Liturgy and Contemplation (Illustrated) [Kindle Edition]

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LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION By Jacques and Raïssa Maritain Translated by Joseph Evans

The

connection between

intimate

liturgy

and contemplation

the

is

theme of these pages which have their

as

purpose to correct certain mis-

understandings that tend to disasso-

With charity and

ciate the two. cidity the

lu-

authors explain that to

separate the public worship of the

Church from life

that personal interior

and search for perfection

it

is

intended to promote goes counter to the spirit of the liturgy itself

only injure the liturgical

and can

movement

which has made so much progress in recent years.

Basing their definition of the urgy, especially as regards rior aspects,

diator

inte-

on the encyclical Me-

Dei of Pope Pius XII, the all

men

contemplation,

the

authors recall the truth that are

its

lit-

called

to

“normal flowering” of the theologi{continued on back flap)

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LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

BY JACQUES MARITAIN

The Degrees

of

Knowledge

A

Preface to Metaphysics Existence and the Existent

Approaches

On

to

God

the Philosophy of History

True Humanism Man and the State Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry

The Responsibility of the Reflections on America

Artist

BY RAÏSSA MARITAIN

The Angel of the Schools Abraham and the Ascent

of Conscience

Vol. I)

We Have

Been Friends Together Adventures in Grace BY JACQUES AND RAÏSSA MARITAIN Prayer and Intelligence The Situation of Poetry

(The Bridge,

Jacques and Raïssa Maritain

LITURGY

AND

CONTEMPLATION translated

P. J.

from the French by Joseph W. Evans

KENEDY & SONS

•

NEW YORK

Myles M. Bourke,

Nihil obstat:

S.T.D.

Censor Librorum Imprimatur:

^

Francis Cardinal Spellman Archbishop of

New York

New York February

10,

1960

The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.

^ 3¥2.L ©

I960 by P. J. Kenedy & Sons, New Printed in the United States of America

Copyright

York

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-7788

1

CONTENTS

I.

ON LITURGY Liturgy and the interior life Liturgy and the Church’s contemplation . The virtue of religion and the theological vir.

19

24

tues

IL

11

ON CONTEMPLATION Infused contemplation Either typical or masked forms of contemplation: “The prayer of the heart” Contemplation and the call to perfection . question which should be divided into two different ones Contemplation to one degree or another, even though diffuse or masked, is in the normal

.... .

31

35

40

A

way The

48

of perfection

Contemplation and the

45

gifts

tradition of the saints

of the

Holy

Spirit

.

5

54

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

6 III.

SOME MISCONCEPTIONS WHICH TEND TO DIVERT CHRISTIAN SOULS FROM CONTEMPLATION

AGAINST

*

So-called techniques to lead us to union with

God?

A

61

so-called “subjective”

and egocentric

spirit-

uality?

The

saints of the reflex age

Contemplation on the roads of the world

The

.

.

liturgy transcends essentially every natural

community a love from Person

aspiration for

Divine love is The value of silence

The

64 70 74

liberty of souls

In defense of the liturgy In defense of solitude

to person

.

77 82 85 88 91

92

Acknowledgment is

made

to Spiritual Life, the

quarterly review in which this

work

substantially appeared

PART ONE

ON LITURGY

CHAPTER

I

Liturgy and the interior

The

general theme of this study

life

is

that there

is

an intimate relationship between liturgy and contemplation, and that

it

would be

as absurd to wish

to sacrifice contemplation to liturgy as to wish to sacrifice liturgy to

Pius XII put

it,

the ascetical

life

As Pope

contemplation.

‘‘no conflict exists

.

.

.

between

and devotion to the Liturgy.”

Furthermore, the liturgy

itself

^

asks that the soul

tend to contemplation; and participation in the liturgical life, if its

true spirit,

union with

it is

is

an outstanding preparation for

God by

Before beginning

memory

of

was dear

Dom

to us,

understood and practiced in

contemplation of love.

we wish

to

Virgil Michel,

pay

tribute to the

whose friendship

and who was the great pioneer

^Encyclical Mediator Dei (November 20, 1947), p. 18. Here and elsewhere we refer to the Vatican Library translation, The Sacred Liturgy, printed by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Washington, D. C.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

12

of the liturgical

movement in America. This move-

ment, which

linked in this country to an espe-

cially

was

is

generous apostolate,

is

now

clearly evident at the 19th

Liturgical

Week

undergoing, as

North American

held in Cincinnati in August of

1958, a considerable expansion.^

with the

It is

hope of contributing our modest share to

movement

that

we

this

shall discuss certain opinions

which have taken, here and there in Europe, a systematic form,® and the practical influence of

which,

we

here

felt

not without making

itself

opinions which can only hurt the

litur-

are told,

is

—

movement, because they go counter

gical

spirit of

to the

the liturgy. *

The

liturgy

is

the public worship of the Church,

the public worship rendered to

God by

the Mysti-

cal

Body of Christ. “The sacred Liturgy is

lic

worship which our Redeemer as Head of the

Church renders ship to

2

to the Father as well as the wor-

which the community of the

its

On

Founder, and through the liturgical

movement

in

Him

faithful renders

to the

in

Heavenly

America, see the remarkable

study published by Jubilee, August, 1958. ^ Need we recall the controversies raised by

1913-1914?

the pub-

Dom

Festugière

ON LITURGY Father.

It is, in short,

Mystical

Body

13

the worship rendered

of Christ in the entirety of

by the

its

Head

^

and members.”

This public worship has for fice of the

Mass.

“exterior”

^

and

and of

of course,

It is,

“social.”

®

The

center the sacri-

its

necessity,

singing, the psalms,

the rites, the continuous teaching

drawn from

Holy Scripture and the Fathers, the great vocal prayer of the Church are as a living garland

around the Holy

Sacrifice publicly offered

and the

sacraments visibly distributed.

But

this public

worship

also,

is

principally interior. Otherwise

empty formalism.^ This

is

it

and must be,

would become

one of the points that

the encyclical Mediator Dei stresses most forcefully

and

to

which

it

returns most often.

must be

chief element of divine worship

For we must always selves to

Him

Him and

through

be duly ^

® Ibid.,

pp.

® Ibid., p.

1

interior.

and give our-

completely, so that in Him, with

glorified.”

Mediator Dei,

live in Christ

“The

Him ®

the heavenly Father

may

Liturgical worship requires of

p. 10.

1-12.

12.

“The sacred Liturgy requires (us) ‘to give inferior effect to our outward observance’ (Missale Rom., Secreta Feriae V post Dom. II Quadrag.). Otherwise religion clearly amounts to mere formalism, without meaning and without content.” Ibid., p. 12. .

®

Ibid., p. 12.

.

.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

14 those

who

participate in

pernatural realities”

^

“meditation on the su-

it

and

“ascetic effort prompt-

ing them to purify their hearts”

it is

above

all

by

an act hidden in the innermost depths of themselves, invisible to is

above

by

all

men and

not heard by them,

interior fervor of soul

and by

it

unit-

ing their hearts with the intentions of the celebrant

and with those of the Eternal ful offer with

selves with

Him

Priest, that the faith-

and

the sacrifice

offer

them-

Him.

We are here, we believe, in the presence of a central truth.

What is principal

Thomas Aquinas

teaches,

in the

is

the grace of the

and

Holy

is

accordingly to in-

invisible reality that

major importance

Spirit operating in hearts.^^ It

ternal

New Law, Saint

has henceforth passed. This law of interiorization,

which

is

characteristic of the

does not apply only to moral forth

it

is

interior

which count

first. It

New life,

in truth, in

to

God by

1,

the it is

itself.

Church

is

a worship

which what matters above

^Ibid., p. 15. ^^Ibid., p. 17.

Cf. ibid., pp. 36-9. Sum. theoL, I-II, 107,

their purity

applies also to worship

necessarily an exterior worship, but

and

where hence-

movements and

The worship rendered

in spirit

Testament,

ad 2 and ad

3.

ON LITURGY movement

the interior

all is

15

and the

of souls

di-

vine grace operating in them. Consequently, Catholic

liturgy requires

—

God be

worship rendered to

and

really

virtues

be

dignum at

justum

et

work

in order that the public

authentic and real,

—

in those

that the theological

who

participate in

it;

Catholic liturgy lives on faith, hope and charity.

“God “by

is

to be worshipped,” Saint Augustine says,

faith,

What

hope and charity.” to say,

is this

asks that those

who

perfection of charity

participate in

—

“it

tend to the

it

should be clear to

God

Pius XII says, “that worthily unless the

not that Catholic liturgy

if

cannot be honored

mind and heart turn

—and

quest of the perfect Ufe”

all,”

that

it

to

Him in

asks at the

same stroke

that they cultivate interior recollec-

and

God,

tion

aspire to union with

that they tend, even

which

is

if

from

in other words,

afar, to

beyond simple participation

worship, and which

is

something

in liturgical

accomplished in the secret

of hearts?

Enchiridion, cap. p. 21. Saint and charity,

Thomas whose

3.

Cited by the encyclical Mediator Dei,

says:

“The theological

act has for

God

virtues, faith,

hope

Himself, give rise to and govern the act of religion, which has for its object certain things-to-be-done directed towards God.” Sum. theoL, II-II, 81, 5,

ad 1. Mediator Dei,

p. 13.

its

object

— LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

16

Two more

—

crucial truths

which we

to

are at stake here.

charity,

On

the one hand,

all

are held

to tend to the perfection of

each one according to his condition and

his possibilities.

And

it is

clear that

violated, in other words,

soul, there

and

shall give

attention in the second part of this study

by the divine precept

is

—

is

if

if

charity

no worship rendered

to

this is

precept

not in the

God in

spirit

in truth.

On

the other hand, the call of

all

to the perfec-

tion of charity has for corollary the call of all call

proximate or remote

of the spirit

and

—

to enter into the

to participate, to

another, in that loving attention to

dialogue of love with

God

the most diverse modes,

ways

one degree or

God and

that

which, susceptible of

and compatible with the

active life as with the contemplative

life,

have

their highest point in the contemplation of the saints.

Let us not be misunderstood here. claim that those life

of the

who

We

do not

participate in the liturgical

Church should

all

be in some degree

contemplatives and have passed under the regime of the gifts of the is

Holy

Spirit.

On

the contrary,

the whole mass of the Christian people

—

it

the

weak, the negligent, the ignorant and the reluctant

ON LITURGY in the spiritual

life,

17

ready the true disciples of Christ sacred

movement

ulates

and

divine things to

But

to

al-

that the great

what does

teach them,

if

to aspire, even

some beginning

of union with is

it

and

—

are

of the liturgy dràws along, stim-

instructs.

them, what does

who

as well as those

at least of

God? What we

draw

it

not to stammer

if

from very

far,

contemplation and are saying

is

that

it

normal that those who participate

in the liturgi-

some degree

into the con-

cal life tend to enter to

templation of the saints, and to practice accordingly mental prayer under

degree.

