Suchergebnisse

Only Vanderbilt University affiliated authors are listed on VUIR. For a full list of authors, access the version of record at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6965101/ ; Identifying the underlying genetic drivers of the heritability of breast cancer prognosis remains elusive. We adapt a network-based approach to handle underpowered complex datasets to provide new insights into the potential function of germline variants in breast cancer prognosis. This network-based analysis studies similar to 7.3 million variants in 84,457 breast cancer patients in relation to breast cancer survival and confirms the results on 12,381 independent patients. Aggregating the prognostic effects of genetic variants across multiple genes, we identify four gene modules associated with survival in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and one in ER-positive disease. The modules show biological enrichment for cancer-related processes such as G-alpha signaling, circadian clock, angiogenesis, and Rho-GTPases in apoptosis. ; CAC: We thank all the individuals who took part in these studies and all the researchers, clinicians, technicians, and administrative staff who have enabled this work to be carried out. We acknowledge all contributors to the COGS and OncoArray study design, chip design, genotyping, and genotype analyses. ABCFS: Maggie Angelakos, Judi Maskiell, Gillian Dite. ABCS: Frans Hogervorst, Sten Cornelissen and Annegien Broeks. ABCTB Investigators: Rosemary Balleine, Robert Baxter, Stephen Braye, Jane Carpenter, Jane Dahlstrom, John Forbes, Soon Lee, Debbie Marsh, Adrienne Morey, Nirmala Pathmanathan, Rodney Scott, Allan Spigelman, Nicholas Wilcken, Desmond Yip. BBCS: Eileen Williams, Elaine Ryder-Mills, Kara Sargus. BCINIS: Dr. K. Landsman, Dr. N. Gronich, Dr. A. Flugelman, Dr. W. Saliba, Dr. E. Liani, Dr. I. Cohen, Dr. S. Kalet, Dr. V. Friedman, Dr. O. Barnet. BIGGS: Niall McInerney, Gabrielle Colleran, Andrew Rowan, Angela Jones. BREOGAN: Manuela Gago-Dominguez, Jose Esteban Castelao, Angel Carracedo, Victor Munoz Garzon, Alejandro Novo Dominguez, Maria Elena Martinez, Sara Miranda Ponte, Carmen Redondo Marey, Maite Pena Fernandez, Manuel Enguix Castelo, Maria Torres, Manuel Calaza, Jose Antunez, Maximo Fraga; Joaquin Gonzalez-Carrero and the Department of Pathology and Biobank of University Hospital Complex of Vigo, Instituto de Investigacion Biomedica Galicia Sur, SERGAS. BSUCH: Peter Bugert, Medical Faculty Mannheim. CCGP: Styliani Apostolaki, Anna Margiolaki, Georgios Nintos, Maria Perraki, Georgia Saloustrou, Georgia Sevastaki, Konstantinos Pompodakis. CGPS: Dorthe Uldall Andersen, Maria Birna Arnadottir, Anne Bank, Dorthe Kjeldgard Hansen, and the Danish Cancer Biobank. CNIO-BCS: Guillermo Pita, Charo Alonso, Nuria Alvarez, Pilar Zamora, and Primitiva Menendez. CPS-II: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Program of Cancer Registries. The National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology, and End Results program. CTS: Leslie Bernstein, Susan Neuhausen, James Lacey, Sophia Wang, Huiyan Ma, and Jessica Clague DeHart. Dennis Deapen, Rich Pinder, and Eunjung Lee, Pam Horn-Ross, Peggy Reynolds, Christina Clarke Dur and David Nelson, Hoda Anton-Culver, Argyrios Ziogas, and Hannah Park and Fred Schumacher. DIETCOMPLYF: charity Against Breast Cancer (Registered Charity Number 1121258) and the NCRN. Participants and the investigators of EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition). ESTHER: Hartwig Ziegler, Sonja Wolf, Volker Hermann, Christa Stegmaier, Katja Butterbach. FHRISK: NIHR for funding. GC-HBOC: Stefanie Engert, Heide Hellebrand, Sandra Krober and LIFE. Markus Loeffler, Joachim Thiery, Matthias Nuchter, Ronny Baber. GENICA: Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch [HB, Wing-Yee Lo], German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) [HB], gefordert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) im Rahmen der Exzellenzstrategie des Bundes und der Lander -EXC 2180 -390900677 [HB], Evangelische Kliniken Bonn gGmbH, Johanniter Krankenhaus, [Yon-Dschun Ko, Christian Baisch], University of Bonn, Germany [Hans-Peter Fischer], Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany [UH], Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bochum, Germany [Thomas Bruning, Beate Pesch, Sylvia Rabstein, Anne Lotz]; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany [Volker Harth]. HABCS: Michael Bremer. HEBCS: Rainer Fagerholm, Kirsimari Aaltonen, Karl von Smitten, Irja Erkkila. HUBCS: Shamil Gantsev. KARMA and SASBAC: Swedish Medical Research Counsel. KBCP: Eija Myohanen, Helena Kemilainen. kConFab/AOCS: Eveline Niedermayr, Family Cancer Clinics and the Clinical Follow Up Study (received funding from the NHMRC, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Cancer Australia, and the National Institute of Health (USA)). LMBC: Gilian Peuteman, Thomas Van Brussel, EvyVanderheyden and Kathleen Corthouts. MARIE: Petra Seibold, Judith Heinz, Nadia Obi, Sabine Behrens, Ursula Eilber, Muhabbet Celik and Til Olchers. MBCSG: Paolo Radice, Jacopo Azzollini, Bernardo Bonanni, Bernard Peissel, Roberto Villa, Giulia Cagnoli, Irene Feroce, and Cogentech Cancer Genetic Test Laboratory. NBCS: Kristine K. Sahlberg (PhD), Lars Ottestad (MD), Rolf Karesen (Prof. Em.) Dr. Ellen Schlichting (MD), Marit Muri Holmen (MD), Toril Sauer (MD), Vilde Haakensen (MD), Olav Engebraten (MD), Bjorn Naume (MD), Alexander Fossa (MD), Cecile E. Kiserud (MD), Kristin V. Reinertsen (MD), Aslaug Helland (MD), Margit Riis (MD), Jurgen Geisler (MD) and OSBREAC. NHS/NHS2: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WY. OBCS: Arja Jukkola-Vuorinen, Mervi Grip, Saila Kauppila, Meeri Otsukka, Leena Keskitalo and Kari Mononen. OFBCR: Teresa Selander, Nayana Weerasooriya. ORIGO: E. Krol-Warmerdam, and J. Blom. PBCS: Louise Brinton, Mark Sherman, Neonila Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Beata Peplonska, Witold Zatonski, Pei Chao, Michael Stagner. The ethical approval for the POSH study is MREC/00/6/69, UKCRN ID: 1137. Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) supported Faculty of Medicine Tissue Bank and the Faculty of Medicine DNA Banking resource. PREFACE: Sonja Oeser and Silke Landrith. PROCAS: NIHR for funding. RBCS: Petra Bos, Jannet Blom, Ellen Crepin, Elisabeth Huijskens, Anja Kromwijk-Nieuwlaat, Annette Heemskerk, the Erasmus MC Family Cancer Clinic. SBCS: Sue Higham, Helen Cramp, Dan Connley, Ian Brock, Sabapathy Balasubramanian and Malcolm W.R. Reed. We thank the SEARCH and EPIC teams. SKKDKFZS: SUCCESS Study teams in Munich, Duessldorf, Erlangen and Ulm. SZBCS: Ewa Putresza. UCIBCS: Irene Masunaka. UKBGS: Breast Cancer Now and the Institute of Cancer Research and NHS funding to the Royal Marsden/ICR NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. WHI: investigators and staff for their dedication. BCAC is funded by Cancer Research UK [C1287/A16563, C1287/A10118], the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant numbers 634935 and 633784 for BRIDGES and B-CAST respectively), and by the European Community ' s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement number 223175 (grant number HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS). The EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme funding source had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report. Genotyping of the OncoArray was funded by the NIH Grant U19 CA148065, and Cancer UK Grant C1287/A16563 and the PERSPECTIVE project supported by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant GPH-129344) and, the Ministere de l'Economie, Science et Innovation du Quebec through Genome Quebec and the PSRSIIRI-701 grant, and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. Funding for the iCOGS infrastructure came from: the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no 223175 (HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS), Cancer Research UK (C1287/A10118, C1287/A10710, C12292/A11174, C1281/A12014, C5047/A8384, C5047/A15007, C5047/A10692, C8197/A16565), the National Institutes of Health (CA128978) and Post-Cancer GWAS initiative (1U19 CA148537, 1U19 CA148065 and 1U19 CA148112 -the GAME-ON initiative), the Department of Defence (W81XWH-10-1-0341), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for the CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer, and Komen Foundation for the Cure, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. The DRIVE Consortium was funded by U19 CA148065. ABCFS was supported by grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute (USA). The content of this manuscript does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Cancer Institute or any of the collaborating centers in the in the Breast Cancer Family Registry (BCFR), nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the USA Government or the BCFR. The ABCFS was also supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the New South Wales Cancer Council, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Australia) and the Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium. J.L.H. is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellow. M.C.S. is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. The ABCS study was supported by the Dutch Cancer Society [grants NKI 2007-3839; 2009-4363; 2015-7632]. The ABCTB was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, The Cancer Institute NSW and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The work of the BBCC was partly funded by ELANFond of the University Hospital of Erlangen. The BBCS is funded by Cancer Research UK and Breast Cancer Now and acknowledges NHS funding to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, and the National Cancer Research Network (NCRN). For the BCFRNY, BCFR-PA, BCFR-UT this work was supported by grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute. For BIGGS, ES is supported by NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, Guy's & St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London, United Kingdom. IT is supported by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The BREOGAN is funded by Accion Estrategica de Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PI12/02125/Cofinanciado FEDER; Accion Estrategica de Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PI17/00918/Cofinanciado FEDER; Accion Estrategica de Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS Intrasalud (PI13/01136); Programa Grupos Emergentes, Cancer Genetics Unit, Instituto de Investigacion Biomedica Galicia Sur. Xerencia de Xestion Integrada de Vigo-SERGAS, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; Grant 10CSA012E, Conselleria de Industria Programa Sectorial de Investigacion Aplicada, PEME I + D e I + D Suma del Plan Gallego de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica de la Conselleria de Industria de la Xunta de Galicia, Spain; Grant EC11-192. Fomento de la Investigacion Clinica Independiente, Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, Spain; and Grant FEDER-Innterconecta. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Xunta de Galicia, Spain. The BSUCH study was supported by the Dietmar-Hopp Foundation, the Helmholtz Society and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). CCGP is supported by funding from the University of Crete. The CECILE study was supported by Fondation de France, Institut National du Cancer (INCa), Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Agence Nationale de Securite Sanitaire, de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail (ANSES), Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). The CGPS was supported by the Chief Physician Johan Boserup and Lise Boserup Fund, the Danish Medical Research Council, and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. The CNIO-BCS was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer and grants from the Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer and the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitario (PI11/00923 and PI12/00070). The American Cancer Society funds the creation, maintenance, and updating of the CPS-II cohort. The CTS was initially supported by the California Breast Cancer Act of 1993 and the California Breast Cancer Research Fund (contract 97-10500) and is currently funded through the National Institutes of Health (R01 CA77398, UM1 CA164917, and U01 CA199277). Collection of cancer incidence data was supported by the California Department of Public Health as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885. The University of Westminster curates the DietCompLyf database funded by Against Breast Cancer Registered Charity No. 1121258 and the NCRN. The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by: Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Generale de l'Education Nationale, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) (France); German Cancer Aid, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (Germany); the Hellenic Health Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Greece); Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro-AIRC-Italy and National Research Council (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); Health Research Fund (FIS), PI13/00061 to Granada, PI13/01162 to EPIC-Murcia, Regional Governments of Andalucia, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra, ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020) (Spain); Cancer Research UK (14136 to EPIC-Norfolk; C570/A16491 and C8221/A19170 to EPICOxford), Medical Research Council (1000143 to EPIC-Norfolk, MR/M012190/1 to EPICOxford) (United Kingdom). The ESTHER study was supported by a grant from the Baden Wurttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts. Additional cases were recruited in the context of the VERDI study, which was supported by a grant from the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe). FHRISK is funded from NIHR grant PGfAR 0707-10031. Prof D Gareth Evans is supported by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20007). The GC-HBOC is supported by the German Cancer Aid (grant no 110837, coordinator: Rita K. Schmutzler, Cologne). This work was also funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Free State of Saxony, Germany (LIFE -Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, project numbers 713241202, 713-241202, 14505/2470, 14575/2470). The GENICA was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Germany grants 01KW9975/5, 01KW9976/8, 01KW9977/0, and 01KW0114, the Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Heidelberg, the Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bochum, as well as the Department of Internal Medicine, Evangelische Kliniken Bonn gGmbH, Johanniter Krankenhaus, Bonn, Germany. The GESBC was supported by the Deutsche Krebshilfe e. V. [70492] and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). The HABCS study was supported by the Claudia von Schilling Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, by the Lower Saxonian Cancer Society, and by the Rudolf Bartling Foundation. The HEBCS was financially supported by the Helsinki University Central Hospital Research Fund, Academy of Finland (266528), the Finnish Cancer Society, and the Sigrid Juselius Foundation. The HUBCS was supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (RUS08/017), and by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations for support the Bioresource collections and RFBR grants 14-04-97088, 1729-06014 and 17-44-020498. Financial support for KARBAC was provided through the regional agreement on medical training and clinical research (ALF) between Stockholm County Council and Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Cancer Society, The Gustav V Jubilee foundation and Bert von Kantzows foundation. The KARMA study was supported by Marit and Hans Rausings Initiative Against Breast Cancer. The KBCP was financially supported by the special Government Funding (EVO) of Kuopio University Hospital grants, Cancer Fund of North Savo, the Finnish Cancer Organizations, and by the strategic funding of the University of Eastern Finland. kConFab is supported by a grant from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and previously by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Queensland Cancer Fund, the Cancer Councils of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, and the Cancer Foundation of Western Australia. LMBC is supported by the "Stichting tegen Kanker." The MARIE study was supported by the Deutsche Krebshilfe e.V. [70-2892-BR I, 106332, 108253, 108419, 110826, 110828], the Hamburg Cancer Society, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Germany [01KH0402]. MBCSG is supported by grants from the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC) and by funds from the Italian citizens who allocated the 5/1000 share of their tax payment in support of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, according to Italian laws (INT-Institutional strategic projects "5x1000"). The MCBCS was supported by the NIH grants CA192393, CA116167, CA176785 an NIH Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Breast Cancer [CA116201], and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and a generous.pngt from the David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Family Foundation. MCCS cohort recruitment was funded by VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria. The MCCS was further supported by Australian NHMRC grants 209057 and 396414, and by infrastructure provided by Cancer Council Victoria. Cases and their vital status were ascertained through the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), including the National Death Index and the Australian Cancer Database. The MEC was supported by NIH grants CA63464, CA54281, CA098758, CA132839 and CA164973. The MISS study is supported by funding from ERC-2011294576 Advanced grant, Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Research Council, Local hospital funds, Berta Kamprad Foundation, Gunnar Nilsson. The MMHS study was supported by NIH grants CA97396, CA128931, CA116201, CA140286 and CA177150. The NBCS has received funding from the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Breast Cancer Research; the Research Council of Norway grant 193387/V50 (to A-L Borresen-Dale and V.N. Kristensen) and grant 193387/H10 (to A-L Borresen-Dale and V.N. Kristensen), South Eastern Norway Health Authority (grant 39346 to A-L Borresen-Dale) and the Norwegian Cancer Society (to A-L Borresen-Dale and V.N. Kristensen). The NC-BCFR and OFBCR were supported by grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute (USA). The NCBCS was funded by Komen Foundation, the National Cancer Institute (P50 CA058223, U54 CA156733, U01 CA179715), and the North Carolina University Cancer Research Fund. The NHS was supported by NIH grants P01 CA87969, UM1 CA186107, and U19 CA148065. The NHS2 was supported by NIH grants UM1 CA176726 and U19 CA148065. The OBCS was supported by research grants from the Finnish Cancer Foundation, the Academy of Finland (grant number 250083, 122715 and Center of Excellence grant number 251314), the Finnish Cancer Foundation, the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, the University of Oulu, the University of Oulu Support Foundation and the special Governmental EVO funds for Oulu University Hospital-based research activities. The ORIGO study was supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (RUL 19971505) and the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRINL CP16). The PBCS was funded by Intramural Research Funds of the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services, USA. Genotyping for PLCO was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, NCI, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. The PLCO is supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and supported by contracts from the Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. The POSH study is funded by Cancer Research UK (grants C1275/A11699, C1275/C22524, C1275/A19187, C1275/A15956 and Breast Cancer Campaign 2010PR62, 2013PR044. PROCAS is funded from NIHR grant PGfAR 0707-10031. PROCAS is funded from NIHR grant PGfAR 0707-10031. The RBCS was funded by the Dutch Cancer Society (DDHK 2004-3124, DDHK 2009-4318). The SASBAC study was supported by funding from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research of Singapore (A*STAR), the US National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The SBCS was supported by Sheffield Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and Breast Cancer Now Tissue Bank. SEARCH is funded by Cancer Research UK [C490/A10124, C490/A16561] and supported by the UK National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. The University of Cambridge has received salary support for PDPP from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. SKKDKFZS is supported by the DKFZ. The SMC is funded by the Swedish Cancer Foundation and the Swedish Research Council (SIMPLER, VR 2017-00644). The SZBCS was supported by Grant PBZ_KBN_122/P05/2004. The UCIBCS component of this research was supported by the NIH [CA58860, CA92044] and the Lon V Smith Foundation [LVS39420]. The UKBGS is funded by Breast Cancer Now and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London. ICR acknowledges NHS funding to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. The USRT Study was funded by Intramural Research Funds of the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services, USA. The WHI program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the US National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHSN268201100046C, HHSN268201100001C, HHSN268201100002C, HHSN268201100003C, HHSN268201100004C, and HHSN271201100004C). This work was also funded by NCI U19 CA148065-01.

Identifying the underlying genetic drivers of the heritability of breast cancer prognosis remains elusive. We adapt a network-based approach to handle underpowered complex datasets to provide new insights into the potential function of germline variants in breast cancer prognosis. This network-based analysis studies ~7.3 million variants in 84,457 breast cancer patients in relation to breast cancer survival and confirms the results on 12,381 independent patients. Aggregating the prognostic effects of genetic variants across multiple genes, we identify four gene modules associated with survival in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and one in ER-positive disease. The modules show biological enrichment for cancer-related processes such as G-alpha signaling, circadian clock, angiogenesis, and Rho-GTPases in apoptosis. ; BCAC: We thank all the individuals who took part in these studies and all the researchers, clinicians, technicians, and administrative staff who have enabled this work to be carried out. We acknowledge all contributors to the COGS and OncoArray study design, chip design, genotyping, and genotype analyses. ABCFS: Maggie Angelakos, Judi Maskiell, Gillian Dite. ABCS: Frans Hogervorst, Sten Cornelissen and Annegien Broeks. ABCTB Investigators: Rosemary Balleine, Robert Baxter, Stephen Braye, Jane Carpenter, Jane Dahlstrom, John Forbes, Soon Lee, Debbie Marsh, Adrienne Morey, Nirmala Pathmanathan, Rodney Scott, Allan Spigelman, Nicholas Wilcken, Desmond Yip. BBCS: Eileen Williams, Elaine Ryder-Mills, Kara Sargus. BCINIS: Dr. K. Landsman, Dr. N. Gronich, Dr. A. Flugelman, Dr. W. Saliba, Dr. E. Liani, Dr. I. Cohen, Dr. S. Kalet, Dr. V. Friedman, Dr. O. Barnet. BIGGS: Niall McInerney, Gabrielle Colleran, Andrew Rowan, Angela Jones. BREOGAN: Manuela Gago-Dominguez, Jose Esteban Castelao, Angel Carracedo, Victor Munoz Garzon, Alejandro Novo Dominguez, Maria Elena Martinez, Sara Miranda Ponte, Carmen Redondo Marey, Maite Pena Fernandez, Manuel Enguix Castelo, Maria Torres, Manuel Calaza, Jose Antunez, Maximo Fraga; Joaquin Gonzalez-Carrero and the Department of Pathology and Biobank of University Hospital Complex of Vigo, Instituto de Investigacion Biomedica Galicia Sur, SERGAS. BSUCH: Peter Bugert, Medical Faculty Mannheim. CCGP: Styliani Apostolaki, Anna Margiolaki, Georgios Nintos, Maria Perraki, Georgia Saloustrou, Georgia Sevastaki, Konstantinos Pompodakis. CGPS: Dorthe Uldall Andersen, Maria Birna Arnadottir, Anne Bank, Dorthe Kjeldgard Hansen, and the Danish Cancer Biobank. CNIO-BCS: Guillermo Pita, Charo Alonso, Nuria Alvarez, Pilar Zamora, and Primitiva Menendez. CPS-II: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Program of Cancer Registries. The National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology, and End Results program. CTS: Leslie Bernstein, Susan Neuhausen, James Lacey, Sophia Wang, Huiyan Ma, and Jessica Clague DeHart. Dennis Deapen, Rich Pinder, and Eunjung Lee, Pam Horn-Ross, Peggy Reynolds, Christina Clarke Dur and David Nelson, Hoda Anton-Culver, Argyrios Ziogas, and Hannah Park and Fred Schumacher. DIETCOMPLYF: charity Against Breast Cancer (Registered Charity Number 1121258) and the NCRN. Participants and the investigators of EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition). ESTHER: Hartwig Ziegler, Sonja Wolf, Volker Hermann, Christa Stegmaier, Katja Butterbach. FHRISK: NIHR for funding. GC-HBOC: Stefanie Engert, Heide Hellebrand, Sandra Krober and LIFE. Markus Loeffler, Joachim Thiery, Matthias Nuchter, Ronny Baber. GENICA: Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch [HB, Wing-Yee Lo], German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) [HB], gefordert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) im Rahmen der Exzellenzstrategie des Bundes und der Lander -EXC 2180 -390900677 [HB], Evangelische Kliniken Bonn gGmbH, Johanniter Krankenhaus, [Yon-Dschun Ko, Christian Baisch], University of Bonn, Germany [Hans-Peter Fischer], Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany [UH], Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bochum, Germany [Thomas Bruning, Beate Pesch, Sylvia Rabstein, Anne Lotz]; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany [Volker Harth]. HABCS: Michael Bremer. HEBCS: Rainer Fagerholm, Kirsimari Aaltonen, Karl von Smitten, Irja Erkkila. HUBCS: Shamil Gantsev. KARMA and SASBAC: Swedish Medical Research Counsel. KBCP: Eija Myohanen, Helena Kemilainen. kConFab/AOCS: Eveline Niedermayr, Family Cancer Clinics and the Clinical Follow Up Study (received funding from the NHMRC, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Cancer Australia, and the National Institute of Health (USA)). LMBC: Gilian Peuteman, Thomas Van Brussel, EvyVanderheyden and Kathleen Corthouts. MARIE: Petra Seibold, Judith Heinz, Nadia Obi, Sabine Behrens, Ursula Eilber, Muhabbet Celik and Til Olchers. MBCSG: Paolo Radice, Jacopo Azzollini, Bernardo Bonanni, Bernard Peissel, Roberto Villa, Giulia Cagnoli, Irene Feroce, and Cogentech Cancer Genetic Test Laboratory. NBCS: Kristine K. Sahlberg (PhD), Lars Ottestad (MD), Rolf Karesen (Prof. Em.) Dr. Ellen Schlichting (MD), Marit Muri Holmen (MD), Toril Sauer (MD), Vilde Haakensen (MD), Olav Engebraten (MD), Bjorn Naume (MD), Alexander Fossa (MD), Cecile E. Kiserud (MD), Kristin V. Reinertsen (MD), Aslaug Helland (MD), Margit Riis (MD), Jurgen Geisler (MD) and OSBREAC. NHS/NHS2: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WY. OBCS: Arja Jukkola-Vuorinen, Mervi Grip, Saila Kauppila, Meeri Otsukka, Leena Keskitalo and Kari Mononen. OFBCR: Teresa Selander, Nayana Weerasooriya. ORIGO: E. Krol-Warmerdam, and J. Blom. PBCS: Louise Brinton, Mark Sherman, Neonila Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Beata Peplonska, Witold Zatonski, Pei Chao, Michael Stagner. The ethical approval for the POSH study is MREC/00/6/69, UKCRN ID: 1137. Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) supported Faculty of Medicine Tissue Bank and the Faculty of Medicine DNA Banking resource. PREFACE: Sonja Oeser and Silke Landrith. PROCAS: NIHR for funding. RBCS: Petra Bos, Jannet Blom, Ellen Crepin, Elisabeth Huijskens, Anja Kromwijk-Nieuwlaat, Annette Heemskerk, the Erasmus MC Family Cancer Clinic. SBCS: Sue Higham, Helen Cramp, Dan Connley, Ian Brock, Sabapathy Balasubramanian and Malcolm W.R. Reed. We thank the SEARCH and EPIC teams. SKKDKFZS: SUCCESS Study teams in Munich, Duessldorf, Erlangen and Ulm. SZBCS: Ewa Putresza. UCIBCS: Irene Masunaka. UKBGS: Breast Cancer Now and the Institute of Cancer Research and NHS funding to the Royal Marsden/ICR NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. WHI: investigators and staff for their dedication. BCAC is funded by Cancer Research UK [C1287/A16563, C1287/A10118], the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant numbers 634935 and 633784 for BRIDGES and B-CAST respectively), and by the European Community ' s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement number 223175 (grant number HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS). The EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme funding source had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report. Genotyping of the OncoArray was funded by the NIH Grant U19 CA148065, and Cancer UK Grant C1287/A16563 and the PERSPECTIVE project supported by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant GPH-129344) and, the Ministere de l'Economie, Science et Innovation du Quebec through Genome Quebec and the PSRSIIRI-701 grant, and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. Funding for the iCOGS infrastructure came from: the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no 223175 (HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS), Cancer Research UK (C1287/A10118, C1287/A10710, C12292/A11174, C1281/A12014, C5047/A8384, C5047/A15007, C5047/A10692, C8197/A16565), the National Institutes of Health (CA128978) and Post-Cancer GWAS initiative (1U19 CA148537, 1U19 CA148065 and 1U19 CA148112 -the GAME-ON initiative), the Department of Defence (W81XWH-10-1-0341), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for the CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer, and Komen Foundation for the Cure, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. The DRIVE Consortium was funded by U19 CA148065. ABCFS was supported by grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute (USA). The content of this manuscript does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Cancer Institute or any of the collaborating centers in the in the Breast Cancer Family Registry (BCFR), nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the USA Government or the BCFR. The ABCFS was also supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the New South Wales Cancer Council, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Australia) and the Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium. J.L.H. is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellow. M.C.S. is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. The ABCS study was supported by the Dutch Cancer Society [grants NKI 2007-3839; 2009-4363; 2015-7632]. The ABCTB was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, The Cancer Institute NSW and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The work of the BBCC was partly funded by ELANFond of the University Hospital of Erlangen. The BBCS is funded by Cancer Research UK and Breast Cancer Now and acknowledges NHS funding to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, and the National Cancer Research Network (NCRN). For the BCFRNY, BCFR-PA, BCFR-UT this work was supported by grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute. For BIGGS, ES is supported by NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, Guy's & St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London, United Kingdom. IT is supported by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The BREOGAN is funded by Accion Estrategica de Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PI12/02125/Cofinanciado FEDER; Accion Estrategica de Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PI17/00918/Cofinanciado FEDER; Accion Estrategica de Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS Intrasalud (PI13/01136); Programa Grupos Emergentes, Cancer Genetics Unit, Instituto de Investigacion Biomedica Galicia Sur. Xerencia de Xestion Integrada de Vigo-SERGAS, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; Grant 10CSA012E, Conselleria de Industria Programa Sectorial de Investigacion Aplicada, PEME I + D e I + D Suma del Plan Gallego de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica de la Conselleria de Industria de la Xunta de Galicia, Spain; Grant EC11-192. Fomento de la Investigacion Clinica Independiente, Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, Spain; and Grant FEDER-Innterconecta. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Xunta de Galicia, Spain. The BSUCH study was supported by the Dietmar-Hopp Foundation, the Helmholtz Society and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). CCGP is supported by funding from the University of Crete. The CECILE study was supported by Fondation de France, Institut National du Cancer (INCa), Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Agence Nationale de Securite Sanitaire, de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail (ANSES), Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). The CGPS was supported by the Chief Physician Johan Boserup and Lise Boserup Fund, the Danish Medical Research Council, and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. The CNIO-BCS was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer and grants from the Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer and the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitario (PI11/00923 and PI12/00070). The American Cancer Society funds the creation, maintenance, and updating of the CPS-II cohort. The CTS was initially supported by the California Breast Cancer Act of 1993 and the California Breast Cancer Research Fund (contract 97-10500) and is currently funded through the National Institutes of Health (R01 CA77398, UM1 CA164917, and U01 CA199277). Collection of cancer incidence data was supported by the California Department of Public Health as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885. The University of Westminster curates the DietCompLyf database funded by Against Breast Cancer Registered Charity No. 1121258 and the NCRN. The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by: Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Generale de l'Education Nationale, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) (France); German Cancer Aid, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (Germany); the Hellenic Health Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Greece); Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro-AIRC-Italy and National Research Council (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); Health Research Fund (FIS), PI13/00061 to Granada, PI13/01162 to EPIC-Murcia, Regional Governments of Andalucia, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra, ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020) (Spain); Cancer Research UK (14136 to EPIC-Norfolk; C570/A16491 and C8221/A19170 to EPICOxford), Medical Research Council (1000143 to EPIC-Norfolk, MR/M012190/1 to EPICOxford) (United Kingdom). The ESTHER study was supported by a grant from the Baden Wurttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts. Additional cases were recruited in the context of the VERDI study, which was supported by a grant from the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe). FHRISK is funded from NIHR grant PGfAR 0707-10031. Prof D Gareth Evans is supported by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20007). The GC-HBOC is supported by the German Cancer Aid (grant no 110837, coordinator: Rita K. Schmutzler, Cologne). This work was also funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Free State of Saxony, Germany (LIFE -Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, project numbers 713241202, 713-241202, 14505/2470, 14575/2470). The GENICA was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Germany grants 01KW9975/5, 01KW9976/8, 01KW9977/0, and 01KW0114, the Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Heidelberg, the Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bochum, as well as the Department of Internal Medicine, Evangelische Kliniken Bonn gGmbH, Johanniter Krankenhaus, Bonn, Germany. The GESBC was supported by the Deutsche Krebshilfe e. V. [70492] and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). The HABCS study was supported by the Claudia von Schilling Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, by the Lower Saxonian Cancer Society, and by the Rudolf Bartling Foundation. The HEBCS was financially supported by the Helsinki University Central Hospital Research Fund, Academy of Finland (266528), the Finnish Cancer Society, and the Sigrid Juselius Foundation. The HUBCS was supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (RUS08/017), and by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations for support the Bioresource collections and RFBR grants 14-04-97088, 1729-06014 and 17-44-020498. Financial support for KARBAC was provided through the regional agreement on medical training and clinical research (ALF) between Stockholm County Council and Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Cancer Society, The Gustav V Jubilee foundation and Bert von Kantzows foundation. The KARMA study was supported by Marit and Hans Rausings Initiative Against Breast Cancer. The KBCP was financially supported by the special Government Funding (EVO) of Kuopio University Hospital grants, Cancer Fund of North Savo, the Finnish Cancer Organizations, and by the strategic funding of the University of Eastern Finland. kConFab is supported by a grant from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and previously by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Queensland Cancer Fund, the Cancer Councils of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, and the Cancer Foundation of Western Australia. LMBC is supported by the "Stichting tegen Kanker." The MARIE study was supported by the Deutsche Krebshilfe e.V. [70-2892-BR I, 106332, 108253, 108419, 110826, 110828], the Hamburg Cancer Society, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Germany [01KH0402]. MBCSG is supported by grants from the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC) and by funds from the Italian citizens who allocated the 5/1000 share of their tax payment in support of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, according to Italian laws (INT-Institutional strategic projects "5x1000"). The MCBCS was supported by the NIH grants CA192393, CA116167, CA176785 an NIH Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Breast Cancer [CA116201], and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and a generous.pngt from the David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Family Foundation. MCCS cohort recruitment was funded by VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria. The MCCS was further supported by Australian NHMRC grants 209057 and 396414, and by infrastructure provided by Cancer Council Victoria. Cases and their vital status were ascertained through the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), including the National Death Index and the Australian Cancer Database. The MEC was supported by NIH grants CA63464, CA54281, CA098758, CA132839 and CA164973. The MISS study is supported by funding from ERC-2011294576 Advanced grant, Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Research Council, Local hospital funds, Berta Kamprad Foundation, Gunnar Nilsson. The MMHS study was supported by NIH grants CA97396, CA128931, CA116201, CA140286 and CA177150. The NBCS has received funding from the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Breast Cancer Research; the Research Council of Norway grant 193387/V50 (to A-L Borresen-Dale and V.N. Kristensen) and grant 193387/H10 (to A-L Borresen-Dale and V.N. Kristensen), South Eastern Norway Health Authority (grant 39346 to A-L Borresen-Dale) and the Norwegian Cancer Society (to A-L Borresen-Dale and V.N. Kristensen). The NC-BCFR and OFBCR were supported by grant UM1 CA164920 from the National Cancer Institute (USA). The NCBCS was funded by Komen Foundation, the National Cancer Institute (P50 CA058223, U54 CA156733, U01 CA179715), and the North Carolina University Cancer Research Fund. The NHS was supported by NIH grants P01 CA87969, UM1 CA186107, and U19 CA148065. The NHS2 was supported by NIH grants UM1 CA176726 and U19 CA148065. The OBCS was supported by research grants from the Finnish Cancer Foundation, the Academy of Finland (grant number 250083, 122715 and Center of Excellence grant number 251314), the Finnish Cancer Foundation, the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, the University of Oulu, the University of Oulu Support Foundation and the special Governmental EVO funds for Oulu University Hospital-based research activities. The ORIGO study was supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (RUL 19971505) and the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRINL CP16). The PBCS was funded by Intramural Research Funds of the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services, USA. Genotyping for PLCO was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, NCI, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. The PLCO is supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and supported by contracts from the Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. The POSH study is funded by Cancer Research UK (grants C1275/A11699, C1275/C22524, C1275/A19187, C1275/A15956 and Breast Cancer Campaign 2010PR62, 2013PR044. PROCAS is funded from NIHR grant PGfAR 0707-10031. PROCAS is funded from NIHR grant PGfAR 0707-10031. The RBCS was funded by the Dutch Cancer Society (DDHK 2004-3124, DDHK 2009-4318). The SASBAC study was supported by funding from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research of Singapore (A*STAR), the US National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The SBCS was supported by Sheffield Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and Breast Cancer Now Tissue Bank. SEARCH is funded by Cancer Research UK [C490/A10124, C490/A16561] and supported by the UK National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. The University of Cambridge has received salary support for PDPP from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. SKKDKFZS is supported by the DKFZ. The SMC is funded by the Swedish Cancer Foundation and the Swedish Research Council (SIMPLER, VR 2017-00644). The SZBCS was supported by Grant PBZ_KBN_122/P05/2004. The UCIBCS component of this research was supported by the NIH [CA58860, CA92044] and the Lon V Smith Foundation [LVS39420]. The UKBGS is funded by Breast Cancer Now and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London. ICR acknowledges NHS funding to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. The USRT Study was funded by Intramural Research Funds of the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services, USA. The WHI program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the US National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHSN268201100046C, HHSN268201100001C, HHSN268201100002C, HHSN268201100003C, HHSN268201100004C, and HHSN271201100004C). This work was also funded by NCI U19 CA148065-01. ; Sí

A priori, buscamos descrever brevemente o contexto político-social e econômico brasileiro em que a obra a ser resenhada foi pensada e redigida, a fim de qualificar e destacar a importância deste trabalho enquanto referência atual, efetiva e fundamental ao enriquecimento dos diálogos acadêmicos daqueles pensadores que se preocupam em adotar uma postura epistemológica crítica com relação ao panorama observado e vivido no Brasil. Para tanto, compreendemos que, enquanto ordem e regime social simbólico e pragmático, o fascismo pode coexistir com o a democracia - quando este último termo é desconstruído e desconectado de sua base epistemológica - e, além disso, é apropriado pelos agentes das políticas liberais. Desta feita, em vez sacrificar e prostrar a democracia aos interesses e exigências do capitalismo global de maneira objetiva, este conceito é trivializado e subjugado diuturnamente - nas esferas políticas, na mídia e, até mesmo, na academia -, até o ponto em que este não se faz mais socialmente necessário e/ou compreensível em sua plenitude e, por fim, acaba sendo convertida exclusivamente aos desígnios do mainstream. Assim sendo, adentramos em um período histórico em que as sociedades podem ser híbridas, ou seja: politicamente democráticas (forma) e socialmente fascistas (conteúdo), frente às demandas e especificidades do mercado e seus operadores (SANTOS e MENEZES, 2009). Tal qual ocorre no Brasil contemporaneamente (TIBURI, 2015; SEVERIANO e DÓRIA, 2015). De fronte ao cenário supracitado, a obra intitulada: "A tolice da inteligência brasileira - ou como o País se deixa manipular pela elite" (272 págs.), teve sua primeira edição publicada pela Editora Leya, em 2015 e, fora escrita pelo professor e pesquisador: Jessé José Freire de Souza (Universidade Federal Fluminense). Este que possui graduação em Direito; mestrado e doutorado em Sociologia; três pós-doutorados e uma livre docência; escreveu e organizou 23 livros e mais de 100 artigos e capítulos de livros em diversas línguas, sobre temas diretamente ligados as áreas da teoria social, pensamento social brasileiro e estudos teórico/empíricos acerca da desigualdade das classes sociais no Brasil contemporâneo - e, que até o momento da ascensão e institucionalização do "novo governo" -, ocupava o cargo de Presidente do Ipea: Instituo de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada. Com este livro organizado em quatro partes e dezesseis capítulos - para além do prefácio -, a partir de um encadeamento escalar e cronológico impecável, Souza (2015), descreve, examina e conforma ideias e argumentos críticos que podem nos explicar a partir de uma abordagem teórica e histórica, as reais contradições que envolvem o Brasil e, de que forma classes sociais inteiras são feitas de tolas para que a reprodução de privilégios injustos sejam mantidos inalterados na condução dos rumos do Estado, suas instituições e suas das dinâmicas política, social e econômica, em proveito das elites - políticas e econômicas - instauradas no País. No prefácio da obra, o próprio autor desnuda os traços simbólicos e pragmáticos que a sociedade brasileira enfrenta ao longo da vida de maneira acrítica e compassiva, demostrando como se fundamentam e se alastram - de maneira livre - a ideologia e os interesses dos mais ricos do Brasil (1%), em detrimento da exploração do trabalho do restante da população (os 99% restantes). E, além disso, como o domínio das estruturas de poder, da informação e da inteligência, monopolizaram os recursos que deveriam ser de todos e, por conseguinte, abrem caminho para o empreendimento de uma violência simbólica, que permite a edificação de uma das sociedades mais desiguais e perversas do planeta (SOUZA, 2015). Já na primeira parte do livro, em seis capítulos, Souza (2015), disserta acerca da construção e fundamentação do ideário social brasileiro por parte de expoentes da História, da Antropologia e da Sociologia nacional, tais como: Gilberto Freyre, Roberto DaMatta, Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda e Raymundo Faoro - dentre outros -, questionando academicamente, de maneira clara e objetiva, quais são os contextos e os objetivos inconfessáveis dos referidos autores em erigir e, difundir reflexões pseudocríticas em que a sociedade brasileira é retratada por meio de argumentos ardilosos, em que há uma sistemática repetição das banalidades e axiomas de um senso comum permeado de preconceitos arraigados ao patrimonialismo historicamente vigente no controle do Estado brasileiro. Elucidando esta exposição, é impreterível se utilizar do próprio vocábulo de Souza (2015, p. 90): Nosso liberalismo hegemônico, na esfera pública, na grande imprensa conservador e, em boa parte do debate acadêmico é, certamente, uma das intepretações liberais mais mesquinhas, redutoras e superficiais que existe em escala planetária. Se fossemos completamente sinceros, teríamos de dizer que essa interpretação nada mais é, hoje em dia, que pura "violência simbólica", sem nenhum aporte interpretativo efetivo e sem qualquer compromisso, seja com a verdade, seja com a dor e o sofrimento que ainda marcam, de modo insofismável, a maior parte da população brasileira. Também nesta parte do livro, Souza (2015), discute com seriedade, quais são as bases teórico-metodológicas e, além disso, quais são as perspectivas políticas, ideológicas e epistemológicas dos referidos autores - liberais conservadores -, acerca da formação e da organização da sociedade brasileira. Estabelecendo valorosos argumentos que situam nossas realidades antropológicas, institucionais e econômicas a mesma altura de qualquer outra sociedade humana e/ou país - tanto em pontos positivos, quanto em negativos. Reforçando suas ponderações sobre o quadro supracitado, mas, especificamente sobre a conjuntura atual no Brasil, Souza (2015, p. 11) indica que: Daí ser fundamental compreender como intelectuais e especialistas distorcem o mundo para tornar todo tipo de privilégio injusto em privilégio merecido (...). (...) Não basta aos endinheirados controlar todos os grandes jornais e redes de TV para legitimar seus próprios interesses. Hoje em dia esses interesses precisam ser justificados de modo que pareçam razoáveis a fim de convencer os que são feitos de tolos por essas falsas justificações. (...) criando uma ciência para seus interesses, como de fato construíram para o Brasil. Por conseguinte, na segunda parte do texto, em três matérias, Souza (2015), centra seus questionamentos e reflexões no aporte exclusivamente economicista da dimensão simbólica do capitalismo contemporâneo e, de que maneira esta abordagem se desdobra de maneira inequívoca, sobre o cotidiano da humanidade e - em especial -, dos brasileiros. Indicando como a partir desta perspectiva, todo comportamento individual/social passa a ser induzido e traduzido por meio de estímulos econômicos, tendo, deste modo, todas as qualidades humanas reduzidas ao potencial das quantidades de "coisas úteis" a serem consumidas. Nesse sentido, o autor do livro traça uma linha de pensamento em que desenvolve uma complexa narrativa em que observa e descreve como esta abordagem economicista - ao longo do tempo -, naturaliza as deformações, distorções e injustiças sociais que acometem o Brasil e como, por conseguinte, estas são secundarizadas nos discursos e nas práticas dos indivíduos, das instituições e dos governos. Criando e recriando um cenário de racismo de classe e, em igual medida, estabelecendo que todo mal - político, administrativo e econômico - é derivado da corrupção instalada - exclusivamente -, no Estado. Ignorando e negando as responsabilidades da classe burguesa e da iniciativa privada para formatação e reforço deste drástico panorama em que vivemos. Ainda no segundo segmento de seu livro, Souza (2015), traz consigo os argumentos e a construção teórica de Florestan Fernandes e, por sua vez, os questiona de maneira franca. Levantando dúvidas sobre a generalização e validade das ponderações e adágios feitos por Fernandes acerca das realidade e totalidade dos estigmas referentes e inerentes à sociedade brasileira. Por sua vez, na terceira fração de seu livro, em quatro tópicos, Souza (2015), discute como o alinhamento espontâneo a uma ideologia opressiva a diversidade brasileira, acaba por enviesar - até mesmo - as perspectivas e análises acadêmicas sobre a situação do Brasil. Visto como é grande a capacidade de dominação ideológica, os debates científicos passam a ser colonizados em seus próprios termos e conceitos, impedindo os pensadores de perceber as diferenças na estruturação dos argumentos sobre as análises e julgamentos do contexto social brasileiro. Além disso, o autor ainda descreve como esta perspectiva estreita afeta - em igual medida -, o cotidiano da população, uma vez que se estabelece uma forte influência e presença dos ideais capitalistas que fundamentam hierarquias valorativas e segregativas, a partir de mecanismos ocultos e opacos, que por fim, buscam ativamente estabelecer uma violência simbólica - naturalizada - no contato entre os extratos sociais, conformando um quadro de estamento socioeconômico e cultural internamente no País. Especificamente, em escala internacional, Souza (2015), indica que: apesar de não ser verdade. A compreensão, a construção e o reforço do status quo das sociedades avançadas e a submissão das periféricas, acabam por prosseguir sob a mesma lógica de dominação ideológica intrínseca as sociedades locais, uma vez que existe uma série de pressupostos não explicitados que acabam por viciar os exames sobre as estruturas e normas de funcionamento qualitativamente distintas em relação à formação - social, econômica, cultural, religiosa, etc. -, de cada Estado. Criando e reproduzindo perniciosos argumentos políticos, midiáticos e pseudocientíficos que baseiam e reforçam e perpetuam a condição econômica e moral de cada Estado - evidentemente, a partir de uma perspectiva exclusivamente Ocidental, Eurocêntrica e/ou em prol de países como os Estados Unidos, que subjugam e corroem as potencialidades de países de fora deste eixo, tais como o Brasil, por exemplo. Idealizando um cenário que passa a ser inatingível frente aos "oportunos" condicionantes e prerrogativas inatos a cada país, segundo este ponto de vista. Diante desta paisagem em tela, Souza (2015, p. 171), adverte: Essa dificuldade se reproduz na consideração apenas do aspecto "material" do capitalismo, que se expandiu praticamente para todas as partes do globo, e no amesquinhamento da dimensão simbólica à dimensão, quase sempre eivada de "violência simbólica", da "cultura nacional" ou do "mito nacional". Como a cultura nacional reflete, pelo menos em grande medida - com dizia com razão o Marx da ideologia alemã -, os interesses particulares das classes dominantes transformados em interesses de todo corpo social, estamos confrontando com a distorção da realidade quanto com sua fragmentação e redução ao elemento "material" na dimensão da comparação entre sociedades". Na quarta e derradeira parte desta obra, Souza (2015), estabelece suas reflexões acerca de três importantes tópicos: I) sobre a cegueira do debate brasileiro sobre as classes sociais e a pobreza do debate político; II) as manifestações de junho (2013) e a cegueira política das classes; III) o golpismo de ontem e de hoje: considerações sobre o momento atual. Sobre o item I, é relevante destacar que a união entre economicismo e culturalismo conservador turva a análise e plena compreensão sobre como se dá a estruturação social, que implica a consideração de capitais que não se restringem ao econômico, mas, sobretudo, a forma velada como as classes sociais são produzidas e reproduzidas historicamente no Brasil. Souza (2015, p. 236): (...) as classes do privilégio não dispõem apenas dos capitais adequados para vencer na disputa social por recursos escassos, possuem também a "crença em si mesmo", produto de uma autoconfiança de classe, tão necessária para enfrentar todas as inevitáveis intempéries (...) e, poder usufruir do "reconhecimento social" dos outros como algo tão natural quanto respirar. As classes populares, ao contrário, não dispõem de nenhum dos privilégios de nascimento das classes média e alta. A socialização familiar é muitas vezes disruptiva, a escola é pior e muitas vezes consegue incutir com sucesso insegurança na própria capacidade, os exemplos bem-sucedidos na família são muito mais escassos, quando existentes, quase todos necessitam trabalhar muito cedo e não dispõem de tempo para os estudos, o alcoolismo, fruto do desespero com a vida, ou o abuso sexual sistemático, são também "sobrerrepresentados" nas classes populares. E, por conseguinte, como esta situação avassaladora é ignorada sistematicamente pelas esferas políticas e, principalmente, pela mídia - que naturaliza estas pré-condições e, partem delas, para estabelecer suas interpretações e considerações -, ao longo do tempo, vão sendo apresentados casos de corrupção no Estado, crises de representação e no sistema político e, crises econômicas por conta do "descontrole" dos gastos do governo. Entretanto, em hipótese alguma, o problema de fundo é abordado de maneira clara e objetiva: o abismo socioeconômico dentre os estratos sociais do Brasil, com suas causas, suas consequências e, principalmente, sobre as formas de mitigação deste horizonte. A propósito do item II, Souza (2015), versa acerca da grande fraude encampada e reforçada pela mídia golpista com relação às manifestações de junho de 2013, em que a impressão a ser reforçada ao mundo todo, é a de que o Estado brasileiro é o vilão e a sociedade local - engajada, politizada, patriota e classe média/alta -, é o mocinho desta história de conto de fadas para adultos ingênuos e infantilizados. Entretanto, quem - por fim -, ganhou muito com as reivindicações que clamavam pelo fim da corrupção e pela mudança nos rumos da economia e política da nação, fora justamente às forças mais liberais conservadoras do País - justamente, o monstro a ser combatido. Com a propagação - via redes sociais da internet e, os chamados e apelos intermitentes da mídia - a instauração deste exercício de "democracia" e "participação popular", ao longo de todo território nacional, a classe média acabou por distorcer as demandas sociais legitimas e, garantiu na pauta de reivindicações das manifestações, a exclusividade de seus interesses - ocultando de maneira inconfessável -, seus privilégios injustos e excludentes. Desta forma, este segmento social privilegiado garante de sobremaneira uma boa imagem, reforçando seus direitos a obter prestígio, reconhecimento e melhores salários e, além disso, a culpar as vítimas, de um processo social que torna invisível a injustiça - a exploração, a miséria e o sofrimento diário -, como se fosse possível escolher esta condição de pobreza e humilhação. Souza (2015, p. 241), ainda completa sua reflexão indicando que: (...) o fato de que a dominação social no Brasil se enfeita de outros atributos que não existem em outros lugares. Aqui, afinal, é o País em que a classe média "tira onda" de revolucionária, de agente de mudança e de lutadora por um "Brasil melhor". Entretanto, o insucesso desta ardilosa campanha se deu com o resultado inegável das eleições presidenciais de 2014 - vencidas de maneira legítima e democrática pelo partido da situação. Todavia, este momento histórico, se consolidou como sendo o estopim da indignação das classes políticas conservadoras que lograram, inclusive, persuadir e contaminar parte importante das classes trabalhadoras ascendentes com seu discurso draconiano, incensadas pela mídia, que a cada dia apresentava um novo escândalo do "Petrolão", envolvendo - exclusivamente e seletivamente - agentes do governo. A solução, segundo os operadores e intelectuais do apartheid conservador, é o enlace lascivo aos desígnios do capital e do mercado, com efusivos elogios as práticas da gestão enxuta, do Estado mínimo, do superávit primário, da "racionalização" dos gastos públicos, etc. Este panorama aliado à ausência crônica de debates sérios sobre a realidade brasileira, seja na academia, nos espaços públicos, na esfera política ou na mídia, torna um País tão rico e diverso como é o Brasil, com sua grande população, em uma multidão de tolos manipulados e incapazes de perceber os quais são os perigos que os assolam. Essa é uma cegueira que condena milhares de pessoas a uma vida indigna e, em igual medida, sentencia toda sua sociedade a uma reflexão amesquinhada e a uma vida apequenada em todas as suas dimensões (SOUZA, 2015). Acerca do capítulo III, Souza (2015), anota suas reflexões críticas a respeito da edificação - pari passu - do impeachment (golpe), sofrido pela presidenta eleita democraticamente pela maioria dos cidadãos brasileiros votantes - ao seu segundo mandato consecutivo: Dilma Roussef. O autor ainda destaca que ao longo de todo ano de 2015 - e, parte de 2016 -, a presidenta, sua equipe de governo e figuras de prestigio e relevância política do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), tais como o ex-presidente: Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva, foram violentamente e covardemente agredidos pela mídia e pela oposição - historicamente -, territorializada no Congresso Nacional. Sob suas exclusivas responsabilidades, todo o cômputo relativo à corrupção da esfera política brasileira foram-lhes arbitrariamente atribuídas, sem qualquer oportunidade de defesa pública e/ou jurídica. Neste caso, para além da seletividade e parcialidade que todo este maligno processo fora retratado e conduzido, com a finalidade de denegrir a reputação e, principalmente, a ideologia do PT e, dos demais partidos de "esquerda" no Brasil. Ainda se logra - a todo custo - incinerar a imagem, a representatividade e o carisma de "Lula", de forma a inviabilizar sua candidatura - e, possível reeleição - nas próximas eleições presidenciais de 2018. Adicionalmente, Souza (2015), ainda destaca que, esta crise política criada e manipulada midiaticamente é mais uma comprovação empírica dos argumentos listados em seu livro: o tema da corrupção só pode ser utilizado para enganar e manipular a população, visto como sua definição e aplicação são arbitrárias, sendo utilizado de acordo com o interesse de quem o utiliza como forma de ataque. Nesse sentido, o "moralismo" relativo à classe média no Brasil sempre foi extremamente seletivo e antidemocrático ao mesmo tempo. Sua seletividade implica em ver o mal sempre fora de si e, nunca em suas ações cotidianas de exploração e, seu caráter antidemocrático ficou evidentemente estampado nas manifestações dos "coxinhas politizados" - ocorridas ao longo de 2015/16 -, em que a pauta de reivindicação refletia apenas uma virtude idealizada mas, que fora apresentada por meio de brados retumbantes como sendo uma vontade geral, que se erigia como "apoio popular" aos interesses das elites conservadoras do País - uma perspectiva reducionista do problema e, ainda por cima, uma ilusão autoritária que traveste de "ordem e progresso" uma caminhada acelerada em direção ao fascismo (SOUZA, 2015). Neste aspecto, a imprensa se estabeleceu como player fundamental, posto que legitimou e glorificou o assalto ao princípio basal da soberania do voto popular em um regime dito como sendo: democrático e representativo. De tal modo, Souza (2015, p 259), lembra que: O jogo da pseudodemocracia moderna brasileira se armou: aproveitando o moralismo de fachada dos setores médios, baseados no ressentimento contra os de cima (sempre corruptos, especialmente no Estado) e o ódio contra os de baixo, destinado a ser astuciosamente insuflado sempre que a imprensa, "neutra como o dinheiro", visse seus interesses na ordem para poucos de algum modo ameaçado. Todavia, em comparação com o golpe de 1964 e a instauração do regime militar no Brasil, poucos vêm - ou, preferem não ver - a similaridade. Uma vez que as discussões atuais estão presas à conjuntura, são pobres de referencial teórico metodológico e, sobretudo, se seguem sem qualquer perspectiva histórica. Entretanto, Souza (2015), observa que a única mutação realmente efetiva ocorrida neste processo contemporâneo em relação ao do passado próximo, é a figura instituída como sendo o bastião da moralidade, da ordem, da eficiência e do direito, do herói justiceiro que trabalha incansavelmente como guardião da ordem, para incorporar os anseios gerais da sociedade sobre o mal, perfazendo suas ações em um nível acima daqueles conquistados pelos agentes da esfera política contaminada do Brasil. Os candidatos perfeitos para ocupar o hiato deixado pelos militares - por conta de sua truculência e, em igual medida, dos atos de corrupção -, vêm ao mundo, derivado do aparato dos órgãos de controle do governo e do judiciário criados pela Constituição de 1988, tais como: Polícia Federal (PF); Ministério Público (MP); Tribunal de Contas da União ( TCU), que recrutam e abrigam seus quadros, prioritariamente, nas fileiras da classe média conservadora e moralista (SEVERIANO e DÓRIA, 2015; SOUZA, 2015). Em seu último parágrafo, Souza (2015, p. 261), reflete e considera que: Mudam-se as vestes e as fantasias, "moderniza-se" o golpe, substitui-se o argumento das armas pelo argumento "pseudo-jurídico", amplia-se a aparência de "neutralidade", sai de cena a baioneta e entra no palco da ópera bufa a toga arrogante e arcaica do operador jurídico, mas preserva-se o principal: quem continua mandando de verdade em toda a encenação do teatro de marionetes são os mesmo 1% que controlam a riqueza, o poder e instrumentalizam a informação a seu bel-prazer. Os outros 99% ou são manipulados diretamente, com a classe média "coxinha", ou assistem de longe, bestializados, a um espetáculo o qual, como sempre, vão ter que pagar sem participar do banquete. Por fim, esta é uma obra excepcional, que subsidia de sobremaneira a compreensão crítica da composição da sociedade brasileira e, em igual medida, descreve e analisa os fundamentos históricos e conceituais da atual crise política nacional - e, por conseguinte: o golpe. Por sua vez, este livro deve ser lido com avidez e estudado com atenção e, só posteriormente, colocado a descansar na estante, bem ao lado de importantes autores e pensadores - clássicos e contemporâneos -, desta classe literária (ciência social crítica) e opção epistemológica. E, cabe destacar que este livro versa sobre um cenário contemporâneo e, extremamente, tangível. Desta forma, as reflexões contidas nele podem e devem ser utilizadas como sendo fonte para reconstrução da realidade a partir de pensamentos e intervenções inteligentes e equilibradas no cenário brasileiro (SOUZA, 2015).

