Lights From The Past

A nobleman who left everything to seek God, and who believed (and taught) that to seek perfection and holiness is a duty, not a luxury.

“Not to wish to be perfect is to fall into sin.  The will must always be nourished, love always prepared for the sake of perfection…  We were created to God’s image so that we may be like God.” (Golden Letter – no. 259)

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5,48).  The Second Vatican Council underlines the universal call to holiness in Chapter V of Lumen Gentium.  More recently the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exultate, speaks on the call to holiness in today’s world.  We see the call to perfection and holiness as being intrinsic to Christian living and all great theologians and spiritual writers make mention of it. William of St. Thierry, however, takes it further by stating that not to wish a life of perfection is a ‘sin.’  He firmly believed that the call to perfection and holiness is central to our identity of being made in the image of God.  Only a person whose will is united with the will of God can reach such a state of perfection.

William was born in Liege around 1085 and came from a noble family.  His initial education was at the Rheims Cathedral school. Before completing it, he, along with his brother, entered the Benedictine abbey of St. Nicaise.  From the very beginning he demonstrated a contemplative spirit and his meeting with St. Bernard of Clairvaux would have a deep impact on his life.  Within six years he was elected abbot of St. Thierry and fulfilled his responsibilities zealously.  However, he wanted to join the monastery of Clairvaux and repeatedly requested Bernard, who finally accepted him after fifteen years into the Cistercian foundation at Signy near Reims.  The austere life was not easy for William, but as a simple monk he relished the ambiance of solitude. He always held St. Bernard in high esteem and was writing his biography during the year of his death in 1148.

William was well versed with the Latin and Greek Fathers. Some of his important works included On Contemplating God, a commentary on the Songs of the Songs (1137-39), as well as works on anthropology and Scripture.  However, it is in Golden Letter, written four years before his death in 1144, that we find an important summary of his mystical teachings.

Image and Likeness
He explains that the human person, created in the image of God, gets one’s being from God, participates in God, but at the same time is distinguishable from God in some way.  William pointed out that image and likeness are different but related forms of participating in God.  Image refers to originating participation which gives us our dignity and cannot be lost, whereas likeness comes through perfecting participation, whereby through our life of activity we come to resemble God.  Both the forms of participation have been affected by sin, though it has been more on perfecting participation.

Three Moments on the Path of Love
The spiritual process needs to take into account the memory, understanding and will (Golden Letters 249) and consists in three phases.  In the first, a Christian is moved by authority, doctrine and the exemplary lives of others.  During the second stage, religion becomes more interiorized and the soul is directed to the indwelling presence of God.  The third stage is where the person is enlightened and led by the Holy Spirit to greater union with God.  William countered Abelard’s intellectualism and believed that at the highest forms of mystical experience, knowledge and love are the same.  The three moments in the path of love consist in striving or desiring, feeling or perceiving, and transformation.  All three are intertwined and in an integrated manner lead a person to God.  William combined anthropology, theology and scripture in order to offer a systematic framework of spiritual life which had a strong impact on medieval mysticism and continues to illumine us even today.

Fr. Francis Pudhicherry SJ

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During the past several months we have paused to reflect upon the great spiritual figures who influenced Christianity from apostolic times to the end of the first millennium.   They came from a variety of cultural, political and social backgrounds but went on to shape the foundations of the Christian faith.  On analyzing their life and works, four points stand out.

