jordan aumann-christian spirituality in the catholic tradition-ignatius pr (1985)

8/17/2019 Jordan Aumann-Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition-Ignatius Pr (1985)

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CHAPTER I

SACRED SCRIPTURE AND THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

"Sacred theology relies on the written Word of God, taken together with sacred Tradition, as on a permanent foundation .... Therefore, the 'study of the sacred page' should be the very soul oftheology .... n the sacred books the !ather who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children,and talks with them. nd such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the#hurch as her support and vigor, and the children of the #hurch$as strength for their faith, foodfor the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life."%&

The !athers of (atican #ouncil have officially recommended a return to Sacred Scripture andTradition. )et, it is not without its difficulties, both for Scripture scholars and for theologians, asis pointed out by )ves #ongar, a highly respected leader of the movement back to the biblicalsources.

There is bound to be at times an alarming confusion among theologians in possession of acenturies$old heritage. The unfortunate conse*uence is not that they are upset+ it is the resultingdivorce that might be established between the research of biblical scholars and the conclusions of theologians. n unhealthy situation of "double truth" might ensue, which must be avoided at allcosts. ne group must pay close attention to the work of the other in a common fidelity to thetradition of the #hurch ....

-ut the problems created for classical theology by eegetes returning to biblical sources must berecogni/ed and faced. !or centuries past, especially since the great Scholastics who proposedsuch a seemingly definitive and perfect elaboration of sacred doctrine, theology has beenformulated satisfactorily in ontological terms. ts work was to contemplate and define by meansof revelation the en-soi of God and of #hrist, that is, what they are in themselves. nd now biblical scholars agree more and more in affirming that revelation comes to us essentially in theframework of history and that it is essentially "economic" or "functional"0 there is no revelationof the mystery of God and #hrist ecept in the testimony handed on about what they did and aredoing for us, that is, ecept in relation to our salvation.%1

The primary witness of Scripture, therefore, is that God has acted in the life of man, so that the

-ible is not so much a code of laws or a book of *uestions and answers as it is "a history of whatGod has done in the lives of men, for humanity as a whole, in order to fulfill in them the designof grace."%2 ne does not go to the -ible to get ideas about God and to talk about God%although it does reveal God to us as he is in himself, e.g., 3. 20&4., but to understand whatGod is to us and to respond to his presence. "5an wants to eperience God's presence somehow,through signs that manifest it unambiguously+ and he wants to live in communion with God on a*uasi$eperiential level."%4 The !athers of (atican epressed the same sentiments0t pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of




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his will %cf. 3ph. &06. 7is will was that men should have access to the !ather, through #hrist, theWord made flesh, in the 7oly Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature %cf. 3ph. 10&8+1 9et. &04. -y this revelation, then, the invisible God %cf. #ol. &0&:+ Tim. &0&;, from thefullness of his love, addresses men as his friends %cf. 3. 220&&+


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anti*uity had an awareness of the sacred which he epressed in a cultic religion that wasshrouded in various mythologies. 7is religion was a pro?ection of his instinctive needs, such ashealth, life, fertility, protection against the unknown. 3ventually paganism developed acontemplative type of religion, as a response to man's higher needs, but in the beginning, thefertility cults were perhaps the primitive forms of religious worship.

The basic notion behind every fertility cult was this0 they recogni/ed that there is a god orgods .... Secondly, they knew that man was completely dependent on the gods in some way.Their *uestion was, how .... They recogni/ed that man must participate in the creative powers . . .. of these gods, and therefore he must do everything in his power to epress the intensity of thedesire that is his to participate. nd so the fertility cults, which were seual cults, were basicallya form of worship and they were concerned with epressing the intensity of the desire of men to participate in the power of the gods."%&& Genesis records that the first step in man's relation with God was his creation in the image ofGod and his situation in a state of innocence which was later lost because of man's sin. What thesin was, remains a mystery+ we do not know whether it was a particular action or simply the end$ product of an accumulation of evil. We do know that man became acutely aware of sin and

therefore found access to the one, true God much more difficult. "!or man, God is both presentand absent, both near and far away. 7e is present and near as the #reator, since man is dependenton God for his very eistence. 7e is absent and far away insofar as man looks for him fromwithin the framework of his own sinful condition."%&1 3ventually, however, and almostunepectedly, God intervened once more in human history to resume his dialogue with man.)ahweh said to bram, "@eave your country, your family and your father's house, for the land will show you. will make you a great nation+ will bless you and make your name so famousthat it will be used as a blessing .... 7ere now is my covenant with you0 you shall become thefather of a multitude of nations .... will establish my covenant between myself and you, andyour descendants after you, generation after generation, a covenant in perpetuity, to be your Godand the God of your descendants after you" %Gen. &10&$1+ &;0&$8.

Genesis 4$&& records that a few men, such as bel and Coah, were found worthy in the sight ofGod, but he chose braham for an alliance of friendship and it was through braham that Godraised up a people who will be his people and he will be their God. 7e established his presencein their midst, not only in the Temple, but ultimately in their hearts %


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anything but themselves and their own nature. The living God is affirmed by the -ible assovereign source and measure, to which man and all things must unceasingly be referred andmust conform so that one does not ?ust eist but eists truly, reali/ing the meaning, the fullnessof one's eistence.%&2 God's initiative, however, demands a response from srael, both by obedience to the law given on

Sinai and by religious worship. Thus, "the obligation of the people to observe the terms of thecovenant is solemnly ratified by the holocaust, the sacrifices and the sprinkling of blood %3.1402$8. n the other hand, the leaders of the community... are brought into God's presence andcommune with him in a sacred meal %3. 140&$1+6$&& ."%&4 @est the cultic actions be merelyempty gestures, it was necessary that they proceed from and bear witness to a living faith andobedience to God's word. Cumerous prophets insisted on this point with great /eal %m. :01&$1;+s. &0&B$&=+


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%the -ook of #onsolation%&: depicts the perfect disciple of )ahweh as one who confesses thetrue faith, atones for his sin and is ealted by God0

)ou whom brought from the confines of the earthand called from the ends of the world+you to whom said, ")ou are my servant, have chosen you, not re?ected you,"do not be afraid, for am with you+stop being anious and watchful, for am your God. give you strength, bring you help, uphold you with my victorious right hand%s. 4&06$&B.

Aemember these things,


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The message that comes to us from this rapid survey of the patriarchs and the prophets is thatGod loves us and asks our response to his love through faith and obedience. The ld Testamentdoes not simply record this in a series of statements+ God himself makes it known by hisintervention in human history, and especially in his relations with braham and 5oses and hisrevelation through 7osea and the author of Second$saiah.%&= s to man's response to God's

love, the ld Testament provides him with maims according to which he can guide his life. The"wisdom" books %


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This does not mean, however, that we should consider the spiritual life as #hrist$centered to suchan etent that we would fail to give proper emphasis to God the !ather, God the 7oly Spirit, andthe Trinity of 9ersons dwelling in the soul through. grace. What #ongar has stated in regard totheology in general may be applied also to the theology of the spiritual life0 "f course we reacha knowledge of the intimate mystery of God only through


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"the fulness of divinity" %#ol. 106, God unites himself to our humanity and to our world sointimately and so definitively that there can be no "opposition or dis?unction between the glory of God, which is the ultimate end of everything, and the happiness of man or the completion of theworld.%11


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3veryone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again+ it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, "bba,!ather." The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. nd ifwe are children we are heirs as well0 heirs of God and co$heirs with #hrist, sharing his sufferingso as to share his glory %Aom. 80&4$&;.

Dom #olumba 5armion states that "we shall understand nothing $$ do not say merely of perfection, but even of simple #hristianity $$ if we do not grasp that its most essential basis isconstituted by the state of child of God, participation $$ through sanctifying grace $$ in the eternalfiliation of the incarnate Word .... ll #hristian life, all holiness, is being by grace what


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establishes his kingdom in the hearts of men and in the world.

Since God is our !ather, the kingdom of God likewise refers to God's rule or authority over all.%16 t is his rule or reign that must be established. This entails, on the part of the individual, atotal commitment to God which admits of no compromise. ts ultimate ob?ective was stated by#hrist in the Sermon on the 5ount0 ")ou must therefore be perfect ?ust as your heavenly !atheris perfect" %5t. :048. The *uestion that arises is how one makes this commitment to God, whichis the same thing as to ask what are the conditions for entering the kingdom of God or how one begins to participate in the mystery of #hrist and becomes a child of the !ather.

