different phases of charity.'^

a Christian
1 2
.

For charity to be engendered in man he must first become If a lukewarm and if he is not one already.
De civitate Dei, X, cap. iii. Ef. CXL, cap. xviii, n. 45; Enarr. in fsalm. CXLVII, n. 3. Enarr. in fsalm. LXXXIII, n. 8. * Enarr. in -psalm. LXXXV, 6. Charitas ergo inchoata, inchoata justitia est Cap. Ixx, n. 84
:

3 8

frovecta, provecta justitia est; charitas magna, magna justitia est; charitas perfect a, per feet a justitia est. * In Ep. foannis ad Parthos, tract. V, 4 / perficiatur {charitas), nascitur ; cum fuerit nata, nutritur ; cum fuerit nutrita, roboratur si quis paratus sit pro cum fuerit roborata, perficitur fratribus etiam mori, ferfecta est in illo charitas. ' Cassian, Collatio, xi, 6-8, considers that there are three degrees The first is that of in the ascension of the soul towards perfection. The second is that of hope and of fear ; this belongs to slaves. this belongs to those souls that are desire of heavenly rewards mercenary and who labour to be rewarded. In the third degree finally are found those disinterested Christians who labour for the love These are the children of God. of goodness and for God.
charitas
:

Spiritual TTcacbino ot St. Huoustine

197

negligent Christian, ho must be aroused from apathy by the fear of eternal j)unishnunt and the inducement of heavenly reward. Thus will he be led to a life of devotion and prayer.' For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Now when this fear penetrates the heart it wrests from it its evil habits, which give place to love, which then reigns as queen and in turn casts out fear.^ Thus does charity take possession of the soul and become active and progressive. But the Christian who starts out on the way of perfection will encounter difViculties perseverance is irksome. He will need to pray earnestly that God grant him the power to do his duty and to perform good works. A growth in charity will soon reward his effort and goodwill. He then feels within himself an eager desire to rise higher, and begins to despise earthly things and to think often of God. He counts as nothing the pleasures of this world and becomes indifferent to loss and gain and even thinks of selling all that he has and giving to the poor and following Jesus. The Christian in this attitude of mind is in a state of progress. He will have to suffer trial and contradiction and criticism from those who cannot bear to see others better than themselves and indeed it may be said that it is impossible to make progress without passing through this inevitable ordeal.* Thus the Christian sets his course in the way of perfection he carefully avoids mortal sin and cleanses himself more and more from venial faults, and gives himself up to acts of " holy desire " that is to say, of divine love.*
; ; ; ;

it is by loving that the soul makes progress and towards perfection, and, being well advanced, can enter into the spirit of the Gradual Psalms," which are none other It understands than a song of love. to use the happy expression employed by one of St. Augustine's correspondents^ that the measure of loving God is to love Him It moreover becomes immersed in the without measure. bosom of God as in an ocean of divine love, and so lost there that it has no other desire than that of the happiness of heaven. " Give me Thyself, O my God !" cries out St. Augustine " Give me in the last book of his Confessions,^ and again Thyself, for I love Thee and if I love Thee yet but little, make Thou my love more strong. I am unable to sound the depths of my soul to know what is lacking to make it so

In fact,

rises

'

natura et gratia, n. 82. natura et gratia, n. 82. Enarr. in fsalm. CXIX, 3.

De De
De

'

Ef.

CXL,

n. 45.

ferfect. justit. n. 18, 20.

Enarr. in psalm. LXXXIII, n. 10. 7 Severus, Bishop of Milevis, Ef. CIX, n. 2 (P.L. XXXIII, 449). Nullus nobis amandi modus imfonitur, quando ipse ibi modus est sine modo amare. C/. De moribus Eccl. Cath., I, cap. viii. XIII. 6.

198

Cbrfstfan Spirituality

perfect that my life be cast into Thine, embraced, and turn not aside until totally hidden in Thy breast. That only which I know is that all within me and without that is not Thee is evil for me; and that all riches except my God are poverty." Like St. Augustine, the soul is deeply distressed, when once it has tasted the delights of love, at having turned aside so long to yield to the seduction of creatures " Too late have I loved Thee, beauty, ever old and new; too late have I loved Thee !"^ This delay is one more motive which compels the loving soul to give itself daily the more to God, knowing that the Well-Beloved desires wholly to possess it. ^ "Hearken, Christian, and hear what the divine love speaks through the lips of wisdom son, give Me thy heart (Prov. xxiii. 26). Mark well these words. Has He willed that thou shouldst keep a portion of thy heart for thyself. He who has said to thee Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with thy whole spirit? What is there left of thy heart wherewith to love thyself? What is there left of thy soul? What of thy spirit? Divine love does not admit partition."^ He who loves expects to be tried. Here below we are in a valley of tears, and the weight of affliction often brings weeping. But tears of sorrow are like the new wine with which they who truly love the Lord become inebriated. * The Christian soul, when mystically uplifted above itself, wonders that God should need to command our love rather than permit it, for even His permission might make us marvel. " What am I to Thee, Lord," cries St. Augustine, " that Thou shouldst desire to be loved by me and that Thou shouldst be angry if I do it not, and threaten me with chastisement? Is it not great enough misery already not to love Thee?"'' Not only does God wish us to love Him, but He seeks also to stimulate our love by making Himself lovable in our eyes, are and inspiring us to praise His infinite perfections. God, in order inclined to love those whom we praise. to assist us in praising Him, has, by His Holy Spirit, inspired God makes Himself thus praised us with worthy praises. and glorified by the lips of His servants in order the more to f6ster their love.^ In His desire to be loved, God incites His children to love. He pierces the hearts of the faithful with the arrows of His love, which are those burning words of His which enflame Our Lord desires our love ever more and more, for souls. which cause He permits Christian hearts to be pierced un:

My

We

Now

Confessions, X, 27.

Sermo XXXIV,

3 Id..
5

XXIV,

n. 7 n. 7.
I, 5.

Confessions,

totum exegit te qui fecit te. 4 Enarr. in -psalm. LXXXIII, ^ Enarr. in -psalm. CXLIV, n.

n. 10.
i.

ceas'mj^ly
in love.*

Spiritual Ucacbino of St. Hiunu^tinc 199 with His fiery darts to enable them to increase

love in the soul reaches the heights of perfection, raised to a life of intimate and habitual union with God. For love tends towards union it desires to be but one with the object loved. Quid amor ovmis? nonne tinum viilt fieri cum eo quod auiat?'In this state of mystic union the soul then understands that love causes God to be present and that He is so much the nearer and the more perfectly within us the more we love
that soul
is
;

And when

Him. This present life becomes a burden to it, and it is filled with siphs for the time when it will be fully united to its WellBeloved.^ Its love is so strongs that it is like a foretaste of heavenly joy. " Though on earth, thou art in heaven if thou lovest God " Stans in terra in caclo cs, si diligas Deiim.*'
:

IV. ST. AUGUSTINE

AND TEMPTATION

Although I have no intention of fully expounding the whole of the spiritual teaching of St. Augustine, it is nevertheless indispensable to set forth his doctrine of temptation for it is the great hindrance to the soul's progress towards God. The penetrating mind of the Bishop of Hippo had studied the phenomenon of temptation from every side. Later spiritual writers have done little more than comment on his teaching. Temptation may either bring about ruin for the Christian If he yields to it, death is or become a means of merit. engendered in the soul; if he overcomes it, it becomes a help
;

towards progress
It is

in

goodness and

virtue.

therefore most necessary to know exactly the nature why we are subjected to it, what are its of temptation causes, and above all how we must resist it.

Temptation, speaking generally, is any enticement to evil. Augustine, by precise psychological analysis, clearly distinguishes three elements or phases of temptation. First of all comes the suggestion or insinuation of evil thought in the soul. The imagination presents to itself, in a manner more or less vivid, according to the strength of the
St.

temptation, the attractiveness of the thing forbidden. The unhealthy images at times impress themselves upon the mind with such tenacity that they become an obsession. Instincand this is the second phase the lower part of the tively soul, concupiscence, turns towards the thought of evil, puts a certain pleasure therein, and instigates the will to let it have It is at this moment that the temptation exercises its way.

Enarr. in psalm. CXIX, n. Ep. CLV, n. 13. Cf. n. 4.

5.

De

ordine, II, n. 4S.

Enarr. in psalm.

XXXV,

n. 6.

200
its full

Cbristian Sptritualit)?
strength, and then

it may develop either into a victory or a defeat. The higher part of the soul remains free to resist the evil suggestion or to consent to it, and in this alternative lies the real trial of the temptation. In the third place, therefore, which is the critical phase of resistance or consent, the will determines to wrestle with the temptation and to resist it by refusing to acquiesce, or else it abandons itself thereto. In the first place, it is triumphant and God will reward the victory, or again it commits sin and deserves punishment. The temptation is violent when the thought of evil and the evil pleasure obsess one so strongly that, in spite of energetic resistance of the will, it cannot be got rid of. It is light when

easily

brushed aside.

Such is temptation.^ St. Augustine finds symbols of these three phases in the three agents of the first temptation which took place in the earthly paradise the serpent. Eve, and Adam. The serpent suggested to Eve the thought of disobeying God by eating the forbidden fruit Eve took a lively pleasure in contemplating this fruit. She partook of it and invited her husband
:

to partake also. Neither the evil suggestion of the serpent nor the pleasure therein experienced by Eve would have sufficed to ruin the human race without the consent of Adam, who alone brought about the fall. So, in like manner and this should be carefully noted in our temptations, neither the thought of evil nor the pleasure that accompanies it constitutes sin of itself. They come through human frailty and are a conveyance of hereditary weakness. The will lacks the power to prcA'ent them, although it is free to consent or not, and this consent of the will alone brings about sin.^ St. Augustine rightly points out, in order to calm delicate and anxious consciences, that the inferior part of the soul, the seat of concupiscence, may continue to take pleasure in the thought of evil, in spite of the ardent refusal by the will. Thus are borne out the words of the Apostle The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh (Gal. V. 17). But it is one thing to feel pleasure by reason of a -temptation and another to consent to it. The first is not dependent on the will, which is responsible only for consent or resistance. This is why consent begets sin and resistance carries with it victory.^

Enarr. in -psalm. CXLIII,

De

Trinitate, ?ib. xii, 17

Enarr. in -psalm. XC, n. 7. n. 6. Enarr. in psalm. CII, n. 5. The will, of

course, needs grace to resist temptation. 3 De Trinitate, id. St. Augustine makes a distinct difference from the point of view of sinfulness, between consent, pure and simple, to an evil thought, and the frustrated desire to do that evil, which the thought Nevertheless, both are grievous sins and lead to damnation represents. unless forgiven. De Trinitate. lib., xii, n. 18.

201 Spiritual TTcacbin^j ot St. Buflustinc emphasizes this doctrine in The City of God, in order to console the virg-ins and other Christian women violated by the Goths during^ the sack of Rome in 410. "Virtue," he says, "has its seat in the soul, whence it rules
St. Aiif^ustine

The latter, therefore, remains holy so long- as the which regulates its motions is holy. As long as the will stands firm in its determined opposition to the evil, every violence that can be brought to bear upon the body does not render us culpable. Such assaults do not bring about the loss
the body.
will

of chastity."*
inevitable here below; the life of man is full it must be so, for we are on a period of trial.can we be tried if we are not tempted? Sine ientatione probatus esse nullus potest.^ Temptation is like a battle, in which we must either conquer or die the one who vanquishes is saved, but the one who is overthrown is condemned.* In the Lord's Prayer,

Temptation
it,

is

of

and, indeed,

How

moreover, we do not ask God that we should not be tempted, but that we should not be led into temptations by which we might be overcome.* This need of temptation is such that Christ, our Head, instead of freeing us from this ordeal, willed, on the contrary, to be tempted Himself, in order to teach the faithful. His The three chief causes of our temptasoldiers, how to fight. tions are, according to the First Epistle of St. John (ii. 15, 16), Now Jesus was the lust of the flesh, pride, and curiosity.*^ subject to a temptation of the flesh when He was invited by the devil to change stones into bread, in order to satisfy hunger. He was tempted by pride when He was shown all the kingdoms of the world from a high mountain and, lastly,
;

He was tempted by

curiosity

when He was urged

to

throw

Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple.^ Christ desired to experience all these forms of temptation^ to which we are subject in order to be like us in the same way that He willed
;

civitate Dei, lib. I, cap. xvi. * Enarr. in fsalm. LX, n. 3 Vita nostra in hac feregrinatione noti fotest esse sine ientatione, qui frovectus noster fer tentationem nostram fit, nee sibi quisque innolescit nisi tentatus, nee fotest coronari nisi vicerit, nee fotest vincere nisi certaverit, nee fotest certare nisi initnieum et tentationes habuerit. The Fathers of the desert recognized this
*
:

De

need for temptation.

mrntts, 13 (P.G.
*

C/.

XXXIV,

945).

Macarius the Egyptian, Liber de elevatione St. Jerome, Ef. XIV, etc.

in monte, lib. II, n. 30. Annotation, in Job. cap. vii (P.L. XXXIV, 832); Enarr. in fsalm. LXI, n. 20; in fsalm. XC, n. 2. 5 De sermone Dom. in monte, II, n. 34. Enarr. in fsalm. VIII, n. 13 Haec autem tria genera vitiorum, id est voluftas carnis, et suferbia et curiositas omnia feccata concludunt. St. Augustine translates concufiscentia oculorum of St. John's text by the word curiositas. See his commentary on the First Epistle of In efistolam Joannis ad Parthos, tract. II, n. 13, 14. St. John. ' Enarr. in fsalm. VIII, n. 13. * I.e., from without.
:

De sermone Domini

202

CbrtBtfan Spirituality

to die because we die, and to rise again because we shall rise again some day. Furthermore, He desired to be tempted in order that through His merits we should not be overcome

by the tempter.
;

Ideo ientatus est Christus ne vincatur a tentatore christianus.^ are members of His mystical body thus we have been tempted in Him and also victorious in Him. His victory over the devil is also ours, and we are conquerors in Him and through Him.^ How great is the power given us over temptation by our union with Christ Since, then, we cannot do away with temptations, we are constrained to profit by them and to make use of them as a means of sanctification. Their usefulness is carefully brought out by St. Augustine for the greater consolation of those souls subject to temptation and trial. He tells us that temptation teaches us, purifies us, and advances us in virtue. It teaches us in making us know what we are and of what we are capable. It shows us to ourselves. The inward dispositions of man would lack the occasion to show themselves without trial or temptation.^ Indeed, it may often be said that temptation makes manifest the sin which is already in man rather than renders him sinful.* It is the shake which causes the maggoty fruit to fall from the tree. It is temptation, then, which shows man what he is, with his qualities and defects, his strength and his weakness, his patience and Without it we should be ignorant of his lack of courage. ourselves, like St. Peter, who thought himself so strong when he told Jesus that he would die with Him rather than deny Him.^ Temptation induces us to pray. If it did not exist we should be inclined to neglect prayer.^ It makes the just progress in well-doing. It tries their virtue, consolidates and perfects them.'' Their heavenly reward by this means is increased.^ It is through temptation that our spiritual life advances he who is never tempted will make no progress." Temptation may also be likened to a fire which purifies the good from the least stain, whilst it consumes badly disposed ^ Christians like straw.

We

Temptation, being an incitement to evil, can only spring from an evil cause. God cannot Himself tempt us. He can only allow us to be tempted. For it is not possible that He
1 2

Enarr. in psalm.
Id.,

XC

Sermo
illo

II, n.

i.

LX,
.

n.
. .

superamus
vincentem.
3
5

Si in agnosce
:

nos tentati sumus, in illo nos diabolum te in illo tentatum, et te in illo agnosce
* Id.,

Sermo

II, n. 2, 3.

CXXV,

n. 11.

1
8 9 10

Enarr. in psalm. LV, n. 2; Enarr. in psalm. XXXVI, n. i. Ep. CXXX, 5 Si nulla tentatio, jam nulla oratio. Contra Faustum Manich., lib. XXII, cap. 20. De Gene si ad Hit., lib II, cap. vi. Enarr. in psalm. LX, n. 3 Enarr. in psalm. LXIX, n. 5. Sermo XCI, n. 4; Enarr. in psalm. CIII Sermo III, n. 22.
;

Spiritual TTcacbtno of St. Buoustinc 203 solicit us to do wrong-. God tempts no one, (i. If sometimes we read in Holy Writ 13). that God tempted certain persons, such as Abraham, when He commanded him to sacrifice his son, there is no question
should directly says St. James
here of temptation in the sense of an invitation to sin, but rather as a trial to strengthen faith.* The source of real temptation cannot be good. In fact, the causes of our temptations are, first of all, our depraved nature and concupiscence, and also the devil and the wicked who are his ministers, and lastly the world. To speak truly, the only real cause of our temptations is the triple concupiscence within us of which St. John speaks. For outward causes would be ineffective if they did not find an accomplice in our depraved nature. The struggle, in reality, is within ourselves and not without, and the most sure means of victor)' over our temptations is that of interior
mortification.

have repressed the evil within us there will be from the empire of the devil and from the world.' This teaching of St. Augustine, so psychological and so true, is of primary importance as regards the practical organization of the spiritual life of each one of us. How much more equitable is this view than those of the Fathers of the desert, who were too prone to see the agency of the devil in all their
little

When we
to fear

tempt nobody without permission from God, him it either to punish men for their sins or else to try them and bring out their virtue.-^ Sometimes God delivers those sinners into the hands of the tempter who give themselves up secretly to lust but in the ordinary way God permits temptation as a trial and to enable the Christian to overcome the devil.* We should not fear the power which the devil has over us because it is limited and restricted. If, indeed, the devil were able to harm us as much as he desires, neither just man nor Christian would be left on earth. God leaves him free to tempt us as far as it is useful for us to be tried and perfected in virtue; temptation never goes beyond our strength.'
;

temptations. Nevertheless, doctrine, but he all, the devil can and God grants

St.

Augustine
it

reduces

is careful not to deny this to its right proportion. First of

Sermo LXXI,
n. 2, 3.

d. 15
:

Sermo LVII,

n. 9

/ Jvan.,

tract.

XLIII,

n.

6;

Sernio II,

' Id., LVII, n. 9 Rest at con flic tus in vobis if sis. Nullus hostis metuatur extrinsecus : te vince, et mundus est victus. Quid tibi

Non

facturus est tentator extraneus, sive diabolus, sive minister diabolit sentis hostem tuum, sed sentis concufiscentiam tuam. Diabolum non vide, sed quid te delectat vides. Vince intus quod sentis. Cf. Sermo II, n. 3 De agone christiano, cap. vi. 3 De sermone Dom. in monte, lib. II, n. 34; Enarr. in -psalm. CIII,
;

Sermo
*

IV', n. 7, 8.

Enarr. in psalm. C, n. 12; and XC, n. 2. Enarr. in psalm. LXI, n. 20; Enarr. in psalm. XCIV,

n. 9.

204

Cbrfstian Spirituality
and make it by seduction,

devil cannot do violence to our will consent in spite of itself. Therefore he proceeds making- use of the unruly inclinations within us.

The

The Fathers

of the desert noted well this devilish strategy. Now St. Aug-ustine says that there are two passions, which are like doors through which the evil suggestions of the devil are able to make an entrance into us viz., covetousness and fear. When he perceives that we covet anything he at once provokes our desire in order to make us fall into evil. In the same way, if anything makes us fearful or sad, he casts into our soul innumerable g-loomy thoughts tending to despair.^ The love of pleasure and the fear of pain are, in short, the two baits which the devil uses to entangle us in his snares.^ If he were able to read their hearts he would never tempt those of the faithful who are so sufficiently mortified as to be insensitive to these allurements.^ As it has already been remarked by St. Antony, the devil is only formidable to those who g"ive him a handle by allowing themselves to yield to their passions. Let them inwardly resist their evil inclinations, and their victory over the tempter will be easy. The devil does not aJways act directly he often makes use of the co-operation of evil men who are his agents, by the seduction of whose bad example he would cause the faithful to fall.* If scandals are not enough to move strong souls he seeks to discourage them by criticisms, mocking-s, calumny, and all kinds of persecutions. If finally these means do not succeed, he prompts his victims to rash judgements and to contemplate their persecutors with bitterness and anger. What artfulness, indeed, does not he employ !^ One of the scandals which the devil knows well how to employ to sadden feeble souls is the spectacle of the prosperity of the wicked and the adversity of the good. At the beginning of the fifth century particularly the stumbling-block for the greater number of Christians was the weakening of the Roman Empire, giving way beneath the onslaughts of the barbarians just at the very time it had become Christian. Was not Providence to blame? And this all the more as the pagans did not hesitate to attribute the ruin of the Empire to its having abandoned the cult of the gods. St. Augustine wrote his treatise On the City of God as an apology for Providence. He showed that the breaking up of the Roman Empire was only a more striking instance of what we see going on around us day by day. Here below the

n. ii Enarr. in fsalm. XLII, n. 3. Enarr. in fsalm. XXX, enarr. II, n. 10. St. Augustine thinks that devils are able to appear with human bodies and to do violence to those whom they tempt. De civitate Dei, lib. XV, cap. xxiii. 2 De Genesi ad litt., lib. XII, cap. xvii. * Sermo II, n. 3; De agone christiano, cap. 11. Ef. LXXVIII, n. 5.
1
;

Sermo XXXII,

fi

Spiritual Xlcacbino of St. Huoustinc 205 wicked triumph and the good arc doun-troddcn. But this will be chang-ed on the other side of the g^rave. U oui faith were more vivid we should pity the wicked and not be scandalized at their earthly yood fortune and we would accept the sorrows of this life in atonement for our faults.' " It has pleased divine Providence to prepare for the righteous in the life to come good things which the wicked will not enjoy, and for the wicked evils with which the righteous will not be tormented. As to the good and bad things of this life, Providence has willed that they should be common to both in order that we should not yearn too eagerly for the happiness which the wicked possess in common with others, or that we should shun as shameful evils which the righteous suffer most
of the time." And besides, what have the Christians then suffered in this cataclysm (the fall of Rome) which has not been for their good, if they would but consider events with the eye of faith? Let them avow first of all, thinking humbly of the sins which
.
.

have offended God and prompted Him to fill the world with so many calamities, that although they may not be of the number of the debauched and impious, they are nevertheless not so free from faults as to think themselves undeserving of temporal punishment by way of reparation.""' The Finally, the last cause of temptation is the world. world, in the sense in which the word is here understood, is composed of multitudes who seek by every possible means, even the most wrongful and degrading, to satisfy their carnal appetites, their curiosity, and their ambition.* Those who do not yet belong to it the world strives to seduce by incitement to pleasure, obscene plays, and its enticements to unhealthy curiosity. If we would resist it victoriously, as we should do to beat the devil, we must chastise our bodies and bring them For if our senses are closed to its allureinto subjection.^ ments the world will cease to be a danger for us.

The Christian, then, therefore he ought to order not to let them

is

surrounded by formidable enemies;

exactly how to fight them in First of all, when overcome him. temptation comes, he must reject it without delay and say, Get thee heliind me, Satan with Christ, to the tempter

know

is the beginning of defeat. Whilst turning away from evil let him be heedful of turning When we feel temptation within, and the tempest to Christ.

(Matt.

iv.

10).'

All

hesitation

Enarr. in fsalm.

XXV,
I,

n.

4; Sermo de urbis excidio, n.

5,

9 (P.L.

XL,
*

720, 723). * De civitate Dei, lib. 3 Id., lib. I, cap. ix.

cap. viii.
tract. II, n.
la.

In In

epist. Joan, efist. Joan,

ad Parthos, ad Parthos,

5
*

De agone

christiano, cap. vi.

tract. II, n. 14.

206
rises

Cbrlstian Spirituality and the waves roar, and we are shaken as were the

Apostles,

when they
;

feared to be eng-ulfed in the sea of

24-25),
let

Genesareth (Matt,

viii,

us awaken Christ,

who

seems to sleep let us pray to Him. Let us remember His words and teaching, and soon He will command the waves to be at peace and there will be a great calm in our souls.
In fact, in order to resist temptation, prayer is a necessity obtains the grace without which it is impossible for us to conquer. When we triumph over the tempter it is God who upholds us lest we yield, who draws us to Him lest we fall into the trap of the devil, who defends us lest we be wounded. must not weary, then, in asking His aid when we are instigated to evil.^ To prayer we must add the thought of heaven, the desire of the blissful life of the elect. Resistance to temptation insures and increases our heavenly reward, whilst, on the contrar}^-, consent makes us lose it. And so the more the yearning for the eternal Jerusalem grows in us the stronger we shall be against the tempter.^ The Fathers of the desert also taught that a sense of the presence of God is particularly helpful in repelling evil above all, impurity. God sees us wherever we are, in the secrecy of our homes as in the public places, in the shadows of darkness " If thou wouldst sin, seek a as in the brightness of day. place where God will not see thee and then do what thou wouldst !"*
it

We

Finally, fasting is an excellent means of conquering temptaIt and it is particularly useful when this is violent. makes the struggle easier and reduces the force of the passions, and obtains for us the victory by drawing down upon us the divine protection.^
tion,

v. ST. AUGUSTINE ON THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER

St. Augustine has stated very precisely the conditions attached to the efficacy of prayer. Theologians of the Middle Ages have but reproduced fully his views on the subject. In order that prayer be unfailingly heard it is not enough that it should be offered with humility, confidence, and persei

Sermo LXIII,

Enarr. in psalm. LXXXIX, n. 4; De gratia et libera arbit., n.?>, q; Enarr. in fsahn. CXLIII, n. 9; De civitate Dei, X, cap. xxii. 8 Enarr. in -psalm. CXXXVI, n. 22. * Sermo CXXXII, n. 2 ipse {Deus) timendus est in publico, ipse in Procedis, videris, intras, videris ; lucerna ardet, videt te; secreto. videt te : in cubiculum intras, videt te, in corde lucerna extincta est, ver saris, videt te. Ipsuin time, ilium cui cur a est tit videat te ; et vel timendo castus esto. Aut si peccare vis, quaere ubi te non videat et
*
:

n. 2, 3

Sermo XXXVIII,

n. 10.

jac
8

quod vis. Sermo CCX,

n. 3.

verance.
to

Spiiltual ^cacbino ox St. Hiumstluc 207 That which is prayed for must also be not opposed salvation. For our petitions ought to be addressed to God

in the name of our Saviour Jesus. Would it not be a contradiction for God to g-rant things contrar}' to salvation in the name of the Saviour?' Now, our petitions are opposed to salvation if they are offered for something" that is wrong-, or for something which, though good in ilsi'lf, is inexpedient.^ The divine IMiysician would certainly be constrained not to hearken to the sick man who asks for something injurious to health.^ The good things for which we should beseech God are grace and eternal life, compared to which the rest are nothing.* These kinds of supplications are always welcomed by Our Lord provided they are offered for ourselves. For and this is another condition affecting efficacy of prayer it is for ourselves that we must pray if we would be assured of being heard. do not always obtain what we ask for others, be they friends or The promise of Jesus, Amen, Aiuen, I say unto enemies. you, everytJiijig tliat you ask the Father in name He will give you (Joan. xv. 23), should be understood to mean that our personal prayers, and not those that we offer for others, are unfailingly heard. ^ Those for whom we pray may have bad dispositions, which render our prayers for them of no avail. Prayer for our neighbour is good and commendable,

We

My

but

we must

not be disheartened

if

sometimes

it

is

not

effective.

Humble, confident, and persevering prayer, then, made in the name of Jesus our Saviour, in which we ask for ourselves the grace of sanctification and salvation, is always heard. If it should happen that it does not at once obtain what it asks, this is only a postponement and not a refusal differtur enim quod pctimus non ncgatur.^ God, for reasons known to Him, awaits a more opportune moment to grant our request but
:

grant

it

He

will.^
:

1 / /can. Evang. tiact. CII, i Non feti in nomine Salvatoris quid. quid fetitur contra rationem saliitis. 2 Id., tract. LXXIII. i, 2. St. Paul, for example, was not granted protection from the attacks of the angel of Satan {2 Cor. xii, 8). ' Id., 3 Novit enim medicus quid fro sua, quid contra suam saltitem foscat aegrotus, et idea contraria foscentis non facil volunlatem
:

ut facial sanitatem. Id., tract. CII, n. 2. * Ibid., n. I Exaudiuntur omnes sancli fro seifsis, non autem fro omnibus exaudiuntur vel amicis, vel inimicis suis, vel quibuslibel aliis,
:

quia non utcumque dictum

'
:

est

dabit sed dabit vohis.

Id., tract. LXXIII, n. 4. Quaedarn Id., tract. CII, n. 1

tern fore differuntur.

enim non negantur, sed ut congruo

dentur

CHAPTER IX CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIESST. AUGUSTINE AND DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
AUGUSTINE,

ST.

the

principle

of

terminology and the soul towards

classical.

we have seen, has drawn up his spiritual ascetic theology his teaching on the mounting of
as
;

God have remained and become

together with the pseudoDionysius the Areopagite, laid the foundations of mystical theology and perpetuated formulae which have become landmarks to guide souls in the byways of spirituality. It is, moreover, a curious coincidence to find that both St. Augustine and pseudo-Dionysius, in this delicate enterprise, have borrowed expressions from Neoplatonism. From the end of the second century and throughout the whole of the third, as we have seen,^ Neoplatonism sought for man a means of purification and union with God. It attributed great purifying value to knowledge and asceticism, and considered that the soul, freed by means of these from the trammels of sense, was able to rise by a kind of pantheism to the ecstatic contemplation of things divine. Towards the middle of the fourth century until the beginning of the sixth the Neoplatonic movement came in contact with Christianity, and, in order that it might cease to be a danger, efforts were made to reconcile it with the teaching of
also,

He

Christ.

the one side, those recently converted to Christianity, Augustine before his baptism, tried to find orthodox terms and even theories in Neoplatonism to express their new On the other side, and this was the case with the belief. pseudo-Dionysius, it was hoped to bring to naught the attacks of Neoplatonism against Catholic dogma by bringing out points of agreement and by Christianizing inconsistencies as much as possible. This is what St. Thomas, later on, did with Aristotle. This apologetic work seemed to them the more urgently needed in that Proclus, the last leader of the Neoplatonic school (411-485), had contested Christian teaching. It will be of interest for us to see how Neoplatonism became Christianized and provided Christian mysticism with some of its terminology.
like St.
1

On

See Chapter III.

208

Cbnstian /li^sticism
I. CONTEMPLATION
ST.

aog

ACCORDING TO AUGUSTINE

It was especially in the seclusion of Cassiacum and during the two years immediately following" his baptism that St. Aug-ustine made use of Neoplatonism in his writings. The ascetic theories which he then advanced seem very different from those of the preceding chapter. The religious feeling is intense the pious and loving soul of St. Augustine is entirely brought out there; but the thought possesses an accentuated philosophical character.^ There is not as yet that wholly Biblical thought saturated with sacred doctrine which we so admire in the priest and Bishop of Hippo. At the end of his life, in his Ketractatiotis, St. Augustine regrets the enthusiasm of his youth for philosophers, and retracts a certain number of their theories which he had accepted and incorporated in his writings,^ after having corrected them, however, so far as he thought necessary in order to reconcile them with the
;

faith.

it was the mystical state and chiefly which above all attracted St. AugusAnd, indeed, his tine's attention whilst yet a neophyte. wonderful conversion was so perfect that it raised his soul rapidly to supernatural heights. Are not the transports of

It

would seem that

ecstatic contemplation

Ostia' a proof that St. Augustine, still a recent convert, already tasted the joy of contemplation? And as he found in the theory of Neoplatonic contemplation, which he knew so well, the elements of a philosophy suitable to the state of his own soul, he did not hesitate to make use of it, correcting it so as to provide the outlines of a provisional and imperfect mystical theology. In conformity with Neoplatonic teaching, the young Augustine considered that true happiness here below, the highest wisdom and perfection of man, was to be found in the knowledge of God. He thought that virtue was inseparable from knowledge, and that it was impossible to be learned for there was a necessarj* link without being virtuous between light and well-being to know had a moral and Man's happiness, the object of his life, beatifying eflect.*
;
:

See particularly the works here cited

De

beata vita;

De

or dine

duo; Soliloquiortim libri duo; De immortalitate animae ; De quantilate animae; De moribus Eccl. Catholicae et de moribus These Atanich.; De genesi contra Manichaeos ; De libera arbitrio. treatises are to be fouDd in Migne, P.L. vol. XXXII, except the treatise De Genesi contra Manichaeos, which is in vol. XXXIV.
libri
Confessions, IX, cap. x. Cf. Retract., I, cap. i to v. De beata vita, n. 1-4; Soliloquiorum, I, cap. i, n. 2. St. Augustine in his Retractations (lib. I, cap. ii, iv cap. xiv, n. 2) recognizes that *
;

2IO

Cbrlstian Spirituality

then, consists in knowing God more and more completely. This idea of beatitude and of the end of man agrees with inspired by Platonism of God. St. Augustine's conception God is the source and first cause of all thing^s. He is, as creator, the origin of being, as intellectual light the genesis of truth, as supreme well-being the beginning of all goodness, Man's perfection does not all holiness, and all happiness.^ consist, as Plotinus says, in identifying himself with God, but in uniting himself to Him and in participating in His light The great means of union with God is and goodness.

knowledge.

But there are two ways of arriving at the knowledge of by reason and by contemplation. Rational knowledge, however noble, is imperfect. Do not let us imagine, however, that St. Augustine was an agnostic. Far from that. Reason is able to demonstrate the existence It may also know, in a certain measure. His attriof God. butes, especially if it combines with intellectual research the moral qualities of the heart. ^ But our knowledge of God is

God

are powerless to understand God of necessity limited. and to express Him in language. God is incomprehensible. " He is ineffable we can say more easily what He is not than
;

We

ineffahilis est, facilius dicinius quid non sit quid sit." He is transcendent and so much beyond us that in those things which we think and say concerning Him we fall far below the truth. So much so that the best knowledge we have of Him is to know that we cannot truly know Him, and still less say what He is.^ It is the famous Neoplatonic principle of the knowledge of God by negation with which St. Augustine is here inspired and which St. Dionysius pushes still further. There is, then, for man a knowledge other than rational knowledge of God and this he obtains by means of contem-

what He

is

Deus

quam

plation.