1. Genuine seekers of the truth: The nineteen persons highlighted in the past issues of Magnet emerge as genuine seekers of the truth.  Some of them, such as Pachomius, Ambrose and Augustine, accepted Christianity as adults, while others were born in Christian families.  Irrespective of their infancy and upbringing, they had a deep quest for God and travelled across countries and continents in search of the truth.  Cassian and Germanus would stand out because of their arduous journey into the deserts of Egypt in order to be taught by the spiritual guides (Abbas).
2. A deep personal experience of God: Though they were drawn by the life and witness of other individuals and communities, the ultimate source of their commitment was their own personal experience of God.  Such was the impact of this experience that they could not but share this experience with others.  Symeon the New Theologian would speak of the need of undergoing a second baptism whereby one’s faith is personalized and one’s entire life is moved by the foundational experience of God.  This inner experience led to varied external expressions in the form of theological dogmas, establishment of religious orders, social commitments, political involvements and so on.
3. Struggles/Persecution: Discipleship and struggles were intrinsic to the lives of all the great figures.  All of them experienced internal as well as external struggles.  If the internal struggle was emphasized in the life of Antony of Egypt, Cassian, Evagrius and Augustine, the external would be emphasized in Ambrose, Chrysostom, Maximus, Benedict and Gregory.  The inner and external struggles transformed them into shining witnesses for the community and led others to emulate their example.  They faced exile, tortures, humiliations, mutilations and even death in order to bear witness to Christ.
4. Transformation: The personal transformation of these individuals led to a transformation of the context and society they lived.  Their spiritual depth made them interiorly attuned to the invitation of the Spirit as well as the deception of the false spirit leading towards a heightened sensitivity to what was taking place around them.  They responded to the poverty, suffering, ignorance, political machinations, discriminations and religious hypocrisy by responding with discernment, prudence and courage.  Their lives reveal to us the unity of an authentic spiritual life – i.e., a unity of growing intimacy with God, along with a commitment to the poor and marginalized

The first millennium reveals the changing contours of Christian spirituality.  The first phase consisted in understanding martyrdom as the climax of commitment.  With the passage of time, martyrdom would be interpreted differently. The Desert Fathers and Mothers would understand Christian perfection in a more nuanced manner.  This would be a period of great spiritual insights and many of the core elements that make up a systematic understanding of Christian spirituality even today would find their origin during this period.  The solitude of the desert led these great persons towards an inner journey and their insights were articulated in a systematic manner.  While it can be said that the choice of individuals and their insights in this column of Magnet cannot be considered exhaustive, they offer us a glimpse of the wisdom contained in the tradition of Christian Spirituality.

The second millennium would throw up new contexts leading to new and creative responses.  Though the challenges were new, the great individuals and movements of the second millennium allowed the lights of the past and the ever new impetus of the Spirit to guide them towards a renewed and progressive realization of the Kingdom.

Fr Francis Pudhicherry SJ

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How to integrate theology and spirituality

“The Holy Spirit regenerates you, it changes you from corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal, from sons of men into Sons of God and gods by adoption and grace.” (Discourse XXXIII)

What is Theology?  Is it an abstract, philosophical speculation or a mystical and intense personal experience?  The tension between these two tendencies would characterize the life and times of Symeon the New Theologian, a monk from Asia Minor.  The period he lived saw, on the one hand, the emergence of ‘scholastic’ theology—a theology strongly influenced by philosophical categories and encouraged by Stephen of Nicomedia—as against an integrated experience of theology and actual spiritual life as seen in the mystical theology promoted by Symeon the New Theologian.

Symeon was born in Galatia (Asia Minor) and belonged to the Byzantine nobility.  He studied basic Greek in school until he was eleven years old and pursued higher studies in the court.  At the age of fourteen, he met his spiritual father Symeon of Studite, a very holy monk.  Though the young Symeon wanted to join the monastery without any delay, the senior Symeon made him wait until he reached the age of twenty-seven years.  During this period, he served the emperor as a diplomat and a senator.  Despite a hectic life, his interior life was one of vigils, prayers and austerities.  His first years as a zealous monk did not go well with other monks, who had fallen into decadence and in a short time he was forced to move to the monastery of Saint Mamas.  Here he received the tonsure, was ordained a priest and elected abbot over the monks.  He would spend twenty-five years at this monastery and make it truly an outstanding place.  However, he faced opposition from Archbishop Stephen who ensured that Symeon was sent into exile in 1009.  There he lived a life of simplicity and solitude in a small chapel dedicated to Saint Marina.  Patriarch Sergios revoked the exile and offered him the ecclesiastical office of archbishop.  He refused this invitation and continued to write and be a spiritual guide to others until his death in 1022.  His important works include the Discourses, Theological Treatise, Hymns of Divine Love and various Letters.

