Two Extraordinary Carthusians

In Lyon, a city in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, stands the magnificent structure of Église Saint-Bruno des Chartreux, a Roman Catholic church of Baroque architecture. Inside the church is a statue sculpted by Joseph-Hugues Fabisch (1812-1886) titled: The Virgin of the Carthusians. Above the statue are inscribed the words: Consolatrix Afflictorum, Ora Pro Nobis - Consoler of the Afflicted, pray for us.

Today on the liturgical calendar of the Carthusian Order is the Feast of the Blessed Martyrs Dom Claude Beguignot and Dom Lazarus Tiersot, two Carthusian priests who in the year 1794 were forced to get on board two ships previously used for slaves. Their crime? They refused to take oaths of the French Revolution, which were in opposition to the Church. Their treatment on board was horrific and inhuman. There was no rest for them, forced to keep a standing posture and they were starved. Perhaps these two blessed men prayed often to the Virgin Mother of God, consoler of the afflicted.They were beatified on October 1, 1995 by Saint John Paul II who said these words in his homily during the beatification ceremony: "They experienced a long Calvary for remaining faithful to their faith and to the Church."

There were, in addition to these two Carthusian martyrs, sixty-two French priests who were also beatified on the same day; but even in addition to that, there were several hundred more martyrs, including eight more Carthusians. The Holy See, however limited the beatifications to those whose deaths were documented.

Dom Claude Beguignot belonged to the Carthusian Charterhouse of Bourg-Fontaine which was halted by the French Revolution. One of the prisoners who survived said this about Dom Claude: "The very view of this man inspired the love of mortification. You never tired of hearing him speak of God. He did it so worthily and with such unction.

Dom Lazarus Tiersot was the sub-prior of the Carthusian Charterhouse of Our Lady of Fontenay. One of the ship's survivors said that Dom Lazarus "impressed the other priests as a saint."

We define a martyr as one who died for the faith. In Greek, a martus is a witness. These blessed men were immovable witnesses to the Catholic faith. They literally accepted upon themselves the words: "Certa bonum certamen fidei, apprehende vitam æternam" - "Fight the good fight of faith, cling to eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:12). They willingly laid down their lives because they laid up treasures for themselves in heaven; and there is where their hearts were - and there is where they are for all eternity (cf. Matthew 6:20-21).

These two blessed men along with other martyred blesseds and saints of the Carthusian Order are honored today. An English translation of the prayer of the day in the Carthusian liturgy is:

"Father, strengthen our hearts, so that just as our 

brothers consummated their solitary life by bearing all their sufferings for the Church, so may we, dwelling hidden before Your Face, be led to perfect love."

Un bain d’amour

The Church prays the Nunc Dimittis daily in her Night Prayer or Compline. They are the words of Simeon as he held the Christ Child in his arms at the Presentation in the Temple, the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary:

“Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace;
Because my eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;
A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory Thy people Israel.”

Saint Ephraem, in his “Homily on Our Lord,” tells us that Simeon is a priest. Our Blessed Mother, perhaps quite prophetically, passes our Lord from her hands into the hands of a priest. And certainly one can sense the overwhelming immensity of Simeon’s emotions as he holds the Saviour of the world in his hands. This is far too mysterious for the human intellect to fully grasp. To paraphrase Simeon, what he’s saying is: “Okay Lord, take me now, for what I am doing at this moment, nothing else in this life will surpass it.”

At each and every Holy Mass the priest has the incomprehensible privilege of holding the Savior of the world in his hands on the altar. Please God, may your priests never take for granted the enormity of what they do on the altar!

Today is the Feast of Saint Jean Marie Vianney; he certainly was never nonchalant about the power given to him as a priest. The Curé d’Ars shed many tears of joy during Mass especially when he was holding our Eucharistic Lord in his hands during his thanksgivings and often long adorations. He would say: “To celebrate Mass one ought to be a seraph! I hold our Lord in my hands. I move Him to the right, and He stays there, to the left, and He stays there! To know what the Mass is would be to die. Only in heaven shall we understand the happiness of saying Mass! Alas, my God, how much a priest is to be pitied when he does this as an ordinary thing!”

It was on a Christmas night at Mass as he held the Sacred Host in his hands above the Chalice, and tears were flowing from his eyes when the Holy Curé prayed in his heart: “My God, if I knew that I was to be damned, now that I hold Thee, I would not let Thee go again.”