“The author of

some form and

that golden

some

to

book The Imi-

tation of Christ certainly speaks in accordance

with the

letter

and the

spirit of the Liturgy,

when

who

he gives the following advice to the person approaches the

altar:

‘Remain on

take delight in your God; for the whole world cannot take

He

is

in secret

yours

and

Whom

away from you’

(Lib.

IV, cap. 12).”^^

Not

to speak of the great Saint Gertrude, let us

invoke in confirmation of

this truth a

very

signifi-

—

“All these things [in the sacred Liturgy]” Pius XII also teaches, recalling the Council of Trent “aim at ‘enhancing the majesty of this great Sacrifice, and raising the minds of the faithful by means of these visible signs of religion and piety, to the ” contemplation of the sublime truths contained in this Sacrifice.’ Ibid., pp, 37-8 (italics ours). Ibid., p. 46.

—

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

18 cant

modern

witness: one of the

most beautiful

books on mental prayer and contemplation that has been written by an author whose whole

was consecrated

to the

—Madame

opus Dei

life

Cécile

Bruyère, Abbess of Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes/®

Madame

Cécile Bruyère, Abbess of Sainte-Cécile, La Vie spirituelle et VOraison (the most recent edition was published in

Tours by Maison Marne

in

1949-1950).

CHAPTER

II

Liturgy and the Church's contemplation

The

liturgical cycle manifests in sacred signs

the states of Christ

Body

Mystical tion, of

and the participation of the

in “the mysteries of His humilia-

the Liturgical

Year devotedly fostered and accom-

panied by the Church,

is

not a cold and

representation of the events of the past. rather Christ Himself

Church. Here

He

Who

is

.

lifeless

...

It is

ever living in His

continues that journey of im-

mense mercy which He lovingly began tal life.

“Hence

His redemption and triumph.”

in His

mor-

.

It is clear,

however, that the states of Christ

such as they were lived in the intimacy of His soul are something greater than the signs of the sacred cycle which manifest them.

Likewise, as concerns the Church or the MystiMediator Dei, Ibid., p. 57,

p, 53.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

20

Body, something

cal

greater

is

—not

certainly

than the Holy Sacrifice (about which

speak later on)

—but

we

shall

greater than the very sub-

and the

limity of the lessons, of the prayers

sing-

and symbols through which

ing, of the sacred rites

the cycle of the seasons and the feasts unfolds, and

which manifest the participation of the Church

in

the states of the Lord; this something greater

is

very participation

this

itself,

in the intimacy of the soul saints, and, to

some degree,

in so far as

it is

lived

by the Church

in her

immense

multi-

in the

tude of her members in the state of grace. In other

words,

it

is

the suffering and the love through

which the Church applies

all

along the course of

time the merits and the blood of Christ; and

it is

the contemplation of the Church, that contemplation

which enables

the mysteries of

to experience in

it

God

the Savior, and which takes

place, through the grace of the

the soul of the Church, in

together as one in

some way

its

Holy

human

Spirit

who

is

persons joined

communion.

This contemplation of the Church, in which the grace of the theological virtues and of the the

Holy

hearts,

is

Spirit

expands

gifts of

in the invisible recesses of

clearly superior to the great liturgical

voice which manifests

it;

quantum

potes,

tantum

— ON LITURGY

21

aude: thanksgiving, praise, petition, the liturgical service never succeeds

élan

may

no matter how ardent

be,

in manifesting this

Body it is

—no matter how pure its

rapture

contemplation of the Mystical

an entirely adequate manner, for in

in

ineffable. It is to

lead souls, and

its

it is

it

itself

that the liturgy wishes to

from

it

that the liturgy super-

abounds.

Now, what

is

true of the Mystical

Body

is

clearly true, proportionately, of the individuals

who

are

its

members. In what concerns

individ-

ual souls, contemplation, to the extent that they attain to

it, is

superior to the acts through which

they take part in the divine service.

Some tion of

err because,

one soul

comparing the contempla-

in particular with the liturgy of

the whole Church, they say that contemplation

is

only a singular act of an individual, whereas the liturgical life is the

Body

itself.

common

In reality,

it

is

act of the Mystical

the participation of

such or such a one in particular in the liturgical life,

that

is

to

be compared with the contempla-

tion of such or such a one in particular.

One

also errs

when one

claims that in contem-

plation the person acts as a particular whole or particular individual, whereas in participation in

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

22

the liturgical that

he acts as a part and member of

life

Whole which

Body

is

the

Church or the Mystical

In reality, just as for an individual

itself.

soul, to sing the

Divine Office

the liturgical

of the Church, so also for

life

dividual soul to contemplate

is

to participate in

God

an

in-

is

to

lovingly

participate in the contemplation of the Church:

because

the property of the Mystical Body,

it is

supernatural society living by the grace of Christ

and of the Holy that

in the

is

of the

One do

in

embrace

in the

communion

its

all

that

who

are

its

activity of the particu-

members.

too often overlooks this truth, which has

essentially with the very difference

the supernatural society which

is

the

more a member, and more

perfectly a

Church than when, clauso

Him Whom

he loves, he

is

ostio

Anthony

in his dungeon,

participates

is

more

God

man

in

an

and enters

God. The one who,

united to

a

member, of

united to

in the desert or Saint

is

and alone with

ineffable union of person to person,

into the depths of

between

Church and

every other society or community. Never

the

whole

most intimate and the most personal

most highly personal

lar persons

to

and

constitutes

it

there

Spirit, to

like Saint

John of the Cross

God by infused prayer,

in the life of the Mystical

Body

ON LITURGY than those

who by

—and with

23

words and

their

their gestures

piety doubtless, but supposing they

have not crossed the threshold of infused contemplation

—follow

the rubrics of the liturgy with the

greatest exactitude.

For

it is

in

what there

is

of the

most intimate and the most profound in the

Church

that such a one thus participates: in his

love for

God and

for

men

there courses invisibly

something of the love which entire

Church, and

themselves of the

it is

life

God

infuses into the

from the divine sources

Church coursing

of the

through his heart and causing him to act as part of it,

in other words,

it is

from the grace of Christ

and the inspiration of the Holy

Spirit that the con-

templative union proceeds in him. In the midst of

what a

is

the

member

more personal thing of the

highest right.

in the

world he

is

Church more than ever and by

CHAPTER The

virtue of religion

To

III

and the theological

virtues

say that simple participation in the liturgical

worship, no matter

supposes

how

attentive

and exact one

carries the spiritual life to a

it,

more

ele-

vated degree than infused contemplation and consequently dispenses from ration for

it,

would be

all

to reverse the order of

things,

and

religion

—take precedence over

tues

to

and the

On

have a moral virtue

gifts of

the

Holy

and the

the virtue of

the theological vir-

Spirit.

gifts of the

operation

on the theological

Holy

itself,

Spirit,

and

superhuman mode of

God and

enters into the depths of

On

the other hand, worship

essentially

acting,

virtue of religion, as Saint

is

com-

soul, car-

joined to

God.

and the

on the virtue of

virtues

their

is

through which the

ried to a

pend

—

the one hand, indeed, infused contempla-

tion depends essentially

mon

and prepa-

aspiration

liturgy de-

religion;

Thomas

and the

teaches, hav-

— ON LITURGY ing for

its

object not directly

25

God

Himself but

something to be done, certain acts to be accom-

God and

plished with respect to

not a theological virtue; ever eminent

it

may

honor God,

and

it

therefore remains

and to the

subordinate to the theological virtues gifts of the

Thus

Holy

Spirit.^^

worship

liturgical

is

in itself

very great dignity; and yet there

is

an end of

a higher end

an end for which, and the longing for which,

must normally dispose liturgical

which give

—

lives

it

a

itself it is

who

is

As we noted

on

faith,

— work—

work

above,^^

it

charity,

acts of religion.

the noblest, most re-

the virtue of religion.

take part in

hope and

and govern the

rise to

splendent and holiest

which

souls.

it

worship implies the exercise of the theo-

logical virtues

But of

is

a moral virtue,^® how-

it is

be,^°

to

of the

moral virtue

And it

asks of those

that they ascend, to the extent

that they are able, towards that

summit where the

theological virtues produce, under the inspiration of the

Holy

Spirit,

Sum. theoL, II-II, For Saint Thomas

an

interior act

which surpasses

81, 5. it is

the

most excellent of the moral

virtues.

Ibid., a. 6.

Sum. theoL,

II-II, 81, 5. Cf. ibid., 82, 2,

ad

1:

“Charity

is

the

principle of religion.”

Like the theological virtues, the gifts are of higher value than the moral virtues, II-II, 81, 2, ad 1. See above, note 13.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

26

every operation of the

human

being externally

manifested, in particular those operations which express by voice and gesture our union with the

community But

is

of the faithful.

there not in Catholic worship something

which surpasses the human order altogether? Yes,

Not only indeed

certainly.

is it

essential to Chris-

tian worship, to worship in spirit

and

in truth, to

put into play the three theological virtues; but

God

Himself intervenes in the worship which

rendered to Him,

God

center of the liturgy.

Holy Mass, the

on the

Himself

The

present at the

center of the liturgy

sacrifice of the

altar, the

is

is

is

Cross perpetuated

unbloody immolation

through the ministry of the earthly

in which,

priest, the Eter-

nal Priest offers Himself as a victim to His Father;

the center of the liturgy

is

an act of an

infinite

and

transcendent value, an act properly

infinitely

di-

common measure with the highest works of grace in the human soul: because it is an act of God (using the instrumentality of the

vine, without

priest), not

We

an act of man.

must conclude from

that the

more elevated a

this,

soul

on the one hand, is

templation and the ways of the

profound

will

be

its

in infused conspirit,

the

more

devotion to the Mass and the

ON LITURGY more ardent

its

desire to unite itself to

the other hand, that to assist at tions

act

which are

which

is

27

Mass with

and, on disposi-

some way proportioned

in

accomplished on the

contemplation, no matter

how

to the

altar, the highest

contemplation would be required

will ever

it;

—though

high

it

no

might be,

be truly proportioned to the divine mys-

tery of the altar,

which asks of love and the

faith of the soul,

and of

its

living

purifications, ever

and

ever more.

Hence and

it is

that to

that

which

what the liturgy asks of the it stirs it,

the liturgy

itself

soul,

alone

does not suffice to give to the soul. Personal ascetical effort, personal practice of

mental prayer, per-

sonal aspiration to union with God, and personal docility to the gifts of the

Holy

Spirit are neces-

sary. It

would thus be a great error

the truths

we have

cerns the

human

just recalled, that in

beings that

which emanate from act of the

to conclude

we

are,

from

what con-

and the

acts

us, assistance at the divine

Mass makes superfluous

these different

aspects of personal effort towards the intimate

perfection of the soul.^^

^

Christ after redeeming the world at the lavish cost of His own Blood, still must come into complete possession of .

.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

28 It

would likewise be a great error

to conclude

that simple participation in the liturgy

would

es-

tablish our spiritual hfe at a

more elevated degree

than the one to which

drawn by union with

God

it is

in contemplation.

the souls of men. Wherefore, that the redemption and salvation of each person and of future generations unto the end of time may

be effectively accomplished, and be acceptable to God, it is necessary that men should individually come into vital contact with the Sacrifice of the Cross, so that the merits which flow from it should be imparted to them. In a certain sense it can be said that on Calvary Christ built a font of purification and salvation, which He filled with the Blood He shed; but if men do not bathe in it and there wash away the stains of their iniquities, they can never be purified and saved.” Mediator Dei, p. 30.

