V. Our Faith, the Victory over the World

Summary. — I. How by faith we overcome the world. — II. How precious this victory is and of what life it is the prelude. — III. Faith is also the starting point of our monastic perfection, the “ deifying light " wherewith St. Benedict wishes the whole life of a monk to be enlightened. — IV. The stability resulting therefrom for the inner life. — V. Exercise of the virtue of faith and the joy of which it is the source.

IN the preceding conferences, we have tried to view the Benedictine ideal and institution taken as a whole. “ To seek God ” only, by following Christ Jesus, such is the supreme end of the monastic life ; the monk proposes to himself to attain this end in the cloister, in the midst of his brethren, living with them under the guidance of the abbot who holds the place of Christ, sharing with them a life of obedience divided between prayer and labour.

We are now going to see how one desiring to embrace this ideal realises it in practice. We shall see that it is faith that makes him cross the threshold of the cloister and love that keeps him there by means of the religious profession, in the same way as the neophyte, at the moment of being received into the Church, performs an act of faith and becomes a member of the supernatural society by Baptism, which is the Sacrament of adoption and initiation. Faith and the religious profession are indispensable in order to enable him to cleave to Christ in the state of monastic perfection.

Let us call to mind what takes place in the case of the simple Christian.

The example that God proposes to men’s imitation is His Son Jesus. Twice — the first time upon the banks of the Jordan, and again on Mount Thabor — God breaks the eternal silence in order to present to us this same Son, the living expression, under human form, of Divine perfection.¹

And however high may be the summits of holiness which souls attain, this perfection is never anything else than the reflection of the holiness of the Word Incarnate.

Now, how do we become one with Christ ? How do we participate in his grace and holiness ? First and before all, by faith. What, in fact, does St. John say ? Those have received Christ who have believed in Him : Quotquot autem receperunl mm... his qui credunt in nomine ejus. This is “ the work ” that God requires first of all from us : That we “ believe in Him Whom He hath sent ” : Hoc est opus Dei ut credatis in eum quem misit ille 2.

Faith is the primary disposition of one who would follow Christ ; it must be the first attitude of the soul in presence of the Incarnate Word.

Christianity is nought else than the acceptation, by faith — a practical faith — of the Incarnation with all its consequences ; the Christian life is but the constant putting into practice of this act of faith made to Jesus. “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God 4. ” Without this act of faith, which involves all our life, there is no means of being a Christian. If you accept the Divinity of Jesus Christ, you must, in consequence, accept His will. His words, His institutions, the Church, the Sacraments, the reality of His Mystical Body.

What is true of the simple Christian is yet more true of the monk. The monk aims at realising in himself the perfection of Christianity; we shall then be monks only if we are first of all Christians ; we shall only be perfect monks if we are perfect Christians. Now, as I have just been saying, it is above all faith in Christ that makes us Christians, disciples of Christ, and by His grace, children of God.

Let us consider what this faith is to us. It is the principle of our victory over the world — a victory that comes to us from Christ through the faith that we have in Him and that makes us God's children. Again it is the foundation and the root of monastic perfection as of the Christian life ; thence comes what St. Benedict calls “ the deifying light ” : deificum lumen. This having been said, it remains for us to explain how we are to live by faith and what fruits this life bears for us.

. J°an; L 2. Ibid, vi, 29. — 3. We have developed these impor tant ideas in the conference. Faith the foundation of the Christian life , in our

+v^Ui?ei ^he Life of the Soul. — 4. Matth. xvi, 16. — 5. Prologue of tne K.ule.

I

What is faith ? It is the homage that our intellect gives without any reservation to the Divine veracity.

God tells us when showing us His Son co-equal to Himself : “ Hear ye Him. ” And Christ tells us in His turn that He is the Only-begotten Son of God and what He sees of the eternal secrets He reveals to us ; that His word is infallible, for He is the Truth. And when we accept this estimony of Jesus, when we give the assent of our intellect to His word, to all that He says, we make an act of faith.

But this faith must be complete, its object must extend to all that Christ Jesus says or does. It is not only in Christ’s word that we must believe, but in the divinity of His mission, in the infinite value of His merits and of the satisfaction He made : faith embraces the whole Christ.

And when this faith is living, ardent, it casts us at the feet of Jesus that we may accomplish His will in all things ; it attaches us to Jesus never more to leave Him : this is perfect faith which blossoms into hope and love.

In order to be a Christian it is necessary to have this faith in Jesus Christ ; one cannot be a Christian unless one prefers Christ’s words, will and commands to his own ideas and personal interests.

