For us, this
conformation-reconciliation is achieved in our implementation of the call we have
received, in the vocation to the monastic life in the school of Cîteaux. The “Cistercian grace” will give a
particular form and colour to our way of becoming new persons, sons and
brothers. I would like to take hold of
this Cistercian grace that constitutes our identity at the place where it
springs up, as close as possible to its historical source, which is the Rule of Saint Benedict. I consider this grace first of all as a
manner of living the Rule with faithful intelligence. Doing this will enable us to develop at the same time the
necessary creativity and a courageous prudence which is free from naivety. In these conditions life according to the
Rule will be for us the sure road to conformity to Christ.
I shall say a few words about this
journey with regard to the community first of all, then with regard to the
abbot and lastly regarding those who enter on our life. Speaking of grace, I shall inevitably speak
of temptations, and if I mention concrete situations, it goes without saying
that this is by way of illustration and not as examples to be followed.
The Community
The collection of persons of assorted
age, temperament and origins, which normally constitutes a Cistercian
community, is a challenge to the laws of ordinary common sense. Instead of automatically levelling out the
difficulties which seem capable of it, in our search for a visible homogeneity
- such as grouping together persons of
the same generation, or those with similar points of view or a common history,
- it could be said that a mischievous roll of the dice infinitely multiplies
differences, even contradictions, as if to invite us to look further (higher,
deeper?) for the motive of our presence together in one place. Certainly, as
St. Benedict clearly shows us (cf. Prologue), it is the grace of
vocation that brings us together, but we can only understand this by placing it
in the context of the more radical grace of our renewal in Christ by
baptism. There also need to be concrete
means of expressing and establishing a true fraternity. I would give first place here to the customs
of the common life that make fraternity specific and channel and orient the
emotions. If these customs are badly
lived they cause sclerosis, but if we know how to use them they are a real
means of renewal. However, if a
community of monks does not break up at the first clash of opinions, if it
successfully resists the persistent attacks of the forces of disintegration
which work on it from inside and outside, this is primarily and principally
because it realises that it is made up of men who, in spite of their miseries,
are deeply (perhaps, indeed, at times a little too deeply!) renewed by Christ.
These new men, although dependent on the old man who lives in them, know that
what unites them is greater than what divides them and that life is stronger
than death. They live in Hope, badly or
sadly but nevertheless truly. They thus
overcome all obstacles which the “wise” might think would crush them. The vitality of a community is without doubt
a sign of the growth of the Cistercian grace in it, but perseverance in trial
is the sure sign that the brothers are growing in conformity to the Christ of
the Passion and Resurrection.
Living under a Rule and an abbot,
Cistercian monks accept to see their divine adoption “in the image of the Son”
(Rom. 8: 29) realised in their relation with the abbot, and in a certain sense
discerned by it. This involves both
opportunity and risk. It involves
opportunity, since this relationship makes possible a more precise and clear
perception of the filial relationship with our God and Father, which could
otherwise remain merely theoretical. It
involves risk, since either by reacting to the ever-present danger of paternalism
or by misplacing the accent on sentimentality, we could fall into a caricature
of filiation which will sooner or later be rejected, or into a so-called
autonomy which in fact hides a difficulty of living balanced
relationships. It is clear that we have
here a wide field for growth in conformity to Christ, that is, to nurture a
correct relationship with the abbot which will give rise to balance on a
personal and community level. It means keeping a balance free of both tension
and neglect, since through it there is a grace that develops or becomes weaker
in each person.
The Benedictine model of community has
been understood differently at different times. Today we are accustomed to consider the monastic community as a
fraternity and not as a group of autonomous individuals who must rub against
one another as little as possible, or as a reproduction of the Roman type of “familia”. This is unquestionably a contribution of our
times. Nevertheless, it would be a
mistake to imagine that the passage from a human fraternity to fraternity in
Jesus Christ is something “natural”.
There again, though a human fraternity can offer a field which is
favourable to grace, it can also close the door to grace. An author once made the distinction between
“psychic” communities and “spiritual” ones (i.e. that are open to the Spirit of
God). If we wish to become more and
more conformed to Christ, we cannot escape a conversion of our fraternal
life. We have to welcome without fear
all that our human riches can muster to promote our relationships, but also to accept
a love that cannot be sustained by feelings.
Little by little we have to acquire a true personal autonomy, to prove
that fraternal love is received as well as given with the hope that no rupture
is total and that we can always deepen fraternity through it.
The Abbot
It
is clear, at least I hope it is, that the abbot like all the brothers has to
become a new man in Christ.
Fundamentally he does so by taking the same steps as his
brothers. However, the service he renders in the community offers him,
and in a certain sense imposes on him, ways that may or may not be for his
growth. The new man grows interiorly and then influences others. It could be that this influence remains
quite weak, but it is very important for the abbot that it not be too weak! The brothers need to know that the abbot is
fragile and tempted as they are. They
also need to see that he is doing his utmost to make his actions correspond to
his words. Effort and continual
interior renewal are needed to reduce to the minimum his facade of good
behaviour, to eliminate his artificial attitudes and his droned clichés, to
develop a real freedom from fashions - even spiritual ones. It is a despairing program if he relies on
his own resources, but it becomes a road of growth if he opens himself to the
grace that makes all things new and unifies the heart.