PART TWO

ON CONTEMPLATION

CHAPTER

I

Infused contemplation

But what tion

is

contemplation in

itself?

Contempla-

a silent prayer which takes place in recol-

is

lection in the secret of the heart,

and

is

directly

ordered to union with God. It is

an ascent of the soul towards God, or

rather an attraction of the soul towards the sake of

When itself,

a soul becomes free enough to speak of

when God

it is

for

Him.

wills

it,

it

describes

mental prayer, to the extent that

And

Him,

its

state of

this is possible.

thus that there reaches us the account of

admirable experiences which awakens in hearts the desire for this recollection in

seeking of spiritual perfection It is

for this that

great saints

and

among

—

God, and for the for love of

Him.

many

other

a great

souls of grace, a Saint Teresa, for

example, and a Saint John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church, received the gift of describing in their

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

32

words the experience and science of the mystical life

and of mental prayer. Saint John of the Cross

spoke of

in prose,

it

and

poems

in

of a unique

And very often saintly souls who have had

beauty.

the experience of spiritual things have also re-

ceived the graceful gift of speaking of tiful,

it

in a beau-

persuasive and luminous way.

In this wholly interior light live Faith, Hope,

And by

Charity. soul

is

the gifts of the

directed and

Spirit “the

moved immediately by

divine

^

inspiration.”

Without

light or

which burned says Saint

Holy

in

guide save that y

my

John of the Cross,

hearth as he passes through

the dark night which he

knew

so profoundly.

Holy

Spirit

which accounts for

it is

the

fire

of the

But

the ardor of this light.

According to the

common

teaching of the theo-

once on the theological

virtues,

supernatural in their essence, and on the

gifts of

logians,

the

Holy

it

is

at

Spirit,

“doubly supernatural

—

supernat-

ural not only in their essence, like the theological Garrigoii-Lagrange, Perfection chrétienne et Contemplation (Paris: Desclée & Cie), 5® éd., t. I, p. 34. Dark Night of the Soul, Stanza 3 (translation of E. Allison Peers). ^

ON CONTEMPLATION mode

but in their

virtues,

^

of action,”

contemplation and the mystical

Let us recall the definition

—

33

life

that infused

depend.

—a very

general one

that Father Lallemant, the great spiritual writer

17th century,

of the

“Contemplation

gives

a viewing of

is

contemplation:

of

God

which proceeds

things, simple, free, penetrating,

from love and tends toward

or of divine

...

love.

It is

the

use of the purest and most perfect charity. Love source,

its

its

exercise

and

its

end.”

is

^

We are speaking here, as is Father Lallemant, of infused contemplation, and with

son since

it is

all

the

infused contemplation which

ing disregarded today by certain minds

reduce the whole spiritual

like to

piety;

more is

rea-

be-

who would

to liturgical

life

and we are speaking of infused contemplafrom the variety presented by

tion in abstraction

the states of mental prayer

and the diverse degrees

of union.

The less in

thesis that all souls are called, not doubt-

a proximate

manner but

in a

remote man-

ner, to mystical contemplation considered as a

normal flowering of the grace of the theological virtues ®

and of the

Garrigoii-Lagrange,

La Doctrine pp. 430-2.

gifts of

the

Holy

Spirit

—

a thesis

loc. cit.

Spirituelle,

éd.

Pottier

(Paris:

Téqui,

1936),

— LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

34

in line with Christian tradition itual teaching of Saint

Thomas

—has been

masterfully expounded by Fa-

And

—we mean, with

to

As it

all

despite

it is,

way

to the extent that

well understood

ances and

some passing

it

all

the nu-

requires

opposition, well

on the

classical.

to “the proximate call to the mystical life,”

“exists only

Saint

the adjustments which

becoming

spir-

Bonaventure and of Saint

ther Garrigou-Lagrange.® it is

and with the

when

the three signs mentioned

by

John of the Cross, and before him by Tauler 1) meditation

are clearly present:

possible; 2) the soul has

no

becomes im-

desire to fix the imagi-

nation on any particular object, interior or exterior; 3) the soul delights in finding itself

with God, fixing on

Him

its

alone

loving attention.”

^

Especially in Perfection chrétienne et Contemplation, often cited in this study, and in Amour de Dieu et la Croix de Jésus. See also the article in Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, t, II (Paris: ^

U

Beauchesne, 1953), “La Contemplation dans l’école dominicaine,” col. 2067-2079, in which Father Garrigou-Lagrange has condensed his teaching on contemplation. ® Garrigou-Lagrange, Perfection chrétienne et Contemplation, t. II, pp. 421-2.

CHAPTER

II

Either typical or masked forms of contemplation ''The prayer of the heart”

We have said that all souls are called, a remote manner, to the mystical

Holy

that

life,

under the regime of the

say, to life

at least in is

to

the

gifts of

Spirit.

“We must now

observe that

among

the inspir-

ing gifts which Catholic theology has learned

from

Isaias to enumerate, some, like the gifts of

Counsel, Fortitude and Fear of the Lord, relate especially to action; others, like the gifts of

derstanding

and Wisdom,

relate

Un-

especially

to

contemplation. “It follows that souls

the

way

different

of the spirit will be able to travel

ways and according

ent styles. gifts of

which have entered into

With some

it is

it

in very

to extremely differ-

the highest

gifts,

Wisdom and Understanding, which

the

are ex-

ercised to a high degree; these souls represent mys-

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

36

tical life in its

normal plenitude, and they

will

t

have the grace of contemplation in

its

typical

forms, be they arid or consoling. With others the other gifts which are exercised above these souls will live a mystical their activities

and

life,

their works,

it is ^

all;

but chiefly as to

and they

will not

have the typical and normal forms of contemplation.

“It is

not however that they are deprived of con-

templation, of the loving experience of divine things; for

according to the teaching of Saint

Thomas

the gifts of the

all

Holy

Spirit are con-

nected (Sum. theol.y I-II, 68, 5), they cannot therefore exist in a soul without the gift of Wis-

dom, which, ercised

Those

still,

souls

in the case

we

are speaking of,

although in a

whose

less

style of life is active will

capable only of reciting rosaries,

J.

and R. Maritain,

De

la vie d’oraison,

have

masked and

unapparent contemplation; perhaps they

Cf.

ex-

apparent way.

the grace of contemplation, but of a

^

is

will

be

and mental Nouvelle éd.

re-

Rouart, 1947), Note IV. Infused contemplation, Father Garrigou-Lagrange writes, “very manifest in the perfect ones who are more inclined to the contemplative life, is, as it were, diffuse in the other perfect ones in whom chiefly predominate the gifts of the Holy Ghost relative to action the gifts of Fear of the Lord, Fortitude, Counsel, Knowledge, united to the gift of Piety, under a less visible influence of the gifts of Wisdom and Understanding.” Op. cit., I, p. 214.

vue

et corrigée (Paris:

—

ON CONTEMPLATION

37

prayer will bring them only a headache or sleep.

Mysterious contemplation will not be in their conscious prayer, but perhaps in the glance with

which they fering.”

will

look at a poor man, or look at

suf-

®

We have just insisted on the diffuse or disguised forms of infused contemplation. There

more

secret

is

nothing

—nor more important—than what Fa-

ther Osende, in a remarkable page of his

Contemplata,^ calls the prayer of the heart.

through silent

this sort of

and so rooted

book It is

prayer or contemplation, so in the depths of the spirit that

we can

truly

put into practice the precept to pray always.

And

he describes

it

is

not to

it

it

as “unconscious,” that

that Saint

Anthony the hermit

luded when he said that “there if

is

the religious perceives that he

“We must

observe,”

al-

no perfect prayer is

writes

praying”?

Father Osende,

Cf. Jacques Maritain, “Action et Contemplation,” in Questions de Conscience (Paris: Desclée De Brouwer, 1938), pp. 144-6. According to Saint Bonaventure, all the gifts, “each in its place, facilitate mystical experience because they purify, illumine and perfect” (Ephrem Longpré, Diet, de Spiritualité, col. 2083). ®

Translated into English under the tion (St. Louis: Herder, 1953). ®

“Non quod orat

est perfecta oratio in

qua

se

title

Fruits of Contempla-

monachus

vel

hoc ipsum

Cassian, IX, 31. Let us note that the idea of perpetual or continuous prayer, which is prolonged even into sleep by a subconscious mental activity, plays a central role in Cassian. (Cf. Diet, de Spiritualité, article on Contemplation, col. 1924 and 1926.)

intelligit.”

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

38

two kinds: prayer of the

“that prayer can be of

mind and prayer

of the heart or of the spirit.

.

.

.

Both, of course, can be practiced at the same time.

Prayer of the mind

.

.

requires

.

all

our attention

and care and the actual exercise of our

faculties.

Such prayer cannot be continuous

life.

“The prayer

we

in this

tion’s

.

.

of the heart or of the spirit (which

shall call ‘unconscious’ prayer

made without

.

and without our

reflection

being actually fixed on

it)

be continuous throughout one’s for this distinction

is

because

that,

is

it

atten-

can and should life.

although

The reason

we cannot

fix

our mind on two things at the same time nor con-

we can

tinue to think always,

“What does

it

matter

if

love always.

.

.

.

our mind and senses are

occupied with a thousand different things? Our heart

is

thing

we do and

elsewhere, fixed

Him and for Him. is

possible,

think, .

.

.

on God, so that every-

we do through Him,

in

Who does not see that this

and very possible?

Do we not

even in the natural order, when the heart

see that, is

domi-

nated by a great love, no matter what the person does, his entire soul

and

life

are

on what he loves

and not on what he does, though he may apply to his

work

all his

mind and

attention? If natural

ON CONTEMPLATION love does love.

.

.

this,

how much more

39 should divine

.

“He who

practices unconscious prayer in all

plenitude, that

is,

he

who

has attained the state of

constant prayer, finds that his heart

draws him

and eternal and treasure

irresistibly

toward the divine

pure,

all things,

drawn

to

y

III,

26)

:

and

and

and pleasant,

loving.’

...

all

faculties are di-

man God which

rected to divine contemplation. Such a finds in all things a

his

‘To him that

whether high or low

the operations of the senses

joyful

where

John of the Cross says

Saint

{Ascent of Mount Carmel is

almost con-

divine things, for

his heart is

Hence

lies.

is

God and

stantly recollected in his spirit

its

knowledge of

.

.

.

is

chaste, pure, spiritual, glad

”

Victorino Osende, Fruits of Contemplation, pp. 157-9. Father Grou, in the 18th century, had already noted {Manuel, pp. 224 ss.) that continuous prayer is a prayer which escapes consciousness. See Arintero, the Mystical Evolution, in the Development and Vitality of the Church, Vol. II (St. Louis: Herder, 1951), p. 45. This idea is already indicated by Cassian.