To be happy, he says, it is necessary not only this doctrine is imperfect. Moreover, it is to know God, but also to hope in Him and love Him. only in heaven and not here below that we shall be happy. In T/ie City teachings are df God (lib. viii, cap. iii to v), in which the Neoplatonic definition of so strongly Christianized, St. Augustine approves of this a wise man attributed to Plato The zvise man is he who imUates, knotvs, and loves God and pids his kaffiness in -parti ci fating in His life. This is assuredly an exact definition of a perfect Christian.' cap. iv. C/ Portali6, Diet, 1 De civitate Dei, lib. VIII, cap. x, n. 2
: ;

de Thiol. Cath. art. S. Aug., p. 2328. 2 Cf. Ef. CLXII, II, 2; De libera arbitrio, II, cap. v. to xv. St. Augustine insists on the exercise of the will and moral dispositions in order to discover truth. C/. Portalie, id., p. 2332 ff. Enarr. in fsalm. LXXXV, n. 12. Cf. CXXXIV, n. 4-6; In Joan.. tract. XIII, n. 5; XXIII, n. ^, De ordine. II, n. 47; De doctrina
Christiana,
I,

n. 6.

Cbrtstian /ID\?3tici6m

211

In order to arrive at contemplation the soul requires far more moral preparation than for the rational knowledge of

God.

the hi},'^hest importance to Enlif^htencd by Christian faith, St. Augustine also insists on it. He knows that contemplation is entirely a spiritual phenomenon, altogether divine; the soul cannot reacli it without at the outset freeing itself from the senses and from ail that is of the body, so that it may retire within itself and receive the divine light. And, first of all, the condition needful for the contemplation and knowledge of God is to desire Him ardently. The soul must think of Him unceasingly and learn the way to reach Him. It must concentrate every effort and activity upon the pursuit of true wisdom, which consists in the knowledge of the sovereign goodness. It will be indifferent towards everythis preparation.

The Neoplatonists attached

thing

Divine wisdom, in fact, will have no halfelse. measures; it must have the whole man.^ There have been Neoplatonists who abandoned everything and even lived in solitude in the desert for the sake of knowing God. In the first days of his conversion St. Augustine pasHe asked sionately desired to know and contemplate God. for this grace in that beautiful Platonic prayer at the beginning of the Soliloquies: " O God, creator of the universe, grant me first of all to pray well, then render me worthy to be heard and deliver O God, F'ather of truth and wisdom, of the true and me Father of bliss and goodness and beauty sovereign life Father of the light of understanding and of the awakening and enlightenment of our spirit Father of promises which encourage us to come back to Thee. I invoke Thee, O God of Truth, in whom and by whom and through whom all truth is true; O Wisdom in whom, by whom, and through whom true God and sovereign life in whom, all that is wise is wise by whom, and through whom all that lives participates in the true and sovereign life; O Beatitude in whom, by whom, and through whom all who are happy are happy O Goodness and Beauty in whom, by whom, and through whom all that is good and benutiful is made good and beautiful; O Light of Knowledge in whom, by whom, and through whom all intelligible light is made known ;^ O God, whose kingdom is O God, to turn the world our senses do not know. from Thee is to fall, to return to Thee is to rise, to rest in Thee is to be stable. O God, to depart from Thee is to die, to come back to Thee is to live again, to dwell in Thee is to have life. O God, whom no one can lose without erring,
.

Soliloquiorum. I, cap. xii, 20, 21 xiii, 22, 23. Certain writers have wrongly concluded from this and some other passages (Solil. I, cap. vi, viii) that St. Augustine was an ontologist.

212
find

whom

Cbristtan Spirituality no one can seek unless he be called, whom no one can without purification. O God, to abandon Thee is to

to desire Thee is to love Thee, to see Thee is to possess Thee. O God, faith leads us to Thee, hope gives us confidence in Thee, charity unites us to Thee. " That is why I love but Thee, I exist in Thee alone, I seek only Thee, Thee only I desire to serve, because Thou alone must be my master; I desire to belong- to Thee. Drive vanity far from me, that I may know Thee. Tell me in which direction I must look to see Thee, and I hope to fulfil

perish,

all

that
"

Thou commandest.
In

Father, enable

error.
If

my
I

indeed

find Thee.

me to seek Thee and preserve me from seeking- let nothing but Thee come before me. desire nothing but Thee Father, help me to And if there be in me some superfluous desire do
;

to strip me of it Thyself, and thus enable me to see Thee. "^ The soul that is desirous of knowing or contemplating God must resolutely ascend the seven steps of preparation, and so by purification raise itself up to the highest good. These seven steps correspond, according to the Platonic theory, to the seven activities of the soul of which the greatness of man consists. These activities are Animation of the body, sensibility, thought, virtue, the peace of the soul which virtue gives, entrance into light, and contemplation [contemplatio).'* The lowest activity of the soul makes itself manifest by the vegetative life which it infuses into the body, then comes the sense life which we have in common with the animals, and finally the intellectual life proper to man. To reach contemplation the soul must be raised above all that is sensible and material. The Neoplatonists explained this necessity by their dualistic and pantheistic theories. They thought the body to be an evil principle which imprisoned and contaminated the soul. The latter, which was the divine element, must by means of asceticism separate itself as much as possible from the body and loosen its bonds to return by ecstasy to the divinity whence it came. St. Augustine rejects this interpretation founded on such gross errors. For him the soul which seeks to approach God rhust be drawn away from matter and become spiritualized as soon as possible, if it may be so expressed, because God is an incorporeal being. Augustine, as long as he was engulfed in the life of sensuality, previous to his conversion, was not It was able to conceive the idea of a being without a body.
:

Thou deign

1 ,9^/27., I, cap. i, 2-6 (P.L. XXXII, 869-872). Another work entitled Liber Soliloquiorum animae ad Deuin is sometimes attributed to St. Augustine. It is to be found in Migne's Patrology (P.L. XL, 863-898). It belongs to the Middle Ages. 2 De quantitate animae, n. 79. The description of these activities is given in Nos. 70-76.

Cbristian /ID\>6ttct0m

213

the philosophy of Plato which revealed to him the existence of spiritual being's.^ To rise above sense and to restrain the imagination, which is an inward sense, are both necessary in order to form some conception of God, who is a pure spirit. The imag'ination provides our intelligence with sensible images, but all that is thus perceptible is limited, has a form, is imperfect and perishable. But God is without limit and without form He is perfect and eternal. Also, " when thou thinkest of God," St. Augustine recommends, " if some sensible and corporeal idea comes to thy spirit, drive it away, push it back, deny it, despise it, reject it, flee from it !"^ All that which comes from sense is absolutely unfit to make us know and contemplate God, a being essentially supersensible.^ The intelligence is no more able than the senses or imagination to lead us to the contemplation of God we have seen how rational knowledge is powerless to make us truly grasp the supreme First Cause. The soul, then, must rise to the fourth degree of its preparation, which is that of virtue and of rnoral effort. It is at this point that the purification of man, aspiring to contemplation, truly begins to operate. He must detach himself from riches, honours, and earthly pleasures to follow wholly the inspirations of goodness, to keep his heart pure, and to give to his body only that care strictly needed by For to see God the eyes must be perfectly clear, health. which means a soul without stain, purified by detachment from all that is perishable.* He must also love our Lord, for the best way to know Him is to love Him only His friends are able to enter intimately into His secrets.' Above all, he must be i)reser\'ed from pride, the great obstacle in the way But the soul will not reach this perfection of finding truth. without struggle and without anguish the fear of death will provide for it the needful stimulant to tear it from things of sense and enable it to go to God.^ Having achieved this purification, the soul reaches the fifth It becomes wrapped^in degree, which is that of tranquillity. a peaceful joy. It has curbed the passions, but is still anxious It feels great calm and aspires with confito insure victor}'. dence to realize the reward of its endeavour, which is the contemplation of truth.''
;

Confessions, VI, 3. CXX, n. 13; Cf. De Trinitaie, VIII, n. 3. We must note, nevertheless, that certain mystic phenomena other than contemplation, such as ecstasy and visions, may be produced by images. The prophetic visions of Isaias (ch. vi), of Ezechiel (i-ii), and I3ut the images of the A-pocalyfse (i, iv) are phenomena of this kind. must come from God and not from the imagination of man. * De quant, animae, n. 73; Solil., I, cap. v, 12, 13; x, 17. 6 De moribus Eccl. Cath., I, cap. xxv, n. 47; De Genesi contra Manich., I, cap. II, n. 4. ' Id., n. 74. " De quant, animae, n. 73.
1

Ef.

214 Cbristfan Spirituality But before the soul fully enjoys this great happiness, in a sense it enters into the divine light, which is the si^th degree
of preparation. It, so to speak, tests its sight, to be certain that its eyes are pure and healthful enough to contemplate the sovereign truth; for if its vision be not pure and clear the soul could not stand the brightness of the heavenly light it would be so dazzled and blinded that it might turn from God and go back to the dark regions of sinful pleasure.^ But when the preparation is complete and the soul has reached the summit of this moral ladder the contemplation and vision of truth {contemplatio et visio veritatis) is brought about. 2 The soul, thus arriving at the seventh and last degree, there establishes its dwelling-place {mansio). Henceforth it is in a permanent state, not that contemplation is then unceasing which is not possible in this life but because there is no other resting-place to reach. God is its abode and country, 3 of whom it takes sweet cognisance. The first mark of contemplation is the suspension of the faculties of the soul, which become bound. Everything consists in the simple seeing of the soul, which is plunged in the celestial light, and which, without help of word or image, meditates on God in a wholly intellectual way. It is a kind of ecstasy by which the intellectual vision of God is procured and by which God communes directly with the soul.'* The soul, in this state, tastes a joy which it cannot describe. " In the intellectual vision and contemplation of truth," says St. Augustine, " what joys belong to the soul, how does it rejoice in the sovereign and only true good, what eternal serenity does it inhale, what can I tell of it? Some great and incomparable souls have, as far as it was fitting, portrayed these wonders, and we know that they have seen them and that they see them still."' The contemplation of supreme goodness discloses the vanity of earthly things and explains the disillusionment of the sacred writer proclaiming the nothingness of everything In comparison with infinite under the sun (Eccles. i. 2). beauty, all earth's beauty and delight are naught but ugliness

and disenchantment.^

The truths of faith are shown to the soul in so bright a daylight, and become so evident that it seems to have known nothing before, so small was the knowledge of them compared to that which comes to it with contemplation. The certainty with respect to these truths, and especially with
2 /^^ n. 76. quant, animae, n. 75. quant, animae, n. 2 Profriam quamdam habitationem animae ac fatriatn Deum if sum credo esse a quo creata est. * Cf. Confessions, IX, 10. 5 De quantitate animae, n. 76. Ibid. Cf. De or dine, II, n. 51.
1

De De

Cbrlstian /IDvsticlsm
reg-ard

215

becomes, furthermore, so strong- that it would be easier for the soul to doubt the movement of the sun in the heavens than to refuse them its absolute adherence.' Finally, the soul, in its desire totally to be united to the sovereifjn truth, will look upon death, which it so much dreaded before, as the highest gain. It wishes to be completely freed from the bonds which attach it to the body and to fly to heaven to the vision of supreme goodness, without
to Christ,

cloud or interruption.^
In the chapter of the Confessions in which St. Augustine speaks of the rapture that he had at Ostia in speaking of heaven with his mother St. Monica, are found, described in fascinating language, the progressive purification of the soul mounting upwards to contemplation, and of contemplation
itself
:

day on which Thy servant (Monica) day unknown to us but known to Thee, O Lord, it happened, I am convinced through Thy hidden providence, that she and I were found alone, leaning against a window looking out on the garden of our house at Ostia, where, far from the crowd, after the fatigues of a long journey, we were preparing to cross the sea, and there with unspeakable sweetness we communed together, and, forgetful of the past, our whole being was borne towards that which lay before us, and we sought by the truth of this present life, which is Thyself, O Lord, to know what the eternal life of Thy saints must be, which eye of man hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart understood. " We opened wide our hearts to draw in the waters from Thy heavenly fountain from that fountain of life which is in Thee, so that we were filled thence after our capacity, and were able to have some idea of what that life sublime must And thus our communing led us to conclude that the be. pleasures of sense and of the body, no matter how intense

" Shortly before the

was

to quit this world, a

and how seductive, when placed beside the joys of that other life, were not only not to be compared to it, but were not even worthy of mention being then uplifted more and more by the fire of our desire, we passed beyond earthly things to the heavens whence the sun and moon and stars send forth And then we rose still higher by their light upon the world. our inward thoughts of Thee, speaking of Thee and wondering at Thy works and then we came to our own souls, and,
; ;

De

quantitate animae, n. 76.

find in this ascending of the soul towards contemplation the tliiee operations, purification, illumination, and union, in which, according; to modern writers, is comprised the whole spiritual life. Nevertheless it would be incorrect to say that St. Augustine had formulated this classic theory such as we know it. His point of view
*

We may

is different.

2i6
passing- beyond,

Cbdsttan Spftttualtt^ we reached that reg-ion

of

inexhaustible

abundance where Thou dost feed Israel eternally with the food of truth and where life is Wisdom itself, by whom was made all that is and has been and will be, whilst It Itself has not been made, but is now what it has been and will be or, to speak more truly, not as it has been or will be, but rather as it is, because it is eternal; for, indeed, that which has been and will be is not eternal. And while we were thus speaking and yearning ardently to reach this highest Wisdom, we seemed to touch it for an instant with the beating-s of our hearts. Then, leaving there in heaven these first-fruits of the spirit, we returned with a sigh to language, to the word which finds in our lips its beginning and its end. " And so we said He who would silence within him the tumults of the flesh and close his eyes to the things of earth and water and air and firmament and would hush the prompting's of his own soul so that it might not stay to dwell upon itself, and would strip his thoughts of every memory and image and forget language, words, and all things that can change (yet if he hearkened to these things would they cry out and say, We are not of ourselves, but made by Him who if, then, he should no longer listen to these lives eternally ') creatures after they had bid him turn his ear to their creator if to such an one God Himself should speak no longer through His creatures but Himself, so that His word might be heard, not by fleshly tongue, nor by an angel's voice, nor by the noise of thunder, nor the language of figure or of sign, but uttered even by Him whom we love in His creatures, without their mediation, in a manner wholly spiritual, like the spiritual contact which for one instant we had experienced in our thoughts when they were carried up to heaven itself and the eternal Wisdom subsisting unchangeable midst all created
;

'

things; if, then, such an ecstasy should continue; if all other visions infinitely beneath it were to fade away, and if this contemplation alone should absorb and engulf in inward joy him to whom it was vouchsafed, so that life eternal was like to that short transport after which we had sighed so much, would not it be the fulfilment of the words of the Gospel 'Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord' (Matt. xxv. 21)?"^
:

Confessions, IX,

10,

Gbristian /ID^stlcism
II. THE
Like
St.

217

MYSTICAL THEOLOGY OF DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE*

Augustine, Dionysius maintains that the imagination is not able to lead us to the knowledge of God. Every corporeal image, everything that comes through the senses, can only hinder our efforts to form an idea of the Divinity.^ Moreover, we must condemn the material and ignorant who take as literal the metaphors and anthropomorphisms used in holy Scripture in speaking of God. For is it not imj)ossible to believe that God, for example, can be angr\', repent, sleep, or awaken? And ought we not to avoid such language which can thus lead to error ?^ There are but two ways by which man may know God reason (Anyos) and mystical contemplation (/xro-riKoi' ^ea/xa).* The rational knowledge of God pertains to demonstrative or philosophical theology (deoXoyia uTroSetKriKv/). Mystical
((^at'Tacrta)
:

theolog}',

God by

which is the higher, attains to the knowledge of a kind of supernatural and inexpressible intuition. It is for this reason called mystical, which signifies mysterious. To make an examination of these two theologies is to explain the mystical teaching of St. Dionysius.
**

Reason gives us a certain knowledge of God, but this knowledge is so imperfect that it can scarcely be properly so
called.

Dionysius pushes far the great Neoplatonic St. principle of God's absolute transcendence and His incomprehensibility and ineffability. In order to form some idea of God, reason pursues a course either of affirmation or negation. It affirms that God, the creator of all beings, possesses all the qualities of creatures; He is wise, powerful, good, beautiful, and He is the truth. All the good that we can say In this of created beings belongs with greater right to God. This is affirmative sense, even*' title can be given Him. theology'^ (OioXoyia KaraffjaTiKri).

But and this is the second stage reason takes cognizance that the Lord excels in all the qualities of creatures. All the
1

to

Soi'RCF.s.

Chiefly

De

divinis noniinibus
;

iti

which the author

;

treats

of the

names which holy Scripture gives

;

God

De mystica

fheologia

which concerns mystical contemplation Letters addressed by Dionysius to sundry correspondents De coelesti hierarchia, on the nine choirs of angels, and De ecclesiastica hierarchia explaining Christian rites, both contain some references to mysticism. All these works are to be found in Greek Patrology, Vol. III.
-

De De
Dt

' Ep. IX, i, divinis nominibus, I, 5. s myst. theoL, I, i. Ef. IX. i. myst. theol.. Ill De divin. nomin., I, 6; II, 3,
;

5, 6.

11.

2i8
titles

Cbristtan Spirituality
which we give to Him,
all

the conceptions we form of so imperfectly that it is as true to say that they do not as that they do apply to Him. know better what God is not than what He is. Furthermore, in order to know Him truly we must begin by negation, and reject all ideas we may have of Him we must form the knowledge that we desire to have of Him, like the carving of a statue, in which one part and then another of the marble is cut away until the wished-for figure is reached.^ This is negative theology (^eoAoyta aTrocftaTiiaj). God is therefore unnameable (amvu/io?) no name will fit Him completely. He is unknowable (ayi'wo-ros) in the sense that no conception of Him can make us truly know Him.^ Ought we, then, to resign ourselves to total lack of the knowledge of God? No; for negative theology does not destroy affirmative, but it teaches us that God exceeds all that we are able to deny or affirm concerning Him (iVep Tracrai' koI

Him, express Him so incompletely and

We

dcfiaipecriv

Kal

dea-ti').^

say that God is good we apply to Him the idea of goodness drawn from creatures, but God is not good in the same way as are creatures He is good in a much more perfect and transcendent manner (iVepoxtKO)?).* So much so that it might be said, in this sense, that God is not good. Bossuet expounded clearly this famous theory of the knowledge of God by negation which it would be so easy to abuse. "To know God," he said, " we must deny in a certain sense all we think and all we say of Him, not because they are false, for it would be impious and atheistic to deny that God is holy, eternal and omnipotent, that He is He who is, is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in these three persons one God. do not, then, deny these things in a sense that they are but we reject them, so to speak, as illfalse, please God proportioned to and scarcely befitting the immense perfection For whatever effort we make to know of the divine Being. Him, however sublime the conceptions of Him which are presented to our minds, or the thoughts we try to have respecting Him, we deny that they are in any way commensurate with
;

When we

We

His high and impenetrable majesty."^ Dionysius cannot be accused of being an agnostic; this wojjld be unjust.^ He cannot, however, be called an intel^ /^^ divin. nomin., I, i, 5. myst. theoL, II, IV, V. Similar myst. iJieol., I, 2; Ef. I. Cf. Tixeront, III, p. 194. ideas concerning the incomprehensibility of God and the knowledge of in the writings of St. Gregory Him by negation are to be found Nazianzen, oraiio, XXVIII (P.G. XXXVI). * Ef. I De coel. hierarch., II. See the commentary of St. Thomas, S. T., la Pars, Quaest. XIII, art. 12. * Instruction on States of Prayer, second treatise, Paris, 1897,
1

De De

pp. 50, 51.

Dionysius admits that the analogy of creatures.
it is

possible to

know God by reason and by

219 Cbristian /l^\?sticlsm modern sense of the word. For, according to him, the true knowledge of God can only be obtained here below through contemplation, and it is the mystics who have
lectualist in the

a right conception of the divine Heing. Mystical theology, then, according to Dionysius, is superior to demonstrative theology in that it penetrates further into the knowledge of God. It no longer relies on reason, which seeks truth so laboriously, but on the very light of God, which in contemplation enlightens and instructs the soul.^

Moreover,
plation
is

this theology

cannot be learnt from books contem;

a free gift, the fruit of di\ ine inspiration.

It need hardly be said that the soul which desires to reach contemplation requires preparation. Prayer above all things is necessarj'. It is by prayer that we approach God. When we pray it is not so much that God comes down to us as that we raise ourselves to Him. Prayer we have is like a luminous chain which binds earth to heaven only to take hold of it to be lifted up on high and to contemplate God.' For it cannot be repeated too often, the contemplation of God and the union of the soul with Him are supernatural realities beyond human strength and capacity. Prayer only is able to obtain them for us. To prayer must be joined effort towards purification. This The needful purification is at once moral and intellectual. .soul must separate itself from creatures and be preserved from voluptuousness,' like Moses, who, before going up Mount Sinai and entering the mysterious cloud, separated It must himself from his people in order to sanctify himself. finallv strip itself of the imagination of sense and of imperfect ideas which can only hinder it in its desire to reach contemplation. The soul thus prepared will enter into the divine light and become united to God in contemplation. " Do thou, O well-beloved Timothy," says Dionysius, " in thv desire to arrive at mystical contemplation, compel thyself to be disentangled from the senses, and from the workings of the mind, and from all that is sensible and intelligible, and from all that is and all that is not, to the end that thou mayst raise thyself by nescience (dyitoa-Tm), as far as it is possible to do so, to union with Him who is above all being and all knowledge; that is to raise thyself, by absolute detachment from thyself and all things, stripped of everything and loosed from every hindrance, to that beam of supernatural bright;

1 This Dionysian theory of the knowledge of God by mystical contemplation resembles that of St. John of the Cross.

'

De De

divin. nomin. Ill,

eccles. hier., I, 3.

i.

220

Cbrfstlan Sptrltualft^

ness coming forth from the divine obscurity " (deiov o-kotous

Contemplation itself, according to Dionysius, consists in three things entrance into the divine obscurity, complete suspension of the faculties or mystical silence, and finally the vision of God and union vi'ith Him. These are the same elements as those of Augustinian contemplation but the thought of Dionysius is more involved and his terminology much more inspired by Neoplatonism. The soul worthy of contemplation, purified from faults and stripped of the allurements of sense and of creatures, enters (iVe/o<^wTos into the divine obscurity, brighter than light yvot^os). There, blind and nescient from the rational standpoint, it begins to see and to know {ISelv koI yvwiat) that which is beyond both sight and knowledge of the reason, even that which we cannot see or know by the intelligence that is
:

God. 2 This divine obscurity

(^etos yi/o^os), Dionysius explains, is that inaccessible light in which, according to Scripture, is the dwelling-place of God (i Tim. vi. i6). It cannot be gazed upon without supernatural help on account of the dazzling brightness only he may penetrate who has deserved to see and know God. It was thus that St. Paul was able to know God, although he himself says that God is above all knowledge and comprehension, that His ways cannot be found nor His judgements fathomed, that His gifts are unspeakable (Rom. xi. 33) and His peace passing all understanding (Phil. iv. 7).^ This bright obscuritv brings to mind that which enveloped Mount Sinai when God promulgated there His law. " The mountain was on fire, and the flames arose into the midst of the heavens amongst the clouds and darkness and obscurity."* The Psalmist also tells us " cloud and shadow are round about the Lord " and that He "has placed his dwelling-place in the darkness."^ does Dionysius call darkness an inaccessible light (yvoc^os eo-Ti to dirpoaiTov c/^ws), and how can the obscurity of contemplation be brightness to the soul?^
;

Why

De

myst. theol.,

I,

i.

Here again we

find the three well-known

purification, entrance into the heavenly light, and God. These are not the three classic steps of spiritual
acts

union with
life

as

pro-

pounded by ascetic theology, for the Areopagite has in view only one who is drawn to mystical contemplation. But it is evident that the distinction of the three ways of supernatural life owes its origin to St. Augustine's and St. Dionysius's theory of Christian contemplation. The doctrine of the three stages purification, illumination, and union which lead to contemplation, would little by little be generalized and

adapted to ordinary Christian

2 5 6

life.

Ef. V. * Deut. myst. theol., II. Psalm xcvi, 2; Psalm xvii, 12. De myst. theol., I, 2. ' De myst. theol., I, 1. Ef. V.

De

iv, 11.

Cbrlsttau /ID^stlcism
Perhaps
;

221

such strang^c tL-rmiiiol(}gy is but a simple reminiscence or adaptation of the Scriptural passages just cited or does Dionysius here reproduce Neoplatonic expressions? His commentators have endeavoured to explain. Some say that the divine light that surrounds God is so brilliant that the soul is blinded and plung^ed in darkness, as our eyes But if looking- at the sun become dazzled and see nothing-. it be thus, how can the contemplation of God be accomplished? Others prefer to think that the mystic shadows signify the total suppression of the activities of the soul which The sou! is in ecstasy takes place during- contemplation.
(eKo-TttVt?)
it the most Dionysius also produced within it. calls this darkness the darkness of silence {yinrfios (n-yi^i'i).^ F'inally, others again consider that the darkness signifies tne knowledge of God by negation. This negative knowledge of God, this nescience, if one may so express it, is the darkness of the mind. And this darkness becomes bright because in contemplation it is the divine liglit which enlightens the soul and makes it know that which the reason was unable truly

and

is

insensible to everything- around

is

profound

silence

to grasp.

of contemplation is, to use a modern the binding of the powers of the soul. The faculties of the soul cease to be exercised the moment it enters the luminous darkness it is the suspension of the activity of the senses and of the working of the intelligence. The mind becomes totally voiceless (oAos a</)cui'os to-Tui) and the soul

The second character

expression,

Nevertheless, this great calm is not calls the silence of contemplation a silence which reveals mysteries (Kpv</>to/iio-T//s- o-fyjy).* God communicates His truth to the soul without the sound of words, and it must open out actively in order to receive it. Finally, contemplation effects the direct vision of God and the immediate union of the soul with Him. It is a mysterious and ineffable phenomenon which cannot be described. Dionysius multiplies expressions to convey some idea of this

completely

silent.^

passiveness.

Dionysius

state.
It
is

the

super-rational

knowledge of God

(iVf/)

vovv

yivwcTKCTai)

operating directly without the mediation of any creature or any idea. This knowledge is most perfect; it is the vision of God {I8elv deou), a contemplation of Himself
(^a) in the divine light.*
1

De
C/.

myst. theol.,

I,

i.

* 3

*
'

De De

word

Adnotationes Corderii ad Myst. Theol. (P.G. Ill, 1005). myst. theol., III. myst. theol., I, i. The interpretation, however, of the obscure KpvtpionvffTTjs is not certain.
I.

Ep.

De

myst. theol., II.

222

Cbrtstian Spirituality

soul is, then, closely united to God, for contemplation is also a union with God (^eta eWo-ts).^ This union is most intimate, it is wonderful for our mind and reasoning, however powerful they may be, are of themselves incapable of
;

The

producing

it. ^

It

is

through

this

union with
.
.

God and

this

d</)o//otwo-ts re koi assimilation with Him (Trpbs 6eov cvwo-ts) that we become deified and return to the sovereign unity, the principle and end of all things, from whence we
.

came.^ This Neoplatonic theory of the return of beings to unity possesses, in the mind of Dionysius, a most orthodox sense, God is the Alpha and Omega of all things created beings will return to Him without being absorbed or lost in Him. The Christian in particular returns to God by contemplation, to be united with Him and to participate in His life; in one word, to become divine, deified, but not to become God. Nevertheless, in the Middle Ages several of the commentators of Dionysius misunderstood this doctrine of the return of beings to God, and fell into pantheistic errors, proclaiming that the soul, in returning to this union with God, became so identified with Him as to lose its personality. This mystical union between God and the soul thus brought Divine love is about by contemplation is effected by love.
;

(eKcrrartKos 6 epws) ^105 prevents those who it They are God's, possess it from belonging to themselves. whom they love. Contemplation, therefore, and union with

ecstatic

God

are the triumph of love.*

1
2

De
Id.,

divin. nomin., Ill,

I,
I.

i.

3 *

De De

eccl. hier., I, 3; De myst. theol., I, divin. notnin., IV, 13; De eccl. hier.,

3.
I, 3.

CHAPTER X CHRIST IN SPIRITUALITY

DURING THE CHRISTOLOGICAL

CONTROVERSIES OF THE FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES

THE EUCHARIST THE CULTUS OF THE VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

have noticed how greatly the personality of Christ preponderated in primitive spirituality. Jesus Himself, it is remembered, declared that to be perfect it was necessary to abandon all and to follow Him He is the vine to which we, the branches, must be united in order to receive supernatural life. St. Paul and the first Christians had a very lively sense of the presence of Christ in them, and they found in Him the best nourishment for their piety. The exhortations of Jesus that we should renounce all earthly things, His fast of forty days in the desert, were most effective stimulants to many Christians to live in solitude after the peace which came with Constantine. But at the beginning- of the fourth century the controversies on the Trinity, and later on Christology, placed the person of Christ, His mysterious union with human nature. His perfections, His mission of redemption, and His sanctification of souls, in a new light. The attention of the devout was directed with a new love towards Jesus, the model of achievement of all perfection and the source of all holiness.
;

WE

St. Augustine, whose powerful genius embraced almost every Christian dogma, did not fail to dwell deeply on the mystery of the incarnation. He expressed the Christological doctrine with a precision of language which was scarcely more than reproduced by St. Leo the Great in his magnificent dogmatic homilies. When he preached on the feast of the Nativity, or when he replied by letter to a question put to him on the union of the Word with human nature, St. Augustine, having explained the dogma, deduced therefrom the effects of it for the Christian life, and evolved thoughts from the motives of the incarnation which were to nourish the piety of future generations of Christians. After him, St. Cyril of Alexandria, the great champion of the personal unity of Christ and of the divine maternity of Mary, at the Council of Ephesus in 431 then St. Leo the Great and many others have expounded for
;
;

223

224
the faithful
logical

Cbristtan Sptdtualit^

many

practical lessons springing from Christo-

dogma. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when Eutyches was condemned, and the distinction between the two natures, the divine and human, in Christ, was defined,
spirituality

was

for a lengthy period inspired by Christology.

I. CHRIST'S

THE CHURCH

RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRISTIANS IS CHRIST'S MYSTICAL BODY

St. Augustine, in speaking of the relationship between Christ and the faithful, made use of the Pauline metaphor of the human body. The faithful Christian is a member of the body

of Christ. The eternal Word, infinite, without ceasing to be what He is, being subject neither to change nor alteration, took human nature. He united Himself to a body and soul in such a manner as to become man without ceasing to be God. He is God-man, being both truly God and truly man.^ In Him there is but one person, the person of the Word. Christ is thus the only real mediator between God and man. He is at the same time like unto God and like unto man He is able, therefore, to approach God on behalf of man, and to treat with man on behalf of God.^ In the same way, Jesus is the Great High Priest, through whom the divine justice is
;

by humanity.^ Himself hypo statically to human nature the Word is also united spiritually to each one of us. For Christians are incorporated with Christ by Baptism, and above all by the Eucharist they have become His members. The incarnate Word has thus two bodies His natural and physical body which He took in the virginal womb of Mary, and His spiritual and mystical body composed of the whole body of the faithful, which is the Church.* Christ is the head of His mystical body the relationship which unites Him to each of the faithful is therefore analogous to that which binds the head to the members. Now this relationship is, in the first place, a most close union, and one so necessary that if a member be separated from the head it dies. Then it is the life-giving force exersatisfied

In

uniting

1'

Cf.

Ef.

CXXXVI,
lib.

n. 12.
:

Mediator auiem inter Deum et X, cap. xlii homines offortebat ut haberet aliquid simile Deo, aliquid simile hominibus ; ne in utroque hominibus similis, longe esset Deo; aut in utroque Deo similis, longe esset ab hominibus, atque ita mediator non
2

Confessions,

esset.
3

Cf. xliii. civitate Dei, X, iii. * Efiarr. in fsalm. XC, sermo II, n. i ; in -psalm. XXXVI, sermo III, n. 4; in fsalm. CXXVI, n. 3; De doctrina Christ., lib. Ill, n. 44. See also an excellent analysis of the thought of St. Augustine on this subject in M. Lamache Le dogme de la communion des Saints, 1912,

De

p.

44 seqq.

Cbrist in Spirituality
;

aas

cised by the head on the whole body life springs from the head and spreads therefrom to all the members. It is, finally, the subordination of the members to the head the head directs all the members, and these must conform in all things to the impulses which they receive from it. The most close union of Christ with the faithful, the sanctifying intluence He exercises on them, and the directing of them which is impressed by His headship of the Church and as the most perfect model of holiness; such is, according to St. Augustine, who comments on St. Paul, the relationship of Jesus with Christians. may picture to ourselves the magnificent ascetic reflections which are to be deduced from this beautiful doctrine.
;

We

The union of Christ with His mystical body is so close that to St. Augustine it is a kind of identity. One of the fundamental ideas in the theology of the Bishop of Hippo is that Jesus and His Church are one. He speaks through her. He acts through her, He commands through her, and continues through her to teach the world and to sanctify souls. That is why we must listen to the Church as to Jesus Christ
Himself.
" Let, then, Christ speak," cries St. Augustine in his homilies, " for in Christ the Church speaks and the
in

one of

Church

Christ; the body in the head and the head in the body."^ the Church administers a sacrament it is Christ who administers it, for the actions of the Church are in reality those of Christ Himself. are thus able to understand how high and excellent is the dignity of the ministers of the Church, through whom Christ acts when they perform her sacred rites. " In the administration of Baptism the Church does not put her trust in man (who baptizes), but in Christ, of whom it is It is He who baptizes said, Consequently, (Joan. i. 33). whoever the man is who baptizes, whatever his miser}', it is not on him, but on Christ Himself, that the dove has descended (Joan. i. 32), which baptizes."^ The mystical body of Christ is thus, in a manner, Christ Himself. St. Augustine often says that Christ is at the same time the head and the body of His Church; He is its head physically by nature; He is its body spiritually. Christians may therefore be called Christs, for there is a moral identity in Christ and the members of His mystical body. " It is not only our head (Christ) who has been anointed

When

We

'

'

Enarr. in fsalm.
/-.

XXX,

enarr.

CXXXVIII,

LXXXIX,

n. 2; in fsalm. n. 5. Cf.

CXL,

sermo I, n. 4. C/. in psalm. p. CXL, n. 18, etc. in Joan, tract. V, n. 18; Contra litterat
II,

n. 3, 6, 7;

Petiliani, III, n. 59, 65, 67, etc.

"5

226

CbriBtian Spirituality
. .

with the unction of which the Psalmist speaks (Ps. xxvi., title), but it is likewise His body, which we ourselves are. Like a lamb without blemish He has redeemed us by the shedding of His blood, He has incorporated us with Himself, He has made us His members, so that we also may be Christ. Hence we are the body of Christ because we are all anointed, and are all Christs in Him and are Christ, because in a certain way the head and the body are the whole Christ. "1
. . . .