Il presente lavoro si prefigge la finalità di analizzare taluni aspetti legati al diritto reale di abitazione, con speciale riferimento al divieto di cessione del predetto diritto previsto dall'articolo 1024 del codice civile. Tale problematica, inoltre, è strettamente connessa anche ad altri aspetti pratici, quali l'ipotecabilità e l'espropriabilità del predetto diritto reale. In particolare è apparso opportuno approfondire preliminarmente taluni profili di carattere generale riguardanti il diritto di abitazione, nei limiti in cui essi fossero funzionali alla ricostruzione che si è tentato di proporre. A tal fine, sono stati affrontati alcuni aspetti, quali la natura giuridica e i presupposti soggettivi ed oggettivi, in quanto ritenuti propedeutici al prosieguo della trattazione. In particolare l'esclusione del diritto d' abitazione dal novero dei diritti ipotecabili ha sollevato diverse questioni in dottrina e in giurisprudenza. L'inattitudine del predetto diritto ad essere oggetto d'iscrizione ipotecaria deve essere necessariamente valutato alla luce della propria disciplina. Il diritto d'abitazione consente al titolare di abitare una casa "limitatamente ai bisogni suoi e della sua famiglia" (art. 1022 cod. civ.). Il rapporto che si instaura a seguito della costituzione del diritto è fondato sull'intuitus personae, sia sotto il profilo del contenuto del diritto che sotto il profilo del rapporto dell'habitator con il proprietario dell'immobile. La limitazione dell'esercizio del diritto al soddisfacimento dei bisogni del suo titolare, infatti, da una parte implica che il suo trasferimento ad un terzo potrebbe mutarne il contenuto, con eventuale nocumento per il proprietario; dall'altra implica che qualora la casa risulti di estensione maggiore rispetto alle esigenze dell'habitator, il proprietario potrà goderne per la parte eccedente: il titolare del diritto reale d'abitazione non avrebbe infatti titolo ad opporsi alle ingerenze del proprietario, nei limiti in cui quest'ultimo non molesti il libero godimento dell'altra parte dell'abitazione. Anche sotto questo secondo profilo emerge la personalità del rapporto, essendo rilevante per il proprietario la persona del titolare del diritto, con il quale potrebbe anche trovarsi dover convivere. Tali motivazioni costituiscono la ratio alla base del divieto di cessione e di locazione del diritto in esame, ex art. 1024 cod. civ. Tale divieto costituisce a sua volta il fondamento dell'esclusione del diritto d'abitazione (e d'uso) dall'elenco dei diritti ipotecabili ex art. 2810 cod. civ. La realizzazione della causa di garanzia, infatti, implica che la situazione sostanziale dedotta quale oggetto dell'ipoteca sia alienabile, non potendo immaginarsi una vendita forzata del diritto ove di questo non possa normalmente disporne il titolare. Probabilmente a ciò è legata anche la precisazione posta dall'art. 2810 n. 1) cod. civ., per cui sono ipotecabili gli immobili "che sono in commercio". L'ammissibilità dell'iscrizione ipotecaria sul diritto d'abitazione postula il riconoscimento della sua trasferibilità: è dunque necessaria un'analisi della portata del divieto di cessione di tale diritto posto dall'art. 1024 cod. civ. Come accennato, infatti, tale divieto è posto al fine di tutelare la posizione del proprietario dell'immobile, e dunque a presidio di interessi di natura privatistica: la regola sarebbe quindi applicabile ove non sia diversamente disposto dal titolo costitutivo, mentre con l'accordo di proprietario ed habitator potrebbe prevedersi una più o meno libera cedibilità, grazie al consenso della parte che la disciplina codicistica mira a tutelare. In merito è stato obiettato che il divieto di cessione non solo sia disposto a tutela della posizione del nudo proprietario, ma faccia parte del contenuto stesso del diritto, in quanto al variare del titolare sono destinate a variare anche le esigenze in base alle quali il contenuto di detto diritto è parametrato. In tale ottica, la possibilità che esso circoli, seppure con il consenso del nudo proprietario, porterebbe a rendere variabile la portata stessa del diritto, con conseguente violazione del principio di tipicità e del numerus clausus dei diritti reali, in quanto risulterebbero alterati gli aspetti caratterizzanti della disciplina tipica dell'istituto. Qualora si ritenessero accoglibili siffatte osservazioni, dovrebbe conseguentemente ritenersi che il divieto di cui all'art. 1024 cod. civ. sia inderogabile anche con il consenso del nudo proprietario contro interessato. Il principio della tipicità e del numerus clausus dei diritti reali, infatti, è posto a tutela di interessi di carattere generale, ed ha dunque valenza pubblicistica. Tale principio, come noto, risponde all'esigenza di consentire ai terzi di essere preventivamente a conoscenza dell'esistenza di pesi o vincoli opponibili erga omnes, con conseguente tutela del commercio giuridico; persegue inoltre l'utilità socio-economica di salvaguardare, per quanto possibile, la libertà, l'assolutezza e la pienezza della proprietà fondiaria, ed assurge dunque a principio di rilevanza costituzionale. Altro fondamento del divieto è stato, inoltre, riscontrato in via indiretta nel disposto di cui all'art. 1372 c. 3 cod. civ., per cui è inibita alle parti la stipulazione di contratti ad effetti reali oltre i casi previsti dalla legge. Inoltre, i fautori dell'inderogabilità del divieto ritengono che non sia applicabile al diritto d'abitazione la disciplina che consente il trasferimento dell'usufrutto per un certo tempo o per tutta la sua durata, se non vietato dal titolo costitutivo (art. 980 cod. civ.), mancando in tal caso la compatibilità tra discipline richiesta dall'art. 1026 cod. civ. Nell'usufrutto, infatti, la tutela del nudo proprietario deriva dal fatto che la durata massima del diritto gravante sull'immobile di sua titolarità è ancorata alla durata dell'originario usufrutto su esso costituito. Conseguentemente la cessione del diritto non rischierebbe di produrre una limitazione ulteriore al pieno estendersi delle facoltà proprietarie. Diversamente, in ipotesi di cessione del diritto d'abitazione, la mutevolezza dei bisogni del titolare e della sua famiglia non consente di riprodurre in via pattizia una limitazione del diritto di proprietà che risulti indifferente per il nudo proprietario: la coincidenza dei bisogni del cedente e della sua famiglia con quelli del cessionario e della sua famiglia, infatti, rappresenterebbe un dato verificabile solo a posteriori. La difficoltà di conciliare il patto in deroga al divieto di cessione del diritto d'abitazione con il principio di tipicità dei diritti reali ha condotto parte della dottrina a giustificarne l'ammissibilità ritenendo che esso trasformerebbe il diritto d'abitazione in un altro diritto reale (con conseguente mancata creazione di un diritto reale atipico). In tale ottica, in sede interpretativa potrebbe ritenersi che, con la stipulazione del patto di libera trasferibilità, le parti abbiano inteso in realtà costituire un diritto d'usufrutto, ovvero stipulare un contratto di comodato o di locazione, o che comunque tale diverso diritto esse avrebbero inteso costituire qualora fossero state a conoscenza della nullità del patto (arg. ex art. 1424 cod. civ.). Diversa dall'ipotesi del preventivo patto di cedibilità è quella del trasferimento del diritto con contestuale costituzione in atto di nudo proprietario ed habitator. In tal caso, infatti, il trasferimento potrebbe ottenersi attraverso una rinuncia abdicativa ( la quale deve avere forma scritta art.1350 n.5 e deve essere trascritta ai sensi dell'articolo 2643 n.5) da parte dell'habitator al proprio diritto, con conseguente espansione della nuda proprietà in proprietà piena in virtù del principio di elasticità del dominio. Alla luce di tali premesse, può osservarsi quanto segue. L' intrasferibilità di un diritto reale viene ad incidere anche sulla valutazione del legislatore in ordine all' ipotecabilità del medesimo. La non assoggettabilità ad ipoteca non è conseguenza necessaria dell'inalienabilità, e in diversi casi, pur essendo prevista l'intrasferibilità del diritto, non si esclude che il diritto stesso possa essere ipotecato. Tuttavia, qualora l'intrasferibilità sia connessa, come nel caso dell'abitazione alla natura del diritto, e dunque all'esigenza di preservarne l'identità, che sarebbe invece compromessa dalla circolazione del diritto, le medesime ragioni che valgono ad escluderne l'alienabilità assumono valore determinante anche al fine di escluderne l'assoggettabilità ad ipoteca. E' pacifico l'orientamento secondo il quale il diritto di abitazione, come quello d'uso e il diritto di servitù, non può essere oggetto di ipoteca in quanto non è ricompreso nell'elencazione dell'articolo 2810 del codice civile. L'ipotecabilità di tale diritto non è prevista nemmeno da leggi speciali. Pertanto deve ritenersi che il diritto di abitazione sia inidoneo ad essere oggetto d'ipoteca anche a causa del suo carattere inalienabile. Nel secondo capitolo è stato affrontato il diritto di abitazione spettante al coniuge superstite. La norma di riferimento, l'articolo 540 comma secondo, si trova, com'è noto, nella parte del libro II dedicato ai diritti spettanti ai legittimari e alla loro tutela, e la sua ratio - secondo la Corte Costituzionale (sentenza n. 310 del 26 maggio 1989) va ricercata nella tutela di interessi non patrimoniali quali la conservazione della memoria del coniuge scomparso, il mantenimento del tenore di vita, delle relazioni sociali e degli status symbols goduti durante il matrimonio. La natura giuridica dei diritti ex articolo 540 comma secondo non solo riveste notevole interesse teorico al fine di testare la "messa a punto" degli ingranaggi del complesso meccanismo successorio, ma costituisce un imprescindibile punto di partenza per affrontare - e provare a risolvere - tutte le implicazioni di carattere pratico ed operativo che si presentano all'operatore del diritto. Il diritto di abitazione si "attiva" solo in presenza di determinati presupposti: 1) viene, innanzitutto, in rilievo un PRESUPPOSTO SOGGETTIVO Deve infatti esistere un CONIUGE SUPERSTITE al momento dell'apertura della successione. Il presupposto soggettivo è rispettato anche se il coniuge superstite sia SEPARATO CONSENSUALMENTE o SENZA ADDEBITO? L'articolo 585 c.c. attribuisce al coniuge separato consensualmente o senza addebito gli stessi diritti successori spettanti al coniuge non separato, per cui dovremmo - sulla base di un'applicazione letterale e rigorosa della norma - affermare che ad esso spetti anche il diritto di abitare la casa familiare. Senonchè, in tal caso, risulta "imbarazzante" parlare di abitazione adibita a "residenza familiare" e la norma non avrebbe ragione di essere applicata, venuta meno la sua ratio così come individuata dalla corte costituzionale. 2) viene, poi, in rilievo, quale PRESUPPOSTO OGGETTIVO indispensabile per l'operatività della disciplina in oggetto, l'esistenza di una CASA ADIBITA A RESIDENZA FAMILIARE DI PROPRIETÀ DEL DEFUNTO O COMUNE. Coerentemenente dovrebbe anche sostenerne la sua TRASCRIVIBILITA' A ciò, tuttavia, si oppongono ragioni di ordine pratico: per l'esecuzione della formalità è necessario uno dei titoli previsti dall'articolo 2648 c.c. che, evidentemente, mancano ogniqualvolta si apra una successione legittima. ; The present work aims the purpose of analyzing certain aspects related to the real right of residence, with special reference to the prohibition of the sale of that right under article 1024 of the Civil Code. This issue is also closely related to other practical aspects, such as ipotecabilità and espropriabilità predicted real right. In particular appeared to be investigated preliminarily certain profiles of general questions about the right to housing, to the extent that they were functional reconstruction attempted to propose. To this end, they dealt with some aspects, such as the legal nature and assumptions subjective and objective, as it was considered preparatory to the continuation of the discussion. In particular, the exclusion of the right of 'house from the list of rights ipotecabili raised several issues in doctrine and in jurisprudence. The inadequacy of that law to be the subject of mortgage registration have to be assessed in the light of their own discipline. The right of residence permit the holder to live in a house, "limited to his needs and his family" (Art. 1022 cod. Civ.). The relationship that develops as a result of the establishment of the right is founded sull'intuitus personae, both in terms of the content of the law and in terms of the relationship dell'habitator with the property owner. The limitation of the right to meet the needs of its owner, in fact, on the one hand implies that his transfer to a third party could changing its content, with possible harm to the owner; the other implies that if the house appears wider than the needs dell'habitator, the owner will enjoy it for the excess: the holder of the real right of residence would not in fact entitled to oppose the interference of the owner, to the extent where this does not harassing the free enjoyment of the other part of the house. Also in this second profile emerges the personality of the report, being relevant to the owner the person of the right holder, with which it could also be having to live. These reasons are the rationale for the prohibition of the sale and lease of the right in question, pursuant to art. 1024 cod. civ. This prohibition is in turn the basis for exclusion of the right of residence (and use) the list of rights ipotecabili art. 2810 cod. civ. The realization of the cause of guarantee, in fact, implies that the situation substantially deducted as an object of the mortgage is alienable, unable to imagine a forced sale of the right of where this can not freely dispose of the holder. Probably this is also linked to the specification laid down by. 2810 n. 1) cod. civ., why are ipotecabili properties "that are on the market." The eligibility enrollment mortgage on the right of residence demands acknowledgment of its portability, so it is necessary to analyze the scope of the prohibition of the sale of such right place art. 1024 cod. civ. As mentioned, in fact, such a ban is placed in order to protect the position of the property owner, and therefore in defense of the interests of private nature: the rule would be applicable where it is otherwise entitled constitutive, while with the agreement owner and habitator could be foreseen a more or less free transferability, thanks to permission from the legal provision is intended to protect. About it has been argued that the prohibition of the sale not only is willing to protect the position of the bare owner, but is part of the content of the law, because the variation of the holder are intended to vary the demands under which the content of that law is equated. In this context, the possibility that it circles, albeit with the consent of the bare owner, would make variable the scope of the right, resulting in violation of the principle of typicality and the quantitative ceiling of the real rights, as would be altered the characteristic features typical of the discipline of the institute. If you consider it acceptable in such observations should therefore be concluded that the prohibition in Article. 1024 cod. civ. is unavoidable even with the consent of the bare owner against concerned. The principle of typicality and the quantitative ceiling of real rights, in fact, is designed to protect the interests of a general nature, and therefore value journalism. This principle, as is known, meets the need to enable third parties to be previously aware of the existence of weights or constraints opposable erga omnes, resulting in protection of the legal trade; also pursues the socio-economic utility to preserve, as far as possible, the freedom, the absoluteness and fullness of landed property, and then rises to the principle of constitutional significance. Another basis for the prohibition was also found indirectly in the provision of art. 1372 c. 3 cod. civ., it is inhibited to the parties entering into contracts with real effects beyond the cases provided by law. Moreover, proponents of the ban dell'inderogabilità believe that it is not applicable to the right of residence discipline that allows the transfer of the usufruct for a time or for its entire duration, if not prohibited by the title of incorporation (art. 980 cod . Civ.), lacking in this case the compatibility between disciplines required by art. 1026 cod. civ. Nell'usufrutto, in fact, the protection of the bare owner comes from the fact that the maximum duration of the right levied on the property in its ownership is anchored to the duration of the original usufruct of it consists. Consequently, the transfer of the right might not produce a further limitation to the full extend of the proprietary right. Otherwise, in the event of transfer of the right to housing, the changing needs of the owner and his family can not play on a covenantal a limitation of the right to property that is indifferent to the bare owner: the coincidence of the needs of the transferor and of his family with the assignee and his family, in fact, represent a verifiable data only in retrospect. The difficulty of reconciling the pact in derogation from the prohibition of the sale of the right of residence to the principle of typicality of property rights has led some commentators to justify their eligibility believing that it would transform the right of residence in another real right ( resulting in failure to create a real right atypical). In this context, in the interpretative could be considered that, with the signing of the pact of free transferability, the parties intended to actually be a right to use, or enter into a contract of loan or lease, or that such a different law they would be understood if they had been aware of the invalidity of the covenant (arg. art. 1424 cod. civ.). Different from the hypothesis of the budget pact transferability is that of the transfer of the right with simultaneous constitution in place of bare owner and habitator. In this case, the transfer could be obtained through a waiver abdicativa (which must be in writing and must be transcribed art.1350 n.5 under Article 2643 # 5) by dell'habitator his right, resulting in expansion of the bare property in full ownership by virtue of the principle of elasticity domain. In light of the foregoing, it can be observed the following. The 'non-transferability of a real right is to affect also the assessment of the legislature in order to' ipotecabilità thereof. The not being subject to mortgage is not necessary consequence inalienability, and in several cases, even though there is the non-transferability of the right, it is possible that the law itself may be mortgaged. However, where the non-transferability is connected, as in the case of the dwelling to the nature of the right, and therefore the need to preserve the identity, which would be affected by the movement of the right, the same reasons as apply to exclude the alienability take decisive value also in order to exclude the liability to mortgage. And 'peaceful orientation according to which the right to housing, such as the right of use and easement, can not be the subject of mortgage as there is included in listing of Article 2810 of the Civil Code. The ipotecabilità of this right is not provided even by special laws. Therefore, it must be held that the right to housing is unfit to be the subject of mortgage also because of its inalienable character. In the second chapter was addressed the right to housing payable to the surviving spouse. The reference standard, Article 540 paragraph two, is, as is well known, in part II of the book devoted to the rights due to the heirs and their protection, and its ratio - according to the Constitutional Court (judgment no. 310 of 26 May 1989) to be found in the protection of non-pecuniary interests such as the conservation of the memory of deceased spouse, maintaining the standard of living, social relations and status symbols enjoyed during the marriage. The legal nature of the rights under Article 540 paragraph two not only of considerable theoretical interest in order to test the "fine tuning" of the gears of the complex mechanism of inheritance, but is an essential starting point to address - and try to solve - all practical and operational implications that are presented to the operator's right. The right to housing is "active" only under certain conditions: 1) is, first, raised a ASSUMPTION SUBJECTIVE Must in fact exist a SURVIVING SPOUSE upon opening of the succession. The subjective condition is fulfilled even if the surviving spouse is a separate agreement or WITHOUT CHARGE? Article 585 of the Civil Code attaches to the separated spouse or consensually without charge the same inheritance rights pertaining to the spouse not separated, so we should - based on a literal application of the standard and rigorous - say that it is also entitled the right to inhabit the family home. Except that, in this case, is "embarrassing" to speak of dwelling used as a "family home" and the norm would have no reason to apply, failed its ratio as identified by the Constitutional Court. 2) is, then, in relief, which ASSUMPTION OBJECTIVE indispensable for the operation of the discipline in question, the existence of a HOUSE USED AS A FAMILY RESIDENCE OR COMMON PROPERTY OF THE DECEASED. Coerentemenente should also sustain its TRASCRIVIBILITA ' To this, however, oppose practical reasons: for the execution of the formalities you need one of the securities provided for in Article 2648 cc who obviously lacking whenever you open a legitimate succession. ; Dottorato di ricerca in Persona, impresa e lavoro: dal diritto interno a quello internazionale (XXVII ciclo)

The international business environment is still changing dramatically and, although international growth may introduce added complexity it may be unavoidable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) mainly due to the increasing globalization of markets (Levitt 1983) and industries (Yip 2003). In the face of rapid globalization, SMEs are a vital part of the economic systems of both emerging and developed countries. As Veloso (1991) points out, this type of companies may be an important organ for increasing the level of competitiveness of emerging markets. Some studies, for example, Yasuf (2001), go to the extent of suggesting that growth and employment in developing countries depend on the fate of SMEs. The incentive and the legal structures within which firms must operate have been drastically altered. SMEs are no longer protected from foreign competition and local buyers and suppliers are becoming more sophisticated. To compete effectively, SMEs must adapt and reshape themselves to facilitate adjustments and enhance learning for their growth and economic development. This article provides a typology to explain the degree of internationalization of SMEs. At one extreme is tangible internationalization, which is short-term and depends on macro and microeconomics factors exogenous to firms; at the other is a combination of tangible and intangible internationalization, which implies a strong commitment by firms to become competitive at international levels.I argue that different forces have forced the internationalization not only of firms, but also of markets, so that SMEs can become global without a physical presence in foreign markets. Furthermore, it may be necessary for these companies to become global if they are to remain competitive in their local markets. As a result of this paradigm shift, internationalization is based not only on geographical aspects, which are closely related to firm internationalization, but also on intangible considerations, which are closely related to market internationalization.Tangible internationalization is a restricted approach defined as a physical presence in a foreign market; it consists mainly of foreign sales, foreign direct investment (FDI), physical presence in foreign markets, and foreign suppliers. It fluctuates with exchange rates, costs of inputs, and other resource endowments that are tied to a particular geographic location. On the other hand, intangible internationalization implies a change in the comprehensive approach to the way firms should reconfigure, develop and secure resources. Intangible internationalization requires facilitating learning at all levels of a firm to increase the stock of knowledge, and, therefore, to improve flexibility on the production side and increase the likelihood of developing new resources and processes, thus enhancing the firm's critical invisible assets (Itami and Roehl 1987). An SME should aim for both in order to take advantage of a physical presence in foreign markets and provide constant incentives to facilitate learning and new organizational capabilities and processes. Tangible internationalization is a short-term expansion in foreign markets because it takes advantage of temporary macro- and microeconomics conditions; it does not require changes at the firm level. On the other hand, a combination of intangible and tangible internationalization has a higher probability to be sustainable in the long term and mostly depends on the firm's actions to meet international standards.This article emphasizes 5 crucial aspects of that managers need to be aware of: I. A matter of having an strategic plan II. An internal perspective of the firm III.The need of expanding the knowledge bases of SMEs IV.How to access and secure resources: networks V.The entrepreneurial aspectsI. A Matter of Having an Strategic PlanWhile firms have an important degree of freedom to make their own decisions, the effect of the environment cannot be discounted. This matter becomes critically important in the context of emerging economies because firms are not only facing changes in the structure of the industry in which they operate, but also in the surrounding and institutional environments. To be aware of the different courses of action available, decision makers must understand all the pro-market reforms, not just those that most affect their own industry. According to Weick (1995), the strategic decisions that managers make depend on their cognitive structures and how they make sense of the environment. Managers need to understand any intended change in a way that makes sense or fits an interpretative schema or system of meaning (Bartunek 1984). Andrews (1980) compares the role of the owner-manager to an architect who is in charge of doing the synthesis. Senior managers have the role of analyzing, interpreting, and making sense of clues so as to formulate and implement strategies. Senior managers should act as catalysts to understand and create new interpretative frameworks that provide purpose and direction to the members of the organization (Westley 1990).Laying a Formal Foundation: Making the Implicit Explicit The fact that SMEs have inadequate organizational structures and managerial expertise is a real problem in a changing environment. SMEs do not have the same level of support to increase their competitiveness, and given the lack of managerial expertise, building an adequate structure is not a straightforward process, even though it is a central one. Formalizing routines and processes within firms to make them less dependent on a specific individual is key. This is an important concern because SMEs not only have a less highly developed structure, but their fate is closely linked to one or a few individuals who posses knowledge or resources that have not been made explicit to the rest of the firm.Nevertheless, in a changing environment managers need to be proactive and to rethink their approaches regarding the future activities of their firms. A mere replication of previous strategies may no longer be a valid option when firms are competing in the international arena. The future can be imagined and enacted and that companies must be capable of fundamentally reconciling themselves by regenerating their core competencies and reinventing their industry. The role of managers is not to plan for the future, but to manage the process of learning and to be open to the possibility that new strategies can emerge.II. Analyzing the Firm's ResourcesAn analytical examination of the resources of a firm may help to develop an understanding not only of possible short-run business strategies, but also of future diversifications (Montgomery and Wernerfelt, 1988), growth strategies (Penrose, 1959), and sustainability of long-term rents (Rumelt, 1984). SMEs can compete in the international arena, but they will face international competition from foreign SMEs as well as from multinational enterprises (MNEs). Focusing only on product-market strategies is not enough; instead, the long-term survival of a firm depends on the characteristics and endowment of its resources, which should be valuable and difficult to imitate (Mahoney and Pandian 1992; Grant 1991; Amit and Schoemaker 1993). To be able to compete, the manager-owners of SMEs must know the internal resources and capabilities of their companies. As Andrews (1980: 18-19) suggested, a firm should make its strategic plans "preferably in a way that focuses resources to convert distinctive competence into competitive advantage."Firms are a bundle of different kinds of resources and a set of commitments to certain technologies, human resources, processes, and know-how that manager-owners marshal. This issue is particularly important to the present study because it is not unusual that are controlled, managed, and run by one or a small group of individuals that have a deep, but tacit, knowledge of the firm. What is important is a clear identification—not just a vague idea—of the different resources on which a firm can depend.How to Reconfigure a Firm's Resources? Capabilities exist when two or more resources are combined to achieve a goal and they "emphasizes the key role of strategic management in appropriately adapting, integrating and reconfiguring the internal and external organization skills, resources, and functional competences to match the requirements of changing environment" (Teece et al. 1997: 515). It is important to note that the relative endowment of firms may not necessarily relate to their financial performance because "only the service that the resource can render and not the resources themselves provide inputs into the production process" (Penrose 1972: 25). It is the deployment of a combination of those services that are critical to the rent generation of the firm. Firms need to exploit the existing firm-specific capabilities and also develop new ones (Penrose 1959; Teece 1982; Wernerfelt 1984) to compete internationally and to grow. Over time, SMEs have seen the nature of their rents change; we should expect a shift from Ricardian to Schumpeterian rents. A company may not have better resources, but achieve rents because it makes better use of its resources (Penrose 1959). Rents depend not only on the structure of the resources, but also on the ability of firms to reconfigure and transform those resources. The above discussion leads to the formation of the following hypotheses:III. The Need of Expanding the Knowledge Bases of SMEsThe capacity to exploit a new set of opportunities depends partly on the strategic decisions made by managers. In some cases, these opportunities require at least a reconfiguration of the activities of the firm, but more often, they require the incorporation of new resources and, especially, the introduction of new processes.Firms are as systems of purposeful actions engaging in economic activities to achieve objectives, therefore, they must learn adapt and survive in a complex environment. Organizational learning is the process by which firms can cope with uncertainty and environmental complexity, and their efficiency depends on learning how the environment is changing and then adapting to those changes (March and Olsen, 1976).SMEs need to enhance their learning in two different aspects. First, internal knowledge should be coded and made available to selected members in the company. The manager-owner is knowledgeable about almost all aspects of the business (Mintzberg 1979), and his or her knowledge is personal in the sense that it is located in the mind and not always encoded or available to the rest of the firm. Routines should be created in order to secure the long-term existence of the firm because routines capture the experiential lessons and make that knowledge obtainable by the members of the organization that were not part of the history of the company (Levitt and March 1988).The second way SMEs need to enhance their learning is to make changes in their knowledge base. When socio-economic environments change, firms need to assess the change in order to reformulate how they react to new incentives. The first step is developing a capability to understand the new dynamics. When regulatory and competitive conditions change rapidly, persistence in the same routines can be hazardous because managers and employees use organizational memory or knowledge to make decisions and to formulate the present strategy of the firm.The effectiveness of decisions taken by an SME is greatly influenced by its knowledge base which, in turn, is the result of learning processes that are no longer applicable and may be misleading. Changes in the knowledge base are probably requisite for any firms competing in an industry with tradable products. Supporting infrastructure and routines may prove essential to increase the learning pace and to effectively integrate the new knowledge and reduce the inertia due to outdated knowledge.IV. How to Access and Secure Resources: NetworksSMEs, compared to larger firms, face major challenges in terms of securing and updating resources. Where internal resources are important to accounting for a firm's performance (Gnyawali and Madhavan, 2001), resources also can be secured within networks that may allow firms to be competitive locally and internationally. Increasingly, networking is seen as a primarily means of rising required resources. Resources, such as information, equipment, and personnel, can be exchanged in networks because of relationships between. Networks are important instruments to ease the constraints facing SMEs in terms of access to: a) capital markets to obtain long-term finance both locally and internationally, b) narrow and highly regulated labor markets, c) information and technologies, d) inefficient tax codes, and e) highly bureaucratic and expansive legal procedures. SMEs may be part of a network not only because it may find complementary resources, but also because owners and managers may have friendship ties with other owners and mangers. These non-economic reasons may be as important as economic ones.A Particular Kind of Network: Industry Clusters An extensive literature exists on the topic of industry clusters. Ricardo's "comparative advantages" can be considered as a pioneering concept of industrial clusters; and Marshall's exposition about externalities is based on industrial localization. Industrial clusters are characterized by having extensive interfirm exchanges and an advantageous environment to pursue business activities. Marshall (1961) argues that industry localization may be an important factor because a) it creates a market for workers with certain industry-specific skills, b) it promotes production and exchange of non-tradable specialized input, and c) firms may take advantage of informational spillovers. Krugman (1991) points out that given the existence of market imperfection, pecuniary externalities may also play an important role in determining the concentration of industry in a specific geographic location. Pouder and St. John (1996) argue that clustered firms have a greater legitimacy than firms outside a cluster. Clusters can provide a critical mass to counterbalance the political influence of large firms and to increase the pressure for investments that affect the productivity of the cluster. Furthermore, competition within clusters increases productivity and new firm development (Porter 1998).V. The Entrepreneurial AspectsIntangible internationalization requires facilitating learning by its employees in order to constantly transform the firm. Implementing mechanisms to expand the knowledge base and to diffuse information should allow SMEs to increase their capacity to develop new goods and services, and to compete in new markets. Key characteristics of this type of internationalization are common interests, trust and openness that allow employees to challenge assumptions. Intangible internationalization is a more difficult international expansion, but it provides sustainable competitive advantages. Consequently, SMEs would become competitive by reducing their costs, introducing new products and expanding their potential markets.It is not possible to engage in tangible internationalization without having a minimum level of intangible internationalization or being competitive without some degree of valuable, rare, in-imitable, non-substitutable resources (Barney 1991). SMEs should aim for both types of internalization in order to take advantage of physical presence in foreign markets and constantly provide the incentives to facilitate learning, new organizational capabilities and processes.Firms have different combinations of internationalization. In order to analyze how SMEs can take advantage of both tangible and intangible internationalization, the foundation of the potential competitive advantages need to be identified. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how firms deliver products that have value for customers, but also to understand what makes these firms different from the rest (Hall 1998). I argue that there are three major categories of differential that have a strong impact on the nature of internationalization of SMEs. The first is called firm differential, and includes a) organizational (team level), b) managerial (individual level), c) physical endowment and d) technological capabilities differentials. The second category is based on the home country characteristics and it is called country differential. The final category,market differential, takes into consideration the specific features of local markets and industries. These differentials deeply influence the role of owner-manager. There are three basic approaches that a SME can adopt while anticipating and responding to the needs of its customers. The first one is the approach of the Schumpeterian entrepreneur (Schumpeter, 1934), a leader who breaks away from routine and introduces either new goods/services or new production processes for existing goods/services. The second one is related to Porter's (1980) concept of cost leadership even though Porter studied larger firms from developed countries. The last style of owner-manager is the Kirznerian entrepreneur, who is a person alert to opportunities (see figure 1). This type of role implies that the owner-manager acts as a broker in order to take advantage of over-optimistic or over-pessimistic reactions of economic agents (Kirzner 1973); therefore, the owner-manager will act "in regard to the changes occurring in the data of the markets" (Mises 1949: 255).ConclusionIn the business literature, internationalization involvement usually results from one of two factors: a) the firm possesses some monopolistic advantage that it can use in another country, or b) the host country owns resources that are valuable to the foreign firm. While these reasons may be necessary and sufficient conditions for larger companies, is not necessarily the case for SMEs whom have no option but to internationalization.Those two factors do not necessarily apply to SMEs because they need to become international even if they do not compete in international markets. The average level of competitiveness of SMEs is below that of multinational enterprises. SMEs are faced with international competition whether they decide to internationalize or to remain "local." Even SMEs providing non-tradable goods face a "demand side" pressure to meet the characteristic of similar product sell in other countries. SMEs may not have the time required, according to this model, to meet world-class standards. ReferencesAmit, R. and Schoemaker, P. (1993). "Strategic assets and organizational rent". Strategic Management Journal,14(1):33-46. Andrews, K. (1980). The concept of corporate strategy. Homewood, Irwin. Barney, J. (1991). ¨Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage.¨ Journal of Management, 17(1): 99-120. Bartunek, J. (1984). "Changing interpretative schemes and organizational restructuring: the example of a religion order." Administrative Science Quarterly, 29(3):355-372. Child, J. (1972). "Organizational structure, environment and performance: the role of strategic choice". Sociology,6(1):1-22. Gnyawali, D. and Madhavan, R. (2001). "Cooperative networks and competitive dynamics: A structural embeddedness perspective." Academy of Management Review, 26(3):431-445. Grant, R. (1991). Contemporary Strategic Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Application. Basil Blackwell, Cambridge, MA. Itami, H. and Roehl, T. (1987). "Mobilizing Invisible Assets". Harvard Business School Press. Kirzner, I. (1973). "Competition and entrepreneurship". University of Chicago Press, Krugman, P. (1991). "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography." The Journal of Political Economy, 99(3):483-499. Levitt, T. (1983). The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review, 61(May-June): 92-102. Levitt, B. and March, J. (1988)."Organizational Learning." Annual Review of Sociology, (14):319-340. Mahoney, J. and Pandian, R. (1992). "The Resource-Based View Within the Conversation of Strategic Management." Strategic Management Journal, 13(5):363-380 . March, J. and Olsen, J.(1976). Ambiguity and choice in organizations. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget. Marshall, A., (1961 (1890)). Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan. Mintzberg, H. (1979). The structuring of organizations: a synthesis of the article. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Mises, L. (1949). "Human action; a treatise on economics". Yale University Press. Montgomery, C. and Wernerfelt, B. (1988). "Diversification, Ricardian Rents, and Tobin's q". RAND Journal of Economics, 19(4):623-632. Penrose, E. (1959). The theory of the Growth of the Firm. John Wiley: New York. Penrose, E. (1972). The theory of the Growth of the Firm. Originally published in 1959, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Porter, M. (1998). On Competition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Porter, M. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. Free Press: New York. Pouder, R. and St. John, C. (1996). "Hot Spots and Blind Spots: Geographical Clusters of Firms and Innovation."The Academy of Management Review, 21(4):1192-1225. Rumelt, R. (1991). "How much does Industry Matter?" 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Policy ArticleWorking Paper 2618, the World Bank Yip, G. (2003). Total Global Strategy II. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.Sobre el autorCoordinador Académico de Finanzas FACS, Universidad ORT Uruguay

This guide accompanies the following article: Christian Fuchs, 'New Media, Web 2.0 and Surveillance', Sociology Compass 5/2 (2011): 134–147, [DOI]. 10.1111/j.1751‐9020.2010.00354.xIntroductionThe Internet has become part of our everyday lives. Many of us use it for work, hobbies, entertainment, politics, staying in touch with friends and family, learning to know new people and other cultures, for getting all kind of information, etc. In the past 10 years, we have seen the emergence of platforms like Facebook and Myspace (social networking sites), Wordpress and Blogger (blogging) Twitter (social networking, microblogging), YouTube (video sharing), Wikipedia (wiki‐based encyclopaedia), or the Pirate Bay (filesharing index site). The notions of 'web 2.0' and 'social media' have been used by some scholars to describe features of such sites such as community‐building and maintenance, continuous communication, user‐generated content production and diffusion, collaborative authoring, and distributed content classifications (the latter mechanism is also called folksonomy). Most web 2.0 platforms collect, store, and share a lot of personal user data and data about usage behaviour. Therefore, questions about privacy violations and online surveillance have arisen in public discussions, especially concerning Google (for example the discussions about Google targeted advertising, Google Street View, Google Buzz, etc.) and Facebook (for example the discussions concerning Facebook targeted advertising, Facebook beacon, the Facebook privacy policy, Facebook places, etc.). The field of web 2.0 surveillance studies critically asks questions about the data protection aspects and power dimensions of the contemporary Internet. It is crucial for students and scholars, who are interested in the contemporary media landscape, and who study in fields such as media/communication studies, cultural studies, political science, law, computer science, social informatics, information science, sociology, business studies, advertising, marketing and public relations, philosophy, ethics, science and technology studies etc., to also engage with web 2.0 surveillance studies.Recommended readings Fuchs, Christian. 2010. 'Labour in Informational Capitalism and on the Internet'. The Information Society 26(3): 179–96. doi: 10.1080/01972241003712215 Christian Fuchs discusses in this article the political economy of the contemporary Internet. He does so by giving first an introduction to Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism that is then applied for understanding aspects of the exploitation of the users of contemporary commercial Internet platforms like Facebook. Fuchs uses Dallas Smythe's notion of the audience commodity for critically discussing the business models of web 2.0. He coins the notion of Internet prosumer labour in this context. He concludes that on commercial web 2.0 platforms, user activity tends to become exploited and is unpaid labour. Surveillance is situated in the framework of this analysis. Andrejevic, Mark. 2002. 'The Work of Being Watched'. Critical Studies in Media Communication 19(2): 230–48. doi: 10.1080/07393180216561 Mark Andrejevic argues in this article that contemporary commercial forms of interactive media make use of surveillance for exploiting consumers. He introduces in this context the notion of 'the work of being watched'. This concept is based on Sut Jhally's concept of the work of watching. Andrejevic also introduces the notion of the digital enclosure and gives very good examples for online surveillance. Albrechtslund, Anders. 2008. 'Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance'. First Monday 13(3). [online]. Retrieved on 1 March 2011 from: http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2142/1949. In this article, Anders Albrechtslund introduces the notion of participatory surveillance. Other than Fuchs and Andrejevic, Albrechtslund has a rather positive concept of surveillance, he focuses on the description of potentially empowering aspects of social networking sites and other web 2.0 technologies. Albrechtslund stresses the social dimension of web 2.0, its ability for enabling communication, sharing, and community‐building. Mathiesen, Thomas. 2004. Silently Silenced. Essays on the Creation of Acquiescence in Modern Society. Winchester: Waterside Press. In this short 100 page book, Thomas Mathiesen discusses mechanisms and examples of how political opposition is silently silenced, that is ideologically forestalled. The work is a masterpiece of contemporary ideology critique. Mathiesen identifies mechanisms of how silent silencing works and gives many examples. In chapter 8, it is discussed how the corporate Internet works as system of silent silencing or what Mathiesen terms the synopticon. Mathiesen's work is influenced among others by Foucault and Frankfurt School ideology critique. Campbell, John E. and Matt, Carlson M. 2002. 'Panopticon.com: Online Surveillance and the Commodification of Privacy'. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 46(4): 586–606. doi: 10.1207/s15506878jobem4604_6 In this paper, Campbell and Carlson discuss the usefulness of Michel Foucault's notion of the panopticon as technology of surveillance for explaining how Internet advertising and marketing work. They employ a political economy framework and argue that Internet advertising and marketing commodify users' private data and their privacy.Online materialsThe following online journals are very good sources for further papers about critical internet studies, information society studies, surveillance studies, and privacy studies:

tripleC: Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society. http://www.triple‐c.at
Surveillance and Society. http://www.surveillance‐and‐society.org
First Monday. http://firstmonday.org/
Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality. http://repository.cmu.edu/jpc/

Sample syllabusTopics for Lectures and DiscussionWeek I: Foundations of surveillance studiesReadings:Foucault, Michel. 1977. 'Panopticims.' (Part 3). Pp. 195–228 in Discipline and Punish. New York: Vintage.Lyon, David. 1994. 'Surveillance in Modern Society' (Chapter 2). Pp. 22–39 in The Electronic Eye. Cambridge: Polity.Lyon, David. 2007. 'Explaining Surveillance' (I.3). Pp. 46–70 in Surveillance Studies. An Overview. Cambridge: Polity.Week II: Foucault's surveillance theory and the panopticon: criticism and defenceReadings:Lyon, David (ed.) 2006. 'Pre‐ and Post‐Panopticism: The Search for Surveillance Theories.' Pp. 3–20 in Theorizing Surveillance. Portland, OR: Willan.Haggerty Kevin. 2006. 'Tear Down the Walls: On Demolishing the Panopticon.' Pp. 23–45 in Theorizing Surveillance, edited by David Lyon. Portland, OR: Willan.Fuchs, Christian. 2010. How Can Surveillance Be Defined? Remarks on Theoretical Foundations of Surveillance Studies. Vienna: Unified Theory of Information Research Group. SNS3 Research Paper No.1. ISSN 2219‐603X. http://www.sns3.uti.at/wordpress/wp‐content/uploads/2010/10/The‐Internet‐Surveillance‐Research‐Paper‐Series‐1‐Christian‐Fuchs‐How‐Surveillance‐Can‐Be‐Defined.pdfWeek III: What is web 2.0?Readings:Fuchs, Christian. 2010. 'Social Software and Web 2.0: Their Sociological Foundations and Implications.' Pp. 764–89 in Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications. Volume II, edited by San Murugesan. Hershey, PA: IGI‐Global.Castells, Manuel. 2009. 'Communication in the Digital Age' (Chapter 2). Pp. 54–136 in Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Alternative to reading Castells (2009):Castells, Manuel. 2010. 'Communication Power: Mass Communication, Mass Self‐Communication, and Power Relationships in the Network Society.' Pp. 3–17 in Media and Society, edited by James Curran. London: Bloomsbury.Scholz, Trebor. 2008. 'Market Ideology and the Myths of Web 2.0.'First Monday 13(3). [online]. Retrieved on 1 March 2011 from: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2138/1945.Week IV: Computing and surveillanceThe role of surveillance in the age of computingReadings:Marx, Gary T. 2002. 'What's New About the "New Surveillance"? Classifying for Change and Continuity.'Surveillance & Society 1(1): 9–29.Lyon, David. 1998. 'The World Wide Web of Surveillance. The Internet and Off‐World Power‐Flows.'Information, Communication & Society 1(1): 91–105.Clarke, Roger. 1988. 'Information Technology and Dataveillance.'Communications of the ACM 31(5): 498–512.Week V: The capitalist business and ideology of surveillanceReadings:Gandy, Oscar H. 1996. 'Coming to Terms with the Panoptic Sort.' Pp. 132–55 in Computers, Surveillance & Privacy, edited by David Lyon and Elia Zureik. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.Mathiesen, Thomas. 1997. 'The Viewer Society. Michel Foucault's "Panopticon" Revisited.'Theoretical Criminology 1(2): 215–34. doi: 10.1177/1362480697001002003Week VI: The Internet prosumer commodityReadings:Smythe, Dallas W. 1981. 'On the Audience Commodity and Its Work.' Pp. 230–56 in Media and Cultural Studies, edited by Meenakshi G. Durham and Douglas M. Kellner. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Fuchs, Christian. 2010. 'Labour in Informational Capitalism and on the Internet.'The Information Society 26(3): 179–96. doi: 10.1080/01972241003712215Week VII: The work of watching and the work of being watchedReadings:Jhally, Sut. 2006. 'Chapters: Watching as Working. The Valorization of Audience Consciousness. The Political Economy of Culture'. Pp. 25–61 in The Spectacle of Accumulation. New York: Peter Lang.Andrejevic, Mark. 2002. 'The Work of Being Watched.'Critical Studies in Media Communication 19(2): 230–48. doi: 10.1080/07393180216561Week VIII: Economic online surveillance and web 2.0Readings:Mathiesen, Thomas. 2004. 'Panopticon and Synopticon as Silencing Systems' (Chapter 8). Pp. 98–102 in Silently Silenced. Essays on the Creation of Acquiescence in Modern Society. Winchester: Waterside Press.Fuchs, Christian, Kees Boersma, Anders Albrechtslund, Marisol Sandoval (eds) 2011. The Internet and Surveillance. New York: Routledge.

Chapter by Christian Fuchs: 'Critique of the Political Economy of Web 2.0 Surveillance.'
Chapter by Marisol Sandoval: 'A Critical Empirical Case Study of Consumer Surveillance on Web 2.0.'
Chapter by Thomas Allmer: 'Critical Internet Surveillance Studies and Economic Surveillance.'

Campbell, John E. and Matt, Carlson M. 2002. 'Panopticon.com: Online Surveillance and the Commodification of Privacy.'Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 46(4): 586–606. doi: 10.1207/s15506878jobem4604_6Focus questionsDiscussion in week 1:What different kinds of definitions of surveillance are there? Compile various definitions by making a literature search. Compare these definitions and discuss how surveillance should best be defined.Discussion in week 2:Discuss first in small groups of 3–5 and compare then the results of the group discussions in a general discussion.Consider the following list of information processing phenomena. Which one do you consider as surveillance, which one's not? Compare your results with the results of your colleagues. Discuss then if a Foucauldian understanding of surveillance fits your understanding of surveillance or not. Discuss pro and con arguments for 'demolishing' Foucault's notion of the panopticon. Discuss if using the notion of the panopticon makes political and theoretical sense in contemporary society or not.

teachers watching private activities of pupils via webcams at Harriton High School, Pennsylvania,
the employment of the DART system (Deep‐ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea for detecting tsunamis,
the scanning of the fingerprints of visitors entering the United States,
consensual online video sex chat of adults,
parents observing their sleeping sick baby with a camera or babyphone in order to see if it needs their help,
the use of speed cameras for identifying speeders (involves state power),
the seismographic early detection of earthquakes,
electronic monitoring bracelets for prisoners in an open prison system,
the scanning of Internet and phone data by secret services with the help of the Echelon system and the Carnivore software,
the usage of a GPS‐based car navigation system for driving to an unknown destination,
the usage of full body scanners at airports,
biometrical passports containing digital fingerprints,
the use of the DoubleClick advertising system by Internet corporations for collecting data about users' online browsing behaviour and providing them with targeted advertising,
CCTV cameras in public means of transportation for the prevention of terrorism,
the assessment of customer shopping behaviour with the help of loyalty cards,
the data collection in marketing research,
the usage of smog and air pollution warning systems,
the publication of sexual paparazzi photos of celebrities in a tabloid,
the assessment of personal images and videos of applicants on Facebook by employers prior to a job interview,
drinking water quality measurement systems,
the collection of data about potential or actual terrorists in the TIDE database (Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment) by the US National Counterterrorism Center,
Passenger Name Record (PNR) data transfer from Europe to the United States in aviation,
the permanent electrocardiogram of a cardiac infarction patient,
the activities of radioactivity measuring stations for detecting nuclear power plant disasters,
Telekomgate: spying on employees, trade unionists, journalists, and members of the board of directors by the German Telekom,
measurement of meteorological data for weather forecasts
the video filming of employees in Lidl supermarkets and assessment of the data by managers in Germany,
the usage of a fire detector and alarm system and a fire sprinkling system in a public school,
watching the watchers: corporate watch systems, filming of the police beating of Rodney King (LA 1992), YouTube video of the police killing of Neda Soltan (Iran 2009)
systems for detecting and measuring temperature, humidity, and smoke in forest areas that are prone to wildfires.

Discussion in week 3:Work in groups of 3–5 people. Compile a list of Internet platforms that you use. Based on the literature that you have read about web 2.0, try to identify key qualities of the communication processes that are supported by the Internet platforms on your list. Discuss if it makes sense to employ notions like 'web 2.0' and 'social media'. Discuss how the communication qualities of the platforms you listed are connected to/enable surveillance. Compare the results in a plenary discussion.Discussion in week 4:Work first in groups of 3–5 people. Discuss the meaning of the notions of the panoptic sort and the synopticon. Make a list of examples, where surveillance plays a role in the economy. Make a list of examples, where surveillance, the media, and information technology function as means for advancing ideologies. Discuss to which examples the notions of the panoptic sort and/or the synopticon can be applied. Discuss first in the small group and then in general with all colleagues in the seminar how useful the notions of the panoptic sort and the synopticon are for understanding the contemporary Internet and media landscape.Discussion in week 5:Work first in groups of 3–5 people. Find examples for the connection of computers and surveillance. Based on your list of examples and the read literature, try to identify key qualities of computer‐based surveillance. Compare the three articles of Marx, Lyon, and Clarke: What are the key characteristics of computer‐based surveillance for each of the three authors? How do the three approaches differ? What do they have in common? If you compare computer‐based and non‐computer based forms of surveillance, what are commonalities and differences? Can we speak in the case of computer‐based surveillance of a new form of surveillance?Compare the group discussion results to the results of the discussions in the other groups.Discussion in week 6:Work first in groups of 3–5 people. Discuss the meaning of the notions of the audience commodity and the Internet prosumer commodity. Find examples for how the audience commodity works in the area of advertising in newspapers and TV. Find examples for the Internet prosumer commodity in relation to web 2.0 platforms that you use. Discuss the role of surveillance in Internet prosumer commodification. Discuss if you as Interner prosumers that use Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc. are exploited by the companies owning these platforms or not. If you think you are exploited, what can be politically done in order to overcome the exploitation of labour on the Internet? Compare the results of the group discussions and conduct a general discussion about the crucial questions.Discussion in week 7:Work first in groups of 3–5 people. Discuss the meaning of the notions of the work of watching and the work of being watched. Discuss the role of surveillance in the work of being watched. Find examples both for the work of watching and the work of being watched. Compare Dallas Smythe's concept of the audience commodity to Sut Jhally's concept of the work of watching. Compare Fuchs's concept of Internet prosumer commodification to Andrejevic's concept of the work of being watched online. What are differences and commonalities? Compare the results of the group discussions. Discuss with all colleagues what the political implications of economic online surveillance are: How dangerous is economic online surveillance and online labour exploitation? What can be done about it politically?Discussion in week 8:Work first in groups of 3–5 people. Based on the read literature, make a list of qualities of economic surveillance on web 2.0. Identify which web 2.0 platforms you read most frequently. Read the terms of use and privacy policies of these platforms. Make a list, how each of these platforms exactly uses your data and usage behaviour data, for economic purposes. List for each platform what kind of data about you it stores, collects from other Internet platforms, which data it is allowed to sell for advertising purposes, and which data about you or that you upload becomes property of the platform owner. How does the organization model of Wikipedia differ from the ones of Facebook and Google? Inform yourself about the alternative web 2.0 platform Diaspora. What are its organizational principles, how do they differ from Facebook? Compare the results of the group work.Conduct a general discussion about the following questions: What are the problems of surveillance on web 2.0? What are the advantages and disadvantages of platforms like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter? How can advantages and disadvantages be overcome? Do you see possibilities for creating a non‐commercial Internet or non‐commercial Internet platforms? What are advantages and disadvantages of a non‐commercial, non‐profit, commons‐based Internet?Seminar/project ideaInternet Studies in general and Critical Internet Studies and Web 2.0 Surveillance Studies are very young fields of studies. There are a lot of unexplored topics relating to the political economy of web 2.0 that have thus far not been pursued. Writing master's theses and dissertations in this area is not only interesting and important, but is also a lot of fun because one engages in research about those media that we have come used to utilize in our everyday life and work. Students may also consider to present chapters from their dissertations or theses at international conferences, like the PhD student workshops and conferences of the ICTs and Society Network (http://www.icts‐and‐society.net) or the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (http://www.air.org).Research results can also be presented to the public in the form of blog postings or small articles for popular journals or newspapers. For writing for these more popular formats, it is good to connect more theoretical ideas to concrete events and phenomena in the world of the Internet (see the example writings on the NetPoliticsBlog: http://fuchs.uti.at/blog). One can also pursue writing an op‐ed piece for a daily newspaper.Social movements and groups that discuss Internet politics and want to foster a common and free access to knowledge and the Internet can be interesting discussion and co‐operation partners for scholars, which can give a more practical dimension to research.Short BiographyChristian Fuchs holds the chair in media and communication studies at Uppsala University's Department of Informatics and Media. He is also board member of the Unified Theory of Information Research Group, Austria, and editor of tripleC (cognition, communication, co‐operation): Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society. He studied computer science at the Vienna University of Technology in the years 1994–2000. He completed his PhD in 2002 at the Vienna University of Technology. In 2000–2006, he was lecturer for information society studies at the Institute of Design and Technology Assessment of the Vienna University of Technology. He was a research associate at the same department in the years 2002–2004. At the University of Salzburg, he was assistant professor in the years 2005–2007 and associate professor from 2008 to 2010 in the field of ICTs and society. His main research fields are: social theory, critical theory, critical political economy of media, information, technology; information society studies, ICTs and society. He is author of many academic publications, including the books Internet and Society: Social Theory in the Information Age (New York: Routledge, 2008) and Foundations of Critical Media and Information Studies (New York: Routledge, 2011). He is co‐editor of The Internet and Surveillance (edited by Christian Fuchs, Kees Boersma, Anders Albrechtslund and Marisol Sandoval). He co‐ordinates the research project Social Networking Sites in the Surveillance Society (2010–2013), which is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF and is management committee member of the EU COST Action Living in Surveillance Societies (2009–2013).

Las críticasEn el marco de este derrotero por el que ha pasado la tesis de la Paz Democrática, se han montado diversos ángulos de críticas hacia la misma. Una primera vertiente destaca la implausibilidad de las explicaciones que intentan dar cuenta de la supuesta "ley". Así por ejemplo se ha señalado que en momentos de crisis aún en las democracias se produce una reducción del tamaño en el círculo decisor final. O que los dirigentes de los estados no democráticos también enfrentan condicionamientos de índole institucional o por parte de grupos de poder a los que están vinculados. O, incluso, que la opinión pública no es necesariamente una fuerza pacificadora. Asimismo, una crítica de índole realista se refiere a la escasez histórica de democracias que se traduce en pocas oportunidades de conflicto (Peñas, 1997: 133).Otro ángulo ha sido la existencia de serios problemas en la recolección y clasificación de los datos que sustentan la tesis. Su génesis yace en buena medida en la definición de los dos conceptos centrales detrás de la idea de la Paz Democrática: la democracia y la guerra. Sobre el concepto de "democracia" se advierten importantes diferencias en los criterios constitutivos del mismo. ¿Qué es una democracia? ¿Qué rasgos la definen? ¿Cuál es su condición? ¿Son éstas frágiles? Además, existen discrepancias entre las bases de datos y/o bien calificaciones bastante arbitrarias como por ejemplo la consideración en la basePolity II de Francia entre los años 1981 y 1986 como una "anocracia", mientras que El Salvador de la misma época, enfrascado en una cruenta guerra civil sí figuraba como "democracia".En cuanto a las guerras, el criterio de selección de datos más aceptado fue el implementado por Small y Singer que consiste en catalogar como guerra internacional a un conflicto que involucra uno o más participantes estatales y que provoca un mínimo de mil víctimas. Esto excluye intervenciones violentas que causan menos víctimas, pero no por ello políticamente menos significativas o bien las operaciones encubiertas (Salomón, 2001: 247). Tampoco ésta conceptualización da cuenta de las tendencias más modernas en los conflictos internacionales, entre las que se destaca la caída relativa de las disputas interestatales frente a las intraestatales ). En definitiva, "[lo] que caracteriza a nuestros días no es la desaparición de la violencia del sistema internacional ni la ausencia del recurso a la fuerza por parte de los Estados, sino la disminución del número de guerras formalmente declaradas y el aumento de guerras de guerrillas, guerras a través de terceros, subversión interior de los Estados instigada por otros Estados, acciones encubiertas, etc., menos costosas y que no necesitan ser justificadas, por lo menos tanto como una declaración formal de guerra" (Peñas, 1997: 135). Asimismo, los estudios cuantitativos en general han olvidado distinguir entre agresores y agredidos, o también la medición de la intensidad de la guerra (determinar si las democracias causan más muertes que otros Estados). La tesis de la Paz Democrática a su vez no ha logrado dar respuesta a ciertas anomalías que denotan la existencia de variables perturbadoras. Una anomalía es la existencia de zonas de paz en regiones del mundo donde no todas las sociedades son democráticas, como es el caso de América del Sur. Otra es que la correlación entre paz y democracia es más fuerte en el período posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial (Farber y Gowa, 1995). Este tipo de anomalías ha llevado a que explicaciones alternativas cobren fuerza. Entre estas, la más destacada es la teoría de Comunidades de Seguridad Pluralistas de Karl Deutsch (1957) que refiere a zonas donde sus miembros tienen la certeza de que sus disputas no se resolverán por medio de la fuerza. También se advierten reajustes y matizaciones de la tesis que debilitan su poder. Un ejemplo es la afirmación de Raymond Cohen (1994) de que la única conclusión razonables es que "los Estados democráticos del área del Atlántico Norte/Europa occidental, compartiendo una serie de circunstancias históricas particulares y una herencia cultural común, han evitado enfrentarse en una guerra" (en Peñas, 1997: 134). Asimismo, es posible encontrar evidencia en contra. Es el caso de la investigación de Charles Kegley y Margaret Hermann (1996) que arroja el interesante resultado de quince casos de intervención militar con uso de la fuerza, entre 1975 y 1995, por parte de democracias estables contra otras democracias estables, de las cuales ocho de ellas correspondían a intervenciones estadounidenses. Más recientemente, Thomas Schwartz y Kiron Skinner (2002: 160-161) identificaron un listado de conflictos que contrarían la tesis o están muy próximos a hacerlo y que hacen a lo que ellos llaman el "problema histórico" de la Paz Democrática:American Revolutionary War, 1775 (Great Britain vs. U.S.)Wars of French Revolution (democratic period), esp. 1793, 1795 (France vs. Great Britain)Quasi War, 1798 (U.S. vs. France)War of 1812 (U.S. vs. Great Britain)Texas War of Independence, 1835 (Texas vs. Mexico)Mexican War, 1846 (U.S. vs. Mexico)Roman Republic vs. France, 1849American Civil War, 1861 (Northern Union vs. Southern Confederacy)Ecuador-Columbia War, 1863Franco-Prussian War, 1870War of the Pacific, 1879 (Chile vs. Peru and Bolivia)Indian Wars, much of nineteenth century (U.S. vs. various Indian nations)Spanish-American War, 1898Boer War, 1899 (Great Britain vs. Transvaal and Orange Free State)World War I, 1914 (Germany vs. Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, and U.S.)Chaco War, 1932 (Paraguay vs. Bolivia)Ecuador-Peru, 1941Palestine War, 1948 (Israel vs. Lebanon)Dominican Invasion, 1967 (U.S. vs. Dominican Republic)Cyprus Invasion, 1974 (Turkey vs. Cyprus)Ecuador-Peru, 1981Nagorno-Karabakh, 1989 (Armenia vs. Azerbaijan)Yugoslav Wars, 1991 (Serbia and Bosnian-Serb Republic vs. Croatiaand Bosnia; sometimes Croatia vs. Bosnia)Georgia-Ossetia, 1991 (Georgia vs. South Ossetia)Georgia-Abkhazia, 1992 (Georgia vs. Abkhazia and allegedly Russia)Moldova-Dnestr Republic, 1992 (Moldova vs. Dnestr Republic and allegedly Russia)Chechen War of Independence, 1994 (Russia vs. Chechnya)Ecuador-Peru, 1995NATO-Yugoslavia, 1999India-Pakistan, 1999 Como se advierte, la teoría de la Paz Democrática se enfrenta a problemas tanto de índole empírica como de índole explicativa. Frente a este tipo de críticas, las reacciones se han dividido entre las defensivas (Maoz, 1997), las que han ignorado los hallazgos, las que han empezado a considerar otros factores (Russett, 1998) y las que se han dedicado a verificar su validez mediante estudios de casos (Elman, 1997). En definitiva, el debate ha sido prolífico y entre una de sus evoluciones más interesantes es la que ha recomendado evitar "las dicotomías simplistas y estudiar el mayor número posible de interacciones entre factores de conflicto internos e internacionales" (Salomón, 2001: 253).La materialización política de la Paz DemocráticaEn el contexto del "optimismo liberal" despertado por el colapso soviético y el fin de la guerra fría, la tesis de la Paz Democrática suscitó gran entusiasmo, sobre todo entre aquellos estudiosos de las Relaciones Internacionales que ansiaban acabar con la hegemonía retórica del realismo-neorrealismo en la disciplina. Como señala Peñas (1997: 130), "la gran virtud de esta tesis (…) es que en su discurso disuelve o reconcilia la escisión entre principios e intereses: una política de extensión de las democracias de libre mercado es a la vez una política éticamente justa y políticamente adecuada". Por tanto, el corolario político de la tesis de la Paz Democrática no es otro que la presunción de que el imperio de la paz y la cooperación internacionales requieren de la democratización de los Estados en el Sistema Internacional. Esto ha dado lugar al plano prescriptivo de los teóricos de la Paz Democrática. El más destacado en este sentido ha sido Russett al recomendar al gobierno en Washington la activa promoción democrática en base a las "pruebas sólidas de que las democracias no se hacen la guerra entre sí". Su propuesta se cuida de no alentar intervenciones militares unilaterales, sino apoyadas y legitimadas por organizaciones como la ONU o la OEA; y sus preceptos, en efecto, se materializaron durante la administración Clinton en la estrategia de Engagement y Enlargement ("compromiso y expansión"), en la que primacía global estadounidense, democracia y libre mercado caminaron de la mano.Pero lejos está de ser la Paz Democrática algo reciente o coyuntural en el discurso de política exterior de Estados Unidos. John Ikenberry sostiene que "[the] American preoccupation with promoting democracy abroad fits into a larger view about the sources of a stable, legitimate, secure, and prosperous international order. This outlook may not always be the chief guiding principle of policy, and it may sometimes lead to error. Still, it is a relatively coherent orientation rooted in the American political experience and American understandings of history, economics, and the sources of political stability" (Ikenberry, 1999). Sus orígenes políticos se remontan, claro es, a Woodrow Wilson quien en 1917 señaló: "A steadfast concert of peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants". De acuerdo con el análisis de Henry Kissinger (1995), Wilson retomó postulados ya volcados en su momento por Thomas Jefferson, a saber: a) que la misión especial de Estados Unidos trasciende la diplomacia cotidiana, y los obliga a servir como faro de libertad para el resto de la humanidad, y b) que la política exterior de las democracias es moralmente superior porque el pueblo es, en esencia, amante de la paz. Esta misma línea de argumentación fue bien visible en la prédica de Harry Truman sobre las naciones libres, en la visión maníquea del "Imperio del Mal" de Ronald Reagan y, además del mencionado Clinton, más recientemente en las administraciones Bush (h) y Obama, como puede verse en los siguientes extractos obtenidos de distintos documentos estratégicos. Estamos en presencia por tanto de una constante de política exterior estadounidense.A National Security Strategy for a New Century, October 1998."…We seek international support in helping strengthen democratic and free market institutions and norms in countries making the transition from closed to open societies. This commitment to see freedom and respect for human rights take hold is not only just, but pragmatic, for strengthened democratic institutions benefit the United States and the world" (p. 33).The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, September 2002."…We will (…) use our foreign aid to promote freedom and support those who struggle non-violently for it, ensuring that nations moving toward democracy are rewarded for the steps they take (…) [and we will] make freedom and the development of democratic institutions key themes in our bilateral relations, seeking solidarity andcooperation from other democracies while we press governments that deny human rights to move toward a better future" (p. 4).National Security Strategy, May 2010."… The United States supports the expansion of democracy and human rights abroad because governments that respect these values are more just, peaceful, and legitimate. We also do so because their success abroad fosters an environment that supports America's national interests. Political systems that protect universal rights are ultimately more stable, successful, and secure. As our history shows, the United States can more effectively forge consensus to tackle shared challenges when working with governments that reflect the will and respect the rights of their people, rather than just the narrow interests of those in power" (p. 37).Esta prédica democrática, sin embargo, pareciera marchar a contramano de ciertas realidades. Señala Peñas, "la historia demuestra que las islas liberales no sólo han hecho la guerra por doquier, sino que además han sido responsables de un alto grado de militarización del mundo y han contribuido significativamente a la militarización y los conflictos entre los Estados no democráticos: esta militarización podría poner en peligro la paz democrática que el liberalismo propugna" (Peñas, 1997: 136). Estados Unidos, una de las democracias más importantes a nivel mundial (sino la más), posee en particular una historia reciente de retroalimentación entre militarización y conflictividad en el Tercer Mundo. Vale recordar, cómo a través de la CIA, Washington ayudó armar a la red al-Qaeda para combatir a la ocupación soviética de Afganistán en la década del '80, lo que a la postre generó una guerra civil en dicho país y el surgimiento de un importante enemigo en la figura de Osama Bin Laden, o bien el apoyo a Saddam Hussein durante la guerra irano-iraquí por aquellos mismos años en coexistencia casi paradojal con la venta encubierta de armamento a Irán —destinada a su vez a financiar la guerra sucia de los Contras nicaragüenses contra el gobierno revolucionario sandinista. La invasión a Iraq en marzo de 2003 y el posterior caos del país, también constituye un buen ejemplo del fracaso y los peligros que conlleva la aplicación de una retórica democrático-mesiánica a través de la manu militari.Ciertamente, el repaso de estos eventos despierta temores si se contempla el actual caso de Libia. Allí, la intervención bajo autorización del Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas para frenar la crisis humanitaria en curso en el país, por iniciativa de Francia, Estados Unidos, Italia, Gran Bretaña y España (todas democracias), se ha convertido en una operación liderada por la OTAN, donde se está financiando y proveyendo a las fuerzas insurgentes opositoras a Kadafy y en la que el objetivo del cambio de régimen parece cada vez más claro (van Tijen, 2011). A pesar del importante despliegue de poder aéreo y naval, la balanza del conflicto parece no sólo equilibrada sino estancada, contrariando las expectativas iniciales de los mandos políticos y militares occidentales, lo que a su vez augura una potencial inestabilidad en el corto y mediano plazo para todo el Magreb. ¿Es esta la clase de escenario regional que desea la comunidad internacional? ¿Es esto lo que pretenden las principales democracias occidentales? Difícilmente.Resulta por tanto un desafío tan grande como imperioso el lograr romper con la trampa entre democracia, militarización y conflictividad en aumento. Más aún si se advierten datos tan desalentadores como el tamaño del gasto militar de Estados Unidos, el cual eclipsa el gasto correspondiente al resto de las potencias y regiones del planeta.Tal contrariedad entre discurso pacífico-democrático y los hechos, en parte, se explica porque el objetivo estadounidense de la difusión de la democracia liberal a nivel mundial no es el único que compone su política exterior. Existen otros intereses (de seguridad, económicos, poder, etc.) y los medios para conseguirlos no siempre son pacíficos, ni justificables. Desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la política exterior estadounidense ha oscilado entre métodos como la negociación, disuasión, unilateralismo y multilateralismo (Barceló Sasía, 2006: 64). En este marco, por momentos el discurso político de la Paz Democrática ha generado la impresión de actuar más como una mera justificación retórica, como un auxilio para encubrir ideológicamente motivaciones de otro orden, antes que como el verdadero leit motif de las acciones emprendidas.Reflexión finalEn definitiva, la Paz Democrática, la idea de que las democracias no guerrean entre sí, cuyo corolario nos dice que la construcción de estados democráticos promueve la estabilidad en las relaciones internacionales, resulta una sugestiva noción desprendida del Liberalismo cuya corroboración científica, a pesar de las frases pomposas que puedan emitirse sobre su certeza y fiabilidad, se encuentra aún en juego. Siendo una tesis por demás atractiva, defendida y cuestionada en el mundo académico, resulta aún más trascendente su estudio dada su cristalización fáctica como supuesto criterio guía en el comportamiento exterior de los Estados democráticos más poderosos a nivel internacional. Los dilemas que ello entraña no son menores, como los intentos recientes y actuales de "democratizar" Medio Oriente y el Mundo Árabe nos recuerdan. Dobles discursos —morales de doble-standard de acuerdo con la célebre crítica de Stanley Hoffman— parecen conjugar anhelos democráticos con intereses geopolíticos y/o geoeconómicos, o más bien encubrir estos últimos bajo el manto de los primeros. En el medio, se resuelven y dirimen en el tablero mundial las corrientes de cambio pacífico o revolucionario, de progreso democrático o de restauración autocrática, las viejas lógicas de poder, de conquista y de influencia, la estabilidad internacional, el porvenir de la guerra y las sombras de la paz. *Candidato doctoral, Universidad Nacional de General San Martín (UNSAM, Argentina). 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Executive Summary (College Park, MD: CIDCM, University of Maryland, 2008).Ikenberry, John: "Why Export Democracy?: The 'Hidden Grand Strategy' of American Foreign Policy", The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 23, no. 2 (Spring 1999).Kant, Immanuel: La Paz Perpetua (Buenos Aires: Longseller, 2001).Kegley, Charles & Margaret Hermann: "How Democracies Use Intervention: A Neglected Dimension in Studies of the Democratic Peace", Journal of Peace Research, No. 33 (1996), pp. 309-322.Kissinger, Henry: La Diplomacia (México: Fondo de cultura económica, 1995).Levy, Jack: "Domestic Politics and War", Journal of Interdisciplinary History, No. 18 (1988), pp. 653-673.MacMillan, John: "Whose Democracy; Which Peace? Contextualizing the Democratic Peace",International Politics, No. 41 (2004), pp. 472-493.Maoz, Zeev & Nasrin Abdolali: "Regime Types and International Conflict, 1817-1976", Journal of Conflict Resolution, No. 33 (1989), pp. 3-35.Maoz, Zeev: "The Controversy over the Democratic Peace", International Security, No. 22 (1997), pp. 162-198.Peceny, Mark: "A Constructivist Interpretation of the Liberal Peace: The Ambiguous Case of the Spanish-American War", Journal of Peace Research, No. 34 (1997), pp. 415-430.Peñas, Francisco Javier: "Liberalismo y relaciones internacionales: la tesis de la paz democrática y sus críticos", Isegoría, Núm. 16 (1997), pp.119-140.Rendall, Matthew: "'The Sparta and the Athens of our Age at Daggers Drawn': Polities, Perceptions, and Peace", International Politics, No. 41 (2004), pp. 582-604.Risse-Kappen, Thomas: "Democratic Peace - Warlike Democracies? A Social Constructivist Interpretation of the Liberal Argument", European Journal of International Relations, No. 1 (1995), pp. 491-517.Rummel, Rudolph: "Libertarianism and Interstate Violence", Journal of Conflict Resolution, No. 27 (1983), pp. 27-71.Russett, Bruce: "A neo-Kantian perspective: democracy, interdependence, and international organizations in building security communities", en Emanuel Adler & Michael Barnett (eds.):Security Communities (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).Russett, Bruce: Grasping the Democratic Peace (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993).Salomón, Mónica: "El debate sobre la «paz democrática». Una aproximación crítica", Revista de Estudios Políticos (Nueva Época), Núm. 113 (Julio-Septiembre 2001), pp. 237-265.Schwartz, Thomas & Kiron K. Skinner: "The Myth of the Democratic Peace", Orbis (Winter 2002), pp. 159-172.Small, Melvin & David Singer: "The War-Proneness of Democratic Regimes", Jerusalem Journal of International Relations, No. 1 (1976), pp. 50-69.Snyder, Jack: "Un mundo, teorías rivales", Foreign Policy edición española (dic.-enero 2005).Tovar Ruíz, Juan: "De Königsberg a Kosovo. La Paz Democrática: del planteamiento filosófico al discurso político y su aplicación en el régimen de los protectorados internacionales", Revista Académica de Relaciones Internacionales, núm. 10 (febrero de 2009). Van Tijen, Tjebbe: "NATO's collateral tyrannicide", Open Democracy (7 May, 2011). Walt, Stephen M.: "International Relations: One World, Many Theories", Foreign Policy(Spring 1998), pp. 29-46.Weede, Eric: "Democracy and War Involvement", Journal of Peace Research, No. 28 (1984), pp. 649-664.Wright, Quincy: A Study of War (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1942).