CHAPTER Contemplation and the

Dominating the whole

III

call to perfection

spiritual life is the call to

perfection.

“Be you therefore Father

is

perfect, as also

your heavenly

perfect.”

“Christian

perfection

consists

essentially

charity,” says Saint Thomas.''^ “Indeed a thing

said to be perfect in so far as

end

—

attains

the proper end of a thing being

perfection.

Who

it

is

its

its

in is

proper

ultimate

Now it is charity that unites us to God,

the last end of the

human

soul: he that

abideth in charity^ abideth in God, and

God

in

himr It

follows that perfection falls under the divine

precept, because

on

it is

charity,

God and neighbor, divine Law bear.

love of of the

Matt. 5:48.

^^Sum. theoL, '^^Ibid., 184, 1.

II-II, 184,

1

and

3.

on the twofold

that the

two precepts

—

— ON CONTEMPLATION

And

“the love of

God and

41

of neighbor does not

under the precept according to a certain meas-

fall

ure only

...

as

is

evident from the very form of

the precept, which implies perfection

‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy heart, thy

strength,

whole

and thy neighbor

mandment of measure

charity.

is

—measure

y

totality:

with thy whole

whole mind, thy whole

soul, thy

the Apostle says (I Tim,

God

and

as thyself.’ This

1)

:

is

why

end of the com-

the

Now the end

does not admit

applies only to means.”

According to Saint Bernard’s saying, the measure of loving

modus

ure

God

is

Him modo

to love

diligendi, sine

without measdiligere.

Estote perfecti, “Thus the Lord in His goodness,” says Saint Benedict,

word

ity

this

of Christ’s in the prologue to his Rule,

“shows us the way of life,

commenting on

life”

—

the

way

of eternal

which must never be interrupted, so that char-

may grow

mility

which

unceasingly, at the is

the

dawn

same time

of beatitude

as huincipit

heatitudo ab humilitate.

The way in

of life

which Christ shows us

is

a

way

which one advances towards God and towards

the Beatific Vision with steps of living faith, of

hope, and of love. ^'nbid., 184 , 3

.

And

because

it

makes one

ad-

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

42

vance towards perfection, Perfection life

is

way itself is perfect.

not a mathematical point.

It is

a

in state of growth; there are degrees in perfec-

tion.

What

prescribed by the precept

is

to perfection as to to

this

make

his

an end, and when one has begun

way towards

plishing the precept;

way towards

it

he

it

is

already accom-

and one begins

make

to

as soon as he has charity. It

this sense that Saint falls

to tend

is

Thomas

tells us:

is

his

in

“Since what

under the precept can be accomplished in

di-

verse ways, one does not sin against the precept by

the fact alone that he does not

way;

suffices, for the

it

gressed, that

And

other.”

charity

it

is

fulfil it

in the best

precept not to be trans-

be accomplished in one way or anCajetan writes: “The perfection of

commanded

as

an end; and we must

wish to attain the end, the whole end. But precisely

because

it is

an end,

it

suffices, for

a

man not

to transgress the precept, that he be in the state of

attaining this perfection one day, even nity.

Whoever

blest

degree,

Heaven,

is

if

in eter-

possesses charity, even in the fee-

and

in the

is

way

thus

advancing towards

of perfect charity,

and con-

sequently avoids the transgression of the pre-

^^Ibid., 184, 3, ad 2. Cajetan, in II-II, 184, 3.

ON CONTEMPLATION It is

only in Heaven where the soul sees

face to face that the precept entirely perfect way.

is

But there

tion in state of growth;

things

a perfection of

is

God”

mortal

sin,

And

whatever

entirely towards

may be

the vocation

John of the Cross con-

In the evening of this

all:

of

“all that hinders the affec-

of each, the saying of Saint

cerns us

movement

to the

from tending

thus,

a perfec-

the exclusion not only of

but also of

tion of the soul

God.”

—

life,

implies “the exclusion of

it

which are repugnant

love towards

God

accomplished in an

charity compatible with the present

all

43

life

you

will be

judged according to your love.

now

Let us recall

Lallemant puts to love,” that

it,

exercise

and

firmed, for

its

and that love end”

whom

ther Lebreton

—

is

“the

is

“its

source,

its

as indeed Saint Paul af-

—

charity

—which

eternal life,”

templation.”

“proceeds from love and tends “the use of the purest and most

it is

perfect charity,”

that contemplation, as Father

in the

words of Fa-

“at death will flower into

way and

the end of con-

And let us recall too that according

to the teaching of Saint

Thomas contemplation

Sum. theoL, II-II, 184, 2. Diet, de Spiritualité, col. 1715. ^^Ibid., col. 1711.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

44

“relates directly

and immediately

to the love of

God Himself,” and that it “is ordered not to any love of God whatever, but to perfect love.” What

are

we

to conclude

from

all this if

not that

the precept of perfection protects, so to speak,

sanctions the desire for contemplation: there

and

is

no

true contemplation without progress towards perfection;

and on the other hand there

is

nothing

which accelerates better than contemplation one’s progress towards perfection and the accomplish-

ment

in us of the desire for perfection.

Sum. theoL,

182, 2.

182, 4, ad

1.

CHAPTER

A

IV

question which should be divided into two

dif-

ferent ones It is

important here

misunderstandings sible

—

—

in order to avoid possible

that

we be

as precise as pos-

about these things.

It is

sometimes asked

if

there

is

a real link be-

tween the plenitude of Christian perfection and “higher infused contemplation.”

We

believe that the question as posed in this

way cannot

receive

simple answer.

What seems first

place,

from the data of experience a

Indeed the ansv/er

to follow

that

is

from experience

higher

infused

twofold. is,

in the

contemplation

seems to be always linked to a high perfection; but

is,

in the

second place, that high perfection

does not seem to be always linked to higher

in-

fused contemplation, in the sense of the typical

forms expounded by the masters. Cf. Charles Baumgartner, article on Contemplation. clusion générale,” Diet, de Spiritualité, col. 2183.

“Con-

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

46

This absence of symmetry precludes any agree-

ment among theologians on as the

two

question so long

this

different questions

involves are not

it

distinguished from each other.

But

from the which

fact that the question in the

it is

all

form in

posed does not take into account the

freedom of the likes

comes above

in reality the difficulty

with the souls

The question

is

Who

God,

Spirit of

He wants to not to know

does as

He

unite to Himself. if

the

summit of

the perfection of love coincides necessarily with

the summit of mystical contemplation in cal

and

know

fully

if,

unfolded

state.

on the one hand,

its

The question

typiis

to

necessary that the

it is

soul, in order to attain to infused contemplation,

decidedly makes

way, despite

its

weaknesses,

towards the perfection of charity and

full purifica-

tion;

and

if,

its

on the other hand,

to the perfection of love,

enter in one

way

it is

in order to attain

necessary for

it

to

or another (typical or atypical,

open or masked) into the ways of infused contemplation

—which comes

to saying that infused

contemplation, to one degree or another and under one form or another,

is

in the

normal way of

sanctity.

To

the question posed in these terms,

it

seems

ON CONTEMPLATION clear to us

—

as will appear in a

manner

in the pages following

must be

in the affirmative.

47

more developed

—

that the answer

And we do

not think

rash to think that this affirmative answer the category of the assertions

Baumgartner

24

Cf. ibid., col. 2182-2183.

falls into

on which Father

rightly judges that every

be in agreement.^^

it

one should

CHAPTER V Contemplation to one degree or another, even though diffuse or masked,

is in

the

normal way of

perfection

The ment

saints realize to perfection the

God and neighbor. And it is because God with the best of their hearts and

to love

they love

with

command-

strength, that they are in general

all their

great contemplatives,

As

contemplatives. insists,

and

in

some way always

Saint Bonaventure constantly

Christ Himself promised

ence of divine things when

He

them

this experi-

said in Saint

John

(14:21): “He that loveth me, shall be loved by

my

Father: and

I will

love him, and will manifest

myself to him.” Sanctity

perfection

the full perfection of the soul,

is is

to love

contemplation

is

God

without measure. But

directly ordered to

union with

God, and union with God proceeds from the fection of love.

and

per-

ON CONTEMPLATION

49

Thus perfection and contemplation are normally linked by reason of charity, on which they

both depend; and contemplation, even

and masked,

the hidden

is

soul must normally nourish trials of life,

in the love of

Vacate

and

diffuse

if

manna on which itself

—through

et videte

neighbor.

quoniam ego sum Deus; be

am God,

Psalm 45.

still

and see that

It is

thus that contemplation calls us, and that

calls us to

Lord

is

the

all

in order to establish itself fully

God and I

the

it is

said in

God

contemplation. “Taste and see that the

sweet.”

How could man come to the perfection of charity if

he did not keep himself habitually in the

presence of God, and did not tend with his whole heart to being united with perfection disposes

Him? The

search for

one to contemplation, and

contemplation, by increasing the perfection of love, increases the perfection of the virtues.

“Without contemplation,” writes Father Lallemant, “one will never make tue.

.

.

.

One

will

much

progress in vir-

never entirely get out of his

weaknesses and his imperfections.

One will always

be attached to the earth, and

never

will

rise

above the sentiments of nature. Never Gustave

et videte

quoniam suavis

est

Dominas

much

will

one

(Ps. 33).

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

50

render to

God

do more

will

in a

produces

.

.

it

one

month, both for himself and for

one would do without

others, than It

a perfect service. But with

.

most sublime

it

in ten years.

acts of love of

God, which one only very rarely makes without this gift

.

.

the virtues

and

.

.

it

is

and

all

continuity between ascetical doc-

and mystical doctrine

trine

perfects faith

.”

.

Thus there

finally

—

spiritual doctrine is

one. Ascetical doctrine must begin by showing “the end to which spiritual progress must tend, that

is

to say, Christian perfection

...

in all

its

grandeur, according to the testimony of the Gospel

and of the

cease

when

the soul must

words of Our Lord: me,

asceticism does not

the soul enters into the mystical union.

“To the very end

after

And

saints.”

let

If

anyone wishes

Spirituelle, pp.

Garrigou-Lagrange, op. 28 Ibid.

to

come

him deny himself and take up

cross daily” La Doctrine

remember the

429-30.

cit., t.

I,

p. 39.

his

CHAPTER Contemplation and the

We

have

and contem-

by reason of love which

One can

show

also

the gifts of the

perfection Saint

and

Holy

mutual implication

this

stressing the fact that life

under the regime of

Spirit is the state

Thomas

weak

all

proper to

to contemplation all at once.

teaches that the gifts of the Holy

Spirit are necessary for salvation,

too

Spirit

and the end” of contempla-

source, the exercise

by

Holy

once the essence of perfection and “the

at

tion.

gifts of the

just seen that perfection

plation imply each other is

VI

we

are

to use as

we

because

by ourselves always

should even the theological virtues and the infused

moral

virtues.^®

say that the

gifts of

for perfection. spirit of

There

The

is

the

much

Holy

sons of

greater reason to

Spirit are necessary

God

are

moved by

the

God,^® the perfect live under the regime

Sum. theoL, I, 68, 2. Quicumque spiritu Dei aguntur,

Cf.