The first thing that must be acknowledged is that it is a *uestion of the kingdom of God+therefore it is God who stipulates what is re*uired for membership in the kingdom. Theconditions are sufficiently clear and sufficiently demanding. -efore anything else, the individualmust repent for sin, and this presupposes an acknowledgment of one's guilt before God %5t.40&;+ 5k. &0&:+ @k. 202. Secondly, liberation from sin should lead to a regeneration, a new lifein God through #hrist and the 7oly Spirit %Aom. =0:. This, in turn, re*uires two moreconditions0 reception of the word of God through faith, and baptism by water and the 7oly Spirit.

")ou have been washed clean, and sanctified, and ?ustified through the name of the @ord


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)ou have heard that it was said, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." -ut say to you, donot resist one who is evil. -ut if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the otheralso .... )ou have heard that it was said, ")ou shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." -ut say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you %5t. :028$44.-ut if the morality taught by #hrist is not restricted to a minimum, neither does it point to a

maimum. Co limits are set+ there is no terminus. s a result, the follower of #hrist is madeconstantly aware of his own sinfulness and weakness, but without pessimism or despair+ and heis also urged to strive for ecellence. ")ou must therefore be perfect ?ust as your heavenly !atheris perfect" %5t. :048. This last command, as well as the entire structure and tone of the eight beatitudes, indicates that #hrist is positing an ideal that is not fully attainable in this life and iscertainly not within the grasp of man by his own natural efforts. t is an ideal that is not of thisworld, but one that must be the goal of all man's striving while he is in this world.

5oreover, the command to be perfect is not to be understood as a precept that obliges here andnow, as does the command to love one's neighbor here and now. Aather, it should be seen as a principle of dynamic evolution, a law of constant progress in one's relationship with God. #hristurges all his followers to respond with all their capacity to the call to the perfection of charity.

"!or have given you an eample, that you also should do as have done to you .... am the way,and the truth, and the life+ no one comes to the !ather, but by me .... f a man loves me, he willkeep my word, and my !ather will love him, and we will come to him and make our home withhim" %


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Whoever confesses that


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responds to the imperatives of the Gospel in accordance with the needs and capabilities proper toitself. The spirituality of the Gospel is therefore a dynamic evolution which cannot be restrictedto any particular age or fied permanently in any historical contet. -ut taking the CewTestament as the authentic foundation of the #hristian life, we can now eamine the livingwitness and #atholic tradition of that life throughout the centuries.

Chapter " Sacred Scripture and the Spiritual #ife

&. "Dogmatic #onstitution on Divine Aevelation," nn. 1&$14, passim! ll*uotations from (atican documents are taken from . !lannery %ed.,$atican Council %%& 'he Conciliar and (ost Conciliar )ocuments, #ostello9ublishing #ompany, Corthport, C.)., &6;:.

1. ). #ongar, "#hrist in the 3conomy of Salvation and in our DogmaticTracts," in 3. Schillebeeck and -. Willems %ed., *ho is esus of +azareth, 9aulist 9ress, Glen Aock, C


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&8.


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$$ 7ermas, author of 'he Shepherd , a work that en?oyed such prestige that St. renaeus, Tertullianand rigen considered it to be part of Sacred Scripture. lthough he was once considered to bethe 7ernias referred to in St. 9aul's @etter to the Aomans %&=0&4, it is now believed that he was a brother of 9ope St. 9ius , whose pontificate etended from &4B to &::.

'he Shepherd consists of a description of five visions received by 7ermas, and in the fifth visionthe Shepherd appears and dictates to 7ermas twelve precepts and ten parables. The work isvaluable because it offers a rather complete description of the daily life of fervent #hristians inthe early #hurch.

$$St. gnatius of ntioch, bishop and martyr, who added the pseudonym "Theophorus" to hisgiven name. 7e was a disciple of St. 9eter, who named him as his successor to the See ofntioch. During his voyage to Aome, under arrest, St. gnatius wrote seven letters that aremarvelous testimonies of his steadfast faith and his ardent desire for martyrdom. n his letters hedevelops three themes that were characteristic of early #hristian spirituality0 #hrist, the #hurchand martyrdom.

$$ St. 9olycarp, who had heard the preaching of St.


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homogeneous group. They differ in many respects $$ as regards their authority, places of origin,sub?ects treated $$ and to such an etent that the only thing they have in common is that all ofthem are witnesses to the spirituality of the primitive #hurch. #onse*uently, the various writingsfrom the apostolic era do not have the same value for the history of spirituality+ in fact, authorsusually name the following as the most important documents0 St. #lement of Aome's @etter to

the #hurch of #orinth, the )idache and the letters of St. gnatius of ntioch. Cone of the writings offer a systematic and structured theology of the #hristian life+ that had toawait the rise of the schools of theology under the guidance of St. #lement of leandria, rigenand St. Gregory of Cyssa. Cevertheless, the eperience of #hristian living and the theology ofthe spiritual life were already developed and at least partially described in St.


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salvation.

The unknown author of the @etter of -arnabas was one of the earliest defenders of the divinity of #hrist and he shares this honor with St. gnatius of ntioch. Two great heresies were flourishingin the churches of the 3ast0 the one was a denial of the divinity of #hrist, and it gained greatacceptance in the churches of 5agnesia and 9hiladelphia+ the other was a denial of the humanityof #hrist and was rampant in the churches of Tralles, Smyrna and 3phesus. St. gnatiusresponded to both of these heterodo doctrines, as the following citations demonstrate0

There is one God, who manifested himself through


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wolves, and love shall turn into hate.

-ecause of the increase of ini*uity men shall hate and persecute and betray each other+ and thenshall the deceiver of the world appear as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and theearth shall be given over to his hands, and he shall do unlawful things that have never happenedsince the world began.

Then shall come the ?udgment of men into the fiery trial, and many shall offend and perish. -utthose who remain steadfast in their faith shall be saved from the power of the curse.

nd then shall the signs of the truth appear0 first the sign of the unrolling of heaven, then the signof the sound of the trumpet, and the third shall be the resurrection of the dead.

)et not of all the dead+ but as it was said0 "The @ord shall come, and all his saints with him."

Then shall the world see the @ord coming above the clouds of heaven.%&4

Thirdly, primitive #hristian spirituality was ascetical, but the word "ascetical" should be

understood in its original meaning of the practice and growth of the virtues rather than acts ofausterity and self$denial. @ater, asceticism would develop into a way of life practiced by a particular class of people within the #hurch, but in these early days asceticism was a logicalconse*uence of the #hristocentric and eschatological aspects of #hristian spirituality.

!ollowing the teaching of St. 9aul, St. gnatius of ntioch had urged the imitation of #hrist as aduty for all #hristians. 5artyrdom, of course, was considered the supreme eample of theimitation of #hrist, and of this, St. gnatius gives the clearest and most inspiring testimony+ butfor the generality of #hristians as yet untouched by persecution, the imitation of #hrist wasachieved by the practice of virtue. Thus, the early #hristians were renowned for the virtues offraternal charity, humility, patience, obedience, chastity and the practice of prayer, as we learnfrom the moral teaching of the )idache. To cultivate and safeguard these virtues, they soon

found it necessary to resort to practices of austerity and some degree of separation from theworld. 3ventually the forms of asceticism most widely respected were the practice of celibacy,freely accepted by both sees, and the continence of widows. )et St. #lement and St. gnatiusnever allowed the early #hristians to forget that the greatest of all the virtues is charity. Thus, inlyrical terms reminiscent of St. 9aul's hymn to charity, St. #lement writes0

Who can eplain the bond of divine charityF Who is capable of describing its sublime beautyFThe height to which charity raises us is ineffable. #harity unites us with God+ charity covers amultitude of sins+ it suffers all and bears with all. There is nothing base in charity, nothing of pride. t does not foment schism+ it is not seditious+ it does everything in concord. #harityachieves the perfection of all the elect of God, but without charity nothing is pleasing to God.The @ord has gathered us all to himself in charity and by the charity he had for us,


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by 3usebius and through the efforts of St. sing it in the traditional Greek sense of the public service rendered by an individual tothe community, #lement applies it for the first time to #hristian worship."%&8 The focal point ofthe liturgical life was the 3ucharist and "nothing is more revealing both of the newness of#hristianity and also of its permanent root in the ground of


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times0 baptism, the imposition of hands and the breaking of bread. -y baptism the candidate wasadmitted as a full$fledged member of the #hristian community+ the imposition of hands on bapti/ed #hristians conferred the 7oly Spirit, and this was sometimes accompanied by specialgraces or charisms+ but the most solemn ceremony of #hristianity was the breaking of bread,done in memory of the @ast Supper as #hrist had commanded. t was in this ceremony more than

any other that the #hristian eperienced $the presence of #hrist. 7ere #hrist, in his paschalmystery, was present+ here the parousia or second coming was anticipated.

s in the 9assover celebrated by #hrist at the @ast Supper, there were two distinct parts to the3ucharistic liturgy. !irst was the common meal, celebrated in the evening and accompanied by prayer formulas that were essentially


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!inally, with the end of the persecutions and the freedom granted to #hristians to practice theirreligion openly and without fear, there was no longer any eternal pressure causing the#hristians to cling together for mutual protection and security.