And how about those of us in the laity? What should our disposition be as the priest holds our Lord in his hands? We will never appreciate our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as “un bain d’amour” (a bath of love), to quote Saint Jean Marie Vianney, until we establish a daily prayer life. The Holy Curé d’Ars referred to prayer as man’s noble task. As servants of God, prayer is not an option, but an absolute necessity. “With God all things are possible” (Saint Matthew 19:26). Saint Jean Marie gives us something to think about: “Saint Catherine of Genoa so hungered for this heavenly Bread that she could not see it in the priest’s hands without feeling as though she were dying of love, so great was her desire to possess it, and she would cry: 'Ah, Lord come into me! My God, come to me, I can bear it no longer! Ah, my God, come, if it please Thee, into my inmost heart; no, my God, I can bear it no longer. Thou art my whole joy, my whole happiness, and the only Food of my soul.’ Happy the Christian who comprehends this. If we understood it even a little, we could only desire life so far as it meant the happiness of making Jesus Christ our daily Bread.”

Do you think anyone would ever consider skipping Mass if they possessed the same love for the Blessed Sacrament as that of Saints Jean Marie Vianney and Catherine of Genoa?

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 9, 2015

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First Reading Commentary

Elijah is feeling overwhelmed and frustrated in his service to God; and on top of everything else his own life was being threatened.  Frustration is a stranger to no one.  Having a daily prayer life or performing charitable works tends to result in a search for the fruits of those prayers and labors with the hope of seeing some improvement not only in the individual but also the world over. 

With all the immorality that exists in today's world, plus the times that we ourselves surrender to temptation and commit sin, eventually the weight of experiencing all of this can become very discouraging and lead to a kind of luke-warmness in the spiritual life.  One could easily fall into a trap and start to develop a mindset which is deceptive and leads to an acceptance that prayers and works are useless. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) to show the necessity for praying always and to not become weary. 

In John 15:5 Jesus also offers this echoing reminder, "Without Me you can do nothing." 

In the book, "The Prayer of Love and Silence," the author, an anonymous monk, comments on this verse and writes: "Knowing that of ourselves we can do nothing but that in Christ we can do all things, we should no more be discouraged by our faults than proud of the virtuous acts His grace has made possible.  And not only that, once we are convinced that we are nothing and God is all, our very weaknesses and failings need no longer be obstacles." 

The angel gave Elijah “a hearth cake and a jug of water” to give him strength to continue on his long journey “to the mountain of God, Horeb.”  Our journey is the life we now live; and this journey leads to “the mountain of God” - heaven and eternal life.  This journey has many set-backs which can be discouraging.  But our Lord is not sending us an angel to offer us “a hearth cake and a jug of water”; instead He is offering us His own precious Body and Blood to give us the strength we need to continue.  And this Eucharistic Food which gives us strength and encouragement is available to us daily.

Second Reading Commentary

Following Christ's example of love certainly is not to be found in “bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling” as these are not acts of love but acts that “grieve the Holy Spirit.” 

If you were able to place yourself into a scene of Christ's suffering what would you see?  In the scourging at the pillar, for example, certainly you would see our Lord's Back being brutally beaten by Roman soldiers.  But is the reason for this brutality revealed in this scene?  Yes, but it is not found on our Lord's back. 

If you could walk around and look at His Face you would see a Face that loves until it hurts and Eyes that express an incomprehensible love even for all those responsible - which is all of humanity. 

Consider the Blessed Virgin Mary, who at the foot of the Cross can only stand there with a sword piercing her soul as her Son's Blood drips off His Body while He delivers to her what logically should be the devastating words that she is to be the Mother of all those responsible for her Son's Sacrifice.  Could she have been any more of an imitator of Him than at this moment?  Kindness, compassion and forgiveness are enemies of the darkness witnessed by our Blessed Mother on that day - and being an enemy of darkness she would forever remain.

Gospel Commentary

In the book of Exodus (16:2) are the words, "All the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron."  In this Gospel, “the Jews murmured about Jesus.”  This is a great aid in seeing a similarity between Jesus and Moses; but when comparing the manna ate in the desert to the “Bread of Life,” there is also clearly seen a major difference.  Moses was a servant of God; Jesus, in His Human Nature, was also a Servant.  Moses received the manna from God to satisfy the temporal needs of the Israelites; Jesus, Who is God, gives us the True Bread and “whoever eats this Bread will live forever”; and this Bread is the Flesh of Jesus which He gives “for the life of the world.” 