Of course the monk has this faith, but with him it goes further ; it even makes him leave the world that he may attach himself to Christ alone. Why have we left the world ? Because we have believed in these words of Jesus : “ Come, follow Me, and you shall be perfect. ” And we have said to our Lord : “ Thou callest me ? Behold here I am. I have such faith in Thee and in Thy word ; I am so persuaded that Thou art the Way, the Truth and the Life, I am so convinced that in Thee I shall find all, that I wish to cleave to Thee alone. Thou art so powerful, that Thou canst make me attain even to our Father in Heaven ; so powerful that Thou canst, by Thy grace and infinite merits, make me like unto Thyself in order that I may be pleasing to Thy Father ; so powerful, that Thou canst make me reach the highest perfection and supreme beatitude ; and because I believe this, because I have confidence in Thee and Thou art the infinite Good beyond which all is vain and barren, I wish to leave all to follow Thee and serve Thee alone ” : Ecce nos reliquimus omnia et secuti sumus te 4. This is a pure act of faith in the omnipotence and in the infinite good¬ ness of Jesus Christ.²

Now, this act of faith, says St. John, " is the victory which overcometh the world ” : Haec est victoria quae vincit mundum, Jides nostra. And he immediately adds that this faith “ which overcometh the world ” is that which we have in Christ, the Son of the Living God : Quis est qui vincit mundum, nisi qui credit quoniam Jesus est Filius Dei 1 ? Let us meditate for a few moments on these words for they are of a great importance for our souls.

What is the meaning of Vincere mundum : “ to overcome the world ? ” The world does not here mean Christians, faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, whose condition obliges them to live in the world, but those men for whom the natural life alone exists, who confine their desires and enjoyments to the life here below. This world has its principles, its maxims, its prejudices, all borrowed, according to St. John’s words, from “ the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life 2. ” It is this world for which our Divine Saviour says that He does not pray 3. And why does He not pray for it ? Because between this world and Christ there is absolute incompa¬ tibility. The world rejects the maxims of the Gospel ; for it, the Cross is foolishness and a scandal.

This world which surrounds us has offered us its riches, its honours, its pleasures ; it flatters the natural man it tempts us with its attractions. But in following Christ in order to attach ourselves to Him alone, we have rejected the world ; we have risen above all the natural satisfactions that it could offer or promise us, we have been insensible to its charms : this is to “ overcome the world. "

And what has enabled us to win such a victory ? Faith in Jesus Christ. It is because we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, is God, and consequently is very perfection and beatitude, that we have joined ourselves to Him. See the rich young man in the Gospel who comes to Jesus that he may be His disciple. He asks what he must do to obtain everlasting life. Our Divine Saviour Who loves him as soon as He looks upon him, intuitus eum dilexit eum * P°mts out to him the keeping of the commandments.

AJl these things I have observed from my youth 6, ” replies the young man. Then our Lord shows him the higher way i. I Joan, v, 4-5. — 2 Ibid. 11, 16. — — 5- Ibid. 20. of the counsels. “ If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me L ” But, says the Gospel, the young man having heard these words “ went away sad 2, ” and did not follow the Saviour. Why was this ? Because he had great possessions : the world held him enchained by wealth. And because he did not believe that Christ was the Infinite Good, surpassing every other good, this young man was unable to overcome the world.³

Christ Jesus gave us this light of faith on the day of our vocation ; and it is owing to this light which showed us the vanity of the world, the emptiness of its pleasures, the bar¬ renness of its works, and revealed to us the state of perfection in the absolute imitation of Christ, that we have “ over¬ come the world ” : Haec est victoria quae vincit mundum, fides nostra.

Blessed victory which set us free from one of the worst states of bondage to give us the full liberty of the children of God, in order that we might join ourselves perfectly to Him Who alone deserves our love 1

II

What truly makes our victory so precious is that it is in itself a signal gift of ,love which Christ makes to us : He has purchased it with His Blood. Listen to what our Lord said to His disciples at the close of His life : “ Have con¬ fidence. I have overcome the world ” : Confidite, ego vici mundum 3.

And how did He overcome the world ? With gold ? With the splendour of exterior actions ? No, in the eyes of the world, Christ was only the son of a carpenter of Naza¬ reth : fabri filius 4. He was humble all His life. He was born in a stable, He dwelt in a workshop ; during His aposto¬ lic journeys, He had not always a shelter, or even anywhere to lay His head. The wisdom of the world would have scouted the idea that it could be overcome by poverty and renunciation. Did He overcome the world by the immediate temporal success of His undertakings or by other human advantages likely to impress or dominate it ? Again no. He was derided and crucified. In the eyes of the “ wise ” of that time His mission ended in lamentable failure upon the Cross. His disciples are scattered, the crowd wag their heads ; the Pharisees laugh Him to scorn : “ He saved others : Himself He cannot save... Let Him now come down from the Cross, and then — but then only — we will believe in Him. ”⁴

And yet the failure was only apparent; it was precisely at this moment that in reality Christ won the victory ; in the sight of the world, from the natural point of view, He was overcome ; — but. in the sight of God, He was the Victor over the prince of darkness and over the world. “ Have confidence. I have overcome the world ” : Confidite, ego vici mundum. And from that hour Christ Jesus has been appointed by His Father King over the nations 2. “ There is no other name ” that is for us a cause of salvation and grace, and His enemies are made His footstool 4.

Jesus gives to His disciples likewise the, power of overcom¬ ing the world. But how does He make them share in His victory ? By bestowing upon them, through the faith they have in Him, the divine adoption that makes them the children of God. There is here a profound teaching given by St. John which it is important to bring forward.

