Preface

Christ Jesus is the sublime Ideal of all holiness, the Divine Model presented by God Himself to the imitation of His elect. Christian holiness consists in the complete and sincere acceptation of Christ by faith, and in the expansion of this faith by hope and charity; it implies the stable and total hold exercised by Christ upon our activity through the supernatural influence of His Spirit. Christ Jesus, the Alpha and Omega of all our works, becomes by the communication of His own life, the very life of our souls: Mihi vivere Christus est. This is what we have tried to show, in the light of the Gospels and the writings of St. Paul and St. John, in a first series of conferences entitled Christ the Life of the Soul. As a logical consequence, these dogmatic truths required the concrete showing forth of the very existence of the Incarnate Word. This existence is mani¬ fested to us by the states and mysteries, the actions and words of the Sacred Humanity of Jesus. Christ’s works, during His terrestrial life are at once models to be imitated and sources of holiness: from them ever goes out a powerful and efficacious virtue to heal, enlighten and sanctify those who by faith come in contact with the mysteries of Jesus with the sincere desire of walking in His footsteps. We have studied, under this aspect, the Incarnate Word, in a second volume: Christ in His Mysteries.

But besides the precepts laid down by Christ to His disciples as condition of salvation and essential holiness, there are to be found in the Gospels some counsels that Christ proposes to those who wish to make the ascension of the sublime heights of perfection: Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia quae habes, et veni, sequere me.

These are only counsels, undoubtedly : " If thou wilt, ” Si vis, said the Master. But the magnificent promises made by Him to those who follow them shoiv the value that He Himself attaches

VIII to their observance : this observance has for its aim a mor complete and more perfect imitation of the Saviour. Here again, He is the Way and the Model: religious perfection is but the full acquisition and the entire taking possession of the soul by the teaching and example of the Word Incarnate: Veni, sequere me... Perfectus omnis discipulus erit si sit sicut Magister ejus.

These are the thoughts that we have endeavoured to comment upon in the present volume. We have constantly placed the Divine Figure of Christ before the eyes of privileged souls called to walk in the path of the counsels : nothing is so efficacious as this contemplation to touch and draw souls, and to obtain from them the necessary efforts in view of remaining faithf ul to so high a vocation and one so rich in eternal promises.

Many of these pages explain the religious life such as St. Be¬ nedict understands it; but, as we shall fully see in the sequal, in the eyes of the Patriarch of monks, the religious state, taken in what is essential, does not constitute a particular form of existence on the borders or at the side of Christianity : it is this same Christianity lived in its fulness in the pure light of the Gospel: Per ducatum Evangelii pergamus itinera Christi. The extraordinary supernatural fecundity of which the Rule has given proof throughout so many centuries, is only to be explained by this essentially Christian character imprinted by St. Benedict on all his teaching.

A glance cast on the Index of the Conferences, at. the begin¬ ning of the volume, will sho.w the simplicity of the plan adopted. The first part gives, in broad outline, a general view of the monastic idea and institution, such as they appear to those who wish to cross the threshold of the cloister. The second pari develops the programme to be filled by those desirous of adapting themselves to this idea and of embracing this institution in such a way as to assimilate all its spirit. This work presents a two-fold aspect: The necessary detachment from created things in order to cleave to Christ; the way of detachment, thus embraced, leading to the life of union : “ Behold we have left all things — to follow Thee, ” Ecce nos reliquimus omnia.

— et secutl sumus te. That is the whole substance of the practice of the counsels, the secret of perfection.

It will be seen that this plan closely follows the one adopted in Christ the Life of the Soul. This is not to be wondered at, since religious perfection is so essentially akin to Christian holiness.

May these pages serve to make a great number of souls better understand the nature of this perfection to which God so widely invites Christians ; to increase in some of these the esteem of the religious vocation sometimes misunderstood by our age; to help some chosen ones to realise in themselves the call of grace or to triumph over the obstacles that natural affections or the spirit of the world oppose to its call... May they above all quicken the first fervour of such consecrated souls whose perseve¬ rance perhaps is wearied by the length of the way ; obtain for those who are faithful to their voivs the resolution of applying themselves without relaxing to attain the summit of the virtues ; finally, stimulate among them the best of ambitions, ever unsatisfied, that of holiness !

Confident that the Heavenly Father will recognise in our humble labour the traditional teachings of His Saints, and will vouchsafe to bless our efforts to prepare His field — Apollo rigavit — we earnestly beseech Him to throw therein the divine seed by handfuls and to bring it to maturity — Deus autem incrementum dedit.

For this let us render Him even now our humble and filial thanksgiving l

D. C. M.

Maredsous Abbey,

Solemnity of St. Benedict.

July, ii th, 1922.

1. Among Benedictine authors, we have chiefly quoted those who, by their teaching or life, have more particularly laid stress on the central idea expressed by the title of this book ; this explains why we have by preference utilised the writings of St Gregory, St Bernard, St Gertude, St Mechtilde and Blosius.