Symeon was convinced of the primacy of personal experience and stressed that grace or the indwelling of the Trinity could be experienced by all persons.  In keeping with tradition, he also believed that non-ordained persons could forgive sins.  The ecclesiastical authorities did not fully approve of these views.  But, going beyond the conflicts, we find two important spiritual themes recurring in his writings.  The first relates to the need of asceticism and penance in spiritual life.  This was uncomfortable for monks who had entered a life of comfort and decadence.  He emphasized repentance, detachment, sorrow, works of mercy, charity, the practice of the commandments and so on.  However, what sets him apart from others is the pre-eminent position given to the Holy Spirit in the life of a person.  All Christians need to go through a second Baptism, which Symeon calls a baptism of the Holy Spirit.  One who has experienced repentance and undergone a conversion will have a growing conscious awareness of Christ as one’s Lord and Saviour.  In Discourse XXXIV he explains that the indwelling of the Trinity is possible and should be sought after by every Christian as the true goal of life.  One is invited to go beyond an intellectual knowledge of the Holy Spirit to actually be ‘consciously aware’ of this presence through continual conversion.  Unfortunately, the efforts of Symeon would not stop the separation between theology (understood strictly as a science) and spirituality.  Centuries would go by and only in the 20^th century would there be any serious attempt at re-integrating theology and spirituality.

Fr Francis Pudhicherry SJ

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For everything that is understood and sensed is nothing else but the appearance of what is nonapparent, the manifestation of the hidden, the affirmation of the negated, the comprehension of the incomprehensible (Periphyseon, Bk.3)

Scotus Eriugena was as his name suggests born in Ireland.  However, he would become famous in France where he found favor with Charles the Bald and would be deeply involved in the theological debates of the day.  When John was made the Master of the Frankish Palace School in 846 he was already a well accomplished person.  His breath of learning was immense and he knew Greek, Latin, medicine, liberal arts and astronomy.  Though he belonged to the Western tradition, he was able to integrate the insights of the Western tradition based upon Augustine and Ambrose along with Eastern writers such as Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius and Maximus the Confessor.  A major focus of his writings dealt with the relationship between God and the cosmos wherein he pointed out that though the visible cosmos reveals to us the hidden God, God will always remain the incomprehensible and transcendent mystery.

The initial works of John Scotus were translations of Dionysius and other Eastern classics by Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus.  His major work would be the Periphyseon considered to be his Summa and is in the form of dialogues.  This work was later called De Divisione Naturae and contains two contradictions which are held in tension.  On the one hand there is the ineffability of God – i.e, the mystery of God as being too great to be expressed or described in words.  Affirmations, even affirmations of God’s love can only be made metaphorically or analogically.  This point of view relates to the apophatic tradition – a view that God can only be known through negations.  But on the other hand, John Scotus also underlined the view that God is present (though not identified) in created reality.  God ‘descends’ into created reality so that the visible manifestation or revelation of God takes place.  This point of view relates to the cataphatic tradition – a view that approaches the reality of God through affirmation.  John Scotus is one of the few spiritual writers in the early centuries who is able to speak of God using a language which fuses and transcends both affirmation and negation.

The spirituality of John Scotus responds to two important questions: a) what is the purpose of creation? and b) how does the progressive movement of salvation history take place? The purpose of creation is the manifestation of the Divine where God is simultaneously experienced as illumination (light) and darkness.  Both, light and darkness simultaneously coexist in human experience and find an echo in the human experience of the Divine.  It needs to be recalled that within all created reality, the human person has a special place because of the possibility of participating with the Divine or Creative Wisdom.  Regarding the second question John Scotus affirmed that the death and Resurrection of Christ takes forward the history of salvation.  History is a circular movement where the starting point is oneness and harmony.  Sin has resulted in fragmentation, disharmony, illusion and ignorance and can only be overcome through the Creative Wisdom in the person of Jesus Christ.  The process of reconciliation has begun and all reality is now moving towards a new point of fullness and glory.  The stages of purification, illumination and union are interpreted historically with the cosmos being progressively ‘purged of all ignorance, illuminated by all wisdom and perfected by all deification’ (Commentary on the Celestial Hierarchy, 10).  John Scotus Eriugena draws upon the best wisdom from both the East and West and offers a method of progressive union with the Divine – a union which is already being experienced in the here and now and will be fully accomplished in the time to come.