God is Being, Life. God knows and comprehends Himself perfectly ; He says to Himself, by an Infinite utterance, all that He is : this utterance is the Word. The Word expresses the whole of the Divine essence, not only taken in itself, but also inasmuch as it is imitable. In the Word, God contemplates the exemplar of every creature, even of the creature merely possible ; in this Word all being has life. “ In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God... All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made : in Him was life " : In principio erat Verbum... et Deus erat Verbwn... Sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est ; in ipso vita erat 5.

Our natural life, which has its first source in the Word, comes to us from those immediate agents who are our parents.

But, as you know, we are called to a yet higher life, called to share God’s own life by becoming “ partakers of the Divine nature ” : Efpciamini divinae consortes naturae 6, This vocation to infinite beatitude is supereminently the work of love which crowns and, in a profound sense, explains all the others. If our natural life comes from God’s Hands : Manus tuac fecerunt me et plasmaverunt me totum in circuitu 7 , it: is from His Heart that the supernatural life springs forth.

Behold, says St. John, “ what manner of charity the i. Matth. xxvn, 42. — 2. Cf. Ps. n, 6. — 3. Act. iv Hebr. 1, 13 ; x, 13. — 5. Joan. 1, 1-4. — 6. II Petr. 1 cf. Ps. cxvm, 7 3.⁵

Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called and should be the sons of God ” : Videte qualem caritatem dedit nobis Pater, id filii Dei nominemur et simns L This divine life does not destroy the natural life in what it has that is positive and good, but, surpassing its possibilities, its exigences and rights, it raises and transfigures it.

Now, it is still in the Word that the source of this divine life and its outpourings is to be found : God beholds us in His Word, not only as simple creatures but also in our being of grace. Each of the predestined represents an eternal thought of God. “ Of His own will hath He begotten us by the word of truth ” : V oluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis 2; Christ, the Incarnate Word, is truly the image in conformity with which we must be and remain the children of God : Praedestinavit [«os] conformes fieri imaginis Filii suis; He is, as I have said, the Son of God by nature, we by grace ; but it is the same Divine life that inundates Christ’s Humanity and our souls with its fulness. This Only-begotten Son, born of God in the holy splendours of an eternal and ineffable generation, is the Son of the Living God, for He possesses Life in Himself ; He is very Life, Ego sum vita 4, and He has become incarnate in order to make us partakers of this life : Ego veni ut vitam habeant 5.

And how do we participate in this life ? By receiving Christ through faith. “ As many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name, who are born... of God ” : Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem jilios Dei fieri his qui credunt in nomine ejus... qui ex Deo nati sunt. Our access to this new life is a veritable birth ; and this birth is brought about by faith and Baptism, the Sacrament of adoption : Renatus ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto 7. Thus St. John writes that “ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God ” : Qui credit quoniam Jesus est Christus, ex Deo natus est.

As you see in order to be “ born of God, ” to be “ children of God, ” we must believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him. Faith is the foundation of this supernatural life which makes us share, in an ineffable manner, in the Divine Life ; faith introduces us into that supernatural sphere which is hidden from the eyes of the world. “ Your life is hid with Christ in God”: Vita vestra est abscondita cum Christo in Deo. The only true life, because it does not end, like the natural life, in death, but has its fruition in the unalloyed happiness of eternity.⁶

The world sees only, or rather wishes to see and know only, the natural life both for the individual and for society at large ; it only esteems and admires that which appears, which shines and obtains temporal success ; it judges by outward appearances, according to the eyes of flesh ; it relies only upon human effort, upon the natural virtues : that is its way of judging and acting. It neglects, it syste¬ matically ignores the supernatural life, and smiles at the idea of a perfection that goes beyond reason alone. Human reasoning, in fact, can only produce human results ; purely natural effort can only be the cause of effects in the purely natural order. “ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, ” says St. John : Quot natum est ex came, caro est ; that which is the result of nature, outside the supernatural, “ profiteth nothing in God’s sight : Caro non prodest quidquam 2. A man who has not faith, who has not grace, may attain by force of energy, of will and perseverance, to a certain natural perfection ; he may be good, upright, loyal, just, but this is but a natural morality which, furthermore, ever remains deficient in some particular. Between it and the supernatural life lies an abyss. It is however with this natural perfection and this natural life that the world contents itself.

At a single flight, faith rises higher and uplifts the soul above all the visible universe, bringing it even to God. This faith which causes us to be “ born of God, ” which makes us children of God, through Christ, makes us also conquerors over the world. Such is the wonderful doctrine of St. John in his Epistle : Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world... ” “ Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ” ? Omne quod natum est ex Deo vincit mundum... Quis est qui vincit mundum, nisi qui credit quoniam Jesus est Filius Dei*?

III

To this glorious destiny every Christian is called. Who¬ ever receives Baptism, morally breaks with the world by disowning its maxims, its principles, and its spirit, in order to live according to Christ’s Gospel.