In this Gospel, Saint John makes it very clear that those who “ate the manna in the desert died”; but the Flesh of Jesus “comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.” 

The murmurings about Jesus which occur in this Gospel continue in our own time with movies, books and documentaries which attempt to discredit Who He is.  Our Lord's command for them to “Stop” may take on a more consequential meaning today. 

“No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draw him.”  This is a great mystery of His grace.  We are drawn to Him by a mysterious desire and love for Him which can only come from His grace and the gift of being able to see with eyes of faith. 

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”  Certainly this verse reveals that belief or faith is a major ingredient that is needed to approach the Blessed Sacrament.  Let us always thank our Lord for His gifts.  With His remarkable gifts we are inspired to love, serve and worship our God even though our physical eyes have never seen Him.  With the gift of faith we are able to approach the altar and receive what our physical eyes see as ordinary bread and wine; but our eyes of faith tell us that this is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Uniting with the Angels

Today on this liturgical Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori is a reflection on the Divine Office written by this great saint. 

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In the Divine Office God is honored, the fury of the enemy is repelled, and the divine mercies are obtained for sinners. But to attain these ends it is necessary to recite the Office in a proper manner: it is necessary to say it carefully and devoutly.

Carefully, by pronouncing the words distinctly; devoutly, that is, with attention, as Cassian teaches: “Let that be considered in the heart which is uttered by the lips.”

“How,” asks Saint Cyprian, “can you expect that God will hear you when you do not hear yourself?” Prayer made with attention is the odoriferous incense that is most agreeable to God, and obtains treasures of grace; but prayer made with voluntary distraction is a fetid smoke that provokes the divine wrath, and merits chastisement. Hence, while we recite the Office, the devil labors strenuously to make us say it with distractions and defects. We should, then, take all possible care to recite it in a proper manner.

It is necessary to enliven our faith, and to consider that in reciting the Divine Office we unite with the angels in praising God. “We begin here upon earth the Office of the inhabitants of heaven,” says Tertullian. We then perform on earth the Office of the citizens of heaven, who unceasingly praise God, and shall praise Him for an eternity. “Hence,” as Saint John Chrysostom remarks, “before we enter the church or take up the breviary we must leave at the door and dismiss all thoughts of the world.”

In reciting the Divine Office we must take care that our affections accompany the sentiments contained in what we read. It is necessary, says Saint Augustine “we must pray when the Psalmist prays, sigh when he sighs, hope when he hopes.” It is useful to renew our attention from time to time; for example, at the beginning of every psalm. We must be careful not to give occasion to mental distractions. How can he who recites the Office in a public place, or in the midst of persons who are jesting and amusing themselves, how, I ask, can he say it with piety and devotion?

Oh! what treasures do they lay up who daily recite the Divine Office with devout attention! Saint John Chrysostom says that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. But, on the other hand, they who say it negligently lose great merits, and have to render a great account to God.

Prayer Simple as Doves

Here's a reflection from a modern day Carthusian writer, Dom Jean-Baptiste Porion.

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God would not be infinite Goodness and Wisdom if, seeking and even demanding our love, He had not at the same time made it possible for us to enter into this intimacy with Himself. The means He has provided, and of which we can be absolutely certain, to enter into immediate contact with Him, are the theological virtues and the gifts which accompany them.

By faith we adhere to the truth of the divine life offered to us. By charity this life becomes ours. By hope we are certain, with the help of grace, to live this life more and more, and finally to possess it forever in eternity.

This is the essence of all true and real prayer. Instead of frittering away our time of prayer on various points; instead of philosophizing about God, multiplying acts of the intellect, of the will and the imagination, in order to conjure up ‘pictures’ of what we are thinking about, how simpler it is to go to God directly in our hearts. Seek Him in simplicity of heart ~ Wisdom 1:1.It is Our Lord Himself Who gives us the invitation. Be simple as doves ~ Saint Matthew 10:16.Man is a complex being, but it would be a pity if he introduced his complications into his relations with God. God, on the contrary, is simplicity itself. The more complicated we are, therefore, the farther we stray from Him; the simpler we are, on the other hand, the closer we come to Him.