Rom.

8:14).

ii

sunt

filii

Dei

(St.

Paul,

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

52

of the gifts of the Spirit. But to enter under the re-

gime of the

the Spirit

gifts of

is

precisely to cross

the threshold of infused contemplation.^^ For, as Saint Bonaventure

“the gifts immediately

tells us,

dispose one to contemplation.”

Without some form or other of habitual contemplation, would

be possible for the soul

it

effec-

tively to perceive, in the midst of afflictions

and

torments, that “the duties of each moment,” as Father de Caussade put

it,

“conceal, under their ob-

scure appearances, the truth of the divine will,”

and that “they are present

as

it

were the sacraments of the

moment”? Commenting on

Saint Paul’s

words, “the Spirit helpeth our infirmity the great Carmelite theologian writes:

.

.”

of Jesus

“These words clearly refer to the particular

motion or aid of the Holy need that we have of

Holy

Thomas

.

Spirit

it.

.

Spirit, .

.

and point to the

It is

the gifts of the

which make the soul promptly

entirely free, capable of

overcoming

docile,

difficulties,

Cf. the masterful treatise of John of Saint-Thomas, Les Dons du Saint-Esprit, French translation by Raïssa Maritain (Paris: Cerf, 1930; 2® éd. Téqui, 1950); English translation by Father

Dominic Hughes, O.P. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1951). ^^Cf.

Ephrem Longpré,

Diet, de Spiritualité, col. 2083.

our infirmity. For we know what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings. And he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what the Spirit desireth; because he asketh for the saints according to God” (Rom. 8:26-7).

“The

Spirit also helpeth

ON CONTEMPLATION and wholly occupied with God

53

in prayer

and con-

templation. This effect cannot be produced even

by the infused

virtue of religion, nor

logical virtues

by themselves.”

This

as to say that the life of perfection life,

—

by the theo-

is

is

as

much

an inspired

—perhaps

and therefore a hfe which

in secret

infused contemplation nourishes and sustains.

^ Venerable Thomas

of Jesus,

De

Oratione divina,

I, 2.

CHAPTER The

We

VII

tradition of the saints

can conclude that in

his fine study

mystical theology of Saint Bonaventure,

on the

it is

not

only the teaching of Saint Bonaventure but the

whole tradition of the

saints that

Longpré summarizes, when he templative state

is

the supernatural

Father

Ephrem

writes: “the con-

only the supreme blooming of

life,

the positively experienced

flowering of grace and the infused habits, the

higher exercise of the

By

gifts of

the

Holy

Spirit.

a necessary consequence, the mystical

the ordinary

way

.

.

.

fife is

of perfection.”

Ephrem Longpré, La

théologie mystique de saint Bonaven-

“Archivum Franciscanum Historicum,” 1921, fasc. I and II. Cf. the articles of Father Longpré on Saint Bonaventure {Diet, de Spiritualité, col. 1777-1791), and on contemplation in the Franciscan school {ibid., article on Contemplation, col. 2080ture, in

2102). According to Saint Bonaventure, he writes, “there exists a promise of mystical or Christian experience; everything is disposed ... so that Christ’s pledge (John, XIV, 21) may be realized with full right in every believer in whom the Holy Trinity dwells and who fulfils the required conditions: the observance of the commandments and the love of Christ Jesus” (col. 2080). “The Gospel makes neither distinction nor exception; it mentions

ON CONTEMPLATION Saint Bonaventure

and

his

55

contemporary Saint

Thomas Aquinas/® those two great representatives of theology tury,

and mysticism

were not however

Nor were

in the thirteenth cen-

saints of the reflex age!

Saint Irenaeus, Saint Gregory of Nyssa,

Evagrius, Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Di-

adochus. Saint Gregory the Great, Saint John Cli-

macus, Maximus the Confessor, Saint Bernard,

Hugh

of Saint Victor, the Carthusian Guiges

du

Chastel, Saint Hildegard, Saint Albert the Great,

Saint Gertrude, Angela of Foligno, Tauler, Suso, Saint Catherine of Siena, the author of the of

Cloud

Unknowing, Ruysbroeck the Admirable. In the

fifth

.

.

.

century, Cassian, transmitting in his

Conferences the lessons of spirituality which he

had received from the Fathers of the Desert,

no

no other vocation than the Christian life: He that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: and 1 will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John, XIV, 21).” (Col. privilege,

it

requires

2096.)

®®The spiritual teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas is summed up excellently in columns 1983-1988 of Father Paul Phillipe’s article on contemplation in the thirteenth century (Diet, de SpirLet us note the following remarks

1986): “It propwisdom to increase by itself the love of God in the soul. Mystical contemplation is wholly impregnated by love and cannot not give rise to a greater love.” And if from love knowledge can proceed, it is ‘^because charity enables one to judge well of the things of God: such is the science of the

itualité).

(col.

erly belongs to infused .

.

Thomas,

.

—

2)”

in which love causes the intelligence to enter “into the depths of God” in virtue of a knowledge by affinity under the motion of the Holy Spirit.

saints (Saint

in Phil., c. 1, lect.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

56

Lord Himself placed the

teaches that the

“princi-

pal good” in divine contemplation, a spiritual

ence accorded to purity of heart

—

the illumination of the

^by

contemplation

possible.

At

“prayer of

on a

purity,

the highest

fire,”

Holy

Spirit.

For him

no contemplation

moments supervenes

light feather,

and

in

to a puff of

the

wind

which love ravishes the

soul in an ineffable experience, light in the

and flame

is

provoked by an operation of the

which he compares

Spirit

to charity

a light inseparable from moral

Without moral

purity.

Holy

is

—and

sci-

mind

in the will.^^

In the following century. Saint Gregory the Great, “the most eminent soiritual author in the

West up tinues

to the

end of the Middle Ages,”

con-

and adds to the tradition which Cassian had

echoed.

The higher the

soul rises, the

more

it

tends

to contemplate “the beauty of our Creator in a

knowledge through

love,

per

amorem

agnosci-

mus.”

“There

is

not for faithful souls,” he writes,^®

on Contemplation, Diet, 1921-1929. Jean Leclercq, article on Contemplation, Diet, de Spiritualité, Cf. Michel Olphe-Galliard, article

de

Spiritualité, col.

col. 1933.

R. Gillet, Introduction aux Homélies morales sur Joh (Paris, 1951), p. 32. Cf. Moralia X, 8, 13. In Ezechiel, II, Horn. 5. Cited by Garrigou-Lagrange, op. cit., p. 675.

— ON CONTEMPLATION

57

“any function which is incompatible with the grace of contemplation; every truly interior

graced with

them

as

its lights,

and no one can glory

an extraordinary

in

—

Gregory also noted

man can be

as Saint

privilege.”

in

Saint

Bernard was to do

the painful passive purifications which Saint

John

of the Cross later called the nights of the senses

and of the

spirit.^^

Prayer seeks, contemplation

finds, said

Saint Victor; and Tauler:

“The

every

occupation,

external

useless

through the abnegation of

its

Hugh of

soul, leaving aside

own

will

will

find

and true

humility a certain quietude and supernatural ex-

perience of divine things, which leads to full per-

which one has a supernatural view of

fection, in

everything.

.

.

.”

Dom Huyben has

shown

that “the doctrine of

the normal, though eminent, character of the mys-

admitted by Saint Bernard, Tauler,

tical life is

Louis de Blois, and that no one contradicted the Middle Ages.”

The

it

in

idea that mystical con-

the normal flowering of the graces of

templation

is

the perfect

life

was common

doctrine.

cit., pp. 675 and 684. 686 and 694, note 2. In a remarkable article on “La Tradition mystique au moyen âge,” Vie Spirituelle, January, 1922, pp. 298 ss. ^ Garrigou-Lagrange, op. cit., p. 690,

Cf. Garrigou-Lagrange, op.

Ibid., pp,

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

58

*

To sum everything of contemplation greater

is

up, let us say that the source the constant search for the

and greater perfection of the

soul,

and that

perfection consists essentially in charity; and that it is

lives.

also

on the love of God that contemplation

The most pure

sential to

it.

The

desire of

God

is

therefore es-

great contemplatives of

all

ages,

those of the reflex age as also those prior to the reflex age, desire only

‘T

God

alone.

do not count myself for anything,” says Saint

... “I turn tothat He may deign

Hildegard in the twelfth century.

wards the

God in order keep me from evil.”

living

in all things to

“What do my concerns

matter. Lord,” exclaims

Saint Teresa of Avila. “For

anything but You.”

me

there

is

no longer

PART THREE AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS WHICH TEND TO DIVERT CHRISTIAN SOULS

FROM CONTEMPLATION

CHAPTER

I

So-called techniques to lead us to union with

How is it possible that the truths

God?

recalled in the

preceding pages, and which are an integral part of the

venerable heritage of the Doctors of the

Church and

of the Saints, are put in question

some who, presenting themselves of the Sacred Liturgy

as the barristers

reprove, in the

itself,

by

name

of the public prayer of the Church, mental prayer, solitude with

God, and

silent

contemplation?

Those who take such a position do not know

what contemplation

is

and they misunderstand the

Sacred Liturgy. They do not

know

that these

two

supernatural realities and grandeurs must be associated and not divided.

Need we bring up some

of the grievances

which

the detractors of solitary prayer and of contemplation advance?

One sometimes collective

hears

movement

it

said that whereas the

of the hturgy draws us of

it-

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

62 self

and quite spontaneously towards God, the

masters

who

teach us the ways of meditation, of

infused prayer and of contemplative union, pro-

pose to the

each one systematic formulas

efforts of

and techniques

to

be applied.

We

have here a

strange misunderstanding. Ascetical and mystical science teaches us to liberate ourselves from the

we may be

able

the gifts of grace act freely in our soul.

But

x obstacles

Kto it

let

which are

in us, so that

teaches us at the same time to hold for an

lusion every effort to attain perfection

il-

and con-

templative union by any kind of systematic procedure, formula or technique.

As concerns infused

contemplation in particular,

is

fact, as it

we

not the essential

recalled in the preceding section, that

coincides with the entry of the soul under the

regime of the

“What

is it

gifts of

the Holy Spirit?

to say this,

if

templation depends above breathes where

He

hears, yet without

wills,

not that Christian con-

on

all

and whose voice one

anyone knowing whence

comes or whither He goes

.

.

.

(John,

This means that Christian contemplation the contrary of a matter of technique,

Natural ^ J.

who

that Spirit

spirituality, like that of

III, is .

He 8).

quite .

India for example,

Maritain, Questions de conscience, p. 149.

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

63

has quite fixed techniques. “This apparatus of techniques

is

what

first strikes

one who begins to

study comparative mysticism. Well, one of the

most obvious differences between Christian mysticism and other mysticisms technique, lae

.” .

as

regards

^

“It

.

is its

all

liberty as regards

recipes

necessary,”

is

Osende,^ “to affirm once and for

and formu-

writes all,

Father

in accord-

ance with the doctrine of the Church and the saints, that there is

no method, procedure, or

rule

whereby one may acquire or induce mystical contemplation. All that selves so that it

pleases ^ J. 2

God

Him.”