>nfortunately, the growth and epansion of the #hurch during the first few centuries did not proceed without conflict. 3ven before the persecutions ended, the #hurch was beset by internal

crises caused by heresy, schism and controversy. The first crisis was that of the ?udai/ing spiritcaused by ecessive nationalism+ the second was the 7ellenistic influence that gave rise to thevarious forms of Gnosticism+ the third was the eaggerated autonomy of the local churches thatled to controversies about baptism, penance, 3aster and hierarchical authority. The most perduring of these crises was the one caused by Gnosticism, which in one form or another has plagued the #hurch throughout the centuries.

CHRISTIAN GNOSTICISM

-ecause of the ecesses to which it led, Gnosticism is generally condemned outright as anattempt to 7elleni/e #hristianity by adapting the Gospel to Greek philosophy. This was not sofrom the beginning, however, for the first phase of Gnosticism was simply an effort to epress in philosophical terms the moral and doctrinal content of Sacred Scripture. t is only later, towardthe end of the second century, that some Gnostics promulgated the doctrine of the dual principleof creation and the erroneous conclusions that follow from such a doctrine. Thus, according to-ouyer, Gnosticism "was not originally a heterodo idea, either in #hristianity or in


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ccordingly, although St.


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theology. @ike St.


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-y the third century there were communities of #hristians in !rance %@yons, (ienne, 5arseilles,rles, Toulouse, 9aris and -ordeau, in Spain %@eNn, 5Jrida and Oarago/a, and in Germany%#ologne, Trier, 5et/, 5ain/ and Strassburg. #arthage was the center of #hristianity for Corthfrica and in 3gypt the focal point was at leandria. -eyond 3urope and the countries ofnorthern frica, #hristianity had spread to sia 5inor, rmenia, Syria, 5esopotamia, 9ersia,

rabia, and perhaps to ndia.This does not mean that the epansion of #hristianity was peaceful and unimpeded+ on thecontrary, it encountered serious obstacles because of occasional doctrinal disputes from withinand because of periodic persecutions by Aoman authority. With the conversion of #onstantine,#hristianity was accepted as a legitimate religion and during the reign of Theodosius %2;6$26:it became the official religion of the empire. 5eanwhile, under 9ope Damasus, who governed the#hurch from 2== to 284, the monastic movement spread *uickly to 3gypt, Syria and sia 5inor.t the same time, the #ife of 0ntony the Hermit by St. thanasius was a ma?or factor in the riseof monasticism in taly and !rance.

&. #f. 9. #arrington, 'he 4arly Christian Church, 1 vols., @ondon, &6:;$&6=o+ !. 5ourret, 0 History of the Catholic Church, tr. C. Thompson, -.7erder, St. @ouis, 5o., &62&+ @. -ouyer, 'he Spirituality of the +ew'estament and the 3athers, tr. 5. 9. Ayan, DesclJe, Cew )ork, C.)., &6=B.

1. n cts 1B0&;$18 the words epis.opoi %bishops and presbyteroi%presbyters are used interchangeably. n his commentary on St. 9aul's@etter to Titus %&0:, St


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of the millenium. #f. @. -ouyer, op!cit!, pp. &;&$&;4.&4. )idache, &=.&:. #etter to the Corinthians, 46$:B.&=. #etter to the 7omans, 4$:, passim! &;. #f. L. @ake, 'he 0postolic 3athers, $ol! 1, pp. 2:6$2=&.

&8. @. -ouyer, op!cit!, p. &;:.&6. %bid!, p. &;=.1B. )idache, 6. #hapter &B contains thanksgiving prayers.1&. 9. 3vdokimov, 'he Struggle with God, 9aulist 9ress, Glen Aock, C


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CHAPTER 3

MONASTICISM IN THE EAST5onasticism began toward the end of the third century as the result of the efforts of ascetical#hristians to live a more perfect life. lthough it would eventually constitute a distinct state oflife in the #hurch, at the beginning it was a manner of life available to any #hristian who wantedto give an authentic witness to the teaching of #hrist. The monastic movement began so *uietlythat historians are unable to describe its origin with eactitude and it was not until the 62o's thatthere was any serious investigation into the matter .%& 7owever, there seems to be someconnection between the end of the persecution of the #hurch and the flourishing of asceticismthat was a prelude to the monastic movement. Thus, according to !Jnelon0 "The persecutionmade less solitaries than did the peace and triumph of the #hurch. The #hristians, simple and

opposed to any softness, were more fearful of a peace that might be gratifying to the senses thanthey had been of the cruelty of the tyrants."%1

CHRISTIAN VIRGINS AND ASCETICS

n the earliest days of the #hurch the supreme witness to #hrist was martyrdom, although evenin those times there were ascetics and also men and women who vowed to live a celibate life.When the persecutions ended, the ascetics and the celibates were placed in a difficult situation+ ina world that was tolerant of #hristians it was almost inevitable that relaation should set in andthat some #hristians should become worldly.%2 s long as they were considered enemies of theState, it was relatively easy to avoid contact with pagan society and to practice their religionwithin the confines of the small #hristian communities+ and if they were arrested, they could

hope for the coveted crown of martyrdom. -ut once #hristians obtained their freedom and#hristianity became the official religion, "it is no longer the pagan world that fights andeliminates the martyr+ it is the hermit that takes up the attack and eliminates the world from his being."%4

!rom the beginning of the second century there are references to ascetics who lived a life ofcontinence and it seems that the state of virginity was approved by the #hurch and held inreverence by the faithful. -oth St. #lement of Aome and St. gnatius of ntioch speak of#hristian men and women who had embraced a celibate life, and for both of these authors the primary purpose of the celibate life is to imitate #hrist in that respect.%: There are numeroustets from the third century that describe the role of virgins and other celibates in the life of the

#hurch+ the treatises by Tertullian and St. #yprian are especially noteworthy.%= !inally, in thefourth century the authors who praised virginity were even more numerous0 St. thanasius, St.-asil, St. Gregory Ca/ian/en, St. Gregory of Cyssa, St.


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of life was composed and promulgated by various authors such as St. mbrose, St.