Fr Francis Pudhicherry SJ

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“Just as these eyes sensibly see and recognize the face of a friend or a loved one, so also the eyes of the worthy and faithful person, being spiritually enlightened by the divine light, see and recognize the true Friend—the Lord, since the soul is completely illuminated by the adorable Spirit.” (Homily XXVIII/5)

Pseudo-Macarius was an early proponent of ‘light’ or ‘Tabor’ mysticism that emphasized the transformation and enlightenment of a person through the ineffable light of the Holy Spirit.  His spiritual insights can be found in a collection of texts, principal among which are the Fifty Homilies.  The identity of this spiritual classic’s author has been problematic.  During the early centuries there were two important persons by the name Macarius – one from Alexandria and another from Scete.  The second Macarius was a very great spiritual master and until the 19^th century these writings were attributed to him.  However, modern research reveals that this second Macarius was not the author and therefore the writer of the Homilies is now referred as Pseudo-Macarius.  Based on an analysis of the text, it is presumed that this person was a Syrian monk and came from an educated and cultured background.  He was a citizen of the Roman Empire and comparisons from the political, military and economic world reveal that he was probably part of the army or involved in imperial administration. Two salient features of his ‘light’ spirituality are: a) unceasing prayer and b) a growing ability to discern one’s thoughts.

Unceasing Prayer: Pseudo Macarius exhorted all to pray unceasingly.  He emphasized the basic goodness of the human person (Homily 15) and stated that in creation God willingly shared God’s beauty and nature with the human person.  As against this, the Messalian heresy, which also spoke of unceasing prayer, believed that the human person was intrinsically sinful and even baptism was not sufficient to free a person from original sin.  The only way out was unceasing prayer – where prayer was understood as a life of intense ascetical practices, avoidance of manual labor, negation of sacraments and rejection of church structures.  Pseudo-Macarius accepted that goodness had been lost by sin, but it has been restored by the Risen Lord.  To pray unceasingly did not consist so much in self-centered ascetical practices, as the Messalians said, but by constantly living in the presence of God.  Such a person realized one’s total dependence on God and through the virtue of humility grew in an ardent longing for God.  An authentic life in the Spirit allowed the Divine light to transform a person leading to growing spiritual enlightenment.

Discerning One’s Thoughts:  Pseudo-Macarius pointed out that there was no short cut towards enlightenment but that it involved a prolonged process of growing in virtues and overcoming one’s passions.  Both sin and grace co-exist in a person and the perfection of baptism grows slowly within a person.  In the spiritual combat between good and evil there may be momentary peace and joy, but one needs to be vigilant at all times.  Of special importance was the need to discern one’s thoughts because deceptions entered through evil thoughts or more subtly through seemingly good thoughts.  Hence it was very important to know the source of the thoughts – whether they came from God, from the false spirit or oneself.  Spiritual enlightenment thus consisted in continual prayer and discernment leading to greater co-operation with grace, openness to the Holy Spirit and participation in Divine life. 

The spiritual wisdom of Pseudo-Macarius has had tremendous influence on Christian spirituality.  Groups as diverse as Greeks, Syrians, Russians, Franciscans, Jesuits, Pietists, Methodists and neo-Pentecostals have been influenced by it.  In our age of frenzied activity, the insights of Pseudo-Macarius regarding ‘unceasing prayer’ enlighten us towards greater discernment of our inner movements, help us remain focused on Christ and thus realize the Kingdom within and around ourselves.

Fr Francis Pudhicherry SJ

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“The one who through asceticism and contemplation has known how to dig in himself the wells of virtue and knowledge as did the patriarchs will find Christ within as the spring of life.  Wisdom bids us to drink from it, saying, “Drink waters from your own vessels and from your own springs.”  If we do this, we shall discover that His treasures are present within us.”