The profound reason which, according to St. Augustine, explains this close union of Christ with the faithful, let it be repeated, is that the Word, becoming incarnate, is physically, hypostatically, united to human nature which He has taken, and spiritually to each one of those who are incorporated in Him by Baptism. So that the Lord Jesus has become our flesh by his temporal birth, as we have become His body by our baptismal re-birth.^ The Christian is therefore a kind of mystic incarnation so much so that all the happy effects which the Word has brought about physically in human nature, to which He was united, are reproduced spiritually, Also, the principal end of the morally, in each one of us. incarnation, according to St. Augustine, is to save mankind by doing away with sin^ and enabling man to participate in " Because of us, so that we might be the divine nature redeemed (reficeremiir) and might become participants in His divinity and restored to our right to eternal life {reparati ad vitam aeternam) because of that, I say, the Son of God has God made Himself a participant in our mortal nature.* wills to make a god of thee, O Christian, not by nature, as is His Son, whom He has begotten, but by grace and by In the same manner, also, that His Son, by His adoption. humanity has become a partaker of our mortality, so He has exalted thee and has made thee a partaker of His immorThe passage of the Gospel, my brethren, in which tality,^
;
:

nativit. Domini, IV, 5 sicut factus est Dominus Jesus caro nostra nascendo, ita et nos facti sumus corf us ifsius renascendo. The essential difference between the hypostatic union of the Word with human nature in Jesus Christ and the spiritual union of the Word incarnate with the Christian is well understood. In Christ, human nature, because of its union with the Word, has no person whereas the Christian, united to Christ, however perfect and intimate the union, always preserves his personality. 3 St. Augustine clearly teaches that if man had not sinned, the Word would not have become incarnate. Cf. Sermo CLXXV, n. i ; sermo CLXXIV, n. 8; sermo CCXV, n. 4; Enarr. in fsalm. XXXVI, n. 15; St. Leo the Great teaches the same thing, in fsalm. CXIX, n. 2, etc.
:

1 Enarr. in fsahn. XXVI, enarr. II, sermo I, n. 2 in -psalm. CXXVII, n. 3. 2 St. Leo the Great, Sermo XXIII, De
;

n.

2.

Cf. In fsabn.

LVIII,

Sermo LXXVII,
* 8

2.

Enarr. in fsalm. sermo XVI, n. 6.

CXXXVIII,
Cf.

n. 3.

Cf. Enarr. in fsalm.

n. 15;

CXVIII,
n. 12.

Sermo CLXVI,

n. 4.

Sermo CXVII,

i^/.CXXXVII,

Cbrist in Spiittualtt^

aa?

the Lord calls Himsell the vine and His disciples the branches (Joan. XV. i) signifies that He is the head ol the Church and we its members Clirist Jesus, as man, is the mediator between God and man. The vine and its branches, indeed, are of Hke nature that is why Christ, being Cod, which we are not, became man, so that the vine that is to say, human nature might be in Him, and that we men might be able to
; ;

be His branches."' The Greek Fathers, and particularly St. Athanasius and St. Cyril of Alexandria, also teach that the incarnation was necessary in order to save and sanctify us. A man could not redeem us; the Word of God alone, God like His Father and hypostatically united to our nature, was capable of working our redemption and making us partakers of the divine nature.^ On account of the union which binds Christ to His mystical body, a sort of inter-communication of properties and actions is established between them. That which belongs to Christ is attributed to the Church and the faithful, and vice versa. Thus we have been tempted in Christ and with Him in the desert; we have also been victorious in Him and with Him.* His prayer is our prayer because He prays in us and through us.^ have suffered with Him during His passion and have risen with Him on the day of His resurrection. have gone up with Him to heaven on the day of His ascension And to be seated like Him at the right hand of the Father." now Christ continues to suffer in His Church, His mystical body, as also He is glorified in her, because of the good works which she continues here below. " The Church suffers in Christ when He suffers for her, just as Christ suffers in the Church when she suffers for Him. For as we have heard the voice of the Church suffering in Christ and saying. My God, my God, look Thou upon me (Fs. xxi. 2), so equally have we heard the voice of Christ Saul, Saul, why persesuffering in the Church and saying All that Christ has cutest thou Me? (Acts ix. 4)^ suffered we also have suffered in Him, and those things which we ourselves suffer He suffers in us. ... If we are dead in Him, as the Apostle says (Col. ii. 20), we have also risen with

We

We

/ /oan. tract. LXXX, n. 1. This is the great argument which St. Athanasius made use of to prove to the Arians the divinity of the \\'oTd(Ora/io de incamatione, 6-q), and St. Cyril of Alexandria (t 444) to prove to the Nestorians the unity of the Person of Jesus Christ. See his commentary on St. John C/. Tixeront, II, pp. 148, 149; pp. 79, 240 seqq. (P.G. LXXIII). ' St. Augustine, Enarr. in fsalm. XXX, enarr. II, n. 3; in psalm.
1

CXL,

">

n. 3.
n. 2.

Enarr. in fsalm. LX,

St.

Leo the Great, Sermo

LXX,
;

Enarr. in psalm. I.XXXV, de Passione Domini, XIX, 5.

n.

i.

Ep.

CXL,

n. 18.

Cf. hnarr. in fsalm.

n. 2

LIV,

n. 14;

Sermo CXXXVII,

/ foan.. tract.

Sermo CCCLX, XXVIIl, n. i.

n. 17;

228

Cbrlstian Spirttualtt^
.
.

if we are dead and risen again in Him, and rises again in us/ When Christ ascended into heaven we were not only confirmed in our right to paradise, but we have entered there with Him. The ineffable grace of Christ has given us back more than the jealousy of the devil caused us to lose. For those whom the venomous enemy has driven from the first abode of happiness the Son of God, having incorporated them with Himself, has placed at the right hand of the Father^ and none can ascend to heaven unless he become a member of the body of Christ to be raised up with Him to the eternal abode. "^ There is, then, between Christ and ourselves a destiny in
.

Him again. He Himself

And

dies

God deals with us as with Christ Himself, because impossible to separate the body from the head, and the lot of the head must also be that of the body. What confidence ought not the Christian to have in Christ, to whom he is so closely united Surely God was not able to show His regard for humanity with greater tenderness or more grandeur than in decreeing the incarnation of His Son And the gratitude due to Him is so great that we are incapable of bearing witness to it as we should.* In the light of this beautiful teaching we are able to understand the greatness of the Christian's dignity and how pure and holy should be his life. " Do thou recognize thy dignity, O Christian," exclaimed " Thou hast become a St. Leo the Great on this subject. partaker in the divine nature, return not then to thy first baseness by an unworthy life. Do thou remember the head to whom thou belongest and the body of which thou art a member. Do thou remember that thou hast been torn away from the power of darkness and transplanted into the light of the kingdom of God."^
common.
it

is

The members of a body are not only united to the head they also receive from it their life and movement. The soul
which animates our body animates and
vivifies,

in the first

place, the head, the seat of the senses, and from thence it spreads life into all the members. In Christ our head is found the source of grace, which is infused into all the members of

the Church.
1
2

Enarr. in -psalm. LXII, n.

St. St.

2.

3 4

Leo the Great, Sermo LXXIII, De ascensione Domini, Augustine, Sermo XCI, n. 7.
n. 30;

I, 4.

civitate Dei, lib. VII, cap. xxxi. Domini, I, 3 Agnosce, o christiane, dignitatem tuam, et divinae consors factus naturae, noli in veterem vilitatem degeneri conversatione redire. Memento cujus cafitis et
6

De vera religione, Sermo XXXI, De

De

nativitate

ctijus

tenebrarum,

corporis sis membrum. Reminiscere quia erutus de fotestate translatus es in Dei lumen ct regnnvt. Cf. Homilia XXVII, i, of Macariu3 the Egyptian (P.G. XXXIV, 693).

229 Cbri0t 111 Spirltualitx? The ven- source of grace is in our head, and from thence it is distributed amonj^ all the members according to the The sanie grace, measure suitable to each one of them. \vhi( h at the beginning of our conversion to the faith, made us Christians, has also made Christ (at the incarnation). The same Spirit which gives the Christian re-birth has made Christ to be born; the same Spirit by which our sins have
"

been remitted has made Christ absolutely without sin."* The Holy Spirit, which in the first place sanctified the humanity of Christ, sanctifies also the members of His mystical body. " That which the soul is to the body of man," savs again St. Augustine, " the Holy Spirit is to the body of Christ, which is the Church; the Holy Spirit operates in the whole Church as the soul operates in all the members of the same body."^ And as the Holy Spirit is first of aJl in the head that is, in order to be communicated thence to its Christ in

members, it is therefore the Spirit of the head, of Christ, which sanctifies the whole Church, inspiring its every movement, embellishing it with all virtues and bestowing upon it
every gift.'

Moreover, the Holy Spirit becomes the spirit of Christ from the fact that it animates and vivifies the body of Christ. That is why, in order to possess the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ, we must form part of the body of Christ in the unity Heretics cannot have the Holy Spirit. of the Church.* " Let the faithful become the body of Christ if they wish to It is impossible to live by the live by the spirit of Christ. My spirit of Christ if we are not of the body of Christ. bodv, indeed, lives by my spirit. Wouldst thou also live by Be in the body of Christ. Does my the spirit of Christ? body live by thy spirit? No, my body lives by my spirit, and thy body by thine. In the same way, the body of Christ can only live by the spirit of Christ."" It is the Holy Spirit which forms the mystical body of Christ, in the same way that His natural body was formed in For in order to be incorthe womb of the Virgin Mary. porated with Christ we must be re-born in the waters of Baptism, whence we obtain remission of sin. This spiritual regeneration is effected by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and also the remission of sin." For the remission of sin is brought about by the infusion of charity in the soul of the Christian, and it is the Holy Spirit which spreads this
.
.

fraedestinatione Sanctorum, n. 31. n. 4; cf. Sermo CCLXVIII, n. 2. 3 St. Leo the Great, Sermo LXXIX, n. 4; Sermo LXXVI, n. 7. St. Augustine, Ef. CLXXXV, n. 50; In Joan, tract. XXXII, n. 7; Sermo CCLXVII, n. 4. See St. Nilus, Ef. lib. I, 78 (P.G. ' In Joan, tract. XXVI, n. 13. LXXIX, 116).
1

De

Sermo CCLXVII,

Sermo CCXCIV,

n.

lo;

De anima

et

ejus origine,

I,

n.

10.

230
charity.*

Cbdstian

Spirttualiti?
is

The incorporation with Christ

completed and

perfected by the Eucharist, which is " the sign of unity, the bond of charity."^ The Holy Spirit exerts unceasingly a sanctifying action on the members of the body of Christ, which has for its object He has sanctified the assimilating of them to their head. Christ and has made His soul a masterpiece of perfection, and He desires to make us, as much as possible, conformable to this divine model. ^ He begins by creating in us the inward dispositions of love for God, of devotion to our neighbour, and of the renunciation of ourselves and worldly possessions, in resemblance to the soul of Jesus. And when Christ is thus " formed in us " the Holy Spirit impels us to show Him outwardly by our deeds.* Our good works, according to the happy expression of St, Nilus, are the nourishment of Christ, which makes Him increase within us.^ It is thus that the Holy Spirit is the soul of the mystical body of Jesus, and that He animates and vivifies each one of If the Word incarnate had been content to exhort us to us. goodness by His example without filling us with His spirit, we should never have been able to become like Him.^ Let us then be led by the spirit of Christ, and let us obey His inspirations and not those of the flesh. Let us renounce our own spirit and the divine spirit will be given us abunHappy the poor in their own spirit they are rich in dantly. Beati ergo pauperes spiritu suo, divites the spirit of God Spiritu Dei.^
: :

The Holy

Spirit, the divine artist,

works upon our souls

in

ought, order to imprint upon them the likeness of Christ. on our side, to co-operate with this work and to strive to become as other Christs. In a body, the motions of the members are so ordered as to conform to the direction of the We, too, then, as members of the body of Christ, head. should obey our Head and follow His inspirations. To obey Christ is first to follow fully and willingly the
directions of the
1

We

Church, by which

He commands.

The

Sermo LXXI,
In Joan,
Cf.
tract.

2
3"

n. 30, ^t,; De baptismo contra Donatistas, III, 21. XXVI, n. 13.

fully united to the Spirit of God are o-vrQ Ti3 XpicTTif} dcpufioluvTaL (P.G. * St.' Augustine, Sermo CXCII, n. 2

Macarius the Egyptian, Liber de Charitate, VII. Those who are rendered like to Christ Himself

XXXIV, 913). Nunc (Christum)

:

fide concifite,

oferibus edite. 6 Ef., lib. I, 250, 251 (P.G. LXXIX, 176), lib. Ill, 7 (col. 369). 8 St. Augustine, In Joan., tract. XCIII, n. i. Certain Greek Fathers compare the Holy Spirit to a seal ((r0pa7is), which imprints in our hearts the image of Christ to render us like to Him. CJ. St. Athanasius, ad Sera-pionem, Ep. I, 23; III, 3 (P.G. XXVI, 585, 629). L. Labauche,

Lefons de thiol, dogm., p. 297. Paris, iqii. ' Enarr. in psalm. CXLI, n. 5. C/. CLI, n.

2.

Cbrist in Sptrltualitx?
fervent

231

Christian not only respects the orders issued by ecclesiastical authority, but follows filially all its counsels. To obey Christ is also to practise that more perfect, more complete obedience which consists in imitation. To imitate Jesus, to conform our life to His, is, as wc shall see, one of the principal duties of the Christian.

II. THE

DUTIES OF THE FAITHFUL TOWARDS CHRIST: TO LOVE AND TO IMITATE HIM

gratitude towards Christ ouj^ht to be shown by a love without limit, so immense arc the benefits for which we are beholden to Him. Christian piety, in its desire to express its love for Jesus, has delig-hted, from the earliest times, to enumerate His claims to our g-ratitude. These claims are g-athered tog"ether in the one title of Redeemer, which recalls to us all that Christ has done on our behalf. But this mission of redemption may be analyzed into its component parts, so that we may understand more completely the greatness of the love which caused Him to undertake it. Christ began the work of our salvation by teaching- His doctrine. Thus is He our Master, our one and only Master

Our

teaches that which it is needful for the road which leads us to life eternal.^ Not content with giving- us outward instruction. He also teaches us from within. He is the Sun of justice, the Truth that directly enlightens our minds. When the soul forsakes this Sun, abandons, that is, the interior contemplation of unchangeable Truth, it wanders astray and is carried impetuously towards material things.^ With what readiness ought we to follow this divine light, with which Christ penetrates our souls On the road to heaven we are from time to time assailed by our enemies, who attack us and leave us wounded. Jesus, charitable Physician, comes and heals us. It is He who was the good Samaritan, who has dressed the wounds of humanity, stripped and bruised by original sin.^ He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our knowScientia ergo nostra Cliristus est, ledge and wisdom sapientia quoque nostra idem Christus est.* He is our King and our Sovereign Lord, as He is the King and Lord of the angels and saints.''
in its hig-hest sense,

us to

know

that

who

is,

St.

Augustine, Sermo

CCLXV,
XI. In

Id., In fsalm.
IOJ2).

XXV,

n. 5. er.arr. II, n. 3;

of
3

Alexandria, Homxl,

Ep. XV, n. 8. Cf. St. Cyril sa-efam Mariam Deifaram (P.G.

LXXVII,

Sermo CLXXI,

De

n. 2; Sermo CCLXXVIII, n. 5. ' De catechiz. rudibus, n. 26. Trinitate, lib. XIII, n. 24.

232

Cbristian Spirituality

He is the Spouse of the Church. When He came on earth He found His future bride disfigured, for the souls of men were stained with sin. He purified them with His blood and
of them His Church, His beautiful and spotless bride, which He loves so intensely. The Church, on her side, has a deep love for Christ, her Spouse, and our love must be as hers, because we are His well-beloved bride. We ought, then, to love Jesus Christ above all things; nothing ought to be preferred to Him.^ He is lovable with the highest love and is incomparably beautiful. " He is beautiful as God, as the Word that is with God, in the womb of the Virgin, where, without losing His divinity, He took our humanity He is beautiful when born a little child and again in the performance of His miracles beautiful in His
;
.

made

scourging; beautiful when He exhorts to eternal life, when He despises death and renders up His soul and when He takes it again He is beautiful on the cross and in the tomb and beautiful in heaven."^
;

If we truly love Jesus we must strive to imitate Him imitation is the choicest fruit of love.* On this subject of the imitation of Christ the Fathers of the Church are inexhaustible. St. Augustine sees in it one of the motives for the incarnation. Man must imitate God, he says, for therein lies, as even certain pagan philosophers themselves have taught, his perfection and happiness. But God is too far off. The eternal Wisdom took our nature in order to become visible and to show us what we must do to resemble Him.^ In becoming man the Word becomes a master who teaches us and a helper to aid us by His grace to follow His teaching.^ Our ailing sight, since the fall, was not able to look upon God to read in Him our duty the Son of God, in making Himself a little child, has given us a salve wherewith to anoint our eyes and so enable them to see the divine majesty in the humility of our flesh, in order that we might conform our life to His.' must endeavour to imitate Christ in all the circumstances of His life, in His childhood and in His riper age, to the end that He may be reproduced in us as far as may be
;

We

Enarr. in -psalm. XLIV, n. 3. civitate Dei, lib. XXI, cap. xxvi. 3 Enarr. in -psalm. XLIV, n. 3. * Sermo CCCIV, n. 2. Aphraates the Syrian, in his Demonstrations, when he speaks of Christian virtues, always proposes Christ as the model to be imitated. 5 De utilitaie credendi, n. 33. Cf. Ep. CXL, n. 7. 8 Ep. CXXXVII, n. 12. Cf. St. Leo the Great, Sermo LXIII, De Passione Domini, xii, 4. 7 In Joan., tract. II, n. 16; tract. XLIV, n. i.
1

De

in

CF)rl5t tn Sptritualit? our weakness.^ Jfsus, indeed, purposed

in

233 each of His

actions to teach us

act in the different perfection, the I^attern of the human race, our Lord and Ciod incarnate, set before us for imitation, like a living- picture, the life He lived here below in the llesh, in which every virtue was resplendent.^ In making-- Hinisilf man, the Word humbled Himself and ^ave an excellent remedy for our pride. If this medicine does not heal our vaing-lory it is then incurable. Haec medicina si superhiam nou curat, quid cnitn curat nescio.* Christ willed to be born and to live in poverty to show us the nothingness of earthly goods and to direct our eyes and our desires on high, where only true riches are to be found. What consolation has He not brought to those who are poor
\vc ourselves

how

must
of

circumstances of

life.^

The model

all

here below

I*

deserving death in order to save In each of His actions Christ followed the will of His us." Father and practised obedience. Jesus suffered doubtless to redeem us, but also to teach us how to suffer, as also He prayed to teach us how to pray.^ And He was willing to be crucified, to submit to this infamous punishment, to the end that His faithful people might be encouraged to accept, if necessary, every kind of death, even the most ignoble in the eyes of men. WMiat consolation and comfort does not the example of " If we find our suffering's hard to bear, Christ bring to us let us call to mind that Jesus was bound, scourged, and If the kind of death we must endure brings horror crucified. to our poor nature, let us remember that in the time of Christ there was no death so dishonourable as that of the cross. "^ For he who desires to imitate Christ must, before all things, endure with courage the afflictions which come upon him the bodily sickness, the insults and shame, and even the molestations of our invisible enemies. It is by the endurance of these trials that we show our love for God. The passion which Christ voluntarily suffered is our consolation. When we suffer, let us look towards our Head and ask ourselves If He has so suffered, what ought we not to suffer ourselves?^"
first
;

The

the second

Adam disobeyed to the extent of Adam was obedient unto death

2 ^

St.

Leo the Great, Sermo XXL Efiphaniam Domini, L AuRustine. Sermo LXXV, n. 2 Sermo CCCLXTL " 8. Hesychius, De emfer. et virt., Centuria, i, 12 (P.G.
St.
;

3-

XCIH,
X,

1484, 1485).

St.

Augustine, Sermo LXXVIII,

n. 11.

Cf.

De
;

civitale Dei. lib.

cap. xxiv.
5

Ef. CXL, n. 14, De civitate Dei,

29, 30; Sermo CCXL, n. 6, 7 Sermo CCCIX, ' Enarr. in fsalm. LV'L lib. XIV, cap. xv.
n. 7.

n. 2.
n.
5.

Sermo

LXXXVIH,

Macarius

945)-

fide el svmholo, n. 11. Cf. the Egyptian, Liber de liberfate mentis. 13 (P.G. XXXIV, *" Enarr. in psalm. XXXIV, sermo II, n. i.

De

234

Cbristfan Spirituality
III. THE

SANCTIFYING EFFECTS OF THE EUCHARIST

It is, above all, by means of the Eucharist that we become the mystical body of Christ, and that that wonderful and close union between Him and ourselves, which we have just been considering, is brought about. ^ In the same way that the eucharistic bread is formed by the intimate union of a great number of grains of wheat, and that the wine of the chalice is made from the juice of many grapes, so are the faithful all over the world united with each other and with Christ by Communion.^ St. Cyril of Alexandria, who deeply studied the mystery of our union with Christ, together with that of the hypostatic union, compares the union of the communicant with Jesus to that of two pieces of wax melted together so that they totally intermingle. Or again, to that of leaven with paste; the leaven penetrates every part of the paste, thus becoming one with it. Christ, by Communion, entirely pervades us also, so that He creates a mutual dwelling-place between Himself and us we become one body with Him (o-i'cro-w/xot).^ By the Eucharist we are transformed into that which we receive; we bear in our minds and in our flesh Christ, in whom and with whom we die, are buried, and rise again.* For it is not we who change Christ into ourselves, as we do when we partake of ordinary nourishment, but it is Christ who changes us into Himself.^
;

It is by the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice that the most perfect expression of our union and incorporation with

Jesus, at the altar, offers to God His natural He offers, also, at the same time, His mystical body, the Church, which is inseparable from Him. This offering of the whole Church, united at the altar with that of Christ, is symbolized by the mixture of water and The water represents the Christian wine in the chalice. people, who are united to the Saviour, to make with Him one single oblation, the eucharistic oblation.^

Christ

is

found.

body with His blood

St.

John Chrysostom, In Ep.

St.

200).
558)2

I ad Cor., Horn. XXIV, 2 (P.G. LXI, Cyril of Alexandria, In Joan. Evang., XI, 11 (P.G. LXXIV,

St.
St.

Cyprian, Ef.

LXIX, ad Magnum.

St.

Augustine, Sermo

CCXVII.
584).
*

Cyril of Alexandria, In Joan. Evang., VI, 57 (P.G. LXXIII, Cf. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech., xxii, 3 (P.G. XXXIII, iioo); St. Gregory of Nyssa, Orat. Catech., xxxvii (P.G. XLV, 93).
3

Leo the Great, Sermo LXIII, De Passione Domini, xii, 7. Cibus sum grandium, cresce et Augustine, Confess., VII, 10 manducabis me. Nee tu me in te mutatis, sicut cibus carnis tuae, sed
St.
5

St.

lu
6

mutaberis in me. St. Cyprian, Ep. LXIII, ad Caecilium, 13 (Hartel, III, pp. 711, 712).

Gbriin In Spliitualitv?

235

then, with Christ :ind iti union with Him, is the victim of the eucharistic sacrifice. Of this she is conscious in that she offers herself with Jesus on the altar of sacrifice. "All the ransomed city," says St. Augustine, "that is to say, the assembly of the company of the saints, is offered to Ciod as an universal sacrifice by the Ilig-h Priest who is offered Himself in His passion for us, so that we may be the body .Such is the sacrifice of Christians, of so noble a head. It is also that which is to be all one same body with Christ. accomplished by the Church in the sacrament of the altar, as is well known by the faithful, where she offers herself to God in the oblation which she makes to Him."^ Christ, in the eucharistic sacrifice, is at the same time both Ipse igiiur sacerdos et victima.^ The priest and victim Church in all thing-s, like her Spouse, is also priest and victim, for she offers herself in sacrifice with Him upon the altar. The prayers of the Ordinary of the Mass constantly that is, the faithful sug^g^est the idea that the Church is offered in sacrifice to God at the same time as Jesus and in union with Him. The Christian who assists at the eucharistic sacrifice and takes his share in the best way by uniting^ himself to the whole Church as an offering- to God with Christ, is, in a certain measure, both priest and victim.

The Church,

By the Eucharist we way made divine.

also receive the divine life;

we

are in

In controversy with the Arians and Nestorians the Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries emphasize this truth, incontestable and uncontested, to establish the divinity of the Word and the unity of person in Christ. It is because the incarnate Word is God, like His Father, that He communicates to us by His eucharistic flesh that life which comes from the Father. For if He were not God, how could His flesh, which we receive within us in Communion, transmit to us the divine life?"* In the same way, if there were only a moral, accidental union between the person of the W'ord and our human nature, as Nestorius held, the flesh of Christ would not be filled with divinity and the Eucharist would not benefit us. Whereas, if the humanity is hypostatically united to the person of the Word, the flesh of Christ is wholly penetrated by the divinity, like iron, which, thrown into the fire, acquires the property of fire, though still remaining- iron. The flesh of Christ is thus vivifying- (o-ap^ (mottoio^) and communicates divine life to the communicant,* who thereby becomes sanctified and made divine in his body and soul, like water placed near the fire,

De
St. St.

civitate Dei, lib

'

* St.

X, rap. vi. Cf. Sermo CCXXIX. Augustine, Trad. adv. Judaeos, n. 8. CI Confess., X, 43. Hilary of Poitiers, De Trinitate, lib. VIII, cap. 13-16. Cyril of Alexandria, Conlreanaihimatisme, XI (P.G. LXXVI,
.

309-312).

236

Cbrlsttan Spirituality

receives the power to burn. His flesh acquires quaHties altogfether divine, such as the appeasement and calming- of the passions. It also receives the principle of immortality, a living- ember smouldering among the ashes,

which

which

will

be revived again at the last day. ^

From these dogmatic principles most valuable consequences are deduced. On his return from the eucharistic table, where he has been nourished with the flesh of Christ, the Christian should be terrible as a lion in the struggle with the devil. ^ What strength has he not acquired against evil and to accomplish good? Cassian tells of a young man, tormented by the demon of impurity, who was freed therefrom by receiving the Eucharist.^ St. Nilus recommends eucharistic communion to those who desire to purify their souls from the least stain and to become strong in well-doing.* The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, says Hesychius, is like a divine fire which consumes our faults and miseries. As soon as He enters into us by Communion He drives from our hearts the spirit of malice, effaces our sins, and preserves our soul from evil thoughts. If afterwards we are careful to guard our hearts and keep them shut against all evil, when we again approach the holy mysteries, the divine body will impregnate our souls with more and more light, making them to shine like the stars.'

IV. DEVOTION TO MARY, THE

The

MOTHER OF GOD
;

Virgin Mar}', since the beginning of Christianity, has profoundly influenced the piety of the faithful first, because of her incomparable virginity and sanctity, and also on account of the position she occupies in the redemption, and finally, and above all, because of her dignity as Mother of God."
It is the virginity of Mary which attracted the attention The first form of Christian of ascetics at an early date. The asceticism, we know, was the practice of continence. Mother of Christ, who remained a virgin whilst becoming a mother, became then a moving example to the continent. She was the first woman to make profession of virginity
:

Cyril of Alexandria, In Joan. Evang.. VI, 55, 56 (P.G. LXXIII, Tixeront, III, p. 240 seqq. 580-584), cj. vi, 35. 2 St. John ChrysoGtom, In Joan. Homil., XLVI, 3 (P.G. LIX, 260). ^ Collatio xxii, cap. 6. 4 Ef. lib. I, 44, 100 (P.G. LXXIX, 104, 125). * Hesychius, De tem-p. et virt., Centuria, i, 100 (P.G. XCIII, 1512). Cj Neubert, Marie dans VEglise anteniciene, Paris, 1908.
1

St.

Cbri0t In Spirituality

237

coepit dignitas virghialis u tnairc Dotnini.^ And the fact that Christ willed to have a virg-in as mother very clearly demonstrates His predilection lor this state. Also, in the second century, the Clementine letters Later on St. sig^nalized Mary as a model ot virginity. Ambrose persuaded a number of youny^ Milanese maidens to take the veil by proposing- for their imitation " St. Mary," the virgin without equal, in whom shone forth all the virtues of the Christian virgin. The example of Mary made such progress in asceticism that, in order to arrest it, heresy and the spirit of the world strove to destroy, or at least to diminish, the halo of virginity which surrounded the personality of the Mother of Christ. The vigorous replies of St. Ambrose, and above all of St. Jerome, to the blasphemies of Helvidius and Jovinian, will be
results, that of bringing more into light the perpetual virginity of Mary, who remained a virgin in her conception of Jesus, in childbirth, Virgo concipiens, virgo pariens, and until her last breath virgo tuoriens.^ Before the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would give birth to Christ Mary had taken a vow to remain always a virgin, and that was one of the causes of her distress when she heard that, in accordance with the design of God, she must become the mother of the Saviour.^ At this angelic interview the modesty and humility of Mary were also made wonderfully manifest.* Where could be found a more perfect model for Christian womanhood, and above all for the virgin consecrated to God? St. Augustine, who so extolled "holy virginity," hardly finds words to express his admiration and veneration of Mary. Mary, at once virgin and mother, is the honour of the earth {dignitas terrae).^ All virgins, of whom she is, in a manner, the mother, are honoured in her. The glory of her virginal childbirth, of her fruitful virginity, is reflected on all virgins, for it is through virginity that the Son of God came All virgins are thus, in a certain way, the into the world. mothers of Christ with Mary if they do the will of the heavenly Father.^ Mary is not only a virgin she is also eminently perfect. Was it not needful that she, who was to become the mother
:

remembered. These polemics had, amongst other

St. St. St.

Augustine, Sermo LI, n. 26. Augustine, De catech. rudibus, n.

40.

C/.

Sermo

Sfrmo
3

CXCVL

LL

n.

18;

n.

i.

Augustine,

De

sancta virginilate, n. 4; Sermo

CCXXV,

Sermo CCXCL n. 5* Sermo LL n. 18.

'

n. 2;

* De Genesi contra manich., ii, n. 37. sancta virginitate, 5 iUe unius sanctae virginis fortes omnium sanctarum virginum est decus. Et ifsae cum Maria Matres Christi sunt, si Patris ejus jaciunt voluntalem.

De

of purity

Cbdstlan Spirituality and holiness, should be entirely pure and excellently holy herself? Sin never touched her. St. Ephrem, the harp of the Holy Spirit, joins with all the Eastern Church in ever singing of this holiness of Mary, and does not hesitate to compare her to the Son of God. He places in the mouth of the Church of Edessa these words " Yes, truly, O Lord, Thou and Thy Mother are the only ones who are perfectly beautiful in every way, for in Thee, O Lord, there is no spot, and in Thy Mother no stain whatever. My children do not in any way resemble these two in
238
:

their incomparable loveliness."^

Whilst the virginity and holiness of Mary shone forth with a radiance more and more bright in the wondering eyes of the faithful, her role in the salvation of the world was also revealed, and inspired all hearts with confidence. St. Irenaeus^ and Tertullian^ established a parallel between Eve and Mary. If the human race was lost through a woman, it has been saved through a woman also. The devil made use of Eve to bring about our loss God made use of Mary to frustrate Satan's plans. Mary is thus the advocate (advocataY of Eve and the whole human race. " By one woman death, by another woman life," says St. Augustine. Let both sexes think of their honour, confessing their sin and hoping for salvation. In order to deceive the first man, the poison was offered by woman; to redeem man, on the contrary, salvation is given through woman. Woman, through the childbirth of Christ, redeems the fault she committed by deceiving man."^ Mary, then, is our deliverer. It is towards her that sinful and captive humanity raises its weeping eyes to implore pardon and deliverance. With what trustfulness does it not hope, by the mediation of this powerful advocate, to obtain mercy, peace, and salvation. For if it is through Mary that our Saviour has been given us, it is also through her that we have been granted the means of salvation. It is through Mary, says St. Cyril of Alexandria, that " Christian churches have been founded in and that every faithful soul towns, villages, and islands It is through her that " the light " of truth " has is saved." shone on those who were seated in darkness and in the
;

..."

shadow

of death. "^ The faithful Christian is thus earnestly invited to send up his petitions through Mary, that she may herself present them to God and render them fruitful.
1

Carmina nisibina,
-patrist., 285.

n.

27,

ed.

Bickell,
3

122.

Rouet de Journel,
Christi , 17.

Enchirid.
2 *
'

Adversus Haereses,
St. Irenaeus, id.

v, ig.
^

De Came

Homil., XI.

* Sermo II, n. 4. Sermo CCXXXII, n. 2. In sanctatn Mariam Dzifaram (P.G. LXXVII, 1033).

Cbrist in Spirituality^

239

Our
is

confidence
is

is

lurlher increased ironi the fact that

Mary

our mother.

of Christ according to the ilesh, who is spiritually the mother of the faithful, who are the members of her Son. Mary is the Mother of the whole Christ that is, of His natural body and of His mystical body. are, then, the spiritual children of Mary ; she has a truly maternal love for us; she co-operated in our salvation by her love, and she conduced to our birth in the Church, by which we are incorporated in Christ with the assurance of redemption.^ " Mary is in very truth the mother of the just."^ What filial confidence ought we not to have in her

She

the

Mother

our head, and she

is

We

Devotion to Mary increased considerably its scope when dogma of the divine maternity was defined at the third CEcumenical Council in 431, when Nestorius was condemned. The burst of enthusiasm which was occasioned amongst the people of Ephesus by the proclamation of the privileges of Mary shows how the aspirations of Christian piety were satisfied. We find echoes of this universal joy in a homily which was pronounced by St. Cyril of Alexandria before the " holy Fathers of the Council, masters of piety, pillars of the " faith," who had the courage to face " the heat and tempest and other hardships of travel to come to Ephesus, a city more famous than ever, " the honour of the province of Asia," to the end that they might " avenge Mary, the Mother of God (^toTOKos), on account of the blasphemies which an impious wickedness had uttered against her. "^ This dignity of Mother of God, unique in the world, was the object of an extraordinary veneration on the part of all Christians. " Mary, the Mother of God," said St. Nilus, " is venerated throughout the whole universe.* What praises were addressed to her from that time on account of her holiness, her exquisite purity, and her richness in such superthe

natural gifts of every kind as befit the Mother of God The Eastern writers, after the Council of Ephesus, celebrate the glor}' of Mary with an abundance of expressions, an accumulation of imagery and comparisons, an untiring redundance,
!

which
1

show

that,

however eloquent
:

it

may

be,

human
. .