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variety of opinions persists throughout the centuries concerning the sources of #hristianmonasticism. The following non#hristian types of monastic life have been proposed at one timeor another as the inspiration and model of #hristian monasticism0 the recluses of Serapis in3gypt+ the ascetical life of the -uddhists+ the 3ssenians who dwelt as monks near the Aed Seaabout S -#+ the


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by St. thanasius in 2:;, is the most important source of information on the eremitical life.nother helpful document is the 0pophthegmata (atrum or sayings of illustrious hermits.!inally, as representative of a later and more structured monastic life, we should mention the Historia monachorum in 0egypto, which describes the life of the monks at the end of the fourthcentury, and the Historia #ausiaca, written by 9alladius %Q 42& to describe the monastic life in

3gypt, 9alestine, Syria and sia 5inor .%&2 s recorded by St. thanasius, St. ntony taught that meditation on the last things strengthensthe soul against one's passions and against the devil. f #hristians would live each day as if theywere to die that day, they would never sin. n the struggle against the devil's wiles, the unfailingweapons are faith, prayer, fasting and the Sign of the #ross. Since the hermit carries with himinto solitude his own imperfections and evil tendencies, and since the devil seems to attack thehermit with special ferocity, the life of a solitary is essentially a warfare and a struggle. nindividual may flee from the world, but in the desert he will be brought face to face with his ownsinfulness and the devil, who goes about seeking whom he can devour % 9et. :08.

nother important lesson taught by St. ntony is that the hermit seeks both interior and.eterior

solitude in order to give himself completely to God. #onse*uently, he cannot allow any createdthing to occupy his heart, because only he who has practiced total detachment can eperience thefull force of charity. -ut lest the hermit fall a victim to pride and self$love, he must, as a discipleof #hrist, practice love of neighbor+ and he can do this by immolating himself for the salvation of souls, by his prayers for others, and by supporting them in the faith through his spiritualcounseling. ndeed, according to St. ntony, the solitary must be willing to leave his desert whenthe good of the #hurch or the good of souls re*uire it.

number of disciples were attracted to St. ntony by his austere manner of life and theyfre*uently sought his advice. Gradually, the eremitical life spread to other places. St. mmon %Q2:B, who had lived as a celibate with his wife, retired with her to the Citrian (alley and founded

a monastic colony. There was no common rule, and each solitary occupied himself as he saw fit,although they all gathered together on Saturdays and Sundays for liturgy and a homily in thechurch. ccording to 9alladius, there were at one time approimately five thousand hermits inthe (alley of Citria.

To the south, in the desert of Scete, 5acarius of 3gypt %Q 26B and his disciples led an even moresolitary life. 5eanwhile, 5acarius of leandria %Q 264 settled with his followers in the desertof #ellia. 3vagrius 9onticus also ?oined that colony and remained there until his death in 266.The austerities practiced by these solitaries were incredibly severe and some of them wouldtoday be branded as masochistic. 9alladius, the author of 7istoria @ausiaca, also describes manyof the prodigies and marvels performed by the ancient hermits but even in doing so, he statedthat he feared that nobody would believe some of them+ for eample, that 5acarius ofleandria spent an entire season of @ent on his feet, day and night, and during that timesubsisted on nothing but cabbage leaves.

The anchorites of 3gypt seem to have had a great influence on those of Syria, but there thesolitaries became eccentric to the etreme. Ae?ecting any kind of discipline, they preferred tolead a nomadic eistence in wild and desert places+ they refused to do any manual labor becausethey were committed to a life of perpetual prayer. n 9alestine, on the other hand, the asceticsobserved greater stability, attaching themselves to the holy places in order to be protected and to




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carry on divine worship. -y the fourth century numerous pilgrims ?oined their ranks and amongtheir visitors were St.


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later observed by the monastic and mendicant orders of the West had their origins in the9achomian monasteries. Thus, St. 9achomius insisted on a period of postulancy and novitiate before a candidate could be definitively admitted to the monastic life. There was a vestitionceremony at the beginning of the novitiate, at which time the postulant was clothed in the habitof a monk, consisting of a linen tunic, a cowl and a cloak made of goatskin. dmission to the

novitiate was contingent on the favorable vote of the professed monks+ and after a successfulnovitiate, dedicated largely to manual labor, formation in obedience, and the memori/ing oflengthy portions of Scripture, the young monk made his vow to live according to the rule.

n the 9achomian monasteries the superior gave spiritual conferences to the community severaltimes a week+ the monks assisted at the liturgy and received the 3ucharist on Saturdays andSundays in a nearby church if none of the monks were priests. 5anual tasks were assigned eachmorning by the superior of the monastery, and silence was strictly observed, especially at meals.!asting was prescribed on Wednesdays and !ridays throughout the year, and on those days onlyone meal was eaten, but in @ent every day was a fast day. The monks abstained totally from meatand wine and never took food outside of meal$time. They wore their cowls while they ate+ theyslept fully clothed, not in a bed, but on a reclining chair, and the doors of their cells were alwaysopen.

-y the time St. 9achomius died in 24= a large number of monastic communities were flourishingin 3gypt. 7owever, it was in sia 5inor, under the leadership of St. -asil %Q 2;6, thatmonasticism took a new turn+ from a popular, ascetical form of life available to all, "it was to become a school of learned spirituality, wholly permeated with the heritage of leandria and,above all, of rigen."%&: s a result of his contributions to the theology and structure of thecenobitic life, St. -asil is commonly hailed as the father of monasticism in the 3ast, at least ofmonasticism as a well$defined way of life or particular vocation.

-orn in 22B, -asil studied at #aesarea, #onstantinople and thens. t #aesarea he met Gregory

Ca/ian/en and the two became fast friends. -oth of them came into contact with the paganGnosticism of the Greeks and the rian heresy+ later, Gregory Ca/ian/en and Gregory of Cyssa%the brother of -asil defended the transcendence of God and the divinity of #hrist against therians. They also incorporated orthodo, #hristian Gnosticism into monastic spirituality.

While still young, -asil felt called to the ascetical life. 7e travelled to 3gypt, Syria and5esopotamia, where he followed the monastic style of life for a time. Then, returning to hishomeland, he distributed all his possessions to the poor and lived as a solitary until he wasnamed bishop in 2;B. lthough he gained great renown as an anchorite, St. -asil neverconsidered the monastic life as eceptional or as a special vocation+ he even avoided using theterm "monk" and referred to hermits and monks simply as #hristians. !or St. -asil and for someof the other !athers the monastic life was the logical conse*uence of the commitment made bythe #hristian at baptism. The fact that the monastic life was held up to the ordinary faithful as theideal demonstrates that in these early centuries there was only one spirituality for all #hristians0the authentic vita apostolica, and it constituted the perfection of the #hristian life.%&=

)et this very insistence on the monastic life $$ and indeed the contemplative life $$ as the perfection of the #hristian life gave rise to further *uestions. re there, after all, two classes of#hristians $$ the perfect and the ordinaryF f monasticism is the ideal, are married #hristiansecluded from the possibility of attaining #hristian perfectionF r are there two kinds of




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perfection, one ordinary and the other etraordinaryF These *uestions have been posed again andagain throughout the history of #hristian spirituality.

St. -asil, however, did not look favorably on the strictly eremitical life nor on total separationfrom human society. When asked whether a monk formed in the cenobitic life could retire to thedesert, he replied0 "This is nothing but a mark of self$will and remains foreign to those whohonor God."%&; n his defense of the. common life of cenobites, -asil bases his argument on the precept of charity0

Who does not know, indeed, that man is a gentle and sociable being, and not solitary or savageF Cothing is as proper to our nature as to enter one another's society, to have need of one another,and to love the man who is of our race. fter having given us these seeds which he has cast intoour hearts, the @ord came to claim their fruits and he said0 "& give you a new commandment0 tolove one another" %


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St. -asil has been called a Aoman among the Greeks because on the one hand he was eminently practical and moralistic and on the other hand he did not disdain to make use of philosophicalideas and epressions in the formulation of his ethical teaching. @ike 9lato and 9lotinus, he couldsee that the human person was a strange blending of the spiritual and the physical+ conse*uentlythe renunciation of sensate pleasures constitutes the very core of the ascetical life. nother

element of asceticism is the obligation to comply with all the moral precepts andcommandments, and even to observe the evangelical counsels. This does not mean that St. -asilwas proposing the monastic life as suitable for all #hristians, but simply insisting that all shouldstrive to live the Gospel teaching as perfectly as possible. 7e did not condemn marriage, butneither did he etol it. s we have stated previously, St. -asil considered the monasticcommunity to be the best possible imitation of the primitive #hurch in


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receiving their light in his light, their resplendent brightness in his more feeble brightness, in hishope gathering already the fruits of the future life, living in association with the angels, still onthis earth and yet outside of it, carried even to. the higher regions by the Spirit. f there is one ofyou who is possessed by this love, he knows what am trying to say and will pardon myweakness.%12

St. Gregory of Cyssa was educated by his brother, St. -asil, and afterwards ordained a lector, buthe soon abandoned that function, opened a school of rhetoric and married. fter the death of hiswife he was persuaded by Gregory Ca/ian/en to enter the monastery founded by -asil in 9ontus.n 2;& Gregory was ordained bishop of Cyssa, but five years later he was accused of financialnegligence and deposed by a synod in 2;=. 7owever, when the rian 3mperor (alens died in2;8, Gregory returned to Cyssa, and when his brother -asil died in 2;6, he dedicated himself toecclesiastical affairs and became a great leader of the #hurch in #appadocia until his death in264.