We have seen that God, our Father, is present in us. When a child wants to talk to his father he does not make use of a manual of etiquette or a code of manners: he speaks in a simple and unaffected way, without formality; and we must do the same with our heavenly Father. He Himself said: Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven ~ Saint Matthew 18:3. A mother never grows tired of hearing her little one say: ‘Mother, I love you’. It is the same with God. The more childlike our prayer, the more it is pleasing to Him. After all it was He Who chose for Himself the name of Father. It is the Holy Spirit Who cries in us: Abba, Pater ~ Galatians 4:6. It is the Holy Spirit also Who places on our lips the inspired words of Scripture and of other liturgical texts.

Our prayer, then, must be quite simple – as simple as possible. All we have to do is to place ourselves on our knees, and with complete sincerity make our acts of faith, hope and love. There is no method of prayer more certain, more elevated, and more salutary than this.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 2, 2015

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First Reading Commentary

As mentioned in last week’s commentary, the First Reading and the Gospel are chosen because of their similar theme.  It also gives us the opportunity to see the symbolism of the First Reading become the reality or fulfillment in the Gospel Reading.  This weekend’s Readings are no exception. 

In this, the First Reading, “the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron” because of their hunger.  God satisfies their desire by raining “down bread from heaven.”  We don’t even need to read today’s Gospel to know that the bread we receive at Mass is not only from God, but also is God. 

The complaints of the Israelite community are very indicative of our human weakness, sinfulness and inability to understand the ways of God.  How often do we complain and long for those things that have only a temporary satisfaction?  In the case of food, that satisfaction lasts only a matter of hours. 

Since the beginning of salvation history to this very day our Lord has listened to many complaints even though He has everything under control.  Nevertheless, He has continued to love us and care for us beyond our understanding.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25-26, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink.  Is not life more than food?  Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not you more important than they?”   It would seem that Jesus wants us to long for the things which offer eternal satisfaction, such as the Bread of Life; while at the same time trusting in the Lord that the needs of this life will be met.  

Second Reading Commentary

“I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do.”  In Saint Paul’s day much of the struggle was with the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant; also, loyalty to God versus paganism.  Today, the battle we face is somewhat different but the principles that Paul is teaching still apply. 

Today’s struggle is more about trying to live a holy life in the midst of an onslaught of secularism.  The temptations of this day and age can be overwhelming.  We live in a world that suggests that abortion and euthanasia are okay and adultery is not that big of a deal because so many are committing it.  Immorality has become an accepted way of life in our culture. 

Saint Paul tells us in this Reading that the “truth is in Jesus.”  That was true when Paul declared it and it is still true today.  In baptism we were buried with Christ and raised up to a “new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth” and no matter what society tries to convince us of, we must pursue and continually grow in the holy and never-changing ways of our Lord.  Prayer is a great way to do this.  The more time we spend with our Lord, the less time we have to be a target of secularism; or at least receive the heavenly wisdom to recognize immorality when it tempts.  We should not only pray for our own growth in holiness, but also pray for the conversion of others; and like Saint Paul, be living examples of holiness.    

Gospel Commentary

“Rabbi, when did you get here?”  The crowd is “looking for Jesus” not necessarily because they look at Him and see a Man of great holiness; it’s more because He is able to take care of their temporal needs such as hunger.  But Jesus tells them to “not work for food that perishes but for the Food that endures for eternal life,” and Jesus is this Food.  “For on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”  The crowd seems to interpret this statement from our Lord to mean that Jesus accomplished miracles in His Father’s Name, therefore the Father shows His approval of Jesus by granting Him these miracles; and perhaps wanting that same power, the crowd immediately asks, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the One He sent.”  Probably not the answer they were looking for but it is the answer that comes from a loving God Who longs for their salvation. 

“What sign can You do, that we may see and believe in You?”  This is a puzzling question since they have already witnessed His miracles.  It also seems that they are trying to put Jesus on the spot by comparing His merits with that of Moses.  In their eyes, Jesus feeding 5,000 people doesn’t stack up to the 600,000 Israelites that “ate manna in the desert” for forty years.  This begins Jesus’ discourse on the “Bread of Life.”  Jesus is saying that the bread which came through the prayer of Moses is only a figure of Himself; and He is the “true Bread” which came “down from heaven” to give “life to the world.” 