Df sancta virgin., n. 6 Maria Spiritu Mater membrorum Christi quia cooferata est char it ate ut fiaeles in ecclesia nascerentu cor fore vera ipsius capitis nostri mater est. St. Augustine compares the Church to Mary, the Church which is also virgin and mother, the virginity of which is fruitful because she brings forth the faithful members of the mystical body of Christ. Id ., n. 2, 6. 2 St. Nilus, Ep. lib. I, 266, 267 (P.O. LXXIX, i8n, iSi). 3 Homil., XI, In sanctam Mariam Deiparam (P.G. LXXVII, 1029est
.

1032).

Ep.,

lib.

II, 180

(P.G.

LXXIX,

395).

240

Cbristian Spirituality

lang-uag-e is powerless to praise with deserving honour the dignity and holiness of the Mother of God. "All hail to thee, Mary, Mother of God, Virgin Mary!" exclaimed St. Cyril of Alexandria before the Fathers of the " Hail thou bearer of light, incorCouncil of Ephesus. ruptible vessel Hail Mary At once Virgin, Mother, and
!
!

Handmaid. Virgin because of Him who is born of thy virginity; mother because of Him whom thou didst bear upon thy breast and whom thou hast nourished with thy milk handmaid because of Him who has taken to Himself the position of a slave. Hail Mary Temple in which God has been received, the great holiness of which the prophet David proclaimed when he said Thy temple is holy and wonderful in thy justice (Ps. Ixiv. 6). Hail Mary The
;
. . . ! : !

jewel of the earth Hail Mary Incorruptible dove Hail Mary Inextinguishable lamp, for of thee is born the Sun of justice; Hail Mary! Dwelling-place of Him whom no other dwelling can contain thou, in whom was contained the only Son of God, the God-word thou, who with neither toil nor sowing hast made the undying ear of corn to flourish Hail Mary Mother of God, of whom the prophets have foretold, and through whom the shepherds gave glory to God at the manger, singing with the angels that moving hymn, Glory to God on high in heaven: peace on earth among men of goodwill; Hail Mary Mother of God, because of whom the choirs of angels sing, the archangels exult and chant hymns ."^ which make us tremble.
;
!

St.

Cyril of Alexandria (P.G.

LXXIX,

1032, 1033).

CHAPTER

XI

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MONASTIC LIFE IN THE WEST AFTER THE FIFTH CENTURY
THE MONASTIC RULES OE ITALY, GAUL, AND SPAIN: THE HAGIOGRAPHERS AND LATIN ASCETICAL AUTHORS OF
THIS PERIOD
and during- the great part Middle Ages, spirituality in the West is found almost exclusively in the monastic Rules, which were drawn up in g^reat numbers. At that time there were no congregations or monastic groupings embracing several religious houses governed by one head and submitting to the same Rule.^ Each monaster}' was isolated and independent it took its Rule from its founder. St. Benedict drew up his Rule solely for the organization of the monastery of Monte Cassino, which he built without suspecting that one day it would As, thanks to the zeal of be followed in other convents. bishops and the munificence of Christian kings, abbeys grew up on every side, the number of Rules drawn up was
the sixth century,
of

FROM

the

considerable."

Monastic founders were all agreed as to the general prinmonastic life, but they had different views as to the This variety of Rules was not details of the life of a monk. without its drawbacks, and the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle in 817 thought it necessary to impose on all monasteries of the
ciples of

As a Carlovingian Empire the discipline of St. Benedict. matter of fact, this unification tended to increase. For amongf the numerous Rules two or three stood out more prominently on account of the renown of their authors, and became For some time the Rules of St. adopted everywhere. Caesarius, Archbishop of Aries, St. Columbanus, and St. The Benedict competed with each other for predominance. last named eventually gained it, and became the general law for the monastic order of the Latin Church.
These federations of monasteries only began in the tenth century. The documents shall only speak here of the principal ones. I quoted will be according to the Patrologia lalina of Migne.
1

241

242

Cbrfstlan Spirituality

I. THE LEGISLATORS

LIFE IN ITALY

OF MONASTIC BENEDICT OF NURSIA AND CASSIODORUS

:

ST.

Originally of a rich and important family of Nursia, now Norcia in Umbria, St. Benedict was sent, whilst still a young man, to study in Rome. Disgusted with the world, and terrified by the dangers for those who remained living in it, he left Rome in 497, and withdrew, when only seventeen years old, into the solitude of Subiaco, fifteen leagues from the eternal city. At this time, as we know, in many parts ot the West, and chiefly in Italy, there were anchorites. Benedict became one of them. He placed himself under the direction of a monk named Romanus, who visited him every week and brought him food.^ It was at Subiaco that St. Benedict, in order to resist a violent temptation against chastity, threw himself, without clothing, into a thicket of nettles and thorns and rolled his body with such violence that it was covered with wounds.^ It was not long before the young hermit was discovered, and very soon a great number of people, either from curiosity or for edification, came to see him. He preached to them, and often his visitors went away converted. The renown of Benedict was such that the monks of a neighbouring monastery, having need of an abbot, chose the hermit of Subiaco. But, as they lived without a Rule and refused to accept one, Benedict did not remain there long, but returned to Subiaco.^ There he received disciples and organized a

manner

sort of colony of hermits dwelling in separate cells, after the of the monks of Ligug6, whom St. Martin had

gathered round him about a century before.*

In spite of St.
hostility

Benedict's sanctity, there arose a certain

towards him, and he thought it best to leave Subiaco. It was then that he and his disciples went to Monte Cassino, about fifty miles from Naples, where he founded the first Benedictine monastery in 528.^ It was there that he drew up, in the following year, his famous Rule of Monastic Life. In composing it he made use of the Rule of St. Pachomius
Gregory the Great, Dialogorum, lib. II, cap. i (P.L. LXXVI, The great work by Montalembert on the monks of the West is 2 /^^ ^ap. 11. all. 3 St. Gregory the Great, Dialogorum, lib. II, cap. 3. The monks tried to poison their Abbot, who broke the cup containing the poison with the Sign of the Cross. * Id. The celebrated monk St. Maurus was one of St. Benedict's
1

St.

128-130). known to

disciples.
5 St. Gregory the Great, Dialogorum, lib. II, cap. 8. St. Benedict died at Monte Cassino in 543, having foretold the day of his death and

performed many miracles.

TlClcstcvn /iDoiiasttctsm aftci* tbc Jflttb Gcnturt?

243

and also especially of that of St. Basil, of the Institutions and the Conferences of Cassian/ and of Letter CCXI of St. Aut^-ustine, addressed to the relij;ious women of Hippo. " The Rule of St. Benedict is " remarkable for its wisdom

With {discretione praecipua), says St. Greg^ory the Great. ^ a practical jjenius, which had a clear insight into that which was required in his surroundings, the Abbot of Monte Cassino adapted those elements of the older Rules to his plan and object which were reconcilable with the customs and climate of the West. He also had the gift, in a high degree,
seeing at a glance what amendments were rendered For whilst necessary by the conditions in which he lived. being inspired by his forerunners, he did not hesitate when necessary to be creative. He desired his Rule to be above all things the result of He not only observed it himsell, but made it to experience. be observed before bringing it out. He had at heart, indeed, to impose only such things on others as he had practised himself. And thus St. Gregory the Great said of him that if one desired to know the life of the venerable Father Benedict, The Abbot of Monte one had only to study his Rule.^ Cassino al.so wished to be certain that the regulations which he drew up were not beyond the ordinary powers of his religious that which they had practised for many years might quite safely be drafted into a Rule. For, following the example of St. Basil, it was St. Benedict's constant care to order nothing which was too difficult or too burdensome, so that his Rule would be suitable to all monks and not practicable only for the few.* He aimed,
of
;

common perfection, which was demanded which each individual is urged to surpass by a progressive betterment of his inward dispositions.* The essentially practical spirit in which the Benedictine Rule was conceived accounts for its success and its duration. From the eighth to the beginning of the thirteenth century the Abbot of Monte Cassino was almost the only law-giver of the monks of the West, so clearly had he drawn up the duties and foreseen the needs of the cloister. I propose analyzing his Rule and laying special stress on those portions of it which were new and original.
furthermore, at a of every one, but

The Rule
edition,
1

is

of St. Benedict, according to the author's second It begins divided into seventy-three chapters."

Cf.

*
*

Regula Sit. Benedicti, cap. Ixx. ^ Dialogorum, II, cap. 36 Dialogorum, II, cap. 36. In qua institutione nihil asferum, nihilque grave nos constituros

speramus. Regula, frologus. * Cf. Regula, Ixxiii.

'

The

first

PL. LXVI,

edition ended with chapter 215 seqq.

Ixvi.

The text

in

Migne,

244

Cbdstian Spirituality

with the celebrated preface, Ausculta o jili, which is a striking exhortation to obedience. " Hearken, O my son, to the precepts of thy Master, and incline the ear of thy heart receive with joy and faithfully fulfil the admonition of thy loving Father, that thou mayest return by the labour of obedience to Him from whom thou hast departed through the sloth of disobedience. To thee, therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever thou art that, renouncing thine own will, dost put on the strong and bright armour of obedience in order to fight for the Lord Christ, our true King." The articles of the Rule of St. Benedict may be grouped under these different heads the government of the monastery
;
:

the reception and making of novices, the divine office, manual work and study, the maintenance of the monks, corrections,

monastic virtues.
Like
St.

Basil, St. Benedict intended the authority

which

governed the monastery

to be strong.

This authority was to

him with the

with deans,

rest entirely with the abbot in the first place, and subject to prior, whose jurisdiction extended over all, and

who had the duty of directing every ten monks. ^ fear lest these various dignitaries should bring about a conflict of authority, the prior and deans are to be nominated by the abbot alone, after having consulted with the older monks. ^ The abbatial authority is thus made absolute, as required for the maintenance of the discipline necessary to remove all causes of dissension effectively. Nevertheless, the Rule, whilst placing such power in the hands of the abbot, contains certain provisions against the abuse of this authority. It lays down that the abbot must be chosen by the comIn case this election is munity which he is to govern. obviously defective, the bishop of the diocese where the monastery is situated, or the abbots of neighbouring monasteries, may insist on the appointment of another abbot. ^ All the members of the community must be consulted in important matters, although the abbot is not obliged to follow In matters of less importance the seniors only their advice. are to be consulted.* Finally, the qualities needed for an abbot are set forth at length by St. Benedict.^ He knew well, as did St. Pachomius and St. Basil, that the prosperity of communities depends on the wisdom of their rulers. St. It also depends on the way obedience is carried out.
For
Regula. cap. xxi, Ixv. The abbot also arranges the order of precedence in Regitla, Ixv. the monastery, as laid down in the Rule (Ixiii). * Id., 3 Regula, Ixiv. 5 /^_^ jij^ Ixiv. iii.
1

Mc5tci-n /IDonasticisni after tbc

jflttb Century 245 Benedict desires his reli^nous to perform without delay whatever is ordered, "as though coming from God Himself." Obedience, pleasing to God and agreeable to men, is that which carries out a command good-humouredly and with alacrity. The religious must obey without murmur or discontent. Joyful obedience renders everyone happy and maintains peace in community life.' The regulations respecting the admission of novices are St. Benedict, the same as those of the Rule of Pachomius. like St. Pachomius, directs that the postulant be left for several days at the door of the monastery and subjected to If he endures the rcbulTs, in order to prove his constancy.^ trial, he is introduced first of all to the guest-house and afterwards to the novitiate, where under the guidance of an older monk he is subjected to a rigorous obedience and made After one year of probation he to study the monastic Rule. makes his profession, in writing, in the presence of the whole community. Priests may be admitted to the noviceship.^ Benedictine monasteries used also to receive oblates {nhlati) or children of tender age offered by their parents to a When a family desired to consecrate religious community. one of their sons to the service of (iod the parents made their request in writing to the abbot of the monastery, and undertook never themselves to give, or cause to be given through Then, during others, his portion of inheritance to the child. the conventual Mass, at the OflFertory, they led their son to the altar, carrying in his hand the written request and also bread and wine for the eucharistic sacrifice.'* The child was he belonged to the monastery, thus consecrated to God where he must henceforth live and observe the Rule. His consecration was united in an impressive manner with the consecration of the body and blood of Christ. The Rule of St. Benedict required the monks, at the time of their profession, in the oratory and before the whole community, to take the vow of stability, which bound them This pledge was taken in irrevocably to their monastery. writing and recorded in the formula of consecration which each religious, at the time of his profession,^ wrote with his own hand and placed upon the altar in the presence of the abbot and all the monks. The parents took a similar pledge
:

Regiila, V.

Iviii Si veniens -per sever averit fulsans et illatas sibi injurias et difficuUatem ingressus fost quatuor aut quinque dies visus fucrit fatienter fortare.
2

Regula,

3
*

Regula, Regula,

viii.
lix.

In

St.

Benedict's

offertory the
sacrifice.

bread and v/ine which were

time the faithful offered at the to be used at the eucharistic

* At his profession the chastity, and obedience.

monk

took the three ordinary

vows

of poverty,

246
for the children

Cbristtan Spirituality

whom

they offered to the monastery.^

It

to this wise foresight that St. Benedict succeeded in reducing the number of wandering monks in the West.^ That part of the Rule which regulates the divine office is the longest it includes thirteen articles and is also the

was due

newest.
St. Pachomius and St. Basil ordered psalmody and the singing of Psalms and also certain prayers, but it is difficult to form a complete idea of the divine service in Eastern Cassian gives us to understand that in the monasteries. convents of southern Gaul there was no uniform office. St. Benedict drew up the office in a clearly defined way. Since The Roman his time there has been no essential change. breviary has abridged the Benedictine office, but it has retained its form. That which characterizes the Benedictine Rule, in fact, is the great importance which is attached to the celebration of The office is set forth as the work par the divine office. It is excellence of the monk and his most important duty. the divine work, opus divinum,^ the divine duty, ojfLcitim It should take precedence above all other, and divinum.^ when the hour set apart for its celebration comes everything must be left in order to hasten to the work of God, opus Dei.^ The arrangement of the divine office is regulated in its

smallest details. In winter i.e., from November ist to Easter the monks rise at 2 o'clock in the morning in order to sing the vigils or

night office.^

The
verses

vigils

always have twelve Psalms, preceded by the

in adjutorium nieuni intende, and Domine labia mea aperies, by the third and ninety-fourth Psalms, and a hymn of St. Ambrose. After singing the first six Psalms and their anthems, a versicle is recited and the abbot gives the blessing to the readers, who read three lessons, each one The third respond ends with the followed by a respond. These lessons are Gloria Patri, during which all stand up. taken either from the Old or New Testament, or again from The next the writings of the Fathers or orthodox Doctors. six Psalms are sung with the Alleluia; a lesson taken from

Deus

the Epistles of St. Paul is then recited, a versicle, and finally the litany Kyrie eleison. Thus ends the night office.'^ In summer i.e., from Easter to November ist the vigils

Regula, lix. 2 In the opening chapter of his Rule, St. Benedict speaks of wandering monks in terms which show his strong desire that they should be done
1

awaj' with.
3

Regula, xvi, xix.

Id., xliii.
Cf.
xlvii.

Id., viii, xliii.

find the expression oftis Dei used to describe the ofl&ce in the monastic Rules of Gaul at this period. ' Id., ix. 8 Id., viii.

We

Xllcstcrn /IDonastici^m after tbc Jfittb Century 247 must be bcg^un early enough to enable them to end at daybreak. But as the nights are shorter, instead of three lessons, only one, taken from the Old Testament, is read, followed by a short respond. Nothing else in the office is changed.' On Sundays, both in winter and summer, the monks rise earlier, for the office is longer. It is composed of three nocturns. The first two have each six Psalms, followed by four lessons, with their responds in the same order as given above. In the third nocturn three canticles, drawn from the prophetic books at the abbot's choice, are recited, and four lessons from the Old Testament are read. At the end of the last respond the abbot intones the Te Dcum laudajnus, and when this has been sung he reads the Gospel, during which " all stand in reverence and fear." The abbot then adds the hymn Te decet laus, gives his blessing, and the morning office then begins.* The order for the vigils of saints and feasts is the same as for Sundays, with this difference, that the Psalms, anthems, and lessons are connected as much as possible with the feast celebrated.^ The matutinal office* is so called by St. Benedict

because

it

begins at daybreak, incipicnie luce.^

this office consists of four Psalms the sixtysixth without anthem, then the fiftieth with Alleluia, then the hundred and seventeenth and the sixty-second. Then comes the Bctiedicite, the Lauds i.e., the last three Psalms of the Psalter, a lesson from the Apocalypse with one respond, an Ambrosian hymn, a versicle, the Gospel canticle Benedictus, and finally the litany Kyrie eleison.^ On week-days the third and fourth Psalms of the matutinal it has also a canticle from the office change with the ferias prophecies in the place of the Denedicite.^ The day hours, which are sanctified by reciting the office, are Prime, Tierce, Sext, None, Vespers, andCompline, which, with the addition of Lauds, the matutinal office, carry out fully the words of the Psalmist Seven times in the day have I given praise to Thee (Ps. cxviii. 164). These different hours had long been fixed by the Roman custom. The four lesser hours comprise the verse Deus in adjutorium meiim inlende, a hymn, three Psalms, a lesson, a At Vespers four Psalms versicle, and the Kyrie eleison. with anthems are recited, then a lesson with a respond, an Ambrosian hymn, a versicle, the canticle Magnificat, the litany Kyrie eleison, and the Lord's Prayer. St. Benedict places the Lord's Prayer at the end of Vespers and at the

On Sunday

Rcgula,

X.

Regula xi. This matutinal office corresponds with the present canonical hour of Lauds; the vigils to our Matins. ^ Id., xiv. matutinorum solemnitas the morning office. Id., xii
2
:

Id., viii. Id., xvi.

Id., xii. Id., xvii.

"

'

Id., xiii.

248

Cbrfstfan Spirituality end of the matutinal office to obtain forg"iveness for the petty offences which may arise daily in the monastery.^ At Compline three Psalms without an antiphon are recited then follows the hymn, a lesson, a versicle, the Kyrie eleison,
and the blessing:.^ Each of the day hours is celebrated separately, the community therefore assembling- seven times daily in the oratory for the divine office and at the end of each hour the abbot
;

dismisses the assembly, missae sint, as stated in the Rule.^ St. Benedict provided for every detail of the divine office he settled the order in which the Psalms were to be recited during- the week, and stated the times at which Alleluia* must be sung-. Nothings is left to choice.

This great care which was bestowed upon the liturg-y of the divine office did not hinder the Abbot of Monte Cassino from forming- the souls of his monks by inculcating- in them the spirit in which they must sing- the psalmody. " believe that the divine Presence is everywhere, and that the eyes of the Lord behold the good and evil in every place. Especially should we believe this, without any doubt, when we are assisting at the work of God. Let us, then, Serve the Lord in ever remember what the prophet saith fear (Ps. ii. 11); and again: Sing ye wisely (Ps. xlvi. 8); and In the sight of the angels I will sing praises unto Thee (Ps. cxxxvii. i). Therefore, let us consider how we ought to behave ourselves in the presence of God and of His angels, and so assist at the divine office that our mind and our voice may accord together."" Respect, humility, purity of heart, and compunction, such When are the dispositions needful for prayer to be good. we ask a favour from the mighty on earth we tender our Ought we not, then, with request humbly and with deference. much more reason, to act in the same way towards God?^ The Benedictine Rule also punishes severely any negligence, however slight, in the celebration of the divine office. The monk who makes a mistake in singing a Psalm, a respond, an anthem, or in reading a lesson, must publicly ask pardon if he desires to escape a more serious penance. Children guilty of such faults must be chastised.^ Those who came late to the office that is to say, after the first Psalm, are not allowed to take their places in choir. They must go to the last row, where a place is reserved for late-comers, and after the office they must make public reparation for their fault. ^

We

Regula,

xiii.

/^^
as

xvii.

Id., xvii. The word logically, the dismissal. * Id., xviii, XV. ' Id., xlv.
3

missa,
^

everyone knows,
^

means, etymo/^,^ ^x.

Id., xix. 8 Id., xliii.

lUcstcrn /IDoiuunicism attcr tbc jfittb Ccnturvi 249 The monks who work too far from the oratory to hi- able to
there recite the different day hours where they work. Those on a journey arc not dispensed from the ofrice, which must be recited as they travel.^
gjct
is the real prayer of the Nevertheless, St. Benedict provided for private prayer, which he desired to be short and fervent. Like St. .\ugustine, he enacted that the oratory be not put to any profane use, so that religious who wished to come and pray there out of office time could do so.^ Ever)' day, after the evening meal, whether it be the second or the only meal of the day, a fast-day or not, the monks assemble to listen to pious reading, taken either from the Conferences of Cassian or from the Vitae Fatriim.^ At certain times, no doubt, an exhortation from the abbot took the place of the reading.

The

singing- of the divine office

Benedictine monk.

In conformity with monastic traditions of the East, St. Benedict orders his monks to do manual labour and to read. Both are regulated with equal care. Each day the religious must read for two hours on Sunday all time not taken up by Two monks, the office is devoted to reading or meditation. chosen from the older ones, are charged with the duty of going round the monastery during the time of reading to make sure that nobody omits this exercise. Those incapable of reading must do something else and not remain idle.* From these injunctions in the Rule of its founder the Benedictine Order has acquired that love of study which has made so illustrious and has enabled it to render such great it
;

service to learning. St. Benedict is careful to remove all occasion for discontent He lays down that each one as regards material things. should have what is necessary both in the way of food and clothing. This necessity varies according to temperaments. At table, also, the food should be sufficient to satisfy, in a In this connection reasonable way, the appetites of all. St. Benedict recalls the principle laid down by St. Augustine for the religious women of Hippo; he who has greater need than others should humble himself on account thereof, and he that has less return thanks to God. When the monks are not fasting they take two meals in the pranditim at midday and the cocna in the the day evening. On fast days the one meal is ordered to be at three
:

indicates that a meditation should be made by the monks after the vigils, when they end before the time for Lauds (viii). It is not known what it was.
'

Regula, Regula,

1.

M..

lii.

xlii.

The Rulr

Regula, xlviii. Regula, xxxix to xli. St. Benedict also enacts that monks must ' /(/.. xxxiv. not be overworked in order to avoid discontent.
* *

250
evening^.
^

Cbrfstfan Spirituality
it

o'clock in the afternoon; in Lent

is

postponed

until the

In the refectory silence must be rigorously observed, at mealtimes there must always be reading aloud. ^

and

The wardrobe

is

in

common.

St.

Benedict

is

here found

to adopt the rigid communism which St. Augustine imposed at Hippo. The monks are strictly forbidden to have personal

property

omnia omnibus

sint

communia.^

religious sleep preferably in dormitories, where mutual supervision is more easy and rising for the vigils better assured. They are ordered to sleep fully clothed, and where possible in the one dormitory.* St. Benedict does not wish separate cells. A specially strict silence must be observed after Compline until the next day.

The

The directions in the Rule of St. Benedict respecting the taking of journeys, the care of the sick in the community, and the reception of guests,^ are similar to those laid down
by
St. Pachomius and St. Basil. The exceptional honour with which guests are to be welcomed in Benedictine monasteries is worthy of note. The

guest is to be received as Christ Himself, who will say at the day of judgement " I 7vas a stranger and you took Me in"
:

The prior or the community come and salute him with profound bows or even with prostrations (prostrato omni corpore in terra), to adore Christ in the person of the
(Matt. XXV. 35).
guest. He is taken to the oratory for prayer, is given the kiss of peace, his hands and feet are washed. He is received at the abbot's table, and, unless it be a greater fast day, the abbot may break the fast in his honour. One of the monks is told off to wait upon the guest during his stay in the monastery.' Such generous hospitality, offered by Benedictine monks, responded to a crying need of the time. Social conditions, owing to the invasion of barbarians, rendered travelling very laborious and dangerous. St. Benedict directs those monks who are about to travel specially to recommend themselves to the abbot and brethren each day at the end of office they should be prayed for, that they may be preserved from all
;

danger. ^

The articles of the Benedictine Rule containing sanctions are inspired by the enactments of St. Basil. The monk who frequently offends in a pronounced manner against the Rule
1

Regida,
3,

ber
is
2

xli. Wednesdays and Fridays from Pentecost to Septemand every day from September 3 to Easter are fast-days. There
3

no fasting during Eastertide. Regula, xxxviii. * Id., xxii. This enactment

5

Id., xxxiii, Iv.

is

found in almost
Id.,
8

all

rules

of

this

period.
'

Id., xlii. Id., liii.

Ixvii, xxxvi,

liii.

Id., Ixvii.

lUlestern /IDonasttcism after tbc jfittb Century 251 must be publicly reprimanded. If he will not amend he is to be excommunicated that is to say, he is entirely isolated from the community for a fixed period.* St. Benedict, following- St. Pachomius, orders, for those who are particularly incorrigible, the punishment of corporal chastisement.-

If they are incapable of amendment nothing remains but to expel them from the monastery.^

St. Benedict totally omits the Oriental classification of vice under eight heads. The virtues wTiich he recommends in his Rule as being most necessary for the life of the cloister are obedience,* silence,* and humility, of which last the twelve degrees are adapted to the different circumstances of monastic life.^ Finally, he sums up all the teaching of religious perfection in seventy-two maxims, taken from holy Scripture, which the monks are exhorted to follow unceasing^ly. These maxims are " the instruments of good works and the certain means of sanctification."^

At the time St. Benedict was founding- his house at Monte Cassino several of his contemporaries were drawing up Rules for the monasteries they themselves were founding in Italy. The abbots Paul and Stephen, concerning whom we have scanty information, have left us a fairly complete Rule for monks, in which are found minute instructions as to the way They were inspired by to sing the divine office worthily. ancient monastic traditions, and largely from the writings of St. Augustine. They agree on many points with the
"^

Benedictine Rule. But the most important monastic legislator in Italy after St. Benedict was Cassiodorus. Born in Calabria about the year 477 of a well-known family, Cassiodorus was chief minister to King Theodoric and consul in 514. About 540 he left the court in order to retire to the monastery which he had founded near his native place at Vivarium, in southern Italy. There he gave himself up to prayer and study and composed his famous hisiitutious of divine and profane IVritinps,^ in which he demonstrates the agreement and unity between sacred and profane sciences. Cassiodorus was a great lover

He directed his monks of literature and classical antiquity. to give themselves up to the study of Christian writers with'

' 6

Regula, xxiii, xxiv. Id., xxviii. Id., vi, xlii.

' Id.,

xxix.

*
">

/</.,

v, Ixviii.

Id., vii

Id., iv.

The

in forty-one articles (P.L. LXVI, 9^1-958). celebration of the office is called ofus Dei. P.L. LXX, Cassiodorus alo composed commentaries 1005 seqq. on the Psalms, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles. He is also the author of an Ecclesiastical History (P.L. LXIX to LXX).
*

Regula ad monachos

252

Cbdstfan Spfrftualit^? out neglecting the treasures of profane literature.

set the

He

himself

which became the handbook of the schools of the earlier Middle Ages. Cassiodorus thus greatly contributed to the monastic idea of copying the
in his Institutions,

example

literary masterpieces of antiquity.

With

St. Benedict,

deserved well, not only of Christian

letters,

he has but also of profane.

II. MONASTIC

LEGISLATION IN GAUI^-THE RULES

OF

ST. CAESARIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ARLES, AND ST. COLUMBANUS, ABBOT OF LUXEUIL

OTHER RULES DERIVED FROM THESE^THE COMMON LIFE OF CLERKS ST. CHRODEGANG OF METZ
and seventh centuries many monastic Rules were Gaul. They occupy a considerable place in the Collection of Monastic Rules of St. Benedict of Aniane. But very few of them were original. For the most part they depend on the Rules of St. Caesarius, St. Columbanus, and, above all, of St. Benedict. In order to understand the special features of monastic life in Gaul at this period it is preferable to study the Rules of the Archbishop of Aries and the Abbot
In the sixth

drawn up

in

of Luxeuil.
St. Caesarius was born in 470 at Chalon-sur-Saone. Whilst still young he entered the monastery of Lerins. Forced through ill health to leave, he settled at Aries, where he became abbot of a monastery which had been founded by In 502 he was raised to the dignity of Bishop Eonius. Bishop of Aries. ^ Caesarius was a wonderful preacher of the ethics of the Gospel and reformer of ecclesiastical discipline. During the forty years of his episcopate it may be said that he was the defender of Christian civilization in southern Gaul

against the barbarian invasions. St. Caesarius drew up two Rules, one for monks and the other for the religious women of his episcopal town.- The first is the shorter; it consists of only twenty-six articles. Caesarius reproduced it entirely in his Rule for women, which is much more elaborate and which appears to have been the

more esteemed work.^ It is the latter Rule to which the Archbishop of Aries owes his reputation as monastic legislator, and for many centuries it successfully competed with the Benedictine Rule in the monasteries of women. The elements of this Rule are drawn from Lerins, where
1 -

Vita S. Caesarii Arel., cap.

i,

ii

(P.L.

LXVII,

1002 seqq.).

Regula ad monachos (P.L. LXVII, 1099-1104); Regula ad virgines

It is

(1

107-1120).
^

composed

of

forty-four

articles.

St.

Caesarius has made a

summary.

xmcstcrn /IDonasticism after tbc fittb Century 253

Cacsarius had lived,
till!

Iroiii

Letter

CCXl

ul

St.

Au^fustine to
ol Liaul.'

religious
St.

women

of

Hippo and from the customs

Augustine, Caesarius enacts that his religious must abandon their worldly goods on entering the monastery, either by giving them to the poor or by offering them to the community, " for without this precaution the religious cannot arrive at perfection." Novices, therefore, were not allowed to receive the habit, even though the time of probation had elapsed, unless all possessions had been given up. The sisters must possess everything in common, even clothing, all of which must be made in the monastery and be extremely simple. It may be recalled that St. Augustine based his idea of monastic life on the conception of the holy communism of the primitive Church of Jerusalem. The recommendations concerning custody of the eyes, indifference as to employment, fraternal correction, obedience without murmur, concord between the sisters, sins of the tongue, and respect and submission due to superiors, are borrowed, at times word for word, from St. Augustine. And the same must be said of the counsels of prudence and wisdom given to the abbess. Caesarius forbids his religious to have separate cells. He desires them to be everywhere and at all times in community. He had imposed this on his monks also. ^

Like

The moral state of society at that time, when the barbarian element preponderated, made strict enclosure of convents for women a necessity. St. Caesarius is very severe on this subject. The religious, on entering the monastery, binds herself never to go outside " if she would, by the grace of God, escape the jaws of the wolf." Her family might come and visit her, but in the place set apart for such visitors {salutatorium). The religious went there accompanied by an older sister. It was strictly forbidden for anyone to enter the monastery. Only the clergy for liturgical service, and workmen for urgent repairs, could come in, on condition that the abbess was present and also the " provisor," who was responsible for the temporal affairs of the monastery. No stranger was allowed to take food in the house. The same restrictions are to be found in all the Rules for convents of women in the centuries which followed. St. Caesarius forbids his women to act as godmothers at His monks also were forbidden to act as godbaptisms.
fathers.

Baths were forbidden except for the

1

sick.

" Eligimus fauca de fluribus " says Caesarius at the beginning of

his Rule.

This enactment is in most of the monastic Rules of this period, as o the vnw of stability as a condition of admission to a monastery for men. St. Caesarius requires this as well as St. Benedict (Regula aii
2

al

monachos, cap.

i).

254

Cbristtan Spirituality
'^

fasts laid down for the women were, with very slight difference, the same as those in the Rule for monks, but the

The

abbess could modify them when health required it. There was always reading out loud at mealtimes. The sisters were to pray and meditate on the word of God during their daily work, and, in order that holy thoughts might not be lacking, one or two hours' reading were ordered for each morning ;~ also, all the religious were obliged to learn to read. The night olBce was obligatory for the women as it was
for the
St.

monks

of Aries,

many details as to the composition of the divine office, the opus Dei, celebrated at Aries. His second successor, Aurelian (545), is more explicit. Childebert, King of the Franks, had founded, about 544, at Aries, two new monasteries, one for monks and another for nuns. Aurelian gave to each of them a Rule, which was practically, with hardly any addition, the monastic Rule of St. Caesarius.^ A special feature of the night office, or vigil, in southern Gaul, were the niissae, or lessons, followed by prayer, which took place after singing the nocturns. On Sundays there were six niissae;* on other days two or three. The number of Psalms recited at the lesser hours was much greater than in the Benedictine Rule i.e., twelve instead of three. Students of liturgical music will find, also, in these monastic Rules many interesting details concerning the way the psalmody was rendered.^
Caesarius does not give

by

of Ireland were introduced into Gaul Columbanus.^ Born in Ireland about 540, Columbanus felt an early call to He entered the severe abbey of Bangor,'' the monastic life. where he practised the life of renunciation with the dauntless
St.
1

The monastic customs

of September the monks fasted on from September to Christmas every day from Christmas to the second week before Lent, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (Regula ad monachos, xxii). The punishments for monks who broke the rule were excommunication and confinement (xxiii). 2 The monks of Aries studied each morning until Tierce and after that gave themselves up to manual labour {Regula ad monachos, xiv). 3 The Rule for monks comprised fifty-five articles (P.L. LXVIII, 387-398), that for the nuns about forty (399-406). * St. Caesarius, Regula ad monachos, xxi St. Aurelian (P.L. 394). s At Uzes, in Narbonne, in the neighbourhood of Aries, Bishop Ferreol drew up, in 558, a Regula ad monachos for the monastery of This rule comprises twenty-nine chapters (P.L. St. Ferreol, martyr. LXVI, 959-976). One peculiarity was that the abbot of the monastery worked in the kitchen and waited at table on Christmas Day, Easter Day, and on the feast of the patron of the abbey, St. Ferreol. 8 Cf. E. Martin, Dictionnaire de Thiol. Cath., torn IIL 370 seqq. ' The monasteries of Ireland were celebrated for their severity. We find, possibly, a reproduction of the Rule of Bangor in the Regula cujusdam Patris ad monachos (P.L. LXVL 987-994). The resemblance of this Rule with that of St. Columbanus is most striking.