5ost of Gregory's writings were composed in the period etending from 281 to 264. 7isdogmatic works were directed to the refutation of the rian heresy and the #hristological heresyof pollinaris, and an eplanation of #atholic belief in the Trinity. 7e also composed a summary

of #atholic doctrine, 8ratio catechetica magna %9G 4:, 6$&B=, and wrote several works ofscriptural eegesis, one of them a continuation of -asil's commentary on Genesis and the other atreatise on man. The rest of his eegetical works treat of #hristian perfection and mystical union0 )e vita 5oysis %9G 44, 16;$42B+ %n psalmorum inscriptiones %9G 44, 42&$=B8+ %n ecclesiastenhomiliae %9G 44, =&=$;:2+ %n Canticum Canticorum %9G 44, ;:=$&&1B+ )e oratione dominica %9G 44, &&1B$&&62+ )e beatitudinibus %9G 44, &&62$&2B1. !inally, among his strictly asceticalwritings we find )e virginitate %9G 4=, 2&;$4&=, composed before he became a bishop+ )e vita 5acrinae %9G 4=, 6:6$&BBB, the life of his own sister and'a marvelous eample of earlyhagiography+ )e instituto christiano %9G 4=, 18;$2B=, a definitive synthesis of his teaching on#hristian spirituality+ )e perfectione %9G 4=, 1:&$18= and )e castigatione %9G 4=, 2B;$2&=. tis only in recent times that St. Gregory of Cyssa has been properly appreciated, and this is due in

large part to the scholarly work of 7ans >rs von -althasar,


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whom he understood perhaps better than anyone else, but used with the sovereign freedom whichis always his .... n general, his thought goes through three successive stages. t the starting pointcomes the biblical, #hristian intuition, grasped in a tet or a theme that he draws from tradition,9hilo or rigen often being his guides. Then comes the compact and very personal epression ofthis intuition in the philosophic language that is his own, and here we must be on guard against

too *uickly interpreting its terms as we might if we found them in 9lato, in later Stoicism, oreven in 9lotinus. nd, finally, this thought is unfolded by a return to the -ible in which theconnections, not only with a single isolated tet, but with the whole current of tradition, areindicated and ?ustified.

ne last feature characteristic of his time has been brought out very happily by !r. DaniJlou0 wemust never forget that the contet of his most personal meditations always remains liturgical. tis within baptismal and eucharistic perspectives that his thoughts develop and that his spiritualityis to be understood.%16

St. Gregory of Cyssa never denied for a moment the duality of matter and spirit, as described by9lato, but he prefers the 9auline and theological duality of the will of the sinner and the will ofGod. The integration of the two etremes can be effected only through the sacraments of baptismand the 3ucharist, by which the redemptive mystery of the risen #hrist is applied to man. The perfection of the #hristian, therefore, consists in participation in the mystery of #hrist. What manmust do to achieve this participation, apart from the sacraments of baptism and the 3ucharist, iseplained by Gregory in his )e instituto christiano.%2B

What Gregory proposes to teach in this work, written specifically for monks, is that #hristian perfection is the goal of life and that it is possible of attainment because of the knowledge of thetruth that God has provided for those who wish it. What St. Gregory understands by knowledgeor gnosis is the knowledge of the distinction between good and evil %7eb. :0t4 or the difference between true good and apparent good. >ltimately, it is the knowledge of God himself as revealedin the word of God and epressed in the tradition of the #hurch. -ut true contemplation of the

Scripture is given only to those who act under the impulse and guidance of the 7oly Spirit. ndhow does the monk prepare himself to receive the 7oly SpiritF St. Gregory answers0

7e who desires, therefore, to lead his body and his soul to God in accordance with the law ofreligion and to consecrate to him a pure worship .. . must make the faith which the saints havetaught in the Scriptures the guide of his life and he must give himself up to the pursuit of virtue by obeying this faith perfectly. 7e must free himself completely from the chains of earthly lifeand put away once and for all any slavery to what is base and vain. -y this and his life, he must become wholly God's possession, knowing well that he who has faith and purity of life has the power of #hrist as well, and where there is the power of #hrist there is also deliverance from theevil and the death that ravage our life.%2& !or St. Gregory, therefore, baptism is the pledge of the work of the Spirit in man and the

3ucharist is its sustenance, but the #hristian does not arrive at the full stature of #hrist until heeerts increasing efforts in the ascetical life. "!or the body grows without us," says Gregory, "butthe measure and beauty of the soul in the renewal of its conception, which is given it by the graceof the Spirit through the /eal of him who receives it, depends on our disposition0 to the degreethat you develop your struggles for piety, to the same degree also the grandeur of your souldevelops through these struggles and these efforts."%21 3ventually the soul can reach the heightsof gnosis, which is "a mutual compenetration, God coming into the soul and the soul beingtransported in God." This is the high point of agape.%22




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n 7omily U on the Song of Songs, St. Gregory describes the three stages in which God revealedhimself to 5oses0 first in the light of the burning bush, then in the cloud of the eodus, andfinally in total darkness. Similarly, the soul first finds God in the visible things of creation+ but asthe soul advances, the intellect serves as a cloud to cover everything sensate so that the soul may be prepared to contemplate that which is hidden+ and when the soul has abandoned all earthly

things, so far as is possible to human nature, it enters the sanctuary of the knowledge of God,completely enveloped in the divine darkness. t is this eperience of God in darkness that St.Gregory calls true theology %theognosis.

St. Gregory has been described by 7arvanek as a dogmatic theologian, a philosopher and anascenco$mystical writer .%24 7is writings serve as a link with the great theologians ofleandria, with 5aimus and with the -y/antine school. ccording to -ouyer, the teaching ofSt. Gregory had three well$defined effects on #hristian spirituality0 it was populari/ed by5acarius of 3gypt %Q 26B among the monks+ it was further developed by 3vagrius 9onticus %Q266+ and it prepared the way for the writings of the pseudo$Dionysius %Q:2B. %2:

EVAGRIUS, PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS AND MAXIMUS

ccording to -ouyer, "3vagrius is one of the most important names in the history of spirituality,one of those that not only marked a decisive turning$point, but called forth a real spiritualmutation."%2= Greatly influenced by the teachings of rigen, 3vagrius 9onticus %Q266developed a theology of the spiritual life which affected many subse*uent writers, and especially#assian. 7owever, 3vagrius does not escape criticism on the grounds that he was too much of a philosopher. 7e was condemned, together with rigen, by the #ouncil of #onstantinople %::2and by three subse*uent councils. n modern times 7ans >rs von -althasar has stated0 "There isno doubt that the mysticism of 3vagrius, carried to the strict conclusions of its premises, comescloser, by its essence, to -uddhism than to #hristianity. "%2;

3vagrius attempted to synthesi/e the doctrine of the spiritual life in treatises that would be of particular benefit to monks. The (racticos %9G 4B, &11&$&1:1 contains the ascetical teaching of3vagrius+ the Gnosticos,%28a continuation of the previous work, is a compilation of practicalcounsels and precautions+ his masterpiece, Lephalaia gnostica, was published under theeditorship of . Guillaumont at 9aris in &6:8.%26 f the other works attributed to 3vagrius wemention only a treatise on the cenobitic life and another directed to nuns,%4B discussions of evilthoughts and the eight spirits of malice,%4& and a work on prayer.%41

The positive contributions made by 3vagrius can be summari/ed as follows0 he defined thestages of growth in the spiritual life+%42 he tried to show the interconnection of the virtues, beginning with faith and terminating with charity+ he epounded a theology of prayer thatreaches its perfection in "mystical theology" or gnosis of the Trinity+ he enumerated and

commented on the eight capital sins+ and he attempted to refine the stoical doctrine of apatheia by relating it to charity.