But, for the monk, how much more complete are this severance and this transformation !⁷

The divine life that we received at Baptism with grace is the germ of all our monastic sanctification, as it is of the simple Christian life. Our perfection is not of an essen¬ tially different order from that of Christian perfection ; both intrinsically belong to the same supernatural order. Reli¬ gious perfection is but the development, in a given form and state, of our divine adoption. A simple Christian is a child of God ; a monk is likewise a child of God, but one who seeks, in the largest possible degree and by especially adapted means, to develop this condition of a child of God. The Christian is allowed, without essential detriment to his state as child of God, the lawful use of certain creatures ; the monk chooses to adhere to God alone, and his chief work is to put away from him or destroy all such created things as are opposed to the perfect expansion of the divine life in him. But for the religious as for the simple Christian, faith in Jesus Christ is the door whereby he enters into this divine life : it is as the Council of Trent says, " the foundation and root of all justification. ",

Faith is a foundation. Think of an edifice which attracts attention by its grandeur and the harmony of its proportions. What is it that gives it solidity ? The foundations. If these are shaken, at once the walls crack and the building is in danger ; unless it be consolidated, it is doomed to ruin. This is an image of the spiritual life. It is an edifice which God, together with us, constructs in us, to His glory ; it is a temple wherein He would dwell. But if we do not lay a firm foundation, it is impossible to build the edifice. And the higher it is to be raised, the deeper and firmer must be the foundation. When a spiritual man thinks to arrive at the summit of perfection, at the height of contemplation, without his faith, which is the basis of real love, being strong in proportion, all must come to ruin.

The Holy Council again compares faith to a root. Look at a majestic tree, with mighty trunk, vigorous branches, and abundant foliage. Whence comes to it this strength and beauty ? From something unseen : the roots. These are plunged in the soil there to take a firm hold and draw the nourishing sap necessary to the life of this giant. Should the roots dry up, the tree will decay.

The root of the Christian life is faith. Without faith all withers away, dries up and perishes. It is the necessary condition of all life and all spiritual progress.

If faith be the basis of all Christian life, it is likewise upon

1. Sess. vi, cap. 8. g CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MONK faith that the whole monastic life rests ; it is faith that explains and maintains it. The monastic life, like the Christian life, is the practical consequence of an act of faith. Why are we Christians ? Because we have said to Jesus Christ : “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God ; Thou art He Who alone canst bring us to the Father, to eternal life. ” Why have we become monks ? Because we have said to Jesus Christ : “ Thou art the Christ ; Thou art the Way that alone leads to the Father ; Thou art the Fountainhead of all life, of all good, of all perfection, of all beatitude. ” And this initial act of faith explains the whole of our conduct.

Without faith in Jesus Christ, the life that we lead has no meaning ; the world indeed takes us for fools : Vitam illorum aestimabamus insaniam. But the terrestrial man,

‘ the sensual man ” as St. Paul calls him, “ perceiveth not those things that are of the Spirit of God ; ” they are foolish¬ ness for him, and he cannot know them, because it is by the Spirit of God, and not by the spirit of the world, that they are discerned.

In the eyes of faith, our life constitutes that “ better part ”, optimam partem 3, that Christ reserves to vthose upon whom He has cast His look of special love : Intuitus eum dilexit eum 4 ; already it is for us the assured pledge of a " goodly inheritance ” : hereditas praeclara 5.

And what is true of our life taken as a whole, remains true of the detail of our days.

Regarded from the natural point of view, from the world’s point of view, the thousand details of our life of prayer, of obedience, humility, abnegation and labour, may appear trifling, narrow and insignificant. When a man who allows himself to be led by the spirit of the world sees us chanting the psalms in choir and learns' that we spend so many hours in praising God, he shrugs his shoulders : “ What a pity to see men waste their time like that ! ” It is because he does not understand and cannot understand, because he is lacking in faith : his reason is too limited to allow him to go beyond natural horizons ; he has not the light of faith that would enable him to enter into God’s secrets ; he cannot comprehend that our life of prayer is a life most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable for souls.

So it is with all the elements of our monastic life. Faith shows us their value for eternity ; faith places us above the i. Sap. v, 4. — 2. I Cor. 11, 14. —

5. Ps. xv, 6. judgments of the world, the wisdom of the world which, according to St. Paul, is “ foolishness with God \ ” “ We have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God : that we may know the things that are given us from God. ” For “ the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ”⁸

And because we adhere to this Spirit by faith, faith becomes, as our Blessed Father so well calls it, the " deifying light ” that illumines and uplifts our whole life : deificum lumen 3.

Faith is, in fact, for us the true divine light. To the natural life, God gives the light of reason : the intellect is the faculty that directs the specifically human activity. To the supernatural life God also gives an appropriate light. What is this light ? In Heaven, where the supernatural life attains its perfection, it is the radiant light of glory, the visual power of the Beatific Vision. " In Thy light we shall see light ” : In lumine tuo videbimus lumen 4. Here below it is the veiled light of faith. The soul that would live the true life must be guided by this light which makes it a partaker of the knowledge that God has of Himself and of all things.