(Chapters on Knowledge, Second Century, 40)

The honorific ‘Confessor’ could lead one to believe that Maximus was a confessor par excellence with multitudes flocking to him for confession in the manner they flocked to the Curé d’Ars.  Maximus, however, did not get this honorific because of his work at the confessional, but due to his confession of faith in the face of severe persecution.  The emperor was disappointed that Maximus did not give in to his diktats and, after the farce of a trial, banished him into exile.  Even exile did not silence Maximus. He continued to speak and write in defense of the faith.  Finally, he was given the incredibly cruel “Persian punishment,” i.e., his tongue and hand—which were used to confess the faith—were cut off.  This sacrifice led him to receive the honorific ‘Confessor.’

Maximus was born in 580 CE into a Christian family that belonged to the elite of the city.  He received the best education of the day and was appointed the proto-secretary of the then emperor Heraclius at an early age.  However, three years later, he entered monastic life and remained a monk in what is modern day Turkey until the spring of 626 when the Persians, Slavs and Avars were attacking Constantinople.  He departed for North Africa, where he remained for a quarter of a century.  During this period he strongly opposed Monothelitism (Christ having one will) and Monoenergism (one energy).  Though it seems a trivial and speculative debate, Maximus realized that this position seriously compromised the humanity of Christ.  During a famous theological debate in 645, he demolished Pyrrhus, the deposed Patriarch of Constantinople and a leading proponent of Monothelitism.  In 646 he went to Rome and was close to Pope Martin I.  Emperor Constans II tried to placate differing political groups by diluting the orthodox faith. This was what Maximus opposed. He was put on trial and the proceedings have been recorded in The Trial of Maximus.  Though he was exiled, he refused to be silenced and was brutally tortured for refusing to sign a compromise statement of doctrine.  The mutilation and tortures finally led to his death on the 13^th of August, 662.

Maximus was an eminent figure for the Eastern and Western churches because he combined the profound speculation of the East and the historical salvific perspective of the West.  His life reveals to us an integration of the orthodoxy of faith and authentic Christian living.  His spirituality primarily revolved around the theme of divinization, which spoke of the human person truly becoming the image and likeness of God.  The process of divinization would be rooted in the mystery of the Incarnation where God became incarnate so that we might ‘become partakers of the divine nature’ (2 Pet. 1: 4).  For him divinization was not an abstract theme but a genuine transformation of not just the human person but all of creation so as to participate in Divine life.  Though divinization was only possible through the grace of God, it also involved an act of free will.  Only when the human person lets go of one’s self-love and surrenders totally to God does the grace of God transform and divinize the person.  Maximus Confessor’ courageous response to the trials of his time was the result of his inner transformation – his progressive divinization.  His life challenges us to discover our true selves and live lives of greater authenticity and radical discipleship.

Practical guidelines on our journey to God.

The sum of the entire ascetic course consists in these three things—repentance, purity and perfection.  What is repentance? Desisting from former sins, and feeling pain at them.  What is purity, in a nutshell? A heart which has compassion on every natural thing in creation. What is perfection? Profound humility, which consists in the abandoning of everything visible and invisible—visible meaning everything involved with the senses; invisible meaning all thinking about them. (Discourse LXXIV)

Qatar was until the 7^th century an important centre of Christianity and produced important spiritual writers.  Isaac of Nineveh was one among them and his treatise on monastic life had a tremendous impact on religious life within the Eastern church.  The information regarding his life is scarce and we know very little of his early childhood.  It is believed that he became a monk and teacher in his home country and may have moved away during a schism between the Patriarchate and bishops of Qatar.  However, when the Patriarch George I visited the area in 676, the schism was healed and Isaac was ordained a bishop of Nineveh (Mosul).  Within five months he abdicated his episcopacy and retired to the mountains to lead a solitary life.  It was during this period that he would write his treatise on spiritual life offering invaluable spiritual and psychological insights that would leave an imprint on Eastern Christian Spirituality.