With pseudo$Dionysius it is "surprising to see apatheia, the importance of which from #lementto 3vagrius was always being eplained and affirmed, here disappearing, or almost so+ whilegnosis, if it has not disappeared, is at least considerably less emphasi/ed."%44 )et, the pseudo$reopagite is truly in the mainstream of the #appadocian school, although he also represents anadvance in the theology of the spiritual life, particularly in his treatment of the three stages, his




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distinction between theology as a science and theology as mysticism, and his eplanation ofmystical contemplation. t would be difficult to overemphasi/e his importance in spiritualtheology, especially as an influence on the medieval theologians. 7is impact was much greater inthe West than in the 3ast.

t is generally admitted that the works of the pseudo$Dionysius were composed toward the end of the fifth century or early in the sith century. There is also common agreement on the authenticworks that constitute the corpus dionysiacum& )e divinis nominibus, 'heologia mystica, )ecaelesti hierarchia, and )e ecclesiastica hierarchia. s the title indicates, the first work is aneplanation of the various names attributed to God, both in Sacred Scripture and by the philosophers. 'heologia mystica treats of the divine darkness and the necessity of totaldetachment in order to be united with God and then, after eplaining the difference between positive theology and negative theology, shows why the transcendental is not contained in anysensate form or intellectual concept. The last two works are treatises on the hierarchy of angelsand on the sacraments respectively.%4:

t has been said that pseudo$Dionysius was the originator of the division of the "three ways" or

"three stages" of the spiritual life. 7owever, ecept for a passage in )e caelesti hierarchia,where the catechumens, the ordinary faithful and the monks represent three stages of progresstoward perfection, pseudo$Dionysius does not apply the concept of ways or stages to theindividual #hristian. Aather, he is speaking of the ways in which men or angels participate in thedivine perfections+ therefore it is in this contet that one should understand the epressions"purification, illumination and perfection." Thus, in )e caelesti hierarchia, various choirs ofangels perform the functions of purification, illumination and perfection+ in )e ecclesiasticahierarchia, on the other hand, these same functions are performed by the liturgy, the clergy andthe faithful. @iturgically, baptism is the sacrament of purification+ the 3ucharist is the sacramentof illumination+ chrismation %confirmation is the sacrament that perfects the graces of baptism.pplying the same terms to the clergy, the ministers or deacons perform the function of

purifying, the priests illumine, and the bishops perfect the work by the ministry of the word andthe liturgy.

t the beginning of )e ecclesiastica hierarchia pseudo$Dionysius remarks that the goal of all purification, illumination and perfection is "constant love of God and divine things ..., the visionand knowledge of sacred truth, a divine participation in the simple perfection of him who issovereignly simple, and the en?oyment of that contemplation which nourishes the soul anddeifies all who attain it."%4=

n )e divinis nominibus he speaks of a knowledge of God that is attained, not by study but by animpression of the divine+ it is a kind of empathy and intuition resulting from a supernaturalillumination from God and, on man's part, a love that becomes ecstatic.%4; -ut it is in the shorttreatise, De mystica theologia, that pseudo$Dionysius develops his doctrine on the two types oftheology and the nature of mystical contemplation. t the very beginning he describes "mysticaltheology" and the means to attain it0

Trinity superessential, superdivine, supergood, ... lead us to that supreme height of mysticalwords that transcends understanding and manifestation, there where the simple, absolute,unchangeable mysteries of theology are unveiled in the superluminous cloud of silence thatinitiates into hidden things, super$resplendent in the deepest depths of darkness in a manner




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beyond any manifestation, which, wholly intangible and invisible, fills to overflowing withsuperbeautiful splendors our blinded spirits.

Such is my prayer, and you, my friend Timothy, applying yourself with all your strength tomystical contemplations, abandon the senses and the intellectual energies and everything that issensible or intelligible+ everything that is not and that is, and raise yourself in unknowing toward

union, so far as this is permitted, toward what surpasses all essence and gnosis+ indeed, it is purely by a free and absolute ecstasy out of yourself that you will be carried toward thesuperessential ray of the divine darkness.%48

Stated briefly, pseudo$Dionysius' doctrine on the knowledge of God %theology starts from theassertion that no sensible or imaginative image can lead man to a knowledge of God+ rather,these images are obstacles. God can be known in only two ways0 by the intellect or by mysticalcontemplation. The former is a rational knowledge called demonstrative or apodictic theology+the latter is a mystical theology that is supernatural and intuitive. 5oreover, demonstrative orreasoned theology is of two kinds0 affirmative and negative. Theology by way of affirmationconsists in attributing to God all possible being and all perfections+ God is all and God iseverything. Theology by negation is the attempt to epress the fact that whatever be our conceptsof God, they are more epressive of what God is not than what he is+ they fall far too short of theGod who is unknowable, transcendent and mysterious. #onse*uently, our knowledge of God bynegation is often more accurate than our affirmative theology, and this is so because the negationof our images of God purifies our concept of God. Thus, all the goodness of created things islikewise found in God %affirmative theology, but the goodness of God is infinite and therefore itis not the same as the goodness in created things %negative theology.

n order to understand pseudo$Dionysius' doctrine on mystical theology, it is necessary to accepthis use of the word "mystical" in a #hristian sense. n spite of the fact that some scholars haveseen purely 9latonic doctrine in the mysticism of the pseudo$Dionysius, -ouyer maintains thatthe epression "mysti.os" did not have a religious meaning for the Greek philosophers.

The only uses of the word that we find in the 7ellenistic world in connection with religiousthings concern the ritual of the "mysteries." -ut in this case they mean *uite simply that the ritualis and must remain hidden ....

What was hidden in the 7ellenistic mysteries was the rites and nothing but the rites. These didnot include any "mystical" doctrine, for the very good reason that they did not include anydoctrine at all ....

7owever, the symbolic usage that literary men soon came to make of the images and formulas of the mysteries made ready for an intellectual and spiritual utili/ation of the term .... Thisvocabulary came to be used in the domain of philosophy0 . . . to signify any knowledge difficultto penetrate, such as the most academic and arid subtleties of Stoic physics or psychology.

t is in connection with this very loose and very commonplace usage that . . . the first #hristianuse of the word mysti.os came to be introduced. t was used to describe what #lement andrigen considered the most difficult theological problem in #hristianity0 Scriptural eegesis asthey understood it, that is, the discovery of the allegorical sense of the Scriptures ....

ther doctrinal uses of the word "mystical" are encountered in the ancient !athers to designatethe teaching of the ob?ects of faith in contrast to visible realities .... t was in a kindred sense that




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#lement had previously described the divine name as the "mystical tetragram," and also that3usebius, St. #yril of leandria and many others later on would call the #hristian Trinity the"mystical Triad" or its teaching a science "in a superior way, ineffable and mystical."

!rom here we go on to a third sense in which mystical becomes merely a synonym for "spiritual"in contrast to "carnal" ....

ll these tets in which "mystical" is used in the !athers, in a biblical contet, show us, then, thatthe word, in its #hristian usage, is primarily connected with the divine reality which #hristcommunicates to us, which the Gospel reveals to us, which gives its whole meaning to the wholeof Scripture. 7ence we see how the word "mystical" came to be applied to any knowledge of thedivine realities to which we have access through #hrist, and then, by derivation, to these realitiesthemselves. nd, finally, the word is applied, in the same line of thought, to the spiritual realityof the "worship in spirit and in truth" as opposed to the emptiness of an eternal religion notvivified by the @ord's coming ....

The use of the term "mystical," then, came to pass from the #hristian interpretation of the

Scriptures to the content of the #hristian sacraments. 7ere it designates at once the spiritualreality of the latter and the fact that his reality remains hidden ....

We might say, therefore, that, for the !athers, the sacraments and, above all, the 3ucharist, are"mystical" in that they envelop the reality of the "mystery" which the Gospel proclaims andunveils to the eyes of faith in the whole -ible.