In this Christ Jesus is as ever our perfect Example, and the Ideal we are predestined to reproduce. The motive power of Christ’s activity was the light that shone for His Blessed Soul in the Beatific Vision. As you know, from the first instant of Its creation, the Soul of Jesus contemplated God, and from this Vision arose the light wherein It regarded all things and that directed It in all its ways. Jesus says that He reveals to us that which He sees ; He tells us only that which He hears, He does nothing but what He sees the Father doing : Non potest Filius a se facere quidquam, nisi quod viderit Pattern facientem ; “Nothing of Himself, nothing for Himself ; He only does that which the Father reveals to Him, and all that the Father does, He also does, but yet He does it in a like manner, with the same dignity and the same perfection, because He is the Sole-begotten Son, God of God, perfect God of perfect God 7. ”

For us upon earth, the light of faith preludes the power of the Beatific Vision. Tne child of God knows God and beholds all things in this light 8. God, first of all : for if no one here below has ever seen God Who “ inhabiteth light inaccessible 1, ” God has, however, revealed Himself to us through His Son Jesus : Illuxit in cor di bus nostris... in facie Christi Jesu 2. The Only-begotten Son Who is ever in “ the bosom of the Father”, in sinu Patris 3, manifests God to us : “ He that seeth Me, seeth the Father also ” : Qui videt Me, videt et Patrem 4. In accepting the testimony of the Son, the Word, the soul knows the secrets of the Divine life. In this celestial light, the soul likewise judges all things as God sees, considers and estimates them. It regards creation with the same eyes as do those who have not the faith ; but the universe reveals to this soul what is not dis¬ closed to others : to wit, that it is the reflection of the perfections of its Author. In the ceremonies of the Church, the believing soul does not see only the exterior side of actions and symbols, that outward aspect which all eyes may behold, but it penetrates to the depths of the rites, therein to recognize God’s ideal, the intentions of the Church, the hidden mystery of the worship, the realisation of the Divine thought, the perfections of God made manifest, the glory of God procured; and with the incense of the sanctuary, the hymn of the loving and grateful heart rises up to God. In like manner, under ordinary and commonplace appearan¬ ces, under the unexpected, painful or enigmatical aspect of daily events, the child of God discerns the work full of love that an infallible and maternal Providence pursues.⁹

When this life of faith is intense, it leads to the highest perfection, just as we have seen that the Sacred Humanity of Jesus derived its principle of perfection and activity from the Beatific Vision. Doubtless, the soul that lives by faith leads outwardly the ordinary existence of the rest of mankind; it exerts its human activity like other souls, but it exerts this activity in the higher light of Divine truth. Christ is the Truth, the Light : he who lives in truth is a child of light, filius luciss. He lives in this truth, his life abounds in those fruits of light which are, says St. Paul, “ goodness and justice and truth ” : Fructus enim lucis est in omni bonitate et justitia et veritate 6.

Can we then be surprised that St. Benedict requires of us that we should be guided in all things by the light of faith ? It must be understood once for all that the holy Patriarch always places the monk from the outset on super¬ natural grounds. He wishes us to have “ each day ”, quotidie, our gaze fixed on the “ deifying light 7, ” that we may

1. I Tim. vi, 16. — 2. II Cor. iv, 6. — 5 Ibid, xii, 36. — 6. Eph. v, 9. —

— 3. Joan. 1, 18. — 4. Ibid, xiv, 7. Prologue of the Rule.

9- constantly receive its rays ; he would have his disciples’ whole conduct based on faith.

On the strength of these words, we will consider some pas¬ sages taken from the Holy Rule. Why must the monk obey his abbot ? Simply because the abbot “ holds the place of Christ ” : Abbas Christi agere vices creditur. Why must the monks remain perfectly united to one another ? Because “ all are one in Christ 2. ” Why must guests, at whatever hour they arrive — and in St. Benedict’s time they were very numerous, nunquam desant 3, and arrived at unlooked for hours — be received with eagerness and joy ? Because it is Christ Who is received in them, because it is before Christ that we prostrate when we bow down before them : christus in hospitibus adoretur qui et suscipitur... omnes supervenientes hospites tamquam christus suscipiantur 4. Again why must the poor and strangers be more especially cared for ? Because it is above all in these disinherited members that Christ presents Himself to our faith : Pauperum et peregrinorum maxime susceptionum cura sollicite exhibeatur : quia in ipsis magis christus suscipitur 5. And it is to be the same as regards the care given to the sick in the monastery. St. Benedict most urgently recommends that the sick are to lack nothing of the succour that their infirmity requires. This point appears astonishing since the monastic state is one of abnegation. And yet St. Benedict is very precise on this point : “ Before all things and above all things, care is to be taken of the sick ” : Infirmorum cura ante omnia et super omnia adhibenda est. Why such insistence ? Because here again faith sees Christ in His suffering members : “ They are to be served as if they were Christ in person, for He hath said : 4 I was sick and ye visited Me : Ut sicut revera Christo, ita eis serviatur, quia ipse dixit: Infirmus jui et visitastis me 7.