To be a father while remaining a son
is for the abbot an unstable balance, which he is not always sure of keeping as
well as he ought. It is not easy for
him to discern how to occupy a position of authority without ceasing to
recognize his dependence. It is very
difficult to find a middle way between the paternalism denounced above and the
abdication of his basic responsibilities.
If the abbot is not conscious of being a son in the Son, if he has not a
filial attitude to God his Father, how can he in his turn exercise paternity
without suffocating others? Either he
may behave as a domestic tyrant (thank God the race seems to be extinct or on
the road to extinction!), or he may leave everything to be done by others,
confusing delegation with irresponsibility.
Moreover, if relations between himself and the brothers never go beyond
material matters or mere friendliness, he will not be able to find the right
attitude, which is only possible in a spiritual context. There is a vast terrain here for continual
conversion that contributes as well to the balance of the members of the
community!
Although the abbot has to find his
right place as father, he is and remains a brother to his brothers. This is the point to make clear, and it is
not easy! Brother does not mean
”buddy” and there is still a great temptation to think that we could abolish
all difficulties by making them the same.
We have to say first of all that distance is a necessary component of
the relationship and thus it is only insofar as each one keeps his clearly
defined place that we will avoid confusion and the uneasiness that results from
it. Only this clarity of the situation will
protect the abbot from respect of persons, that pestilence of relationships (RB
34). Certainly he can be free in his
personal relationships, but not to the extent that it affects the whole
community. The grace of a true
fraternity is fragile and precious. Its
usual traits are peace, patience, simple joy and kindness. If the abbot radiates these he grows
together with his brothers in conformity to Christ who is gentle and humble of
heart.
Obviously, time is needed to establish
these behaviours. There is a French
saying: “Time does not respect what happens instantaneously”. This is true for
the personal attitudes of the abbot, and especially for his relations with his
brothers which are counted in years, ages or even decades.
Those who Enter the Monastery
It sometimes happens that unbaptised
persons come to the monastery. Whatever
problems such a situation can pose in other ways, I see in it a concrete
illustration of the deep continuity between the Christian and the monastic
vocations. The new man we put on at
baptism finds a powerful means of growing and becoming stronger in the call to
the Cistercian life. But often those
who come to us, even persons who have been baptised, have only a limited
awareness of this continuity. So they
have to discover what they are - with
their own riches and limitations - and this does not happen without
suffering. This discovery is only
useful and even possible if it is carried out in the light of grace. To see the old man and the new man living
together in ourselves demands both faith and clarity. It is the one who has been redeemed and saved who recognizes and
accepts his misery and his good qualities.
Without this clarity and an intelligent growth process one runs the risk
of despair and disappointment. To help
a modern person to enter our life, and therefore to become more of a new man,
involves much patience, clear-headedness and selflessness. We sometimes share in a true adventure of
grace, but also in disasters that are painful for all concerned.
We are often - even very often -
confronted by persons whose course is “stormy”. Family, experiences, acquaintances, in each area we find grave
obstacles. It is difficult for them to realise that a relationship with
God the Father that makes us his sons is possible. They have few points of reference that are not negative. The very words are a snare since they do not
apply to comparable realities. Are we
to give up and think that our vocation has no future in a society like
this? In my opinion this would be to
sin against Hope. Certainly, we need to
use our imagination to find ways whereby the grace which has caught up with
these persons can continue to carry them along in our life. My experience here is that it is in no way a
matter of “lowering the price” in order to sell a “commodity”, but, what is
more difficult, of discerning whether
our vocation truly corresponds with God’s designs for these persons just as
they are. We see here the importance of
what St. Benedict calls “a senior who is skilled in winning souls”
(ch.58). The vocation of every
Christian is to become a son and it is this that makes him a balanced
person. For those whom God leads to us,
the Cistercian monastery can truly be the way to achieve this.
It is not surprising that a community can attract persons who are
in need - often cruelly in need - of true relationships, either to take them
out of an individualistic isolation or to escape being suffocated by a false community. But becoming a brother is no easier than
becoming a son. To pass from an
attitude of one who benefits positively from the common life to one who shares
in it actively demands an effort and a self-transcendence sometimes unknown to
those from whom it is required. Here
again we can see that fraternal life is a gift on another plane than that of our
own efforts or of a good education.
Without neglecting either of these, we must keep alive the awareness
that we have been made brothers rather than having made ourselves brothers. It is true for those who are already in the
community and even more true for those entering. However, it is not easy to make them realise this. To be conformed to Christ they too must
agree to receive the gift and be shaken up by it in order to make true
progress.
Conclusion
These few notes thrown together here
have approached the question only from a very limited angle, the description of
a few concrete situations. We should
add the teaching of the spiritual authors of our tradition, the role of the
liturgy and of work, etc... I just hope
that I have shown that whatever stage we have reached in Cistercian life and
whatever position we occupy in the community, there is only one profound
dynamism that can inspire us, namely to receive and to seek this grace of
conformity to Christ which makes us what we are, Benedictine monks and nuns in
the Cistercian tradition. It seems to
me that herein lies the true source of the unity of persons, of communities and
of different communities with one another.
Here too, in my opinion, is what guarantees the fruitfulness that our
way of life has always offered and the attraction it can still exercise today.
Br.
M. Patrick
Abbot
of Sept-Fons