From

Easter

to

the

month
;

Wednesdays and Fridays

TlClestcrn /IDonasticism after, tbc fiftb Gcntun? 255 courage :iiul rigour which were his characteristics. In 590 he left Ireland with twelve companions from Uangor, went into Gaul, and founded the monasteries of Anncgray, Fontaine, and Luxeuil in Burgundy. He remained in the last named. Twenty years later he was driven from Luxeuil by yueen Hrunchaut, whose anger was kindled by the reprimands which her evil conduct had drawn from him. Columbanus tarried for two years at Bregenz, near Liike Constance, and finally passed into Italy, where he built a monastery at Bobbio. It was there that he ended his unrestful life. The Rule which St. Columbanus drew up for his monks of For two centuries it guided Luxeuil soon became famous. the monastic life of northern Gaul and German Switzerland. Nevertheless, it was not perfect, and its success arose less from its intrinsic value than from the renown and holiness of
author. lacked that moderation which is indispensable for the the temperament of St. governing- and leading of men Columbanus, austere even to harshness, was too much Nor was it sufficiently precise and therein. reflected
its
It
;

It consisted rather in a summary of monastic perfection' than a collection of regulations providing for the vSuch details daily exercises and the sundry duties of monks. They do not seem to have been committed to writing. therefore depended, at least in part, on the will of the abbot, which has its obvious objections. The most clearly defined duties are those regulating the The liturgical hours are the same celebration of the office. as those of the Benedictine Rule, but the office, as regards its length, approaches more closely to the monasteries of

practical.

In summer the vigil comprised thirty-six Psalms with Aries. antiphons and a hymn and lessons; in winter there were seventy-five Psalms.^ St. Columbanus was not content that his monks should aim at a common perfection, which is all that can be looked He almost always insisted on a higher for collectively. Furthermore, he was inclined to be as severe perfection. with his monks as he was towards himself. The second part of his Rule includes several chapters dealing with punishments, in which are enumerated, this time with precision, all the faults against monastic discipline,
^ The first ten chapters deal with obedience, silence, food, -poverty, vanity, chastity, the divine office, discretion, mortification, and the fcrfection of the monk (I'.L. LXXX, 209-216). * Rcgula S. Columboni, cap. vii. At the end of each psalm all the Lord, make haste to help me; monks prostrated themselves, saying It is known that St. Patrick, Lord, make speed to save me." apostle of Ireland, used to make a great number of genuflections when It was, furthermore, a common custom in both reciting the psalms. East and West, from the fourth century onward, to prostrate oneself
:

"O

after each psalm. ^ P.L., 216-224.

These follow the ten chapters mentioned above.

256

Cbristian Spirituality

These corrections together with the punishment inflicted. consisted of chastisement with the rod,* to which were added days of fasting on bread and water, imprisonment, and, in case of any very serious fault, expulsion. So severe a form even before the of government was not destined to last Benedictine Rule had finally superseded it the Rule of the famous Irish abbot had been considerably modified in order By his eminent sanctity and his zeal to render it endurable. and other natural gifts the Abbot of Luxeuil was able to carry men away but he had not the wisdom of a legislator. ^ St. Columbanus and his disciples were the apostles of private confession in Gaul, as St. Basil and the Greek monks had been in the East. In order to guide confessors in the fulfilment of this difficult task, the founder of Luxeuil drew up a penitentiary,^ in which, side by side with each offence, was appended the penance deserved, which was as nearly as possible proportioned to the circumstances of the case.
; ;

In

the sixth century,

again,

we

find

another Rule for

monks, which seems unconnected with any other; it is the Regula monasterii Tarnatensis.*' This monastery was situated on the banks of the Rhine, but the exact spot is not known. The monks, herein differing from the other Rules, had They daily gave to reading and meditation separate cells. two hours, in which they were free from manual work and They were formally forbidden to attend the divine office. wedding feasts.

Up till the seventh, and during the following century, the monastic Rules drawn up in Gaul were hardly other than adaptations to local use of the Rules of St. Caesarius, St. Columbanus, and above all St. Benedict.^ One of these adaptations deserves attention, because it
1 At Aries certain breaches of discipline were punished by chastisement. But this form of correction was used more moderately than at Luxeuil. Cf. S. Aureliani regula ad vionachos, xli. 2 The monastic rules inspired by St. Columbanus are noted for their severity. C/. Regula cujusdam Patris ad virgines (P.L. LXXXVIII,

1053-1070).
? *

P.L. P.L.

LXXX,
LXVI,

223-230.

These penitentiaries were numerous in the

It

Middle Ages.
977-986.
to

consisted

of

twenty-three

chapters,

of
St.

which several appear

have been inspired by Letter

CCXI

of

Augustine. 5 A prohibition found reproduced in many Rules. * St. Donatus, Bishop of Besangon, and formerly a monk of Luxeuil, founded, in 624, a monastery for women in his episcopal town. The Rule which he gave them was a reproduction of the traditions of Luxeuil, Aries, and Monte Cassino (P.L. LXXXVII, 273-298). The unknown author of the Regula rnagistri ad monachos (P.L. LXXXVIII, He probably lived in 943-1052) paraphrases the Benedictine Rule. Gaul in the seventh century.

XClc9tcrn /IDonastlcism after tbe

brin^'^s to

ittb Ccnturv 257 our notice a particular form of monasticism, that of

considerable

Ages in the West arc to be found a monks, who, in imitation of the Eastern solitaries of the fourth and fifth centuries, lived in A priest named Grimlaic, himself a complete seclusion. recluse, drew up a Rule^ for them, which was practically a

the recluses. In the early Middle

number

of

reproduction of St. Benedict's text. He lived in Gaul, or in Rhenish Provinces, in the ninth or tenth century, at which period the Benedictine Rule had been imposed on every monastery. The anchorites, for whom (Irimlaic provided a Rule, no longer fixed their dwellings in the desert, but in the vaults below the monasteries. They dwelt in narrow cells attached to the monks' church, communicating therewith by means of a window, so that they could follow the offices, hear Mass, and receive Communion. When the recluse was a priest he had in his cell a private oratory for the celebration of the
the

Holy Sacrifice.^ Sometimes two recluses were found in the same cell, but they were obliged to maintain habitually a strict silence. As a rule, however, there was only one in each cell the cells in that case were near enough together to enable the religious The absoto exchange holy thoughts through the windows. lute isolation of anchorites was discouraged as being beyond
;

strength.^ Authorization to live as an anchorite was given by the abbot of the monastery and by the bishop of the diocese. It A is easy to understand that it was not readily granted. If the difficult probation of one year preceded retirement. postulant persevered in his desire, on the day arranged he prostrated himself in the oratory in the presence of the bishop and the monks, and then returned to his cell, of which the door was then sealed and even sometimes walled up. The episcopal seal was attached in order to prevent deceit.* In his cell the anchorite gave himself up to the contemplative life, which Grimlaic so well describes as follows " The lover of the contemplative life must unite himself with God his creator with all his heart in order to receive light. He must serve Him with care by contemplation and with the insatiable desire of rejoicing in Him. He must love Him with an ever-growing love, and fly, out of love for Him,
:

human

from all that might make him turn away. All his thoughts and affections must be directed to the divine love. He must
1 Regula solitariorum (P.L. CI II, 575-^^64). Nothing is known of the life of Grimlaic except that he was a priest and a recluse. Ilia Kule contains sixty-nine chapters. ^ /^_^ ^vi, xvii. * Regula solitariorum, cap. xvi, xxxvi. * Regula solitariorum, xv. 1 hero were also recluses in monasteries

for

women.
'7

258

Cbrfstian SpfdtuaUti?

meditate unceasingly upon the Holy Scriptures, and therein he will find a heavenly charm. He must behold himself in them as in a bright mirror, to amend those things within him which he sees are amiss, to foster that which is good, to preserve that which is healthy, and to strengthen that which is weak. He must study untiringly the commandments of the Lord. He must love them with an unutterable love and wholly fulfil them for by them he is taught what he has to avoid and what to do. He must examine deeply the mysteries in Holy Writ there he will find Christ promised and fulfilled. Far from the turmoil of the world, the anchorite will only have thought for that which fires his heart with the desire of heavenly reward. He must regard the world as dead for him, and must ever appear as crucified to the seductions and pleasures of time. He must infinitely prefer the contemplation of his Creator, whom he must strive to reach by unceasing progress, to that joy which is brought by the spectacle of present things. Never, even for a moment, must he turn away his eyes from heaven to let them wander back
; ;
.
.

to earth. " That

is earthly and temporal must cause him neither fear nor yearning; his heart must not be stirred by fear at the loss of earthly goods here below, nor by the desire Flattery must not seduce him nor vexaof acquiring them. In prosperity and in adversity he must tion deject him. ... possess his soul in unruffled calm."^ It is only possible to reach the contemplative life after long practising Christian virtues in the active life and enduring For in order that the soul may be capable of every trial. being united with God to the extent of being taken up un-

which

ceasingly with

Him,

it

must be completely

purified.

In the eighth century St. Chrodegang, Bishop of

Metz

(766)

was a restorer of the common life, the vita canonica, as it was then called, among the secular clergy. As St. Eusebius
of Vercelli, St. Martin of Tours, and St. Augustine had done before him, he obliged the clergy of his episcopal city to live He drew up a Rule^ for them inspired by that in community. of St. Benedict. It prescribed a common dwelling, table, and dormitory. The singing of the divine office was to take place Manual work at the traditional hours both of day and night. was obligatory, as also was the taking of turns in the service The clergy of many cathedral churches and of the kitchen. ecclesiastics of a large number of important parishes adopted the Rule and formed communities of canons regular, which later on became the chapters of cathedral and collegiate
1
-

Regula solitariorum,
Id., ix.

xii.

Cf. viii.

Chrodegangi regula

can., ed.

W. Schmitz.

1889.

"Caestcrn /onastlctsm after tbc jfiftb Centura 259 churches. The reform undertaken by St. Chrodcgang did not last. The clerk.s, whilst living in community, kept their property and the right to the use of their possessions. The difference of fortune between them was an obstacle to the common life. In the tenth century the work of St. Chrodegang was almost extinct.
III. THE

SPANISH MONASTIC RULES: THE RULES OF THE ARCHBISHOPS OF SEVILLE, ST. LEANDER, AND ST. ISIDORE THE RULE OF ST. FRUCTUOSUS OF BRAGA
:

St. Le.wder, the eldest brother of St. Isidore, was ArchHe had the glory bishop of Seville from about 584 to 600. Leander of wresting the \'isigoths of Spain from Arianism. it is little more than an left a Rule for convents of women exhortation addressed to his sister Florentina on the duties of The counsels given are similar to those which religious.' have already been noticed in other writings of this kind.
;

Far more famous

St. Isidore,^ the

is

the Rule for

Monks drawn up by

brother of Leander, and the restorer of learnSt. Isidore occupied the archiepiscopal see of ing in Spain. He presided at the fourth Council of Seville until 636.

Toledo

in

633.

St. Isidore

He wrote his Rule for Baetica, now Andalusia.

The Rule
are

had been a monk before he became archbishop. a monastery in the Province of

of St. Isidore contains many enactments which According to the preface, to the other Rules. was drawn up after comparing the ancient monastic it traditions with the more recent writings on the subject.

common

St. Benedict's Rule is not mentioned by name, but it was doubtless known to St. Isidore. The Rule of St. Isidore, however, is distinguished from the others in several points. It orders that the monastic enclosure must be rigidly observed only one door must give access to the convent, and must be well guarded.^ Every year, on the feast of Pentecost, all the religious had to renew their vow of poverty, and to promise to keep nothing For for themselves which they might receive from outside. that which a monk acquires is not for himself, but for the monastery. The religious also were obliged to confess to the
;

abbot any important faults.* During divine office, at the end of each Psalm, probably at
1

Regula S. Leandri, seu Liber de institutione virginum

(P.L.

et

contemftu

mundi ad Florentinam sororem

*

LXXII,
*

873-894).

5^^-572).
3

Sancti Isidort Hisfalensts Efiscopi regula monaihorum (P.I CIII, It comprises twenty three chapters.
i.

Isidori regula,

Id., v, xiv.

26o

Cbrlstlan Spirituality

the Gloria Patri, the religious prostrated themselves on the

ground in adoration of God.^ Three times a week, after Tierce, the abbot called the monks together and gave them a conference [collatio). Each day at Prime manuscripts vi^ere distributed for reading. These had to be returned in the evening to the one who had charge of them. In the mind of St. Isidore, the monastery was to
'^

be a retreat for learning. Finally, prayer for the dead was strongly inculcated.
eucharistic sacrifice

The

was

offered for

monks who

died, before

dead were buried in the one cemetery, united by charity when alive might be brought together in one place after their death." Every year, the day after Pentecost, the holy sacrifice was offered for the souls of all the monks of the monastery who had died.^
All the " that those

burying them.

who had been

Some years after St. Isidore, Spain had another somewhat celebrated legislator of monastic life viz., St. Fructuosus, Archbishop of Braga. Given up from early years to the religious life, Fructuosus founded many religious houses, amongst others the monastery of Complutum, in Castille, for which he drew up a Rule, which was inspired by that of St. Benedict.*

IV.THE MONASTIC

ANIANE
The
was not

IN

WORK OF ST. BENEDICT OF THE NINTH CENTURY

extraordinary development of monastic life in the West Indeed, it was not an effected without difficulties. easy task to make amenable to religious discipline recruits from the semi-barbarous population of the West. The severity of some Rules may be accounted for, at least in part, by the necessity to check these uncultured and sensual natures. To these difficulties, incidental to the government of abbeys, were soon added others which came from without. The lands which the monks had redeemed, or which had been given them by princes, rendered certain monasteries extremely Superabundance of worldly possessions is always a rich. It proved fatal to the great danger for religious houses.
1

Isidori regula, vii.

Id., xxiii.

Id., viii, ix.

* Regula monachorum (P.L. LXXXVII, 1099-1110). Another Rule [Regula nionastica connnunis, P.L. 1111-1130) is attributed to St. Fructuosis, to regulate monasteries composed, no longer of individuals, but of families. Married people were admitted there with their children, provided the latter were not more than seven years old. But the men and boys lived on one side under the direction of the abbot, and the women The monastic with their daughters on the other under an abbess. exercises were proportioned to suit this arrangement. The authenticity of this Rule has not been fully established.

TlClc^tcni /ll>onai?tlciein attcr tbc Jfittb Ccutun: 2A1 nionastcrics after the cif;flitli centuiy by excitiiij,' the envy of laymen, se\eral of whom manaj^ed to have themselves nominated as abbots. Charles Martel was the first to inaii^'-iirate the system of lay abbots. The relij^-'ioiis fervour of the monasteries was thus shaken, and was only maintained thanks to the action of reformers whom God raised up from time to time. One of those reformers at the bef^'inninj^ of the ninth century was St. Benedict of Aniane. Born in 751 near Montpellier, in southern Gaul, Benedict was brougfht up in the court of Pepin Ic Bref, and was attached to the service of C'harlemai,'^ne. Having- become a monk, he founded, about the year 780, on the banks of the Aniane, in the country of his birth, the abbey to which he owes his surname.' He followed strictly the Benedictine Rule and brought about the revival of true monastic
traditions.
g^reat

The Abbey of Aniane exercised a happy influence on a number of monasteries in Narbonne, and soon on others throughout the empire. It was by the advice of the Abbot of

Aniane that the Council of .Aix-la-Chapelle, called together in 817 by Louis le Debonnaire, obliged all the monasteries of The the Prankish empire to adopt the Rule of St. Benedict. reform thus effected was of exceptional importance.^ Thanks thereto, the monastic institutions were able to continue their work until the great reform which was brought about in the tenth century by the Abbey of Cluny. but not so his work. St. Benedict of Aniane died in 821 He left two writings, which had considerable influence on monastic life. The first was a summary of the monastic Rules which had been composed before him.^ This summary is divided into three parts. The first contained the Oriental Rules, those of St. Pachomius and St. Basil, together with a large number of monastic phrases drawn from the Vitae Patrum and from the History of Monks, translated by Rufinus. The second part contained the Rules for monasteries of men, written in the West, and which we have just been studying. Finally, the third part dealt with Western Rules for monasteries of women. Luke Holstein, the editor of St. Benedict of Aniane's works, collects together in an appendix a certain number of homilies from the Fathers, addressed to monks or virgins, which the Abbot of Aniane had gathered together, but which were not in the body of the summary.
;

Smaragdus
Codex

(843),

Vi/a S. Benedicti Anianensis,

(P.L. CI II,

355-358)* Id., 12 seqq.

3

regularum monasticarum

el

canonicarum (PL. CIII,

4^3-

702).

262
This

in the following centuries the monastic code which inspired all legislators and monastic reformers. The other work of St. Benedict of Aniane was a Concordance^ of all the ancient Rules with that of St. Benedict. With a view to adding to the authority of this Rule, which had just been imposed on all the monasteries, the Abbot of Aniane conceived the idea of annotating each of its chapters with similar passages collected from the older Rules. In this way the Rule of Monte Cassino became provided with the best of commentaries.

Summary

Cbristian Splritualiti? of Rules was certainly

been analyzed give a precise end of the Patristic Era and at the beginning of the Middle Ages. To the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience most of the founders of monasteries added the vow of stability, in order to suppress wandering monks. Serfs were received into monasteries as well as free and rich men they enjoyed the same rights, took upon themselves the same obligations, and obeyed the same Rule. Faithful observance of the Rule was the chief duty of the monk and the highest means of sanctification. Monastic piety was nourished by the recitation of the divine office, Confession study and meditation on the word of God. purified souls from their sins, and eucharistic communion caused the divine life to grow and increase within them. Two devotions were developed in the monasteries of this period, that of the Blessed Sacrament and that of the Blessed
just
life

idea of

The Rules which have Western monastic

at the

Virgin. As Christian piety towards any one divine mystery increases, the attention of the teachers of the Church is In the early Middle Ages, directed thereto more narrowly. thanks to the fourth book of the dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, in which he speaks so much about the Mass, Furthermore, we devotion to the Eucharist spread greatly. find that Paschase Radbert, a monk, and afterwards Abbot of Corbie, in Gaul, in the ninth century, published a famous work On the Body and Blood of the Lord, and began a series of discussions with the monk Ratramnus, which resulted in bringing well to the fore the doctrine of transubstantiation.^ Intellectual life in the monasteries in the eighth and ninth In Great Britain the centuries was highly developed. Venerable Bede (735),' a monk of Jarrow, attracted a number
Concordaniia regularum Patrum (P.L. CIII, 713-1380). These eucharistic studies were continued in the eleventh century by Lanfranc, Abbot of the monastery of Bee, in Normandy. In them
'

}e
'

refuted the heresy of Berengarius. See his works in P.L., XC to XCV.

XKaestcrn /IDonasttcism after tbc ififtb Ccuturi^ 263 of disciples by his lame and learning^. One ol them, Alcuin of V'ork, whose ascetic writings will frequently be cited later on, was invited to the Frankish empire by Charlemagne, and,
together with Paul the deacon,

inaugurated there a great

movement towards learning. At his request in 789, all monasteries were commanded to establish schools.^ Learned monks studied more especially the writings of St. Augustine. It was through the study of his writings
without proper discernment that the monk Gottschalk^ put forward heterodox theories as to predestination, and thus provoked the lively controversies of the ninth century. The X'irgin Mary was held in veneration by the monks and nuns, chiefly as a model of incomparable purity. St. Caesarius of Aries, in his homilies, is at pains to bring out in high relief the virginity of the Mother of God and her freedom from
all sin.

"Believe, my most dear brethren," he said, "that was born of the Virgin Mary, who was virgin Christ before child-birth, who remained so ever after, and who was completely free from every stain and from every sin."' In the monasteries of Gaul Mary was habitually regarded as the ideal of purity, and about the twelfth century the privilege of her immaculate conception was venerated. The praises addressed to the Virgin, " who is above all praise," call to mind those which occur in the Greek lectionaries, and we may venture to assert that the devotion and tender piety towards Our Lady which are to be found so gloriously expressed in the cathedrals of the Middle Ages were chiefly fostered in the monasteries. Confidence, also, in the powerful intercession of the Queen of all the Saints increased in the hearts of the monks. The Mother of God, incomparably holy, raised to heaven so gloriously at her assumption, and placed above angels and archangels, would never allow their prayers to remain unAt Aries about 544 the Basilica attached to the answered. monastery of nuns was dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary,"* as though inviting all to come and pray there with the certain hope of being heard. An ancient formula from such prayers addressed to Mary
. . .

has come down to us. The special mention of monks and nuns therein is noteworthy. succurre ergo niiseris, juva ptisilO Virgo beata
. . .

P.L.

De
2

virtutibus et vitiis ; De animae ralione CI, 643656. Alcuin has also left a work on hagiconfessione feccatorum.

De

ography

(col. 655-724).

Gottschalk was first an oblate of the monastery of Fulda, then a monk of Orbais near Soissons about Sag. He was condemned in 848 at the Synod of Mavence. 3 Strmo CCXLIV, i (P.L. XXXIX. 2195). * S. Aurelianx regula ad virgines, xiv, xxxviii.

264

Cbristian Spiritualitp

lanimes, refove flebiles, ora pro populo, interveni pro clero intercede pro tnonachoruni chore, exora pro devoto femineo sexu; sentiant onines tuutn levamen, quicunique devote celebrant tuum nomen. ^

v.THE WESTERN HAGIOGRAPHERS OF THE SIXTH CENTURY ST. ENNODIUS OF PAVIA EUGIPPIUS ST. GREGORY OF TOURS AND
:

FORTUNATUS
of the sixth and following centuries is The literary barrenness of this period is here made fully manifest. St. Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia (521) has left two interesting biographies the Life of St. Epiphanus, a Bishop of Pavia who died in 496, and the Life of St. Antony, monk of Lerins.^ Eugippius, abbot of a monastery in the neighbourhood of Naples, wrote, about 511, the Life of St. Severinus. He also drew up a collection of the ascetic sayings of St. Augustine, which was much valued in the centuries which followed.^ St. Gregory of Tours* is, above all, known from his History of the Franks. He is, perhaps, a little too credulous, but, for all that, a hagiographer worthy of esteem. The hagiographic collection of Gregory of Tours is usually referred to under the title Of the Glory of the Martyrs {De gloria martyrum). The writer himself entitles his work Books of Miracles,^ because it was his desire to give an account of the miracles performed by the holy men and women whose In reality neither of these titles adequately lives he writes. describes the collection, which consists of writings independent of one another and composed at different times. The work^ starts with the book Of the Glory of the Martyrs, which recounts the miracles of our Saviour and of the Apostles and those of divers martyrs of Gaul, and especially the first preachers of the Gospel in that country. The second book treats of the miracles of St. Julian, a martyr of Vienna, put to death in 304, whose tomb, situated at Brioude, was much frequented by pilgrims. In the four following books St. Gregory gives an account
inferior to that of the East.
:

Western hagiography

XXXIX,

In festo assumftionis B. Mariae, 11 (P.L. CCVIII The same prayer with variations is again found in another sermon, Sermo CXCIV, 5 (P.L. XXXIX, 2107). It has become
1

Sermo

2134).

the well-known anthem in the Office of the Blessed Virgin Maria, succurre miseris.
.
.

Sancta

3 P.L. LXII. P.L. LXIII. Born at Clermont Ferrand in 538, Gregory was brought up by his maternal uncle St. Gall, Bishop of Clermont. He afterwards was attached to the court of Sigebert I, King of Austrasia, then he was nominated Bishop of Tours, where he died about 593. " P.L. LXXI, 705-1096. ^ C/. Hisioria Francorum, X, 31. 2 *

XClc9tcrn /monastic tsm after tbc Jftftb Ccnturv? 265 of The Miracles of St. Martin. This work was unclcrtakcn partly from a desire to edify the faithful and also from
See of Tours, had been miraculously cured of a severe illness, throuLfh the ^reat wonder-worker of Gaul. Sulpicius Scverus had already recounted the miracles wrought by St. Martin when alive. Paulinus of Peripfucux,* about 470, was the historian of the posthumous miracles of the fainous Risliop of Tours. St. drcf^ory undertook to write an account of the miracles which were wrought in his time. The seventh book of .St. riretror}''s selections is entitled the JAjc of the Fathers, and is the most interestinj^- part. It consists of twenty chapters, containinpf the bioji^raphies of twenty-two men and women, saints of the Gallican Church.
g^ratitiide.

In 563, before beint^ raised to the

St. riret,'ory

Finally, the ciq-hth book, Of the (Uory of the Confessors.* a collection of miraculous lep-ends, and of wonders worked at the tombs of holy persons buried in the Touraine and surroundinf>- country.
is

The hag^iographic^ work of St. Gregory of Tours was a great success. It edified the faithful and turned them from pagan fables, to which the people of Gaul, but recently converted to Christianity, were inclined to give credence. It contains most precious information on the devotion to the saints and the veneration of their relics in Gaul in the sixth century. Future writers, such as Surius and Bollandus, who undertook collections of the Lives of the Saints, made large use of the writings of St. Gregory of Tours. Fortunatus* is much more of a poet than a hagiographer. It was he who composed the two beautiful hymns, Panpe lingua gJoriosi and VexiUa regis prodeunt, which we sing in
Passiontide.

He has left us, however, several well-authenticated' biographies, written in prose, for the edification of the Christian people, from which hagiography has borrowed reliable information. St. Gregory the Great, Pope, may to a certain extent be included amongst hagiographers. The three first books of his Dialogues' contain accounts of miracles performed by
vita S. Martini Efiscofi libri VI (P.L. LXI, 1009 ^fgq.)In Migne's Patrology this book is the third of the collection. It is placed after the book of The Miracles of St. Julian. 3 The book entitled The Book of the Miracles of the Apostle St. Andrew should also be added (P.L. LXXI, 1099-1102). * He was born about 530 in the environs of Treviso, in Northern Italy. He journeyed to Gaul and settled at Poitiers, near St. Radegund, about 570. 6 Life of St. Hilary of Poitiers; Life of St. Uarcellus, Pishop of Paris; Life of St. Albinus, Bishop of Angers; Life of St. Paternus, Bishop of Avranrhet : fife of St. Germanus of Paris; Life of St. Radegund (P.L. LXXXVIll).
1

De

PL. LXXVII.

149-317.

266

Cbristian Sptrttualitp

holy persons in Italy whom he had known or of whom he had heard. The second book is confined to St. Benedict of Nursia.* Few works have been copied or translated so much as the Dialogues of St. Gregory, which soon became known to the whole world. But the illustrious Pontiff has other claims on our interest in the history of spirituality.

VI.THE LATIN ASCETICAL WRITERS AFTER THE FIFTH CENTURY BOETHIUS, ST. MARTIN OF BRAGA, AND ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
:

Perhaps some surprise may be

felt at

finding the

name

of

Boethius in a history of spirituality. This philosopher was apparently a rather slack Christian, enjoying life to the full when fortune favoured him, and yet he exercised considerable influence on the asceticism of the Middle Ages. For he gave expression in poignant language to the nothingness of human happiness and the disenchantment of the heart of man, stripped of all through adversity. Born in Rome about 480 of an illustrious family, consul in y 510, the favourite of Theodoric the Great, Boethius was one of fortune's favourites. Then came a sudden collapse. Unjustly accused of treason, he was thrown into prison at Pavia and put to death with terrible tortures in 524. It was in prison that he w'rote his celebrated work. On the Consolations of Philosophy,^ later to be so widely read and quoted by the authors of the Meditations of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In order to console himself, Boethius asks philosophy to describe to him the futility of riches, which can only be amassed by impoverishing one's neighbour; of of pleasures, dignities, which are a source of weariness which kill after they have charmed. Finally, " adversity is better for man than prosperity, for the latter lies and leads to adversity shows things to be what they are error and vice
; :

and leads
St.

to truth

and virtue."^

Martin, Bishop of Braga in Spain, and above all Pope Gregory the Great, may be said to be the only writers of the sixth and seventh centuries who have left us their works on spirituality.* St. Martin, who at first was Abbot of the monastery at
St.
1

The work is divided into five books. It is in the form of a dialogue between Boethius and Philosophy, and is most elegant in style. Verse alternates with prose. ' ^ De consol. fhilosfh., lib. II, 5-8, III, 2-8. * The anonymous treatises inserted in Vol. of Migne's Patrologie latine appear to have been drawn up by writers of the twelfth, and even the thirteenth and fourteenth, centuries.
2

P.L. LXVI, 126-204. P.L. LXIII, 579-862.

drawn up

XL

TlClcstern /IDonastlclem after tbc Jfittb Centurt? 267 Dumio, near Braga, became, about 5()i, Bishop of Dumio and afterwards Archbishop of Bragfa, the place of residence He had the plory of convertinj;^ to of the Sucvian kings. Catholic orthodoxy the Suevian Arians, whose kinp, Miro, was much devoted to him. Accordint,^ to Grcj^ory of Tours,' St. Martin was very cultivated. He draws inspiration at times from both Plato and Seneca in his writing^s on morals and asceticism. These consisted of six small works, dedicated to Kinj,'- Miro,* which treat of moral questions rather than spirituality.
St. Gregor\ the Great, the last but glorious luminary of the Patristic Era in its decline, was born in Rome, about 540, of an illustrious patrician family. Like most of the churchmen of that time who left their mark on the period, Gregory was trained in the cloister. Whilst still young he gave up a political career he was Praetor of Rome sold his enormous fortune for the relief of

another

and founded seven monasteries six in Sicily and Rome on the Coelian Hill, to which latter he There he followed the Rule of St. Benedict.^ The retired. Abbot of Monte Cassino had entirely captivated Gregor}-, who in the second book of the Dialogues became his famous
the poor,
in

panegyrist. It was not long before the Popes compelled Gregory to leave his conxent in order to create him regional cardinal, and afterwards nuncio at Constantinople. Finally, he was In 604 he died. elected Pope in 590.

Gregory's practical bent inclined him towards moral Beyond everything he laboured to restore the religious life, which had been destroyed by It is to ordinary Christians, constant social upheavals. therefore, that he addresses his homilies on Ezechiel and on the Gospels;* and also in his Morals, in which, in explaining the Book of Job, he sets forth the duties of the Christian life. The moral precepts of the Gospel are intermingled there with
St.

and canonical questions.

the rules of asceticism, in the same way as in the homilies of St. Augustine and the other Fathers of the Church.'' The only work on spirituality properly so called which
1

Historia Franc, V, 37, 38.

first, Formula vilae honestae, treats of the four cardinal virtues the four others deal with anger, boasting, -pride, and humility (P.L. St. Martin also composed sermons directed against I, XXII, 21-50). the idolatrous practices of the Spanish peasants. 3 Paul the Deacon, Sancti Gregorii Magni Vita, I, 1-6 (P.L. LXXV,
*

The

41 44)*

P.L.

forty
5

There are twenty-two homilies on Ezechiel and 785-1314. on the Gospels. These latter are often found quoted in the
libri

Breviary.

Moralium
509 to

XXXV
782).

sive

exfositio

in

librum

B.

Job

(P.L.

LXXV,

LXXVI.

268
St.

Cbristtan Spirituality Gregory has left us is that of the Dialogues,^ written in 593 and 594. One day the saintly Pope, longing with more than his usual home-sickness for the cloister, withdrew for some time into solitude, full of sadness at being turned from the care of his own salvation by the weight of business One of his friends, affairs, which pressed heavily upon him. St. Gregory, the Deacon Peter, came and joined him.^ discoursing with him concerning some holy persons whose miracles he relates, makes certain observations on holiness, contemplation, and on Christian virtues.

The spiritual doctrine of St. Gregory does not differ from that of St. Augustine. He agrees with the Bishop of Hippo that perfection,
however high it may be, does not totally exclude little faults.^ Love of God and love of one's neighbour are the dominant notes, for love is essentially active, and manifests itself by more and more excellent works Probatio ergo dilectionis exhibitio est operis.* All the beautiful teaching on charity which we so admired in St. Augustine is again found in the homilies of St. Gregory the Great. The same may be said of the theory of temptation. vSt. Gregory, however, dwells on this at great length, and, like an experienced casuist well versed in the weaknesses of
:

the

human

heart, he points out the different states of soul

which the tempter may bring about, and gives detailed

advice for their detection. When he speaks of Christ it is to give Him the first place in Christian piety. But it is in pastoral theology that the personality of He himself St. Gregory the Great is most made manifest. was a perfect pastor of souls, and he devoted himself, either in his numerous Letters, or, above all, in his celebrated Pastoral Rule,^ to form good workmen for the ecclesiastical
ministry.

The Pastoral Rule contains four parts, corresponding to the four duties of the true pastor. First of all, there must be " fear of the burden of the pastoral office and a clear under1 P.L. De' vita

The full title is this Dialogorum libri IV, 147-430. miraculis Patrum italicorum et de aeternitate animarum. The fourth hook contains an account of miraculous visions of the future life. St. Gregory there demonstrates the immortality of the

LXXVII,
ei

soul.
' Moralium, V, cap. xxxiii. Dialogorum, I, froemium. Homilia, XXX, in Evangelia, lib. II (P.L, LXXVI, 1220 seqq.). 5 Regulae fastoralis liber (P.L. LXXVII, 13-128). It is dedicated to John, Archbishop of Ravenna, who, in a friendly way, had reproached Gregory for having fled in order to escape the responsibilities of Sovereign Pontiff. It was written about 591. The Pastoral had an immense success in the Latin Church and even in the East, where it soon became known from a Greek translation.
2

XlUlcstern /IDonastlcism after tbc jflftb

.st;Muliiij^
(l

Ccntur? 269
liaviiij^-

the

c|ii;ililicati()ns

tcjuircd.

hrn,

been

lawfully ordained without having- sought it, it is needful to know what the life of a true pastor should be. Then come the rules for preaching-, which must be learnt in order to teach Christian doctrine. Finally, the pastor must examine himself daily and thereby know his weakness, in order to avoid pride and the danger of living contrarily to the teaching he gives to others.' The first qualification which St. Gregory looks for from the pastor is knowledge. Nothing- can be learnt without study how much the more, therefore, the art of leading souls, which is the art of arts. Ars est artium regimen aniinarum. The art of healing souls does not come of itself any more than that of healing- the body. The ignorant, therefore, must be eliminated Irom the sacerdotal ministry, for they are the blind who are incapable of leading others. Certain men presume to insinuate themselves from ambition or from a taste for the honours of pastoral office. If they succeed it is without the call of God and without possessing^ the necessary virtue. The Sovereign Pastor does not know such, and one day He will judge and condemn
;

them. Others are perfectly instructed concerning divine truths, but their manner of life is in contradiction to their teaching. They scandalize souls, and if they but recall the terrible condemnations of the Saviour against those who give scandal they will never take upon themselves the mission of directing others. The care of souls is so formidable a ministry that those who are unworthy must not desire it, otherwise they become leaders guiding men to perdition. Many may deceive themselves in this matter and believe
that they only desire the honour of governing the faithful in But no sooner do they order to perform a great work. possess that which they coveted than all their grand projects fade away and they remain in their own misery. St. Gregory had seen the activities of many of these ambitious men around him, and describes their psychology with great shrewdness. ^ After enumerating those who are unworthy of the pastoral office, St. Gregory gives a portrait of one who deserves to be
raised thereto
"
totally
:

of others should be confided to him who is dead to the passions of the flesh and whose life is wholly spiritual who despises the advantages of this world and fears not adversity and gives importance only to those who does not covet the things which concern the soul goods of others, but gives largely of his own who is inclined

The guidance
;

Regulae past., froemium. C/. In librum primum Re gum, cap. Id., I, cap. i to xi.

x.