The first uses of the term which began to orient it toward designating a particular spiritualeperience are visibly rooted in these two primordial senses.%46

!or pseudo$Dionysius mystical theology applies both to the intuitive knowledge of the revealedtruths of Scripture and the eperience of divine realities, either in those revealed truths or in the

3ucharistic liturgy. n De divinis nominibus he makes a distinction between the theology thatresults from one's own effort in thinking about divine truths and that which is the result of "somemore divine inspiration, not only learning the things of God but eperiencing them, and throughthis sympathy with them, if we may say this, having been consummated in initiation intomystical union and faith in them, which cannot be taught."%:B

The eperience of divine realities, which is infused contemplation, involves three things0suspension of all sensible and intelligible images, entrance into darkness and obscurity, and thevision of God and intimate union with him.%:& The apparent contradiction between vision anddarkness is eplained as follows by pseudo$Dionysius0

The divine cloud is that inaccessible light in which it is said that God dwells. -eing invisible bythe ecess of its splendor, and inaccessible by the hyperbole of the superessential epansion ofits light, whoever has been ?udged worthy to see God attains to this by the very fact of not seeingor knowing, having arrived truly in him who is above all vision and gnosis, in knowing that he isabove everything that is sensible or intelligible.%:1 With pseudo$Dionysius, 3vagrius and 5acarius #hristian spirituality as epressed inmonasticism reached its highest point of development in the 3ast. Their spiritual teaching and practice are far removed from the asceticism of the anchorites and they contributed greatly to ashift of emphasis in monastic life from work and asceticism to the mystical elements ofknowledge and prayer. lthough this "interiori/ed" monasticisms %:2 was completely orthodo,




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it also gave grounds for the heretical movement of 5essalianism, which was an eaggerateddoctrine on the role of prayer and mysticism in the monastic life. t led ultimately to a mysticismthat was physical, sensual and passive, resulting in an antimystical reaction that was corrected byDiadochus.%:4

fter 5essalianism, another crisis arose in monasticism and it occasioned the emergence of St.

5aimus %Q==1, whom -ouyer calls "the last great theologian of Greek patristics."%::

!rom the time that he entered the monastic life in =&2, St. 5aimus spent most of his time in thedefense of orthodo doctrine against the heretics, fre*uently moving from one monastery toanother because of persecution. >ltimately he was arrested in Aome, together with 9ope 5artin&, and sent into eile. n ==1 he was again in #onstantinople, where the heretics condemned himto be scourged and to have his tongue and his right hand cut off. 7e died in that same year as aresult of his sufferings.

side from his dogmatic and polemical writings, St. 5aimus composed the following works inascetico$mystical theology0 #iber asceticus, a dialogue between an abbot and a young monkconcerning the obligations of monastic life+ Capita de caritate, containing the doctrine on charityand the spiritual applications of the doctrine+ Capita theologica et oeconomica and 0lia capita,which are a continuation of the treatise on charity+ and 5istagogia and his commentaries on theworks of pseudo$Dionysius, based on the )e ecclesiastica hierarchia of pseudo$Dionysius,forwhom 5aimus had the greatest reverence.

What is distinctive about the spiritual doctrine of St. 5aimus is that he centers everything on#hrist. 7aving defended orthodo #hristology against the heretics, he was thoroughly imbuedwith love for the Savior. 7e saw #hrist not only as the meritorious cause of our salvation but alsothe eemplary cause, for which reason the great law of the #hristian life is the imitation of#hrist. -y imitating #hrist, the soul can achieve victory over the enemies of the spiritual life, thegreatest of which is self$love. This involves a detachment from created things and one's own

selfish desires so that egoistic love can be replaced by the love of God and of neighbor.%:= Thereby the soul attains the state of apatheia or peace of soul which is also the fruit of prayerand grace.

St. 5aimus classifies #hristians into three groups0 the beginners, who are led by fear+ theadvanced souls, who have the well$founded hope of a reward and are therefore somewhatmercenary+ and the perfect, who are true children of God and motivated by filial love. The perfect en?oy a contemplative prayer that is activated by the gift of wisdom, which 5aimuscalls "the eyes of faith." t is also through wisdom that the soul receives a knowledge of God thatis called theology. t is a fruit of prayer. -ut the greatest of all the spiritual gifts en?oyed by the perfect is divine charity. t is charity that deifies the soul, enables it to eperience its adoptive

filiation, and unites it to God in the bond of mystical marriage. nd all this comes through#hrist. n St. 5aimus, therefore, the model and cause of #hristian perfection is


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Westminster, 5d., &6:2, (ol. &+ .((., 'h/ologie de la vie monastique,Theologie 46, 9aris, &6=&.

1. !. !Jnelon, "Discours sur les avantages et les dJvoirs de la vie rJligieuse,"in 8euvres, ed. (ersailles, (ol. &;, p. 26=.

2. #f. St.


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21. %bid! 22. #f. %n Canticum Canticorum, 9G 44, 886.24. #f. A. !. 7arvanek, "St. Gregory of Cyssa," in +ew Catholic

4ncyclopedia, (ol. =, p. ;6:.2:. #f. @. -ouyer, op!cit!, p. 2=6. 5acarius discussed the apparent conflict

between work and prayer and he stressed the importance of communitylife. 7e also used the epression . von -althasar, "5etaphysik and 5ystik des 3vagrius 9onticus," in

Aeitschrift fBr 0szese and 5ysti. , (ol. &4, pp. 2&$24.28. The only etant versions of this work are the Syriac edition by W.

!rankenberg, 4vagrius (onticus, -erlin, &6&1, pp. :4=$::2, and thermenian edition by 7. -. (. Sarghissian, $ie et oeuvres du saint (re 4vagre, (enice, &6B;, pp. &1$11.

26. #f. . Guillaumont, #es six centuries des


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[Amber demo]

CHAPTER 4

MONASTICISM IN THE WEST

There is little documentary evidence of monasticism in the West before the middle of the fourthcentury, at which time it was already flourishing in the 3ast.%& 7owever, since there wasconstant communication between Aome and the centers of monasticism in 3gypt, 9alestine andleandria, it is probable that #hristians in Aome knew about the monastic movement. What iscertain is that St. thanasius visited Trier during the time of his first eile between 22= and 228,and he was in Aome in 24B. 7is #ife of 0ntony, which had such a great role in the populari/ationof the monastic life, was *uickly translated into @atin for #hristians in the West.

n the other hand, it is possible that monastic life in the West could have developed without anydirect influence from the 3ast. The ascetics, virgins and widows were already observing some ofthe practices proper to a monastic life style. 3usebius even speaks of an ascetic living in solitudeas early as the middle of the third century.%1 -ut one of the distinguishing elements of monasticlife was absent in the first few centuries of the #hurch in the West, namely, separation from theworld. The early ascetics preferred life in community to a solitary life separated from the world.#onse*uently, although we cannot say with certainty that monastic life in the West was strictlyan importation from the 3ast, during the fourth and fifth centuries eastern monasticism was a

dominant influence on the development of monastic communities in the West.

ORIGINS OF WESTERN MONASTICISM

Writing in the 28B's, St.


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St. 9aulinus of Cola was also a founder of monastic life. -orn in -ordeau around 2:2, hemarried Therasia, a Spanish lady and devout #hristian. When their only child died in infancy,they decided to dedicate their lives to asceticism, continence and prayer. They left -arcelona andsettled at Caples in 26:, where they organi/ed a fraternitas monastica composed of relatives andfriends, all from the upper class. 9aulinus had been ordained a priest $$ possibly before leaving

-arcelona $$ and after Therasia died in 4o8, he became bishop of Cola. 7e was in contact withmost of the ecclesiastical figures of his day, for eample, St.


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uniformity of monastic observances. With his background of eperience in eastern monasticismand his ac*uaintance with the various types of monastic life, #assian was considered an authorityon the sub?ect. Cot only did he respond to *uestions and give advice, but he founded a monasteryfor men near 5arseilles $$ very likely the bbey of St. (ictor $$ and one for women.%;

7is spiritual teachings are contained in his %nstitutions and Conferences. n the former treatise,#assian speaks of the monk's garb, prayer and psalmody, ascetical practices, and the eight capitalsins that had been enumerated by 3vagrius.%8 n the Conferences he discusses the nature ofmonastic life, prudence, the three renunciations, sources of temptation, prayer, #hristian perfection, charisms, chastity and spiritual knowledge.