This faith, this supernatural point of view, is extended by the great Patriarch from persons to the actions of the life of the monk : whether the monk be in choir, or serve at table, or set out on a journey, everywhere St. Benedict would have him bathed in this light of faith. If the great Legislator carefully enumerates the natural qualities to be desired in the principal officials, he requires before all things that they should have hearts “ fearing God 8 ; ” he requires of the master of novices that he should especially “ be skilled in gaining souls 9. ”¹⁰

He envelops even the material things of the monastery with this light of faith. Because the monastery is “ the house of God ”, domus Dei*, he would have us “look upon the vessels and goods of the monastery as if they were the consecrated vessels of the altar ” : Omnia vasa monasterii cunciamque substantiam, ac si altaris vasa sacrata conspiciat 2. The world will find such a recommendation very trifling, very simple and useless, but the holy Legislator judged quite otherwise. And this was because his faith was strong, and he understood that all things are only of any value in God’s sight according to the measure of our faith.

IV

Such then is the supernatural atmosphere wherein St. Be¬ nedict wishes the monk to live and breathe continually, quotidie; he wishes him, as St. Paul wishes the Christian, to " live by faith " : Justus ex fide vivit 4. The just man, (that is to say one who in Baptism has put on the new man created in justice) lives, in so far as he is just, by faith, by the light that the Sacrament of illumination brings to him. The more he lives by faith, the more he realises in himself the perfection of his divine adoption. Notice this expression carefully : ex fide. The exact meaning of this is that faith ought to be the root of all our actions, of all our life. There are souls who live “ with ” the faith : cum fide. They have faith, and one cannot deny that they practise it ; but it is only on certain occasions, for example, in exercises of piety, Holy Mass, Holy Communion, the Divine Office, that they remember their faith to any purpose ; it is impossible that faith should not come into play in these actions because, of their nature, these actions relate directly to God and, properly speaking, concern the supernatural economy.

But one would say that these souls restrict themselves to this ; and that as soon as they leave these exercises, they enter into another sphere, and return to a merely natural life. If obedience then commands them something irksome or inconvenient, they murmur ; if a brother-monk is in need of something, they pay no attention to it ; are their susceptibilities touched, they are irritated. At these moments the outlook of their souls is not enlightened by i. Rule, ch. xxxi. — 2. Ibid. — 3. “ Faith, or rather what we would call the spirit of faith, the supernatural spirit, is manifested in the Rule in a thousand ways that are as touching and edifying for the believer as they are paradoxical and even laughable in the eyes of the world : the tnihi fecistis of the Gospel is there carried to the supreme degree. " D. M. Festugidrej The Catholic Liturgy. — 4. Hebr. x, 38.

OUR FAITH, THE VICTORY OVER THE WORLD IOI faith. They do not live by faith ; theoretically, doubtless, they know that the Abbot represents Christ, that Christ is in each of their brethren, that we ought to forget ourselves in order to imitate Christ in His obedience. But, practically, these truths do not exist for them ; these truths have no influence on their life ; their activity does not spring /ro?n their faith ; they make use of faith under certain circum¬ stances, but, these circumstances having passed, they bid farewell, as it were, to their faith. Then it is the natural life that is uppermost, the natural spirit that becomes master. Certainly this is not to live by faith : ex fide vivere.

Now, such a life, so devoid of homogeneity, cannot be firm or stable ; it is at the mercy of impressions, of every sally of temperament or mood, of the chances of health or temptation ; it is a spiritual life that fluctuates and is tossed about by every wind that blows. It changes day by day, at the will of the capricious rudder that serves it as guide.

But when faith is living, strong, ardent, when we live by faith, that is to say when in everything we are actuated by the principles of faith, when faith is the root of all our actions, the inward principle of all our activity, then we become strong and steadfast in spite of difficulties within and without, in spite of obscurities, contradictions and temptations. Why so ? Because, by faith, we judge, we estimate all things as God sees and estimates them : we participate in the Divine immutability and stability.

Is not this what our Lord has said ? “ Everyone therefore that heareth these My words and doth them ” — that is to live by faith — “ shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew, and they beat upon this house. And it fell not. ” For Jesus Christ immediately adds, “ it was founded on a rock 1. ”

This is truly what we experience when our faith is deep and intense. Faith causes us to live the supernatural life ; by it we are of God’s family, we belong to that house of God, wnereof Christ, as St. Paul says, is “ the chief corner stone”: ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu. By faith, we adhere to Christ, and the edifice of our spiritual life becomes thereby firm and stable. Christ makes us share in the stability of the divine rock against which even hell’s fury cannot prevail : Portae inferi non praevalebunt. Thus divinely sustained, we are conquerors over the assaults and temptations of the world and of the devil, the prince of this world : Haec est victoria quae vincit mundum, fides nostra. The devil, and the world which the devil uses as an accom¬ plice, offer violence to us or solicit us ; by faith in the word of Jesus we come out victorious from these attacks.¹¹