VOM EINTREFFEN DER SERBISCHEN ANTWORTNOTE IN BERLIN BIS ZUM BEKANNTWERDEN DER RUSSISCHEN ALLGEMEINEN MOBILMACHUNG Die deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch (-) Vom Eintreffen der serbischen Antwortnote in Berlin bis zum Bekanntwerden der russischen allgemeinen Mobilmachung (2 / 1919) ([III]) Titelseite ([III]) Inhaltsübersicht der vier Bände. ([IV]) Inhaltsverzeichnis und Zeittafel von Band II. ([V]) [Brief]: Nr. 279 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in London. Telegramm 184. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. ([1]) [Brief]: Nr. 280 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 116. Wien, den 27. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (2) [Brief]: Nr. 281 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 115. Wien, den 27. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (3) [Brief]: Nr. 282 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 167. St. Petersburg, den 27. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (4) [Brief]: Nr. 283 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Berlin, den 27. Juli 1914. Alleruntertänigst v. Bethmann Hollweg. (5) [Brief]: Nr. 284 Der Geschäftsträger in Cetinje an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 18. Dringend! Cetinje, den 27. Juli 1914. Zech. (6) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 285 Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 370. Ganz Geheim! Konstantinopel, den 28. Juli 1914. Wangenheim. (2)Nr. 286 Der Gesandte in Kristiania an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 17. Kristiania, den 27. Juli 1914. Oberndorff. (7) [Brief]: Nr. 287 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in Rom. Telegramm 25. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (8) [Brief]: Nr. 288 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an den Reichskanzler. St. Petersburg, den 26. Juli 1914. F. Pourtalès. (8) [Brief]: Nr. 289 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an den Reichskanzler. St. Petersburg, den 26. Juli 1914. F. Pourtalès. (11) [Brief]: Nr. 290 Anlage zum Bericht des Botschafters in Petersburg vom 26. Juli 1914. Wetschernoje Wremja, den 13./26. Juli 1914. (12) [Brief]: Nr. 291 Der Militärbevollmächtigte am russischen Hofe an den Kaiser. St. Petersburg, den 13./26. Juli 1914. von Chelius. Generalleutnant und General à la Suite. (13) [Brief]: Nr. 292 Der Botschafter in Paris an den Reichskanzler. Paris, den 24. Juli 1914. v. Schoen. (16) [Brief]: Nr. 293 Der Kaiser an den Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen. Neues Palais, 28. VII. 14.10 Uhr V.M. Ew. Exzellenz. Wilhelm I.R. (18) [Brief]: Nr. 294 Das Konsulat in Riga an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 2. Riga, den 28. Juli 1914. Konsulat. (19) [Brief]: Nr. 295 Der Verweser des Generalkonsulats in Moskau an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 4. Dringend! Moskau, den 27. Juli 1914. Hauschild. (19) [Brief]: Nr. 296 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 172. St. Petersburg, den 28. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (20) [Brief]: Nr. 297 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 173. St. Petersburg, den 28. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (20) [Brief]: Nr. 298 Der Geschäftsträger in Bukarest an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 44. Sinaia, den 27. Juli 1914. Waldburg. (21) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 299 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 173. Geheim! Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 300 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 130. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (22) [Brief]: Nr. 301 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 171. London, den 28. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (23) [Brief]: Nr. 302 Der Botschafter in Wien an den Reichskanzler. Wien, den 27. Juli 1914. von Tschirschky. (24) [Brief]: Nr. 303 Der preußische Gesandte in Karlsruhe an den Minister der auswärtigen Angelegenheiten (Reichskanzler). Karlsruhe, den 27. Juli 1914. v. Eisendecher. (24) [Brief]: Nr. 304 Der englische Botschafter an den Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen. Berlin, July 27, 1914. Aide Mémoire. (25) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 304]. (26) [Brief]: Nr. 305 Die österreichisch-ungarische Botschaft an das Auswärtige Amt. [Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914]. (26) [Brief]: Nr. 306 Die österreichisch-ungarische Botschaft an das Auswärtige Amt. [Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914]. (27) [Brief]: Nr. 307 Der Reichskanzler an die preußischen Gesandten bei den deutschen Bundesregierungen. Vertraulich! Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. v. Bethmann Hollweg. (27) [Brief]: Nr. 308 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Ew.M. Alleruntertänigst v. Bethmann Hollweg. (29) [Brief]: Nr. 309 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 172. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. v. Bethmann Hollweg. (30) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 310 Der Botschafter in Paris an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 227. Paris, den 28. Juli 1914. Schoen. (2)Nr. 311 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Tschirschky. (31) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 312 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 119. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (2)Nr. 313 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 120. Geheim! Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (32) [Brief]: Nr. 314 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in London. Telegramm 185. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (33) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 315 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 131. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 316 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Bukarest. Telegramm 45. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (34) [Brief]: Nr. 317 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Bukarest. Telegramm 44. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (35) [Brief]: Nr. 318 Der Gesandte in Sofia an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 39. Sofia, den 28. Juli 1914. Michahelles. (35) [Brief]: Nr. 319 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Gesandten in Stockholm. Telegramm 18. Geheim! Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (36) [Brief]: Nr. 320 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Konstantinopel. Telegramm 275. Geheim! Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (36) [Brief]: Nr. 321 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Bukarest. Telegramm 46. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (37) [Brief]: Nr. 322 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Cetinje. Telegramm 15. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (38) [Brief]: Nr. 323 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 174. Dringend! Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (38) [Brief]: Nr. 324 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 121. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (40) [Brief]: Nr. 325 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in Rom. Telegramm 137. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Jagow. (41) [Brief]: Nr. 326 Der Botschafter in Wien an den Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen (Privatbrief). Geheim! Wien, den 26. Juli 1914. Lieber Herr von Jagow! Mit herzlichen Grüßen stets Ihr aufrichtigst ergebener von Tschirschky. (41) [Brief]: Nr. 327 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 123. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (45) [Brief]: Nr. 328 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 122. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (45) [Brief]: Nr. 329 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 125. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (46) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 330 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 124. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (2)Nr. 331 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 126. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (47) [Brief]: Nr. 332 Der Zar an den Kaiser. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Peterhof, Palais, den 29. Juli 1914. Sa Majesté l'Empereur. Nicky. (48) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 332]. (49) [Brief]: Nr. 333 Der Verweser des Generalkonsulats in Moskau an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 5. Petersburg, den 28. Juli 1914. Hauschild. (49) [Brief]: Nr. 334 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 132. Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (50) [Brief]: Nr. 335 Der Kaiser an den Zaren. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Berlin, den 28. Juli 1914. Your very sincere and devoted friend and cousin Willy. (50) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 335]. (51) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 335a Der Generalkonsul in Warschau an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 14. Warschau, den 28. Juli 1914. Brueck. (2)Nr. 336 Der Geschäftsträger in Athen an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 220. Athen, den 28. Juli 1914. Bassewitz. (52) [Brief]: Nr. 337 Der Militärbevollmächtigte am russischen Hofe an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 174. St. Petersburg, den 28. Juli 1914. Für S.M. Chelius. (53) [Brief]: Nr. 338 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 177. St. Petersburg, den 28. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (55) [Brief]: Nr. 339 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an den Reichskanzler. St. Petersburg, den 27. Juli 1914. F. Pourtalès. (56) [Brief]: Nr. 340 Der Reichskanzler an den Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. v. Bethmann Hollweg. (58) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 341 Der Reichkanzler an den Botschafter in Paris. Telegramm 172. Dringend! Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 342 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 134. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (59) [Brief]: Nr. 343 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 183. Dringend! St. Petersburg, den 29. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (60) [Brief]: Nr. 344 Der Militärbevollmächtigte am russischen Hofe an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 184. St. Petersburg, den 29. Juli 1914. Für S.M. Chelius. (61) [Brief]: Nr. 345 Der Botschafter in Paris an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 228. Paris, den 29. Juli 1914. Schoen. (62) [Brief]: Nr. 346 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 127. Wien, den 29. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (62) [Brief]: Nr. 347 Der Botschafter in Wien an den Reichskanzler. Wien, den 28. Juli 1914. von Tschirschky. (63) [Brief]: Nr. 348 Der österreichisch-ungarische Generalkonsul in Warschau an das Wiener Ministerium des Äußern. Telegramm. Szcakowa, 27. Juli 1914. Baron Andrian. (64) [Brief]: Nr. 349 Der Große Generalstab an den Reichskanzler. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Zur Beurteilung der politischen Lage. (65) [Brief]: Nr. 350 Der Botschafter in Paris an den Reichskanzler. Paris, den 28. Juli 1914. v. Schoen. (67) [Brief]: Nr. 351 Der vortragende Rat im Auswärtigen Amt von Bergen an den Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. v. B[ergen]. (69) [Brief]: Nr. 352 Die österreichisch-ungarische Botschaft an das Auswärtige Amt. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. (69) [Brief]: Nr. 353 Der englische Botschafter an den Reichskanzler. (71) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 353]. (71) [Brief]: Nr. 354 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in Konstantinopel. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. v. Jagow. (72) [Brief]: Nr. 355 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 176. London, den 29. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (72) [Brief]: Nr. 356 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 128. Wien, den 29. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (73) [Brief]: Nr. 357 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 174. London, den 29. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (74) [Brief]: Nr. 358 Der Geschäftsträger in Cetinje an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 19. Cattaro, den 28. Juli 1914. Zech (76) [Brief]: Nr. 359 Der Kaiser an den Zaren. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Willy. (77) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 359]. (78) [Brief]: Nr. 360 Der Geschäftsträger in Athen an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 221. Streng vertraulich! Athen, den 29. Juli 1914. Bassewitz. (79) [Brief]: Nr. 361 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 181. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (79) [Brief]: Nr. 362 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 179. London, den 29. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (81) [Brief]: Nr. 363 Der Botschafter in Rom an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 149. Rom, den 29. Juli 1914. Flotow. (81) [Brief]: Nr. 364 Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 379. Therapia, den 29. Juli 1914. Wangenheim. (82) [Brief]: Nr. 365 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 185. St. Petersburg, den 29. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (83) [Brief]: Nr. 365a Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 380. Therapia, den 29. Juli 1914. Wangenheim. (83) [Brief]: Nr. 366 Der Zar an den Kaiser. Telegramm (ohne Nummer) Peterhof, Palais, den 29. Juli 1914. Your loving Nicky (84) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 366]. (84) [Brief]: Nr. 367 Der Botschafter in Paris an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 229. Paris, den 29. Juli 1914. Schoen. (85) [Brief]: Nr. 368 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 178. London, den 29. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (86) [Brief]: Nr. 369 Der Verweser des Generalkonsulats in Moskau an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 6. Moskau, den 29. Juli 1914. Hauschild. (89) [Brief]: Nr. 370 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 186. St. Petersburg, den 29. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (89) [Brief]: Nr. 371 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Gesandten in Kopenhagen. Telegramm 26. Geheim! Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Jagow. (90) [Brief]: Nr. 372 Der Große Generalstab an das Auswärtige Amt. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. v. Griesheim. Für die Richtigkeit: v. Bartenwerffer, Major. (91) 3. Bericht. (91) Österreich. (91) Serbien und Montenegro. Griechenland. Rumänien, Bulgarien. Türkei. (92) Belgien. Holland. Frankreich. England. (93) Italien. Rußland. (94) [Brief]: Nr. 373 Der Reichskanzler an den englischen Botschafter (mündlich). Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. (95) [Brief]: Nr. 374 Prinz Heinrich von Preußen an den Kaiser. Kiel, den 28. Juli 1914. Mein lieber Wilhelm! Dein treu gehorsamer Bruder Heinrich. (96) [Brief]: Nr. 375 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Gesandten in Brüssel. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. v. Jagow. (97) [Brief]: Nr. 376 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Gesandten in Brüssel. Berlin, 29. Juli 1914. v. Jogow. (98) [Brief]: Nr. 376a Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 180. Petersburg, den 29. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (100) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 377 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 189. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 378 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 187. Petersburg, den 29. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (101) [Brief]: Nr. 379 Der Geschäftsträger in Bukarest an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 49. Geheim! Sinaia, den 29. Juli 1914. Waldburg. (102) [Brief]: Nr. 380 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 139. Dringend! Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (103) [Brief]: Nr. 381 Der Geschäftsträger in Athen an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 222. Vertraulich! Athen, den 29. Juli 1914. Bassewitz. (104) [Brief]: Nr. 382 Zwei Artikel des "Daily Chronicle" vom 29. Juli 1914 mit Randbemerkungen des Kaisers. (104) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 382]. (110) Was ein Krieg bedeuten wird. Die wirkliche Gefahr für Großbritannien. (110) Die Lage, in der sich England befindet. (111) Die Einmischung Frankreichs. (112) Englands erste Verteidigungslinie. (113) Die Pflicht, einen europäischen Konflikt zu vermeiden. (114) Dies ist nicht unser Streit. (114) Zehn Millionen täglich. (115) [Brief]: Nr. 383 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 188. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (116) [Brief]: Nr. 384 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 190. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (117) [Brief]: Nr. 385 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 187. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (117) [Brief]: Nr. 386 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 130. Wien, den 29. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (118) [Brief]: Nr. 387 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 140. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (119) [Brief]: Nr. 388 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 133. Wien, den 29. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (119) [Brief]: Nr. 389 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Bukarest. Telegramm 51. Geheim! Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Jagow. (120) [Brief]: Nr. 390 Der Zar an den Kaiser. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Peterhof, Palais, den 30. Juli 1914. A Sa Majesté l'Empereur Neues Palais. Nicky. (121) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 390]. (122) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 391 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 141. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 392 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 142. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (122) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 393 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in London. Telegramm 188. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 394 Der Geschäftsträger in Cetinje an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 20. Cattaro, den 29. Juli 1914. Zech. (123) [Brief]: Nr. 395 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 192. Dringend! Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (124) [Brief]: Nr. 396. Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 193. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (125) [Brief]: Nr. 397 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 143. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (126) [Brief]: Nr. 398 Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 382. Therapia, den 29. Juli 1914. Wangenheim. (127) [Brief]: Nr. 399 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Berlin, den 29. Juli 1914. v. Bethmann Hollweg. (128) [Brief]: Nr. 400 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 132. Wien, den 29. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (129) [Brief]: Nr. 401 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 189. Dringend! Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (130) [Randbemerkungen Kaiser Wilhelms II. zu Brief 401]. (132) [Brief]: Nr. 402 Randbemerkungen des Kaisers vom 30. Juli vorm. zum Artikel der "Morning Post" vom 28. Juli 1914: "Efforts towards Peace". William I.R. (133) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 402]. (134) [Brief]: Nr. 403 Der Gesandte in Brüssel an den Reichskanzler. Brüssel, den 28. Juli 1914. von Below. (134) [Brief]: Nr. 404 Der Verweser des Konsulats in Kowno an das Auswärtige Amt. Kowno, den 29. Juli 1914. von Bülow. (135) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 405 Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 386. Therapia, den 30. Juli 1914. Wangenheim. (2)Nr. 406 Der Reichskanzler an den Gesandten in Stockholm. Bethmann Hollweg. (136) [Brief]: Nr. 407 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Alleruntertänigst v. Bethmann Hollweg. (137) [Brief]: Nr. 408 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Alleruntertänigst v. Bethmann Hollweg. (138) [Brief]: Nr. 409 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in London. Telegramm 191. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (139) [Brief]: Nr. 410 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 191. Dringend! Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (140) [Brief]: Nr. 411 Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 385. Therapia, den 30. Juli 1914. Wangenheim. (140) [Brief]: Nr. 412 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 190. Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (141) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 413 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 146. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 414 Der Botschafter in Rom an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 152. Rom, den 30. Juli 1914. Flotow. (142) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 415 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 134. Wien, den 30. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (2)Nr. 416 Der Gesandte in Belgrad (z.Z. in Nisch) an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 7. Nisch, den 28. Juli 1914. Böhm. Griesinger. (143) [Brief]: Nr. 417 Prinz Heinrich von Preußen an den König von England. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Henry. (144) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 417]. (145) [Brief]: Nr. 418 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 183. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (145) [Brief]: Nr. 419 Der Botschafter in Rom an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 154. Rom, den 30. Juli 1914. Flotow. (146) [Brief]: Nr. 420 Der Kaiser an den Zaren. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Willy. (147) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 420]. (147) [Brief]: Nr. 421 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 192. Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (148) Übersetzung der Formel Sasonows. [Möglichst wörtlich]: (149) [Brief]: Nr. 422 Der Generalkonsul in Warschau an den Reichskanzler. Warschau, den 29. Juli 1914. Brück. (149) [Brief]: Nr. 423 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an eine Reihe deutscher diplomatischer Vertreter im Ausland. Vertraulich! Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. v. Jagow. (150) [Brief]: Nr. 424 Der große Generalstab an das Auswärtige Amt. gez. v. Griesheim. Für die Richtigkeit. von Bartenwerffer Major. (152) [Brief]: Nr. 425 Aufzeichnung des Unterstaatssekretärs des Auswärtigen. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Mitteilung des österreichisch-ungarischen Botschafters. Zimmermann. (153) [Brief]: Nr. 426 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Gesandten im Haag. Ganz Geheim. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Jagow. (154) [Brief]: Nr. 427 Die österreichisch-ungarische Botschaft an das Auswärtige Amt. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Notiz. (155) [Brief]: Nr. 428 Die österreichisch-ungarische Botschaft an das Auswärtige Amt. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Notiz. (156) [Brief]: Nr. 429 Aufzeichnung des Staatssekretärs des Auswärtigen für den Reichskanzler. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. J[agow]. (157) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 430 Der Botschafter in Paris an das Auswärtige Amt. Schoen. (2)Nr. 431 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschaft in Konstantinopel. Jagow. (158) [Brief]: Nr. 432 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Tschirschky. (159) [Brief]: Nr. 433 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 135. Wien, den 30. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (159) [Brief]: Nr. 434 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 137. Wien, den 30. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (161) [Brief]: Nr. 435 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 184. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (161) [Brief]: Nr. 436 Der Geschäftsträger in Athen an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 223. Athen, den 30. Juli 1914. Bassewitz. (162) [Brief]: Nr. 437 Der Kaiser an den Kaiser von Österreich. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Neues Palais, den 30. Juli 1914. In treuer Freundschaft Wilhelm. (162) [Brief]: Nr. 438 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 187. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (163) [Brief]: Nr. 439 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 189. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (163) [Brief]: Nr. 440 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Alleruntertänigst v. Bethmann Hollweg. (164) [Brief]: Nr. 441 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 200. Dringend! Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. v. Bethmann Hollweg. (164) [Brief]: Nr. 442 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 201. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Jagow. (166) [Brief]: Nr. 443 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 139. Wien, den 30. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (166) [Brief]: Nr. 444 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in London. Telegramm 192. Zur vertraulichen Mitteilung. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Jagow. (167) [Brief]: Nr. 445 Der Militärbevollmächtigte am russischen Hofe an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 195. Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Chelius. (167) [Brief]: Nr. 446 Der Botschafter in Rom an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 156. Rom, den 30. Juli 1914. Flotow. (169) [Brief]: Nr. 447 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 191. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (170) [Brief]: Nr. 448 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 141. Wien, den 30. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (170) [Brief]: Nr. 449 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 197. Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (171) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 450 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 202. Dringend! Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 451 Entwurf eines nicht abgesandten Telegramms des Reichskanzlers an den Botschafter in Wien. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (172) [Brief]: Nr. 452 Der König von England an Prinz Heinrich von Preußen. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). London, den 30. Juli 1914. Prince Henry of Prussia Berlin. George. (173) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 452]. (173) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 453 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Athen. Telegramm 102. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. Jagow. (2)Nr. 454 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 193. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (174) [Brief]: Nr. 455 Der Botschafter in Paris an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 233. Paris, den 30. Juli 1914. Schoen. (175) [Brief]: Nr. 456 Protokoll der Sitzung des k. preußischen Staatsministeriums am 30. Juli 1914. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. (175) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 457 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Rom. Telegramm 147. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (2)Nr. 458 Der Botschafter in Rom an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 158. Rom, den 30. Juli 1914. Flotow. (180) [Brief]: Nr. 459 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 196. Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (181) [Brief]: Nr. 460 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 192. London, den 30. Juli 1914. Telegramm an Sir G. Buchanan Petersburg. Lichnowsky. (181) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 460]. (182) [Brief]: Nr. 461 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in Paris. Telegramm 175. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Jagow. (182) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 462 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Botschafter in Petersburg. Telegramm 150. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Jagow. (2)Nr. 463 Der Geschäftsträger in Bukarest an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 52. Geheim. Sinaia, den 30. Juli 1914. Waldburg. (183) [Brief]: Nr. 464 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 203. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (184) [Brief]: Nr. 465 Der Botschafter in Wien an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 142. Wien, den 30. Juli 1914. Tschirschky. (184) [Brief]: Nr. 466 Der Reichskanzler an den Kaiser. Berlin, den 30. Juli 1914. v. Bethmann Hollweg. (186) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 467 Der Generalkonsul in Antwerpen an den Reichskanzler. Antwerpen, den 30. Juli 1914. v. Schnitzler. (2)Nr. 468 Aufzeichnung des Dirigenten der politischen Abteilung im Auswärtigen Amt. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. (188) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 469 Der Botschafter in London an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 194. London, den 31. Juli 1914. Lichnowsky. (2)Nr. 470 Die Fürstin Pleß an den Kaiser. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). London, den 31. Juli 1914. Daisy. (189) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 470]. (189) [Brief]: Nr. 471 Nicht verwendeter Entwurf eines Telegramms des Kaisers an den König von Rumänien. (190) [2 Briefe]: (1)Nr. 472 Der Kaiser an den König von Rumänien. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Wilhelm. (2)Nr. 473 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 199. Petersburg, den 31. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (191) [Brief]: Nr. 474 Der Kaiser an das Reichsmarineamt und den Admiralstab. Zur Orientierung für R.M.A. und Adm.Stab. Secretissime! 31/VII 14 12h. Mittags. Wilhelm I.R. (192) [Brief]: Nr. 475 Der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen an den Geschäftsträger in Bukarest. Telegramm 55. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Jagow. (194) [Brief]: Nr. 476 Der Geschäftsträger in Cetinje an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 22. Cattaro, den 30. Juli 1914. Zech. (194) [Brief]: Nr. 477 Der Kaiser an den König von England. Telegramm (ohne Nummer). Neues Palais, den 31. Juli 1914. H.M. the King, Buckingham Palace, London. Willy. (196) Übersetzung [Brief Nr. 477]. (196) [Brief]: Nr. 478 Der Botschafter in Petersburg an das Auswärtige Amt. Telegramm 198. Petersburg, den 30. Juli 1914. Pourtalès. (197) [Brief]: Nr. 479 Der Reichskanzler an den Botschafter in Wien. Telegramm 204. Berlin, den 31. Juli 1914. Bethmann Hollweg. (198) Einband ( - ) Einband ( - )