Maritain, loc.

Op.

cit.,

p. 176.

cit.

we can do

will

is

to dispose our-

communicate

it

to us

when

CHAPTER

A

II

so-called '‘subjective”

and egocentric

spirituality?

One

also hears formulated sometimes another

series of grievances:

ascetical preparations, soli-

tary meditation, the desire for of infused prayer, all this

and the experience

—some — say

a spirituality in which the soul itself

and seeks

mystical union

and

it

itself.

Under

abandons

from

turned towards

pretext of seeking

itself

to a psychological fixation

states, in

is

arises

on

to introspection its

own

interior

which a disguised egoism holds the

place and which

many

first

a time would call for the

attentions of the psychologist or psychoanalyst

rather than of the spiritual director. ituality that

To

this spir-

one terms “subjective,” one opposes

then the purely “objective” and entirely disinterested spirituality of the liturgy, which in convok-

ing the whole of creation to the praise of in absorbing

God and

each one in the prayer and the élan

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

65

of the assembly of the faithful, cures the soul of egoistic seeking of self

and teaches

it

to be con-

God through the Him in common.

worship

tented with honoring

which

is

It is

rendered to

true that liturgical prayer

is

a precious aid

to contemplative souls, in particular in their effort to deliver themselves

returns

on

self to

from the complications and

which our psychological mecha-

nisms naturally incline

us.

Apart from this,

it

must

be said that under beautiful phrases on the liturgy the kind of talk to which

we have

alluded contains

serious errors. In the encyclical Mediator

Pope Pius XII

refutes

jective” spirituality

which would exclude

is

all spirituality

engaged in

his

in

y

a so-called purely “ob-

jective” spirituality, in other words,

exclude

Dei

all

“sub-

which would

which the person

as such

unique relation with God.^

Before going any further,

it is

relevant to cite the lines in which

perhaps not

ir-

Monsignor Knox

expressed with smiling British reserve some very

“We have been using mental prayer and it doesn’t seem to have made much

wise remarks: for years,

difference to our characters; have to think that this

pleasing to ^

we any reason

form of worship

God?

Cf. Mediator Dei, pp. 13-15.

is

specially

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

66

“To which I

that objection, I have only a I will

leave with you; I

think mental prayer

imperative,

is

He may want

thing you are

He

if

only to

it

fallow for God’s

tell

you about some-

do for Him; and although

to

does not need our help in creating the oppor-

tunity for if

meant

to

to say,

may be quite wrong.

plough up the mind and leave inspirations.

word

we do

it

seems to

not create

office

we

shout

it

But

Him,

that

we

are

All the masses and

wrong all

the

say can leave His voice unheard;

we

it.

down with our

let

me

us consider

importunities.”

now the true bearing and the

internal logic of things.

Behind the

dressed to the seeking of

it is

criticisms ad-

supposedly implied

self

and the

in the practice of meditation

the mystical ways,

^

docility to

to be feared that there

is

found simply the desire to escape from the de-

mands which God causes from that brings

it

“a single

to be heard within,

total gift of oneself

about that spirit

through which

finally a soul is

and

He

no longer but

and love” with Him. To honor God

through worship rendered in the virtue of religion

is,

common and through

we

recalled above, the

highest thing in the order of the moral virtues. But Ronald Knox, in his posthumous book, The Priestly Life: Conference on Prayer (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1958), p. ®

131.

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

67

one cannot impose on souls that they stop

their as-

pirations there, nor that they use such a noble

good

them

to turn

which belongs

and the

is

No

first

Holy

God for

higher good,

and

in

which the

He made

to His

concerned.

even an unhealthy anxiety for introspec-

souls.

to

piety,

even sincere

piety, in

But the masters of asceticism are the

denounce the

asites. It is

caused by these par-

illusions

absurd to reproach mental prayer and

interior recollection with It

Spirit,

the creatures

can mingle with

many

still

one denies that a psychological fixation on

oneself, tion,

from a

directly to the theological virtues

gifts of the

very love of

image

aside

what

is

their counterfeit.

being a fact that infused contemplation exists

only through the love of

and only for

that,

it is

God

sovereignly loved,

pure nonsense to accuse of

whom

a kind of transcendent egoism those to gives in reality only a solvi et esse

cum

supreme

Christo

—

it

desire: cupio dis-

“I desire to be dis-

solved and to be with Christ.”

To be

anxious about one’s

cording to the

own

perfection (ac-

spirit of Christianity, let

stand) implies no egoist seeking of for the love of

God, not of one’s

tian aspires to

become

self,

perfect. It

us under-

self,

for

it is

that the Chris-

is

clear besides

— LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

68

God if he

that one could not advance in the love of

were not constantly attentive to conquering him-

and to purifying himself of

self

within

him

constitutes

—when

the soul

way of the

effect of the

necessary as

it

may

spirit

contemplative un-

own

concern for one’s

itself,

which

charity.

has progressed rather far in the

ion

that

an obstacle to

There comes however a moment

when, through the

all

perfection, as

remain, passes into the back-

ground. Then the soul no longer thinks of anything but loving. 'fv

With those who have reached

this stage,

holy preoccupation

not in

—with

self

one’s

own

—centered

in

God,

perfection ceases to

attract the attention of conscious thought.

“They are no longer preoccupied with only with the extension of the

throughout the world, that His

and

glorified

by

all

Kingdom

self,

of

but

God

name may be loved

men, beginning with them-

selves. All their prayers, petitions,

works, and sac-

are directed principally toward this end and

rifices

they are converted into invisible channels through

which the graces of heaven descend upon earth.”

Thus

it is

by

^preme degree ®

be

virtue of contemplation that the su-

of forgetfulness of self

Victorino Osende, op.

cited.

®

cit.,

p. 310.

is

attained.

This whole page could well

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

69

“Contemplation alone,” we wrote elsewhere, “discovers the value of charity. Without

knows

it

by hearsay; with

perience.

one knows

it,

Through love and

in love,

it it

it,

by

one ex-

makes

God is love. Then man lets God do in him what He wills; he lets himself be bound beknown

that

cause he loves; he

is

he loves. All that

free because

has not the taste of love loses for him

Because of that life,

love, with

which

all

savor.

perfects our

it

contemplation alone realizes in us univer-

sality,

renders the soul catholic in spirit and in

truth.

As

moral

virtues, prudence, science

transcends

it

transcends

all

all

the intellectual and

and

art,

it

particularisms, attunes the soul to

the unity of the Mystical Body. Christ, dwelling in those

who

.

love

.

.

Through

Him,

Maritain, Primauté du Spirituel, pp. 171-172.

it,

gives their

hearts a sort of Eucharistic amplitude.” J.

so also

^

CHAPTER The There

would

III

saints of the reflex age

a last argument to which those

is

like to reject the authority of Saint

the Cross course.

who

John of

and of Saint Teresa readily have

It is

history. Saint

drawn from the

re-

diversity of ages in

Teresa and Saint John of the Cross,

they say, were saints of the reflex age.

They prob-

ably had to write as they did, given their historical

What

epoch.

they wrote was probably good for

that age of history, but

it

has no value for our age,

which has suffered only too much from individual introspection social

and whose

and communal

essential

need

is

in the

order.

Such a reasoning contains many

errors.

The

fundamental error consists in forgetting that there are in the spiritual

life

a development and

modalities which are linked with the

movement

history, the substance itself of this life

neither

if

of

depends

on time nor on history but on supratempo-

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS ral truths.

Why is it that one

does not see that

same doctrine which, taught

essentially the

sixteenth century

71 it is

in the

by Saint John of the Cross

in

the perspective of the practical science of the spiritual life,

Saint

was taught

in the thirteenth century

Thomas Aquinas and

the perspective of theology? the teachings of the Fathers

by

Saint Bonaventure in

Why

does one forget

and of the medieval

Doctors on the primacy of contemplation, the de-

importance of which we stressed above?

cisive

And why does one forget the mysterious continuity in which, in the Living

Flame

of

Love

of Saint

John of the Cross, the darkness of Saint Gregory of

Nyssa

finally recognizes its true

what strange blindness does one the testimony given

by the

spiritual writers, all turies, to that

God whose Saint

nature?

fail to

saints

through the Christian cen-

very experience of the depths of

states

It is

more

recognize

and the great

and degrees Saint Teresa and

John of the Cross only succeeded

ing in a

By

analytical

and more

in describ-

explicit

true that with Saint Teresa

manner?

and Saint John

of the Cross (and with Saint Francis of Sales also)

there

was an

explicit

and

reflexive prise de con-

science of what takes place at the interior of the soul that has entered into the contemplative way.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

72

For such a growth quired

—given

in awareness there

object

its

—

a special

was

gift of

re-

God,

the grace of a high supernatural light received for the enlightening of the whole Church. Such a

growth in awareness constituted of

mense

progress. It apprised us of the precious

treasures

soul

which

at the

we hold from

the

most life

secret depths of the

of grace. Doubtless, as

with every growth in awareness,

every growth in awareness, purest and highest

domain

them more or

way

—

we owe

—and

spirit. It is

in the

not a

of taking leave of

less courteously, it is

ble gratitude that

as with

the very law of the

and of the growth of the

gesture of the hands by

itself,

obeyed

it

—

was accom-

it

panied by accidental dangers. But of

spirit

an im-

itself

—and

an incompara-

shall

always owe

to the great saints of the reflex age.

It is

true also that our historical age has other

needs than that of Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross. But

it is

certainly not in the aspiration

to submit everything to the primacy of the social

and the communal that these true needs of our age are to be sought.

As concerns

in particular, the true

age

is,

the spiritual

life

and authentic need of our

on the one hand,

to understand better the

mystery of the Mystical Body (which transcends

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS to the infinite the natural social

communal) and

it is,

;

pecially, to

73

and the human

on the other hand, and

understand

—without

losing or neg-

lecting anything of the teaching of the masters

contemplation

we do

—

that today contemplation asks,

go out of doors and spread

and to have done with the

among cialists.

people, that

“As soon

it

as a

alone with God, he

where he may be

®

on

not say to leave the cloisters and the con-

vents, but to

the

es-

woods or the

is

illusion,

its

wings,

too frequent

should be reserved for spe-

man

is

fully disposed to

alone with

God no

be

matter

—

in the country, the monastery,

city.”

®

Thomas Merton, Thoughts

Straus and Cudahy, 1958), p. 96.

in Solitude

(New York:

Farrar,

CHAPTER

IV

Contemplation on the roads of the world Indeed contemplation

not given only to the

is

Carthusians, the Poor Clares, the Carmelites. It

.