270
to

Cbristian Spirttualfts through kindness, but without exaggeration or deviation from justice who commits no evil, but weeps on account of that committed by others as though imputed to himself who is heartily compassionate towards the weaknesses of another and rejoices at his happiness as at his own who is for all so perfect an example that he has no need to blush for his deeds who strives to live so perfectly that he is able to spread the dew of heavenly doctrine even on the driest hearts who knows by long experience that prayer is able to obtain from the Lord that which is asked of Him.^ ..." The pastor legitimately established should become noted
lenity
; ; ; ;

and

for his great purity of intention, active zeal, perfect discretion, gift of useful preaching. He must be wholly at his neighbour's service, without neglecting his own sanctification. His humility, his earnestness in recalling sinners without fear of displeasing man, his tact in dissembling the faults of his subordinates when prudence requires it, his assiduity in the study and meditation of the divine law, will make him appear, in the eyes of the faithful, the true pastor. Amongst the sacerdotal duties, those of preaching and fraternal correction are, perhaps, the most important, and are On this subject St. Gregory in any case the most difficult. gives detailed counsels based on experience, on the way to preach well and usefully exhort the different classes of the faithful according to their conditions and states of soul. Preachers and confessors of later centuries have found in the third part of the Pastoral most wise rules to guide them in their delicate work. St. Gregory ends with an invitation addressed to the pastor not to neglect the care of his own soul in working for those The Pastoral is in reality as much a code of of others.^ sacerdotal holiness as a treatise on pastoral theology.*

Regulae fast., I, cap. x. 3 /^_^ jya pars. Id., II, cap. i to xi. * It is useful to cite here St. Ildefonsus, Bishop of Toledo (669), the author of a treatise on the Perpetual Virginity of St. Mary (P.L. XCVI, 53-110), in which, in an elegant style, he stigmatizes the errors of Helvidius, of Jovinian, and of the Jews of Spain, on the maternal virginity. Ildefonsus expresses his veneration, his love, and his filial piety towards Mary in terms of enthusiasm which call to mind the hor^ilies on this subject by the Eastern preachers.
1

CHAPTER

XII

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN MONASTICISM AFTER THE FIFTH CENTURY

MONASTERIES AND LAURAS GRI^EK SPIRITUAL WRITERS OF THE SIXTH TO THE TENTH CENTURIES: HAGIOGRAPHERS, ASCETICAL WRITERS AND MYSTICS, THE PANEGYRISTS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
the East the discipline under which monasticism developed was not so steady as in the West. The Rule of St, Pachomius and that of St. Basil secured good order in the monasteries but unhappily Amongst them these did not include all the monks. were many who lived as hermits and ordered their lives independently of any monastery. Too often they were seen wandering in the towns or country, where they brought Even those that lived in comdiscredit on monasticism. munity could easily pass, without serious cause, from one convent to another. This state of things, added to the mobile Oriental temperament, soon created diflficulties. The Emperor Justinian was obliged to issue decrees compelling monks to live in monasFrom the ninth century there were hardly any monks teries. in the East, except in Basilian convents.

IN

I. EASTERN

MONASTICISM AFTER THE FIFTH IN THE PENINSULA OF SINAI, IN CONSTANTINOPLE, AND IN PALESTINE^

CENTURY
In

name

Egypt the controversies which arose in connection with the of Origen created trouble in certain monastic centres. In the desert of Nitria opposition to Origenist ideas was verv marked, and many monks, in reaction against AlexThey proandrian allegorism, became anthropomorphists.
tested,
in 399, against the paschal letter of Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, which opposed the idea that God has a body. ^ Others of the monks, on the contrary, were

Principal Sources. The numerous Lives of Saints to be cited. This opinion that God is not a pure spirit had considerable vogue among the monks of the deserts of Scete and Nitria. See Cassian,
1

Collatio, X, 2, 3.

271

272

Cbristian Spirituality

fervent admirers of Origen. The theories of the famous Doctor against matter and the resurrection of the body were held in particular esteem, for did they not look upon their own bodies as their greatest enemy? Thus, a writer who depreciated the body could not be other than attractive to them. Amongst these Origenist monks were to be found many influential persons, who gave considerable strength to the movement.

Theophilus thought it needful to intervene, more especially as his paschal letter might make him appear favourable to Origenist ideas. He therefore betook himself to the desert of Nitria, caused Origen to be condemned, and forbade his books to be read by the monks. Many of the monks refused to submit to the judgement of the patriarch. About three hundred of them must have quitted Egypt. They took refuge in Palestine, and several of them carried their grievances to "^ Constantinople, where they obtained the aid and protection "^ of the bishop, St. John Chrysostom. The latter took the view that the quarrel was in reality a persecution of the monks, and acted in so untoward a manner that it brought about his undoing. Accused of being on the side of Origen, St. John Chrysostom was deposed at the synod of The Oak, near Chalcedon, in 403, by Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who conducted himself on that occasion with signal dishonesty. The threatening pressure of intriguing monks was not without its influence on this iniquitous sentence. The discussions on Origen began again in the sixth century in the convents of Palestine, where a violent struggle took place between the monks, which ended in the defeat of the supporters of the Origenist theories. As to the Egyptian monasteries, if they continued for the most part hostile to Origen, they allowed themselves to become tainted with Monophysitism. This heresy deprived the Church, in the sixth century, of that part of the Empire which had given birth to monasticism, and where it had

shone with such great brilliancy.^

In the peninsula of Sinai, the monastery raised on the holy mountain, already made famous by St. Nilus, was rendered even more celebrated in the sixth century by St. John - Climacus, the well-known author of The Ladder of Paradise. Round and about the sacred mountain lived numerous hermits. For, contrary to the teaching of St. Basil, the - doctrine of the superiority of the eremitical life over that of the cenobites still prevailed. It was judged necessary for novices and monks still imperfect to continue in the monasteries. Three distinctions were made between the monks from the point of view of perfection the beginners, the
:

I'he

Egyptian Monophysites were called Copts.

JEastcru /Donasticism attcrltbc flftb Century 273 The cenobitic life was intermediate, the wholly perfect.' insisted on for the first and second, but those religious who
far advanced in the practice of virtue as to desire to unite themselves more closely to (iod and give themselves up to contemplation, retired from their convents into solitude.^

had so

In the district surrounding Constantinople monasteries were greatly multiplied after the sixth century.^ But all the

monks there did not lead the life of cenobites. Many lived as hermits in complete solitude,' either in lauras or else dwelling in separate huts, but united under the authority of a common head, where they gave themselves up to prayer and manual work. They were called Kelliotes.^ In each convent and in each laura there was a superior, sometimes known as Archiviandrite, and sometimes Leader, or Hegouvienos. A pastoral staff was the sign of his jurisdiction. The title of Archimandrite was, little by little, reserved for the su[)eriors of the older and more important monasteries.
The name abbot was given
to
all

religious.

The

title

papas

began to be used very early to distinguish priests." There were also monasteries of women [sanctinioniales] and virgins. Men were strictly forbidden to enter, as also women were forbidden access to convents for men.^ "My
children," said a holy religious of that time to his disciples, " the monk is like salt. Salt comes out of water and dissolves in contact with water; the monk is born of woman "^ and loses himself by the absorbing contact with woman. the tradition, the occupations of According to monastic religious were prayer and manual work. In the monastery of the Irenaeon, near Constantinople, the monks, under the influence of the sect of Massalians, suppressed work in order to give themselves up to unceasing Day and night, by distributed groups, they kept up prayer. perpetual psalmody, from which they received the name of This innovation was introAkoiiuetoi, or sleepless monks. Hut the duced into several monasteries of Constantinople. opposition against monks who did no work and laid themselves open to the abuse of public charity, prevented this new form of monasticism from increasing,
St. John Climacus, Scala Paradisi, gradus i6. This is what St. John Climacus did himself and what he recommends in his Ladder oj Paradise, gradus 2^. Cf. St. Dorotheas,
1

Doclnna. 16 (P.G. LXXXVIII, 1793). 3 There were, in 536, sixty-eight monasteries bourhood of Constantinople, and forty in that
concil.. Vol.
* 6

for of

men

in the neigh-

Chalcedon (Mansi,

VIII, 1007-1018).

into Styliles, Recluses, and Boski. Vita Sabae, 16, 18 (Cotelier, Ecclesiae Graecae monumenta. Vol. Ill, Paris, 1686). C/. St. Dorotheus, id. * Vita Sabae, ' Justinian Novels, CXXIII, 36. 54, 70, etc. John Moschus, Spiritual Meadow. 217 (P.G. LXXXVII, 3018). 18

They were divided

274 Cbrfstfan Spirituality Monasticism of this period was g^enerally looked upon as a No crime, state of penance, in which faults were expiated. however g-rave, could prevent a man from becoming- a monk if he so desired. Many entered the convent to atone for a disordered past, or just simply to make their salvation sure. But the Byzantine monasteries of the seventh and eighth centuries contained many less noble vocations, produced from a desire to avoid military service, or for financial reasons, or The Iconoclast perseon account of approaching- old ag-e. cution, however, purged the Byzantine monasteries, which, in the face of this trial, generously remained faithful to It was, in fact, in the monasteries that the Orthodoxy,^ iconoclastic Emperors of Byzantium met with most active opposition. Some famous defenders of the tradition of the Church's devotion to pictures were, or had been, monks St. Nicephorus^ (828) monk and afterwards Patriarch of
'^

Constantinople, St. Theodore of Studium (826), Abbot of the

convent of Studium in the outskirts of Constantinople, and, above all, St. John Damascene.
It

was

in

Palestine,

at

this

period,

that

monasticism

reached

its

influence of Theodore the Cenobiarch. The monks of Palestine were gathered chiefly east of Jerusalem in the mountainous solitude which extends as far as the plain of the Jordan and to the Dead Sea and was called It was there that "the monastic desert of Jerusalem."

most considerable development, thanks to the St. Euthymius the Great, St. Sabas, and St.

Euthymius

Armenia, in 377.* he was appointed, all the monasteries of his Feeling the desire for a more perfect life, he native town. gave up his position and came to the laura of Pharan, near Drawn to the eremitical life, he soon retired, Jerusalem. together with a disciple named Theoctistus, into a cave in the His holiness drew many disciples desert at Wady-Dabor. there, and for their accommodation he built a convent, of As to Euthymius, ^which Theoctistus was given charge. irresistibly called to a life of solitude, he withdrew to the plain of Sahel, where he founded the famous laura of that name.

He was

Ordained by his bishop, archimandrite over

settled in 405. born at Melitene, in Lesser priest when nineteen years old,

The
1

authority of St. Euthymius in Palestine

was exceed-

Pargoire, VEglise byzantine, pp. 214, 215. Paris. 1905. 2 Id., p. 308 seqq. 3 His works in Migne, P.G., Vol. C. Exiled by the Emperor Leo the Armenian, St. Nicephorus died in the monastery of St. Theodore. * Cyril of Scythopolis. Vita Euthymii , in Ecclesiae Graecae monumenta of Cotelier, Vol. IV, pp. i-gg. Paris. 1692. C/. R. Genier, Vie de Saint Euth\yni le Grand- Paris. 1909.
J.

lEastci-n /IDonastfclem after tbe fittb Century 275 ing-ly great, yet it was not great enough to cause the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon to triumph. The monks of Palestine evinced a lively opposition to the doctrine of the two natures in Christ, and thus there was a monastic party opposed to the bishops i.e., to orthodoxy; and opposition even extended to acts of violence. Theodosius, an intriguing and brutal monk, having recruited a mob ready for any event, from the monasteries, entered Jerusalem, and, crushing all resistance by means of murder and fire, drove out Juvenal, the orthodox patriarch, and installed himself in his place. St. Euthymius was obliged to leave his laura of Sahel for the solitude of Rouba. This was in 452. The following year Theodosius left Jerusalem and St. Euthymius went back to his laura. He brought back a great number of apostate monks to the orthodox faith. The Empress Eudoxia, who had herself been led astray by Theodosius, was converted by Euthymius. But he had the grief of seeing many monks remain obstinate in heresy, such as
pious, though infatuated, Gerontius, the historian of Melania the Younger, who remained deaf to every appeal and ended his life in rebellion against the Church. The the

Abbot of Sahel died

a convent,

known

in 473. After his death his laura became as the coenobiuni of St. Euthymius.

Opposition to the Monophysite heresy was continued by Sabas,' a ilisciple of St. Euthymius. He was born in 439 at Mutallosque, near Caesaraea of Cappadocia. Family troubles disgusted him with the world, and whilst still young he entered a monastery close to the In 456 he came to Jerusalem, and the place of his birth. following year arrived at Sahel in order to put himself under the direction of Euthymius. The latter, in accordance with the principle that the convent should be the novitiate of the laura, sent him to Wady-Daber to be subject to St. Theoctistus. Sixteen years later, in 483, St. Sabas went to dwell in a cave south-east of Jerusalem, on the western bank of the Cedron. There he founded the laura which bears his name to-day, and which was known at that time as the Great More than sixty monks gathered round St. Sabas. Laura. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sallustus, discovered in the ruler of the Great Laura an unusual gift of organization and talent for business joined with great sanctity. He ordained him priest and appointed him archimandrite over all the St. Sabas showed great activity in lauras near Jerusalem. He founded several monasthe exercise of his new duties. teries, particularly the celebrated convent of Castelliurn, near He also built churches and hospitals. But his Jerusalem.
St.
^ Cyril of Scythopolis, I'ita Sahae, in Ecclesiae Graecae of Cotelier, Vol. HI, pp. 220-376.

^
.

morumenta

276

Cbristian Spirituality

He took considerable pains to provide for each laura and for the sanctification of the monks as far as possible. The purity of the faith was specially dear to the heart of the holy archimandrite, who defended with great vigour the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon, and preserved his monks from any taint of the
zeal did not stop here.

good government

Monophysite heresy.
In spite of the wisdom with which St. Sabas governed his lauras, there were malcontents, and a band of monks

revolted against him. It would appear that they could not forgive him his Cappadocian origin. The rebels founded the New Laura in opposition to the Great Laura. Sabas at length succeeded in mastering the opposition and subjecting the recalcitrants to a superior chosen by himself. But the New Laura seemed to be under a curse from its commencement. In spite of the efforts of St. Sabas, it became a hotbed of Origenism until the edict of Justinian in 543 proscribed the errors of the Alexandrian Doctor.^

At the same time that St. Sabas governed the lauras of the round Jerusalem, one of his friends, St. Theodore the Cenobiarch, ruled its monasteries.^ He also came from Cappadocia. In 451 he went to Jerusalem and was trained for the religious life by two disciples of St. Euthymius. About 476 he founded, in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, at the Grotto of the Magi, his famous convent which sheltered more than four hundred monks. Theodore was noted for his charity his labours for the feeding of Palestine during the great famine in 513-518 were most efficacious.
district
;

The monks of Palestine and of the environs of Constantinople thus lived either in monasteries or else in lauras. The latter were not destined to last any length of time. Being more difficult to govern owing to the absence of the common life, the Justinian legislation was unfavourable to them on Furthermore, from the seventh century the that account.^ leaning of monasticism towards the conventual form was most pronounced, and the laura ended by disappearing altogether.* The system of the lauras did not differ essentially from
St. Sabas died in 532, at the age of ninety-two. Cyril of Scythopolis, Viia Theodosii Coenobiarchae, Schrijien des Theodorus und Kyrillos, pp. 105-113. Usener, Leipzig. 1890. Coenobiarch signifies Head of Monasteries. ^ Novels, CXXXIII, i. * The ascetic writers hastened this movement by bringing out the advantage of the common life and the beauties of that living organism which is monasticism. St. Dorotheus {Doctrina, VI) compares the monastery to the human body. The rulers of it are the head and the monks occupied with different ofiBces are the members.
^

Eastern ^onasttclsm after tbe

Jflttb

Centura?

277

that of the ancient colonics of Egyptian hermits. The monks lived in huts, separate one from another, where they gave

They had a themselves up to prayer and manual work. superior, who called them together two or three times a week On Sundays and feast to give them spiritual conferences. days there was a liturgical assembly for the celebration of the Eucharist. The divine office, excepting that of the vigil At midnight, at a signal of Sunday, was sung in private. given by the canoruinh,^ each religious rose and sang the
Psalms of the night olTice in his cell. Manual work consisted In the laura, as in the largely in the making of baskets. monasteries, the principle that he who works not shall not
strictly observed. these ordinary means of sanctification St. Sabas added a great retreat, which began at the opening of Lent and

cat

was

To

ended on Palm Sunday.

During this period a notable development in the devotion John to the Blessed Virgin is observed in monastic circles. Moschus, in 620, speaks, in his Spiritual Meadow,'^ of a monk who venerated a picture of the Mother of Ciod, with her Son This practice was of great help to in her arms, in his cell. him in overcoming temptation against chastity. Another monk caused a lamp to be burnt before a picture St. Sabas, in order to foster devotion to the of Mary.' Virgin amongst his religious, had the large church of his laura built in honour of Mary the Mother of God.*
Finally, frequent confession became general among the monks. The custom of confession was stripped very early in Greek monastic circles of that exterior solemnity which accompanied the canonical penance to which the faithful were subjected. The Rule of St. Basil recommends monks conscious of any fault to accuse themselves to those amongst them to whom have been committed the dispensation of the In the sixth century mvsterics of God^ i.e., to priests. St. John Clirnacus set forth at length the advantage and efficacy of confession, which he recommends with insistence

to those
1

monks

desirous of greater sanctification.

The

religious responsible for giving the signal for the exercises of

the Laura.
2 3 6

Chap, xlv (P.n. LXXXVII, 2900). Chap, clxxx. Vi/a Sabae, n. :i2. Cotelier, p. 264. Reg. brev., tract. 2S8.

278

Cbristfan Spfritualft^

II.THE

HAGIOGRAPHERS OR AUTHORS OF THE MONASTIC MEMOIRS AND LIVES OF THE SAINTS: CYRIL OF SCYTHOPOLIS, ST. JOHN MOSCHUS, ST. SOPHRONIUS, LEONTIUS OF NEAPOLIS THE WORK OF ST. SIMEON METAPHRASTES
of Palladius, as also other collections

The Lausaic History

of anecdotes

and pious legends concerning celebrated monks which were to be found in monasteries/ became more and more popular in the fifth century. These kinds of writings were multiplied in the following century and produced a special type of literature, the Monastic Memoirs and the Lives of the Saints. All who were able to write, set down, for the edification of the monks and the faithful, the biographies
of holy persons

who

lived at the time or of

whom

the

memory

had been preserved. In the tenth century the celebrated monk Simeon Metaphrastes collected these works together, unfortunately with additions of his own, and thus produced his enormous collection of the Lives of the Saints, arranging them according to the calendar. Hagiography at this period had in view beyond everything the edification of souls. It does not ordinarily evince anxiety for historic exactitude, and insists, at times beyond measure, on the occurrence of marvels without being at pains
to establish their truth. Certain writers, however, had a more accurate conception of hagiography. Among these is Cyril of Scythopolis, thus named from the place of his birth in Palestine. In his childhood Cyril was acquainted with the celebrated

At the age of thirty he quitted his native town order to live, first of all, in the desert, afterwards in the convent of St. Euthymius, then in the New Laura near Jerusalem, and finally in the Great Laura of St. Sabas, where he died about 560. Cyril was a born hagiographer. The history of the great monastic rulers of the desert particularly excited his curiosity.
in

Abbot Sabas.

wrote the biography of the famous St. Euthymius the Great, who gave, as has been shown, so great an impetus to the monasticism of Palestine; and afterwards that of St. Sabas, who ruled the lauras of Palestine with such great wisdom. There are other shorter works of his, such as the Life of St. John the Hermit^ (558), that of Thognius,^ a monk
1 Such as the Viia Anionii of St. Athanasius the Apothegms of the Fathers, or Vitae Patrum; the Hisioria Monachorum. 2 Acta Sanctorum, May, Vol. Ill; and P.G. CXV, 919-944 (Meta;

He

phrat^s).
'

Analecta Bollandiana, 1891, Vol. X, pp. 73-118.

Eastern /IDonastlclam after tbe jFtttb Centura 279 who became Bishop of Betulia in Palestine {^22), that of
St. Cyriac/ abbot (556), and that of St. Theodore the Cenobiarch, the archimandrite of all the monasteries in the environs of Jerusalem. In all his works Cyril is always animated with a love of truth. He is also a valuable writer from the point of view of the history of Palestine and Jerusalem in the fifth and sixth

centuries.

The work of John Moschus, the Spiritual Meadow, is entirely in the style of the Lausiac History. It contains short
biographies, among- which are intermingled many edifying anecdotes and godly counsels concerning the religious life. John Maschus lived successively in the convent of St. Theodore the Cenobiarch, near Bethlehem, in the desert of the valley of the Jordan, and in the New Laura of St. Sabas, where he was occupied in performing the functions of canonarch.* Towards the end of the sixth century he paid a visit to the monks of Syria, of Egypt, and even Italy, in company with a disciple named Sophronius. To this disciple is dedicated his work, the Spiritual Meadow, in which he gives an account of what he had heard and seen during- his travels. He died about 62<j. In the beginning of his work John Moschus thus explains the curious title which he g-ives it " The aspect of the meadows in spring-time, dearest Sophronius, is very beautiful, owing to the great variety of their flowers. The eye is attracted, the passer-by is charmed, by the ever-varied colour. The sight and perfume alike are most pleasing. On one side the meadows are resplendent with the colour of the rose, and on the other the eye is attracted by the whiteness of the lily, standing out in contrast Elsewhere is seen the deeper red, with the rosier hues. calling to mind the royal purple. " Such, O holy and most faithful son Sophronius, is also There thou shalt discover the virtues of this present work. holy men, who are distinguished in our time, and who, in the words of the Psalmist, have been planted near the running waters (Ps. i. 3). Although all have been well-pleasing to God, nevertheless each has excelled particularly in some special virtue, and this happy variety in goodness has produced a charming aspect, abounding in graceful beauty.
:
. .

In this meadow of virtues I have chosen some f^oautiful flowers which do not wither, and of them have I plaited a crown, which I offer thee, most dear son, and which, through I have thus thought it well to call this thee, I offer to all.
1

Ada

Sanctorum, September, Vol.

VIII,

pp.

147-158;

and P.O.

CXV,
2

919-944.

Spiritual

Meadow, chap.

1.

28o

Cbristian Spirituality

present work a Meadow (Aei/z,wv), because of the pleasure, the perfume, and the usefulness which will be found therein by all those who cull its flowers.-^ ..." The memoirs of the Spiritual Meadow^ relate examples of the observance of monastic discipline, chastity, poverty, and steadfastness in the practice of fasting-, of perseverance in watchings and prayer, of specially ardent love of Christ, who was then the object of so many theologfical controversies. John Moschus enables us to have some suspicion of the murmurings of the monks against the Origenists, against Evagrius,^ and chiefly against the Christological heresies.
the punishments which Providence inflicted on its adepts are narrated throughout the Spiritual Meadow. Many eucharistic miracles are related which justify the Catholic doctrine and condemn the Monophysitism^ of Severus. Beautiful flowers of asceticism may also be gathered in the Spiritual Meadow, such as the following reflection made by an old monk of the Cells desert to a young one who criticized

The Monophysite sect of Bishop Severus looked upon by him with special horror;

of Antioch"*

was

everyone else
"

Thou judgest thy brethren because thou knowest not yet thyself. For when one knows oneself well one is not desirous
of looking into the faults of others."^ And, again, the following discourse of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Ammos, who insists so strongly on the responsibilities of bishops with regard to the ordination of the clergy. When the abbots of the neighbouring monasteries had come to render homage to the patriarch after his consecration he

thus addressed them

"

Pray for me, my Fathers, for a heavy and crushing burden has just been laid upon me, and the ofBce of patriarch To Peter, inspires me with greater fear than I can say. Paul, and Moses, and such as resemble them, it belongs to shepherd the souls of the faithful but as for me I am but a
;

Beyond all, I dread the responsibility of miserable sinner. I have, in fact, read, concerning the blessed ordinations. Leo, Bishop of the Roman Church, that he watched and prayed incessantly for forty days at the tomb of the Apostle Peter to obtain, through his intercession, remission of his sins. And when the forty days were accomplished the blessed I have prayed for thee and Peter appeared to Leo and said
' :

1
2

Sfiritnal

Meadow, preface (P.G. LXXXVII,

to Migne's edition in view edification.

2852).

According

they

Moschus had

are 219 in number. John Historical exactness must not be

looked for in his work. 3 Spiritual Meadow, chap, clxxvii. * See Tixeront, III, p. 117 seqq. 5 Spiritual Meadow, chaps, xxix, xxx, Ixxix. 6 Id., chap, cxliv.

lEastcru /IDonastlcd^m after tbc jfiftb Cc!Uiu\: 281 thy sins arc forj^ivin, except those which thou hast committed in ordination. For thou shalt always have to give account of
the g'ood or defective way in which thou hast performed the duty of laying- hands on the ministers of the Church.' "^ The abbot of the monastery of Monidion, the Scythian Marcellus, recommended the pious recitation of the Psalms
children, nothing molests, alarms, irritates, wounds, ruins, exasperates, or excites the demons and Satan himself, the cause of all evil, against us so much as our perpetual recitation of the Psalms. For if all other parts of the divine Scriptures are of benefit and greatly enrage the demons, nevertheless they do not in that equal the Psalter. For when we recite the Psalms, part of what we read is composed of prayers made for us, and the rest of imprecations against the demons. When, for example, we Have mercy upon me, say, God, according to Thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies .' we pray for ourselves. blot out my iniquity (Ps. 1. i) On the contrary, when another Psalm occurs, and we sing,
.

to his monks in these " Believe me, my

words

'

'

Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered and let them that hate Him flee from before His face' (Ps. Ixvii. i),we pronounce a malediction on the demons."^ The love which the monks had for Holy Scripture, and
:

dotes.

New Testament, is evinced by touching anechermit, settled near Jerusalem, had a lively desire to possess a New Testament. Too poor to procure one, he hired himself as a labourer in order to earn sufficient to buy one.^ Finally, in the Spiriinal Meadow is seen a tender love of the Virgin Mary. The pious observances by which the monks paid honour to the Mother of God are set down with appreIn the struggle against heresy Mary miraculously ciation. defends those who are faithful to Catholic doctrine. She is the protectress of orthodoxy, and shows heretics in every way that she has no favours for them.* The disciple of John Moschus, St. Sophronius, became Patriarch of Jerusalem in 634, and remained there until his death in 638. He was a valiant adversary of monothelitism, on account of which he is chiefly known to ecclesiastical histon,'. He was also occupied with hagiography, and collaborated with St. John Moschus in a Life of St. John the Almoner,^ Patriarch of Alexandria from 610 to 619. He also produced a long panegyric on two Alexandrian martyrs, Cyrus and Sophronius John, who were put to death under Diocletian. was beholden to them for the preservation of his sight.
chiefly for the

* 3

2 /,y ^ rhap. rlii. Spiritual Meadow, chap, cxlix. * Id., rhap. xlviii. /(/., rhap. cxxxiv. Simeon Metaphrastes has preserved a fragment of this life (P.G.

CXIV,

895-966).

282

CbriBtlan Spirituality

Finally, he wrote a biography of St. Mary the Egyptian,* the famous penitent, who, after leading a disordered life in Alexandria, gave herself up to forty-seven years of austerities in the desert East of the Jordan.

Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, in the first half of the seventh century, is the author of the celebrated apologetic discourse in favour of devotion to pictures, which prompted the second Council of Nicaea in 787. Leontius explains therein, with great ability, that the devotion rendered to pictures or images is relative, and is addressed really to Christ or the saints represented. ^ Leontius, who was a theologian as well as a hagiographer, wrote, for the edification of the faithful, the Life of St. John the Almoner,^ which had already been sketched by John Moschus and Sophronius. In a lengthy work, founded on contemporary accounts and eye-witnesses, Leontius made live again that celebrated Patriarch of Alexandria, John the Almoner, who took as his motto Compassion and Almsgivijig;^ who relieved all the misery known to him by distributing large sums of money among the poor and by revictualing the neighbourhood of Jerusalem after the ravages of the Persians. In virtue of his charity and confidence in God, John was the St. Vincent of Paul of the East at the beginning of the seventh century. His ardent love for Christ was specially shown by the beautiful expression philochristus'^ which he delighted to bestow on Christians. He himself loved Christ passionately. Leontius furthermore wrote the Life of Symeon the Simple.^ Symeon, a native of Edessa, visited the holy places, lived for some time in a monastery, and then in solitude in the desert. Finally, his zeal led him to work for the salvation of souls in an unusual and somewhat eccentric manner at Emesa, in Coelesyria by pretending to be mad, which caused him to receive the surname of the Simple^ (-aXos). Some of the conversions which he effected from among the class of loose women recall those which are told of St. Francis Regis. Symeon was remarkable for his chastity, his gift of divina:

tion,

and

his

power over demons.

A contemporary of Leontius, a certain John, monk of the convent of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, wrote the religious romance known by the name of The Life of Barlaam and 1 The hagiographic works of St. Sophronius are in Migne, P.G.

LXXXVII,
3

3380-3725.

Cf.

Tixeront. Ill, pp. 448, 449.

Migne gives the Latin translation of P.G. XCIII, 1617-1660. Anastasius the librarian (1879). The Greek text was published in 1893 by Gelzer, at Friburg-in-Breisgau. * FzVfl S. /oannis Eleemosynarii, cap. 7. 5 Id., cap. I, 12, 22, 25. Philochristus means one who loves Christ. ' P.G. XCIII, 1669-1748, and Acta Sanctorum, July, Vol. I. ' Vita S. Symeonis, cap. 5.
:

283 from a Buddlia, pictured to himself a story in which a hermit, Barlaiim, converted Joasaph, the son of a king of India, to Christianity. Thelatterwas rewarded, after very great effort, by winning over his father and all the
Joasaph.^ John the Monk, Hindoo legend concerninghis inspiration

Eastern /K^onastlctsm after tbc who drew

jftttb CcnturK?

also contained a magnificent apology for Christianity, that religion which alone possesses a true conception of God, and which is able This to render those who profess it so good and so perfect. apology, which is placed on the lips of Nachor the Christian and addressed to Abenner, the father of Joasaph,- is none other than the apology of Aristides (140), a work belonging to the second century which the monk John put into his book with slight modifications. The Life of Barlaam and Joasaph was written in a bright and picturesque style, and became It was often cited and very popular in the Middle Ages. plagiarized, and finally looked upon as historical.^
life.

kingdom to Christ; he then li\ed as This book extolled the monastic

monk
It

until his death.

This is not the place to examine, or even to enumerate, all the Lives of the saints which were written in the East at this period.' Let us come without delay to the collection of the Lives of the Saints, by Simeon Metaphrastes, which is the crowning work of this noble hagiographic movement.^ Simeon belonged to an important family of Constantinople. He rose by his own merit to a position of importance at court under the Emperors Leo the Philosopher and Constantine Porphyrogenetos, and was of great service to his country. At the request of the Emperor Constantine, he began his Lives of the Saints about the year 915. The order followed is that of the calendar each month contains the Lives of a certain number of saints according The order of the Greek to the dates of their deaths. wenologies^ is followed. Each biography is usually very
:

drawn
*

out.

This Li/e has been attributed wrongly to St. John Damascene and plared among his works (P.G. XCVI, 859-1240). * Vita Barlaam et Joasafh, cap. xxvi, xxvii (P.G. XCVI, 1108-1121). ' Martyrologium romanum, Quinto Kalendas Decembris (NovemCf. Civilta Cattolica, November 17, 1882, p. 431 seqq. Migne the Lije of St. Stefhen the Younger (P.G. C, 1069ii8s), the Life of St. Nicholas of Studium (P.G. CV, 864-925), the Life of St. Theodore of Studium (P.G. XCIX, 113-2J2; 233-328) in another edition. In the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists, second edition Vita Anastasii Persae, January, Vol. Ill, pp. 34, 35, another edition Vita pp. 45-50; Vita Eutychii Fatriarchae, April, Vol. I, pp. li to Ixx Dosithei, February, Vol. Ill, pp. 387-390; Vita Joannis SHentiarti May. Vol. Ill, pp. 14-18 of supplement; Vita Hilarionis Junioris, June, I,

ber
*

27).

See in

pp. 747, 748; Vita Methodii Patriarchae, June, II, pp. 440^447.
5

P.G. CXIV,

CXV, CXVI.

calendar (m'5>"?, Xii>oj) corresponding with our martyrology and containing a brief account of the lives of the saints commemorated on that dav.

284

Cbristian Spirituality Simeon did not write all the Lives of the saints which stand in his name. It is not easy to draw up with exactness a list of those of which he is the author. So popular a work was bound to receive additions as time went on. Moreover, we know for certain that Simeon included, not, alas without retouching
!

them, biog-raphies written by hagiographers before his time. In writing those biographies of which he is the author he was able to consult a great number of hagiographic documets such as the Acts of the martyrs and numerous accounts
virgins renowned for their sanctity, As a contemporary of Photius, the celebrated Patriarch of Constantinople of widespread erudition, who compiled, in his Bibliotheca, an abstract of many works since lost, Simeon had access to sources of information which we no longer possess. Unfortunately he made extremely bad use of these riches. Posterity, in surnaming him Metaphrastts, fieracftpda-T-qs (the changer, transformer), gives only too true a description of his procedure. Simeon changed and added to all these documents. He treats in an unspeakably easy-going way
of the lives of

monks and

which were

in circulation at that period.

both chronology and topography, and sacrifices historical exactness to elegant phraseology, poetic description, and a His chief interest appears to be seeking after marvels. devoted to that ornament of style which attracts readers. These defects did not, at the beginning, hurt Simeon's work. Few books have edified the faithful more, have been copied more frequently, and have had such a success. Latin
translations
Saints.

made

it

known

in
it

the

West,

Surius,

the

Carthusian (1578) introduced

into his

But in the sixteenth and Protestant criticism, hostile to devotion to the saints, violently attacked the work of Metaphrastes, and had no difficulty in ruining its reputation. It should be remarked, however, that the value of a writing Simeon does not consist wholly in its historical accuracy. had in view, above all, the leading of the faithful into the In this he succeeded, and from that paths of holiness. point of view his work, in spite of its defects, holds an important place in the history of spirituality.