Issue 69.3 of the Review for Religious, 2010. ; ANew Chal!en~e Models of Spi~rituali, ty Liv, ing Religious Li£e ' Foliow~ing Christ QUARTERLY 69.3 2010 Review for Religious fosters dialogue with God, dialogue with ourselves, and dialogue with one another about the holiness we try to live according to charisms of Catholic religious life. As Pope' Paul Vl said, our way of being church is today the way of dialogue. Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published quarterly at Saint Louis University by the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393 Telephone: 314-633-4610 ¯ Fax: 314-633-4611 E-Maih reviewrfr@gmail.com ¯Web site: www.reviewforreligious.org Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor: Review for Religious ¯ 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, MO 63108-3393 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Review for Religious ¯ P.O. Box 6070 ° Duluth, MN 55806. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. See inside back cover for information on subscription rates. ©2010 Review for Religious Permission is herewith granted to copy any material (articles, poems, reviews) contained in this issue of Review for Religious for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific library clients within the limits outlined in Sections 107 and/or 108 of the United States Copyright Law. All copies made under this permission must bear notice of the source, date, and copyright owner on the first page. This permission is NOT extended to copying for commercial distribution, advertising, institutional promotion, or for the creation of new collective works or anthologies. Such permission will only be considered on written application to the Editor, Review for Religious. ~ gournalof Ca~ho~c ~piri~ua~y rel Editor Associate Editor Scripture Scope Editorial Staff Advisory Board David L. Fleming SJ Philip C. Fischer SJ Eugene Hensell OSB Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm Judy Sharp Paul Coutinho SJ Martin Erspamer OSB' Margaret Guider OSF Kathleen Hughes RSCJ Louis and Angela Menard Bishop Terry Steib SVD QUARTERLY 69.3 2010 contents prisms 228 Prisms 230 238 a new challenge ~ Koinonia and the Church in the Digital Age Daniel P. Horan OFM reflects on the role technology currently plays in both supporting and challenging Christians in their fellowship (koinonia) as church. Personal Reflection / Group Discussion Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Hear and Far Hedwig Lewis SJ probes the inclusive meaning and reach of frontiers for spiritual enhancement and effective ministry. The term frontiers, contained in Decree Three of the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus has gained popularity among many religious. 226] 255 268 models of spirituality ~ Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of the Cross Judith Metz SC explores a central element of St. Elizabeth Seton's spirituality: her realization of the importance of losing her life for the sake of living in closer union with Christ. A Rare Humility and a Future-Facing Myth Avis Clendenen finds in an aging sister's simple tale a vision of the humility that our dangerously narcissistic culture seriously needs. Review for Religious 281 297 living religious life Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice Robert Nogosek CSC proposes that in order for religious life to be authentic discipleship it demands of us an ongoing reevaluation of what is required to be a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Coping with the Genuinely Difficult Religious Jeffrey Mickler SSP brings together some observations and practical suggestions on how to deal with problematic religious. 3O9 316 following Christ The Liturgical Year: History or Mystery? John M. Samaha SM examines the movement of the liturgical year in order that we might enter more fully into this time of grace. Personal Reflection / Group Discussion Discipleship and Clinging to God Damian C. Ilodigwe writes on how letting go opens us to true discipleship, and we are invited to detach ourselves from wayward affections in order to attach ourselves to God. departments 324 Scripture Scope: Reading and Understanding the Prophets 328 Book Review 227 69.3 2010 prisms 228 In the middle months of a secular calendar year, we find ourselves in what is identified as "ordinary time" in the church's liturgical year. As we likely have been told many times, the liturgical "ordinary time" refers to a way of counting (the Latin word ordo meaning "an ordering") the Sundays from one to thirty-four. These are the Sundays that are outside of the special seasons of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter. Yet for us Christians, there is a kind of lovely paradox in living within what we call the "liturgical season of ordinary time." While in many ways it may seem that all time is ordi-nary (since time is always countable), in other ways we can view all time as rather extraordi-nary. The ordinariness of time is caught up in our usual round of family or community life, of work and recreation, of the accustomed interaction of friends, neighbors, and fellow-workers. Some people try to break out of the day-to-day routine by deliberately scheduling in a special time for a dinner out, a day-trip to an unfamiliar town, or a different recreational activity such as biking or bowling. Review for Religious A number of people find each day an adventure and cannot imagine that there are some who would call life ordinary. These people find a newness in the chang-ing weather of this day, in the surprising interactions with their own children or friends, and even in the mes-sages of the mail, the internet, and the iphone. They have retained a certain childlikeness that retains a won-der,. about life in all its forms. For them life is not so much ordinal, that is, "countable," as it is caught up in "moments" that have no countable passage. For exam-ple, moments of insight and moments of being inflamed by love--spiritually identified as consolations--are truly beyond the countable. We Christians are blessed and graced to recognize these kinds of "moments" in prayer during which we feel caught up outside of time in our relationship with God. Surely it does not happen all the time; in fact, the "ordinary" is our "slugging away" at our prayer time. We can also know these moments when we are engaged in our various times of joy, happiness, and love. The wonder of it all is that these moments for us--those who are caught in finding life ordinary and those who are gifted to live in wonder--are actually moments that happen in the ordinary course of our daily living. Perhaps that is why it is important for us to enter fully into the paradox of our church's liturgical season of ordinary rime. There i~ the reality of the ordinary and there is also the reality of the moment. The church's liturgical year reminds us that God is always present to us both in the ordinary and in the moment. We need only to pray each day of our liturgical year to be gr.aced with the gratitude that finds God in all times and places. David L. Fleming sJ 69.3 2010 a new DANIEL P. HORAN challenge 2301 Koinonia and the Church in the Digital Age If Jesus had been born in 1980 and began his public ministry in 2010, would he have "friended" the twelve apostles on Facebook instead of visiting the Sea of Galilee? While this question might at first seem comical, it reflects concern about how the church as the Christian community relates to the world in which it exists today. The world is very different from the world of Jesus' ministry. The way many people experience interpersonal communication, develop and maintain relation-ships, and share information is strikingly dif-ferent from the ways of previous generations. In an era marked by advances in technology, communication, and virtual space, we must be attentive to how much our church community is being influenced or shaped by its new envi-ronment. To understand some of these matters Daniel P. Horan .OFM has written on Franciscan the-ology, philosophy, and spirituality. He writes from Holy Name College; 1650 Saint Camillus Drive; Silver Spring, Maryland 20903. Review for Religious in what we may call the "digital age," we must look first at what unites us in faith and then at how our changing world affects that unity. What Is Koinonia? Early in the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that members of the nascent Christian community "devoted thems'elves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship (koinonia), to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Ac 2:42). In Greek, koinonia was one of the marks of Christian identity, but what does it mean? It literally means "communal-ness" (community, communion, "in common") and thus fellowship. In the Christian con-text, however, this is more than club mem . bership or casual social connections. The New Testament scholar Luke Timothy Johnson sug-gests that this under-standing of koinonia includes our unity in Christ, which explains how the Christian com-munity was able to maintain unity amid the ~hallenges it faced in the first centuries. In a 1999 lecture at St. Louis University, Johnson offered four aspects of this Christian fellow-ship: fellowship among persons, in writing, in material resources, and in convictions.1 Even in diverse cultures, regions, and languages, Christianity was unified through these four aspects of koinonia. The fellowship among persons is seen in the way net-works of New Testament figures, including the apostles The fellowship in writing is most clearly seen in the way .that. early Christian texts,. were shared among the early believers~ [231 69.3 2010 Horan ¯ Koinonia and the Cburcb in the Digital Age and their successors, helped to unify the various com-munities of believers. Johnson believes that these per-sonal connections helped to maintain coherence in the early Christian movement. The fellowship in writing is most clearly seen in the way that early Christian texts, which would later be canonized as Scripture, were shared among the early believers in different locations. The exchange of these compositions, sometimes letters and sometimes longer narratives, concretized the common experience of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The communal reflec-tion on these compositions proved to be an important means of developing koinonia. The fellowship in material resources united the first Christians in a seemingly calculable way that was under-stood more deeply as symbolizing a spiritual connec-tion with other believers. We see in both the Acts of the Apostles and in the Letters of Paul references to offerings for the benefit of the local community ("no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common," Ac 4:32), and the greater Christian community spread throughout the land ("conc+rning the collection for the saints., on the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn," 1 Co 16:1-2). Sharing financial resources represented spiritual koinonia. The last form of fellowship is that in convictions. Johnson notes that in the New Testament we see con-flicts arising over interpretations of some mat(ers, but that some convictions are never contested. Three of these are monotheism (identifying the one God as the God of the Torah), knowledge that Jesus was human and died, and belief that Jesus was now living with God and would share in God's triumph in the future. Review for Religious All four forms of koinonia that Johnson highlights contribute to the unity amid diversity in the early.church. We see that they have continued to unite the church. The Possibility of Digita! Koinonia With the understanding that this fourfold koinonia continues even today, we can now look at how it relates to us in our technologically advanced and technologically permeated world. It seems there is nothing that does not have a digital or virtual counterpart: Much of today's communication takes place on the Internet in such sites as Facebook and MySpace. Interacting in a completely digital environment where simple laws of nature, com-mon social mores, and geographical limits are no longer applicable is becoming more common through programs like SecondLife. These new forms of communication and social interaction allow the users to create, modify, and experiment with their identities in unprecedented ways. These new "identities" can participate in what are often called "online communities." Is it possible then to express koinonia in a digital format, to have "church" or a community of believers come together in an authentic way online? It would seem at first glance to be a possibility. The clearest congruency between koinonia and the digital age is likely found within the context 6f the fel-lowship among persons. The Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gen-tium, says: "All of the faithful, scattered though they be throughout the. world, are in communion with each other in the Holy Spirit" (LG §13).2 Earlier in Lumen gentium we are told that the church "transcends all limits of time and confines of race [and is] destined to extend to all regions of the earth" (LG §9). Transcending the 69.3 2010 Horan ¯ Koinonia and the Church in the Digital Age boundaries of temporality and human differences sug-gests that connecting and communicating with others through digital media and the Internet is indeed a con-temporary manifestation of fellowship among persons. Additionally, the "blog" (short for "weblog") and other digital media make written compositions and reflections on normative religious texts more read-ily available. Even in graduate theological schools, the ubiquity of technologies such as BlackBoard or WebCT has reshaped the way students of Scripture and theology read about, reflect on, and share their faith. It would seem that Christians are no longer limited to parish Bible study, adult catechesis, or other forms of faith-sharing face to face. Instead, thecommunica(ion of biblical and theological reflection now transcends the previous spatial and temporal boundaries. You can read about, reflect on, and share your faith at any time and from nearly any place. The fellowship in material resources in contempo-rary Christian communities occurs largely by way of the Internet. Technology enables the faithful to share their material resources directly or indirecdy with other communities at the click of a computer mouse. When natural disaster, crime, or war affects the people of God on any continent or at any time, the Internet has allowed Christians to assist others instantaneously. This has been the case in recent years with aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and victims of hur-ricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. The sharing of material resources in these instances also represents the spiritual unity of the people of God, spread around the world though they are. The final dimension of koinonia that Johnson has highlighted for us, fellowship in convictions, can also be for Reli#ous seen in the new technologies of the digital age. From the beginning of the Internet, digital "communities" formed to share ideas and information. Early on, this occurred in what were called "chat rooms" and "message boards," where one could connect with others and contribute to a continuing conversation about a particular subject. Today the successors to those early formats might be Facebook "groups" and personal blogs. Centered on commonly held beliefs and convictions, these digital "spaces" allow people to connect with others without regard to temporal or geographic boundaries. Given the apparent compatibility of Luke Johnson's fourfold definition of koinonia with the technological advances of our digital age, it seems we could advocate a form of "digital koinonia." There remains, however, a piece of the puzzle that is not accounted for in this digital koinonia. The church is not united in this form of fellowship alone, but is also a Eucharistic community. From Facebook to Eucharist However great the possibilities for increasing koi-nonia among the Christian faithful, we must recall the passage from Acts cited above wherein the community was also devoted to the breaking of the bread. Cardinal Walter Kasper, in his book That They May All Be One,3 reminds us that the church is not simply an organization or club in which we have become some sort of mem-ber, and that we are brought into participation in the mystery of Christ as a part of Christ's Body through the sacrament of baptism. The participation--the set of relationships we enter through baptism and maintain through koinonia--comes to what Kasper calls "the summit," namely, participation in the Eucharist, a theme from Sacrosanctum concilium, 69.3 2010 Horan ¯ Koinonia and the Church in the Digital Age the council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. In this light we can understand Christian koinonia as being both a communal or material unity and a sacramental unity. Kasper is in line with Johnson's fourfold koinonia, but reminds us that this koinonia is inherently sacramental, rooted in our shared baptism and Eucharist. Understanding koinonia as being fundamentally sac-ramental while also communal, we see two sets of rela-tionship in the church's koinonia, The first one Kasper calls the horizontal dimension of koinonia. It is what we have seen in Johnson's fourfold framework: fellow- - ship among persons, . , ~ in writing, in material resources, and in con-viction. The second set Kasper describes as the vertical dimension: the explicitly sacramental fellowship of believers, who in baptism are united to Christ and thus brought into the life of the Trinity. This dimension, the vertical or sac-ramental, cannot be replicated on Facebook, MySpace, SecondLife, or any other technological medium. People cannot have their SecondLife avatar baptized online and cannot participate in the celebration of the Eucharist online either. In light of the ideas of'Luke Timothy Johnson and Cardinal Walter Kasper and in line with the vision of the Second Vatican Council, the church in this digital age of ours is clearly aided in living its koinonia, but not, of course, in the matter of baptism and the Eucharist, with their water, bread, and wine. The horizontal dimension We can understand Christian koinonia as being both a communal or material unity and a sacramental unity,° 236 Review for Religious of koinonia could very likely benefit from more engage-ment with online technologies that transcend some of the usual limits of place and time. At the same time, there is a need to move beyond this digital koinonia to fully include the sacramental and vertical dimension in the celebration of baptism and Eucharist. Had Jesus "friended" the Apostles on Facebook, he would have veryqikely sent an "e-vite" to each one for an in-person gathering shortly thereafter. Notes ~ Luke Timothy Johnson, "Koinonia: Diversity and Unity in Early Christianity," Theology Digest 46 (1999): 303-313. 2 All references to conciliar documents are to Vatican Council II, ed. Austin Flannery OP (New York: Costello Publishing, 1992). 3 Walter Kasper, That They May All Be One: The Call To Unity Today (New York: Continuum, 2004). Questions for Personal Reflection and Group Study 1. In what ways do you experience koinonia in today's church? 2. How do you see technology impacting the way we live out our call to Christian discipleship? Are there other positive or negative dimensions associated with this reality? 3. What are the ways we might better use technology to support authentic communion within the Christian community today? 23.7 69.3 2010 HEDWIG LEWIS Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far 23,8 ~reOvarle daStt intuotd oens.l yI nc o2m0m06u,n tihcaet es lmanega n"icnogo blu"t walasso said to be the most popular word of the year. It had acquired a new set of meanings and suggested a specific mindset. The word, however, did not affect Jesuits: they were warming up for a general congregation (GC35) to be held in early 2008. When it was finally in session, the delegates wanted to set the world on fire. A special decree (D2) defined the Jesuit as a "man on fire" at the frontiers of humanity. Decree Three (D3) is tided "Challenges to Our Mission Today: Sent to the Frontiers." "Frontiers" became the theme of several docu-ments and the new buzzword of the Jesuits. It is no longer just a romantic term, but has evoked enthusiasm and captured Jesuit imaginations. It has become popular also among other religious worldwide.~ Hedwig Lewis SJ writes again from St. Xavier's College; P.B. 4168; Ahmedabad 380 009; India. His website is http://joygift.tripod.com. Review for Religious Understanding Frontiers The word frontier has varied meanings: the edge of empires, a place for adventure and heroism, technologi-cal testing for new industries, conquest or rich cultural exchange. In Europe it refers simply to the boundaries between nations. The colonies the Europeans established in the rest of the world became, first of all, European societies and cultures on farther frontiers. In the United States the frontier, in history and popular culture, has meant the setting for adventure and prosperity, valor and villainy. The national character is seen as having been forged in the trials and triumphs of life on the frontier. The pioneer experience supposedly pf0duced the best traits of the American people--their tenacity, individualism, love of democracy, patriotism, inventive-ness, and much more. Many historians today question such views, but few would deny that "frontier," broadly understood, has had an influence not only in North America but in the rest of the world as well. The expansion of European peo-ples brought a variety of complicated changes to human society and to the physical world itself. The frontier was an unsetding force--socially, culturally, politically, and ecologically) No longer just a geographic term implying some restrictions, "frontier" is also used in referring intel-lectual aiad scientific advances and ideological visions. Today "ideas, information, merchandise, technology, and capital circulate freely; persons also circulate, though with many more restrictions. Frontiers have become porous, and in many cases they have disappeared. The world has become multireligious and multicultural. There is no longer a notion of Christendom with delim-ited frontiers beyond which lies mission territory.''3 69.3 2010 Lewis * Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far A New Concept of Frontier Decree Three of GC35 redefines frontier accord-ing to. the interpretation Pope Benedict xvI gave it in his allocution to GC35. It implies "geographical and spiritual ,places where others do not reach or find it dif-ficult to reach . The obstacles challenging those who announce the gospel are no longer seas and vast dis-tances; rather they are the boundar-ies of a superficial vision of God and of man, which place obstacles in the way of faith and human knowledge, faith and science, faith and the commitment to justice.''4 The new frontiers exist everywhere, and we are sent to the frontiers with the very concrete mission of open-ing up passes and of "building bridges" between those who live on pne side of the frontier and those who live on the other. What is more, we are asked to be our-selves "bridges in a fragmented world" (D3 17). The frontiers have to be recognized in their variety and diversity. "The frontier is everywhere--in cyber-space, in the inner space of retreats and counseling, in the depths of depression from infirmity, in the homes that have been broken by separation or misunderstand-ing, in the midst of the secularized globalized post, modern world, in old places that call for new ways of speaking God's word. It is anywhere and everywhere that the joy and peace of the Good News is still not felt. And we are asked to go there, and 'our mode of proceeding is to trace the footprints of God. know-ing that the Spirit of Christ is at work in all places Frontiers have to be recognized in their varietyand diversity: 240 Review for Religious and situations.' . . . We turn also to the 'frontier' of the earth, increasingly degraded and plundered. Here, with passion for environmental justice, we shall meet once again the Spirit of God seeking to liberate a suf-fering creation, which demands of us space to live and breathe" (D2 10&24).s On the spiritual front, particularly for Ignatian spiriZ tuality, "~e frontiers are in giving Spiritual Exercises to every kind of person. There are frontiers in constructing an I'gnatian spirituality that can energize political action and, a renewed evangelization of faithful Christians. And there are ~frontiers in places: Moscow, for instance, and the virtual place called the web. There are older fr.on-tiers too: each human hea~;t that has to decide to follow and serve Christ the ¯K' in"g6. Jesm" t s"pirituality, because it is holistic and inclusive, "sustains the Jesuit at individual and collective, personal and strg.ctural levels for collabo-ration and networking at all levels--provincial and uni-versal in an attitude of solidarity . Jesuits are invited to build a new future in Christ for a 'globalization in solidarity, a globalization without marginalization.'''7 Those who "really try to listen" to, the Spirit end up in strange, surprising places!''s Jesuit Frontiersmen ~ Since the-foundation of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits have considered themselves frontiersmen and pioneers in .the proclamation of the faith. Pope. Benedict alluded to this in his allocution: "In its history; the Society of Jesus has lived extraordinary experiences of proclama-tion and encounter between the gospel and world cul-tures- it suffices to think of Matteo Ricci in China, Roberto De Nobili in India, or the 'Reductions' in Latin America. And you are very rightly, proud of them. I feel 69.3 2010 Lewis ¯ Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far 242 it is my duty today to urge you to set out once again in the tracks of your predecessors with the same cour-age and intelligence, but also with an equally profound motivation of faith and enthusiasm to serve the Lord and his church." He was echoing the words of his predecessor Pope Paul vI, who spoke of ~'crossroads" and "the front line" when he addressed GC32 in 1975: "Wherev.er in the church, even in the most difficult and exposed fields, in the Erossroads of ideologies, in the social trenches, there has been or is confrontation between the burning exigencies of humanity and the perennial message of the gospel, there have been and are the Jesuits," The Jesuit historian John O'Malley, writing about "the first Jesuits," said that their ."ministries and how they went about them were quintessential to the Jesuits' self-definition" of being frontiersmen. In their minis-tries, Jesuits excluded no person or place in the world. They operated at the edges of life: they preached, taught catechism., proposed _n_ew liturgical practices, and sought to .help orphans, prostitutes, prisoners, and people in hospitals. They were simultaneously writing plays, teaching in universities~ and acting as theologians at the Council of Trent. Within seven years of their papal approval, they founded and operated schools.9 Today our mission is to, go with both spiritual vigor and intellectual rigor to the "new frontiers" where we learn again that our "Jesuit identity [and mission] are relational; they grow in and through our diversities of culture, nationalities, and languages, enriching and chal-lenging us" (D2 19).1° In keeping with their vocation, therefore, Jesuits are sent beyond all frontiers "to serve faith, promote jus-tice, and dialogue with cultures and religions. The basis Review for Religious for reconciliation is Luke 4:18-19, which announces the good news to the poor, the release of captives, the recovery of sight by the blind, and freedom for the oppressed. In proclaiming God's message of love and compassion, Jesus crosses over physical and socio-religious frontiers. In the same manner, Jesuits are invited to preach the kingdom to those living outside their physical and spiritual frontiers: tax col-lectors; prostitutes; sin-ners; refugees; displaced; trafficked; women; chil- ,To cr, gss frontlers demands a strongfaith, courage, ,open ness others, and a willingness to take risks. dren; minorities; outcasts; indigenous peoples; victims of communal, caste, and ethnic violence; and persons of all kinds who are marginalized and excluded.''~l The frontiers are difficult and often uncomfort-able places. They provide none of the security of one's home turf and often require excursions, into unfamiliar or even uncharted territory. To cross frontiers demands a strong faith, courage, openness to others, and a will-ingness to take risks. It requires the ability to adapt the message of Christ and his church to cultural, linguistic, and religious realities that work with altogether differ-ent categories and reference points, as modeled by some of the great Jesuit missionaries of the past.~2 '.'Going to the frontiers," Father Adolfo Nicolfis pointed out, "means study, research, entering into the life of the people, soli-darity, empathy, inculturation, and respect for others. Going to the whole world turns out to be more difficult than we had thought. We feel like children. Perhaps we have discovered the kingdom of God.''~3 69.3 2010 Lewis ¯ Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, when asked to define "catholic" by Georgetown University trustees visiting Rome in May 2007, replied, "I have always understood 'catholic' to mean bringing the experience of those at the frontiers of the church's mission back to renew the center.''14 For the effectiveness of our mission, we need to carefully "discern" the frontiers. This demands "three important qualities: creativity, daring, and great humil-ity!" according to Father Nicolfis. "Every Jesuit work, be it in justice, spirituality, educati6n, or whatever, should ask the question, 'How are we at the frontiers?'''is That is what this article addresses. The full mean-ing and scope of "frontiers" will take much research and extensive reflection. This is, then, an introductory study from three perspectives: (1) interior frontiers, which involve (2) spiritual frontiers and (3) outreach frontiers. 244 Interior Frontiers Saints have implied that the spiritual life is the adven-ture of crossing interior psychological frontiers to reach the ever expanding horizons of the soulscape. Spiritual life always involves letting go so .that, unburdened by self-seeking, one can go forward in communion with the divine. This adventure entails a striving to compre-hend "the 'breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of Christ's love (Ep 3:18). In this regard, and with regard to the papal definition, frontiers envisage inscape and landscape--the personal and the social, the vertical, horizontal, and panoramic reaches within one's power with the help of divine grace. Frontiers can envision our environs, our neighborhood--its breadth and length-- and those living on the edge or at the fringes of our neighborhood or our society. Frontiers can include depth Revieva for Religious and height, interior knowledge that grows and expands to vision and ideals, to community and commitment. As religious men and women, committed to this journey of the soul, we are called to be "bridge-builders" on all fronts. To be effective in this mission of bridging, we have to grow unceasingly in our familiarity with the "territories" at both ends, the spiritual and the worldly. "The church is in urgent need of people of solid and deep faith, of a serious culture and a genuine human and social sensitivity, of religious who devote their lives to stand on those frontiers in order to witness and help to understand that there is in fact a profound harmony between faith and reason, between evangelical spirit, thirst for justice, and action for peace.''16 This spiritual adventure has'its own thrill and attraction. With our inner vision set on new~ and farther horizons that our Lord graciously opens up for zealous seekers, the path is "straight and narrow" (Mr 7:13-14), but along it there are obstacles and frontiers. For those disposed toward Ignatian spirituality, any discussion on "frontiers, will inevitably involve the magis, the openness to being and doing more. "We must discern our mission according to the criteria of the magis and the more universal good" (D2 22). The magis challenges one toward seeking greater depth rather than wider avenues, non multa sed multum (not many but much). The spirit of the magis transforms us into fron-tier persons, desiring to find themselves called to what is greater and better. St. Ignatius, "the pilgrim," explored the dark inte-riors of the cave of his heart before he undertook the journey to Jerusalem to "save souls." His Autobiography describes how the journey inward meant resisting dev-ilish pirates and surviving death-threatening squalls in [ 69.3 2010 Lewis ¯ Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far order to cross the frontiers to peaceful havens. An exam-ple from more recent times is that of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who indicates in her "private writings" that for the last fifty years of her life she had struggled pain-fully to feel God's presence. Through her "dark night of the soul," neverthe- The Ignatian magis brooks no comfoi't zones; it expands ou~ horizons and opens up ever-new frontiers within the heart and the world around it. less, she shone forth as an extraordinary woman of faith, who continued crossing frontiers of a more ordinary kind. The Ignatian magis brooks no comfort zones; it expands our horizons and opens up ever-new frontiers within the heart and the world around it. Only Love can satisfy our inner craving for fulfillment: Love of God, love of self, love for others. Only unconditional love breaks barriers and enables us to cross over life's various frontiers. We will reach the last frontier only when "the soul feels sat-isfied." But this will happen only with our dying breath, for, .as Augustine tells us, our hearts are resdess till they rest in God. 246 Geography of Prayer/Spiritual Frontiers To assist us in our "restless striving" to cross spir-itual frontiers, St. Ignatius has given us his Spiritual Exercises. "One tries to find one's way to the place where one desires to pray now and, when I find my way to that place, I try to stay there 'until I have been satis-fied' before moving on to a new place." This method Review for Religious applies to where I place my body (in the literal sense) and where I give my attention. This discipline of seek-ing the place of my heart's desire and trying to stay there until I have been satisfied makes a powerful disci-pline for living ordinary life as well as for finding guid-ance in prayer. A Jesuit has written: "When I pray, I pay attention to where I am (geographically, professionally, tempo-rally). I try to follow the lead of my inner disturbances (Ignatius's word for consolations or desolations), which can help me find my way to where I desire to meet, and be met by, God. If I pay attention to where I place myself in the world and where my life circumstances place me, my place in the world becomes grace for me. I can form a habit of asking whether I am called to remain in that place or whether I am called to find my way to a new place. 'Place' here can mean a given neighborhood, a particular job, a professional organization, an informal network of friends, and so forth.''~7 Familiarity with this "inner geography" helps us translate our prayer into our ministry as contemplatives in action. Hence we need to deepen our interior lives so as to better integrate our vision and mission as fron-tiersmen. Without a demanding and vigorous interior life, we allow ourselves to let go of the "contempla-. tive" side of our lives, forgetting that "in what we do in the world there must always be transparency to God" (GC35 D2 10). Without seeking and finding the paths of interiority which the Spirit of God oPens up if we are docile, we rian the risk that our apostolic generosity will wither, the meaning of our strongest commitments will become confused. Without seeking God with our inner eyes, we do not recognize how God is working in our efforts. We are likely to stop making them.~8 247 69.3 2010 Lewis ¯ Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far 248 Outreach Frontiers Frontiers "beyond geographical definitions await us, 'nations' that today include those who are poor and dis-placed, those who are profoundly lonely, those who ignore God's existence, and those who use God as an instrument for political purposes. Thereare new 'nations,' and we have been sent to them (D2 22). At the frontier, then, we encounter the tragedies of poverty, hunger, thirst, pain, and death--a world in need. But this discovery need not discourage us, for we also discover that God is already there at work, and God will accompany us. Be.cause God is already there, Jesuits and their collaborators will receive new energy and new life, even when mingled with anguish where 'the Divinity'is hidden.'" 19 "Ignatius and his first companions understood the importance of reaching out to people on the frontiers and at the center of society, of reconciling those who were estranged in any way. From the center in Rome, Ignatius sent Jesuits to the frontiers, to th~ new world, 'to announce the Lord to peoples and cultures that did not know him as yet.' He sent Xavier to the Indies. Thousands of Jesuits followed, preaching the gospel to many cultures, sharing knowledge with and learning from others. He also wanted Jesuits to cross other types of frontiers between rich and poor, between educated and unlearned. He wrote a letter to the Jesuits at the Council of Trent on how to behave, and insisted that they should minister to the sick. Jesuits opened colleges in Rome and in the great cities, of Europe, and they taught children in villages across the world" (D3 15). The metaphor of bridge-building is used often' in D3, "signaling a desire to link thoroughgoing incul, turation to a commitment to dialogue. The.strategy proposed is clear: Go to the frontiers, immerse your- Review for Religious selves in the cultures you encounter, and share in the conversation. These orientations are to drive Jesuit and Ignatian activity in the postmodern era.''2° "This tradition of Jesuits building bridges across frontiers becomes crucial in the context of today's world. We become able to bridge the divisions of a fragmented world only if we remember and live from three Ignatian principles: the love of God our Lord, the union of minds and hearts reflected in the personal bond of Francis Xavier and Ignatius across the seas, and the obedience that sends each one of us in mission to any part of this world" (D3 17). The "universal mission" of the Society of Jesus flows from Ignatius's vision at La Storta. He would "deploy Jesuits in a wide variety of apostolic ministries around the world. Jesuits were to go where the need was great-est, other religious were not already there, the good to be achieved was wide and deep, and their service would better society0while giving glory to God (see Constitutions SJ §622).''2~ Christ-centered Many tasks may call on us urgently, but we know that it is not only urgent tasks that define the Society's missions: "it is Christ's mission, of which we desire to be the servants, that is our urgency.''z2 Pope Benedict, in his recent encyclical Caritas in veritate (§20) empha-sized this IZhristic orientation behind all human endeav-ors toward social change for a better world: It is Christ's charity that drives us on: "caritas Christi urget nos" (2 Co 5:14). The urgency is inscribed not only in things, it is not derived solely from the rapid succession of events ahd problems, but also from the very matter that is at stake: the establishment of authen- [249 69.3 2010 Lewis * Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far Our o treach programs must begin from the heart, tic fraternity. The importance of this goal is such as to demand our openness to understand it in depth and to mobilize ourselves at the level of the "heart," so as to ensure that current economic and social processes evolve towards fully human outcomes. Our outreach programs, then, must begin, from the heart._ This demands that we be person-centered rather than project-oriented. Our service must touch hearts. In this outreach we will encounter personal and social frontiers, as" Christ did, but we must cross them all to get to people's hearts; for the kingdom, coming from within God's heart, is within. "The crossing of frontiers is a larger human experi-ence and is not only a matter of religious frontiers. An open church willing to relate to the world, the larger society, and many types of identities will increasingly face the question of how to go about the reality of frontiers. It is the modern version of the question of love of neighbor . Traditional Christian rec-onciliation has to express itself today in the way we face complicated frontiers and boundaries and how we cross over and reach out. :. By negotiating the frontiers and communing across them, Christians will continuously discover new dimensions of their own faith identity. ¯ Much of the Christian future lies on the periphery, in the frontier-zones. Encounter with new identities need not signify a threat to a church that understands itself as universal because it is a communion in difference.''23 "Jesus, in his outreach, embraced difference and new horizons. His ministry transcended boundaries. Review for Religious He invited his disciples to be aware of God's action in places and people they were inclined to avoid: Zacchaeus, a Syro-Phoenician woman, Roman centurions, a repen-tant thief. As water bringing life to all who thirst, he showed himself interested in every parched area of the world; and in every parched area of the world he can thus be welcomed, for all who are thirsty can understand what living water means. This image of living water can give life to all Jesuits as servants of Christ in his mission because, having tasted this water themselves, they will be eager to offer it to anyone who thirsts and to reach out to people beyond frontiers--where water may not yet have welled up--to bring a new culture of dialogue to a rich, diverse, and multifaceted world" (D2 12). The Gospels offer a vivid insight into Christ's modus operandi in his healing ministry. "Look at any healing story: the way Jesus heals the paralyzed man brought in by his friends through the roof; the leper; the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus first responds to a concrete, immediate need: the healing of a sickness. But then he goes on to respond to a deeper need: the burden of guilt or the sense of hopelessness or rejec-tion and isolation. Finally he goes deeper still and offers what they long for most, often without knowing it: the gift of the kingdom of God, of friendship with a God of unconditional love, in a way that transforms them at the core of their persons.''24 "In proclaiming God's message of love and com-passion, Jesus crossed over physical and socioreligious frontiers. His message of reconciliation was preached both to the people of Israel and to those living outside its physical and spiritual frontiers: tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners, and persons of all kinds who are marginalized and excluded. His ministry of reconciliation with God 69.3 2010 Lewis ¯ Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far and with one another knew no boundaries. He spoke to the powerful, challenging them to a change of heart. He showed special love for the sinner, the poor widow, and the lost sheep. The kingdom of God which he constantly preached became a vision for a world where all relation-ships are reconciled in God. Jesus confronted the powers that oppose this kingdom, and that opposition led him to death on the cross, a death which he freely accepted in keeping with his mission. On the cross we see all his words and actions revealed as expressions of the final reconciliation effected by the Crucified and Risen Lord, through whom comes the new creation in which all rela-tionships will be set right in God" (D3 14). Words from the Heart We often fall short of being imitators of Christ in our frontier ministries. Our very words betray our attitudes: we "plan," "coordinate," "organize," mostly at the head level. "These are organizational verbs, very important, necessary for moving ahead," Father Adolfo Nicolfis noted. He added that in contrast, when Jesus commis-sioned his disciples to ministry, his words revealed the heart of it. He used "verbs of life, verbs of giving life": preach the gospel to the poor, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, expel demons, raise the dead. This clearly indicates that "the mission of God in Jesus, the business he is about, is making life flow more abundantly for humanity wherever it is lacking or blocked. And the real secret of mission is not to get rid' of the organizational verbs or the gospel verbs, but to somehow make the organizational actions that we have to perform expres-sions of the life-giving actions of the gospel.''2s Words are symbolic. When we set out with the mindset of Christ to discern "how we are at the fron- Review for Re.ligious tiers," is our definitiofi of "frontiers" congru.ent with that of the Church and the Socie,ty? Does the spirit of the magis urge us to seek and find God's presence everywhere--across the frontiers, deep and high, near and far? Notes 1 Adolfo Nicolas sJ, "Challenges and Issues in Jesuit Education," keynote address on the 150th anniversary of Jesuit education in the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, 13 July 2009. 2 Elliott West, Frontier, Grolier Online. 3 Marcos Recolons SJ, "What's New in the Decree on Mission?" Promotio Iustitiae 98-99 (2008/1): 18. 4 Pope Benedict XVI, allocution to the delegates of GC35, 21 February 2008. s Josd C.J. Magadia SJ, homily for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Philippine Province, 27 July 2008. 6 Joseph Tetlow SJ, "At the Frontiers," Review of Ignatian Spirituality 95 (2000): 17. 7 Joseph Marianus Kuiur SJ, "Sent to the Frontiers--Decree on Mission," Jivan (August 2008): 4-6. s Nicol~is, "Challenges and Issues." 9 John O'Malley sJ, The First Jesuits (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993), pp. 3 and 18. 10 Paul L. Locatelli SJ, "To Be Sent: Mission, Frontiers, and Contemplative Action," Review of Ignatian Spirituality 119 (2008/3): 27. 1~ Kuiur, "Sent to the Frontiers." 12 Len Altilia SJ, "The Inspiration for Frontiers," Frontiers 1, no. 1, online. 13 John Borelli SJ, "Frontiers of Dialogue for Discovery and Renewal," National Jesuit News (November 2008). 14 Borelli, "Frontiers of Dialogue." ~s Adolfo Nicolas SJ, "Jesuit Mission Today," address to Jesuits and friends at Gonzaga College, Ireland, 12 September 2009. 16 Pope Benedict XVI, allocution. 17 John Staudenmaier sJ "The Inner Geography of Prayer in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius," UDMcasts on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, The University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, 7 March 2007. 69.3 2010 Lewis ¯ Beyond Frontiers, Deep and High, Near and Far 18 Franqois-Xavier Dumortier SJ, "The Same Path as Ignatius," Review of Ignatian Spirituality 119 (2008). , ,9 Locatelli, "To ~Be Sent," p. 33. 20 Adria~ Lyons SJ, "From Centre to Frontiers," Province Express, Australia, 28 May 2008. 21 Locatelli, "To Be Sent," p. 27. 22 Dumortier, "The Same Path." 23 Felix Wilfred, "Introduction: The Art of Negotiating the Frontiers," Concilium, 1999/2. 24 Nicokis, "Challenges and Issues." 2s Nicolfis, "Challenges and Issues." Equinox 254 I was once certain of so many things Certain of light and dark life and death f!'lled and empty hatred and love I was once certain of so many things But grief broke me open and they tumbled out as one jumbled mess Certainty tumbled out among them. Kathleen Atkinson OSB Review for Religious JUDITH METZ Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of the Cross In the back flyleaf of her prayer book, Elizabeth Bayley Seton wrote a modification of the Anima Christi: Soul of Jesus sanctify me Blood of Jesus wash me Passion of Jesus comfort me Wounds of Jesus hide me Heart of Jesus receive me Spirit of Jesus enliven me Goodness of Jesus pardon me Beauty of Jesus draw me Humility of Jesus humble me Peace of Jesus pacify me Love of Jesus inflame me Kingdom of Jesus come to me Grace of Jesus replenish me Mercy of Jesus pity me Sanctity of Jesus sanctify me Purity of Jesus purify me Cross of Jesus support me Judith Metz SC is the archivist and historian for the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. Her address is 5900 Delhi Road; Mount St. Joseph, Ohio 45051. models of spirituality. 69.3 2010 Metz ¯ Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of the Cross Nails of Jesus hold me in life, in death - in time and Eternity - in the hour of Death defend me, call me to come to thee, receive me with thy Saints in glory everlasting.I Elizabeth loved this prayer, writing several paraphrases of it as she contemplated at various times the outpour-ing of Jesus' love in his suffering and death. From when she was young, her spirituality found a focus in his love, shown in his giving of himself, in his willingness to suf-fer for us--and in her wish to return this love. Her father gave her a cross which she often wore, remarking that she loved it "as the mark of my Captain and Master whom I was to follow so valiantly" (3a:514). There are many references in her letters and journals to this cross, such as: "looked at my crucifix"; "Calvary is the rendezvous"; "we must be crucified." As she was nursing her dying husband, she wrote: "Not only willing to take up my cross but kissed it too" (l:257).During a tumultuous time after her return to New York, Elizabeth observed: "When people say 'so much trouble has turned her br~in' - well, I kiss my crucifix, which I have loved for so many years, and say 'they are only mistaken'" (1:401). People sometimes comment that they find little affinity with St. Elizabeth Seton because her spirituality seems negative. For them she dwells so much on suf-fering and the cross--on joy at embracing hardship in imitation of Jesus--that her spirituality does not attract them. ~ Yet the imitation of Christ must be the center of every Christian life. Holy people through the ages have shown us by their lives that the more people recognize God's outpouring love, demonstrated by Christ's sacri-fice on the cross, the more they need to imitate that self-giving love: "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, Review for Religious let him renounce himself and take up his cross and fol-. low me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but :anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it" (Mk 8:34-35). Although Ignatius Loyola did not write the Anima Christi, which we have already reflected on, he placed it at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises and often referred to it. And he did write the Suscipe that most of us are familiar with: ."Take, Lord, ~ receive all my liberty, my mem-ory, my understanding, my entire will; all that I have and possess." In her lnterior Castle, Teresa of Avila observed: "His Majesty could not grant us a greater favor than to give us a life that would be an imitation of the life his beloved Son lived. Thus I hold for certain that these favors are meant to fortify our weakness., that we may be able to imitate him in his great sufferings." Like these great saints, Elizabeth Seton was also com-mitted to living in imitation of Jesus. She wrote in her Journal: "The cup which our Father has given Us, shall we not drink it? Blessed Savior, by the bitterness of thy pains We may estimate the force of thy love . . . and therefore, if thou so ordainest it, welcome disappointment and pov-erty; welcome sickness and pain -welcome even shame, and contempt, and calumny. If this be a rough and thorny path, it is one which thou hast gone before us. Where we see thy footsteps we cannot repine" (3b:21). Elizabeth was able to enter into Jesus' life, to expe-rience his outpouring love in the events of the passion narratives, in a way that made them very real and rele-vant to her life. She recognized that Christ's story was her Elizabeth Seton was O mitted t0 living in ,imitation of ]esus: 69.3 2010 258 Metz ¯ Elizabeth Seton °s Spirituality of the Cross story. Her part was to enter into her own life and joyfully embrace the cross as a way of being in union with her beloved. She experienced overwhelming gratitude at what Christ had done for her, and she knew that her response must be to "drink the cup" and be "baptized with the baptism" of which Jesus spoke. This spirituality of hers permeated her prayer and supported her through many difficult times. One of these was the month she spent in the lazaretto with her desper-ately ill husband and young daughter upon their arrival at Livorno, Italy, in November 1803. She described the experience to her dearly loved sister-in-law Rebecca Seton: "You could not rest in your bed if you saw [me] as [I am] sitting in one corner of an immense Prison bolted in and barred with as much ceremony as any monster of mischief might be - a single window double grated with iron thro' which, if I should want anything, I am to call a sentinel, with a fierce cocked hat, and long rifle gun." "On the ship-mattresses spread on the cool floor my Willy and Anna are sound asleep, and I ~trust that God, who has given him strength through a day of such exertion will carry us on - He is our all indeed -. God is with us - and if sufferings abound in us,his consolations also greatly abound, and far exceed all utterance." "What shall we say - this is the hour of trial, the Lord support and strengthen us in it. Retrospections being anguish - press forward toward the mark and prize" (1:251,253,254). As the Setons passed their weeks, of quarantine, Elizabeth strove to keep her equilibrium by prayer and her "hidden Treasures,;--her Bible, commentaries, ser-mons, and The Imitation of Christ ~that she had carried with her from New York. She poured out her heart in her Journal, where she lamented time and again how she "read, prayed, we.pt, and prayed again" (1:256,257,265). Review for Religious But as she contemplated her situation she was also able to note: "Not only willing to take up my cross but kissed it too . I find my present opportunity a Treasure - and my confinement of Body a liberty of Soul which I may never again enjoy whilst they are united . If I could forget my God one moment at this time I should go mad -but he hushes all - Be still and know that I am God your Father" (1:257,258). With the passing days William Seton's health con-tinued to worsen so that by 5 December a doctor was called. Though he feared that Elizabeth's beloved hus-band "might be gone in a few hours," he continued to hold on. On 14 December, Elizabeth wrote: "The damp-ness about us would be thought dangerous for a pdrson in health, and my W's sufferings - Oh well I know that God is above. Capitano,. if I thought our condition the providence of man, instead of the 'weeping Magdalene' as you so graciously call me, you would find me a lioness willing to burn your Lazaretto about your ears . But O my Heavenly Father I know that these contradictory events are permitted and guided by thy Wisdom, which only is light" (1:270,271). Released from their confinement on 19 December, the lit-de family traveled to lodgings in Pisa. On Chrisunas Day Elizabeth put a little wine in a glass and said differ-ent portions of psalms and prayers which she had marked in her books, hoping for a happy moment. "We took the cup of Thanksgiving setting aside the sorrow of time, in the views of the joy of Eternity," she noted (1:273). Elizabeth then began the deathbed vigil that ended two days later. She recorded, "On Tuesday morning 27th December - [William's] soul was released - and mine from a struggle next to death." She continued, "In all this it is not necessary to dwell on the mercy and consoling 69.3 2010 Metz ¯ Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of tbe Cross 260 presence of my dear Redeemer, for no mortal strength could support what I experienced" (1:274,275). The tears, prayers, and anguish Elizabeth suffered during her long watch with her sick and dying husbandincreased her trust in God and led her to a deeper identification with her suffering Savior. Her experiences became a part of her spirituality. Her continued trust in Divine Providence during her remaining time in Italy led her along paths that she could not have imagined. Impressed with the Catholic faith and practices of her Italian hosts, the Episcopalian Elizabeth entered into a long and anguished discernment over whether to remain in the church of her birth or to join the Catholic Church. For nearly a year she considered the argu-ments on each side, trying to listen to the voice of God. Longing for support and advice, she wrote to her Italian friend Antonio Filicchi: "Judge of my disappointment when only a few lines [from you] rewarded my anxious anticipations - however, at. the foot of my cross I found consolation, and kissing it over and over I repeated and repeat, there only I am never disappointed" (1:326). Elizabeth's uncertainty seemed to grow through the months, and she wrote of being "half dead with the inward struggle" (1:372). Yet, she confided to Antonio, "when some hours of consolation come, I think 'hard as the trial is, yet it is sweet' - I never knew till now what prayer is - never thought of fasting - though now it is more a habit than eating, never knew how to give up all, and send my spirit to mount Calvary, nor how to con-sole and delight it in the society of angels - 'Patience,' says my soul, 'He will not let you and your little ones perish, and if yet your life is given in the conflict, at the last he will nail all to his cross and receive you to his mercy'" (1:339). Review for Religious Elizabeth's decision to join the Catholic Church gained her inner peace and certitude, but led, as she later recorded, to "most painful remembrances now - yet grateful for the order of our Grace, so evident through all" (3a:519). The three years that she remained in New York after her conversion were difficult and gave her ample opportunity to share in the sufferings of Christ. Anti-Catholic sentiment made it hard for her to support her children and deprived her of much that her friends and family had provided. Her choice also occasioned some other troubles. Her two youngest Seton sisters-in-law, Harriet and Cecilia, and their cousin Eliza Farquhar were drawn to Elizabeth's Catholic fervor. When family members expressed disapproval, Cecilia's enthusiasm only grew stronger. Having been raised by Elizabeth from age seven, this young woman felt close bonds that were' strengthened by their shared desire for a devout living of their Christian faith. As she was. departing for Italy, Elizabeth had cau-tioned he.r young prot~g& "If you find that there are any obstacles in.your way, and doubtless you will find many as every Christian does in the fulfillment of his duty, still Persevere with yet more earnestness, and rejoice to bear your share in the Cross which is Our Passport and Seal to the Kingdom of our Redeemer" (1:224). Now, as Cecilia adamantly pursued the course of following Elizabeth into the Catholic Church, the younger woman met with severe opposition and even threats from her family. Elizabeth supported her as best she could, writing on Christmas Eve 1805: "My dear dear child I beg, beseech, implore you, to offer up all your pains, your Sorrows, and vexations to God that he will unite them with the Sorrows, the pangs and anguish which Our adored Redeemer bore for us on the Cross 261 69.3 2010 Metz ¯ Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of tbe Cross "Dwelling under :the Shadow of His Cross we will cheerfully gather the thorns which will be t~urned hereafter into a joyful crown" 262] - place yourself in spirit at the foot of that cross, and entreat that a drop of that precious blood there shed may fall on you to enlighten strengthen and support your Soul in this life and ensure its eternal Salvation in the next" (1:398). When Cecilia joined the Catholic Church, a violent storm broke in the extended Seton family. For a time she was confined to her room, threats were made to send her to the West Indies, and even to burn Elizabeth's house down over her head. Eventually the new convert tied her clothes up in a bundle and went to liv~ with Elizabeth for a time.2 During Cecilia's period of trial Elizabeth kept a daily spiritual jour-nal. In it she shared her own prayer expe-riences, along with offering counsel, and encouragement. In one entry she noted: "Pain and Resignation instead of the Treasure [Eucharist] this day -but He is then most near - while Weeping under his Cross we are there content to stay" (1:470). In another, Elizabeth encouraged her young relative: "May we never leave the sheltering wing, but dwelling under the Shadow of His Cross we will cheer-fully gather the thorns which will be turned hereafter into a joyful crown" (1:473). When Elizabeth Seton made the decision to move her family to Baltimore in spring 1808, her only hesi-tation was leaving her young relative and confidante behind in New York. Cecilia wanted to accompany Review for Religious Elizabeth but also felt an obligation to care for her brother James's children. Elizabeth missed Cecilia terribly and buoyed her-self with the thought that "there is no distance for souls united as ours" (2:6). During the year the two were sepa-rated, Cecilia continued to face difficulties and obsta-cles to her hopes of joining her beloved "Sister," as she referred to Elizabeth, while Elizabeth was peaceful and delighted with her new situation. In this light Elizabeth wrote to her "most precious child": "It is poor Sister who must beg you to pray for her --I am at rest my darling while you are mounting the heights of Sion - often too I sleep in the Garden, while you are sharing the bitter cup, but it is not to be so for long, his mercies are end-less and I shall not be left without my portion" (2:21). The two were joyfully reunited in June 1809 when Cecilia arrived in Maryland with plans to join the newly forming community of the Sisters of Charity. She enthu- ¯ siastically plunged into this new life, but her delicate health continued to decline. By early 1810 Elizabeth wrote to her friend Eliza Sadler: "My heart faints when I think of this separation. No one can conceive of.what she is to me - but - but-fiat" (2:111).,,Cecilia died of tuberculosis within several months, having well learned the spiritual lessons offered by suffering., ,As Cecilia Seton passed from Elizabeth's life, another Cecilia became an intimate companion. Cecilia O'Conway, a young woman from Philadelphia, was planning to travel to Europe to become a nun. Instead, On the recommendation of her. priest-director, she became the first woman to join Elizabeth at her school in Baltimore~ These two women shared many of the same spiritual goals and became friends almost .at once. Cecilia was enthusiastic about becoming a Sister of 69.3 2010 Metz * Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of the Cross Charity, and through the trials of the early years offered loving support to Elizabeth, who referred to her friend as "the angel of the Community. a true. and solid comfort" (2:141). Cecilia was indeed a true comfort as Elizabeth struggled through the difficulties of establish-ing a religious community and bore the sorrov¢ of'the deaths of two of her daughters. In August 1817 the two women were separated when Cecilia was amongthe first sisters sent to take charge 6f the .Catholic orphafi asylum in New York City. She was not happy to be separated from Elizabeth or to be thrust into the bustle of city life. But her spiritual mother chal-lenged her: "My own Cecilia - going on her heavenly errand and to crucify Self- . . . if you suffer, so much the better for our high journey above - the only fear I have is that you will let the old string pull too hard for solitude and silence, but look to the Kingdom of souls -, . this is not a country, my dear one, for Solitude and Silence, but of warfare and crucifixion- You are not to stay in his silent agonies of the garden at night, but go from post to pillar to the very fastening on the cross and mind, my lady, how you dare glahce a thought at pull-ing out a nail which he put in with my hand, while his own so dear will hammer it up to the very head I expect - I beg him with a mother's agony to do it softly and tenderly - would wish so to hold your dear head while he does it, but he answers, 'no one held his'., but yet he will hold it himself supporting with one hand, and fastening with the other" (2i498-499). During Cecilia's years in New York, she and Elizabeth maintained a lively correspondence .chal-lenging each other to an ever deeper union with their Redeemer. In their letters they exhorted each other to accept the sufferings, both physical and emotional, that R~view for Religious they were experiencing, and to receive them in the spirit of participating in the Lord's passion. "May you enjoy true peace in Him who has nailed us," Elizabeth wrote; "I would not pull the smallest nail out for a thousand worlds" (2:682). In her newsy letters Elizabeth kept Cecilia apprised of her declining health, telling her in July 1818, "I have no symptoms now of hastening Death as when I wrote you [earlier] - slow, slow and sure" (2:569). A few months later Elizabeth reminded her spiritual daughter of "how little is all that passes with this life . therefore we must be so careful to meet our grace," She then contin-ued: "Isaac come forth - the wood and fire are here, let not the Victim be wanting" (2:595). And the following month Elizabeth urged the younger woman to "take the abundant sweet heavenly grace from day to day, only seeking and seeing him in all our little duties . . . and taking from. the hands of all around us every daily cross and trial as if he gave it himself" (2:600). After two years in New York, Cecilia returned to the motherhouse in Emmitsburg, where she could again share her days with her beloved friend. With Elizabeth's health continuing to decline, Cecilia became one of her nurses. Staying close by her bed, she made sure Elizabeth had a crucifix available to assist her prayer, and she was present among the mourners when Elizabeth's last hour arrived. Am6ng EliEabeth's writings meditation on "the communion lof the cross." 69.3 2010 Metz * Elizabeth Seton's Spirituality of the Cross 266 Among Elizabeth's writings is a meditation on "the communion of the cross." In it she speaks of "the hap-piness of receiving our Lord and Savior in the holy Eucharist," yet points out that "we also receive him by the communion of his cross." "So," she continues, "when he invites us to come and receive him in afflic-tions' and sufferings, we should receive his chalice with the same ardor, and drink his Blood by faith . The great advantage of the communion of the cross is that we receive it when our Lord himself pleases and at the time he sees best." "Unhappily," she reflects, "we are. apt to think the very least suffering is too much, because we are lovers with our lips rather than our heart, while the true lover of Christ can never have enough of his cross." "All he asks of us is our good Will," but we. also "should bring the burning fire of love and gratitude" (3a:419-422). Elizabeth's burning love of God and desire to imi-tate Jesus was something that grew within her as she matured through her life. It gave her a deep insight into the necessity of losing herself in order to gain union with God: She understood, as had many holy women and men before her, that she was invited to emulate Jesus' self-giving love - that "the true lover of Christ can never have enough of his cross," and as they, carry the cross they "should bring the burning fire of love and gratitude." ~ The spirituality of the cross has been part of the Christian message from the time Jesus taught on this earth. Great saints, theologians, and spiritual guides through the centuries have stressed this same message. Today's Christian leaders continue to stress, as essential of our spirituality, our participation in Jesus' self-giving love, The German theologian Jiirgen Moltmann sees a kind of alchemy of Review for Religious love, where all the negativity and suffering of the world is touched by God and transformed into the victory of life.3 Johannes Metz, in his classic Poverty of Spirit, writes: "The legacy of God's total commiunent to humankind, the proof of God's fidelity to our poverty, is the cross [and] no one is exempted from the poverty of the cross.''4 Jessica Powers, in her poem "The Sign of the Cross," offers this same wisdom:5 The lovers of Christ lift out their hands to the great gift of suffering. For how could they seek to be warmed and clothed and delicately fed, when He the worthy went forth, wounded and hated, and grudged of even a place to lay His head? This is the badge of the friends of the Man of Sorrows: the mark of the cross, faint replica of His. Choose it, my heart. It is a beautiful sign. Notes ~ Regina Bechtle SC and Judith Metz SC, Elizabeth Barley Seton: Collected Writings, 4 vols. (New York: New City Press, 2000, 2002, 2006), vol. 3, part 2, pp. 74-75, hereafter cited in parentheses, thus: (3b:74-75). 2 Annabelle Melville, Elizabeth Barley Seton (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1951), p. 119. 3 Jiirgen Moltmann, The Crucified God, as described in Elizabeth Johnson, Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology (New York: Crossroad, 1990), p. 121. 4 Johannes B. Metz, Poverty of Spirit (New York, Paulist Press, 1968), pp. 19-20. ~ Regina Siegfried ASC and Robert E Morneau, Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers (Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1989), p. 150. 267 69.3 2010 AVIS CLENDENEN A Rare Humility and a Future-Facing Myth 2,68 Lheard a story a few years ago that got into the arrow of my bones and became a "dangerous memory." This term was coined by Johann Baptist Metz, who described it as an earlier experience breaking into our present lives and revealing new and provocative insights for the future. Such a breakthrough casts light on the deceptive nature of something we considered an evident good. It is a dangerous and incalculable visitant from the past. This memory has future content,~ The memory I wish to share is a story told by Sister of Mercy Betty Barrett on the occasion of her sixtieth jubilee as a vowed religious. Sister Betty Barrett entered the congregation in 1945. She devoted most of her ministerial life to education, becoming the president of Saint Xavier College in Chicago in the turbulent 1960s. In 1966 she supported an innovative idea to invite major Avis Clendenen most recently wrote for us in 2008. She is pro-fessor of religious studies and the Sister Irene Dugan RC Scholar in Spirituality at Saint Xavier University; 3700 West 103rd Street; Chicago, Illinois 60655. Review for Religious theological architects of the Second Vatican Council to the college for the inaugural symposium of the newly formed Pope John xxIII Institute. The tag line of the John xx]II Institute quoted John xxJII's call "to dedicate ourselves to that work which our era demands of us. ¯ remembering we are not on earth to guard a museum, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life." . Imagine this small U.S. women's Catholic college thinking itself capable of hosting at one symposium Yves Congar, Jean Dani61ou, Charles Davis, Henri de Lubac, Johann Baptist Metz, John Courtney Murray, Edward Schillebeeckx, Karl Rahner, and others as well. The European theologians would for the first time bring the insights of the council documents to North America. For some, this would be their ~first trip to the United States. They all came. This gathering is exactly what President Sister Betty Barrett accomplished in early 1966, only four months after the council's close.2 The formation of the John xxlII Institute and the plan for the symposium became controversial. Archbishop John Cody of Chicago expressed reserva-tions about the symposium. He wrote to Sister Betty saying that such a gathering of theologians did not coin-cide with his norm for theological activities. He then issued a public decree that all ecclesiastical entities in the archdiocese must first obtain certification of cre-dentials from him before inviting to Chicago any priest from outside the archdiocese. All the council theologians invited were priest-theologians. The situation became an international story that saw the canonical authority of the local bishop as opposing academic freedom in institutions of higher education. The American press described the symposium, which drew more than three thousand participants to the little-known campus, as "an 269 69.3 2010 Clendenen ¯ A Rare Humility and a Future-Facing Myth 270 event of unprecedented proportions," "an intellectual feast," and "a complex and strange event in the history of Catholic colleges at that time in North America." Interesting as it is, this event is not the key story of this essay. It is background for discussing the matter of dangerous memory. Sister Betty saw.the Second Vatican Council as Pope John xxIII did. She saw that aggiornamento was intimately tied,to justice and peace. While president, she became the first woman religious to be named to the Illinois Human Relations Commission. After her presidency she continued to advance the vision and mis-sion of ecclesial renewal and the claims of the social gospel through a variety of positions such as her min-istry with the Eighth Day Center for Justice and the Catholic Interracial Council. In her seventies she went to Central America to work with the poor, Though she tried desperately, she never learned Spanish well enough to speak or truly understand it. In her eighties she was asked at her sixtieth jubilee in April 2003 to share memories with those gathered to celebrate with her~ I shall paraphrase Sister Betty but speak for her in the first person. You know that when I went to Central America I could not speak the language of the people. You know I hold degrees of all kinds and functioned at a tremendous level of responsibility for many years while in the ministry of higher education. Yet, even after years and years of living among these beautiful people and interacting with them every day, I never managed to speak with them in their native tongue. So I was forced, so to speak, to plumb new depths of human communica-tion. While there, I came to realize that "being Review for Religious there"--presence--is what is most important in our ministry. Presence conveys a meaning that tran-scends even the need for words. This I learned very late in my ministerial life. Honoring this jubilee year of mine and know-ing that my ability to travel would only continue to diminish, the community offered me airfare to travel a last time to Honduras to see my friends. So a few weeks ago I took that trip. I went to the home of a family with whom I had been present during moments of joy and pain in their lives over a span of years. I walked into their humble living room and noticed something. There on the wall surround-ing the crucifix, were four pictures, each rever-ently hung near the cross. There was, of course, a picture 6f Our Lady of Guadalupe; a picture of Mother Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy; a picture of Archbishop Oscar Romero; and . a picture of me! What can I say to you about that moment in my life? Seeing the cross and our Lady, seeing that this family was so deeply touched by the min-istries of the Sisters of Mercy that they placed a portrait of a !9th century Irish woman near their own beloved Oscar Romero--and then to see my picture in that company! It was a moment of abject'humility, wonder, awe, an'd gratitude I will never forget. I could never really talk with them the way I am talking with you now, yet I was present to them over the long haul of many years. I share this story with you as an act of gratitude and humility for the gift of these sixty years of ser- 69.3 2010 Clendenen ¯ A Rare Humility and a Future-Faring Myth 272] vice, and as a testimony of wonder to 'a God who can do more in us than we can "ask or imagine" (Ep 3:20). I was mesmerized by her tale. In hearing it, my own consciousness was altered forever about ministry and mystery, about growing old yet remaining ever new, and about the lost art of humility. I recognized her story from'the past as a memory bearing future content. This elegantly simple parable resounded in me, taking on the force of a great myth; it became part of the life I desire. I say this not with any intention to mimic her experience, but in the inspiring hope of living the nearly lost art of humility. Sister Betty told a little tale about one family, and they--all unaware--became a dangerous memory precisely because she knew her telling it could break into the present moment and bring us new and danger-ous insights. Such lives disrupt self-interest and ambition by being a vivid picture of largeness of mind and heart, which our noisy egos often do not notice. The mythic story of this elderly nun speaks :to the truth of the poet Mary Oliver's words: What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mosdy myself. Never mind that I had to,. since somebody had to. o That was many years ago. Since then I have gone out from my confinement~s, though with difficulty. And I have l~ecome the child of the clouds, and of hope. I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever that is. I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned, I have become younger. And what do. I risk to tell you this, which is all I know? Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.3 Review for Religious Living in an Age of Entitlement That last line is not an easy task in today's world. More than a decade ago I read, "The narcissistic per-sonality has become the most prominent~ personality type in the Western world.''4 At that time the statement caught me up short. Now I find it the lens through which I view the world I inhabit. In their new book The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement (2009), the psychologists Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell have documented and analyzed the troubling cultural trends of the past three decades. They suggest that North American culture itself is in the grip of a narcissism epidemic. According to Theodore Millon, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, profes-sor of psychology at Miami University, and leading authority on personality disorders, "the label narcissism connotes more than .mere egocentricity. Narcissism sig-nifies, more specifically, that these individuals overvalue their personal worth, direct their affections toward themselves rather than others, and expect that others will recognize their unique and special value.''5 While I hesitate to labor the point, I think the fol-lowing list of traits and behavioral tendencies of the narcissistic personality can give us pause, in which to examine human consciousness. Those leaning toward narcissism tend ¯ To grandiosity, haughtiness, snobbishness, arrogance; ¯ To feelings of entitlement; praise for performance; ¯ To exploitation of and insensitivity toward others; ¯ To crave attention, which they see as deserved without need for reciprocity; ¯ To flout conventional rules and expectations of shared social living; 69.3 2010 Clendenen ¯ A Rare I-Iumili~y and a Future-Facing ~4yth ¯ To assume and often find that others feel hon-ored by their relationship, or to quickly train others to admire and obey them, with the result that the admirers insulate, them from self-aware hess of their limitations; ¯ To idealize those who satisfy their needs while treating contemptuously those who do not; the shifting of overvaluation to denigration occurs frequently in the same relationship; ¯ To preoccupation with personal adequacy, . power, prestige, and status; ¯ To heightened sensitivity to any form of criticism; ¯ To intolerance of perceived affronts to self-esteem that question their assumed inherent specialness; ¯ To take liberties with facts by embellishing them to maintain illusion of self-worth; ¯ To exaggerate abilities and accomplishments; to inflate and justify what they feel is due them, while depreciating those who refuse to accept or enhance their self-image; ¯ To use rationalization as a regulatorymechanism to cope with the inevitable personal failures or social humiliations by devising plausible reasons for self-justification and doing so with litde con-cern for others; and ¯ To lack interpersonal empathy.6 This detailed list of a narcissistic character is now embedded in the general population (and culture) where once such a description of human personality would have qualified as clinical narcissistic disorder. Ttie ethos of selfishness, individualism, utilitarianism, and instru-mentalism is taken for granted, not seen as problematic, and thus often remains unexamined. In turn, the values of community, altruism, and the life of the virtues are Review for Religious being undermined. A few years ago I heard the coor-dinator of the Jesuit Volunteers report that there was a lot of interest among young people who wanted to serve on their own terms. He referred to this as narclsslsnc idealism." According to Twenge and Campbell, no single event initiated the epidemic; instead, the values deep in the American psyche shifted Slowly toward individu- ~ alism, self-admiration, materialism, incivility, and entitlement. "Like a disease," they write, "narcissism is caused by certain factors, spreads through particular chan-nels, appears as various ~ ~ ~' symptoms, and might be ° - halted by preventive measures and cures. Narcissism is a psych0-cultural affliction rather than a physical disease, but the model works remarkably well.''7 Six years before The Narcissism Epidemic, Dr. ,Robert Moore, professor of psychoanalysis, culture, and spiritu-ality at Chicago Theological Seminary, in his book Facing the Dragon: Confronting Personal and Spiritual Grandiosity, announced the new contemporary crisis as "the epidemic of unregulated human grandiosity." Grandiosity refers to holding fantasies or embracing desires that are greater than your real life can support. According to Moore, either grandiosity makes you manic in running around to meet unrealistic demands or makes you depressed because your desires are essentially unachievable. Moore rallies our intellects and emotions to break through the existential denial of our "naive male" and "naive female" ,Cultural narcissism is d estructively shaping a :collusive and self-promoting ' way of livi g: 69.3 2010 Clendenen ¯ A Rare Humility and a Future-Facing Myth 276] approach to the human situation by courageously con-fronting the aggressive cultural selling of pathological narcissism as a normative vision for human life.s The Narcissism Epidemic is replete with examples that reveal how cultural narcissism is destructively shaping a collusive and self-promoting way of living. In a chapter tided "Superspreaders!" they tell a tale from the televi-sion series "My Super Sweet 16": "Atlanta teen Allison tells a party planner she wants to block off part of Peachtree Street so there can be a parade for 'my grand entrance.' Peachtree is a major thoroughfare, the plan-ner reminds her. She responds, 'My sweet 16 is more important than wherever they have to be.' But there's a hospital across the street, the planner cautions--what if an ambulance can't get to the hospital? 'They can wait one second. Or they can go around,' she says cavalierly. Amid all of this, Allison's mother just listens. When the planner finally turns to her in exasperation, she says, 'If Allison wants it, make it happen.' So much for that dying person in the ambulance." The narcissistic "enti-dement" expressed here by the mother points to the odd perpetual adolescence of many American adults. Twenge and Campbell say that adolescence, the most narcissis-tic time of life, is being extended beyond all previous limits.9 Clearly such happenings are not isolated aberra-tions; they are cultural markers of the superspreading of a distorted collective psyche, that needs attention, fast. In Waking Up in Time: Finding Inner Peace in Times of Accelerating Change, the physicist and futurist Peter Russell said, "Our power to change the world may have made prodigious leaps but our internal development, the development of our attitudes and values, has pro-gressed more slowly. We seem to be as prone to greed, aggression, shortsightedness, and self-centeredness as Review for Religious we were 2,500 years ago . If we are to survive the critical times we are now passing through, it is essen-tial we undergo a profound shift in values and awaken to our inner truths and our full spiritual potential.''1° Effecting such a shift and awakening has been the mis-sion of Benetvision: A Resource and Research Center for Contemporary Spirituality founded by Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister. Interestingly, Twenge, Campbell, Moore, Russell, and Chittister11 all suggest a return to the lost art of the virtuous life as a way to stem and bring healing to the epidemic of entidement and grandiosity that marks and mars our current North American culture. Risking Humility The final chapter of The Narciss#m Epidemic, "Treating the Epidemic of Narcissism," sees the recovery of authentic humility as the way to lessen the narcissism in our lives and in our culture. Humility is the counter-balance to narcissism, the creative opposite to its viru-lence. Modesty, lack of pretense, absence of arrogance, and refinement of character--so evident in Sister Betty's jubilee tale--are vitally necessary in today's personal and communal reflection. Her unaffected wonder at finding her own picture in the company of Oscar Romero's, and Catherine McAuley's, and Our Lady of Guadalupe's, at the foot of the cross has to make you and me wonder: Do we truly believe that God can do more in us than we ever imagined--or could ever imagine? Her awe at seeing what she and her ministry meant to this poor, loving family puts us in awe, even a feeling of danger. What does this mean for the many in our country whose lives are far too self-focused and comfortable? Has a cer-tain impoverishment accompanied i:he world's material progress? Have we--ourselves, our communities, our 69.3 2010 Clendenen * A Rare Humility and a Future-Facing Myth 278 Humility is the ancient ever-new ~irtue that ke~s us rooted in our earthiness and able to savor our human limits as gifts. culture--settled into a certain mediocrity, an exagger-ated feeling of entidement? Is our ministry simple and un-self-conscious enough to be a wondrous conduit for God's goodness and inspire a needy people's transcendent gratitude? Is the path to greater human success and hap-piness much more toward inwardness than upwardness? Humility is the ancient ever-new virtue that keeps us rooted in our earthiness and able to savor our human limits as gifts. Sister Betty felt her lack of facility with Spanish as a weakness, and therein was her humble open-ness to receive new graces and new skills, even in her seventies. She brought those graces to some of God's people in their times of joy and grief. Twelve-step recovery has something to say about this. It advises people to strive for spiritual prog-ress, not perfection, and to admit their powerless-ness, accept their limits, and thereby find true freedom. Such yielding in honesty to a Power greater than ourselves enables people to risk humility. In that humility they find themselves able to understand the Beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12) and to risk living in meekness, gentleness, empathy, self-donating love, and freely chosen accountability. The word humility comes from the Latin word humi-lis, meaning "low," which, in turn, comes from the Latin humus, which means "earth" or "dirt" or "soil." The 12th-century Benedictine abbess and mystic Hildegard of Bingen understood the dangers of not paying atten- Review for Religious tion to nature and all natural things. She devoted one of her many writings to virtues and vices. She was con-vinced that virtues are more than moral habits: they are therapeutic forces within human nature that can produce wonderful transformations. In her legendary Scivias (a Latin abbreviation for. "knowing the Lord's ways"), she said, "Virtue is like a warm garment in a cold world; it is the source of charm in a harsh world" (~1.1.4). Hildegard also wrote the following in one of her many letters of advice to religious leaders: Walk through the valley of humility and know peace. Lose your titanic, hard-to-satisfy ego. A greedy self-esteem is just a steep mountain you'll find dangerous to climb. It's also tricky (if not impossible) to come down from such heights, and anyhow the summit is too small for community. Focus on Love's splendid garden instead. Gather the flowers of humility and simplicity of soul. Study God's patience. Keep your eyes open.12 Sister Betty Barrett's humble, warm, and charming story carries a wallop, as myths do. It is much more than an elderly sister's pleasant memory. It is a dangerous memory. It can affect the future. Notes ~ Johann Baptist Metz, "The Future in the Memory of Suffering," Concilium 76 (1972), p. 15. 2 [See The Word in History: The St. Xavier Forum, ed. T. Patrick Burke (New York: Sheed and Ward; 1966). Ed.] 3 Mary Oliver, "To Begin With, the Sweet Grass," Evidence (Boston: Beacon Press, 2009), pp. 38-39. 4 L. Sperry and H.L. Ansbacker, "The Concept of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder," Psychopathology and Psychotherapy (Washington, D.C.: Accelerated Development, 1996), p. 349. 5 Theodore Millon and George S. Everly Jr., Personality and Its Disorders: A Biosocial Learning Approach (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1985), p. 70. [279 69.3 2010 Clendenen ¯ A Rare Humility and a Future-Facing Myth 6 Theodore Millon, Personality-Guided Therapy (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1999), pp. 433-463. 7 Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, Living in the Age of Entitlement: The Narcissism Epidemic (New York: Free Press, 2009), p. 2. s Robert L. Moore, Facing the Dragon: Confronting Personal and Spiritual Grandiosi~y (Wilmette: Chiron Publications, 2003), pp. 61, 68, 69, 145-146. 9 Twenge and Campbell, Living, pp. 100.101,234. The TV stoW and other insights in this article also appear in "Book Notes," Horizon: Journal of the National Religious Vocation Conference 35, no. 1 (Fall 2009): 34-35. 10 Peter Russell, Waking Up in Time: Finding Inner Peace in Times of Accelerating Change (Novato, California: Origin Press, 1992), pp. 38, 154. 11 See Joan D. Chittister, "Pride and Humility," in Heart of Flesh: A Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men (Grand Rapids: ~William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), pp. 89-106. ~2 Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader (Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press, 2007), p. 159. You who calmed. You who calmed the winds and sea, Jesus, calm and center me. Draw me in and hold my gaze Soothe and silence me these days. Deep is calling unto deep. I give you all my cares to keep. You who calmed the winds and sea. Jesus, calm and center me. Mary Jan6 Higgins RSM Review for Religious ROBERT J. NOGOSEK Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice When I was nineteen years old and a university student, I made a weekend retreat in the Gethsemani Trappist monastery in Kentucky. I was ~rying to decide whether or not I should enter religious life. At one of the retreat con-ferences, an elderly monk printed in block let-ters on the blackboard the word success, putting two vertical lines through each S to make it a dollar sign. He said the world sees success as making money, but real success in life is not about dollars. We needed to turn one vertical line sideways and make a cross. ~ This said a lot about the Trappist life I was observing. The white-robed monks seemed to live a foolish life not at all conducive to hap-piness° keeping silence, arising in the middle Robert J. Nogosek CSC has been a ~heology profes-sor and a parish pastor among other responsibilities. His address is P.O. Box 929; Notre Dame, Indiana 46556. liv!np religious life 69.3 2010 Nogosek ¯ Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice 282 of the night to chant psalms together in a cold chapel, and eating crusty bread in a diet often deprived of meat. But I saw in the monks a remarkable humor I had never seen before. It seemed that for them life was a big joke. I decided I wanted the joy they had, and their way of seeing the meaning of life in this world. Back at college I returned to my sophomore classes. One of the courses was on the four Gospels, printed in parallel columns to show similarities and differences in the story of Jesus. As I s~t in class somewhat bored one spring afternoon, it suddenly occurred to me that the Gospels were practical--that living the Gospels made good sense. I saw this in the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19. He already had more than enough money and possessions while keeping all the command-ments, but was still discontented. He asked what more he could do to have a better life. Jesus graciously invited him to join the community, of disciples, but first he must sell all he had and give the money to the poor. This is how the Trappist monk had explained success. It helped me to see that by joining a religious community I could live the gospel in a literal way, like those who had fol-lowed Jesus in Galilee. The greatest day in my life came some months later on my clothing day. Upon receiving the religious habit with many others that day, I saw myself as having left. the world to join with the others in a life centered on friendship with Jesus Christ. It would consist in living a religious rule. That did not seem to be a great sacrifice, but rather the way to be myself, apart from a world that ran after money and other false values. This freedom to be myself did not initially translate into becoming a gift for others, as St. Paul describes it in Galatians 5:13--"you were called for freedom, brothers. Review for Religious But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love." Instead, I concentrated on having a direct relationship with Jesus. It was only much later that I realized that God created me to live as a member of the human family, and that this meant sharing my heart with others. Gradually this was extended to seeing myself as a brother to any other human being I might meet. Seeking Perfection I began to see that progress in union with God involved seeking what was called "the perfection of charity." Vatican Council II would state that the pur-pose of religious life is to make the perfection ; of charity a "very clear symbol" (Flannery) or ~ a "blazing emblem" (Abbott) of the kingdom of God (PC §I). Our love for Jesus is to flow out in love of neighbor, which, as Pope Paul VI . . ~, wrote, is to be extended to the whole human race (Ecclesiam suam, §58). As the ancient hymn Ubi Caritas had stated, charity (caritas) united with heartfelt love (amor) makes God present in the world. Vatican II also stated that religious profession of the evangelical councils is to free us from obstacles that might draw us away not only from the fervor of char-ity, but also from "the perfection of divine worship" (LG §4). This perfection of divine worship would be our response to the Orate Fratres at Mass in praying I began to see that progress in union with GOd involved ~seeking what was called ~ '~the perfection of charity. " [283 69.3 2010 Nogosek ¯ Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice 284 that our sacrifice "be acceptable to God, the Father Almighty." But this perfection of divine worship also requires the perfection of charity, as St. Paul suggests by saying that the loving gift the Philippians sent him is the "fragrant aroma'.' of "an acceptable sacrifice, pleas-ing to God" (Ph 4:18). Vatican II calls the Eucharist "a sacrament of love" and "a bond of charity" (SC §47), not unlike St. Thomas saying that Holy Communion incites into action our dispositions to be charitable (ST III.79.1 ad 2)~ He cites 2 Corinthians 5:14--"the love of Christ impels us." This could be why the new liturgy has shortened the time after Holy Communion. We are not to bury our face in our hands in private adoration of Jesus in our heart, but rather to ready ourselves for reaching out to others. It calls me "to put off the old man" (Col 3:9) of self-centeredness, and put into action the command-ment of loving others as Jesus has loved me. Jesus wants to be loved in his people, as a religious sister once heard in her heart when, upon kissing the crucifix before retir-ing, she heard the words "Kiss my people." Personal Fulfillment Even though I had often heard women religious speak of their quest for "fulfillment," it took years for me to revise my original desire for success in life into a language of personal fulfillment. I had not expected to be "fulfilled" as a person by the sacrifice represented in religious profession of poverty, chastity, and obedience, any more than I had seen the austerity of the Trappist life as a way to personal fulfillment in this world. Making life seem like a joke could hardly be called "ful-fillment." My thinking was changed, however, in part by a parable in C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity (Bk 4, 9). Review fir Religious According to an adaptation of the story, you invite a friend to live with you in your house. After some time, you notice blueprints have been spread out on the din-ing- room table. Inspecting them, you realize your guest has elaborate plans to transform your little house into a great palace--"throwing out a new wing here, put-ring on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards." As C.S. Lewis comments, it is as though your guest wants to make it a home worthy of himself. To think of Jesus as actually living with me in my heart was not something I had learned in catechism. We had been told that the Holy Spirit was the divine guest in our heart, bug the real presence of Jesus was only in the host in the tabernacle, except when Jesus cam to us in Holy Communion and stayed for seven minutes.~ But during novitiate I had read some books of Raoul Plus SJ, especially one entitled In Christ Jesus, showing from the writings of St. Paul that by baptismal grace we have, abiding in our heart,, the real presence of Jesus. It is the same Jesus as resides in the tabernacle--body and blood, soul and divinity. In Holy Communion he does not come for a visit; he comes to stay. Others around me disagreed, but I was sure Plus was right about this teaching of St. Paul. Later I would also find it in St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle. If the real presence of Jesus dwells in us, then we also meet him in others, and what others share in truth and love could well be a gift to us directly from Jesus in their heart. This makes our mutual sharing of life crucial to our relationship with Jesus. It took me beyond the Little Flower's Way of Spiritual Childhood, which long before I had been drawn to by the Trappist monks. There is something more than putting as much love as possible into each action; I am also called to make a 69.3 2010 Nogosek * Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice gift of myself to others so as to communicate the love of Jesus, who dwells within my heart. This amounts to being a grace to others. It is the language of spiritual gifts or charisms. Charisms During formation I. was repeatedly urged to rec-ognize my special talents and gifts, since religious life involves a commitment to strive for personal and spiri-tual growth. I was told that "grace builds on i~ature." So what is my nature as an individual? What talents and personality had I brought with me into religious life? These efforts at self-scrutiny often left me feel-ing quite discouraged. I lacked so much of what others around me had in talents and personality. Only much later would I see this differently, in part because of the parable in Mere Christianity--that inviting Jesus into my heart could result in my being radically changed as a person. In calling me to discipleship, Jesus may well be planning to have me express myself in wonderful ways, just as he had promised his disciples that they would do greater works than he had done (Jn 14:12). We know that by receiving his Body we become his Body, so that, like him (LG §5), our words, actions, and personal presence can reveal the kingdom of God on earth. This could represent the "abundant fruit from the grace of baptism" which Vatican II says we will be enabled to have by religious profession (LG §44). If I am to be a grace to others by charisms, I have to come out ofmy shell. This is like a cartoon I once saw. In the first frame, there is a big egg bouncing up and down. In the next frame a duckling has poked out his head through the shell, and looks around in fright. In the final frame he has dived headfirst back into the egg. It is much Review for Religious the same with charisms. We have to drop our defenses and risk being a person in new ways before others. Walking on the Water Underlying Vatican II's Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World is the story of walking on water in Matthew 14. Jesus is walking on the waters of today's world, and -- - invites us, like St. Peter, to get out of our boat to ioin him. This is to fol-low our discerning "the signs of the times" (GS §.4), which are the ques-tions and yearnings of people today.2 - It means trying something new. In leaving our comfort zone, we will need to keep our eyes on Jesus. St. Peter started sinking only when he looked around and felt the wind blowing hard against him. This suggests that charisms do not form part of our personal identity. Although we have been given the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit at confirmation, these are not graces to give grace to others, but rather a disposi-tion to be sensitive to the breath of the Spirit, which, as Jesus said, may come and go like the summer breeze (Jn 3:8). Our personal defects remain; it is as "earthen vessels" (2 Co 4:7) that we carry Christ's grace to others. Maybe, in our self-gift to others, the power of Jesus will be conveyed, even through our defects and vulnerability. St~ Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10--"when I am weak, then I am strong." Jesus is walking on the ¯ wafers bf today's world, and invites us, like St. Peter, . "to~et out Of our.boat to join him. 69.3 2010 Nogosek ¯ Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice The opportunity for that came up early in my reli-gious life. Just as I completed studies in biblical theol-ogy, I received a letter assigning me to teach dogmatic theology. Upon arriving in the classroom a few months later, I steadied my nerves by recalling G.K. Chesterton: "If something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." But the course turned out quite well. The students enjoyed my attempts to use the Bible to understand dogma in place of the traditional Neo-Scholasticism they had been hearing. Again, many years later, I was invited to join a team in southern California doing evangelization among Mexican immigrants. I told God that if he wanted me to do this, he would have to teach me Spanish. Initially some of the people rejected me because they sensed I did not understand what they were saying. That was quite true, but, when with them, I would repeat a word or phrase they had said just to keep them talking. Since I loved the people, I was quite happy to be able to communicate even a little bit and to keep on listening. After they came to see I really liked being with them, they began showing that they liked being with "Padre Roberto." At the same time I was making a big hit with their children, maybe because I saw each child as just as much a person as I was. With their kids so fond of me, as time went on their parents became more satisfied with me as I was. 2881 Inner Resistance to Grace Like the companions of St. Peter on the lake that stormy night, we are likely to have a lot of reluctance "to get out of the boat" to join Jesus walking on the water. This is typical of the resistance described by St. Paul's discussion of Christian freedom in Galatians 5. He calls it "the desire of the flesh." When I first arrived at Review for Religious Coachella, California, as the new pastor of an Hispanic parish, I was determined to follow the example of St. John Vianney, who had started out as cur4 of Ars by knocking on doors to visit the people in their homes.3 To make this happen, I put it on my schedule for cer-tain evenings each week. As I got into my car at 7 p.m., usually I would not feel like going, but I went anyway, and once I was interacting with the people I enjoyed it--and they did too. In Sunday homilies I would tell the people that, if they wanted to experience the Holy Spirit (and I knew they did), they should do something for someone. I said the presence of the Holy Spirit is felt mainly in our actions. Others say the same: that when they visit the sick, or even someone in jail, they "get more out of it" than they give. We may feel like new persons in our spontaneity of interact-ing with others out of our love for Jesus. People even relate that they have said things that surprised them, things they had never thought of before. This recalls the promise of Jesus about the gift of the Holy Spirit-- that we should not prepare what to say beforehand, for in our witness itself the Spirit would give us the words to say (Mt 10:20). 'The presence of the Holy: Spirit is felt mainly .fin our actionS. Charisms and Renewal In its call to renewal, Vatican II invites us to aspire to have charisms typical of the early church. Both Pope John xxIII and Pope Paul VI called for a "New Pentecost," to restore to the church today the youth- 69.:~ 2010 Nogosek * Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice fulness and enthusiasm it had when it first came from the hands of Jesus. When we look at early Christianity in comparison with the church today, we wonder what caused the rapid growth in the number of believers. Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity estimates that during the first three centuries the number of Christians increased by forty percent every ten years, beginning in A.D. 40 with about 1,000, and' attaining more than 33,000,000 believers by the year 350 (p. 7). As a soci- ,ologist of religion, he suggests that .the best explana-tion for this phenomenal growth was the way Christians responded to the epidemics in. the empire, which would ravage the entire population at least once every century, with mortality rates of up to thir.ty percent (pp. 73ff). Even the emperor Marcus Aurelius was among the vic-tims in the year 180. At such times the pagans would flee in panic from their homes and cities, abandoning without food and water their loved ones who had fallen ill, and even refusing to bury the dead. The Christians, however, by reason of their love of Christ, would care for their sick and with devotion bury their dead. This care was extended not only to fellow Christians but also to the many pagans married to Christians, and to some of their pagan friends as well. Stark concludes: "This meant that in the aftermath of each epidemic, Christians made up a larger percentage of the population, even without new converts. Moreover, their noticeable better survival rate would have seemed a "miracle" to Christians and pagans alike, and this ought to have influenced conversions." Typically at the beginning of religious communities there was a phenomenal growth in the number of new members, who were attracted to the founder's charism in response to a critical need, even at great sacrifice. In Review for Religious founding my own Holy Cross community, Blessed Basil Moreau was responding not only to the secularization of France after the French Revolution, but also to pleas for help from European missionaries serving in Africa, North America, and Asia. After forming a community of men and women committed to the hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, he put many of them at risk by sending them abroad with few material resources, saying that as Holy Cross religious "the Cross is our only hope." He meant that, when as a community we suffer great trials while engaged in service of others, it is a sign from divine providence that our efforts will produce fruit beyond human possibilities. With such words derived from St. Paul, Moreau was transforming the French school of spirituality, with its devotion to the mystery of the incar-nation, into a trust in the paschal mystery. This fostered a bold reliance on divine providence in undertaking dif-ficult apostolates in new environments, to which we were being invited as a new apostolic religious community committed to serving the church. A New Image of the Church According to Vatican II, the church today needs a critical reform of its image, that it be much more a sign of the good news of the kingdom of God. By his 1964 encyclical, Ecclesiam suam, Pope Paul vI challenged the council fathers on the eve of the third session "to com-pare the ideal image of the church, just as Christ sees it, wills it, and loves it. with the actual image the church projects today" (§ 11). This entails, he says, "correction of the defects that conscience denounces and rejects, as if, standing before a mirror, we were to examine interiorly the image of Christ that he has left us." These "necessary reforms," he says, will be "delicate and difficult" (§12). 69.3 2010 Nogosek ¯ Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice 292 One delicate task of the council was that of altering the image of the church that Pope Pius XIl had presented in 1943 in his renowned encyclical Mystici Corporis. Pius identified the church as the Body. of Christ by being "a perfect society" in its juridical structure. Some of the council fathers would describe this image of the church as the "barque of Peter," with the clergy and religious as the crew and the laity their precious cargo to be transported safely across the treacherous waters of the world to the safe harbor of heaven. The council saw, however, that this is not the way the church should be. Gaudium et spes would call us out of the boat, and especially the laity, who were to see themselves as the primary evangelizers of modern society (LG §31). They were called to this and equipped for it in their baptism and confirmation (LG §33). The obligation came from Christ's commandment to love our neighbor, and the equipment would be the spiritual gifts called charisms. Their ordained pastors were to help them discern their charisms, form them as lay apostles, and give them "room for action" (LG §37). As a preferred image of the church, the council chose the biblical term "people of God." It was remi-niscent not only of the Hebrew people freed from the slavery of Egypt and guided by God through the desert, but also of the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish in Mark 6, where Jesus has the multitude sit down on the grass in groups of hundreds and fifties. Rather than mainly showing itself as a well-defended and highly organized juridical body, the church is to make itself seen in the world as a movement of faith-filled people. The world today needs to experience the presence of God, and that can best happen where mem-bers of the church form small Christian communities Re'view for Religious through "familial love" of one another and collaboration for the faith of the gospel (GS §22). This encourages an "ecclesiology from below" char-acteristic of the way St. Paul in Ephesians 4 describes members of the church being formed into the Body of Christ. By sharing our truth in the spirit of love, we are to "grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ." The sharing is by dialogue, which had been promoted by Pope Paul vI in Ecdesiam suam and would be declared by Vatican II to be the special charac-teristic of the mis-sion of the church today (GS §82): "In virtue of its mis-sion to enlighten the whole world with the message of the gospel and to "r ~ gather together into one spirit all women and men of every nation, race, and culture, the church shows itself as a sign of that amity which renders possible sincere dialogue and strengthens it." By this we are challenged as religious to evaluate how we form ongoing community life, and what sign value it provides for others. Are we living "that amity which renders sincere dialogue and strengthens it"? At Coachella we did receive something of a posi-tive answer regarding the sign value of our community life. Three years after we arrived, the diocese conducted a thorough evaluation of the parish put into our care. One group of parishioners reported that before we came to the parish they were highly critical of one, another as parishioners. But, having noticed that the Holy Cross , 'We are challenged as religious to evaluate how we form ongoing .,community life, and what sign value it prov!des for others. 69.3 2010 Nogosek ¯ Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice 294 priests and brothers never voiced a word of criticism towards one another, they decided they also should act that way toward one another. This had not happened sim-ply from our faithfulness to prayer and our apostolic zeal as a religious community. We had made the sacrifice of having weekly house chapters, where we shared with one another what was on our minds and in our hearts. Atoleast in this respect, we hhd succeeded in being "a sign which can and ought to attract all the members of the church to an effective and prompt fulfillment of the duties of their religious vocation" (LG §44). Certainly the religious vocation of all the parishioners was to live out the New Commandment byloving one another aiad making it vis-ible. We also knew that the parishioners were .to see us as a sign that "heavenly blessings'? were already present in this wtrld, foretelling "the resurrected state and the glory of the heavenly kingdom" (LG §4). For that to take place, we would have to show the people that we loved them just as they were, and in very concrete ways. The Rich Man and Lazarus According to the council, religious are "to give an increasingly clearer revelation of Christ," which includes his choosing to live as a poor man, as also was chosen by his virgin mother (LG §46). Here Vatican II was not saying anything new. What was new, and espe-cially challenging, was that as members of the church we are to evaluate the image we give to the world in light of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16): "Everyone must consider his neighbor without excep-tion as another self, taking into account first of all his life and the means necessary to living it with dignity, so as not to imitate the rich man who had no concern for the poor man Lazarus" (GS §27). Review for Religious Here again we are challenged to evaluate our sign value as a religious community. According to Gaudium et spes (§88), if we are living in a nation where "a majority of citizens who are counted as Christians have an abundance of this world's goods," we are in grave danger of causing scandal to the many nations where the majority are not Christian, and where the citizens "are deprived of the necessities of life and are tormented with hunger, disease, and every kind of misery." The council says that this is "as if Christ himself were appealing to the charity of his followers through the mouths of these poor people." How will Jesus see our life as a religious congrega-tion when he comes on the Last Day? How certain are we to be among those at his right hand when he comes in glory to judge the members of all nations by the cri-terion of how they served the needy? An Acceptable Sacrifice .Since Vatican II saw the mission of Jesus being con-tinued by the church, Pope John Paul II liked to repeat that the way of the church is to be the way of Jesus Christ. Jesus said we must lose our life for his sake in order to find it (Mt 10:39). He told those who wanted to follow him: "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head" (Lk 9:58). St. Paul wrote that by our bearing affliction "the love of God will be poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Rm 5:5). Like St. Paul, we do not want Jesus to have died in vain, nor that his presence touch only those who believe in the Eucharist. As friends of Jesus, we want to help him make the world better, that the pleasing aroma cre-ated by his presence in us may indeed be, as St. Paul says, not as "an odor that leads to death" where people 69.3 2010 Nogosek ¯ Religious Life as an Acceptable Sacrifice reject gospel values--but rather "an odor of life that leads to life" (2,Co 2:16), where people are attracted to a gift of freedom to be themselves through sharing the wisdom, help, and love of the Holy Spirit. But today, as consecrated women and men "eval-uating the contemporary world wisely in the light of faith" (PC §2), we must ask whether the way we live our religious profession is truly becoming "an accept-able sacrifice." Jesus said that before he returned "the love of many would grow cold" (Mr 24:12), and he asked whether he would find faith upon the earth when he came again (Lk 18:8). Notes ~ It takes about seven minutes for the host to dissolve in the stomach and the consecrated host to be no longer present. 2 Although some church leaders interpret these signs as today's troubles and thus may see the world as especially hostile to the gospel, I would argue that according to Vatican II our times are today's evangeli-cal opportunity prepared by God's Spirit breathing over the world. 3 Francis Trochu, The Curi of Ars (Rockford, Illinois: TAN Books and Publishers, 1977), pp. 116f. 296[ Gamble If l but touch his clothes. Mark 5:28 Did the soldier who won and wore the seamless robe allow it to touch him? Irene Zimmerman OSF Review for Religiou~ 'JEFFREY MICKLER Coping with the Genuinely Difficult Religious Itw"googled" the term "difficult people" and instantly o hundred million sites were found. Business managers, owners, and employees are all seeking answers on how to cope with people who are genuinely difficult to get along with. The hilarious 1980 movie Nine to Five told of the revenge three female employ-ees took against their male chauvinist boss. In real life, however, revenge is never a solution, and dealing with difficult people is never really funny. Hence, there are books like Sandra A. Crowe's Since Strangling Isn't an Option. Difficult people drain others' enthusiasm and suck the life out of organizations, as the title Working with You Is Killing Me by Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster suggests.' Dealing with difficult people in the workplace is one thing. Living with them in a religious commu- Jeffrey Mickler SSP has worked in formation and various other min-istries and was provincial of the Paulists' United States Province. His address is Box 595; 9531 Akron Canfield Road (Rt 224); Canfield, Ohio 44406. 69.3 2010 Mickler ¯ Coping with the Genuinely Difficult Religious 298 nity raises the bar. Although all of us can be difficult at times, some religious are chronically difficult and even hostile. Augustine Poulain SJ in his 19th-century spiritual classic The lnterior Graces describes one type of difficult religious: Another trial., is living with an irritable person who finds fault with everything, never speaks a pleasant word . These difficult characters often have the reputation of being very amiable abroad because they are full of attention for those whom they need, or those who would not allow themselves to be bullied. These nervous natures may be likened to torpe-does on account of the charges that they let fly at those who .approach them. It is impossible to arrange any matter with them clearly and quietly. Above all, let no one try to excuse himself when they accuse him of anything or [try to] prove to them that they are mistaken . The volcano will then be in full eruption. Such minds will never be in the wrong; they alone are endowed with sound judgment. This behavior shows., a grave lack of charity. In community, characters of this. nature make life very difficult for others, and are sometimes the cause of abandonment of vocations.2 Father Stephen Rossetti, of St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, in his recorded conference Spirituality of Christian Leadership, describes such people as suffering "chronically impaired social functioning." These individuals have "inflexible, maladaptive ways of dealing with other people." Wherever they are sta-tioned, they divide and disrupt communities. Their nat-ural charm ensures that they will have some supporters, but their anger at the world for not revolving around their needs makes them almost impossible to live with. When confronted by authority with a long list of com-plaints, these people blame others and are unable to Review for Religious grasp that they themselves have caused any problems. Father Rossetti points out that they have narcissistic personalities. When confronted, they erupt into a rage that sends shock waves through a community.3 Some of them end up living in their own apartments because provincials can find no communities willing to tolerate daeir divisive behavior. Rossetti says the chances of changing them for the better are extremely slim. Traditional therapies have proven fruitless. He advises giving such persons honest feedback, together with strict and clear guidelines for their behavior. Leaders must be compas-sionate towards them, but firm. ¯ theses.temperaments. The leadership has a responsibility to do all in its power to prevent them from terrorizing the community and running roughshod over people.4 Rossetti's position that modern therapy can do lit-tle to change such characters corresponds to Poulain's 19th-century assessment: "I have seen very religious persons try to cure themselves of this irritability. They have been unable to succeed . I think a miracle is required to overcome these temperaments.''5 Se~in Sammon of the Marist Brothers has done extensive research on dealing with difficult people. Drawing upon the works of Robert M. Bramson, Charles J. Keating, and Robert L. Veninga and James P. Spradley, he has developed a pragmatic and effective ~ have seen very religious persons try t6 cure themselvesof this irritabiiity. I think a miracle 'is rdqyire~:to overcome 69.3 2010 Mickler * Coping with the Genuinely Difficult Religious 300 approach that is presented on tapes from St Pauls/Alba House, Coping with the Genuinely Difficult Person. Like Poulain and Rossetti, Sammon acknowledges that efforts to change truly difficult people are basically fruitless. He suggests, however, ways we ourselves can change in order to better cope with them.6 He lists seven types of difficult people.7 He calls all of the first three types hostile-aggressive: they are "Sherman tanks," "snipers," and "exploders." The Sherman tanks are convinced of their ideas and dominate meetings by discounting out of hand the suggestions of others. They present their own ideas as the only rational, workable thing for the community or committee to adopt. They refer to other approaches as "stupid," a "waste of time," or "ridicu-lous." Sammon suggests meeting the Sherman tanks with calm strength. When the Sherman tanks begin to roll over a meet-ing, the chair should let them go on for a while but then abruptly intervene: "Stop right there; we have heard your objections; now we need valuable input from others." Sherman tanks will most likely add a few new objections until the chair or the presenter interrupts: "We will be covering those objections and discussing them as the meeting goes on!" Participants, present-ers, and leaders need to stand up for themselves against the Sherman tanks, clearly explaining their positions, not backing down, but avoiding a fight. Hostile-aggres-sive individuals almost always "win" in a fight, but the Sherman tanks usually respect such strength. They often do have valid insights that the community can benefit from; it is their ways of behaving that make it hard for the community to consider their input fairly. "Snipers" will make remarks that are just barely audible to the person being targeted. The remarks are Review for Religious biting and sarcastic, and the victim is supposed to laugh them off. These are different fr