.

frequently the treasure of persons hidden

is

in the world,

known

directors, to a

few

manner

—

only to some few

friends.

treasure

this

themselves

who

all simplicity,

is

possess

it

that

noise

hidden from the souls

—

souls

who

live

by

it

in

without visions, without miracles,

good happens

and without

It is

to their

Sometimes, in a certain

God and

but with such a flame of love for

^bor

.

all

neigh-

around them without

agitation.

of this that our age has to

become aware,

and of the ways through which contemplation communicates

form or the

itself

through the world, under one

other, to the great multitude of souls

who who

thirst for

The

great need of our age, in

it

(often without

are called to

it

knowing

at least in a

it),

and

remote manner.

what concerns the

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS spiritual life, is to

75

put contemplation on the roads

of the world. It is fitting

witness

to note here the importance of the

and the mission of Saint Thérèse of

would be

Lisieux. It

futile to

seek an opposition

between her and Saint John of the Cross,

whom

she called “the saint of Love par excellence.” In

substance

it

is

the

same

spirituality,

but every-

thing has undergone in her a marvelous reduction

Not only

to the essential.

all

the extraordinary

graces to which Saint John of the Cross forbade the soul to aspire and to attach

itself,

but

all

the

great typical signs, terrible or resplendent, which

manifested,

the

in

by

stages traversed

union

—

There

is

all

own

soul’s it

in advancing in the

these things have

in Saint

experience,

now

Thérèse of Lisieux

the

way

of

disappeared.

—and with an

—no longer anything

unbelievably pure limpidity

but total love, total self. It is

Thérèse’s

a great

—and

gift,

way

its

those

who

of

it

a

—

^but

one which

grandeur under an absolute

simplicity, itself heroic.

makes

total stripping of

indeed, this petite voie of

an heroic one

hides rigorously

ity

and

And this

way par

absolute simplic-

excellence open to

all

aspire to perfection, whatever their con-

dition of life

may

be. This

is

the feature here that

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

76

particularly important for us to keep in mind.

it is

Saint Thérèse of the Infant Jesus has

shown that

the soul can tend to the perfection of charity

way

in

by a

which the great signs that Saint John of the

Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila described, and

which

find themselves in preference in convents,

do not appear. At the same

way

in

believe.

an emi-

that wider diffusion than ever of the life

of union with is

we

Carmel prepared

Saint Thérèse in her

nent

stroke,

God which

the world requires

if it

not to perish.

Let us add that in

this

contemplation “on the

roads of the world,” whose development the future will doubtless witness,

^

it

seems that constant atten-

and

tion to the presence of Jesus

fraternal charity

are called to play a major role, as regards even the

ways of infused prayer.

We believe that

tion of those contemplatives

the voca-

thrown into the world

and the misery of the world who are the

Little

Brothers of Charles de Foucauld, has in this spect a high significance,

from them new lights life,

re-

and that one can expect

in the

domain

of the spiritual

with time and the grace of God.

CHAPTER V The

liturgy transcends essentially every natural

aspiration for

Liturgical v/orship,

end

in itself; but

to lead those

which

is

it

who

community

we have

already noted,

is

an

tends by nature to prepare and

participate in

contemplation.

To

to a higher end,

it

claim to deprive the

liturgy of this ordination to contemplation,

denature the liturgy. “One point

we

stress

is

to

over

and over,” says Father Alfred C. Longley, pastor of St. Richard’s in Minneapolis, one of the

remarkable “is that

liturgical parishes in the

the aim of worship

the sacraments

—

is

love.”

^

United

most

States,

—through Mass and

Why

then should not

participation in the liturgical service tend to pre-

pare us for that contemplative union in which the

God and for all men norThose who turn souls aside from

K perfection of love for

mally takes root?

contemplation in the ^

Cf. Jubilee,

No.

name

cited, p. 40.

of the liturgy are, con-

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

78

what they

trary to

liturgy itself.

think, great enemies of the

Such a disregard for mental prayer

and contemplation

certainly does not arise

true view of the liturgy, but call

on what

it is

from a

fitting to

a “pseudo-liturgical systematization.”

We

said just

our age

is

now

that one of the great needs of

to understand better the mystery of the

Mystical Body. the effort of

It is this

need that

all those, priests

is

being met by

and laymen, who

dedicate themselves with an admirable zeal to the

many parcommon fervor

liturgical renewal, thereby restoring so

an authentic

ishes to in

life

and

to a

worship worthily rendered, and helping the

faithful to realize better,

through their union with

the public prayer of the Church, their belonging to the Mystical Body.^*^ It is

to an essentially supernatural society

which we are “fellow-citizens of the

^whose principle of life, is

invisible to

saints,”

—

in

and

our bodily eyes,

the Bl^od of Christ and the grace of the Holy

Ghost

—

What

is

that

we

thus realize better our belonging.

essentially important,

—

and what we have

—

and this is entirely normal that many advocates of the liturgical renewal are at the same time fervent defenders of the mystical life and of contemplation. Such is the case, for example, with Father H. A. Reinhold (cf. his two books. The American Parish and the Roman Liturgy [New York: Macmillan, 1958] and Soul Afire [New York: Pantheon Books, 1944]). It is

to be noted

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS to actualize in our entire

life, is

the typically su-

pernatural quality which makes us

Mystical

This

is

is

of the

members

communion

of the

of saints.

from being a

clearly quite another thing

member choir

Body and

79

of a choir, although the singing of the

a part of the public prayer of the Church,

and although

it

depends on our interior fervor that

our singing be an act of love elevating our soul

towards God.

Let us add that in understanding better the divine social

life

of the

ing to the Mystical

Church and our belong-

Body we

drawn

are normally

to understand better also the authentic exigencies

of the

human

social life

and the necessity of mak-

ing fraternal love prevail in

it.

It is

an

effect of the

superabundance of the things of the Kingdom of

God

activating the things of earth.

life is

thus superelevated in

its

Human

own

social

order by the

supernatural ferment of the Gospel virtues. perfectly

normal that a

liturgical parish

It is

be also a

parish in which Gospel charity vivifies the natural social

community and the natural

and develops

in

and of

fraternal

by the

liturgical

social activities,

them the sense of

social justice

mutual help. To the work pursued renewal one already owes

cant realizations accomplished in this

signifi-

spirit.

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

80 But

it is

quite otherwise with the pseudo-liturgi-

cal systematization. It confuses the orders,

stead of tending to elevate the

ment by the

of the spirit

life

spiritual life to the

we must reproach is its

pulling

it

human

common

the

What

seems to

all, it

of the

us,

human social

the divine social. There

here a kind of insidious naturalism. nostalgia of

social ele-

social element.

for above

itself to

in-

tends to submit the

it

down to the plane

what belongs of

human

and

is

then the

It is

engagement, of the

life

of

team and the group, of the primacy of the

social

—

and the communal

so deeply felt

by our

age in the natural and temporal, terrestrial and

human isfy,

—

order

that one invokes

and wishes to

and that one wishes to impose,

order of religious and spiritual

sat-

in the very

a purely

life. It is

natural gregarious instinct that one seeks to satisfy in the

inter

name

of the sacred liturgy,

homines—

demands

in the

di

“being

name

it is

among men”

of the Mystical

—

an esse

that one

Body

itself.

Thence the suspicion towards private prayer,

re-

garded as individualist and egocentric, and accepted only in the measure in which

it

prepares

one for the better performing of public prayer and of the functions of worship.

of the person

and of

Thence the disregard

his singular relation

with

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

God. The authentic human in

its

own

social

81

realm recognizes

order the rights and the privileges of the

person. But in the false perspective of which are speaking one extends the

outside of their

domain which

is

vour everything.

own

human

social claims

order, to impose

not their

we

them on a

own and where

they de-

CHAPTER Divine love

One

a love from Person to person

is

ends up forgetting the personal character

of the love that

one by one our

VI

God

God demands

—and not only

of us, of each soul

of choirs of reciters. If

loved only social masses praying and

singing together

(He

them too),

loves

this

would

have been indicated by some commandment. But only the wholly personal

there

is

love:

Thou (and not you)

commandment

shalt love thy

of

God with

thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind.

Now

neither the heart nor the soul nor the

are social things.

personal;

They

mind

are individual or, better,

and the person

is

not an object that can

be added up. Consider the

human assembly

of a

hundred

thousand believers: they do not add up to form a

mass that would be the sum of them persons each one of

whom

has the

all;

they are

faith. It is

not

— AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS a single act of faith

common

to

each one which

faith proper to

ail, it is

is

83

the act of

an offering pleas-

ing to God. If it is

a question,

society that

it is

true, of the supernatural

the Church,

is

unique sap which

the

is

life

it

is

in virtue of a

of their

of the grace of Christ vivifying their

human

activities, that

most personal

persons are members of the

As an

Mystical Body.

exterior sign of this

munion, and of fraternal love among likes that

we be

—gathered

several

—even

if

that faith,

hope and charity are

like merit.

As

is

a

member of

Him

is

it

remains always

strictly personal,

a body whose

common

good

alone before

Him

to contemplate in

us, Jesus

only two or three

identical with the ultimate

each person, each one

Him,

com-

together in His name. But persons are

not added up there either, and

good

in virtue

life,

itself

God

of

to love

here below and to see

Heaven, as also to be judged by

Him

each one according to his love. This life

is

is

why what

counts in the contemplative

always a wholly unique presence before

God.

The son,

love of

God

and our love

is

for

always from Person to per-

God is

always from our heart

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

84

to His heart singularity

which has loved us

—whether

first/^ in

our very

up

in us at

this love wells

the recitation of liturgical texts, at the hearing of

Gregorian chant or any other music worthy of ac-

companying the Divine

Office, or at the solitary

reading of the Bible, or in the wordless recollection

and repose of prayer.

thus that Henry Suso writes: “Once I saw spiritually that the heart of my heavenly Father was joined to mine in an ineffable manner. Yes, I felt the heart of God, divine Wisdom without form or image, who spoke to me in the innermost recesses of my heart, and in the swoon of my joy I exclaimed: ‘O my sweet Beloved and my only Love, see how I embrace Thy divinity, heart to heart!’” {Union of the Soul, c. 3; cited by Arintero, op. cit., vol. II, p. 276). ^^It

is

CHAPTER The value

VII

of silence

Against the pseudo-liturgical state of mind it be-

hooves one to defend the rights and the dignity of silence. In certain parishes into

of

mind has

many

penetrated,

our friends in Europe write us

which

this state

of the faithful

—complain

—

so

that in

entering into church to meditate they are deafened

by the as

noise. It

is

certain that the dialogue Mass,^^

called,

is

a conquest of the liturgical

it is

newal

in

its

most authentic

re-

sense. It proves itself

to be of incomparable assistance for the piety of a

great many.

Still

it

is

voice to be humble in

not screeching.

Mass

is

If

necessary for the discreet

it,

human

and prayerful,

on the other hand the solemn

clearly the noblest

In his article in Osservatore

and

fullest

Romano

form of the

(October

2,

1958) on

the subject of the Instruction of the Congregation of Rites mentioned below. Father Antonelli points out that the expression “dialogue Mass” is not too felicitous a one, for in what is called the dialogue Mass the faithful in addition to the responses that they make to the priest, as in a dialogue can recite with him several important parts like the Gloria and the Credo. (Cf. Docu-

—

mentation Catholique, November

—

9,

1958, p, 1438, note 23.)