Lives of the seventeenth centuries

own

III. ASCETICAL

THEOLOGY

ST.

JOHN CLIMACUS,
ST.

ANTIOCHUS, ST. DOROTHEUS, OF STUDIUM

The most important epoch, who enjoyed

THEODORE

ascetical theologian of the East at this

a great reputation and exercised an important influence on future centuries, is St. John Climacus. It is to the title of his famous work, the Ladder (KA/"/i,a^)

Eastern /IDonasticism after tbe

uj

jfiftb Ccnturx?

285

I'aradisc

[Scala

Varadisi),

that

he

owes

hi.s

curious

surname.* According to his biographer, Daniel,* a monk of the convent of Raithu, on the south-west of Sinai, St. John CHmacus was born about 525. When sixteen years old he entered the famous convent of Mount Sinai. There he remained for several years, and left it to live as a hermit during forty years at the loot of the holy mountain. Returning to the convent again as its abbot, he went out once more and lived again in solitude, where he died about the year 600. His long stay in Sinai gave him the surname Sinaite, and his learning gained for him the title Scholasticus, but he is above all known under the name Climacus. Two ascetic works of his have come down to us the Ladder, written for the instruction of monks, and the Book for Pastors,^ a shorter work, in which are gathered together the duties of monastic superiors. John wrote at the request of one of his friends and admirers, the superior of the convent of Raithu, who, like him, was named John. He asked the Abbot of Mount Sinai " to write on new tables of Sinai the precepts of the religious
:

life," and to offer them to those who are striving to enter heaven, " like the steps of a ladder by which they may mount to that ever blessed resting-place."* St. John Climacus acquiesced in the wish of his friend from obedience, in spite of his inability, " obedience being, according to the word of the ancients learned in divine things, that virtue which makes us perform that which is ordered without delay, even though it be beyond our power."' The heavenly Ladder comprises thirty steps, corresponding with the thirty years of the hidden life of Christ.' Each step forms one chapter of the work, and treats of a virtue to be acquired and a vice to be overcome. The subjects dealt with are arranged in progression that proper to beginners is placed in the earlier chapters, and the teaching unfolds itself according to the gradual development and progressive perfecting of the spiritual and monastic life. At the top of the ladder are found subjects more fit for those souls who have been raised to the greater heights of sanctity. Perfection is not reached until the thirtieth. And this number has a
:

mystical

origin, due to the holy endeavour to make the development of our spiritual life coincide with the mortal life of our Saviour. St. John Climacus summarized, as was to be expected, the
1

P.G. LXXXVIII, 632-1164. See Migne, P.G. LXXXVIII, 596-608, for this biography. 4 P.n. LXXXVIII, 625. P.G., id., 1 165-1209. Scala Paradiii prolog, et gradus, 30.

A/.

286

Cbristian Spirituality
arranging
it

spiritual teaching of his forerunners,

together

and setting it forth in a clear and tangible way. He did for Greek ascetic theology the synthesis and condensing which St. John Damascene himself did for dogmatic theology. This is partly the reason his work was such a success. He is not, for all that, a writer void of personality. Far from it. He

knew how

to appreciate justly the thoughts of ascetic writers, and to add new views to theirs.

the older

The thirty steps of the mystical ladder by which the soul ascends to God were again divided into three stages of unequal length detachment of the soul from all earthly things, to lead the monastic life (1-7); the struggle against vices and acquiring of virtue (8-27) the eremitical life, prayer, the Christian apatheia, and the union with God by
:

charity.
It is by passing the first stage that the soul succeeds in renouncing earthly possessions. It begins by abandoning the vanity of profane things and fleeing the world. ^ Then it strips itself of all affection for riches, for well-being and for honours it detaches itself from family life and from all that might distract it from God. " He who loves God with his whole heart and aspires with all his soul to heaven, who struggles violently to correct his faults, who thinks unceasingly of future judgement and eternal punishment, who lives constantly in the fear of God and in expectation of death, not only thrusts far from him all earthly desire but pursues with hatred his own body, and, denuded of all, and free from all care, he ardently follows Christ, keeping his eyes fixed on heaven, from whence My he awaits help according to the word of the prophet soul hath stuck close to Thee, my God " (Ps. Ixii. 9).^ Moreover, the pursuit of earthly good produces nothing but sadness and disgust. The Christian who thus flies from the world and abandons all that is perishable for the monastery and gives himself to piety, undertakes a journey to a strange country (^eviTfta).^ The traveller is a stranger in the land through which he goes. He is unattached to all he sees. The future monk is also a stranger in the world. He ignores and disdains all which does not unite him with God, and he will detach himself wholly from the world if he thinks no more of worldly things. But when the novice finds himself deprived of everything and separated from his family the demon is not backward in painfully tempting him in a manner which the newly conIn the reflections verted know well, as did also St. Antony. of the day and in the hours of sleeplessness at night all that
; .
. .

Scala Paradisi, gradus 1. Gradus 2 (P.G. LXXXVIII, 653).

Gradus

3.

Eastern iTtonastlclsm after tbe

has been
Icit

ffiftb

Century
:

287

appears with wondcrlul clearness

sions and pleasures quitted, the tears perhaps, in want with no one to close momtnt of death. At the same time, the new life, with all its privations and austerities, shows itself to be foolishness, a burden too heavy to be borne. The novice should be warned of this crisis of the soul in order to exorcise it. The night from the world and the entire detachment from earthly joys are two virtues with which the soul, as with They prepare the golden wings, mounts up to heaven. religious for that obedience on which St. John Climacus bestows such enthusiastic praise.' Obedience, "that complete surrender of one's own will" makes us "travel here below without peril and die without fear," for we are freed thereby from the responsibility of our decisions. The obedient man is like a traveller, who, being led, sleeps as he proceeds. " Our fathers said that psalmody is our arm, prayer our rampart, the tears which we shed our bath; but holy obedience is the witness to our fidelity, without which no one The long chapter devoted to obedience will see God." contains a considerable number of extracts drawn from the lives of ancient monks, who pushed the practice of this virtue
to its furthest limits. A propos of obedience, St. John Climacus treats of confession, which he considers as an excellent means of sanctifiHe dwells complacently on its advantages and cation. It was made secretly "to an experienced judge." efficacy. In certain exceptional cases, determined by the superior of the convent, offenders accused themselves publicly before all

the possesof relations left, their eyes at the

the assembled monks. Sincerity, humility, and gentleness must accompany an avowal of faults to obtain pardon, nor must the penitent ever be prevented from an avowal through shame or confusion " I'ncover and show thy wounds to the physician," counsels St. John Climacus, "and, putting shame under foot, say, There is my wound, father, there is my sore, there is the None but I is responsible it is indeed fruit of my softness. It is neither man, nor spirit, nor body, I who am to blame.
: ' ;

nor any other thing but my own negligence which has made me sin.' When thou comest to confess, be in attitude and expression like one condemned, with head bent down towards the earth, and, if thou art able, bathe with thy tears the feet of thv phvsician and judge as though they were the feet of
Christ.'"' Confession but is also a slope of evil strive to turn
>

not only brings us brake which stops and prevents our us away from it or
'

forgiveness for our faults, us from slipping down the falling back. The demons at least to dispose us to do
Gradus
4,
5

Gradus

Gradui 4

4. (col. 708, 709).

(col.

681, 684. 777).

288
it

Cbristtan Spirituality

badly by throwing on to others the responsibility for our

faults.^

hears the confessions of his brethren should be with goodness and condescension towards them. He is a father confessors soon became called " spiritual fathers." He is a judge (kjoity^s). He is a physician (larps), to whom must be shown the wounds of the soul. He should be, above all, a spiritual man (Trveu/xaTtKbs dv^p).^ Confession is without benefit unless accompanied by repentance and reparation of the fault. St. John Climacus places penitence (/xerdvota) in the sixth step of his mystical ladder, which deals with the detestation of and expiation for sin. In accordance with the style he affects, he gives a collection of definitions, in order to show a complete idea of penitence, which finally produces hatred of sin and reparation by painful works ^oluntarily undertaken. And for the better understanding of the abstract idea of which it consists, St. John Climacus gives the celebrated account of the austerities practised by certain penitent monks whom he had visited.^ Voluntary recluses, these monks dwelt in a dark, dirty house, full of evil smells, which was more like a prison than a convent. Among them was found every attitude suggestive of deep repentance and most lively sorrow.* Some passed the night outside and on foot, thus preventing sleep. Others raised their eyes to heaven, imploring forgiveness in a voice Others, again, with hands tied behind of lamentation. them, like great criminals, held their heads bent to the ground, mute with sorrow and shame. Others extended on ashes or flint, struck the earth with their foreheads, or else struck themselves violently on the breast, bringing back Their tears flowed unceasingly the memory of their sins. their wailings, their cries, their shudderings, and their roarings, like those of a lion, were sometimes heard far away, and were enough to rend the hearts of those who heard them and even soften the rocks. And nothing was more pitiful than the words which were uttered by some of them " Have pity on us. Lord, have pity on us Pardon us. Lord, pardon us know that we deserve every chastisement and are not worthy to be are unable to expiate the number of our sins, pardoned.
filled

He who

We

We
(col.

Gradus 4
Id.
(col.

705, 709).

An exaggerated seeking after sfiritual confessors caused the ignorant among the faithful, about the ninth century, to confess to lay monks rather than to secular priests. 3 Gradus It should be noted that St. John Climacus 5 (col. 764-781). gives an account of what he saw without expressing approval of what was done in this monastery of penitents. * This description of the penitential attitude is brought home to us in the picture painted by M. Bovel at Ars, which represents the pilgrims of Ars preparing themselves for confession to Blessed Vianney.
2

681).

Eastern /Bbonasttcism after tbe

even
il

jflftb Centur\:

289

the whole world should weep with us for them. ." only beseech Thee to spare us from eternal punishment. bodies, and of their whatever These [)enitents took no care took so little nourishment that they were but skin and bone. They puslied contempt of self so far as to request to be deprived of burial at death, and that their bodies, like those of animals, mii^ht be thrown into the river or devoured by wild beasts. The superior of the convent seems to have
. .

We

occasionally carried out these astonishing recommendations. And how dismal was the death of one of these penitents All the monks assembled round the dying- one, and each one reflected on the terror of the judgements of God and on the our uncertainty of salvation. They thus addressed him *' brother and companion in penitence, in what state dost thou find thyself? What sayest thou? What hope still remaineth? Hast thou found that which thou hast sought with so great labour? Hast thou entered the door of salvation, or art thou still uncertain of thy lot? Hast thou a firm hope of having obtained pardon, or is thy salvation still in doubt? What dost thou answer, brother? Tell us, we beg of thee, that we also may know what lot awaits us. Thy span of life is spent and will not return for all eternity." Some dying ones replied with confidence " Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer nor His mercy from me " (Ps. Ixv. 20). " Blessed
! :

he God who hath not given us to be a prey to the teeth of our enemies" (Ps. cxxiii. 6). Others said tremblingly, " Has indeed our soul yet passed through the drenching torrents of They were still uncertain of their the powers of the air?" salvation and reflected with anxious fear on what might befall them at the tribunal of the all-powerful Judge. Others, " Woe to that soul," again, made answer still more sad they cried, " which has broken the monastic vows only at this last hour will they realize what is reserved for them." In order to appreciate this chapter on penitence it must not be forgotten that St. John Climacus addresses himself to monks accustomed to a severe spirituality. Like a preacher who w-ould awaken sinners, he has doubtless accentuated the If taken literally, this page of points of this sombre picture. the Ladder of Paradise might lead to the conclusion that pardon for sin is very difficult to obtain, and the sinner might The convent of penitent monks allow himself to despair. brings our thoughts to the solitude of Port-Royal des Champs, and its rigorist notions as to penitence would hardly be out of place in the famous sermon of Massillon, Sur le petit nomhre des dlus. But it is a chapter intended for monastic spirituality, and not a treatise on penitence for the simple faithful, in which the teaching as to the conditions for forgiveness is explained with precision. Nothing is better able to move a sinner to repentance th.ui
:

290

Cbristlan Spirituality

the thoug"ht of death. That is why it is treated of in the sixth step of the Ladder. The constant meditating- on death and the uncertainty as to its comings is the best stimulus for the relig-ious in his strug-g^le against vice and pursuit of
virtue.

The seventh
is

step, the last in the purification of the novice,

concerned with the afflictions of the soul [irei'6o<;), compunction, the sadness which comes from God, which produces
spiritual joy, and is that which modern spiritual writers call the spirit of penitence. It is a sadness and a pain of the soul which detach us from created thing's, make us bemoan our faults and bring- us to accept the trials and sorrows of life in the spirit of reparation. With beginners this state of the soul produces silence, fasting, and disregard of insults. In the more perfect it inspires sentiments of deepest humility, and makes them thirst for affronts and contradictions. The tears which it brings wash out the stains that have been contracted and render prayer acceptable to God. St. John Climacus here dwells at length on the gift of tears, on the signs by which it is known, and on the happy results which it produces.

In from the eighth to the twenty-sixth step of the Ladder of Paradise are found the vices against which it is necessary to struggle and the virtues to be acquired anger and gentleness {Gradus 8), forgetfulness of wrongs (9), slander (10), talkativeness and silence (11), lying {12), disgust and dis:

couragement
chastity

(13), greediness (14), temperance and This chapter on chastity is noteworthy on account of the appropriateness of its observations, the delicacy in examining temptation and its causes, and the safety in the advice given as to resistance. Chastity, among other advantages, has that of bringing to us the knowledge Without it it is impossible to be " a student of of God. theology."^ Then come avarice (16), poverty (17), hardness of heart (18), sleep, which must be overcome in order to be intent on prayer and the singing of Psalms (19), vigils (20), cowardice (21), different kinds of vainglory (22), foolish pride and blasphemous thoughts inspired by the devil (23), gentle rneekness and innocent simplicity (24), humility, that virtue which destroys all vice (25), the discernment of thoughts, of

(uKr^Sta)

(15).

vices and virtues (26). In this last chapter concerning the distinction of vices St. John Climacus asks what is to be thought of the list of eight capital vices about which so much was written in the preceding centuries, and of the system by which different vices were derived from one another. According to him, these various kinds of enumeration and classification are unnatural
1

Gradus 30

(col.

1157).

jeastern /^onastlctsni after tbc Jftttb Century 291 and arbitrary. He states, however, that his considerations on vices and virtues are inspired by the teaching of the
ancients.' But it is easy to find a strong personal view in his work. Delicate psychological thoughts abound there, as well as things new and suggestive, stamped with a virile spirituality. He carefully distinguishes, in respect of vices and virtues, between the beginners (ciVuyo/itVot), the progressives who have reached the middle of the ladder {fxtaoi), and the perfect who occupy the top (xeAtioi),^ The reader therefore finds in the Ladder of Paradise well-tried advice as to the freeing of himself from vice and advancement in virtue.
Finally, the enormous importance which St. John Climacus gives to the struggle against vice in the development of From this point of view Christian life must be well noted. he is altogether in agreement with the monastic traditions of the East.

W'hen the soul is freed from its evil inclinations and has mastered its passions it is then able to enter " the tranquil gate of solitude," there to find that peace and calm which are the just reward for the violent struggles sustained. This gate where the soul rests is the eremitical life, placed by St. John Climacus at the twenty-seventh step of the
mystical ladder.
In accordance with the idea which prevailed at that time, John Climacus puts the solitary monk above the cenobite. He himself retired into solitude after passing some time in a monastery, and acted thus from a desire to arrive at greater perfection. For, according to him, the eremitical life was not It demanded too much strength of suitable for beginners. He who entered therein before being soul and constancy. sanctified was like a traveller who abandoned a ship, in which Furthermore, the solitary is he was secure, for a plank. sometimes favoured with extraordinary graces, such as a But, " in the same way that it is most visit from angels.
St.

dangerous to swim

fully clothed, so also it is not apropos to "^ touch divine things while still subject to vice. The anchorite should be an angel on earth his prayer must His heart is pure; he enjoys intimate suffer no negligence. communion with God and tastes the delights of (contemplation. He must so detach himself from all earthly things as Many are deluded as to to live as though he had no body. the true life of an anchorite; they withdraw into solitude from misanthropy or a desire to live according to fancy or from
:

vanity.

Having
embraced
1

reached

that

degree

of

perfection

which

is

in the eremitical life, the soul is raised to that state

*

Col. 1021.

C/.

GraJus

i6.

'

Gradus

27

(rol.

1097).

292
step.

CbriBtian Spirituality
is

of extraordinary prayer which

found at the twenty-eighth

St. John CUmacus describes this prayer, as did St. Nilus and many other ascetic writers, as a familiar converse and

union of
deov).^

man

with

God

((rvvovcrta

kuI

eVwcris

uvdpwTrov

kuI

great that it exercises, in a holy sense, a certain tyranny over the Lord^ {Trpocrevxy eo-rt $ov
Its eflficacy is so

Tvpavvls
itself

evcref^TJs).

This prayer needs preparation.

before

God

" clothed in

for to whatever degree of ; virtue it has attained it has always need to ask forgiveness for past sins. St. Paul, all holy though he was, nevertheless spoke of himself as " the chief of sinners " (i Tim. i. 15). Then there is progress in the prayer. At first the soul strives to put away all evil, or simply outside thoughts likely to distract after which it becomes entirely attentive to what is recited, upon which it meditates. The perfection of the prayer is rapture in God {paTr yy] Trphs Kvpiov).^ Perfect prayer, according to St. John Climacus, is that of the anchorites. It is made in few words, and consists in perpetual union of the soul with God. The soul is enkindled with divine fire, is enlightened and purified as though in an ardent furnace. Cenobites pray, indeed, but not perfectly.
;

wrongs." Otherwise it must be pierced by repentance

The soul should present the robe of forgetfulness of obtains nothing. Furthermore, it

Their prayer is laboured, troubled by many imaginations, and expresses itself in a multitude of words. St. John Climacus assuredly was only able to discover perfection
anchorites. the soul makes enough progress to reach the twentyninth step it enters into Christian apatheia. Summing up the teaching of several ancient writers, St. John Climacus thus defines it It is the state of a Christian who has purified his flesh from all stain and rendered it, in a manner, incorruptible {a(j>6apTos), as it will be after the resurrection who has raised his heart far beyond all creatures and subjected every sense to reason ; who practises every virtue, for if one only be wanting the apatheia is not realized in him finally, who remains unceasingly in the presence His soul is in a state superior to mortal life. of God. It is insensible to every motion of passion, and also holds in derision the ruses and onslaughts of the evil one. It
If
:

amongst the

Col. 1129.

St.

that unites prayer

{irpoa-evx'n)

John Climacus speaks highly of the form of prayer with meditation on death. Prayer and

meditation according to him, conformably with a Christological reminiscence are " two natures in one single person " (col. 1137). Here is seen an outline of our modern " mental prayer " which combines prayer with meditation.
2

Col.

1140.

Col.

132.

Eastern /IDonasticism alter tbe

eiijoyh

jflttb Century}

293

In short, a calm coniparablc to that of the clict. apiithcia is the heaven ot the soul, the palace of the Sovereign King-, a state bordering on immortal life. He who reaches this state possesses (iod, who dwells within him and rules his thoughts, words, and actions, (jod

gives him inward light, makes known to him His will, and acts in him. In one word, it is no longer he who lives, it is ( lirist wlio lives in him (Gal. ii. 20).' This chapter of the Ladder of Paradise has been severely censured. John Gerson (i42()) and Dionysius the Carthusian (1471) have even declared that St. John Climacus shows It is a hard himself therein more Stoic than Christian. re[)roach. But it must be admitted that the teaching of St. John Climacus contains, on this point, some exaggeration. For even if we are able to curb our passions, we are unable There is, therefore, to destroy the root of them within us. no spiritual state in this world, however perfect, in which no fear exists of their awakening, and in which we are able to brave temptation. Finally, at the top of the Ladder of Paradise, at the thirtieth step, are found the three theological virtues which unite most closely all the parts of the mystical ladder. Charity is the crowning and perfecting of the ascent of the
It is this that he specially speaks of here. Charity makes like unto God, as far as it is possible for mortal beings to be so (ayaTr?; o/ioiwo-ts Oeov). It is that which He who possesses charity no renders the soul perfect. longer fears. For to fear the judgement of God no longer, is either to be filled with charity or else wholly hardened in Happy he who loves God to the extent of spiritual death. never ceasing to think of Him and preserving His memoryIf human weakness necessitates sleep, his even in sleep heart, overflowing with love, sleeps not. When the soul is immersed in and entirely penetrated by charity a kind of splendour radiates from it, like the glory which shone round Moses when he descended from Mount In this angelic degree of charity, man forgets to take Sinai. food and hardly feels the need of it. He is nourished invisibly bv the fire of love, like roots of plants fed by water beneath the ground. St. John Climacus ends his book with this prayer to charity " Tell us, O glorious and most beautiful of virtues, tell us where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday (Cant. i. 6). Enlighten us, quench our thirst, guide us, lead us by the hand. For the one thing we seek after is to mount up to Now that thou hast 7vounded thee, who rulest all things. m\ heart (Cant. iv. 9) I cannot keep thy flame in check, and

soul towards God.

Gradus

29.

294

Cbristian Spirituality

know not how sufficiently to praise thee. ... I yearn to know how Jacob pictured thee resting on the heights of the celestial ladder. Show me that which I ardently desire to know, how to mount upwards towards thee. And this also would I learn, how many are the steps, how long the time ere I may ascend to reach thee." " And charity appeared to me like a queen coming forth
. .

from heaven, and spoke thus to the ear of my soul and said Thou who lovest me, so long as thou remainest bound to thy material body thou canst never contemplate my beauty as it is. But that thou mayst learn from this ladder in what order the virtues are developed, know that it is I who occupy the
: '

Now

highest place, as St. Paul, my illustrious herald proclaimed there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity (i Cor. xiii. 13).' "^ Such, imperfectly summarized, is the celebrated work of St. John Climacus, which enjoyed so immense a reputation. He has often been commented on, and in the editions which have been quoted the text is accompanied by a large number of scholia or marginal notes. The inspirer of the work, John of Raithu, was also one of its earliest commentators.^
:

In the qualities

Book of the Pastor^ John Climacus sets forth the which should be possessed by the superior of a convent. He compares him to the shepherd who tends his
sheep, to a pilot
for his
sick,

who directs his vessel, a doctor who cares The superior a teacher who imparts truth. should possess every virtue, especially perfect mortification, for it would be disloyal and a shameful thing for him to impose virtues on others which he did not practise himself. In his dealings with those under him he should be ever watchful and correct them unceasingly and without fear. He should prevent all disorder. " The wolf fears nothing so much He must not be as the sound of the shepherd's crook." arrogant or pompous, but full of goodness and simplicity. He should deal with each one according to his temperament,
his character,
It is

and

his needs.

desirable to note two ascetic writers, contemporaries John Climacus, but of far less importance the monk Antiochus and the Archimandrite St. Dorotheus. Antiochus lived at the beginning of the seventh century About 620 he in the convent of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem. published a collection of moral and ascetic proverbs drawn either from the Bible or from the works of ancient eccleHis object was to provide the monks siastical writers.*
of St.
:

1 ^

Gradus 30
P.G.

(col.

11 60).

LXXXVIII,
is

The book

hundred and

1211-1218. called Scriptural thirty chapters (P.G.

Pandects,

LXXXIX,

3 Id., 1165-1209. asxd is divided into 1421-1850).

^eastern ilDonastlclsm after tbc flftb Ccnturv?

of the convent
of

295

Persian invasion had driven from their home and deprived of a refugee, with a book of small dimensions in which they might find the essential principles of the religious life. At the end of the book is found a prayer, in which are described the suflFerings brought about by the Persian occupation of
Attaline,
of

Ancyra,

whom

the

Palestine.^

Dorotheus was the ruler of a monastery in Palestine. he was a novice he had relations with Bars.muphius, a ver\' famous recluse in the convents of Palestine, author of a work against the errors of Origen and Evagrius.^ The disciple inherited the reputation of the master, and the works of St. Dorotheus were placed among- the " divine writings of
St.

When

the Fathers."^ His writings, or at least those which are known to us, consist of twenty-four ascetic Instructions for the use of monks, and they had considerable success.'* The phrases Dorotheus often quotes ancient writers. " according to the sayings of the Fathers " and " as the A traditions of our ancestors tell us" occur frequently. considerable amount of pious discourse is thus preserved to us, such as that attributed to Evagrius touching an important " the works of mercy and point in the direction of souls exercise of charity are excellent means of extinguishing the fire of passion." Evagrius gives an account of a young monk who was freed from his temptations against chastity by fasting and nursing a sick man.^^ Dorotheus also recalls a large number of edifying anecdotes drawn from the lives of holy monks, which render the reading of the Instructions
:

extremely attractive. The importance given to humility in the Christian life by Dorotheus is noteworthy. The foundation of the spiritual edifice is faith, he says, without which it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6). On this foundation are placed all
1

P.G. P.G.

LXXXIX, LXXXVI,
of

1849-1856. See 891-902.

the

biography of

this

man,

col.

R87-890.
3
*

Theodore

(AtSoffAfaXiat

Studium, Testam., cap. 4 (P.G. XCIX, 1S16). ^\)xw<^(\d%) Doctrina animae ferutilis (P.G. LXXXVI II,
;

1617-1838). Il treats of renunciation; humility; the conscience; the fear of God mistrust of oneself the duty of not judging one's neighbour and of self-accusation; malice; lying; the necessity for wisdom in advancing in the way of God the duty of curbing the passions before they become ?n evil habit; the fear of hell and attention to salvation; the virile resistance to temptation the spiritual edifice of virtues and the harmony between them fasting, the assembling of monks together (reply to the Kelliotes or hermits) the forming of monks and also the way to command and to obey the responsibilities of the cellarer. Dorotheus then deals with different other subjects, concluding with an
; ; ; ;
; ;

instruction concerning exterior monastic deportment. Saint Dorotheus is one of the ancient writers most often cited in works on the Fathers of 6 Doctrina, xiv, 3. the de'iert.

296
the virtues, as so
ang-les

Cbri6ttan Spirituality many stones composing the

building.

The

which bind the walls together and give solidarity to the whole, are patience and courage, without which no virtue is able to resist. Humility is the cement which binds the

virtues together; indeed, it constitutes the very foundation of every virtuous act. The roof of the edifice is charity, the perfecting and completion of all virtue. But the crown, which surmounts the roof and is the topmost ornament, is again humility, which is the crowning of the other virtues.^ This preference of humility to charity, the queen of virtues,

a pious exaggeration, which would doubtless be by a strict theologian.

is

criticized

St. Theodore of Studium, so named from the monastery of Studium of which he was abbot, was born at Constantinople

about 759.
St.

He was

trained to the monastic

life

by his uncle,

Abbot of the monastery of Saccadion, and was ordained priest. Theodore was the chief defender of the faith during the Iconoclast persecution which was revived by the Eastern Emperors Leo the Armenian, Michael H the Stammerer, and Theophilus, after the second Council of Nicaea. Several times he was sent into exile, where he wrote numerous letters and other works in defence of devotion to
Plato,

died in 826.^ is an authority on Oriental monastic legislation in the ninth century, which is the chief interest he has for us here. His ideas on monastic organization are contained principally in his two Testaments addressed to the monks of the convent of Studium, one in 816 and the other some time before his death. In the second Theodore lays it down that monastic life should always remain faithful to the rules of St. Basil. This

images.
St.

He

Theodore

tendency towards conventual life observed in monasticism, ended at the beginning of the ninth century in the suppression St. of lauras, and in making general the Basilian Rule.
change.

Theodore gave his influence and his authority to this happy According to him, the monastic life is a sublime state which causes sin to be effaced by the life of perfection practised therein, always provided that it is conformed to the
rules of the Ascetics of St. Basil.

should change nothing," he advises the superior of monks, " in the form of life and rule which you have received from me. You should possess no personal property, You must be occupied entirely not even a piece of silver. with your brethren. You must not dispose of the possessions of the monastery either to your relations or your friends, You must not have a whilst living, or after your death. slave to serve you, either for use in the monastery or for the
his
1

"You

Doctrina, xiv, 2. See the two Vitae Theodori Studitae in P.G.

XCIX,

113-328.

JEastcrn /IDona3ttci!?m after tbc Jfttlh Ccnturv?

.

297

cultivation ol the land, lor the slave is a man created in the image of (iod. Vou must see to it that everything be possessed by the brethren in common. \'ou should arrange for an instruction to be given to the community three times a week either by yourself or by another. V^ou must not enter into friendly relations with a nun, nor enter their convent; the door of your monastery must remain closed to women unless for very grave necessity. If there be an important reason to speak to them, let it be in the presence of a witness on either side. Vou must have no other rich clothing than the sacerdotal ornaments. Vou should keep no money in your monastery, but give to the poor all that remains over Vou should after providing for the needs of the brethren. leave temporal matters to the care of the cellarer, so that you may be occupied with those things which concern souls but
.
.

temporal expenses, as also of the spiritual state of the monastery. Vou should take the advice on important matters of two or three monks chosen from the most wise."^ Complete and respectful submission to the abbot is what Theodore most insists on from his monks. The monastery, indeed, cannot be prosperous unless this authority is fully admitted. Obedience is the essential condition in a community.

you

must see that an account

is

rendered

of

IV. MVSTIC.AL THEOLOGV:

ST.

MAXIMUS THE

CONFESSOR.
St. Maxi.mus, the great opponent of the Monothelite heresy, was, on account of his learning, his sufferings, and his death, a true confessor {ofioXoyijry]^) of the faith. Born at Constantinople about 580 of a famous family, he was promoted, through his connections and owing to his
talents, to the responsible position of chief imperial secretary.
left the court in 630, because Monothelitism, under protection of the Emperor Heraclius, was in the ascendancy. He withdrew across the Bosphorus to the convent of Chrysopolis, of which he became abbot. Towards 645, at a solemn conference held at Carthage in Africa, he nonplussed Pyrrhus, the Monothelite ex-Patriarch Then, returning to Rome, he persuaded of Constantinople. Pope St. Martin I to call the celebrated Council of the Lateran together, which anathematized Monothelitism and its adherents, amongst whom were the Emperors Heraclius and Constantius II (642-648). Constantius, deeply offended, had the Pope arrested, who died in exile in 655. Maximus and two of his disciples, Anastasius the Monk and Anastasius the Deputy, were taken to Constantinople and exiled. They

But he

the

Testament (P.G. XCIX, 1818 uqq.).

298

Cbrfstfan Spirituality were condemned to be scourged, to have the right hand cut off, and the tongue pulled out. They died from the sufferings they went through^ in 662.
St. Maximus, this valiant defender of Catholic truth, was also a keen theologian and deep mystic the Word Incarnate is the centre of his theology. With his powerful intellect he searched into the mystery of the God-Man, whilst endeavouring to understand the divine influence exercised on our nature. St. Maximus has nowhere synthesized his mystical theology he has dealt with it here and there in his commentaries on Holy Scripture and in his dogmatic and polemical writings almost as much as in his Chapters on Charity, his Theological Chapters, or his Mystagogy.^ He is an admirer of Dionysius the Areopagite, to whom he is indebted for a great deal.' He accepts his theories on affirmative and negative theology, and on the knowledge of God by negation. Maximus also teaches that the true knowledge of God is that acquired by mystic contemplation. This must be preceded, as also required by St. Dionysius, by the purification of the soul, mortification of the passions, and illumination. The soul, thus purified and filled with celestial light, is able to penetrate deeply into the Word, its Spouse, and obtain a mystical knowledge of the Trinity by contemplative prayer.* But the personal element, and that most to be observed in the mysticism of St. Maximus, is the place occupied therein by the Word Incarnate. The end of contemplation is union with God, by rendering us like to Him and in a manner deifying us. This deification It is, indeed, by love is brought about by love, by charity. that the will of man becomes merged in that of God and is made one with it; it desires that which God desires and
; ;

condemns what He condemns. And being thus merged it is It has nothing of earth, being entirely conformed to Him.
rendered divine through charity.
is

This deification, therefore, the identifying, by charity, of the will of the Christian with that of God. Through love the will of man and that of God become one and the same thing.
"^

In vitam ac certamen sancti fatris nostri ac confessoris

St.

Maximi

XC, 68-109). The writings of Vols. XC, XCI.

(P.G.
2

Maximus

are found in the Patrologie grecque.

on the works of St. Dionysius, which are to He has left some be found in the Patrologie grecque (Vol. IV), with the works of the Areopagite. See also his Mystagogy (P.G. XCI, 657-717). * Ca-pita de charitate, centuria iv, 86 Capita centuria i, 83-100 theologica et oeconomica, centuria i, 16; Diver sa ca-pita theologica et
3

scholia

oeconomica, centuria
5

i,

92-95 (P.G.

XC,

960-1080; 1084-1176;
2>'^\

177-1392).

Opuscula theologica et polemica (P.G. XCI, theologica et oeconomica, ctnturia i, 37, 28, 35.

Diversa capita

Eastern /IDonasticism after tbe Jfiftb cleuturx? 299 But this assimilation of the human will to the divine is realized first of all in Christ. In Him the two distinct wills
exist, contrary to the teaching- of

human

will is entirely subject to the divine,

one with it, model of our own deification

'rh>se

Monothelite heresy; but the and, moreover, Christ is thus the althout^h physically distinct.
;

it

is

He who makes
two

it

possible.

who

reject the doctrine of the

wills in the

Word

Incarnate not only seriously impair the mystery of the Incarnation, but render our deification inexplicable. It is here seen how important a place in his spirituality St. Maximus gives to the dogma of the two wills in Christ, The Christian for which he struggled and suffered so much. soul, by prayer, by effort, and by contemplation, must imitate the Sa\iour, who completely submitted His human will to the divine. Like Him, it must despise the good things of the world and cultivate virtue. This teaching- concerning- the imitation of Christ is very clearly set forth by Maximus in his Ascetic Book,^ in the form of a dialogue between an abbot and a young- monk. The Word Incarnate, therefore, is the one centre of the theology and spirituality of St. Maximus. The end of all creation is the deification of man, his It is what all we who are assimilating- with God by charity. " participants in the divine nature " (2 Pet. i. 4)^ must do. Man possessed this participation in the divine nature before the fall it was then lost. It must be restored by the Word, which deifies human nature by uniting Himself with it and has merited by His death that each one should become deified.^ The Incarnation, therefore, is the great event of the world, which God ordained from the beginning and which makes It is why Christ unites the object of creation possible. everything in Himself, in the same way that the Church unites within herself all the different nations of which she is
:

composed.*

v.THE PANEGYRISTS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN SERGIUS, ANDREW OF CRETE, ST. GERMANUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ST. JOHN DAMASCENE
:

It may come as a surprise to find Sergius (638), the Patriarch of Constantinople, who was the originator of the Monothelite But in heresy, among the panegyrists of the Virgin Man*-. the East devotion to the Mother of God did not belong
'

'

P.G. XC, 912-956. Diversa cafita theologica

et
et

oeconomica, centuria oeconomica, centuria

i,

45; Ef.
62, 63.