Issue 66.2 of the Review for Religious, 2007. ; Challenges Ignatian Insights Experiencing Prayer Religious Life Perspectives QUARTERLY 66.2 2007 Review for Religious fosters dialogue with God, dialogue with ourselves, and dialogue with one another about the holiness we try to live according to charisms of Catholic religious life. As Pope Paul Vl said, our way of being church is today the way of dialogue. Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published quarterly at Saint Louis University by the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393 Telephone: 314-633-4610 ¯ Fax: 314-633-4611 E-Maih review@slu.edu ¯ Web site: www.reviewforreligious.org Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor: Review for Religious ¯ 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, MO 63108-3393 Correspondence about the Canonical Counsel department: Elizabeth McDonough OP ° Pontifical College Josephinum 7625 North High Street ° Columbus, Ohio 43235 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Review for Religious ¯ P.O. Box 6070 ° Duluth, MN 55806. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. See inside back cover for information on stibscription rates. ©2007 Review for Religious Permission is herewith granted to copy any material (articles, poems, reviews) contained in this issue of Review for Religious for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific library clients within the limits outlined in Sections 107 and/or 108 of the United States Copyright Law. All copies made under this permission must bear notice of the source, date, and copyright owner on the first page. This permission is NOT extended to copying for commercial distribution, advertising, institutional promotion, or for the creation of new collective works or anthologies. Such permission will only be considered on written application to the Editor, Review for Religious. religious Editor David L. Fleming SJ Associate Editor Philip C. Fischer SJ Canonical Counsel Elizabeth McDonough OP Scripture Scope Eugene Hensell OSB Editorial Staff Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm Judy Sharp Vdebmaster . Clare Boehmer ASC Advisory Board Martin Erspamer OSB ¯ .Kathleen Hughes RSCJ L~uis and Angel.a Menard Bishop Terry Steib SVD Miriam D. Ukerids CSJ QUARTERLY 66.2 2007 contents prisms 116 Prisms 118 challenges Between the Culture of the Satisfied and the Culture of Death John Lydon OSA looks at the challenge religious life faces in the developed world in light of declining numbers of mem-bers. Calling for an .ethic of solidarity, the article proposes not losing sight of our mission to the poor in these difficult financial times. Reflection Questions for Personal and Group Use 130 The Spiritual Blahs--Rejection or Invitation? George Aschenbrenner SJ interprets the painful, empty, dull experience in prayer and finds an invitation to greater intimacy with God. ignatian insights 138 The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises A. Paul Dominic SJ studies the Ignatian Three Methods of Praying in the Spiritual Exercises and finds that they serve to carry the fervor and glow of the retreat into the prosaic chores of daily living. 114[ 154 "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving David L. Fleming SJ explores the notion of "to serve" in the spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola through Ignatius's life expe-rience and through the Spiritual Exercises. Reflection Questions and Prayer Mantra Review for Religious 168 176 ~p~rJ~ncin~ pr~yer ~ Prayer Is a Risk Rick Malloy SJ reviews the practical benefits of a daily personal prayer life. Reflection Questions Beginning Contemplation according to John of the Cross James W. Kinn carefully explains the beginning of contemplation according to the writings of St. John of the Cross and his practical advice for praying this way. 188 rsJigious ~i~ p~rspoctivss ~ Living Religious Life with Chronic Illness Mary Therese Johnson OP shares her experience of how chronic health problems affected her person, her ministry, and her life in the community. 197 Revisiting My Revisit of Religious Life Lucy Fuchs recounts a reunion, after fifty plus five years, of former novices, those remaining in their religious congregation and those who have left it. A deep sharing and friendship is now all the more evident. 2O5 209 214 ~epar~men~s ~ Scripture Scope: The Bible for Meaning and Nourishment Canonical Coun'sel: Conscience Matters Book Reviews II15 66.2 2007 prisms ~here do we find our contact with the risen Christ? When we read the post-resurrection accounts in the Gospels, we are struck by the always unex-pected presence of the risen Jesus to his follow-ers. Their slowness in recognizing him leaves us perplexed. If he still wore the marks of his crucifixion, surely they would immediately know the One they had been with, perhaps for some three years. Wouldn't they recognize his eyes, his smile, his tone of voice? Of course, when he addresses Mary Magdalene by her name, then she knows at once. We might want to consider ourselves as superior to these first followers because we certainly would not be so slow in recognizing Christ. would we? I think that the church has treasured the gospel writings about the resurrec-tion appearances just so that we Christians of all ages can appreciate the difficulties we humans have in recognizing God's presence in our lives. Like the first disciples, we struggle to name our "unusual/divine" experience as an encounter with the risen Lord. Maybe we are afraid of fooling ourselves. Perhaps we have a fear of God enter-ing so closely into our ordinary life. But just as Jesus came in surprising ways and at unexpected Revie~v for Religious times to his early followers, so he continues to come into our lives today, if we but take note. If we look to the most obvious place, Jesus meets us in our praying. Most of us are all too aware that our prayer time can be "ordinary," full of attention meanderings, dis-tracted, heavy in time-waiting. But, then, there are those prayer moments when we are taken out of all time, and we know Jesus' touch, Jesus' presence, Jesus' love, Jesus' calling our name. Even though the experience is immedi-ate, we need to note God,s presence by a review of our prayer or by our journaling. It is when we take notice, looking back, that we acknowledge and make our own that "it is the Lord." There is also the same type of "moments" in the pan-orama of our day where Jesus is present in the comfort-ing kind act or in the challenging question asked by the stranger. There are the moments when we are in the midst of a party or when we are riding on the public transport and we experience that "you are the one I love." Again it requires a looking back, a reflection, on our part, likely a noting through the daily examen or through some brief or extended journaling. We are claiming our experience and "incarnating" it even by our noting the divine inter-vention. Why does the risen Jesus want to enter into our lives? For the same reason that he appeared to his first follow-ers after his resurrection. He wants us to share in his joy of a life forever with God. He wants to confirm our faith. He wants to strengthen us in our own life mission. It is important for us to note how the risen Jesus enters into our lives. Our contact with the risen Jesus is not just through the testimony of others. All of us Christians are the recipients of Jesus' attention and presence--if we only take note. David L. Fleming sJ 66.2 2007 JOHN J. LYDON Between the Culture of the Satisfied and the Culture of Death challenges 118] Let us clarify the terms. "Culture of the Satisfied'? comes from the tide of a book by John Kenneth Galbraith, i a study of how the well-off econo-mies of the world have shaped the .entire world's economic culture. "The culture of death" refers to the poor, who, as Peruvian theologian Gustavo Guti~rrez says, "die before their time." The United States is part and parcel of the culture of the satisfied, yet we as religious are called to bear witness to something better. What are the challenges this poses for us? Can we be relevant in either or both of these cultures? We are challenged by two dominant features of American x;eligious life. First, we are immersed in the culture of the satisfied, in the consumer-ori-ented culture that never seems to have enough. An October 2000 article in the New York Times reported that hundreds of millionaires were asked if they considered themselves "wealthy.". John J. Lydon OSA has been for eighteen years a professor in the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Trujillo, Peru. Email: jlydon@osaperu.com. Review for Religious Of those whose net worth, apart from their home value, was between one million and four million dollars, only a few considered themselves wealthy. The rest said that being wealthy meant having around five million. People having .five million dollars in net worth also said they were not wealthy, just "comfortable." And so it went. People having ten million dollars gave the same answer: they needed to advance one or two steps more up the economic ladder to be wealthy. It would appear that the consumer culture convinces most people that they never have enough even when all of their basic and frivolous needs are satisfied. We American religious, immersed as we are in this culture, may--without a critical conscious-ness-- easily assume these same values and lose sight of our mission. Second, we live in the sociological reality of American religious life. It is a vocational option being chosen by very few. All of our communities are getting older, and many are simply going to disappear. And so the closing of apostolates, the reduction of personnel, the advancing median ages, and the declining health of older members is already a reality. In the middle of that stark reality, it is easy to forget the vast numbers of people who live in great poverty beyond our horizon--and to forget what still remains our mission in the world. The Option for the Poor At its roots, religious life has an evangelical reason for the preferential option for the poor. As the Congregation on Consecrated Life in its document Fraternal Life in Community puts it, one of the marks of religious life is "everyone for the poor," "many with the poor," "some [living] like the poor" (§63). In the light of this, our mis-sion seems clear. It is to somehow challenge those that live in the culture of the satisfied and to reach out in solidar- 119 66.2 2007 Lydon ¯ Between Cultures Solidarity is an attitude based not simply on but also on justice, 120 ity with those who are in the culture of death. Solidarity is the key to understanding our mission, as it is the key to understanding the church's social doctrine, especially under the papacy of John Paul II, who used the word constandy.2 For him, solidarity was intimately related to the cause of peace and justice; this explains its importance in his social doctrine: "The motto of the pontificate of my esteemed predecessor Pius XII was opus iustitiae pax, peace as the fruit of justice. Today one could say, with the same exact-ness and the same power of biblical inspiration (see Is 32:17, Jm 3:18): opus solidaritatispax, peace as the fruit of solidarity.''3 For Pope John Paul, there are two kinds of solidarity. (1) Solidarity is the binding together of people who are disadvantaged so that they can be stronger in the face of injustice. The classic example of this is trade unions, sup-ported by the church since Return novarum (1891). It is no coincidence that the trade union of Poland that went up against and helped bring down the Communist govern-ment was called Solidarity. (2) There can also be solidarity between those who have a great deal and those who have little. This is where the greater emphasis of this term is placed in John Paul's writings. Solidarity is an attitude based not simply on charity but also on justice. The church has always maintained that the goods of the earth are destined by the Creator to be used by all of God's creation. The accumulation of a great part of the goods of the earth in the hands of a small number of people, while the great majority of the Review for Religious world's people live in misery, is an affront to the plan of creation and the manifestation of an unjust social order. "The church's admonition is clear, and it is a faithful echo of the voice of Christ: earthly goods are meant for the whole human family and cannot be reserved for the exclu-sive benefit of a few.''4 What are the temptations we face that can lead us to lose sight of our basic mission? We need to be aware of these because we may be so immersed in the culture of the satisfied that we are no longer a symbol of protest or an authentic invitation to solidarity. Jesus faced three temptations as he went into the desert after his baptism. It would seem that we face at least an equal number of temptations that would pull us away from our mission. Temptation 1: Focus on Ourselves and Not the Mission As we become older and have a rising need to take care of sick or less mobile members, we are tempted to see that as the principal preoccupation of our religious life. We look to build better healthcare units and accord-ingly to find benefactors to better equip them or to pro-vide endowments for them. These are noble concerns that require attention, but the danger is that they become the principal focus. Erik Erikson, the famous psychologist, developed a theory of eight stages of life in which we grow as human beings. Each stage faces its own challenge and thus can involve either grace and sin. Erikson adds that, if we fail at one stage, we cannot hope to move to the next one. The last two stages are of particular interest here. In the penultimate stage we might choose either the grace of generativity or the sin of self-absorption. Generativity is a concern for the betterment of others and of society. We either reach out beyond ourselves in service to better our environment, our world, or we fall into self-absorption. ,121 66.2 2007 Lydon ¯ Between Cultures 122 ]. In the final stage the struggle is between integrity and despair. Those who see that they have made a contribu-tion, that their life has had meaning and they leave .some-thing better behind, .~c~n leave this world in peace. For those who wonder if i~"Fihs been worth it,if they have left anything good behind, the destiny is despair. As much of religious life in the United States and Canada enters the last stages of its sociological growth, Erikson's insights can guide us. If we lose sight of our mission and focus on ourselves and our own needs, all the up-to-date healthcare units, all the endowments in their name, will not bring us fulfillment. Having failed to make use Of the grace of generativity, we cannot move to the final stage, integrity. It is not easy to keep that mission in the forefront ¯ of our existence. John Paul II, then, reminds us to con-front society's consumerism, which leads people to accu-mulate more, believing that their worth is in what they have rather than in who they are. The way to challenge this unbridled consumerism is through a .greater sim-plicity of lifestyle. If.the goods of the world are to be shared with the poor, those who are economically bet-ter off must adopt spiritual poverty and strive to simplify their lifestyles so as to make more of the world's goods available for the poor.s "Evangelical poverty is something that transforms those who accept it. They cannot remain indifferent when faced with the suffering of the poor; indeed, they feel impelled to share actively with God his preferential love for them.''6 Temptation 2: Change the Meaning of the Mission Marshall McLuhan coined the famous adage "The medium is the message" to assert that the mass media have been shaping modern culture. The medium gives any message a new meaning. Similarly, we are tempted to Review for Religious give mission a new meaning because our needs push us to change the meaning of the words. We readily change what we mean when we talk of the "poor." Our evangelical mission as religious is to have a pref-erential option for the poor. But people debate who are poor. (Gustavo Guti~rrez has often pointed out that the poor have no difficulty identifying who are rich.) And so we are tempted to change the definition of who are poor, even to believe ourselves to be "the poor." We think we have a preferential option for the poor because we take care of our weak and infirm members and our parents and family members. We give them "the best of care" and see this as fulfillment of the option for the poor. No doubt they are needy, and we reach out to them. We should, however, avoid the temptation of identifying ourselves as the poor. We may be needy, but we are not the poor. At the Millennium World Summit, heads of state and other officials met at the United Nations to mark the year 2000 ~nd set up goals for humanity over the next quarter century--goals mostly having to do with the poor, the marginalized, those excluded from the benefits of devel-opment. Their definition of "the poor" is those who live on $2 or less a day; remember this. When our mission requires a preferential option for the poor, the question is not what we give to the needy in our own religious family. The question is what we do for the needs of those that fit the world's definition of the poor. What exactly do we mean when we say "preferential option for the poor"? The phrase, like all such terms, has its limitations. Let us examine briefly, the words "option," "preferential," and "poor." Option has not always been interpreted correcdy. It does not mean "optional"---choose according to your own wishes. Option here implies a con-scientious choice of, a profound permanent commitment to, solidarity with the poor. 123 66.2 2007 Lydon * Between Cultures The very word preferential rejects any kind of exclusivity, 124 The very word preferential, as should be obvious, rejects any kind of exclusivity. It highlights who should be the first--not the only--objects of our solidarity. It specifies those most in need of our attention, and is not "exclusive or discriminatory towards other groups.''7 Poor has perhaps been the most misunderstood term here. At times it seems that people do not want to identify the poor, or they identify them as everyone so that the word and the expression lose meaning. The Latin American Episcopal Conference of Medell~n examined this same issue and made it clear who is being referred to by the word poor, making a distinction between three types of poverty. (1) Materialpoverty. This means a lack of what is nec-essary to live a dignified life. It is an evil that is always denounced "as contrary to the will of the Lord, and mosdy the result of man's injustice and sin.''8 (2) Spiritual poverty. A quality to be imitated. The poor in spirit are people open to the Lord's will. Like the anawim of the Old Testament, the poor in spirit are the humble people who put their trust in the Lord. The poor in spirit are followers of Jesus. The Beatitudes indi-cate the attitudes for disciples who welcome the kingdom and show solidarity with the excluded. In this "spiritual infancy," they seek to remain fully available to the will of the Lord. It is a quality that everyone is called to adopt. (3) Poverty of solidarity. This is a free decision to share the plight of those who are victims of material poverty in order to bear witness against the evil that such pov-erty represents and to demonstrate spiritual freedom Review for Religious from material goods. "In this one follows the example of Christ.''9 Likewise, it obviously is one of the principal marks of our religious vows. The "poor" of the "preferential option for the poor" are dearly identified in the Medellin document as being those who lack the necessities for a dignified life. After Medell~n, attempts were made to debilitate this option by broadening the definition to include everyone and thus effectively eliminate the idea of a preference "for the poorest and most needy sectors."~° For this reason, the Latin American Episcopal Conference document of Puebla,11 in one of its most moving and significant sec-tions, precisely explains the identity of the "poor" to whom both Medell~n and Puebla refer. As the bishops mention, the faces of the poor include the indigenous peoples who live in inhuman situations, the campesinos (farm workers) who have no land and are exploited, fac-tory workers with little pay and no unions, outcasts of the cities who have no money, children weakened by poverty even before they are born, and those that are abandoned because they can no longer produce.~2 The poor, then, are not just an economic category but are dominated peoples, exploited social classes, despised races, and marginalized cultures. They are the "excluded," those who have no power, no voice, and for that reason suffer the effects of injustice. Undoubtedly, these groups of people are almost always the economically poorest as well. They are those who suffer unjust death, premature death.~ The Social Viewpoint of the Poor To adopt this preferential option, some attempt must be made to understand reality from the viewpoint of the poor. This requires a change of "social position." Poverty (and marginalization and exclusion) must be seen from 125 66.2 2007 Lydon ¯ Between Cultures the point of view of the poorest, though not necessarily by living among the poor. If economic conditions worsen for the poor while the gap between poor and rich widens, then the situation is unjust, whatever the macroeconomic statistics may say. This "social position" to interpret real-ity is a viewpoint we must all take up, whatever pastoral work we undertake, because only in this way can we be "for the poor." Only thus are we ready to fulfill the man-date: "everyone for the poor, many with the poor, and some [living] like the poor."!4 The church wishes to be a "church of the poor.''Is This means that it gives "preferential attention to the poor, seeking to share time and resources in order to alleviate suffering, [and] works with all sectors of society, including the poor themselves, in search of solutions to the problems of poverty and so freeing people from mis-ery and want. [It means using] the talents and gifts of the poor, relying on them in her mission of evangelization. The church of the poor is a church in which the poor are welcomed, listened to, and actively involved . A true church of the poor contributes decisively to the needed transformation of society, to social renewalbased on the vision and values of the gospel.''16 Those who still lack the means to live are the only measure of whether we live that preferential option or neglect it because we put our own needs (as real or imagined as they my be), rather than the poor, at the center of our mission. 12:6 TemPtation 3: Lose Our Trust in the Providence of God Mark Twain famously remarked, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." Numbers have power to persuade, but even accurate numbers may bol-ster inaccurate statements, and so we need a critical eye in examining them. They remain an important tool, but a tool to use only within the perspective of our mission. Review for Religious In our communities we face a clear loss of numbers and an aging population. We.can see that attending to the old and infirm means greater costs while income-produc-ing members are fewer and fewer. In the light of this, we make budgetary decisions to reduce costs, but we also invest more in ourselves. We start to build endowments, and we seek to be "fully endowed" so that we can meet these needs on just the interest generated by our endow-ment portfolio. Yet perhaps the gospel story of the man who has a great harvest and builds storage bins to keep it all should alert us not to make our goal the establishment of an endowment that more or less eliminates a need to believe in God's providence (Lk 12:16-21). If we look at the poorest among even the relatively rich (by world levels) American population, the latest studies of the Federal Reserve show that the bottom twenty percent of the population have an average net worth of only $7,500. At that level they lack any degree of security about the future. If we move beyond the poor-est Americans to average American families, the net worth goes up to $93,000. This is the net worth, including prop-erties, of the average American family. And so, as we build up our endowment portfolios, we need to ask ourselves whether we are a community of faith, vowed to poverty, looking for a.guaranteed future that is not only out of line with the poor, but also out of line with average families in our culture of the satisfied. Does our fear of the future lead us to forget God's provi-dence and put so much en.ergy into building up endow-ments that we eliminate some or all of our programs of solidarity with the poor? Most of our world lives in the "culture of death." Much of the human race lives on less than $2 a day while a few live in the "culture of the satisfied." As religious living in this latter culture, we are still called, perhaps 127 66.2 2007 Lydon * Between Cultures 128 especially in the sunset of pastoral commitments and even congregations, to make a difference in our world. The fulfillment of our mission, to have a preferential option for the poor, requires of us that we do not sacrifice our mission for the sake of our own futures. In the end, that would only result in our losing both. It is in our mission that we realize our dreams and desires for a church that is more eternal than apostolates and congregations. It is in contributing to that mission that we find integrity and peace. Through our acts of solidarity with the poor, with those who "die before their time," we raise a prophetic voice in favor of divine providence and against the con-sumer culture that encompasses us. We tell the world by our actions, by "walking our talk," that joy and peace come from narrowing the gap between the world's haves and have-nots. We recognize and/'eject temptations that can lead us astray, not because there is nothing good in them, but rather because they are not the "walk" taken by Jesus Christ. Notes t John K. Galbraith, The Culture of Contentment (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1992). In Spanish it is La Cultura de la Sati~Caccidn (Barcelona: Ariel, 1992) although it is often cited as La Cultura de los Sati~Cecbos. I use this Spanish idea here. 2John Paul II used the word 104 times in his documents related to the social doctrine of the church (Laborem exercens 6, Sollicitudo rei socialis 13, Centesimus annus I 1, 1995 UN speecb 7, World Peace Day messages 67) 3 John Paul II, Sollicitudo, §39. 4 John Paul II, If You Want Peace, Reach Out to the Poor, §3, cites Centesimus annus, §§31 and 37. 5John Paul II, lfYou l/Vant Peace, §5: "In order to promote the social, cultural, spiritual, and also economic welfare of all members of society, it is therefore absolutely essential to stem the unrestrained consumption of earthly goods and to control the creation of artificial needs. Moderation and simplicity ought to become the criteria of our daily lives. The quantity of goods consumed by a tiny fraction of the world population produces Review for Religious a demand greater than available resources. A reduction of this demand constitutes a first step in alleviating poverty, provided that it is accompa-nied by effective measures to guarantee a fair distribution of the world's wealth." See also Gaudium et spes, §88: "The greater part of the world is still suffering from so much poverty that it is as if Christ himself were crying out in these poor to beg the charity of his disciples. Let us not be guilty of the scandal of having some nations, most of whose citizens bear the name of Christians, enjoying an abundance of riches, while others lack the necessities of life and are tortured by hunger, disease, and all kinds of misery. For the spirit of poverty and charity is the glory and witness of the church of Christ." 6John Paul II, If You Want Peace, §5. 7 John Paul II, Centesimus annus, §57. 8 Medellfn, §14, 4. This was held in Medellin, Colombia, in 1968. 9 Medellfn, §14, 4. ,0 Medellln, §14, 9. 11 Held in Puebla, Mexico, in 1979. " Puebla, §§31-39. 13 John Paul II identified the "poor" with the "marginalized." As the new millennium approached, he asked, "How can we fail to lay greater emphasis on the church's preferential option for the poor and the out-cast?" (Tertio millennio adveniente, §51). Such marginalization can be more than economic; it can also be cultural and religious. See Centesimus annus, §57. 14 CICLSAL, Fraternal Life in Community, §63. is CICLSAL, Fraternal Life, §63. 16 John Paul II, address in September 2003 to bishops from the Philippines, §25. Reflection Questions for Personal and Group Use 1. Lydon identifies three temptations that can head us to lose sight of our basic vision. Do you agree with the ones he identifies? Would you want to add other temptations from your own experience? 2. How can religious men and women be relevant to the culture of the satisfied and to the culture of death? 129 66.2 2007 GEORGE A. ASCHENBRENNER The Spiritual Blahsm Rejection or Invitation? /~r some people, spiritual boredom is not painful. hey are so distracted by exciting pleasures and challenges in daily life that an interior emptiness, smoth-ered by all the excitement, is not bothersome to them. They do not even seem to notice. Though they have not overtly denied faith and God, they have become unim-portant realities, rarely experienced in any lively personal way. This is a sign, a sad sign, that both their sensibil-ity and their deeply personal desire have been numbed. Something might snap them out of their stupor, but, until it does, life just rushes on. Crisis of Interpretation For many of us, however, the effect is very differ-ent. The inner boredom is painful. It discourages and stings with frustration. Beneath all the busy concerns, and even the quick superficial pleasures, something seems t30 George A. Aschenbrenner sJ is rector of the Jesuit Community at the University of Scranton; Scranton, Pennsylvania 18510. This article, published in the fall 2006 issue of Ignatian Imprints, a new publication of the Maryland Province Jesuits, appears here with the permission of its editor and of the author. Review.for tCetigi~us stale, drab. There must be more to life. How to ignite the fire? The issue is a matter of interpretation. Before know-ing what to do, we must honestly feel and face the interior boredom. We must appreciate what it means, what it is saying to us. A quick automatic interpretation rises in the face of this dulling pain. Nothing is going on so why waste time with prayer, with usual signs of devotion? This is not our time. Such an instantaneous interpretation, though understandable, is often misleading, incorrect, even dan-gerous. A more mature and helpful interpretation requires more time and faith-filled reflection. Once we let the quick emotional explanation pass by, we can look more deeply at a larger array of possibilities. In the first place, this may be happening to us because we have not been very serious, very personal, about our faith and have not prayed much. In such a case this festering frustration serves as a wake-up call to get more serious about our relationship with God and not to settle any-more for careless and heartlessly mumbled words. This may be a call to a more lively personal relationship, a call to pray in our own words beyond the traditional ones, a call to listen more openly and interactively to God's Word in Scripture and throughout our whole life. If we are undisciplined and out of shape spiritually, some hard work at tuning up our spirit will be required before the dismal "nothing's happening" lethargy will lift. On the other hand, if the dreary dry condition is not caused by our negligence, then a whole new and more serious possibility presents itself. In this case, we are not out of shape spiritually, nor stuck in complacency with numbed, untended desires. We have personally known God's love. We have .been stirred, .consoled, emotion-ally touched by that love and have fashioned our daily life accordingly. Recently, over days and weeks, that has 66.2 2007 Ascbenbrenndr * The Spiritual Blabs--Rejeaion or Invitation? We must carefully turn to God in faith for appreciation and interpretation of this malaise. changed; a smog has settled in and contaminated the sunny enthusiasm of our faith. It sure seems as though nothing is happening now. And the temptation to aban-don our prayer life stares hauntingly into the eye of our SOU1. Seriously misleading, however, this temptation beck-ons to exacdy the wrong decision. In the awareness of no personal negligence on our part, we must carefully turn to God in faith for appreciation and interpretation of this malaise. This crisis of interpretation is an important point in the spiritual life of the mature believer. The invitation turns our hearts away from the emotional discomfort (oh, how boring and dull it all feels!) to what God is really saying in and through it all. This always involves a second look of reflection beyond the spontaneous disheartening emotional response. In this dark, dreary dryness, God, whose love is as personally present as ever before, is inviting us to draw closer by entering a deeper part of our faith relationship. i32 Invitation to a Deeper Faith Even though the emotion of God's love can be pre-cious grace, this felt sensation of love can easily turn into a golden calf, an idol, a false god for selfish wor-ship. Without intending it and sometimes without even noticing it, we begin to presume on the presence of this emotional grace and cannot imagine life without it. But such emotional experience, grace though it is, registers on the superficial, unpredictable level of our person. God, Review for Religious whose desires for each of us are all-embracing beyond our imagining, is inviting us to an ever more profound and, therefore, more intimate, more personal union. Development of such a union always involves a purifi-cation, a stripping away of selfishness, of too much "me." And, put starkly, this stripping always hurts. In this inter-pretation, which is critical to a deeper, more personal rela-tionship with God, flae dry, stale emptiness of our faith is not a mistake, a negligence on our part, but rather a call from God, our lover extraordinaire. We are being invited to believe beyond our feelings, to enter a realm of pro-found faith. Though it may not emotionally involve lots of fun and intense pleasure, our relationship with God at this level is more trustworthy, more foundational, more dependable than any simply emotional sense. This profound interpretation of God's loving presence does not downplay the emotional, even exciting, experi-ence of God's love. The truth here pushes deeper into our soul than the level of feelings. We see the same truth in our human interpersonal experiences of love. Though the emotional excitement of falling in love can be intense and wonderfully endearing, such goose-bump experiences of love cannot endure forever. No, these beloved emotional experiences must be rooted in a more profound dimen-sion of our relationship. Belief in the Presence of God's Love How easy it is to get stuck in these emotional traps. We want always to feel the fire and comfort of God's love. Because God is so jealous as to desire all of us in relationship, our divine lover must pry loose our emotion-ally fierce grasp, must wean us away from the wonder-ful, but undependably fluctuating, emotional satisfaction. This purification of our experience of God calls us deeper into our person beyond the realm of emotion and feeling. 133 66.2 2007 Ascbenbrenner ¯ The Spiritual Blabs--Rejection or Invitation? This deeper invitation does not kill and bury forever the emotional part of us. But the pain of temporarily letting go of this sensual dimension of our relationship with God hurts--and is risky. What will be left after such a letting go? For this reason, such purification invites and requires grieving. These tears at the apparent loss and absence of God can sting and burn, and should honestly be shared with God. But the tears and ache are soothed finally in a dawning realization: God is more than emotional spontao neity. Such a loving God is our very life. Far beyond any emotional impulse, God's love, intimate and uniquely per-sonal, is profoundly and ineradicably present at our very core, intentionally loving life into us breath after breath. This profound presence gives a peace, a harmony, a humble confidence beyond any intensity of emotion. Such an awareness can quiet us and synchronize us to the divine breath-giver's artful creation of us in the imme-diacy of every moment. Simply to breathe is to be loved, just to exist is to be cherished beyond imagining. This realization is truly awesome: for me as I write this, and for you as you now read it. A centering such as this reveals a foundation, always there, beneath all emotional and spon-taneous fluctuation. The apparent drying up, even death, of emotional fervor does not imply rejection. The belief in the core presence of God's love blessing us with life reveals the emotional nagging dullness as invitation, not rejection, on God's part. This appreciation of God's kind and insistent invitation does not automatically deluge us with emo-tional fervor. Nonetheless, this felt sense of God's love will always be part of our relationship, though now rooted in a more profound and personal dimension. In this deep-ened experience of God, our emotional sluggishness and lack of fervor reveals God's intentional loving dynamic, if joined with other signs: a keen desire for prayer, for Review for Religious simply being with our loving Creator all through the day, and for serving God's will in everything. These signs demonstrate that the sensible dullness is not a matter of divine reiection, nor does it drain our energy for serious effort in response; rather it is a precious moment of lov-ing invitation. Acting as if. Activity, concretely imaginative and bordering on the heroic, puts our faith to work beyond any emotional stimulation. This is a time for "acting as if." While we do not feel like belieying, praying, or serving in love, it is time to act, to act as if we do feel it. Why? Because we are loving, believing, acting out of a genuine experience of our loving God, but from a depth of ourselves more profound than emo-tional. But this "acting as if" can seem insincere, dishonest, even hypocritical. The insinuation of this type of inter-pretation reveals an evil, unholy spirit always eager to mislead and deter us. -- Rather than hypocrisy, we are here in the depths of incar-national, sacramental faith. To cling to and to kiss a cru-cifix when we do not even feel like giving time for prayer, to reach out to the needy person when we rather feel like turning away in withdrawal are not acts of dishonesty. These can be heroic efforts, whether quietly private or publicly observable, to sacramentalize in hope our deepest center of faith and love. Without such quiet heroism, our faith, our intimately personal relationship with God, will not mature and persevere over the long haul of life. An important distinction, however, is at work here. We are not acting as if we believed what we actually do not believe. That is hypocrisy. Rather, we are acting in line with what we deeply believe, even though, at this This is a time for "acting as if " i135 66.2 2007 Ascbenbrenner ¯ The Spiritual BlabsnRejection or Invitation? 136t moment, the emotional drive for such acting is absent. This is mature faith: to act as if we are always feeling what we deeply believe. The ability to believe and sacramental-ize in action what we are not now feeling marks the seri-ous believer. Often we are tempted, quite unconsciously, to identify faith and feeling. This always short-circuits faith, and, though we enjoy the emotional intensity, such an identification of faith and feeling often precludes the permanent fidelity of a mature faith commitment. Couples, for whom the honeymoon is long past, know, live, and act from a depth of love, mutual trust--and a more mature emotional caring for one another--devel-oped over years. In the hit Broadway musical "Les Miserables," Jean Valjean, the central obvious Christ figure, promises to care for the daughter of the dying and poverty-stricken Fantine with these words: "I swear this on my life." This promise cuts far below any momentary surge of emotion. And the beautiful climax of the show reveals Valjean's fidelity to this promise through a great variety of chal-lenges. Mature adult believers know the challenge and the blessing of acting what they believe, and acting it as if they felt what now, as a matter of fact, they are not feel-ing. This faith-filled acting is always blessed over time with an emotional fervor which, at certain times, in God's mysterious loving ways with us, seems absent and lost. A Presence in Faith A lack of accustomed satisfaction and felt closeness to God in our prayer and ordinary devotions when accom-panied by a lively desire, on our part, not only to be with God but also to serve the justice of the Risen Jesus in our world, reveals finally a clear message of divine endearment for us. Beyond the realm of graced emotional intimacy lies a presence in faith sometimes too deep for words, but Review for Religious more trustworthy and dependable than the fluctuations of graced feeling in our relationship. This is often a rather new land for many of us. It is a land where God is always with us inviting our trust. It is a land where our identity, satisfaction, and fire for generous service most deeply and personally reside. A spiritual staleness, when insightfully investigated, is always an invitation, never a rejection--an invitation to greater intimacy with God, whose love in the Risen Jesus is serving us, at every moment, in a more charming fash-ion than we could ever fully realize before we die. Couldn't You Return? You came to be with us. From strips of linen to strips of linen, swaddling to shroud, You began and ended as the least of us, a man martyred in a power game you wouldn't play. Now we must put ourselves where You can find us, with the least, the last, the lost: children of the homeless, pawns of politicians, those religion oppresses. Dear manger-born, martyr-torn One, we are small again today. Couldn't you return now? Bonnie Thurston 137 66.2 2007 A. PAUL DOMINIC The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises ignatian insights "It is relatively easy to live a life of clarity.and peace if you take yourself on retreat to a moun-taintop. But how do we bring the fruits of that stillness and clarity into the rush of the modern world?" The question is raised by a travel writer about his writings taking on a spiritual tone.l How much more would St. Ignatius have been seized with such a question in relation to the Spiritual Exercises! Given his thoroughness, he would have left his own answer to it. The last of the formal exercises, the Contemplation to attain love.would seem that answer. But after it come "three methods of praying" (§§238-260).2 Lowly compared with the Contemplation, they too may serve to carry the fervor and glow of the Spiritual Exercises into the prosaic and profane chores of daily living. A. Paid .Dominis SJ last wrote for us in early 2005. His address remains c/0 Missionaries of the Poor; Fatima Nagar; Warangal 505 004; India. Re'vie'~ for Religious . Prayer after the Thirty-Day Retreat This thought impressed me more and more as I sought to understand the place of the unsung "three methods" in the whole ensemble of the Exercises. The first method is four modes of examining our conscience; the second and third are ways of praying orally. The question of these methods in the overall progress of the Spiritual Exercises came to me in a practical way as I planned a course of meditation and prayer for a group of novices whom I had directed some months earlier in the full Exercises. I asked the novice mistress if the three methods of praying would satisfy her expectation. However she envisaged it, it was clear to me that, to do anything really useful for her nov-ices, I had to teach them to pray as people who had made the full Exercises more or less well according to the mea-sure of grace given them by the Lord. I do not remember having heard anything special about the three methods from the "specialists" with whom I had either made the Exercises or studied them. An exception was the unassuming, unlearned specialist my own novice master, who after the long retreat kept us novices praying for some days using the three methods, in the best tradition of the Exercises (§256), though with-out explaining why. That tradition is worth discovering, recovering, and pondering. The Three Methods as Part of the Exercises First, as the various methods of meditation and con-templation are part and parcel of the full Exercises, so are all three methods of prayer without exception, though not in the same way. All appear in their proper order. Meditation comes in the First Week of the Exercises and contemplation runs through the remaining Weeks, the three methods emerging towards the end of the full Exercises. They are clearly and cleverly appended to the [139 66.2 2007 Dominic ¯ The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises 1401 Fourth Week. What is more, the three methods form an "inclusion" with the early sentence that defines and explains the phrase "spiritual exercises" (§§238 & 4). Polanco's witness is consistent with this in letter and spirit; he says: "The Fourth Week is completed when he [the exercitant] is judged to have made sufficient progress in the exercises on the resurrection and on enkindling the love of God, as well as the methods of prayer.''3 Of course, The threeme ho'dS lend themselv, es~to.different levels of exercising and experienCihg them, the three methods may be detached and used for those who go through the partial Exercises restricted to the First Week alone (§ 18). That only suggests and emphasizes that the three methods lend them-selves to different levels of exercising and experi-encing them. The level at which the exercitants will ben-efit to the full, however, is when they make use of them as the last part of the full Exercises of roughly one month. Such an understanding is in accordance with what has been called the circular nature of the Exercises.4 The idea of circularity, I believe, implies that the principles and practices with which the Exercises begin run all through the Exercises with an ever greater intensification and leave their effect even afterwards. That is to say, the aim is the same in the beginning and the end; in the beginning it is present at least as an urgent desire, and at the end, hope-fully, it finds its actualization. Thus, for example, though no one can begin the Exercises without some magnanim-ity and generosity toward God as expressed in offering God one's entire will and liberty (§5), no one is expected to make the offering of the Sume et suscipe (Take and receive) right at the beginning, but only after a month Review for Religious of maturation, with or without struggle, climaxing in the Contemplation to attain love (§§230-237), a part of the finale of the Exercises. In the same way, if the three meth-ods of prayer (examen and vocal prayer) are practiced at the beginning, they ought to provide the exercitants a far greater relish and perfection at the end, with no abrupt ending, but rather a continuation. How that happens is the matter for consideration now. The First Method The first method of prayer (§§238-248) appears to be at first sight a plain and simple examination of conscience, making use of various headings: laws (decalogue) or gifts (three powers of the soul and five senses) or related topics (capital sins). Given the usual emotional perception of most people, the examination of conscience does not pass for prayer. But in the Exercises it is out-and-out prayer, albeit of a particular kind; St. Ignatius mentions it first in his list of prayer exercises (§1). No doubt a conscientious examina-tion yields an account of our soul during a certain period of time, but not all on our own; it involves attentiveness to God's presence from start to finish, and so it qualifies as prayer. It begins with gratefulness for God's benefits and asking for grace to know our general ingratitude or our unfaithfulness in a particular matter; it is followed by asking God's pardon and receiving grace to do better (§43). This prayer practice of the examen twice daily all through the Exercises is deepened towards the end by the first method of prayer, engaging the exercitants with focused soul-searching under the guidance of the Lord, who has sought and found and accompanied them for as long as a month. This argument gains further force from the fact that, like the other methods of prayer in the Exercises, the first method has its bwn assigned subject matter: the ten commandments, for example, to focus the prayer of 141 66.2 2007 Dominic * The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises interior purgation. This prayer leads us to beg first for a complete understanding of the commandments as expres-sions of God's good pleasure (well enunciated in the first two modes of humility, §§165-166) soas to arrive at a greater recognition of one's failures and the correspond-ing need of forgiveness. The aim is "to keep them [the commandments] better for greater glory and praise of the Divine Majesty" (§240). If anything, the expression Divine Majesty suggests the awesome holiness of God (the mysterium tremendum) and calls for our correspond-ing reverence. To this must be added what may not be so apparent. For Ignatius, the designation "Divine Majesty" also invites devout retreatants' more personal approach to God, resulting from God's winning presence and initiative as mysterium fascinans.S Those who have felt such reality in the Spiritual Exercises are bound to respond with repentance and rev-erential love worthy of our God of majesty of love. The plaintive prayer of the converted soul--"Against you, you alone, have I sinned; O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin" (Ps 5I:2,4, Grail)mis not for just a moment or occasion. Although the purga-tive way of the First Week leads on to the illuminative way of the Second and the unitive way of the Third and Fourth Weeks, the exercitant is never beyond the purifi-cation that is ever refreshing and re-creative. Indeed, it is those who have experienced the illuminative and unitive ways who appreciate all the more the need to get rid of even the least sin or imperfection. The first method of prayer, with its varied subject matter listed by Ignatius and added to by ourselves, wonderfully meets the never ending need of exercitants who have learned discernment in the Exercises. The first method of prayer is, then, not only "a com-plete examen"6 that keeps exercitants from slipping back; Review for Religious it is also an aid to progress. For example, bringing the five senses to this method, we do not stop with mere examina-tion of ourselves, but go beyond it. Intent on doing some-thing more, we pass on to the imitation of Jesus and his mother in their use of the senses. Ignatius mentions this explicitly. "He thereby recalls the exercitants' attention to their strivings during the last Three Weeks to behold, observe, and contemplate either Christ, the model of all perfections, or those holy persons whose life most faith-fully mirrored Christ's perfections, in order that they may learn from this how to perform all their actions more perfectly, day after day.''7 The Second Method The second method of prayer consists in contemplat-ing the meaning of each word of a familiar prayer such as the Our Father. I wonder if there has been much serious appreciation of the explicit Ignatian directive to conclude all daily examens, meditations, and contemplations in the Exercises with the Our Father. Anyway, those who have been faithful to Ignatius in this small detail will have an occasion now to discover its sense and intrinsic usefulness, and so come to pray it better with greater understanding and relish. In this second method, Ignatius offers a way to find depth in set routine prayer. It happens not by reflecting on but contemplating the meaning (significaci6n) of each word of the Our Father or other vocal prayers used in the triple colloquies. Contemplating the words of a prayer is certainly something new at this point. It consists in opening ourselves to the "meanings, comparisons, relish, and consolations connected with it" (§252). It is a matter of sensing and entering the evocative aura of each word. Coathalem has spoken of this as penetrating, assimilating, and tasting each word.s Though this method is new at this 66.2 2007 Dominic ¯ The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises 144 point, still it is not unlike what has transpired all through the contemplations of the Exercises as the exercitants lis-tened to the words uttered by the persons in the scene. Anyway, in the second method of prayer, exercitants contemplate as their own words the words of a traditional prayer they know by heart. In their devotion they may go on to recognize and appreciate the words as hallowed because of the hitherto unsuspected personal import they have. They may become sensitive to the human words now bringing them unction from God, along with God's embrace and the grace to give God better service (§15). The words have been given to them by none other than the Spirit (see Rm 8:26). Thus privileged and engrossed, the exercitants make bold at the end to ask for whatever virtues and graces they feel greater need of (§257). This is a colloquy in the usual terminology of the Exercises. But, according to Peters, its purpose and its way are markedly different from the col-loquies mentioned throughout the Exercises. Given the second method of prayer as not only a contemplation but a high contemplation--shown by the person practicing it being called not the exercitant but the "contemplant" or contemplator (persona que contempla, who enjoys devo-tion, relish, and consolation, §§254, 252)9--the needs here are greater than any experienced earlier. Peters argues: "One would think that the exercitant had been taken into the seventh heaven, that he did not lack anything at all. Evidently, at the height of contemplation, he feels more than ever his own insufficiency; he realizes how he falls short in virtue and is in dire need of special help. Close union with God goes hand in hand with a profound sense of one's own unworthiness and even helplessness.''1° In other words, even as we are delighted immensely by the nearness of God, we are distressed by the spec-tacle of our own sinwall the more disturbing because of Review for Religious the .contrast. In this situation, reminiscent of Paul and his visions (see 2 Co 12:2-9), what need could be greater than overcoming the lingering failings that frustrate our desire to be united with God? While experiencing such a need, the praying exercitant descends into silence, and the silence speaks louder, and there is no need for many words. As Peters points out, Ignatius directs the exercitant to ask en pocaspalabras, that is, in a few words (§257). The Third Method The third method of prayer is simply an inward reci-tation of a known prayer, slowly synchronizing each word with one's respiration. Since this method uses the same material for prayer as . the previous one, a natural way to under-stand it suggests itself. .~ The third method is a repetition of the sec-ond, in the spirit of what Ignatius consis-tently advocates for every meditation or contemplation. 11 We come to savor ever more what we have already prayed more than once. The whole exercise unfolds and rests in contemplative peace, poise, and relish. If each word of prayer is uttered with the breath, it rises from silence and ends in greater silence of repose. It is the receptive silence of the human word answering the penetrative silence of the divine Word or Spirit and turning into silence of communion, as when a drop of water falls into a sponge (§335)--that is a simile, coming from the unpoetic St. Ignatius himself. In this way, whatever word keeps us praying and imbibing The third method is a r~etition of the second, in the spirit of what Ignatius consistently advocates for every meditation or contemplation. 66.2 2007 Dominic ¯ The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises becomes more and more part of ourselves; the very prayer makes a home in those who pray. Whoever prays thus not only prays but becomes the prayer by virtue of one's very breath. Anyone who has reached the stage of the third method of prayer knows how "to join the praying man to the breathing man, or more accurately the other way about: take the breathing man that he is and gently make him into a praying man as well.''12 Whether directing our attention to the word's meaning or the person addressed or our own lowliness (§258), we are inhaling and exhal-ing rapt in contemplation of the divine in and around ourselves. 146 The Three Methods as "Repetitions" The three methods taken together provide three perspectives on the full Exercises. First, they appear as concluding repetitions of the entire month of Exercises. Right from the First Week (§§62&64), Ignatius directs and insists that individual exercises be repeated once or twice or thrice so that the exercitant may reap ever greater fruit from them. The three methods he proposes towards the end of the Exercises may well be viewed as repeti-tions, not of one or another exercise, but of the whole of the Exercises as orie-prolonged prayer experience. If the Exercises as a whole aim at removing all dis-ordered affections and so ordering our life according to God's will, the first method finds its place as a compre-hensive examen. It brings the daily examens to comple-tion, shaping a greater, more sensitive response to what must have been grace upon grace for a month (§238).13 If the subject matter of the second and third methods is mostly the vocal prayers that conclude contemplations of the mysteries of the Son, these methods together certainly provide ready repetitions of the manifold experience of the Second, Third, and Fourth Weeks. Such repetitions Review for Religious will be at once evocative and expansive, delightful and deepening, looking back and looking forward. The Three Methods as "Review" The three methods may be viewed in terms of another typical Ignatian practice too, namely, the review following every meditation or contemplation. As there is no spe-cifically mentioned last exercise in the Exercises, there is no specific reminder to review it. Another closely related fact worth thinking about is that, though there is no specified last exercise, there is a concluding tempo. This tempo may be observed right at the start of the Fourth Week, with the omission of the midnight contemplation and the reduction of the daily exercises from five to four. Whatever happens after the exercises of the resurrection in the Fourth Week definitely concerns the retreat's final days. The lack of detailed direction may well suggest the importance of the very content available for those days. While the Contemplation to attain love revolves round grateful love to the God of all gifts, the three methods of praye~ aim at exciting the same kind of response to God all holy and all loving, in and through Jesus. Viewed thus, they cannot but lead the .exercitants over all they have done in the preceding long period of grace, resulting in an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love. Come to think of it, all who have faithfully reviewed their meditations and contemplations four or five times daily ought to have learned and could not but have learned the dynamism of review for their spiritual practice. And so they are likely to hold on to the same dynamism as, rather reluctantly or not, they finish their retreat. Almost all retreatants, even those who have not been fervent enough all along, would, I believe, wish near the end that the retreat would not end. How much more, then, might the enthusiastic exercitants miss those days of 147 66.2 2007 Dominic ¯ The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises fervor. But such a feeling is not altogether a true conso-lation, and discerning exercitants would avoid it, sensing that their real consolation is in God and God's pleasure. They know that the period of grace and consolation must end, not abruptly, though, but gradually and gently. In this situation the three methods as review of the whole Exercises can help. To appreciate this, remember that the ordinary reviews of meditation or contemplation during the retreat bring the exercitant slowly from prayerful absorption to the ordinary activities of eating, drinking, resting, and so forth which we cannot do without.~4 Given devout per-sons' absorption in God at the end of the Exercises, there is all the more need for them to pass smoothly from the retreat to ordinary engagement and activity outside the retreat. This very need is filled by the three methods serv-ing as review of the whole course of the Exercises. The Three Methods as Reformation Corresponding to the "gradual lessening of bonds with the four preceding Weeks" evinced by the three methods, there emerges "an ever-increasing occupation with the duties of the exercitant's normal life.''~5 Though St. Ignatius does not say anything so explicit, his entire exercises are directed to that, namely, leaving the retreat and beginning our life anew as we have discerned God inspiring us. The genuine exercitants cannot but be con-cerned positively and negatively about their life after the retreat. Negatively, they may be anxious about the uncertainties of daily life after the peaceful certainty of the Exercises. Positively, they may be zealous to live for the glory of God. In this struggle between leaving Tabor and returning to their trade, the three methods bring a stabilizing sobriety. The first method of prayer helps their still weak selves to remain steadfast. The second and Review for Religious third methods, with their peculiar combination of famil-iar words and a fresh interiorizing of them, sustain and nourish their trustfulness by disposing them to receive the lights and consolations of God's love and grace.16 The conviction grows that the God of the Exercises will be their God after the Exercises. Thus they ready themselves to take up again the humdrum of day-to-day life with the zeal of a contemplative. It should be no surprise if their enchantment with God enhances their enchantment with the world they return to. Passing through the in-between period, the exercitants exercise themselves in faith, hope, and love, not from any nostalgia for the month gone by, but with a simple examination of conscience or with age-old prayers prayed contemplatively,j7 If the main value of whatever is done during the Exercises is "for living a Christian life after the Exercises are completed,''18 as Jules Toner says, this living clearly stems from the Exercises and is confirmed as the retreat's last days and hours run their course. St. Ignatius says something very practical in his directive for the three methods: before entering prayer one should recollect oneself in spirit, either sitting or ambling up and down, and consider where one is going and for what (§239). On the face of it there is nothing special here, but one familiar with the spiritual genius of Ignatius may discover something more. If the instruction here under consideration corresponds to the usual second additional direction (§§74-76 & 131), it nevertheless differs from it in its advocacy of recollection and suggestion of suitable posture (sitting or walking) different, from before. From this, one may suspect that the regularity of the Exercises is giving way to ordinary life, as Peters argues clearly and cleverly before concluding: "The pattern of the Four Weeks has completely gone, and yet the retreat itself con-tinues under totally different circumstances.''j9 There is .149 66.2 2007 Dominic * Tbe Finesse at tbe Finisb of tbe Exercises There can be intense Chris tian !i iyg without constant prayer: I50] no better way of envisaging how one ideally passes from the time of the retreat to the time after, neither needing nor wanting an exit. There are convincing reasons here that retreats last indefinitely, there being no last exercise prescribed as such by St. Ignatius. Since the Exercises train people in profound prayer over a long period, they surely will want to continue it even in, or in spite of, their changed circumstances after-wards. There can be no intense Christian living without constant prayer (see 1 Th 5:17). The third method trains the exercitant in such prayer. If it does not have the pre-ludes of the usual Ignatian meditation or contempla-tion, the reason would seem to be that it is done in the midst of a busy life. It can and ought to be done any-where and anytime for any length of time, directed always by discreet charity. If the prayer of the Exercises has grown all along through a regimen of do's and don'ts, it can now dispense with them all. The contemplatively trained exercitant can rejoice to find God in all circumstances and enter into silent collo-quy as constant as breathing. So, depending on the grace of the moment, the third method can be as simple "as a spirit of recollection floating, as it were, upon the rhythm of one's breathing"; and it can also be--here Peters is per-fect-- as profound as reliving the Exercises "to the extent of their being integrated into the quiet and tranquillity of one's breathing.''2° If earlier the exercitants went by the principle of sensing and savoring much in prayer rather than knowing ever more (§2), now they ought to have arrived at a new principle: "Brief time and bounteous con-solation!" Review for Religious The whole of life after the Exercises may be expressed as continuing the reforming of our life (§189). One may find this confirmed by what St. Ignatius designed for his young men after their noviceship, which included the long retreat. Besides attending Mass, they were to spend no more than an hour in prayer. The prayer was to include first the examen twice a day and next reciting the Office of Our Lady,21 both of which cotild certainly be done fol-lowing the three methods. St. Ignatius writes, echoing St. Thomas Aquinas, "In the midst of actions and studies, the mind can be lifted to God; and by means of this directing everything to the divine service, everything is prayer.''= Obviously for Ignatius formal prayer, like everything else in our life, must be not for itself but for God, as is well expressed in the unchanging preparatory prayer of every exercise (§46). That constitutes the sublime fruit of the Spiritual Exercises. The exercitant desires to persevere in it after the Exercises. For this the single-minded exercitant needs noth-ing more than the three methods of praying that are at once simple and sublime. When no surprise sublimity of the Spirit is manifestly active, we are to be content with the ready-made prayer that the vocal prayers are, know-ing that they come to our breath because of the Spirit's breathing in us. The Ending Finesse The three methods are perhaps like the performance of the circus artiste Philippe Petit. He had walked on a high wire between the towers of the World Trade Center in August 1974. Some time afterwards, on a much lower high wire between two "towers" in a circus in New Haven, Philippe walked and jumped and danced playfully, mak-ing it look easy. But more surprising was the ending. He began walking down a wire from one of the towers to the 151 66.2 2007 Do~ninic * The Finesse at the Finish of the Exercises ground. This was not easy. "Attention as well as tension grew and all kept their eyes on his outstretched arms. Everyone was so engrossed in his act that no one real-ized that for five seconds Philippe had been walking on the safe floor. Only after he himself looked down to the floor with a puzzled face and then up to the stands with happily surprised eyes did the tension break and everyone explode into roaring applause.''23 The applause seemed to be no less for walking on the circus floor than performing on the high wire--no less than when we managed to walk for the first time. If the thirty-day retreat is a feat, its success lies in making the days following it no less a feat and a feast to boot. The three methods help in accomplishing this. Notes ' Pico Iyer to a columnist. See Pradeep Sebastian, "In Autumn Radiance," The Hindu Literary Review, 5 November 2006, p. 6. 2 Such numbers in parentheses refer to the paragraph numbers in The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. 3 See Martin E. Palmer, On Giving the Spiritual Exercises: The Early Manuscript Directories and the Official Directory of l Y99 (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996), p. 126 (emphasis added). 4 See Gilles Cusson, Biblical Theology and the Spiritual Exercises (Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1988), pp. 155-156, 327-330. 5 See William A.M. Pet~s, The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: Exposition and Interprdtat~on (Rome: CIS, 1980), pp. 51-52. 6 Jos~ Calveras, Th~ Harvest-Field of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius (Bombay: St. Xavier's College, 1949), p. 251. 7 Calveras, Harvest-Field, p. 252 (with a change of singular to plu-ral). 8 See Herv~ Coathalem, Ignatian Insights (Taichung, Taiwan: Kuangchi Press, 1971), p. 235. 9 This does not appear so clearly in English translations: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius by George E. Ganss (Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1993) or by Louis J. Puhl (Bombay: St Paul Publications, 1965). ,0 Peters, Exercises: Exposition, p. 175. Review for Religious ~t See Calveras, Harvest-Field, p. 248. ~2 Peters, Exercises: Exposition, p. 177. 13 Taking the cue from the comment of Calveras as found in Ganss, Spiritual Exercises, p. 186, n. 127. t4 See Peters, Exercises: Exposition, pp. 41-42, 178. ,s Peters, Exercises: Exposition, p. 179 (though he excludes the first method here). 16 See Calveras, Harvest-Field, pp. 245,249. 17 See Calveras, Harvest-Field, pp. 245-246. ~8 Jules J. Toner, A Commentary on St. Ignatius' Rules for the Discernment of Spirits (Anand: GSP, 1982), p. 39. 19 Peters, Exercises: Exposition, p. 172. 20 Peters, Exercises: Exposition, p. 179. 21 See The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, trans. George E. Ganss (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1970), §342. 22 See Constitutions, trans. Ganss, p. 183, n. 4. ,3 Henri J.M. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill, and Douglas A. Morrison, Compassion (London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1982), p. 77. In Impressione Ss. Stigmatum S. Francisci wings and wood, fire and air and the pain goes right through it is harder to bear, Francis told a brother, "than any martyrdom. I am not speaking of the reward, but only of the intensity of suffering it causes" (Thomas of Celano, Vita Prima S. Francisci, ii, 7). love into blood, blood into love and the pain goes right through Sean Kinsella 66.2 2007 DAVID L. FLEMING "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving 1541 One of the key phrases capturing the charism of Ignatian spirituality is "to love and to serve in all things." In Ignatius's Spanish it reads "en todo amary ser-vir." The phrase is used in describing the grace we pray for in the prayer exercise the Contemplation on the Love of God, the final exercise within the Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius lets us know how he is considering the verb, to love, by his prenote of two points in this exercise. He tells us that love is shown more in deeds than in words in the first point. Then in the second point he says that people in love share what each has with the other. The Ignatian Spanish word we translate in English as "to share" is comunicar. And so in a paradoxical way, though Ignatius does say deeds express true love more than words, he goes on to say that what lovers do for each other speaks or communicates love. David L. Fleming SJ delivered this presentation as a keynote address for the first Ignatian Spirituality Conference for Asia, held in Hong Kong from November 24 to 27, 2006, with the theme "Finding God in the 21st Century." His address is 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, Missouri 63 I08. Revie'w for Religious Although Ignatius helps us in some way to appreciate his understanding of to love, I do not find him as helpful in letting us know what he might mean by to serve. It is true that we find some thirty-nine uses of the words ser-vice or to serve in the Exercises, but we do not find a kind of definition. If we can cite some seventy times a form of the word service being used in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, we still are left to imagine what the word itself means for Ignatius. I want to explore with you this notion of Ignatian service. Ignatius the Mystic Ignatius Loyola is numbered among the great Spanish mystics of the 16th century. Although he did not reflect in writing on his mystical experiences in the way that Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross did, Ignatius takes his place with his own spiritual legacy alongside these two great Carmelite mystics. A most important mystical experience for an under-standing of Ignatian spirituality happens to Ignatius in 1537 as he is journeying to Rome with his companions in order that they might offer themselves to the pope for his missioning. Ignatius makes reference to this vision in his Autobiography §96, but he does not expand on it. He makes even a more passing reference to it in his Spiritual Diary when he writes, "i recalled the day when the Father placed me with the Son" (§22, 23 February 1544). At a shrine at La Storta, Ignatius received an extraordinary response to his novena-like prayer to Mary, "Place me with your Son." Ignatius describes his experience in these words: "He experienced such a change in his soul and saw so clearly that God the Father placed him with Christ his Son that he would not dare doubt it--that God the Father had placed him with his Son." In the "seeing" (Ignatius's 155 66.2 2007 Fleming ¯ "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving vision), Jesus was carrying his cross. The Father addresses Ignatius and says, "I shall be favorable to you at Rome." Then the Father turns tO Jesus, who is carrying his cross, . and makes this request: "I want you to take this man to serve us." Jesus, with his cross in hand, looks at Ignatius and says, "We want you to serve us." The vision is an obvious answer to Ignatius's prayer to Mary. He is con-firmed in his being placed with Jesus. But the placement is made with Jesus in action--Jesus carrying his cross. This vision becomes an icon of Ignatian spirituality. The vision is about Ignatian service. A Spirituality of Service Ignatian spirituality, always identified as an active spirituality, finds expression in the phrase "to serve." Many commentators on Ignatius have noted that the you in Jesus' invitation to Ignatius "We want you to serve us" is plural. You would ~opnras~s~'-e~' --- e~"~-e . seem to point not only in . 0" roe,. '~i to Ignatius but also to all the people who find life in Ignatian spiritu-ality. As we try to live Ignatian spirituality, we want to be a people who serve. We are moved, then, to ask what does service or to serve mean in Ignatian spirituality? Does Ignatius help us to understand what service might include? Is it confined to tasks performed or work accomplished? Is service always about a project or jobs? Is service restricted to certain kinds of actions or deeds? I am suggesting that we might follow Ignatius in some of his experiences as recorded in his Autobiography to see a R~iew for Religious development in his own life about what it means to serve. Then we might return to the Exercises themselves tO see how Ignatius incorporates an openness to God's invitation to serve the Kingdom. Ignatius's Experience The young Ignatius was a man of great ambition. He was one who could dream of doing great deeds, being recognized for signal service in the service of a king, and perhaps by glorious accomplishments he might win the hand of a noble lady. The cannonball in the siege of the city Pamplona by the French forces against the Spanish shattered not only Ignatius's leg but also his dreams. During his long recovery at the family castle of Loyola, he had only two books--a Life of Christ by Ludolph of Saxony and the legendary .tales about many saints by Voragine--to fill his reading time. But through these two books Ignatius's dreams returned, only to be fired by the challenge to do glorious deeds like the saints, glorious deeds in the service of Christ, his king. Although service was still caught up in glorious deeds and accomplishments, Ignatius also found himself listening to the still, small voice of God calling within him. Little by little, he began to pay attention to the different spirits that stirred inside him, some leaving him to feel sad and desolate and others giving him joy. He began to under-stand a language of God through a process of. discerning these spirits. He would spend long hours gazing at the stars in the skry, and felt within himself a great drawing to serve the Lord. In the midst of his dreams, he asked him-self what was it that he really desired to do. As an answer, Ignatius felt that the content of his dreaming was to be a pilgrim, one going to the Holy Land where Jesus lived. Ignatius at this time represents all those first aposdes called by Jesus in the Gospels. He is like the fishermen 66.2 2007 Fleming ¯ "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving Peter and Andrew, James and John, and like the tax collec-tor Matthew, who heard Jesus say "follow" and they did. A!though Ignatius still harbored his idea of great deeds, at this moment of recovery at Loyola castle, he knew only that he wanted to follow Jesus, and somehow this follow-ing seemed to lead him to the land called "holy" because Jesus was born and died there. He wanted to be identified with Jesus. That would be service enough, and perhaps he could help souls. "Following" is a way of serving. But it is not so much our doing some deeds as it is an active passivity on our part, just to let someone take the lead and we come behind. But, for the apostles in the Gospels and for Ignatius at Loyola, the first form of his newfound service of Jesus is just to follow, wherever he may lead. Manresa becomes another stage in Ignatius's growth in understanding service. At Manresa, through a long and sometimes zigzag forming by the grace of God, Ignatius becomes available, available to go wherever God may lead him. At Manresa, Ignatius was initially self-determining his way of serving Christ. He set himself some seven hours of prayer each day. He fixed on his way of getting God's grace by a total fast. A major temptation was phrased in the question: How will you be able to endure this life for the seventy years you have to live (Auto §20)? When he was beset by debilitating scruples, he correctly took all the human means he could to rid himself of them. But finally he had to cry. out to God for help only God could give. In a dramatic image of being a child, Ignatius tells God that however God wants to work with him, he, a grown man, would chase after a puppy dog if that is how God would give him a healing remedy (Auto §23). Immediately he reflects that God was at this time treating him like a schoolmaster with a pupil. Why was God teaching him Review for Religious this way, he asks. Because of the strong desire that God himself had given him to serve him (Auto §27). Manresa became the schoolhouse where Ignatius began to learn that serving is not focused on our own predetermined efforts. To serve God means first of all to be available to God's direction and grace. God is the master, the teacher, and we are the disciples, the learners. To bring home the fact that God is the director, Ignatius recounts five special mysti-cal experiences--all of them pointing towards an under-standing or grasp of the deepest of faith realities: God of serving Christ. as Trinity, creation as worked by God, the Eucharistic presence of Jesus, Christ and Mary in their holy human-ness, and finally insights into spiritual matters as well as matters of faith and scholarship (Auto §§28-30). God was making Ignatius his disciple, a person available to God. For Ignatius, to be available is to serve. He would reflect this stance particularly in the attitude of the third class of people in the exercise "The Three Types of People," in the Exercises. As Ignatius moves to the next phase--the pilgrimage to Jerusalem--he opens another door which leads to a notion of serving. He discovers through many experiences of being the pilgrim that a way of serving comes from faith--believing and trusting. Whether it be with the use of money (prudently having some or not), or with the choice of boat (going with the bigger and better outfitted one or not), or with weather at sea (cold and stormy or beset by pirate ships), or with church authority (allowing or not allowing his stay in Jerusalem), Ignatius came to a realization that believing God and believing in God and Ignatius was initially self-determining his way 66.2 2007 Fleming ¯ "Here I Am". Ignatian Ways of Serving trusting God and trusting in God was to serve God. This understanding of seryi.'ng is reflected in Ignatius's contem-plative approach to the Gospels. When Ignatius determines that studies were impor-tant for carrying out his desire to serve God and others, he slowly moves to another stage of serving. Although it is at Salamanca that he evidences his desire to have companions with him in service, the realization of this desire will have its fruition during the time of his stud-ies in Paris. There it was that Francis Xavier and Peter Faber and four others form the nucleus of the "friends in the Lord." Whether it is the call of Christ coming to every person to be with and to work with Christ reflected in the Call of the King exercise in the Spiritual Exercises that inspires Ignatius to seek to serve in relationship with others, we can only infer. ¯ But, whatever the stimulus, we see another stage in Ignatius's own growth in understanding and practicing service. To serve is to be in relationship with others. It is to accompany and to be accompanied. This is the root foundation for the Company of Jesus, the Jesuits, ones who call themselves companions of Christ and so companions with one another. The service of the Society of Jesus mirrors always men-in-companionship, not the individual aposde. Ignatian service historically is people working together because of their working with Christ. I believe that Ignatius's growth in understanding ser-vice came out of his experiences which we have pointed out through the citing of certain incidents recorded in his Autobiography. Ignatius reflected upon his experience in terms of being helpful to others, and the result was his writing of the Spiritual Exercises. The Exercises, then, I believe, become a summation of what Ignatian service is. Let us look more closely at the Exercises. Review for Religious The Evidence from the Exercises What Ignatius discovered and what he hands on to us is that God is the One who first serves. This is the vision that Ignatius shares with us in the Principle and Foundation and in the Contemplation on the Love of God. Ignatius begins his Principle and Foundation state-ment with the catechism-like answer to the unspoken question "why did God make us?" Ignatius writes: God creates human beings to praise, reverence, and serve God, and thereby save their souls. Ignatius goes on to say that God gifts human beings with all their personal talents and presents everything in creation as gifts to help them to come to know, love, and serve God. Our human response is to choose among the many gifts which ones help us in our direction towards life-with-God forever. God is the first to serve us by gifting us with an abundance of gifts so that we can make the choice among them which ones better help us seek and find God. Ignatius makes his approach eminently clear in the final exercise, the Contemplation on the Love of God-- what I call the "other bookend" of the Exercises similar to the Principle and Foundation. We are praying for the grace to be empowered to love and to serve in all the .ways that God does. All four points outlined by Ignatius are pictures of God serving us. Of course, by his prenote on love, Ignatius has prepared us to see that God shows his love in deeds--in all the ways that God continues to serve us. These deeds, these giftings, speak out and com-municate to us how much God loves us. In loving us, God is the first to serve. As directors, not as first-time retreatants, we are aware that the vision pieces that mark the beginning and end of the full Spiritual Exercises are about a God who gifts, a God who loves, and a God who serves. In every way God communicates his love for us and so serves us. If God 161 66.2 2007 Fleming ¯ "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving is the first to serve, then how better can we learn what service means than by perceiving all the ways that God communicates his love for us by his deeds--all of which are meant to speak. Just as there has been a tradition of the four points of the Contemplation on the Love of God being a rtsum6 of the Four Weeks of the Exercises, so we might review some aspects of the Four Weeks to obtain, perhaps, a better grasp of how God serves, with the result that we might learn to serve. I am selecting a few key images that speak of ways of serving. In the First Week, we might turn our eyes to Jesus nailed to the cross as we are asked to image him in the colloquy in the first exercise. When we are caught in wonder that Jesus, being the Word made flesh, the Word in whom all things are created, is being crucified, we are open to hearing his response to us as a part of our prayer conversation. Jesus would tell us that his hanging on the cross is a way of his serving. Moved by love of God his Father and focused in his love for each of us, his brothers and sisters, he gives himself over to us, holding noth-ing back, even allowing us to put him to death. Sin in our lives is the way that we keep trying to pot him to death. But Jesus waits for us, Jesus' arms are held wide to embrace us, Jesus offers us his forgiveness. How does Jesus (God) serve us? Jesus serves us by his patience, by his ever-present welcome, by his words of forgiveness. Jesus loves and so he serves. In the Second Week, we might look at and listen to Christ issuing his call to every man, woman, and child today. The exercise is called the Call of the King. This is the risen Christ, the one who is still busy about the king-dom to come. This Jesus personally invites each one of us to be with him and to work with him. God's kingdom will come, the victory is assured in Jesus' resurrection, Review for Religious and life forever with God is our realizable goal. How does Jesus (God) serve us? Jesus serves us by calling us to an intimacy with him, but being with Jesus is not enough. Jesus serves us by asking us to work alongside him as together we serve the kingdom. Jesus loves us so much that he wants us to be _~ right alongside him as we act together in our work for the kingdom. Just as Jesus' being caught up in love of God his Father has him serving just by being with him, so too our being with Jesus models this divine intimacy--essential to all other forms of serving. In our eagerness to work as our form of ser-vice, we often forget that service of God demands a loving relationship with God. In the Third Week, we are struck by the first exercise as imaging service in a special way. In his points for the Last Supper contemplation, Ignatius highlights the pas-chal meal context, the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus, and the Eucharist as the greatest mark of his love. The paschal meal is a liturgical context in which Jesus, known as the Lamb of God, will bring to a fulfillment the Mosaic celebration so that it becomes a celebration of a new covenant "in my blood." Jesus serves us by entering us into the liturgical celebration of the covenant between God and humankind. Celebrating liturgy, then, is a way of serving. In washing his disciples' feet, Jesus clearly identifies himself as teacher and wants to expand their understand-ing. He wants, above all, to broaden their understanding of what it means to serve. Jesus is not asking them to fix their attention on one action of a good deed done to We often forget that service of God demands a loving relationship with God. 163 66.2 20O7 Fleming * "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving understand service. He has them first of all reflect on the One who serves. Created in God's image, just like the eternal Son, our very being is realized in our being people who serve. In challenging their understanding, Jesus is exploding whatever restrictions these first apostles and then all of us later ones humanly use to limit our notion of service. When Jesus institutes the Eucharist as the greatest mark of his love, Jesus again shows his love by his deed. The Eucharist is the ever-making-present total gift of self that the risen Jesus continuously makes to his Father and to us. The actuality of the event of the cross, limited in time and in space, receives its "now" reality and meaning in every celebration of the Eucharist--the greatest mark of Jesus' love. Jesus is forever giving over himself to us. Jesus shows us that service is embedded in surrender, a giving over of self, with nothing ever held back. In the Fourth Week, once again it is the first exercise that is most suggestive of our drinking in ways of serving. The first exercise is the appearance of the risen Jesus to Mary, his mother. Ignatius dismisses the fact that there is no scripture passage to support this contemplation by claiming that Scripture says that there are other appear-ances and that we have understanding. By having us con-template the risen J~sus appearing to his mother, Ignatius brings home to us the newness of the risen life and the change in relationship that it necessarily entails. Jesus' intimacy with Mary his mother, before his resurrection at a level incomprehensible to us, is taken to another, wholly unimaginable, level at this resurrection time. This Jesus, whose risen body knows no natural, physical boundar-ies, meets his mother in an intimacy that can only be described with explosive joy. Jesus shares with his mother the joy of the resurrection as his way of se]'ving. Mary, then, becomes our key to something of the newness of Review for Religious our relationship with the risen Jesus. We experience Jesus' way of serving us sometimes by this gift of joy, at other times by his gift of consolation. In joy and in consolation, we feel a oneness with the Lord that leaves us faltering in our language to describe our experience. This brings us back to our two "bookends" of the Exercises, the Principle and Foundation and the Contemplation on the Love of God. We realize now more fully that the phrase "to love and to serve in all things" has a necessary proper sequence. To love comes before to serve. With Ignatian insight, loving always is the root and foundation of serving. If we love, then we will be serving people. Ignatius sees that God loves, and so God is the first to serve. As he has experienced God in his own life, he has come to a wholly new way of under-standing service--a transformation of the great deeds and accomplishments that made up so much of his dreams. God has taught him, and now he knows that by drinking in God's actions, by watching Jesus in the Gospels, he has expanded his notion of service and has taken in its breadth, its length, its height, and its depth. Ignatius writes into the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus the richness of this understanding of service. Some would complain that the Jesuit order has little specifica- ¯ tion for its mission. Although the Formula of the Institute (like the basic Rule of a religious order) does describe the mission of the Jesuits, we Jesuits must confess that it does not so much restrict our activities as open up many doors to the needs of our world. The Key of Helping A part of Ignatius's first insight into the service of following Christ never left him. The Spanish verb ayu-dar, meaning to help, is the kernel of all Ignatian service. Ignatius always wanted "to help souls." His Exercises 66.2 2007 Fleming ¯ "Here I Am": Ignatian Ways of Serving are written to be a help first for the director and then through the director for the retreatant. Consistently Ignatius urges the director of the retreat to use or not use material on the basis of whether it is "helpful" for the one making the retreat. In terms of the special vow of obedience of the professed Jesuit, the mission was to be determined by the pope, who saw where the need was greatest and, as a result, the Jesuits could be of greater "help." "To help" is hardly an exalted notion of service. It does not conjure up great deeds and accomplishments. But it is a way of serving as God serves. What have we learned about Ignatian service? First, by looking at God, who is the first to serve, we begin to learn about service. Second, from God, we learn that love is the foundation and love is the stimulus for ser-vice. Love is expressed in deeds--in acts of service--more than in words. And yet our service should speak out and communicate the love that is at its source. Third, service cannot be restricted to certain actions or deeds, to certain results or accomplishments. From Jesus and the Gospels, we learn that to follow is to serve, to be available is to serve, to believe and to trust is to serve, to accompany is to serve, to forgive and to be compassionate is to serve, and to celebrate the Eucharist is to serve. We also learn to serve is always to share what we have been given. That is why serving always follows upon loving--because lovers share their gifts. After our explorations of this idea of service, we find that Ignatius again leads us to the grace that we prayed for in the Contemplation on the Love of God. We pray for the grace that we might be empowered "to love and to serve in everything," "en todo amary servir." Our ways of serving will be as rich and deep as our ways of loving. We are acting with God. We are God's servants. We stand ready and willing. We say: Here I am. I want to serve. Review for Religious Reflection Questions 1. How do I define or describe what it means to serve as a Christian? Do I find myself making changes in my thinking as I reflect on the Ignatian ways of serving? 2. "God is the first to serve." What has been my experience of God serving me? Prayer Mantra Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve. The Christ of Psalm 19 Champion. Waking to his strength and the morning's grace he seizes the radiant sun as it sets out on its way, and runs, runs and leaps, clasping it joyously to his breast. The light f!lls him, glows from his hands, haloes his footsteps, shines in his exultant laughter. Climbing, bounding across the sky, he spreads lavishly the beneficent light to mirror his heart's fire. Kate Martin OSC 66.2 2007 experiencing prayer RICK MALLOY Prayer Is a Risk ¯ 168] At a community meeting when I was a Jesuit nov-ice, someone asked our provincial about the big-gest problem he faced. His blunt answer startled me: "Jesuits not praying." As novices, our lives were so structured that not praying was impos-sible. After the novitiate I learned, painfully at times, that the demands of the apostolic works easily crowd out the time for prayer (although I always seem to find the ten minutes to catch Jay Leno's monologue). Why is it so difficult to engage in prayer, contemplative prayer? We know that many people pray, that prayer is something we as Catholic Christians ought to do, and we hear that prayer can change things. But many of us are conflicted and confused when we go to pray. Does God really respond to our prayers? Does God really listen to, or care about, what we say? If we prayed some other way, or Rick Malloy sJ is professor of anthropology at St. Joseph's University; 261City Avenue; Merion Station, Pennsylvania 19066. Review for Religious prayed more regularly and faithfully, would we be better people? Can our praying make the world a better place? In our age, which tends to elevate activism to ethereal heights, would our time not be better spent serving the poor or doing something for somebody in need? Would God not be interested more in our doing something "worthwhile" than in our sitting in silence and trying not to pay attention to the random thoughts rumbling end-lessly around in our heads? And when we get right down to it, do we all not ask ourselves sometimes, "Does prayer really work? Does prayer really do anything?" The way to move forward and avoid getting lost in the flurries such questions generate is to realize that prayer is a risk. There is no science of prayer. Just as you cannot prove sci-entifically the worth or effects of real love, the day in and day out lov-ing and caring and living with other persons, you cannot prove the worth of prayer, the practice of paying attention to God day in, day out. If we could prove prayer's value scientifically, it would not be prayer. Pyayer is a risk because it is a lifelong, life-changing act of faith. The word "believe" comes from the German belieben, meaning "to belove." Prayer is all about the risks involved in loving. Much of our reluctance and resistance to pray is in our fear that God might really respond to us. On one hand, we fear God will not take us seriously. On the other hand, we are afraid that God may take us very seriously, as seriously as we take ourselves and our loved ones. Prayer is a risk because the God who calls us to conversion and Much of our reluctance and resistance to pray is in our fear that God might really respond to us. !169 66.2 2007 Malloy ¯ Prayer Is a Risk 1701 change takes us up on the invitation to get involved in our lives. VChen that happens the adventure begins. To be Catholic is to be aware of our call to great trans-formations, transforming us over our lifetime into persons incorporated into the reality of God--the promise made to us all, that we may "come to share in the divine nature" (2 P 1:4, NAB). Our personal transformations are part of larger cosmic processes: the transformation of all human history and all creation (Rm 8:21) into the coming king-dom of God, where God will be "all in all" (1 Co 15:28). Right at the beginning of Lumen gentium, the great docu-ment of Vatican Council II that describes what the church is and ought to be, we are told what Catholicism is all about. God's plan is "to dignify men and women with a participation in his own divine life" (LG §2). This is not some radical, unorthodox, crazy, Jesuit spin on spirituality. Back in the early days of the church, St. Athanasius said the same thing I am saying here: "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §460). Prayer makes us aware of, and committed to, this transformation in Christ. Risk comes in refusing to cooperate in the offered transforma-tions. There is also risk in yielding to the transformation, freely accepting who and what God is making of us and our lives. Prayer Is Relational. MI prayer is relational. By pray-ing, we relate to God, our God who loves us passionately, consistently, challengingly. When we truly relate to any-one we love, we may be called to change. The parent who loves a child suffering from cystic fibrosis changes in many ways. The son or daughter loving an aging mother or father makes many unexpected life changes. Such changes always call us to deeper, more active love. Knowing that extreme poverty in Africa can be alleviated changes one who prays about it. Witness Bono and the ONE campaign Review for Religious to eradicate extreme poverty (www.one.org). When we pray we risk changing and being changed. Prayer may make us know that we need to change. Prayer may make us able to change things, from addictions to relationships to social problems. Prayer may make us willing and able to do something for God and others we never imagined doing. Prayer is relational because we relate to God on both personal and communal levels of reality. We never pray alone. Always, and in all ways, we ourselves and someone else are involved. As soon as we try to pray, God takes us up on our effort. Prayer is neither a competition nor a goal-oriented activity. To try to pray is to already have "won." Prayer is much _ __ more like making love, or hitting a baseball, or learning to play a musical instrument (even loudly and badly) than it is like getting a promotion, or achieving a goal, or mas-tering a skill. Prayer is more like floating on water than paddling strenuously to get somewhere. Prayer is more "letting go" than "holding on." Prayer is a journey on which we are simply "there" while paradoxically always being "on the road." Prayer is allowing our lives to be har-monized. Prayer is getting our lives and loves in order, and prayer is inviting God's ordering of our loves and lives. We are all being divinized. Pray-ers know this truth. To be aware of and cooperate with divinization takes work. Real prayer is work; it is spirituality that is disciplined as Catholicism is disciplined. We find ourselves recognizing that consolation is not always comfortable, and desolation is not always disagreeable. Being disciplined about prayer is essential and beneficial just as regular physical exercise Prayer is the effort to consciously experience God. 171 66.2 2007 Malloy ¯ Prayer Is a Risk 172 gets and keeps our bodies in shape. The more in shape we are spiritually, the more we are likely to realize and recog-nize God in our lives. Prayer is the effort to consciously experience God. Praying is consciously paying attention to the central relationships of our lives, with ourselves, with others, and with God. Our relationship with God is the one that makes all these other relationships possible. With conscious attention to our relationship with God, we find whispers of God's presence in the other relation-ships of our lives. We speak to God in prayer, and the word God speaks back is our life. Prayer is paying attention to what is really real. Prayer is not just finding God in all things. It is more than that. Prayer is seeking God in all realities, realities that were, are, and are to come. Our heart's awareness of God and God's ways of divinizing is evident in how we make choices. At the moral level, prayer leads us to wisdom and cor-rec~ choosing. When I was a little kid, in wintertime my mother used to dress us up in those bulky blue snowsuits that made us look like midget Michelin men. She would let me and my siblings out along with the dog. As soon as I was out in the snow, I would reach down and grab a mittenful of the cold, delicious snow and begin to eat. My mom would yell, "Ricky, don't eat the yellow snow!" Prayer is learning what is, and is not, "yellow snow." What is not good for us is whatever frustrates and foils our trans-formation in Christ. For serious pray-ers, life becomes a series of exercises for discerning in God what we truly and deeply desire. Such holy desires reveal God's will for us, and prayer, mediates the grace that helps us choose what we deeply desire and thus make the right choices. Prayer, practiced regularly and faithfully, can become the pivotal center of our daily lives, keeping us on plan and focused. Prayer, even engaged in sporadically and Review for Religious frenetically, is valuable. Annie Lamott, one of the most refreshing if iconoclastic contemporary writers on prayer, says the two best prayers are "Thank you" and "Help." How to Pray. Prayer does not have to be elaborate to be the stream carrying us through life to life eternal. There are many ways of praying: prayers of petition (probably the most common form of prayer), Mass each day, the Liturgy of the Hours, daily spiritual reading, sys-tematically and slowly working one's way through various books of the Bible, reading beforehand the readings for the upcoming Sunday, the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, the utterly simple practice of centering prayer. These are all valid ways to pray. Prayer groups are helpful for many people. Choose freely what you find agreeable. No one stays with a prayer practice they find tedious and frus-trating. Experiment with unconventional methods that make use of and stimulate the imagination. See a movie with Jesus, write someone a letter while in prayer mode, create a dialogue with the Holy Spirit, draw pictures for God. The imagination is the arena where we can often most powerfully experience God. Ignatian contemplation of gospel scenes is a tried and true example of using our graced imagination in prayer. Prayer Guides. Many have traversed the paths through the forest of prayer. Do not feel you have to reinve'nt the wheel. For the beginner, Jesuit Mark Thibodeaux's Armchair Mystic is an excellent book. Pushing Jesuit works on prayer may seem too much like I am pushing the fam-ily business, but anyone who knows about free and flee-ing spirituality will agree that anything by Tony DeMello sJ is worth reading and pondering. Franciscan Richard Rohr's amazingly brief and deceptively simple Everything Belongs is the best book on prayer I have ever read. Rohr orients the 2 lst-century person to what prayer is and can be. The Cloud of Unknowing is a classic on prayer and is 66.2 2007 Malloy * Prayer Is a Risk 174 the inspiration for the contemporary Trappist method of Centering Prayer. Annie Lamott's Traveling Mercies is a wild zany take on everything from prayer to writing to parenting to eating disorders. Kurtz and Ketcham's Spirituality of Imperfection is a real jewel. There are many more good books one can read. Magazines like America and Commonweal are excellent sources and guides for spir-itual reading. The Internet, where so many young adults spend their reading time, offers great sites like the Irish Jesuits' "Sacred Space" (http://www.sacredspace.ie) to ori-ent you in prayer. What Does Prayer Do? Ultimately the practice of real and consistent prayer changes our desires. When we find ourselves wanting what God wants, we are in right relationship with God, and that is the experience of jus-tice on the personal level. Prayer practiced over time will lead us through the process that the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius aim to elicit. Prayer will free us from, free us for, and free us to be with. This means free from all that frustrates our transformation in Christ, from addictions to personality faults; free for service and the righting of relationships on many levels, which ultimately denotes social justice for all; free to be with God as the Holy Spirit transforms us in Christ, and thus free to be our deepest, truest selves in relation with others. Real prayer is about deep transformation and everyday mysticism; it is not some kind of magic or tawdry grace. Prayer does not do anything if we do not pray. I go to the gym three times a week, once a year. The results, or lack thereof, are rather predictable. Regular, consistent, committed prayer is worth the effort, but we never know it until we do it. That means going ahead and taking the risk. Then we can authentically urge others to follow our example. Review for Religious Reflection Questions for Personal and Group Use 1. In view of the title of this article, do I feel that I am risking anything when I pray? 2. What has been the most helpful insight about praying that Malloy has offered to me? 3. In trying to help another person in their prayer life, what two or three points would I want to share? Ubi est mors victoria tua? (1 Corinthians 15:55) Who is this jealous Lover, leaving to any Shylock his pound or two of.flesh, but coming himself and claiming ALL? Who, this unknown Knower, sounding the yearning depths of hearts that run, pursued, from that Encounter (frightful!) which ends at some strange Jacob's-ladder dream (or game)? See: the brand burns deep! No doubts remain; the claim is made; the stake is driven. Take, Lord, receive. (What did Ignatius say?) All is yours, now. Agnes Cunningham SSCM 175" 66.2 2007 JAMES W. KINN Beginning Contemplation according to John of the Cross 176 SDt. John of the Cross deserves the title Mystical octor. His writings are profound and original. He is without parallel in his rich content and brilliant teach-ing on the mystical life. To many, however, his writings seem almost opaque. They include tedious repetitions, disproportionate emphases, misplaced material, unwieldy sentences, and imprecise language. For example, John often speaks of "this night" without specifying the active night of sense, the active night of spirit, the passive night of sense, or the passive night of spirit. We can determine what night he means only by careful study of the con-text. Spiritual writers who interpret John often confuse his meaning instead of clarifying it because they mix the nights indiscriminately. The focus of this article is quite narrow: it centers on John's description of the beginning of contemplation. James W. Kinn is a retired priest of the Chicago Archdiocese. This article is a further development of his book Contemplation 2000: St John of the Cross for Today (Saint Bede's Publications, 1997). He can be addressed 6318 243rd Court; Salem, Wisconsin 53168. . Review for Religious First we will try to clarify his mystical teaching on the dark night as the actual beginning of infused contempla-tion. Then we will describe his practical advice for pray-ing this way. John treats this beginning of contemplation especially in his Dark Night, Books I and II. Spiritual writers agree with John of the Cross about the general description of contemplative prayer. They see contemplation as an integral -- development of prayer. That is, ¯ mental prayer exhibits a natu-ral progression from discursive mental prayer to more affective prayer to simpler prayei" and then to more passive prayer, in which God takes over our prayer in contemplation. Writers agree that the beginning of contemplation is generally dark and gentle; the first experiences are so subtle and tenuous that we hardly know what is occurring. Writers also agree with John on the three essential characteristics of infused contemplation: (1) in contem-plation we have some vague experience of God as present within us; (2) this direct contact with God is general and dark in the beginning; it is not accompanied by images or distinct notions, but consists of a simple and dark intuition; (3) we receive the experience passively, not as a result of our own efforts. We cannot obtain it, retain it, or recall it. We no longer meditate by means of ideas, images, or affections. John's Teaching on the Beginning of Contemplation The Dark Night, Book I, is titled "a treatise on the passive night of the senses." John says, "this dark night signifies . . . purgative contemplation.''l The memory, understanding, and will are dark and empty. That is, just as actual night leaves our eyes dark and unable to func- 177 66.2 2007 Kinn ¯ Beginning Contemplation according to John of the Cross tion, so dark contemplation leaves our memory, under-standing, and will dark and unable to function. And John calls this the night of the senses because "at this time God does not communicate himself through the senses as he did before . . . but begins to communicate himself through pure spirit by an act of simple contemplation, in which there is no discursive succession of thought.''2 This night of the senses consists essentially in our inability to meditate, becaus~.e all our natural faculties (memory, intellect, wi!l.,.-affections) are now darkened. This very inabilityAs'the necessary condition for the new form of prayer that God is beginning to bestow. John insists that this new way of prayer is properly called con-templation: A person should not mind if the operations of his fac-ulties are being lost to him; he ought to desire rather that this be done quickly so that he may be no obstacle to the operation of the infused contemplation which God is bestowing., and make room in his spirit for the enkindling and burning of love that this dark and secret contemplation bears and communicates to his soul. For contemplation is .nothing else than a secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God) John wants us to know that this dark prayer is actually the beginning of contemplation: This food is the beginning of a contemplation that is dark and dry to the senses . Now in this state of contemplation, when the soul has left discursive medi-tation and entered the state of proficients, it is God who works in it .At this time a person's own efforts are of no avail.4 That is, this prayer is not just a period of transition between meditation and contemplation nor a proximate prepara-tion for contemplation; rather it is the very beginning of contemplation: "At the time of the aridities of this sensory night, God [withdraws] the soul from the life of the senses Review for Religious and [places] it in that of the spirit that is, he brings it from meditation to contemplation--where the soul no longer has the power to work or meditate with its faculties on the things of God.''s He teaches that this is actually something new in the soul, a new experience; it is not simply a deep-ening of what has gone before, not just a continuation and further simplifying of meditation. We have seen our own personal activity in meditation become more simple and even reduced to nothing. The old world of our senses and intellectual ideas is now remote and useless. We no lon-ger meditate by means of ideas, images, or affections. Now God begins to act, though darkly. God almost impercepti-bly infuses himself into our soul and awakens a new level of awareness. This is the actual beginning of contemplation. We experience this night of contemplation as darkness, because we have only an undefined intimation of God's presence. The experience itself is ineffable, for it is void of any intermediary of sense or image. The critical point, which John of the Cross often repeats, is that this dark, pas-sive, and simple form of prayer is truly contemplation: In this state of contemplation, when the soul has left discursive meditation and entered the state of profi-cients, it is God who works in it. He therefore binds the interior faculties and leaves no support in the intel-lect, nor satisfaction in the will, nor remembrance in the memory. At this time God does not communi-cate himself through the senses as he did before., but begins to communicate himself through pure spirit by an act of simple contemplation, in which there is no discursive succession of thought. John takes great care in repeating just what this begin-ning of contemplation consists in, because it is not what most people understand it to be. They hear about more advanced forms of contemplation such as raptures, ecsta-sies, and visions. They do not understand that those are not at all the experiences at the beginning of contempla- 179 66.2 2007 Kinn ¯ Beginning Contemplation according to John of the Cross tion. They do not realize that their natural progression of prayer from meditation to affective prayer to simpler prayer leads them to this very next step. They see their own personal activity reduced to nothing; their reflec-tions, personal affections, and quiet insights have mostly disappeared; God no longer seems to touch them through ideas, images, or affections. They find themselves in front of a wall without any satisfying thoughts and they wonder, "Where did I go wrong?" John wants us to know that this troubling development is not a dead end, not a wall at all. It is actually the natural development of our prayer and the necessary condition for God to act in us in a new way.7 As long as we filled our minds with all our rational ideas, images, reasoning, . and affections, there was no room for a new and infused way of experiencing God. Only when we admit that all our rational efforts can take us no farther do we willingly let God take over and let ourselves be peaceful and atten-tive in that dark night. Then God begins to act and show his presence, though obscurely. God almost imperceptibly infuses himself into our soul and awakens us to a new level of awareness. God opens a new door for us. At first we experience this as darkness because the experience itself is so subtle and elusive. In addition, we have no words to describe it; we use words such as "know, see, feel, sense, perceive, touch," but they are not adequate to express how we experience God now; they are only metaphors or analogies. The experience itself is ineffable, for it is void of any intermediaries of sense or image. But this direct inflow of God is actually the beginning of contemplation. Over a period of time, this new way of experiencing God will gradually reach some degree of clarity. Only little by little does this gleam in the night seem closer and some-what distinct. God only increases his light according to our ability and our faithfulness in this way. Review for Religious How to Pray in the Beginning of Contemplation What is John of the Cross's advice for those who can no longer meditate and are beginning contemplation? Fortunately, he is entirely clear and simple: The attitude necessary in the night of sense is to pay no attention to discursive meditation, since this is not the time for it. They should allow the soul to remain in rest and quietude, even though it may seem very obvious to them that they are doing nothing and wasting time. ¯. Through patience and perseverance in prayer, they will be doing a great deal without activity on their part. All that is required of them here is freedom of soul, that they liberate themselves from the impediment and fatigue of ideas and thoughts and care not about think-ing and meditating. They must be content simply with a loving andpeaceful attentiveness to God and live without the concern, without the effort, and without the desire to taste or feel him. These desires disquiet the soul and distract it from the peaceful quiet and sweet idleness of the contemplation which is being communicated to it.s John teaches here that, once we can no longer meditate with sensible images, imaginations, rational thoughts, and affections, we should not continue to struggle with our natural faculties but "remain in rest and quietude" with "a loving and peaceful attentiveness to God." Very simply, we should remain peaceful and attentive in God's presence. Again and again he assures us that the primary agent in this contemplative prayer is God:. The principal agent [now] is God, who secretly and quietly inserts in the soul loving wisdom and knowl-edge, without specific acts . Thus the individual also should proceed only with a loving attention to God, without making specific acts. He .should conduct him-self passively . . . without efforts of his own but with simple, loving awareness.9 That is, all our activity can be summed up in this one 181 66.2 2007 Kinn ¯ Beginning Contemplation according to John of the Cross 182]. word: attentive. Since the natural operations of our intel-lect and will are helpless to attain the direct knowledge of God, all we can do is put them at rest. Only when we put to rest all our sensible ways of knowing will there be room for this direct, infused experience of God. Our whole effort is to remain quiet, peaceful, open, and recep-tive to this new experience. Various metaphors might help to describe our situ-ation in this beginning of contemplation: (1) There is nothing we can do to water this garden; we can no longer even bring up buckets from the well of meditation. We have no control over the rainwater that comes from God's infused contemplation. (2) We need a new way of breath-ing in this rarefied air; only the pure oxygen of God will sustain us at this altitude. (3) We are beyond our ability to swim any more; all we can do is float in the water and wait for God to carry us along. (4) All our efforts cannot open this door to the new experience of God; the most we can do is remove all the obstacles of our mental images and rational thoughts. (5) God is the sun ever shining; he will certainly shine in our soul once it is empty of the clutter of sensible images and natural reasoning. And these same metaphors may help us to be patient in this passive form of prayer--content to be peaceful and atten-tive in God's presence. John wants us to know that, once we no longer have the power to work or meditate with our faculties, God will soon bring us from meditation to contemplation: "As soon as natural things are driven out of the enamored soul, the divine are naturally and supernaturally infused, since there can be no void in nature.''1° Again he repeats his assurance: "Little by little and very soon the divine calm and peace with a wondrous, sublime knowledge of God . . . will be infused into his soul . Learn to be empty of all things--interiorly and exteriorly--and you Review for Religious will behold that I am God.''~1 John's words, "there can be no void in nature," remind us of the familiar experience of opening a can of vacuum-packed coffee; as soon as we puncture the can, the air fills the void with a hiss of air rushing in. The image suggested by John, then, is that, once we have learned to remain in the presence of God peacefully and attentively, God will soon fill this void with an infused sense of his presence and love. Now, if this dark and passive prayer is really the beginning of contemplation, then what is the source of that infused grace? John answers clearly: "The principal agent and guide and mover of souls in this mat-ter [at the beginning of contemplation] is . ¯ . the Holy Spirit. ¯ When the soul frees itself of all things . . . it is impossible that God should fail to do his part by communicating himself to it, at least silently and secretly.''12 That is, instead of relying on our own rational faculties and efforts, John tells us to rely on the infused wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who is "the principal agent and guide and mover" in all of contempla-tive prayer¯ Throughout this dark night, the Holy Spirit continues to infuse this contemplative prayer in our soul: "This communication [of dark contemPlation] is secret and dark to the work of the intellect and the other fac-ulties insofar as these faculties do not acquire it but the Holy Spirit infuses it and puts it in order in the soul." Finally, throughout The Living Flame of Love, John identi-fies the source of further union and transformation of the soul as the Holy Spirit: "This flame of love is the Spirit of its Bridegroom, which is the Holy Spirit.''~4 We have no control over the rainwater that comes from God's infused contemplation. 183 66.2 2007 Kinn ¯ Beginning Contemplation according to John of the Cross I84 So, in this beginning stage of contemplation and in all the stages of contemplation, our singular effort will be to be quiet and attentive. At first, our usual sense of God's presence will be dark and unsatisfying; we will feel weak and empty. Yet this is the only way we can learn not to rely on our rational faculties but only on the Spirit of Jesus. In Scripture, Jesus promised us this "Spirit of Truth" who will "be with you always" (Jn 14:16-17); "he will teach you everything" (Jn 14:26) and "will guide you-to all truth" (Jn !6:13). Certainly this "everything" and "all truth" include this wonderful infused contemplation. We can trust in Jesus' assurance: "How much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?" (Lk 11:13). One Example of Contemplative Prayer V~hen we reach this dark night of the senses, we can feel lost in our prayer because all our faculties, are dark and all our efforts are useless. Despite the guidance of John of the Cross, we would like to have some example of just how to proceed in this beginning of contemplative prayer. Here is one example. Receive, 0 Lord, my whole freedom--my senses, my imagination, my affections, my reasonings. All these faculties l have received from you. I renounce the use of all of them during this prayer, unless it be according to your will. Grant me only the inspiration of your Spirit, nothing more. Lord, I am content to dwell in this dark night in which all. my faculties are helpless. This dark-ness is my friend, for on!y in this night can your new light become visible; this silence is the.way to wisdom, for only in complete quiet can the gentle voice of