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

86

Holy

celebration of the

Sacrifice,

it

would be

folly

however to claim to condemn low Masses for reason

—

those low Masses of the

there descends

upon the

dawn

in

this

which

soul in silence, with an

unequalled sweetness, the dew of the feasts and

commemorations

As

of each day.

regards participation in the liturgical

life

of

the Church, and although the expression “active participation” has in actual fact taken the sense of participation externally manifested,

important

it is

to observe here that to listen, whether with the ear

or with the heart,

is

from the philosophical point

of view as “active” as to speak.

No

doubt

it

is

preferable that the faithful manifest this participation outwardly ing, at certain

and

join-

their voices to his,

even

by answering the moments,

priest

during low Masses, according as

mended

it

in a recent Instruction of the

tion of Rites. ^^Instruction

If

recom-

Congrega-

however these recommendations

“De Musica

tember 19-22, 1958

is

(cf.

Acta Apostolicae Sedis, SepDocumentation Catholique, November 9, sacra,”

1958).

When

Mass” (low Mass), this Instruction Mass called (improperly) the dialogue 31) the third and most perfect mode of participation of the (itself implying four different degrees). However it also

sanctions

Mass

as

faithful

it

treats of the “read

(art.

the

sanctions (art. 29) “the first way in which the faithful can participate in the read Mass” and in which “all, on their own responsibility, bring a participation either interior, by giving a pious attention to the principal parts of the Mass, or exterior, according to the different approved regional customs.” (The words ’“on their own responsibility” are italicized by the Instruction itself; the other italics

are ours.)

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

87

are not given as a categorical order imposed

each one,

who

it is

because, in the last analysis, those

prefer to nourish themselves

Church

the

on

either

by

on the prayer of

listening to the

Gregorian

chant at Office or at High Mass, or by piously reading the Missal to follow the action of the priest

and

to unite themselves with

speak the truth, in the liturgical

Body

in a

manner

it

participate, to

life

of the Mystical

as really active, although silent

and not manifested (and those

it,

in this less complete), as

who sing or who answer in

a loud voice.

remains in any case that even when

humility

finally

with what care the Church

maintains, even in the so-called dialogue

lence

Mass and

solemn Mass, the part due to silence

that very silence ostio.

speaks,

listens.^^

Let us note

in the

it

“From is

And

which

all

to

that of prayer clauso

the Consecration to the Pater,

recommended.”

Consecration,

is

—

si-

“During the time of the

singing, and,

wherever

it is

the

custom, even the music of the organ or of any other instrument must cease. After the Consecra-

,

tion, unless the

Bene diet us

sacred silence

advised up to the Pater nosterP

is

Thomas Merton,

op.

cit.,

'^^Instruction cited, art. 14, art. 27, e and /.

p. 90. c.

is still

to be sung, a

CHAPTER The

VIII

liberty of souls

Against the pseudo-liturgical exaggerations

behooves one to defend the liberty of is

souls.

what the Pope, Father and pastor of

when he

said in

moving terms “Many :

all,

it

This did,

of the faith-

unable to use the ‘Roman Missal’ even

ful are

though

it is

written in the vernacular; nor are

all

capable of understanding correctly the liturgical rites

and formulas. So varied and diverse are men’s

talents

to be

and characters that

moved and

community ices.

it is

impossible for

all

attracted to the

same extent by

and

liturgical serv-

prayers, hymns,

Moreover, the needs and inclinations of

all

are not the same, nor are they always constant in the

same

individual.

Who

then would say, on ac-

count of such a prejudice, that

all

these Christians

cannot participate in the Mass nor share

On

the

contrary,

its

fruits?

they can adopt some other

method which proves

easier for certain people, for

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS instance, they

89

can lovingly meditate on the mys-

teries of Jesus Christ or

perform other exercises of

piety or recite prayers which, though they differ

from the sacred

mony

are

rites,

still

essentially in har-

with them.” .

It

.

is

XII

perfectly clear to all,” Pius

writes again,""* “that in the

Church on earth, no less

than in the Church in heaven, there are

many

mansions (John, XIV, 2).

same

.

.

.

It is

Who breatheth where He will Who with differing gifts and in

the

Spirit

(John

and

different

enlightens

and guides

III,

8)

;

ways

souls to sanctity. Let their

freedom and the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit

be so sacrosanct that no one presume to

turb or

stifle

Rome

them

for

dis-

any reason whatsoever.”

has always been vigilant in opposing any

attempt to regiment souls. She knows that the spirit of the liturgy requires respect for the

liberty proper to the

in holding as valid

which each one

and

in

New Law. On

one single form of

acts in

demanding of

all

common that

Gospel

the contrary, piety, that in

with the others,

by word and gesture

they obey the liturgical forms with a military precision; in challenging or putting in question priMediator Dei, Ibid., p.

p. 40.

61 (with respect to the exercises of Saint Ignatius and

while recommending them especially).

90

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

vate devotions, nay even the adoration of the

Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass, those

who

confuse liturgy and pseudo-liturgy impose on souls rigid

frameworks and burden them with external

obligations

which are of the same type

servances of the Old Law.

as the ob-

CHAPTER

IX

In defense of the liturgy

Against pseudo-liturgy fend the liturgy. The

superabounds

Church;

and

in

it is

its

it

behooves one to de-

latter, as

we have

observed,

from the contemplation of the

in the inspired

wisdom of the Church,

union of love with God, that

preme and most pure measure

of

is

the su-

the

forms

through which worship and public prayer are accomplished.

The

liturgy

spirit of

can only

suffer gravely

from the

system, or from a spirit of the arbitrary

whether in novelty or in archaism, or from a tion

on the past which tends to disregard

fixa-

its

mogeneous development inseparably bound that of the life of the Church.

These

hoto

different

kinds of excess have been denounced in the encyclical

Mediator Dei.

CHAPTER X In defense of solitude It is

of the

clear that participation in the liturgical life

Church

is

of itself eminently suited for pre-

paring souls for supernatural recollection and con-

The

templative union. signs

liturgy transmits to us in

its

an expression of the charity and contempla-

tion of the

Church

meaning than prayers,

its

its

itself.

rites

lessons,

its

and

Nothing its

richer in

is

great poetry,

hymns and

its

a continuous and exultant reiteration

it

psalms. In enlightens

our minds with the light of the Old and the Testaments, and

its

New

puts on our lips the words ut-

it

tered by the most venerable contemplatives, prayers of

David, messages of the Prophets, teachings

of the Fathers.

day with

all

And

to the

one who follows

the attention of his heart,

it

it

each

brings a

continuous spiritual stimulation, and often

re-

sponses and inspirations singularly appropriate to his personal life;

it

awakens him

to the aspirations

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

own soul

of his

of the cycle of If

at the

same time

Time and

as to the mysteries

of the cycle of the Saints.

participation in the liturgical

tion that

it

93

life

(on condi-

be animated by fervor, and not dead-

ened by routine) thus constitutes a particularly

way

excellent tion,

it

is

to prepare the soul for contempla-

however

ascetical preparations

superfluous.

dispensable

would

it

It is

and from rendering them

neither the only

way towards

be,

would have

from taking the place of

far

it,

as

the

way nor

contemplation.

pseudo-liturgical

the in-

Still less

excesses

necessarily required for the perfec-

tion of the spiritual life independently of all ordi-

nation to contemplation, and as a sort of absolute sufficient

Why fectly elite

unto

itself.

should the possibility of attaining to a per-

pure spiritual

life

be reserved to a privileged

devoted to the liturgical service? There

multitude of others,

whom

is

the

the obligations of

life

and the exigencies of work impede. There are those charged with family responsibilities,

the

itinerants, the sick, the illiterate, there are the solitaries.

.

.

.

Against pseudo-liturgy fend

solitude

and the

it

behooves one to de-

solitary

life.

The

soul

breathes in solitude, a certain amount of solitude

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

94 is

indispensable for the

life

of the spirit:

“The

ears

with which one hears the message of the Gospel are hidden in man’s heart,

and these ears do not

hear anything unless they are favored with a certain interior solitude

and

silence.

to the Father best in solitude.”

.

.

.

We

listen

“The more our

and separated,” wrote Saint

soul finds itself alone

Ignatius of Loyola,^° “the

more

capable of approaching

Creator and Lord and

of attaining

its

it

renders

itself

Him.”

In solitude she lived

And

in solitude

now has

built her nest,

Andinsolitudeher dear one alone guides her

As

to the solitary

once the most

life, it is

difficult

the state of

and the most

.

.

life at

elevated.^^

Eternally snow-clad summit from which descend the life-giving rivers, this state of

life will

never be

missing from the Church. With the Carthusians is

it

certainly not exclusive of the liturgical service

and of the most beautiful chants, but the Office chanted in

common

is

of less importance than the

Solitary Dialogue with

God. With the hermits

Thomas Merton,

op. cit., pp. 13, 106. In his Twentieth Note. Saint John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle E. Allison Peers). 22 theol, II-II, 188, 8.

(translation

of

AGAINST SOME MISCONCEPTIONS there

is

no longer anything but the

logue with God. There prayer; there

is

is

95

Solitary Dia-

no longer any public

no longer any

liturgical service

(except, for the priests, the read

private recitation of the Office).

Mass and

It is

the

in pure soli-

tude that a Father de Foucauld attained a sublime contemplation and an heroic perfection. Saint Benedict Labre

was not a hermit, but a

beggar, or rather a seeker of

God on

the earth, completely cut off total poverty,

respect he

the roads of

from the world by

vermin and beggary; and in

was more

retired

this

from men and more

alone than even a hermit. Solitude of Saint Benedict Labre! Solitude his vocation

—whether he be

lost in the outlying

wilderness or amidst the people of

templation must be his whole

is

life

Rome. Con-

in the time be-

fore the eternal Beatitude.

He

has to leave the convent in which he thought

he was to pass

his life;

roads and pray

.

.

.

he has only to go along the often in anguish and dark-

ness.

He

has no other desire than the solitary

the midst of infinite privations

presence of God, of entirety.

Him who

—

in the

requires

life

in

glowing

him

in his

LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION

96

Such

is

then his

life.

He

goes along the roads

with God.

He

doesn’t need anything of this world. Total

poverty

is

solitude;

and

and of

mility

and of

him a

for

silence.

gift

from Heaven

His prayer

ecstasy.

He

poverty,

prayer of hu-

is

and of

love, of charity

—

light, of fire

sings in the forests.

Over the long ways of France and ing barefooted, he reaches a sacred desire of his.

Italy,

Rome. Doubtless

He has come

Saint Peter and Saint Paul,

and

to the

to the

walkit

was

home

tomb

of

of in-

numerable martyrs.

He

frequents a small and very

humble church,

Santa Maria dei Monti, where his body and the

tomb

He

statue of

him

assisted at

munion, had tures there.

are today.

Mass

there, received

his habitual ecstasies

The poor people God,

and

his rap-

of the district vener-

ated this other poor one, this one the love of

Holy Com-

this strange

who needed

being

only

who was

ig-

norant of the attractions of terrestrial forces, and

whom God drew to Himself. In Rome at Santa Maria

dei Monti, at the

Coliseum, in the streets where the children

fun of him, he lived his divine

life.

made

Alone and

ever in the presence of God, of His love, of His light.

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