You will have remarked that the devil always insinuates the contrary to what God affirms. Look at the sad expe¬ rience that our first parents made of this. “ In what day soever thou shalt eat of [the forbidden fruit], thou shalt die the death 2 ; " such is the Divine word. The devil im¬ pudently declares the contrary : “ You shall not die the death ” : Nequaquam inorte moriemini 3. When we lend an ear to the devil, we put our trust in him, we have faith in him, and not in God. Now, the devil is “ the father of lies and the prince of darkness 4, " while God is " the Truth 5 ” and “ in Him is no darkness 6. " If we always listen to God, we shall always be victorious. When our Lord was tempted’ He repulsed temptation by placing the authority of God’s Word in opposition to each solicitation of the Evil One. We ought to do the same and repulse hell's attacks by faith in Jesus’ word. The devil says to us : " How can Christ be present under the species of bread and wine ? ” Answer him : The Lord has said : " This is My Body, this is my Blood 7. He is the Truth, that is enough for me. ” The devil tells us not to let an injury or an affront pass without retorting. Answer him : “ Christ has said that all we do to the least of His brethren, we do to Himself, therefore any feeling of coldness voluntarily shown to our brethren or entertained towards them is shown to Jesus in person. ”

What is true of the devil is true of the world : it is by faith that we overcome it. When a man has a living faith in Christ, he fears neither difficulties nor opposition, nor the world s judgments because he knows that Christ abides in us by faith and because he relies on Him. Our Lord explicitly gave such assurances to St. Catherine when He gave her missions far and wide for the good of His Church, especially the mission of bring back the Sovereign Pontiff from Avignon to Rome. The Saint, in her weakness and humility, feared a mission in the course of which she foresaw insurmountable difficulties , but Christ said to her ; “ Because thou art armed with the might of faith, thou wilt triumph happily over all adversaries ®. Again, later on, in her Dialogue

— 4. Cf. Eph. vi, i. — 5. 26-38. — 8. Ibid, xxv, 40.

Catherine speaks of faith with holy enthusiasm : “ In the light of faith ” she says addressing the Eternal Father, “ I gain that wisdom which is found in the wisdom of the Word, Thy Son ; in the light of faith, I become stronger, more con¬ stant, more persevering. In the light of faith, I find the hope that Thou wilt not let me faint upon my way. It is also this light which shows me the path along which I must journey. Without this light, I should walk in darkness, and, therefore, I beseech Thee, Eternal Father, to enlighten me with the light of most holy faith l. ”

V

Let us, too, beseech the Father and Christ Jesus, His Word, to grant us this light of faith. We have received the principle of it in Baptism ; but we ought to guard and develop this divine germ. What is the co-operation that God expects of us in this matter ?

He first of all expects us to pray. Faith is a gift of God ; the spirit of faith comes from the Spirit of God : “ Lord, increase our faith ” : Adauge nobis / idem 2. Let us often say to Christ Jesus, like the father of the dumb boy in the Gos¬ pel : " I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief ” : Adjuva incredulitatem meant 3. It is truly God alone Who can, as the Efficient Cause, increase faith within us ; our part is to merit this increase by our prayers and good works.

This is to say that having obtained faith, it is our duty to exercise it. At Baptism, God gives us the habitus of faith ; it is a " force, ” a “ power ; ” but this force must not remain inactive, this " habit ” must not become ankylosed, so to speak, from want of exercise. This habitus ought to go on getting ever stronger by corresponding acts. We must not be of those souls in whom faith slumbers. Let us often renew our acts of faith, not only during our exercises of devotion, but furthermore, as the great Patriarch wishes, in the least details of our life. It is “ every day ”, quotidie, that we must, in accordance with his counsels, walk in this light.

And you will remark that with St. Benedict, faith is always practical ; he never separates it from deeds ; he wishes us “ to have our loins girded with faith, and the performance of good works " : Succinctis fide vel observantia honor um actuum lumbis nostris 4 / he promises us joy and blessedness only on condition that we “ go forward in good works and in faith”: Processu vero conversation is et fidei. Let us regard all things from the point of view of faith, the super¬ natural point of view, which is the only true one ; let all our actions be in accordance with our faith, let us do everything in its light. Under these conditions it can be said that faith is manifested by love : it becomes logically anp practically perfect, because it is through love that the soul devotes itself to works of faith.¹²

Thus spiritually armed, we shall avoid routine which is one of the great dangers of the regular life. The intensity of our faith should animate our least actions. If we apply ourselves to this, our life will be full of light and joy. The tiniest details of the day will appear to us as precious pearls which we want to gain, that with them we may compose our heavenly treasure. And in the measure that we advance in faith, in the measure that it becomes firmer, more ardent, more active, joy will more and" more superabound in our souls. Light is added to light, hope, beholding its horizons widening, is strengthened day by day ; love, feeling itself more ardent, makes everything easy ; and we run in the path of the Lord’s commandments. The great Patriarch himself assures us of this, and, without any doubt, he speaks from experience. Listen to what he says at the end of the Prologue, after having determined the end and shown the way : “ In the measure that we go forward in the observance of the precepts which is the putting into practice of our faith, it is with hearts enlarged that we shall run the way of per¬ fection with unspeakable sweetness of love ” : Processu vero conversationis et fidei, dilatato corde, inenarrabili dilectionis dulcedine curritur via mandatorum Dei. St. Benedict does not say it will sometimes happen that the monk will find joy ; he promises to all his sons that their hearts will dilate with joy. In Heaven the source of our joy will be the certain, perfect and inamissible possession of sovereign and immutable good, in the full light of glory ; here below, the source of our joy is the possession, already begun, of God, the anticipated union with God : this possession, this union is so much the more intimate the more we are bathed in the light of faith.