Issue 7.1 of the Review for Religious, 1948. ; Review 'for Religious JANUARY 15, 194.8 Emotional Maturity . Gerald Kelly ~ Re~asons forRememberlng Mary . T.N. Jorgensen Litufejical and Private Devotion,.~, ¯ ¯ J. Putz (~)uestlons Answered ~Gommunicafions Adam C. ElliS, B~ok Reviews VOLUME" VII NUMBER 1 ro R R ,L-I GI 0 US VOLUME V-II JANUARY. 1948 NUMBER CONTEN'i:S EMO~TIONAL MATURITYr--Gerald Kelly, S.J . EDITORI, AL ANNOUNCEMENT . 9 COMMUNICATIONS . 10 REASONS FOR REMEMBERING MARYmT. N. Jorgensen, S,J. . "17 LIT~URGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION J. Putz, S.J, . GIFTS TO RELIGIOUS--II. COMMON LIFE AND PECULIUMm Ada~ C. Ellis,.S.J. . . 33 OUR CONTRIBUTORS 45 . BOOK REVIEWS-- The Spiritual Doctrine of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity; Queen of Mili-tants; Mother F. A. Forbes; The Greatest Catherine; God's Own Method 46 , BOOK NOTICES " 51 QUESTIONS AND AIqSWERS-- 1. Standing during Angelus not Required for Indulgences . 52 2. Scapular Medal Blessed for Five-fold Scapular .53 3. Secretary General as Secretary of General CoUncil .53 4. Powers of Vicar in Absence of Superior .53 5. Retreats before Clothing and First Profession " 54 6. Closing Parochial-school "religious house" . . 54 BOOKS AND BOOKLETS . 55 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, January; 1948. Vol. VII, No. 1. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act 6f March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Editorial Secretary: Alfred.F. Schneider, S.J. Copyright, 1948, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for qnotatlons of reasonable length, provided due credit be giyen this review and the author. Subscripffon price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice, on Inside beck ov~r. Review ~:or Religious Volume VII January~December, 1948 Published at THE COLLEGE PRESS Topeka, Kansas Edited by THE JESUIT FATHERS SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE St. Marys, Kansas REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is indexed in ~he CATHOLIC PERIODICAL INDEX I::mot:ional h at:uri!:y Gerald Kelly, S.3. pSYCHOLOGISTS seem to agree that one of the principal causes of failure to make the adjustments required in married life is emotional immaturity Qn the part of husband, or wife, or both. An expert marriage counselor is expected to give each prospective bride and groom at least some simple, but effective, maturity test: and if he finds any notable deficiency from the accepted standard of emotional adulthood, he is to warn his client that until the defect is remedied marriage would be inadvisable. Similarly, when called upon to give advice concerning a marriage that is already being strained by maladjustments, one of the first things an expert coun-selor looks for is the personality defect of immaturity. The present 'article is based on the supposition that emotional maturity is requirdd in the religious life no less than in marriage, and that immaturity explains many of the failures to make necessary adjustments to the demaiads of the religious life, just as it explains similar failures in marriage. If this is true--and I have no doubt that it ismthen we can profitably avail ourselves of the psycholo-gists' excellent studies on maturity in examining candidates for the religious life, in the guidance of other religious, and in the self-examination and self-reformation necessary for our own growth in perfection. It is with the last point that I am particularly concerned now. believe that professed religious can gain much fob their own souls, much help in developing a Christlike personality, by studying and applying to themselves "g'hat the psychologists say about emotional maturity. The ordinary examinations of conscience tend to become dull; and many of the expressions used fail to grip the mind and to provide the proper incentive for improvement. New light and new inspirationi can be infused into these self-examinations by occa~ sionally, at least, going over a list of questions developing this one theme: "Am I the adult I should be, or am I, despite my years in religion, still childish in some things?" The word "childish"- is used designedly. For Our Lord Himself has told us that we must all become as little children in order to gain the kingdom of heaven; hence there must be some sense in which the 3 GERALD KELLY Reoieto t~or Religious truly spiritual man must always be a child. On the other hand, we have the words of St. Paul to the effect that we must grow up and put aside the things of a child. There can be no conflict between the words of Christ and the inspired words of Paul; and I take it that these two meanings are .perfectly harmonized by distinguishing between "childlikeness" and "childishness." Even one who is fully grown in Christ must be Childlike; he must possess the simplicity, the candor, the humility, the sweet trust in God that come so naturally to the child. But the adult should not be childish. What is this childishness that conflicts with true adulthood? I can best explain it~ I think, by a running survey of signs of emo-tional immaturity culled from a number of psychological treatises. For instance, here are the test questions of immaturity that struck me as occurring most frequently: Do you indulge in angry outbursts? nurse grudges? dwell on what you consider injustices? Are you hesitant in m~king decisions? Do you dodge responsibility? Do you explain failures by giving alibis? Are you unable to face reality? DO you act mainly for personal pleasure and for some immediate good? Are you unable to make reasonable compromises? unwilling to make an effort to see the point of view of those who disagree with you? Are you one ,who wants much, but gives little? Do you think you are always misunderstood, yet never misunderstand others? Do you react vehemently, even explosively, to ordinary emotional stimuli? Are you overly depen-dent on others? much given to fear? and to daydreaming? Do you shrink from and avoid self-sacrifice? Are you impatient of dis-tressing situations? The foregoing is but a partial list, but it is enough to make a serious-minded religious catch his breath. For very likely most of us can find something of ourselves in the distressing portrait. For-tunately, the psychologists themselves add a consoling word; they allow for occasional lapses into some of these faults even for the mature personality. In fact, some of them use a system of grading which might well supplant numbers in the marking of a particular examen. They list faults such as these (or the opposite positive qualities) and ask the client to grade himself according to this scale: a) Never b) Occasionally c) As often as not danuar~ o 1948 ]~MOTIONAL MATURITY d) More often than not e) Always--or almost always. Any of the faults listed in the previous paragraph that occurred with a relative frequency (for example, as often as not) would indicate the personality de~ect .9f immaturity. It helps to examine ourselves occasionally and to see if we pos-sess any of these marks of childishness. Really to face the fact that a certain habit is childish is a step towards correcting it, for no one wants to be or to be considered childish. However, I do not wish to delay here on the negative side of the picture; I prefer to dwell on the characteristics of maturity. Just what is emotional maturity? In general, it means the attainment of "sweet reasonableness"; it means a well-integrated personality; it means the possession of certain qualities that enable one to preserve peace within himself and to live and work harmoni-ously with others. I would not pretend to give a definitive list of these qualities; but from my reading and personal observation I should say that they can be fairly well summed up as follows: (a) unselfishness; (b) a sense of personal responsibility in a com-mon enterprise; (c) temperate emotional reactions; (d) ability to profit by criticism; (e) ability to face reality; (f) a well-balanced attitude toward sex; and (g) decisive thinking. I have not attempted to arrange the qualities in any definite order. But it seems safe to assert that anyone who, upon honest self-examination, can say that he oenerallt~t manifests all these qualities is truly mature. He may see great possibilities of progress, but he can take courage in the fact that he is at least in the realm of adulthood. It would be impossible to make practical suggestions on all these characteristics in one short article. On the other hand, it seems almost equally impossible to comment on any single characteristic to the exclusion of all the others, because a person could hardly pos-sess any one of them without at the same time possessing other.~. Nevertheless, just to give my introductory remarks about maturity a practical bearing, I am selecting the last-named quality--decisive thinking--for further comment in this article. ¯ What do the psychologists mean by decisive thinking? It seer;as that a description of a person who possesses this quality would run somewhat as follows: "He is able to make calm and reasonable prac-tical judgments, without wasting time in making them, andwithout GERALD KELLY Review for Reliyi~us disturbing regret, or the shifting of responsibility once they are made." A practical judgment concerns action: it is'a decision concerning something to be done; for example, to clean one's desk, to practice a certain mortification. It. includes such trifling things as °deciding what shoes to wear and such important things as choosing a.voca-tion. Life is full of things to be done, and it is obvious that an adult must possess a certain facility in deciding.such things, for himself according to sound principles, He must-not be.,overly, dependent on. others; must not waste time deciding trifles; must make his: decisions, even the. smallest, according to some reasonable stand~ird. All this, and more, too, I have tried to compress into this brief description 0f mature thinking. The ability to make a reasor~able decision supposes the. abi!ity to make some decision. Ther~e are people who never make a decision, fo~ themselves if they can avoid it. When they are faced with a practical decision, they immediately think of getting advice, of. getting someone else to make the decision for them. Left to themselves they flounder helplessly, unable to choose between two possible courses of action, even, when mere trifles are concerned. This indecisiveness can become a pathological condition known as abuIia (ina~bility to make up one's own mind). In this connection I am reminded of an incident, ~hat happened several years ago. "A friend of mine cam~ ~o me ~and to.!d me somewhat mournfully, " "You.know,, I think I'm getting abhlia." ~ "Why,'~' I. asked, "what's wrong with you?" "Well," he replied, "i just stood in the center'of my" room for iSalf ~fi~ hour ffyin~ to n~ake up my mind whether.I'd'sweep it:" Tl~.e exampl~ may sound, and'is, absurd'; '~et I wonder how many of us could say thai we h~veso trained ourselves to decide t~ifles that We ~aever qose time~ nor peace "of mind, in' making" such decisions. Whether to sweep one's room, to make one's bed, to make~a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, to do withot;t butt(r for one meal, to study this or that these are~ examples of countless small things that a mature person ought to be able .to. decide promptly, without loss of time, and without seeking adwce. The psychologists do n~t inter;d to frown upon the habit of asking advice. The prud~n~ man seeks counsel but not in every-thing, only in thi~ngs 9f~ some'moment, or when there is some special reason for mental confusion. And even in things of moment the 6 danuar~lo 1948 EMOTIONAL MATURITY ~ortident man will try to form some judgment of his own; he will not leave.all the thinking to his counselors. ~- '~ ~ ~ The childish fault of excessive advice-seeking is indulg~ed in not merely by those who ~vill form no judgment of their own, but also by others who do indeed form a judgment of their own (in fact, a very obstinate judgment), but who feel within themselves a certail, inseCurity. These advice-for-security-seekers,-having made,up their own minds, frequently consult many others--all to one purpose. namely, to get confirmation of the plan already settled on. : The mere fact that one can make up one's own mind promptl~ and with a certain degree of independence 'is not in itself a sign .of' maturity. Indeed, this can be very childish, unless the decision is a reasonable one: that is, based on sound principle, and not On mere feelings or impulses. Every mature decision, even the tiniest, even one made'with the utmost despatch, should upon analysis reveal the fact that a choice was made according to sound motivation, with an appreciation of the value of the thing chosen and of the thing rejected. On this point; as is usual, Catholic asceticism, i~ in perfect agree-ment "with the soundest psychology. For instance, .the purpose of the Spiritual .Exercises, in the words of.their author, is to enable one to come ~ decision" Without being influenced by inordinate attach-ments. The exercises themselves are very long; made in their ~ntirety they take approximately tbirty';days. Bht it should nbt be forgotten that they were planned primarily to help one choose one's vo~htion.: this is a momentous decision, and it should consume much time. The lesson of the Exercises, however, once learned is supposed to be applied all through llfe in due proportion: namely, ,that:' every prac-tical decision should be made on principle and independently of excessive likes and dislikes. The underl~ring principle is the same for Small things and: for great things--God's will. To mhke all one's choices according to" that standard'iis to be Christlike, is to be a saint, is to be perfectly mature. ~ ~,, ., . Examining one for mature judgment, the psychologist is almost sure to ask: "When you make a deci~ior~, do you rest i'in it, or do you keep going over it in your mind~ °regretting it, wofidering if it Shouldn't have been otherwise, wondering if you shouldn't re,on-sider it, and so forth?" They are ~qot infe~rin'g that it is~ not the part of a prudent and mature person tO change a declsi6n ~hen cir-cumstances indicate that a change .should' be made. They are referring rather' to an attitude' of unrest, of regret, of insectirity, of GERALD KELLY Reoieto~for Religious changeableness, that seems to characterize almost all the practical decisions that some people make. We see this at times in young religious (and occasionally in some not so young) in the matter of their vocation. Today they feel fine, and they have a vocation; tomorrow they have the blues, and they have no vocation. One wonders if they really chose their voca-tion on principle. Was it the will of God or their dwn feelings that they chose to follow? I would not pretend to explain a11 the reasons for this spirit of unrest that seems to characterize many practical decisions. However, one reason may be that the original choice was 'never made wholeheartedly, with a clear appreciation of the values involved. Hence the unrest comes from the fact that one is constantly wondering if the decision was worth making. I might i11ustrate this by referring to a very significant picture I noticed recently in a voca-tional booklet. In the picture are two girls, one holding a hat, the other holding five dollars, and the caption reads: "Five dollars or the hart" The lesson doesn't have to be explained; any girl who reads the booklet can immediately catch the application: if she wants the hat badly enough, she will pay the five dollars--and if she wants the advantages of a religious vocation badly enough, she will pay the price. But the price has to be paid: she cannot have the advantages of both the religious life and life in the world any more than she can have both the hat and the price of the hat. The appreciation of this notion of relative values is essential to all really mature thinking and for all intelligent practice of virtue in the religious life. The decision to sweep one's room should be based on the appreciation of the advantages (natural and .super-natural) that are attached to this action, as well as on the apprecia-tion that the making of this precise choice involves a wholehearted "giving up" of the advantages (whatever they may be) of not sweeping the room. A choice made thu~ is reasonable, and it should not take a half an hour. Similarly--but on a higher plane--a reso-lution to practice.a certain mortification or toexercise onself in a cer-tain virtue ought to be made with a realization of the benefits one hopes to gain from keeping such a resolution as well as with the realization that certain other advantages .have to be rejected., This idea of value for value, of paying the price, should be clearly applied in every decision, and should be resolutely recalled when one tends to weaken in following out such a decision. This haay be a sort of doubling on my tracks, but I should like 8 January° 1948 EMOTIONAL MATURITY to mention here a rather recent book that created quite a commotion in this country. I am referring to Their Mothers" Sons, by Doctor Edward Strecker. Doctor Strecker is a Catholic psychiatrist who had extensive experience "scri~ening" young men who were drafted for the armed forces. This experience convinced him that a large percentage of our young men are afEicted by an emotional disease known as "momism." In other words, despite physical maturity, they are still tied to their mothers' apron strings; their mothers-- or someone else--have no~ allowed them to grow up, to live their own lives ~vith any real independence. Exaggerated dependence on their parents has made it impossible for them really to leave home and to stand on their own feet. This is one reason why.!arge num-bers of men failed in the acid test of military service, one reason why many marriages fail. One may well wonder just what influence it has on religious. It is not inconceivable that young men and women might enter religion without having accomplished any real separation from the parental apron-strings. It is possible, too, that this" exaggerated dependence on parents might spoil an otherwise promising vocation, Or that ingrained dependence will be merely transferred from par-ents to a kindly superior, confessor, or spiritual director. In fact, even for those who are not unduly dependent, the religious life of its very nature contains certain dangers to proper growth in maturity. This type of life calls for much more dependence than is normall7 had in adult life; 'if this is pressed too far it can readily change child-likeness into childishness. It is a wise superior or director or other person in aut.hority who encourages a salutary self-confidence and a wholesome spirit of initiative in his subordinates. Before closing, I should like to refer to a notion that I recently came across in my reading. The author, speaking of a mature mind, said that it is a "hospitable mind." It welcomes new ideas; and this is the sine qua non of progress. And of course, being hospitable, it is also companionable. Need I say what a boon this is in a religious community ? EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT Because of continually rising costs, we have reduced the number of pages per issue. We hope this will be a merely temporary measure. By using smaller type. for articles, we have actua!ly increased the volume of material. " orn mun ca ons Reverend F~thers: In the September 15, 1947 issue of REVIEW FOR REL.IGIQUS, a Sister writes, her ideas regarding Vacations for t~etigious. -Allow me to submit mine? According to Webster's~ dictionary, a vacation' means- freedom from duty for a given period of time; 'an intermission-in employ-ment; a period of rest or leisure; a holiday; an intermission in educa-. tional .work. How do. these .various meaningsapply to religious? . We who. are religious, know that our life is a stclteowhich is fixed and unchangeable according.to our vows. No .matter whether we are on .duty or off duty, sick or weli, young or old, ~active or.con-templative nuns, once we have consecrated ourselves to a lif~ of love and service to God by our vows, we are always~ r~ligioi~s. Fro~ our ~eligi0us, state there can'be no vacations. R~ligi0us women being human, and not angelic beings .without bodies, can .'become fatigue.d, ill, disabled, either wholly or partially unfitted for a full measure of labor in the life chosen above all others. If all religious were in an .equal measure healthful, had the same nervous make~up, the same mental or physical power, s of endurance, none-,would perhaps need vacations. This is not so. ~ Wise superior who .re.cognizes l~er responsibility for the sp~iyitu~a~l, and. physical, welfare of her' subjects, individ.ually as well as,co!lectively., will know when a certain Sister needs a rest, a chan~ge, a bit of leisure, a freedom from .d.uty for a few hours, a few days or for a longer, time.,_ This:freedom from duty for a shor~ time, or even longer, does not'imply a ~worldly excursion, for ,the good religious, but. a means for .vacating one duty to take up another for the better health of her body and soul. Very often only a wee bit of fun, a little gaiety. a good laugh, the healing that God's beautiful world can give, will restore balance and do an infinite amount of good. The mind needs rest, the nerves need it too, the body requires it, and the soul needs the chance to be at rest in God. To people of the world, no one seems so idle or leisurely as the Contemplative nun in her cloister; while no worldling ever worked so hard, with suchconcentration of mind and soul as the contemplative 10 COMMUNICATIONS Sister. The point is, the world is outside, and it is the world that creates all the hurry, the bustle and hustle' that wears nerves~ thin, and weakens the spirit in the supernatural life. It is quite certain that so-called vacations are unknown among the Trappistines, .the Car-melites, the Poor Clares and other such wholly enclosed or~ders~ It is'a different matter with~ the active" orders doing teaching, nursing, social service visiting, and other forms of institutional~ work. "For the most part such religious are laboring early and late, often weary unit footsore. No doubt, vacations they never expected when they entered religious life, but not the need of vacations when pro-vided by obedience and proper authority~. This need can come from overworl~, and then the soul suffers as well as the body, Whether vacations appl~r to the saints of old is not the question. All and eoer~thing in their lives~has not been written: and one can find many incidents described that could be recognized as rest times, or leisure. The Saints were occupied with beir~g saints, and not so much with the vast amount bf labor accomplished. Certainly life in the present century ha~ a tempo hard to match with" any previous centtiry. We must judge of the need of rest, relaxations, intermis-sions, in terms of-present-day tempo, not that of other times. This worldly pace has seeped into convent life here and there to some extent and to some degree. Religious deplore this. And since every community, of whatever kind, in any order, has to fight to stem the wiles of Satan as well as the influence and intrusion, of the world, tl~e individual welfare, spiritual and physical, of each member must be guarded. It is not going back to the world, or even to one's family (unless in the wisdom of superiors this is best) that will help the fatigued Sister most; their best vacation will be in. a safer retreat from the world. Whatever the vacation may be the main point is how it is spent. The plan of one community can be mentioned who enjoy a two weeks vacation every summer, This vacation period is for all, and in the Convent. The planning costs the superior much concentrated thought~ .Since the Divine Office is said in choir and nothing of this is to be omitted, or other spiritual exercises mitigated, it is not easy to meet all the requirements. Only the most necessary household work is done, so that there will be sufficient hours for all to have some free time. Few visitors, or parlors, are encouraged. As far as possible all have an equal chance for reading some good books, for writing, for rest, and for enjoying their own chapel and ~ardens. In 11 COMMUNICATIONS the later afternoon a general recreation is held for all, and the day finishes with an early retiring. ~ All seem to enjoy this simple and profitable vacation and are grateful for this yearly event, It is not a time for idling,, nor useless wandering about, or negligence; in fact,' it is a time for retrieving past. negligences and to build, in a united way," their player life. At recreation time they are a united community with many enjoyable things to say and hear. This vacation time helps fraternal charity to reigfi and makes and keeps the community a family group. ¯A SISTER. Reverend Fathers: In your Comrfiunications Department for the September issue a Sister writes: "Our present day religious are imbibing the spirit~Of the world:bit by bit." It is probably undeniabl~ that the world is at the convent door-step. Thlough various, devices it will force an entrance if the,,door is even slightly ajar.: The avenue of approach is~,connected: in one way or another with the community's external wbrk--nursing, teaching, or whatever it niay be. Devotion to a work so readily leads,to absorption in it that the work is likely to become art end in itself. In their activities, hospitals, schools 'and other institutions "'must keep up with the times" if they are to retain their clientele and if they "are to spread their apostolate. "Nevertheless, it may be just at this point that the time-honored slogan of r~ligious life becomes distorted and the members begin to be of the world'as well as in it, and that con-vent :life may begin to take on the attitudes and manneris,ms of worldly living. ' ~ Whether "vacations" for religious would open a new channel to divert members 6f religious ~communities from close following of their primary objective is a question to be considered. One might doubt the validity of the argument, "We do not read that Our Divine Lord or His Immaculate Mother ever took a vacation." For, neither do we read that they did not do so, or that periods of rest 'and relaxa-tion were not allowed. Would it be heretical to stippose that Our Lord made His visits to His friends at Bethany serve some such pur-pose? The Gospels tell us that Jesus had compassion on the mul-titudes, and that He went about healing the sick--proving that He was ever sympathetic to physical needs. Presuming, then, that a vacation is a good means to physical well-being as an aid to spiritual 12 Januar~t, 1948 COMMUNICATIONS progress, may we not think that Our Lord would have advocated it provided, of course, that all things are in keeping? That all things are in keeping in other words, that a vacation planned for Sisters would not resemble, even remotely, a house party for worldlings or a secular summer resort. The editor who replied to . Question 17, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 3uly, 1947, makes timely sug-gestions to forestall such possibilities when he proposes specifically, "a place that's private, where many Sisters could go together and rest and play games and, above all, get to know one another." The same editor also states. "There's no vacation from the spiritual life ¯ . . hence, I make allowance for spiritual exercises in my plan for the ideal religious vacation." Now, if we grant that the "teach-summer-school-retreat-dean house-teach" schedule of teachers and parallel programs for other types of religious institutes demand some form of definite relaxation; and if on the other hand we admit that worldliness might readily gain entrance to the convent through the vacation medium, is t1~ere a third alternative? In reply, we suggest cornmunit~ recreation---community recrea-tion as it should be. That last clause is inserted because some of us remember when the regular period of "Rule Recreation," supple-mented by a full two weeks' Christmas holiday of wholesome enjoy-ment and happy relaxation (uninterfered with by attendance at con-ventions, meetings, conferences, and so on) did actually supply the rest vitamins which made a vacation unnecessary or a rarity. Those nurderous activities, already mentioned, off our present, complex life are crowding more and more into our daily order and they are crowding out of it that which is necessary to it. In conse-quence, what is happening to that daily hour of simple: nerve-soothing relaxation where each member contributed something and received more--some with hobbies, other at games, all participating as leaders or listeners in conversation which rested, entertained, and uplifted the tired mind and body? May it be possible too that rela-tions with the exterior have tended to re:form community life to the extent that our recreational gatherings are becoming facsimiles of woridly fiestas; in which the restorative simplicity and horniness of convent recreation are lost? -A SISTER. Reverend Fathers: May I submit a few thoughts regarding the subject "Vacations 13 COMMUNICATIONS Reoiew [or Religious for Sisters." My thoughts are in agreement with those of the priest quoted in the 2uly number, p. 241: and in disagreement with the communication in ,the Septembe~ issue, written by "A Sister." In Father's talk to the astonished Mother General, to whom he suggested a vacation for the Sisters, he reiterated what were evidently the sentiments of our sainted Superiors-General, both living and dead. For we have a, large Community house, formerly a hotel,, m an isolated section of'a seashore resort, and directly on the ocean front, which we use for retreats and vacation. Each Sister is per-mitted about two weeks there; six days of which are spent in the silence and recollection of retreat. The. remaining time is our vaca-tion period: and by vacation, I mean relaxation, change,-rest; walks in the fresh air°and sunshine: reading, knitting, crocheting; and, of course, chatting: becoming better acquainted with each other; sharing views about our life work; and,! as Father'said, "fostering a good community spirit." What of out spiritual exercises? They are exactly the same, and in common; though they begin at six, instead of at five A:M. And I might say here that during these vacation days there is never a time that Our Lord.in the Blessed Sacrament has ~not some adorers; that there is not someone making the Stations: someon~making,.a little extra visit. Our rule of~silence is dispensed with except at breakfast: but, of course, the sacred °silence is strictly kept. Who does the work? We do, lovingly,and generously, our .tiny tasks assigned by obedience. Who pays-the bills? Each local superior--a certain amount to a common fund and I-suppose, Divine Providence; . We love it; we are grateful for it: and I know I speak for all when I. say, "God bless those who are ~ responsible for our ideal religious vacation from which we return to our work renewed in mind and body and soul." And why do I disagree with "A Sister" whose communication I referred to. My opinion, Sister, is that you do not really know your Sisters. Probably your position and y.our work have kept you from close intercourse with them." I speak as one of the "rank and file" of a large community which has labored in this country for over a hundred years, and almost three times that many yea.rs in other countries. am teaching school, and have been doing so for over twenty-five years. During these happy years of my religious life I have come in 14 January, 1948 COMMUNICATIONS dose contact with many of our own Sisters; and through teaching and studying with many Sisters of other communities. Therefore, I think I am speaking for "us," the many hundreds of teaching and nursing and otherwise busy Sisters. No, Sister, we do hot forget that we entered religion to take up our eros~ daily and to follow our Crucified Spouse." We don't talk about that fact every'moment of our lives; nor wrhe.books about it; nor 6therwise publidze it; but it is ever in our hearts as we go about bearing the he~t and the burden of the day. Yes, we vowed for life, and on that vow day, so dear to our hearts, we promised our undying love to our Spouse. Each day since, we have kept that promise, whether we were sick or tired or discouraged or Unhappy. The work has grown more dii~cult with the years, as even "those grand religious who have gone before us" would testify were they here today. I like to' think that it is they, in heaven, who have procured for us the many blessings which we now enjoy. You say we are frequently ¯asking, "When may I visit my rela- " tires?" Most of our rules, I am sure, forbid us tO visit our relatives unless they are seriously ill, or very' aged. Hence our visits, neces- .arily infrequent, are usually no joy to us: they are rather a great anxietY and a source of worry. We go, not for our own benefit, but to give our parents the comfort and consolation which God prom-ised them as-part of their hundredfold for having given us to God years ago. And on our return, as we kneel in our chapels and renew, our vows, when the nails are really hurting, can't we truly say that' we have "died" to our relatives and have left "all things" to follow Christ. One more thought, dear Sister. Do you think for one moment that St. Joseph "toiled day inand day out" and never took a vaca-tion? I don't. I'm not a scholar of Scripture, but I think his life was not "all work and no play." I like to think that since Christ Him- Self was like us in all things, save sin, that the Holy Family did relax sometimes. I'm sure that on some days They packed a littl~e lunch,. took a fishing net or a rod, perhaps, and spent the day at the lake, fishing and rowing. I am sure St. Joseph taught the Christ Child to fish; since He Himself gave instructions in the art to .th~ Apostles later on. And was He not perfectly at home in a bo~t teaching the multitude and crossing back and forth over the Lake 0f .Galilee, so much so that He even fell asleep one day? And how did St. Jbhn the Baptist and the Christ Child become intimate during those early 15 COMMUNICATIONS years if they did not visit each other? So, Sister dear, have no worry that your Sisters are so much imbibing the spirit of the world that they will be soon asking for a . "forty hour week." If anything, we are victims of the age in which we live and its surrounding circumstances. Maybe we are different; but we are not less generous, I hope. We will, with God's grace, continue "to give and not to count the cost; to fight, and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor, and to ask no reward" save Christ our Spouse, and eternal life with Him. -~ SISTER Reverend Fathers: No doubt you have already received instances to demolish the universal negative~about the saints and vacation. But if you can use another, all Jesuit saints took their weekly day off and their annual vacation, according to rule. The Sister seems to have missed the point of the original suggestion, and can't conceive of that kind of a vaca-tion.-- A JESUIT MISSIONARY. Reverend Fathers: With a little interest and a great deal of confirmation of.my alarm over the low state of religious in general, I have been noticing the remarks in your REVIEW on vacations. My convictions must have been working in my sub-conscious when I picked up the Novem-ber issue. For I looked at the signature on page 330 and said, almost aloud, There, I told you so. But I had not read aright. I mean I had not read the signature. I had read my own thought; and it told me that Some Sisters Who Had a Vacation were Some Sisters Who Had a Vocation. I apologize for putting them out of the Convent so soon; but I am sure they will understand, unless they are worse than my sub-conscious makes them, and think only those act With "wisdom and foresight" who purchase homes in the mountains. I am not opposed to vacations, as such. I think there are a num-ber of things we should vacate. If the superior sends you on a vaca-tion, go. And if the superior does not send you on a vacation, and you do not consider (other things being equal) the wisdom and fore-sight to be equal in either case, look out for your own sub-conscious. Another worthy comparison is with our worthy brethren, the wiser children of the world, who say so often that they have no time for [Continued on p. 56] 16 Reasons [or Remembering Mary T. N. Jorgensen, S.J., LONELINESS can bring one of man's most poignant griefs: the right kind of companionship can bring his greatest joy. Psy-chologists claim that having a friend one can th.oroughly trust is a great protection against mental and nervous breakdown; and, on the contrary, the feeling of having no one really interested in one's joys or ready to share one's sorrows often preys upon the mind until both body and mind collapse. Mere association with others will not remove loneliness. We must love and trust our friends: they must know and love and.be faithful to us. A man whose beloved bride has just died is bitterly lonely in a crowded room: a hermit miles from the nearest visible person can live in great peace because of his communion with God. Ia his book, Europe and the Faith, Belloc calls Protestantism a religion of loneliness, the "prime product of t1"ie Reformation being the isolation of the soul." Certainly much of today's disintegration in public and private life is' due to that unh~ippy revolt. One of its great mistake~ was its strange rejection of the glorious Mother of God. We can find peace again by a wholehearted return to her love.i Catholics have never entirely lost her:-but we live so intimately with non- Catholics, so surrounded by their enervating atmosphere, that we naturally have been unable to resist the contagion fully or even mainly. Faber writes of devotion to Mary in Protestant England: Mary is not half enough preached. Devotion to her is low and thin and poor. It i~ frightened out of its wits by the ~neers of heresy. It is always invoking human respect and carnal prudence, wishing to make Mary so little of a Mary that Protes-tants may feel at ease about her. Its ignorance of theology makes it unsubstantial and unworthy. It is not the prominent characteristic of our religion which it ought to be. It has no faith in itself. Hence it is that .~esus is not loved, that heretics are not converted, that the Church is not exalted; that souls, which might be saints, wither and dwindle; that the Sacraments are not rightly frequented, or souls enthusiastically evangelized. $esus is obscured because Mary is kept in the back-ground. "Fhousands of souls perish because Mary is withheld from them. And that is England, a land once proudly called "Mary's Dowry." Our country has received the Protestant tradition from England; ~t has not received from her the traditions which were hers 17 T. N. JORGENSEN Reoieto ~.or Religious under Venerable Bede, Alfred the Great, Thomas ~ Becket, Chaucer, ThOmas More, and her many other great lovers of the Virgin Mary. In the September issue of REVIEW FOR. RELIGIOUS I spoke of the way in which Mary i's truly and fully present in our lives. In this article I shall give some motives for increasing our devotion to her. And while the flight from loneliness is not one of our chief motives, it is a great one. It is not good for man to be alone. This was God's thought as He made Eve to be Adam's companion. Eve failed; but in this companionship, as in all other things, Mary brings all that Eve was' supposed to bring, and more. This is very '"much. Human nature as originally created by God in the Garden of Eden was a glorious thing. Mary from the beginning has this great glory. By her Immaculate Conception she came forth the ideal of our race, "Our tainted nature's solitary boast." Hers is human nature at its best. Virgin, mother, queen, whatever position or virtue one can seek-in a~ perfect woman, Mary has to the fullest degree. She is patieny, loving, kind, beautiful, considerate, wise, prudent, powerful, active, unselfish. One can make the list as long as desired and always find reasons for her perfection in the virtue, ex.amples of her exercise of it. She is the strength of the weak, the health of the sick, the refuge of sinners. She is the joy of the martyrs, the confessors, the virgins, the angels. God Himself delights eternally in being with her, in lavishing His attention and gifts and love upon her. Surely it is a wonderful favor to be invited to live with such a person,° and we are invited to do just this--to live with her, talk to her, trust in her, .love her, work with her, act and feel and think and be at one with her at every moment of our lives. Her love is ours to enjoy, her power ours to use, her presence ours to rejoice in if we but wish it. She wishes it. God wishes it. The saints understood and rejoiced to accept this glory. If we find her and accept her and liv~ with her, we also shall be saints. Sanctity, union with God, peace, success in the spiritual life--all these come to us when we fully accept with St. 3ohn the gift Christ formally gave us from the cross, the gift which was prepared for us long before, the gift which actually came into our possession at our baptism--Mary's spiritual mother, hood. The spiritual life is not hard or sad or unnatural. G~d wishes us to love the good, the joyous, the beautiful things of time and eternity. We blunder gravely when we think that sin or the fruits January, I~48 REMEMBERING I~'IARY of sin are more lovable than God or the gifts of God. God is the perfect Being; the more like Him that others are, the more closely they unite us to Him, the more lovable and satisfying they are. Mary is most like Him; her companionship, therefore, brings us the deepest . joy. That it is an unseen presence does not make it less .valuable. When Christ was about to end His visible presence upon earth, He said to His apostles, "It is expedient that I go, for if I go not I can-not send ttie Paraclete." The visible presence of Christ meant very much to the apostles, but He knew and they soon learned that the invisibile presence of His Spirit in their souls meant more. We, too, shall learn eventually from experience what we already know through faith, that Mary's loving help is none the less potent for being unseen by physical eyes. Love of Mary conquers the evils of materialism. It is a noble and spiritual love, built entirely upon faith, directed toward one whom we have never seen with bodily eyes, fostered mainly by the fact that God wishes it. All this makes it the natural stepping stone to love of God. It is in direct opposition to modern materialism, which is a love of earthly things. Another obvious need of our day is patience amid sufferings. persevering calm and steadiness amid world-wide storms. But all the turmoil of our times is just another phase of the age-old struggle between good and evil, between the woman and her seed on one side, Lucifer and his on the other.~/~brlst and Mary on Calvary stood at the very center of the storm winds; we live in comparative calm. They have won the victory for us; we face but a lesser trial to enjoy its fruits. Lucifer cannot reach Mary directly, and he seeks her Achilles' heel in the chil~/ren on earth, whom she loves. But if we are faithful, children, trusting entirely in her, it will not be a vulnerable heel after all, but the heel which crushes the serpent's head. Her strength is our strength if we are one with her. Today's pagan world like the pagan world of old '~drinks down sin like water." Those who walk with an ever-present conscious-ness that their heavenly mother walks with them will not sin. This sentence puts much in few words, summarizing a host of arguments for seeking to develop a fuller consciousness of Mary's loving care. But~avoidance of sin is negative. A good positive summary of the value of this practice is that strong, persevering love makes one grow like to the loved one. Living constantly, willingly, lovingly with M/try will increase our likeness to her. Her nobility will ~.'N. JORGENSEN Reoieto for Relipiotts become ours. This ihaitation is not a mere external likeness; it is deep and abiding, for it brings us the same sanctifying grace which gave God's own life to Mary. We cannot deeply love one whom we do not know, one of whom we seldom think, one to whom we refuse to speak. But if we start asking Mary's advice ~t every decision, trusting in her at every diffi-culty, following her example at every oportunity, we will quickly discover how wonderful she is. Countless millions have called to her: not one has been left unanswered. God blesses abundantly all who honor His Masterpiece, His best Beloved. His Mother, the Queen of His heavenly home. One of God's reasons for living a full life on earth was to teach us how to live. "His life surely teaches us devotion to Mary. We have but to recall the Annunciation, the days of Mary's pregnancy, of Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth to see how fully He gave Him-self to her. The baby Christ and the young boy Christ would look to her at all hours of the day, doing the things she wished, rejoicing in her smile, trusting in her virtue. Nor did He ever repudiate this first and deepest.love. Christ's humility in subjecting Himself to a mere creature for love of God undid the harm of Adam's pride in following Eve's wish in defiance of God. Our humble giving of ourselves to Mary in union with Christ makes the undoing of Adam's fall complete for us. As Eve shared with Adam in the fall of man, Mary shares with Christ in man's redemption. The Eve-Mary parallel is interesting, but it is too often discussed to need repetition here. But the struggle between good and evilbegan before Adam and Eve. Long before Adam's creation, "before the hills were made" (Proverbs 8:25), ,lesus and Mary were God's predestined King and Queen of the good angels who followed Michael and conquered Lucifer and his followers. Mary is Satan's archenemy, the one in God's plans who is to crush his head. Lucifer and his followers hate and oppose Mary with all their strength because they hate God: we should love and serve her with all our devotion for love of God. If we follow Christ's example and are devoted children of Mary, we feel at home in the spiritual world. Then the communion of saints means what it is supposed to mean. All other wayfarers on .earth are close to us, for they, too, are children of Mary. The souls in purgatory, the saints in heaven, the angels, even God Himself are all one with us in calling her "Beloved." When we visit Christ in 20 danuar~t, 1948 REMEMBERING MARY the Blessed Sacrament, we have one more thing to talk about, for His mother is our mother. When we turn to our guardian angel, we have one more argument in our plea for help, for his queen is our queen. Queen of apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins--the Litany of Loretto reveals host after host of glorious souls who are united to ' us through Mary by the closest of bonds. The graces which she poured forth to give them triumph and joy and God's own life, sh~" gives us in our fight against the same foes. She rejoices to make us "other Chrlsts," to conceive Christ "again and again in the souls of all the just. We should love Mary truly because she is truly our mother. The Annunciation was an unfathomable moment, not only affecting the eternal destiny of all men and bringing the angels a queen, but also giving God a human nature and a mother. This mother-son rela-tionship was unlike any other in that the Son consciously chose and accepted Mary for His mother. And because He is changeless eter-nally, because the whole plan of the redemption was for heaven rather, than for this earth alone, He accepted her forever and accepted her for us. Father Rickaby (Waters That Go Softly, p. 74) has an interesting list of scriptural references which run thus: And she brought forth her first-born son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger (Luke 2:7). For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be made conformable to the image of the invisible God, the first-born amongst many brethren (Rom. 8:29). Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature . And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn (Col. 1:15, 18). And the dragon was angry against the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Apoc. 12:17). God in choosing Mary the Mother of Christ, chose her mother of all the "other Christs." She is the mother of the Head and of all the other members of the Mystical Body. AS she was mother of the Holy Home at Nazareth from which the Church grew, she is the mother of the Church. Christ's dying bequest "Behold thy mother" revealed and e~tablished this universal motherhood; the history of the Church confirms it. The first to come to Christ, "going into the house, found the Child with Mary his mother" (Mt, 2:11). All since who have entered Christ's house, the Church, find Him with Mary His mother. And heaven will find her still His mother and ours. But the best reason for remembering Mary is simply this, God 21 REMEMBERING MARY Ret~iew for Religious wishes it. He chose to come to us through Mary. He asks us to come to Him'through her. Our only toad to the Father is through Christ; our n~tural road to Christ is through Mary. That God has ordained this is clear from the unwavering teaching of His Church as well as from the lives of the saints. We might give many reason~ for this choice of His, for we can see that it increases "our humility, that Mary's blessing on our prayers increases their worth, that faith in Mary's presence necessarily implies faith in God's greater presence, and so forth. But it is sufficient here to recall that God wishes it, and He is our wise and lbving Father. We should be eager to honor Mary at all times, for at all times'she is helping us, watchifig over us, offering her loving help. It is only just that we should make as adequate a response as we can, and the closest we can come to making a fair return is by accepting her gifts lovingly at all times. Mary suffered heroically for us on C~Ivary when she was revealed as our .spiritual mother. Gratitude demands that we make the most of this spiritual life, and this is done by accepting the help she is constantly offering us. And again, she is so perfect and lovable in herself that natural good sense should make us glad to recall her presence often. One might go on much longer enumeratihg reasons for this devo-tion to Mary, but for the moment I shall be content wlt!q a summary of those already given. It conquers loneliness, confusion, and despair by bringing companionship, peace, joy, hope, inspiration. It gives strength and light to bear sufferings in the best possible way, that is, in union with the sufferings of ,lesus and Mary on Calvar'y. It helps us to conquer sin completely. It fills our hearts with the noblest love and makes us noble like unto Mary. It makes us Christlike, more fully unitin, g us to Him and giving ias a greater share in His life. It makes 'our rise from Adam's sin and our opposition to Lucifer and evil more complete. It gives the communion of saints the vital share in our lives which it sl:iould have. Truth and justice and gratitude demand it, for Mary is our mother, loves us deeply, and is most lovable. And these reasons are all true or truer because of the final great reason: It is God's most urgent will. He gives His grace to the humble. We must be meek and humble of heart as He is and become thd children of Mary as He did if we wish to please Him. If we are humble and childlike all this will be clear to us. Although the father of the family supports it, a little child naturally runs to his mother for help when he is in need, knowing his cause 22 January, 1948 LITURGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION stronger if his mother pleads for him. God, our Father, has put the disposal .of His riches in our regard in the hands of Mary by making "her the Mediatrix of All Graces. If she were not our mediatrix, it would still be a great pleasure to be devoted to her. Now it is as necessary as it is natural. It is as profitable as it is pleasant. Li!:urgical and Priva!:e Devotion J; Putz, S.J. [EDITORS' NOTE: This article is reprinted with permission from The Clergy Momfily (Vol. VIII, pp. 293-305), a magazine for the clergy published in India. :,The article derives special timeliness from the fact that it discusses some of the doc-trines of the ~ncycllcal Mystibi Corporis which the Pope found it advisable to reiterate in his most recent encyclical Mediator Dei.] ~4~ACK to the liturgy!" is one of the watchwords of our age. D During the last thirty years the liturgical movement has beer/ steadily growing and has contributed its share towards the revival of a more integral Catholic spirit. However, like most good tthioinngs;s ,a nitd i st haep tR toom leaand Peonnthtiufsfsia, swtihci fleo lelonwcoeursra tgoi ncger. ttahien mexoavgegmerean- t, have occasionally felt obliged to rais~ a warning voice against the danger of one-sidedness. "There is no doubt," Plus XI wrote in 1928, "that an a~voidance of the exagl~erations Which are noticeable of late will enable liturgy to contribute much towards progress in spiritual life." Plus XII in his encyclical Mystici Corporis (June 29, 1943) warned against three particular.exaggerations connected with the liturgy. A few months later he again returned to this subject in a letter to the Bishop of Mainz, who had requested the Pope "to raise the whole [liturgical] matter out. of an atmosphere of apprehension into one of confidence." Plus XII replied: In this connection We can only repeat what We have already said on other occa-sions, namely that the question is being dealt with here in a calm and broadminded manner by the cardinals charged with its clarification, and that the Holy See is prepared to meet as far as is possible the needs of spiritual mlnistrarion in German)'. Concern has been expressed in the first place amongst you yourselves and in fact, as you know, by the bishops. It cannot be said that such concern is altogether without found~tlon. It is certainly not related excluslvel); to the liturgical question, but it affects the whole devotional and ascetic llfe of the faithful. 23 J. PUTZ ' Ret~ieto [or Religiotis ~ The ;Holy"Father~,then, refers :to an article in the Kl~gusblatt of July 14, 1943,'~vbich confirmed anew the concern felt in Rorfie. "It can therefore only be salutary to make a clear distinction nbw; hrhen the liturgical question is. beir;g dhalt with, 'between'whag~is ~¢hole-some and what.i~' unwholesbme." The Pope then points out that this has already been done to some extent in the encyclical Mgstici Corporis. The letter continues: On three points We feel that emphasis should be placed: (1) That the liturgical movement doris-not, by_a, 0nd;sided emphasis~n their l~sychological effect, push into tl~e'b~ackgroun~l the meaning o~ and e~teem fc~i~the grace-giving effect of the Sacred Mysteries. (2) That the consciousness of the fundamental significance of the eternal t~uths and the struggle of the individual against sin, the striving of the individual for virtue and holiness are not marred by exaggeration of the lithrgical side. (3) Finally, that a!ongside the task in the liturgical sphe~r,~ oth.er task~ are not overlooked. What is liturgy? In this article it is taken in its strict sense, as distinct from private prayer. We must therefore exclude~ the broad meaning given it by some recent writers, who would make it embrace a.ll prayer,"public and private, and even the whole life of the Mystical ¯ Body. In its proper meaning liturgy is equivalent'to punic official worship as defined by canon 1256, that is, worship offered in the name of the Church through acts which by her institution are to be offered only to God, to the saints, and to the blessed by persons law-fu!. ly'deputed for this fhnction. ' : Its center is the Mass. This is surrounded, as .it were, by two circles which are an exp.ansion or prolongation of the Eucharisti~ Sacrifice: ~he I~ivine'Office by which the Church throughout the iday offers to God the laas perennis, and the sacraments (and: sacramentals } which spread God's grace and blessings throughout the life of~ the Church. These essential dements by their daily and~seasohal varia-tions form the wonderful rhyth~ of the liturgical year, with the sanctoral cycle integrated into the temporal cycle. Public worship calls for an appropriate edifice with its various appointments, particularly the altar. It requires c~rtfiin vestments and an adapted mode of singing. This ':setting" of the liturgy has its obvious importance; but it must remain secondary, though extremists and faddists at times seem to take the husk for the kernel. The real problem inherent in the liturgical movement is a ~spir-itual one. It concerns the relation of the liturgy to "private" devo-tion- which is but one aspect of a more geneial problem, namely. the relation of the individual to society. The "polar tension" 24 danuar~ , 1948 LITURGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION existing between these two has been the object of many studies in recent years. Like all such tensions, it cannot be solved by stressing one side at the expense of the other. Individualism and absorption of the individual in society are equally to be avoided. A full and healthy Christian life r.equires the union of liturgy with private prayer and personal endeavor. 1. The liturgy has a twofold function. Its primary purpose is found in its intrinsic, objective, supernatural value. Liturgy is essentially the public exercise of the Church's priesthood, the con-text and prolongation of the sacrifice of the altar. It is both God-ward and manward. It is the "voice of the Spouse" expressing to God the worship owed by the Church as a visible society and,calling down upon men the blessing of the Almighty. Its 'power is not due to the d~votion of the minister, but to the opus operantis Ecclesiae: and in the primary rites--the opus operaturn of the Mass and the sacraments--Christ Himself communicates His own sacrifice to be offered on the altar and His life to be received into souls. As the prayer of the Church and the action of Christ, the litu.rgy clearly ranks higher than private piety. Its objective excellence is further enhanced by the inspired character of most of its formulas a~ad by the fact that the Churdh in creating .the liturgy has been guided by the Holy Ghost. We should note, however, that the liturgy pos-sesses its essential character and value only when performed by those officially empowered and delegated to act in the name of the Churcfi. The ordinary layman, it is true, shares in the Catholic p.rlesthood by his baptismal character; but his part in the liturgy is strictly limited. His character enables him to receive the sacraments and to offer the sacrifice by his spiritual union with the celebrant. To exercise this power on certain occasions is his only "liturgical" obligation. He may, of course, recite the prayers of the missal, breviary, or ritual; but on his lips they will be "private" prayers (excepting those parts which are officially assigned to the congregation). Even so their use is to be recommended, for such use effectively serves the second pur-pose of the liturgy. Besides its intrinsic purpose and essential value, the liturgy has a subjective or pedagogical efficacy: it is meant to instruct the faithful and to train them in the true Christian spirit. Union with the Church's liturgy is a wonderful education of mind and heart. It teaches the truths of our faith by enacting and living them; it devel-ops the Christian spirit by making us exercise it: Plus XI, when 25 J. PUTZ Retqew for Religious instituting the feast of Christ the King, remarked: "People are in-structed in the truths of faith and brought to appreciate the 'inner joys of religion far more effectually by the annual celebration 6f the sacred" mysteries than by any. official announcement of the teaching of the Church." Pius X declared that "active participati.on in the sacred and solemn mysteries of the Church is the primary and indispensable source of the genuine Christian spirit" (Motu proprio, November 22, 1903). Father Meschler, S.3., in his Catholic Church Year, states: "In order to obtain holiness and salvation, we have ohly to follow, willingly the invitations of the liturgical year." The Mass, the sacraments, the feasts, and the seasons eloquently put before us the Christian ideal and supply the necessary inspiration and motivation in constant Variety. Religion as taught by the liturgy has a definite spirit or style, which is the norm of genuine and healthy religion, a safeguard against all deviations. If we were to characterize it in one word, we would point out its sense ot: proportion which putsall things in their proper place. Hence its dominant theocentrism, which stresses adoration, praise, and self-oblation as the primary duties of religion. Rich in devotions, it never allows these to overshadow the essential devotion. It is solidly "objective," stressing dogma; facts, and realities rather than subjective feelings, the latter flowing naturally from a realiza-tion of the truth. Thus it is free from emotionalism, yet capable of the highest ~enthusiasm and the deepest grief. It satisfies the needs of the individual soul (chiefly in the Eucharist), but at the same time. takes one beyond,the narrowness of individualistic piety by fostering social consciousness, a sense of oneness with the community. The individual is always made to feel a part of the whole, a member Of the family, a cell of the Body; even (or especially) at the moments of his most personal union with God (in Holy Communion) he cannot forget his union~ with his fellow men. The liturgy thus tends to shape or "inform" man's total spiritu~l life. "Liturgical piety" consists in consciously making the liturgy the center, the chief object, and the inspiration of one's inner life. It is clear that a dose of this liturgical spirit is not only useful but neces-sary for all on account of the part which~ the Mass, the sacraments, and public worship have to play in the life of a Catholic. 2. But it is no less evident that the public prayer of the Church can in no way be opposed to individual prayer and endeavor. It not only leaves room for the latter, but requires it and stimulates it. The 26 danuary, 1948 LITURGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION liturgy by itself, as official worship, is' something exterior and imper-sonal, regulated by the Church and faithfully executed by the litur-gist. It is distinct from the interior life that animates the Church and each member; it only expresses this life and devotion. It is fruitful and sanctifying only in the measure of the understanding and fervor which the individual brings to it. Liturgical prayer, to be more than lip service, must become interior, that is, personal, "pri-vate." Even the opus operatum does not work mechanically; but its effect is proportioned to each one's personal devotion. Personal prayer and endeavor must also prolong the liturgy. The Mass must be lived, the spirit and the ideal taught by public worship must shape individual lives.1 Thus liturgy invites the co-operation of mental prayer, self-examination, and all the methodical exercises of tradi-ditional asceticism. It would therefore be fallacious to oppose "liturgical piety" and ."ascetical piety" as though they were two distinct ways to perfection, the former being considered the more excellent, if not the only truly Catholic, way. There is but one way. Liturgy implies private prayer and must pass over into asceticism; 13rivate prayer and asceti-cism in turn must keep in contact with the liturgy, chiefly the~ Mass and the sacraments. The proportion of the two elements will vary according to each one's tastes and needs; but neither can be separated from the other, or even unduly stressed at the expense of the other, without serious dangers. Private and popular piety without the liturgy is exposed to the danger of deviating from fundamentals~to accessories, from genuine devotion to emotionalism and subjectlvism, from trust in God's grace to reliance on natural methods (semi- Pelagianism). Liturgy without private prayer and endeavor becomes formalism, aestheticism, semi-quietism. Too much stress on public, exterior worship fosters in the liturgist a tendency to be more con-cerned With forms than with life. Hence there arises an excessive attachment to ancient forms and a lack of appreciation for new forms and feasts, the liturgy of the first four centurieg being proclaimed as the standard for all times. Ye~; those aricient forms were new in their time: nor has the Holy Ghost ceased to direct the Church since the lit must also guide personal piety. But individual prayer has laws and character-istics of its own. The Church not.only tolerates but encourages non-liturgical and "popular" devotions, such as visits to the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, devotions to the Sacred Heart, and so forth, which, like the liturgy, have grown out of the life of the Church and correspond to the spiritual needs of the faithful. 27 J' PUTZ Reuietu fi~th century. "There is still a continuous development of dogma; a [ortiori there must be a development and progress of liturgy. The fashionable underrating (or contempt) of "popular". devotions is also rooted in lack of understanding of the laws of life and is clearly contrary to the mind of the Church. Both corporate life and individual" life in the Church have the same source, Christ. Together they constitute Christ'~ life in His Mystical Body. It is necessary that both be intensely cultivated and that the correct tension between them be maintained. After these general considerations we shall briefly analyze the doctrine of M~Cstici Corporis concerning some particular exaggerations connected with the liturgy. At first sight, the mention of these "errors" might seem out of place, unrelated to the general theme of the encyclical. In reality it is closely connected with the rest. In the dogmatic part, while explaining the theology of the Mystical Body, the Pope has been at pains to show how in this Body the personal and the social, the interior and the exterior, the spiritual and the juridical elements are united in one common source and purpose. He then con-demns two errors ~vhich tend to obliterate the permanence of the individual person in the Body and the need for personal endeavor; and now he vindicates the rights of the individual in his devotional life. I, Frequent Confession The same [disastrous] result follows from the opinions of those ~vho assert that little importance should be given to the frequent confession of venial sins. Preference is to be given, they say, to that general confession which the Spouse of Chris~: surrounded by her children in the Lord makes each day through her priests about to go up to the altar of God. The confession of sins at the beginning of the Mass is an impres-sive act, very appropriate before the celebration of the sublime mys-teries. It purifies the soul and disposes it to offer the sacrifice of expia-tion with greater fervor. The absolution after the Confiteor, though not efficacious ex opere operato as in the sacrament of penance, is a sacramental. Through the intercession of the Church it tends to arouse in those present true sorrow by which they merit the remission of their venial sins. Though in its present form it is of late origin, yet some such confession seems to go back to the earliest times. Even the Didache or'Teaching of the .Twelve Apostles mentions it: "On the Lord's day being assembled together break the bread and 'make Eucharist,' having first confessed your offences that your sacrifice may be pure." 28 Januar!l, 1948 LITURGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION However, zeal for this venerable practice may become indiscreet and weaken the esteem of frequent private confession. The sacra-ment is of course necessary in the case of mortal sins; but frequent confession of venial sins may seem to diminish our devotion for the daily public confession in which the Church wants each one to join wholeheartedly. This may have been the reasoni.ng of those of the "younger clergy" whom the encyclical mentions as belittling frequent confession. "It is true that venial sins can be expiated in many ways, which are to be highly commended," for example, by acts of charity~ public confession before Mass, and particularly Holy Communion; "but to insure a more rapid and daily progress along the path of virtue we wish the pious practice of frequent confession to be earnestly advo-cated." There are two reasons why this should be done: (a) The practice was introduced by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Leaving aside the obscure question of its origin, it was approved by the Council of Trent and by Pope Plus VI. When the Synod of Pistoia expressed the wish that con-fession of venial sins be less frequent, on the principle that fa;niliarity breeds contempt, Plus VI cerlsured this declaration as "temerarious, pernicious, and contrary to the practice of saints and pious Christians approved by Trent." Plus X, in his Exhortation to the Catholic Clergg, deeply deplored the laxity of those priests who but rarely frequent the sacrament of penance and thus blunt the delicacy of their consciences. Canon Law wishes religious and seminarians to confess "at least once a week." A number of saints used to confe~s every day. St. Bonaventure recommended daily confession to the novices; and Father Louis Lallemant, to all who are especially desirous of perfection. However, these writers recommend the practice only to souls who can maintain a habitual fervor which is capable of resisting the tendency to routine and of daily making the spiritual effort required for a fruitful confession. (b) Frequent confession is an efficacious means of spiritual progress. The encyclical enumerates its advantages, both pedagogical ¯ and sacramental: "By this means genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are "corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strength-ened, salutary direction is obtained, and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself." 29 J. PUTZ Review [or Religious 2. Priaate Prager "There are some, moreover, who deny to our prayers any impetratory power, or who suggest that private prayers to God are to be accounted of little value. Public prayers, they say, prayers made in the name of the Church, are those that re'ally count, a~ they pro-ceed from the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ." In reply to this objection, which he characterizes as "quite untrue," the Pope stresses thre~ points: (a) The dignitg of private prager.--To those who depreciate private prayer by extolling the liturgy as "the praying Christ," the prayer of Christ Himself in His Body, the Holy Father opposes the fundamental truth concerning Christian prayer/ all prayer is the prayer of Cb'rist in His body. "For the divine Redeemer is closely united not only with His Church, His beloved Spouse, but in her also with the souls of each one of the faithful, with whom He longs to have intimate converse, especially after Holy Communion." Public prayer is only one part of the Church~s prayer, the most excellent because it "proceeds from Mother Church n rseir. However, every prayer, even the most "private," has "its dignity and efficacy." It is the prolongation of the soul's eucharistic communion with Christ. It is the prayer of Christ praying in His members and as such is never an "isolated" prayer but is part of the Catholic prayer of the Mystical Body, united with those of all the other members and ~benefiting the. whole Body. "For in that Body no good can be done, no virtue prac-ticed by individual members which does not, thanks to the Com-munion of Saints, redound also to the welfare of all." Every prayer thus has a social value. (b) P?age~ ot: petition.--Quietism rejects all prayer of petition as" meaningless, since God knows better than we what is good for us and He desires our good more than we do ourselves. Some liturgists belittle prayer for one's own individual needs as fostering individual-ism. They argue that we should always pray as members, according to the teaching of Christ ("Our Father. give us this day our daily bread.") and the practice of the liturgy which prays in the plural for the needs of all. To pray in the plural ~s no doubt a beautiful practice which keeps us conscious of our union with God's fancily and Christ's Body; but within this Body the members remain "indi-vidual ~0ersons, subject to their own particular needs." Hence it can-not be wrong for them "to ask special favors for themselves, even temporal favors, provided they always submit their will to the 30 Januarg, 1948 LITURGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION divine will." ¯ (c.).Uti!it~t o~: rnedtiff pra~ter.--"As for m~ditation on heavenly things; not only the prbhduncements Of the Church but also the example of' the saints are a proof of the high esteem in which it must be held by all." Liturgical prayer must be vivified by personal medi-tation, and prdgress towards perfection requires an intimate con-sideration of the truths of our faith and frequent communing with the Spirit working in the silence of the soul. Pius X, who praised the liturgy as the" indispensable source of the Christian spirit, had' equal praise for daily meditation; which he declared necessary for a priestly life (Exhortation to.the Catholic Clergy, 1908). Pius XI, who in Divini cultus (1928) extolled liturgical piety, wrote a special ency-clical to recommend the methodical prayer of the spiritual exercises, particularly those of St. Ignatius (Mens nostra, 1929); and the Church wants her priests to practice daily meditation and to make ¯ frequent retreats (canons 125, 126). 3. Prager to Chrisi "Finally, there are some who say that our prayers should not be addressed to the person of Jesus Christ Himself, but rhther to God, or to the Eternal Father through Christ, on the ground that our Savior as Head of His Mystical Body is only 'mediator of God and men.' " " Of course no Catholic denies that Christ is also God and that we may pray to Him. But we are often told by liturgists and even by theologians that we should rather pray to God the Father through Christ Our Lo~d if ov~e want to conform our p~ivate prayer to the . spirit of the liturgy, to the mind of Christ and of the Church, and to sound theology. To a "christocentric" piety, which at present is supposed "to d6minate private and popular devotion, these w~iters oppose a "theocentric" piety. The difference between these two is well explained by, D. yon Hildebrafid: "In christocentric piety, Christ so to speak stands before us and looks at us, while we at the same time look into His visage. In theocentric piety, Christ also stands before us, but He is turned towards the Father, on the summit of humanity, so to speak, leading us to the Father and preceding us on that way." In christocentric piety we adore Christ and pray to Hirfi. In theo-centric piety, we pray to the Father through Christ and with Christ; . ChriSt is the mediator, the head of humanity, our brother,u UIn his original article, Father [Sutz developes at some length the argumerits "in favor of prayer through Christ . " We give them in brief summary in the section in brackets which follows.--ED. 31 LITURGICAL AND PRIVATE DEVOTION Reoieto for Religious [The arguments in favor of prayer through Christ look impres- "sive. It is said that Jesus Himself always addressed His prayer.to the Father; that He emphasized His mediatorial function when He taught the disciples to pray; and that in early Christianity the solemn prayer of the Church was directed to the Father through Christ. This prayer through Christ is said to be theologically preferable because it brings out the fundamental truth of Christ.ianity, namely, that Christ is truly man--our Brother, a Mediator between men and God, our High Priest who is like unto us and who offered Himself for us, our Advocate with the Father, our Head who li;¢es and prays in us. Prayer of this kind keeps the humanity of Christ from being obscured and the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity from becoming a dead dogma; it makes us conscious of our union with the other members of Christ, prevents us from concentrating on the "dreadful" inaccessibility of God, and keeps a balance in our veneration of the saints.] Such is a brief sketch of the arguments. They do bring out the need of keeping alive the consciousness of Christ's humanity, His mediatorship and union with the Mystical Body~the encyclical on the Mystical Body Was written for that very purpose. But they are one-sided because they stress Christ's humanity so much that the-¢ unconsciously obscure His divinity and suggest that prayer to Christ is less perfect, less Christian, less conformed to the mind of Christ and of the Church. This, the encyclical declares, "is false, contrary to the mind of the Church and to Christian practice." The theological argument implies that Christ, as Head of the Mystical Body, is to be regarded only as our brother and mediator, that is, as man. This is incorrect, "for strictly speaking He is Head of the Church adcording to both natures together." The uniqueness of Christ consists precisely in this inseparable union of the divine and the human. He is the mediator because the extremes are united in His person; and when we look on Him as our brother, we cannot forget that He is our God. This is why both forms of prayer are necessary: through Christ and to Christ. They are mutually corn-plementary. The two aspects of Christ are clearly brought out in the prayer of the early Chtirch: they prayed not only to the Father, but equally to Christ following His own invitation. Indeed both the first pub-lic prayer and the first private prayer that have been preserved are addressed to Christ. "It is true," the encyclical states, "that prayers were more commonly addressed to the eternal Father through His" January, 1948 GIFTS FOR RELIGIOUS only-begotton Son, esp.ecially in the Eucharistic Sacrifice; fbr: here Christ as Priest and Victim, exercises in a .~pecial m~inner His office of mediator. Nevertheless, prayers .dir,ect.ed .t9 t~e Red.ee~yr ale. not rare, even in the liturgy of the Mass " though they are naturally,more frequent in private devotion. . _ " Hence pray, el through Christ arid pra.y,e.r to CI~ris~ "are eq~ialIF Christian[ The two together consmute- the complete, Christian prayer; "for every Christian must clearly~ ufiderstand that the man Christ Jesus is truly the Son of God and Himself t~uly. God." The Catholic doctrine, which excludes all one-sided views, is admirably summed up by St. Augustine: Christ (our Head) is Son of~God and Son of man, one God with the Father, one man with mankind. Hence when we speak to God in supplication we do ~not separate from Him His Son, nor does the Son's Body when it prays separate from itself its Head. Thus the same Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and only savior of His Body, prags for us and in us and is praged't9 bg us. He prays fbr us as our priest; He prays in us as our Head: He is prayed to by us as our God . We pray therefore to Him, through ~Hiro, in Him.a " Git s Religious Adam C. Ellis, S.l~ II. Common Li{e and Peculium THoEf vowte mofp poorvael rtthyi nisg sn. oBt yt hpeo sointilvye n porremsc rfoiprt iroenli gthioeu Cs hinu rtchhe huases provided additional norms intended to safeguard the vow and to foster the spirit of poverty. The'~most important of these is the precept obliging all religious to observe common life, that is, to receive everything they need in the line of food, clothing, furnishings,, and so forth from the community in which they live. These needs are to be supplied from a common fund to which the .religious contribute whatever they earn or whatever is given to them because they are religious. Common life is of apostolic origin. It. was observed in the primi-tive Church by all the faithful, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: SEnarratlo in psalmurn 85, n. I. (P~L. 37, 1081). 33 ADAM (2. ELLIS Reoiew [or Religiot~s And all the believers were tbgether, and had everything in common: and selling their possessions and belongings they distributed the proceeds to all, according to the needs of each one (2:44, 45). Now the multitude of the believers were of one heart and one soul: and not one claimed any of his property as his own, but everything was common to them (4:32). None among them was in need: for all who were owners of lands qr houses sold 'them, and bringing the proceeds of the sale hid them at the apostles' feet: and a distribution was made to each according as anyone had need (4:34, 35). As the number of the faithful increased, ~ommon life disappeared among the laity but was continued among the clerics, who lived in the city with their bishop and shared in the common fund provided by the faithful for their support. Gradually, however, as Chris-tiani~ y spread from the titles to the countryside, many of the clergy' left the bishop's community to live~among the faithful near their churches, and community life was confined to the clergy of the cathedral churches. Even this form of common life°eventually fell into disuse, but the~ apostolic tradition of common life was still per-petuated by the religious orders whose founders had incorporated it into their rule, ~.nd finally the Church prescribed common life for all religious. For a better understanding of canon 594, which prescribes com-mon life for all religious, it will be well to give here the more impor-tant sources of legislation upon which it is based, beginning with the Council of Trent. " Document I In its twenty-fifth session (December 3, 1543) the Council of Trent legislated for the reform of religious. At that time all reli- ~gious had solemn vows in an order, and there were no religious con-gregations with simple vows. Here are two selections from the first two chapters regarding common life. I. Since the ho!y Synod is not ignorant of the splendor and utility which accrue to the Church of God from monasteries piously instituted and rightly administered, it has--to the end that the ancient and regular discipline may be the more easily and promptly restored where it has fallen away, and may be the more firmly main-tained where it has been preserved--thought it necessary to enjoin, as by this decree it does enjoin, that all regulars, men as well as women, shall order and regu-late their lives in accordance with the requirements of the rule which they have pro-fessed: and above all that they shall faithfully observe whatsoever belongs to the perfection of their profession, such as the vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, as also all other vows and precepts that may be peculiar to any rule or order, respectively appertaining to the essential character of each, and which regard the observance of a common mode of living (comm~nera oitara), food, and dress. II. Superiors shall allow the use of moveables to the religious in such wise that their furniture shall be in conformity with the state of poverty which they have 34 ~anuarg, 1948 GIFTS FOR RELIGIOUS professed; and there shall be nothing therein superfluous, but at the same time nothing shall be refused which is necessary for them. But should any be dis-covered 9r be proved to possess anything inany other manner, he shall be deprivi:d during two years of his active and passive voice, and also be punished in accordance with the constitutions of his own rule and order. Document. II In some places the reforms i~f the Council of Trent were intro- ¯ duced with great accuracy and fidelity, notably by St. Charles Bor-romeo in the archdiocese and province of Milan. In other places only a halfhearted1 attempt at reform was made, while some monasteries made no effort whatsoever to carry out the decrees of the Council. Fifty years after the close of the Council, Clement VIII determined to enforce its laws regarding the reform of religious and to that end issued a forceful decree entitled Nullus omnino, (July 25, 1599). We quote the paragraphs regarding common life and its observance. 2. In order that the decree 'of the Council of Trent regarding the observance of the vow of poverty may be more faithfully observed, it is orderdd that none of the: brethren, even though he be a superior, shall possess as his own or in the name of the community, any immovable or movable goods, or money, income, pension (census), alms . . . no matter under what title they may have been acquired, even though they be subsidies given by relatives, or free gifts, legacies, or donations, but all shall at once be given .to the superior and incorporated in the community, and mixed with its other goods, income and monies, so that from it [the common'fund] food and clothing may be supplied to all. Nor is it allowed to any superior what- . soever to.permit the same brethren, or any one of them, stable goods even by way of usufruct or use, or administration, not even by way of a deposit or custody.~ 3. The clothing of the brethren and the furniture of their cells is to be pur-chased with money from the common fund, and should be uniform for all the breth-ren and for all superiors. It should conform to the state of poverty which they have vowed, so that nothing superfluous may be admitted, nor anything which is necessary be denied anyone. 4. All, including superiors, no matter who they may be, shall partake of the same bread, the same wine, the same viands, or, as they say, of the same "pittance" (pitantia)l in common at the first or second table unless they be prevented by illness; nor may anything be provided in any manner whatsoever to be eaten pri-vately by anyone; should anyone sin in this matter, let him receive no food on that day, ~xeept bread and water. Document III A century later Innocent XII was obliged to take a vigorous hand in suppressing abuses which still existed or had newly come into being. He tried also to remove the cause of these abuses which lay 1The word "pittance," derived from the late Latin pietantia shortened to pitantia, mea.nt (1) a pious donation, or bequest to a religious house, to provide an addi-tional allowance of food or wine, or a special dish or delicacy on particular feast days: (2) The allowance or extra portion 'itself, as in our text. 35 ADAM C. ELLIS Reoieto [or Religious principally in the lack of sufficient funds to support the monasteries. 3. Let superiors carefully see to it that" eyery~hing which pertains to food and clothing, as well as to all other needs of life, be promptly supplied to each religious, and especially in time of sickness that nothing pertaining to the recovery of health be wanting to anyone. 6. For this reason no more religious should be allowed to dwell in the same house than can be conveniently supporte~l by its income, and by the customary alms, including those given to individuals, or by any other revenue accruing to the common fund. 9. For the future n9 monasteries; colleges, houses, convents, or other places of religious men may be founded, erected, or established in any manner except under the express obligation that common life be exactly obsert~ed perpetually and invio-lately by all dwelling there; and therefore no such foundations are to be permitted hereafter unless, in addition to other requisites,~ it shall be first lawfully established that the annual revenues, or a certain hope of alms, will be sufficient to provide decent support for at least twelve religious living in the exact observance of com-mon life. Document IV To repair the ravages caused to religiou~ orders by the French Revolution and by the Napoleonic wars, Plus VII issued an impor-tant instruction through ~he Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, on August 22, 1814, from which we quote two paragraphs pertinent to our subject. VI. Superiors shall carefully see to it that in those houses in which at least twelve religious are to dwell, eight at least shall be priests. All who desire to be received into these houses shall make their request in writing, and in their own hand shall promise that they will observe the rule proper to their order, especially that regarding common life; which, in those places where it has collapsed, is by all means to be restored, at least according to the norms laid down in n. X. X. In those monasteries and houses in which the practice of common life was in vogue, it shall be retained in the future. In all other houses, of whatever kind or name, let common life be restored in matters pertaining to food, clothing, medicines for the si~k, and for journeys undertaken by command of the order. Document V Similarly, after the revolution of 1848 in the Papal States, Pius IX issued an oraculuro oioae oocis to all superiors general of orders. This was communicated to them by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars under date of April 22, 1851. 1. In all novitiate houses perfect common life shall be introduced regardless of any indult, privilege, or exemption obtained by any individuals who are members of the community. 2. The perfect observance of the constitutions of each institute regarding pov-erty is to be restored in all houses of professors, of training, and of studies. 3. In every house there shall be established a common fund with the customary precautions, into which all the religious shall deposit ali monies, all privileges to the contrary notwithstanding; tior may they retain in their possession more than what is allowed'by their respective constitutions . And His Holiness reserves to danuar~t, 1948 GIFTS FOR R~ELIGIOUS himself for the future the right to make further disposition regarding indults to religious for the use of money. Document 'VI Some of our re~ders may remark at this point that all the docu-ments cited refer to members of religious orders, but hot to congre-gations with simple vows. To show that even before the Code reli-gious with a simple vow of poverty in a congregation were also bound by th~ obligation of common life, we shall quote two docu-ments. The first is a letter of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, dated December 30, 1882, and addressed presumabl.¢ to one or more bishops in Italy, since the introductory part of the letter is in Italian. We quote here the one number pertaining to our subject. The following rules concerning the-simple vow of poverty have been adopted by this Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, and it is customary to pre-scribe that they be inserted in constitutions which this Sacred Congregation approves: 7. Whatever the professed religious have acquired by their own industry or for their society (intuitu societatis), they must not assign or reserve to themselves, but all such things must be put into the community fund for the common benefit of the society'. Document VII The second pre-Code document referring .to common life for religious with simple vows in a congregation is made up of three articles contained in the Normae of 1901,, which were inserted in all constitutions of religious congregations approved by thh Sacred Con-gregation of Bishops and Regulars after that date. Art. 126. After taking their vows, whatever the Sisters may acquire by reason of their own industry or for their institute may not be claimed or kept for them-selves: but all such things are to be added to the goods of the community for the common use of the institute or house. Art. 127. In the institute let all things concerning furniture, food, and clothing be called and actually be common. It is becoming, however, that clothing for strictly personal use be kept separately in a common wardrobe and be distributed separately. Art. 128. Let the furniture which the Sisters use with the permission of superiors be in conformity with their poverty; and let there be nothing superfluous in this matter: and let nothing that is needed be denied them. It seems to be evident from the documents quoted that, at least since the Council of Trent, the Church has desired that all religious should practice common life according to the norms laid down in these documents. We are now prepared to study the present legisla-tion as contained in canon 594. ~anon 594, § 1: In every religious institute, all must carefully observe com-mon life, even in matters of food, clothing, and furniture. 37 ADAM C. ELLIS Review for Religious § 2. Whatever is acquired by the religious, including superiors, according to the terms of canon 580, § 2, and canon 582, 1°, must be incorporated in the goods of the house, or of the province, or of the institute, and all money and tides shall be deposited in the common safe. § 3. The furniture of the religious must b~ in accordance with the poverty of which they make profession. I. In every reliqious institute," According to the definition of canon 488, 1°, a religious institute means "every society approved by legitimate ecclesiastical authority, the members of which tend to evangelical perfection, according to the laws proper to their society, by the profession of public vows, whether perpetual or temporary." Hence all true religious--whether bound by simple or by solemn vows in an order, or by simple vows, either temporary or perpetual, in a diocesan or in a pontifical congregation--are bound by the obli-gation of common life as laid down in the canon. 2. All must carefull~t observe common life. By reason bf his profession of vows a religious is incorporated, that is, becomes a member of his religious institute, subjects himself to the authority of its superiors, and promises to live in accordance with the prescrip-tions of the rules and constitutions. Strictly speaking, to be a reli-gious only the foregoing conditions need be fulfilled; and in the early centuries of the Church hermits, solitaries, and the like actually were true religious by reason of their subjection to the same rule and to the same superior. For many centuries now, however, the Church requires by positive law that religious llve a community life, that is, that they be united under one roof where they live, and pray, and work in common. This is the meaning of the words "the firmly established manner of living in community" in canon 487, which defines the religious state. Again, canon 606, § 2 supposes the obli-gation of living in community when it forbids superiors "to allow their subjects to remain outside a house of their own institute, except for just and grave cause and for as brief a period as possible according to the constitutions." This living and working .and praying in community may be called common life in general. 3. Even in matters-of food, clothing, and furniture. Here we have the specific meaning of the term "common life" as ordinarily used in canon .law. Supposing always that religious are subject to the same superior and that they observe a common rule and live in community, the Church obliges them to have everything in common as regards their daily needs. Food, clothing, and the furnishings of dormitories and cells must be the same for all and must be supplied 38 Januarg, 1948 GIFTS FOR RELIGIOUS by the community from the common fund. (See documents I, I; II, 2; III, 3; IV, 10; V, 1; VII, 127). A special diet for the sick, warmer or additional clothing for the aged, provided by the com-munity, are a part of common life, since all such necessities will be supplied to all the members of the community who need them. (See documents II, 4; III, 3; IV, 10). We shall not go into detail here, since this matter has already been explained in an article on Com-mon Life in this I~vlEw (II, 4-13). For our present purpose, which is to explain the obligation of common life in relation to gifts to religious, it will be sufficient to state the principle: Food, clothing, and lodging is to be supplied to all the religious by the community according to this standard: "Let there be nothing superfluou.s in this matter, and let nothing that is needed be denied." (See documents I, 2: II, 3; VII, 128). 4. Whatever is acquired bg the religious, including superiors, according to the terms of canon 580, § Z, and canon 582, 1% must be incorporated in the g6ods of the house, or "of the province, or of the institute. This second paragraph of the canon on common, life deals with the sources of income which constitute or augment the common fund that is necessary to provide the members of the corn-munity with everything they need. (See documents II, 2: V, 3; VI, 7; VII, 126). A religious who has taken a solemn vow of poverty has lost his right to ownership, hence everything he receives personallg goes to his order, province, or house, according to the constitutions (canon ¯ 582, 1°). A religious with a simple vow of poverty retains the ownership of his property and the capacity to acquire other property (canon 580, § 1) as was explained in the article "'The Simple Vow of Poverty" (Review for Religious, VI, 65). Such property is called the personal property of the religious, in opposition to the common property which constitutes the community fund. A second source of income is that derived from the recompense for services rendered by the religious, such as salaries, honoraria, sti-pends, and the like; and a third from the free-will offerings of the faithful given either directly to the community, or to a religious because he is a religiousi hence, for his community. Canon 580, § 2 tells us that "whatever the religious acquites by his own industry or in respect of his institute, belongs to the institute." All such monies must be turned in to the community, and must be incorporated in the goods of the house, or of the province, or of the institute (as the con- 39 2LDAM C. ELLIS Review for Religious stitutions,shall determine). To "incorporate in the goods of the house" m~eans that all such monies become a part of the community fund, that the religious to whom they were given has no right to them. Hence a superior may not put aside any such monies in a separate fund to be drawn upon later for the benefit of the religious who received it. The administration of tl~e community fund is entrusted to the superior and to the officials empowered by the constitutions (canon 532). They should remember that they are not the owners of the community fund, but that they merely administer: it for the benefit of the community. Hence they are not allowed to derive any personal benefit from this administration. 5. All the mone.tl and titles shall be deposited in the common safe. Therefore no religious, not even the superior, may habitually keep money on his person, or in his room, or anywhere else. All must be kept in the common safe or treasury, which in a small com-munity may be a locked drawer in the treasurer's office, or the pocket-book of the superior. Modern commentators allow superiors to give religious engaged in the ministry or teaching or other occupations which require frequent trips through a large city a small sum of money for car or bus fare to last for a week or so at a time. Titles here means any paper representing money: stocks, bonds, mortgages, and so forth. As a matter of fact in practice the Sacred Congregation of Religious approves keeping such papers in a safety deposit box in a reliable bank. Surplus cash may also 15e kept in a bank. 6. The "furniture of the religious must be in accord with the poverty of which they make profession. (See documents I, 2; II, 3; VII, 128). In the first paragraph of the canon the term "furni- 'ture" included all moveable articles which a religious needs for his personal use as well as for the performance of the work assigned to him. Paragraph One stresses the fact that all these things are to be supplied to each member of the community by the community, which is the essence of common life in regard to poverty. Here in paragraph three the term "furniture,"' while including the moveable articles just mentioned, refers especially to the furnishings of the religious house; of the dormitories or ceils of the religious, of the refectory, community room, and so forth. A norm is laid down regarding the quality and quantity of such equipment, namely: "the poverty of which they make profession." The spirit of poverty pro- 40 danuaqlo 1948 GIFTS FOR RELIGIOUS fessed by each institute will be determined by the rule and the con-stitutions, and by custom. Institute will differ from institute in this matter, and what may be considered a necessity in one institute, may well be looked upon as a superfluity in another. Some religious communities use table cloths, others do not; in some the religious wear shoes, in others they do not. Still the Church approves all of them, provided they observe common life in accordance with the poverty which they have vowed. Adoantages of cbmmon life. Common life is a great help to an easier and more perfect observance of the vow of poverty; it develops the spirit of poverty by detaching the heart from temporal things and from the comforts of life, leaving peace and tranquillity of soul in their place. Common life ensures perfect equality among all the members of the community because it forestalls any preference being shown those who have been favored by the accident of wealth. Regrettable dif-ferences of treatment are thus avoided, as well as the resultant dis.- satisfacti6n and discontent which are an enemy to union and charity, and which harm the religious spirit. Sanction for common life. The first sanction for the law of common life may be gathered from the report which must be sent to the Holy See every five years by all superiors general of institutes approved by it (canon 510). On March 25, 1922, the Sacred Con-gregation of Religious issued a detailed questionnaire which must be followed in making out this report. Question 84 reads as follows: Is common life everywhere 6bserved; are the necessaries, especially as regards food and clothing, supplied by the superiors to all the religious in a manner becoming paternal charity, and are there any who perhaps procure for themselves these things from outsiders? (Official English text, "Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 1923, p. 464). The second sanction which emphasizes the importance of com-mon life in the eyes of the Church is contained in the special penal-ties she has seen fit to impose upon those who do not observe this law. Canon 2389 of the Code reads as follows: Religious who, in a notable matter, violate the law of common life as pre-scribed by the constitutions, are to be given a grave admonition, and if they fall to amend are to be punished by privation of'active and passive voice, and, if they are superiors, also by privation of their office. A third sanction concerns ordination: "In houses of studies perfect common life should flourish; otherwise the students may not be pro-moted to orders" (canon 587, § 2). 41 ADAM C. ELLIS Retqew for Religious Peculium Delinition. For practical purposes we may define peculium as a small sum of money (or its equivalent) distinct from the common fund, Which is given .to an individual religious to keep for his personal use, and which is something over and above "what is required for his immediate needs. Distinct/Yore the common t:und. This money may come from any source: from thepatrimony of the religious, if he has any; from gifts or pensions received from relatives or frien~ls; from the recom-pense given for work done by the religious '(in all three cases it has never been a part of the common fund) ; or it may be given by the superior out of the common fund. Once it is gls, en the religious or set aside for his use, it is no longer, part of the common fund, but distinct from it. Given to an individual religious. This excludes what some authors call peculium in common, which is permitted by some con-stitutions or by custom, whereby the superior may give an .equal amount from-the common t:und to all'the members of the com-munity for the same purpose: for food, or clothing, or for other necessities. Though. not violating the essentials of common life in so far .as t.he money is given from the common fund and in an equal amount to all, still it derogates from the perfection of common life,. which requires~ that all necessities be supplied directly by the ~om-munity and that no religious keep money in his possession. Further-more it exposes the religious to the danger of being frugal in the use of, his allowance in order to have some mo~ey for other, perhaps even superfluous, things. In our definition we are considering only money .0.r.its equivalent which is.given to religious as individuals for personal needs. This is what authors term vita privata as contrasted with vita communis. '. To keep for his personal use. It is to be used by the religious for h~'mself, for food or clothing, or for other necessary or u~eful ~rticles he may require. But if the money is given him for pious ~auses, for instance, to distribute to the poor, it Would not constitute a peculium. Over and above what is requii'ed for his immediate needs. The clothes a religious wears, the books given him for his use, the money given tO go on a journey, do not constitute a peculium. These are .for immediate use. The idea of peculium ~s to have a sum of: money in reserve for future needs. ¯ . 42 GIFTS FOR RELIGIOUS Canonists distinguish two kinds of peculium: perfect or inde-pendent, and imperfect or dependent. Perfect or indeloendent peculium is money acquired by a ,religious with the intention of using it independently of the superior, that is, Without supervisiqn of any kind and without other action on the part of the superior. Irnpe.rfect or dependent peculium is that which is employed by the religious with the consent, either implicit or explicit, of' his superior, who may 'curtail or revoke it at will. History of Peculiur,. There is no doubt about the fact that the use of pec.ulium was customary.in many religious houses before the Council bf Trent. It was asserted by many that the Decretals of Gregory IX allowed dependent peculium, while others maintained that these Same Decietals expressly forbade even a dependent peru; lium. There seems to be no positive proof in favor of either con-tention in the Decretals themselves. The Tridentine legislation (see document II, 2) provided for' the restoration of perfect common life in all religious houses, Some' contended that it forbade .only perfect peculium, not the imperfect kind. Clement~ VIII, however, made it clear that. imperfect peculium was also forbidden, if not by the Council, then. certainly by hi.~ 6wn decree Nullus ornnino (see document II, 2, .3, 4). A century later Innocent XII renewed the prohibition of,peculium and endeavored to remove one of its common causes, insufficient community funds, by forbidding all religious houses tooreceive more subjects than. they could support (see document III). ~ . ~ The French Revolution, the. Napoleonic wars, and the Revolu~ tion in the Papal States .wrOught havoc with religious, orders 'and houses and all but exterminated them. Marly religious were dispersed' and their houses despoiled. They were, obliged to seek their living wherever they could find it: by begging alms and by ~accepting char-itable subsidies from relatives and friends, and so forth. When peace was restored, and the. religious were ~llowed ~to reoccupy their old monasteries or open new ones, relatives and friends continued to send in gifts and Pensions: and since the religious had grown accus, tomed to keeping such funds for their private use, it is not surprising that the custom of allowing a dependent peculium arose in some reli-gious houses, and that in one or other case the use of dependent pecu-lium was written into the constitutions and received the approval of the Holy See. These are, however, the exceptions which prove the 43 ADAM C~ ELLIS Review for Religious rule. As we saw earlier, after each of the three catastrophies men-tioned above, tl~e Holy See carefully recalled to mind the obligation incumbent upon all religious to observe the law of common life and upon superiors.to eradicate all forms of peculium. Is peculium ever allowed? An independent pqcutium is directly contrary to the vow of poverty, since it grants an independent use of the peculium to the religious in such wise that his superior may not limit it in any way, much less revoke it. Hence the religious uses the money as his own which is an act of proprietorship contrary to the vow of poverty, ~[ dependent peculium, received with the permission of' the superior and subject at all times to recall and limitation on his part is not per se contrary to the vow of poverty~ since the religious .~s always dependent upon his superior in the use of it, and does :not use it as his own. It is clear, however, from what has been said above about ¢ofiamon life, that even a dependent peculium is directly con- ~rary to common life. By its very nature it is destined to be used for the personal needs of an individual religious; but common life demands that such needs be supplied by the community from the common fund. .Even after the Code of Canon Law was promulgated in 1918 with the strict provision for common life laid d~wn in canon 594, it is still possible that peculium may continue to exist in some reli-gious institutes, either by provision of the constitutions (by way of exception which proves the law), or by reason of custom. This latter ¯ case, however, will be circumscribed by the provisions of canon 5 of the Code regarding customs contrary to the Code. Canon 5 pre-scribes that only centenary or immemorial customs may' be tolerated by the ordinary if, in his prudent judgment, they cannot be stipo pressed, taking into consideration the circumstances of places and per-sons. Otherwise, even a centenary or immemoriaL custom is to be suppressed. Peculium is the enemy of common life, and the Church would gladly suppress it entirely if that could be done conveniently. She tolerates it under certain conditions, but at the same time she has stated in no uncertain terms her opposition to and her disapproval of all such private funds. To conclude with a statement of an eminent Dominican canonist: Experience has shown that the use of peculium, even when dependent on supe-riors, always brings great harm to religious discipline. Hence the obligation upon 44 ¯ ~anuar~o 1948 GIFTS FOR RELIGIOUS all, and especially upon superiors, of watchfulness~ and care lest such a pernicious custom be introduced into religious families, and in case it has already been intro-duced, of eradicating it if that be possible.2 Summary 1. The use of temporal things on the p.a, rt of religious is limited not only by the vow of poverty but by positive regulations on the part of the Church, notably by the obligation to observe common life, which is imposed on all religious by canon law. 2. The law of common life requires two things: (a) that all the needs of the religious, especially food, clothing and lodging, shall be supplied by the community from the common fund, according to a standard of living that is consistent with the spirit of poverty proper to each institute; (b) that the religious on their part con.- tribute to the common fund all the fruits of their industry as well as all gifts they receive by reason of the fact that they are religious. 3. While all luxury, excessive comforts, and prodigality are to be avoided in providihg for the needs of religious, it will be well for superiors to be generous and to avoid parsimony. Thus they Will insure a happy and contented community in which all reasonable religious are satisfied with the common fare and are not tempted to seek necessaries outside the community. 4. "Superiors shall not refuse the religious anything which i~ necessary, and the religious shall not demand anything which is superfluous. Hence charity and solicitude are earnestly recommended to superiors, Leligious moderation to subjects" (Vatican Council). [EDITORS' NOTE: The first article of this series on gifts to religious appeared in Volume VI, pp. 65-80.] OUR CONTRIBUTORS 2. PUTZ is a member of ~the theological faculty of St. Mary's College, Kurseong, D. H. Ry., India. T.N. JORGENSEN is a professor of English at Creighton Uni-versity, Omaha, Nebraska. ADAM C. ELLIS and GERALD KELLY are professors of canon law and moral theology respectively at St. Mary's College, St. Marys,,Kansas. Both are editors of this Review. 2Fanfani, De lure Retigiosorurn, n. 225, dubium I, b., p. 250. 45 t oo1 Reviews THE SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE OF SISTER ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY. By M,. M. Philipon, O.P. TranSlated by a Benedictine of Sfanbrook Ab.bey. Pp. xxiil -I- 2S5. The Newman Bookshbp, Wesfmlhster, Maryland, 1947. $3.7S. Sister ]Slizabeth of the Trinity is one who in our own age was made perfect in a short time and whose spiritual life was to a very remarkable extent thoroughly permeated with Catholic dogma. This work is a study, so to speak, of theology in a living person. Sister Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Catez at Bourges, France, in 1880. As a .little girl she had a furious temper. At the age of eleven apparently, when she made her first confession, she experienced what she later called her "conversion." From then until she was eighteen she struggled courageously against her two great faults, irascibility and excessive sensitivity. In her t~ens she used to write verse and in these outpourings manifested a desire to join the Carmelites. This ambition she could not achieve until she reached twenty-one. Mean-while her exterior life was like that of other girls of her age and con-dition. But not the interior. During a retreat when she was only eighteen she began-to have mystical experiences. In 1901 she did become a Carmelite at Dijon, and in 1906 she died. Many people in the English-speaking world will already have some firsthand acquaintance with her from her book In Praise of Gtor~l, translated and published some thirty years ago. The work under review is not a biography. The first words of tl~e author indi-cate its nature: "A theologian views a soul and a doctrine" (p. xvii). Father Philipon first gives a brief account of Sister Elizabeth's life and then shows by very copious quotations from her writings how she exemplifies a holy soul whose spirituality was most pro-foundly dogmatic. He .~ilso 'shows ~how her words can be used t6 illustrate certain theological opinions. Hence part~ of the bdok, fo~ instance, the sections on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or in general the positions taken in mystical theology, will be r~ad by those who are wary with a wholesome bit of restraint. The author does not dis-tinguish'between Catholic theology and Thomistic doctrines. As her name suggests, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity had a most ardent love for the ]31essed Trinity. Devotion to the Three Divine ., BOOK REVIEWS Persons was, so to speak, the very heart and center of her whole spir-; itual life. She could never do or say enough to give adeqo~ite expres-sion. to her'singularly deep and affectionate attachment to this the most sublime aspect under which Goi:l.can be thought of. Hence it was natural for her to,concentrate effort upon living alone, in silence and recollection, ~vith the triune God dwelling within the depths of her~soul. She had a special fondness for the Epistles of St. Paul and she became so fascinated with one idea in them (see Ephesia,ns 1:12: '.'predestined. ourselves to further the praise of his glory'i), that she adopted the corresponding Latin words laudern gloriae as a secon~ da.ry name.° In her five short ye, a~r~s, in the Carmelite monastery she. had much to suff~r from ill health. Thisshe bore with the most hLroic dispositions to show her love for Cl~rist crucified and to become like Him even in His hardest trials. Father Philipon concludes his st0r~ of Sister Elizabeth with the.s,e words of hers: "I bequeath to you this vocation which was mine in the bosom of the Church Militant, and which I shall fulfill unceas-ingly in the Church Triumphant: The praise of glory of the'o~ost" holy Trinity." -G. AUGUSTINE, EELAi~r~, S.3. QUEEN OF MILITANTS. By Emil Neuberf, S.M. Pp. ~'ili'-]- 135. The , . Grail, Sf. Meinrad, Indiana, 1947:$1.25 (paper); $2.00 (clofh).~. Originally written in Fren'ch, Queen of Militants is addressed' primarily to the 3ocists, Ja~ists, and similar militant group~ of 3;dung European workers who are actively seekidg to bring. Mary to her rightful place in daily social, ~polltical,. and religious life. 'But its lines are directly applicable to all those working in America for the. same noble purpose of restoring all things m Christ, through Marry. The book is colloquial in tone, at times wi'th .almost the insist-, ence and patronizing manner of a sales tfilk or a"magazine advertise-ment; but it is saved from loss o~'dignity by i~s deep sincerity a'~d clear forceful statement of im. por.tant truths. The too~insistent style is also saved by an abundance of¯ quotation, often fromSt. Montfort and Father Chaminade, and by the many stories which frequently recount the activities of the militant Marian organizations of present-day Europe. The book is divided into three sections. The first part, "Mary's Place in the Life of the Militant," gives convincing arguments to show that Marian devotion is vital in. the life of the Christian worker of today. Title second part, "Mary Forming Her Militants," 47 BOOK REVIEWS Revieto for Reliyious shows how Marian devotion develops the zeal, courage, and other virtues which an apostle needs. The third part, "Combat Under Mary's Banner," faces the difficulties which the Marian apostle~ must. meet and gives the means--mainly the "prayers, works, and suffer-ings" of the" morning offering--with which to conquer them. The book should be a gold mine of ready-to-use material for those giving talks to sodalities or similar organizations. Father Neu-bert has evidently spent many years in reading and meditation upon the fundamental Marian truths, and at the same time has kept in touch with the youth of today. The following quotation is typical of any page in the book and will reveal both the weakness and power of the style. The passage is from the chapter, "Combat by Prayer," and foll0ws the simple but vivid retelling of the prayer of Moses on the mountain while Josue fought King Amalec's soldiers. There are thousands who imagine that success in their apostolate depends on their ability tb speak, to pin down their opponents, to'sell their magazine, to set up displays, to organize grand processions, or to hold enormous congresses. And why not, they ask? Aren't these the means socialists and communists and all our opponents use to draw souls away from Christ? Why don't these sa~ne means suffice to lead souls back to Him? If you reason thus, you are surely mistaken. With a knife you can slash a marvelous picture, or you can take the life of a man. But can you, with the same i.n.str.ument, restore a masterpiece or bring back the dead to life? To pervert souls is a natural work in the worst sense of the word. To lead them back to Christ is a superhatural work, the most difficult of all. Can you achieve something super-natural with merely natural means? If you gave a piece of lead to a jeweler to have him fashion a gold ring. or if you took a marble block to a sculptor and asked him to chisel a living person out of it,wouldn't they exclaim, "This man has lost his mind!"? For something of gold can be made only from gold; and a living being must come from a living source. Similarly, a supernatural end can be achieved only by supernatural means .'. Mary did not preach: she did not write: she did not found churches or apos-tolic works. She was content to pray and to suffer. But by her prayers and her sufferings she has contributed more to the salvation of men than Peter and Paul and all the other Apostles, and all the legions of Popes, bishops, and priests, diocesan and regular, who have announced the word of God to civilized nations and to barbarian peoples. ¯--T. N. JORGENSEN, S.J. MOTHER F. A. FORBES: Religious of the Sacred Heart. Letters and Short Memoir. By G. L. Shell. Pp viii ~ 246. Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1947. $2.75. Margaret T. Monro did not overstate the case of Mother Forbes 48 ,lanuary, 1948 BOOK REVIEWS when she wrote several years ago: "At the time of her death in 1936 she could have been called, without exaggeration, the best-loved woman in Scotland." Born of an illustrious Scottish family, Alice Forbes (she later added Frances) was educated according to the highest standards of the day. During her middle twenties her enthusiastic interest in his-tory led her to regard the Protestantism of her forebears with a criti-cal eye, and after earnest prayer, study, and instructions, she embraced Catholicism. At the age of thirty-one she presented herself as a pos-tulant at Roehampton, where Janet Erskine Stuart was Reverend Mother Superior. If it is possible for the sp!rit of a religious institute to be inherent in anyone, that"possibility was actualized in Mother Forbes. The spirituality and manifold interests of the Religious of the Sacred Heart became her spirituality hnd her interests. She was a gifted writer, publishing over a score of varied works, histories, biographies, plays, anthologies; she was a poetess of insight; she was a teacher; most of all, she was a friend. Her interests, were as wide as the horizon and her enthusiasm as long as life itself. The greater portion of Mother Shell's book contains the corre-spondence of MOther Forbes to one of her sister religious, covering a period of twenty years. She reports with fidelity the many projects that are keeping her busy, the undertakings going on in the com-munity, the kind of impression they are making on their Protestant surroundings, as well as the arrival and departure of each of nature's beautiful seasons, t~ut it is the spiritual content of these letters which provides the greatest interest. Sacrifice, suffering, detachmentm and all for the love of the Sacred Heart--such was Mother Forbes' program. When Our Lord marks out for us th~ path of detachment and renunciation, He will have us to walk in it . It is a great consolation to think that . . ~ our cowardice will not be, through His mercy and His love, the means of thwarting His will in us . Is it too much to expect of us to say to Him: Ask, O Lord, and You shall receive, at every moment of the day, all and everything You ask? Her health was never strong. As early as 1913 she had been anointed, the first of many receptions of the last Sacrament; and in 1931 she writes, "Here is a letter from a poor thing crawling back from the gates of eternity. 'No admittance' again! Oh when? I thought this time I had eyery chance, and so did the doctor . " But no matter what the condition of her health, within the cloister of 49 BOOK NOTICES Craiglockheart College (Edinburgh) there emanated from Mother Forbes and spread throughout Scotland a ~weetness, a cheeifulness, a lightheartedness, a peace, and a devotion for others which was.Christ-inspired in every way:~--F. 3. GUENTNER, S.J~, " THE GREATEST ~CATHERINE: The Jife of Ca+herlne Benlncasa, Saln+ ,of S~ena. By Michael de la Bedoyere. Pp. viii, + 248. The Bruce Pub-lishlng Company, Milwaukee, 1947. $3.00. Saint Catherine of Siena, described by Ludwig Pastor as "one of ,the most marvelous figures in the history of. the world/' continues to be very fortunate in her biographers. All admirers of Catherine enjoyed Jorg~nsen's "virile" presentation of this Jo'an of Arc of th~ Papacy, and, .perhaps even more so, Alic'e Curtayne's deft. and delicate portrait of.the same great heroine.~ Some have thought that Enid Dinni~' gift for seeing the world invisible would, be the ideal, medium for delineating this valiant woman who so towered over her four-teenth century contemporaries, from the highest to the lowest. But one sees now that what was wanted was the telling of her story by a hard-headed British editor, one yiel~ling to none in .his admiration for Catherine in her hundreds of letters and the,classic Dialogu'es, yet at all stages of her story disengaging her from the fir~'reaiities of that "edifying" legend spun about her after her death. Tiie resulting Cathdrine lacks not a whit of the vibrant charm, or whole~souled service of Christ, especially in the service.of the. Pope, ~vhom she invariably styled "the Christ on earth," but she is also seen to be a guileless novice in politics, and a public figure whose one ~great triumph (restoring the Pope to Rome) Was surrounded with countless minor failures and tragedies. So; too, ~as Calvary. --GERALD ELLARD; S.J. GOD'S OWN METHOD. By Reverend Aloys;us MeDonough, C.P. (preface by 'Most Reverend Richard J. Cushlncj):~ Pp. 161. The Sign Press, Union City, N.J.,.1947. $2.00. "In quest of what is worthwhile, there is no sounder stratagem than to go to so