Isaac was a brilliant writer and belonged to the tradition of East Syriac writers who lived in what is today Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most of his writings were based on his personal spiritual experience and written during his old age.  Such was its impact that within less than 100 years it was translated into Greek and became popular within both Byzantine and Western Christianity.  It is believed that Isaac wrote five volumes of instructions for monks of which much has been lost.  Two parts of his work have survived to this date and its first English translation appeared in the year 1923.   He primarily dealt with the theme of spiritual growth and prayer and, like Evagrius Ponticus, spoke of a three-stage ascent to God.

Three-Stage Ascent to God

The first phase consists in asceticism, where a person engages in ascetical practices, such as fasting, vigils and the like.  There is no short cut to growth in spiritual life. Without going through this phase a person cannot experience inner peace and serenity.  During the second phase there is growth in self/control and reverential fear of the Lord.  The person has an understanding of the transitory nature of the world and an awareness of its delusions/deceptions.  Along with this enlightenment regarding the world, a person also begins to experience God more and more as loving and providential.  This sets the stage for another level of the spiritual journey wherein there is a growing abandonment of self leading to greater insights into the reality of God and creation.  A person experiences growing harmony in one’s life and prayer progressively elevates the person towards God.

 No-Prayer as the Highest Form

Isaac firmly believed that time, place and posture played an important role in prayer and would elaborate it in Texts on Prayer and Outward Posture.  A unique contribution of Isaac was the concept of ‘no-prayer’ as the highest form of prayer.  It is a state where a person goes beyond conventional prayer and experiences extraordinary stillness, serenity, silence and equanimity.  This state may be fleeting or transitory but is a foretaste of eternal life.  In his treatise on prayer he underlined its intrinsic relationship with the Eucharist, psalms and liturgy.  His suggestions on dealing with distractions in ‘Pure Prayer’ are as relevant today as they were centuries ago.  In today’s world of frenzied activity, Isaac of Ninveh’s insights on spiritual life come across as a refreshing pointer towards authentic peace and harmony.

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“It behooves the priest to be as pure as if he stood in heaven…  Picture Elias and the immense multitude standing, while the prophet prays and fire descends…  In the sacrifice which is now offered the priest brings down not fire, but the Holy Spirit and prays that that grace may descend and inflame the souls of all.”

(On the Priesthood 3.4-6)

John (349-407 CE) received the honorific of ‘Chrysostom’ or ‘golden mouth’ because of his extraordinary oratorical gifts.  Only one more person, the bishop of Ravenna Peter Chrysologus (380-450) had this unique distinction; he was referred to as ‘golden word.”  John Chrysostom was brilliant, outspoken, direct and many of his sermons have survived to this day.

John was born into a well-to-do family in Antakya (Antioch) in Southern Turkey.  His father died when John was very young and his mother Anthusa, a devout woman, instilled in him a deep Christian faith and ensured he received an excellent education under the rhetorician Libanus, a non-Christian.  The exact year of his baptism is disputed (368 or 372).  After his baptism he studied Antiochene exegesis and later spent six years as a hermit.  His severe asceticism ruined his health and he had to return to the city.  On his return he was first made a deacon and later a priest in 386.  He was an extraordinary preacher and crowds flocked to hear his sermons.  After a difficult first year he had a serene period of intense pastoral work from 387 to 397.  In the year 397 he was made bishop of Constantinople and zealously worked for the people, especially the poor.  His life challenged the political class, the clergy and monks who had succumbed to laxity.  The so-called Synod of Oak dismissed him in 403 and the king decreed that he be exiled.  This was not carried out because of an accident in the imperial palace.  He continued to preach fearlessly.  However, in 404 the emperor signed a decree definitively exiling him to Armenia.  In 407 his opponents, who did not want him to have any contact with his friends, persuaded the emperor to send him farther away. During an extremely brutal deportation he died of exhaustion in Pontic Comana on the 14^th of September.