“Sir, give us this Bread always.”  This statement from the crowd leads both Saint Augustine and Saint John Chrysostom to believe that it is at this point that the crowd believes that Jesus is God because they do not implore Jesus to ask His Father for this Bread, but instead they ask Jesus Himself for this Bread. 

Virtually all the Fathers of the Church believe that the crowd did not understand this Bread to be the Eucharist but only bread that comes from Jesus which promises to be far more excellent than the manna that their ancestors ate.  We, of course, know that this Bread is Jesus, and this Bread offers a life of immortality and eternal joy to all who receive this Bread worthily. 

God's Fire

Here's an interesting piece from the Carthusian, Dom Augustin Guillerand. 

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God is a brazier of love. Prayer brings us near to Him, and in coming near to Him we are caught by His fire. The soul is raised by the action of this fire, which is a kind of spiritual breath that spiritualizes and carries it away. The soul frees itself from all that weighs it down, keeping it attached to this wearisome earth. The Psalmist compares this breath to incense: Let my prayer be directed as incense in Your sight ~ Psalm 140:2. Now incense is a symbol universally known and exceptionally rich. But from all the substances that fire penetrates under the form of flame or heat, there follows a movement by which it spreads, causing it to increase by communicating itself to all that surrounds it.

The movement of the soul that prays has something special about it. It goes out from itself and yet remains in itself. It passes from its natural state to its supernatural state; from itself in itself to itself in God. At first glance, these expressions may seem strange. The mystery is not in the realities but in our understanding of them. Our mind is not used to these realities; we have to become accustomed to them.

Our soul is a dwelling with many apartments. In the first, it is there with the body: that is to say, with all the body's sensitiveness. It sees when the eye sees, hears when the ear hears. It moves with the muscles; it remembers, imagines and appreciates distances, when we take part in all the activities which are the common ground of its action with the body. In the second, the soul is alone and acts alone. The body is there - it is always there - but it no longer acts, it has no part in the soul's action. The soul alone thinks and loves. The body with its senses prepares the matter and elements, the conditions of this spiritual activity, but it has no part in producing it. That room is closed: the soul is there alone, and dwells there alone.

In that spiritual dwelling there is a part still more remote. It is the dwelling-place of Being, Who communicates Himself and makes us to ‘be’. We are so accustomed to live turned outwards; we hardly ever open the door of that chamber, and scarcely give it a glance; many die without ever suspecting its existence. Men ask: Where is God? God is there -- in the depths of their being, and He is there communicating being to them. They are not ‘Him Who is’ and Who gives being to all other things. They receive being; they receive a part of being which does not depend upon themselves. They receive it for a certain time, and under certain forms. And from His ‘beyond’ God gives them existence. They exist only by His power, and are only what He enables them to be. He is at the source of all they do and, no matter how much they may desire to continue those activities, they cannot do so if He is not there. To understand this, we have to think a great deal, and reflection -- perhaps the highest form human act can take -- has given place to exterior action and to local movement, both of which are common to animals and matter.

The soul that prays enters into this upper room. It places itself in the presence of that Being Who gives Himself and enters into communication with Him. To ‘communicate’ means to have something in common, and by this common element to be made one. We touch, we speak, we open out to one another. Without this ‘something’ we remain at a distance; we do not ‘communicate’. God is Love. We enter into communication with Him when we love, and in the measure of our love. The soul that loves and that has been introduced by Love into that dwelling-place where Love abides, can speak to Him. Prayer is that colloquy. God will not resist that love which asks. He has promised to do the will of those who do His will: He will do the will of them that fear Him ~ Psalm 144:19.
It is to love that is due these divine communications which have drawn from those happy recipients the most amazing exclamations. ‘Lord, stay, I beg you, the torrent of Your love: I can bear no more’. The soul, submerged and ravished, has fainted under the weight of these great waters, and has asked to be allowed to take breath for an instant, in order the better to renew its welcome. The anchorite in the desert, when he prayed, had to forbear extending his arms, so as not to be rapt in his prayer. Saint Mary the Egyptian, Saint Francis of Assisi, were raised up from the ground and remained upheld by a power greater than the weight of their body.