The year in foreign policy was marked by bloody conflict, humanitarian catastrophe, and grief, plus political failures and missteps. Let's take a look at the most notable ones as we approach 2024.Losers in major conflicts and geopolitical shiftsUkraine: The bravery and endurance of the Ukrainian people and its military forces have been extolled time and again. But the failure of its counteroffensive in the spring and the summer of 2023 has led in part to a loss in confidence that the country can ever hope to expunge the Russians from all of its territories. This of course has been not only the goal of President Volodymyr Zelensky, but of his Western supporters. Many of those allies, including the mainstream press, are now suggesting that not only will Ukraine have to find a way to end the war diplomatically — which critics including contributors at RS and at the Quincy Institute have been saying all along — but may have to make territorial compromises.The goal of Ukrainian NATO membership seems like a faraway dream now, and as of the end of the year, the flood of weapons and money from Washington and Western capitals has slowed immensely. Zelensky, now being pegged as increasingly isolated and unrealistic, has seemingly fallen from grace. Unfortunately for him, this is not the first time in U.S. foreign policy history that Washington has turned its favor elsewhere, to the grave detriment of its former beneficiaries.Israel, and the Palestinian people: The government of Israel, blind-sighted by a brutal Hamas attack that left 1200 Israelis dead and 240 hostages whisked away on Oct. 7, has retaliated with such force in Gaza strip that it is squandering much of the rest of the world's goodwill and sympathy. Israelis, as wracked by grief and anger as they are, are not confident that their government has a plan for Gaza after the war, but are steadfast (at least according to polls) that the Netanyahu regime can destroy Hamas, and that care to avoid Palestinian civilian suffering should not be a consideration in executing that.Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza as of this week was well over 21,000. Israel claims to have killed 7,000 Hamas fighters but, according to the New York Times, does not explain how it came to that number. This has created a situation in which Israel (and its U.S. supporters) are increasingly isolated, whether it be at the United Nations or in public opinion across the globe. Furthermore, the Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from catastrophic hunger and a lack of healthcare (there are reportedly no functioning hospitals left in northern Gaza). Nearly 90% have been displaced due to Israeli military bombardments, and infectious diseases are ripping through the traumatized population.Joe Biden: The president of the United States has been backed into a corner on two major fronts this year. On Ukraine, his framing of the war as a Manichaean battle — and a struggle for freedom that will have global repercussions if America doesn't help Zelensky "for as along as it takes" — is coming back to bite his administration. Calls are increasing to begin diplomatic talks in earnest with a government that Washington had relegated to Hitler-like status. Meanwhile, Congress is pushing back on giving Ukraine the billions more in weapons and cash it needs to survive.Biden's team looks indecisive and vulnerable as it moves into what promises to be a brutal re-election. This has only been compounded by the administration's complete inability to rein in the military excesses of the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank too. While supposedly making "it clear" to Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. wants civilians protected, Biden's administration did all it could to water down the UN Security Council ceasefire at the Israelis' behest, and even a resolution to institute humanitarian "pauses" has, as of this writing, not been put into effect.Biden has also greased the skids for all the weapons the Israelis have asked for, with American-made "dumb bombs" responsible for the multitude of deaths and property destruction in the Gaza strip today. Not only is Washington viewed as having no influence over the Israelis (despite the enormous sums of money and weapons sent there annually); it looks duplicitous when it comes to grand assertions about upholding the "rules-based order." Losers we might have missed ...The Armenian people: Every single Armenian — some 100,000 — was pushed out of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory by Azerbaijan in October. Earlier this year, Azerbaijan and Armenia had pledged to work toward peace after decades of conflict. But hopes waned as Azerbaijan continued a crushing blockade of goods and humanitarian aid to Armenians in the region. An Azeri military operation, launched in September, led to the ultimate takeover of the disputed land and the expulsion of Armenians within days back to Armenia.African coup and civil war victims: West Africa saw a continued rash of coups with two more in Niger and Gabon this year. In Niger, the military overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in July and put him and his family in the palace basement where they remain today. Niger joins Burkino Faso and Mali as what Quincy Institute non-resident fellow Alex Thurston calls "the epicenter of mass violence and displacement in the region, and one of the worst conflict and humanitarian disaster zones in the world." The military seized power in Gabon in August, ousting President Ali Bongo after he had just won re-election. Meanwhile, a bloody civil war broke out in Sudan in April and soon became a proxy fight involving regional interests, with the Sudanese people, of course, caught in the crossfire. The conflict involves General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (himself a coup leader), pitted against his deputy and head of the Rapid Support Forces, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, known as Hemedti. By June, fighting in the capital city of Khartoum had left scores dead, massive property damage, and an exodus of some 100,000 to points abroad. Fighting not only continues, but is spreading, imperiling millions of civilians and throwing the entire country into a humanitarian disaster. The U.S appears to have little left, diplomatically, to offer.Sweden: The Northern European nation wants into NATO. But what seemed to be a no-brainer — its accession was linked to regional security and Western unity in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — has become a victim of cross-state politics and recrimination. Though as of this writing Sweden seems one step closer to joining Finland as a new member of the alliance, Turkey continues to use its leverage as a NATO member to get F-16s from the U.S. and force Sweden to amend its anti-terrorism laws. Hungary has been slow walking its vote too, accusing Sweden of telling "blatant lies" about the condition of Hungary's democracy.The American taxpayer: Before Congress left for the holidays, it passed $886 billion in defense spending as part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These funding levels are the highest since World War II and, as the Quincy Institute's William Hartung points out, they are mostly directed toward "costly, dysfunctional weapons systems that are ill-suited to addressing current challenges."Aside from a pay increase for personnel, the 3% hike over last year represents a boon for the defense industry (which was accused this year in an important 60 Minutes report of gouging taxpayers) and the members of Congress who love them. As RS has reported many times, the defense budget does not reflect sound military strategy or even the national interest, but a wish list by contractors and politicians who benefit from funding expensive programs that in some cases, like the Osprey aircraft, put American troops in real danger. To make it worse, the Pentagon still can't pass an audit.And these guys ...Jake Sullivan: Biden's National Security Advisor penned a Foreign Affairs article entitled "The Sources of American Power," a 7,000-word attempt to put the best sheen on the Biden Administration's handling of current geopolitical events. Unfortunately, like much of the White House foreign policy approach over the last three years, it was out of step. Acknowledging "perennial challenges" in the Middle East, Sullivan said "the region is quieter than it has been for decades" and that "(we) have deescalated tensions in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties." The article was sent to print on Oct. 2, five days before the Hamas attacks on Israel. "Nobody can be expected to predict the future, but the essay offers a rare insight into how the United States misread an explosive situation in the Middle East," wrote the New York Times, which pointed out that the embarrassing comments were later scrubbed from the online edition of Foreign Affairs. However, Sullivan had been making public comments to the same effect all fall.American Generals: This year the retired generals and admirals who had been talking a big game about the Ukrainian counteroffensive and the failures of the Russian military have been forced to eat their words. Special attention should be given to all these four stars and flags (Petraeus, Stavridis, Keene, McCaffrey, Hodges, etc.) who make incessant rotations on major media and provide wrongheaded strategic assessments that are never corrected. They just pop up again in the next conflict.Malcolm Nance: One of the most visible pro-Ukraine commentators on major cable and on Twitter, the former Navy cryptologist left MSNBC in 2022 to help train the International Legion of foreign volunteers in Ukraine. His videos and tweets boasted his mission — as he was typically beefed up in uniform and weapons, ostensibly reporting from the combat zone — and drew a massive following of pro-Ukraine partisans.Then a New York Times expose dropped the bomb: Nance was enmeshed in a climate of petty squabbling and chaos and among those outsiders in Ukraine who were "fighting with themselves and undermining the war effort." He left the country and is still a commentator — on his paid subscription-only Substack. He's shifted to the Gaza War now, including a (week-long) visit to the Gulf States in October, penning posts like, "Ask Yourself, Are You Really for Palestine or Do You Just Hate Jews?" and, very much like his pro-Ukraine Twitter persona of 2022, accusing critics of Israel of "misguided ill informed myopia & latent antisemitism."