The joy that faith gains for us is necessary here upon earth. God Himself fashioned our hearts, and He has fashioned them in such a way that they have need of gladness. Doubtless there are souls who live entirely in the hope and expectation of the joys of eternity, but this is the happy privilege of a small number. As for us, we have left all things to follow¹³

Christ ! Ecce nos reliquimus omnia et secuti sumus We cannot go begging happiness from creatures. We must expect everything from Christ What is it then that we expect? Quid ergo erit nobis.? Christ Himself promises us the hundredfold even here below. Now, joy makes part of this hundredfold, and it is faith above all that maintains joy.

Faith in fact shows us the grandeur and beauty of this supernatural life to which God has called us : “ It is I, I Myself, Who will be thy Reward exceeding great Ego merces tua magna nimis 3; it shows us the height and sublimity of our monastic vocation which causes us to live in Christ’s intimacy, since as St. Benedict says, it is our love for Christ, that has made us prefer Him to all things 4.

Faith is yet again the fount oi joy because it is the fount of truth and hope ; it is the supreme testimony of promised good, it already puts us in anticipated possession of the good things to come : Sperandarum substantia rerum. Supersen¬ sible realities, the only realities that eternally remain, are made tangible to us by faith.

Let us then live the life of faith as intensely as we can with Christ’s grace : let our whole existence be, as our great Patriarch would have it to be, deeply impregnated, even in the least details, with the spirit of faith, the supernatural spirit. Then temptation will be unable to take any hold on us, for our house will be built upon the rock of God’s stability; we shall be victorious over the assaults of the devil and the world.

Thus delivered from our enemies, we shall live in the light of the spirit and in joy of heart. When Our Lord revealed to His disciples, at the Last Supper, the divine secrets that He alone possessed, what were the intimate meaning and end of these ineffable revelations of God’s love for His children ? They were to fill our hearts with joy, to pour into them His own divine joy : “ These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled ” : Haec locutus vobis ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur.

1. Matth. xix, 27. — 2. Ibid. — 3. Gen. xv, 1. — 4. Rule, ch. iv, v and lxxii. — 5. Hebr. xi, 1. — 6. Joan, xv, 11.

Footnotes

1. 1. “ This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith, ’’ 1 Joan, v, 4-
   ↩
2. 1. Matth. xvii, 5- — 2. Cf. Ibid, xi, 27 ; Joan, xiv, 6. — 3- Cf. Matth. six, 21. — 4- Ibid. 2 7.
   ↩
3. 3. Joan, xvix, 9. —4. Marc, x, 21.
   ↩
4. 1. Matth. xix, 21. — 2. Ibid. 22. — 3. Joan, xvi, 33. — 4. Matth. xin, 55. — 5. Ibid, viii, 20.
   ↩

5. 12 ; Ps. cix, 1. — 4 .4- — 7- Job. x, 5 ↩

6. 1. I Joan, iii, i. — 2. Jac. i, 18. — ■). Rom. vm, 29. — 4. Joan, xiv, 6. — 5. Ibid, x, 10. — 6. Ibid. 1, 12-13. — 7- Ibid. 111, 3-5. — 8. I Joan, v, 1. — 9. Col. ill, 3.
   ↩
7. 1. Joan. HI, 6. — 2. Ibid, vi, 64.-3 I Ibid, v, 4-5.
   ↩

8. 3 Luc. x, 42. — 4. Marc, x, 21. — ↩

9. 1. I Cor. hi, 19. — 2. Ibid, n, 10-12. — 3. Prologue of the Rule. — 4. Ps. xxxv, 10. — 5. Joan, in, 11. — 6. Ibid, v, 19. — 7. Bossuet, Meditations on the Holy Gospel. — 8. Joan. 1, 18.
   ↩
10. 1. Rule, ch. II, lxiii. — 2. Ibid, n ; cf. Gal. in, 25. — 3-4- Ibid. ch. liii. — 5. Ibid. ch. liii. — 6. Ibid. ch. xxxvi. — 7. Ibid. ch. xxxvi ; cf. Matth. xxv, 36. — 8. Ibid, ch, xxxi ; liii. — 9. Ibid. ch. lviii.
    ↩

11. X, Matth. vii, 25. — 2. Eph. 11, 20. — 3. Matth. xvi, 15. ↩

12. 1. Life by Bl. Raymund. — 2. Luc. xvn, 5. — 3. Marc, ix, 23. — 4. Prologue of the Rule.
    ↩
13. 1. Prologue of the Rule.
    ↩