ccording to #assian, the purpose of the monastic life is the interior perfection of the individualmonk, and this perfection is not found in the monastic manner of life as such, but in the virtuesof the monk himself. The essence of perfection is charity, and the perfection of charity is reached by the way of asceticism. )et #assian repeats time and again that the monk is not to seekascetical practices as a goal in themselves+ rather, he is to aspire to the positive spiritual valuesthat are made possible by negation. The asceticism of the monk should pass through three

successive phases until the monk attains the perfection of contemplative love0The tradition of our !athers and the authority of Scripture teach us that there are three kinds ofrenunciation which each of us must endeavor to carry out with all his strength. The first is tore?ect all the pleasures and all the riches of this world. The second is to renounce ourselves, ourvices, our wicked habits, and all the unruly affections of the spirit and of the flesh. nd the thirdis to withdraw our heart from all things present and visible and apply it only to the eternal andinvisible .... We shall then arrive at this third renunciation when our spirit, no longer weigheddown by the contagion of this animal and earthly body, but purified from the affections of theearth, is raised to heaven by continual meditation on divine things, and is so taken up with thecontemplation of the eternal truth that it forgets that it is still enclosed in fragile flesh and,ravished in God, it finds itself so absorbed in his presence that it no longer has ears to hear oreyes to see and it cannot even be impressed by the greatest and most perceptible ob?ects. %6 Thus, the fruit of asceticism is for #assian the gift of contemplative prayer. ndeed, the practiceof prayer is so essential to #hristian spirituality, says #assian, that ?ust as there can be no prayerwithout the virtues, so there can be no true virtues without prayer. n the Conferences hedistinguishes four kinds of prayer0 the prayer that asks pardon for sins, which is proper to beginners in the spiritual life+ the prayer that makes good resolutions to God, which ischaracteristic of those who are progressing in the spiritual life+ prayer for the salvation of souls,which is practiced by those who have grown in charity and love of neighbor+ the prayer ofthanksgiving for graces received, which is proper to those who contemplate God in what #assiancalls the "prayer of fire."%&B nd as if to stress that contemplative prayer is not to be identifiedwith a pagan gnosis, #assian insists that it has its source in the reading of Sacred Scripture and itleads the monk back to Scripture. The one and only perfect good is "the contemplation of God,which must be placed above all merit, above all the virtues of the ?ust, even above all that weread in St. 9aul of what is good and useful."%&&

The monastic movement was not without its detractors, however, who found a powerful leader inthe e$monk


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#hrist and a re?ection of the practice of celibacy among the @atin clergy.%&2

t the other etreme we find the heresy of 5essalianism, against which St. ugustine wrote thetreatise, )e opere monachorum. The basic error of 5essalianism was the contention that sincemonks had left all things for a life of solitude and prayer, all forms of manual labor must bere?ected in favor of recollection, silence and prayer.%&4 n spite of the attacks on the monasticlife, it continued to flourish, although in the West it would undergo radical adaptation, especiallyat the hands of St. ugustine.

ST. AUGUSTINE

St. ugustine %2:4$42B has been hailed as the father of theology in the West and the greatestdoctor of the #hurch. 7is theological accomplishments were so great and so varied that he is atonce the depositary of the theological tradition of the 3ast and the source of a new theology forthe West. n many areas, such as the theology of creation, the problem of evil, ecclesiology, thevirtue of faith, and eschatology, his teaching has been accepted as practically definitive. 7eattained an insight into the doctrine of the Trinity that no Greek !ather had ever e*ualled, and his

theology of grace still dominates our theological investigations.St. ugustine developed a theology of the spiritual life that was rooted in charity, perfected inwisdom and intimately united to #hrist and the #hurch. n order to understand his teaching, it ishelpful to review briefly the doctrine on original sin and grace that emerged from his strugglewith the 9elagians.

The fundamental principle that lies at the heart of 9elagianism is the autonomy of human liberty.5an was created free, and although his freedom is a gift from God, it is so essential to man thathe could not eist without it. 7aving given man this freedom, God cannot intervene withoutdestroying it, and therefore man is his own master+ his freedom "emancipates" him from God.5an's free choice is the sole determinant of his actions and whether he chooses good or evil, theact proceeds entirely from his own free choice.

5oreover, since man was in no way affected by original sin or its effects, according to the9elagians, man is fundamentally good and his free will suffices to keep him sinless. !or the9elagians grace was not considered a principle of divine life within the soul nor a power thataffects man's faculties interiorly+ it is something eterior to man. The teaching and eample of#hrist assist our power to do good, but the actual willing and doing are eclusively in our ownhands. nd since man can achieve holiness by his own efforts, it is of obligation that he do so.3very good act is of obligation+ there are no counsels, nor is there any real need for prayer of petition. There is no distinction between mortal sin and venial sin, for all sins are e*ually serious.ll that remains is duty and obligation0 what a man can do, he must do.

St. ugustine's response to the 9elagians can be summari/ed as follows0 ut of divine goodness,God created the world and man+ the latter was created for an intimate union of personalfellowship with a personal God. To this end, God created our first parents in the state ofinnocence and endowed them with preternatural gifts of bodily immortality, immunity fromsickness and death, infused knowledge and perfect integrity. Their state in relation to sin was posse non peccare, and after attaining glory, their state would be non posse peccare. n spite ofall his gifts, man committed the original sin, not because God's prohibition conflicted with man's




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desires, but because man as a creature was sub?ect to change and therefore able to turn awayfrom his true good. The root of the sin was pride+ man wanted to be his own master. s a resultof his fall, dam was placed in the state of non posse non peccare. 7is love of God was changedto love of self+ his intellect was clouded with ignorance and his will was inclined to evil+ he lostthe subordination of his lower powers to reason+ he was doomed to die+ seual concupiscence

became the strongest inclination of his flesh. nd since dam sinned as the father and head of allhumanity, all men were in dam when he sinned, and all men have inherited his sin as well as itseffects.

Since original sin, the human race is a mass of corruption. 5an still retains a restless longing forGod and for the good, but his freedom to accomplish the good is lost+ therefore, without God'shelp, man can only sin.


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7owever, the perfection of charity is attained only after the soul is strengthened and purified bythe practice of the virtues+ and even then it is always a relative perfection, since there is noterminus to charity. "We shall have perfect charity," says ugustine, "when we see God as he is.!or there will be nothing more that can be added to our love when we have attained vision."%&8 7ere on earth, however, "it is the property of perfection to recogni/e that it is imperfect," yet "the

more you love, the more you will be raised up."%&6 When the soul's love reaches its perfection,the soul en?oys intimate union with God, since love by its very nature tends to become one withthe beloved. t this point the soul en?oys that true wisdom which for ugustine constitutesmystical contemplation.

n the treatise, )e quantitate animae, St. ugustine lists seven stages through which the soulnormally passes as it advances to contemplation. The first three stages refer to the vegetative,sensitive and rational levels of human life. -ut the #hristian does not begin to make true progress toward perfection until the fourth stage, which is that of virtue, accompanied by purification. The fifth stage is called tran*uillity, to denote the peace that follows from control ofthe passions. The sith stage is called the entrance into the divine light %ingressio in lucem, inwhich the soul seeks to penetrate the divinity+ there, if it succeeds, it passes on to the seventh andfinal stage which is that of habitual union and indwelling %mansio.%1B That this last stage istruly mystical contemplation and not the philosophical contemplation of a neo$9latonist isevident from St. ugustine's commentary on 9salm 4&0

-ut is the God for whom the soulH seeks, something like its own spiritF #ertainly, we can seeGod only by means of the spirit+ and yet God is not what our own spirit is. !or the spirit of the prophet seeks something that is God, so that, having found him, he will no longer be eposed tothe scorn of those who say to him0 "Where is your GodF". . . .

Seeking my God in visible and corporal things, and not finding him+ seeking his substance inmyself, as if he were something similar to what am, and not finding him+ perceive that myGod is something superior to my soul. Then, to succeed in attaining to him, " meditated on these

things and poured out my soul above myself." 7ow indeed can my soul attain what it must seek above itself if my soul does not pour itself out above itselfF f it remains within itself, it will seenothing but itself, and in itself it will not see its God . . . . " have poured out my soul abovemyself" and there remains nothing more to lay hold of other than my God ndeed, it is there, it isabove my soul, that the house of God is.%1&

n the doctrine on the contemplative and the active life, St. ugustine surpasses all thetheologians who preceded him, and together with St. Gregory the Great and St. Thomas *uinas,he must be recogni/ed as an authority on the sub?ect. n )e civitate )ei, ugustine discusses theactive and contemplative aspects of wisdom0 the active part pertains to the cultivation of virtueand the contemplative part refers to the consideration of truth. n Contra 3austum he symboli/esthe active life by @eah and the contemplative life by Aachel, but in such a wa

jordan aumann-christian spirituality in the catholic tradition-ignatius pr (1985)

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