Fifty years is a long enough time to dissipate the impact of war. In the United States, the Vietnam War is no longer much discussed. Scholars still plow the field, but the war that tore America apart, spurred a counterculture movement, killed 57,000 Americans (and vastly more Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians), led to a restructuring of the U.S. military and the all-volunteer force, and was an impetus to Desert Storm no longer shapes the discourse.My students were born in 2002 or 2003; they're voting age. Even those with living grandparents who served in Vietnam don't know much if anything about the conflict. Of course, there have been intervening failures that proved costly, although not on the same scale. But proximity bias — the hard-wired human tendency to accord greater importance to things that are closer than others in time or distance — ensured that the mayhem generated by the Iraq and Afghan Wars would eclipse the awfulness of Vietnam.The Yom Kippur War of 1973 has likewise receded in the Israeli imagination. But its specter is more complex. The 2,500 Israeli soldiers killed (a fraction of the 15,000 Arabs who perished) was three times the per capita human cost of the Vietnam War to the United States. I was in Israel during that time, and everyone knew someone who'd been killed. The war was also far shorter, about 10 days, so the casualty list had an outsized emotional impact. It was not the long slog of Vietnam, but rather an avalanche.Early in the war, Syrian armor destroyed the Israeli tank brigade deployed to the Golan Heights and reached Gesher B'not Yaakov (Jisr Banat Yaqub). Just beyond it was the Jezreel Valley. The prospect of a large Syrian armored formation penetrating the Israeli heartland was as ghastly for Israelis as it must have been thrilling for the Syrians. The United States has never experienced anything like this, including 9/11.In the space of this instant, violence burgeoned. The largest tank battle since World War II, when German and Soviet armored juggernauts collided at Kursk, unfolded on the Golan. Fierce battles developed in the Sinai and then on the left bank of Suez, where Israeli forces encircled an entire Egyptian army. A week into the war, the U.S. launched its largest-ever intra-war arms transfer. For days, U.S. C-5 cargo aircraft touched down at Israeli airfields every six minutes. The airlift, however, occurred after Israel had regained its balance and counterattacked, halting an hour outside of Damascus and holding Egyptian territory — in addition to the Sinai, where Israel stopped the main thrust of Egyptian armor toward the mountains passes and destroyed the advancing units.The war also included other dramatic moments. Apparently believing that the Soviets were preparing to intervene militarily on Syria's behalf, the Nixon administration raised the United States' nuclear readiness level, an extraordinary step. Saudi Arabia led an OPEC oil embargo against the United States that carried profound implications for its economic and political stability for the ensuing decade, bringing the so-called long summer of postwar economic growth to an end and guaranteeing an era of sluggish economic growth and high inflation.The long-term effects of the war on Israel were profound as well. The outcome, despite the phenomenal recovery of Israeli forces under the much maligned but in fact highly competent IDF chief of staff, was traumatically dislocating for an Israeli public accustomed to thinking that its victory in the 1967 war rendered the state immune to Arab military challenge.Within four years, the Labor Party that had dominated Israeli politics in one form or another since 1948 was dislodged. Trust in the old elites was shattered. The intelligence community failed to credit the Egyptian and Syrian commitment to waging war. Across the board there was a conviction that the conditions under which the Arabs would launch an offensive simply did not exist. And Military Intelligence disregarded Mossad's success in recruiting a senior member of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's entourage who underscored that a war was in the cards. Moreover, the Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, who had presided over the disaster, had heeded stern guidance from Nixon and Kissinger not to preempt Arab war preparations when these were finally acknowledged 24 hours before the start of hostilities.Whether or not this was a wise call on Washington's part, it certainly increased the butcher's bill Israel was to pay and undermined the Labor government. Meir would come under attack later for having ignored Sadat's peace feelers following the 1969 War of Attrition along the Suez Canal. Sadat, however, tended to frame his overtures as demands for an upfront Israeli withdrawal from all of the Sinai Peninsula, which the Israeli government could not meet. There was plenty of blame to go around. In any case, combined with serious ethnic tensions generated by the political mobilization of Mizrahim — Jews who had immigrated from the Arab states of the Middle East and North Africa — the cratering of Labor credibility enabled the ascendance of the Likud Party.Half a century later, what lingering significance does the war have? Israel and Saudi Arabia are negotiating normalization, which will entail a civilian Saudi nuclear capability that is inherently dual-purpose. The Abraham Accords have already normalized Israel's relations with Bahrain, the UAE, Sudan, and Morocco. Egypt and Jordan have longstanding peace treaties with Israel. Syria has been neutered by a long, destructive civil war. Lebanon has ceased to exist as a functioning state and has not engaged Israel in hostilities since 2006. Two eviscerating wars with the United States removed Iraq as a potential combatant of the old rejectionist front.A cataclysmic ground war between Israel and its neighbors has been inconceivable during this veritable Age of Aquarius. But if the Yom Kippur War is no longer relevant, the present irenic reality — excluding the West Bank and Gaza — is largely due to the instrumentalization of that conflict by the Nixon administration for the purpose of peacemaking. One really can't contemplate these developments without implicitly thinking about the 1973 war.Another potent outcome of the war was the diplomatic process that surrounded the ceasefire and the years that followed. Kissinger gets credit for this, not unfairly. He was not one to waste a crisis. He seized the opportunity the war presented to use Sadat's evident interest in joining the Western camp and Israel's reliance on American support to bind each closer to Washington while crowding out the Soviet Union. Although his diplomatic strategy yielded disengagement agreements on both fronts, the fact remains that Egypt and Israel had embarked on a quiet bilateral process even as the guns were still cooling.Sadat had waged the war to shatter the status quo by drawing Israeli blood and bringing the U.S. into the conflict. His goal was the negotiated return of Sinai to Egyptian control. The war, for him, had a clear and well-defined political purpose. Although the seven years that preceded the Camp David Accords were at times touch and go — down to the climactic talks themselves — the so-called peace process would be difficult to imagine without the bloody impetus of 1973. Kissinger's key insight, regrettably abandoned by his successors but seemingly grasped now by Beijing, is that it pays to maintain ties with both sides in a conflict.As the Arab-Israeli conflict has devolved to Israel and the Palestinians, this lesson of the 1973 war has faded for Israel as well. Israel's use of force now has no political objective. Its purpose is solely conflict management and deterrence. To borrow from Lord Carrington's verdict on NATO, it is to keep the Palestinians down, the U.S. out, and wealthy Persian Gulf states in.Yet, perversely, the possibility of change is in the air. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners are less interested in managing the level of violence on the West Bank than in informally annexing it. Their commitment to Israeli settlement of the West Bank is greater than their interest in grand geopolitical deals that might boost the Tel Aviv stock exchange but defer redemption of biblical lands. One could construe the hard right's agenda as restoring a true political objective to Israel's fight with the Palestinians.The 1973 war also altered Israeli military doctrine. Planners have recognized that — beginning with that war — Israel has not won any major ones. (Neither has the United States.) The reasons for this are legion, but one stands out: the losers do not concede defeat. They take a licking but keep on ticking. Hence the most recent development in Israel's military doctrine, accorded the acronym Mabam, meaning "the battles between the wars."The idea is that major wars are no longer decisive and will therefore recur periodically. The best course is to delay these wars and weaken adversaries' ability to wage them by fighting draining low-level battles in the interim. This makes some sense, naturally, but militates against any attempt to leverage the fighting to achieve durable peace. This applies to the Palestinians as well. Their violence is expressive, perhaps reflecting their view that there is no conceivable political objective.There's a larger theme here, though. The international system was vastly different in 1973. The Cold War framework in which the United States and Soviet Union conducted their foreign policies and made it possible for Sadat to conduct a war with such a bold but cogent purpose is long gone. We will see whether the U.S.-China in the Middle East recreates it.The leftist post-colonial Arab states that fought Israel are scarcely even remembered. The Israeli state and society that fought the Yom Kippur War, like the America that waged war in Vietnam, no longer exists. The values that animated it no longer shape the nation's thoughts and actions.Fifty years after the war, this should come as no surprise. In the ongoing demonstrations against judicial reform in Israel, one can see veterans of 1973 claiming that their wartime sacrifice would be betrayed by the triumph of the hard right. They are correct, but they're old duffers and out of touch with young Israeli mainstream voters, who, if they dwell on the 1973 war at all, likely see the left as the guilty party. Thus, policy makers, mostly in the West, can noodle about the war's lessons for diplomacy and statecraft, but for Israel — and the Arabs — it's ancient history.

Der BMBF-Haushalt soll 2024 um 1,16 Milliarden schrumpfen. Schaut man sich den Plan genauer an, entsteht trotzdem der Eindruck, die Ministerin habe sich erstaunlich gut geschlagen. Allerdings gibt es eine große Ausnahme: Vor allem beim BAföG-Titel wird gekürzt.






Foto: Pxhere.






ERST AM MITTWOCH soll der Haushaltsentwurf der Bundesregierung ins Bundeskabinett gehen. Doch mir lag das Papier bereits vor. Demnach sind für das Bundesministerium für Bildung und
Forschung (BMBF) für das kommende Jahr 20,300 Milliarden Euro vorgesehen: rund 507 Millionen Euro weniger, als in der mittelfristigen Finanzplanung vom August 2022.



 



Nimmt man als Referenzwert die Soll-Ausgaben des laufenden Jahres, ergibt sich zwar ein noch größerer Rückgang um 1,162 Milliarden Euro, was rund 5,4 Prozent entspräche (während der
Bundeshaushalt insgesamt um 6,4 Prozent schrumpfen soll). Doch übertreibt dieser Vergleich das tatsächliche BMBF-Minus. Denn der Großteil dieser Differenz, 700 Millionen Euro, erklärt sich
aus dem Wegfall der Energie-Einmalzahlung an Studierende und Fachschüler. 



 



Mit einem blauen Auge
davongekommen?



 



Hat Ministerin Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) also gut verhandelt, hat sie die Connections zu ihrem Parteifreund Christian Lindner so erfolgreich genutzt, dass das BMBF beim
Zeitenwende-Sparhaushalt entgegen der Unkenrufe mit einem blauen Auge davonkommt? 



 



Auf den ersten Blick: ja. Ein Weniger von rund 500 Millionen Euro entspricht einem Minus von 2,4 Prozent. Das muss aus einem so großen Haushalt herauszuholen sein. Einerseits. Andererseits
sind von den (ohne Einmalzahlung) 20,762 BMBF-Milliarden in diesem Jahr ein Großteil gebunden, das heißt: Sie werden durch Vereinbarungen vor allem mit den Bundesländern auch nächstes Jahr
fällig, zum Teil sogar mit einem garantierten Aufwuchs. 



 



Rechnet man zum Beispiel den Zukunftsvertrag "Studium und Lehre stärken" (2023: 1,94 Milliarden, 2024: 2,05 Milliarden), die Zahlungen an die vier großen Forschungsorganisationen Max Planck,
Helmholtz, Fraunhofer und Leibniz (2023: 5,73 Milliarden, 2024: 5,86 Milliarden) und an die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2023: 2,04 Milliarden, 2024: 2,08 Milliarden) zusammen, sind allein
durch diese Posten 2023 rund 9,71 Milliarden Euro verplant, 2024 sind es sogar rund 9,99 Milliarden.



 



Das wird weder den Hochschulen noch den Forschungsorganisationen reichen, um die Inflation auszugleichen, und doch sind sie durch die garantierten Aufwüchse in einer privilegierten Lage. Addiert
man noch die Exzellenzstrategie und das Bund-Länder-Programm zur Förderung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses (400 Millionen bzw. 121 Millionen in beiden Jahren) hinzu, ist mit gut 10,51
Milliarden Euro mehr als die Hälfte des BMBF-Haushaltes im nächsten Jahr gebunden. Und der Resthaushalt des Ministeriums verringert sich (Energie-Einmalzahlung wieder rausgelassen) von 10,53 auf
9,79 Milliarden.



 



Das bedeutet: Die kleinere Hälfte des BMBF-Haushalts muss das komplette Minus und den Zuwachs der anderen (größer werdenden) Hälfte tragen. Wobei diese Darstellung noch simplifiziert ist, denn
auch diese Spar-Hälfte enthält weitere nicht kürzbare Posten, etwa die den Akademien ebenfalls zugesagte jährliche Erhöhung um drei Prozent. Das heißt immer noch nicht, dass Stark-Watzinger
schlecht verhandelt hat, es zeigt nur, unter welchen Zwängen ihr Ministerium 2024 und vor allem dann 2025 steht.



 



Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es erstaunlich, an wie vielen Stellen die Ministerin voraussichtlich nicht sparen wird, zumindest nicht auf der Ebene der Haushaltstitel und Titelgruppen. Bei
der besonders diskutierten Förderung der geistes- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung etwa soll es eine leichte Aufstockung um 1,5 auf 107 Millionen Euro geben (was das für einzelne Förder-Schwerpunkte bedeutet, bleibt freilich abzuwarten); die Nationale
Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) wächst wie versprochen um 23,5 auf 81 Millionen.



 



Die Stiftung "Innovation in der Hochschullehre" bekommt nur scheinbar weniger (110 statt 150 Millionen), tatsächlich steuern von 2024 an die Länder vereinbarungsgemäß die übrigen 40 Millionen
bei. Die Bundesagentur für
Sprunginnovationen (SPRIND) springt um 43 auf 190 Millionen, sogar die immer noch nicht gegründet Deutsche Agentur für Transfer und Innovation (DATI) wird um 28,8  auf 78,8
Millionen aufgestockt, wobei 35,4 Millionen davon (Vorjahr: 15 Millionen) bis zur Aufhebung durch den Haushaltsausschuss gesperrt sind. 



 



Bei einem Posten dürften die Bildungs- und Wissenschaftsminister der Länder aufmerken: Sie hatten die Fortsetzung der Ende 2023 auslaufenden Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung (QLB) gefordert,
Stark-Watzinger hatte das abgelehnt.
Trotzdem stehen 2024 immerhin 52,3 Millionen Euro in dem bisherigen QLB-Titel, der einen neue Bezeichnung trägt: "Professionalisierung pädagogischer Prozesse". Dahinter verbergen sich
allerdings neben QLB-Ausgaberesten die aus EU-Mitteln finanzierten "Kompetenzzentren für digitales und digital gestütztes Unterrichten" (50 Millionen), die bislang im Titel der Nationalen
Bildungsplattform (siehe unten) untergebracht waren. Von der Planung eines QLB-Nachfolgeprogramms also tatsächlich keine (haushalterische) Spur.



 



Gespart wird vor
allem am Bafög-Titel



 



Wo aber wird denn dann – abgesehen von Posten, die ohnehin abgeschmolzen werden sollten – am kräftigsten gespart? Die eindeutige Antwort: vor allem beim BAföG. Für die Studierenden sind 1,37
Milliarden und damit 440 Millionen weniger als 2023 vorgesehen – und bei den Schülern 551 Millionen, 212 Millionen weniger. Auf den zweiten Blick muss man allerdings auch hier
differenzieren: Die eingeplanten Ausgaben orientierten sich laut BMBF an wissenschaftlichen Prognosen (wohl vor allem des Fraunhofer-Instituts für
angewandte Informationstechnik (FIT), was Schüler und Studierende im kommenden Jahr erfolgreich beantragen werden – auf Grund der geltenden Rechtslage. 



 



Was zwei aufschlussreiche Schlussfolgerungen zulässt. Erstens: Finanzministerium und BMBF preisen offenbar ein, dass die von Stark-Watzinger als so großzügig gepriesene BAföG-Erhöhung vom
vergangenen Jahr verpufft – und die Zahl der Empfänger nach einer zwischenzeitlichen Stagnation sogar wieder zurückgehen könnte. Zweitens: Obwohl dies so ist, wird keine sichtbare Vorsorge
getroffen für die dringend nötige weitere Anhebung der Bedarfs- und Fördersätze in 2024, denn dafür müsste es wie in der Vergangenheit üblich einen Puffer geben. 



 



Sollte es nächstes Jahr bei geltender Rechtslage doch mehr BAföG-Bezieher geben und sollten diese mehr beantragen als Geld im Haushalt vorhanden, muss und wird das BMBF zwar zahlen (und zur
Deckung zur Not wiederum anderswo einsparen müssen, falls das Finanzministerium nichts nachschießt). Klar ist allerdings auch: Die Erhöhung der Fördersätze und erst recht die versprochene große BAföG-Reform noch in dieser
Legislaturperiode würde massiv zusätzliches Geld erfordern.



 



Weniger für
Lebenswissenschaften



 



Ansonsten sind 2024 Rückgänge etwa der Förderung der Lebenswissenschaften (-151 Millionen) vorgesehen, darin ist laut BMBF neben Umschichtungen ein Konsolidierungsbeitrag von 37 Millionen Euro
enthalten. Umgekehrt gibt es aber zum Beispiel einen deutlichen Zuwachs bei der Titelgruppe "Nachhaltigkeit, Klima, Energie" (+96 Millionen), was, wie das Ministerium auf Nachfrage
erläutert, im Wesentlichen auf den zu finanzierenden Neubau des Forschungsschiffs Polarstern II zurückgeht.



 



Insgesamt sollen rund 2,69 Milliarden Euro in die sogenannte missionsorientierte Forschung fließen,  im Vorjahr waren es mit 2,67 Milliarden
vergleichbar viel. Die Zahlungen für die viel kritisierte Nationale Bildungsplattform sollen um fast 98 auf noch 106,5 Millionen sinken, was laut BMBF – neben der erwähnten Umbuchung
der Digitalen Kompezenzzentren – auf die langsamere Projektentwicklung zurückzuführen sei und keine Auswirkungen auf die fachliche Umsetzung habe.



 



Bleibt die Frage: Wo ist die von Lindner für 2024 erstmals versprochene zusätzliche Bildungsmilliarde? Die Antwort: Sie kommt. Allerdings wohl erst zur Hälfte. 500 Millionen sind eingeplant, was
insofern keine Überraschung ist, weil Stark-Watzinger das "Startchancen"-Programm, für das sie die Bildungsmilliarde vorgesehen hat, (trotz zwischenzeitlich heftiger Kritik aus den Ländern)
erst im zweiten Halbjahr 2024 starten will. Sie sagt, ein früherer Beginn sei konzeptionell  nicht zu schaffen. 



 



Dass die Sache ganz offensichtlich auch haushälterische Gründe hat, ist freilich daran zu sehen, dass man den Rest der Bildungsmilliarde 2024 natürlich auch für Anderes ausgeben könnte, Anlässe
gäbe es genug. Eingeplant sind die 500 Millionen nicht im BMBF-Haushalt, sondern sie stehen wie angekündigt "vor der Klammer" – im Einzelplan der Allgemeinen Finanzverwaltung. Und auch wenn
ich die Zusatz-Bildungsmilliarde wiederholt als unzureichend kritisiert habe, vor allem im Vergleich zu all den Bildungs-Versprechungen im Ampel-Koalitionsvertrag,
ist es in der Konsequenz doch ein Erfolg für Stark-Watzinger, dass zumindest der Einstieg 2024 gelingt.



 



Allerdings, unken viele in der Koalition, werde sich 2024 noch als vergleichsweise einfacher Haushalt herausstellen, die richtige Bewährungsprobe – auch für das BMBF – stehe 2025 an. Dann müsse
Stark-Watzinger nochmal Farbe bekennen: Was wird aus der BAföG-Reform? Kommt der – bereits auf 2025 – verschobene Digitalpakt 2.0, und wieviel frisches Geld macht der Bund dafür locker?



 



Letzteres würde zwar wie beim Digitalpakt 1.0 nicht über Stark-Watzingers Budget abgewickelt, doch eng genug wäre das auch so: Im neuen Finanzplan der Bundesregierung, der ebenfalls am
Mittwoch beschlossen werden soll, steht der BMBF-Haushalt für 2025 mit 20,56 Milliarden Euro – was 260 Millionen mehr als 2024 wären, aber satte 540 Millionen weniger als noch im August 2022 vorgesehen. Und von den 260 Millionen
würden etwa 80 Prozent gleich wieder in die weitere Dynamisierung von Zukunftsvertrag, Max Planck, DFG und Co fließen. Wie soll das gehen? Vorerst aber gilt: Ihre Priorität für Bildung und
Forschung hat die Ministerin in schwieriger Zeit verteidigt – wenn auch, siehe vor allem das BAföG, mit Abstrichen bei der Bildung. 



 



Dieser Artikel erschien in etwas kürzerer Fassung zuerst im Tagesspiegel. Zuletzt habe ich ihn am 05. Juli 2023 aktualisiert.



 



 



 



BMBF, Studentenwerk, Bundestagsopposition
Wer sagt was zum Haushaltsentwurf?



 



Der Sprecher der CDU-Bundestagsfraktion für Bildung und Forschung, Thomas Jarzombek, kommentierte, die Ankündigung einer Bildungsmilliarde hätten viele in der Ampel wohl
falsch verstanden: "Es wird nun eine Milliarde gekürzt und nicht ergänzt." Stark Watzinger habe den vielversprechenden Ankündigungen der vergangenen anderthalb Jahre keine Taten folgen
lassen. "Für Bildung und Forschung fehlt es jedoch derzeit spürbar an Rückhalt im Kabinett. Anspruch und Realität klaffen weit auseinander." So seien die Kürzungen beim BAföG ein
"Offenbarungseid" für die Koalition. "Auf Basis einer unabhängigen wissenschaftlichen Berechnung wird deutlich, dass sich Bundesministerin Stark-Watzinger bei der Wirkung ihrer BAföG-Reform
völlig verschätzt hat." Auch um die angekündigte große Strukturreform des BAföG, die eigentlich in diesem Jahr kommen sollte, sei es seit Monaten "erstaunlich still" geworden in der
Koalition.



 



Der parlamentarische Staatssekretär im BMBF, Jens Brandenburg (FDP), sagte, trotz sehr schwieriger Ausgangslage würden Bildung und Forschung weiter gestärkt. "Wir setzen
weiterhin auf wichtige Investitionen in Zukunftsthemen wie Energieforschung, Innovation und Transfer und bringen zentrale Schwerpunkte wie das Startchancenprogramm zur Realisierung." Zugleich
warnte er, auf eine Konsolidierung des Haushalts müssten alle Ressorts gemeinsam hinwirken. "Das gilt auch für künftige Haushaltsjahre. Der Einzelplan 30 darf dabei nicht über Gebühr belastet
werden." Bildung und Forschung seien tragende Säulen vieler zukunftsorientierter Projekte dieser Bundesregierung."



 



Vergleicht man die neue mittelfristige Finanzplanung mit der vom August 2022, soll das BMBF 2024 und 2025 auf insgesamt 1,04 Milliarden Euro verzichten. 2026 kehrt der Ansatz mit 21,2
Milliarden dann zur alten Planung zurück, 2027 sind (neu) 21,150 Milliarden vorgesehen.



 



Unterdessen kommentierte der Vorstandsvorsitzende des Deutschen Studierendenwerk, Matthias Anbuhl, angesichts der geplanten Kürzungen, die BAföG-Versprechen der Bundesregierung
drohten zu implodieren. "Die groß angekündigte Strukturreform und BAföG-Sätze, die zum Leben reichen – all das wird nun womöglich Lindners Rotstift geopfert." Das sei fatal, denn mehr als
ein Drittel der Studierenden lebe prekär. "Dieser Gruppe steht das Wasser finanziell bis zum Hals. Lässt die Ampel-Koalition sie im Stich?"



 



Anbuhl forderte eine Ministerin, die auch im Gegenwind für die Studierenden kämpfe. "Und wir brauchen ein Parlament, das seine Kompetenzen nutzt und den Finanzminister beherzt korrigiert."
Studienabbrüche aus Geldmangel könne sich dieGesellschaft nicht leisten. "Diese jungen Menschen sind die künftigen Lehrkräfte, Ärzt*innen und Ingenieur*innen, die wir so händeringend brauchen."



 



Die bildungspolitische Sprecherin der linken Bundestagsfraktion, Nicole Gohlke, sagte, die Bundesregierung schieße mit ihren Haushaltsplänen "den Vogel ab. Eine Kürzung beim
BAföG wird für viele junge Menschen ein Studium unerschwinglich machen und die soziale Spaltung des Bildungssystems weiter vorantreiben." Die letzte BAföG-Erhöhung sei innerhalb kürzester
Zeit von der Inflation aufgefressen aufgefressen worden. "Fast 40 Prozent der Studierenden sind armutsgefährdet. In einer solchen Situation ausgerechnet beim BAföG zu kürzen, ist fatal." Auf den
KfW-Kredit, laut Gohlke "die einzige Alternative zum BAföG", fielen gerade fast acht Prozent Zinsen an, ergänzte die Linken-Politikerin. "So treibt die Bundesregierung viele Studierende in
die Armutsfalle."




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