XXIV

(P.G. XCI, 609). 3 Diversa cafita theologica * Mystagogia, cap. i.

i,

300

Cbristian Spirituality

exclusively to Catholics.

Belief in the divine maternity of sanctity was held by those who refused to accept the doctrine of the two natures and two wills in Christ. In certain circumstances, even, it was thought to be a proof of orthodoxy to admit belief that Mary was truly the Mother of God. When St. Maximus was taken away into exile, passing- through a certain town he saw the inhabitants " approaching him, who thus addressed him are told that you refuse to call the Blessed Virgin Mother of God

Mary and her incomparable

We

'

'

us the facts, so that we need not be scandalized in you without just cause." The holy confessor, raising his hands " If any man refuse to say to heaven, answered, weeping that Our Lady, the Ever Blessed Virgin, is truly the Mother of God, the Creator of heaven and earth, let him be anathema Those by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost !" " Father present, astonished, replied May God give you And no the strength to proceed bravely on your way."^ question at all was raised concerning the doctrine of the two wills in Christ, for which, nevertheless, St. Maximus was in exile and for which he was soon to die. Sergius is the author of a famous hymn of the Greek Church in honour of the Blessed Virgin, in thanksgiving for the miraculous delivery of Constantinople and the empire
tell
: :
!

from the hands of the Avars in 626. This hymn was sung by clergy and people standing (i5/avos aKa^to-Tos). It is a kind of Greek Te Deum.' This song, the Acathistos, as it is called, is by the intensity of its thankfulness and love, by the piety and beauty of its poetry, the most beautiful chant ever composed in the East in honour of Mary.

Andrew of Crete, so named because he occupied the archiepiscopal see of that island at the beginning of the eighth century, was of somewhat doubtful orthodoxy on the question of Monothelism. Eight sermons of his have come down to us on the subject In the first five on the Nativity of of the Blessed Virgin. Mary and on the Annunciation^ Andrew collected all the traditions, more or less authentic, which he was able to find concerning the relations of the Blessed Virgin, her doings in the temple of Jerusalem, and, in a general way, her girlhood. The three others* deal with her death. They are inspired from the account of the last moments of Mary, given by Dionysius the Areopagite.
1 2

Acta Sanctorum (August

13 to III, p. 107.

Paris, 1867).
to a

The Acathjsios was for a long time wrongly attributed of Constantinople named George Pisides (650). Id.. 104-1109. 3 P.G. XCVIII, 815-913.

deacon

Eastern /IDonastlclsm after tbc

f Ittb

Century

301

Andrew of Crete is specially known as a religious poet. He composed a great number of idioviela or religious chants
with special melodies, and also canons or pieces comprising an endless number of strophes.
St. of

chant

Ciermanus, Patriarch of Constantinople (733) found, in Mary, the courage which he needed to endure the violent persecution to which he was subjected by the
his devotion to

Amongst the iconoclastic Emperor, Leo the I saurian. writings of St. Germanus are found seven sermons,' delivered in honour of the Blessed Virgin, in which are shown his tender devotion to the Mother of God.
But it is, above all, St. John Damascene who deserves to be heralded as the great servant and notable panegyrist of the Blessed Virgin. Born of a Christian family of Damascus, John seems to have held an important post in the house of the Caliph of that town. .About 730 he began his theological campaign by defending devotion to images, which brought upon him the anger of the Emperor Constantine Copronymus. St. John Damascene soon abandoned his position at Damascus, to retire, together with his adopted brother Cosmos Melodius, There he to the convent of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem. devoted himself to piety and study until his death. He was ordained priest about 735.^ St. John Damascene is much more celebrated as a dogmatic In his famous work, The than as an ascetic theologian. Source of Knowledge, which began the system followed by Latin theologians of the Middle Ages, John Damascene synthesized, with the assistance of Aristotelian philosophy, the teachings of the councils and of the most authoritative He summarized thus all the tradition of writers of the East.

Greek Church. But his long sojourn in the monastery of St. Sabas must have drawn his great mind to ascetic teaching. He wrote two treatises for the instruction of monks on the eight capital sins to which they are exposed and on the virtues of the
the cenobitic
life.'

The doctrine

set forth

is

well

known

to us.

Concerning Holy Fasting* and that Parallels,^ the latter being a collection of extracts Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, and profane moral and dogmatic subjects, are also considered works.
treatise
1

The

on Sacred from Holy writers on

as ascetic

P.G. XCVIII, 221-384. Vila ]oannis Damasceni (P.G. XCIV, 429-490).

De

octo sfirilibus
63-78.

malitiae (P.G.

XCV,

79-86);

De

virtuttbus et

vitits (85-98).

P.G. XCV,
s

P.G.

XCV,

1UJ9-1588;

XCVI,

9-442.

Cbrlstian Spirituality however, the homilies of St. John Damascene on the Blessed Virgin^ which most arrest the attention of Christian piety, A copious doctrine on devotion to Mary is taught there in language inspired by a tender piety. The privilege of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady especially is extolled in enthusiastic terms " Wonderful was the death vouchsafed to thee, O Virgin incomparable, by which to go to God By what name must this great mystery be known? Shall we call it death? For although thy most holy and blessed soul must needs, in fulfilment of the common lot of man, be separated from thy spotless and most noble body, which, indeed, was placed in the tomb nevertheless, death hath not kept it in custody, nor hath it seen corruption. For it hath pleased Him who took his flesh from a virgin in order to become man and be born in the flesh, the God-Word and Lord of glory, who after child-birth preserved inviolate His mother's virginity Him it hath pleased, when she went forth from this world, to honour her pure and spotless body in preserving it from corruption and carrying it to heaven before the general resurrection, Thy most pure body, then, free from every stain, O Virgin, has not been left beneath the ground, but thou hast been raised with Him to celestial regions thou
302
It is,
:

who

art truly queen,

truly sovereign,

and

truly

in accordance with Oriental tradition, extolled the Blessed Virgin in inexhaustible language on account of her incomparable purity, her pre-eminent sanctity, her unique dignity as Mother of God, and her role of benefactress of the human race, the great motive of our trust in her intercession. " Hail, thou who art truly full of grace Hail Because thou art more holy than the angels, higher than the archHail, full of grace, because thou art more wonderful angels than the thrones, raised above the dominations, more powerHail, full of grace, because thou ful than the virtues exceedest the principalities and art more sublime than the Higher than heaven and purer than the sun!^ powers! my sovereign queen? What What name shall I give thee, words can I use to address thee? With what praise adorn I shall call thee giver of thy sacred and most fair head?
! ! !
!

God. "2 St. John Damascene,

Mother

of

There are two homilies on the Annunciation (col. P.G. XCVI. two on the Nativity of Mary, dealing largely with St. Joachim and St. Anne (661-697), and three on the death and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (700-761). 2 Homil. I, in Dormit. B.V. Mariae, 9, 12; Homil. II, 18. In this second homily John Damascene gives the Jerusalem account of the death and Assumption of Mary. Homil, II, in Dormit., 4 seqq. (col.
1

643-661),

729 seqq.).

Homil. in Annunttat.

(col. 656).

Eastern /I>ona0ttc(0m after tbe

j^ood
thinj^s

jftttb Century 303 {dyaUodoTu), the dispenser of the riches of heaven {n-X.uvTuSoTupay), the ornament of the human race, the honour of every creature, thou throuf^'h whom all creatures have been rendered truly happy.' ..."

1 Homil. I, in Dormit., St. John Damascene witnesses 3 (col. 701). to the tradition according to which the Virgin Mary was presented in the Temple when a child. Homil. I, in Dormit., 6 (col. 708, 709); Ue fide orthodoxa, lib. IV, cap. xiv.

CONCLUSION

THE

remark suggested by the study which has been brought to an end is that, under a variety of forms of religious life, the same spiritual doctrine is always to be found.
first

just

Perfection consists in following Christ, in clinging to Him by love. The realization of this union with Christ is brought about by renunciation of self and the good things of this world. The more complete this renunciation the closer the attachment to Jesus. The practice of Christian virtue, then, consists, by inverse ratio, in the union with Christ and renunciation of things here below. The means of rendering our union with Christ more perfect are, in the first place, fervent prayer. In earlier days of Christianity this prayer consisted principally in the recitation or singing of Psalms. The Psalter, indeed, may be considered to be the standard of prayer. Every religious aspiration finds there its most divinely beautiful expression adoration, praise, wonder, thanksgiving, repentance, supplication, confidence, love. To earnest prayer was joined participation in the Eucharist, fasting, and other austerities which stand out so markedly in asceticism, in the first rank The of which must be placed the practice of continence. first ascetics lived in the midst of the world, in their families then, when monasticism sprang into being, they retired to the desert and fixed their abode in monasteries. The monks of antiquity are celebrated for their terribly severe penances. They mortified themselves most rigorously, to the end that the fire of passion might be completely extinguished. They struggled strenuously against the devil, the principal source of temptation, who of himself, or through his instruments, instils into souls the evil to be fought by abetting the tendency to sin in human nature. With greater precision the spiritual writers, after the Pelagian controversies, looked upon the heart of fallen man as the most formidable source of the instigation to sin. The devil is only really formidable because our concupiscence is It is, then, within us, rather than already on his side. outside ourselves, that we must wage the battle, and our soul The is the arena where we maintain the unceasing struggle. work of our sanctification is wholly interior; it consists in correcting by mortifying eflfort the unruly inclinations of the soul and keeping them constantly directed towards God by advancing in the practice of charity. The special devotions of this period had the person of Christ and that of His holy mother particularly in view. The Saviour is truly at the heart of all Christian piety. To 304
:

Conclusion
love

305

Him, serve Him, imitate Him, and obey Him

such are the duties incumbent on

religious.

perfectly, the fervent faithful and on

Perfection consists for each one in becoming- like Christ as far as human frailty allows. Devotion to Christ has its completion in that to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mother of Cod is reverenced on account of her exquisite purity, her pre-eminent holiness, her incomparable dignity and all-powerful intercession in heaven.

For the most part, the ascetics belonging to the period which we have just surveyed invest their spirituality with a
certain

tone of pessimism, for they well know that fallen nature is not wholly good. They find in it something false to be redressed, an original disorder to be destroyed. The old man, in a word, to be overcome. They undertook the struggle against themselves with harshness, calling to mind the words of Christ " The kingdom of heaven suffereth 7'iolence and Uie violent bear it away " (Matt. xi. 12). Experience taught them that the greater the violence done the greater was the progress made and thus they waged war against their passions with a strength of armament never to be surpassed. St. Francis of Sales knew how to mask I do not say to suppress the weapons with which the Christian should slay his evil tendencies. It is with a smile on the lips that he The guides his Philothea in this struggle against herself. ancient ascetics, especially the monks, present to us, on the and in this contrary, stern looks and furrowed brows attitude there is something more virile, more appropriate to the soldier of Christ. If it be possible, like the Bishop of Geneva, to advance with smiling lips towards perfection, most assuredly it cannot be reached by trifling on the road. Make-believe may amuse the weakling and the dilettanti of asceticism, but, on the other hand, may deceive serious souls by exposing them to the danger of stopping short at a certain semblance of piety, without acquiring the reality, which is to be like unto Christ If, in spirituality, pessimism properly crucified (Rom. vi. 5). so-called has no place, it is as important to guard against an exaggerated optimism, for which mortification is but a remnant of Jansenism, rendering this world so pleasant as to make us lose the yearning for heaven as our true home. Moreover, Providence at times takes heed to remind us, by permitting fearful ordeals such as that of the Great War, that we are here below as pilgrims, as strangers and exiles, that we dwell in a valley of tears, where we must detach ourselves from all things. Finallv, I would end by remarking, ancient ascetic writers The nearest have left us no synthesis of spirituality. 20

human

3o6 approaches to

Cbrfstian Spfritualitg
this are,

among- the Latins, the Conferences of Cassian, and, among- the Greeks, the Ladder of Paradise of St. John Climacus. But in spite of the great merit of these works, it is true that before the Middle Ages spirituahty was nowhere collected together in a complete body of doctrine. This work was carried out by the writers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in their Theological Summaries, in which spirituality was thoroughly synthesized together with morals

and dogma.
find appearing, also, at this same period the Schools of spirituality. Monasteries in the West began to federate and form themselves into monastic congregations. The Mendicant Orders were created. Each of these groups, each spiritual family, had its particular spirit, its own characteristic, its distinctive attitude towards asceticism, and formed In Christian antiquity the particularism a school apart. which rendered each monastery fully independent allowed of nothing so clearly determined. This variety in the way souls adapt themselves, according to their temperaments, to the same principles of perfection taught by Christ, is one of the most captivating aspects of the study of spirituality.

We

INDEX
(ANALYTICAL)
Almsdeeds and good works
Synoptic Gospels, 9
31
;
; :

in the

among

in St. Paul, the early ascetics, 47,

76; in St. Cyprian, 48; among the Eastern monks, 108, 295

among Benedictine monks, 250

: ;

Ambrose,

St. his counsek to virgins, 75 if, 144 ;}' his exhortations as to the practice of virginity, 144-147; his defence of the perpetual virginity of

Mary,

152, 153

St., monk of the Valley of Nitria, 81 Andrew of Crete, panegyrist of the Blessed Virgin, 300 Antiochus, ascetic writer, 294 Antony, St. his life, 77, 80, 81 his exhortations to monks, 112; his teaching on devils and temptations, 129-135 Apatheia, Stoic and Pelagian
: :

Ammon,

pure love and the nse of creatures, 188, 189; on mortification, 182, 190-193 on peace of the soul and obedience, 191, 192; on virginity, 193; on the cardinal virtues, 194; on fraternal charity, 194; on prayer, 195, 206, 207 ; on temptation, 199-206 on mystical contemplation, 209-216; on the relationship of Christ and the Holy Spirit with Christians, 224231 ; on the love and imitation on the Christ, of 231-233; Eucharist, 234, 235 ; on the virginity, the holiness, and the intercession of Mary, 237-2^9 among the primitive Austerities ascetics, 45 ; among the Fathers of the desert, 82 ff
; ;
:

B
Basil,
87,
St.
:

in Seneca the Philosopher, 64 in Clement of Alexandria, 69-71 in Evagrius of Pontus, 102, 104 ; among the Pelagians, 172, 182 writings, Aphraates, St. his 103 ; his teaching on prayer, 124, i2t 126; on the imitation of Christ, 232 Apologists, their testimony as to Christian virgins of the second century, 36, ^7 Arsenius, ai;cetic writer, 102, 108 Ascetics, their position and observances in the primitive church,
:

his 88; inteaching on obedience, 90 terior renunciation, 91 ; soberness, 113; chastity, 114. Aniane, St., his Benedict of monastic work, 261, 262 his life, Benedict of Nursia, St. his his Rule, 243-251 242
;
:

monastic his his Rule, 88-92;

life,

35-48.

views on monastic virtues, 251 Binding of the powers of the soul Cassian and among the in monks of the East, 127-129; in St. Augustine, 214; in Dionysius the Areopagite, 221, 222
Boethius,
2f>6

Asceticism,

its definition, preface his Life of St. Athanasius, St. Antony, 77; the treatise On Virginity attributed to him, 75, 76; his teaching on the likeness to Christ, 230 influence of Augustine, St. monasticism on his conversion, 137, 138; his monastic life at Cassiacum and at Tagaste, 164; foundations in his monastic his conception of Africa, 165 monastic life, 165 his Rule for
: : ;

his life and his Cassian, John writings, 161-163; his teaching as to the monastic life, 101, 105 on perfection and its degrees, 107-110; on charity, 108; on the on ordinary 111-123; vices, prayer, mystical prayer, and
:

the nuns at Hippo, 166-168; his religious anthropology, 174-184; his teaching on Christian perfection, and the means of obtaining its different degrees, 185-199; his teaching on charity, 185-199; on humility, 188; on

123-129; on devils and temptations, 129135 Cassiodorus, his mi^nastic work, 251, 252 Celibacy, ecclesiastical, 153-155 his monCaesarius of Aries, St. 2c;2-254; his testia.stic rules, mony as to the perpetual virginity and holiness of Mary, 263
ecstasy,
:

307

Charity (see Love of our neighbour)

:

God and
;

Deification of the soul by mysticcil

Chastity in St. Paul, 22 in the Apostolic Fathers, 45, 49 in St. Basil, 114; in the writers of the fourth and fifth centuries, 111-113; in St. Jerome, 140143; in St. Augustine, 176; in St. John Climacus, 290 Chrodegang, St., his canonical Rule for clerks, 258
;

Clement

of

Alexandria

his
;

teaching on perfection, 69 on afatheia, 69, 70 ; on mystical contemplation, 69 on charity and prayer, 71 Clement of Rome, St. teaching on humility and obedience, 49, 50 on chastity, 45 on charity, on the imitation of Christ, 51
;
:

according contemplation to Dionysius the Areopagite, 222; according to St. Maximus the Confessor, 298, 299 Devil, the in the Synoptic Gospels, 2; in St. Paul, 19; teaching of the monks of the East, 129-135; of St. Augustine, 203, 204 Diadochus, 102 Dionysius, the pseudo- Areopagite his demonstrative theology and the incomprehensibility of God, 217, 218; his mystical theology,
:
:

56

Clementine Epistles, the

tations
44, 48

exhor43,

to

virgins,
St.
:

38-41,

the purification of the soul, its illumination and its deification through mystical union, 219222 ; his teaching on prayer, 219 Direction, spiritual, among the monks of the East, 90, iii Dorotheus, St. his ascetic writings, 295; his teaching on humility, 295, 296
:

Columbanus,
Concupiscence

his

monastic

Rule, 254-256
in St. Paul, 1721; in St. John, 19; in the writers of the fourth century, 111-113; in St. Augustine, 180182, 203 Confession, practice of in St. Basil, 95 in St. Columbanus, 256; in St. John Climacus, 277, 287 Contemplation, mystical among the monks of the East, and in Cassian, 126-129; in St. Augustine, 209-216; in Dionysius the Areopagite, 217-221 ; in Grimlaic, in St. John 257, 258; Climacus, 292, 293 in Maximus the Confessor, 298, 299 Cyprian, St. his exhortations to virgins, 39, 41-43; his teaching on prayer, 47 on good works, on martyrdom, 53 on 47, 48 patience, on acceptance 54; of death, 55, 56 Cyril of Alexandria, St. on union with Christ by the Eucharist, 234-236 on the intercession and the greatness of Mary, 239, 240 Cyril of Scythopolis, Greek hagiographer, 278, 279
: :

in St. Ecstasy and transport among the martyrs, Paul, 30

:

the monks of the 57, 58 East, 127-129; in St. Augustine, 214-216; in Dionysius the Areopagite, 220-222 ; in St. John Climacus, 292 monasteries for Enclosure in
;

among

women, 253
Encratism, 60-62

Ephraem,

St.,

103;

teaching

as

to the sanctity of

Mary, 238
(see

Epictetus, 66, 79
Epistle, Clementine tine Epistles)

Clemen-

Eucharist,

its effects

on the soul

according to St. John, 11, 12; St. Paul, 24; St. Ignatius of Antioch, 57 ; the Fathers of the Church, 234-236 Eucherius, St., monk of Lerins and Bishop of Lyons, 161 Eusebius of Vercelli, St., inaugurated the common life for
clerks, 156

Euthymius
275

the

Great,

St.,

his

monastic work in Palestine, 274,

Evagrius

D
Death, thought of
:

its

power

to

convert, 112, 140; a check upon temptation, 131, 206

his writings, of Pontus loi, 102, 172; his teaching on a-patheia, loi, 102; on the the vices, 111-123 conscience, of Examination among the monks of the East,
:

...

"3

3n^es
him,

309

Faith:

in

St.
;

John,
St.
;

lo

in

St.

Paul, 32 Antioch,

in
51

Ignatius of

in

Alexandria, 69; in
tine, I9J, 194
:

Clement ot St. Augus-

104; his teaching as to temptations, 131 ; as to mystical illuminations, 128; on the imitation of Christ, 233; on the effects of the Eucharist, 236

amongst the primitive Fasting ascetics, 45 ; in the fourth century, 76; in the Oriental monasteries,

96 monasteries,

overcoming
135, 206 Fortunatus, 265

in the Western means of 158; temptations, 114,

Hilarion, St., 84, 85 Holy Spirit, the: His dwelling and action in the soul, St. John, 13; St. Paul, 21; the Fathers of the Church, 228230

Honoratus of Aries, St., 160 Hope, confidence in God in the

:

Latin hagiographer,
St.,
5,
7,

Francis of Sales, 305

104,

Synoptic Gospels, 7, 8; in St. St. John, 15; in St. Paul, 26; in Basil, no; in St. Augustine, 193 Humility in the Synoptic Gospels, Clement 9; St. Paul, 27, 31 St. 50; in the Orienof Rome,
:

49,

tal

monasteries,

90,

118,

122,

Germanus

of Constantinople, St., panegyrist of the Blessed Vir-

123; in St. Augustine, St. Dorotheus, 295

1S8; in

gin. 301

Gospel of

life-giving St. John union of Jesus with the Christian, 1012; indwelling of the Divine Persons in the Christian
:

soul, 12-14; the love of

God and

our neighbour, 14-16

evangelical Synoptic Gospels, perfection, 1-5; complete and reeffective renunciation, 5, 6 nunciation of all things from the heart, 6 union with Christ
:

and imitation of His virtues, 7 love of God and our neighbour,

8,

9
St.
:

Gregory the Great,

life

and

writings, 267, 268; his spiritual doctrines, 468; his pastoral theology, 268-270 Gregory of Nyssa, St., his treatise on virginity, 106, 109 Gregory of Tours, St., his hagiographic work, 265 his Rule for hermits, Grimlaic contem257 his teaching as to plation, 257, 258
:

his advice to virIgnatius, St. gins, 36, 40; his teaching as on the to faith and charity, 51 on union with Eucharist, 57 Christ, 57-59 Ildefonsus, St., his book on the perpetual virginity of Mary, 270 according Illumination, mystical to Cassian, 127; to Hesychius, 128; to St. Augustine, 214; to Dionysius the Areopagite, 220, to Maximus the Confessor, 221 298; to St. John Climacus, 292 among the Illusion, diabolical
:

of the East, 134, 35; St. Martin of Tours, 159 God of Incomprehensibility

monks

among
among

the Neoplatonists, 67
of

in

H
Heaven, desire
of
:

Alexandria, 69; St. in mystics Augustine, 210; in Dionysius St. the Areopagite, 217, 218; in Maximus, 298 summing the " St. Irenaeus, on the up " in Christ, 57 Blessed Virgin, 238

Clement

the

in

St.

Cyp-

Isaias, ascetic writer, 102

rian, 55, 56 ; in St. Paul, 29; in St. Ignatius the of Antioch, ^8, 59; among

among

the mystics,

Isidore of Pelusium, St., 102 monIsidore of Seville, St., his astic Rule, 259, 260

monks
;

of

the

fourth

century,
J

129; in St. Augustine, 199, aiS' in Dionysius the Areo216 pagite, 222; in St. John Climacus, 294 Helvidius, 150 work attributed to Hesvchius
:

of Nisibis, St., 86 his eremitical hfe Jerome, St. ascetic apostolate, i3Q-'43'.

James

and

his conception of monastic

lite.

310

5n&er
the Synoptic Gospels, 6, 7 ; in St. John, 12-15; ill St. Paul, 2630 ; in the Apostolic Fathers, 5659; in St. Ignatius of Antioch, 51, 58, 59; in the Greek writers of the fourth century, 108, 109 in Cassian, 108; in St. Augustine, 185-199, 231, 232; in Dionysius the Areopagite, 222 ; in St. John Climacus, 293, 294 ; in St. Maximus, 298 Love of our neighbour in the Synoptic Gospels, 8, 9 in St. John, 14-16; in St. Paul, 32, 33; in St. Clement of Rome, 51 ; among the primitive ascetics, 47, 48 ; in St. Cyprian, 48 ; in
: ;

136, 141. 142; his struggles against " Christian epicureanism," 147-155; against Pelagianism, 170 Jesus in Christian piety Union with Jesus: Synoptic Gospels, 1-8; St. John, 10-15; St. Paul, 16, 17, 21-30; Apostolic Fathers, 56-59; Greek monastic writers, i34> 131. 135; St. Augustine and the Fathers of the Church, 224-228; Imitation of Jesus: St. Paul, 28-30; Apostolic Fathers, St. Augustine and the 56; Fathers of the Church, 231-233; St. Maximus the Confessor, 299
:

John

Chrysostom,
life,

mitical

86

St. : his erehis teaching as

to the excellence of the monastic life, on the 105, 106; priesthood, 106, 107 ; on the effects of the Eucharist, 234-236

Clement of Alexandria, 112, 113; in St. Augustine, 194, 195 Love, pure, in St. Augustine,

John Climacus, St. his monastic life and his writings, 284, 285 his teaching on the degrees of perfection, 285 on entire renunciation, 2S6, 287 on obedience, on confession, 287 287 on penitence, 288 on vices and
:
-,

M
Macarius the Alexandrian, monk
of the Desert of Cells, 82, 83, 89 the Egyptian his spiritual teaching, 82, loi, 108; his teaching as to perfection, no; on the love and imitation of Christ, 230, 233 Mark the Hermit, writings, 102

Macarius

on the eremitical life and prayer, 291, 292 ; on Christian afatheia, 293 ; on charity, 293, 294 ; on the duties of superiors, 294 John Damascene, St., his teaching as to the Blessed Virgin, 302, 303 John Moschus, 278-281 Jovinian, 151-153 Julian Pomerius, his treatise on the contemplative life, 163
chastity,
290,

291

Martin Martin

of Braga, St., 266 of Tours, St., his monastic life and works, 156-160

Mary

in Christian piety Cletnentine Efistles, 44

144, St.

Ambrose,
Augustine,

145

in the in St. in St.

St.

Ephraem,

monastic, in Palestine, 274-277 Leo the Great, St. his teaching as to our union with Christ, 226229 on the imitation of Christ, on the effects of the Eu233 charist, 234 Leontius, Greek hagiographer, 282 Life, Christian, a combat St. Paul, 17-20; in the Apostolic Fathers, 51; in the Eastern writers, 103, 104; in St. Augustine, 182-184; in St. John Climacus, 285-290
84,

Lauras,

85,

Cyril of Alexandria, 236-240 in the Western monasteries, 263, 264 in the Eastern monasteries, 277; in John Moschus, 281; in St. John Damascene, 302, 303 perpetual virginity of Mary, i47-i53> 236-240, 263, 270 Maximus the Confessor, St., his mystical theology, 297-299 Meditation on the Word of God, 76, 95. i35> 249, 292 Melania, the Elder, or the Younger,
;

Methodius of Olympia,

his exhortations to virgins, 38, 39 his teaching on virginity, 44,

:

75, 85, 117, 121, 140, 143 St.

45. 61

Modesty

in

TertuUian and
;

St.

Life,

common,

of clerks, 156, 157,

158, 165, 258 Ligature (see Binding)

Love

of

God and

of

Christ

in

Amin St. 41-43 brose, 144; in St. Augustine, 167 its origins, 74-80 Monasticism development in the East, its ?>o ff; in the West, 136 ff
Cyprian,
:

3n&er
Monks,
luo

the

four

categories

ot,

Montanism,

63, 63 Mortification in the Synoptic Gospels, I if; in St. Ji>hn, ij, 14; in St. Paul, aj H\ among the primitive ascetics, 45 ;y in
:

relation uf the Christian with the Holy Spirit and with Christ, 21-26; the imitation of Christ in the life of the s<ju1, 27-

the

C'lt-ment of

Alexandria, 70, 71 in Origen, 73; in St. Basil, 99; in St. Augustine, 182,190-19^,205; the Greek ascetical writers give the name apatheia to that state in which the Christian is en;

tirely
2i)2

mortified,
its

104,

log,

124,

mystical phenomena in the St. Paul, 30; Christian virtues, fraternal chanty, 31-33 Paulinus of Nola, St., 148, 15O Pelagius his heresy, i6y ff his spirituality, 171-173; his teaching as to pra>er, 173 Perfection, Christian according tu the Synoptic Gospels, 1-3; to St. Paul, lO ff, 28; to Clement
30
;

life

ot

of Alexandria,
definition, preface

(n) ff

to Eastern
;

Mysticism,

writers and Cassian, 107 ff to the Pelagians, 171-173; to St.

N
Neoplatonism, 66-68, 208 Nilus, St. his writings and mon:

Augustine, 185 ff to St. John Climacus, 285, 292-294 Piety, as defined by St. Augus;

tine.

195
: ;

103 ; his teaching on the excellence of the monastic life, 108; on mortification, 106, 173; on vices, ii\ ff on prayer, 124 ff on temptation, 129 ff on the effects of the
life,

astic

85,

102,

Poverty, voluntary Synoptic Gospels, 2-4 monastic poverty, io8,

116, 117,
:

156-158,

165

ff,

250,

25 J
in the Synoptic Gospels, 8; St. Paul, 31; in the first centuries, 45, 75 the teaching of Tertullian concerning, 47; of St. Cyprian, 48; of Origen, 46 of the monks of the East, 123-129; of St. Augustine, 195, 206, 207 ; of St. John Climacus, 292 Presence of God, habit of realizing the, in St. Augustine,
2, 7,
; ;

Prayer

Eucharist, 236

Obedience in St. Paul, 31 in St. Clement of Rome, 49 mon:

according to

astic obedience, 90-93, 99, 142 St. Augustine, 167, 168, 192, 193; St. Benedict of
;

Nursia, 244, St. John 245 Climacus, 287 Obsession, diabolical, among the Fathers of the desert, 132-134
;

206 Priesthood
ness of,

106,

excellence and holi107 ; qualities re:

quired for 268-270 Psalms and Psalmody

the

among

Orcisius, 101 Origen his

:

ginity,

45,

teaching on vir46; on prayer, 46;

53,

primitive ascetics, 46 among those of the fourth century, 75, 76; among the monks
;

on

martyrdom,

54

his

of the East, 82, 94, 95, 281

the

asceticism, 71, 72

monks
on

of St. Benedict, 246-249;

impression made by the Psalms St. Augustine, 164, 165

Pachomius,

his monastic rule, 83, 84, 88-100 Palladius, his Lauiiac History,
74

Purification, mystical, of the soul teaching of the monks of the East, 124, 125; of St. Augustine, 213, 215; of Dionysius the

Areopagite,
of injuries, 9, 10, 47, 118,
:

219; of

St.

Maxi-

Pardon

mus, 298

292 Patience

in Tertullian and St. C)rprian, 54, 55 among the of the East, it8; in St. .Augustine, 183 Paul, St. on the Christian combat, 17-20; on virginity, 20;
;

monks

Rules,

monastic of St. Pachomius, and St. Basil, 88-100; of St. Martin of Tours, 158; of St. Augustine, 165-168; of St.
:

93303.3
312
Benedict of Nursia, 243-251 ; of the Abbots Paul and Stephen,
251; of Cassiodorus, 251, 252; St. Caesarius of Aries, 253, 254 of Aurelian of Aries, 254 of St. Columbanus, 254-256 of Grimlaic, 257, 258 of St. Leander and St. Isidore of SeviUe, of St. Fructuosus of 259, 260 Braga, 260 ; of St. Ferreolus of Uzes, 254; of St. Donatus of Besangon, 256 Regula monasterii Tarnatensis, 256
of
; ; ; ; ;

Thomas Aquinas,
218

St.,

7,

8,

208,

U
Union and mystical prayer
St.
;

in John, 12-14; in St. Paul, 28, among the martyrs, 57-59 29 in Cassian and the monks of the East, 126-129; iJi St. Augustine, 214-216; in Dionysius the Areopagite, 221, 222; in St. John Climacus, 292
:

Sabas,

St., his monastic work in Palestine, 275 Salvian, his book on The Government of God, 163

Schnoudi, St., 84 Seneca, the Philosopher, 64 Simeon Metaphrastes, his hagiographic work, 283, 284

Vices, the eight capital, in, 290, 291 Vigilantius, the enemy of clerical celibacy, 154, 155 Virginity Synoptic Gospels, 3 St. Paul, 20, 21 ; Apocalypse,
:

21

St.
;

Methodius

of

Olympia,

Simeon Styhtes,
Sophronius,
St.,

St.,

86, 87

279

Study
119,

and

manual

work
95, to

in
96,

Oriental

monasteries,

120; according St. Jerome, 142; to St. Augustine, in the monasteries of the 166
;

West, 249, 251, 254, 256, 260

Sulpicius Severus, St., 148; his Life of St. Martin, 157-160

the Cle?nentine Efistles, 44; St. Cyprian, 39, 42; Origen, 45, 46, 72; St. Ambrose, 144; St. Augustine, 193 Virtue the conception of it among the monks of the East, 67, 68, 112, 113; the definition of St. Augustine, 193, 194; the cardinal virtues, 147, 193, 267 Vision, intellectual, of God, among the mystics, 214-216, 220,
38, 44
:

221, 298 Vocation, monastic and religious according to Cassian, 106 liberty to follow St. Jerome,
:
:

Temptation
pels, 3
;

St.

in the Synoptic GosPaul, 20 according

;

Vows

the Eastern monks and to Cassian, 129-135; according to St. Augustine, the 199-206 ; temptation of the monastic
to

139-141 ; St. Ambrose, 144-147 of virginity, 40, 41 ; monastic vows, 90, 165, 245, 262
:

W
the three ways of the spiritual life, 215, 220 Widows, Christian, in the early Church, 40

novice according to St. Antony, according to St. John 132; Climacus, 286 Teresa, St., 29, 127 Tertullian his exhortation to virgins, 42 ; to martyrs, 52, 53 his teaching on prayer, 46, 47 on patience, 54 on montanist
:

Ways,

Work, manual (see Study) World in the Synoptic Gospels, in St. John and St. Paul, 2
:

ecstasy, 62

Theodore the Cenobiarch, St., 276 Theodore of Studium, St., 296,

297

19, 20; worldly reaction in the fourth century against asceticism, 142 ft the teaching of St. Augustine, 205 ; of St. John Climacus, 287
;

Printed in England

BV 5021 .P5815 1922 v.l SMC

=>ourrat, Pierre, Zhristian spirituality

ima