John Chrysostom is one of the most prolific Church Fathers with his most fruitful years being the years of his priestly ministry in Antioch.  He produced 67 homilies on Genesis, 59 on the Psalms, 88 on the Gospel of John, 90 on Mathew and smaller collections on other biblical books.  However, his specialty was St. Paul, on whom he gave more than 200 sermons.  Other works included seventeen treatises and two hundred and forty-one letters.  One of his best-known works is a treatise on The Priesthood which is arranged in six books and presented in the form of a dialogue with a certain Basil.  Books three to six offer an excellent picture of a priest’s tasks.  It underlines the pastoral duties of a priest—the protection of widows and virgins, righteousness, proclamation of the word of God, responsibility towards others, defending the faith and so on.  In the treatise John develops the spirituality of a priest, pointing out that, unlike a monk who takes care of his own salvation, the priest is accountable for his entire community. Thanks to the years of pastoral engagement, John Chrysostom’s spirituality evolved.  It moved from a rigid asceticism of his earlier days towards one which was more understanding, inclusive and other-centered.  Even today the life of John Chrysostom offers us the image of an exemplary priest and bishop – a courageous, zealous and committed person who went through various persecutions, sufferings and eventual martyrdom.  His golden words shone forth in his life as he bore witness to the Good News until the very end.

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Tips on Leadership and Spiritual Growth

(480-547 CE)

“The Abbot should use prudence and avoid extremes…  He should prune faults with prudence and love as he sees best for each individual.  Let him strive to be loved rather than feared.”  (Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 64,12.14-15)

The entire Rule of St. Benedict stands out for its spirit of discernment.  Chapter 64, where the qualities of an Abbot are outlined, emphasizes the need of ‘prudence’ (repeated twice) and juxtaposes it with the age-old philosophical principal of ‘avoiding extremes.’  The chapter, which is a synthesis of the Christian ideal and profound humanism, is indeed a must read for anyone who has to elect a superior or has been appointed as one.

Though monastic life existed for many centuries in western Europe, Benedict is considered the Father of Western monasticism. He was born in Nursia, Northeast of Rome. After experiencing a religious conversion, he decided to renounce the world.  He first lived with a group of ascetics in Affile, east of Rome, and then spent three years in total solitude in Subiaco. He had a bitter experience as head of a group of decadent monks, following which he returned to Subiaco and founded twelve monasteries.  From there he went to Mount Cassino, where he founded a fully cenobitic community – a community which would be autonomous and confer the abbot with a great deal of authority. His Rule would go on to become the foundation of monastic spirituality. On various occasions, when monasticism was in crisis, groups of monks would return to the original spirit of the Rule of St. Benedict.

Benedict’s life was popularized by the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great, who presented him as a Vir Dei, i.e., a man of God.  In keeping with the literary style of the day, Benedict is presented as a great prophet, miracle worker…

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Benedict of Nursia: (480-547 CE)

“The Abbot should use prudence and avoid extremes…  He should prune faults with prudence and love as he sees best for each individual.  Let him strive to be loved rather than feared.”  (Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 64,12.14-15)

The entire Rule of St. Benedict stands out for its spirit of discernment.  Chapter 64, where the qualities of an Abbot are outlined, emphasizes the need of ‘prudence’ (repeated twice) and juxtaposes it with the age-old philosophical principal of ‘avoiding extremes.’  The chapter, which is a synthesis of the Christian ideal and profound humanism, is indeed a must read for anyone who has to elect a superior or has been appointed as one.

Though monastic life existed for many centuries in western Europe, Benedict is considered the Father of Western monasticism. He was born in Nursia, Northeast of Rome. After experiencing a religious conversion, he decided to renounce the world.  He first lived with a group of ascetics in Affile, east of Rome, and then spent three years in total solitude in Subiaco. He had a bitter experience as head of a group of decadent monks, following which he returned to Subiaco and founded twelve monasteries.  From there he went to Mount Cassino, where he founded a fully cenobitic community – a community which would be autonomous and confer the abbot with a great deal of authority. His Rule would go on to become the foundation of monastic spirituality. On various occasions, when monasticism was in crisis, groups of monks would return to the original spirit of the Rule of St. Benedict.

Benedict’s life was popularized by the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great, who presented him as a Vir Dei, i.e., a man of God.  In keeping with the literary style of the day, Benedict is presented as a great prophet, miracle worker, combatant against the demonic powers and performer of extraordinary feats which are proper of a Father of the Desert.  However, the essence of Benedict’s life consists in offering a method that helps us move towards greater union with God…

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